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" Not too bad eh Ry?

"Aye, going well as usual - all looking forward to another helterskelter of action to look forward to with Derby!"

"Not talking about that Ry and you know it!"

"Ha ha! Well it had to bloody happen didn't it Geoff, Bryan! After all I've done at club level they silly buggers at the FA finally make sense!"

"England Manager - Ryan Duff - congratulations man. It's pretty nifty to tell my other mates I'm in with the England boss haha!"

"Bah, come on - I'm in with a top musician and buddying novelist! Nice book by the way Geoff!"

"Cheers Ry. Anyway, you'd better get us to the World Cup mate - or we'll be gunning for you!"

"Pfft. Piece of p*ss to be honest. Armenia's one of the easiest ways of kicking off my reign - though to be fair having Portugal, Finland and Slovenia doesn't make it the easiest group. Still - I'll show all the critics why I am so bloody popular with the fans - cause I can f*cking manage."

"Aye, more success with Derby too?"

"Yup, though to be fair lads, and don't tell anyone else - I'm thinking I might take a detour. England's my main focus - and ergh, well I don't know just yet. Safe to say I'll be keeping a keen eye on any jobs that pop up like."

"Wow! Big news that! Care to divulge any further info?"

"Nah, but I will tell you this Bry..."

"What?"

"I'll have a pint of bitter and a packet of roasted nuts!"

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Season 2012-2013

Derby County Part 1

Another one off trophy came Ryan's way with the Charity Shield as Middlesborough were dispatched but league form started shockingly, losing at home to Ipswich and then getting thrashed at Leeds . Cups still provided an outlet as the European Super Cup was added to Ryan's collection following a 2-1 win over Southampton with new striker Alvarez grabbing his first for the club. After a lengthy break for Internationals it was to business in the league form gradually picked up after a shaky home draw with Notts County . Wins at Burnley and at home to Middlesborough came hand in hand with a superb start to the Champions League with straight wins over Rosenborg, Rangers and Fenerbahce before a superb comeback rescued a possibly not quite deserved draw at Fulham with Alvarez and Samura the scorers.


Elsewhere though Ryan was keeping note of media speculation of jobs elsewhere - he wanted to keep his options open, whilst trying to focus on restoring league consistency to Derby, but a defeat at Villa sent the side back to 17th and allegations began to surface Ryan was becoming more unsettled at Pride Park combining the two jobs. Allegations that were only half heartedly refuted. Watford were the first side to lose a manager but it wasn't a job that took Ryan's fancy - he was enjoying the top flight too much for that. The Samura - Alvarez strikeforce brought success back though with a defeat of Arsenal and it was Waattavora's turn in the win over Fenerbahce . Consistency proved another issue though with a tame draw at Bolton and a lacklustre loss in Rosenburg brought further gruntles within the home camp.

Newcastle sacked Gareth Southgate with the club still lowly in Division One but still Ryan wasn't interested. Despite a revival at Elland Road with the club pulling away from the bottom 3, and on a decent run Des Walker's job was still considered a highly precarious one - and after winning the league cup match with Millwall Ryan was a little intrigued by the 45th round draw with Leeds . However there were matches to be won with Derby and the 2-0 victory over Southampton boosted the club up a few spots into contention again. An Alvarez hat-trick in the pointless match with Rangers lifted spirits further but the inability to string results together saw a crap loss to Stoke days later. Wolves sacked their boss, with Arsene Wenger the latest to come under pressure, though Des Walker seemed to have lost the pressurfe with some decent results again.

Defeat to Porto heightened the pressure as Ryan couldn't explain the sudden loss of form as a lead was lost in the draw at West Ham . A bit of luck finally arrived though as Leeds were knocked out the League Cup and it carried over to a home win against Spurs though an inability to extend the lead always meant the lead was shaky. Arsenal then disposed of their manager, and Ryan strongly thought about applying but the swift appointment of Rob Lyons convinced him otherwise. Jonas Johansen was then sold for big money to Middlesborough after some average performances. Victory over HSV followed before two goals from Ricardo Quaresma guided a 10 man side to success over struggling Wigan . Finally - some consistency.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic came on to hand the World Club Cup to Derby as Vasco were beaten, but luck was absent as despite obliterating Hartlepool Ryan's old club haunted him with a 90th minute winner from lanky twat Peter Crouch. Shortly after a loss to Fulham, Des Walker received the dreaded vote of confidence from Peter Risdale and Ryan, along with Clara, were keeping a keen eye on events at Elland Road. John Goransson though became a club record purchase when he arrived from Bolton for a cool 24 million, though he was ineligible for the League Cup quarter final victory over West Ham where an early dismissal for the visitors aided a welcome 4 goal salvo. Soon after and there was another arrival as Tonton Zola Moukoko returned to the club in a swap deal with Peter Robinson for Middlesborough .

