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Brian awoke in a cold sweat; he had what could only be described as a nightmare. The dream or nightmare, had Brian believing it was 1965 and he was back in charge of Hartlepool United but the place looked far better in the dream than he remembered. Shrugging it off, he put on his dressing gown and slippers and made his way downstairs. His wife had a cup of coffee ready for him, sat next to the mornings papers. He was an ardent reader of the daily telegraph, he picked up the paper and turned to the sports pages when suddenly his jaw dropped Clough back where it all began was the headline. Rubbing his eyes he read the article from top to bottom three times, not believing what was written he asked his dear wife what on was going on… ”Has the paper gone mad dear?” Not that I know of, what’s the matter?” ”I, I, I am supposedly the new manager of Hartlepool again, I never agreed to this, did I?” he asked with a bemused look. ”Yes of course you did, we have been discussing this for weeks. Your friends as FMS helped organise everything. You wanted to get back into football and know you have the chance”
Brian suddenly realised his nightmare was in fact reality, was he starting to lose his mind, or memory for that matter?
01-13-2005, 12:48 AM
Flashback - Reliving the dream ~ Brian Clough Post #2
Once reality had set in, the move up north went smoothly and Brian was soon settled into his new home.
The new season was almost upon us and pre-season was the first thing on Brian’s mind. He very rarely attended the training sessions in the years gone by, most of the time he left it to his coaches. This year was to be different, mainly due to the fact that he had little confidence in the staff he’d inherited.
Backroom staff looked a little like this:
Martin Scott - Assistant36 years old and relatively unknown. Seemed to enjoy working with outfield players but really lacks the discipline to go much further.
Paul Stephenson - Coach Again, Paul is 36, with mediocre ability. Brian needed to bring someone in to support him.
Mark Owen and John Murray made up the physio positions and Brian had no worries with the magic sponge boys.
Anthony Richardson and Tommy Miller were the two journeyman assigned to travel the length and breadth of the country to spot new talent. After a chat with these chaps, he soon realised they couldn’t spot a Zebra in Tesco’s.
The playing staff did not seem to look much better, with only a handful of players worthy of keeping but as Brian now knew there was no money to spend, most would be kept on the books.
He had a sit down with Martin and went through all players in the 1st team squad. Brian had a reputation for taking no carp, any flash players in this squad would soon be finding themselves heading down the A1.
Playing Squad
Keepers
Provett 21, a lot to learn. Martin rates this youngster highly but with poor aerial ability and strength, he needed to grow and visit the weights.
Dimitrios 25, rubbish
Winter 19, good prospect, would be sold to bring cash in.
Defence
Westwood 27, funny hair. Very good physically and in the air. Would be the mainstay of the defence for the forth coming season
Barron 29, experienced, professional right back but will play 2nd fiddle to Ross
Ross 28, excellent player, thought very highly of throughout the club. Takes no prisoners.
Craddock 19, always injured, would rot in the reserves.
Pre season was now rapidly approaching, training was going well but Brian still knew he needed to bring some players into stand any chance of challenging for promotion. The one headache he had was Boyd, the lad looked sharp and knew where the goal was, unsure of what to do, Brian went back to his office and sat down to ponder.
He made a few calls to tempt interest in the youngster and Stockport County were very interested. A few minutes had passed when there was a knock at the door:
”Come in” Brian bellowed
It was Boyd.
”Hi boss, can I have a chat please?” he asked nervously. ”I wish for a transfer, I’ve been with the club since junior days and feel I need to leave to further my career and development”
Brian now had the chance to bring some money in, with Stockport willing to part with £200k of the queens finest.
”That’s fine Adam, in fact Stockport have already made an enquiry if you are interested?”
Boyd was very interested, later that day he left the club. Brian wished him well in the future.
With money now in, a few older professionals could be drafted in.
A whole 2 days embedded in his office had seen some vast improvements. Deals were struck for 2 players:
Eoin Jess Coming to the end of his career which never really took off. A fantastic talent, even at the ripe age of 33. Forest happily released him on a free for the man known as god at the City Ground.
Dale Watkins Again, coming to the end of his career. Clough found him lurking in the depths of Kings Lynn, a quick phone call to Peter Morris and Dale was let go on a free also.
Brian couldn’t believe his luck; he had not spent a penny of Boyd’s kitty and had two new players to bring life to the attacking side of the team.
