Terk Posted October 20, 2007 Author Share Posted October 20, 2007 Yeah, well don't. I knew perfectly well your story was due to be unlocked, it was barely past ten in the morning when I did so. I don't need someone on my back about it. And cut out the text speak, there isn't a character limit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george94 Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Great story Terk KUTGW. Really enjoyable Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 cheers, george ------------------------------------------------ “You look like you enjoyed the sun.†“Two weeks on a beach with nothing to do. It’d have been better if you weren’t on the mobile every ten minutes, Freddie, but I’ll forgive you.†“â€You asked me to keep you informed.†“Where do we stand?†“James Milner’s gone to Wigan. Frank Hoffman’s gone to Unterhacinh, that brought us in half a million. Edgar Davids, Mario Melchiot and Steve Finnan have all left now their contracts have expired. And we’re talking to Real about Shaun.†“How much?†â€Twenty-two million.†“That’d be brilliant.†“You realise you’ll get lynched if we sell him? The fans love him.†“We need a clearout. How much do Chelsea get?†“Four and a half. So we’ll clear over seventeen, all of which you can spend.†“And sixty grand off the wage bill.†“It’s all down to you now, bring in who you want.†The meeting with chairman Freddie Shepherd had been something I wasn’t particularly looking forward to on my return from Bermuda, but with the wage bill now well under control, the disruptive elements of the squad all but gone and plenty of cash in my transfer kitty, I was ready to get on with moulding my new squad. With Shay Given nearing his last legs, I wanted some competition for his spot, and found it in the shape of Kasper Schmeichel at Manchester United. Clearly not as good as his father, the twenty-two year old Dane was brought in for just over half a million which looked like a hell of a good price for a Premiership quality ‘keeper. I didn’t feel my defence needed too much tinkering with, I was more concerned with the midfield and attack, though even I was a bit unsure about Derek Riordan. He cost just north of three million pounds and West Brom’s substitute bench but had been a regular and quality performer for Scotland and I was willing to take the risk. A deal for Canadian defensive midfielder Julian de Guzman to join from Deportivo at the beginning of August when his contract expired was quickly wrapped up, taking advantage of his Spanish passport, and my budget was spared again when we picked up Chris Burke for free after he was released by Rangers. Romeo Castelen would no doubt be my first choice right winger, but with Wright-Phillips gone, Chris would provide good solid backup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Terk, congratulations on your third FMSer of the Year at this year's FMS Awards 2007, and also on Best Story Character for Stephen Beckett - truly one of the brilliant tales and characters on the forum, this, and deserving of every honour, in my opinion. As I said in e-mail, this is one of the stories which really made me want to be affiliated with the forum, and inspired me to start on Blade. KUTGW, my friend! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 Thanks for the very high praise, Amaroq. Stephen is the first character I've invested real time and effort in on FMS, so it's nice to know that he's found an audience. And there's plenty more to come from him yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ “If we get to the final it’s five games before the league starts. I want to use them as pre-season. If we arrange friendlies as well, the boys’ll be knackered by October.†I really saw that as the only benefit of the Inter-Toto Cup, that it might provide us with slightly more competitive warm-up games for the league season. Obviously there was the holy grail of a UEFA Cup place, but that was less important to me than making sure the players were fit and ready for the Premiership campaign. We had been drawn against Hungarian side MTK for our entry into the competition, with a semi-final against either Dortmund or Real Sociedad waiting should we win through. I’d never been to Budapest, and had little chance to take in much of the city this time, but when István Balogh put the home side in front from the penalty spot on five minutes, I began wishing I’d stayed away from the ground and just done some sight-seeing. A few of the new lads were making their debuts as we went with a 4-5-1, and the most impressive of them was Magne Hoseth. Given a one year deal to prove he had come back well from his broken leg, the Norwegian quickly began to run the game for us, and though it was Steven Taylor who set up Shola Ameobi for the equaliser, Hoseth had a big part to play in the winner, his perfectly weighted corner finding Antonio Barragán free at the back post and the Spanish right back headed past Gábor Babos. There was a week between the two legs of the match, a week in which I let Joaquim take much of training as I took Hannah to Rennes to collect the last of my belongings. We stopped off quickly at the training ground to say a few final goodbyes, and it became clear that the new management thought little of some signings I had made for the club. Nicolas Puydebois had won the number one shirt back off Scott Carson whilst I appeared to be the only manager in world football who rated Lassana Diarra. I said my goodbyes, but I knew I’d made the right decision and I was happy to drive out of Rennes for the final time. The visit of MTK to St. James’ Park attracted over forty-thousand fans, a reminder if ever there was one that this city really was football-mad. Even for what was essentially a pre-season friendly, they would turn out in strong numbers. Romeo Castelen came in on the right wing for Wee Chris Burke, and the Dutchman immediately showed why he should be first choice on the right flank. Since his arrival at the club, he had failed to find the net, but in the first eleven minutes of this match, he’d bagged a hat-trick. The first two were scrambled efforts as the ball ping-ponged around the MTK penalty area whereas the third was a wonderful solo strike that would rightfully grace any goal of the season competition. But to me as much as anyone, Romeo Castelen had announced his intentions in undeniable style. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 “****. We’ll have to go to a back three then.†“You could play Stranzl there.†“No. We’ll go three five two. Just hope to buggery it works.