retired_karamelkel

Monday December 17-24

Monday had a bit more news than usual. There was an article on Charlton’s slump and whether they could fight their way back. Chester was featured as well as a “steamroller” through the Conference. There went the winning streak I thought sourly. In the last bit of news for the day, Burnley hired Lawrie Sanchez as their new manager. On Tuesday, Swansea hired Howard Kendall as their skipper. On Wednesday Exeter hired Kevin Hodges to be their manager. On Thursday the reserves went to Telford and lost 3-1 in a sloppy game. That evening Wigan hired Roy Evans to guide them out of the wilderness. Moses he wasn’t, but that’s what Wigan fans were hoping he was.

Saturday afternoon at the Deva was winter weather all right. Rainy, windy and cool. I stuck with the lineup that had dealt RMI the pasting. A crowd of 1081 saw us win 2-1 in gritty fashion. Behind most of the first half, we showed fortitude in nailing a second half goal that clinched the win.

For once the board had nothing to say; that knew as well as I did that our win was lucky. On Sunday Stoke appointed Ray Graydon as their skipper. A couple of my scouts finished their searches and were reassigned. That concluded the weekend.

Mon Dec 24-31.

With Christmas nigh, there wasn’t much to begin the week with. Everyone was too busy making last minute preparations for the 25th. On Christmas day itself, I held a light practice in the morning so that the players could go gorge themselves afterwards. I then celebrated Christmas with my family as we opened gifts ect. I don’t hold with that Boxing Day customs, so Steve and Katie got all their gifts on Christmas itself. It was a fun and festive day, marred only by the fact that I had to spend the evening game planning for the Northwich Vics match the next afternoon. In the late news it was reported that Notts Co. had hired Danny Wilson as their new boss. This meant that both Bristol clubs would be searching for managers. In addition, Rochdale hired Colin Todd as manager- it must have been one of his most memorable gifts ever. Wycombe took a different tack in appointing their new manager. They gave Coventry’s assistant manager Eric Black his first shot at managing a club on his own. More Christmas joy I’d wager.

At any rate, feeling fat and contented, we headed to Northwich to play the Vics on Wednesday afternoon. It was an ugly day, drizzling and just above freezing. I stuck with the same lineup as the last game and hoped we weren’t feeling the effects of too much ale and meat pie. Neither team played well in the slop nor did hangovers and Northwich score a second half goal to earn the 1-1 draw. That ended our winning streak, but that wasn’t important except to the stat pundits. We had a game on Saturday to worry about now.

On Wednesday the international media praised young Javier Saviola to the skies. The praise was well-earned, but Barca’s manager downplayed the praise, probably fearing the youngster would become a swll-head. Bad move as Saviola is now in a huff. He should come around though. On Thursday our reserves went to Burton Albion and got stomped 3-0. The performances were so poor that I had to hand out official rebukes to a couple of players.

Saturday afternoon at the Deva was pleasant enough even if it hadn’t warmed up any. It was a typical day for December. I was hoping for a good end to 2001 and this match would conclude our play for the year. I gave Beesley and Davies the day off, subbing Leaburn and McIntyre. 1731 hardcore fans showed up for our 4-0 pounding of Burton Albion. Barton scored two of the goals and Odunsi and West chipped in one each. Not a bad day for the “new signings” department. Shows my scouts knew what they were doing. As it was it was a strong statement to end 2001. The only downer was that Twiss got injured and would be out two weeks with a twisted knee. Coulson will have to step up now. The board was thrilled with our match and was running out of things to say about our team. On Sunday morning youth AMC Rich Young signed with us.

retired_karamelkel

December 31-January 6

On Monday the Conferee awards were handed out. Barton won the POM for 5 games with 8 goals/2 assists and 5 MOM. Phenomenal performance to be sure, I just hoped he could keep it up. That evening the Chester papers ran articles on Barton’s start and asked me for comment. I concurred with the writers, saying that Barton’s performances were impressive indeed. Also in the news was a piece on Everton’s continuing financial woes and the fact that Bristol Rovers had hired Brian Little to boss the club. On Tuesday the board conducted their monthly review. They were glowing about my performance with Chester and were happy with my “rapport with the fans.” However, the financial side of things was murky. We’d lost about 68000 pounds and the bank was down to around a quarter-million pounds. Not good when the high was 600000 pounds. On Tuesday, the papers printed an article predicting that we would get promoted. I decided to let the positive press ride and not say anything one way or another. It seemed that 2002 was getting off to a reasonable start and I hoped Wednesday game would continue that trend.
Wednesday January 2, 2002 was a cold day. By game time in the afternoon, the thermometer read below freezing. Thankfully the bus ride to Farnbourough was comfortable. I told the players to wear thick socks and our long-sleeve jerseys. I figured they’d stay warm running around the pitch. Beesley and Rankine returned to the lineup. Odunsi got the day off. The defense was reorganized as well. We won 2-0, thanks to goals by Barton and Guyett. It was a sloppy win, but a win nevertheless. The board was pleased with the win. Frankly, there wasn’t much to be impressed about. Portsmouth had a scout at the game to watch Beesley. He didn’t see much. Beesley was ok, but was taken out at the half.

