Monday, May 24, 2004
Chapter 5 - Dizzying Heights
After 2 draws, the first at home to Dundee and the second at home to Rangers, we were 2nd in the table 2 points off Rangers. I dispatched my 2 scouts to find me some young prospects as I wanted to rebuild the current Youth System which lacks any good players. I found a few and decided to sign them, the transfers will all have to go through in the 1st of January however as the transfer windows was closed.
We were drawn 2nd Division Stranraer in the Scottish League Cup, who have had a poor start to the season, so of course we are quite confident of a win. The next league game however is against the mighty Celtic who despite their poor start are climbing up the table and will soon be top of the league if we don't stop them.
I played the strongest lineup and it showed, when Simen Brenne scored on the 9th minute. Celtic soon retaliated with 2 quick goals to make it 2-1 up for the home side. After a barrage of attacks from Celtic they scored again on the 44th minute thanks to Henrik Larrson. Things were looking grim for Clyde, and we could only put up a brave effort to the end of the game. A grueling second half with Celtic continiously attacking and Larrson breaking through again to make it 4-1. Another goal from Shota Arveladze put the nail in the coffin. The game was a terrible mood-killer for an excited Clyde side optimistic of a great season.
Not meaning to sound negative, however the show of quality that Celtic put out today showed how we weren't yet ready for Europe and that it will take a couple of seasons for that to change. The morale at the training ground wasn't as cheerful and happy as it used to be, and I had to get used to this if we are to become a great side.
Still waiting for any plans to improve club facilities, I started to feel pessimistic about this club's actual chances of ever making it in Europe.
A home game against Dunfermline was just what we needed to boost morale and player confidence. I replaced Pedersen with young Italian Centre-Back Paolo Seppani. Pedersen had failed to impress this season and at the highest level I can't afford to let players underachieve.
A dynamic start from Simen Brenne who scores his 3rd goal in 3 games. Constant pressure like exerted by Celtic against us gave us 4 goals in 18 minutes, making the final score 5-0. A great defensive display from Clyde with precision counter-attacks. The goalscorers were Simen Brenne x2, Oskarsson and Kristjansson x2. A great result following the harsh defeat from Celtic which will boost morale. Clyde are now 3rd in the table, 5 points from the top position.
I received a fax with some stats for this season, the average attendance so far was 7692 compared to last season's measly 2958.
After that 5-0 whooping, club pride was restored and the players were happy again, looking forward to the Challenge Cup game against Stranraer.
More young players were being signed weekly, each costing roughly 5k each I thought them as good investments for the future. The unknowns were more than happy to be offered Reserve spots in the team as I didn't want to add a bunch of unknown youngsters into my well established team.
Financially, the club was going along steady, now the season is well and truly started income is somewhat lower than at the start where players were purchasing season tickets and the club receiving sponsor money. However we still have a good 850k for the board to invest in the club, when they choose to.
I had no easy ways to make some good cash, which is why Im signing all the young players, to hopefully sell them on when their true potential is uncovered by our world-class coaching staff.
The first cup game of the season begins with a goal by Oskarsson, after a whole game of constant Clyde attacking play, Brenne grabs a late goal to make the final result 2-0. Clyde progress to the next round and can now focus on the league games coming up ahead.
Grondin suffers a groin strain, meaning we will have to use last season's number 1 goalkeeper, Bryn Halliwell. The youngster performed well last season but let us down when the going got tough, I chose to play Grondin this season due to some impressive performances in the pre-season tournament. Grondin being only 16 has a bright future ahead of him, and Clyde will develop him into an amazing keeper.
The next game, an away trip to Livingston will be another easy win, hopefully for the players who faced a poor start.
Meanwhile, the first of the month means Awards are given out, and unsurprisingly, Kristjansson wins Player of the Month, scoring 11 goals in 7 games.
The Scottish League Cup 3rd Round Draw was also hosted and we drew an away trip to Hearts, who we beat in a 4-3 thriller at the start of the season.
Confidently walking into a Livingstone game that we should have won, and with 2 goals from Kristjansonn in the 25th and 38th minute you'd think we would have the game under control. Wrong. Livingstone managed to score 3 goals before half time, including a penalty. Scoring another 2 in the second half producing another big defeat for Clyde, which will be a big knock down for morale.
