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In a hastily arranged Press Conference yesterday afternoon before the club's sensational 2-1 victory at home to Manchester United in the Champions League, courtesy of a last minute wonder goal from winger Darren Campbell, manager Iain Bartholomew denied that he was about to walk out on the club and insisted that he would see out his contract which ends in June. He confirmed though that talks had not begun on extending the deal and that he "did not expect to be here this time next year".
Supporters of the club are bound to wonder why the board haven't moved to tie up the future of the man who took them to the Champions League last season and is attempting to go one better this, but Bartholomew has always had an uneasy relationship with chairman Rhuaridh MacDonald despite on-field success, and has flirted with dismissal on more than one occasion.
The team is performing well thus far in the season, sitting atop the SPL with 16 points from six games and three points clear of Manchester United and Hamburg in the Champions League Group after wins at Lokomotiv in Moscow and now at home to United. If Bartholomew is to leave at the end of the campaign it will potentially be on a high, and he will no doubt be as missed by these fans as he is by jealous Ayr United supporters who have run two managers out of town since his departure.
02-11-2004, 09:46 PM
More Old Firm Pish (Lisbon Lions, I guess) Post #62
England cruise through as Scotland suffer momentary heartbreak
A stirring comeback from England in what was a meaningless final Euro 2016 qualifier in Helsinki saw a 2-0 deficit overturned and the 3-2 win meant that only a 0-0 draw in Bosnia prevented the English finishing with a perfect qualification record.
Following good early wins in the Ukraine and over Bosnia, England were fortunate to sneak a 2-1 win in Armenia with a goal in injury time from veteran midfielder Rohan Ricketts after Minasyan had cancelled out Jermaine Jenas' opener. After a 0-0 friendly draw at home to Egypt came the visit of Finland, where second half goals from Bothroyd, Cooke (pen) and Lurent Reynolds sealed a 3-0 win which flattered the home team.
Two months later came the visit of the Ukraine, and although Joe Cole scored in the first minute and the visitors had Lysyts'kyi sent off ten minutes later it was 1-1 at the break thanks to a Tereschenko strike. England totally dominated the second half, firing in 20 efforts on goal, but scoring just once, Bothroyd of Ayr United running on to a Kieron Dyer cross.
After that 0-0 draw in Bosnia, Armenia visited Wembley and were blown away as Milner, Defoe and Joe Cole had the game won before Avalyan pulled one back in first half injury time. A second half Defoe strike clinched the group though, and it was time for celebration amongst the support. Then came the comeback triumph in Helsinki, and a draw in Saudi closed off a successful year of football.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts </pre><pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st Q England 8 7 1 0 21 6 +15 22 </pre><pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2nd Pl Finland 8 4 2 2 15 10 +5 14 3rd Bosnia 8 2 3 3 7 13 -6 9 4th Ukraine 8 2 2 4 8 11 -3 8 5th Armenia 8 1 0 7 8 19 -11 3 </pre>
Scotland meanwhile were locked on 14 points with Sweden going into their final game at home to Lithuania, with the head to head record meaning any win would see them through. In the event a 2-1 defeat and three points for Sweden saw the Scots in the playoffs. A pity, but not entirely unexpected by the cynics in their support.
02-12-2004, 07:09 PM
More Old Firm Pish (Lisbon Lions, I guess) Post #63
Despite an injury ravaged season, manager Iain Bartholomew ended his association with Kirkwall Town on a high as he clinched the club's third successive league title, again with a large comfort margin. Midfielder Anton Eadie hit more than thirty goals, but didn't threaten the 49 he got last season, and injuries broke up the seasons of almost every other player.
The Champions Leage campaign was a victim of those injuries as missing all 4 strikers in the first leg at home to Panathinaikos (a 3-2 win) and yet more players away (a 3-1 defeat) meant the run ended in the Second Round, the first knockout stage. It brings the curtain down on seven and a half successful years on Orkney for Bartholomew, who will retire from football altogether following this summer's Euro 2016 finals in Greece.
England v Switzerland, Group C, National Stadium of Kavala
A testing first match was made that much harder with seven of the 22 man squad injured in the week between naming them and the first match. Still a bunch of talent was left, and we took the field thus:
GK: Adu Sunday Barnes
DR: Glen Johnson
DL: Tony Hadley
DC: Steven Taylor (c)
DC: James McEveley
DMC: Jermaine Jenas
MC: Jay Bothroyd
MR: James Milner
ML: Joe Cole
FC: Mark Griffiths
FC: Jermain Defoe
The match itself was disappointing though as the Swiss failed to put up a fight. Bothroyd opened the scoring in the 14th minute and McEveley soon added a second on his way to the man of the match award. Mark Griffiths made it three completing a nine-minute triple salvo, and the game was won. The remaining 67 minutes were pretty dull.
