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When I accepted the job as manager of Darlington, chairman George Houghton made it clear that I was there to do one thing and one thing only - to prevent relegation. I was given a contract that only covered the rest of the season, but Houghton promised me a longer one should I survive this first test.
I was given a decent budget for wages and transfers. Because of this, and the fact that most people at the club had less than a year left on their contract, I decided to give everyone a fair chance to show their worth. Nobody was transfer listed or sacked.
The backroom staff was adequate, but I decided to hire a second scout to make it easier to find new players. After all, my own knowledge of English lower league football was not all that convincing.
The playing squad also seemed competent. It was certainly better than the league position would indicate. That being said, the only two players I was familiar with were Julian Joachim and Alun Armstrong, who both have Premier League experience. Both of them had been transfer listed by the previous manager. There was no real weakness in the squad, except for the fact that both our senior team goalkeepers were injured. Luckily this was just a short term problem as neither injury was serious. The transfer window had closed anyway, so there was no hurry when it came to new signings.
As far as tactics go, I decided to use my personal favourite, 5-3-2. Since the team would most likely be viewed as the underdogs in every match for a while, I thought that a counter attack mentality would work quite well.
I was thrown right into things as we were to play two matches during my first week in charge.
Darlington 0 - 0 Hereford (Tue 26th Sep 06)
Team: Nathan Wright; Danny Adams, Darren Holloway, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; David Rowson, Brian Close, Clark Keltie (c); Julian Joachim, Simon Johnson
You could tell that the team was not quite comfortable with their new formation. Hereford was the better team, although both sides had their chances. Neither managed to convert them, though, so the match ended in a goalless draw. The bad news was that Close and Johnson were both injured in this match.
Grimsby 1 - 0 Darlington (Sat 30th Sep 06)
Team: Nathan Wright; Danny Adams, Darren Holloway, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Phil Stamp, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
This match was much like the first one, except that they managed to score one this time and we had only one player injured (Danny Adams).
After a slightly hectic first week, I now had time to take a closer look at things. The biggest concern was of course that the team hadn't scored any goals. I decided to only make minor tactical tweaks, though, as the players were still getting used to this formation.
Darlington 2 - 0 Barnet (Sat 7th Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Darren Holloway, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Phil Stamp, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
The match got off to a wonderful start as Joachim scored in less than half a minute. Some exciting end to end action followed until the 74th minute when Joachim made it 2-0. We were slightly better, but Barnet put up a good fight for most of the game.
With improved confidence among the players, the trip to Stockport no longer seemed so daunting.
Stockport 0 - 3 Darlington (Sat 14th Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Darren Holloway, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Phil Stamp, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
This time it took Joachim over a minute to score the first goal. Stockport were reduced to ten men 19 minutes into the game. It was a fairly one sided affair after that. Stockport only managed to stay in the game thanks to poor finishing on our part. It wasn't until the 86th minute that Joachim made it 2-0. Substitute Anthony Peacock made it three in injury time in his first appearance of the season. Interestingly, Stockport actually had more possession of the ball than we did despite our domination. I guess such things happen when you rely a lot on counter attacks.
The team has now gotten more points in the last two games than it did in the previous twelve. We are now only three points behins 22nd placed Accrington and if the team can keep up the good form, avoiding relegation shouldn't be too difficult. There are over 30 matches still to play, though, so a lot can change before the end of the season.
Our biggest test to date was up next when we played League One side Doncaster in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. It's a rather pointless competition, but I still fielded my best team.
Darlington 0 - 2 Doncaster (Johnstone's Pain Trophy 1st Rnd, Tue 17th Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, David Duke; Phil Stamp, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
Doncaster completely outclassed us and fully deserved to win. Their midfield in particular was superb in this match.
Accrington 1 - 0 Darlington (Sat 21st Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
The team was clearly still affected by the midweek beating and didn't display the same strength it showed in the matches prior to it. Accrington were the better team, but not by much. Conlon and Adams both got injured in the first half, leaving us with just one sub for the second. Accrington finally got their goal around the 70 minute mark. Brian Close completed our poor display by getting sent off ten minutes before the end.
Interesting stat from the match: Darlington shots off target 11, Darlington shos on target 0. After this, I ordered my forwards to stop attempting so many long shots.
Darlington 0 - 1 Mansfield (Sat 28th Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; David Rawson, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Alun Armstrong, Julian Joachim
This match was very much like the previous one, except that we got the red card after just 16 minutes. This time it was Danny Adams who had to leave the field. We still managed to keep the score even for the first half. Mansfield got the only goal of the game shortly after the break and we never looked like equalising.
