redsardonyx

Summer 2004.

I had been at Peterhead since I was a teenager,This was my 10th season as a player and by the looks of it I won't be offered a new contract.I've had my injury problems this season but after getting my coaching badges I thought they might have kept me on as a player coach but this didn't look to be the case.It was tough to take,the club I had been a player at all my life had told me im not needed anymore and after June 31st i will be a free agent.

The chairman calls me into his office after the end of season party and informs me that if I can arrange it I can have a testimonial before I leave the club.At least I will get to say a proper goodbye to the players and fans.

I start making a few phone calls to some friends and after a few hours on the phone I have the possibility of three teams coming to Balmoor for my testimonial.The three teams that have shown alot of intrest are Celtic,Liverpool and Blackburn.A few more phone calls and its settled that Liverpool will take there squad to Balmoor at the start of June.

As the game approaches new Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez promises to take all his best players up to Peterhead to give him an idea of what hes looking for in the transfer market so it should be a good occasion for the players and fans.

With only two days to go everybody is getting excited and that includes me.Everybody is looking up for it in training as everybody wants to play against a side like Liverpool,The bonus was it was my testimonial so I knew I'd be playing.

The day before the match the manager decides to take us to the swimming pool to relax us before tommorows big friendly.It seems to work all the lads seem to be in a nice calm mood all thats left is to get back to the stadium and get home for some rest.

As the bus pulled up at the stadium everyone pushed to get off first so they could make a quick exit and be first to there car.It was like being on the school bus when I was younger it was chaos.As I got to the steps to get off the bus I was nudged from behind and lost my footing on the top step,Next thing I know im looking at the sky on my back! I try to pick myself up but my right foot gives way and I collapse back down to the ground.A few guys help me up and the physio cancells his going home plans to take a look at it,After a quick assesment he decides that it's not broken and just badly swollen.He recomends staying off it for a few days and also says that plenty of ice is needed tonight to get the swelling down.

I manage to drive home as it's not a far drive but it's a struggle as my foot is in severe pain.I do exsactley what the physio advised and I put my foot up and put a bag of frozen peas on it.Having had a busy day I fall asleep infront of the t.v watching football.

I wake up infront of the t.v still fully dressed.Thinking of what day it is I jump up to go for a shower,As I spring up in an excited kind of way a bag of soggy wet peas falls to the floor along with me.As I crawl to the kitchen drawer to get some pain killers it dawns on me the physio told me yesterday to keep off my bad foot for few days.The Liverpool game is today and I have to keep off my foot..This cant be happening,I'm going to miss my own testimonial.

In a panic I phone the physio and he informs me that it's definitely not broken so if I can't walk on it this morning there is no chance ill be able to play today.The players have all arranged to meet at 12 o'clock today so it gives the pain killers a few hours to kick in.

I manage to have a shower and it feels alot better after the pain killers but it's still not good enough to kick a ball with I know this just with the pain of walking on it.The players meet at 12 o'clock and there is a surprise as the chairman Roger Taylor joins us for our pre match meal.There is a few speeches done before the meal and I'm given a gold watch from all the players as a gift which was a very nice thought.

The chairman has the last say before the meal he thanks me for the 10 years I've had at the club and also tells me that he had been thinking about the situation I was in about not being able to play in my own testimonial.He asks me if I'd like to pick the team and tactics for my own testimonial instead.He didn't need to ask twice I said yes as quick as a flash and then told him it would be an honour.He also informs me that manager Iain Stewart will be available as a player for the game and will not get involved in team picking.The game is a 6 o'clock kick off so I have just under 6 hours to put what ive learned from my coaching courses into practice.

After the meal it was time to go back to the stadium and start getting ready for the game the idea is to rest and relax for a while then start doing some small excersizes to get them in shape,although I think if you put Liverpool infront of them at any time of the season they could be ready and waiting to play in 5 minutes.It was going to hurt so much not being able to play in a game like this but if I could mastermind a victory it could be much better for me than actually playing.I was starting to get carried away this was Liverpool we were playing not Albion Rovers but we can all dream.

