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Hearts really seemed to give us a lot of trouble that season and our trip to Easter Road was no exception. We outplayed them badly and limited them to one shot on goal. But the shot they had went in as Rafael Bosschart's first goal cancelled out Kenny Miller's early score. We couldn't get the match winner past Stefan Postma and were left with a very unsatisfying 1-1 draw. Celtic, apparently slumping badly with the Valgaeren situation causing lots of turmoil lost at Falkirk to fall 6 points off the Rangers for 2nd place. Rangers still trailed us by 4 points.

Celtic finally ended the Joos Valgaeren problems by selling him to Manchester United for 4.6 Million. I didn't miss his not being in the SPL in the least.

I have to give Brechin a lot of credit for how they played against us in the 3rd Round of the Scottish Cup. Philip Creaney scored twice in a five minute span to give us a 2-0 halftime lead, but they bounced back and scored a goal past John Connolly at 63 minutes on only their 2nd shot. With the Glebe Park fans behind them, they really tried to take the play to us. It backfired though as Ross O'Donoghue got loose against their backline and beat Allan Ferguson cleanly to move the score back to 3-1. Stephen Whalen then clinched the match with his 5th goal of the season and we moved on in Cup play thanks to the 4-1 win.

There was a lot at stake as we hosted Rangers at Fir Park in a midweek tilt. We were a bit beyond the 2/3 point of the season, and a win by them would boost them back to within a point of us for the top spot in the SPL. If we won, they would be facing a more daunting task of coming back from 7 points back. The first half was extremely closely played- with lots of effort on both clubs and few shots. Stephen Pearson took advantage of his speed to pounce on a rebound after Stefan Klos stopped Ross O'Donoghue close in and he whisked it past Klos to give us the lead at 37 minutes. I think this was the most ineffective I had seen Tore Andre Flo, as he really didn't make much impact on the match, but Andy Cole missed a couple of chances to start the second half and 'Gers seemed to have picked up the pace of their attack. We made them pay for that aggressive stance when Kiegan Parker got behind their backline on a through ball from O'Donoghue and he beat Klos to the ball, which allowed him an easy goal at 71 minutes. We capped off the match scoring when Kenny Miller added a goal at 81 minutes and our fans celebrated noisily as we dumped them by that 3-0 margin.

Our match at Brockville Park was a tale of two halves. We dominated Falkirk in the first half and buoyed by a Neil Adams own goal (on a deflection of a blast from Philip Creaney) and Stephen Pearson's 5th goal of the season in extra time we held a comfortable 2-0 lead. That didn't stop Falkirk from roaring into the 2nd half and putting us on our backheels. Steven Craig beat Brownie to a cross from Craig Winter in the opening moments and they were back in business. They pressed us hard and Brownie was the difference as he kept our lead despite their pressure and good chances. We held on throughout the 2nd half and wound up with a very tough 2-1 win. Celtic continued their uninspired play by drawing 1-1 at 9th place Dundee United and falling 15 points behind us. Joe Kinnear was sacked by Dundee as they languished in 11th place, barely in front of last placed St.Mirren. Despite that, I warned our players about taking them lightly as we faced them next.

I need not have worried though. Dundee was disorganized and dispirited from the start of the match and we quickly went ahead of them 3-0 on goals from Steven Milne and a pair from Kenny Miller (including his 15th of the season). We spent the 2nd half maintaining steady defensive pressure to blunt their haphazard attempts to rally and easily finished out the 3-0 win. In the showdown between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, Rangers added to the Celtic woes as they edged them 1-0 on a goal by Denny Landzaat late in the match. Dundee announced Paul Bracewell would be moving from Crystal Palace to take over as Manager later in the day.

We went back into Champs Cup 2nd round Group play as we hosted Real Madrid at Fir Park. Both of us were winless coming into the match, so whoever lost was likely finished in their chance to advance- it added a bit of desperation on both our parts. We had been playing so well lately, and it continued on in the first half. If it wasn't for Iker Casillas in their net- we would have beaten them handily in the match. We launched 15 shots in the first half alone, but all we had to show for it was a 1-1 score when Robert Pires cancelled out Kenny Miller's early marker. The 2nd half Stephen Pearson showed why he has suddenly become our key player again. He swooped in and scored in the opening moments of the half and then scored again midway through the half with a diving header. We needed both goals as Jaap Stam headed a corner past Brownie to bring them right back after Pearson's 2nd goal. We had to hold off their furious rally late as Christian Vieri, Fernando Morientes, Raul, Fabiano Liverani and Ariel Ortega all had good scoring chances- but Brownie kept them out and we hung on for the 3-2 win. Lazio dumped Dortmund 2-0 in Rome to take control of the group.

In the 4th round of the Scottish Cup we faced Division 1 Morton at Fir Park. They lacked the pace to really trouble us and our midfield kept them bottled up most of the match. Kiegan Parker and Paul Ritchie scored in the first half and Martin Wood added his 5th of the season in the 2nd half as we easily beat the undermanned squad. Robert McKeown continued to show flashes of his potential and earned MOM honors.

In retrospect the loss of Mark Kerr did help us in many ways. It opened up increased playing time for Shaun Maloney, Philip Creaney and Robert McKeown- all of whom were showing that they belonged in our future plans. It also encouraged Stephen Pearson to resume offensive leadership on the club- something that was a key element of our Champs Cup Title run- something we had lost for the last couple seasons.

Our trip to Madrid showed us just why Iker Casillas is in the running for European Keeper of the Year most every season. He was a stone wall in the first half as we had numerous good scoring chances. We also had a Steven Milne goal waved off on an offside and that ultimately proved very costly. They took the lead when Rui Costa boomed a 30 yard blast past Brownie. They went up 2-0 early in the 2nd half when David Aganzo knocked a rebound home. We tried to pressure them and Charlie Miller got a goal back at 77 minutes. We were all over them in the last 10 minutes, but we couldn't find a way to gain the equalizer. Surprisingly, we are still both in contention for the 2nd spot as Dortmund fell to Lazio 1-0 in Munich.

