retired_blondie_524

Off season ramblings

TNS announced a new sponsorship with a local company worth £16,000 a year over five years,

How the mighty have fallen ! Genoa wins the Serie C1 super Cup on away goals over Napoli.

God knows how UEFA work out their European Club rankings because despite our three trophy season we have dropped 13 places to 391st in next season's rankings

Unsurprisingly Michael Wilde was voted the TNS player of the year by the supporters.

After Jamie Brooks loan finishes and he returns to Oxford he is courted by several clubs and he eventually signs for Coventry.

World Cup 2006
The first three teams to qualify from the group stage after two games are France, Serbia & Montenegro and England.

They are soon joined by Italy, Turkey Argentina, Brazil and Poland.

Spain then qualify as runners up to Serbia and Sweden as runners up to France

Germany and Holland qualify from group E while Caneroon and Croatia come out of group F.

The final two for the second phase are Mexico as runner up to England and Morocco as runners up to Italy.

The first Second round games see Brazil beating Poland 2-0 and Argentina disposing of Turkey 3-0.

Spain beat France 2-0 and Serbia & Mont. go out on penalties to Sweden.

Holland take care of Cameroon 3-1 and in a real shocker hosts Germany crash out 1-0 to Croatia who miss a penalty and score the winner in the 90th minute.

The final two through the second round are England 2-0 over Morocco and Italy edge Mexico 3-2.

retired_blondie_524

Wednesday 28th June
TNS have been drawn to play Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova in the UEFA Champions League 1st qualifie with the first leg in Molldova.

World Cup 2006 - Quarter Finals

Argentina knock out Sweden 2-0 and Spain squeak past holders Brazil on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

The second two Q/F's are both close as Holland beat Italy 1-0 and Croatia lose by the same scoreline to England.

World Cup - Semi Finals

In the first semi goals from Del Horno and Torres see Spain past Holland 2-1. Robben scores for the Dutch who had De Jong sent off after 45 minutes.

The second semi saw Argentina fall behind to England through a Rooney goal before equalizing on 58 minutes. Gerrard was sent off on 86 minutes and Argentina sneaked in to score the winner in the last minute,

Third / Fourth Play-off
Early goals from Van Nistelrooy and Sneijder gave the Dutch a firm advantage before Owen pulled on back on 36 minutes. Holland finally sealed the win with Van Nistelrooy's second goal in the final minute.

WORLD CUP FINAL 2006
In a very tight game it was still 0-0 between Spain and Argentina after 90 minutes. Rodriguez scored after 94 minutes for the South Americians but Reyes equalized on 106 minutes sending the game into penalties. Crespo and Galletti scored as Argentina won the shootout 2-1.

retired_blondie_524

12/07/06 away at Sheriff Tiraspol (UEFA CL 1st Qual. 1st leg

The home side took an early lead when Tibirnac's shot was tipped on to the bar by Doherty and the rebound fell to Alexeev to tuck it in. Tibirnac turned villain on the 25th minute when his backpass sold the defence short and Wilde nipped in to prod it home. Alexev had his second goal ruled out for offside after 34 minutes but Sheriff weren't to be denied and Miterev rose above everybody at the far post to head home a minute before the break. TNS held on for the second half and might just have a chance in the home leg with the away goal.
Sheriff 2-1 TNS (att : 11,353)
(Wilde 26)

19/07/06 Home to Sheriff Tiraspol (UEFA CL 1st Qual 2nd leg)

TNS's gameplan was undone in the 28th minute when Dragan netted. Aleveev sealed TNS's hopes when he netted in the 55th minute to make it 4-1 on aggregate. Lloyd-Williams latched on to Grassi's pass on the 60th minute to reduce the deficit. Hope flickered when Tibirnac was sent off for his second yellow in the 64th minute but it was extinguished when Holmes gave away a penalty with 12 minutes left. Wilde at least sent the fans home a bit happier when he headed home on the far post in the 92nd minute.
TNS 2-3 Sheriff (att: 1,897)
(Lloyd-Williams 60, Wilde 90)
Sheriff Tiraspol win 5-3 on aggregate.

So the European adventure is over before it started almost but it gave a good cash boost to the finances which should finance the rest of the season.

