retired_Genesis777

March 2006 (Part I)

Leigh RMI visited us for the midweek match that kicked off March, in a match we could reasonably hope to win. Therefore, the match started with them taking the lead on the quarter-hour mark. It took us a further 15 minutes before we were able to fight back and pull level, through Michael Atkinson. The match wore on, with us the better side but struggling to break through a stubborn defence. Losing red carded Matt Barker with just 7 minutes to go made Leigh RMI play completely defensively, and it seemed to be working as both sides headed into injury time level. Then, defender Steve Lee played a ball into defender Richard Jones, who scored giving us a deserved 2-1 victory.

A trip to the Giant Axe for a match against Lancaster was our next league fixture. It was a fairly even game, with us probably the better side. Either way, the match looked to be heading towards a goalless draw as we headed into the last few minutes. Then, Daniel Edgar crossed the ball into Craig Hillier, whose shot was parried by their keeper. But the rebound fell back to Hillier, who scored to net us a third last minute win in a row.

We had edged out a difficult Droylsden side earlier in the season, and we were confident of getting something from our home match against them. The match was a completely one-sided affair, even though it took until the 36th minute for Matthew Buckley to give us the lead. They then saw Lewis Marshall sent off, which seemed to signal for us to open the floodgates. It never happend as, despite constant pressure, we only managed a further two goals from Hillier and Edgar, which gave us a 3-0 victory and a decent lead at the top of the table.

Having won our last four games, we were hopeful of snatching something from York as they visited in the fist leg of the FA Trophy semi-final. It was a tightly fought game, with both sides having numerous opportunities to score and win. Neither side took them, but we could take a lot from matching conference side York in this 0-0 draw, especially since they hadn't got any away goals. A score draw in the return fixture was now all we needed.

My return to Leicestershire to play Hinckley was watched by a nearly empty stadium and those few who did turn up witnessed a close contest. They took the lead after just 9 minutes as Henk de Groot scored. Steve Rigby managed to put us back on level terms on half time, and had the match finished like that, it would have been a fair reflection. But "fair reflections" were for losers, so I ordered my team forward. It worked, as Chris Wilson scored from a good dribble to give us the victory to maintain our 100% league record in March. We learnt after the match that Rigby had twisted his ankle and would be out for about a month.

retired_Genesis777

After our victory over Hinckley, the Worcester team walked back to the changing rooms to celebrate another victory. Niw the league looked within our reach, with the FA Trophy also a distinct possibility. I had just gone to the toilet and was on my way back to the changing room when I heard a voice from the shadows.

'Hey, Brown,' said the voice.

I turned to where the voice had originated and saw a man leaning against a wall. 'What?' said I.

'Why did you slam the phone down on me?'

'What the hell are you talking about?'

'Almost two months ago, I phoned you with information that you had indicated interest in; you slammed the phone down on me.'

Memories flashed back of that and of the shooting in the Blue Lion, but I managed to force them to the back of my mind. 'It can't have been you who called me that first time.'

'What, of course-’ He broke off mid-sentence and the reason was obviously the footsteps of someone behind us walking closing in on us. 'Right, that doesn’t matter. You still interested in the info?'

'Yeah,' I replied quickly, deciding to play along with him.

'Right, then take this.' He handed me a small plastic card. 'If you want the information, then do what I say. On the first day of March, return to Leicester. That swipe card will allow you to access the upper echelons of Leicester City's management. Find my office and we shall then discuss terms.'

Before I could say anything in response, he fled. Behind me, the footsteps neared and then I heard the voice of my assistant manager/scribe, Colin Walker. 'Mathew, you coming back with us or not?'

'Yeah,' I replied, distracted, 'I'm coming.'

retired_Genesis777

[I]March (Part II)/April (Part I)[/B]

The return match at York for the second leg of the FA Trophy saw us being ruthlessly destroyed by a determined York side. They went ahead just before half-time and added a second just after half-time, through a penalty. That saw us lose 0-2 on the night and on aggregate. But it left us free to concentrate on the league, not that we really needed to with Hucknall a decent distance behind us.

