retired_aurie

February 2009
Derby v. Stoke English Championship
On the first day of February, we were paid a visit by Stoke City, who were sitting mid-table at the time. The game started off at a frantic pace, as derby games tend to do. We had to change personnel in the 16th minute, following an injury to poor David Lynch. Boertien came on in his place and performed admirably for the rest of the match. In the 23rd minute we finally broke the ice, when Duda thundered the ball home from short range, following some good work by Potter and new signing Stokes. Potter had tried his luck from about 25 yards and the ball was going wide of the target when Stokes deflected the shot with his knee. Stijnen, in The Potters' goal, showed great awareness when he parried the shot, but Duda was alert enough to pounce on the loose ball. I told the lads that we couldn't afford to get complacent in the second half, but my warning seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, because 2 minutes into the half, we were level again. Daniel Cartus came on at halftime for The Potters and he was fouled 22 yards from the goal. He took the freekick himself and fired an unstoppable shot past Austbo in our goal. A peach of a goal, but I'd rather have seen it scored at the other end. I had changed Tommy Smith and Stokes off at halftime, for Troy Hayder and, another new signing, Ross McCormack, due to the former two players being too tired to keep up with play. In the 52nd minute that paid off, when we had a throw-in on the right wing. Hoyte took the throw and sent it short for Potter, who immediately returned the ball. Hoyte then fired a hard cross towards Hayder, who was bearing down on the near post. He didn't really have to do anything on that occasion, since Hoefkens turned the ball past his own keeper, making it 2-1 for us. 9 minutes later it was 3-1, when Hayder and McCormack showed excellent team ethic, culminating in Hayder squaring the ball for his strike partner to tuck home the easiest of finishes. 2 minutes after that, Hayder started a great move down the left flank with Duda, they played a couple of quick 1-2's and then Hayder was suddenly clear with endless amounts of space and time. Stijnen tried to close him down, but Hayder showcased his predatory skills, when he cheekily chipped him for our fourth goal of the afternoon. The match kept going at a frantic pace and Stoke tried everything in their power to get back into the game. But that stopped on our man of the match, Iven Austbo. He made countless saves to keep us afloat and I believe that he will make a great goalkeeper for us in the future.
Final Score: 4-1
Goals: Duda (23), Hoefkens (o.g. 52), McCormack (61), Hayder (63)
MOM: Iven Austbo
Current League Position: 2nd

After the match I told the lads how proud I was of them and that they'd shown people around the UK that we meant business, due to this being a TV broadcast game. What was even better, they were paying the fans back with interest, their faith in the team. I wouldn't be claiming the headlines when they performed so well. All I could do was to lay down the instructions and then they'd have to enforce them on the pitch and seeing that I had 16 generals in the squad every time, I had no fear that they'd figure out a way to let our ideas come into fruition. The lads were chuffed at that little speech and thanked me for the trust I showed in them. I told them not to thank me, I was only one cog in the mechanism and that we'd all have to work together to earn our place in the Premiership again. Then I told them to hit the showers because they were stinking like pigs in a sty. They laughed at that and I left the dressing room to give them some time to reflect and get washed.

Following the match I was called up by the chairman.
John Sleightholme (JS): ”Hi there Tomas, congratulations on a fabulous win against The Potters.”
Me: ”Thanks John, it was a wonderful match and Iven really kept our arses from getting fried in the final half hour.”
JS: ”He had a marvellous game, but there are a couple of players on the team who have been selected for international friendlies after today's match. Darren Potter was selected for Ireland and Korey Nix for Australia. How do you want us to respond to the selection?”
Me: ”I guess it's best to limit Darren to 45 minutes, so there will be a lesser risk of him getting injured, but Korey can play the full match for the Aussies. He will benefit from the experience if they see a reason to play him.”
JS: ”That's what I expected, so I had it noted down here. I just wanted to ask you before I sent my fax to the relevant FA's. Again, thanks and congratulations on a great job so far.”
Me: ”Thanks John, though I'm not the one who should be receiving all the praise. The lads do the hard work, all I do is put down the ideas.”
JS: ”Another thing, seems like you didn't hear about it before you left the stadium. David Lynch will be out for almost 2 months with a sprained ankle. Poor lad, he's been through a lot this season. A shame because he's a very talented young man.”
Me: ”What the hell has the poor lad done to deserve this? He just returned from injury and was looking so good in training. Bloody thuggish tactics by Boskamp. He'll hear a word or two from me.”
JS: ”By all means ruffle his feathers. We don't want to see more players go down to such crazy tackles as the ones that he encouraged his lads to dish out. Now go meet your lass and let me handle this international stuff.”
Me: ”Thanks John, much appreciated. I'll talk to you on Tuesday, since I'll be giving the lads tomorrow off after today. I'm thinking of taking Lynn out into the countryside to have a relaxing picnic style afternoon.”

Then we said our goodbyes and I went to Lynn's place. When I got there however, the front door was wide open and when I came in, there wasn't a single piece of furniture left in the flat. Not even my old shoes!! Now there were only two explanations for this; Lynn had either secured an instant move to a new flat or, what I thought was more likely, somebody had decided to use today to nick everything that we had in there. I walked around the flat, trying to figure out what the hell had happened when I felt something cold running down my back. I jumped in the air and then turned around, only to see a grinning Lynn standing there with an empty glass. Seemed she'd been waiting for a chance to get back at me for that night a few days back.

”You mean little princess, you've deserved a spanking session for this little episode”, I said, trying to look as menacing as possible.
”Princess you say, eh? Aren't you going to ask where all the stuff is? I know you didn't have any at your B&B place, except your old stuff that I went and picked up beforehand. I didn't know you could be so horribly messy in your own corner of the world”, she replied and laughed at my shocked expression.
I fumbled through my pockets, but all I found was my car keys and the keys to Lynn's flat. The keys to my room at the B&B were gone, along with the keys to everything I had access to in Iceland.
”Are you looking for this?”, she asked, holding up the key chain.
I reached out for it, but she put them back in her pocket.
”Relax mister, you've yet to do a lot of work, so get back in your car and leave the keys to this flat on the kitchen counter. We won't be needing them again”, she said and started pushing my chest. ”As for the spanking, I'm going to hold you to that promise tonight!”

I gave up, there was no way I could be angry with that sexy little lass. I'd have to play to her rules for the time being, or I wouldn't get any. She told me to pay off the taxi driver, so we could get a move on. I did that and tipped him a tenner, which he gladly accepted and wished the two of us many happy centuries and many happy children. Lynn blushed at that, but didn't say anything. I wonder if she's got any hidden secrets.

