retired_amyslack

Thanks Spav, I'm still struggling for succes as you will see.

Part Three – AC Milan

Despite winning the Champions League with Real my last attempt still wasn’t very satisfying. It wasn’t the kind of dominating, no one can beat us type of season that I am searching for. At Arsenal we suffered when key players were injured, at Madrid there was no depth in the squad to replace the under-performing stars. Time for a rule change I think. After all, what’s the point of taking charge at a rich club and not using some of that lovely cash – so, unlimited transfers are now allowed, both in and out.

Where better to try my hand next than Italy – spoilt for choice on who to pick I finally settle on Milan. They play at the 85,000 capacity San Siro, sharing the stadium with neighbours Inter. I have been given a £6.8M transfer budget to play with I start by casting an eye over the playing staff. The first thing I notice is the size of the squad – there are an incredible 129 players on the books. On closer inspection though, over 40 of them are on loan at various clubs and there are almost 80 players in the U20 squad!!! I have a more manageable 26 in the first team squad, amongst whom are stars such as Shevchenko, Rui Costa, Inzaghi, Rivaldo, Seedorf, Nesta and Maldini.

I take over on Sunday 3rd August and our first scheduled game is the same day against Juventus in the Italian Super Cup Final which for some bizarre reason is being played in the Rutherford Stadium in New Jersey! The game ends 1-1 after extra time and we win the penalty shootout to start my quest for glory with a trophy on day one!

Our next action isn’t until the end of August when we play Porto in the European Super Cup. Before then the bookies issue their odds for the Serie A title – Juventus are 6-4 favourites, Inter are priced at 7-4 and we are 3-1. In the game against Porto we take an early two-goal lead through Jon Dahl Tomasson and Alessandro Nesta. Then the Portuguese have Ricardo Carvalho sent off with 25 minutes remaining and we should be cruising. Instead we concede twice in the last 20 minutes and then lose the penalty shootout, blowing a great chance of winning two trophies in our first two games.

There is little time to reflect on a poor result before we start our Serie A campaign at Ancona and a rather dismal game ends scoreless. We go into out next game at home to Bologna without Shevchenko who was injured playing for his country in a Euro2004 qualifier. During the game we also lose Inzaghi and Tomasson and end with another scoreless draw. It is Champions League action next with a visit to PSV and despite losing keeper Abbiati to injury in the second half we get a good 2-0 win. Our pitiful league form continues with a 1-0 defeat at high-flying Perugia but I see a drastic improvement in the 5-0 defeat of Lecce. We end the month with a 2-0 defeat of Hungarian outfit MTK in the Champions League to head our group.

Before our next game I dip into my transfer budget for the first time, agreeing a £575K deal with Brescia to bring Argentinean forward Raul Gonzalez to Milan. He will join when the transfer window opens in January of next year. Our first league game is a crucial local derby against Inter. When you share the same ground they don’t get much more local than that, although we are nominally playing away from home. Our poor league form continues and we scrape a 1-1 draw, mainly thanks to the fine play of keeper Abbiati who saved a first-half penalty to keep us in the game. Shevchenko is fit for the visit of Lazio and scores both goals in our 2-1 win before leaving the pitch with a slight knock. The Ukrainian is on target again as we return from Newcastle with a 1-1 draw in the Champions League before we end the month by losing 1-0 at Sampdoria. Our league form continues to infuriate me as we simply cannot get into our stride and get a run of wins going and we sit in 7th place in the table.

In the league we start November with a 0-0 at home to Juventus, get a crucial 2-0 win at high-flying Parma and then have a frustrating 2-2 draw at Chievo as, having been in front twice we concede equalisers each time. Our final league game sees us gain a 3-1 win at home to Modena but we loose Seedorf for a month. In the Champions League we have our first loss in the group as Newcastle win 2-1. We then concede a last-minute equaliser at home to PSV and draw 1-1. With one game remaining the group is very tight with ourselves, Newcastle and PSV all on 8 points.