The rest of the week passed quickly. It was FA Cup action once again. Third Round and we were playing Hull at home. It was a normal Saturday afternoon for early January and I felt confident that the boys could pull off a win against a D3 side. I gave Wood a start up front and put Beesley on the bench, leaving Leaburn out of the squad. Otherwise, the lineup remained the same. With Barton and West leading the way with a double each, we defeated Hull 4-0. Of course, the board was thrilled as we showed we could compete against Division Three sides, something to keep in mind for next season hopefully. In other news, West Ham issued a press release stating that Roeder’s job as manager is safe. Already odds are being set and taken for the day and week in which he’ll get the ax. 15 year old AMC Justin Bowler signed with Chester today, which gave Fox and Pickett a buddy to hang out with. On the evening news Heskey and Hasselbaink

On Sunday afternoon, the Fourth Round was drawn and we would face Burnley at the Deva. That would be an interesting game for sure. Of course our match with Southport, which had been slated for that date, was moved to Wednesday February 6th. Also in the evening news was the announcement that Bristol City had hired Robbie Williamson to fill their managerial vacancy. That concluded what had been a busy week.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Chester 21 9 0 1 30 3 6 4 1 28 8 49 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Barnet 22 4 5 2 23 15 8 2 1 28 14 43 3rd Southport 21 5 3 2 19 10 7 2 2 23 14 41 4th Gravesend 21 8 1 2 23 8 4 2 4 12 13 39 5th Doncaster 21 5 4 2 17 11 6 2 2 22 16 39 6th Dag & Red 21 5 5 1 16 7 5 2 3 19 17 37 7th Stevenage 22 6 1 4 18 11 4 4 3 16 17 35 8th Scarborough 22 5 5 1 23 14 3 4 4 12 14 33 9th Morecambe 21 4 2 5 15 16 5 4 1 19 13 33 10th Farnborough 21 5 3 2 18 14 4 3 4 16 18 33 11th Telford 21 6 0 4 15 14 3 4 4 14 20 31 12th Kettering 21 5 2 3 16 11 4 1 6 14 20 30 13th Margate 23 6 1 5 23 20 3 2 6 10 18 30 14th Burton Albion 22 4 1 6 16 20 4 1 6 8 16 26 15th Hereford 22 2 3 6 17 21 5 1 5 19 21 25 16th Nuneaton Borough 21 4 4 3 16 15 3 0 7 10 20 25 17th Halifax 22 6 1 4 14 17 1 2 8 11 22 24 18th Yeovil 22 4 3 4 14 15 2 0 9 9 21 21 19th Woking 22 2 3 6 15 20 2 4 5 14 24 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th Forest Green 22 4 1 6 10 16 1 1 9 9 26 17 21st Northwich Vics 21 3 2 5 18 18 0 5 6 6 19 16 22nd Leigh RMI 22 2 2 7 14 29 1 2 8 6 19 13 ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bagnall, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Barton, Danny 6 8 0 0 2 0 0 5 8.50 - Beesley, Mark 22 11 0 0 2 0 0 4 7.68 - Blackburn, Chris 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Bolland, Phil 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.00 - Bowyer, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- - Brown, Mickey 19 (3) 14 0 0 3 0 0 4 7.27 - Brown, Wayne 25 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 7.04 - Butler, David - - - - - - - - ---- - Carden, Paul 10 (1) 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 6.91 - Collins, Danny 2 (4) 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.33 - Coulson, Tom 9 (1) 2 0 2 (2) 0 0 0 1 7.30 - Culshaw, Paul - - - - - - - - ---- - Davies, Ben 22 (1) 8 0 2 (2) 10 0 0 4 7.48 - Davies, John - - - - - - - - ---- - Dobson, Andrew - - - - - - - - ---- - Field, Lewis - - - - - - - - ---- - Fortune-West, Leo 9 7 0 0 1 2 0 1 8.11 - Fox, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- - Guyett, Scott 11 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 7.09 - Hancock, Glynn 11 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.91 - Hatswell, Wayne 21 4 0 0 4 3 0 0 7.33 - Hewitt, Junior - - - - - - - - ---- - Howell, Mark - - - - - - - - ---- - Kelly, Jimmy 3 (3) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.17 - Lancaster, Martyn 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Lay, Jason - - - - - - - - ---- - Leaburn, Carl 5 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.80 - Lynch, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - McIntyre, Kevin 17 2 0 0 6 0 1 0 6.82 - O'Brien, Chris 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Odunsi, Leke 11 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 7.00 - Parker, Matt - - - - - - - - ---- - Picken, Philip - - - - - - - - ---- - Rankine, Mark 10 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 7.40 - Saker, Blake - - - - - - - - ---- - Sugden, Ryan 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Towey, Kevin - - - - - - - - ---- - Twiss, Michael 25 0 0 0 7 0 0 1 7.40 - Whiting, Louie - - - - - - - - ---- - Williams, Mark 15 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.73 - Wilson, Justin - - - - - - - - ---- - Winters, Lee - - - - - - - - ---- - Wood, Neil 2 (4) 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.33 - Worsnop, Jon - - - - - - - - ---- - Young, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- </pre>