Out of all cups, our next league match saw a visit by Nuneaton. Chris Wilson scored a 30-yard free kick to put us ahead after just 5 minutes and the match turned into a turgid affair, with few chances for wither side. The only other shot on target in the match was aimed at the goalkeeper by Gustavo Herrera, but it didn't matter.

To celebrate April Fool's Day, we travelled to Kettering in what would turn out to be a match of immense frustration, but which was more exciting than normal. The first half was actually dull, the main highlight being Darren Morgan giving us a 1-0 lead. He was also involved in the first major incident of the second half, when he earned himself his second yellow card. After that, we played with every man behind the ball, hoping to snatch the three points and it seemed to be working until Cakir Tayfun received his second yellow and Worcester's second red. All 9 remaining Worcester players stood deep in our half, hoofing the ball away if they saw it and it seemed to be working. But, in injury time, Kettering finally broke through and made it 1-1. Still, a draw with only 9 men was a good result.

Less than 200 people bothered to turn out to witness our match with Harrogate. Gustavo Herrera finally scored to put us ahead shortly after being booked, almost causing me to take him off. As it turned out, he didn't get sent off and Harrogate didn't need 90 minutes to score. They drew level after just 44. Late in the match, Herrera had another chance to score but was instead fouled. Kyle Brown missed the penalty to condemn us to a draw. Hucknall were closing in.

Hyde visited us next and when the scoreline sat as 1-1 after just 25 minutes it looked like it would be an exciting match. To cut it short, we didn’t add to Michael Atkinson’s brace and Hyde didn’t add to their goal. Instead the match became dull waste of time, finally emerging as our third consecutive 1-1 draw.

A dismal performance from my side saw us deservedly lose against Northwich, who'd had a poor season. They took the lead early, and never looked like losing it, before doubling the scoreline to 2-0. They tried to inflict further humiliation, but simply couldn’t score again.

That loss saw Hucknall take the league lead having played as many matches as us, for the first time since mid-season. They lay a point clear of us, but there were still four matches to go, including the season closer between us. But our ability to win seemed to have abandoned us, having not won in four games.

retired_Genesis777

April (Part II)/The Playoffs

The first of our 4 games saw us facing Worksop. The opening 20 minutes or so sore numerous chances, including a (wrongly) disallowed goal from Gustavo Herrera. Thereafter, the game tailed off, turning into a drab affair. Despite near-continual attacks for the last quarter-hour or so, we simply couldn't break the Worksop defence. Victory for Hucknall saw them lead us by 3 points, though with inferior goal difference (+25 to our +30)

Three matches remained, starting with two home matches against Vauxhall Motors, who'd recovered after a poor start and bottom of the league Stalybridge. Then we'd have the worst possible end to the season, an away match against the current leaders, Hucknall. We hadn't won since March and needed to win these three matches (unless Hucknall self-destructed, and I wasn't going to rely on that), or else we'd need to go through the lottery of the playoffs, and on current form, victory looked a long shot. To try and resurrect morale, I gave the entire team a day off. I really was clutching at straws...

Vauxhall Motors were the first opposition and I ordered the team to go out and play more attacking football than ever and the first half saw us dominate, yet still fail to score. At half time, news filtered through of Hucknall losing at Kettering, but I told my team to ignore it and make sure of scoring a damn goal. Daniel Edgar and Craig Hillier obliged, giving us a 2-0 victory. Kettering beating Hucknall by the same scoreline put us back atop the table and made me a lot happier (it lasted about 17 minutes.)

Since we were unable to win the league in a match against second-bottom Stalybridge, I rested Steve Lee, Tayfun and Nixon, all of whom were a yellow card away from a ban. Ben Clark played, despite being in the same position, only due to a Rigby injury (Rigby should be back to face Hucknall, or we could switch formations.) We adopted the same tactics as in the previous match, and it looked like once again we'd be heading in with Hucknall losing and us boring and drawing without scoring. Then Atkinson (who'd missed two easy chances), finally slotted a chance home. His inaccuracy kept up in the second half, but we still stumbled to the needed victory. Hucknall looked set to come back from 2-0 down at half time, but a last minute Hinckley goal saw that game finish 3-3. Not that it mattered in the slightest. Even if that goal hadn't gone in, our objective would have been the same: avoid defeat against Hucknall to claim the title. Defeat meant the play-offs. It was the biggest game of my career, or at least the part involving Worcester.