We make our debut in the Italian Cup beating Serie B side Cagliari home and away for a 4-0 aggregate win. In between those games we pick up our second trophy of the season, beating Boca 2-0 in the Intercontinental Cup. Milan legend Paolo Maldini leaves the club in a £325K move to Deportivo. The 35-year-old made over 500 appearances in nearly 20 years and has 126 international caps. Back in the Champions League a 0-0 draw at MTK is enough for us to qualify as runners-up behind Newcastle. Before the short Christmas break we are in league action once more, beating Siena and Udinese, both by 2 -0 scorelines. Despite our less than impressive form we end the year 5th on 23 points, 6 behind leaders Roma.

Our opening game of the year is at Roma, who coincidentally will be our next opponents in the Italian Cup. Captain Alessandro Nesta at last puts in the kind of performance that I expect from a player of his reputation. A rock in the centre of defence, he also provides a late equaliser to tie the game. We took the lead through Rui Costa but the home side struck back twice before we squared the game. The 2-2 draw is not ideal but at least we didn’t lose any further ground on the leaders. My squad strengthening continues with the arrival of defensive midfielder Giuseppe Gemiti from Udinese on loan for the rest of the season. Another new face is attacking fullback Salvatore Russo (I remember him from my Fano game) who moves from Ancona for £500K. In the league we have solid wins over Reggina and Brescia, 2-0 and 3-0 respectively and then a second-half blitz at Empoli sees us score five times in the last 20 minutes to win 6-1. I then complete one further loan deal with out of favour Newcastle forward Lomana LuaLua joining for the rest of the season although he is currently away on international duty at The African Cup of Nations. Speaking of Cups, we go out of the Italian Cup with a 4-3 aggregate defeat by Roma, losing in Rome and winning at home. Our final league game of the month is a 0-0 stalemate with Ancona during which we lose left-winger Serginho for two months with a dislocated shoulder.

The Serie A table is now extremely tight at the top – Juventus are first on 37 points, Roma follow on 36, then we have 34, Sampdoria and Inter are on 33, Parma have 32 with Lazio and Perugia on 31. One of the problems with having some decent talent in the squad is deciding who your starters are but I have now settled on a fairly consistent first eleven. Christian Abbiati is my number one keeper and Dida is a more than capable deputy. At right back Cafu gets the nod with Georgian Kakhaber Kaladze on the left and Russo and the on-loan Giuseppe Pancaro providing excellent cover. In the centre captain Nesta is an ever-present and I have now settled on Dario Simic as his partner although both Martin Laursen and Brazilian Clayton have seen action. In central midfield Rui Costa and Seedorf are preferred with Pirlo and Ambrosini on the bench. Gennaro Gattuso patrols the right with new boy Gonzalez as backup. The left side was owned by Serginho before his injury but now I am going with loanee Gemiti with Cristian Brocchi deputising. Up front I favour Rivaldo and Shevchenko and have Inzaghi, Tomasson, Kaka, LuaLua (when he gets back from Africa) and youngster Marco Borriello in reserve. At this point in the season Serginho is my highest-rated player and Shevchenko is my top scorer.

After a hectic January our schedule in February is a little less frantic. In Serie A we have three straight wins, 1-0 at Bologna, 2-1 at home to Perugia and 3-0 at Lecce, before drawing the Milan derby 1-1 against Inter. But then we out in a truly dreadful display ay Lazio, losing 2-0 and having Gattuso sent off. In the Champions League we come through a demanding tie with FC Bayern, squeezing out a 1-0 aggregate win thanks mainly to the brilliance of keeper Abbiati, voted Man of the Match in both legs.

We begin March with a storming 4-1 defeat of Sampdoria but that would be about as good as it got all month. We had a lucky 1-1 draw at Juventus where we were outplayed but a Rivaldo penalty gives us a point. Then we fired blanks in a goalless draw at home to Parma before beating Chievo 1-0. Winger Serginho made an early return from injury and not having expected such a quick recovery I have not included him in my Champions League squad – a big mistake compounded by somehow also failing to register his backup Gemiti! We then had a disastrous 2-1 defeat at Modena where we dominated the game but the home keeper was unbeatable. That leaves us 3rd in the league, 7 points behind Juventus. In the Champions League, no fewer than four Italian clubs made the last eight – Milan being joined by Inter, Lazio and Juventus. It was no great surprise when we were paired with one of them and I guess that Lazio are possibly the weakest of the other three. But our hopes took a blow when we lost the home leg 1-0 and then disappeared completely when we lost 2-0 in Rome. It was little consolation that neighbours Inter were thumped 4-1 by Man United!