Despite an alleged wealth of fire power the retarded cu*ts were defeated 3-0 by Chelsea despite the stats weighing heavily in Derby's favour. Useless prats. Condemnation in the national press soon followed. Boxing Day resulted in a red card for James Russell and a crap 2-2 draw with Ipswich as terrible defending and **** attacking play cost the side 3 points they really did need and Ryan was simply getting fed up with these idiots. He'd won the big stuff with them already and he wanted out - the sooner the bloody better as he secretly willed on Leeds to defeats. A dour draw with Villa drove Ryan further up the wall as the year finally ended - good first half, depressing second.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Premier Division - Saturday 5th January 2013********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2012/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Fulham 22 7 3 1 21 6 5 4 2 12 11 43 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Bolton 22 7 3 0 15 6 6 1 5 15 11 43 3rd Notts C 22 9 2 1 21 3 2 3 5 5 12 38 4th Liverpool 21 9 0 3 17 11 3 2 4 9 11 38 5th Man Utd 22 7 2 1 13 4 4 2 6 14 14 37 6th Aston Villa 21 7 2 2 16 9 2 6 2 7 7 35 7th Chelsea 21 6 2 3 17 9 3 5 2 9 6 34 8th Hartlepool 22 3 5 3 14 13 5 4 2 12 10 33 9th Leeds 22 7 3 2 16 6 2 1 7 9 15 31 10th Middlesbrough 22 3 5 3 10 11 5 2 4 12 10 31 11th West Ham 20 6 2 2 17 7 3 1 6 10 13 30 12th Derby 20 5 2 2 9 4 3 4 4 14 17 30 13th Ipswich 22 4 4 4 15 13 4 2 4 7 13 30 14th Sunderland 21 4 1 4 9 12 4 3 5 14 14 28 15th Southampton 21 4 2 3 11 9 4 1 7 13 20 27 16th Arsenal 22 2 5 4 11 14 2 4 5 9 16 21 17th Burnley 22 3 4 5 15 19 1 2 7 8 22 18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Stoke 22 2 4 4 4 8 1 4 7 4 13 17 19th Wigan 21 4 2 5 11 12 1 0 9 6 19 17 20th Tottenham 22 2 1 8 8 18 0 3 8 5 16 10 </pre>

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Players In:

[i] John Goransson, 27, Bolton, DMC, 24mil

Players Out:

Jonas Johansen, 27, AMC, Middlesborough, 10.75mil

England Part 1

First Squad for match with Armenia:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * England - Saturday 1st September 2012********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Bridges, Michael S C ENG 5.8.78 34 44 14 £65K 3.6.13 £550K - Davies, Ryan M LC ENG 22.3.82 30 52 3 £18.75K 4.6.14 £11M - Etherington, Matthew AM L ENG 14.8.81 31 53 4 £31K 28.6.14 £6.25M - Evans, Chris D C ENG 12.8.82 30 3 1 £25.5K 8.6.14 £2.9M - Garry, Ryan D RC ENG 29.9.83 28 11 1 £31K 17.6.17 £2.7M - Hall, Matt D RLC ENG 11.4.85 27 4 - £2.6K 28.6.17 £3.6M - Harris, Colin S C ENG 23.5.87 25 4 - £8K 21.5.15 £10M - Holder, Dick D RC ENG 21.2.81 31 - - £25K 23.6.15 £3.2M - Howard, Paul SW/D LC ENG 14.5.84 28 31 4 £8.5K 3.6.13 £10.25M - Lockwood, Martin AM RC ENG 21.12.91 20 8 - £14.75K 20.5.14 £7.5M - Marsh, Shaun D C ENG 26.12.84 27 23 - £22.5K 13.6.17 £10M - Marshall, Ian D LC ENG 15.5.87 25 26 - £44K 6.6.13 £6.75M - Murray, Richard S C ENG 23.11.83 28 38 22 £26K 3.6.16 £17.5M - Nicholas, Mark D C ENG 13.3.80 32 13 - £26K 4.6.13 £2.6M - Poole, Ashley GK ENG 11.11.86 25 1 - £9.5K 28.5.16 £3.4M - Powell, Neil D RC ENG 19.9.86 25 33 1 £27.5K 19.5.15 £5.5M - Proctor, Michael S C ENG 3.10.80 31 47 20 £60K 22.6.14 £8.5M - Roberts, Andy GK ENG 23.9.88 23 29 - £8K 27.6.15 £3.4M - Robinson, Peter AM/F L ENG 27.4.85 27 - - £18.5K 19.5.16 £6.75M - Rose, Martin AM RC ENG 17.11.84 27 54 10 £65K 14.6.15 £23M - Stewart, Jonathan M C ENG 3.3.85 27 26 5 £50K 11.6.15 £19M - Taylor, Stuart GK ENG 28.11.80 31 9 - £8.5K 3.6.14 £4.8M - Townsend, Colin D C ENG 26.4.87 25 - - £12.75K 24.6.14 £1.4M - Tracey, George D/AM L ENG 21.5.88 24 1 - £625 11.6.13 £4.4M - Watkins, Chris S C ENG 17.5.84 28 - - £30K 27.5.15 £7M - Wilkinson, Stuart DM C ENG 7.6.88 24 11 1 £10.5K 8.5.15 £16.75M </pre>

Armenia v England World Cup Qualifiers Group 7 Match 1

The debut match for Ryan in charge of his national side included a great deal of talented players but frankly half of division 2 could have been called up to the side such was the patheticness of the Armenia threat. George Tracy headed in a Ryan Davies cross on 10 minutes, before the same player made it 2-0 just a few minutes later following a fine solo run. A comprehensively one sided victory saw no further goals in the first half as the players couldn't be bothered to extend themselves, but after a kick up the arse by Ryan at half time, 3 more goals arrived to send the English top after round 1. Martin Rose set up Martin Lockwood for his first England goal, before the talented Jonathan Stewart made it 4-0. The final goal arrived from another Rose centre which found Ryan Davies' head to complete the route.