When we got to the new place, Lynn took on the role of hostess and showed me around the place with a lot of enthusiasm. We went through the many rooms, nooks and crannies of the place and when I found out the price of the flat, I almost fainted. £100,000 for this place? In Iceland we'd have been forced to pay at least double that amount, if not more. When she showed me where we'd share our bed, I grinned. I told her that the tour was over and it was time for her spanking. She yelped but strangely didn't fight at all. I wonder if she really enjoys this stuff!

The day before the internationals were scheduled, Darren Potter twisted his ankle and was ruled out for the next week or so. I felt bad the the lad, because he'd earned that national side call and would have performed for them, like he has for us.

Denmark v. Japan Friendly
What had been billed as a close encounter beforehand, turned out to be a seriously uneven match, when Lasse Qvist was on a serious rampage in the first half. By the end of the half, he'd netted four times and the Japanese defenders had no idea how to cope with his direct running and lethal finishing. In the second half, Leon Andreasen and Nicklas Bendtner added a goal each, both of them getting their first ever international goal.
Final Score: 6-0
Goals: Lasse Qvist (2, 21, 35, 40), Leon Andreasen (47), Nicklas Bendtner (60)
MOM: Lasse Qvist

I told the players that I was absolutely delighted with their performance and commented as well that this was the sort of football that the Danish public wanted. To see such a polished performance and lethal finishing was bound to make a man feel warm inside. The next international game would see us facing a strong Portuguese team, that had been underachieving for quite a while. They'd be dangerous and we'd use the next 6 weeks to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, because the last thing we needed was a trouncing at their hands.
I shook hands with all the players and told them that everybody, that was in the 26 man selection for this match, was a real contender for the next selection. But nobody could be safe, since we had quite a few very good players ready and willing to step up and make a name for themselves.
Then I boarded my flight back to England, because I had a match to prepare for on the weekend and a woman waiting to torture me in the bedroom, before I could get any sleep.

retired_aurie

Back in England

Derby v. Southampton English Championship
A dead boring goalless draw was what the team offered the fans in this match. Everybody was extremely lethargic and it was obvious that Darren Potter was sorely missed from the engine room of the team. We hardly created anything and to finish the game on as sour a note as possible, first Bobby Zamora was stretchered off the pitch, with what looked like a bad injury, and then Seth Johnson got himself sent off for two stupid bookable offences. At least we didn't give away a goal, which would have been hard to come back from.
Final Score: 0-0
MOM: Jon Otsemobor (Southampton)

After the match I told the lads that their performance had been an embarrassment and that the fans didn't deserve such a thing. They'd have extra training the next day and some changes would be made. I also told Seth that I'd be fining him a week's worth of wages for his unnecessary sending off. As if losing Zamora to injury soon after he came off the bench wasn't bad enough. I finished my rant by punching through the dressing room door before I stormed out of there.

In the press conference after the match, one of the journalists decided to go for the jugular of Stefano Russo, portraying his performance as a poor debut. I told him in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't be worrying about his debut performance, it's the long run that would count and Russo would prove to be a great signing for the club. I decided to put criticism where it was due, by mentioning the poor performances of Tommy Smith in the last few games. I was disappointed for him because I knew he was capable of so much more than this. Then I left the conference, since I didn't see any reason to listen to more garbage from the press.

Sunday 8th February 2009
I had been in talks with Danish international Rasmus Würtz, about a possible move to Pride Park at the end of his contract with Sampdoria. To our great delight, he decided to take a cut in wages, to join up with us and help us in whatever might lie ahead, whether it be a fight for promotion from the Championship or a relegation dogfight in the Premiership. I can only surmise that my job as the manager of the Danish national team helped to sway him towards us. He probably saw this as a good step to earn a role for his national team.

Derby v. Doncaster English Championship
This was a game that we were billed to win easily, but, as it turned out, we really had to fight for our win here. Troy Hayder slipped away from the defenders, in the 12th minute, to head home from short range, after Boertien's freekick eluded the defence and let him slip through. Then in the the 24th minute Doncaster lost Robert Davidson to injury, following a hard collision between him and Paul Wotton, who was unscathed in the crash. Just before the ref blew for halftime, Darren Potter scored a wonderful goal from 25 yards, when he curled the ball into the top corner of Lucas' goal. In the second half, we kept up the pressure and I put on some fresh players to make sure we wouldn't slip. Our gameplan became quite unsettled when Korey Nix got injured after a hard collision with Eustace. 2 minutes later Leigh Downing was wrongly adjudged to have pushed Nelthorpe in the box and the referee signalled for a penalty. He was totally losing control of the match there and in quick succession booked two Doncaster players for shoving our players. The penalty came to naught however, when Iven Austbo saved it low to his right. Having to play with 10 men for the remaining 20+ minutes turned out to be a tough task, but we still managed to unsettle the Doncaster defence a few times. Unfortunately we couldn't add another goal, but we didn't concede either, so 3 points collected and thoroughly deserved.
Final Score: 2-0
Goals: Troy Hayder (12), Darren Potter (45)
MOM: Iven Austbo
Current League Position: 2nd

I gave the lads a little bit of rest after this match and told them in no uncertain terms that they'd have to be on their toes in the next game. We wouldn't be given anything that would resemble a warm welcome in Gillingham and the match would prove to be a tough task. I couldn't foresee how accurate my prediction would turn out to be, as will be shown.

Gillingham v. Derby English Championship
For the neutral, this was the perfect football game. Loads of action, loads of goals and some excellent attacking football. Unfortunately, both teams got less than they deserved. Both should have got at least one more point for the attacking display. Maybe we can force that in at some point in the future.
We had a rather bad start to the match, when Daniel Spiller scored a wonderful goal for the hosts, with a thunderous curling shot from 30 yards out. Austbo didn't stand a chance, due to the lack of cover in midfield and the lack of awareness by the defenders. Peter Canero got us back on level terms with a thumping volley in the 26th minute, when Danny Jackman failed to clear Hayder's cross. But we took our foot off the accelerator again and were punished when Myles Weston scored a great goal directly from a freekick. 8 minutes later we were level again, when Troy Hayder latched onto a great through ball from Hoyte. He charged into the box, only to be hauled down by Danny Jackman, who was duly booked for his troubles. Paul Wotton converted the penalty as usual and we looked to be in a decent position for the second half. Unfortunately our defenders fell asleep again in first half injury time, when Elvis Hammond was left to his own devices and scored with a rasping drive from 25 yards out. Rest assured that the lads were in for a right bollocking in the halftime teamtalk.
At halftime I replaced Leigh Dowing with Tommy Smith, due to a slight knock in the first half. Following that I changed the tactic to a very attack minded 4-4-2. We kept on plodding away, but the Gills' goalkeeper kept us out with some amazing saves. Finally I'd had enough and swapped out Duda and Hayder for Lee Holmes and Mikael Dahlberg, respectively. It didn't take long for Dahlberg to make his mark and what a goal to get his confidence up. Following a neat interplay in the middle of the park, Justin Hoyte spotted Dahlberg in acres of space on the edge of the area and sent a great ball to him. Mikael thanked him for the great vision and scored with a really hard drive, which could have ripped a hole in the net. 5 minutes later, Smith headed on a long punt from Austbo, which culminated in Dahlberg outrunning the defenders and scoring a clinical goal. We thought that we'd be able to clinch it there, but alas, it wasn't to be. Tim Sparv came to Gillingham's rescue, when he scored a great goal from a freekick on the edge of our area.

