retired_tajuana

Hi

Terk, please carry on with this story Im addicted. Its better than any story ive read that and Harrowing mis-adventure are the best 2

retired_bbcarr

sorry for the lack of updates this past week. i shall endeavour to do better

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It was all I could do not to simply smile inanely at everything throughout the day. As more and more memories of the previous evening returned, so the grin across my face did the same. Concentrating on anything, and football in particular, proved difficult, but when all said and done I had a job to do, and a game against Swindon to prepare for.

Coventry had agreed to let us keep Claus Jørgensen for a further three months, the Faroe Islands winger had done all that we asked of him when called upon as cover, and with a busy few months ahead, he was more than likely to be needed again.

Christmas day had passed, for the most part, uneventfully for me. Having spent half an hour on the phone to my parents in the morning, thanking them for the oh-so-kind gift of perhaps the worst clothes money could buy, I sat alone, eating Chinese takeaway in front of the T.V.. The day had not been a total waste, however, Hannah had phoned in the early evening and we’d met up for a drink in a local bar, though unfortunately from my point of view, there followed none of the shenanigans of our first night together.

Boxing Day brought the visit of Swindon to the City Ground, though only just over 18,000 fans took the trouble to join us. The ones who stayed away made the right decision, everyone on the field appeared to have indulged slightly too much the day before, and the sense of lethargy that plagued the game’s beginning had never lifted as a goalless draw was played out.

Two days later we travelled to face Chesterfield at Saltergate, and though the football was hardly any better, we did at least come away with the full compliment of points. Another performance of heavy legs and tired minds it had been from both sides, neither goalkeeper forced into a save until well into the second half, but as timed ticked down towards another missed opportunity, Kris Commons cut in from his left flank, took a pass from Neil Mellor in his stride and thumped a shot past Carl Muggleton.

The end of 2004 brought with it the halfway stage of our league campaign. Having conceded a mere five league goals, it had to be said that the defensive side of our game was working, and the eleven point lead we held over second placed Gillingham meant that we were probablu doing something right in an attacking sense as well.

retired_bbcarr

December 2004 Summary

(League One unless otherwise stated)


Forest Green 0 – 4 Nottingham Forest (F.A. Cup 2nd Round)
(Beaumont 1”; Taylor 8”, 28”; Diarra 63”)

Tranmere 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest
(Commons 41”; Dobie 88”; Sissoko 90+4”)

Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 MK Dons
(Jørgensen 65”; Mellor 86”, 90+1”)

Bristol City 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest
(Mellor 45+1”; Davis 66”, 81”)

Nottingham Forest 0 – 0 Swindon

Chesterfield 0 – 1 Nottingham Forest
(Commons 82”)

retired_bbcarr

The New Year was spent in Yeovil, we certainly didn’t fancy a 200 mile drive on the morning of a game; a quiet night in the hoteal was had instead, with the players on strict instructions to remain alcohol-free. In the moments after the bells had tolled, a message beeped its way onto my phone from Hannah, wishing a happy new year and good luck for the game, and it certainly sent me off to sleep in a better mood than I had been.

Just before kick-off at Huish Park, I was required to pose for a photo with my shiny new trophy, awarded for being named December’s manager of the month. I’d woken up with a bit of a headache just a few hours previously, but any thoughts of lingering bad moods were totally lifted when Claus Jørgensen swung his left foot at a Beaumont cross and watched as the ball flew into the top corner in the twelfth minute. We were clearly the better side with Sissoko running the show from the centre of the park, and Jørgensen bagged a second soon after the break. The points were comfortably wrapped up when Momo bagged a fully deserved goal after the hour and our lead at the top of the table was looking ever more iron-clad.

Forty-eight hours after facing Yeovil, were we lining up against Port Vale back on our home turf. The game saw a few fringe players fielded, and they did more than enough to make me sit up and take notice. Managerless Vale, still with caretaker Dean Glover in charge, looked the very definition of rudderless as they chased our shawdows around the pitch. Adam Nowland opened the scoring after latching onto Mellor’s pass, though it wasn’t until the second half that we made our dominance pay with a second. When it arrived, it was through the boot, or rather the head, of centre back Clint Hill, and the win was secure when Jamaican striker David Johnson found space in the box and fired past Mark Goodlad.

--

”You got a moment?” My chairman was obviously intent on keeping up his regime of scaring the sh*t out of me by coming into my office unnoticed and beginning to speak to me. Once my heart rate had returned to somewhere resembling normal, I managed to mutter an answer.