I had been trying zonal marking for a couple of games, but it obviously didn't work. I decided to give it up and return to man marking for the next game.
Darlington 2 - 0 Swindon (Sat 4th Nov 06)
Team: Sam Russell; David Duke, Michael Goodwin, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Clark Keltie (c), Tony Stokes, Brian Close; Alun Armstrong, Julian Joachim
The team returned in style to winning ways in this match where everybody did their part. Armstrong gave us the lead after 32 minutes. A second half own goal by Swindon's Jerel Ifil made it 2-0. There was some controversy close to the end. Ifil's bad luck continued when he got a suspect red card. A frustrated Michael Pook, who had been on the field for just a few minutes, lost the plot and headbutted Keltie. I guess manager Dennis Wise has influnced his team in more ways than one. With a two man advantage for us, the last ten minutes were a mere formality. We were perhaps a bit lucky in this match, not least because we got two goals despite having just one shot on goal.
Swansea 1 - 0 Darlington (FA Cup 1st Rnd, Sat 11th Oct 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, David Duke; Kalu N'Goma, Clark Keltie (c), Brian Close; Alun Armstrong, Julian Joachim
When the home team is second in League One and the away second from last in League Two, the outset is not exactly even. None of our players disappointed, as we performed at our own level. That was simply not enough against a team like Swansea. They got their goal early in the second half.
Kristian O'Leary played for Swansea in this match. He's one player that my scouts have recommended as a potential signing. He performed well in this match and should join us unless money becomes an obstacle. I've made some enquiries about other players as well, but the only done deal so far is for Paul Jones. The Welshman will join us for the second half of the season on a free transfer. He's clearly past his best, but we currently have just one goalkeeper who is ready for this level. Anyway, our cup games are over for this season. There are 29 games left and we're four points behind 22nd placed Chester. We have made some progress, though, as we are no longer bottom of the table.
Some people don't appreciate the counter attacking style of football. They believe that a free flowing passing game is the only correct way to play. The problem is that we're a team fighting against relegation in League Two. We are in no position to sign players like Pavel Nedved. Counter attacking has brought us the results we need, anyway, so that's what I'll be sticking with.
Some more transfers were agreed on. In addition to Jones and O'Leary, Paul Warne and Robert Garrett were also set to join us from the start of January. This would push us slightly over the wage budget. Unfortunately, no interest was shown in any of our players, so reducing the wage bill wouldn't be easy. It looked like I would have to wait until the end of the season, when many of our players' contracts were to end.
Wrexham 1 - 2 Darlington (Sat 18th Nov 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Alun Armstrong, Julian Joachim
We got the lead after 21 minutes with a goal from Julian Joachim. Wrexham took control of the game after that, but we defended rigorously. They attacked time and time again, but failed to seriously threaten our goal. That is, until the 82th minute. It looked like our fight had been in vain after they scored, but then Alun Armstrong restored our lead from a quick counter on the 89th minute. You could see the disappointment on the Wrexham players' faces and they didn't manage to accomplish anything during the last remaining minutes.
Darlington 0 - 0 Wycombe (Sat 25th Nov 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
I feel sorry for anyone who paid to see this. The football was dire and neither side was even close to scoring.
I was surprised to find out that I was runner up for manager of the month in November. The award went to Wycombe's Paul Lambert. The world player of the year was also awarded at the same time. Thierry Henry won it with David Villa and Ronaldinho getting second and third place respectively.
Since we were already out of the FA Cup, we had a free weekend for the first time since I took over. There was no time to waste, though, as two matches awaited us the following week.
Boston Utd 1 - 0 Darlington (Tue 5th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Julian Joachim
Our good form once again came to a sudden stop. Boston got the goal after 34 minutes and we never really looked like equalising. They only scored because of a horrible blunder from Sam Russell, though, so a draw wouldn't have been an unresonable result either. Joachim hurt his ankle just before half time, leaving him unavailable for at least a month.
The media speculated that Karl Appleton would take Joachim's place in the first team. That was rather odd, since Appleton hadn't even made the bench so far. I decided to give another young forward the chance instead. Our next game would be against rivals Hartlepool, so the media was following us more closely than usual. Hartlepool were second in the league, but I knew that we could beat them if the players just managed to perform to their full potential.
Darlington 3 - 1 Hartlepool (Sat 9th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Simon Johnson
The team did exactly what I had wanted and we had the upper hand right from the start. We got a controversial penalty after 29 minutes and Johnson converted it. Joey Hutchinson rounded up a brilliant first half by making it 2-0 five minutes before the break. Hartlepool returned for the second half as a new team. It only took them a few minutes to get one goal back. The visitors continued to pressure us after that, but our defending was spot on once again. The game was already into injury time, when we got a free kick from just outside the area. Keltie stepped up and fired it straight into the net to seal a great victory for us.
