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<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Premier Division - Sunday 17th May 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Man Utd 38 16 2 1 45 8 12 1 6 30 22 87 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Arsenal 38 13 3 3 28 15 10 5 4 28 19 77 3rd Dover 38 10 7 2 26 11 7 9 3 25 18 67 4th Leeds 38 10 4 5 25 11 8 5 6 31 28 63 5th Liverpool 38 12 5 2 29 12 3 9 7 18 21 59 6th Southampton 38 10 5 4 35 20 6 6 7 16 22 59 7th Tottenham 38 10 4 5 27 15 6 6 7 30 28 58 8th Derby 38 7 6 6 23 27 7 7 5 25 22 55 9th Ipswich 38 9 6 4 28 23 5 5 9 12 23 53 10th Charlton 38 11 3 5 27 16 4 3 12 17 29 51 11th Nottm Forest 38 7 4 8 20 17 5 8 6 20 20 48 12th Everton 38 6 7 6 17 20 7 2 10 20 28 48 13th Fulham 38 9 7 3 27 19 2 7 10 12 26 47 14th Watford 38 6 4 9 25 30 6 6 7 22 27 46 15th Chelsea 38 7 5 7 31 28 5 3 11 30 36 44 16th Blackburn 38 3 10 6 20 25 5 6 8 15 17 40 17th Bolton 38 6 7 6 22 23 3 5 11 17 37 39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R Millwall 38 7 3 9 16 23 3 5 11 15 29 38 19th R Newcastle 38 4 6 9 24 32 5 4 10 17 29 37 20th R Wrexham 38 2 5 12 17 33 3 1 15 8 31 21 ************************************************** ********************************************** Dover Athletic - Monday 18th May 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Abiven, Olivier 59 0 40 0 0 1 0 1 7.42 26 Alves, Alessandro 5 (6) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Arphexad, Hugues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Balfour, Stevie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Bataille, Laurent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 3 Baticle, Régis 48 2 0 0 3 5 1 7 7.96 - Brown, Colin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Candela, Stéphane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Cunningham, John - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Cunningham, Kevin 9 (9) 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.83 - David, Gilles - - - - - - - - ---- 22 Descamps, Julien 37 (3) 3 0 0 5 4 0 1 6.83 6 Diawara, Patrice 53 3 0 0 2 9 1 6 7.85 - Djorkaeff, Karim - - - - - - - - ---- 21 Duriez, Philippe 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 19 Fischer, Pierre 4 (5) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.22 9 Foulon, Fabien 38 (2) 18 0 0 5 2 0 3 7.33 29 Gatumel, Hervé 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Hughes, Andrew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - King, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Lacombe, Laurent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 14 Landrin, Fabrice 27 (1) 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 6.96 24 Llop, Guillaume 5 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - McAlpine, Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - McAuley, Paul 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 20 McBride, Paul 6 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.56 11 McCann, Andy 37 9 0 2 (2) 1 0 0 2 7.16 - McKenzie, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 16 McMillan, Scott 18 (14) 4 0 0 8 2 1 1 6.66 17 McPhee, Brian 32 0 0 0 6 3 0 0 6.91 8 Miller, John 32 (1) 4 0 0 7 3 0 3 6.70 30 Mitchell, Scott 13 4 0 2 (1) 3 1 0 1 7.00 15 Murray, Graeme 14 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 8.07 12 Murray, Kenneth 12 (17) 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 6.72 - O'Donnell, Mark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Oumouri, Gilles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Paoli, Franck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 25 Paterson, Gary 27 (16) 6 0 0 1 4 0 0 6.93 18 Poggi, Daniel 22 (4) 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 6.81 - Poueys, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Renard, Frédéric 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Robert, Bruno - - - - - - - - ---- 23 Robertson, Graeme 33 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 6.79 4 Robertson, Stuart 26 (13) 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 6.85 5 Thomson, Ian 49 3 0 0 3 21 1 2 7.49 - Thomson, John 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Tissot, Jacques 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Trivino, Jean-Marc - - - - - - - - ---- - Vasseur, Daniel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Watson, David - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

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The first order of business in the offseason was to see if we could renegotiate Batricle’s contract. He had been sulking the past few weeks and demanding a new deal. When I met with the agent, I was told flatly that Dover would not be able to meet his asking price. I looked the agent square in the eye and told him I was putting his client on the block then. The agent shrugged and we spoke no more. Batricle would not leave for less than 15M pounds, however and Dover stood to gain immensely from any deal.

The second order of business was to approach the board and ask politely for expansion of the Crabbe grounds. After the meeting proved unsuccessful, I began calling people, threatening to quit if the board didn’t expand the stadium. I made the salient point that Dover finished 19th in the Prem in terms of attendance with 19100 fans a game, while finishing third in the standings. We needed a bigger stadium if we were to ever compete free of financial worry. Dover had won two UEFA titles, a Prem title, and FA Cup and a League Cup. The upshot was that Dover was now a big-time club. The team and the fans deserved a bigger, better stadium. The supporters rallied to my cause. However, the board remained unimpressed. They hauled me in for a meeting. They informed me that stadium expansions were not my concern and that they would be willing to overlook my ‘rash’ actions. Sitting across the table from the head honcho, I steepled my fingers together. I pointed out that Dover had 27M in the bank and that there was guaranteed revenue coming in that would swell the coffers to at least 40M pounds. I told them a bigger stadium would indeed be a viable proposition. They politely ignored me. I stood up, turned around and strode out the door. I immediately called a few reporters and again, informed them that I would quit if the Crabbe was not expanded. As irate supporters besieged the board with angry messages and threats to cancel season tickets and whatnot, the team owners held an emergency meeting and agreed to expand the stadium, releasing a CYA statement to the media. I had won that round.

