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I'm doing pretty well rescuing Sheffield Wednesday so , having enjoyed my abortive last story (Ben Amponsah, Arsenal/England Manager) so much i have decided to chronicle this new game-which is a work in progress
'Ben-Ey up fella-you got a minute?' It was the grinning and avuncular face of the Owls' Chairman who put his face in at my office door.
'Of course Chairman' i still hadnt quite got used to calling him by his 1st name. In fact there were quite a few things that i hadnt got used to....
Things like accepting the job of stopping the terminal decline of Sheffield's bigger club side almost for a dare-it was after all my 1st major managerial role. Things like, through meticulous preparation, planning and some serious wheeling and dealing (i knew that the bartering skills i had honed on many holidays to Africa would someday serve me well), winning the League 1 Championship-even i had been shocked by the sheer scale of our achievement at the end of that tumultuous season. Things like being hailed and worshipped on the streets of my adoptive city of Sheffield-the fans loved me and they loved what i was doing with their team. Things like being described in the Sheffield Star 'Green 'un' as the 'Steel City Messiah' come down to deliver the Owls from eternal damnation-or should that be League 2! i thought ruefully.
'Ben-wake up lad!' The Chairman woke me from my reverie 'Lets do dinner tonight in the Blue Rooms-we need to discuss where this season is going-and before you ask lad-we love what you have achieved so far!'
'Dinner tonight-Blue Rooms? Yeah thats fine Chairman-I was there only last Friday night-good choice'
Good choice indeed i thought-and they had better find us somewhere private because i intended to lay bare the precariousness of the clubs situation-it could get heated-i was frustrated by the lack of funds available to me.
'looking forward to it Benny Boy' the Chairman smiled as he shut the door.
Well i'm not, i thought grimly, i'm not. There was going to be a confrontation tonight that was for sure........
would 1 of the moderators do me a favour and adjust the title by removing those annoying Bs-that was a mistake on my part as i was trying to embolden the title..... :o
I slapped the teamsheet hard onto the table, startling the attendant waiting staff. The copious amounts of wine that Dave had insisted on plying me with had had the unsolicited effect of loosening my tongue and making me angry.
'look at the teamsheet Dave!' i snapped, observing out of the corner of my eye the waiters making a beeline for the exit to our private function room. 'Its being held together by my loan signings....
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 8th in English Championship| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Form | Con | Apps | Gls | Av Rat | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | PR | Per Morten Kristiansen | GK | Poor | 6-8-7-6-6 | 100% | 14 | - | 7.21 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Mikkel Bischoff | D RC | Superb | 9-7 | 84% | 2 | - | 8.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Paul Heckingbottom | D/DM L | Good | 7-7-6-7-7 | 82% | 14 | - | 6.93 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Patrick Collins | D RC | Superb | 7-7-7-7-8 | 81% | 2 (3) | - | 7.20 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Philippe Senderos | D C | Good | 9-7-6-7-7 | 90% | 14 | - | 7.21 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Christopher Eagles | AM RC | Superb | 7-8-8-7-8 | 59% | 10 | - | 7.50 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | PR | Chris Brunt | AM LC | Good | 9-7-7-6-7 | 80% | 12 (2) | 4 | 7.86 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Craig Rocastle | DM C | Superb | 8-7-7-8-8 | 80% | 14 | - | 7.29 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Hugo Viana | AM LC | Superb | 7-7-7-7-8 | 73% | 5 (3) | 2 | 7.13 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Inj | Steven MacLean | F LC | Superb | 7-7-7-7-7 | 65% | 7 (3) | 3 | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Collins Mbesuma | S C | Superb | 7-9-7-8-7 | 72% | 7 (2) | 5 | 7.44 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | | Robert Poulter | GK | Superb | 7-8-6-9-6 | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Wnt | Lee Bullen | D/F RC | Poor | 8-8-8-7-6 | 100% | 12 | - | 7.17 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | | Lee Croft | AM RC | Very Poor | 7-8-7-7-6 | 100% | 4 (4) | - | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | | Fernando | AM LC | Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | 4 (2) | 2 | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | | Arturo Lupoli | S C | Superb | 7-7-8-7 | 93% | 3 (1) | 2 | 7.25 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Martin Drury | D/DM L | Superb | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Graeme Lee | D C | Poor | 7-8-7-6-7 | 100% | 12 | - | 7.08 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Req | Chris Marsden | DM LC | Okay | 7-6-7-7-7 | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Jon Paul McGovern | AM R | Okay | 7-7-7-6-7 | 100% | 0 (2) | - | 6.50 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | David Norris | AM RC | Superb | 7-8-7-7-7 | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Lee Peacock | S C | Good | 7-7-5-10-7 | 76% | 10 (1) | 2 | 7.09 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Enzo Giovanni Scorza | S C | Very Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | 1 (4) | 2 | 7.00 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Michael Turner | D C | Superb | - | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Glenn Whelan | M C | Superb | 7-7-6-7-7 | 92% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Richard Wood | D C | Superb | 8-7-7-8-8 | 100% | - | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
I looked closely at Dave Allen, a man who had gambled much on his beloved Sheffield Wednesday club, with perhaps the biggest gamble of all being the hiring of an unknown coach from London. If he was disturbed by my lack of temeperance, however, he certainly wasn't showing it.
