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Diary entry (source: David Le Spliff's personal diary) -entries dated 3rd and 4th June 2004.


Haven't read a paper since the game, and thankfully the whole thing is beginning to die down. Since we got back from Paris, and despite the warm welcome we were given by our fans, I've holed myself up in my flat, measuring time in Macallan Units again; one bottle of Macallan's equalling one such unit.

I clearly need a holiday, which technically I'm already on, til 19th June and the next meeting with the board. I got an e-mail from Oncle Bébert, suggesting I join him in Portugal and catch a few of the European Championships games, and I think I'll take him up on that. It's been a while since I last saw him, though now and again I get an e-mail or a phone call.

It’s weird, but in many ways the cup final was a real anticlimax, and it left me feeling inordinately dejected. After all, it had been a far better season than I had thought possible, and as Big Mike had pointed out on the way back, the club was now going places ahead of schedule. Perhaps I just need to get away from the club for a while, put some order into my life before I start thinking about the season ahead. Ring up a few old friends, pack a light bag, fill up the petrol tank and just get the hell out of here.

A fine plan, except I’m in no fit state to drive, or indeed write.



* * *



Better now. Six hours’ sleep, half an hour in the shower, then fried some eggs and washed them down with a couple of pints of orange juice. Weird how orange juice never tastes as good as on the morning after serious whisky consumption…

It’s ten-thirty now, so I ought to be in Montpellier before three if the motorway isn’t too packed, and that’s still leaving myself plenty of time for stops on the way. Off to see my friend Hugo and his wife and kids, spend a couple of days with them and then head down to Barcelona to visit Ben and Helga. I’m also really looking forward to the long drive across the north of Spain, through the Basque country and Galicia, which will take me eventually to Porto, where I’m meeting Oncle Bébert on the eleventh.

Holidays, here I come…

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Press releases (source: Reuter's -European Championships results, Group Stage).


12th June 2004.

Germany 0
Bulgaria 2 (M.Petrov 14, 51)


13th June 2004.

Netherlands 1 (Seedorf 10)
England 1 (Owen 56)

Turkey 0
France 2 (Henry 51, Trezeguet 62)

Wales 2 (Earnshaw 10, Hartson 28)
Czech R. 3 (Koller 15, Nedved 36, Lokvenc 51


14th June 2004.

Italy 2 (Di Vaio 3, 90)
Sweden 0

Norway 2 (R.Johnsen 16, Berg Hestad 81)
Ukraine 0


15th June 2004.

Croatia 0
Greece 2 (Nikolaidis pen 69, 86)

Portugal 4 (Pauleta 19, 89; C.Ronaldo 85, Conceição 90)
Ireland 1 (Connolly 42)


16th June 2004.

Czech R. 1 (Koller 15)
Germany 1 (Ziege 38)


17th June 2004.

Bulgaria 1 (S.Todorov 63)
Wales 1 (Earnshaw pen 35)


18th June 2004.

France 1 (Wiltord 59)
Netherlands 0

England 0
Turkey 1 (Bastürk 2)


19th June 2004.

Sweden 1 (Grahn 52)
Norway 1 (Carew 7)

Ukraine 4 (Shyschenko 3, Zubov 11, Rebrov pen 90, 90+3)
Italy 2 (Di Vaio 15, 76)


20th June 2004.

Croatia 1 (Bilic 41)
Portugal 1 (N.Gomes 13)

Greece 2 (Nikolaidis 15, 75)
Ireland 2 (Walters 51, Dunne 84)


21st June 2004.

Czech R. 2 (Sverkos 18, Rosicky 47)
Bulgaria 0

Wales 0
Germany 3 (Neuville 4, Klose 70, 90)


22nd June 2004.

Italy 1 (Gattuso 82)
Norway 2 (Solli 30, Andresen 48)

Sweden 1 (Mjällby 90)
Ukraine 2 (Zubov 13, Nesmachnyi 49)


23rd June 2004.

Ireland 0
Croatia 1 (Prso 38)

Portugal 2 (Figo 27, Andrade 75)
Greece 2 (Nikolaidis 12, Tsiartas 31)

France 1 (Trezeguet 36)
England 0

Turkey 3 (Sükür 77, 79; Säs 84)
Netherlands 0



The Quarter-Finals will pair up as follows:

Germany vs. Norway (24th June)
Ukraine vs. Czech Republic (25th June)
Portugal vs. Turkey (26th June)
France vs. Greece (27th June)

Raptor

Wow, that season took a while :o

I'll tune in for the next one

BTW: France v Greece Euro2004 QF? What odds Greece win 1-0?

Nederland oh Nederland :cool:

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Yep, it took longer than I thought it would. In any case, I wanted to at least finish the season as I'm leaving Tuesday (Christmas family commitments and all that) and won't be back til early January.

The odds on another 1-0 defeat? Well, don't want to give it away, but you'd expect them to be about as slim as those on Keith winning a game of bottle football

Marseille take on Auxerre at the Vélodrome in under an hour (3rd against 5th), Troussier's second game in charge. Thank god for internet radio...