†Our problems had been caused by the lack of a left back. Ernst was away with the German under nineteen side at the European Championships and Raul Bravo had limped out of Tuesday’s training session with a torn groin muscle. It would be a stretch to ask Micolae Mitea and Chris Burke to perform as wing-backs, but needs must. The wins over MTK had actually got me thinking about a place in the UEFA Cup, rather than just seeing the games as unimportant pre-season run-outs. Playing an unfamiliar formation against a strong Dortmund side, however, would put us right to the test. We began unsteadily, the lads were unsure of where they should be on the pitch, but defensively we held strong until everyone figured out what they were supposed to be doing. In the second half we were even the better team, Mitea patrolled up and down his flank causing problems for the Dortmund defence, but neither side could find a breakthrough, and we had to settle for a stalemate going into the second leg. Despite the relative success of the change in formation, and not falling to defeat could only be described that way after such makeshift preparations, I felt I had to bring in reinforcements. Ernst would be back from his Championship exertions soon, and in the scheme of things the four weeks Bravo would miss weren’t that much, but there was still money to spend and I resolved to use it on a short-term option at left back. Quickly my mind turned to Rennes, and more specifically, Swiss full back Alain Rochat. Rennes were asking only two million euros, and Alain was willing to sign a deal for only one year – and to accept that he would be far from first choice – and once the quick negotiations were completed, we got his registration through in time for him to travel with us to Germany. A tired René Ernst made the trip with us as well, after getting Germany to the final of the under nineteen championships in Spain, he was drafted straight into the starting line-up against Dortmund in our more familiar 4-5-1 with Rochat taking a place on the bench. We got off to a terrific start, Ernst playing Charisteas in for the Greek to fire past Charles Itandje. We continued to prove we were the better side throughout the first half, and on the cusp of the interval, doubled our lead when Ameobi flicked a ball on for Hoseth to strike into the roof of the net. We knew a third would kill the game off, and we always looked like getting it. By the seventy-ninth minute Dortmund could hold out no longer, and Castelen – enjoying far more his regular position further up the pitch – swung in a cross for Ameobi to bundle in at the back post. Job done and a place in the final beckoned. Only, swtiching off, even with a three goal lead, against a side as good as Dortmund is asking for trouble. With nine minutes left, Maris Verpakovskis drilled a shot past Shay Given from twenty yards, and two minutes later, Swedish frontman Marcus Rosenberg rose highest to head home a corner and pull them within one. They might have got it as well had it not been for Eric Wienke’s over exuberance. A cynical challenge on Mitea bought the German his second yellow card of the night and as he trudged off the pitch, so too did Dortmund’s chances of an incredible comeback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 July 2009 Results (All Inter-Toto Cup) MTK 1 – 2 Newcastle (Third round, 1st leg) (Balogh pen 5â€; Ameobi 12â€; Barragan 32â€) Newcastle 3 – 0 MTK (Third round, 2nd leg) (Castelen 2â€, 4â€, 11â€) Newcastle 0 – 0 Dortmund (Semi-final, 1st leg) Dortmund 2 – 3 Newcastle (Semi-final, 2nd leg) (Charisteas 8â€; Hoseth 45â€; Ameobi 79â€; Verpakovskis 81â€; Rosenberg 83â€; Wienke s/off 86â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Apologies for the lack of recent updates --------------------------------------------------------------------- The biggest adjustment that was needed to life in Newcastle was simply the fact of living with someone else once more. There was no doubt that I had felt lonely during my time in France, but at the same time I had become used to there being no one around when I got back from the club of an evening, there being no one to have to relay my day to. Complaining was the last thing on my mind, however. The excitement of a new relationship and the relief that we were finally back together left a pretty permanent smile on my face. Come the end of my working day I couldn’t wait to get back home, and I was in no rush for that feeling to end. -- “I still want a new striker, Freddie.†Talking to the chairman on the drive back from Blackburn, a game in which two of my strikers had helped us to a three goal win in the first leg of the inter-toto final, was perhaps not the best of times, but I felt it could wait no longer. “We brought in Riordan.†“I want to use him off the bench, as an attacking midfielder.†“Chopra and Shola scored tonight.†“But they’re not going to score against the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd. They’re not good enough to take us forward.†I hadn’t spoken to Freddie Shepherd between the Blackburn and Aston Villa matches. The chairman had let me get on with preparing the team for our league opener at St James’ Park. With Julian De Guzman and Jesus Navas ready to make their debuts a week after finally joining the club, we had six in the starting line-up who would be making their first league appearances in a Newcastle shirt. Whatever plans I had in place for the day were undermined, however, by a strikeforce who seemed intent on proving my theory that they needed replacing. Throughout the ninety minutes we carved out plenty of chances, Navas (before leaving the scene with a sore neck), Hoseth and Mitea were creating space and playing balls which any striker would love, but neither Ameobi nor Chopra could even find the target, let alone make Thomas Sørensen work for his money. So it was hardly surprising that Juan Pablo Angel netted the only goal of the game. The Colombian had been prolific for Villa in their previous campaign, and seemed determined to prove that it wasn’t a one-off. He stole in behind the defence and rolled a shot underneath the advancing Shay Given ten minutes after half-time and the crowd, just shy of fifty thousand, went home with a poorer opinion of me for it. I had been called into the chairman’s office in the aftermath of the game, once I’d spoken to the players and told them no to be too down on themselves, that it was only one game, I trudged upstairs, anticipating that I was about to face some unpleasant music. “We think we’ve solved your striker problem.†“That’s nice to hear.†“We’ve struck a deal with his club and he’s flying in to meet you this week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.†“Who?†“Samuel Eto’o.†Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george94 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Brilliant story Terk. Keep it up. I don't care that you haven't updated revently as long as you keep delivering the quality posts. KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 cheers, george ------------------------------------------- The deal to bring Eto’o in was touted in the media as £18,000,000, all Freddie would tell me was that they weren’t far wrong. Despite netting over a hundred goals for Barcelona, he had inexplicably been benched at the back end of the previous season, and that had led the Cameroonian to engineer a move away from the Nou Camp. Many would have expected him to join a bigger club than us, but evidently eighty thousand a week was enough to put any such thoughts out of his mind at least. My initial thought was to put him on the bench for the Saturday morning visit to Blackburn. I have to say though, I was influenced by the media and the fans, both had been baying for him to start since his arrival, and it wasn’t the worst idea they’d ever had. For once, the masses were right in their hysteria. Not only did Eto’o’s performance win him a man of the match award, he bagged a debut goal after just five minutes. Our second came