I really have to take the players to the cleaners for the foolish fouls they're giving away so close to the area. It's costing too much.

The rest of the match was a tired affair, as everybody seemed to have run out of fuel after the high speed affair they'd been part of.
Final Score: 4-4
Goals: Peter Canero (26), Paul Wotton (pen 39), Mikael Dahlberg (57, 62)
MOM: Mikael Dahlberg
Current League Position: 2nd

I could only praise Potter and Dahlberg for their part in this match, due to their energetic performance. I told the rest of them that I was very disappointed in their display and that I expected them to improve a whole lot in the next match. This was a match we should have won and that should have been relatively comfortable for us. Following that, I left the dressing room and went to the bus. This was not what I set out to do beforehand.

retired_aurie

Back to basics
I decided to stop using this novelty 4-3-3 formation in the final few games of the season, due to the players not being comfortable enough to use it. The only player who'd ever used it before was Troy Hayder and his lack of pace would make it very difficult for us to exploit this system's strengths. So back to good old 4-4-2 and hopefully that would carry us through to an automatic promotion place.

I finally got some decent news after my initial anger at the ineptitude shown in our last match. The news came from Denmark though, which would calm my nerves somewhat. Bulgaria had accepted friendly matches with the full team, U-21 and U19 teams respectively. That would prove to be a stern test for all 3 teams, because Bulgaria tends to be something of an unknown quantity in football. Either very good or very poor, rarely something in between. The main thing would be the fact that they always ensured that you'd have some very entertaining matches on your hands.

Derby v. Ipswich English Championship
We started this one off in a rather uncertain manner and almost got punished for our hesitance. Fortunately Lee Camp was on top of his game in goal and he kept us safe during the early minutes of the match. It took us all of 36 minutes to break the ice and it was Dahlberg that scored our first goal of the match. The Tractor Boys had a throw near the corner of their penalty area and Garvan received the ball from Dalmat, he then tried to send the ball towards O'Leary, but missed and Mikael promptly nicked the ball and blasted it into the far corner, way out of reach of Matthew Taylor. In the second half, I changed both strikers and gave Potter a breather, as he was on a yellow card. Troy Hayder used the opportunity and scored a goal at the death, when he latched onto Davies' miscontrolled interception and cheekily chipped Taylor for our second goal.
Final Score: 2-0
Goals: Mikael Dahlberg (36), Troy Hayder (90)
MOM: Troy Hayder
Current League Position: 2nd

I told the lads that it was a job well done and Sunday would be resting day. They'd been working so hard recently, so they deserved a break. I told them I'd be working on my hip'n'thrust, while thinking of them having a lucky bugger's day off. The dressing room burst out laughing at that remark and then we hit the showers before leaving the stadium.

After the match I went to our new house. When I came in, I heard crying sounds from the master bedroom upstairs. I went up and found Lynn lying on the bed, bawling her eyes out. I sat down next to her and stroked her hair.
”What's the matter baby?”, I asked in a comforting voice.
”It's my mum, she's dead....”, was the surprising reply, following which a new bout of tears flooded the bed.
I scooped her into my arms and kissed her cheeks.
”Come on honey, at least let me take some of the burden of it”, I said and held her close. ”Let it all out, don't even think about holding back, baby. I've been through this myself and I made the mistake of keeping it all in. Trust me that it's better to let all your sorrows out now.”

She didn't reply, but just kept on crying for the better part of an hour. Little by little she calmed down though and started to get a hold of herself. In the end, she fell asleep in my arms and I laid her to rest on her pillow. Then I wrapped her in a warm blanket and sat down at my desk. I had a few injury reports to read through, especially now that the physio had told me that a few players would be returning to full training soon, most notably Seth Johnson, John Welsh and Dan Martin.

When I came to my office the next morning, I was met by the chairman. He whisked me away from the office and wanted me to have a little chat in his office, where there was almost no chance of us being disturbed.
John Sleightholme (JS): ”I'd like to offer my sincere condolences on the passing away of your fiancée's mother. I heard about her death early this morning from your secretary.”
Me: ”Thanks John, it's affected Lynn in a horrible way. She's absolutely heartbroken about this. Who'd have imagined that a woman of only 43 would go from a stroke?”
JS: ”Can we help in any way, like send a clergyman to her or somebody to help her get over the trauma?”
Me: ”I'll mention it to her when I get back home, but she's a tough little lady and she'll probably refuse. Though I think a trauma therapist might come in handy if she's still feeling under the weather by tomorrow. Now if you don't mind boss, I have to go and prepare the lads for the trip to Swansea.”
JS: ”Of course Tomas, be sure to give Lynn my best when you get back to her. I've known her father for many years. He used to work for the club before he went into business for himself. The best groundsman we've ever had.”
Me: ”I didn't know that he worked for the club, Lynn never told me about that and neither did he. Maybe he's still hoping to come back at some point.”
JS: ”It's worth a check. I guess I'll give him a call this week then. Now go and prepare the lads, they want to be in the best possible shape for the trip.”

With that I walked off and got to the office. Armando Madonna and John Carver were there, waiting for me to come back from John's office. When I got in, we started talking about who to play and who to bench, for the game against Swansea. In the end we got to an agreement on the following lineup:

GK Lee Camp, D R Justin Hoyte, D L Paul Boertien, D C Paul Wotton and Noé Pamarot, M R Stefano Russo, M L Duda, M C Darren Potter and John Welsh, ST Tommy Smith and Mikael Dahlberg
Subs: Iven Austbo, Seth Johnson, Troy Hayder, Peter Canero and Anthony Stokes.