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Diary entry (source: David Le Spliff's personal diary) -entry dated 23rd June 2004.


Back in Cannes after a short(ish) holiday in Portugal -a working holiday, as it turned out...

I'd been looking forward to an easy-going, hassle-free program; go to a few of the Euro games with Oncle Bébert, drive around a bit and see the sights, treat ourselves to a few good meals. That sort of thing. Instead I was dragged around by my dear uncle to meet -as he put it- 'useful people'. Agents from all over the place, many of them apparently eager for one or several of their protégés to join Cannes over the summer. I listened politely, but pointed out time and time again that I couldn't commit to anything right now. Still, some of what I heard was interesting enough to make a note of, and the figures bandied about seemed to reflect the general trend of falling market values for players. Several of the players I was offered could probably hold their own in Ligue 1, never mind Ligue 2, which left me wondering why they would want to come to Cannes at all. Aside from the beaches and the loose women, that is...

The annual pre-season board meeting was a very relaxed affair, which was just as well as it was also my first day back at the office. Our beloved chairman, Big Mike Salerno, exuded his usual rotund cheerfulness as he gave me a brief but enlightening synopsis of the club's financial situation. Thanks to our excellent run in the French Cup last season, as well as the 1.4 million pounds we've received for Ligue 2 television rights, there is around 1.8 million at my disposal to strengthen the squad, which ought to be amply sufficient. I was about to point out that apart from a goalkeeper, I had all the players I needed to field a competitive side, when Big Mike stunned me by announcing that the club's aim for this season was to achieve promotion to the Ligue 1. Smiling at my obvious discomfiture, he added (perversely, I thought) that he had full confidence in my ability to achieve this goal. The smile faded somewhat when I burst out laughing, but ten minutes later he had convinced me that it was no joke, and that maybe -just maybe- it wasn't such a far-fetched objective after all. Besides, he'd saved the best for last; the club is building a brand-new, state-of-the-art (well, almost) training complex, which should be ready for use before the new season kicks off.

I left the meeting in a bit of a daze, wondering whether somehow Oncle Bébert had known about the board's ambitions long before they had seen fit to share them with me. I headed straight for home, and started going over the video tapes I'd been handed left right and centre whilst in Portugal. For someone who hated telephones in their every guise, I was certainly going to have to use it a hell of a lot over the next few weeks.

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Press releases (source: Reuter's -European Championships results, Quarter Finals).


24th June 2004.

Germany 0
Norway 0
(Norway win on penalties, 5-4).


25th June 2004.

Ukraine 4 (Shevchenko 14, 16, 44, 64)
Czech Republic 2 (Koller 32, 45).


26th June 2004.

Portugal 1 (Figo 90)
Turkey 0.


27th June 2004.

Greece 1 (Nikolaidis 90)
France 3 (Saha 3, Vieira 28, Pires 83).


The Semi-Finals will pair up as follows:

Norway vs. France (30th June)
Ukraine vs. Portugal (1st July).

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Team news (source: football365.fr -Ligue 2 updates section).


21st June 2004.

AS Cannes have announced the signing of three new staff members: François Ciccolini (Fra, 57 years old, former coach and manager at GFCO Ajaccio and SC Bastia) joins the club as coach, whilst Grant Towell (Eng/Sco, 23) and David Jarrett (Eng/Can, 22) have both joined as scouts.

Two players from the Youth Academy were promoted to the under-18 side: central defender Christophe Leca (Fra, 14, Schoolboy international), and right or central midfielder Jérémy Le Breton (Fra, 16).


23rd June 2004.

Cannes goalkeeper Aleksandr Filimonov joins Reims (National) for £100.000.


25th June 2004.

Cannes midfielder Michel Gafour was signed by Gueugnon (L2) for £100.000.

Defender Torres Mestre heads for Nancy (National) on a free transfer.


26th June 2004.

Cannes' Nigerian midfielder Garba Lawal joins Sedan for £22.000.


27th June 2004.

After the emergence of an insistent rumour concerning a £2.8 M offer tabled by Saint-Etienne for Cannes' Toledo, manager David Le Spliff issued a statement to the effect that the Brazilian player was not for sale.


28th June 2004.

Cannes have signed young striker Tim Janssen (Ned, 18) for £100.000.

Julien Tournut, a central defender who spent much of last season on loan at the club, signed a permanent deal for AS Cannes. Nancy received a sum of around £100.000.

Veteran defender Laurent Charvet leaves the club, joining Istres for £24.000.

When queried about the transfer rumours concerning him, Toledo stated that he had no intention of leaving La Bocca this season.


29th June 2004.

Cannes have signed young striker Yohan Delplas (Fra, 17) from Montpellier for £150.000.

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Press releases (source: Reuter's -European Championships results, Semi-Finals and Final).


30th June 2004 (Semi-Final).