So our form has collapsed, we can’t seem to buy a goal (superstar Shevchenko has scored once in his last nine games), we are out of the Champions League and 7 points off the pace in Serie A – not much glory there!

So, we have six Serie A games remaining and our only hope of the title is to win tham all and hope that Juventus and Roma stumble (although we still have to play Roma at home). We start with a 3-0 defeat of Empoli with Shevchenko scoring twice. Then once again our inconsistency comes back to bite us as we struggle to a 0-0 draw at bottom club Siena and it’s as good as over. Serginho puts in a brilliant performance at Udinese and scores both goals in our 2-0 win. Juventus have now been overtaken by Roma after the team from Torino lost at Parma but we are still 6 points off the pace with three games left to play. Next we face leaders Roma at the San Siro and in spite of a stuttering performance and the dismissal of Cafu we sneak a 1-0 win thanks to a bizzare own goal from the Roma keeper. With Juventus also losing it is suddenly all very tight. Roma are on top with 66 points followed by Juventus on 65, Inter with 63 and then us on 62.

And then the bombshell hits – I am sacked!!!

At the time of my dismissal my record reads

Played 49, Won 24, Drawn 17, Lost 8, Scored 72, Conceded 32.

Milan’s final two games saw them draw 3-3 at Reggina and then lose 2-1 at Brescia to finish 4th. Roma won the title by a point over Juventus, Lazio lifted the Italian Cup, Real Madrid won an all-Spanish UEFA Cup Final, beating Barcelona 2-1 and Arsenal took the Champions League title with a 1-0 defeat of Man United.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Roma | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 60 | 30 | +30 | 72 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Juventus | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 51 | 23 | +28 | 71 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Inter | 34 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 67 | 28 | +39 | 67 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Milan | 34 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Parma | 34 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Lazio | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 54 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Perugia | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 54 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Sampdoria | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 51 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Brescia | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 32 | +4 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Chievo | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 44 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bologna | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Lecce | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 32 | 60 | -28 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Modena | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 35 | 62 | -27 | 33 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Ancona | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 31 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | R | Empoli | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 38 | 65 | -27 | 31 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | R | Reggina | 34 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 26 | 60 | -34 | 27 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Siena | 34 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 33 | 62 | -29 | 26 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Udinese | 34 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 29 | 58 | -29 | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

retired_jgirl87

How rude of Mr Berlusconi to not even let you finish the season.

Bad luck, yet again. I'm eagerly awaiting your next challenge. Perhaps Bayern Munich in Germany or Olympic Lyon in France?

KUTGW :thup:

retired_amyslack

Thanks Spav - will Norway do you?

Part Four – Rosenborg

Italians are so impatient aren’t they – imagine sacking me before the end of my first season in charge! I’ve never been sacked before. Sure, I’ve been made “redundant”; I’ve left “by mutual agreement”; I’ve even left “to pursue other career opportunities”; but I’ve never been sacked. So what to do now? Well obviously I have to repair my injured pride and having had three goes now without winning the league I need to make that a priority. So where better to go in search of Glory than Rosenborg in Norway. The country’s richest and most successful team – domestic champions for the last 11 seasons, I’d have to do something really stupid not to win the title there. So let’s wind the clock back to Wednesday 4th February 2004. The Norwegian Premier Division kicks off in around two month’s time and here I am at the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim, a 22,500-capacity ground with undersoil heating (useful in the otherwise frozen North I imagine). With over £4.5M in the transfer budget and a first team squad of 23 blond haired, blue eyed Norsemen I get ready to go trophy hunting.