A dull first half saw us slightly the better and no goals. I told my team we were 45 minutes from Conference National-level football and sent them back out. The second half continued the first's spirit of anti-climax. At the climax, a Hucknall defender was sent off with eight minutes left. Even though we knew defeat was unlikely, we were still wary of attacking. Neither team scored in the end, but, had this been a normal league match, we probably would've won. The revelation that Hucknall's manager kept them locked in the changing room after the match brought only further joy, as we celebrated our glorious victory and promotion.


The Playoffs

Semi-finals (aggregate scores):
Hucknall p1-1 Moor Green
Stafford 3-1 Alferton

Final:
Stafford 1-2 Hucknall (so that last match of the season was pointless)

retired_Genesis777

Final Table & Other Stuff

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Worcester | | 42 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 51 | 18 | +33 | 86 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Hucknall | | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 62 | 39 | +23 | 84 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Stafford | | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 64 | 33 | +31 | 80 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Alfreton | | 42 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 62 | 44 | +18 | 67 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Moor Green | | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 67 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Barrow | | 42 | 20 | 4 | 18 | 63 | 59 | +4 | 64 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Hednesford | | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 63 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Northwich | | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 57 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Vauxhall Motors | | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 70 | -4 | 57 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Lancaster | | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 46 | 49 | -3 | 55 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Worksop | | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 57 | 60 | -3 | 54 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Kettering | | 42 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 53 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Nuneaton | | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 40 | 44 | -4 | 53 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Droylsden | | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 48 | 51 | -3 | 49 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Hinckley | | 42 | 9 | 19 | 14 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 46 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Harrogate | | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 36 | 47 | -11 | 46 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Gainsborough | | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 44 | 56 | -12 | 45 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Redditch | | 42 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 50 | 72 | -22 | 44 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Leigh RMI | | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 41 | 47 | -6 | 43 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Hyde | | 42 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 44 | 52 | -8 | 43 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Workington | | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 44 | 68 | -24 | 43 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Stalybridge | | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 30 | 53 | -23 | 42 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>


Promotion/Relegation

- Grays and Southport were relegated from the Conference; Stevenage and Morcambe were promoted to League 2.
- Weymouth won promotion from Conference South (Pld 42 Won 23 Drn 4 Lst 15 :eek: For 68 Ag 52 G.D +16 Pts. 73)
- Thurrock won the Confence South playoff on penalties and are also promoted to the conference.


Champions:
English Premier Division: 1st Arsenal 2nd Liverpool 3rd Man Utd 4th Chelsea 5th Spurs
English FA Cup: Man Utd p1-1 Southampton
English League Cup: Norwich 0-1 Middlesborough
English FA Trophy: York 3-0 Scarborough (Ha- we did better than that)
German First Division: 1st HSV 2nd Werder Bremen 3rd FC Bayern 4th Schalke 5th Stuttgart
German Cup: 1860 Munchen 0-2 FC Bayern
German League Cup: FC Bayern p1-1 Stuttgart
Italian Serie A: 1st Milan 2nd Juventus 3rd Inter 4th Roma 5th Sampdoria
Italian Cup: Lazio a1-1 Juventus (aggragte)
Spainish First Division: 1st Read Madrid 2nd Valencia 3rd Barcelona 4th Deportivo 5th Villareal
Spanish Cup: Athletic 1-2 Real Madrid
European Champions Cup: Inter 4-1 Juventus
EURO Cup: Roma e2-0 Osasuna

retired_Genesis777

May came and I found myself sitting in my office opposite one of the club's youngest players, David Harvey. 'I'm sorry, but the coaches feel you lack the talent to be worth keeping at the club,' I said.

'Right,' he mumbled, then hurriedly stood up, light reflecting off the tears in his eyes, and practically ran out of my office.