Next to face the ambitious Clyde is Motherwell, in an away match that Clyde need to win to restore pride and climb back up the table. We played a flat, attacking 4-4-2 with Songo'o starting at centre-midfield due to being back from injury.
After the 90 minutes we were disappointed not to share the points, losing 2-1 in a well fought battle. Man of the Match going to Clyde's goalscorer, Oskarsson proves we had the better players on the day.
I had some hope of a European position at the start of the season but this rough patch doesn't seem to be going away and maybe I should start planning for Division 1. My negativity grows as you can read and this season keeps getting worse, the chairman still hasn't acted in terms of improving facilities and the little money we had is starting to be drained by ground maintanance, wages and other expeditures. The club makes little income and by the end of the season the 900k will be all gone.
With 2 weeks until the home game against Kilmarnock, I decided to pick a different lineup, with Seppani and Niedermeier being replaced for Pedersen and Doyle. Paul Doyle had a good season last year and deserves a tryout at top level. This season's current partnership has been slightly disappointing with most of the goals conceded being due to defensive mistakes.
Hopefully this will resolve our problem and we can start playing some good football.
During the week, I receive a fax from Porhallsson's agent saying he has been requested to find the player a more suitable club, the news shocked me at first as he seemed a very established player, however I didn't want that kind of attitude in my team so I removed him from my first team lineup.
Confused of who to pick and where to put them, I arranged a lunch with the coaching staff, to discuss the clubs players. The lunch was very interesting and I learned a lot about my players, now being able to pick a squad with the right players I was confident of some success to come our way.
The lineup was torn apart and I repicked the players:
Halliwell - Still a key member of the club, the coaches preferred him to Grondin and stated we should keep him as our number 1 for the time being.
Shand - The young full back had a great season last year and the coaches all rated him, silly of me not to start him this season but he will now have his chance to shine.
Carbon - A solid performer, 28 years of age gives him a lot of experience compared to the rest of the team.
Pedersen & Robb - The two will feature as the centre-back pairing of choice. The coaches rate Pedersen very highly which I wasn't aware of. Robb is also a great player which deserves first team play in order to develop.
Oskarsson - Will try him on the right flank, after a great season upfront I noticed he likes to play down the right.
Hagen - One of the few remaining members of the Clyde squad before I took over, Hagen performed well last season and will play left midfield.
Brenne & Gibson - Brenne has had a good start upfront but he seems a bit unsettled in the box so Ill test him out in a more commanding role. Gibon had a good season, which I should have considered when I picked the team at the start of the season.
McConalogue - Scored 22 last season, stupid of me not to pick him but now I will give him a chance to shine.
Kristjansonn - Has already scored 15 goals in the league and will continue to score hopefully.
As you can see, the team is completely changed and I hope it will turn things around for the club. The next game will be tough so Im not expecting a win however I expect to see signs of improvement.
Kristjansonn and Porhallsonn are already being capped for Iceland which is pleasing to see and I hope Oskarsson gets a call-up soon.
Later on in the week, I told young Porhallsonn that should he want to leave, he needs to find a club that will pay up 200k for him. This may seem a small amount but is what was agreed in his contract. It's a shame to see such a talent go but unless he changes his attitude soon I can't include him in the team.
The Porhallsson saga unfolds and the player arranged a meeting with me to discuss his future. After a good talk he stated he will stay if we can provide him with a contract worthy of a player of his calibre, with that settled we signed a new contract and promised him first team football. Unfortunately for him the only slot open was Centre Midfield due to Gibson's 4 week knee injury. The young striker felt a bit disappointed but eager to play first team football. We agreed upon a minimum fee of 1 million for him, which he felt was fair.
With 7 days until the next day, and the team all organised, I felt quite happy with my progress this season and held a special training exercise at the Point Blank Paintballing Centre for the weekend. The event was a lot of fun with the players building some teamwork skills and overall having loads of fun. Morale was fairly high again and hopefully we could get some points on the board in the upcoming game.