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There has been no additions to the squad yet for 2006/07 but five players have left the club after their contracts ran out, 45 year old Ken McKenna, Steve Lalley Alfie carter, Chis King and Terry Phelan. I wanted Tery to stay but he only wanted to play not coach and rejected several contract offers.

retired_blondie_524

2/08/06 away at Gloucester City (pre-season friendly)
As a workout I sent the full first team squad out in the first half and they took the home side apart as they should do. Wilde, beck and Ruscoe from a trademark free kick scored but Lloyd-Williams missed a penalty.
With Gloucester having a man sent off on 41 minutes I made seven changes at half time to give the fringe players a run out and not to risk unnecessary injuries to key players. The reserve players carry on the good work and both front men, Wood and Lloyd-Williams add goals. A victory in the style that it should be.
Gloucester 0-5 TNS (att: 75)
(Wilde 7, Beck 13, Ruscoe 42, Wood 49, Lloyd-Williams 78)

5/08/06 away at Carrick (pre-season friendly)
I had intended to approach this as I had the Gloucester game but Carrick were giving us such a good workout that I left the first team out there till the hour mark. A good test but one we should have really taken control of easier.
Carrick 0-2 TNS (att: 73)
(Wilde 40, 50)

Sunday 6th August
Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield with a 75th minute goal from Kolo Touré.

Saturday 12th August
19 yar old Italian midfielder Dario D'Onofrio signs for £7,000 from Italian part-timers Orbassano Security.

away at Carmarthen (VM Premier)

A comfortable win in the first match of our title defence. We were always in control adding goals at regular intervals and were a bit unlucky to concede when Kennedy took advantage of a lack of concentration to hit a 30 yard strike in the 91st minute.
Carmarthen 1-3 TNS (att: 279)
(Wilde 32, Lloyd-Williams 55, Wood 83)

Haverfordwest had a good 4-1 win at new boys Bridgend and there were also 4-1 wins for Llanelli (at Port Talbot) and Newtown against the other promoted team, UWIC.

retired_blondie_524

Monday 14th August
Three players signed on the dotted line for us today, two 20 year olds, midfielder Niels Prud'Homme and winger Kristof Delorge arrive on free transfers from Belgian 2nd division side Sint-Truidense and 17 year old striker Bjön Zwikker is a free from dutch side FC Emmen.
The bookies make us 4/6 on to make a successful defence of the Vauxhall Masterfit Premier League title, Aberystwyth and Llanelli are 7/4, Carmarthen are 2-1 and all the rest are 10/1 or greater.

Friday 18th August
We break our transfer signing record to sign 22 year old striker Jonathan Granito for £18,000 from Italian club Cuoiopelli Cappiano-Romaiano.

19/08/06 home vs Cwmbran (VM Premier)

Granito took just 25 minutes to score on his debut. He caught the Cwmbran keeper making a dreadful hash on a free kick just inside the visitors half and dispossessed him to fire it into the empty net from 40 yards. Our shooting was rather wasteful after that with most shots sailing high and wide but it didn't matter as Cwmbran never looked like attacking. Wilde finally finished it off slotting home at the far post in the 92nd minute.
TNS 2-0 Cwmbran (att: 328)
(Granito 25, Wilde 92)

New boys UWIC and Bridgend drew 0-0 in Cardiff while Porthmadog put four past Rhyl without reply. Haverfordwest continued their good start beating Port Talbot 2-0 and Llanelli beat Caernarfon by the same scoreline.

The press were impressed by Granito's solid start, I told them that's why we broke the bank for him and I believed he would be a great signing in the months and years to come.

Tuesday 22nd August
The reserves open their fixtures with an easy 2-0 win over Cefn Druids, Wood getting both goals and Mathieson looked convincing in the net.

26/08/06 away at Welshpool Town (VM Premier)

An unchanged side took on Welshpool. The home side are reduced to 10 men after only 12 minutes after Andy Gay picked up two quick yellow cards. TNS just paced themselves and wore down the home side. Granito finally opened the scoring with his second in two games on 59 minutes and Wilde's fifth of the season wrapped up the points.
Welshpool 0-2 TNS (att: 211)
(Granito 59, Wilde 71)

Haverfordwest win 1-0 at Caernarfon and Newtown beat Porthmadog 1-0, both joining TNS at the top but Llanelli crashed 0-4 at home to Connah's Quay.

retired_blondie_524

29/08/06 away at Porthmadog (Loosemores of Cardiff Challenge Cup 1st round, 1st leg)

Four minutes into the game Granito intercepts an terrible throwout by the Porthmadog keeper and thumps the ball home. Porthmadog take advantage of a lack of concentration after 35 minutes to equalise when Leah fails to see James coming in behind him.
Ruscoe restored the lead just before the hour when he fired a poor clearance back through a crowded area for his first goal of the season. Both Prud'Homme and D'Onofrio come on again as substitutes but may need some adapting time in the reserves.
Porthmadog 1-2 TNS (att: 179)
(Granito 5, Ruscoe 58)

Haverfordwest's good start comes to an abrupt halt as they lose 0-3 to Carmarthen in their challenge cup 1st Rd, 1st leg match.

