Bagpuss

Thanks to my loyal readers whoever you are :thup:

Actually a lot further on but i dont want to overload you with posts.

Doing rather well so far in fact as i am into the next season already i am doing slightly better than ever before when managing Carlisle

HD

ican'tbelieveityouaresogoodiwishicouldbeasgoodasyo umyherowowowowowow.

Bagpuss

January 2004

Stoke away in the FA Cup 3rd Round was next and we eased to a win despite a few scary moments. We won 3-2 thanks to goals from Middleton, Tipton and Chala as we kept our winning streak going.

Hull away was next and we secured a comfortably 2-2 draw with them. It was a tight even match and goals from Middleton and Gavilan helped us maintain our challenge for promotion this season.

Stoke at home was next and in a reversal of the FA Cup match Stoke managed to sneak a 2-1 win. Gazza scored our goal and we were unlucky to lose a very close game.

Bristol City away was next and we were fortunate to come away with a 1-1 draw after some very dubious defending. Stephen Crainey scored our goal which was his first ever goal for us since his move from Celtic.

Chelsea away in the FA Cup 4th Round was next and we would be happy with a draw. After a very thrilling game that Chelsea were by far the better team i was amazed to see us win 2-0 thanks to a brace of goals from Dean Stevens.

Leicester at home was the last match this month and we maintained our giant killing feats by beating them 3-1. A dominant spell saw Summerbell, Leonhardsen and Stevens score rapidly to set us up for the win that also kept us 5th in the table 11 points of leaders Birmingham City.

Bagpuss

February 2004

West Ham away was first up this month as we faced yet another big time club. A Di Canio inspired West Ham dominated the match and won it 2-1. Summerbell scored our goal as we prepared for the next big match.

That big match is away to Arsenal in the FA Cup 5th round and again i was not expecting much from the match. This time we were unable to pull of another big win and went out of the cup after a 2-0 defeat but we did not disgrace ourselves in the match.

Burnley away was next and we lost it 2-0. It was a disappointing match and we deserved to lose it. No one person was to blame though so i was forced to make every one report for extra training asopposed to a few players.

Reading away was next and several players performed better than the last match but not all of them. We won it 3-1 despite being the crapper team throughout. O'Shea, Gavilan and Leonhardsen scored the goals.

Sheffield Wednesday at home was the last game this month and was our catch up game. We completely dominated it winning 4-1 with sheer ease. O'Shea, Tipton, Chala and Summerbell scoring the goals for us. We finished the month 5th, 13 points behind Leaders Birmingham City.

Bagpuss

March 2004

Gillingham were first up this month and we took them apart to earn a 2-1 away win. This win improved our play off chances considerably and was down to two exceptional goals from Tipton and Middleton.

Southampton at home was next and a simple 1-0 win maintained are run of form and also saw us set a new attendance record of 16735. Oyvind Leonhardsen scored the only goal, his 6th of the season.

QPR at home was next and a disappointing 1-1 draw was the result. We should of won this game easily but only had Dean Stevens goal to show for it.

Bradford away was next and we failed to win yet naother game that we should of. This time we lost 1-0 and because of this we lost out on a chnace to have gone 2nd in the league. This was also the last match of the month for us due to 8 players heading off on international duty. We finished the month 6th spot 15 points behind runaway leaders Birmingham City but only 5 points back from 2nd spot and with a game in hand.

Bagpuss

April 2004

Man City away was first up this month and we fought a hard tough match to earn a goal less draw. It was one of those matches that had 0-0 written over it from the start but a point is a point at this stage of the season.

Ipswich at home in a very crucial catch up game was next as both of us were trying for 2nd spot. An excellent 3-1 win pushed us up to 3rd spot on goal difference making it exceptionally tight at the top of the table. The goals came from Tipton, Stevens and Gavilan.

Rotherham at home was next and we won it 3-0 after a very good performance. Summerbell, Tipton and Leonhardsen scored the goals as we maintained a very good chance of automatic promotion.

Wigan away was next and a entertaining match saw Tipton score a late equalsier to earn us a 1-1 draw as we slowly close in on my aim of a play off berth this season and also have a good shot of promotion still.

Birmingham at home were next and the game was one of those must win ones for us. A very even match saw neither of us win as a 1-1 draw was the result thanks to a Leonhardsen opener for us and a late equaliser from Birmingham. Somehow we also remained 3rd.

Watford away was the first of 3 very crucial matches and we won this one 2-1. Two goals from Tipton pretty much confirmed our play off spot and also moved us within 2 points of 2nd placed Leicester.

Wimbledon at home was the penultimate game of the season and a good result would be perfect at this point. A good result it was as we thrashed them 4-1 hitting 2nd spot on goal difference, making it a 3 way race on the last day for the second automatic promotion spot with all 3 of us on equal points. Leonhardsen, Stevens, Tipton and Gavilan scored the goals today.