The third order of business in the offseason was to shuffle the roster a bit. I believed in the baseball adage, “overturn half your bench each season, or those players become complacent,” By that logic, G. Robertson, Poggi, K. Murray, McBride, Descamps, Paterson and Liop all found themselves up for sale at cut-rate prices. Several drew plenty of interest and would probably be sold rapidly, freeing space for new faces.

The fourth order of business was to set up the summer training and to fire, and hire, a couple of new coaches. As it turned out, I decided to fire the entire backroom and start fresh; coaches, scouts and trainers all went out the door. Finding replacements proved to be a tiring task.

Still as the summer began there was much activity. Many of the players I’d listed had gotten offers, so they’d be out the door in non time. Rumors swirled about Batricle, and I did confirm that he was available for transfer.

By June 2, the only players left on the list were Batricle, Descamps and Liop, the latter two were damaged goods and would be tough to sell or even give away. In addition, an entirely new backroom staff had been installed and I began to hear an odd mixture of French and Scots swearing on the pitch as the new coaches put the youth through their practice sessions. The diverse scouting staff began doing their job of finding talent to replace the players who’d been sold.

We made our first summer signing, acquiring 19 yr old Scot midfielder John Reid for 600K on the barrelhead plus incentives from Watford. On June 9. Watford would also sell us an 18 yr old forward named Graham Orr later in the month.

On June 16, the new season started. First, Batricle was selected as the Fans’ Player of the Year and his average rating of 7.95 was a new club record. We were awarded the usual 12M in TV money and the schedule announced. With that, I called all the players back into training and set about scheduling six friendlies. The only thing the board didn’t do was expand the stadium. I set up an ambitious friendly schedule. Starting on July 29, we would play a home game against Celtic, then travel to Milan, and then play Newcastle at home, followed by a game at Dortmund, then Huddersfield at home and wrapped up with a game at Albacete. If my players weren’t ready for the Prem after that schedule, they never would be. With training camp in full swing, I sat down and looked at my first-team. I needed another DL and a utility defender and in midfield, I needed a quality starting midfielder, a backup DMC and a utility midfielder. Only five players absolutely needed and 38M pounds to work with. This was gonna be fun.

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We quickly filled the UD position by signing 26 yr old Scot Andy Wilson. Then we filled the backup DMC position by signing Oliver Treguer from Nimes. On Sunday July 5, we sold Batricle to Anderlecht for 12M pounds. In theory, we replaced Batricle with Graeme McLaughlin from Celtic. John Irvine also arrived to be the UM. That left only LB and a midfield spot to be filled as we headed into the preseason schedule. Two days before the Celtic game, Dover acquired left back Nicholas Guerin from Troyes for 8M pounds. With Descamps and Liop returning to the first team, that last signing completed the projected first team for the 09/10 season.

Pre-season started with a 1-0 win over Celtic at the Crabbe. It wasn’t really much of a game as Celtic failed to even get a shot off. In the weekend contest against AC Milan, in Milan, Miller got sent off early and AC beat us 2-0. Midweek on August 5 saw us draw 1-1 at the Crabbe against Newcastle. Next, on the weekend we traveled to Germany to play Dortmund, beating them 1-0 on a late Foulon goal. On the midweek, we played Lyon at the Crabbe in the first leg of the CL Qualifier, beating them 1-0 thanks to an Alves early goal. The last game of the pre-season was at Albacete in Spain, where we won 3-2 in a shootout. The goals came from unlikely sources such as Guerin, McMillan, and more like it, Michel. The Premier season was set to start on Saturday August 22 at Derby. The preseason stats would be used to determine the rotations for the upcoming season.

The day before the opening day match against Derby, Dover completed the 50 man overall roster and the 25 man first team by signing 23 yr old French midfielder Nicholas Barruad for 3.1M pounds. The signing set a new Dover record for transfer money spent at 24M pounds on the season. But, Dover was hardly impoverished, as we still had over 23M pounds in the bank.

The depth chart: An asterisk next to a position indicates that position will be filled with a rotation.

GK:
Lover Abiven
Herve Gatumel
Frederic Renard

DL:
Nicolas Guerin
Laurent Batelle

DR*
Huges Aphenexad
Fabrice Landrin

DC (
Graeme Murray
Graham McLaughlin

DC:
Patrice Diawara
Andrew Hughes

UD- Andy Wilson

DMC:
Ian Thompson
Oliver Treguer

LMC*
Scott McMillan
John Miller

RMC*
Stuart Robertson
Erik Barruad

AMC:
Fabien Foulon
Alessandro Alves

UM- John Irvine

FC*
Andy McCann
Kevin Cunningham

FC:
Scott Mitchell
Guilluame Liop

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The opening day lineup saw all the regulars plus Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann. Diawara was the captain for the year as he had been for several years now. The first half was mostly Derby’s as they bottled up the ball and kept it at midfield. Nevertheless, Dover had the 1-0 lead by halftime, thanks to a brilliant run by Guerin that saw the LB smash the ball into the net on 30. We continued to play well enough to blunt the Derby attack, while letting them control the possession game. They never really threatened, and we won the first Prem game 1-0. Our next game was the second leg of the CL Qualifier at Lyon.