To pass the time before the start of the season I arrange a series of friendly matches and it’s amazing the number of well-known teams that are prepared to come to Norway in winter – maybe it’s the cross-country skiing that attracts them. Anyway we beat CSKA Sofia 2-0, Leeds 2-1, Bordeaux 1-0, Chievo 4-1 and drew 1-1 with Boavista. I also added to the squad with transfers and loan signings, mainly midfielders as I felt we lacked cover in that area. It appears that we have already been eliminated from the Champions League so my objective is to complete the domestic double. The squad isn’t blessed with many household names, at least not in my household. The players that I have heard of include Roar Strand (34), Vidar Riseth (31), Fredrik Winsnes (28) and Harald Brattbackk (33).

Our league campaign begins with a trip to Oslo to play Vålerenga and we get off to a poor start with a 2-0 defeat. But we recovered with wins against Bryne, Viking and Stabæk to end the month in 3rd place, a point behind leaders Brann and tied on points with Odd Grenland. Winsnes was my highest-rated player and young striker Azar Karadas was my top scorer.

May is a pretty poor month overall. We start with a 1-1 draw at Lillestrøm and then beat Aalesund 2-0 before suffering a dreadful 4-0 defeat at Sogndal with Karadas sent off. Our high point of the month is a 9-0 defeat of bottom club Tromsø, without a point at that stage of the season, with new Icelandic striker Andri Sigporsson scoring 4 goals as our opponents collapse. This takes us briefly to the top of the table but then our own form collapses as we lose 5-2 at Odd Grenland and 4-0 at Brann. We then struggle to beat non-league Drobak-Frogn 2-1 in the Cup and then draw 0-0 with Bodø/Glimt to end a busy month in 6th place, 5 points behind leaders Brann.

We start June with a decent 4-0 defeat of Molde in the league but once again we struggle against non-league opposition in the Cup, falling a goal behind to Groruddalen before start man Wisnes inspires us on to a 6-1 win. We then enter the summer break, during which time Euro2004 takes place. Our break is briefly interrupted by the Norwegian Cup and we manage a narrow 1-0 win over First Division Stromsgodset. Following France’s win in Euro2004 a whole host of international managers are sacked as their national associations frantically look for scapegoats.

We are into mid-July now and in the league we beat Lyn 3-1 before another narrow win in the Cup, a 1-0 defeat of First Division Raufoss. As the only Premier Division side left in the competition we should have a decent chance of landing the trophy. This is followed by a disappointing goalless draw at home to Vålerenga but then we win 3-0 at bottom of the table Bryne.

Due to the scheduling of the Norwegian domestic season we begin qualification for the Champions League shortly and have been drawn against Galatasary in the second qualifying round. Two late goals in the first leg in Turkey give us a 2-1 win and an excellent chance of progression. The bad news was an injury to central defender Martin Hoyem leaving us very short of cover in that position. It comes to my notice that former Man United player Ronny Johnsen is available after being released by Aston Villa and a deal is quickly done to bring him on board. I am too late to register him for the Champions League but he makes his debut in our 0-0 draw at Stabæk. A 3-2 defeat of Galatasary sets up a meeting with Inter for a place in the lucrative group phase of the Champions League. Our indifferent league form continues with a 1-0 defeat at home to Lillestrøm leaving us 13 points behind leaders Brann and with little hope of taking the title. The home leg of our tie with Inter ends goalless and the Italians will be favourites to secure a win in Milan. Back in the league we manage a 2-1 win at Aalesund but then lose 1-0 at home to Sogndal.

A pretty dour display in Milan results in a 2-1 defeat and our Champions League campaign is over. The Board are getting a little tetchy with me and I fear that my days in Norway may be numbered. We now find ourselves in the UEFA Cup draw and we are paired with Hajduk of Croatia. We beat relegation-threatened Tromsø 3-0 thanks to a hat trick from Karadas and then record the same scoreline against First Division Start in the Cup, although had we managed to get more of our 27 scoring efforts on target we could easily have doubled our tally. Our next league game is crucial as league leaders Brann come to town. Thankfully a decent performance gives us a 2-0 win but we are still 10 points adrift. Another Karadas hat trick gives us a 4-0 win at home to Viking as we play our game in hand and we are now in second place, 7 points behind Brann. We book our place in the Cup Final with a 1-0 win over Second Division Tromsdalen and but for a brilliant display by the visiting keeper it would have been a rout. We end the month with UEFA Cup action as we gain a narrow 1-0 win over Hajduk in the home leg of our tie.

