retired_eneko5613

We acknowledge the Welsh landmark by signing two Welsh players! Andrew Martin joins on a two month loan, at which point his contract will be unprotected and we can hopefully negotiate to sign him permanently. The 24 year old has been capped at Welsh Under 21 level, and has been called up to the senior squad by Mark Hughes recently. Lee Hill, a 27 year old midfielder cum striker joins on trial. Hill's experience lies in the lower divisions with Braintree, but he has shown signs of being capable of stepping up. Contacts lead me to believe that he aims to make the most of his short professional career however, and his wage demands could be out of our reach.

With the possibility of two trialists and a loan signing all being involved in our next reserve game, I make the relatively short trip to Macclesfield and sit in the stands to watch the lads perform. At this level the result isn't the most important thing, which is probably a good job as the lads lose 3-2 to a last minute penalty. Martin scores, but Lee Hill has a disappointing game. He's clearly tired, but he does show one or two impressive moments of skill. Talbot doesn't feature at all, with Aldo preferring to play Mark Peters up front.

Hill's performance obviously impressed others, however, as Mark Hughes requests his presence in the full Wales squad. I'll be very surprised if he gets anywhere near the team!

There aren't any changes necessary ahead of the senior team's game with Macclesfield. Martin is not far from the starting eleven, but probably needs another game under his belt to get up to match fitness. It doesn't really matter, as Leo shows the rest of us the way to goal to open the scoring after twenty minutes. It was just what we needed, as 6456 Stalybridge fans were beginning to get a little restless. With Gavin Gordon looking to cause trouble at the other end, we needed another goal before we could consider sitting on the lead. It came from Morgan, after he picked up a deflected freekick. His third this season, it can hardly be classed as rare anymore, except when you look back and see it's only his 5th career goal! Gordon had a fine opportunity to pull one back before the break, but his close range header went over the bar rather than under it. 2-0 at the break.

Mackie took to the field for a run out in the second half. The young Scot was looking to make an impression to try and win his place back from his compatriot Cameron. It took him 30 minutes to make an impression, starting a move on the right and forcing a fine save from Marshall after Leo's shot had been pushed away. Batty had a couple of saves to make before the referee signalled the end of the game, and another 3 points to Stalybridge! Man of the match, for a strong defensive performance and his goal, went to captain courageous, Chris Morgan!

Division 2 Game 11. 9th October 2004.
Stalybridge 2 Macclesfield 0 Fortune-West 19 Morgan 29

Up to 4th, and time to open negotiations with Lee Hill's agent over a permanent deal. As expected, initial discussions do not go well. Only time will tell if things are to improve. However, before the Peterborough game we have to fight off the advances of Division 3 Tranmere, who are keen on signing Cullip. Just because the lad hasn't played this season, doesn't mean he's out of my plans!

retired_eneko5613

A training injury for Jaszczun means that Elgert will have to deputise on the left for a while, and there are two other changes for the difficult looking trip to league leaders Peterborough. Mackie and Martin start, with Cameron and Ommel dropping to the bench. Peterborough's striker Francis Green is making his 200th appearance for the club, at the tender age of 24.

Green and his striking partner McKenzie (32 goals last season!) manage to get off early sighters inside the first ten minutes, but against the run of play, we're the ones who score first. It's another goal from a corner, as Friars is the one rising highest this time. the lead lasted less than five minutes, with midfielder Matthew Gill doing the damage. It was all Peterborough for the rest of the first half, and I was quite relieved to get the troops back in the dressing room at half time.

I'd take a point from this game, so I told the lads to maintain our careful attitude in the second. Andrew Martin was struggling to keep up with play, so I switched sides for him and Leo. It didn't have the desired effect, as Peterborough came out hunting for a goal. Even having lost their inspirational defensive leader Matt Elliott to an injury didn't deter them, and when the chance finally came it was the easiest of tap-ins for McKenzie. Ommel and Cameron came on, but they couldn't do anything about Peterborough's third, which came from a corner. At 3-1 down with only 15 minutes to play, heads dropped. From that point we never looked like getting anything from the game.