retired_karamelkel

January 7-14

On Monday, Jamie Davies, a 17 yr old midfielder signed with us and rejecting Boreham Woods. He adds more youth and depth to the reserve squad. On Tuesday we prepared for our match on Wednesday. In the news was a report that Ipswich supporters have been booing their club recently during the team’s run of bad form. On Wednesday morning we received word that our match with Barnet had been canceled due to bad weather. Well, wasn’t surprising because the hail was hitting our windows too. That meant our next match would be against Halifax at home on Saturday. That evening, as the weather continued to be bad, we received notice that John Davies had signed with us to boost our reserve squad. Darlington also sacked Tommy Taylor from the head job. On Thursday our reserves traveled to Halifax and lost 1-0. Nobody played badly, they were just flat. On Thursday night, we filled the reserve squad completely by signing 19 yr old fullback Jones. With 22 first-teamers and 28 reservists, we had a full squad. This meant the scouts would get a much-needed break from their duties for a while. On Friday the 11th, Twiss returned to full training, welcome news for us.
Saturday afternoon at the Deva was cold and wet…the pitch was damp and muddy. Not ideal at all, but I figured we’d muddle through somehow. Once again, I rotated the forwards and the defense in my lineup. The game was close until late in the second half when we added two goals to pull away 3-0. Our shot volume helped to win 10-17. B. Davies, Barton and Leaburn scored the goals. Leaburn came on in the second half for an injured West. Barton was the MOM and after the game west was diagnosed with strained knee ligaments and would out for a solid three weeks. As expected, the board was pleased with the win. For once there wasn’t any news on the weekend. Several of my scouts finished up searches and went on their vacations. For once all the English managers survived the weekend. I’m guessing the turnover will slow down now. Well, check that, Roeder was sacked by West Ham, which helped some betters win quite a bit of money.

Monday January 14-21

The beginning of the week was slow as we prepared to play our makeup game with Barnet on Wednesday evening, the sky was sleeting and it was below freezing, but we did draw a lenient ref. I started Leaburn in place of West. That was the only change I made to the lineup as the boys walked out into a cold hell. We won the game in the first half. We scored three with Barton netting two and Beesley one. The second half was an exercise in staying warm and getting the damn game over with. The surprise was that given the weather 1324 fans bothered to show up. They saw Barton notch another MOM. The board found the warmth to say “good game.”

On Thursday evening, Darlington hired Neil Warnock to be their new manager. That was the only news for the rest of the week until our Saturday afternoon game against Dag and Red. It was the third round of the FA Trophy.

Saturday afternoon at the Deva was cold and rainy. It was drizzling, but at least it wasn’t sleeting. I decided to not change the lineup for this game. Wayne Brown finally had a bad game, giving up two goals in under tem minutes to start the contest. But Barton put us on his skinny back and carried us. He scored a penalty in the first half then added two more in the second half. It was the game of his career, and that’s saying quite a bit. He gave us the 3-2 victory.

On Sunday, the FA Trophy Fourth Round was drawn. We would play Stevenage at their pitch. That caused our Conference match with D&R to be rescheduled for Wednesday February 24. In the evening, West Ham announced that they’d hired Alex Smith to try to stave off relegation.

retired_karamelkel

Monday January 21-28

No news for the beginning of the week as we prepared for our Wednesday game. On that Wednesday afternoon we went to Kettering. The game would be played in lousy weather. We had sleet and below freezing. I gave Leaburn the day off and started Wood instead. I also gave Odunsi the day off, starting Kelly in his place. We lost 2-1 as Kettering took advantage of our crappy shooting 4-13 to sneak two goals past Brown. We would have been shut out if Barton hadn’t scored in stoppage time. We just played ugly and lost. To worsen the loss, after the game, we found out that Twiss would be out for 3 weeks with strained ankle ligaments and Hartswell would be banned for a game for collecting yellow cards.

