bruno

Note: I’m using CM 03-04 and CMSorted’s latest update. Small db for speeding up the game and England (Premier, 1st Div, 2nd Div, 3rd Div) selected.

Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea made me thinking that I would try and write a similar story. Billionaire Paul Campbell purchases a financial struggling team and provides the club with heaps of hard cash. Will the club line up silverware after silverware?

All individuals in the story are fictional, except those who obviously aren’t.

bruno

Care for some football, anyone?

I’ve always been a big fan of English football. And growing up near Highbury lead to my favourite team being Arsenal. However, in my early twenties I moved across the Atlantic Ocean to United States of America, the greatest country in the world. At least according to themselves. But they aren’t exactly world leading in football, or soccer as they call it.

Anyway, after a few years in the States, where I made a fortune (around £20 billion) on a few Internet companies, I decided to move back to Britain. And I already knew what I would do on my homecoming to England. Invest a “modest” amount of money in a football club.

My financial advisory, Dave Berkan, thought I was insane when I told him. ”What? Are you totally out of your ****ing mind?”, he said flabbergasted. ”You’ll never see that money again”. ”I know”, I said. ”But I still want to do it. I’ve always dreamt of being manager of a premiership team. And this is the closest that I will get”. ”Well, since it’s your money”, he replied. ”They sure damn is.”, I said.

Dave looked at me across the table. I stared back ”So, which club do you want then?”, he asked. ”It’s all in this envelope”, I answered waiving a big brown envelope. ”It also says how much I’m willing to bid for the club. Have a look at it.” Dave opened the envelope carefully and read the papers. He looked a bit perplexed. He raised his head, looking at me. ”Buying this club won’t come cheap. From what I’ve heard they have debts in the region of £62 million and a £31 million loan which will have to be sanitised.”, he said. ”I already know all this. I still want this. Just fix it! Ok?”, I answered. ”Ok, ok! Don’t bite my head off. Jesus. I just wanted you to know all the fact. But I will take care of it.”, he said a bit nervous. ”Great.”, I said while picking up today’s newspaper.

bruno

I’m the proud owner of… Leeds United

Dave got to it immediately and within the week, Dave and I flew up to Leeds to start negotiations with the Leeds United board. Chairman John McKenzie and Director of Football Alan Hill met us at the airport and a limousine took us to the training ground. After a tour of the facilities we went to the stadium for a tour there. It was impressing and it made me even surer. The next day negotiations started and after a few days of intense dialogue we finally agreed on a takeover:

-£20 million for purchasing the club (mandatory)

-£95 million to sanitise the clubs debts, loans and outstanding salaries (mandatory)

-£300 million in transfer funds (not mandatory)

-A new 70 000 seated stadium, which will be finished on 02-06-2006 (not mandatory)


It was a major thing in the media and amongst the Leeds United fans. Of course the fans didn’t mind but on the telly experts criticised the board and me, saying that the premiership wouldn’t benefit from this. They went on to say that when finally I realize my mistake I would just leave the club to rotten and find another leisure recreation to play around with. But I had no intentions of leaving. Not yet anyway...

bruno

Pre-Season

As I was sitting in my new office, I had gotten an office just a few doors down from the board room, a few days after my takeover manager Eddie Gray came to see me. ”Hello Mr Campbell”, he said when entering my office. ”Hello Eddie. And please, its Paul”, I replied. ”Ok… Paul. I was just wondering. I’ve got a list here of players I would like to see in the club. Have a look at it and decide which ones to go after”, he said handing me the list. ”Hmm…”, I said reading the paper. ”It looks good, but I will buy a few more players than this. I hope you don’t mind”. ”No, not at all”, he said. ”Just as long as they’ve got the goods”. We both laughed. ”See you later then”, Eddie said walking towards the door. ”Yeah”, I said while writing on my laptop. Eddie turned around in the doorway. ”By the way. I’ll terminate all of the loan contracts now then since we won’t be needing most of the players on loan, do we?”, he said. ”I guess we don’t”, I replied without really paying much attention. ”I guess we don’t”.