As pleasing as it was to win against our local rivals, the sad thruth is that we are still in 23rd place. However, there is now only one point seperating us from 22nd placed Hereford. In fact, the league has evened out all over. There is just 14 points between first and last place, as we're approaching the halfway mark of the season.
The end of the year is always a busy time in English football and this year is no exception. We play several matches in a short time and this could turn out to be a crucial period in our fight against relegation. The team has averaged one point per game this season, which would mean 46 points at the end. That might not be enough. On the other hand, we've gotten 1.5 points per game after I took over. If we can keep that pace, then we'll have about 58 points come the end of the season. I can't see us getting relegated with such a tally.
Alun Armstron, who had been on a rolling contract, decided to leave the club at this time. It was not a huge loss, but he could still have been a useful player to us.
Torquay 3 - 0 Darlington (Sat 16th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Barry Conlon, Simon Johnson
Torquay were the better team in this match, but not by the margin that the result might indicate. Our central defenders had a bad day, allowing Torquay to score twice in the first 25 minutes. The home side played sensible after that and left little room for our attacks. Barry Conlon was injured early in the second half and Torquay scored the third goal soon after. After the match, chairman Houghton told me he was unhappy with the result, but in my opinion this was not our worst performance so far.
With Joachim and Conlon both injured, we were getting short on options up front. Ville Väisänen was recovering from his second consequtive injury. Under these circumstances I decided it was better to field him right away, even though he wasn't fully fit yet.
Darlington 1 - 0 Peterborough (Sat 23th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
We were the team in control here for a change and the opponent was resorting to counter attacks. Despite several scoring chances for both sides, the first half ended goalless. Peterborough's Danny Crow got sent off for a foul inside the area a couple of minutes into the second half, but Carlos Logan missed the penalty. We really started to push for a goal with our one man advantage, but it wasn't until the 78th minutes that we finally succeeded. Danny Adams was the surprise scorer with his first goal for Darlington and only the third one in his entire professional career. Both sides played well and Peterborough had nothing to be ashamed of.
Darlington 1 - 2 Shrewsbury (Tue 26th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Darren Holloway, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
Christmas is the time of giving and referee Stuart Wilson gifted two penalties in this match, one to each side. Shrewsbury got their right at the start, and then took a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes. We slowly got back into the game and got our penalty soon after the half time break. Johnson had no problems scoring. We turned up the pressure after that, but Shrewsbury defended well and stopped out attacks time after time. In the end, Shrewsbury fully deserved the win. They are a better side than their current midtable position would indicate and I expect them to be fighting for promotion this season.
Bristol Rovers 1 - 0 Darlington (Sat 30th Dec 06)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst, Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Brian Close, Tony Stokes, Clark Keltie (c); Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
This was one of the dullest games of the season. The home side had the slight edge with a first half goal and a second half missed penalty. In thruth, though, a draw would have been as justified as the home win.
At the end of the year, we had slumped back to last place in the league and the chairman was not pleased. Our four new signings arrived in time for the next game and I was hoping that they would bring us back on the right track.
Macclesfield 0 - 2 Darlington (Mon 1st Jan 07)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Patrick Collins, Karl Broadhurst (c), David Duke; Robert Garrett, Kristian O'Leary, Tony Stokes; Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
Captain Clark Keltie was serving a suspension and this gave me the opportunity to try out two of our new players right away. The first half was quite uneventful until injury time, when Hutchinson gave us the lead. The Macclesfield players were perhaps a bit tired, as they never really got into the game properly. Kristian O'Leary scored at the 77th minute in his debute for us and the rest of the game was mostly spent waiting for the final whistle. We outclassed Macclesfield in this match and the margin could have been even bigger if we had pressed for additional goals.
MK Dons, our scheduled opponent for next weekend, is busy with cup games, so we have a short winter break. Our next game is 12 days from now. We are still in 23rd position in the league, two points behind Hereford. There are 20 rounds to go and I am still confident that we will survive.
Let's take a look at what's happening elsewhere in the world of football.
Ronaldinho won the Footballer of the Year award for the third time in a row. Thirry Henry and David Villa took the other top places.
There is not much going on in international football. The qualification for this year's Asian Nations Cup has been completed and the following teams will take part in the tournament: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam (all four are hosts), Australia, Bahrain, China PR, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. The highlights of the year, however, will be the Confederations Cup and Copa América which will both be held in the summer.