St.Mirren may have been in last place, but they sure gave us a battle at Love Street. Philip Creaney gave us the early lead with his 10th minute goal, but it certainly looked like it would be a shoot out, because neither club showed any sign of slowing down on the attack. For all the offensive action in the first and second half, it was still Creaney's goal as the only score of the match and we held on for the close 1-0 win thanks to an excellent performance from John Connolly.

Brockville Park was the venue as we faced Hibs in the League Cup Semifinal. I wanted to get ahead of them right away and make them bring the play to us. Instead we took the play to them through the entire match. Charlie Miller gave us the early lead and a Stephen Pearson header put us up 2-0 at halftime. Ross O'Donoghue added a 2nd half score and we cruised to a 3-0 win that puts us into the finals against Dundee.

Livingston came to Fir Park with the intention of catching us offguard and stealing some points. It didn't turn out that way though as we allowed them only one shot at John Connolly for the match. We had two goals waved off in first half on offsides- as both Kiegan Parker and Martin Wood were disappointed at the calls. It certainly seemed like we were on our way to a scoreless draw as David Klein was playing excellent for them. Scott McLean, who hadn't had a goal in months, came off the bench to deflect a cross from Philip Creaney past Klein for the 87th minute match winnter. It was another cheering win for the Fir Park fans. It kept Rangers 7 points back at the 30 match mark. Celtic had become a non-factor, but does appear to have 3rd place locked up.

Lazio had outplayed us by a large margin before, but we returned the favor at Fir Park. Ross O'Donoghue and Stephen Pearson both scored early in the first half and helped by a redcard to Lilian Thuram later in the half, we kept them away from our end. Hernan Crespo had a few chances in the 2nd half, but Brownie kept them out of the net and we came away with a very pleasing 2-0 win that handed them their first loss in the Group. We received bad news in the dressing room as Dortmund came back to steal away with a 3-2 win at Madrid. Their win meant that we would have to defeat them at Dortmund to possibly overtake them for 2nd spot in the Group.

We had our chance to finish off Celtic in the 5th round Scottish Cup match at Fir Park. Ross O'Donoghue gave us the quick lead, but Fernando Correa zipped one past Brownie to even things. Celtic handed us the lead back when Martyn Corrigan deflected an O'Donoghue cross past Robert Douglas. We tried to put a clamp on them, but Chris Sutton got above Christian Dailly to deflect a corner past Brownie and now we will need to beat them at Celtic Park if we wish to move on further in the Cup tourney.

Needing a win and nothing less at Dortmund we switched to an attacking formation. It didn't help. Dortmund scored two quick goals from Lars Ricken and Ebbe Sand in the first 20 minutes and then controlled the midfield for the remainder of the match as they moved on in the tourney on their 2-0 win. We at least finished 3rd in our Group- a much more respectable showing than last season's 2nd round disaster.

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It was nice to see Rangers had made the UEFA Quarterfinal for a couple reasons. One is that I rooted for any Scottish Club to demonstrate that we could be factors in Europe. The other was purely tactical, I was hoping a continued Cup run would drain them for the stretch run in the SPL. They got off to fine start in the Quarterfinal as they managed a 1-1 draw while visiting Celta.

Hampden Park was the site of our 2nd League Cup Final in the last three seasons. This time we faced Dundee and I thought we had an excellent chance against them, because they hadn't been playing well in the stretch before the final. I wanted us to grab the early lead and we accomplished that when Stephen Pearson scored at the 6 minute mark for his 10th goal of the season on a nice headed pass from Shaun Maloney. Mark Goodlad then stopped Kenny Miller and Maloney on good chances from in close, but Maloney made another neat pass and Charlie Miller put us up 2-0 at 29 minutes with a rising shot. We kept the pressure on them, never letting them have a breath, and Charlie Miller sprung Kiegan Parker for a volleyed winner at 36 minutes to earn us a 3-0 halftime lead. We started the second half in the same manner- pressuring them and never letting them get much going- and Parker's 2nd goal of the match at 61 minutes was essentially the final nail in Dundee's coffin. We easily cruised to the 3rd League Cup title in our history and 2nd in the last 3 seasons with our convincing 4-0 win.

We took an early lead at Celtic Park against them in the replay of our 5th round Scottish Cup match when Martin Wood fired a low blast past Robert Douglas. Neil Scally got revenge upon us though as he evened the match at the 40 minute mark when he sent a rebound past Brownie. By the midway point of the 2nd half it was evident that our jumbled match schedule was catching up with us as we were tiring. Vasilis Lakis was quicker to a rebound at the 69 minute mark and his goal turned out to be the match winner as Celtic earned the right to travel to Ibrox to face Rangers in the Scottish Cup Semifinals. With Europe and all domestic Cup competitions out of the way, it allowed us to concentrate on the final stretch drive. In a twist, we come back to Celtic Park for our next league match in a little over a week.

The National side suffered another disastrous loss as they fell to Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavick. The loss leaves them with only 2 draws and 2 losses to show in their Group Qualifying for World Cup. Ukraine, Iceland and Czech Republic are all battling for the top 2 slots. They followed that loss with another one as they went down to a 3-1 defeat in Prague. The loss all but ensures they will not qualify for the World Cup.