'Ben, Ben i've told you there's no money in the pot-my 1st priority is to get the club back onto a sound financial footing and then, you have my word, we will find you your transfer kitty. I appreciate that half of the 1st team are loan signings but thats why you are the best man for the job-we know you will unearth these little gems and use them to the best advantage.' Dave took a great gulp of beer-there was to be no genteel wine swilling for this Chairman- 'Ben i have told you we only need to survive in this Division this season and then, hopefully we can have some spending money for you next time around.'
I looked at the team sheet in despair: £45,000 was all i had been given at the start of this season-a paltry 45k! What was i supposed to do with that? Yes i had brought in some significant loan signings, Senderos, Bischoff, Viana, Eagles, Mbesuma and the very tasty looking Lupoli but of these half would probably return to their clubs in 3 months and in the meantime i was finding it very hard to entice anyone to come to the club full time-not only were most established footballers not interested in coming to the Cinderella club in this South Yorkshire City, but there was also the problem of having only 100k in the transfer kitty.
'Listen Ben, i fully back whatever decisions you choose to make-the Board is right behind you-it may be a case of selling Peacock or sommat, have a think about it-you've brought some great youngsters in-we're behind you.'
Yes, i thought, i had done rather well-my team of battlers punching above their weight for sure in this most tight of Divisions. Lee Peacock, my star striker, however, seemed to be having trouble adjusting to the new Division-i noted that he had had a slow start to last season too...maybe i should offer him to any interested clubs....maybe.
Dave Allen took another look at the teamsheet. 'So what's up with Enzo?'
'Huh?' I was in another place again-i had been doing that alot lately, to the annoyance of my PA, Catherine, and my closest friends 'Enzo? Oh something about not quite knowing where he stands-i'm going to offer him an improved contract-especially with Arsenal sniffing around him like an old bitch on heat!' This last had Dave roaring with laughter, a sound equally as startling as my 1st outburst.
'C'mon Lad-a toast with me-we're 2 months into the new campaign-we're up to 8th-you just beat The Blades fer fook's sake-relax Ben! A toast'
I relaxed and let my shoulders slump a bit-i had been so tense of late-what had started as a grand adventure with total bail out options for me, should things go wrong, had now turned into something altogether alot more serious-there were 5000 more fans turning up, on average, for each home game-we were no longer playing against mickey mouse teams, and only a little way over the horizon there was the possibility of playing in the Premiership-the holy grail for any league manager (let alone one who had never managed a 'proper' club side in his life)
I listened through gritted teeth to the chants of thousands of baying West Bromwich fans as the Hawthornes echoed to the chants:
'You're going back down to the Shitty League' they all sang
Well not quite, i thought but it was bound to be someone like the hapless Martin Drury, filling in for the excellent Heckingbottom, who would let us down, giving away a silly penalty on the edge of the area. I had ordered the team to be more combative a couple of games back but trust Drury to misinterpret my instructions.