As the game gets closer we get to see first hand the talent liverpool have at their disposal players like Gerrard,Cisse,Hyypia,Baros the list goes on.The Liverpool lads are really a good bunch of profesionals as they go round signing autographs for all the local kids thats turned up to meet the premiership stars off the bus.With Balmoor only holding 4000 people there is quite a few left standing on the hill outside the ground but that wont spoil it for anyone as they look forward to seeing the talent that Liverpool will bring to Peterhead.

The stadium is packed,the hill outside is packed,The houses that over look the stadium are full with bodys hanging out windows.Nothing happens in Peterhead so when there is something good happens the whole Town appear to have a look and we certainly had a few people looking today.With still 30 mins to go to the kick off there was fun going on in the family stand with the mascots handing out programmes and scarfs ect to the kids.It was gearing up to be a great day.

The kick off time had came I just decided to go with a flat 4-4-2 with the 2 centre mids doing opposite jobs one on defensive mentality one being attacking mentality.Liverpool decide to go with a strong line up at the start.The place was buzzing it felt great sitting in the dugout waiting for the whistle.

Rafa Benitez came to the dugout and wished me all the best but let me know in a nice way that him and his team wont go easy on us.I replied in a joking manner that its ok we wont be going easy on them either with that he smiled shook my hand and said good luck.

The first whistle went and with the roar that went up from Balmoor a shiver went down my spine.The first 20 miutes is all a blurr I limped about the touchline shouting and encouraging our team,Although the mixture of pain killers and adrenalin made it feel like I was floating rather than limping.It was only after 30 minutes and the score still at 0-0 that i noticed that our players were just short of dropping dead with the effort they've put in.Just as I think about taking the older guys off Liverpool score a great goal through Baros to take the lead 1-0,We had kept them at bay for 34 minutes and that alone makes me proud as we had matched them all the way.

I decide I'll only take the one player off just now and I call Iain Stewart over as with him being injured alot last year and just concentrating on running the club from day to day I thought I'd give him a rest as he looked shattered.As I shouted him over he started mouthing off in my direction not looking happy,I shouted him again and he came bounding over in my direction still shouting and swinging his arms in a right state.I nearly got a word out my mouth as he approached but before I could he just lashed out and threw sevral punches in my direction followed by a few kicks as the stewards came rushing over to grab Stewart and restrain him from inflicting further damage.This is all I can remember the next few lines is what I have been told by the people around me.

I say this is all I remember the reason for this is I took such a blow to the head that I actually got knocked into a coma.I have been in a coma for 2 weeks.Once I came round the first thing I said was are we still only down 1-0,Sadly I found out later we crumbled and finished on the end of an 7-0 defeat.Alot of my team mates came to see me,well I say team mates my contract runs out in 5 days and im laid up in hospital for at least a week so they can run tests.They fill me in on my the guy that put me in here my former manager and now their former manager,it turns out he was sacked and has community service to keep him busy for the next 120 hours.

The chairman took time out of his busy schedule to pay me a visit which was surprising as with my contract running out I thought I'd never see him again.He asks how im doing and fills me in with the Iain Stewart situation after about 5 minutes of catching up he starts talking about football which to tell you the truth was great as it made me forget I was still lying in hospital!

He starts telling me how he loved watching the lads when I picked the team as they all looked liked they respected me and they liked playing for me,I wondered where this conversation was going.After a few minutes he then meantioned my contract situation and asked if I would like to stay on at the club.I had been at this club all my playing days of course I wanted to stay and I told him this.

He then pulled a bit of paper out his pocket and told me he had a contract with him all I had to do was sign,I asked for a few minutes to look over it.I started reading the contract and it wasn't what I expected,I was being offered more money and a longer contract.Still I kept reading and I turned to the chairman and said whats the catch? He then explained he wanted me to take the team forward and he doesn't mean as a player he wants me to be boss!

I buzzed the nurse and asked her to get a pen I could hardly contain myself,As soon as the nurse handed me the pen the contract was signed.The chairman smiled and said congratulations your now the manager of Peterhead Football Club.I explain I've still got a few days to do in hospital and the chairman informs me that everybody is on holidays so he tells me to rest and be back to the club for the 10th of July.He leaves,I can let myself go now and I do with a big shout "Whoo Hoooo."

redsardonyx

Saturday 10th July 2004.

Meeting the players is easy as they were all my team mates last year so that takes all of 5 minutes.I then go to the Chairmans office to show him one or two ideas that I have had over the last few weeks I put it all down on paper and pop it in a folder to show him how keen I am on making this club a better club.