The new changes worked extremely well with us winning the next 2 games 3-0 and 2-0 to bring us to 3rd in the table. I was happy again and Clyde's season was looking extremely healthy. The new 4-4-2 formation really worked well against the two teams and Oskarsson was able to score 3 goals in 2 games from Right Midfield.
The League Cup is part of the season's plans, and doing well in it is a must for us. Obviously the SPL Title is an unrealistic goal which we most probably won't achieve however the League Cup seems do-able if we have some luck with the draws and hope some of the big teams get knocked out early.
The next game in our campaign is an away trip to Tynecastle Park, having playing and beaten Hearts once already this season we were quite confident of making it to the 4th round.
A breezy afternoon with team spirits high we expected a good game with us winning by a good couple of goals, however this was not the case. After a hard fought first half full of wasted opportunities by both teams, Hearts managed to score in the second half to knock us out of the League Cup. I'd usually be disappointed at this result but we played really well, considering everyone was on form we just couldn't finish so you can't blame anything but bad luck. We received a cheque for 20k which was much welcomed by the board who are famous for taking but never giving.
Still waiting for confirmation from the board, the team looked healthy as we entered the harsh Scottish winter. Expected to be relegated is not a good thing for a manager and I love proving people wrong which Im doing by taking Clyde to 3rd. Hopefully I can hold this position and get into European competition, this would be a great boost to Clyde and the players will grow from the experience.
The next fixture pits us against Hibs at home, Hibs have also had a poor start and will be looking to take 3 points from this game. Unfortunately for them, with all players fit and on form we can expect a comfortable victory.
We were drawn 2nd Division Stranraer in the Scottish League Cup, who have had a poor start to the season, so of course we are quite confident of a win. The next league game however is against the mighty Celtic who despite their poor start are climbing up the table and will soon be top of the league if we don't stop them.
I played the strongest lineup and it showed, when Simen Brenne scored on the 9th minute. Celtic soon retaliated with 2 quick goals to make it 2-1 up for the home side. After a barrage of attacks from Celtic they scored again on the 44th minute thanks to Henrik Larrson. Things were looking grim for Clyde, and we could only put up a brave effort to the end of the game. A grueling second half with Celtic continiously attacking and Larrson breaking through again to make it 4-1. Another goal from Shota Arveladze put the nail in the coffin. The game was a terrible mood-killer for an excited Clyde side optimistic of a great season.
Not meaning to sound negative, however the show of quality that Celtic put out today showed how we weren't yet ready for Europe and that it will take a couple of seasons for that to change. The morale at the training ground wasn't as cheerful and happy as it used to be, and I had to get used to this if we are to become a great side.
Still waiting for any plans to improve club facilities, I started to feel pessimistic about this club's actual chances of ever making it in Europe.
A home game against Dunfermline was just what we needed to boost morale and player confidence. I replaced Pedersen with young Italian Centre-Back Paolo Seppani. Pedersen had failed to impress this season and at the highest level I can't afford to let players underachieve.
A dynamic start from Simen Brenne who scores his 3rd goal in 3 games. Constant pressure like exerted by Celtic against us gave us 4 goals in 18 minutes, making the final score 5-0. A great defensive display from Clyde with precision counter-attacks. The goalscorers were Simen Brenne x2, Oskarsson and Kristjansson x2. A great result following the harsh defeat from Celtic which will boost morale. Clyde are now 3rd in the table, 5 points from the top position.
I received a fax with some stats for this season, the average attendance so far was 7692 compared to last season's measly 2958.
After that 5-0 whooping, club pride was restored and the players were happy again, looking forward to the Challenge Cup game against Stranraer.
More young players were being signed weekly, each costing roughly 5k each I thought them as good investments for the future. The unknowns were more than happy to be offered Reserve spots in the team as I didn't want to add a bunch of unknown youngsters into my well established team.
Financially, the club was going along steady, now the season is well and truly started income is somewhat lower than at the start where players were purchasing season tickets and the club receiving sponsor money. However we still have a good 850k for the board to invest in the club, when they choose to.
I had no easy ways to make some good cash, which is why Im signing all the young players, to hopefully sell them on when their true potential is uncovered by our world-class coaching staff.