Norway 1 (Gamst Pedersen 54)
France 2 a.e.t. (Kapo 36, Saha 106).


1st July 2004 (Semi-Final).

Ukraine 1 (Shevchenko 44)
Portugal 0.


4th July 2004 (Final).

France 0
Ukraine 2 (Shevchenko 65, Vaschuk 80).



Top goalscorers:

1. Shevchenko (Ukr) 6
Nikolaidis (Gre) 6
3. Di Vaio (Ita) 4
Koller (Cze) 4


UEFA Player of the Tournament:

1. Shevchenko (Ukr)
2. Di Vaio (Ita)
3. Klose (Ger)

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CHAPTER TWO: ROCKING THE BOAT.



Diary entry (source: David Le Spliff's personal diary) -entry dated 4th July 2004.


Writing this from the 'Isle of Beauty', Corsica , on the eve of our first pre-season friendly against AC Ajaccio. Came back to the hotel early this afternoon, leaving Gabriel (Desmenez) to carry out the rest of the session with the coaches. François (Ciccolini) has been developing a good rapport with the players, and in particular the younger lads. Not surprising, as he's a great motivator and a shrewd assessor of skills and form. He was out of a job after Bastia let him go, and it was Christian (Lopez) who suggested we should contact him.

Our two new scouts are a different story altogether; I bumped into the two lads in my local and we struck up a conversation when they noticed I was drinking Guinness (which I'd persuaded the owner to stock up on, in exchange for free tickets to games -a win/win situation for me, with attendances so mediocre last season). It turned out they had both played at youth level for Premiership sides, but had never made it to professional status. It may have been the drink, but I had an idea as we talked; I was keen on having a scout -or two- in the British Isles on a permanent basis, someone to keep an eye out for possible bargains and young talent. Many of the big -and not so big- clubs had large squads over there, and I felt sure there must be many quality players who just weren't being given a chance.

When I began to explain, the lads visibly keen on the idea. I made it clear that they wouldn't be paid much more than pocket money on top of the travel expenses, but it didn't deter from their enthusiasm, and so before leaving I told them to show up at the club the next morning. By then I'd straightened it out with Big Mike, who was all for the idea even if he did say he though they were a bit young. To me this didn't matter much -they were cheap, and they knew the British game from the inside.

Five players have left the club so far, including two first-team regulars (A. Filimonov and V. Torres Mestre), and though as yet we've only brought two in -both of them young strikers who should provide quality back up for the forward line- we're currently exploring several options which could significantly improve the overall quality of the squad.

It will be good for the players to rub shoulders with a Ligue 1 team -albeit a minor one, admittedly- for ninety minutes. Though I'm well aware of how little the results of these games actually mean, a good performance here could help carry over the confidence from last season -and confidence is something that we're going to need a lot of, if we're going to mount any sort of challenge for the promotion spots. Still, the mood in the camp is excellent, and there hasn't been a single injury since the squad took up training again. Long may it last. Anyway, off for a quick shower and a smoke before the others get back...

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Diary entry (source: David Le Spliff's personal diary) -entry dated 10th July 2004.


Overall it's been a very satisfactory pre-season so far, and the only source of frustration is the fact that Shereni and Mohammed are out with injuries contracted during training. They'll both be out for a few weeks, but there's a chance they may yet return to fitness before our first game in Ligue 2.

The first friendly was against AC Ajaccio, who were the hosts at the Stade François Coty, and it was gratifying to see that over four thousand people had turned up for the game. Ajaccio finished a very decent twelfth in last season's Ligue 1, and I was expecting a strong test of our resolve. As it turned out, however, the Corsicans were woefully unfit, and we came away with an easy 4-0 win. By half-time we'd banged three in, including two blistering headers from our resident Goliath, Djibril Diawara. Toledo and Mutiu scored the two other goals, which came from flowing passing moves.

It was later that same week that Harley (Harlington Shereni) and Sumo (Suleiman Mohammed) injured themselves, on the same day we finalised the signing of Mehdi Meniri on a free transfer. Mehdi is a solid defender who can play in the centre or on the right, and at twenty-seven he is still in his prime. He's proved a useful player in the past for teams such as Nancy, Troyes and -most recently- Ligue 1 outfit Metz. His experience and knowledge of Ligue 2 football should come in very handy, though I think he's more likely to feature as cover than as an outright starter.

A couple of days later we solved what I felt was the squad's main problem, signing Rennes' young and promising goalkeeper, Florent Chaigneau. The twenty-year-old had been high on the list of my priorities, warmly recommended by chief scout Jean Varraud, and eventually Rennes agreed to let him go for one point one million pounds (five hundred thousand of which will be paid over the next twelve months). The lad's a very athletic 'keeper, strong in the air and sharp on his feet.

On a personal note, it's been good to spend some 'downtime' with the players. Our stay in Corsica was a very pleasant one, and a good opportunity for the squad to grow closer as individuals -some of the wives and kids had come over with us, and it made for a very relaxed and informal atmosphere which put everyone in a good mood.