Once he'd gone I got up and shut the door, before returning to my desk. That was it; I had finished all of the work I had to do this season and there was nothing left to do until we got closer to the start of the new season. I felt guilty about not being able to keep David at the club, but I had been putting telling him off all season, knowing I had to do it.

I thought this while staring at a small plastic swipe card that sat face down on my desk. Today was May 1st, the day I had been told to go to Leicester. Every time I tried to stand up, pick up the card and leave, thoughts stopped me. What if it's a trap? What if you get caught? What if you go all the way to Leicester and find that it doesn’t work? Of course, this was just me trying to put back the inevitable, just like I had done with David.

I sat there for a long time and, not wanting to spend it staring at a card, I surfed the internet and red some of the rubbish that people put on there. All the time, though, the clock that filled the entire screen (apparently no-one had ever invented the digital clock), ticked onwards towards the 2nd of May. My mind grew more and more determined to go and more and more determined to stay.

'Let's go; what's the worst that can happen?
'Large scale death
'Second worst?
'Only me dying?
'Third worst?
'Er...
'Take that, Mr. Smart Guy; just go Matty Boy.
'Don't EVER call me Matty Boy again.'

It was probably a sign of madness that my mind seemed to enjoy arguing with itself, but considering I had been transported to a weird world/overlong dream/coma/over the top Big Brother rip-off/out of a weird dream, it was probably only a relatively minor sign. In the end, I did decide to go to Leicester at exactly 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

***

I arrived in Leicester and quickly found my way there, arriving at shortly after 6 o'clock. Back when I was Leicester manager (assuming that I ever was), most of the managerial stuff was done in Brown Tower. But since that had never been built, I guessed that it was done at the Walkers Stadium. Wondering why I hadn’t used the internet to research this, I entered.

I blindly ambled around, occasionally needing to use the card to get through some doors. I got a few weird looks, but nobody said anything and I saw no one I recognised. Then, I saw what I was looking for: through a window, I could see into someone's office. And in that office was the man who had given me a swipe card. I'd like to say I just walked up to him and found out what was going on. But that didn’t happen.

'Ah, Mathew. I heard you were hanging around today,' said a voice from down a corridor on my right. I turned and saw James Lloyd standing there, staring casually at me.

Anger got the better of me and I ran at him and, summoning all my strength knocked him straight to the floor with a punch. I stood there for a moment afterwards, unsure of whether to take my anger out on James further or to just run away as fast as possible. James simplified matters by pulling a gun out of his pocket and aiming it straight at me.

'I was hoping we could avoid this,' he said quietly and fired.

retired_Genesis777

I awoke, which was surprising enough. How many times should I have died now? At least three and that was just in the last year. Either way, I was now in a dark room, unable to see something and lying in what felt like a damp patch of floor. Worried over quite how that was, I tried to move to a non-dry part. It proved difficult and I found myself crushing and crunching things underfoot, and eventually gave up. I sat there for a while, miserable and desperate to know how I’d survived. James had definitely shot me and I'd felt something (I was guessing a bullet, but it could have been a small monkey, I suppose) hit me around where my heart was. Somehow, I doubt James had encouraged people to help me and, even more weirdly, it didn't even hurt too much.

I lost track of how long I sat there and was only brought to my senses when there was a sudden burst of light before me. Once my eyes had recovered (which took a while), I opened them once more and saw that I was facing a wall of a small, room that was probably underground. A foul-looking liquid covered the floor and various bugs were crawling around. Turning around, I saw James enter the room.

'Good morning,' he said with a sly sarcasm in his voice.

'It's morning?' I replied, groggy.

'Certainly seems so,' he said, flipping a light switch that lightened an uncovered bulb that hung in the centre of my cell. 'Anyway, I need to ask you some questions.'

'Well, I need to not give you any answers.'

'I figured you'd say that,' replied James. He pulled out a gun and fired a single shot above my head. Looking up, I saw a CCTV camera. 'Sorry about that,' James said to someone on the outside of the room, 'but we can't have any evidence, and for the same reason I need to shut this door.' James did so and then pulled out a key and locked the door.