Swansea v. Derby English Championship
It only took 16 seconds for the first goal of the game to come into being. Paul Boertien sent a teasing long crossfield ball ,from the halfway line, into the path of Stefano Russo, who was charging into the box from the right. He controlled the ball superbly on his first touch and managed to fake the goalkeeper into thinking he'd shoot across the goal, when in fact he shot towards his near post. I had barely sat down when this happened and I can't say that I was very disappointed in this early breakthrough. 6 minutes later, Dahlberg got a great through ball from Smith and then proceeded to trick the goalkeeper into committing himself to his right. He then chipped the ball into the far corner from about 18 yards. The Swansea players looked shell shocked at this point and never recovered from the early hammering. Especially not when Dahlberg added another goal in the 19th minute, when he was alone in the area after Smith's excellent cross. Things got very bad for the home team in the 34th minute, when Bates got himself sent off for chopping down Smith, when he was about to break free of the defensive line. Smith then got his just reward at the death of the first half, when he latched onto a ball down the left wing from Duda. He then proceeded to bypass the fullback and scored a scorcher of a goal from out wide in the box.
I told the lads that I was delighted with their performance in the first half and encouraged them to keep up the good work in the second. And true to their word, they did. Chris Day, in the Swansea goal, wasn't about to make life easy for our lads though and it took two fresh substitutes to break through again. Troy Hayder and Anthony Stokes came on for Smith and Dahlberg and immediately made their mark. First Wotton headed back Day's goalkick for Hayder to bear down on goal, only to have it parried away. Fortunately Stokes was on hand to hammer home the rebound. Swansea started from the middle again and conceded another goal 50 seconds later. Seth Johnson, on for Welsh, won the ball in the air from Edwards and then Stokes toe poked the ball away from Hutchinson. Troy Hayder was the first to get to the ball and he thumped it into the back of the net. We slowed down at that point, mainly to conserve energy.
Final Score: 0-6
Goals: Stefano Russo (1), Mikael Dahlberg (7, 19), Tommy Smith (45), Anthony Stokes (58), Troy Hayder (59)
MOM: Paul Wotton
Current League Position: 2nd

I couldn't stop praising the lads for this performance and told them that I'd be dedicating this win to Lynn and her family, since that would help them to come to terms with the loss of her mother. All the positive things we could take from this game would be put into a great message of consolation to the grieving family. The lads were very much in favour of this and Wotton even added that we should dedicate each and every victory, from here on in, to somebody in need. That suggestion was met with a thunderous applause by all the lads and I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of this fine group of footballers.

retired_aurie

March 2009 The Funeral

The funeral was held on Monday the 2nd and Lynn was very quiet throughout the ceremony. I decided to give her all the space she required and told her that as soon as she needed me to give her any sort of comfort, just to tap on my shoulder. She did that occasionally during the eulogy and I was only too happy to comply. I also was there for her father, because he was obviously a heartbroken man. The fact that Lynn was an only child didn't help either, because she could have used the support of siblings at this point, as could her father have benefitted from having more children. Unfortunately for him and his wife, she had lost the ability to have children, following Lynn's birth. I decided to have a chat with Larry after the sermon ended, because I knew from experience that having support around would really mean a lot to him and his daughter.

After the sermon, I caught up with Larry outside the church.
”She was a fine woman Larry, even though I never had the pleasure of knowing for as long as you did. You really won the lottery when you landed her”, I started and gave him an comforting pat on the shoulder.
”You could say that again Tomas, but it was more a case of her landing me, than the other way around. I was always too awkward around women, so she just decided that I'd be hers and that was the end of it”, he replied and smiled at the memory.
”Seems like she got herself a fine man Larry. The way you two have come through all those adversities is nothing short of amazing. And then of course I have to thank you for creating this wonderful girl here”, I added and held Lynn by the shoulder.
Lynn blushed, which caused her father to burst out laughing, though it didn't last long.
”Seems like you're a fine man yourself Tomas. It also makes me happy to see that you found a way to embarrass this young rascal there. Through the years she's given me and her mother plenty of things to be embarrassed about, due to her feisty nature and adventurous spirit.”
”Like her mother did you, she sort of picked me. Did she tell you that?”, I asked and winked at Larry.
”No she didn't, she only said that she'd met you at the pub”, Larry said and smiled at Lynn's increasingly fiery colour.
”She basically sat down in front of me and decided that I wanted to chat. And from that point on, I didn't have any way of defending against her. I can't say that I'm unhappy about that. She was the first person to properly welcome me to the city. And what a welcoming committee”, I said and smiled.
”Sounds like my Lynn alright”, Larry replied and smiled.
”I had another reason for wanting to talk to you though. I understand that you and John Sleightholme go back a long way”, I said and decided that this was the time to talk shop for a short time.
”John you say? Yes, we went to school together and then we went our separate ways, until I was in my early twenties. John had been in business school and struck it lucky in City. He made a heap of money, when he started buying and selling bonds and shares for companies, and eventually bought up most of the shares for Derby County. That's when we reunited, as he hired me as the groundskeeper. It was a great time of my life and one that I really miss”, Larry said and cast his eyess on me. ”Why did you ask?”
”Mainly because I believe he'd love to have you back at the club. The current groundskeeper, Trevor McKenzie, has just received a job offer he has a hard time rejecting. The people at Gleneagles want him to come in and be their assistant greenkeeper, with promotion to full main greenkeeper in 2 years. So when he's gone, we need a good man to come in and take over things. I can't think of anyone better qualified for the job”, I said and smiled at him. Lynn had a look of utter disbelief on her face.
”Are you serious Tomas? Do you think dad could get back?”, she asked and looked at me and her father.
”I'm very serious love. According to John, your father is the best groundskeeper ever to work for the club and he really wants him back.”

Larry was quiet for a while, obviously thinking this over.

”I'll have to get back to you on this Tomas”, he said. ”I still have my business running, though it's been slowing down a lot recently.”
”No worries Larry, take your time thinking things through. Trevor won't be leaving until after the season is over anyway, so you have plenty of time to prepare, should you decide to return. But I encourage you to have a chat with John. I guess you could work on some sort of agreement with him, regarding the business. Lynn could even take care of the office side of things for you. I know she can, having seen how she runs the home. Besides, I know she hates her current job”, I said and smiled.
Lynn blushed yet again, but said nothing. I presume that she would love to try her hand at that and it would help her come to terms with her mother's passing away. After all, her mother had done a great job there and I was certain that Lynn would be able to step into her shoes with relative ease.