”Sure.”
“We need to talk about your contract.”
“What about it?”
“I’m sure you’re aware that it runs out at the end of the season.”
“Very much so.”
“Well, the entire board is absolutely delighted with how things are going, and we don’t want anybody else casting eyes at you so, in that..” He dropped a large brown envelope on my desk, ”.. you’ll find a two year extension. Send it to H.R. when you’ve signed it.” With that he wandered idly from my office. The lack of cerimony and negotiation had taken aback somewhat, and I was far from surprised, though I must admit a little disappointed, when I saw that my pay would remain exactly the same. Who am I kidding though? There was never a chance that I wasn’t going to sign it.

--

It was back to the F.A. Cup for our next fixture, and a visit from Grimsby. The former Championship side now sat 6th in League Two and on a decent run of form, so it was not the most surprising of developments that they dominated the first twenty minutes of the game. The difference between the two sides was shown in the following ten, however. Though they’d created chances in their time on top, Grimsby had failed to find a way past Rune Pedersen (only when he spilled the ball into his own net in the second half did they get onto the scoresheet) whereas, in a 600 second spell that we controlled, we found the back of the net three times. James Beaumont was firston the scoresheet, netting his tenth of the season with a well placed finish after linking up with Mellor, and the on-loan striker turned scorer himself sixty seconds later, heading home from a Commons cross. Our period of excellence was finished off when Commons again crossed dangerously, and Steven Davis headed the ball past Paul Fraser. The fourth round draw a few days later rewarded our efforts with a home tie against Premiership side Birmingham.

retired_embartl

This is awesome Terk, finally had a bit of time to sit down and read it properly and it's excellent. Screwing the boss' daughter eh? Better send off that signed contract sharpish

Good to see Steven Davis coming in there, I could eulogise far too long here, but good start for the lad - the midfield really does look impressive for a league one outfit. Good luck securing the title :thup:

retired_bbcarr

cheers for the kind words and davis certainly has started well, I'm just a little concerned that the majority of my midfield is only on loan

====================

With the transfer windows now in operation, January often brings a flurry of activity, and indeed with contract renewals as well. Gillingham enquired about how much we’d ask for Nicky Eaden’s services, but our answer of £300,000 cooled their interest entirely. Southampton’s offer of a contract to John Curtis had the effect merely of forcing our hand. I had been unsure of whether to offer John a new deal, he had certainly been performing well, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that he could be as effective in the Championship. The former Blackburn and Man Utd centre back was offered a one year extension to his deal, and I couldn’t completely decide whether I wanted him to sign it or not.

Pedersen had strained his wrist in training, and so missed out on Doncaster’s visit to the City Ground. Paul Gerrard took over between the sticks, with reserve ‘keeper Aaron France called up to sit on the bench. Pedersen’s captaincy was passed temporarily to Curtis, and certainly we seemed a little less sure of ourselves in the first half. Momo Sissoko was forced off with a broken wrist (which would keep him out for three weeks) before the twentieth minute had passed, Steven Davis taking his place in the centre of the park. The second half, however, was a different matter, Mellor firing past Andy Warrington after connecting with Yacine Abdessadki’s cross, and substitute Davis ending a goalmouth scramble by toe-poking the ball into the back of the net.

Three days later we travelled to Layer Road to face Colchester, still with Gerrard in goal and Curtis wearing the captain’s armband as Pedersen continued to recover back in Nottingham. Again we started in a slow manner, but goals either side of half time from Eugen Bopp and Scott Dobie (for which they set each other up) sealed yet another three point haul against a decidedly lacklustre Colchester side.

Good news came in the form of Curtis rejects Southampton’s approach and penning a one year extention to his deal at the City Ground. Indeed, I turned out to be so happy about it, that I let reserve centre back Wes Morgan leave on loan to Northampton for three months.

--

”Gino, can I have a word?” The Argentinian left back loped over to the corner of the training pitch as the rest of the muddied bodies trudged back into the changing room.

”We’ve had another offer for you, Gino.”
“…….” His blank expression was hardly the reaction I had been expecting.
”From Recreativo. And considering that you’re performances have hardly been at their best of late, we’ve decided to accept it. They’ll contact you in the next few days. If you need to fly out to talk to them, you can.”
“OK. Cheers, boss.” Given his previous tantrum at having a move denied, his downtrodden manner baffled me. I had more pressing things to worry about, however, namely Hannah’s birthday.