'Right,' he said, turning to me, 'here's how it's going to work. I'm going to tell you what happened. Then, when I'm finished, you're going to tell me who let you in here. Agreed?'

‘Yes,’ I replied, knowing I had no intention of following through on this. In truth, I doubted James did either.

'Right then, I guess we could use some chairs.' He stood up and unlocked the door, then opened it letting in a massive, sudden gust of wind. 'Get me 2 chairs,' he said to a guard who was outside.

'Why?' was the response of the guard (I think; it was difficult to hear him correctly).

'I want something to beat him with.'

'Then why do you need two?'

'I want somewhere to sit while I'm beating him.'

'Then-'

'If you ask another question, I'm going to get your contract, tear it into shreds, write £50 on each scrap and hand them to you as your severance pay. Now, skedaddle.' James turned back to me. 'He’ll be back in a minute.'

We both stood there in an awkward silence, unable to find anything to say. Eventually, two wooden chairs were poked through the door. James snatched them and set them up in the middle of the room with them facing each other. I sat down in the one further from the door, but facing it, as James locked it once more. He sat in the other chair, then said, 'so you want to know the truth?'

retired_Genesis777

'What would you like to know first?'

I considered this for a moment and decided to go with the thing that was bugging me worst. 'How come I’m still alive?'

'Tranquillisers, Mathew.'

'Aha, I figured,’ I lied, ‘do I get to ask you more questions or is this it?'

'Ask as much as you like. Just remember what you have to do at the end.'

I swallowed a lump in my throat and decided to start at the beginning, up in my old Leicester office. 'Who was that thug you sent to attack me? I assume that was you, right?'

'What on earth are you talking about?' Was that bewilderment or was James acting?

'How do I know you're not lying?'

'Well, I'm not, but I suppose all you've got to confirm that is my word. I can't think why you wouldn't be willing to accept just that.'

'Quite. Anyway, if that wasn't you I'll move onto my next question. Just how did you make my fall from Brown Tower in Leicester finish in St. George's Lane in Worcester.'

'You fell from there?' James asked, seemingly astonished, 'how'd you survive?'

'I don't know... Anyway, answer the damn question, James.'

'Well, it’s quite simple really. Not that I understand it too well.'

'Could you fetch someone who does?'

'Nope. The only guy who knows is dead.'

'Where? When?'

'The Blue Lion, Worcester, towards the end of last year. I believe you were there.' James should have said it with an arrogant, sly humour in his voice and a half-smile creeping up his face just like the way I’d imagined him confessing to villainy in my nightmares. Instead, he looked solemn and seemed to speak with a sad resolve.

I sat in a quasi-astonished state for a moment. I wasn't shocked it had been James, but there was something wrong about the way he was telling me. 'How'd you find out he called me, anyway?' I said once I'd recovered.

'Tapped phones, I think.' He sighed, then continued, 'I suppose you should know this too. That man who died in the Blue Lion wasn't the man who phoned you. He was a loose cannon: someone who'd messed up on his job and needed dealing with. We saw the opportunity to get rid of him and get hopes of returning to Leicester out of your head. And so we decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. We persuaded him to phone you acting like the real caller and get you to go to the Blue Lion. There he was to tell you something - I think it was "keep doing what you're doing and you'll find yourself with some lovely cement shoes" or some clichéd crap, not that it matters. We told him we'd let him off the hook if he did it, but we didn't, as you know.'

retired_Genesis777

We sat in silence for a moment, as James sat idle in his chair while I stared angrily over him.

Trying to control my temper and avoiding simply punching him now, I decided to move back to the subject at hand. 'So, why did you do this James?'

James took a moment to snap out of a trance at the sound of his name. 'Yeah, right,' he muttered as he got to his feet. 'The basic reason we did this was to get money. Also, we didn't really like you. But, mainly, it was the money.'

'And how do you make money out of this?'

'Well, you see the original plan was to get the old chairman to sack you. Then we skip along, buy the club off the old guy, who'll now be viewed as insane having fired you a few hours after you win the champion's league and offer you your job back.'

'That still doesn’t really make sense.'