England v Portugal World Cup Qualifiers Group 7 Match 2

In October a more or less unchanged squad faced their most likely rivals to the automatic spot and for Ryan he would be facing Jorge and former Hartlepool player Helder. The match turned out positively though, with a victory gained though not without hiccoughs. England blitzed the visitors during the first half but fell behind to a freak counter attack before half time. Fortunately though the response was swift and midfielder Ryan Davies equalised. After half time though the dominance was thankfully reflected in goals with three more from Chelsea's Stuart Wilkinson , Bolton's Chris Watkins and Michael Proctor of Juventus.

Slovenia v England World Cup Qualifiers Group 7 Match 3

A few days after the Portugal win the national side were travelling to Slovenia and they dominated the match from start to finish as Ryan's 100% record continued. A flawless performance was rewarded by two fine first half finishes, the first from Michael Bridges , converting Martin Rose's cross, and the second coming from Chris Watkins who was making a fine start to his international career. The match also saw Derby players involved with Ashley Poole in goal, with [b[ Shaun Marsh [/b] ahead of him and Peter Robinson on the wings.

Spain v England November 2012 Friendly

Ryan looked to ensure consistency with his side as a strong performance brought a fine victory over the Spaniards, with two first half goals from Ryan Davies and one from Richard Murray in the second to satisfy the critics. Furthermore, Ryan saved Derby legs whilst ensuring all rival players involved played as long as possible and indeed defender Paul Howard of 2nd placed Villa did indeed get injured.

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Part 2

The New Year began better however with victories in the league and cup over Notts County and more impressively Chelsea , both away ties too. Leeds loss to Coventry in the Cup brought further pressure on Des, from both the fans and the board, and Ryan was already preparing for a move - rather arrogantly but possibly justifiably, as Clara was off house hunting in the sub-urban area of Harrogate. Ironically Derby were then drawn against Coventry in the 4th round. Liverpool were defeated at home before a frustrating 1-1 home draw with Leeds satisfied no-one, being a game Ryan was of course desperate to win. However the Anfield league match with Liverpool brought better fortunes as Kabba Samura inspired a well earned win. Thanks to a Paul Dillon double yellow card, though Ryan had to be content with an away draw with Sunderland as the game in hand yielded just the one point. Peter Waattavaara's goal then ensured the club moved past Coventry past the 5th round.

A 2-1 first leg victory over Middlesborough ended the month, and earned Ryan a much needed award, easing his own pressure. The curse was mercifully absent in the superb display against Burnley where Moukoko really showed his talent with two goals and an assist for Samura. Elsewhere Leeds' win-loss-win-loss form was just about keeping him in relative safety but rumours continued to circle as Clara was highlighting a few houses and apartments on the market or about to be available. 2 goals in a 30 seconds helped Derby continue their revival with a victory over high flyers Bolton as the spirit had become revitalised in the camp by the two big money acquisitions. European action returned with a 1-0'er against PSG . Another superb attacking display resulted in FA Cup progress with a stunning victory over Arsenal in the 5th round.

Mokouko scored for the match in succession as a win in Paris left the side in a strong position to qualify into the knock out rounds. Next up were two matches at the riverside against Middlesborough in the league and league cup, and it was honours even in a thrilling 3-3 league clash, before a midweek change round of players saw Derby nick a nerby second leg in the semi final to set up a Final with Notts County and end a decen February.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Premier Division - Saturday 2nd March 2013********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2012/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Fulham 28 8 5 1 23 6 7 4 3 15 13 54 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Chelsea 28 9 2 3 20 9 6 5 3 16 11 52 3rd Bolton 28 9 3 2 19 8 7 1 6 17 14 52 4th Aston Villa 28 10 2 3 25 10 3 6 4 10 10 47 5th Derby 27 8 3 2 18 7 4 6 4 19 21 45 6th Middlesbrough 28 4 6 4 18 17 8 2 4 18 13 44 7th Notts C 28 10 4 1 24 4 2 3 8 6 18 43 8th Man Utd 28 8 3 2 15 7 4 4 7 17 20 43 9th Hartlepool 28 5 5 4 19 17 6 5 3 13 14 43 10th Liverpool 28 9 1 5 19 15 4 2 7 13 17 42 11th Leeds 28 8 4 3 19 9 3 3 7 13 17 40 12th Sunderland 28 6 3 4 12 13 5 4 6 16 16 40 13th Southampton 28 6 3 4 17 13 5 2 8 15 24 38 14th West Ham 28 6 3 4 19 12 4 4 7 13 16 37 15th Ipswich 28 5 5 5 17 15 4 2 7 7 17 34 16th Tottenham 28 5 1 8 13 18 2 3 9 8 18 25 17th Arsenal 27 3 5 5 15 18 2 4 8 9 21 24 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Stoke 28 4 4 5 7 10 1 5 9 5 18 24 19th Burnley 28 4 4 7 17 22 2 2 9 10 26 24 20th Wigan 28 4 2 8 13 18 1 1 12 8 25 18 </pre>