from his work as well, a snap-shot parried by Weidenfeller into Chris Burke’s path and the Scot tapping in. Unfortunately, the half-time two goal lead wasn’t enough to claim victory. Paul Gallagher netted for the home side in the first sixty seconds of the second half whilst ex-Magpie Kieron Dyer volleyed in an equaliser just after the hour. Eto’o would have won us the match had it not been for a quite fantastic save Weidenfeller pulled out in the last seconds, but we had to settle merely for a point from our travels. Facing the same opposition four days later was never likely to produce the most exciting of games, but with our three goal lead from the first leg of the Inter-Toto final, I was confident Blackburn couldn’t overturn us. That confidence only grew when Ameobi gave us a third minute lead on the night, and long before full time our place in the UEFA Cup was secure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 28, 2007 Author Share Posted November 28, 2007 I slumped down into my armchair, grateful for its comfort after three hours spent on a cramped coach. It was a little after midnight, and though the journey back from Wigan had been an enjoyable one, the lads in high spirits after claiming a comfortable victory, all I had wanted to do was find a bed and get some sleep. I must have been drifting off as I hadn’t heard Hannah enter the room, but when I startled awake she was sitting on the arm of the chair, her hand on my shoulder as she looked down at me. There was a look, a mixture of confusion and happiness on her face and I was soon to find out why. “Stephen, I’m late.†“I know, it must be past one in the morning.†“Not it’s late, I’m late.†“For what?†She let out an audible sigh and gave a soft slap to the back of my head. “I haven’t had my……†Suddenly it dawned on me what she was trying to say and I was wide awake. “Have you taken a test?†“Not yet.†I raced out to the car and started the search for a twenty-four hour store. It didn’t take long, within half an hour I was back home and Hannah was doing the necessary. It seems cliché to say they were the longest three minutes I had experienced but they honestly were, starting at this little stick that seemingly held our future. I couldn’t figure out how I felt, what I wanted the test to show. The result began to show. It was positive and I couldn’t have been happier. -- The next few days passed in a blur. Hannah made an appointment with her doctor and had the test confirmed, she was indeed pregnant. We had been back together for little more than four months, but there wasn’t any doubt that we were together for good. I tried to focus on training and preparing the guys for the midweek game, but inevitably my mind wandered back to Hannah throughout the day. Had the fans known I was struggling to concentrate on the next game, however, I doubt they’d have understood. It was a North-East derby against Middlesbrough that faced us, and even though it was at St. James’ Park, I was hardly confident of success. Sammy Eto’o was making his third league appearance since joining the club, and after scoring against both Blackburn and Wigan there was something of an expectation amongst the fans that he would claim his first on home soil. He had already tested Sander Westerveld twice before he rose to those expectations, stealing the ball off ‘Boro left back Leo, racing in on goal and sliding his shot under the Dutch ‘keeper. Unfortunately our lead last only two minutes, Yakubu had battered us at the back end of last season and it was somewhat inevitable that he would claim ‘Boro’s equaliser. Neither side could find a winner despite plenty of opportunity in a very open game, and we had to settle for a point that kept us eleventh in the table. I hadn’t planned for any deadline day dealings in the transfer market, but my hand was forced when Aston Villa bid an astonishing £17,000,000 for Nicolae Mitea. The bid was far too good to turn down, it recouped almost all of the Eto’o cash, but left us one short on the left side of midfield. I quickly tried to think of players who may be available, and as at Rennes, I soon came across Kris Commons. Now fully recovered from the injury which scuppered his move to France, he was back in the ‘Boro side, but they were willing to part for just £4,000,000 and the 26 year old quickly became a hate-figure for their fans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted November 28, 2007 Author Share Posted November 28, 2007 August 2009 Results (Premiership unless otherwise stated) Blackburn 0 – 3 Newcastle (Inter-Toto Cup, Final, 1st leg) (Castelen 37â€; Mitea s/off 72â€; Chopra 84â€; Ameobi 90+3â€) Newcastle 0 – 1 Aston Villa (Angel 56â€) Blackburn 2 – 2 Newcastle (Eto’o 5â€; Burke 39â€; Gallagher 46â€; Dyer 65â€) Newcastle 1 – 0 Blackburn (Inter-Toto Cup, Final, 2nd leg) (Ameobi 3â€) Wigan 0 – 3 Newcastle (Eto’o 44â€; Kranjcar 61â€; Amoebi 90+1â€) Newcastle 1 – 1 Middlesbrough (Eto’o 26â€; Yakubu 28â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Nice one Terk, I'm sure Stephen will make a great dad well done on the results aswell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverand&Makers Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Great to see this one back. Great writing as ever . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flynner Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 great story...looking forward to the next instalment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 Cheers for the support, guys ------------------------------------------------------ There was a ten day break after the Middlesbrough match, a break in which I was pressed into as many fatherly duties as Hannah could think of. She said it was to prepare me for later on when she would be really dependent on me, though I guess I saw it as more of an excuse for her to have me running around, in some way proving my dedication to her. I was anxious to get back to the game and began furiously preparing for the visit of Manchester City. The newly crowned player of the month, Sammy Eto’o, was needed on international duty and Kris Commons sat on the bench. Neither of them, I suspected, would have made much difference as City just tore us limp from limb. How they remained goalless until ten minutes from time was beyond me, but late goals from Sol Campbell and Rufete gave the visitors exactly what they deserved. -- “I think we’ve got to change. We need to be more solid at the back. And Sammy’s used to a four five one.†I was feeling a bit of pressure, more from myself than anywhere else. I was concious of the repuation of Newcastle fans, and our inconsistent league form had me worried. I was determined to make sure that we didn’t suffer similar problems in the UEFA Cup, and the visit of Yverdon; a game I was convinced we would win without too much trouble, gave me the chance to experiment a little with a new formation. Joaquim agreed and we trained the boys for the 4-5-1. Eto’o was charged with charging about up front on his own, and it worked to perfection. The Cameroonian played Kranjcar in on just ten minutes, the Croatian midfielder sliding his shot inside the post. Eto’o was on the score sheet himself soon after, on the end of Carrick’s through ball to shoot passed Thomas Schnauwly. Our star striker earned his man of the match award with another assist, playing a square ball across the penalty box for Carrick, who put his boot firmly through the ball, thundering it into the back of the net. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 The drive was a long one but I felt like some time to myself. The players were making their way down by plane but I wanted a chance to test out my new Bentley whilst taking some time alone. The side picked to face Brighton contained a number of fringe players including eighteen year old debutant Graeme Milne, a Scottish centre back who was making his debut for the club. The match had been picked up by Sky as their live match of the round, but still nearly fifteen thousand people had packed themselves into Brighton’s new Falmer Stadium. Their players were clearly spurred on by the size of the crowd, and in the opening minutes they gave us more than a few things to think about. Gylfi Einarsson was the most troublesome, the former Leeds midfielder arriving late in the penalty area on eight minutes and steering a shot passed Kasper Schmeichel. Their lead lasted only ten minutes as we began to get to grips with what they had to offer, and Derek Riordan’s pass found Chris Burke with enough space to quickly shoot beyond Derek Stillie in the Brighton goal. I would normally have felt that was the signal for us to press on and throttle the life out of Brighton, but I was concerned about what they could do on the break, and so was happy to sit and wait for our second. It came just thirteen minutes from time, after Michael Carrick had been introduced from the bench. It was the former West Ham youngster who got us the goal, and then laid on the clincher for Charisteas just two minutes later. The drive back on Wednesday afternoon was a lot less pleasant as I just wanted to get home, and I left Thursday's training session to Joaquim with the excuse that I just needed some sleep after the seven hundred mile round trip. Our Premiership game against Everton had been moved to a Sunday afternoon slot, though not for live TV cameras, and it was a clash with mid-table anonymity already written all over it. Everton sat two places below us in thirteenth, but they were blown away in a performance that belied our distinct averageness. Sammy Eto’o was restored to the starting line-up, and his hero-status amongst the fans took a further boost with a first half hat-trick. Niko Kranjcar netted in between Eto’o’s first and second efforts, and Everton had no answer. We were a bit off the boil in the second half, as often happens in such situations, and Neil Mellor pulled one back for the blue half of Merseyside, but they were never going to find a way back into the match. I wasn’t going to drive all the way to Switzerland for the return leg against Yverdon in the UEFA Cup. I boarded the plane along with the players, a number of whom again were players struggling to get a regular game in the XI fielded in Premiership games. They were still good enough to put the Swiss away though, goals from Shola Ameobi and Raúl Bravo completing a five-nil aggregate win. By the time we got home the following afternoon, the draw had been made for the group stage of the competition. For some daft reason I had visions of taking us all the may, but we were given a difficult group to contend with, placed against Roma, Lille, MarÃtimo and Red Star. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie Flatline Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Keep up the good work, Terk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 Cheers, Dixie Good to see you back writing again ------------------------------------------------------------------- We barely had time to think in the final days of September, let alone put in any real quality time on the training pitch. Having arrived home from Switzerland on Friday afternoon, we were back on the plane twenty-four hours later, flying down to Southampton for our Sunday kick-off. You wouldn’t, however, have guessed there were any signs of tiredness after ninety breathless minutes at St. Mary’s. We felt by half time that we had the game wrapped up, any side with a three goal lead come the interval would do. We had scored twice early on, Niko Kranjcar striking beautifully from thirty yards before Eto’o came up with a candidate for goal of the season. Picking the ball up on the halfway line and dribbling round the Southampton defence, Eto’o then calmly slid his shot to the right of Antti Niemi and we were in cruise control. In the twentieth minute we extended our lead to three, Kranjcar playing in Navas who rounded Niemi and slotted home, though we were caught at the back when Dave Prutton raced in from the right and cut the gap back down to two. Luckily, not every side has a Samuel Eto’o, the sort of player against whom defenders have to be on their guard every second of the match. He proved that just before the break, peeling in behind the defence and lobbing Niemi to increase our comfort zone once more. Evidently they felt too comfortable, and Southampton fought back in the second half with the sort of spirit that is often referred to in the British game. Eight minutes after the restart, Leon Best strode through the centre of our defence and clipped his shot past Given; only six minutes later Shefki Kuqi rose unmarked at a corner and headed into the same corner. All of a sudden we were in a game again, but we held out to the end despite some moments as the game closed out that suggested we needed to brush up on the finer points of defending. The players were given Monday off before a light session on Tuesday morning. Again we had a long trip ahead of us, down to London to face Chelsea on Wednesday evening in a game that we were given no chance of winning. Graeme Milne had completed the details of his loan move to Rotherham in the short time we were back in Newcastle, I felt the youngster was at a stage where he needed game time, but not at a level where he could get it regularly in our side. The move to Rotherham for the remainder of the season seemed the best solution for all concerned. Chelsea were in danger of dropping off the pace in the Premiership race already, after just eight games they sat six points shy of London rivals Arsenal – with Liverpool separating them. A win against us was both needed and likely, as even with the magic of Eto’o we didn’t have enough to compete with their star-studded line-up. Alberto Gilardino gave them the lead on twenty minutes, and when Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty after the half hour, I was just looking to avoid a hiding. We gave ourselves brief hope of doing better when Eto’o headed in from Hoseth’s corner, but we never threatened an equaliser in the second half. With the international break meaning ten days before our next fixture, we had plenty of time to work on ironing out the inconsistencies which plagued us, but I knew and the fans knew that eleventh place was just not going to be good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Arsenal | | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 25 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Liverpool | | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Chelsea | | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Aston Villa | | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Man City | | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 16 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Tottenham | | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Charlton | | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Blackburn | | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Middlesbrough | | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 13 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Man Utd | | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 12 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Newcastle | | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Fulham | | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Portsmouth | | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 9 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Everton | | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 8 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Bolton | | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 7 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Ipswich | | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 7 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | West Ham | | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Sunderland | | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 22 | -15 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Southampton | | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 22 | -10 | 5 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Wigan | | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 18 | -16 | 1 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of the Stevenage Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 This story is brilliant! Even after my long hiatus from the Stories forum, you still are as good as usual! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 cheers, Queen Forgot to post the month;y round-up -------------------------------------------- September 2009 Results (Premiership unless otherwise stated) Newcastle 0 – 2 Man City (Campbell 80â€; Rufete 82â€) Newcastle 3 – 0 Yverdon (UEFA Cup 1st round, 1st leg) (Kranjcar 10â€; Eto’o 17â€; Carrick 34â€) Brighton 1 – 3 Newcastle (Carling Cup 2nd Round) (Einarsson 8â€; Burke 18â€; Carrick 77â€; Charisteas 79â€) Newcastle 4 – 1 Everton (Eto’o 18â€, 23â€, 37â€; Kranjcar 21â€; Mellor 73â€) Yverdon 0 – 2 Newcastle (UEFA Cup 1st round, 2nd leg) (Ameobi 21â€; Bravo 90â€) Southampton 3 – 4 Newcastle (Kranjcar 3â€; Eto’o 11â€, 41â€; Navas 20â€; Prutton 32â€; Best 53â€; Kuqi 59â€) Chelsea 2 – 1 Newcastle (Gilardino 20â€; C Ronaldo pen 33â€; Eto’o 43â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDave Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 This is excellent Terk, I do like stories that feel a genuine carrer, club-hopping and personal details, I read the Forest part a while back and finally caught up with this, thoroughly enjoying your writing. KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Cheers for the support, EvilDave. I'm awful for club-hopping in all my FM games - not just the ones that make it as stories. I like to think that it's just because I get bored of winning everything and need a change, but often it's just to avoid getting the sack -------------------------------------------------------------- “I’m going to quit work.†Out of the blue whilst we were eating dinner, Hannah had dropped quite a sizable bomb. “For how long?†“I don’t want the kid to be raised by a nanny. Your salary’s more than enough to raise a family on.†I knew how much Hannah’s career had meant to her when we had last been together, to have something which wasn’t defined by me. I couldn’t say I was disappointed. Stunned, perhaps, but not disappointed. “So, you’d just make sure that you don’t get sacked.†Ah, the twist of the knife. I knew it had to be somewhere. -- Hannah had been very serious. She’d already handed her notice in and was working out the final fortnight before she took to pregnancy as a full-time job. I had to prepare for the visit of Charlton to St. James’. I’d enjoyed a couple of days off during the international break whilst most of our players had been away, indeed Eto’o’s trip with Cameroon was such that he was not back in time to face the London visitors. We could have done with him as well. Only a late goal from Romeo Castelen spared us from defeat. We had looked likely to be beaten since before Johan Ansalonsen gave Charlton the lead with half-time approaching, it was certainly a lethargic performance from us, but at least we managed a point on the board. Sammy was back, fit and ready, for the UEFA Cup visit of Lille to St. James’ Park. The crowd were obviously well up for the return of European football to the city, over fifty-two thousand packed themselves into the black and white seats around the ground. I felt the competition was something we could take a realistic crack at, and something that might take the fans’ minds briefly off our domestic inconsistency, and so we were full strength against the visiting French side. Lille’s plans were hurt when, after a quiet opening period with both teams trying to figure the other out, their best player of the evening, Peter Odemwingie, hobbled off the pitch with what looked like a knee injury. Whilst they were reshuffling the pack, everyone making sure they knew what to do with slight changes in position, we pounced to take the lead. Navas played a superb ball in between centre back and right back and Eto’o proved his finishing ability, not needing to take a touch before ripping his shot past Kévin Dembelé. We went into the second half with the lead still in our pocket, and with Lille not looking particularly likely to do anything about it. We made sure during the last half hour; Navas again showing his creative abilities to set up Hoseth with a wonderful cross, and then with just ten minutes left playing in substitute Charisteas to round the match off with a well-taken effort. With Roma falling to a surprise defeat at Red Star, thanks largely to Totti’s second half red card, we were sitting pretty atop the group after the first round of games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 oh, and a \o/\o/\o/\o/\o/ for 5 pages ------------------------------------------------------------ “No, I think we still need to shore up defensively. We’re prone to making stupid mistakes at the back and I don’t see the players we have getting any better.