The first thing I put to him is that we bring a few more coaches to the club so we can work with the players weve got and see if we can get anything more out of them as individuals.

The second thing I put to him is we need a plan of action we need to look 5-10 years from now and decide where we want to be.The chairman agrees and he says we will work together over the next year to draw up a plan that will see the team build for the future and give us some goals to aim for.

He lets me know that he has every faith in me and while we work out how far we can take this current squad he says just make sure i finish in a respectable position in the league.

Everything seems to have went well with the chairman and he seems happy with what I had to say,lets just hope he feels the same way about this club as I do.He backed up his wanting to take the club forward theory by offering me 12k to spend in the transfer market,This will come in handy in trying to tempt other players from the lower divisions of Scotland and England to the club.

After I finish with the chairman I speak to my assistant about some training schedules that I've drawn up one for the first team and one for the goalkeepers.We only have one coach and one physio so for the time being we put the coach and physio on with the first team and put the assistant on to goalkeeper training.I leave the assistant to take training and head up to my office.

I had a few messages waiting for me on the desk,All the messages were about friendlys that were arranged before I took over.The first friendly was up today against Ayr at our own ground.We have another five arranged but that can go to the back of my mind for the time being.

I phone our only scout Craig Gilfillan and ask him to try and find some free players.I tell him to keep his search within the Uk and Ireland.I tell him to keep looking however long it takes as if we can find anyone on a free it would make my job alot easier.

I look at the clock and we only have a few hours until we play Ayr,I call the players in and run them through the system I'd like them to play.They all seem happy with what I'm asking of them so I send them away for an hour to relax before we start our pre match warm up.

The build up goes well and we go into the match with a full squad of players to pick from.I only plan to use these games to get players fitness up,I'm not looking too much into the results.

The crowd of 74 witnessed a good performance and it was good to watch as the manager too.The team gave Ayr the run around and we finished 3-0 winners.As it was only a bit of fitness training I wont go too much into it but I was really impressed with what I saw.The players looked knackered after the game and I tell them to have tommorow morning off and I'll see them in the afternoon.Everyone leaves the stadium with a smile on their face,The first real day of management is over.

redsardonyx

Sunday 11th July 2004.

I arrived at the stadium at 11 o'clock,I wait by the phone as the challenge cup and league cup draws are today.Dave Watson our genral manager is at the draws and will phone me as soon as we come out the hat.I get the call from Dave just after 12 o'clock,In the challenge cup we pull a hard home tie against Morton and in the league cup we will face Stenhousemuir away.The draws could have been better but we will go into the games looking for progress to round two.

I ask the assistant Paul Mathers to take training again today as I need to try and get a couple more coaches in for pre season.After looking at the coaches that had been released by thier clubs I decided that there was only one guy suitable for us,The guys name is Bob Gray and I've offered him a 2 year contract.

I did offer a contract to another coach but he will also be a player for us aswell.Jamie Dolan is 35 but having played for Motherwell,Dundee Utd,Dunfermline,Livingston and Partick Thistle he is bound to bring some experience to the club.We only offered Jamie a one year deal but it will be looked at after 6 months and we will see if he still wants to keep playing.

Another few phone calls and I have the news that we could have two more scouts to add to the backroom staff.I have made the two a reasonable offer and offered them both 3 year deals.We hope they will agree terms as three scouts at the club would be about right.Both Rob Campkin and David Jarrett sounded very intrested and said they would be back intouch over the next few days.

Its now time to spend the rest of the day on the training pitch to see if my assistant has been pushing the players as much as he should have been,He has and if we get the two coaches in we should be more than ready for the first game of the season.The only problem I see is with me hanging up my boots there are only 3 attackers at the club so thats a job that needs doing,Draw up a shortlist for the scouts that could be joining the club.I let the guys know that we have a friendly in two days so tomorrow will be a full day of hard work,with that I let them go.I stay back a while and start a dossier for my own players,I will add to it and after the friendlys we play I will see what I make of the players in the squad.Its quite late as I leave but I'm happy as I get to spend the whole day tommorow on the training ground with the lads.

redsardonyx

Tuesday 13th July 2004.