He still had an eye on a few players but patience was going to be needed.
01-13-2005, 02:23 AM
Flashback - Reliving the dream ~ Brian Clough Post #4
Pre-season came and went in a flash for Brian, bringing in a few headaches along the way. Looking to bolster his backline saw failed attempts to bring any quality defensive players to Victoria Park. Knock backs were received by Defendi, Doriva , Bramble, Mullins and Chambers to name but a few.
4 Friendly matches had been arranged, all to be played away from home. The reasons behind this were simple, last season saw pool lose only a couple at home but with only 4 wins away, something needed to be done.
Visits to lower league opposition of Aldershot, Harrogate, Grays and Burton saw 4 wins in 4. 7 goals scored and 3 conceded meant happy hunting for Pool.
The 1st game of the season was rapidly approaching, still short of anymore new signings and none in sight, Brian decided to give the lads a chance to prove themselves before he dipped into the transfer kitty.
Brentford away was to be the 1st game, a daunting trip down to Essex. The game was a non starter, comprehensively beaten and a poor team performance saw Pool go down 1-3.
Williams scored a late consolation
3 days later and Pool were entertaining Colin Hendry’s Blackpool. They had triumphed 3-0 against Bournemouth on the opening day.
Brian picked an attacking side, knowing home form was not a problem.
2 goals from Williams and a couple from Porter and Watkins saw out a 4-2 victory and the 1st points of the season.
3 more league games were left in August and a league cup visit to Reading sandwiched in between.
Bristol City away and a Williams goal on the stroke of half time was enough to take the points in a fairly comfortable game.
The next home game saw the visit of title favourites Hull City. Danny Allsopp secured the points for the visitor’s midway through the 1st half.
Reading were the next visitors to Victoria Park for the league cup clash. A hard faught 2-2 draw took the game to Penalties and Reading took the tie 4-2. Jess and Watkins got their 1st goals for the club.
The last game of the month was a trip to Yorkshire to Face Barnsley at Oakwell. A hard faught 1-1 draw being the final outcome. Williams gave Pool the lead on 31 minutes but Barnsley fought back and equalised on the stroke of half time. A dull 2nd half ensued.
The players now had an 11 day rest period before the visit of Luton. Brian took this time to get to know the players a little better and organised a golfing trip to La Manga, Spain. It was an excellent team building experience, with Tinkler winning the Golf over the 3 days, Brian coming 2nd.
The Saturday soon approached and with Williams having picked up a shin injury in training. Watkins was given his 1st start. He wasted no time getting on the scoresheet, 19 seconds into the game and a 15 yard volley from Clarke’s cutback got Pool off to a flying start. Porter added a 2nd 5 minutes later and we were looking in control. 28 minutes gone, Luton pulled 1 back. Porter scored 26 seconds later and a 2 goal cushion was restored. That only lasted 10 minutes before the visitors struck again, deep in injury time and the visiting striker Howard completed his hat-trick and a brilliant come back. Half Time came and Brian laid siege at the players for letting the lead slip twice. The talk seemed to have done wonders though, Porter netting his hat-trick and Tinkler sealed the points on 60 minutes.
Another 2 home ties were to come, making it 3 in a row for Pool and the confidence was starting to flow. A couple of good results would see them right up there in the promotion spot.
Bournemouth were the visitors and a poor performance saw the visitors walk away with a 2-0 win.
Swindon were the next visitors and keen to avenge their defeat the week previous, Pool came out all guns blazing. A 34 minute Watkins hat-trick saw off the opposition in a 3-1 win. Watkins was certainly staking his claim for a starting position with Williams on his way back to full fitness.
Another trip to Yorkshire ensued 3 days later, this time visiting the McCain Stadium and conference side Scarborough in the LDV Vans cup. Brian took the opportunity to play some of the youngsters but it was Porter with 2 and a Thompson own goal that saw Pool through to the next round, running out 1-3 winners.
This saw the end of September and the busy period for Hartlepool. Sitting 9th in the league, Clough couldn’t complain too much.
01-13-2005, 02:25 AM
Flashback - Reliving the dream ~ Brian Clough Post #5
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Peacemaker7:
Good start, but Eion Jessie is mince. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
lol, he's doing the job so far
01-13-2005, 02:34 AM
Flashback - Reliving the dream ~ Brian Clough Post #8
Flashback - Reliving the dream ~ Brian Clough 
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