Division 2 Game 12. 16th October 2004.
Peterborough 3 Stalybridge 1 Gill 22 McKenzie 60 Thomas 73 / Friars 18

When asked by the press what I though of the performance, I had to admit I was disappointed. It shows just how far off the pace we really are in this division, and just how much we'll struggle if we do pick up a couple of injuries. It was a case of too many bad individual performances on the day, and coming up against a strong team in Peterborough. Still, hopefully there will be a suitable opportunity to bounce back against Northampton in mid week.

retired_eneko5613

The long and winding FA Cup road will begin for us with a home tie against Macclesfield. Our last meeting suggested nothing much to worry about there. Tranmere give up on Cullip after being told they would have to stump up his full £500k release clause to be allowed to talk to him, but Danny feels he needs to move to get first team football. I've tried telling him that his chance will come, but he's obviously not going to listen. Neither is Lee Hill, as he flatly refuses our final contract offer. He does tip us off on a couple of his ex-teammates who we might want to look in on though.

Although the lads do get a bit of stick from the coaches and I about the weekend's performance, I'm not going to make lots of changes. In fact, it's the same side to face Northampton as we look to bounce back immediately. And we notch up another record crowd, with only one empty seat in the stadium. They're in for a frustrating afternoon, as we spurn chance after chance in the first half. Just about everyone is guilty. Friars and Martin were the first, but Morgan missed what was probably the easiest on 18 minutes. Credit to the Northampton goalkeeper, veteran Billy Mercer, who did a fine job in general and on that occasion in particular. Eventually we broke through on 40 minutes, the two wingers combining to give Leo the time and space he uses to such good effect. That saw us through to half time, but you had to be worried that we were going to be punished for all those missed chances.

The nerves were visible on the player's faces too, but as the second half got older, it began to look like we might be in luck. We were starting to dominate the midfield again. The only trouble was that our finishing still wasn't up to scratch. Friars had his last chance just after the hour mark, when he went one on one with the keeper and still couldn't get the damned ball in the net. Bastow replaced him immediately. He actually got a shot on target soon afterwards, but the keeper was equal to it. The inevitable came when a through ball was played for Peter Weatherston to run on to, and the promising young English striker made no mistake in notching his 6th goal of the season. There was now the added risk that we could actually lose the game, however it didn't seem to spur our attacking players on, as Bastow and Martin both enjoyed a quick game of hit the bar. I was quite surprised that the adjudicators gave the man of the match award to Mercer. Maybe our shooting wasn't as bad as it seemed!

Division 2 Game 13. 19th October 2004.
Stalybridge 1 Northampton 1 Fortune-West 40 / Weatherston 69

Needless to say, our position suffered. Down to 7th, and looking uncomfortable at the moment.

retired_eneko5613

Just one change as we head to 17th placed Kidderminster, to hopefully get back to winning ways. It's Martin who is rested, as he can't manage three games plus a reserve fixture inside a week. He's still lacking match fitness, so he drops to the bench and in comes Ommel. Any visitors to Aggborough on this particular day would have been fast asleep in the late October sun before they had seen any significant action. Dean Harris conspired to fail to put the ball in the net on a couple of occasions when missing must have been more difficult than actually scoring. Credit, again, goes to the keeper in question, 39 year old Mike Stowell. This time we made it to the break at 0-0, although there were chances at both end to take the lead towards the end of the half.

Harris and Friars, both having poor games, were replaced by Bastow and Cameron for the second half, and Kidderminster had the better of the early opportunities. Martin replaced Ommel just before the hour mark, and at last our loan signing produced what he is capable of. A fine run and shot to score the only goal of the game, and to tuck the three points safely in the bag and onto the coach home.

Division 2 Game 14. 23rd October 2004.
Kidderminster 0 Stalybridge 1 Martin 68

Phew! That was a bit too close for comfort! It moves us back to 4th, which is a good thing, but I'm not at all confident we'll always be able to fluke results like that. Still, they always say that if you win when you're playing badly you'll go a long way! The board are pleased as well. Amusing result of the week comes at Macclesfield, as our cup foes are defeated 7-1 by Northampton for no real reason! The newspapers are full of the story of Tranmere, who despite spending £850k this season, are still struggling in 15th in the Third Division. Manager Chris Waddle, just short of a year into the job, surely needs to pull up his socks soon.