The first cup game of the season begins with a goal by Oskarsson, after a whole game of constant Clyde attacking play, Brenne grabs a late goal to make the final result 2-0. Clyde progress to the next round and can now focus on the league games coming up ahead.
Grondin suffers a groin strain, meaning we will have to use last season's number 1 goalkeeper, Bryn Halliwell. The youngster performed well last season but let us down when the going got tough, I chose to play Grondin this season due to some impressive performances in the pre-season tournament. Grondin being only 16 has a bright future ahead of him, and Clyde will develop him into an amazing keeper.
The next game, an away trip to Livingston will be another easy win, hopefully for the players who faced a poor start.
Meanwhile, the first of the month means Awards are given out, and unsurprisingly, Kristjansson wins Player of the Month, scoring 11 goals in 7 games.
The Scottish League Cup 3rd Round Draw was also hosted and we drew an away trip to Hearts, who we beat in a 4-3 thriller at the start of the season.
Confidently walking into a Livingstone game that we should have won, and with 2 goals from Kristjansonn in the 25th and 38th minute you'd think we would have the game under control. Wrong. Livingstone managed to score 3 goals before half time, including a penalty. Scoring another 2 in the second half producing another big defeat for Clyde, which will be a big knock down for morale.
Next to face the ambitious Clyde is Motherwell, in an away match that Clyde need to win to restore pride and climb back up the table. We played a flat, attacking 4-4-2 with Songo'o starting at centre-midfield due to being back from injury.
After the 90 minutes we were disappointed not to share the points, losing 2-1 in a well fought battle. Man of the Match going to Clyde's goalscorer, Oskarsson proves we had the better players on the day.
I had some hope of a European position at the start of the season but this rough patch doesn't seem to be going away and maybe I should start planning for Division 1. My negativity grows as you can read and this season keeps getting worse, the chairman still hasn't acted in terms of improving facilities and the little money we had is starting to be drained by ground maintanance, wages and other expeditures. The club makes little income and by the end of the season the 900k will be all gone.
With 2 weeks until the home game against Kilmarnock, I decided to pick a different lineup, with Seppani and Niedermeier being replaced for Pedersen and Doyle. Paul Doyle had a good season last year and deserves a tryout at top level. This season's current partnership has been slightly disappointing with most of the goals conceded being due to defensive mistakes.
Hopefully this will resolve our problem and we can start playing some good football.
During the week, I receive a fax from Porhallsson's agent saying he has been requested to find the player a more suitable club, the news shocked me at first as he seemed a very established player, however I didn't want that kind of attitude in my team so I removed him from my first team lineup.
Confused of who to pick and where to put them, I arranged a lunch with the coaching staff, to discuss the clubs players. The lunch was very interesting and I learned a lot about my players, now being able to pick a squad with the right players I was confident of some success to come our way.
The lineup was torn apart and I repicked the players:
Halliwell - Still a key member of the club, the coaches preferred him to Grondin and stated we should keep him as our number 1 for the time being.
Shand - The young full back had a great season last year and the coaches all rated him, silly of me not to start him this season but he will now have his chance to shine.
Carbon - A solid performer, 28 years of age gives him a lot of experience compared to the rest of the team.
Pedersen & Robb - The two will feature as the centre-back pairing of choice. The coaches rate Pedersen very highly which I wasn't aware of. Robb is also a great player which deserves first team play in order to develop.
Oskarsson - Will try him on the right flank, after a great season upfront I noticed he likes to play down the right.
Hagen - One of the few remaining members of the Clyde squad before I took over, Hagen performed well last season and will play left midfield.
Brenne & Gibson - Brenne has had a good start upfront but he seems a bit unsettled in the box so Ill test him out in a more commanding role. Gibon had a good season, which I should have considered when I picked the team at the start of the season.
McConalogue - Scored 22 last season, stupid of me not to pick him but now I will give him a chance to shine.
Kristjansonn - Has already scored 15 goals in the league and will continue to score hopefully.
As you can see, the team is completely changed and I hope it will turn things around for the club. The next game will be tough so Im not expecting a win however I expect to see signs of improvement.