On Wednesday August 26, Dover traveled to Lyon. Since Barruad was ineligible for the game, Miller took his rotation turn, while Irvine got the nod at LMC. Landrin, McLaughlin and Cunningham also got their turns. In a first half filled with high-quality shots, Dover took the early 1-0 lead when Foulon busted loose. But, then Lyon got a goal and a penalty conversion to take the game lead 2-1 and tie the aggregate 2-2 by the thirty minute mark. The score remained the same at halftime. Lyon desperately tried to break the deadlock in the second half, but despite shooting plenty of shots, couldn’t do so. Dover was into the CL group stage thanks to a paltry away goal scored in the 2-1 loss.

After the game, the trainer told me that Foulon would be out for 2 weeks with a gashed leg. As usual, it had to be him that got hurt. We were awarded 1.8M pounds for making the first Group Stage. We would play Athletico Madrid, Sparta Prague and Wisla. To be honest, it didn’t look all that hard of a group, which was a good thing. Those matches would start in three weeks with an away game at Wisla. Before that, we had to continue on with Prem action, the next game being on Saturday the 29 at Southampton.

For the Southampton game, Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson, Alves and McCann got the nod along with the regulars. Southampton, like Derby, controlled the first half, taking a couple more shots than Dover. But, we held our ground the fans at St. Mary were denied a goal as the game remained a 0-0 draw at intermission. Neither side contrived to score in the second half, and the game fizzled to a scoreless draw. Our next game would be on Sunday Sept 13 at Fulham.

After the game, Chelsea came in with a bid for John Thompson. I told them to make it higher and I would consider it.

The first two weeks of September were uneventful. Chelsea gave up on Thompson and Barruad was registered for European play. On the 13th, Dover traveled to Fulham. The lineup included all the regulars, plus Landrin, McLaughlin, Miller, Barruad and Cunningham. The first half was typical as we prevented Fulham from getting a single shot. Barruad scored on 45 to earn his first goal at Dover and give the visitors the 1-0 lead. We continued to dominate the second half and kept up a stream of shots that kept the Fulham keeper busy. With this, we managed to hold onto the 1-0 win. Next was the midweek CL game at Wisla.

Against the Poles, we started Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann. Guerin also got the day off in favor of Batelle. Wisla didn’t put up a fight, failing to get even a shot off. &lt;Meanwhile, Dover managing to get a few shots, but failed to be entirely accurate. Still, Dover lead 1-0 at halftime thanks to an own goal by Wisla. Foulon sealed the win for us early in the second half and we coasted from there; though Wisla did make the game somewhat interesting late when they scored a goal to make the final 2-1. Next up was a Sunday September 20 match against Liverpool at the Crabbe. It would be our home Prem opener.

The Crabbe was full of fans wanting some live football. We hadn’t had a game here since the first leg with Lyon over six weeks ago. The home opener lineup was staffed by Landrin, McLaughlin, Miller, Barruad and Cunningham along with all the regulars. The crowd was its usual 19000 strong. That must have made the players nervous as they managed to land only one shot on target the first half. Still they held off the Liverpool attack and at halftime, the game was still a 0-0 stalemate. In the second half, the Dover offense began to pound the nets. On 57, McCann nailed a shot to give Dover the 1-0 lead. The Dover defense did the rest, holding off a stiff bid from Liverpool to give the Crabbe fans their first home Prem win, 1-0. Next on the slate was a home game versus Atletico Madrid on Tuesday at the Crabbe. During the game, Cunningham had pulled a hamstring and would be out for a month. McCann would rotate with Liop now. Against &lt;Madrid, Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann got their turns. In addition, regulars Diawara and Foulon got the day off, replaced by Hughes and Alves. Close to 13000 filled the Crabbe for the game. Madrid must have played a game the preceding weekend as two of their guys limped off with injuries and to add insult, the Dover defense prevented the Spanish side from landing a shot. The Basque side scored just minutes into the second half, and kept their 1-0 lead for the win. We tried, but couldn’t overcome their keeper. No matter anyway, Europe was not that important to me. Next up was a home game against Blackburn on Saturday Sept 26.

Against Blackburn, Dover started Landrin, McLaughlin, Miller, Barruad and Irvine. Mitchell was out because of a minor injury and was replaced by Liop. Guerin also got the day off, replaced by Batelle. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw the usual first half, though the Dover defense did blank Blackburn. Blackburn scored halfway through the second half and never looked back, winning 1-0. Even with the defeat, we remained in 5th place in the Prem. We now had a home game against Sparta Prague on Tuesday September 29.

The game with Prague was the last of the month. Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann got the rotational nods as Liop continued to fill in for Mitchell. All other regulars got the nod. Over 14000 filled the Crabbe for this game and the fans were rewarded. Though Aph was sent off on 7, Robertson and McCann each scored a brace to give Dover a 4-0 lead at halftime. Prague put all seven of their shots on target, but Abiven was a stone wall and kept the clean sheet as everyone went delirious over the 4-0 win. What a way to end September.

October started with the League Cup Third Round draw. We got Tranmere away. The lineup for the Saturday October 3 game at Ipswich was Landrin, &lt;McLaughlin, Miller, Barruad and Liop in rotation along with the other regulars, as Mitchell returned to the lineup. The game did not start according to plan. Ipswich’s Ellis scored just three minutes in and they retained the 1-0 lead at the half, despite a ferocious Dover attack. Things unraveled for the home side as they went down to ten men and Mitchell converted the resulting penalty to tie the game 1-1. Then, four minutes later, Diawara headed in a goal to give Dover the 2-1 lead. We held on to the lead a got the victory. Next up was a midweek Prem match at the Crabbe against Watford.

