retired_curlgirl

Great story Bobbev, just like the one about Fano...

retired_amyslack

Thanks FC Beigem. My Fano story isn't dead by the way and I will be adding to it before too long.

April 2009

Wednesday 1st
The monthly awards saw success for Scunthorpe with manager Brian Laws and striker Jason Ford both featuring along with Walsall youngster Stuart Stewart. That evening saw Liverpool and Chelsea battle out a 1-1 draw at Anfield having been drawn together in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.

Thursday 2nd
Former Luton boss Rob McDonald has been named as the new manager at Crystal Palace. In the UEFA Cup the three English clubs in the last eight were all kept apart. Arsenal were in great shape after a 4-0 win at home to Wisla, Man City faced Spanish opposition again and were satisfied with their goalless draw at Atletico Madrid and Everton scored an away goal in their 1-1 draw at Sporting in Lisbon.

Saturday 4th
We could afford to relax a little and just try to enjoy the visit of struggling Morecambe as Chris Brunt returned to the left wing. We may have relaxed a little too much in the first half and went into the interval a goal down. But we were much more positive after the break and recovered to win 3-1 with goals from Oster, McSheffrey and substitute Graham. Once again some other results went our way and the three points ensured that we would be crowned as League Two champions at the end of the season.

Sunday 5th
Favourites Stoke lived up to their billing by beating Gravesend to lift the LDV Vans Trophy, The League One side always looking too strong for opponents a division below them.

Monday 6th
Rushden have appointed Gus MacPherson as their new manager, leaving Conference side Sutton United looking for a new boss.

Wednesday 8th
A late goal from Michael Ballack secured a 1-0 win for Chelsea and a 2-1 aggregate win over Liverpool to reach the Semi Finals of the Champions League.

Thursday 9th
Championship leaders Sunderland were left looking for a new manager when Steve Bruce left to take over the reins at Cardiff. That evening just one of the English clubs contesting a Semi Final place in the UEFA Cup was successful, Arsenal winning 2-1 at Wisla for a comfortable aggregate victory. Everton lost 1- at Goodison to Sporting and Man City lost 2-0 at home to Atletico Madrid.

Saturday 11th
Goals from McSheffrey and Birchall gave us a good 2-0 win at Wrexham and I confess to having second thoughts about letting Gary go to Torquay as since I have started to play him he has scored 11 goals in 15 starts. But the decision is made and there is nothing that can be done about it now and I need to comfort myself by thinking about the £5K plus a week that will come off the wage bill. I was pleased to see that Mark Burchill set a new club record with his 22-goal haul for the season.

Tuesday 14th
We faced a visit from struggling Halifax today and Chris Dagnall continued to impress by scoring both goals in our 2-0 win.

Saturday 18th
With the season now moving towards a conclusion there are three games left to play and none of the other promotion or relegation issues are settled in our division. We travelled to Gravesend and a competitive match ended 2-1 in our favour. Centre back Peter Clarke gave us an early lead from the penalty spot and Dagnall was on target again for our second with 20 minutes remaining. The home side pulled a goal back late on but we ere able to hang on for our 28th win of the season. Yeovil, Walsall and Scunthorpe all secured playoff places and York look like certainties for relegation with Morecombe, Boston, Aldershot and Halifax contesting the other place in the drop zone. On the same day Liverpool secured the Premiership title, their second in three seasons.

Sunday 19th
Having failed to win the Premiership since 2002/3, Man United have dismissed manager Javier Clemente after less than two years in charge. Currently in a hugely disappointing 11th place they are on course for their worst season in the league for nearly 20 years and with a net spend of over £70M on players in the last five seasons the Manchester giants are in dire need of some inspiration.

Wednesday 22nd
Chelsea have it all to do in the Champions League after losing the home leg of their Semi Final 2-1 to Barcelona. Milan had a narrow 1-0 win at home to Roma in the all-Italian tie in the other Semi.

Thursday 23rd
This morning former West Ham manager Neil Warnock was named as the new man in charge at Sunderland. In the evening Arsenal continued their pursuit of European glory with a 1-1 draw at Sporting in the 1st leg of their UEFA Cup Semi Final, Schalke 04 and Atletico Madrid drawing 2-2 in Germany in the other tie.

Saturday 25th
Our penultimate game of the season was at home to Walsall and we put a big dent in their hopes of automatic promotion by winning 3-1. Wingers Brunt and Oster scored our opening goals with McSheffrey adding the 3rd late on after the visitors had pulled a goal back. Chester added their name to the list of playoff teams and York had their relegation confirmed.