retired_eneko5613

Amazingly, less than 5950 fans turn up to see the Third round League Cup tie against Crystal Palace, the furthest the club has ever gone in the competition. Those there see Danny Cullip's first start of the season, in place of Challinor, Bastow replacing Friars, and Andrew Martin starts against his employers. There was a brief heated discussion before the game between representatives of the two clubs regarding the availability of the Welshman to play. Fortunately, our Chairman had all the documents to hand so Palace had no case Surely it wouldn't matter though? It looked from early on as though the First Division club's class was going to show through. The first five minutes were spent camped in our half, and Tony Popovic looked odds on to score in the sixth minute. Batty just got his fingertips to it, and the ball fell kindly to Burns who dribbled it cleverly out of the box before playing a long ball into the path of Martin. The young Palace player took the ball down the left wing before playing a glorious cross field pass to Mackie. Mackie lobbed the ball forward to Fortune-West, lurking on the edge of the area and the big man controlled the ball, moved past his man and laid the ball into the area, where Martin had completed his run and took the ball on the bounce to slot it past the motionless Palace keeper!

GOAL!!!

Unbelievably, 1-0 to the Second Division outfit, and who more fitting to score it! You might have expected Palace to be stunned, but not really. Instead they just came at us harder. We witheld 25 minutes of solid pressure before another long ball out of defence, by Elgert this time, found Bastow. Bastow lifted it forward for Martin down the channel, and the Palace forward became their undoing again, with a perfect ball into the box for Leo to head home. Leo's 5th of the season, but for once the crowd were singing to a different tune. That one saw Palace shocked. They didn't recover before half time, and the team were cheered from the field with a 2-0 lead.

The combined Stalybridge back room staff used every last minute of the half time break to try and prepare our lads for the onslaught they were bound to face in the second half. Palace, and their proud manager Danny Wilson, were not going to take this sort of thing lightly. That much was obvious by the fact that they had put out a full strength side in the first place! Dean Harris was brought off, and replaced by Friars in an attempt to strengthen midfield. However, the best thing the opposition could muster in the first 25 minutes was a long ball into the box, which Batty dealt with easily. Things might have changed on 70 minutes, when Bastow shoved Popovic away as the Palace player attempted to retrieve a dead ball. A bookable offence, maybe, but the referee decided a straight red was in order. Fortunately, Collins was available on the bench, so Acuña moved forward and Leo was withdrawn. Even against ten men, Palace struggled and the cheer when the final whistle went made it sound like there were 10000 in the Bower Fold rather than 500 less than normal!

League Cup Third round. 27th October 2004.
Stalybridge 2 Crystal Palace 0 Martin 7 Fortune-West 32 (Stalybridge's Darren Bastow sent off, 70)

The result delighted the board once again, whilst I was straight off into the office to fax my appeal against Bastow's red card to the FA. Richard Talbot won't be around to share the celebrations, as his trial spell expires and I'm not interested in taking him on. The draw yields First Division opposition again, but this time it's away from home. We'll travel to St. Mary's to face Southampton in the Fourth Round.

retired_eneko5613

The FA aren't interested in overturning the decision on Bastow, so he will miss the trip to Southampton. We're off to Rotherham next, and there are three changes. Jaszczun is back, so returns to his position at left back, whilst Cullip is tired after two games in quick succession, so Challinor returns. Plus, I feel compelled to give Richie Barker a start against his old club, so Martin drops to the bench, initially at least.

Rotherham are struggling near the foot of the table, which they really shouldn't be given the squad they have. This particular match was settled by a single goal in the first half, Dean Harris scoring his second of the season from a loose ball. It was enough to get him the man of the match award in a game where individuals didn't really shine. Barker had a reasonable game. Indeed, it could be claimed that he got an assist to the goal, but the statistics won't record it. Rotherham's best opportunity to equalise came in the 73rd minute when Paul Warne was one and one with Batty, only to shoot against the outstretched keeper, and then lose the race to the loose ball. He was trying to run off an injury at the time, and I suspect that had he been fully fit the scoreline would have been 1-1.