Tuesday 29th August 2006
Today we signed 20 year old Belgian central defender Dieter Deceuninck from Roeselare for £5,000. The chairman doesn't think it will benifit TNS and asks me to rethink but I explain that Dieter is comfortable in defence or midfield which will be very useful in a league which only allows three substitutes.

Thursday 31st August
Jamie Wood scored the only goal in the reserves 1-0 win at Goytre.

Friday 1st September
Wilde, Evans and Leah were selected in the Welsh Premier League team of the month. I was third in the manager of the month award behind Deryn Brace of Haverfordwest and Roger Preece of Newtown AFC.
The board have to agree they're pleased with my performance despite simmering under the surface about me ignoring their advice, the loss of £67K this month includes £30K on tranfers.
Rhyl have unveiled former Norwich player Iwan Roberts as their new manager and he wastes no time telling the press that TNS won't defend the title. I laughed when a reporter told me this, ha, I said - we have what it takes to retain the title and Rhyl will find that out on Saturday.

retired_blondie_524

9/09/06 home vs Rhyl (VM Premier)

Rhyl gave as good as they got for the opening half hour but were rocked when defender Kevin Doyle was dismissed after 35 minutes for his second yellow. Barely a minute later Granito rose above the keeper to head home Grassi's deep cross. Despite Rhyl having Lynch dismissed as well after 85 minutes for pushing over Wilde TNS couldn't find another breakthrough. Still it was a win to celebrate my birthday!
TNS 1-0 Rhyl (att: 331)
(Granito 36)

I rang Roberts after the game to tell him his side did well.
TNS hit the top but Haverfordwest's bubble has burst as they slump to their second successive 0-3 home defeat, this time to Llanelli. Newtown's 0-0 draw at Airbus UK leaves them second while Bangor's 3-1 win over Welshpool moves them up to third.

12/09/06 home vs Porthmadog (Loosemores of Cardiff Challenge Cup, 1st round, 2nd leg)

David Mathieson gets a rare start between the pipes and Deceuninck replaces Ruscoe. Ward puts Wilde clear on 13 minutes to put TNS one up and Wilde missed a tremendous chance to double that as he broke away in the final minute of the half leaving all the defenders trailing in his wake but he failed to beat the keeper. Wilde's goal proved to be the only goal of the game but it came at a cost as he went off after 66 minutes with a stubbed toe which coukd make him miss up to two weeks.
TNS 1-0 Porthmadog (att: 229)
(Wilde 14)
TNS win 3-1 on aggregate.

16/09/06 away at Newtown AFC (VM Premier)

Mathieson and Deceuninck keep their places and Wood comes in for the injured Wilde. TNS battered the home side but the second place team who like us had only conceded one goal held firm. Newtown lost defender Stuart Hill on 62 minutes for two yellow cards but he had given the referee every chance to send him off earlier. We stuck to our guns and finally got the breakthrough when substitute Lloyd-Williams headed home Grassi's cross five minutes from time.
Newtown 0-1 TNS (att: 340)
(Lloyd-Williams 86)

We're setting a cracking pace at the top, five straight wins and only one goal conceded. Llanelli move back to second, three points behind after beating UWIC 3-0 and Haverfordwest return to winning ways, 2-1 over Connah's Quay to take third place.

retired_blondie_524

Thursday 21st September
The reserves had a comfortable 3-1 win over Connah's Quay with goals from Zwikker, Köse and a Roux penalty.

23/09/06 home to Bridgend (VM Premier)

Wilde returns to partner Granito up front. It was all TNS, the visitors hardly got out of their half let alone get a shot away but somehow it was goaless at half time. Referee Bevan had been busy though booking eight players, four from each side in the first half. Thirty seconds into the second half Wilde flicked in past a rather high lying defence and powered away to bury it and Granito headed in Grassi's deep cross five minutes later. My main disappointment was that we could add any more.
TNS 2-0 Bridgend (att:368)
(Wilde 46, Granito 52)

While we maintain our 100% record Llanelli continue to chase us as they did so hard last season, winning 1-0 at Cefn Druids. It's Airbus's turn this week with third place after beating Port Talbot 2-1.