Wednesday 29th
Chelsea are out of the Champions League 6-3 on aggregate after losing 4-2 in Barcelona. The Spaniards will face Milan in the Final after they came through a penalty shootout in Rome following a 1-0 win for the home side.

Thursday 30th
A 2-1 win for Arsenal over Sporting has taken them into the UEFA Cup Final where they will play Schalke 04 who won 1-0 in Madrid.

retired_amyslack

May 2009

Friday 1st
A 100% league record had given me that Manager of the Month award with Danny Schofield of Chester City and Alan Marshall from Carlisle taking the playing honours.

Saturday 2nd
We travelled to Bury for our final game of the season without Gary McSheffrey who had been injured in training so David Graham was given a final game before his forthcoming departure. We recovered from a goal down to win 2-1, a result that took us to the 100-point mark for the season. An afternoon of high drama saw Walsall blow automatic promotion after a 4-0 defeat at home to Morecombe, a result that still failed to save the winners from relegation. Yeovil took second place and Scunthorpe finished third on goal difference above Walsall. After looking like strong promotion candidates a couple of months ago the MK Dons had a poor run of form but have just been able to hold on to 7th place for a shot at the Playoffs.

Tuesday 5th
b have finally appointed a new manager, former Leicester boss Colin Todd the man selected. This piece of news was rather overshadowed by the news from Old Trafford that George Burley would be leaving Middlesbrough to take charge at Man United.

Saturday 9th
Bristol Rovers secured a narrow 1-0 win at home to Chester in the first leg of their Playoff Semi Final.

Sunday 10th
Two stoppage time goals gave Walsall an emphatic 4-1 win over the MK Dons in the home leg of their Semi Final.

Wednesday 13th
A 1-1 draw at Chester was good enough to take Bristol Rovers into the Playoff Final whilst the same evening Arsenal secured the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 win over Schalke 04.

Thursday 14th
A 2-2 draw in Milton Keynes saw Walsall progress to the Playoff Final 6-4 on aggregate.

Tuesday 19th
Dave Jones has not been out of work for too long as he has secured a new job by taking charge at Middlesbrough.

Wednesday 20th
Milan lost in the final of the Champions League for the second season in succession, Barcelona triumphing 2-1 with a tragic Dario Simic own goal in the 90th minute.

Saturday 23rd
Arsenal were celebrating their 10th success in the FA Cup after a narrow 2-1 defeat of Middlesbrough.