It was back to Celtic Park, and I'm sure they felt they had a little momentum against us- after having broomed us out of the Cup with their first win over us in 2-1/2 years. The packed house was jumping early on as Emile Heskey got loose from Alan Archibald and gave them the lead at 29 minutes. We just kept plugging and working- and were rewarded in the 44th minute as Kiegan Parker evened the match at 1-1 when he deflected an Andrew Rollo cross past Robert Douglas for his 15th goal of the season. In the opening moments of the 2nd half Kenny Miller drilled a 20 yard shot past Douglas to stun the crowd. They tried to rally, but after being out of position for the first goal, Brownie made up for it with good work throughout the 2nd half. We finally clinched the win when Parker notched his 2nd of the game at 84 minutes with a scorching half-volley. We held firm with our 6 point lead on Rangers after they also won 3-1 on the road. A quick glance at the 'Gers schedule showed they have the unenviable task of 3 matches in the next 5 days- including the first leg of UEFA Semifinal against Arsenal and their Scottish Cup Semifinal against Celtic.

It was then that Dundee United canned Graeme Souness. Losing 4 of their last 5 matches and 10th place in the SPL wasn't nearly enough for their Board.

Our match in hand was Kilmarnock at Fir Park in a midweek tie. It was mostly the 2nd line playing, due to wanting to rest the 1st line for the Playoff Group matches. Martin Wood and Scott McLean scored to give us a 2-0 lead and that was enough for us to survive a late consolation goal by Ashley Nicholls. The win put us 9 points up on Rangers with six matches left.

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In our last match before the Playoff Group, we wasted a golden chance to add another win at home. Stephen Pearson had led us to a 1-0 lead and we were playing really well- though having our usual problems trying to score on keeper Antti Niemi. It still looked like we would put them away at any moment, but we let Ryan Davidson sneak behind our defensive coverage and Brownie just plain missed a shot that he usually would make the save on. We redoubled our efforts, but had to settle for an unsatisfying 1-1 draw.

The Rangers, obviously tired after their midweek 1-0 loss at Highbury against Arsenal in the 1st Leg of the UEFA Semifinals, collapsed at Hampden Park against Celtic in their Scottish Cup Semifinal. Celtic blitzed them, enroute to an easy 4-2 win- leaving many unhappy 'Ger fans in its wake. Division 1 St.Johnstone and Division 2 Stenhousemuir played to 1-1 draw at Dunfermline and had to replay for the right to face Celtic for the Scottish Cup.

Dundee United appointed Steve May, formerly Brighton manager, to take over as their new man-in-charge.

Stenhousemuir, playing the role of underdogs, came out and clearly outplayed St.Johnstone to beat them 2-1 in their replay. They would now challenge Celtic for the Scottish Cup.

Our schedule for the Playoff Group was very kind to us that season. We would face both Celtic and Rangers at Fir Park. As usual, we closed with Rangers as the final match of our season and I hoped to make the match meaningless- as they had for us last season.

The first match for us in the Playoff Group was a trip to 6th place Hibs. It was a good thing that Kiegan Parker kept hammering at Stefan Postma, else we might not have scored in the match. As it was, Kiegan scored once in each half in what was his best performance for us and we survived their lone goal from Luna to edge them at Easter Road Stadium by a 2-1 score. True to form, Rangers defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 to stay 7 points back of us and Celtic rolled over Hearts by a 3-0 margin.

It looked like a desperation move when St.Mirren sacked Tom Hendrie. Dead last and 5 points adrift of Dundee to avoid relegation- their prospects weren't likely to attract a manager of much stature.

It was agony for the Rangers as they hosted Arsenal in the 2nd Leg of the UEFA Semifinal. They went up 2-0 on goals from Tore Andre Flo and Pascal Bosschart, only to see Stefan Selakovic score a late goal to send Arsenal on to the finals on the basis of their away goal. Their opponent will be Nantes, which easily dumped Polish side Wisla by a 4-1 aggregate.

It was strange knowing that 'Gers were rooting for Celtic- but they had to have been when Celtic came to visit Fir Park. Rangers badly needed them to beat us, to keep us close enough for them to have a chance to overtake us for the top spot. I wonder if that contributed to the day's outcome for them? They certainly had to have seen that we had taken a 2-0 lead in the first half as Celtic had no way to reign in Kenny Miller. Steven Hammell made a brilliant cross that Kenny headed past Robert Douglas to give us an early lead. Charlie Miller then put a nice through ball that allowed him to score his 20th of the season and send us to halftime ahead 2-0. Celtic wasn't ready to quit and got a goal back at 62 minutes when Hugo Morales scored on Brownie after a nice run. We staved off their rally though and Alan Archibald and Richard Montgomery deserved a lion's share of the credit as they put the clamps on Emile Heskey and Chris Sutton. Rangers only managed a 1-1 draw against Hibs at Ibrox, which meant another win would be enough to clinch the title for us.

Watching the National side go do to another defeat- this time fortunately only a friendly to Switzerland- left me very frustrated. I could see how much creative and tenacious Scot talent we had just on Motherwell- and to see it so ill-used by Dalglish was disappointing. The 1-0 loss highlighted the staid work on offense by a side that should be generating plenty of chances- especially against a side such as Switzerland.

Hearts proved that their 1-1 draw against at Fir Park was no fluke as they took much better advantage of their chances in ending our 18 match unbeaten streak at Tynecastle Park. Richard Langley beat Brownie cleanly in the opening moments of the first half to earn them a quick 1-0 lead. We managed plenty of shots in the match- 16- but only 4 of those were actually on net as we were our own worst enemy- squandering numerous good opportunities. Ryan Davidson put them up 2-0 midway through the 2nd half as they staunchly defended and kept us from scoring as they beat us 2-0. The flip side of the loss was that Rangers crashed hard and fell 3-0 at Celtic- we celebrated the ride back to Motherwell with our 2nd SPL title in hand.