The pre-season started off in a terrible way. 0-1 against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium after 30-year old Scotsman Steven White scored for the Scots. With many reserve players fielded Leeds were unable to do anything spectacular and Rangers had the game at their feet. With the Rangers match behind us we launched multiple bids for star players all around Europe:

Ronaldo – Real Madrid
Casillas – Real Madrid
Totti – AS Roma
Samuel – AS Roma
Jenas - Newcastle
Puyol – Barcelona
Adriano – Inter
Lúcio – Leverkusen
Pennant – Arsenal
Buffon - Juventus
D’Alessandro - Wolfsburg

We knew we had to strengthen the squad before the start of the season. And hopefully we would get them before the matches against Celtic and Aberdeen at Elland Road. And strengthen we did. In a matter of days we had had offers accepted from right and left and players arrived to negotiate contracts on a daily basis. And before the Celtic match we had spent a total of £150 million on pre-season transfers. And with 4 (Ronaldo, Adriano, Samuel, Lúcio) players waiting for work permit it would rise even higher.

Terk

haha, lost to the huns :p good luck with the story

bruno

Yeah, well with almost only reserve players playing, I didn't really expect anything else. I'm fairly surprised that we could manage not to loose by too many goals.

bruno

Pre-Season – continued

After the utterly worthless performance against Rangers, United’s fans demanded a win against Celtic. And with the latest signings it wouldn’t be a problem. Already after 2 minutes Jermaine Pennant scored a lovely goal before Mark Viduka scored both 2-0 and 3-0. It looked like Gigi Buffon would have an immaculate evening but Liam Miller thought otherwise when he settled the score to 3-1. Nothing for Buffon to do, though. £15 million signing Walter Samuel joined the day before the match against Aberdeen and went straight into the starting XI. However no one in Leeds impressed this night as Mark Viduka scored the only goal in the match after 4 minutes. Aberdeen tried to get forward but the Leeds United defence had no troubles preventing them from scoring.

The day after the match Walter Samuel and Lúcio was both granted conditional British work permits. Another £25,75 million was spent on those two players. And before not too long Ronaldo’s work permit came through, sealing the £42 million deal for us. Also we decided to extend Simon Johnson and Shaun Allaway’s contracts until 30th June 2007.

Although we had signed many top of the notch players during the pre-season, bookmakers priced us at 33-1 to win the English Premier League this season. A bit surprising, but maybe they thought we would have some difficulties with getting the players playing like a team. Still, so far almost everything had gone according to plans. But then came an enormous blow. Adriano’s work permit was turned down. We decided to appeal against the decision but the turndown would still see him miss the first three matches in the premiership. Provided he will be granted a work permit, of course.

List of players going in and out:

IN:
Jermaine Pennant – from Arsenal (£4.7 million)
Lúcio – from Leverkusen (£10,75 million)
Jermaine Jenas – from Newcastle (£15 million)
Walter Samuel – from AS Roma (£15 million)
Andrés D’Alessandro – from Wolfsburg (£16 million)
Iker Casillas – from Real Madrid (£20 million)
Gianluigi Buffon – from Juventus (£23 million)
Carles Puyol – from Barcelona (£27 million)
Ronaldo – from Real Madrid (£42 million)
Francesco Totti – from AS Roma (£45 million)

OUT:
Jason Wilcox – to Ipswich Town (loan – 3 months)
Simon Johnson – to Tranmere Rovers(loan – 3 months)

bruno

August - 2003

The fans of Leeds United demanded instant success after signing the likes of Ronaldo and Francesco Totti to name a few. But 1-1 away against Manchester United didn’t make an impact on them. Mainly because we didn’t play very well. Paul Scholes scored a great goal from the border to see Man Utd off to a great start. He could have easily scored both 2 and 3 nil minutes later but Gigi Buffon showed some real quality. Neither sides really impressed but Man Utd were the stronger team of the day and were unlucky to let one in just before full time. Alan Smith scored the goal. And after the circumstances we should be pleased with that one point.