Our last lingering hopes of the title vanished when we failed to find the net against visiting Odd Grenland, the 0-0 draw leaving us 6 points adrift with three games remaining. The final straw comes when we suffer an appalling 5-2 defeat at Molde – the Board have seen enough and they ask me to kindly clear my desk! So once again I fail miserably in my blatant hunt for trophies. Fredrik Winsnes was one of the few players who performed consistently well although top scorer Azar Karadas did find the net 20 times.

retired_jkat116

Such a simple idea, turned into a very good story.

I'm enjoying this, KUTGW :thup:

retired_brittni10

You'll get there eventually BobBev

Good Luck for wherever you go next

retired_jgirl87

BobBev, it looks like you put the moz* on whatever club you take over. So much for Rosenborg's 11 season run becoming a 12 season winning record.

Just stay away from my beloved Chelsea, okay?

moz* = curse (don't know if this is only used in Australia)

retired_sroch3032

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Spav:
moz* = curse (don't know if this is only used in Australia) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am in Austral ia and I have never heard of it.
So how could these other people have any chance!

Great story Bob :thup:

retired_amyslack

Thanks guys - I do seem to have be the kiss of death for any club that I take over

For the record at the time of my dismissal my record read

Played 35, Won 21, Drawn 6, Lost 8, Scored 62, Conceded 34


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D.| Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Brann | 24 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 12 | +28 | 50 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Sogndal | 24 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 16 | +15 | 43 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Rosenborg | 24 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 23 | +14 | 41 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Lyn | 24 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 15 | +16 | 39 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Odd Grenland | 24 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 23 | +8 | 38 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Stabæk | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 21 | +7 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Aalesund | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 17 | +3 | 37 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Vålerenga | 24 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 14 | +12 | 36 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Molde | 24 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 35 | -4 | 33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th| | Lillestrøm | 24 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 17 | -9 | 26 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th| | Tromsø | 24 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 38 | -20 | 26 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th| | Bodø/Glimt | 24 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 27 | -17 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th| | Viking | 24 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 24 | -23 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th| Pl | Bryne | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 29 | -30 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

retired_amyslack

Part Five - Ajax

Still smarting from my second successive sacking I search around for another club to lead to glory, finally settling on Ajax of Amsterdam and I take over on 19th July 2003. I find no lack of playing resources with a generous 92 players on the books - 34 in the Under-18 squad, 32 in the reserves and 8 out on loan. The club plays at the splendid Amsterdam ArenA which has a capacity of over 50,000. They have £20M in bank with £7.5M in the transfer fund.

The squad features a number of well-known players such as Wesley Sneijder, Jari Litmanen, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sonck. There is not much time for pre-season preparations and we play just one friendly, a 1-1 draw at home to FC Bayern.

Our first competitive action takes place on August 10th as we face PSV in the Dutch Super Cup. We don’t get off to the best of starts, losing fullback John O’Brien to injury early on. The first half ends scoreless but the games bursts into life in the last 20 minutes. We fall behind to a goal from Mark van Bommel but Ibrahimovic scores twice in 5 minutes to put us into the lead. The improbably named Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink ties the scores on 83 but in stoppage time Nourdin Boukhari puts us back in front and Ibrahimovic completes his hat trick. So we have an action-packed 4-2 win and our first trophy of the season.

Just a few days later we have our first Champions League game, taking on Anderlecht in the 3rd Qualifying Round. With a number of players still not match-fit I have to ring the changes. We ship an early goal but then score four of our own to establish a healthy lead. But then we concede a penalty before the break and go into half time with a 4-2 lead. Then disaster – a defensive collapse allows the visitors to score twice in the last 7 minutes. The 4-4 scoreline may be entertaining for the neutral observer but for me it is a nightmare and we are in real danger of missing out on the group stages.