Larry smiled at this and accepted the fact that a chat might be a good idea. Following the after-sermon tea, me and Lynn went back home and Lynn decided she wanted to have a nap. I told her to enjoy it, she would be very refreshed after it. I decided to have a look at the injury list again. Hopefully things would start to clear up soon.

retired_aurie

Back to football
Derby v. Leicester English Championship
This game, which was played out the day after the funeral, was hard fought from start to finish. Tommy Smith got us ahead with a typical poacher's goal in the 34th minute, when he reacted fastest when Pollitt saved Dahlberg's shot from short range. For the rest of the half, things were really tough and both teams had no intention of slowing things down. Strange how only 4 yellow cards were given in all of the match though. In the 60th minute, Duda showed his penchant for flair moments. Russo charged up the right wing and then crossed the ball hard to the far post, where Duda connected with a diving header. Unstoppable for the keeper and it was plain sailing now, or so we thought. Unfortunately Russo scored an own goal in the 89th minute, but fortunately we held on for the victory.
Final Score: 2-1
Goals: Tommy Smith (34), Duda (60)
MOM: Clive Clarke (Leicester)
Current League Position: 2nd

Preston v. Derby English Championship
The game was only 19 seconds old when Dahlberg collected a short lay-off from Smith and thundered the ball into the bottom corner of the Preston goal. This stunned the home team and we peppered their goal with shot for the rest of the half. However it took 36 minutes for us to breach their defenses again, when Tommy Smith was played in intelligently by Potter and scored a nice placed goal. 15 minutes into the second half Dahlberg added his second of the day, when Boertien played the ball upfield and McCormack steered the ball through, for Mikael to slot it home with relative ease. We had some hairy moments after that, which caused Preston to score twice. First Tahiri scored in the 69th minute, then Foley added another in the 82nd. However we managed to put the result beyond doubt, when Paul Wotton scored his 10th goal of the season and this one came from the penalty spot. Morgan was sent off for his second bookable offense, which caused the penalty to be given. This ended all possible fight for Preston and we went home quite happy.
Final Score: 2-4
Goals: Mikael Dahlberg (1, 60), Tommy Smith (37), Paul Wotton (pen 87)
MOM: Mikael Dahlberg
Current League Position: 2nd

It was looking increasingly impossible to catch up with Sunderland, because they were in a rich vein of form and I really couldn't see anybody catching up with them. At this point of the season, they were quite simply the best team in the Championship. I kept on spurring the lads on though, because we had no desire to be in a playoff spot, come end of season. We wanted automatic promotion and for that we'd have to work really hard.

Derby v. Barnsley English Championship
We got a full week to rest and recover for the next match, which was against Barnsley. When we came to Pride Park, the lads were practically buzzing. I had been giving them the thumbs up and spurring them on thoughout the month and it looked to me like they would run over anything in their way. Still it took all of the first half for us to break the ice and score the first goal. It was Duda who sent a beautiful freekick over the wall and into the far corner, out of reach of Mads Nielsen, Barnsley's Danish goalkeeper. In the second half, Mikael Dahlberg added a goal in the 56th minute, after Wotton had put him through with a marvellous long pass down the middle. Then at the death, John Welsh sent a curling effort into the far corner, following the excellent cutback from Lee Holmes.
Final Score: 3-0
Goals: Duda (45), Mikael Dahlberg (56), John Welsh (90)
MOM: Paul Wotton
Current League Position: 2nd

I praised the lads vehemently after this match, due to the way we outplayed a lacklustre Barnsley team. We dealt easily with everything they threw at us and had perfect control of the situation throughout.

Now we had a 2 week rest at club level, since there were international matches coming up. So I had to board a plane to Copenhagen to meet up with the Danish national team. We had a few training sessions before we had to fly out to Lisbon. Yes, we were about to play an underperforming Portuguese side, which would probably be at their most dangerous for our visit. We had a small setback when Sören Larsen was forced to hobble out of the last training session at Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. In his place, I put Nicklas Bendtner on the bench.

Portugal v. Denmark World Cup Quals Grp 7
The game was played at a slow pace I thought, despite my telling the lads to attack the home team as quickly as their legs could carry them. Mostly it was misplaced passes that were hampering our attacking play, but also some very good defensive work by the Portuguese defenders. In the 35th minute Bögelund and Keller put together a very pretty passing move, which ended with Bögelund sending a teasing pass towards the near post. Daniel Jensen had made a run from midfield and managed to connect with the ball, sending a pretty little looping ball into the far corner. Absolutely unstoppable for the Portuguese goalkeeper. The rest of the first half played out in a rather unremarkable fashion and I told the lads that I was very encouraged by their performance and I'd be looking forward to their continued attacking play. Due to a slight knock, I had to take Absalonsen off at halftime and in his place I put Lasse Qvist onto the pitch. That meant that Lövenkrands went to left wing and Qvist took up the striker's position.
The home team came fast out of the blocks and in the 49th minute they managed to drag all of our defenders out of position, with some pretty attacking play, which culminated in Alex sending a cross from deep towards our far post, where Ricardo Vas Te was on hand to hammer the ball home from short range. In the 55th minute, my first substitution bore fruit when Lövenkrands put in a great ball towards the left edge of the area. Qvist used his excellent first touch to shake off Zé Castro's challenge and then proceeded to send a great curling shot into the far corner. Pretty soon after that, the home team changed to an all-out-attack formation, 4-2-4, to try to salvage something from the game. Their plan even looked like succeeding when Lasse Qvist got injured, when he was involved in a very hard challenge with Gomes, costing him a broken arm. We decided to keep going with our 4-5-1 formation and then earned a freekick on the right wing with only a minute left in normal time. Daniel Jensen tried to cross towards the near post, but Meira managed to get in the way of the ball. Unfortunately for him, Leon Andreasen was on hand to hit a fierce shot from 7 yards, which ended up in the net. The Danish fans went wild in the stands and the players were no better on the pitch. We managed to hold the Portuguese off for the final few minutes of extra time and scooped a well deserved victory.
Final Score: 1-3
Goals: Daniel Jensen (35), Lasse Qvist (55), Leon Andreasen (89)
MOM: Leon Andreasen
Current Group Position: 1st

I couldn't help but praising the lads to high heaven, except for poor Cagara, who had been outplayed throughout the first half. I told him that his performance had been very disappointing and I'd expect better from him in the coming games. He was professional enough to accept my criticism and promised to work on the deficiencies in his game. We flew back home to Copenhagen and the lads had a hard time keeping up with enthusiastic fans, who wanted all of their autographs. They were only too happy to oblige. Finally here's the group table after the first 4 matches for all teams.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Denmark | | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Serbia & Mont. | | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Austria | | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Portugal | | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Estonia | | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -7 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Azerbaijan | | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

I got another week of rest before having to return to English football. I used the couple of days I had in Copenhagen to take Lynn for a stroll around the main sights of the city. I could go into a long rant about the trip, but I'll spare you. Especially since I'm certain that the Danish people might be a bit offended at my lack of knowledge about their most treasured sights.

When I returned from Copenhagen, I was informed that Russo had gotten injured while on international duty with the Italian U-21 team. He had twisted his ankle, which ensured that I had to change the team around quite a bit, for the visit to Vicarage Road. On a positive note, Bruno Cheyrou had finally returned from a broken leg and was given his first start for 6 months.

