retired_crazybonejr

Season 09/10


Stadium increased 2nd yr in a row (without asking this time) to hold just over 7500, but no new seats.

The board now expects a mid-table finish, the supporters want Europe.

Got my first approach for a job, from Charlton who, since being relegated in 03/04 from the EPL have struggled in the 1st Div, their highest finish being 12th in their first season after relegation. The lure of European football, however, is just too strong, and I'm sticking with the Blue Toon. The next day, Coventry offered, again sitting in the 1st Division, so I graciously declined. Maybe it is realistic enough with these job offers.

Skybet raised our odds from 50-1 the year before, to 33-1. Still far off the top few, with Celtic, Rangers, Dundee Utd, Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs all getting better odds. No respect, I get no respect.

So, it's November 1, 2009. We're sitting okay, in 5th in the SPL, and atop our Champions League group (didn't even have to go through qualifying stages, that's how much our
coefficient has gone up in Scotland!) when I figure, hey, if they want success, I'm going to need a deeper squad of higher calibre players. So away I go to ask for more transfer funds. With Peterhead now having about £13M in the bank, I figured they'd be able to afford an extra mil or two. Of course, tight assed as boards are, no was my reply. I figured, enough is enough. I've been here for six seasons, I'm going to hit the dreaded ultimatum button. I say dreaded for a reason, as I was subsequently sacked. The supporters sided with me, if that's any consolation.

A week later, I was replaced by a famous former Ranger and Dutch international, identifyable by the same name as our beloved leader, who also has a twin brother.

Anyway, I'll continue on once I find a new job! This is new territory for me, I've never actually lost a job, just moved from job to job.

retired_crazybonejr

That was quick.

December 15, after a holiday and numerous applications, so it seems, Pescara, 16th in Serie C1/A call upon Canadian Guinness79 to stave off relegation. The supporters are pleased at my appointment, which is nice to see. Big wage bill though, we'll see how this turns out. Rest to come at season's end!

retired_amberger

Was just going to say "stick at it with Peterhead"...bit late for that now.

GL in Italy, cracking thread.

creative36

Bad luck with the board.
Hopefully your new club's isn't as bad.

retired_crazybonejr

Yeah, I was really enjoying it in Peterhead, and every month it was the board saying they were "thrilled with the level of commitment I continued to show the club." I guess the only commitment they wanted was for someone to have the puppet strings attached, so they could be played from above.

I did forget to say that my Champions League debut with Peterhead, at Roma, ended up me running out 2-1 winners. Sociedad and FC Copenhagen rounded out my group. Oh well!

I'm not counting on the boards in Italy being more lenient than my previous Scottish employers, either.

retired_nick88

From my experience of the boards in Italy I wouldn't expect those consecutive stadium upgrades you got in Scotland!!

Back luck about the sack but Italy will be much more fun.

retired_crazybonejr

So, as previously mentioned, this Canuck heads off to Pescara.

Oddly, they had just recorded their first win and were on a four match unbeaten streak when they sacked their previous manager. 1-6-7 was the record, good for 16th in the Serie C1/A. My arrival saw them go 11-3-5 the rest of the way, climbing to 7th on the final day of the season, the highest position they had been in this campaign. Pretty good, especially when this team seemed to be about as fit as an armchair quarterback, and we had injuries out the wazoo. Lucky, I've got depth at DL and up front. An injury in central midfield would have spelled disaster, though.

The wage bill is very high, but the culprits, three of whom are in their mid-30s, all have their contracts expire in June, so I'll just let them all move on. I stuck with youth for the most part, anyway. Only 2 players over the age of 23 figured regularly after I took charge, 1 of those being a player I brought in to be a short term strike partner for my star 19 year old. I could see him getting called up for a national team spot at some point in his career.

Anyway, I think I could start to make some noise and return Pescara to Serie B. I've got 2 excellent 19 year old GKs kept the goals against per game below 1, and they'll likely follow the same path as a fine wine.

Well, see you back in 2011, unless the season doesn't quite turn out according to plan!

retired_crazybonejr

Well, emulation this was not...

Season 10/11

After failing to acquire a single off season addition despite many reasonable bids, I was still fairly confident that we could compete for at least a mid-table position.

How wrong was I? Well, maybe they still can, but it'll be without me. Three losses in four had the board go from satisfied to unhappy. The next match would seal my fate, so the press said. I guess my players wanted my departure, as an uninspired 4-0 reversal was how things went, as did I.

Back to the unemployment line.

retired_crazybonejr

Hah, very next day Rotherham offer me their vacant position. Lying 23rd in the 2nd Division. Looks like I'm off to Poofland!

retired_crazybonejr

Well, after a lot of busy days, I finally had the chance to complete the rest of the season at Rotherham.

Having a record of 1-5-7 for 8 points when I arrived, things weren't looking up, though we still weren't that far behind the few teams hanging out just above the drop zone. One thing I did notice, though, was the excellent goals against record that we had, barely more than one per match.

The league form didn't improve much after my arrival, scoring just two goals in our first five, only taking two points from those matches. We had wins here and there, but there were certainly no runs. Finally in early February we strung two wins together in a row, both against teams we needed to overtake to exit the drop zone. As a matter of fact, that was the catalyst that saved our season, going 11 matches unbeaten before finally losing a heartbreaker at Barnsley. That match, however, seemed to really fire us up, and we didn't concede a goal for the remaining five matches, rattling off five straight wins which saw us end up in 9th.

The main reason for our turn around was the fact I brought in no less than four former Peterhead players, all of whom weren't seeing action under the new German manager. The strike force, which included three time Scottish top goal scorer, started finishing those chances in front of goal which were the problem when I took over.

Our cup form was somewhat more remarkable, especially considering the lack of depth in the reserves who I fielded for the Vans Trophy matches. Unfortunately we had been eliminated from the League Cup before my arrival. We were eliminated by a superkeeper at home to Halifax in the North Semi Final. And Man Utd saw us off 2-1 in the FA Cup 5th round with 2 cracking long range strikes, though we weren't lucky enough to be drawn at Old Trafford so the big payday just wasn't there.

Again, I have reason for optimism as the side finished with the best goals against record in the division, and the sudden goal scoring ability (granted it wasn't developed but bought) could see Rotherham make a run. Or it could all blow up in my face like it did in Italy...

I'll keep you posted!