†Whilst Freddie Shepherd was more than willing to back me in the transfer market, he did need hand-holding at times through decisions. I had asked for cash to arrange transfers for the beginning of the transfer window in January, and had had to take him step by step through why I thought our defence needed strengthening. In the end I just showed him the second half of the Southampton match. The two players I wanted to bring in were Scottish international centre back Patrick Scullion from Celtic – a player who would cost us just shy of £5,000,000 – and Lassana Diarra. I’d actually lost count of how many times I’d signed the Frenchman now; perhaps I was the only manager who rated him, given that Rennes were willing to part for just £1,300,000. Both deals were complete by the time we welcomed Liverpool for our tie in the third round of the league cup. The smaller of the two domestic cups was another I had targeted for success, at a club as starved of silverware as Newcastle, any sort of trophy would make me a hero. Both sides had obviously had similar thoughts as both fielded starting XIs that were as near to full strength as could be mustered. We were only missing Navas – who had picked up a slight toe injury in training – and was replaced by Kris Commons. The match had been picked up for live TV coverage, but that didn’t diminish the packed crowd, and they were given something early to shout about when Commons’ corner was headed home by Eto’o. We weren’t ahead for long, Carlos Diogo was allowed to run more than forty yards with the ball and strike his shot low past Kasper Schmeichel with barely a challenge being put in. Luckily he was booked for his celebration, a fact that would come back to haunt him early in the second half when a robust challenge on Magne Hoseth bought him a second card and an early bath. By that time we had our second goal – a goal that would prove to be the winner – and it was none other than Eto’o who bagged it. Michael Carrick had found the Cameroonian striker thirty yards from goal and after one touch to create space for himself, he buried a searing shot beyond Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal on the stroke of halftime. The win was greeted noisily by the fans, a win over Liverpool wasn’t easy to come by, and when the fourth round draw paired us with Middlesbrough at St. James’, we were looking at going into the latter stages of the tournament. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie Flatline Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Big milestone, Terk! Does Diarra rate you as amongst his favourite personnel, given the number of times you've signed and played him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 cheers, Dixie. I'm sure I must be Diarra's favourite person! I've no idea why no one else rates him, but every time I leave somewhere he ends up on the transfer list. He's always played very well for me though. Let's hope he can again. --------------------------------------------------------------- I thought it was worth it. It’s not every day you beat Liverpool – even if it was only the league cup – and on the way home after the match I stopped and picked up a couple of beers. I knew I shouldn’t, I’d promised myself I wouldn’t, but telling myself I was toasting to my unborn child made it seem a lot less of a problem. To be honest I didn’t see it as much of a problem anyway, it was only two beers and I had no desire for any more after that. I was just a normal guy celebrating some success. The players were given Wednesday morning off, though a session was planned for the afternoon as we had to prepare ourselves for the visit of West Ham at the weekend. With only two wins in our last five league games I felt that a win was vital if we weren’t to begin a fall even further down the table. We began the game well with Jesus Navas a constant thorn in the Londoners’ side, but it was Niko Kranjcar who set up what proved to be the only goal of the match. The Croatian midfielder had been one of our best players in the season so far, and his corner was fizzed into the back post when Raúl Bravo side-footed home. The mid-week saw us without a game, but with decided interest in those being played. Lille hosted Red Star in our group of the UEFA Cup and claimed a three goal win whilst Roma crushed MarÃtimo by five at the Stadio Olimpico, showing us just what we’d be up against when we faced them. With our next two games in the Premiership coming against Ipswich and Bolton, we had the chance to get on a bit of a run before we faced Man Utd and Arsenal in successive league games. I wanted to throw large and heavy object at my defence on six minutes when they let Manu stroll through to put the hosts ahead, but I had reckoned without Samuel Eto’o. Sammy had already netted thirteen times for us since his move from Barcelona, but by full time at Portman Road he’d increased that tally to an incredible eighteen. He seemed to have a wonderful understanding with Magne Hoseth who set him up three times in the match, and with Navas netting when Paul Smith actually managed to parry one Eto’o shot, we were five-one up by half time. Two minutes after half time Eto’o had his fifth of the day, Navas’ through ball playing the Cameroonian in, and sixty seconds later the scoring was rounded off, Hoseth heading in Navas’ corner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 October 2009 Results (Premiership unless otherwise stated) Newcastle 1 – 1 Charlton (Absalonsen 49â€; Castelen 81â€) Newcastle 3 – 0 Lille (UEFA Cup Group A) (Eto’o 26â€; Hoseth 68â€; Charisteas 80â€) Newcastle 2 – 1 Liverpool (League Cup 3rd Round) (Eto’o 10â€, 45â€; Carlos Diogo 16â€, s/off 56â€) Newcastle 1 – 0 West Ham (Bravo 23â€) Ipswich 1 – 7 Newcastle (Manu 6â€; Eto’o 18â€, 26â€, 29â€, 45â€, 47â€; Navas 25â€; Hoseth 48â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 I wasn’t surprised when Stephen McPhee returned from loan that he came into the office and let me know he was going to leave the club at the end of his contract in the summer. I was happy for him that he’d made the choice himself, as he wouldn’t have been offered a new deal anyway. His record of three goals in fifteen games during the three months he spent at Coventry was hardly sparkling and it would be better for him to get football elsewhere. My desire to put everything into the League Cup was growing in line with our continuing inconsistency in the Premiership. Silverware was more and more important with each passing year at St James’ Park, and the chance to knock out Middlesbrough on the way just added to the enjoyment. I still decided to rest a few players, they would come back out in the later stages, but they XI that went out did us proud. Scott Parker netted after a forty yard solo run and Angelos Charisteas made it safe with a pin-point header from Carrick’s cross. The draw for the quarter finals was eagerly anticipated as none of the ‘big four’ clubs had made it through to the last eight. Tottenham drew Bolton in the first match out of the hat, and in the second we were given a tough assignment, an away trip to Aston Villa. The third tie saw Southampton facing Ipswich whilst Blackburn were drawn in a home match against Bristol City. Each time we took to the field I felt it was the day we would get ourselves on track in the league, and having won our last two games, a win over Bolton at St James’ Park could bounce us into a battle for the European places. Scotty Parker had been outstanding against Middlesbrough and was rewarded with a start. He paid me back in just three minutes, stealing the ball off Kevin Nolan and driving in a low, twenty-five yard shot. By the time Bolton knew what had hit them, such was the electric pace with which we had started the match, we were two goals to the good. Evidently Sammy Eto’o wasn’t happy to simply bask in his five-goal Ipswich glory, and when he intercepted Jussi Jääskeläinen’s goal kick, he bore down on the ‘keeper and curled a shot round him into the net. We knew we had done enough in that early period to secure the win, and didn’t try too hard for a third, though one popped us six minutes from time, Henrik Pedersen deflecting Parker’s off-target shot into his own net. Having beaten Lille in our UEFA Cup opener, a win over Red Star in Belgrade would all but put us into the post-Christmas rounds with only two games played. We were at full strength for the trip, but I had the feeling we could play with eight men and Eto’o would still score. The price we paid for the Cameroonian was beginning to look like the steal of the century, his twentieth goal of the season coming after a wonderful solo run. Red Star pulled level through Bojan Jelisavac before Eto’o netted number twenty-one for the season, a header from a wonderful Navas cross, and it was the Spaniard who grabbed the clincher in the second half, linking up again with Eto’o. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 If we could beat them, I knew they were having a season poorer than ours given their highest of standards, but a win against Man Utd at Old Trafford would ease any sort of pressure that I was under. Of course, nothing is ever that simple. Debutant left back Gary Graham arrowed a shot past Given in just the fourth minute, and we were two down in twelve minutes when Alan Smith bundled home a scrappy effort. We pulled one back quickly, Commons’ corner headed in by Eto’o, but we never looked close to an equaliser and, given how tired we looked, it could easily have been six or seven to United. The win over MarÃtimo which clinched the group win for us in the UEFA Cup was pretty regulation, goals from Raúl Bravo (from the penalty spot) and Navas put us in control and Lille’s win over Roma at the same time was more than welcome. I’d left Sammy and a couple of others out of the MarÃtimo game to ensure that they were fit and ready for the visit of Arsenal to St James’ in the final league game of the month. The few thousand traveling Arsenal fans had plenty of fun with their songs at my expense throughout the afternoon, and their enjoyment was only added to be what was on the pitch. Jermain Defoe had given them an early lead which Kevin Kuranyi doubled. Like against United, we showed little that spoke of us getting back in the game, though we did halve the gap late on when Carrick reacted quickly to Eto’o’s parried shot, but it was never going to amount to anything more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 November 2009 Results (Premiership unless otherwise stated) Newcastle 2 – 0 Middlesbrough (League Cup 4th Round) (Parker 12â€; Charisteas 84â€) Newcastle 3 – 0 Bolton (Parker “; Eto’o 9â€; Pedersen (OG) 84â€) Red Star 1 – 3 Newcastle (UEFA Cup Group A) (Eto’o 15â€, 45+3â€; Jelisavac 27; Navas 52â€) Manchester United 2 – 1 Newcastle (Graham 4â€; Smith 12â€; Eto’o 14â€) Newcastle 2 – 1 MarÃtimo (UEFA Cup Group A) (Raúl Bravo pen 7â€; Navas 75â€; Bruno Silva pen 85) Newcastle 1 – 2 Arsenal (Defoe 10â€; Kuranyi 22â€; Carrick 82â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Arsenal | | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 39 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Chelsea | | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 5 | +22 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Liverpool | | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 37 | 16 | +21 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Aston Villa | | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Middlesbrough | | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 26 | 11 | +15 | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Man City | | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 27 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Charlton | | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Newcastle | | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 18 | +11 | 21 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Man Utd | | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 21 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Portsmouth | | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bolton | | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 21 | -5 | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Blackburn | | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Tottenham | | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Fulham | | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Everton | | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Sunderland | | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 30 | -16 | 16 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Ipswich | | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 40 | -23 | 10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | West Ham | | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 32 | -15 | 9 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Southampton | | 15 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 36 | -19 | 8 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Wigan | | 16 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 31 | -26 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 “I know this club wants excitement. I know the fans want to be entertained and I think this season we’ve been playing much more of an attacking brand of football. I’d like to couple that with winning some more games, though. I want silverware and that starts with tomorrow’s game.†A quarter final in the League Cup may not sound much to most, but to a club who haven’t won a trophy in some forty years, it becomes a big matter. The trip to face Aston Villa was going to be a tricky one, and that was proven when we went into the break a goal down. We had taken the lead thanks to Kris Commons, but Villa replied through Joleon Lescott and quickly followed it up with a belter from Steven Davis. There was no need to read the riot act at half time, the players were well aware of what was needed to improve there performance. Stopping giving the ball away to Villa players was half the battle. We began to control the game forced ourselves level just after the hour, Eto’o heading home from Navas’ cross. The game looked to be heading towards extra time, but two goals in sixty second prevented that, Castelen and Hoseth sending us into a semi final against Southampton. Eto’o had picked up a knock late on in the Villa game, a heavy challenge left him with some bruising on his ribs that meant he could only take a place on the bench for the trip to Liverpool. Shola Ameobi took his place in the line-up, but it was our Norwegian midfielder, Magne Hoseth, who stole the show. After Esteban Cambiasso had given the hosts the lead and Marchena had doubled it, Hoseth struck twice before half time to bring us level. A third from the player picked up for free put us in front and Castelen’s rifled volley saw us all but home. Liverpool rallied and Steven Gerrard pulled one back, but we held on for a stunning victory – in yet another seven-goal thriller between the two clubs. I hadn't bothered too much with the visit to Roma to be honest. We had already won the group and we had other priorities. Bravo and Parker had got us off to a good start, but a double from Mancini after Totti had got them back in the game proved too much for us. Sammy still wasn’t fit enough to start by the time Sunderland rolled into town, and he took his place on the bench alongside Navas and Taylor, both rested ahead of the hectic Christmas period. In hindsight I would have fielded a stronger team, it was only when Navas came on late in the second half that we looked like pulling back Jon Stead’s early opener. Indeed it was the Spanish midfielder who provided the assist for the goal, rolling a ball across the six yard box for Scott Parker to tap home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 “**** that ****. I’m going to have a heart attack.