Division 2 Game 15. 30th October 2004.
Rotherham 0 Stalybridge 1 Harris 34

So, the good news is we won and the board are delighted again, the bad news is that Jaszczun picked up his 5th yellow in his first match back, and has a suspension to serve in mid November. We're clinging on to that playoff spot. 6th place, but the top two are starting to pull away now.

retired_eneko5613

Lee Hill's trial ends, and the Welshman leaves the club. We haven't been able to negotiate a mutually beneficial contract, as his agent stubbornly refuses to be flexible on wages. How a player with no league experience can expect to command £8k per week is beyond me. There is some good news on the player front though, as Left Back Tommy Jaszczun finally decides that he doesn't want to move to a bigger club. He now believes that Stalybridge can achieve great success under my leadership. Well, we'll have to see about that! We don't achieve any awards for October, as Dave Bassett gets the manager award for steering his Reading side through the month unbeaten. The player awards go to Bristol City and Barnsley lads.

Speaking of Barnsley, they are the latest team coming in with an offer for Danny Cullip. I really don't want to let him go, however he's looking more and more disconsolate with his current position. Barnsley are told to come back with £250k, whilst Cullip will make the starting eleven for the next game to try and cheer him up. It's time for me to spend some big money of my own, however, as I finally prise Bill Browne away from Southend. It costs me £210k, with over £100k up front, but he should be worth it. Contract negotiations are underway with Jaszczun, and should progress in the next couple of days.

I make another trip to see the reserves in action, at Meadow Lane this time. With Browne in the starting lineup I'm interested to see how he plays. It's a mixed performance, as he picks up a yellow card in the first minute, but he does score the first goal as the lads run out 2-0 winners, having played against ten men for 65 minutes.

Remarkably, now he finds himself without a club again, Lee Hill is willing to join us. It's only a short term contract, but it's a start. It makes him our highest paid player. Not bad at £2000 per week. Having said that, we've added a fair amount to the wage burden in the past week or so, so it's time to reevaluate things. In what is turning out to be a pretty amazing week, Barnsley come back with the £250k for Cullip. What a difficult decision!

retired_eneko5613

The Cullip situation costs me a whole night's sleep, so I'm in the office early on Friday morning. I soon have John Sheran on the phone, and I have to politely decline his offer. I just cannot justify selling him to a rival club, especially one so desperate to sign him! The early start does give me some time to go over the playing staff to see if we can trim a few corners off the wage bill. It's up to £22k, which is a pittance compared with the rest of the division (the next lowest is Kidderminster, who pay out £41k a week, the rest being £60k plus!) but I like to keep these things under control.

So, I now find myself in a position where there is competition for just about every place in the team. Only Batty, Jaszczun and Burns are automatic choices. Time to change things around a little for the Notts County game. Bastow has had a couple of weak performance in midfield recently (and with the signings of Hill and Browne, he really doesn't want to be doing that!) so he'll drop out of the reckoning. Acuña will come in to take his place, with Collins slotting in behind him. Cullip returns as promised, as does Martin. Hill starts on the bench.

Out comes the autograph book again. It's been a while, and there's a fair coating of dust on it, but I add the signature of Kenneth Gustavsson, Newcastle's 22 year old Swedish midfielder. If the game goes badly for County keeper Mart Poom, I could also add sub Luke Holloway to the book, on loan from West Brom. Notts County look dangerous, with their premiership experience in addition to that mentioned, of Michael Reddy and Keith Gillespie, and their Icelandic star Baldur Bett.

An extremely one sided encounter was witnessed by 18 short of a full house (6482). I must have missed Notts County's only shot of the game, but it didn't trouble Batty by all accounts. It wasn't as easy as all that, though, as Mart Poom had a blinder and kept all our efforts out in the first half. Acuña, in particular, caused chaos, with his skill really showing in the advanced position as he ran at the defence. Despite naturally being a defensive player, at this level he is good enough to play just about anywhere.