A slightly uncertain performance in our first league game ends with a 2-1 defeat of NEC and then we totally dominate our next game against RKC but only gain a 1-0 win. I then get some unwelcome news as right back Hatem Trabelsi and left back Maxwell both accept contract offers from HSV and Deportivo respectively. They will leave in the New Year so I will need to be on the lookout for replacements. We then play very poorly at AZ, losing 1-0 before travelling to Belgium for the second leg of the Anderlecht tie knowing that we had to win to go through. I watch in despair as we establish a two-goal lead only to concede three goals in the last 15 minutes. Ibrahimovic equalises in stoppage time but it’s not enough – a 3-3 draw means a 7-7 aggregate and we go out on away goals. I make one signing before the end of the transfer window, bringing in right-winger Jonatan Bonotto from Inter for £1.2M. A hectic, and rather disappointing month comes to an end with a 2-0 defeat at Heerenveen during which Boukhari is sent off. We are in a poor 10th place in the table and already the season is following a familiar and concerning pattern.

September starts with a frustrating 1-1 draw at FC Groningen – a stoppage time goal from Wesley Sneijder looked to have given us the win but we immediately conceded an equaliser. In our next game at home to RBC we won 2-0, despite missing two penalties. Having exited the Champions League we have the consolation of the UEFA Cup and a tie against Dinamo Tirane of Albania. The away leg ends scoreless giving us a decent chance of progression. Our last league game of the month at leaders PSV also ends scoreless and we now sit 7th, 4 points off the pace.

At the start of October we get a good 3-0 win over FC Twente and then win the home leg of our UEFA Cup tie 2-0. In our next league match at Willem II we create so many chances that I can’t believe it when the game ends as a 2-2 draw. We then suffer a major embarrassment in the Dutch Cup as we crash out at the first hurdle, losing 2-1 to First Division MVV.

We start more positively in November with a 2-0 win at home to Feyenoord. But then we play really poorly in the first leg of our UEFA Cup tie against Litex in Bulgaria, retuning with a 3-0 defeat and facing almost certain elimination. Things don’t improve much as we draw 0-0 at struggling Volendam in a game that we could easily have lost. Despite a rash of injuries during the game, thankfully none of them serious, we manage a 2-0 win at home to FC Utrecht. We follow this up with a 4-0 win at NAC Breda before trying to turn around our 3-0 deficit in the UEFA Cup. We need early goals against Litex and that’s just what we get – two inside 20 minutes to reach the break just a goal behind. Perhaps for the first time this season we play the kind of free-flowing attacking football that you associate with Ajax and score twice more after the break for a stunning 4-0 win. We controlled the entire game and the visitors managed just a single shot on target. Our final game of the month was a biggy – a visit from surprise leaders Vitesse. The 1-1 draw could have been worse as we trailed for the majority of the game before finding a late equaliser. Just three points now separate the top five and we sit in 3rd position.

December begins in impressive style with a 7-0 demolition of Roda JC. Central defender Julien Escude scores a hat trick and Rafael van der Vaart gets two. Despite missing an early penalty we manage a 1-0 win at Zwolle in our next game. We then have three weeks off for an early Christmas break. During our time off the draw for the next round of the UEFA Cup takes place and I am shocked to hear that we will face domestic rivals Feyenoord. We get back into action on December 27th and we sneak a 4-3 win at ADO Den Haag. In the league, PSV, ourselves and Vitesse are all on 35 points and are separated by goal difference. Striker Wesley Sonck has been my highest rated player up till now and he is also my highest scorer with 10 goals.

We have just one game in January, winning 1-0 at RKC before a further winter break. During the month both Maxwell and Trabelsi leave on their pre-arranged transfers, leaving me short of cover in the fullback positions. I rectify that in part by agreeing a £750K fee to bring left back Predrag Filipovic from Roda JC.