Watford v. Derby English Championship
What a fast start to the match. Bruno Cheyrou managed to steal in front of Bangura and sent the ball forward to Smith, who in turn chipped it into the path of the oncoming Dahlberg. He made no mistakes and scored with a thumping volley from the edge of the area. Matthew Spring levelled things again, when he scored with a beautiful curling volley from 30 yards. Fortunately for us, Ray Parlour seemed to have left his marbles at home, when he pushed Dahlberg in front of the referee, in his own box, when the ball was swinging into the 6 yard box from a Duda corner. Wotton made no mistakes from the penalty spot and put us back into the lead.
We made another defensive gaff in the 50th minute, when Michael Timlin was allowed too much time on the ball and he put it away with ease from 18 yards. At that point I was about to boil over, but then fate intervened. Cheyrou took a freekick out on the right wing and passed it to Dahlberg, who was near the byline, just outside of the 6 yard box. He proceeded to cross the ball, but for some strange reason Djidonou, in the Watford goal, misread the cross and knocked the ball into his own net. We still had to work hard to keep the advantage, but in the end Watford caused their own downfall, when Dan Harding tripped Darren Potter in the area. Paul Wotton put the ensuing penalty away as usual and in the final minute of normal time, Dahlberg won an aerial challenge near the halfway line and flicked the ball into the path of Troy Hayder, who then proceeded to score a great goal. A thoroughly deserved win, even if we managed to cause ourselves undue excitement due to some defensive ****-ups.
Final Score: 2-5
Goals: Mikael Dahlberg (3), Paul Wotton (pen 45, pen 88), Yoann Djidonou (o.g. 59), Troy Hayder (90)
MOM: Paul Wotton
Current League Position: 2nd

The league table at the start of April:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Pl | Sunderland | | 41 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 67 | 39 | +28 | 84 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Pl | Derby | | 41 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 106 | 48 | +58 | 78 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Wolves | | 41 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 75 | 53 | +22 | 70 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Doncaster | | 41 | 19 | 8 | 14 | 74 | 65 | +9 | 65 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Portsmouth | | 41 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 80 | 61 | +19 | 63 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Southampton | | 41 | 17 | 11 | 13 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Man Utd | | 41 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 66 | 59 | +7 | 62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Cardiff | | 41 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 61 | 58 | +3 | 59 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Leeds | | 41 | 18 | 5 | 18 | 55 | 56 | -1 | 59 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Chelsea | | 41 | 18 | 3 | 20 | 62 | 88 | -26 | 57 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Stoke | | 41 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 56 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Nottm Forest | | 41 | 16 | 8 | 17 | 58 | 60 | -2 | 56 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Ipswich | | 41 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 55 | 59 | -4 | 56 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Preston | | 41 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 70 | 70 | 0 | 55 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Leicester | | 41 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 66 | 61 | +5 | 54 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Barnsley | | 41 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 65 | 72 | -7 | 53 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Swansea | | 41 | 15 | 8 | 18 | 68 | 77 | -9 | 53 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Plymouth | | 41 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Luton | | 41 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 48 | 57 | -9 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Gillingham | | 41 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 59 | 73 | -14 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Sheff Wed | | 41 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 56 | 67 | -11 | 47 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Sheff Utd | | 41 | 11 | 11 | 19 | 38 | 67 | -29 | 44 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Brighton | | 41 | 10 | 11 | 20 | 37 | 60 | -23 | 41 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Watford | | 41 | 9 | 9 | 23 | 43 | 74 | -31 | 36 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_perilousfaith

Still a very nice story, even though you left the Druids (sniff)! I enjoy all that splendid character interaction you have going here

KUTGW! :thup:

retired_aurie

Thanks Flying_Fin
All criticism is welcome for sure, but this positive stuff is good on a man's ego

I have to make sure I keep the character interaction together, because this is one story I'm really enjoying writing myself.
I left the Druids because there was nothing more to prove there though. And after I left, they sold a few of their best players off and TNS took back to dominating the Welsh league for the current season. Druids were 3rd last time I checked.

retired_aurie

April 2009
Before the next match, I managed to convince Alexander Banor Tettey to sign for us on a free transfer, come end of season. The Norwegian who is a very good midfielder, and can play as a central defender as well as doing a job across the rest of midfield, had been disillusioned at the lack of chances at his current club, Crystal Palace.

Brighton v. Derby English Championship
If we won this game, promotion would be secured. So it came as no surprise that the lads were extremely jittery coming into the match. And the nervousness was never more apparent than when Duda got himself booked, for persistent fouling, after only 15 minutes. Matthew Hampson was getting his first start, after coming back from his second loan spell of the season. He seemed to be overawed by the moment, so I took him off at halftime, when the score was still goalless. We'd had a few good chances in the first half, but just couldn't find the goal we needed to calm our nerves.
In the second half, Potter finally showed that he was a pile of nerves, when he got booked for shirt tugging. Finally, in the 54th minute, we managed to break the ice. After a very fluid passing game, Tommy Smith found enough space on the left wing to send a pass towards the far post. Darren Potter charged in at great pace and managed to outjump Dyer, to head the ball into the back of the net. His tenth goal of the season and he was one happy lad, as he displayed when he was doing his celebration. The Brighton defenders then had a moment of utter stupidity, when Hoyte took a throw near their area and aimed for Troy Hayder. Shiels jumped much higher than Hayder, to head the ball away, but the referee obviously noticed that he used Hayder's shoulders as a support to get more lift from his jump. That gave us a penalty, which Wotton converted with aplomb. The Brighton players obviously gave up at that point, so we could play out the rest of the match without much stress.
Final Score: 0-2
Goals: Darren Potter (54), Paul Wotton (pen 59)
MOM: Paul Wotton
Current League Position: 2nd

To our great surprise, we're now only one point behind Sunderland, who have only managed to get one point from their last two matches. I told the lads that we now had a good chance of stealing the league title from them, since we'd given ourselves a great chance to do that. The platform we'd built would really be something to take heart from. Then I congratulated the lads on achieving the promotion ahead of everybody's expectations. Nobody had expected us to challenge, but we showed them alright.

Former Rams midfielder Stefano Eranio claimed that he was extremely surprised that we had achieved promotion this season, since the disappointment of relegation the previous season must have been playing on everybody's mind. Obviously that hadn't been the case and he was very happy to see us beating the odds. He praised me for making this possible, but I have to point out that if I hadn't inherited such good players, nothing would have been secured.

After the match a journalist approached me and wanted an short interview.
Journalist (J): ”Congratulations on the promotion Tomas, you must all be very excited about the prospect of playing in the Premiership next season.”
Me: ”You could say that again, and thank you very much. The lads have done a great job under great stress, so I'm very happy with them.”
J: ”Do you think they've got the quality to stay afloat in the Premiership next season?”
Me: Now that's a very difficult question. Of course the challenge of playing there is a totally different kettle of fish. It's a very competitive division and all newcomers will have to learn fast, if they want to stand a chance of surviving there. I must of course congratulate the lads on securing this promotion. We have to build on it for next season.”
J: ”Thank you for your time Tomas and good luck in your remaining games and good luck in the Premiership, it will be an interesting season indeed.”
Me: ”Thank you for the kind words. We'll be doing the best we can and hopefully even better than that. Good day to you.”