Our 17 game non-losing streaks were over, but we had to look past that. On Thursday, the bad week continued as Kelly went down for 3 weeks with a damaged foot. Hopefully folks will be able to step up and cover for the injuries. On Friday, the negative trend of the week only continued as Mark Beesley showed up for training hangover and out of shape. I reprimanded him and he apologized and said he’d do better. But he’ll still lose his starting spot for the weekend

On Saturday afternoon we hosted Burnley in the FA Cup Fourth Round. The pitch and sky were dry for the game and we had lenient official overseeing things. Those two factors should combine for an exciting game. I made a few adjustments to the lineup. With Twiss and West out our chances of beating Burnley rest on our home field advantage. 5276 souls crammed themselves into the stadium to watch the game. Might be our biggest revenue producing game of the year. That was good enough to see us through as we beat Burnley 2-1. Barton and second half sub Mickey Brown scored our goals and the team held on for the win. The board was pleased with the win, though I’m sure they were wondering how this would affect the Conference season.

On Sunday afternoon the FA Cup Fifth Round draw produced an interesting match up. , Chester vs. Leicester at the Deva Stadium. The match up would feature two division leaders. Chester trying to regain entry into the League and Leicester trying to regain entry in the bright lights of the Prem. It’d be a battle for sure. As a result of the added game, our Conference match with Morecambe was rearranged for Wednesday February 27.

retired_brinker317

Still very good :thup: - and what a result to beat Burnley.

retired_karamelkel

Cheers Stuart. Haven't played cm for a few days, other things are taking up time atm, but here's an update.


Monday January 28-Febuary 4th

As had been the norm for a while now, the beginning of the week was slow. No domestic news of note. On the international scene, Italian side Sampodoria hired their new manager and forward Diego Tristan was praised for being one of the best players
The players ignored all this as we got ready for our next match on Wednesday. That afternoon we played Margate at Margate in brutal conditions. It was hailing and below freezing, but we had no choice but to play. The FA had run out of scheduling dates. I stuck with the lineup that had beaten Burnley, though I put McIntyre at LMC and I put Beesley back on the bench. The hail presented us with no problems however as we won the game 3-0 with Barton, Leaburn and McIntyre. We just played well and Barton continued his fiery play nailing a perfect 10 for his performance in this game.

On Thursday the 31st, Wigan put in a bid of 70K for Beesley. I told them to up the bid of 120K. They said they’d get back to me shortly. In the afternoon the reserves played at the Deva Stadium and lost to Forest Green 3-2. No standout performances. That evening the January Conference awards were handed out. Barton, who has been on fire, won the Player of the Month award. On Friday the board gave the monthly meeting. They were delighted with my job especially the rapport with the fans. They were even pleased with the finances as we had made 46,000 pounds or thereabouts. At any rate we went into Saturday’s game.

On Saturday February 2, we traveled to Forest Green for an afternoon game. Conditions were nasty with a drizzle and wind at cool temperatures. The only good thing was that the ref assigned to us was an easy bloke and allowed the players to play. I didn’t bother changing the lineup. Everyone just wanted to play and then go home. We scored five goals in the first half to win in a walk off. The only bad thing about the match was that Barton went off with a twisted knee and would be out for two weeks. At least it wasn’t a more serious injury. The board was happy with our great game, but we were just happy to get indoors.

February 4-11

On Tuesday, we sold Beesley to Wigan for 120,000 pounds. It was a shame to see him go, but finances before loyalty. I brought up 16 yr old Mark Fox to replace Beesley and sent my scouts looking for a backup forward or a youth player. On Wednesday, our home evening game against Southport was postponed due to bad weather. This meant our next game would be on Saturday FA Cup game. During the practice session rearranged to fill time, West revealed that he was fully fit to play in Saturday’s game.

Saturday afternoon brought us FA Trophy action against Stevenage. When we arrived at their park, we found it cool, windy and wet. The pitch was damp, meaning the ball was going to be slowed down considerably. I shuffled the lineup a bit, putting Brown at AMC and West at forward. It didn’t do much good as we lost 1-0 and crashed out of the Trophy. We had only 3 shots in what was our worst offensive production of the season. I guess the team has become too reliant on Barton. That evening, on the news, Millwall announced Tony Pulis as their new manager. On Sunday, our Conference match with Stevenage was rearranged to April 17th.