26/09/06 away at Newtown AFC (Loosemores of Cardiff Challenge Cup Q/F 1st leg)

We make a quick return to Newtown but this time in the challenge cup. Deceuninck drops back to central defence replacing Holmes who suffered bruised ribs in the last game and Ruscoe replaces him in midfield. Beck scorned a mavellous chance on eight minutes when Newtown left him all alone at the back post at a free kick but he shot tamely at the keeper. Despite having the better chances it remains goaless againnat half time. Newtown are finally undone when Ruscoe is pushed over in the area and substitute Yann Synaeghel drills in the penalty for his first ever goal for the club.
Newtown 0-1 TNS (att: 358)
(Synaeghel 85 pen)

A deserved lead to take to the home leg and Carmarthen take a surprise 2-0 lead over Llanelli in another Q/F.

Friday 29th September
I received a phone call today from Song Weiping who apparently is the chairman of Chinese first division side Zhejiang Lücheng. He wants to offer me a three year contract at £1,000 a week to manage his club. Now I haven't got the faintest idea about Chinese football and can't even begin to speak the lingo but Mr. Weiping says he'd pay for a crash course and ensure I had an interpreter at all times.
They've got three games left in the season including one tomorrow and will finish in mid-table. He'd like to get into the Chinese Super League but for now will settle for me securing the clubs long-term financial security, he says the wages of apparently around the equivalent of £18,750 a week are way to high but he wants to give me some flexibility so there are budget options.
My first thought was that this was a big wind-up and I was going to turn it down out of hand but something nagged at me. I was going nowhere here, yes it was great to win every week and get titles and cup finals but there's no challenge except for the annual couple of European games. Go on I thought, go for it! YES I said, I'll be on the first available flight to China and I'll lead you to glory.

retired_blondie_524

Satuday 30th September
I've been flying all night and now here I am in Hangzhou where Zhejiang Lücheng play. Their ground is the Huanglong Sports Centre, a 55,000 all-seater stadium where I'm whisked into a press conference - I'm delighted to be here I said through the interpreter and look forward to glory days.

Mr Weiping and I sit down and agree that the transfer budget will be £1.1 Chinese Yann (RMB), about £70K and the wage budget will be 256 RMB a week. I find out that although the club has 10 coaches (great! I love coaches) it has no assistant manager so I offer coach Wang Shihai a full time contract as assistant manager.

It's time for me to find out what this Chinese football is all about. The first division has 14 teams and play 26 games with the top two gaining promotion to the Super League. Seven subs are named but you must only have two foreign players in your squad and they can't be the keeper.

The season runs March to October with transfer windows of 29/12/06 to 7/02/07 and 26/07/07 to 31/08/07 for domestic transfers while you can sign foreigners anytime between 29/12/06 right through to 31/08/07.

We currently have 23 first team players, our two foreigners are Olando, a 32 year old Brazilian striker and Bertin Tomou, a 28 year old Cameroonian striker. Olando has two goals from five appearances while Tomou has 10 from 26.

30/09/06 home to Jiucheng (National 1st div.)

Today we're taking on the fifth placed side who have 36 points while we're in 8th with 34 points. I ask Wang Shihai to pick the team and I settle in the stands to see what I've let myself in for. The game is being covered by T.V. and my interpreter says that the presenters are saying that Jiuchung are low on confidence after a recent poor run and that should help Zhejiang. Both the key men they highlight are central defenders, is this the kind of football I'm going to see?

In the 13th minute the stadium erupts as Tomou hits the ball across the box and midfielder Shen Liuxi heads in, his first goal according to the T.V. Zhejiang are looking good and for the first 15 minutes of the second half they really take control and have a goal disallowed for offside. But then disaster strikes, Jiucheng score with a 20 yard free kick. We respond by throwing Orlando on and switching from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. It ends in a disappointing draw.
Zhejiang 1-1 Jiucheng (att: 4,089)
(Liuxi 14)

The result moves us up a place and if we'd held on for a win we would have been 4th.

Monday 2nd October
Wang Shihai has accepted my offer to be my assistant manager. I sit down with him in my office and ask him whats the score with the club. He says the club lost 2.12M RMB last month, wow! That sounds a lot, don't know how much that is but it sounds a lot. He says that we ought to invest in a goalkeeper and the defence if we're going to improve.