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Part 3

With the side on song at last a fine display was witnessed at home to Fulham as the side built up a lead and managed to hang on when two players, Russell and Jorge, were sent off in the second half in a 4-3 finish. Porto were defeated with Ignacio Aguado again on superb form before a draw with West Ham in the FA Cup ensured a replay but the side were still in contention for the trophies and not terribly placed in the league. There was an enjoyable match with HSV as the side won 3-1 despite being under no pressure to qualify, allowing Ryan to rest legs. The spirits were demonstrated further as the 22 match unbeaten streak was extended despite going 2-0 down at Manchester United as the side fought back to grab a point.

With Des Walker still clinging sesperately onto his job at Leeds, Ryan was focussing more on more on rounding out another potentially successful year with the Pride Park club as the side thanks to a fine effort from young midfielder David O'Brien moved past West Ham into the FA Cup semi finals and another clash with Middlesborough beckoned. Having gained the upper hand so frequently this season and the last Ryan had a feeling they may just have a bit of motivation for that match. There was a few days off the players before the Snickers League Cup with Notts County , for internationals, but Ryan would be resting where possible the English contigent in his squad. Bored midfielder Jorge though decided he wanted another change as usual and would be off home in the summer but not before Ryan had forced a few extra quid out of Deportivo. He would still have time to complete his set of trophies under Ryan though.

Another defeat for Leeds preceeded another vote of confidence from Peter Risdale but for Ryan a League Cup Medal would not be winging his way as Notts County after losing out 3-1. Having recovered from an early goal down with Kabba Samura scoring the equaliser, the match could have gone either way in a very exciting end to end final, but a screw up by Paul Dillon late on allowed County to score, and another arrived when Derby were pushing too far up late on and it was disappointment for Ryan.

However, revenge was taken out perfectly in the European Quarter final tie with Rangers as a 3-0 score in Glasgow was a fine antidote.Waattavaara and Aguado scoring the winning goals. There was more good fortune in the other domestic cup competition as Middlesborough were once again the losers going back to Smog Land having been defeated 4-2 in a superb tie full of excitement that wasn't settled until the final 10 minutes. It happened to be a game that also saw both Johansen and Peter Robinson re-united with their old boss, and though they were down hearted, Moukoko was evidently fairly chuffed, as he set up Alvarez for the killer 4th late on. Lovely.

The downside with cup progress was that it left Ryan with several league games in hand to cram in - though at least they were still touch with the sides just above them and with two games in hand on leaders who were 12 points ahead, he held out some slight hope that a miracle wasn't out of the question in the final furlong of the season - assuming Leeds didn't sack their manager - a scenario Ryan really didn't want right now as he suddenly hoped Des had just a little bit of luck soon. Just a bit. Falling giants Arsenal , also in 20th, were overturned on their own patch in mid April as one game was picked up.

Players Out:

Jorge, AMLC, 31, Deportivo 11 mil - in June


England

England v Finland World Cup Qualifiers Group 7 Match 4

Not showing any bias in the line up, some rivals players were marked for the full match, but Peter Robinson had other ideas as the former charge was sent off after only 25 minutes initially stifling the England attack during the first half. Thankfully though, and after the subbing of both Greg Farrell and Shaun Marsh , Chris Watkins, the talented Bolton forward scored a key goal. Ever so sadly he was injured late on, and would miss three weeks of Bolton's campaign - which really devastated Ryan quite badly - for a split second. His goal proved enough however, making it 4 out of 4 as the side kept up ahead of Portugal.

England v Armenia World Cup Qualifiers Group 7 Match 5

With a couple of changes to the line up for the match with the write-offs - namely no Derby players were starting, the match was perfectly comfortable but the goal fest that was so expected was sadly quite absent as only one goal in either half arrived, with Stuart Wilkinson scoring the first from a [b Martin Rose [/b] knock down and then Michael Proctor came on as a sub to finish the match for certain late on. Nevertheless 5 out of 5 was still pretty good despite the lack of goals, and necessary players were rested for domestic issues.

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Part 4

The current scenario with a few matches remaining now stood thus:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Chelsea 32 11 2 3 24 10 7 6 3 19 12 62 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Fulham 32 9 6 1 26 8 8 4 4 20 18 61 3rd Bolton 32 11 3 2 24 10 7 1 8 18 21 58 4th Middlesbrough 32 5 7 4 19 17 10 2 4 24 13 54 5th Derby 30 9 3 2 22 10 5 7 4 23 24 52 6th Man Utd 32 9 5 2 22 10 5 4 7 19 21 51</pre>

leaving Derby certainly in contention for an end of season challenge with a bit of luck, though it was highly improbable this would have happened without the big additions in mid season. An Alvarez double and a Goransson strike helped see off Sunderland as the gap was slightly closed, on a few competitors, whilst Manchester's defeat saw them slip off the place. Bolton lost, as did Fulham, albeit to Chelsea, though Borough won. In midweek the formalites of the Rangers with an Ibrahimovic strike before the exciting stuff returned to the fore. Midweek had seen other league games though, with Chelsea, Fulham and Borough all nicely drawing to give little old Derby a chance. Ryan intended to make them pay.