With ten minutes of the second half gone, and still no goal despite our best efforts, it's clearly time for a change. Off comes Martin, inexplicably having a poor game, and on in his place comes debutant Hill. Cameron replaces Mackie, who hasn't performed real miracles and has been a little sloppy in front of goal. Cameron is the first to make a difference, as Leo links up with him and Poom has to palm away his shot. Acuña is denied the rebound thanks to brave goalkeeping by the Estonian. His kick only found Cullip, though, and the ball was distributed wide right to Burns, via the Chilean. A perfect cross was delivered by the right back, and 7 minutes into his Stalybridge career, Lee Hill headed his first goal. Notts County were urged forward by their bench, but there was no notable difference in their play. Instead Leo hit the post, and the Chilean forced Poom into two top class saves before finally hitting one that gave him no chance after running from deep in our half. Quality, sheer quality. No bias shown again by the man of the match adjudicators, as Leo picked it up despite having no direct involvement in either goal!

Division 2 Game 16. 6th November 2004.
Stalybridge 2 Notts County 0 Hill 61 Acuña 85

The board are delighted, the chairman coming up to me after the game personally to thank me. He's also clutching a piece of paper, which he eventually pushes my way. It's the Vans Trophy draw, and we're playing Preston at home.

retired_eneko5613

More delicate contract negotiations are going to be necessary, because Jaszczun rejects our initial offer to extend his Stalybridge career. He wants ridiculous amounts of money, and should by now have realised that we are a small club without a bottomless pit of cash. Meanwhile, Frazer Toms sneaks out the door to spend 7 weeks at Lancaster City.

Midweek brings a phone call I was expecting and to some extent dreading. Someone with money wants Danny Cullip. It's Jim Jeffries, Leicester City manager, from midtable in Division One. I can't deny Cullip the opportunity, but I never accept a first offer. If he comes back with approaching double that amount, then they can talk turkey. In the mean time, Cullip will play against Southampton. The only player not fully fit from the weekend is 33 year old Leo, and he's got the experience to be able to deal with a bit of leg weariness. No changes then.

After a 5-0 thrashing of Southend in the first round, it's taken penalties for the south coasters to gain victories over Sunderland and Spurs on their own patch. Jim Smith has taken them up to 5th in the division in what looks like being their most successful season since relegation from the Premier League in 2002. They still have quality, having played the transfer markets intelligently, with Paul Ifill (record signing at £4.9m) looking their best player.

The Saints at least do us credit in putting out a full strength side, even though only 6503 fans have turned up to watch. This decision pays off for them early on, as Ifill whips in a corner, and Paul Murray heads home easily. They have another shot before James Beattie shows his class and finishes at the second attempt. 2-0 down after quarter of an hour, and it's all over, isn't it? Well, I've rattled on a great length in the past about the never say die attitude I instill in my sides. The two goal lead only lasts 3 minutes, when a Harris cross finds Mackie jumping with the keeper. The ball tumbles into the net, and after checking that the referee isn't going to blow in favour of the higher division side, the Scot wheels away in celebration. Beattie and Delgado continue to cause us problems of a defensive nature, and Liam Burns picks up the first of a ream of yellow cards dealing with the situation. Nothing comes of it for them, though, and when Harris demonstrates that he really has his crossing boots on with a fine corner, up leaps captain courages to head in an equaliser! Unbelievable! With both sides in shock, and me still celebrating on the touchline, the last ten minutes of the half passed in something of a blur. Mackie got a yellow card, and Harris proved that crossing boots do not equal shooting boots by lifting a shot over the bar. All square, and all to play for.

There's no point telling the lads to try and defend the second half out. So they go out to hunt the third goal. Not that it makes a whole lot of difference to the way we end up playing, as we still spend most of the time clearing our own lines. Delgado hits an early shot over the bar, whilst at the other end keeper Manninger does well to get down to a low Mackie drive. With the hour mark gone, there are some tired legs out there. Leo comes off having achieved little by his high standards, and Mackie comes off knackered after running his heart out down the right wing. On come Cameron and Hill to replace them. With Leo out of the picture, Martin starts to get into the game, and he drills a shot narrowly wide, having been set up by Hill's first touch. The Southampton fans are getting on their players' backs, and they don't like it. Consequently, we are starting to come more and more into the game. Martin has a freekick well saved, and Cameron blasts a shot disappointingly over the bar, with no response from the Division One side. Into the last five minutes we go, and Martin joins the players wishing the goals were significantly higher. The chance of the half, however, went to Southampton substitute Brian Howard, who sent a header over the bar in what would turn out to be the last action of normal time.