Kristjansonn and Porhallsonn are already being capped for Iceland which is pleasing to see and I hope Oskarsson gets a call-up soon.
Later on in the week, I told young Porhallsonn that should he want to leave, he needs to find a club that will pay up 200k for him. This may seem a small amount but is what was agreed in his contract. It's a shame to see such a talent go but unless he changes his attitude soon I can't include him in the team.
The Porhallsson saga unfolds and the player arranged a meeting with me to discuss his future. After a good talk he stated he will stay if we can provide him with a contract worthy of a player of his calibre, with that settled we signed a new contract and promised him first team football. Unfortunately for him the only slot open was Centre Midfield due to Gibson's 4 week knee injury. The young striker felt a bit disappointed but eager to play first team football. We agreed upon a minimum fee of 1 million for him, which he felt was fair.
With 7 days until the next day, and the team all organised, I felt quite happy with my progress this season and held a special training exercise at the Point Blank Paintballing Centre for the weekend. The event was a lot of fun with the players building some teamwork skills and overall having loads of fun. Morale was fairly high again and hopefully we could get some points on the board in the upcoming game.
The new changes worked extremely well with us winning the next 2 games 3-0 and 2-0 to bring us to 3rd in the table. I was happy again and Clyde's season was looking extremely healthy. The new 4-4-2 formation really worked well against the two teams and Oskarsson was able to score 3 goals in 2 games from Right Midfield.
The League Cup is part of the season's plans, and doing well in it is a must for us. Obviously the SPL Title is an unrealistic goal which we most probably won't achieve however the League Cup seems do-able if we have some luck with the draws and hope some of the big teams get knocked out early.
The next game in our campaign is an away trip to Tynecastle Park, having playing and beaten Hearts once already this season we were quite confident of making it to the 4th round.
A breezy afternoon with team spirits high we expected a good game with us winning by a good couple of goals, however this was not the case. After a hard fought first half full of wasted opportunities by both teams, Hearts managed to score in the second half to knock us out of the League Cup. I'd usually be disappointed at this result but we played really well, considering everyone was on form we just couldn't finish so you can't blame anything but bad luck. We received a cheque for 20k which was much welcomed by the board who are famous for taking but never giving.
Still waiting for confirmation from the board, the team looked healthy as we entered the harsh Scottish winter. Expected to be relegated is not a good thing for a manager and I love proving people wrong which Im doing by taking Clyde to 3rd. Hopefully I can hold this position and get into European competition, this would be a great boost to Clyde and the players will grow from the experience.
The next fixture pits us against Hibs at home, Hibs have also had a poor start and will be looking to take 3 points from this game. Unfortunately for them, with all players fit and on form we can expect a comfortable victory.
Chapter 4 - Enter Clyde
Kick Off, the first SPL game for Clyde for a very long time. The fans were excited to see their beloved team back where they belong. Morale was high and I was hoping for a good win to get our season on a good start.
The starting line-up consisted of Young Frenchman Grondin between the sticks, I felt he could only improve by playing high-level football so a promotion to the first team was necessary.
A flat back four with Carbon and Henning at Left and Right back respectively. With Pedersen and Niedermeier playing Centre-Backs.
On the left flank I picked Porhallsson because of some impressive pre-season displays and Dikoumeh on the right. The pacey Cameroonian served us all season and did a good job, so he will feature in this season's campaign too.
Centre Midfielder of choice, Franck Songo'o was unavailable due to injury so Sebastian Heidinger filled in for his debut.
The three strikers picked were Simen Brenne, Oskarsson and Kristjansson.
This was a strong starting lineup playing a 4-3-3 attacking formation with short passing and hard tackling.
The players stepped out and kicked off energetically. Their excitement of playing top-level Scottish football was reflected by an early goal from Oskarsson in the 13th minute. Followed by a second from Kristjansson in the 29th. The Third came 7 minutes after thanks to Gary Wales, that's right an own goal.
At Half Time the players were proud of their performance and I could only encourage them to score more goals as the onslaught continued. Kristjansson then went on to score 3 goals in 11 minutes to make the final result 6-0.
A whooping 6-0 away win pleased the fans, however the board failed to praise the team. Maybe they aren't convinced that this form will consist throughout the season.