In hosting Kilmarnock before our last match against Rangers- I decided to give the reserve squad a reward and started all reserve squad members. David Graham, who had been grousing about not getting any first team time- but who had gotten himself injured every time I called him up- showed his talent by striking for a goal in each half past Colin Stewart. He was equaled though as Anthony Shandran came off their bench to replace an injured Craig Dargo. Shandran also scored in each half past Roddy McKenzie and though it was entertaining- it was still only a 2-2 draw for our good effort. Rangers, apparently still down about their loss to Celtic, fell at Ibrox to Hearts 1-0. Celtic went down to a 2-1 loss at Hibs.

There was a small bit of satisfaction to see that Dortmund and Lazio- the two clubs that finished ahead of us in Champs Cup 2nd Group- would play for the Champs Cup title. Dortmund edged Roma and Lazio knocked out Schalke 04 to move to the finals.

We closed out the season hosting the Rangers and I wasn't about to let them make any kind of statement with this match- it was one I wanted to win. We smothered their midfield in the first half and moved to the lead on the basis of a nice shot by Kiegan Parker. Craig Moore earned a redcard at 61 minutes for knocking down Stephen Pearson before he could score. While 'Gers bitterly protested- Kenny Miller converted the penalty and we were up 2-0. In what might have been a slight makeup call, Charlie Miller was also redcarded at 85 minutes for a reckless challenge on Steve McManaman. It didn't matter as we closed the door out on the season with a superb 2-0 win.

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The summer shaped up to be very interesting for both our clubs and the other top clubs in Scotland. Emile Heskey had already had his transfer completed for him to go to Liverpool and would be on his way back to England. I had lots of rumblings and a few unhappy players to consider how to deal with during the summer as well.

Arsenal came from behind and beat Nantes 2-1 in the UEFA finals. Jeremie Aliadere's extra time goal turned out to be the match winner.

The awards were interesting as Chris Sutton was selected Player of the Year, just barely edging out Tore Andre Flo. Kenny Miller was 3rd in the balloting and made a strong case for contending for the honor for next season. Young Player of the Year was our own Andrew Rollo. We didn't sweep this award this time, because many of our players aged out of the category. Labinot Harbuzi was runner-up and keeper William Bald was 3rd. Brownie and Alan Archibald were our only representitives on the Players Team of the Year- both were selected as starters.

Dortmund repeated as Champions Cup Winners when they defeated Lazio 1-0 on Ebbe Sand's late goal.

Celtic easily won the Scottish Cup as they saw off upstart Stenhousemuir by a 2-0 score.

The National side suffered another embarrassing home loss as Ukraine defeated our desperate side by a 2-1 margin. The loss officially eliminated Scotland from qualifying for the World Cup. Kiegan Parker gave us the early lead, but even after losing Andriy Shevchenko to a 16th minute injury- the Ukranian side was able to even things at halftime and then score the match winner in the 87th minute. I believe one of Dalglish's problems is that he insists on using Liverpool's Jim MacLeod as keeper. I respected MacLeod- he was Liverpool's number 1 keeper- but ignoring Robert Douglas, Brownie and Jamie Langfield to use him meant that he was ignoring three superior keepers with proven track records in the toughest competition. I also disagreed with his lineup choices- he was sticking with older players of declining ability versus giving some of our (yes mine mostly...) more talented youngsters a chance.

The biggest challenge over the summer for myself- was to deal with both Celtic and Rangers wanting to grab bits and pieces of our club off. We still suffered with the notion that we weren't a big club. Kenny Miller came and wanted to move to a bigger club- it was then I drew the line. I didn't have a lot of choice with Ross O'Donoghue at that point- his contract expired in a year and I didn't want to lose out on transfer funds for him. Miller on the other hand, was under contract until 2009- and I planned to try and keep him as long as I could.

Yes, that is also the point that Jamie Langfield joined the club. He was ready for a change from Aston Villa and agreed to come to us on Bosman. We couldn't avoid the loss when Rangers came calling for Paul Ritchie- since his contract wasn't protected at that point. I knew the raids were just beginning. Celtic talked long and hard about Philip Creaney and Stephen Whalen, but I wasn't about to let either of them go to Celtic if I could help it. We also landed Martin Lauchlan on Bosman from St.Johnstone at about that point.

We started the 2005-06 season with several pressing questions. Who would be the number 1 keeper- Langfield or Brownie (either way, this was a good tandem). How would Kenny Miller and Andrew Rollo's demands to move to larger clubs and Philip Creaney's unhappiness about not being allowed to move pan out over the course of the season (neither was going anywhere). Would we be able to maintain the same team cohesiveness that carried us to the title last season.

Of course the Board expected great success all the way across the board- and I wouldn't have had it any other way- since those were my expectations as well.

I ended up selling Ross O'Donoghue to Watford for 3.9 Million (and a 20% sell on fee, because I was certain he would get sold again to a bigger club than them for a lot of cash). I was sorry to part with him, but since we weren't an Old Firm club with plenty of loose cash, we couldn't afford not to take the money for him when we certain to lose him after the season on Bosman.

Despite his loss, I felt good about our chances. With a tandem of Langfield and Brownie- there were no worries about keepers, especially with Connolly in the wings and developing Michael McDonald (who we nabbed from Coventry). We were slightly thin on the backline with the loss of Paul Ritchie, but Dailly did re-sign with us and Robert Malcolm gave us a jack-of-all-trades to plug whatever hole we had. Rollo's unhappiness was a problem, but my plan was just to put him out there and let him play. Our midfield was hurt by O'Donoghue's loss, but we had added Martin Lauchlan and with the development of Creaney (which is why I wouldn't let him go to Celtic), Robert McKeown and Ryan McCann- I thought we should be Ok for the start of the season. Stephen Pearson had stepped up into more of a leadership role too, something I had been hoping for. Kenny Miller's general unhappiness was the problem up front, but like Rollo- I was just going to let him play and it hadn't seemed to effect his effort in our tough slate of friendlies. We didn't have as much depth as last season, but I hoped it would still be plenty to accomplish our goals. I was hoping for us to make a stronger statement in Europe this season. On the home front, Celtic was a lot weaker without Heskey and Rangers looked older- so I was hopeful that we could play well early in the season and put pressure on both of them.