And now i had a new headache-Eagles was injured and my eager young talisman, Chris Brunt, was not taking to the left wing position. There was nothing for it-Viana would have to give way-for all his silky skills and extravagant gifts, he had not, as yet, grown used to the combative nature of the English Championship- Brunt could move back to his favoured central midfield position and Crofty was to be given another chance to show me his skills in place of Eagles.
At half time we had really made no headway into the opposing box with Mbesuma and Peacock feeding off scraps-maybe the enforced changes would help.......
My face was still hot and flushed when i boarded the team coach. Defeat i could put up with but outright capitulation left a bad taste in my mouth and a 5-0 thrashing could not be seen in any sort of positive light. It was the defence and my Captain, Per Kristiansen, that i reserved my wrath for. As had been the case a few weeks before when somehow we had turned a 4-1 victory against Brighton into a 4-4 draw with the defense doing a passable impression of the parting of the Red Sea, the defense had thrown up the white flag.
'There's no way that any team of mine is going to surrender like that-no way! I had thundered, 'you had all better take a long hard look at yourself if you want to carry on playing for this club' And with that i stormed out leaving my Assistant, Kevin Summerfield, and the other coaches to do a post mortem.
I sat on the coach well away from the others on the journey back to Sheffield-Steel City Messiah? More like Steel City Pariah if we carried on playing like this........
a)Mod requests go in the mod requests thread (you have probably done it already. There is no certainty that they'll be reading so a request mid story breaks up the story)
b)i should be I. It may be petty but imo it's annoying to see.
My mobile was ringing-it was one of my best friends, Rachel.
'Ey up fella-how do?' She was a bubbly personality with expressions to match.
'I'm fine darling'
'Good result today chap-now fancy drink and dinner on me tonight?' It was a tempting offer; all I would do if I spent the evening at home in my swanky flat on West Street would be worry, fret and worry again. I just couldnt switch off from football at the moment-my team's schizophrenic performances were even beginning to cause me sleepless nights.
I had taken decisive action after the humiliation of West Brom by replacing Collins and Senderos at the heart of my defence with Graeme Lee (a stalwart last season) and the 20 year old Richard Wood, a defender who had showed much promise last season. I had told them to show some balls and step up.
The next result-a 0-0 bore draw at home in the League Cup 3rd Round, which we then lost on penalties, didnt exactly lighten my mood but at least we kept a clean sheet with the defence and particularly Kristiansen doing a good brick wall impression. And then today we had beaten Wigan at Hillsborough to maintain 8th position in the league-another clean sheet and great goals by Maclean (he always did well when filling in for Peacock I had noticed-maybe time to make the change permanent...) and Brunt. I was generally feeling better about our home performances now but there were still all sorts of things bothering me.
We had agreed to meet in Est Est Est on fashionable Division Street-a nice bar/restuarant and there were enough celebrity types in there that I wouldnt be mobbed (that was getting to be a bit of a problem these days). I walked in, the bar was already getting crowded and was ushered to a quiet table at the back of the restuarant area. Rachel was there, punctual as always. She had been 1 of my best friends since I had moved to Sheffield in 1998, at the end of my career in the British Army (where I had spent far more time playing football and coaching than being a soldier-the Army was very good at supporting its sportsmen)-she had actually married my best friend, Paul (though they were now divorced) and we had remained great friends. She was also a dyed in the wool Owls fan....
'Now then Ben' she began 'I've been thinking about your problems with the squad and the way they play. How about looking at your coaching staff?'
Christ and I had come to try and get away from thinking about football I thought wearily-still, she had a point........
I basked in the adoration of the Hillsborough faithful: 'There's only 1 Ben Amponsah' they chanted. I was grinning like a schoolboy and with good reason-another excellent home performance with goals from the powerful Zambian Loanee from Man U, Collins Mbesuma and yet another from Steven Maclean had taken us into the play-off places:
How long we would stay there, of course, was another matter.
The grin was wiped from my face when I entered the dressing roon and saw the grim look on my Physio, John Dickens's face:
'Boss, not good news with Collins i'm afraid-he's strained his knee ligaments-out for a month.'
Not what I needed-his loan period was almost up in any case-let Manchester United's Physios sort him out I thought-it'll give Arturo Lupoli a chance to show his stuff.
'Too bad John,' I said ' any word from Catherine on that ad I placed for a new coach?'