†Eight goals and three points, going behind early on and then twice losing a lead we had fought hard for. I honestly thought this team would be the end of me. Fulham had put up a great fight, Maxi Rodriguez gave them a lead after eleven minutes, but we came into the game as Carrick netted twice, putting us in front at half time. I threatened to walk out a minute into the second half when Matthias Kruse pulled the hosts level again, but I was calmed when their best player on the day, Paco Peña, was carried off injured. Sammy Eto’o and Diego Milito swapped goals to leave us tied at three-three, but Eto’o struck again with only seven minutes left. I was fearful that we’d let the lead slip once more, but Navas ensured that wouldn’t happen when he reacted first to Eto’o’s parried shot and put us two clear. After the chaos of Craven Cottage the relative calm of a 3-1 win over Aston Villa was more than welcome. Chris Burke thumped in a double and Charisteas wrapped it up but the most important part was the win moving us up to fifth in the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 “Raúl’s not happy.†“I thought he was a Real Madrid lad?†“I don’t think anyone would be happy if you rejected a bid for them from Barcelona.†“Well we can’t afford to let him go, he’ll just have to sulk.†With Alain Rochat picking up small injuries all the time, I couldn’t even countenance letting Raúl Bravo leave for Barcelona, and especially not for the paltry £2,700,000 they had offered. I didn’t want to be left with just one left back who missed three games for every one he played. Raúl seemed to be over his tantrum by the time we visited Tottenham, our third road match on the run. At the very least he was determined to play well enough for Barca to return with an improved bid, but whatever the motivation it was benefiting us. Sammy Eto’o netted a first half hat-trick to leave the London club reeling, and though Ian Westlake pulled one back, it was never going to be more than that. Niko Kranjcar made absolutely sure with thirteen minutes left when he was played clear of the defence by Bravo. The free scoring had to stop at some point. Thirty-seven goals had been scored in the seven games we had played in December, but our Boxing Day affair against Blackburn was the dam to that flow. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, we managed seventeen shots in the game, eleven of them on target by Roman Weidenfeller was in world class form for the visitors, the German ‘keeper battering away anything that came his way. Our final match of a hectic month saw us travel the short distance to the Riverside to face Middlesbrough and for the second game running we failed to score. This time it was our own inadequacy that was the cause, and this time our opponents didn’t suffer the same. Aranda put the hosts ahead in the first half and Yakubu ensured their victory in the second. Still, we went into the New Year sitting in fifth place and with my greedy eyes locked on a Champions League spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 December 2009 Results (Premiership unless otherwise stated) Aston Villa 2 – 4 Newcastle (League Cup Quarter Final) (Commons 10â€; Lescott 32â€; Davis 38â€; Eto’o 61â€; Castelen 87â€; Hoseth 88â€) Liverpool 3 – 4 Newcastle (Cambiasso 1â€; Marchena 9â€; Hoseth 17â€, 45â€, 65â€; Castelen 76â€; Gerrard 89â€) Roma 3 – 2 Newcastle (UEFA Cup Group A) (Bravo 3â€; Parker 16â€; Totti 20â€; Mancini 26â€, 44â€) Newcastle 1 – 1 Sunderland (Stead 18â€; Parker 78â€) Fulham 3 – 5 Newcastle (Rodriguez 11â€; Carrick 26â€, 31â€; Kruse 46â€; Eto’o 64â€, 83â€; Milito 76â€; Navas 86â€) Aston Villa 1 – 3 Newcastle (Burke 33â€, 36â€; Angel 58â€; Charisteas 74â€) Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 4 Newcastle (Eto’o 2â€, 26â€, 36â€; Westlake 62â€; Kranjcar 77â€) Newcastle 0 – 0 Blackburn Middlesbrough 2 – 0 Newcastle (Aranda 38â€; Yakubu 59â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 “Well he’s hardly done a great job at Forest, has he? I’m not surprised.†“No, he’s not been sacked. He got another job. Bastia.†I had been slightly worried for Nottingham Forest’s fortunes when they had appointed Glenn Hoddle, but the news that French outfit Bastia had poached was good news for everyone at the City Ground. Down in sixteenth in the Championship, they had fallen far from the promise they had shown when I left. I had more important things to worry about, however. With the traditional New Year’s Day games forgone due to the even more traditional FA Cup third round on the first Saturday of the year – which in 2010 happened to be just the second day of the month, we had Luton to entertain at St James’. Lassana Diarra and Patrick Scullion had completed their moves to the club twenty-four hours previously and were both included in the starting line up for the game against a side mired in the mid-table of League One. For much of the first half the underdogs put up a great fight and were worthy of their place on the pitch alongside us, but a minute into injury time, David Deeney’s challenge on Michael Carrick resulted in the ball shooting past Paul Gallacher in the Luton goal and giving us the lead; the effort credited to the visitor’s unlucky centre back. Luton heads had dropped during the interval, they always were going to given the timing of the goal, and it was our job to make sure they paid for it. Seven minutes after the restart we had the second goal we craved, again Carrick was involved, his cross volleyed home at the back post by on-form Dutchman Romeo Castelen. The two combined again late on in the match, this time Castelen crossing for Carrick, for a third goal which perhaps rubbed undeserved salt into Luton’s wound but nevertheless booked us a place in the fourth round. -- “Stephen, Mr Shepherd wants to see you in his office.†I had planned on spending the evening after the Luton game quietly in the office catching up on a few pieces of paperwork that had been waiting for me long past their deadlines. I was sure that Freddy just wanted to congratulate me on a job well done, but to be honest I couldn’t be bothered with it. “Can you just tell him I’m busy. I’ll be along when I can.†Evidently this didn’t sit well with the chairman. Ten minutes after my secretary sent along the message, my office door banged open and Freddie invited himself in. “Stephen, there’s someone in my office who wants to talk to you. And trust me, you want to talk to him.†Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Author's Note: And here endeth part two. I’m sure most of you can guess who is waiting for Stephen and what happens, but I hope you’ll join me in the third and final part of his tale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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