'Will you shut up, you fool?' James snapped. 'I'm getting to that. Anyway, we offer you the job at a tenner a week, which we're willing to bet you wouldn't take.'

'I might-' I muttered.

'No, you wouldn't,' James snarled with startling control over his disdain. 'Anyway, once you snub us we hire another manager and get him to do what we want to take Leicester to the top of world football.'

'You know, I was just in the middle of doing that just the other day-'

'If you don't shut up, I'm going to knock you unconscious and then continue taling. And I'm not going to repeat myself. Anyway, the plan kind of fell through when what’s-his-name refused to sack you. And so we turned to Plan B. Basically, we decided to repeat exactly what you had done at Leicester from the very beginning: the same signings, same sackings, same random egotism, same wearing of a cape to FA Cup matches.'

'I'd forgotten about that. Maybe I should start wearing it again.'

'One more word,' James growled. 'Anyway, the obvious problem with that was that you'd inconsiderately already done it and that it was a few year after you started. So we needed to go back to before you started and hence Plan B was formed.'

Once he'd stared at me for a moment, trying to dare me into speech, he continued. 'Anyway, we were initially going to travel back in time, but that raised all sorts of questions about the sheer impossibility of us copying something you did, which of course you would never have done.'

'Damn causality.'

He let that one go; I don't think he understood it. 'Anyway, through random processes involving throwing things at physicists, we managed to come up with a breakthrough that allowed us to move through dimensions. I won't go into the specifics, because I don't understand them. You, therefore, will definitely not be able to understand them, Mathew. Anyway, the theory was that we would go to a universe where time moved at a slightly slower rate so that we would arrive shortly before you took the job. Then we'd take the job, which wouldn't be hard since you had no qualifications. hence if we turned up with a degree in blinking saying we'd make decisions based on tealeaves, we'd probably get the job before you. That said, we brought the club, so it was guaranteed.

'However, as I already told you, the physicist who was responsible screwed up. Firstly, he took us to a universe where you seem to apparently not exist. We could certainly live with that. However, he also took us to a universe that was a year after when you started as Leicester manager. That was inconvenient, but, since you didn't buy anyone who retired, we got over it. However, the inexcusable thing was, that he took us to a weird world where none of the names are familiar. Barry Welch, Alain Ateba, Luca Biundo. These were the best players in world football. And who were they? Nobodies. Even at lowly Leicester, there was no familiarity. But, we set about our plan, hoping we could live with it. We had to get rid of Phillip though: his screw-up had cost us too much.’

I sat in silence for a moment. 'You expect me to believe this crap?'

'Believe what you want to believe. It won't change anything. Anyway, now that I've told you the truth, I believe there is the little matter of the information you promised me.'

'Ah, about that-'

'I figured,' James replied and pulled out his gun once again. He swiftly kicked me from my chair, tipping me over the back of it. I rolled backwards and my head hit the wall with a crack. Then, as I lay soothing it with a hand, James moved over me, covering my entire field of vision as he aimed his pistol straight at me. 'Who was it, Mathew?'

I'd like to say I lay there, valiantly trying to fight for what was right. But I didn't. 'I don't know,' I whimpered, 'but it was his office I was heading to when you shot me.'

'Right,' James muttered and holstered his pistol. I'm guessing he then left, but as I fell unconscious, I don't really know.

***

'Brown gave you up.'

'Hardly surprising.'

'I just thought I'd better let you know, Adam. You've got about half an hour to get out of the building, then they're going to find out.'

'Right. Bye.'

'Bye,' James muttered into his mobile, then left the toilets. He headed back to a seat near my sell and checked his watch. 'I'm just giving him a bit to sleep off his unconsciousness,' he explained to a nearby guard.

***

I awoke to find James shaking me. 'Right you, you're going to tell me who it was,' he screamed. Then, as his voice still echoed around the room, he whispered in my ear, 'shout that it was Adam?'

'Who?' I muttered as he once again shouted angrily. 'Fine,' I shouted, sensing that it seemed wise, 'it was Adam.'