retired_marcias

£3.9 million for Ross O'Donoghue :eek:

He's damn good, but I doubt I'd get £1 mill in CM 03/04 at Ross County even if I wanted to sell him :p

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True glamdring- but this is a different envrionment in CM 01-2, so you deal with what is handed you

retired_marcias

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Just after the season started, Celtic finally made a move to replace Heskey when they landed Bosko Balaban from Aston Villa. I thought it was a step down overall, but they already had a win on the board before we faced Falkirk for our first match. Rangers drew 2-2 against newly promoted Dunfermline when Klos was redcarded in extra time and Stuart McCaffery scored his 2nd of the match on the penalty.

Our first match at Falkirk typified how the season would go- we were defending holders and every club wanted to put forth their best effort against us. Newly signed Gary Wales gave them the lead at 3 minutes and we were left fighting back. Our shooting was atrocious in the first half and we only had 1 on target of 9 chances. We started playing better in the second half and evened the match when Steven Hammell's low blast eluded Myles Hogarth after Martin Lauchlan's good pass put him free (Charlie Miller was suspended for the match). We took the lead a few minutes later when Kiegan Parker hammered a header past Hogarth on a smart cross from Shaun Maloney. It was a struggle, but we finished out the 2-1 win. We lost Alan Archibald for a couple weeks to a twisted knee in the match.

Leeds surprised me by offering 5.5 Million for Shaun Maloney. I turned them down cold though because Maloney has taken over for Ross O'Donoghue in the midfield and I think he will become a key player for us this season. I was equally surprised when he told he was fine with not moving and that he was looking forward to his role here- I had assumed that he would be upset like Creaney still was. It certainly raised my respect for him.

Celtic had won their first two matches coming into their visit to Fir Park and really seemed primed to make a strong showing against us. We only had our Falkirk match in the books at this point, but I was also looking forward to this televised match. Jamie Langfield made a superb debut for us. He stoned Fernando Correa from close in early on and knocked a Chris Sutton header over the bar. Robert Douglas was doing just as well for Celtic and it certainly looked like it might be scoreless at halftime. Instead it was 2-0 our advantage, as Kiegan Parker and Kenny Miller each scored on headers in a 3 minute span to stun the visitors. They pressured us in the second half, but Langfield had the answers- ably supported by Richard Montgomery and Christian Dailly and we closed out the impressive 2-0 win.

Manchester United beat Dortmund on penalties to win the World Club Championship. They didn't let a few screaming Dortmund fans (the majority of the 76000 fans at Berlin) bother them as they edged the favored German side. Joos Valgaeren was MOM- I *still* didn't miss him not being in the SPL any longer- but the match cost ManU the services of Valgaeren for the next six months due to a knee injury.

Easter Road was our next travel destination and we leaned on strong work by Langfield, an excellent match from the backline and goals from Shaun Maloney and Kenny Miller to beat Hibs in a close 2-1 match. Maloney scored early, but Rafael Bosschart was able to equalize to send it to halftime even at 1-1. Miller scored his 50th League goal for us on a rising shot past new Hibs keeper Kenny Heemskerk. We defended well and managed to hold on for another close 2-1 win.

Our midweek match at Fir Park hosting Livingston featured the return from suspension of Charlie Miller and from injury of Alan Archibald. I was already trying to rotate in the 2nd liners to keep everyone sharp and this match featured many of them. We staked our lead in the first half when Christian Dailly headed in a corner from Charlie Miller. We went up 2-0 at half as Martin Wood scored off a nice pass from Philip Creaney. The second half went quietly as we played a controlling match and finished out the clean sheet for Brownie.

The Group draw for Champions Cup looked to be a pretty difficult first group. Juventus, Newcastle and Kobenhavn were selected to join us in Group H. My outlook at that point was that it would be difficult in Europe no matter what- so it really didn't matter that the Group play started out difficult.

After losing to Manchester United in the World Club Championships, it was a doubly difficult blow for Dortmund as they fell to Arsenal 2-0 in the Super Cup. Eirik Bakke scored a pair of goals to lead Arsenal to the win.

Dundee United visited Fir Park and were hoping to steal at least a point from us. When Alan Combe saved Kenny Miller's penalty kick (after Hasney Aljofree earned a yellow card for knocking him down in the area), it certainly buoyed them. Combe usually is difficult for us to score upon, but that wasn't true in this match. As we reached the late stages of the first half, Kiegan Parker made a nice move with the ball and easily sent it past Combe. Stephen Pearson was next with another impressive run and shot- for his 1st goal of the season. It was 3-0 at half when Kenny Miller finally scored past Combe. We didn't let off in the second half and Jamie Fullarton scored his first goal for us. Parker capped the scoring with a header for his 2nd goal of the match and we closed out a strong 5-0 whitewashing of our visitors. Aberdeen showed they are going to be a contender this season as they crushed Celtic 3-1 at Pittodrie.

The National side finally managed their first win in Group play- much too late to do them any good. Kiegan Parker scored his 5th International goal and Mark Burchill scored his first two as they easily defeated Cyrpus in Nicosia by a 3-1 score. Ukraine clinched the automatic berth from the Group and Czech Republic and Iceland will battle it out for 2nd place.

Aberdeen showed us they are serious about storming to the top of the SPL, as they edged us in a taut 1-0 battle at Fir Park. We outplayed them, but it is clear that what is making them a contender is the fine play of Colin Stewart in net. His acrobatics kept the sheet clean for them. Jamie Langfield got a piece of Ben Thornley's 68th minute header, but it wasn't enough and it trickled into the net for the only goal. The win pushed them past us into 1st place.