Bagpuss

Last Day of the Season Extravaganza

6th placed Portsmouth away were our opponents today, whilst 3rd placed West Ham were away to 13th placed Stoke whilst 4th placed Leicester were away to Hul in the most important day of our season. We had the early advantage with the best goal difference of +26, with West Ham on +20 and Leicester lagging behind on +15.

All 3 of us started off with caution and it was West Ham who took the early advantage with Graham scoring on 13 minutes putting them 2nd. Next up on this crunch day was Kanoute scoring for Hull in the 41st minute pretty much putting Leicester out of the running.

Hull again were the next scorers this time on the 51st minute as Delaney scored wrecking Leicesters chances. Leicester responded quickly with a Scowcroft 53rd minute strike only putting them a goal behind. At the same time Stoke's Stone scored making us 2nd once more.

On the 67th minute of our game Tipton scored putting us top and with our superior goal difference in a very good spot. Ameobi scored for Leicester on 69 minutes getting them back on level terms with Hull but still in 3rd spot.

Joe Cole scored for West Ham on 72 minutes putting them back level on points with us but behind on goal difference, and on 90 miutes Hull's Lomas scored making it a loss for Leicester.

Full time saw us finish 2nd thanks to our better goal difference with West Ham 3rd and Leicester 4th. Just to rub it in both Leicester and West Ham lost their Play Off Semi Finals too.

The 2nd place finish meant we had 3 back to back promotions even if we did not win the title this time. With the young team i have plus the few older 'stars' i am confident of stayingup in the Premiership next season which is something i have never managed before with Carlisle. I have got their before but i normally get relegated straightaway and end up swapping from Div 1 and ther Premiership.

Bagpuss

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Tuesday 1st June 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Birmingham 46 14 7 2 35 12 13 7 3 40 18 95 2nd P Carlisle 46 13 6 4 48 30 10 6 7 36 27 81 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd West Ham 46 14 6 3 44 24 9 6 8 30 29 81 4th Leicester 46 18 2 3 52 28 5 7 11 44 54 78 5th Ipswich 46 15 5 3 49 23 5 7 11 26 35 72 6th P Bradford 46 15 4 4 33 17 6 5 12 28 40 72 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Gillingham 46 13 4 6 31 25 8 5 10 34 40 72 8th Wigan 46 15 4 4 40 21 6 4 13 29 41 71 9th Portsmouth 46 15 5 3 43 17 5 5 13 24 37 70 10th Man City 46 14 6 3 45 25 5 7 11 23 37 70 11th Burnley 46 10 8 5 43 34 7 8 8 25 31 67 12th Bristol C 46 9 8 6 28 26 8 6 9 23 21 65 13th Stoke 46 13 4 6 48 33 5 6 12 28 44 64 14th Watford 46 11 7 5 45 31 6 4 13 48 58 62 15th Rotherham 46 11 5 7 44 35 5 8 10 34 41 61 16th Nottm Forest 46 7 9 7 24 21 8 5 10 34 36 59 17th Derby 46 9 6 8 39 34 7 5 11 33 38 59 18th Reading 46 11 5 7 36 33 6 0 17 12 37 56 19th Brighton 46 10 8 5 44 36 3 5 15 29 56 52 20th Hull 46 11 5 7 30 23 2 7 14 17 38 51 21st Sheff Wed 46 10 2 11 39 36 3 6 14 23 47 47 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd R Southampton 46 9 5 9 33 36 2 6 15 22 40 44 23rd R Q.P.R. 46 7 6 10 24 35 2 6 15 14 36 39 24th R Wimbledon 46 5 8 10 42 50 2 4 17 29 58 33 </pre>

Bagpuss

Summer Transfers and Season Expectations

Diego Gavilan was signed from Newcastle for £2.9 million
Eric Djemba-Djemba was signed from Nantes for £950k
James Jowsey was signed on a free transfer from Man Utd


This season the board fuly expect us to be relegated which is no surprise really. My aim is to avoid relegation and finish around 10-15th in the league. With a stadium expansion up to 26,500 seats swallowing up most of the £12 million TV money i was a bit limited in what transfers i could make. I have a few more prospects being watched but i don't really have the funds to buy anyone at the moment.

With those signings I’ll be looking to carry on building for the future as some of the players will be retiring soon, Gazza being the obvious one but Leonhardsen won't be far behind him. I think I’ll be sensible and aim for 17th spot or better , around 40 points should be enough.

Bagpuss

August 2004

Middlesborough away was to be our first Premiership match and we lost in unsurprisingly after being outplayed throughout the match. Still the players will need a bit of time to settle to the pace of the game in the Premiership.

Arsenal at home was to be our first Premiership match at the expanded Brunton Park. In a very tight match that was pretty even we managed to win 1-0 thanks to a 16th minute penalty scored by Summerbell, naturally the attendance of 19,322 was a new record but one i expect to improve on by the end of the season.

Wolves away was the last match this month and we lost it 3-1 after Alejandro got sent off in the first half for tripping Kenny Miller in the box. Tipton scored our goal as Wolves took advantage of their numerical superiorty. We finished the month 14th spot after a decent start to the season.