'Right,' James replied, 'you're free to go as soon as you can walk.' And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving the door wide open behind him.

retired_Genesis777

I spent the summer looking for players (that is to say I said ‘Shoo, go find someone decent,’ to my scouts while I watched the World Cup on TV. Even though France hadn’t qualified it was quite good. The only surprise early-exiters were Argentina, who went out in the group stages after losing to Australia and drawing with Iran. Australia then knocked England out in the 2nd round, costing Swedish manager Stefan Olofsson his job. Spain were the eventual winners, beating Ghana on penalties in the final. Cameroon beat Germany 4-0 in the 3rd place playoff.)

At some point during the summer, Worcester City accepted the creeping ogre that was professionalism was a necessary evil in the modern game, just 121 years after the FA had done likewise. This complicated matters, but once my scouting, sacking, randomised kicking and selling was finished the squad liked up like this:


Squad for the 2006/07 Season

(English and uncapped unless stated otherwise; last year's stats in brackets.)


Goalkeepers

Simon Gould 21years (58 apps, 37 cln sheets, 27 con, 4asts, 2MoMs) Utter brilliance last season and will be first choice goalkeeper. With him in our side, we should be able to avoid relegation.

Andy Palmer 20years I said I'd buy a third goalkeeper. It just took me a while to find a half-decent one. The first of the hundred or so released premiership/championship players we purchased; in his case the club was Blackburn. Picked as much for his name (which newspapers will love) and our need for more cover as for his quality.

Mike Cross 31years (0 apps) Gould's backup for last season and, as it transpired, he was completely unneeded. I'd like to keep him, if only for the insurance, but his contract's close to expiration and he wants to leave.


Defenders

Richard Jones SW, D RC 23years (36 (7) apps, 1 gl, 1 MoM) A useful central defender, though I'm not certain about his long-term Worcester future.

Chris Holt D R 34years (41 (4) apps, 2 gls, 6 asts, 3 MoMs) Very god fullback, who hopefully will continue the form that saw him named supporter's player of the year. Likely to see out his career in a Worcester shirt.

Mark Marshall D RC 19years (18 (7) apps, 2 asts, 2 MoMs) Holt's backup last season and he should only get better. Though with a new rigt-back joining, he may be edged out of the squad.

Neil Davis D L 31years (26 (7) apps, 2 asts) Was quite good last year and if he continues in this vein, he will maintain his role.

Steve Lee D C, ST 24years (40 (3) apps, 1 ast, 4 MoMs) A good player who is likely to become a key Worcester player in a few years. Has never played as a striker for me, though he can play there.

Steve McDonald D/M LC 20years (40 (5) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 1 MoM) Far too good for a 20-year old and he was Steve Lee's partner at the back last year. New players may challenge this.

Cakir Tayfun D/M L turkish 28years (31 (5) apps, 3 gls, 2 asts, 3 MoMs) Davis' backup at left-back, though I suspect he's going to find new signing Josh Taylor challenging for his role. May not be here next year.

Rob Lyons D L 17years Not every new purchase was a reject from a top side. This guy came from Hucknall Reserves on a bosman to fill out our reserves (we finally get to have a reserve side. Yippee!).

James Daly D C 19years Man U reject. Good defender.

Derek Gallager D RC 19years A free transfer whose not a premier-/champion- ship reject. He's a Barnsley reject. Should be able to play well at either right back and centre-back.

Josh Taylor D L 18years Free Transfer from someone or other. Spent last year on loan at Preston and Portsmouth and still didn't play. He's good enough for the likes of us, though.

Darren White D C 18years Promising Portsmouth reject who's not currently good enough. Will spend season in reserves/being loaned out.


Midfielders

Kyle Brown DM 24years (35 (6) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 2 MoMs) Arguably our best player bar Edgar and Gould last season. Will keep his role as a result.

Styinous Bouzis DM, AM C Greek 18years (29 (7) apps, 4 asts, 2 MoMs) Competent, young midfielder who should become a very good player for this level. May be edged out of the squad this season.

Tom Lee M C 20years (38 (6) apps, 6 gls, 3 asts, 3 MoMs) With Edgar gone, Tom Lee takes the role of best player. He's far too good for us and will be key if we can work a miracle and avoid relegation.