It was up to the boys to make a statement as we hosted Juventus to begin the 1st round Champions Cup Group Play. I know the Fir Park faithful will be talking about the match for a long time. The first portion featured excellent work by Jamie Langfield and Gianluigi Buffon as they kept some deserving shots out of the nets. That changed when Steven Hammell floated in a beautiful cross and Kiegan Parker deflected it past Buffon for his 5th goal of the season. We started the second half storming Buffon and at 58 minutes he pulled down Parker in the area. Despite the fact he was obviously the last man AND he verbally harangued the referee- he didn't even receive a yellow card- guess reputation will do that for you. Kenny Miller converted the penalty kick and we were up 2-0. We kept up the pressure and Buffon made a couple sensational stops to keep Juventus in the match. It became a nail biter again after Julius Aghahowa drove past Shaun Maloney and Andrew Rollo and beat Langfield cleanly at 74 minutes. It was Langfield's turn to impersonate a stone wall as Juventus threw everything forward to try and even the match. When the final whistle sounded- we still held the 2-1 margin for the win. In the other side Kobenhavn beat Newcastle 2-1 at home.

Our trip to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock was another match when I was trying to rest some regulars. It was the match when Philip Creaney stepped out of the shadows into the light as a premier player. He scored two pretty goals in a four minute stretch and took over the midfield for the entire match. Craig Dargo was sent off early with a redcard for shoving Alan Archibald and that left Kilmarnock with little way to carry the play to us. We used our advantage in pace to keep the pressure on them throughout the 2nd half and Stephen Whalen added a late goal to cap off our 3-0 win and another clean sheet for Brownie.

Newcastle was a short trip compared to most of our Champs Cup opponents and we even had a fair amount of fans that made the trip. They certainly enjoyed what they saw- as did I. Stephen Pearson took over the match and despite a splendid performance by Shay Given in net for them- we controlled the match. Pearson scored once in each half as we pressured them repeatedly. We added a late goal from Steven Milne and it was a strong 3-0 win that moved us to the top of our Group. Juventus dropped Kobenhavn 2-1 in the other Group match.

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Dunfermline was surprisingly in 4th place when we faced them at East End Park. We were again going with our alternative lineup. They were plenty eager to play and Stephen Whalen was the dominant player in the match. He gave us the halftime lead when he rocketed a shot past Alan Kelly. Kelly was playing superbly though and despite numerous chances we only had that goal on the books when Stuart Cringean deflected a Dunfermline corner past Brownie for an own-goal- not exactly the debut he was hoping for. Kelly almost earned his side a split of the points, but at 83 minutes our subs- Robert McKeown and Scott McLean- combined to win us the match. It was McKeown's curling corner that McLean deflected past Kelly to send us to the 2-1 win.

After yielding an early goal to Kennedy Bakircioglu on a rebound, we were left with having to rally at Kobenhavn. We were helped when Tommy Jonsson earned a redcard at 26 minutes for a two footed tackle on Charlie Miller. Still, they were doing an excellent job of keeping us off balance- mostly due to their formation (modified 41212) that we hadn't seen before. Just before halftime we evened the match when Kiegan Parker whistled a shot past Johan Wiland. To start the second half, I decided we needed to press them further up the pitch- to jostle their comfort zone. They couldn't get the ball out of their zone with our pressure, but we also couldn't seem to get a good chance. At 66 minutes Philip Creaney, who had subbed on for Michael Stewart to bring more offense into the midfield, was first to a loose ball. Creaney made a wonderful pass to Shaun Maloney who was just inside the area and Maloney's booming shot sailed past Wiland for what would be the match winning goal. We backed off and were content to run out the 2-1 win at that point. Juventus and Newcastle battled to a scoreless draw at Newcastle which left us 5 points ahead of 2nd place Juventus in our Group. Rangers were in 4th in their Group- even with Blackburn, but still only trailing Valencia and Lazio by 3 points. Celtic was 3rd in their Group, trailing PSV by 2 points and Bayern by 3.

Ibrox was our destination for our first meeting with Rangers this season. We both needed a win in the match, since Aberdeen had yet to lose, and was showing no signs of disappearing as a top club. We played a good match and took the early lead when Kenny Miller scored at 10 minutes past Alan McGregor (remember Klos was out with an injury for 4 months then). We couldn't build on the lead though as they stymied our efforts to gain another goal. They were having a tough time generating offense, but at 90 minutes Richard Montgomery was whistled for pushing Barry Ferguson in the area. Jamie Langfield saved our bacon though when he brilliantly steered Michael Carrick's penalty kick around the post and we escaped with an important 1-0 win.

We hosted Kilmarnock for a 3rd round League Cup match and our alternative lineup paid dividends again. Ryan McCann, making his first senior appearance of the season, was a force in the midfield and gave us the lead at 10 minutes when his rising shot swerved past Ben O'Brien for his first goal for us. They played us closely and stayed in the match, just missing a chance to even the match when Brownie made a dazzling tip over of Craig Dargo's high shot. At 69 minutes Martin Wood made a neat lay off pass and Robert McKeown (just on for a tiring Stephen Whalen) drilled a shot past O'Brien. We clinched the match in second half extra time, after Gary McCutcheon had drawn a goal back for them, as Philip Creaney capped off our scoring in the 3-1 win.

The National side scored a consolation 2-0 win over Iceland that kept them from finishing 2nd. Czech Republic lost to Ukraine 2-1, so a draw or a win would have allowed Iceland to reach the playoffs- instead they are like Scotland- out of the World Cup. It wasn't stellar Scot offense that knocked them out as an own-goal caused them to have to press offensively in the late stages and Kiegan Parker scored the match clinching goal late in the 2nd half.