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But before we played the game, trouble began brewing in the clubhouse. Mitchell had shown an appalling level of fitness in practice and I duly reprimanded him. Mitchell thought that this was [patently unfair and began to sulk. I decided to ignore him for now. But, most likely, he would be gone by the New Year. Against Watford on Wednesday, Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann filled the rotation spots. Among the regulars, Mitchell was unfit and replaced by Irvine. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw a frustrating half for Dover. Despite being on-target with 6 shots, the home side was unable to get a goal, while holding Watford shot-less. The second half, however, was all Dover as Foulon, McCann and McMillan all scored to give Dover an easy 3-0 victory. We had two weeks off until our next game at Sparta Prague.

With the time off, I decided to switch my midfield rotation to make the lineups a bit more balanced. Miller would play alongside Robertson and McMillan alongside Barruad. During the break, injuries began to take their toll. Fortunately, most of the injuries with of the week or week and a half variety, meaning the players would only miss one or two games.

Actually, as we traveled to Prague for the game on the 21st it turned out that everyone necessary was fit. All the regulars got the start along with McLaughlin, Landrin, Miller, Robertson and Liop. Prague came out looking to avenge their humiliating defeat a couple of weeks earlier. Dover was clearly not prepared for the onslaught and quickly fell behind 2-0. The defense was the worst I’d ever seen in my two and a quarter seasons at Dover. No one, not even Abiven or Diawara was playing well. The second half was a waste of time, but we had to play it. Suffice to say, we never made it a game and were thoroughly beaten. The only highlight of the half was that Guerin limped off with a gashed leg that would keep him out for the next two weeks. Next up was the weekend Prem fixture, this one way at Nottingham Forest.

Gameday arrived swiftly. Aph, Murray, McMillan, Barruad and McCann got the rotation nods. Batelle got the start for the inured Guerin and Cunningham was able to return to the bench for the first time in a month. Again, the first half proved to be shaky. Several Dover players played terribly, including Foulon, who was yanked at halftime. Forest led then 1-0 thanks to a King goal on 31. As with the previous game, the second half was a moot point. We weren’t going to win and we didn’t. But, we didn’t have much time to dwell as we had a Tuesday CL game at the Crabbe versus Wisla. The game would be the last one in October.

Against Wisla, McLaughlin, Landrin, Mille, Robertson and Cunningham to15000 who crowded the Crabbe, it had to be one of the most boring games they’d ever seen. Neither team took a shot. But Dover was playing well in midfield, so I hoped the goals would some in the second half. The goals did come in the second half as Mitchell scored a brace and Miller added another for a convincing 3-0 win that would see Dover advance to the second Group stage. Of more concern to me was the home game against Arsenal on November 1. The game also set a Dover record or gate receipts.

For the Arsenal game, Aph, Murray, McMillan Barruad and McCann got the rotational nods. Batelle started at LB for the injured Guerin. Before the game, I was notified that Cunningham had shown up late for training the day before and was unfit. I reprimanded him and dropped him from the bench in favor of Liop. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw an average first half. Mitchell scored on 36 to give Dover the 1-0 lead, but Arsenal countered, drawing level late in the half. But Mitchell scored in the opening minutes of the second half and Irvine iced the game on the hour mark with goals to give Dover the 3-1 win. Next on the schedule was an away game at Tranmere in the League Cup 3rd Round.

On the 2nd, Rangers came in with a 5.25M offer for John Thompson. I accepted and the deal was struck. We would actually make a profit on this deal since Thompson had cost us 2.5M. The kid was probably the next great Scottish midfielder, but business is business.

Against Tranmere at Tranmere, McLaughlin, Aph, Miller, Robertson and Cunningham got the rotation starts. Meanwhile Abiven was the only regular to get the start. Backups got the nod everywhere else. It was a sloppy first half for Dover, but that was to be expected as many of the backups weren’t really in match shape. However, Robertson scored on 33 to give Dover the lead, but by halftime, Tranmere had battled back to tie the game 1-1 thanks to a Young goal. The second half was fun to watch as both teams took plenty of shots, but failed to land many. There was ample footage for a lowlights video if one wanted to pursue the project. The game went to penalties, which Tranmere won 8-7. The weekend would take us to Sunderland for a Prem game.

Against Sunderland, Aph, Murray, McMillan, Barruad and McCann took their turns, while Batelle held down the LB spit as all the other regulars got the nod. This was the first rainy game of the year and neither team looked prepared for the weather. As such the game was a midfield struggle as neither team managed to pull off attacks with any consistency. The second half continued to be a slippery affair as neither side could break the deadlock and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Next up was the final CL Stage 1 match at Madrid on Wednesday November 11.