I had gathered the coaching staff into my office for a meeting.
'1st things 1st guys-I am not intending to sack any of you.' I looked around my staff. They didn't look convinced at all. But that was the problem-they werent my staff at all-I had inherited them all and whilst i had forged a good relationship with my Assistant, Kevin Summerfield, i just couldnt be so sure of some of the other staff. I intended to bring in 1 or 2 coaches with good tactical knowledge (preferably a defensive coach-Lukas Radebe was looking a good bet at the moment)and then let the worst of the present coaching staff go when their contracts expired.
'Right guys-we're doing very well in the league, better than expected in fact-that win away against Sunderland a couple of weekends ago has lifted us into 5th place. What are your thoughts-where do you think we're going?' I sat back in my chair and waited for their response.
As expected it was Kevin who spoke up on behalf of the others: 'Boss it was a great tactical master stroke to play 4-4-1-1 boss-we all agree.' Yes, I had been rather smugly pleased at loosening my tactical dogma a little and playing this adjusted formation when we came up against sides that didnt play the standard 4-4-2 like us-it seemed to have worked against the Black Cats, who played 5-3-2, though Viana was still proving a disappointment in the Attacking midfield role-it was only when I took him off and Chris Brunt stepped up into that position that things started to happen-we won that game 2-0 with 2 stunning goals from Chris Brunt (of course!) and Steven Maclean.
'We think that the squad still needs another midfielder to cover for Rocastle if he should get injured.' I had no problem with that at all: the 24 year old Craig Rocastle had been an ever present in the side and was crucial with his unfussy style of play, his ability to break up enemy attacks and his penchant for launching attacks of our own-the problem was we had no real cover for him.
' We also think that you should give Senderos and Peacock another run, but before you blow your top boss we agree that Lupoli is a potential star'
I rubbed my chin-something I always do when I am deep in contemplation 'OK guys-fair enough. Senderos will be back in only when either Lee or Wood f**k up-i see no signs of that at the moment. Peacock can wait for his chance-he has shown me nothing so far this season. In fact he could learn much from my loan youngsters who seem to have much more fire and hunger-thats what I need in this team guys; fire and hunger. Its the reason why we are still punching above our weight in this Division. Ok guys you can go-see you at training tomorrow 1st thing.' The staff got up and trooped out-there was still an air of despondency about a couple I noticed, specifically Billy Mercer and Tony Daws-duly noted, i thought grimly, duly noted.
As soon as they had gone I fingered the intercom to my PA, 'Catherine about that advert-keep it in the papers and let Lukas Radebe know that I would like to interview him-thanks'
It was time to take the Sheffield Wednesday revolution to the next stage-a good side only becomes great when the back-room staff reflect the qualities of the team as a whole. Time for some changes..........
sorry guys the above date should read Wed 16th November not Wed 19th
The next few days did nothing to lighten my mood-On Sat 19th we went to West Ham.....and got hammered. The score 3-0 again. There was no point ranting and raving this time-my silence in the dressing room and on the coach back was eloquence enough. On the following Tuesday We then managed to draw against Plymouth at Hillsborough with the game characterised by early pressure from Plymouth for the 1st 20 minutes, silenced by a 30 yard bending screamer from Viana. At last the fresh-faced Portuguese player had showed me a glimpse of what he was capable of. The fact was that he was only playing because I was resting the peerless Chris Brunt. My satisfaction was short-lived, however, since the next minute saw an unstoppable 25 yard free kick effort nestling in the back of our net. There was nothing anyone could have done about it-it was just one of those things. After that we just couldnt really get going and all, in spite of several close calls we were disappointed to finish the game 1-1. Another anodyne performance from Lee Peacock, I had noted. And he was on for the equally colourless Lupoli.
I then received calls from Manchester United and Arsenal's reserve coaches: they would not agree to renew the loan spells of Collins Mbesuma and Arturo Lupoli. Lupoli I could live without-he had been poor since I had signed him. The big Zambian, however, I needed. I would try again as soon as he had returned to United. One thing that I had noted was that if you tracked the youngsters for a couple of weeks after they had returned to their clubs you could often sign them again.
Steel City Messiah 
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