However, the following matchday defeat to lowly Spurs put a spanner in the works even if Fulham did lose and Bolton drew. Chelsea won, as did Middlesborough but the latter two had players sent off in their fixtures, whilst Des got another vote of confidence again - couldn't he just hang on until the summer? Games in hand were all well and good but Ryan could see a jam packed schedule ahead, with 3 more matches to play in certain stances - so points couldn't be taken for granted as the table currently looked:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Chelsea 35 13 2 3 28 10 7 7 3 20 13 69 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Fulham 35 9 7 1 27 9 8 4 6 21 21 62 3rd Middlesbrough 35 5 8 4 19 17 12 2 4 27 13 61 4th Bolton 34 11 3 2 24 10 7 2 9 20 24 59 5th Notts C 35 12 4 2 31 8 5 3 9 10 19 58 6th Liverpool 35 12 1 5 23 15 6 3 8 19 23 58 7th Aston Villa 35 11 4 3 28 12 4 7 6 16 17 56 8th Derby 32 10 3 2 25 10 5 7 5 24 26 55 </pre>

And with Derby having to play FOUR matches in 6 days in the last week of the season Ryan doubted his side could win them all. If they did, they'd be f*cking heros. The title was reliant on Chelsea slipping up in 3 games, so the league match at the end of April was a pretty big one. The match was pretty tense but thankfully two goals around half time proved just enough to sneak a win, with Alvarez and Goransson the scorers in a 2-1 win, whilst Bolton, Fulham and Middlesborough also won, as the top of the table grew ever closer. Amazingly the league chase was making the Euro Cup semis more of a side show, but a decent effort was slightly ruined by a last minute goal but West Ham's 2-1 lead was certainly defeatable in the second leg.

Back on the penultimate weekend of Premiership football, there was a trip to Hartlepool who had lost to Bolton in midweek. Having made several changes for the match with the Champions League second leg in mind Ryan initially thought all was going well with a 2-0 half time lead but slowly the lead was eaten away at and overcome as a 3-2 loss more or less ended realistic hopes of the title. Elsewhere, Bolton lost, Borough and Chelsea drew, whilst Fulham defeated Leeds as third was the most likely target now:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Chelsea 37 13 3 3 29 11 7 7 4 21 15 70 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Fulham 37 10 7 1 30 10 9 4 6 23 22 68 3rd Middlesbrough 37 6 8 4 20 17 12 3 4 29 15 65 4th Bolton 37 13 3 2 26 10 7 2 10 21 26 65 5th Man Utd 37 10 6 2 24 11 7 4 8 24 24 61 6th Aston Villa 37 12 4 3 30 13 4 7 7 16 18 59 7th Notts C 37 12 4 3 32 10 5 4 9 10 19 59 8th Liverpool 37 12 2 5 25 17 6 3 9 20 26 59 9th Derby 34 11 3 2 27 11 5 7 6 26 29 58 </pre>

It seemed now that many league managers under threat had at least until the summer to finish off their careers which relieved Ryan in some ways as it provided him with the chance to claim a few more trophies. However, the UEFA Champions Cup wouldn't be one of them. A 1-1 home leg with West Ham eliminated Ryan's hopes as the last gasp winner in the previous leg proved decisive. A failure to score again deprived Derby of further glory, and the space of a week had decimated Derby's ambitions quite spectacularly. The Hammers would go on to lift the trophy against Milan. With a League Cup defeat, a European Champions Cup exit, and more or less a failure to catch up in the league.

Therfore at the weekend in the FA Cup Final against Liverpool at the weekend there was a whole lot of pent up frustration in the pre-match dressing room. There was even more when Dave Young handed the scousers a 3rd minute lead. Kevin Hofland put through his own net later on though which settled nerves, and in the second half as extra time loomed Peter Waattavaara sent a looping ball into the box, it was poorly cleared and Tonton Zola Moukoko smashed it in, in the 87th minute scoring the winner as Ryan at least claimed one trophy this year and his 3rd FA Cup triumph in all.