Most of the players are in agreement with me, but a couple are concerned that we might not be able to compete at the highest level. I guess it's up to us to show what we're made of.

John Sleightholme came to the team bus after the match and congratulated us on this phenomenal achievement. He announced that he'd be throwing a massive celebratory party after the season ended and all the players and staff would be more than welcome to attend. His announcement was greeted with a thunderous applause and he then left the bus with a great big smile on his face.

We didn't get a long rest after securing promotion. Right on the Monday we were back in the fray and this time our arch rivals Nottingham Forest were popping in for a visit. Their manager was exctremely cocky prior to the match, but I told him in return that I'd be looking forward to beating them with ease and nothing he had could counter our players.

Derby v. Nottingham Forest English Championship
I was quite certain that we'd have to eat our words after the match, when Ben Burgess started the scoring in the 11th minute, for the visitors. Our defence had been dragged out of position and Burgess managed to outmanoeuvre Hoyte, for the only time in the match, and score a nice chipped goal. I became quite angry at this and told our players to change to hard tackling and that ensured our taking control of the match. On 26 minutes Paul Wotton scored from yet another penalty, following Damien Johnson's foul on Tommy Smith, and we were coasting from that point on. And to pour more misery onto the visitors, Smith scored his 20th goal of the season in the 42nd minute, when he cut across the area to meet Canero's deep cross to the near post. 3 minutes later and Forest were reduced to 10 men, when Stefan Vonboe Lang was sent off for a professional foul on Dahlberg. I encouraged the lads to keep up the good work, because the fans would love them even more, if that was even possible, and they never looked like letting me down.
Forest tried to keep it narrow and never really had any clear cut chances in the second half. All they could do was test Camp from distance and he dealt with those shots easily. In the 71st minute Smith was back in the goals and this time he broke the record of most league goals for the club. Duda received a cross field pass from Canero and broke past his opponent and then crossed it to the near post, where Smith was on hand to despatch the ball into the goal, for his 54th league goal for Derby. In injury time, Hampson appeared to have scored our fourth, but unfortunately for him, Hayder was offside, so it wouldn't count.
Final Score: 3-1
Goals: Paul Wotton (pen 26), Tommy Smith (42, 71)
MOM: Tommy Smith
Current League Position: 2nd

I was ecstatic after the match and was running around the dressing room after the match, high fiving everybody in sight and then repeating it over and over. I told the lads that this had been one sensational match and I was very proud of them. And what was even better, they'd made the fans go home in a state of euphoria. Then I sent them off to the showers and gave them the next day off from training.

retired_aurie

Thursday 16th April 2009
Today I received both good news and bad news. First off, young David Lynch finally returned to full training, following his unlucky injury spell. Unfortunately Paul Wotton would be out for the rest of season and it might take him all of 3 months to recover from a damaged achilles tendon.

Man Utd v. Derby English Championship
Before this match we were depicted as slight favourites, but I warned the lads against expecting the opposition to roll over and play dead. Man Utd had been improving a lot throughout the season and were sitting in the 6th place in the league when we went up to Old Trafford.
The match started at a frantic pace and both teams created a few half chances, which just wouldn't go in, which was alright with us. We knew that the longer the match would go on without goals, the more desperate our opponents would become. Then in the 29th minute the unthinkable thing happened, or more accurately, it happened to the Utd's left back, Gabriel Heinze. He was under a lot of pressure from both Dahlberg and Potter, with Smith waiting near the edge of the area, and tried a backpass to Williams in the Red Devils' goal. Unfortunately for Heinze, his backpass was panicky and hit hard and Williams never stood a chance of saving it. So we were one up, with a goal from nothing. 10 minutes later, Potter won the ball in midfield and found Boertien to the left. He then passed the ball into the path of Duda, who in turn chipped the ball into Smith's path near the byline. Smith used is speed to get past his defender and then hit a hard cross that Dahlberg converted easily from 4 yards. The Man Utd players seemed beaten from that moment on and, in a rather tame second half, Smith scored a great goal, when he managed to go on a 40 yard run and score, after Dahlberg had flicked Camp's goalkick into his path in the centre of the pitch. This signalled the end of the match as such and the final 40 minutes were quite uneventful.
Final Score: 0-3
Goals: Gabriel Heinze (o.g. 29), Mikael Dahlberg (39), Tommy Smith (50)
MOM: Duda
Current League Position: 2nd

We were extremely jubilant in the dressing room after the match and rightfully so. We had managed to keep in touch with league leaders Sunderland, who also won their game on the weekend; a one nil hard fought win against [/b]Leeds[/b]. This also meant that Man Utd were out of the top 6 and would have to rely on other teams to help them rise back into a playoff spot.

Now this was a weekend that would decide upon a few things. First of all, it would decide upon the league champions. With us and Sunderland in the running, it would be imperative that we win our game and then hope for Southampton to beat Sunderland or at the very least get a draw. The Saints were in a battle with The Red Devils, for the final playoff spot. To make sure they got it, they'd have to win. Sheffield United, Brighton and Watford were already relegated before the final round, so there wasn't any excitement in the bottom half of the league.

Ahead of the final game, I received news that Dennis Cagara would be joining us on a free transfer at the end of season. He's a Danish left back, who can also move up the pitch quite well. He should ensure that we can cope with injuries on that side of the pitch. He'd been starved of playing time for Lecce, so I managed to convince him that he'd be better off in Derbyshire.

Derby v. Plymouth English Championship
Our game against The Pilgrims started off fast and furious and both teams were intent on winning. The Pilgrims wanted to improve on their league position, while we were trying to keep up our end of the bargain, to win the division. We did get off to a brilliant start, when Tommy Smith was on the receiving end of a magnificent near post cross from Duda. He made no mistakes from 8 yards out and Larrieu had no chance of reaching the ball. The Pilgrims suffered a major blow in the 31st minute when Larrieu got injured when he saved a thunderbolt of a shot from Welsh and then landed awkwardly on his foot and twisted his ankle very badly, leaving himself out of any more football for the next month. Nicky Weaver had to take over the reins and he had barely settled in goal, when Dahlberg added our second goal of the game. Duda was yet again the architect and he found Dahlberg's run with a precise throughball, which Mikael latched onto and then managed to wrongfoot Weaver, before slotting the ball coolly into the far corner.

I received news from The Doncaster Community Stadium at this point and found out that Man Utd were down 3-0 at halftime and looking bad against the homeside. I also found out that Southampton were 2-0 up against Sunderland, so that put us in the driving seat for the title.