Monday 25th
Walsall secured their promotion to League One with a convincing 3-0 defeat of Bristol Rovers in the Playoff Final. The final promotion and relegation issues are now all decided in England and it was time to look through all of the final tables, starting with our own division. I was delighted to see that we had both the most potent attack and the meanest defence in the division.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">League Two| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Tranmere | 46 | 30 | 10 | 6 | 83 | 41 | +42 | 100 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Yeovil | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 74 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Scunthorpe | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 67 | 50 | +17 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | P | Walsall | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 54 | 41 | +13 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Chester | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 69 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | MK Dons | 46 | 20 | 7 | 19 | 55 | 60 | -5 | 67 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Gravesend | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Leyton Orient | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 70 | 65 | +5 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Carlisle | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 53 | 54 | -1 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Huddersfield | 46 | 19 | 7 | 20 | 51 | 54 | -3 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Rochdale | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 46 | 52 | -6 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Lincoln | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 57 | 60 | -3 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Southend | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 60 | 59 | +1 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Wrexham | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 53 | 66 | -13 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Cambridge | 46 | 12 | 22 | 12 | 55 | 57 | -2 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Wycombe | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 57 | 65 | -8 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Shrewsbury | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 58 | 61 | -3 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Halifax | 46 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 43 | 48 | -5 | 53 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Aldershot | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 62 | 71 | -9 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Bury | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 55 | 68 | -13 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Boston Utd | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 58 | 70 | -12 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Morecambe | 46 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 52 | 63 | -11 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | York | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 34 | 48 | -14 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Premiership| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Liverpool | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 72 | 28 | +44 | 91 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Chelsea | 38 | 23 | 5 | 10 | 72 | 39 | +33 | 74 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Arsenal | 38 | 23 | 4 | 11 | 59 | 37 | +22 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Aston Villa | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Newcastle | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 65 | 54 | +11 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Man City | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 56 | 44 | +12 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Fulham | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Middlesbrough | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 54 | 49 | +5 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Portsmouth | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Tottenham | 38 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 48 | 42 | +6 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Man Utd | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Nottm Forest | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 49 | -6 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Birmingham | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 42 | 54 | -12 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Southampton | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 41 | 52 | -11 | 45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Everton | 38 | 13 | 4 | 21 | 44 | 60 | -16 | 43 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Blackburn | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 46 | 55 | -9 | 42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Cardiff | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 35 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Leeds | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 38 | 64 | -26 | 31 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Millwall | 38 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 42 | 65 | -23 | 28 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | West Brom | 38 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 34 | 71 | -37 | 27 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Championship| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Bristol C | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 68 | 47 | +21 | 83 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Gillingham | 46 | 25 | 5 | 16 | 73 | 58 | +15 | 80 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Sunderland | 46 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 69 | 49 | +20 | 76 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brighton | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 68 | 61 | +7 | 76 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Barnsley | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 64 | 52 | +12 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Derby | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Ipswich | 46 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 68 | 52 | +16 | 71 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Preston | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 65 | 55 | +10 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Charlton | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 63 | 58 | +5 | 67 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Coventry | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 60 | 56 | +4 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Wigan | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 64 | 64 | 0 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Sheff Wed | 46 | 19 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 58 | +2 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Burnley | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 53 | 54 | -1 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Wolves | 46 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 59 | 62 | -3 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Port Vale | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 55 | 60 | -5 | 62 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Plymouth | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 55 | 61 | -6 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Leicester | 46 | 17 | 7 | 22 | 54 | 63 | -9 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Bradford City | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 57 | 66 | -9 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Norwich | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 47 | 62 | -15 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Bolton | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 47 | 55 | -8 | 53 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Reading | 46 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 53 | 62 | -9 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Swansea | 46 | 15 | 5 | 26 | 62 | 76 | -14 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Q.P.R. | 46 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 51 | 64 | -13 | 45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | West Ham | 46 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 38 | 69 | -31 | 38 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| League One| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Crewe | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 69 | 51 | +18 | 79 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Doncaster | 46 | 22 | 11 | 13 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 77 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Grimsby | 46 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 63 | 58 | +5 | 76 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | P | Peterborough | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 68 | 56 | +12 | 72 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Notts Co | 46 | 21 | 9 | 16 | 62 | 53 | +9 | 72 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Sheff Utd | 46 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 63 | 51 | +12 | 71 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Torquay | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 63 | 60 | +3 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Watford | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 64 | 54 | +10 | 68 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Luton | 46 | 20 | 7 | 19 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 67 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Brentford | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 64 | 63 | +1 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Swindon | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 58 | 61 | -3 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Crystal Palace | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 63 | 56 | +7 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Oxford | 46 | 19 | 7 | 20 | 61 | 62 | -1 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Bournemouth | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 61 | 59 | +2 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Colchester | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Hull | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 54 | 57 | -3 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Northampton | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 60 | 64 | -4 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Stoke | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 50 | 62 | -12 | 56 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Rotherham | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 49 | 56 | -7 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Cheltenham | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 45 | 61 | -16 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Hartlepool | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 56 | 60 | -4 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Oldham | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 53 | 65 | -12 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Blackpool | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 47 | 66 | -19 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | Chesterfield | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 48 | 63 | -15 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Conference National| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Crawley | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 70 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Exeter | 42 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 63 | 45 | +18 | 69 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Tamworth | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 69 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bath | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 51 | 44 | +7 | 68 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Kettering | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 52 | 50 | +2 | 66 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Darlington | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 63 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Rushden | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 59 | 45 | +14 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Scarborough | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 51 | 52 | -1 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Mansfield | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Burton | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 52 | 50 | +2 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Basingstoke | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 60 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Forest Green | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 59 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Stevenage | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Macclesfield | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 52 | 55 | -3 | 54 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Hinckley | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 54 | 56 | -2 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Dag & Red | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 57 | 65 | -8 | 52 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Stockport | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 42 | 49 | -7 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Farnborough | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 53 | 54 | -1 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Hereford | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 48 | 49 | -1 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Worksop | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 48 | 65 | -17 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Northwich | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Sutton Utd | 42 | 8 | 15 | 19 | 49 | 70 | -21 | 39 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Conference North| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Southport | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 77 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Burscough | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 64 | 43 | +21 | 73 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Accrington | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bradford PA | 42 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 57 | 50 | +7 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Runcorn FC Halton | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 54 | 51 | +3 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Hucknall | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 62 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Wakefield & Emley | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Droylsden | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Grantham | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Stalybridge | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 52 | 54 | -2 | 56 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Hornchurch | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 51 | 53 | -2 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Marine | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Ashton Utd | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 48 | 52 | -4 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Lancaster | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 50 | 53 | -3 | 53 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Leigh RMI | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 47 | 54 | -7 | 53 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Nuneaton | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 57 | 53 | +4 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Altrincham | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 50 | 58 | -8 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Hednesford | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 46 | 54 | -8 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Hyde | 42 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 46 | 54 | -8 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Blyth | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 44 | 61 | -17 | 47 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Guiseley | 42 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 46 | 58 | -12 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Harrogate Town | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 41 | 63 | -22 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Conference South| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Chesham | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 61 | 44 | +17 | 74 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Braintree | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 60 | 51 | +9 | 69 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Halesowen | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 55 | 49 | +6 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Margate | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 63 | 52 | +11 | 65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | P | Woking | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 64 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Barrow | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 49 | 52 | -3 | 63 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Cambridge City | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 55 | 47 | +8 | 62 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Barnet | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 54 | 42 | +12 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Lewes | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Maidenhead | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Grays | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 57 | 47 | +10 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Newport Co | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Tiverton | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Gloucester | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 48 | 52 | -4 | 58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Dorchester | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Weymouth | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 49 | 59 | -10 | 55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Aylesbury | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 49 | 58 | -9 | 52 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Canvey Island | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 56 | -3 | 51 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Carshalton | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 52 | 61 | -9 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Bognor Regis | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 57 | -8 | 47 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Slough | 42 | 11 | 7 | 24 | 47 | 66 | -19 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Hendon | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 35 | 65 | -30 | 33 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

It was then time to have a look at how the players had performed. I was pretty pleased with the back four – Adam Ogden had been almost an ever-present in goal and centre backs Clarke and Munn formed an effective partnership after their arrival. The experienced David Worrell and youngster John Carr shared the right back position with Barrie Matthews and Jarrad Hodgkiss doing the same on the left. Mark Burchill finished as top scorer, John Oster was our top performer after his arrival and Chris Brunt set a new club record with his 15 assists.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | John Oster | 17 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 79% | 2.96 | 2.84 | 37% | 7.65 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark Burchill | 45 (1)| 23 | 5 | 9 | 73% | 0.32 | 2.80 | 54% | 7.48 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Clarke | 19 | 1 | 1 | - | 72% | 1.95 | 0.05 | - | 7.37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | David Graham | 35 (5)| 17 | 5 | 2 | 66% | 0.44 | 2.84 | 50% | 7.33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stephen Munn | 15 | - | 1 | 1 | 75% | 2.67 | 0.20 | - | 7.27 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Philip Palethorpe | 4 | - | - | 1 | 38% | - | - | - | 7.25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gary McSheffrey | 18 (3)| 12 | 4 | 3 | 78% | 2.78 | 1.76 | 76% | 7.24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | David Worrell | 13 | - | - | - | 73% | 2.40 | 0.85 | - | 7.23 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Chris Dagnall | 9 (6) | 8 | 1 | 2 | 81% | 0.81 | 3.34 | 75% | 7.20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | John Carr | 10 (1)| - | 1 | - | 69% | 3.12 | 0.40 | - | 7.18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Chris Brunt | 45 | 4 | 15 | 5 | 70% | 1.05 | 2.75 | 45% | 7.18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jarrad Hodgkiss | 14 (3)| - | - | - | 75% | 2.03 | 1.05 | - | 7.12 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Kyle Critchell | 2 | - | 1 | - | 74% | 2.00 | 3.00 | - | 7.00 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Adam Ogden | 47 | - | 1 | 5 | 47% | - | - | - | 6.96 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Glenn Cronin | 23 (1)| 2 | 9 | 1 | 74% | 2.91 | 0.38 | - | 6.96 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Carl Brown | 16 | - | - | - | 75% | 1.70 | 0.07 | - | 6.88 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Scott Brown | 28 (4)| 3 | 6 | 2 | 68% | 1.66 | 1.91 | 22% | 6.81 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Barrie Matthews | 36 | 1 | - | - | 64% | 4.27 | 0.23 | - | 6.75 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Dennis Visser | 33 (6)| 1 | 1 | - | 73% | 2.19 | 0.20 | - | 6.74 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Alan Navarro | 34 (1)| 2 | 1 | - | 78% | 3.67 | 0.28 | 15% | 6.69 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Simon Haworth | 7 (9) | 3 | 2 | - | 79% | 0.87 | 1.30 | 52% | 6.63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Curtis Osano | 32 (3)| 2 | 3 | 1 | 79% | 3.12 | 0.31 | 17% | 6.60 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Matthew Birley | 5 (12)| - | - | - | 73% | 1.50 | - | - | 6.47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Wednesday 27th
Chris Brunt, Mark Burchill and David Graham have all been chosen in the League Two Select side, Burchill was the league’s top scorer and I was voted Manager of the Season.

Saturday 30th
A Michael Owen goal in the first half, his 44th in 104 appearances, was enough for England to take pole position in the World Cup qualifying group with a 1-0 win over Scotland at Hampden. Chris Brunt gained his 9th cap and scored his first goal for Northern Ireland in their 2-1 defeat in Germany.

retired_amyslack

June 2009

Wednesday 3rd
The club made a modest profit of just over £29oK last season and I have been given a transfer kitty in excess of £1.2M to prepare for life in League One. With several players already due to leave the club, and several more unlikely to be offered new contracts we had some serious rebuilding to do for next season. Youngsters Matthew Charlton and Matthew Hill were released from the Under-18s as the first step in the process. In the World Cup, Scotland’s hopes took a further blow with a 1-1 draw in Cyprus whilst England were held goalless in Belgium.

Thursday 11th
Kyle Critchell has finished his short loan spell and returned to Southampton.

Friday 12th
We secured our first signing of the new season with the £130K purchase of winger Richie Partridge from Bolton on a 2-year contract.

Saturday 20th
It was no great surprise to see Mark Burchill voted the Fans Player of the Year after an excellent season from the 28-year-old Scottish striker. On the same day we got three new Academy graduates for the Under-18 team and received £300K in TV rights for the forthcoming season. The Board are looking for a mid-table finish in League One so let’s hope that we can meet that objective.

Tuesday 23rd
Paul Brown, Michael Jones and Chris Bennett were all released at the end of their contracts.

Wednesday 24th
We accepted invitations to play both Charlton and Preston in pre-season friendlies at Prenton Park.

Monday 29th
Youngster Ben Jones has been allowed to leave after failing to make the grade with the Under-18s.

retired_amyslack

July 2009

Wednesday 1st
It was a very busy day today as a number of players made their departures. Gary McSheffrey moved to Torquay, David Graham went to Bradford City and Matthew Birley left for Swindon. Simon Haworth was not offered a contract extension and decided to hang up his boots and John Carr was released. In addition Aiden McGeady completed his move from Celtic, taking up a large chunk of my transfer budget.

Saturday 5th
We played our first warm-up match of the season and I was very pleased with our 2-2 draw at home to Championship side Charlton. Chris Brunt and Aiden McGready both impressed, each getting on the scoresheet in the first half before we tired and conceded two late goals.

Sunday 12th
We didn’t look so impressive at home to Motherwell in our next friendly, losing 1-0, but at least the lads are getting a level of match-fitness and that will be very important in the early part of the season.

Saturday 18th
Our pre-season programme continued with a visit from Arbroath and Mark Burchill scored the equaliser in our 1-1 draw.

Thursday 23rd
Having been chasing a number of free agents over the summer I had my first success today with the arrival of former Charlton forward Jason Euell. The 32-year-old moved to Middlesbrough two seasons ago and then on to Sheffield Wednesday last season but rarely featured for either team. Later that day we had an unwelcome bid for winger Chris Brunt as Watford offered to meet his £375K minimum fee clause. Terrible news but the lad had refused all offers of a re-negotiated contract and it looks like we will lose one of our star players.

Friday 24th
Our warm-up matches came to an end with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Preston.

Monday 27th
Chris Brunt has agreed terms with Watford and left Prenton Park after a productive year. The club paid just £35K to bring him from Sheffield Wednesday before my arrival and in his 45 appearances he scored four times and laid on 15 assists. He will be badly missed but at least we turned a decent profit on the lad.

Tuesday 28th
With very little success in attracting new players I was pleased when 22-year-old Middlesbrough striker Shane Paul finally agreed a season-long loan deal. The same day the bookies announced their odds for the League One title. Sheffield United, Watford, QPR and Notts County are the favourites and we have come in priced at 20-1 so it appears that we are not seen as relegation fodder at least.

retired_amyslack

August 2009

Saturday 1st
Our season opener was a home game against Stoke and Richie Partridge, Jason Euell and Aiden McGeady all made their competitive debuts. The visitors had a man sent off late in the first half and we immediately profited when Dennis Visser scored from the resulting free kick. Partridge added a second late in the game to give us a very satisfactory 2-0 win to open our account.

Wednesday 5th
We were soon back in action at Crystal Palace but suffered a disappointing 4-2 defeat as our defence rather let us down. Shane Paul and midfielder Scott Brown scored our consolation goals.

Thursday 6th
We secured three further signings in a busy day as I desperately tried to strengthen the squad. Defensive midfielder Marcus Bean made a £30K move from QPR and he was joined by Portuguese winger Marco Ferreira from Sheffield Wednesday for £22K. Our third signing will not arrive until next month as West Ham winger Julian Gray, a decent buy at only £16K, is currently loaned out to Forest Green.

Saturday 8th
Bean made his debut at home to Torquay with John Oster getting his first start of the season as he had recovered from a pre-season injury. Aiden McGeady scored the only goal in our 1-0 win with Partridge making the assist and claiming Man of the Match.

Sunday 9th
The midfield was further strengthened by the arrival of winger Anthony McNamee from Watford for £9K.

Saturday 15th
Our 1-1 draw at Walsall should have been a win given the chances we created and scorer Mark Burchill could have had a hat trick if his finishing had been more accurate.

Sunday 16th
Midfielder Glenn Cronin agreed a £26K move to Oldham and I was glad to get his £3K weekly wage off the salary bill although we are still about £4K a week over budget.

Wednesday 19th
A midweek trip to Watford in the League Cup saw us lose 3-0, have 6 players booked and lose John Oster for a week with a wrist injury – not the best of evenings really.

Monday 24th
Aiden McGeady was missing for the visit of Rotherham because of a knock picked up in training and inside quarter of an hour left back Jarrad Hodgkiss joined him on the injury list. A scrappy game ended goalless thanks mainly to the heroics of keeper Adam Ogden who denied the visitors with some fine saves. Annoyingly we had another 5 players pick up yellow cards and we need to keep an eye on our rather poor discipline.

Wednesday 26th
We suffered a further injury blow as new signing Jason Euell broke a toe in training and he could be out for up to two months.

Saturday 29th
World Cup qualifying action saw England remain top of Group 6 after a 5-0 win over Cyprus whilst a shock 1-0 loss by Belgium in the Faroe Islands, coupled with a 2-1 win for Scotland at home to Finland took the Scots into second place in the group.

retired_amyslack

September 2009

Tuesday 1st
Richie Partridge has been far and away our most impressive player thus far in the season and I was delighted to see him win the Player of the Month award. Swindon striker Andrew Caton took the junior playing prize and Billy Davies strolled the manager award after QPR opened the season with 5 straight wins.

Wednesday 2nd
England made no mistake in the Faroes and their 2-0 win made sure that they qualified for the final stages as group winners. A 1-1 draw in Belgium meant that Scotland kept their slender advantage in second place to stay on course for a playoff place.

Saturday 5th
Despite the best efforts of keeper Adam Ogden we were soundly beaten 3-0 at West Ham as the home side comprehensively outplayed us to gain a comfortable win.

Saturday 12th
An excellent hat trick from Shane Paul was the highlight of our 4-2 win at home to Brentford. The 22-year-old gave us the lead after quarter of an hour but the visitors struck back twice to go into the break in the lead. Paul’s second of the match tied the game within five minutes of the restart and we took the lead with 20 minutes remaining when centre back Stephen Munn confidently despatched a penalty. The Middlesbrough loanee completed his treble in stoppage time to seal a very satisfactory victory.

Tuesday 15th
New boy Julian Gray arrived today now that his loan deal was finished. The 29-year-old started out as an Arsenal youth player and has stints at Crystal Palace, Birmingham and West Ham on his CV.

Saturday 19th
I employed a slightly different formation in our league match at Grimsby, playing with a lone striker and a five-man midfield. I had noticed that we were often getting outnumbered in the middle of the pitch so I decided to try this tactic to counteract this and it worked well. McGeady seemed to relish a playmaker role rather than playing as an advanced midfielder behind the strikers and overall it seemed to offer us a more solid platform. There were no goals in the first half but Paul, Visser and McGready were all on target after the break to give us a very good 3-0 win.

Tuesday 22nd
By coincidence we faced Grimsby once more as they visited Prenton Park for an LDV Trophy 1st round tie. This gave me an excellent opportunity to rotate the squad and give the fringe players some action. We recovered from conceding an early goal to score four times without reply before the visitors gained a consolation goal in stoppage time. With Burchill netting a hat trick he sent out a loud message that he should be considered for the lone striker role in our new formation.