With that won the next achievement was to see how far the side could finish up the table with a top 4 finish the minimum target initially, though it would mean having to carefully judge how to manage the players fitness during a hectic final week which took in 4 more matches. Ibramahimovic bagged 2 in the 3-0 defeat of Southampton on the Monday as the final away match ended in success. Despite another in the home clash with Stoke on Wednesday the title challenge was over as only a draw could be eeked out against the relegation battlers. The point also ended Arsenal's hopes of staying up. Having lost Quaresma and Tobin to injury in that match, Jorge then followed against West Ham though at least the match was won - with a Samura strike leaving the club in 3rd going into the final day:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Chelsea 37 13 3 3 29 11 7 7 4 21 15 70 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Fulham 37 10 7 1 30 10 9 4 6 23 22 68 3rd Derby 37 12 4 2 29 12 6 7 6 29 29 65 4th Middlesbrough 37 6 8 4 20 17 12 3 4 29 15 65 5th Bolton 37 13 3 2 26 10 7 2 10 21 26 65 </pre>

Greg Farrell and Goransson then both joined the injured list within 5 minutes of the clash with Wigan on the final day of the season but it didn't stop from scoring a winner which lifted Derby to 3rd - which when everything was done and considered was a bloody fantastic achievement given how abysmally crap the first half had relatively been. Anyway Chelsea were crowned Champions, Burnley and Wigan joined the relegated Arsenal in the bottom 3 with Stoke surviving by the skin of the teeth as another season had passed under Ryan - one which was limited in it's success. With good runs in three of the competitions all brought to a premature halt - so thank the lord for the FA Cup.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Premier Division - Sunday 19th May 2013********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2012/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Chelsea 38 13 3 3 29 11 8 7 4 23 15 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Fulham 38 11 7 1 33 11 9 4 6 23 22 71 3rd Derby 38 13 4 2 30 12 6 7 6 29 29 68 4th Bolton 38 14 3 2 29 11 7 2 10 21 26 68 5th Middlesbrough 38 6 9 4 20 17 12 3 4 29 15 66 6th Man Utd 38 10 7 2 26 13 7 4 8 24 24 62 7th Aston Villa 38 12 4 3 30 13 4 8 7 18 20 60 8th Notts C 38 12 4 3 32 10 5 4 10 11 22 59 9th Liverpool 38 12 2 5 25 17 6 3 10 21 29 59 10th Hartlepool 38 7 6 6 25 25 6 7 6 16 20 52 11th Southampton 38 9 4 6 25 23 6 3 10 19 29 52 12th Sunderland 38 9 3 7 16 18 5 5 9 16 24 50 13th West Ham 38 9 5 5 24 16 4 5 10 15 22 49 14th Leeds 38 8 6 5 23 15 4 5 10 16 23 47 15th Ipswich 38 6 5 8 20 23 5 5 9 12 23 43 16th Tottenham 38 7 1 11 19 24 4 5 10 14 23 39 17th Stoke 38 6 6 7 11 14 1 6 12 8 24 33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R Burnley 38 4 7 8 20 26 2 7 10 14 31 32 19th R Wigan 38 5 5 9 20 24 3 2 14 12 29 31 20th R Arsenal 38 3 6 10 22 32 3 5 11 14 29 29 ================================================== ============================================== 2012/3 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22 Aguado, Ignacio 41 (6) 11 0 0 4 2 0 3 7.34 11 Álvarez, Manuel 46 (11) 23 0 7 (6) 7 0 0 6 7.77 26 Baird, Graeme 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 21 Baker, Steven 11 (6) 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.47 12 Broerse, Joost 53 (3) 1 0 0 5 5 0 0 6.77 3 Dillon, Paul 42 (10) 2 0 0 0 12 1 0 6.79 2 Farrell, Greg 46 (4) 2 0 2 (2) 7 4 0 1 7.04 6 Fox, David 27 (5) 2 0 0 5 4 0 1 7.44 16 Göransson, John 14 (4) 5 0 0 6 0 0 0 7.44 8 Ibrahimovic, Zlatan 25 (14) 13 0 0 5 0 0 3 7.41 23 Jorge 32 (6) 3 0 0 7 9 1 1 7.34 13 Klompe, Tieme 39 (6) 0 0 0 0 8 2 3 6.93 24 Kunze, Dirk 32 (14) 3 0 0 9 3 1 2 7.33 14 Ljungberg, Fredrik 10 (4) 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 6.86 5 Marsh, Shaun 44 (1) 1 0 1 (0) 0 8 0 0 6.73 7 Mokouko, Tonton Zola 22 (3) 9 0 0 4 1 0 2 7.48 20 O'Brien, David 11 (7) 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.67 18 O'Dowd, David 13 (6) 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 6.58 4 Phillips, Phil 15 (6) 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 6.52 1 Poole, Ashley 27 (2) 0 31 0 0 0 0 3 7.17 15 Ricardo Quaresma 13 (18) 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.97 19 Russell, James 43 0 33 0 0 0 2 2 7.35 9 Samura, Kabba 41 (8) 18 0 0 14 7 0 6 7.59 25 Tobin, Derek 14 (7) 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 6.76 17 Udeze, Ifeani 34 (5) 0 0 0 3 9 0 2 7.00 27 Uribarri, José Manuel 14 (5) 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 6.63 10 Waattovaara, Peter 28 (19) 16 0 0 6 3 0 2 7.19 - Wilson, Marc 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- ================================================== ============================================== 2012/3 Transfers========================================= ================================================== =====Date Player In From Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------13.6.12 David O'Brien Guiseley £1.3M 19.6.12 Derek Tobin Hartlepool Bos 24.6.12 Phil Phillips Notts C £2.3M 27.6.12 Peter Waattovaara Paris-SG Bos 23.7.12 Joost Broerse Feyenoord £3.4M 7.8.12 Dirk Kunze Feyenoord £16.25M 9.8.12 Manuel Álvarez Mallorca £4.9M 19.12.12 John Göransson Bolton £24M 21.12.12 Tonton Zola Mokouko Middlesbrough £12.75M Date Player Out To Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------5.6.12 Stephen Murray Cambridge Utd £1M 7.6.12 Jonathan Wilson Released Free 13.6.12 Kevin Elliott Released Free 22.6.12 Giorgio Fogli Feyenoord £13M 30.6.12 Jonathan Woodgate Watford £600K 16.7.12 Kristian Arvidsson Celtic £4M 16.7.12 Dulee Johnson Rangers £14.5M 2.8.12 Graeme Baird Barnsley Loan 10.9.12 Mark Walker Reading £210K 6.12.12 Jonas Johansen Middlesbrough £10.75M 21.12.12 Peter Robinson Middlesbrough Exch 7.1.13 Ola Jönsson Sunderland £2.3M 8.5.13 Colin Bailey Released Free </pre>