In a tough blow, we lost Charlie Miller for 3 weeks in a training accident. Though we would miss him, it would also give me time to evaluate our other midfield options.
Hearts visit to Fir Park again featured the stylings of Antti Niemi in net. Though the first half was closely played we managed to take the lead when Scott McLean took advantage of his first start this season to loop a header over the onrushing Niemi after a cross frome Martin Lauchlan. Scott Wilson outleaped both Richard Montgomery and Steven Hammell to deflect a corner past Jamie Langfield to even the match at 53 minutes, but we struck back with a Kenny Miller goal four minutes later. McLean proved Niemi was human enough to have a difficult match as he scored his 2nd of the match before Steven Milne (on for tiring Kenny Miller) also scored to finish out an impressive 4-1 win. The win leaves us only 1 point adrift of SPL leader Aberdeen and 4 points in front of 3rd place Rangers. In stunning fashion, Celtic has slumped all the way to 7th in the SPL with over a quarter of the season gone.

Our task in hosting Kobenhavn was straight forward- if we won- we would secure a place in the 2nd round of Group play. We pushed them hard in the early going, but against the run of play Petter Hansson's volley eluded Jamie Langfield and we were behind at 37 minutes. In extra time Kiegan Parker headed down a Michael Stewart free kick and Alan Archibald scored the equalizer. With renewed momentum from that we stormed their goal in the 2nd half and Parker scored what would be the match winner when he headed in a free kick from Steven Hammell. The 2-1 win, combined with Juventus 2-0 win over Newcastle clinched our place in the 2nd round.

We took Livingston too lightly, to be sure. They were primed to play a good match, and going in we all got caught up in the idea that we would just show up and they would roll over and we would win. It just proved to everyone that you have to be ready for each and every match. Alan Mahon's free kick past Brownie gave them a 1-0 halftime lead. They added to that when Scott Severin deflected a free kick past Brownie early in the 2nd half. With a 2-0 lead they stood their ground and helped Carlo Nash keep everything out as they finished out their biggest win this season. Rangers won and were a point back of us. Hearts handed Aberdeen their first loss of the season with a 3-1 score in the televised match.

Our trip to Juventus turned out worse than the one to Livingston. We weren't sharp at all in the first half and they capitalized to take a 3-0 hafltime lead on goals from Antonio Cassano, Luigi Sala and Marcelo Salas while we floundered. The second half they effectively blunted our rally attempts and they cruised to the 3-0 win. The win clinched them a spot in the 2nd round as well, thanks to Newcastle managing a 2-2 draw against Kobenhavn. Kenny Miller was also injured in the match and we were starting to run short of forwards.

It was a good thing that David Graham got his chance to play because of injuries. After we were trailing 1-0 at halftime, Graham led us back for a come-from-behind 2-1 win. He scored early in the 2nd half to even it and then blasted a low shot past Kenny Heemskerk for the match winner at 62 minutes. We held off their spotty attempts at rallying and were happy enough with the hard fought 2-1 win.

We wasted a golden opportunity to dump Celtic deep in trouble. It had been a very closely played match and both Robert Douglas and Jamie Langfield had been superb in keeping the scoresheet pristine. Kiegan Parker finally broke through for us with a goal at 69 minutes. We kept pressing after the goal and Douglas kept them in the match. Chris Sutton broke past our defenders and caught Langfield out of position just enough to lob over him for the equalizer at 84 minutes. That was the way it ended- a 1-1 draw that could have been more for us.

A win at Fir Park against Newcastle would leave us top placement out of our Group- and that was something I wanted. They battled us hard, but we held the lead thanks to an early goal by Stephen Pearson. They came close to evening the match early in the 2nd half but Jamie Langfield was sharp. We put the match out of reach when Kenny Miller converted a penalty kick after Andy O'Brien knocked down Kiegan Parker in the area and then Miller scored his 2nd of the match on volley to send us onwards with a 3-0 win. Our next Grouping was Milan, Leeds and Deportivo. Celtic also moved on- finishing 2nd in their Group- edging Bayern on Goals. Unfortunately for them they wound up grouped with ManU, Real Madrid and Lazio. Rangers finished last in their Group and were done in Europe for the season.

It was another wasted chance for us as hosted Falkirk and could only come away with a 3-3 draw. We took the lead three seperate times, but each time they came back to even the match. We couldn't stop Steven Craig who had one and Marc Anthony who had two goals. Aberdeen also drew and remains a point ahead of us atop the SPL.

We fared much better visiting Dundee. Alan Combe's magic against seems gone and we rolled to a 3-0 lead on two goals by Shaun Maloney and a single goal from Kiegan Parker. The only goal we allowed them was a Richard Montgomery own goal in the 2nd half and we balanced that out with a goal by Michael Stewart as we rolled to a 4-1 win. Celtic did us a favor by dumping Aberdeen 3-0 and allowing us to reclaim the top spot in the SPL.

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Yes, I do think it was a good wake up call. I don't think Milan really expected us to take the play to them in the match- even though it was at Fir Park. Their loss. They were certainly a scary matchup on paper- with Andriy Shevchenko and Ruud van Nistlerooy up front, a backline anchored by Roberto Carlos, Roberto Ayala and Sami Hyypia, and Christian Abbiati in net. I was a little worried before the match that we hadn't been playing our best and that we might be tentative against them- but I needn't have worried. The stat line after the match shows things as being nearly even, but stats lie. Thanks to Alan Archibald and Richard Montgomery, we kept their potent forward duo under wraps for the whole match and their only chances came on midfielders longer shots. We generated some excellent passing in the match and deserved to win- we did win thanks to Kenny Miller's header at 35 minutes on an excellent cross from Charlie Miller. We should have had one or two more goals, but Abbiati deserved credit for keeping them in the match. In the other Group match Leeds and Deportivo battled to a scoreless draw at Elland Road.