--

Birmingham’s visit to the City Ground in the fourth round of the F.A. Cup proved a great attraction for the fans, over 30,000 turning up to see us play the Premiership side. Steve Bruce’s side were sitting 15th in the Premiership, and had just been on the receiving end of a 6-0 battering at St James’ Park. Having come so close against Middlesbrough only to be denied at the very last, I was determined to give as good again. The lads were fired up going onto the pitch, and as so often in these types of game, the underdogs began the better of the two sides. Kris Commons was causing all sorts of problems for the Birmingham defence, but when our best chance of the first half came, Mellor sclaffed his shot wide of the post. The Premiership side threatened slightly in the first period, Emile Heskey driving a shot inches wide of the post from twenty yards. The moment that should have crushed us came early in the second half, Clint Hill’s handball leaving Nicky Butt to strike the resultant penalty past Rune Pedersen. Hill made amends in quick fashion though; when Lassana Diarra swung a free kick into the penalty area and Mellor knocked down, the defender was on hand to sweep the ball past Maik Taylor. For the remainder of the game, Stan Lazaridis and Damien Johnson did their best to wrench a hole in our defence, but we held firm and secured a reply at St. Andrews.

retired_bbcarr

--

Gino didn’t actually leave the club until after we’d faced Huddersfield, but as the Argentinian was never going to feature in any game after we’d accepted the bid, it made little difference. Stewart was parachuted straight into the starting line-up, something which annoyed Stevie Warnock quite a bit, but come full time and another 3-0 win, there was no room for anybody to complain. We netted all the goals in the first half, David Friio striking first from an Abdessadki cross, before Clint Hill headed home to double our advantage. The scoring was rounded off before the break, young defender James Perch drilling in his first goal for the club after Hill had laid off Bopp’s corner into his path.

January’s final game saw us back at the City Ground, this time with Hartlepool as visitors. For the second time in four days, we came away from a match with a three-nil success and a performance equally as competent as any we’d put in to date. Neil Mellor had been forced off early on, Liam Fox replacing him and Scott Dobie moving up front, but it was when Dobie wandered out to the right and swung in a cross for Steven Davis to head home that we took the lead. Davis had a big hand in the second, his driven shot parried by goalkeeper Jim Provett, but only into the path of James Beaumont who tucked it into the net. To round off the scoring, Clint Hill netted his third in as many games, swinging a perfectly placed free kick into the top corner of Provett’s goal.

The diagnosis of Mellor was a pulled hamstring which would keep him out for two weeks, but mean an earlier than expected start for our deadline day signing, Robbie Blake. The much travelled striker had failed to break into the Leeds set up, but they still charged us £1,500,000 for his services. Perhaps that had something to do with the 113 career goals he’s scored; I was certain he would add more than a few to those in the red of Forest, and at only 28 he had a good few years left in him yet.

Once again we were recognised in the end of the month awards, though I was sadly passed over this time around. Gary Holt, who had forced Lassana Diarra out of the side on a number of occasions, took the player award, whilst the young player equivalent went to Eugen Bopp, who despite serious competition in the middle of the park was beginning to make one of the spots his own.

retired_bbcarr

January 2005 Summary

(League One unless otherwise stated)


Yeovil 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest
(Jørgensen 12”, 51”; Sissoko 66”)

Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Port Vale
(Nowland 24”; Hill 54”; Johnson 86”)

Nottingham Forest 3 – 1 Grimsby (F.A. Cup 3rd Round)
(Beaumont 22”; Mellor 23”; Davis 30”; Pedersen (OG) 79”)

Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Doncaster
(Mellor 47”; Davis 63”)

Colchester 0 – 2 Nottingham Forest
(Bopp 40”; Dobie 82”)

Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Birmingham (F.A. Cup 4th Round)
(Butt pen 52”; Hill 55”)

Huddersfield 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest
(Friio 10”; Hill 22”; Perch 25”)

Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Hartlepool
(Davis 38”; Beaumont 66”; Hill 88”)

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Nottm Forest | | 29 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 69 | 5 | +64 | 77 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Gillingham | | 29 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 58 | 23 | +35 | 63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Rotherham | | 29 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 55 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Hartlepool | | 29 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 52 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Brentford | | 29 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 45 | 27 | +18 | 50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Swansea | | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Bradford City | | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 45 | 41 | +4 | 46 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Swindon | | 29 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 45 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Chesterfield | | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Blackpool | | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 46 | 45 | +1 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bristol C | | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 39 | 43 | -4 | 42 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | MK Dons | | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 35 | 37 | -2 | 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Bournemouth | | 29 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Walsall | | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 28 | 35 | -7 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Tranmere | | 29 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 29 | 42 | -13 | 37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Barnsley | | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Doncaster | | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 43 | -5 | 33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Oldham | | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 31 | 41 | -10 | 30 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Yeovil | | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 40 | 64 | -24 | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Colchester | | 29 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 33 | 48 | -15 | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Huddersfield | | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 40 | -17 | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Scunthorpe | | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 55 | -20 | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Port Vale | | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 34 | 60 | -26 | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Southend | | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 65 | -39 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_amyslack

Going strong Simon - keep it up :thup: