Mike..

The run up to the winter break proved to be a pain for Ed, Kangu’s suspension for a booking in the game where they threw away a point at Valence was followed by a training ground injury to Jacques Leglib. With Labat and Ba out, the influential Cami suspended, and the visit of in-form Romorantin looming, Ed just wanted to get away for a few days and have a break from juggling players for every game – he made arrangements to depart after the final league game before Christmas to see his folks back home, leaving Naïmi in charge of admin that arose.

His side had acquitted themselves well enough, although Romorantin maybe edged it on chances, but it was more yellow cards for minor offences that formed Ed’s main concern.

There was a brief respite, Marignane being easily swept aside in the Cup with a 2-0 win that included a first senior goal for Sartolou, coming off the bench to put the tie out of reach. But the final league clash of the year created more headaches.

Valenciennes were pulling themselves out of a slump and Dia’s early goal proved to be enough to take the points. The defeat was disappointing, the injury to Cami, and the booking which would see Di Bartolomeo suspended when the season resumed, were the greater concern though.

Mike..

Ed put his plans to visit his parents on hold for a few days. For starters he really needed to try and make some arrangements to bolster the midfield, and he needed to make them before other clubs had the same idea.

It was also a matter of not wanting to be at his parent’s place over Christmas. He knew they’d love to have him there of course, in fact that was part of the problem, his mother would spend the whole time fussing over him and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead he would have a quiet time at home and then travel back around New Year for a few days.

-----

The combined scouting activities of his two men had produced no more than a handful of possibilities for Ed to look at – it didn’t make good reading, loan deals were not a possibility at this stage of the season and if he was going to spend money, he wanted to make sure he spent it well.

In the end three bids were made, and instructions were left with his assistant, Naïmi, regarding the order of preference.

Mike..

DECEMBER 2004 SUMMARY

Valence 2 (Aït-Ouarab 49, Leclerq 88)
Pau 1 (Millereau 53)
Man of the Match: Aït-Ouarab (Valence)

Pau 0
Romorantin 0
Man of the Match: Ardéois (Romorantin)

Pau 2 (Millereau 13, Sartolou 70)
Marignane 0
French Cup
Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

Valenciennes 1 (Dia 8)
Pau 0
Man of the Match: Bourgeois (Valenciennes)

Mike..

He arrived in Huddersfield on New Year’s Eve, his mother opened the door with a rare smile, which she quickly concealed by adopting the universal mother’s expression – somewhere between concern and accusation. Ed had come to realise that it was an essential part of being a mother, a facial expression that, at the same time, said; 'You are eating alright, aren’t you?' and 'What have you been up to? I bet it’s something I’d disapprove of'. He kissed her on the cheek and handed her the bouquet of flowers that he’d stopped off to pick up from the local florist.

He walked through the hallway, still full of bookshelves – his father had always been a voracious reader, nothing fancy mind you, no fiction for Mr Allen senior, the shelves bowed under the weight of biographies and political histories. In the lounge his father was dozing in front of the television, he’d evidently drifted off whilst watching JFK, Kevin Costner was pointing out a vital piece of evidence to the jury

“Back and to the left, back and to the left, back… and to the left”.

He decided to leave Dad in peace for now, and followed his mother through to the conservatory to answer the obligatory questions.

Yes… he was fine, eating properly, and his job was a long way from being too stressful.

No, he hadn’t heard anything from Sonja, and he really didn’t want to talk about it anyway.

No, he wasn’t bottling it all up, he was fine, and it was history now.

No, he didn’t know where she was, and can we just change the subject please?

He’d arranged to come back for a long weekend, maybe take his father to a game on Saturday, and already he was wondering if he’d made the right decision. Of course he had, he knew that, but Mum could be infuriating at times – luckily he was saved by the bell, his mother’s best friend rang and that was her sorted for the next hour or two.

Whilst his folks loved to do the family thing at Christmas they, like Ed, were not great fans of New Year celebrations. Ed took them out for dinner but it was a quiet evening, no late-night partying, and they returned home in plenty of time to toast the New Year as a family.

Mike..

Once the grilling from his mother was over - it took a while, the conversation was re-started shortly after breakfast on New Year’s Day - and a quick review of the French league delivered to his father over lunch; 'Bunch of daisies if you ask me lad, they’re probably all too busy doing their makeup to listen to tactical advice', things returned to what passed for normal.

His mother questioning everything that Dad did, always suggesting – in the way that only wives can – that he should have done almost exactly what he had done, but wording the suggestion so carefully as to make it seem like her way was infinitely more logical. In the end, as was always the way, his father conceded that, of course, Mum knew best and he’d change his ways forthwith – knowing damn well that the same conversation would start the next time he did anything – he tipped a wink to Ed as he feigned defeat and they grabbed their coats and made for the door.

-----

Things had changed dramatically at Huddersfield since Ed’s days as a player, he’d left before the move to the impressive Galpharm stadium – it was a far cry from the Leeds Road ground where he’d first caught the attention of top-flight scouts.

Unfortunately the Terriers’ performances had not always matched their facilities, and the fact was that they were not having a good season. Ed and his father enjoyed a goalfest but, unfortunately, the home side only responded after Port Vale tucked away three in the opening half-hour. The final score was 4-2 to Vale, for a while Huddersfield had looked like they had the momentum to force a point but Billy Paynter’s strike on seventy minutes killed off any fight and left the Terriers two points from the safety of twentieth place.

The manager in Ed had taken a back seat, but refused to lie down completely, and he found himself asking his father, who did venture to a dozen or so home games each season, to keep an eye on Aaron Hardy – a teenage midfielder who seemed to have plenty to offer. Of course he knew that the Terriers would be looking for money far beyond the means of Pau at present, but there was no telling what the future held.

Mike..

The weekend was over all too quickly, and after his mother finally let him go – insisting that he take assorted groceries back in his case – he made for Manchester airport and caught the flight back to France.

Returning to the villa he fired up his laptop and checked for messages, there was good news waiting for him, as well as Tchami and Bikoyoi signing new deals, Naïmi had finalised the signing of Djamel Mahamat Bindi from Bayonne – the midfielder, a Libyan born holder of a Chad passport, would slot straight into the first team.

He unpacked his clothes, and put his mother’s food parcel away. He was knackered, and all he wanted was a bath and an early night.

-----

“Hey babe, how are you?” it was Sonja’s voice, he knew that immediately, and there she was – framed in the doorway to the bedroom. It was as if the past few months had been his imagination, she was there where she belonged, back with him…

…and the CD-alarm kicked in.

What you say, and what you do
Is a contradiction to the life that’s safe and sound
(safe and soooouuunnd)

Ed rolled over and whacked the ‘sleep’ button – probably too hard but then the damn thing had wrenched him from his dream. His dream, why was she suddenly back and haunting him again? He’d pretty much exorcised her, at least from his conscious mind, but now her face kept coming to him in quiet moments. He blamed it on his mother… and Gazza of course, when would people learn not to keep asking about her?

Mike..

Ed had put the dream behind him, along with the wanderings of his mind. It was only natural that she would come walking out of his memories on occasion, they’d been together for long enough. Anyway, he had football to concentrate on – and he was still hoping to add another body to his midfield.

He’d asked the players to re-convene in midweek, ahead of the return to league action, the first one he saw was Matthieu Aernoudt. The injured midfielder, who had come in to do some light gym work, appeared at Ed’s office door saying that he needed to discuss his position. The youngster, who was well known as a key part of the team - when fit, suggested to Ed that he had been thinking about his future and was unsure about where he stood – as such he had decided that he wanted to be put on the transfer list. This shocked Ed, and confused him a little too. He closed the door and told Aernoudt to take a seat.

An hour later a slightly happier looking Aernoudt, and a much happier looking Ed emerged from the office, the former with a new contract, the latter just relieved to have averted a minor crisis.

-----

Having returned refreshed from his break, in confident mood, Ed had found himself right back on the turbulent track after just one game. Admittedly that game was a magnificent Cup win over Brest, a team riding high in the Second Division, but once again the fallout from the game had been a concern. Kangu injured and out for a fortnight, Adjamossi facing a suspension, but for once he’d managed to put those concerns second – it had been his private New Year’s resolution to himself – Stop worrying about every little thing!

…of course that might be easier said than done, but while things were going well Ed was confident that he could keep things in perspective – and he couldn’t have asked for things to go much better when Wasquehal came to visit. Despite their lowly league position the visitors had put together three wins on the bounce, Stéphane Millereau put paid to that run with three goals and a near-perfect performance.

After the game Ed had asked Khalifa Ba to come into his office, he’d been informed that the defender’s Marseille contract was running out and he wanted to feel him out to see if he could be tempted with a move in return for regular football. Ba was positive, he was certainly interested if Ed could come up with more than his initial offer in terms of basic wage. Ed thought that he had a good chance, he had plenty in reserve and he was keen to snap up Ba on a permanent basis.

The drive home that evening was particularly pleasant, and after a meal in a local café, Ed enjoyed one of the best night’s sleep he’d had in some weeks.

Mike..

Ed breathed a sigh of relief and a large one at that, he hadn’t realised that he’d been holding his breath for large periods of time, waiting for the final whistle. After a flying start at Cherbourg, that had seen Bindi and Kangu netting their first Pau goals inside the opening quarter of an hour, the second half had looked like being a breeze. Two goals in ten minutes had changed all that, even with Tchami’s eventual winner having come straight from the kick-off after the first it had turned into a fraught affair.

The win maintained their second position, although things were tight with three clubs all on 47 points. Ed had to mentally shake himself once again, and remind himself that pre-season predictions would have seen them twenty-odd points away at the foot of the table. The arrival of Bindi had certainly had an impact, with the midfield now regularly comprised of a trio that looked comfortable playing together – with the full squad available again (apart from Aernoudt) confidence among the players was high and that carried over to the pitch.

He had hoped to see that confidence, and their on-pitch performances, finally convince Ba to sign on for a permanent move in the summer but things were beginning to look doubtful, three times he had improved his offer until he had tabled a contract that would double the youngsters Marseille wages, but he was still suggesting that the parties were “very close, but not there yet”. The day after the Cherbourg trip Ed made his final offer.

-----

Pau signed off the month in devastating form, the win over Croix de Savoie was narrow in the end, but there was a gulf in creativity. That gulf was more clearly shown in the final game, and the one that brought Ed the most pleasure so far. After the farce of the three penalties when Nîmes had visited Pau, justice was done with ‘Les Crocodiles’ being torn apart on their home turf.

Everything was coming up roses at Pau, with a single exception – after something like six meetings Ed had finally admitted that he had to give up on trying to lure Khalifa Ba into signing a permanent deal.

Mike..

JANUARY 2005 SUMMARY

Brest 0
Pau 2 (Labat 40, Millereau 77)
French Cup
Man of the Match: Tchami (Pau)

Pau 3 (Millereau 14, 74, 81)
Wasquehal 0
Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

Cherbourg 2 (Pedros 62, Richer pen 69)
Pau 3 (Bindi 7, Kangu 15, Tchami 64)
Man of the Match: Cami (Pau)

Pau 1 (Bédani pen 78)
Croix de Savoie 0
Man of the Match: Bindi (Pau)
News: Bochu (Savoie) sent off 87

Nîmes 1 (Verschave pen 86)
Pau 3 (Millereau 34, 74, Cami 46)
Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)
News: Where’s your pet Ref now eh?!

Mike..

One thing Ed could say, no matter how well things were going he was getting sick of the sight of the inside of coaches. At the level Pau were playing, and the money it generated, there was no chance of flying the team everywhere – and France is a big country when it comes to road travel.

For the second time in a matter of weeks he loaded his team onto the bus for the trip all the way up to Cherbourg – this time in the Cup – and the home team were sure to be looking to avenge their recent 3-2 league defeat.

Ed had to hand it to his squad, week in and week out they would load into a coach on Friday morning, travel all day, then get up on the Saturday and play out of their skins before climbing back on the bus for the trip home. Once again the players put the journey behind them and matched the home team chance for chance, eventually progressing with a duplication of the league result.

The win put them on a run of six unbeaten games but, more importantly, it gave them a great occasion for the fans, the draw for the next round would eventually serve up a home clash against top-flight opposition – Auxerre