Saturday 26th
Very little went right for us at home to Watford for 89 minutes until Marco Ferreira popped up to score a late equaliser to give us a deserved point. We lost McGready in the first minute and both Partridge and Paul also had to come off later in the game. The Watford goal came firmly against the run of play late in the first half but we kept plugging away and finally got our reward. Aiden was diagnosed with a back strain and his three-week absence will certainly leave us weaker in his absence.

retired_amyslack

October 2009

Thursday 1st
We entered October sitting in a creditable 6th place in the league. The monthly awards saw Aaron Lennon, on loan at West Ham from Leeds, and John Thompson of Torquay take the playing honours with the Hammers Colin Lee taking the management plaudits.

Saturday 3rd
A comprehensive 3-0 defeat against England was a blow to Scotland’s hopes of World Cup qualification.

Sunday 4th
Micky Adams parted company with Fulham today as the Londoners prop up the rest of the Premiership.

Wednesday 7th
England signed off a triumphant qualifying campaign with a sound 4-0 win at home to Finland to come through as group winners with an unbeaten record. Despite a 5-1 defeat of the Faroe Islands, Scotland failed to gain a playoff place after Belgium scraped a 2-1 win in Cyprus to take second place.

Friday 9th
We lost Julian Gray for a fortnight after he twisted a knee in a training ground accident but on the positive front Jason Euell returned to full training after his two-month layoff.

Saturday 10th
An ill-tempered and poorly refereed encounter at Hull ended in a 2-0 defeat after we had half a dozen players booked and Ferreira sent off after getting two yellows.

Wednesday 14th
For the second game in succession we had a player sent off, Dennis Visser the culprit this time when he was booked twice in the first half. Despite this we managed a fine 3-2 win at home to Swindon, substitute Burchill the hero with two goals.

Saturday 17th
With Shane Paul injured, Mark Burchill regained his starting place and Jason Euell was named amongst the substitutes for the trip to Oxford. An enthralling encounter was finally settled in our favour when Scott Brown scored our 3rd goal in the last seconds of stoppage time. A goal down inside ten minutes we equalised from the penalty spot after quarter of an hour and then took the lead on the stroke of half time. The home side squared the game on the hour and it looked like ending honours even until our dramatic late winner.

Saturday 24th
McGeady was back in action for the visit of Bournemouth and celebrated by scoring the only goal of the game. We were in control for most of the game but when Alan Navarro received his second yellow card with 20 minutes remaining we had to endure a nervy closing period.

Sunday 25th
Charlton parted company with manager Kevin Blackwell after their mediocre start to the season in the Championship.

Tuesday 27th
It was time for the second string to strut their stuff again as we faced Conference side Mansfield in the 2nd round of the LDV trophy. The visiting keeper played out of his skin to keep the game scoreless for the regulation 90 minutes and a further 30 minutes of extra time before saving two penalties in the shootout to send his team through. We also lost Euell for another two weeks when he suffered a groin strain right at the end of the game.

Wednesday 28th
Bobby Williamson has left Championship leaders Leicester to take over the managerial vacancy at Fulham.

Saturday 31st
Our trip to struggling Cheltenham ended in a bitterly disappointing 1-0 defeat as we played very poorly and rarely threatened the opposition goal. We have now slipped down to 8th place but at least we are not mired in a relegation struggle.

retired_amyslack

November 2009

Sunday 1st
Striker Ian McLean of Swindon and teenage midfielder Eddie Reed of Torquay took the playing honours for October with Watford’s Paul Fairclough winning the managerial award.

Wednesday 4th
With left back Jarrad Hodgkiss and midfielder Aiden McGready both suspended for the trip to Notts County I was forced into a couple of changes. Despite going into the break a goal behind we recovered well and goals from Julian Gray and centre back Peter Clarke.

Thursday 5th
Midfielder Alan Navarro was ruled out for up to a month when he suffered a broken arm in training.

Saturday 7th
League One leaders QPR were our opponents in the 1st Round of the FA Cup and despite having home advantage we suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat. A healthy crowd set a new record in terms of gate receipts but it said much about the play of our opponents that our best player on the day was keeper Adam Ogden. Substitute Shane Paul was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in the second half. On the same day Wales took a big step towards the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win in Russia in the first leg of their playoff.

Sunday 8th
With his team struggling near the foot of the Championship Derby boss Ronnie Moore was shown the door today.