Plymouth came out for the second half in a very determined mood. We struggled to string more than two passes together and despite my substitutions, we just couldn't outwork them. Fortunately for us, Camp was in magnificent form and kept us safe until the end of the game. We never looked like scoring more, but then again we didn't have to, looking at how the other games were going. In the end, we could count ourselves lucky that The Pilgrims weren't wearing their scoring boots, because they only hit the target with 8 of their 26 attempts, 4 of which came in the first half.
Final Score: 2-0
Goals: Tommy Smith (3), Mikael Dahlberg (40)
MOM: Lee Camp

Man Utd managed to claw back two goals in the second half of their match, but that ended their run for promotion for another season. Sunderland couldn't come back into their match against Southampton, which could only mean one thing:

WE WERE THE CHAMPIONS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!! And how corny does that sound then?

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Derby | | 46 | 28 | 9 | 9 | 118 | 50 | +68 | 93 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Sunderland | | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 73 | 45 | +28 | 91 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Pl | Wolves | | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 85 | 55 | +30 | 82 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Pl | Doncaster | | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 85 | 72 | +13 | 77 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Pl | Portsmouth | | 46 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 90 | 63 | +27 | 76 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Pl | Southampton | | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 70 | 56 | +14 | 72 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Man Utd | | 46 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 72 | 68 | +4 | 67 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Chelsea | | 46 | 21 | 4 | 21 | 69 | 92 | -23 | 67 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Stoke | | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 61 | 60 | +1 | 65 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Cardiff | | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 67 | 67 | 0 | 65 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Leicester | | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 75 | 66 | +9 | 64 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Ipswich | | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 59 | 63 | -4 | 64 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Barnsley | | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 72 | 76 | -4 | 63 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Leeds | | 46 | 19 | 5 | 22 | 60 | 65 | -5 | 62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Preston | | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 75 | 78 | -3 | 59 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Nottm Forest | | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 65 | 74 | -9 | 59 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Plymouth | | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 51 | 48 | +3 | 58 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Sheff Wed | | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 64 | 72 | -8 | 55 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Swansea | | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 72 | 87 | -15 | 55 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Luton | | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 53 | 66 | -13 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Gillingham | | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 64 | 80 | -16 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Sheff Utd | | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 44 | 76 | -32 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Brighton | | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 40 | 70 | -30 | 42 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | Watford | | 46 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 46 | 81 | -35 | 39 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Oddly enough, Plymouth were in the top 3 when it came to the meanest defences in the division, only Sunderland were better and we came third. When it came to attacking prowess though, The Pilgrims were found sadly lacking, with only 3 more goals than what they conceded. We topped that list with a very handsome margin, with Portsmouth second and Doncaster and Wolves sharing third place.

When I got to the dressing room I couldn't hear myself thinking, because the lads were singing so loud. They were singing and dancing with the cup between them and to be honest, if you've ever seen professional footballers dance in the nude, you'll live with nightmares ever after
I broke open a few bottles of champagne and told the lads to enjoy themselves. They'd certainly earned it with their tenacious performances throughout the season. Then I had to leave for a press interview, which I sort of dreaded, due to the way they can distort what you say.

Sunday Mirror (SM): ”Congratulations on winning the Championship Tomas. How does it feel?”
Me: “Thank you very much. I can't really describe how I feel. I think it will take a while for the truth of it all to settle and sink in. But the lads are euphoric in the dressing room.”
SM: ”How tough was this last match of the season?”
Me: ”It was extremely tough, a good thing that Lee Camp was in such a good form. He saved our bacon more than once today and he's been massive for us since he returned from injury.”
SM: ”How do you think you'll fare in the Premiership next season, looking at the form you ended the season with?”
Me: ”I think we'll do well next season. We have some fantastic players here and they'll be even better next season. Of course I've secured some extra players to add to the squad depth, but that's only what needs to be done, if we want to survive potential injury problems.”
SM: ”Any particular players that you've secured so far?”
Me: ”Yes, though I'd like to keep that to myself until we reveal them to our fans. But to give you a bone, I've secured the services of two Danish international players who will definitely make us better next year.”
SM: ”Thank you for your time Tomas, I hope you'll fare well in the coming season and again, congratulations on winning the Championship.”
Me: ”Thank you and we'll no doubt speak again when things get going next season.”

The messages of congratulations were coming in thick and fast now. The board were extremely jubilant and announced that with the way we had defied the odds this season, the team would go down as one of the best in the club's 125 year history.
Bobby Davison, who's one of the Ram's legends and now managing Bradford, commented that what we'd done was nothing short of a miracle and praised me in particular for my part in it. I thanked him for his kind words, but pointed out that all I could do was to lay down the instructions and it was up to the lads on the pitch to carry out those instructions. Fortunately they were good enough to cope with most things thrown our way.

After coming out of the shower, Dahlberg was complaining of pain in his side and it's turned out that he's got a bruised rib. It will leave him out for the next 2 weeks or so, but that's alright, since I'd already penned that time down for rest and relaxation anyway.
Brian Little, manager of Argyle, was very bitter at the end and claimed that the win had been a great injustice, considering how much control they'd had over the proceedings in the second half. He was right of course, since we were under the kosh for all of the second half. I thanked him for a great match and told him that my view of his manager skills had improved a lot during this match. The way he tried everything to get back into the match was inspiring and I'd try to learn from the way he'd spurred his team on.

All we'd be able to do now was to watch the playoffs for the 3rd promotion place in the league and that wouldn't start until May. The lads were really enjoying the resting period and I couldn't blame them at all. They'd worked hard to get to it and were now reaping the rewards of all their hard work this year.

retired_aurie

End of Season
Portsmouth won the first leg of their playoff game against Doncaster at Fratton Park, 3-2. That means they'll have to stay true defensively to get to the final proper.
The following day it was time for the other match-up. Southampton were playing host to Wolves at St. Mary's. It turned out to be a very tame encounter and predictably ended in a 1-1 draw.

Aston Villa surprised the world and won the Premiership and there were no big guns in the top four places either. Everton came second, Spurs third and Middlesbrough fourth. Liverpool then came fifth and Arsenal were languishing in tenth place. Relegated were West Ham, Q.P.R and Fulham.

Doncaster were really up for the second leg of their Semi Finals against Portsmouth and won by a resounding 4-1 margin. That saw them through to the Final proper and their opponents would be either Wolves or Southampton.

TNS returned to the helm as the champions in the Welsh Premier Division and my old club, Cefn Druids, came second. The Druids had been defeated for the 3rd year in succession by Wrexham in the FAW Premier Cup, so it looked like I'd have to help them to progress further. Maybe I'd have to buy one of their poorest players for a ridiculous amount of money, so they'd have a chance of buying good enough players. Though that's not a good idea, since my current employers would want me to spend money wisely.

Wolves were the easy victors in their second leg against Southampton. 2-0 and they had no progressed to meet Doncaster in the Finals of the playoffs.