After spending the whole day on the training ground on Monday there was some good news when I arrive at the stadium on Tuesday.Dave Jarrett,Rob campkin and Bob Gray all agree to join the club,there is still no news from Jamie Dolan but we are still hopeful he will agree terms.I phone the three that have agreed terms and ask them if they can start tomorrow they all seem happy with that so I'll see them early tomorrow morning.

Division 1 St Mirren come to Balmoor tonight for a friendly so we have an easy day on the training pitch and meet at the stadium at 5 o'clock to walk through some tactical ideas I want to try out.I make it clear that the players should take it easy as we don't need any stupid injurys.

Only 45 minutes before the match we recieve a call from Jamie Dolans agent,He tells us that Swansea have offered his client a contract as an assitant manager.Dolans agent makes it clear I will have to raise my contract offer to have a chance of getting my man.I decide that we offered him good terms and tell the agent that the first offer still stands.I am hopeful that Dolan will pick to stay in Scotland instead of moving to Wales.

Slightly more people turned up for this friendly,112 was the final figure we got.The game was so boring that I doubt much of them seen our 92nd minute winner from Bavidge.It was a scrappy goal scored from a corner that couldn't be cleared and apart from that there had been no real chances at goal.Even though we won 1-0 the main thing is we got a good work out and we have no injurys,Its lucky we have no injurys as we have only 17 outfield players in the whole squad.

After the game I go back to the office and it dosn't look like we will hear about Dolan tonight but I have a feeling when we do hear it will be bad news.I finish up the day by making a little shortlist of players for the scouts joining tomorrow to check out.

redsardonyx

Wednesday 14th July 2004.

In the morning I welcome our three new staff members to the club and let them meet the people they will be working with.I leave our new coach Bob Gray in the hands of assistant Paul Mathers as I need to run through a few players for the scouts to view over the next few weeks.I give them a list of three attackers to look at as we are in need of another striker,The players I want viewed are Craig Dargo(Kilmarnock),Steve Hislop(Caley Thistle) and Steven McGarry(Ross County.)

While looking at the transfer list I spotted Jerome Vareille on a free transfer,having remembered the guy from his Kilmarnock days I thought I'd make the offer of £0 to Airdrie United for his services.You have to wonder why they are trying so hard to get rid of him but we need a striker and one for free sounds good.I also offered Alex Williams a season long loan deal,The Morton player was going to be a scouting target but sources say that Morton want to loan him out for the season.I will take this opportunity to try and get him to the club to run a better eye over him.

Still no news on Jamie Dolan,I will have to start looking at alternatives soon as the longer it drags on the quicker the season approaches.If I haven't heard anything by friday I offer another coach a contract.

The assistant informs me that everybody responded well to training today and also stated that the players seem to like our new coach,which is always a good start.I ask the assistant if he thinks this squad could see us promoted this year,He pauses for a minute and then tells me what I wanted to hear he said no!

I don't want a yes man he told me what he really thought,It looks like me and Paul will get on fine together.His main concern was the same as mine we have an older squad who are going to feel the pressure of playing a full season.I'm not against older players far from it but we need to be sensible and get a few players in for back up as all our central defenders are over 31.

In the next few days I will work with Paul and concentrate on what we really need to make sure the defence stays fresh all year round.I say I'll work with Paul as he's the assistant but he also happens to be our keeper too so it would benefit us as a team to have people our keeper could trust infront of him.

redsardonyx

Saturday 17th July 2004.

After a few hard days on the training pitch it was time to find another option for a coach.There is still no word from Dolan or his agent.I make a few inquirys and I'm given the name of a Dutch coach who might be able to do a job for us.I phone Luit Zwaneveld up and he sounds very intrested,I speak to him for 30 minutes and after that conversation I offer him a 3 year contract and tell him to think it over.

After our last few days on the training pitch all the players are starting to get there sharpness back,We have a friendly tomorrow so we can put what we have done in the last few days to the test.

At the end of the day I ask my assistant if he found any good defenders that are available.He had found a couple but none of them were central defenders,I have took on board the couple of names he has given me and will look at them after I sort out a central defender.

redsardonyx

Sunday 18th July 2005.

Just before we take to the field against Brechin we get the news we've been dreading,Jamie Dolan has agreed terms with Swansea.I was expecting this and did make efforts to get someone else in so I'm not too disappointed.