Scott Nixon M C 23years (38 (3) apps, 2 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM) Played extremely well last year and is becoming a good player.

Ben Clark AM R 30years (35 (4) apps, 3 gls, 7 asts, 1 MoM) Was a decent winger last year but there's quite a bit of competition for his position. That said, he does provide much-needed experience to the squad.

Steven Rigby AM RC 18years (18 (2) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts) I'm somewhat unconvinced about Steven Rigby's potential. However, for now, he's one of the best right wingers in the squad.

Darren Morgan AM R, ST 21years (9 (26) apps, 1 gl, 3 asts) Used mainly from the bench last season for his versitility more than anything. I doubt he'll be here at the end of the season, though.

Chris Wilson i[]AM L 23years (8 apps, 2 gls, 1 ast)[/i] With Edgar no longer at the club, Chris is going to have to step up a level. I'm not convinced he can. Back-up left winger for the time being.

Michael Parry M C 21years £1K singing from AFC Telford. Likely to be a good player in the future and will rot in the reserves until he is.

Carl Peters M C 21years £1K from Ashton Utd. See Perry, though Peters is better.

Ian Chandler AM L 19years Free Transfer See Vaughn. In his case it was Chelsea. Edgar's replacement, though he's woeful in comparison. Probably has the most potential of any of my new signings.

Matt Czyzyk M C Polish 19years Reject from some other side. Promising player (for lower leagues).

Vegard Engseth Baardson DM Norwegian 18years New £2K signing from Grue whose a quality defensive midfielder who's the only decent player from a wasted scouting tour of Norway (but, meh, we made a profit of £250K last season).

Dean Marshall AM RL 18years Bosman signing from Moor Green. Backup to the first side, brought mainly for his ability to play on either wing. Will spend most of the season sitting next to me, on the bench.

Phil Fuller M R 19years Bosman from Luton. Promising player who should get a few games.

David Tate M L 19years (0 apps) Still a promising youth player, and since we finally have a reserve team, that just means he'll finally have to earn his wages.

Neil Foster M L 22years (0 apps) Still a promising youth player, and since we finally have a reserve team, that just means he'll finally have to earn his wages. (Copy and paste is brilliant).


Forwards

Michael Atkinson ST 27years (10 (3) apps, 5 gls, 1 ast, 1 MoM) Proved useful when called upon, though whether he has the talent for the conference remains to be seen.

Matthew Buckley ST 20years (20 apps, 10 gls, 5 asts) A good scoring record, but I always got the feeling that Buckley didn't add as much to the side as he should.

Gustavo Herrera ST Argentinean 35years (9 (1) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts) Awful player. The only thing he adds to the side is experience. That said, he probably looks worse than he is due to perennial unluckiness.

Ian Vaughn ST 18years Spurs reject who will be good in the future (maybe), but who injured his hip a few days after he was purchased.

Paul Evans ST 18years Free Transfer from Cardiff (probably) who should score a lot (which will probably offend last season's players).

Steve Sullivan ST 25years (0 apps) He's still at the club, he's still not going to play and he's still going to leave (his contract's finished in June, so he won't be here one way or another).



Players Released/Sold during the summer

David Harvey SW, D RC, 21years Released
A player who simply wasn't progressing at an acceptable rate and so was released to free up wage money. He wound up playing for Staines.

Darren Baker DM, 21years £1K to Yate
He occasionally warmed the bench and was a backup player last season. Almost certainly not good enough for conference football.

Gary Grant WB R, AM RC, 26years Free transfer to Accrington
Conference side Accrington took Grant, though there was no obvious reason to do so. He clearly was going to struggle at this level.

Gareth King D/AM R, 28years 25% sell-on fee to Forest Green
Pretty much the same as Grant.

Daniel Edgar AM L, ST, canadian 3 caps/0 goals 17years (19 (1) apps, 4 gls, 3 asts, 2MoMs) Released
With the government unwilling to renew Edgar's work permit, we were forced to release the best player in our squad. He wound up at spanish side Badalona