Extra time, again. I can hardly watch. Southampton are now playing more cautiously, and clearly don't want to give a goal away. Maybe they've been watching a video of the Millwall game! Still, most of them can't do anything when Martin gets hold of the ball on the edge of the area. Spotting Manninger off his line, he tries to lob the keeper, who does well to backpedal and grasp the ball. Goalscorer Morgan picks up a yellow card for manhandling Delgado, and from the freekick Batty is forced to tip the ball around the post. He's called into action again from the corner, palming the ball away and then diving onto it before the onrushing Howard gets there.

With neither side looking like scoring, I have to admit I've got one eye on the penalty taker situation. So making my final throw of the dice, I withdraw Harris and send on Friars. Batty has one more save to make from Delgado, whilst Collins gets a yellow card in the dying minutes. With the clock ticking down, and everybodies minds firmly on a shootout, Acuña heads the ball down to Martin, who turns well, runs forward and crosses the ball into the path of Lee Hill. The crowd ares silent, and everything appears to be in slow motion, as the makeshift striker, playing only his second Stalybridge game, pulls back his leg and the takes a swing at the ball. 600 or so pairs of eyes follow the ball as it flies towards the goal. It's dipping all the time. Manninger dives, his hand outstretched, a grimace of effort on his face...

retired_eneko5613

...and then some poor soul in the 5th row is struck squarely in the face by the ball. The referee blows his whistle, and nervous chatter breaks out amongst the applause in the stadium. Southampton fans must be used to this by now. Unbelievably it's their 3rd penalty shoot out of the competition. I'm forced to leave the relative comfort of the dugout, heading out towards the centre circle to organise the penalty takers. The names are already written down on a rather crumpled piece of paper, no asking for volunteers here, and it's just a case of tipping a nod to the lads involved. Collins, Martin, Hill, Acuña and Morgan, in that order, are notified, and the referee starts the procedure of organising the shoot out.

Now I really can't watch. Southampton have won the toss, and Wayne Bridge steps up and scores their first penalty. No problem for Collins with ours, or Delgado with their second. Martin, Michael Clegg and Hill also have no problems. It's 3-3, as tight as a very tight thing, and the keepers aren't even getting near the kicks. Up steps James Beattie. 4-3, and a mistake now could cost us everything. The experienced Acuña doesn't look like he's fazed by the pressure, and calmly puts the fourth away. Can Paul Murray, who opened the scoring for Southampton, now finish it? He scores, and now the pressure is on Chris Morgan. The captain needs to show a steady head, and prove that he can score with his feet. Up he steps, and as sweet as anything, puts the ball in the corner.

Sudden Death.

There's further consultation in the centre circle, as the management teams select their next takers. Friars will take ours, but first it's Paul Ifill for the Saints. Ifill hits it right, and for the first time in the shootout, Batty guesses right. He gets his hand to the ball, and Ifill is powerless to do anything but watch as the ball bounces of the post and back towards him! No rebounds in this shootout, Paul!

So it's down to substitute Sean Friars, who hardly had a touch of the ball in his 15 minutes of game time. If he scores this, I can claim one of the best tactical decisions of the season. I turn my back on the goal, looking at the faces on my exhausted players. The sudden change of expression immediately tells me what's happened. Combined with a single unison groan, it's obvious that Friars has done his stuff, and Stalybridge are through to the Quarter Finals!

League Cup 4th Round. 10th November 2004.
Southampton 2 Stalybridge 2 Murray 2 Beattie 15 / Mackie 18 Morgan 34 (Stalybridge win 6-5 on penalties)

Astounding! The celebrations go on long into the night, before anybody even thinks about boarding the coach for the long trip back to Cheshire, and then they carry on some more when we get back. The Reserves get absolutely thumped by Port Vale, but no-one really cares as they're all hung over. Amongst the stack of paperwork marked for my attention back at the office is notification of the Quarter Final draw. We'll play either Liverpool or Stoke, away. There's also a fax from Leicester, withdrawing their interest in Danny Cullip, and a highlighted newspaper article in which Paul Gascoigne tips Cardiff for promotion from Division 2. I'm left wondering what a fat, past it Geordie knows about the second division!