Wednesday 11th
Wales ensured that they will be in South Africa next year when they repeated their 2-0 scoreline in the second leg to complete an excellent win over Russia. Belgium, Georgia and Romania joined them after their playoff games were completed. The final qualification picture in Europe looked like this.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">World Cup 2010 Qualification| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Italy | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 27 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Croatia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Latvia | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Ukraine | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Armenia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 26 | -16 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Luxembourg | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 26 | -19 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Germany | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 5 | +19 | 23 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Switzerland | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 23 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Poland | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 20 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | N.Ireland | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 9 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Iceland | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 5 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Azerbaijan | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 25 | -19 | 4 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | France | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | +36 | 30 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Romania | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Israel | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Estonia | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Slovakia | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Liechtenstein | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 31 | -26 | 6 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Spain | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Albania | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Turkey | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Hungary | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Belarus | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | San Marino | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 30 | -25 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Holland | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 28 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Russia | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Bosnia | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Slovenia | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | FYR Macedonia | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 9 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Andorra | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 23 | -18 | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | England | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 26 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Belgium | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 18 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Scotland | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 16 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Faroe Islands | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 25 | -15 | 9 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Cyprus | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 8 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Finland | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -10 | 6 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Czech Republic | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Georgia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Norway | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Greece | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Malta | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 10 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Lithuania | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 10 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Portugal | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Wales | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Ireland | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Bulgaria | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Kazakhstan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 26 | -24 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Denmark | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Austria | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Serbia & Mont. | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sweden | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Moldova | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 4 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Friday 13th
Marcus Bean was ruled out for a fortnight after he damaged a foot in training leaving me without a backup in the midfield anchor position.

Saturday 14th
Midfielder Scott Brown scored the only goal of the game to give us victory over a Colchester side that were on the fringes of the relegation places. The win lifted us up to 4th and into the playoff zone.

Sunday 15th
Ian Holloway became the latest managerial casualty when he was dismissed by Coventry. Rock bottom of the Championship, the Board clearly felt that they needed to bring a new man in to try to turn the fortunes of the team around.

Tuesday 17th
Even though Northampton were down at the wrong end of the table I still expected a tough match at the Sixfields Stadium so I was very pleased when Partridge and McGeady established a two-goal lead inside the first 30 minutes. The home side came back to reduce the deficit just before the break and I was relieved when Burchill scored what I felt could be a crucial 3rd goal with 15 minutes remaining. Sure enough the scoring wasn’t complete and we conceded again near the end but held on for a useful 3-2 win. That was the good news – the bad news was the loss of Marco Ferreira for three weeks with broken ribs.

Saturday 21st
As well as the injured Ferreira we were also missing Scott Brown through suspension for the visit of second from bottom Yeovil and I was beginning to feel the need to reinforce the squad if possible. Nonetheless we gained a comfortable 2-0 win with centre back Stephen Munn opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half and Burchill wrapping up the points after the break. But the win came at quite a price – Dennis Visser, our clear first choice in the holding role, suffered a terrible cruciate ligament injury and would miss the rest of the season.

Tuesday 24th
Desperate to cover for the injured Visser I signed the experienced Aliou Cisse on a free transfer, the 33-year-old Senegal player having been out of the game since being released by Portsmouth at the end of last season. He has been given a contract to the end of the season and we will review the situation further at that point.

Sunday 28th
Former Charlton boss Kevin Blackwell has taken over at Coventry, managing to find employment before his former club have decided on a replacement.

retired_amyslack

Oops - arsed up the World Cup tables - here's what they should have looked like.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">World Cup 2010 Qualification| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Italy | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 27 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Croatia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Latvia | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Ukraine | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Armenia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 26 | -16 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |Luxembourg | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 26 | -19 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Germany | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 5 | +19 | 23 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Switzerland | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 23 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Poland | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 20 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |N.Ireland | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 9 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Iceland | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 5 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |Azerbaijan | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 25 | -19 | 4 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | France | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | +36 | 30 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Romania | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Israel | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Estonia | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Slovakia | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |Liechtenstein | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 31 | -26 | 6 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Spain | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | |Albania | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Turkey | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Hungary | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Belarus | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |San Marino | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 30 | -25 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Holland | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 28 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | |Russia | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Bosnia | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Slovenia | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |FYR Macedonia | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 9 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |Andorra | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 23 | -18 | 0 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | England | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 | +26 | 26 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Belgium | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 18 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Scotland | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 16 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Faroe Islands | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 25 | -15 | 9 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Cyprus | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 24 | -12 | 8 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | |Finland | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -10 | 6 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Czech Republic | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Georgia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 17 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Norway | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 15 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Greece | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Malta | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 10 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Lithuania | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 10 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Portugal | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 21 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Q | Wales | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | |Ireland | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | |Bulgaria | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | |Kazakhstan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 26 | -24 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | Q | Denmark | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Austria | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Serbia & Mont. | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 13 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sweden | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Moldova | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | -7 | 4 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>