We came back to earth much too quickly. We dominated Dunfermline at Fir Park, but only held a 1-0 lead on Jamie Fullarton's late first half goal. It only took one defensive mistake and Jay Lucas was left alone to easily fire it into the open net to give them a late equalizer. The 1-1 draw left us even with Aberdeen for the top spot, and Rangers were 6 points back with two matches in hand.

Dortmund defeated Corinthians 1-0 to capture the Intercontinental Cup- the same one they had lost to Boca the season before.

The loss to Celtic in the League Cup Quarterfinal was very disappointing. We were still developing our rivalry, but I would characterize it as getting bitter about that point. It was a two minute span where Jamie Langfield just didn't move quickly enough that cost us in the match. Vasilis Lakis (who we seemed to have real problems covering) and Fernando Correa each scored in that short time. It looked better at halftime as we were only down 2-1 when Kenny Miller scored his 10th of the season- converting a penalty kick after Stephen Pearson was pushed in the area. We pressured Robert Douglas closely in the 2nd half- but never could find the goal we needed and that 2-1 score was the final one.

We were also outplayed in our next match at Tynecastle Park by Hearts. The result came out much better though as Langfield had a terrific match and was ably supported by Alan Archibald, Robert Malcolm and Christian Dailly. We scored the only goal of the match early in the 2nd half when David Graham got up to head past Antti Niemi on a free kick from Michael Stewart. Dunfermline helped us by stunning Aberdeen 1-0 at Pittodrie and we moved three points in front of them again as we closed in on the midseason mark.

Against Deportivo, we weren't particularly sharp- and it showed. We couldn't get untracked offensively and they were limiting us pretty well. Jamie Langfield again kept us in the match with some superb work- but Michele Gallardo finally dented him for a goal midway through the 2nd half. It was a frustrating loss, but we did take the knowledge that even with our worst match- if we kept working, we could stay with any club. Milan dumped Leeds 2-1 in the other Group match.

The most telling statistic of our match hosting the 'Gers at Fir Park was that we limited them to two shots for the entire match (both by Barry Ferguson). We had plenty of pressure on Jesper Christiansen and though we didn't score in the first half- I remembered feeling it was only a matter of time for us. We finally broke through at 62 minutes when Martin Wood, who had just subbed on for David Graham, lofted a shot over Christiansen. We more or less iced the match shortly after when Fernando Ricksen knocked over Shaun Maloney in the area and Kenny Miller converted the penalty kick for a 2-0 lead. We maintained that margin and it was a good win for us to have in hand as we were almost at halfway mark of the season.

Paul Rudden- yes, you're right- that was when he came over to us. Why did I sign him? Oh, well his contract was unprotected and the buyout was less than a million. He looked to be a very versatile player- he had played mostly backline for Dundee, but I saw him as more of a gameday sub at defensive midfield and midfield and emergency sub on our backline. The reason I offered him a contract was because that was when Aberdeen started inquiring about Philip Creaney. I was still opposed to selling him within the SPL, but he was (and had been) unhappy and if they offered me enough- I was willing to let him go. I had already gotten agreements from Craig Cargill (18 yr old FRLC from Leeds) and Paul Di Giacomo (23 yr old AMLC from Kilmarnock) to come aboard during the summer- so I would need to move some midfielders from our current roster anyway, so it made sense all the way around to listen to their offer. At the outset of negotiations, I offered them a straight swap with their unhappy defender Philip Maguire, but they offered me 6.25 Million for Creaney. I was stunned at the size of the offer- and accepted it without reservation. That much could run all of our club's expenses for a season. Everyone wound up happy when he accepted their contract offer.

No, I didn't accept the offer before the match with them- that would have been a bit silly, wouldn't it? The negotiations had continued past our match at Pittodrie before we concluded them. That match was important to them- a win for them and they would be back even with us (though we would still have a match in hand). A loss and they would have a lot tougher road to catch us. The first half featured both sides fiercely contesting the ball. It was rough with a couple of yellows each- and many whistles. It was also scoreless-- Jamie Langfield was playing very well for us because they had a bit more good chances than we did. We came out more determined in the 2nd half and took the lead when Kenny Miller was able to outjump keeper Paul Jarvie on an Andrew Rollo free kick. They tried to claw that goal back and hit the post twice. I thought we might be in trouble when we lost Jamie Fullarton to injury and I was forced to bring on Paul Rudden- since he had only trained a couple days with us. He really played well though and his brilliant run from the defensive midfield spot was what broke the match open for us. Jarvie was forced to pull him down in the area and Charlie Miller converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal of the season. Steven Milne put the match out of reach a couple minutes later (he was on for a tired Kenny Miller) when he deflected a Steven Hammell free kick past Jarvie. The 3-0 win dropped Aberdeen behind the surging Rangers for 2nd place.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Scottish Premier Division - Saturday 17th December 2005********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2005/6 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Motherwell 19 6 2 1 21 7 8 1 1 19 7 45 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Rangers 20 7 2 1 25 6 5 3 2 16 12 41 3rd Aberdeen 21 6 2 2 20 13 6 1 4 19 18 39 4th Hearts 18 6 3 1 20 8 3 2 3 14 14 32 5th Celtic 20 7 1 1 20 4 2 2 7 14 21 30 6th Dunfermline 21 6 0 5 23 17 3 3 4 10 12 30 7th Livingston 21 6 3 2 22 15 2 1 7 9 22 28 8th Dundee Utd 21 6 1 3 19 13 2 2 7 13 22 27 9th Dundee 20 6 1 3 18 15 1 3 6 13 27 25 10th Hibs 20 4 2 4 17 17 1 1 8 6 21 18 11th Falkirk 21 4 2 5 15 16 0 1 9 9 32 15 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12th Kilmarnock 20 4 1 5 11 17 0 0 10 6 23 13 </pre>