Barcelona won both the Club World Championship and the European Super Cup. The European cups have reached the knock out stages and the biggest surprise so far is that Arsenal, Roma and Inter all finished third in their CL groups and now continue in the UEFA Cup. Brøndby (DEN), Iraklis (GRE), Litex (BUL) and Trabzonspor (TUR) are the smaller teams still left in the UEFA Cup.
Man Utd lead the English Premier Leauge, having held that position since day one. Chelsea are five points behind with one game in hand. Liverpool are currently 4th and Arsenal 7th. Bolton, Watford and Sheff Utd make up the bottom three, but nothing has been decided yet. Ipswich top the Championship and Crewe League One. St. Albans is the only non-league team left in the FA Cup ahead of the third round, where they will play West Ham. The semi finals of the League Cup are Wigan v Portsmouth and Chelsea v Liverpool.
FC Haka won the Finnish league in style, while Honka were relegated. TP-47 and RoPS both return to the top division after taking the top two places in the first division. VPS won the cup. FC Inter striker Tomi Petrescu was selected Player of the Year. HJK manager Keith Armstrong was linked to Norwich when they changed manager, but it turned out to be nothing more than a rumour.
Lyon is top of the league in France, FC Bayern in Germany, Ajax in Holland and Inter in Italy. Malmö FF won the Swedish championship, while Kalmar FF, GAIS and Gefle were relegated. Helsingborg's Jamaican striker Luton Shelton, who has also become a regular for his national team, was awarded as the best player of the year.
Finally, here are the current stats for Darlington (including the games under Hodgson, unused players not listed) as well as the League Two table.
I'm now about half way through my one season project, and it's hard to tell if I've actually made any progress. We're certainly closer to avoiding relegation, but has the team gotten any better? O'Leary and Garrett seem to have been decent enough signings, and I'm sure Paul Jones is still good enough to be our backup keeper. When I agreed to sign him, I even thought he might challenge Russell for first choice. He's only played in four games this season, though, and it will take some time for him to get back into full fitness.
Darlington 1 - 2 Rochdale (Sat 13th Jan 07)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst (c), Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Robert Garrett, Kristian O'Leary, Tony Stokes; Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
As always seems to be the case, our strong performance in the previous game was followed by a weak one today. Johnson gave us the lead after 9 minutes, but Rochdale quickly equalised. The visitors were mostly in charge of the game after that. They didn't get many scoring chances, but were still able to dictate the flow of the game. The inevitable goal came 20 minutes into the second half and we were never close to getting even after that.
Darlington 1 - 0 MK Dons (Wed 17th Jan 07)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst (c), Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Tony Stokes, Kristian O'Leary, Robert Garrett; Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
Despite what the scoreline might suggest, this was a much more entertaining match than the one four days earlier. Both sides had more shots than the two teams together on Saturday. What decided this game was that Sam Russell had a great game, while MK Dons keeper Adolfo Baines only had an ordinary one. We had to wait all the way to minute 73 to see the goal. It came from a corner where defender Joey Hutchinson's diving header was unstoppable.
Notts Co 1 - 0 Darlington (Sat 20th Jan 07)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Joey Hutchinson, Karl Broadhurst (c), Patrick Collins, Alex Balley; Tony Stokes, Kristian O'Leary, Robert Garrett; Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
This was the second tightly contested game of the week. This time the deciding factor was the defending. Notts Co's Mike Edwards was on form and dealt with everything we could throw at him. Our defence also looked solid for most of the game, but we were forced to foul inside the penalty area shortly before the end. Notts Co got the goal and, since the match was already in injury time, the three points just moments later.
Chester is one of the fiercest rivales in our fight to avoid relegation. A win was therefore the only acceptable result from a home game against them. I tried to improve the players' confidence by stating my faith in them in a pre-match interview.
Darlington 0 - 2 Chester (Sat 27th Jan 07)
Team: Sam Russell; Danny Adams, Patrick Collins, Karl Broadhurst (c), Joey Hutchinson, Alex Balley; Tony Stokes, Kristian O'Leary, Robert Garrett; Simon Johnson, Ville Väisänen
Rather than rising to the occation, the team put up one of, if not the worst performance of the season. We got a nightmare start, with Chester 2-0 up after just 18 minutes. Five minutes later, Tony Stokes had to leave the field because of injury. Chester efficiently stopped whatever creativity there might have been in our team and we didn't manage a single shot on goal in this match.
The chairman was understandably upset. The fans were calling for more attacking football and I agree with them. I'm not going to give up on the counter attacks, but we need to take more initiative if we are to win our matches. We have dropped back to last position and something has to change if we are to turn things around.
It's a long way to the top 
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