The next game was another away trip against Hearts. A great start for Clyde everyone will agree and hopefully things will continue this way.
It's Wednesday and the players are training hard for the next game, I decided to look at the books and see how the club is doing financially.
I was told I would have 180k to spend this season, which was not a problem as my squad is already complete. After some consulation the club had make 260k this month and will continue to do so should no more expeditures come.
I had a meeting with the Chairman and made it clear to him that if he wants Clyde's future to be a good one, he should invest that money into Training facilities. He agreed on the matter and said he will start plans straightaway.
I decided to sign some more coaching staff and placed an advert on a JobSearch website. Placing this ad, I also got rid of some coaching staff that wasn't really doing the job, Gary Walker and Chris Hillcoat both had their contracts terminated and given a month's pay.
Match Day #2 was here and I decided to keep the same lineup, Songo'o is still in rehab which is a shame as he has missed a great start to the season.
A wet afternoon at Tynecastle faced us and the team stepped on the pitch energetically as per usual. 2 goals within 5 minutes by Kristjansonn woke up the Hearts players and they quickly replied with another 2. 2-2 at the 31st minute, I knew this game would be tough. Fortunately, by the 39th Oskarsson had already scored and we got the lead again. Half time the players were tired as they faced their first challenge yet. A well contested second half with Kristjansonn scoring his 2nd free kick of the season. And Hearts replying almost instantly making it 4-3. A very attacking Hearts looking for a point put pressure until the 94th minute but the Clyde defence held out with a fine performance from Goalkeeper Grondin.
Another three points in the bag which put us joint top with Rangers, with only one goal seperating the two teams.
The next game was at home against Dundee, their team is favoured to win at the bookies but we just love proving people wrong.
Carlos Gomes was snapped up straight away as he made an application to join the coaching staff, he had an impressive CV with great references. We had a good group of staff now and this club was slowly turning into a great one.
The Board still haven't shown any signs of investing in either Training Facilities or a Bigger Stadium so I guess I'll just have to be patient and hope that they will change their mind in the season. Maybe some more good performances will motivate them to open their wallets and improve a club that will soon become great.
Mid-Week was fairly quiet, the signing of Coach, Carlos Gomes proved interesting as he had a hard time speaking to the players. Still provided some good coaching tips and Ernie Brandts was there to give anyone who made fun of his poor English a right bollocking.
Discipline was a concern of mine and I was looking for some stricter coaching staff for the future.
I asked the coaches for complete reports on all the players coming through the youth system, they were all told to be put on the transfer list. I chose to ignore this request as I am a firm believer in youth players constantly improving and I wanted to see these players for another couple of years before possibly ending their careers.
Meanwhile, the current SPL table is very interesting. With favourites to win Celtic suffering 2 early losses and Rangers at the top. Celtic are one of the top teams and I was sure their poor form would soon recover.
The signing of 22 year old coach David Jarrett was also interesting as he provided me a list of young prospects which I could look at in the near future. The young coach, only 22 year old was full of good ideas and was a great person to have around the staffroom for morale.
The starting line-up consisted of Young Frenchman Grondin between the sticks, I felt he could only improve by playing high-level football so a promotion to the first team was necessary.
A flat back four with Carbon and Henning at Left and Right back respectively. With Pedersen and Niedermeier playing Centre-Backs.
On the left flank I picked Porhallsson because of some impressive pre-season displays and Dikoumeh on the right. The pacey Cameroonian served us all season and did a good job, so he will feature in this season's campaign too.
Centre Midfielder of choice, Franck Songo'o was unavailable due to injury so Sebastian Heidinger filled in for his debut.
The three strikers picked were Simen Brenne, Oskarsson and Kristjansson.
This was a strong starting lineup playing a 4-3-3 attacking formation with short passing and hard tackling.
The players stepped out and kicked off energetically. Their excitement of playing top-level Scottish football was reflected by an early goal from Oskarsson in the 13th minute. Followed by a second from Kristjansson in the 29th. The Third came 7 minutes after thanks to Gary Wales, that's right an own goal.
At Half Time the players were proud of their performance and I could only encourage them to score more goals as the onslaught continued. Kristjansson then went on to score 3 goals in 11 minutes to make the final result 6-0.