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At Madrid, McLaughlin, Landrin, Miller, Robertson and Cunningham took their turns while Wilson filled in at LB. All other regulars got the start. The first half saw little action for the 50000 in Madrid to cheer about. Both teams weren’t really putting forth much of an effort as the positions in the group table had already been clinched. De La Souza scored on 67 to give Madrid the win. Dover was awarded 1.2M for making it into the CL Second Group Stage, where we would encounter Barcelona, Lazio and Nantes.
We had a week and a half off until our November 21st match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The lineup for the Chelsea game was Murray, Aph, McMillan, Barruad and McCann, who were joined by all the regulars. In an effort to confuse our opponents, I decided to have Dover come out attacking. The idea actually worked as McMillan and Foulon gave Dover a 2-0 lead inside of twenty minutes. We also managed to shut down the Chelsea offense and retained our lead at halftime. Ten minutes into the second half, McMillan scored his second goal of the day to give Dover the 3-0 lead and clinch the win. Chelsea managed to score a consolation goal late, and McCann banked in a shot after that to make the final Dover 4 Chelsea 1.

Even though Chelsea weren’t as good as they once were, it was still a good victory on the road. For the first time this season, I felt like maybe, just maybe, Dover could win the Prem title, with a bit of luck. Our next game would be on Tuesday as we opened CL Stage 2 with a game versus Nantes.

For Nantes, the lineup card read McLaughlin, Landrin, Irvine, Miller (in place of an injured Robertson) and Cunningham, along with every other regular. Nearly 13000 filled the Crabbe for this game. By halftime, Dover had a 1-0 lead thanks to a Miller goal. Mantes actually out-shot us for the game, but they couldn’t find a way around Abiven and so, we won 1-0. The last game of the November schedule, on the 28th would be an important home game against Premier leaders Everton.

The game against Everton might be the most important game of the first half as this was a chance to gain three points on them. Aph, Murray, McMillan, Robertson and McCann all got the nod. All the regulars got the nod as well. The usual 19000 watched a first half that was hardly a prize. The defense was tenacious and neither Dover nor Everton were hardly able to take a shot, let alone put it past the keeper. Finally, on 66, Foulon broke through the defense and potted a shot to give Dover the 1-0 win.

The December schedule started with midweek Prem game at home versus Hull on the 2nd.

The lineup for the Hull game was McLaughlin, Landrin, Miller, Barruad and Cunningham taking their turns along with all the usual regulars. The 19000 at the Crabbe watched Dover take a 1-0 lead at the half0hour mark when Miller slammed home a shot. Meanwhile, the defense stifled the Hull attack so that the visitors missed all their shots. The second half saw Foulon score early to give Dover the 2-0 lead. That lead held up easily and Dover grabbed another three points. The next game would be a weekend game at Leeds.

Before the Leeds game however, we had a bit of intrigue. Ian Thompson’s contract was due to expire next June. So, we offered him a new contract, which he duly looked at. Then, Arsenal came to him with a contract offer. If they signed him, Dover would be due 1.8M in compensation. In addition, we offered Hudderfield’s David McLaughlin a contract, which if accepted, would cost us 625K in compensation. Both deals, if accepted, would go through on December 15. The lineup for Leeds was Murray, Aph, McMillan, Robertson and McCann. Guerin got the day off, replaced by Batelle, but all the other regulars got the start. Dover jumped out to a 1-0 lead quickly as McCann rifled a shot into the net on 14. However, Leeds tied the game midway through the first half when Sparrow converted a penalty. And the score remained 1-1 at the break. The second half saw Leeds take a 2-1 lead on the hour. When Diawara was ejected for receiving two yellow cards, it was plainly obvious that this wasn’t going to be Dover’s day. Leeds tacked on a final goal to win the game 3-1. Next up was the midweek CL fixture, this one away at Barca. It would be the last CL game until February 17, 2010.

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I had gotten so wrapped up in managing Dover that I had failed to check Pascal’s blog lately. So, when I finally got some free time after doing my online Christmas shopping one night, I took a look. It seemed that West Ham was doing as inconsistently as ever. At the halfway point of their latest season, they had been in second, with a reasonable view of first place. Then, the season appeared to collapse, spiraling the club down to fifth. In addition, Pascal himself seemed to be going mad. He had my sympathy, since I had been at the club and now no longer worked there. I could understand his reaction to the chairman and the Alliance boys. They were enough to send any sane man to drink…or Bedlam. The thing I didn’t understand was why Pascal had become paranoid towards his players. After all, by this time, he had signed most of them. The only one, so far as I could tell, that I had signed was Denquin. If you can’t truest your own players to try their best, you shouldn’t be managing. I, at least, could rely on my players to play their best for me. Their best might not be the same every night, depending on circumstances, but if they tried, things would generally turn out well.

Against Barca, McLaughlin, Landrin, Miller, Barruad and Cunningham got the start alongside all the regulars. The first half, Dover managed to outplay Barca in front of 84500 at the Nou Camp. The score at halftime was 0-0, but Barca failed to put a shot on target while Dover shot 2-4. The second half was a nightmare as Barca poured on the pressure. In the end however, it was an own goal by McLaughlin that gave Barca the 1-0 win, which they did not deserve.

Now that the CL was done until February, we could shift our focus solely to the Prem. Next on the fixture list was a home game against Man U. A couple days before the evening after the game, young Stuart Duncan agreed to a contract with us. The young Scot reiterating that he loves playing for Dover. It didn’t hurt that the deal was a significant upgrade over his last one. When we hosted Man U that Saturday, the lineup was Murray, Aph, McMillan, Robertson and McCann in the rotation, plus Irvine, who was spelling Foulon, who needed the day off. The 19000 at the Crabbe braved the rain to watch a rather boring first half. Neither side took more than two shots. Dover made hay out of their shots when McCann scored at the end of the half to put the home side up 1-0 at the half. Man U went on the attack in the second half, but their shooting woes continued and they were unable to put the ball into the net. Dover and their supporters, held on for the 1-0 win. Next up was a midweek Prem fixture on December 18 at the Crabbe against the Hotspur.