We showed no ill effects from our enforced layoff, winning our first game in February 3-0 at home to AZ. Our trip to NEC was less successful and we return with a 0-0 draw to allow PSV to get some daylight at the top of the table. Before our next game we get bad news concerning van der Vaart, the young midfielder dislocating a shoulder in training. He will be out for several weeks so Jari Litmanen comes in as a replacement for the 1-0 win at home to Heerenveen. The visit of FC Groningen is hugely frustrating as we spurn chance after chance. We somehow manage to score just once during the game and then concede a late equaliser that gets credited as an own goal. PSV now have a 4-point lead and that could be a vital margin as far as the title is concerned. The home leg of our UEFA Cup tie against Feyenoord takes place just 3 days before we host PSV in a crucial league match so the timing could not have been worse. Despite dominating the game we can only manage a 1-0 win against Feyenoord. In our make or break game against PSV we just come out on top, winning a very even contest 1-0 to close within a point of the leaders.

Our fine run of form comes to an end in early March as we are eliminated from the UEFA Cup, losing 2-0 at Feyenoord after extra time. We may have been suffering from a European hangover when we visit bottom of the table FC Twente and a poor performance results in a 1-1 draw, undoing our good work against PSV last month. We now have ten league games remaining and are three points behind PSV. Assuming that we can go on a winning run then we still need then to drop some points here and there. We do what we need to at [b]RBC and win 2-0 and then win 1-0 at home Willem II.

Van der Vaart is back in the side for our trip to Feyenoord at the start of April and despite not playing at our best we sneak a 1-0 win. A very confident performance at home to Volendam gives us a superb 7-0 win and does our goal difference a power of good. We now have an unbeaten run of 24 league games but PSV show no sign of cracking. We then grind out a 1-0 win at FC Utrecht without playing anywhere near our best. Meanwhile, both PSV and Feyenoord have been going strong in Europe, reaching the Semis of the Champions League and UEFA Cup respectively. We end the month with a narrow 1-0 win at home to NAC Breda but had we managed to hit the target with our frequent scoring attempts it could have been a much more comfortable win. We now have 4 league games left to play and are still 3 points behind PSV and keeping our fingers crossed.

We face a demanding trip to 3rd place Vitesse at the start of May and despite playing against ten men for the second half the game ends scoreless. But the good news is that PSV suffer a shock 1-0 defeat at Volendam so our hopes are still alive. We then beat ADO Den Haag 3-0 and get more good news as PSV lose 2-1 at home to Feyenoord as their long season seems to be catching up with them. They have reached the Champions League Final and have had a hectic schedule of matches. In our penultimate game we win 2-0 at Roda JC leaving us a point above PSV and with our fate in our own hands. For our last game at home to Zwolle we were without top scorer [b]Sonck who was injured in training but it made no difference as we racked up a terrific 5-0 win. A 30-game unbeaten run in the league gave us the title by the narrowest of margins as we finished a point above PSV. Sonck ended the season as our highest-rated player and top goalscorer with 18 goals.

First Division Eindhoven were surprise winners of the Dutch Cup, beating Zwolle 2-1, Roma won the UEFA Cup, beating Parma 1-0 and PSV gained consolation for losing out on a very tight title race by lifting the Champions League, beating Milan on penalties. My overall record end up as

Played 44, Won 27, Drawn 12, Lost 5, Scored 82, Conceded 29.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Ajax | 34 | 23 | 9 | 2 | 63 | 13 | +50 | 78 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | PSV | 34 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 66 | 15 | +51 | 77 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | NEC | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 61 | 46 | +15 | 58 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Vitesse | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | FC Groningen | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 55 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | RBC | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 57 | 43 | +14 | 53 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Heerenveen | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 42 | -2 | 53 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Willem II | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 48 | 45 | +3 | 49 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Feyenoord | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Volendam | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 40 | 49 | -9 | 46 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | AZ | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 58 | 56 | +2 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Zwolle | 34 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 43 | 49 | -6 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | FC Utrecht | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 31 | 35 | -4 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Roda JC | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 47 | -20 | 32 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | NAC Breda | 34 | 9 | 4 | 21 | 23 | 42 | -19 | 31 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | R | ADO Den Haag | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 39 | 70 | -31 | 30 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | FC Twente | 34 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 64 | -42 | 28 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | RKC | 34 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 25 | 60 | -35 | 23 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

retired_bbcarr

Raptor will NOT be happy good job, bob