Suddenly it was time yet again to take place in the VIP section and enjoy, what would be a joyful game against Fulham at Elland Road. Both sides seemed to be a bit reluctant to attack in the first half but a mistake from a jittery Lúcio resulted in 0-1 after 27 minutes. However Andrés D’Alessandro scored his first goal for the club in the 43rd minute and it seemed like all tensions let off. The players finally played like a team and mixed individual routines with rigid teamwork. Alan Smith tapped the ball in to make it 2-1 and minutes later Ronaldo extended the lead, resulting in a steaming atmosphere inside the stadium. D’Alessandro’s second goal came in the 64th minute and Smith didn’t want to be any worse when scoring both 5 and 6-1 to Leeds, sealing his hattrick after a great performance.

With a team in shape, Eddie Gray and his men dismissed Charlton fairly painless a few days later. Already after 3 minutes Ronaldo had scored to the frustration of the home fans. Ronaldo scored a second goal in the 48th minute but before that, Alan Smith had already extended Leeds lead to 2-0. After this Charlton sharpened up but still they were not capable of preventing Jermaine Jenas from scoring in the 86th minute.

A few days after the match against Charlton, Adriano’s transfer from Inter to Leeds United finally came through, after a work permit was granted for the player. Later the same day we could unveil him at a press conference at Elland Road. “Why have you signed another striker when you have both Alan Smith and Ronaldo in-form? Especially since you had to pay a staggering £27 million for a player that hasn’t been playing well recently”, one reporter asked. ”£27 million may seem a bit over the top but to have only two top-class strikers in a club that wants to win the Premiership is just not enough”, I replied. ”We need a squad with depth. With Adriano joining we have a great chance of winning the title, and hopefully we can pick up some more silverware along the way. Still, it’s up to Eddie who will play and who will not. I’m not involved in picking the squad. But this signing surely pressures not only Alan Smith but also Ronaldo to show what they’re made of. No one has his place picked out in the team. Everyone have to fight for a place in the squad. And I think it will do them good”.

Surprisingly Eddie Gray decided to demote Alan Smith to the bench this evening in favour of recent signing Adriano in the match against Portsmouth on Elland Road. And the fine 4-0 win against Charlton was followed up by a 3-0 victory after D’Alessandro scoring one goal and Ronaldo two. After the match I spoke to Eddie Gray and he didn’t seem quite pleased with Adriano’s performance and considered letting Alan Smith play the next game alongside Ronaldo.

Also during this month Man Utd, defeating Arsenal on penalties, won the Community Shield. The European Super Cup also went on to penalties from which AC Milan came out as the winners.

bruno

September – 2003

Early one September morning, sitting behind my mahogany desk in a black Armani outfit, I found myself staring at a headline in The Sun saying, “Eddie Gray wants away”. Of course I became a bit perplexed since he hadn’t said anything to me. However I didn’t read too much into it since the media has a tendency of making a hen out of a feather. Nevertheless, I went to see him. I entered Eddie’s office; he was sitting by his desk writing something. “I presume you read today’s edition of The Sun”, he said still looking down at his papers. ”That’s right”, I replied. He looked up. He had a smile on his face. ”You don’t have to worry. I’m not going anywhere”, he said. ”Ok… By the way, what did you say to the reporters making them write this?”, I asked. ”Just that I won’t be at the club forever.”, he said smiling.

This month got off to a slow start due to international matches. England managed to see off FYR of Macedonia with a dynamic performance. Although England only scored one goal they dictated the terms in the match with Jermaine Jenas earning the Man of Match award. They followed up the win with another triumph. However many England fans were dissatisfied after the 2-0 win against Liechtenstein as England failed to convert their dominance into a heavier win. However England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson condemned the discontent saying they had put in a vibrant performance. Also worth noting is that Leeds United Brazilian strikers Ronaldo and Adriano scored all goals in Brazils 4-0 win over Chile. Adriano had a great evening scoring three of them.

The first match this month was a tricky away game against Newcastle on St. James’s Park. Although many thought Adriano would see this game from the bench after his dreadful performance against Portsmouth Eddie Gray decided against that. Mostly because his great performance for Brazil in the week. And no one will complain about that after the game since Adriano scored both one and two nil before Rob Styles blew his whistle for halftime. Adriano continued his outstanding performance in the second half and with 10 minutes to go he settled the score to 3-0. Worth mentioning perhaps is that Frazer Richardson made his first competitive appearance for Leeds when he replaced Carles Puyol late in the second half. Also Gianluigi Buffon twisted his knee in the match and after the post match examination he was ruled out for about a week. This meaning that Iker Casillas would have to play in the matches against both Southampton and Bristol City (league cup). Also Eirik Bakke resumed light training following his knee injury. However he is not expected to be fully fit for another 5 months.