A whooping 6-0 away win pleased the fans, however the board failed to praise the team. Maybe they aren't convinced that this form will consist throughout the season.
The next game was another away trip against Hearts. A great start for Clyde everyone will agree and hopefully things will continue this way.
It's Wednesday and the players are training hard for the next game, I decided to look at the books and see how the club is doing financially.
I was told I would have 180k to spend this season, which was not a problem as my squad is already complete. After some consulation the club had make 260k this month and will continue to do so should no more expeditures come.
I had a meeting with the Chairman and made it clear to him that if he wants Clyde's future to be a good one, he should invest that money into Training facilities. He agreed on the matter and said he will start plans straightaway.
I decided to sign some more coaching staff and placed an advert on a JobSearch website. Placing this ad, I also got rid of some coaching staff that wasn't really doing the job, Gary Walker and Chris Hillcoat both had their contracts terminated and given a month's pay.
Match Day #2 was here and I decided to keep the same lineup, Songo'o is still in rehab which is a shame as he has missed a great start to the season.
A wet afternoon at Tynecastle faced us and the team stepped on the pitch energetically as per usual. 2 goals within 5 minutes by Kristjansonn woke up the Hearts players and they quickly replied with another 2. 2-2 at the 31st minute, I knew this game would be tough. Fortunately, by the 39th Oskarsson had already scored and we got the lead again. Half time the players were tired as they faced their first challenge yet. A well contested second half with Kristjansonn scoring his 2nd free kick of the season. And Hearts replying almost instantly making it 4-3. A very attacking Hearts looking for a point put pressure until the 94th minute but the Clyde defence held out with a fine performance from Goalkeeper Grondin.
Another three points in the bag which put us joint top with Rangers, with only one goal seperating the two teams.
The next game was at home against Dundee, their team is favoured to win at the bookies but we just love proving people wrong.
Carlos Gomes was snapped up straight away as he made an application to join the coaching staff, he had an impressive CV with great references. We had a good group of staff now and this club was slowly turning into a great one.
The Board still haven't shown any signs of investing in either Training Facilities or a Bigger Stadium so I guess I'll just have to be patient and hope that they will change their mind in the season. Maybe some more good performances will motivate them to open their wallets and improve a club that will soon become great.
Mid-Week was fairly quiet, the signing of Coach, Carlos Gomes proved interesting as he had a hard time speaking to the players. Still provided some good coaching tips and Ernie Brandts was there to give anyone who made fun of his poor English a right bollocking.
Discipline was a concern of mine and I was looking for some stricter coaching staff for the future.
I asked the coaches for complete reports on all the players coming through the youth system, they were all told to be put on the transfer list. I chose to ignore this request as I am a firm believer in youth players constantly improving and I wanted to see these players for another couple of years before possibly ending their careers.
Meanwhile, the current SPL table is very interesting. With favourites to win Celtic suffering 2 early losses and Rangers at the top. Celtic are one of the top teams and I was sure their poor form would soon recover.
The signing of 22 year old coach David Jarrett was also interesting as he provided me a list of young prospects which I could look at in the near future. The young coach, only 22 year old was full of good ideas and was a great person to have around the staffroom for morale.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Chapter 3 - Goodbye Summer
After a really productive summer, adding to the coaching staff and signing some more young prospects I was optimistic of a good season. I was hoping a spot in Europe, but the board were stubborn that relegation was probable.
My secondary aims this season are to generate some money to improve training facilities, and to expand the stadium so we can start making some good money from home games.
The players were starting to show real signs of improvement, and I sat together with the coaches to devise a good, training schedule suitable for all the team.
After 2 weeks of this in effect we saw a lot of improvement and were pleased with the work we had done.
Morale at Broadwood was superb, all players were really proud to be in the SPL and they were looking forward to facing some of Scotland's finest teams.
I arranged 2 more friendlies before the first game to test the new tactic, and to test out some of the new signings.