The evening after the game, young Scot Stuart Duncan agreed to a youth contract and would join us from Newcastle on June 8, 2010. On Sunday the FA Cup Third Round was drawn. We drew none other than West Ham, at Upton no less. That was certainly going to be an interesting game. Against Tottenham, McLaughlin, Landrin, Miller, Barruad and Cunningham took their turns and were joined by the rest of the regulars. 19000 brave souls filled the Crabbe despite the nasty hail and the freezing weather. In the first half, Tottenham took the 1-0 lead early and kept it through halftime. Despite playing very well, Dover was unable to find the net in the second half and we lost 1-0. After the game, I told Barruad that he was going ton the transfer list and being busted to the reserves. The young Frenchman was just not cutting it. Irvine would now rotate with McMillan and Miller with Robertson. Next up was a weekend fixture at Birmingham on December 19.

The UM would be newly signed David McLaughlin.

The lineup for the game at Birmingham was a patchwork quilt. With Diawara and Thompson suspended and Guerin and McCann injured, there was no other way to describe the resulting lineup. Wilson, Murray, McLaughlin, Aph started on the backline, Batelle took over at DMC, McMillan and Robertson in midfield, Foulon at AMC and Mitchell and Liop at the forwards. This motley crew would be captained by McLaughlin. Dover managed to take the 1-0 lead early when Liop scored his first goal of the season on 19 to make the score 1-0. Birmingham had to burn two substitutions inside of a half-hour because of injuries. On 61, Foulon iced the win with a nice goal that made the score 2-0 Dover. We coasted from there, taking the three points that would bring us closer to the League leader.
Next up was a home game against Bolton on Wednesday December 23.

Against Bolton, Landrin, McLaughlin, Irvine, Miller and McCann got the rotation nods. With Guerin out until late January, Batelle got the nod at LB, but every other regular was fit to play. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw the usual dull first half, with the only excitement being that Landrin limped off the pitch just 10 minutes into the game. Other than that, it was a tight defensive game, with neither side getting a lot of chances. Needless to say, the score at the break was 0-0. The Dover offense revved up in the second half however and Irvine justified his entry into the rotation by scoring a brace to give Dover the 2-0 victory. Landrin would be out for three weeks with a twisted knee.

The Bolton win put Dover atop the Prem for the first time in my tenure as manager. Next up would be Charlton in three days, the day after Christmas. That was the real halfway point of the season, because after that game, we would have played 19 of 38 games. Against Charlton on Saturday afternoon, Murray, Aph, McMillan, Robertson and Cunningham got the rotation nods. Wilson drew the start at LB. Treguer got the nod for the DMC spot as Thompson was a tad unfit. 20500 filled the Crabbe for this one. They saw Charlton score first with a Knight strike on 22. However we came right back five minutes later when Foulon broke down the D and planted a shot into the net to tie the game 1-1. At the half, I replaced the struggling Treguer and hoped that would improve Dover’s performance. The second half was all Dover as we scored four goals in the first twenty minutes of the half to take a 5-1 lead. Cunningham scored his first two goals of the season, Diawara scored on a corner and Mitchell ended his scoring drought with a fine strike on 62. At that point, I called off the attack. Charlton scored late and Alves matched that even later to make the final 6-2 Dover.

retired_karamelkel

We only had two days to savor our last win before Southampton was due at the Crabbe on Monday December 28. We sealed a deal during those two days, signing veteran French right back Alain Fernandez from &lt;Monaco for 1.3M pounds. He had 73 caps for France and would be the first-team choice at right back from here on out. Landrin would find himself in the reserves to make room for the transfer. Of course, Fernandez was not prepared for Southampton so his debut would be delayed. Instead, Batelle and Wilson started at the fullback positions along with rotation men McLaughlin, Irvine, Miller and McCann. In addition, Liop started for an unfit Mitchell. The Crabbe faithful, all 19000 of them, came out in a drizzle to watch Southampton take the early lead on a Quinn goal. Southampton still held the lead going into the half. Liop had gotten hurt near the end of the first and had to be pulled. Dover was unable to equalize in the second half and list 1-0. The defeat dropped us to second in the Prem once more.


The New Year would start with an away contest at Watford on Saturday January 2. The end of December saw the monthly awards handed out. I won Manager of the Month, a nice little achievement. When the weekend fixture arrived, the lineup saw Aph, Murray, McMillan Robertson, and Cunningham alongside Wilson and the regulars. Dover quickly jumped ahead of Watford by taking the 1-0 lead after just four minutes of play as Michel caromed in a shot from the left. Watford did not panic and, by intermission, had drawn level 1-1. Nine minutes into the second half, Watford took the lead on a Ward goal. However, Miller managed to make the score 2-2 with fifteen minutes left. There the score remained as both sides took a single point from the encounter. Dover would now face Derby at home on January 5 in a midweek fixture.

Against Derby, Fernandez made his debut. He was joined in the lineup by McLaughlin, Irvine, Miller and McCann. Batelle started at LB and Alves started at AMC as Foulon got the day off. 19000 at the Crabbe sat through sleet and bitter weather to watch their home side miss the broad side of a barn with shots. Not that Derby did much better, but it was still a disappointing half even though neither team had scored by halftime. Dover did much better the second half as a struggling Alves was replaced. Fernandez and McLaughlin both scored roughly halfway through the half to give Dover the 2-0 victory. Saturday the 9th would be the day of the FA Cup Third Round at West Ham. Considering that I didn’t really care about the match, rotation players would be joined by backups for the match.