retired_embartl

England

Croatia v England Pointless Friendly April 27th 2013

With a slightly smaller squad weakened by injury Ryan still decided as far as possible any members of title rivals would be playing key roles in this match including Chelsea trio of Ryan Garry, Kevin Gregory and Stuart Wilkinson and Middlesborough players Stuart Taylor, Ian Marshall, Peter Robinson and Richard Murray . Bolton's Dick Holder was also involved. They all played the 90 minutes in a very dull match that was only interesting for a late goal from Michael Proctor with Richard Murray assisting. Devastatingly Kevin Gregory picked up a knock that would sideline him for two weeks - a crying travesty.


Summer 2013

England

Despite being National Manager the summer was still flipping dull as with no June qualifiers, there was only a friendly with France to bother with - and a summer with Clara was spent in the usual manner with a relaxing holiday - though with the kids becoming more of a handful it wasn't quite so. Damien was obviously excited his Dad was England manager - even if the silly tyke had adopted Nottingham Forrest as his club of choice - a decision apparently influenced by his mother. For Ryan though success in claiming the Manager of the Year again was another boost to the ego, and he also picked up the monthly award, as did Zlatan Ibrahimovic,. days before he joined Porto on a bosman.

England v France Annoying Friendly June 2013

With a tired squad - this fixture was played with little spirit, and the critics were fairly vicerous in their comments, but Ryan didn't care. He did put out a strong side, with Derby players involved but second half goals from David and Citony ensuring Ryan fell to his first defeat at Wembley as England manager - and he hoped there would be no further losses in his career.

Outside of England and Ryan was focussing on strengthening the Derby squad where need be. There were plenty of rumours about jobs becoming available over the summer but after having spent so long watching the vacancies the previous year Ryan just decided to carry on his good work at Derby as he revamped the defence, spending plenty of money on Ronnie Jordan a former Hartlepool player from Aston Villa and Fiorentina's Silvio Migliacco , whilst the hardest signing was the bosman of George Tracey from Leeds. Jorge and Jose Uribarri were officially sold, along with Graeme Baird the latter for a decent sum to Manchester United. Freddie Ljungberg's distinguished career came to an end as he quit - and Ryan through an impromtu party in his celebration - though there was none of that lark for Steven Baker's retirement. Ifeani Udeze completed his bosman move to Chelsea.

Pre-Season

Buggering Off To Holland

With the new players in tow, a gentle start against Katwijk allowed for a little mauling of the Dutch no-hopers which took in a Ricardo Quaresma hat-trick before a more challenging match with De Graafschaap saw new midfielder Simon Sampson score in a 3-0 win. The gap was narrowing but the wins continued as RBC were knocked off with an early Derek Tobin header, before the tour came to an end with a defeat to Vitesse in a 4-3 match, where new boy Antunes scored the opening the goal.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">============================================= ======================= 2013/4 Transfers========================================= ===========================Date Player In From Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------12.6.13 George Tracey Leeds Bos 18.6.13 Silvio Migliaccio Fiorentina £8M 19.6.13 Ronnie Jordan Aston Villa £18.5M 19.7.13 Simon Simpson Liverpool £6.75M 21.7.13 Antunes Burnley £3.3M 28.7.13 José Costa Sporting £14.75M Date Player Out To Fee-----------------------------------------------------------------------1.6.13 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Porto Bos 8.6.13 José Manuel Uribarri Southampton £2.7M 12.6.13 Graeme Baird Man Utd £7.75M 17.6.13 Marc Wilson Released Free 19.6.13 Steven Baker Released Free 20.6.13 Jorge Deportivo £11M 26.6.13 Ifeani Udeze Chelsea Bos </pre>

retired_embartl

Season 2013-2014

"Hey Ryan - long time no see. Good summer?"

"Yeah it was cheers Geoff. Kids are doing fine - Damien's just switched to middle school now so he's getting all worried about the big start, and Katie's enjoying the early days of her education - Clara's taken work off for now though she's on a sabbatical I think. We had a needed holiday too. Think rumours of being unsettled aren't helping though.You guys ok?"