After a quite blend performance in the last match Ronaldo showed his critics that he is one of the best footballers in the world. He scored all four goals in our 4-0 win over Southampton at Elland Road, with the last being the most spectacular. He fired a real firecracker from 35 yards, which fluttered into the left corner. Those four goals saw him rise to the top of goalscoring table. Yet another solid performance from Ronaldo and the rest of, for the evening, the reserve-filled team saw us winning with 4-0 against Bristol City after two goals from Alan Smith, one from Ronaldo and one from James Milner. We also easily brushed off Bolton with 4-0 at Reebok Stadium this month. The goals came from Adriano, Jermaine Jenas, Ronaldo and an own goal by Ivan Campo. Gigi Buffon made a solid performance in goal after his return from an injury.

A fine reward for our great run this month was that we received all monthly awards this month. Eddie Gray became Manager of the Month; Jermaine Pennant Player of the Month and Jermaine Jenas received the Young Player of the Month award.

bruno

Cheers for the encouragment
---------------

October – 2003

I was sitting in my patio, in a white wicker chair, reading the newspaper, just minding my own business. Suddenly, a black van stopped by my driveway, all tires screeching. I raised my head just to see the side door open and something come flying out. The van drove off and seconds later a heavy and dull detonation shook the ground. The blast wave tipped the chair over and as I was thrown backwards I hit my head in the rail. As I got up on my feet again I saw a burning inferno on the driveway. Before not to long the police and fire fighters arrived. I was questioned about the incident but I couldn’t really give them any useful information, the men had worn black ski masks, concealing their faces. The police stayed until late night, it was 02.00 am before I got to bed. The next days the police came to see me on a daily basis. However they had no clue who had done it, and they probably never would. At least I wasn't attacked again. Well, not this month anyway.

However, the incident didn’t interfere with our preparation before the match against Aston Villa. Although the Villans started best, with a few fine chances, we came back into the match when Andrés D’Alessandro scored a real screamer from well outside the area. Minutes later he set up the £45 million man Alessandro Totti who chipped the ball past Tomas Sorensen. After the break we pushed forward even more but were unable to put the match to an end until the 79th minute when Adriano pounced on the rebound to settle the score.

This months schedule was also interrupted due to international matches. England faced a difficult task in beating Turkey in Istanbul. And they had troubles right from the start, Turkey showed some real class. The final score of 1-0 however did not reflect Turkeys total dominance. Following this loss England now has to play Norway in a 2-match play-off. Also this same day, Lucas Radebe announced that he would no longer play for Leeds United after the season; he wanted to retire when still in his prime. The fact that he hadn’t gotten the playing time he wanted had probably something to do with it too.

In the middle of this month we travelled down to London for the match against Arsenal on Highbury. And some game it turned out to be. Adriano scored in the 30th minute to make it 0-1 but seconds before the break, Thierry Henry equalised with a hard header. However we came back and before the match had ended both Ronaldo and Adriano had scored one goal each in the second half. But the real outburst in goals didn’t come in this match; it came against Everton, home on Elland Road. Before the first half had ended Francesco Totti had begun the scoring in the 17th minute followed by two goals from Andrés D’Alessandro. The second half got off to a slow start but Adriano fixed 4-0, Jermaine Jenas extended the lead and Alan Smith, who had replaced Ronaldo in the 67th minute, finished off the scoring with two fine goals to make it 7-0.

Many thought that a replay of the fine performance from the Everton match would come against Bradford City but it didn’t. The players looked a bit nonchalant at times and only managed to get 2-0. Alan Smith, who played instead of an injured Ronaldo whom was out with a cold, scored already after 6 minutes and Jason Gavin scored an own goal in the 19th minute.

This month Adriano got the Player of the Month award after having been in a rich vein of form, scoring four goals in three matches. Jermaine Pennant picked up the Young Player of the Month award after having made three solid performances and yet again Eddie Gray got the Manager of the Month award for guiding the team to three fine wins in the league.