In the week leading up to the game, Abiven finally got his due from the media. I agreed, saying that the French goalie was a quality player. When we did travel to Upton Park on the weekend, the lineup was Murray, McMillan, Robertson, McCann and backups. West Ham jumped to a 2-0 lead inside of twenty minutes. A couple of Dover players were struggling and were lifted at the half. Foulon scored a consolation late, but we were never really in the game as West Ham won 2-1. If nothing else, we were through with domestic cups for the season and could now focus on the Prem.

With a week off until our next game, away at Tottenham on the weekend, I decided to change the midfield rotation, pairing Irvine with Robertson and McMillan with Miller. Also during the week, Barruad agreed to terms with Toulouse and would move there on May 30 for 475K. In addition, Landrin came to terms with Darlington and moved there for a fee of 375K. Against the Hotspur, the lineup was McLaughlin, Irvine, Robertson and Cunningham in the rotation joined by Wilson at LB and the rest of the regulars. The first half wasn’t much to speak of as both teams were shooting poorly. At the half, I pulled Foulon as he was having his worst game in a long while. With only one shot on target all day, Dover was lucky that they got a 0-0 draw out of the contest and got a point. Next was a match against Fulham on Sunday January 24 the following weekend.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Dover Athletic - Saturday 26th December 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2009/0 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Abiven, Olivier 30 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 7.60 17 Alves, Alessandro 5 (14) 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 6.74 32 Arphexad, Hugues 16 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 6.94 - Balfour, Stevie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 12 Barraud, Eric 11 (1) 1 0 0 1 3 0 1 6.58 30 Bataille, Laurent 8 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.73 - Brown, Colin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 7 Cunningham, Kevin 12 (3) 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.13 6 Diawara, Patrice 26 2 0 0 0 4 1 5 7.69 - Duriez, Philippe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Fischer, Pierre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 10 Foulon, Fabien 24 (1) 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.28 24 Gatumel, Hervé 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 3 Guérin, Nicolas 18 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 7.28 20 Hughes, Andrew 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 25 Irvine, James 6 (8) 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 7.29 - King, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Lacombe, Laurent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 2 Landrin, Fabrice 14 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 6.71 19 Llop, Guillaume 6 (5) 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 7.27 - McAlpine, Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 9 McCann, Andy 14 (5) 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.95 - McKenzie, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - McLaughlin, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 22 McLaughlin, Graeme 15 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 7.73 33 McMillan, Scott 16 (1) 3 0 1 (1) 6 3 0 2 6.94 - McPherson, Craig 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 28 Miller, John 14 (3) 3 0 0 5 0 0 1 6.94 16 Mitchell, Scott 26 6 0 1 (1) 3 0 0 3 7.31 5 Murray, Graeme 16 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 7.63 - Neil, Stephen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - O'Donnell, Mark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Orr, Graham - - - - - - - - ---- - Oumouri, Gilles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Paoli, Franck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Poueys, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- 46 Reid, John - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Renard, Frédéric 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Robert, Bruno - - - - - - - - ---- 4 Robertson, Stuart 16 (2) 3 0 0 2 2 0 1 7.11 - Soulas, Pierre - - - - - - - - ---- 8 Thomson, Ian 27 0 0 0 3 6 0 0 7.48 - Tissot, Jacques 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 21 Tréguer, Olivier 2 (4) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.33 - Trivino, Jean-Marc - - - - - - - - ---- - Troussier, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Vasseur, Daniel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Watson, David - - - - - - - - ---- 23 Wilson, Andy 5 (6) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.36 ************************************************** ********************************************** English Premier Division - Saturday 26th December 2009********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2009/0 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Dover 19 8 0 2 19 5 5 2 2 11 6 41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Everton 19 6 2 1 19 11 6 2 2 12 6 40 3rd Tottenham 19 9 0 1 19 5 2 3 4 11 15 36 4th Leeds 18 8 1 0 21 7 3 2 4 8 12 36 5th Man Utd 17 7 1 0 17 3 2 4 3 15 15 32 6th Nottm Forest 19 6 4 0 11 2 2 2 5 5 11 30 7th Liverpool 19 5 3 2 12 6 2 2 5 10 12 26 8th Watford 19 6 1 2 15 8 2 1 7 11 17 26 9th Southampton 19 4 3 2 10 7 2 4 4 10 13 25 10th Blackburn 19 4 5 1 9 7 2 2 5 5 7 25 11th Derby 17 4 1 2 9 7 2 4 4 9 11 23 12th Sunderland 18 3 5 1 10 7 1 5 3 5 11 22 13th Bolton 19 3 4 3 14 16 1 5 3 6 10 21 14th Charlton 17 3 4 1 14 11 2 1 6 6 13 20 15th Arsenal 17 2 4 2 13 12 2 2 5 14 18 18 16th Chelsea 18 3 2 4 13 15 2 1 6 13 21 18 17th Ipswich 19 4 3 3 11 11 0 3 6 6 16 18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Birmingham 18 3 4 2 10 9 0 3 6 3 13 16 19th Fulham 19 3 3 4 7 10 1 1 7 7 19 16 20th Hull 19 1 3 6 7 15 0 4 5 7 14 10 </pre>

retired_swmchick2006

Jeez... You think? Stupid English media, wouldn't recognize a quality player if he bit them on the as.... you were then.