"Aye, mate. Not too bad. No new albums on the horizon though - finished our summer tour and I think the band's taking a break like too. Not going to force out naff material."

"Fair enough Bry - you Geoff? That was a damned decent book you first wrote - got any follow ups on the horizon?"

"Not for that one mate, but I've got a few ideas on what I want to do next - and it's not related to fishing. Gonna be a while before I get down to seriously writing it though - research and all that gobbledy gook. So how's Derby going? Happy?"

"Yeah, I think so. We have some better players in the side - which will hopefully make us more stable in defence. The target for the club should be league success at least. With cups a possible and plausible bonus."

"The club's target? What about yours?"

"To put the club in as strong a position as possible to achieve it. I won't lie - even though the family are settled - I'm not. There's an uneasy feeling here - the directors are control freaks, and I don't feel as though I have the control I want to have."

"Keep battling on mate."

"Heh, you know me!"

retired_embartl

Part 1 - Derby County

With no further headway on the Leeds job, Ryan looked on as the Sunderland vacancy came and went, as did Burnley, and then decided to ignore any further speculation to concentrate on his current side's prospects. After Valencia were defeated in the Champions League qualifiers, Chelsea emphatically won the Charity Shield 5-2 as Ashley Poole made the keeper choice pretty easy for Ryan again. Wycombe were welcomed back into the Premiership with a 3-0 defeat, Alvarez scoring twice. Samura got nobbled in the return leg victory in Valencia which would sideline him for three months, forcing Ryan into the transfer market. Alvarez though, the winner in Spain kept up his good form early on though with 2 goals in the league cup thrashing of Leeds .

After the international break it was winning ways again with victory over Crystal Palace , but the streak ended in Europe though at least with a draw against Sporting Lisbon and then it was back to another horrific defeat to Chelsea as the Londoners appeared ominously efficient in front of goal winning 4-0 despite an equal number of shots on goal. A home 0-0 with Bayern Munich suddenly changed the fun winning streak into a worrying winless one. Ian Armstrongs goal denied a win as Hartlepool snatched a point soon after. Another dire effort at home to Levski saw another 0-0 as the injury to Samura and bad luck in the transfer effect was clearly showing - and Ryan was getting fed up - wondering how many chances Des Walker was getting at Leeds as another vote of confidence and rumours of a sacking re-surfaced once more.

Of course he won his next match with Leeds, whilst Ryan relied on a last minute goal just for a draw at Manchester United before a striker finally arrived - Drew Bradman of Rangers but in his debut there were no goals in another f*cking 0-0, this time at Bolton despite dominating. The goals joyously arrived at last at home to Southampton with three in a short spell after half time to the relief of the goal starved fans. Another two at Levski helped steady European hopes too as another Alvarez double at home to Sunderland returned confidence - and Drew Bradman enjoyed a good game in this one. A single goal from Mokouko mercifully ensured victory over Sporting and qualification secure ahead of the trip to Germany. Confidence was well and truly back when the side amazingly actually took 4 of their chances at Spurs to record an excellent win - with Waatovaara showing his class at last. Elsewhere other jobs across the leagues were falling by the wayside, but Ryan was being picky. He wanted the Leeds job and nothing else. To end the month, Rochdale were smashed in the 3rd round of the League Cup in a 7-0 romp for Ryan's men - with Drew Bradman scoring his first goals - and hat-trick. Derek Tobin also bagged his first of the season in the match.

retired_embartl

England

Portugal v England World Cup Qualifiers Match 6 Sat 31st August

The crucial match in the qualifiers would determine whether it was automatic or play-offs for Ryan and his country. With an only slightly changed story Ryan faced former charges, Helder Simao and Jorge, whilst Antunes was also in their side. The match was a tough one but it transpired in England's favour despite a nervy ending. Richard Murray volleyed in a fine cross from debutant Daniel Braithwaite before midfielder Ryan Davies doubled the lead a few minutes later. Sadly he ended up injured before half time and, in the second half Portugal clawed back overpowering a weak midfield, but only managing the one goal as the victory was earned, and barring disaster England would be qualifying with ease for World Cup 2014 in Switzerland.

England v Slovenia World Cup Qualifiers Match 7 Wednesday 4th September

The midweek home match saw England Ryan qualify in style with only a few changes to the line up in a fairly comfortable 4-0 victory. A quick fire start saw 3 early efforts from Jonathan Stewart , Martin Rose and Peter Robinson - the latter notching his first for the club. In a run of the mill second half then, the gloss was added with a first goal for right back Greg Farrell as 7 out of 7 ensured England had done it.

Finland v England World Cup Qualifiers Match 8 Saturday 5th October

There was a chance to try a few different starters in this match, including Drew Bradman, recent acquisition at Derby, but with the lack of necessity to win this match, the desire was annoyingly lacking as Jussi Kujala scored an early goal, before Chelsea's right back Ryan Garry was taken off injured. Chances did arrive to restore parity in the match, especially in the second half - but no goal was bursting the Fins net and Ryan cursed a first competitive defeast under his reign even if it wasn't of any importance.