This is our only away friendly of the pre season.Brechin should give us a good run about as they are a division ahead of us,plus it will be good practise for taking on Morton in the challenge cup.The players look fit and ready for the game and I expect them to be more physical in this game than they were in the last friendly.

The team gave a spirited performance and won the game thanks to another Bavidge goal.We showed that extra bite I was needing and deserved our 1-0 win.Everybody managed to get onto the pitch so it was a good trip all round.

During the long trip home we have a few drinks and a game of cards to wind down.I recieve a call on the mobile to let me know that Alex Williams has joined Boston United for 10k.It comes as a bit of a shock as I didn't even know another club was after him.I try to forget about it but It's hard as I thought our striker situation could have been sorted.

I tell the lads before they leave they can have the whole day off tomorrow,It will give me a chance to look for some suitable players to bring in.With two players rejecting offers today it has set me back slightly but hopefully we can get a few faces in before the season starts.

redsardonyx

Monday 19th July 2004.

With all the players off I have a free day to have a look at some players that are availible for transfer.We are in need of a central defender and a striker but since the scouts are already looking for an attacker I'll keep my search to central defenders.

Before I can do anything regarding players I recieve a call from Luit Zwaneveld who has agreed to be our coach.Our Genral Manager goes to meet him from Aberdeen airport and take him through to his hotel in Peterhead.Since none of the players are in today I arrange with Luit that I'll meet him later on in his hotel once he's settled in.

I have a quick browse of the players on the transfer list and find two players that catch my eye the first is 20 year old Ian Brown who was released by Raith Rovers at the end of last season.The central defender looks like a player that could push for a first team place right from the start.The other player was Doncasters David Morley.The player is listed for 2k so I offered 1k as any money saved is better for me.

I go to meet our new coach and run him through what he'll be doing at the club and show him my ideas.He has ideas of his own that he puts to me and just from speaking to him I can see he knows alot about football.After spending a few hours in his company I can see it is going to be an asset to have someone like this at the club.

redsardonyx

Tuesday 20th July 2004.

Everybody is back into training today and the spirits are high after a day off.I let everybody know we have a game against Aberdeen on thursday so its back down to the hard work today.I give out the sessions for the day and leave the assistant to take the training.

I have a look at our remaining friendlys and I notice we play Clyde in our last friendly,The problem is it's only 3 days before the challenge cup game against Morton.I decide to call the Clyde manager and cancel the friendly.With another friendly being called off because of the challenge cup it means Aberdeen will be our final pre-season game.

After speaking to the Clyde manager the secratary informs me that Jerome Vareilles agent phoned so I phone him back right away.It seems Jerome wasn't happy with the basic wage offered,I tell the agent I'll speak to the board about it and get back to him.

I have £800 left in the wage budget but the board only offered me £160 to give Jerome,Surely the board would increase this amount to let us get our man.

How wrong could I be the board thinks they have been good giving me a £160 and refuse to increase it.So much for the chairman wanting to go forward only 10 days in and he won't even let me spend money we have!

I phone back Jeromes agent and tell him I can only offer him bonuses on top of what I've offered,He says he will speak to Jerome but not to hold out much hope.It looks like It's back to the drawing board.

redsardonyx

Thursday 22nd July 2004.

Our last friendly is tonight then the real action starts so we will be looking to give a good account of ourselves against our SPL opponents Aberdeen. It's a 7.30 kick off so it gives us the whole day to get a few training sessions in.

After a mid-day training session I run them through what I expect of them in tonights game, I have a full squad to pick from so everyone should get a run out.

As the game fast approaches I notice that we could be looking at our highest attendance of the season here, with only 10 mins to go there is a reported 3900 in the ground only 100 short of full. With a crowd like this behind the players its a chance to get a morale boosting result.

The game didn't go as planned though Pasquinelli(13), Severin(18), Tully o.g(40) and Mackie(64) all scored as Aberdeen dominated the game and won 4-0.We really built ourselves up for this one and we took a big fall. After this performance it's clear to see that we need improvements if we want to go forward. I tell the lads after the game not to let it get them down too much as Aberdeen were very good on the day, I can see it in their faces that they took it hard though.

I let the assistant know that he will take training tomorrow as I really need to step up my search for players. It's now time to go home and reflect on my first managerial defeat I'm sure it will be the first of many though.