:thup:

retired_karamelkel

During the middle of the week, I returned to my office after my lunch break to find my sectary standing beside my desk. Edna Kimble was an old biddy who was the best sectary I had ever seen. She was nothing to look at, but her organizational and people skills were legendary. When she summarized messages for me and did the office paperwork, it always contained to information I needed. She was also good with the press and assorted folks who wanted a slice of my time. Ordinarily she would spike notes on my desk and I would sort through the messages at the end of the day. Only family and law enforcement had the power to override my system, so I was surprised to find her standing at my desk.

“Mr. McIntosh, I found this on my desk when I returned from lunch.”

“It must be really noteworthy if you’re hand-delivering it to me”

Edna winced slightly at the pun and handed me the note. It read “Stupid English media, wouldn't recognize a quality player if he bit them on the as.... you were then.”

I looked at Edna and asked if she’d locked the door on her way out. She couldn’t remember and the door had been locked upon her return. She wondered what the note referred to and or, which player. I scratched my head and looked at the note again. Then I remembered that the mostly ignored Abiven had been touted in to press recently. The note was unsigned. When I reminded Edna about the Abiven article, she nodded and said that some fan most have sneaked into the office and left the note. Smiling with relief at the resolution of the crisis, she went off muttering about old-age and vowing to lock the door next time.

For my part, I slumped into my seat in front of the computer. I hadn’t told Edna that I had gone to lunch after her and had seen a small brown envelope on her desk as I left. Since the envelope had disappeared by my return and since there were no other messages, I assumed the note had been in the envelope. I also didn’t tell Edna that I had left the office 15 minutes after her and that she had indeed locked the door after her. I knew I had locked the door as I went out. So, that left one conclusion, the note had materialized out of thin air. Considering my experiences of two years earlier, that scenario seemed plausible enough.

I also thought I recognized the style of writing. Sure enough, a quick check of the internet confirmed my suspicions. The note sounded like it had been written by the original Pascal himself. Smiling at the absurdity of the idea, I pulled out a post-it pad and scrawled on the top sheet, “If the English media was ever bit in the ass by a quality player, the rest of the journalists would whine that their ass didn’t receive the honor of being bitten. Not a word would be said about the players’ accomplishments.” I ticked the note in an envelope and after Edna left for the day, put the envelope on the corner of her desk where I had seen the original. It was possible that there were more bizarre moments to come in this Dover saga and I figured I might as well play along.

Guerin finally returned to the starting lineup for the Fulham game where he joined Murray, McMillan, Miller and McCann plus all the other regulars. 19000 at the Crabbe saw Fulham take a 1-0 lead late in the half. Dover was dimply not playing well lately. Perhaps the lineups just needed time to gel. Dover managed to level the game on 73 thanks to an Irvine goal. We head onto the 1-1 draw despite amassing six yellow cards. Our next match was the following weekend. It would be a Saturday January 31 game at the Crabbe against Ipswich.

The week before the game was embroiled in stadium expansion controversy. U had met with the board to see if they were actually going to expand the stadium like they had promised last season. They said they weren’t. I threatened to quit. They still refused. I threatened to quit again. This time, the fans sense of outrage at the board boiled over and the directors agreed to a stadium expansion. This time, I hoped it was genuine, but no one would know until the summer. Later in the week, Diawara was praised in an article and Bordeaux promptly offered him a contract. Scrambling to catch up, I made a generous contract offer as well, but, considering that Diawara didn’t want a new contract, I didn’t have my hopes up. While all this intrigue was going on, the Ipswich game arrived somewhat unheralded. The lineup was McLaughlin, Irvine, Miller and Cunningham taking their rotation turns with all the regulars. 19000 fans at the Crabbe saw a determined Dover defense prevent Ipswich from taking a single shot. Meanwhile, though we did not score, our shots were finding the target by halftime. Even though the intermission score was 0-0, I was happy with my team’s performance. Knowles scored to give Ipswich the 1-0 lead as the second half opened. Irvine managed to level the game in the 70’s and we took yet another point in a game we should have won. The draws were starting to add up, and we were losing a lot of ground in the title race. The next game would be at Hull on February 6.

On February 1, Diawara accepted Bordeaux’s contract offer. He would join them on June 20 and Dover would get 2.8M out of the deal. Against Hull, I simply put the best performing eleven out on the pitch. We needed a Prem win and I wanted to shake up a few players. We outplayed Hull in the first half, but were unable to make any headway against them and the score remained tied at zero by halftime. Hull scored on the hour and held onto the 1-0 victory. The loss dropped us to 4th place and we were now 11 points behind league leaders Everton. Dover seemed to be in a tailspin and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. At any rate, I had a week to think of something before Dover traveled to Liverpool for a Prem match next weekend.

The week was spent trying to build cohesiveness in the new “best player” lineup. We would go back to the squad rotation system once the midweek games started up again. We got after Liverpool, firing off eleven shots in the first half, nine of which were on target. Out of all that, we got 2 goals from Cunningham and McLaughlin to take the 2-0 lead at halftime. Liverpool was just stunned. They hadn’t expected that kind of performance from Dover, and quite frankly, neither had I. Despite telling my players to ease off the gas and even after making a couple of “blowout” subs, Dover managed to tack on a couple more goals in the second half to win the game 4-0. Cunningham got his second brace of the season. Next up was the return to CL action, a home game versus Lazio.