Romania v England, Group C, Municipal Stadium of Trikala
Due to INSANITY goalkeeper Adu Sunday Barnes RETIRED after the Switzerland game, and with Chris Kirkland injured it was down to Simon Taylor to see out the tournament. He better not get hurt or die or something. Other than that we were unchanged, and scored early on through a Griffiths free kick, and eerily doubled our advantage soon after as McEveley headed home an identical goal to the one he got against the Swiss. Romania came roaring back into the game with a Gheorghe goal in the second half, but man of the match Griffiths ended the game in the 82nd minute when he rounded the keeper and made it 3-1, a score that remained until full time.
England v Italy, Group C, Apostolos Nikolaidis
With Jonathan Woodgate also RETIRING mid-group, we were forced to put two half-fit players on the bench, one of whom was Wayne Rooney. Fortunately though we were able to field an unchanged starting lineup. Italy were stunned as we maintained our trend of early goals, Bothroyd netting the earliest yet in the opening minute. He himself added a second after about half an hour, and Italy seemed beaten. Miccoli and Cassano were both inches away from reducing their arrears soon after however, and going in 2-0 up was a bonus. A Pirlo freekick grazed the woodwork in the second half, but we were in control by that stage, and Gasbarroni went close after that it was not to be for the Italians, who were pipped to second place by the Romanians.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pt </pre><pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1st Q England 3 3 0 0 8 1 +7 9 </pre><pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2nd Q Romania 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 3rd Italy 3 1 0 2 3 5 -2 3 4th Switzerland 3 0 1 2 3 8 -5 1 </pre>
England v Wales, Quarter Final, Toumba
With Hadley suspended and Griffiths injured we turned to veteran Gareth Barry and fit-again Wayne Rooney for the Quarter Final with Wales. Chris Kirkland was fit enough for the bench in an 'absolute emergency' capacity only, and we were fired up. Rooney almost handed us an early lead after he latched on to a poor back pass, but he fired over, and Jenas followed suit with a snapshot soon after. In the twentieth minute though Rooney found himself with space and time in the box and fired home. We were off and running now, and Cole teed up Defoe in stoppage time, but he couldn't hit the target. Failure to convert these chances and more in the second half made the closing minutes somewhat nervy, but thanks to a dominating midfield performance we escaped with little in the way of scares to a semi final clash with Norway.
England v Norway, Semi Final, Municipal Stadium of Trikala
With Johnson injured we were forced to shift Jenas to right back and bring in Rangers starlet Jim White to play the defensive holding role for the semi final, but we didn't seem the worse for it early on as Jay Bothroyd continued his great goalscoring run with a second minute strike. Before Norway had regained a foothold he douled the advantage, but it took a good save from Taylor, retaining his place despite Kirkland's return to fitness, to prevent the Norwegians pulling one back before the break. A penalty with twenty minutes to go though gave them an opportunity to stay alive in the tournament, and it was converted, leaving us hanging on for dear life where minutes earlier we'd been playing as if we had one foot in the final already. Now we had to focus, and focus we did, Wayne Rooney's 75th minute strike putting the match beyond the devastated players in red. England were going to the final.
Serbia & Montenegro v England, Final, Toumba
We were unchanged for the biggest game in the last fifty years of English football, and the prevailing opinion was that we would win and win well. The first sign that all would not go to plan was the lack of an early goal, so important in each of our earlier games. The second was that we didn't score in the first match at all, or indeed for much of the second half. With five minutes to go it was 0-0 when Jermain Defoe took posession through the middle. He was forced out wide, but squeezed off a floaty shot. Shockingly the keeper just stared at it and it clipped the inside of the far post and floated it. The Balkans tried in vain to retaliate, but time ran out on them, and England were champions of Europe. As I said to the Queen when I received my farcical, undeserved knighthood in the wake of the triumph, this had been a lucky win, completely out of keeping with the run to this stage. I went back to Scotland after the media's hate campaign had died down somewhat, but the Daily Record reading classes never let me live in peace, so I moved to South Africa where I lived out my days in peace and quiet.
The End
02-13-2004, 03:13 AM
More Old Firm Pish (Lisbon Lions, I guess) Post #67
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