Here is a list of this season's latest signings:
Players:
Georg Niedermeier
Robert Henning
Sebastian Heidinger
Staff:
Ernie Brandts
Ian Westwater
Xu Tao
Kenny Birch-Marchin
All these transfers were free. Working around limited transfer fees, and a tight wage budget I had developed an eye for finding bargains and with the help of my scouts I had built a whole team using nothing but 100k in 1 season.
I sold Gilhaney as he was picking up dust in the reserves, he was only 19 but didn't impress me on the pitch regardless of how much the coaches rated him. I sold him to Derby for 100k which was good cash seeing as Derby had never seen him play.
The first team comprised of 23 players, which was a healthy number. I decided to invest in more players mainly because of last season's injury rush. I wanted to make sure I was prepared should something of that calibre happen again.
A 1-1 draw against Hearts in the first of the 2 pre-season friendlies I organised was a good show of teamwork from us, with the new players getting involved I was excited to see their input in the season this year.
Fitness was a concern this summer but we seem to have overcome this problem. A few injuries occured during the Pre-Season warmups and Paul Doyle was sent to Rehabilitation for 2 months. No great loss, as he is a backup defender.
The club was shocked to hear the announcement of Tore Pedersen's retirement. A new signing for Clyde, we were all excited to see his experience guide the club to greatness, however at the age of 34 he decided that this will be his last season. Tore will feature heavily in this year's lineup as a sign of respect and hopefully we can convince him to join the coaching staff once he hangs up his boots.
The bookies rate us 80-1 to win the title, expecting a lot worse my optimism for success grew. The title favourites are Celtic and Im looking forward to seeing the quality of football they can produce against a team of our calibre.
Another injury, this time Ex-Barcelona Franck Songo'o, who just signed a new youth contract with Clyde faces a nasty groin strain which will need to be looked at in more depth. I have arranged him to go into Rehab, as I do with all players to stop further injuries from occuring.
Franck Songo'o's absence for the first couple of weeks means the Centre-Midfield spot will be up for whoever proves me they can produce there. Another friendly coming up against Dunfermline before our SPL debut against Dundee Utd in 10 days.
A solid victory against Dunfermline, proved to me that my side was ready for the SPL, winning 2-0 with a great performance from Oskarsson and the whole team in general.
Match Day #1 is coming up but for now I will bid you farewell.
My secondary aims this season are to generate some money to improve training facilities, and to expand the stadium so we can start making some good money from home games.
The players were starting to show real signs of improvement, and I sat together with the coaches to devise a good, training schedule suitable for all the team.
After 2 weeks of this in effect we saw a lot of improvement and were pleased with the work we had done.
Morale at Broadwood was superb, all players were really proud to be in the SPL and they were looking forward to facing some of Scotland's finest teams.
I arranged 2 more friendlies before the first game to test the new tactic, and to test out some of the new signings.
Here is a list of this season's latest signings:
Players:
Georg Niedermeier
Robert Henning
Sebastian Heidinger
Staff:
Ernie Brandts
Ian Westwater
Xu Tao
Kenny Birch-Marchin
All these transfers were free. Working around limited transfer fees, and a tight wage budget I had developed an eye for finding bargains and with the help of my scouts I had built a whole team using nothing but 100k in 1 season.
I sold Gilhaney as he was picking up dust in the reserves, he was only 19 but didn't impress me on the pitch regardless of how much the coaches rated him. I sold him to Derby for 100k which was good cash seeing as Derby had never seen him play.
The first team comprised of 23 players, which was a healthy number. I decided to invest in more players mainly because of last season's injury rush. I wanted to make sure I was prepared should something of that calibre happen again.
A 1-1 draw against Hearts in the first of the 2 pre-season friendlies I organised was a good show of teamwork from us, with the new players getting involved I was excited to see their input in the season this year.
Fitness was a concern this summer but we seem to have overcome this problem. A few injuries occured during the Pre-Season warmups and Paul Doyle was sent to Rehabilitation for 2 months. No great loss, as he is a backup defender.
The club was shocked to hear the announcement of Tore Pedersen's retirement. A new signing for Clyde, we were all excited to see his experience guide the club to greatness, however at the age of 34 he decided that this will be his last season. Tore will feature heavily in this year's lineup as a sign of respect and hopefully we can convince him to join the coaching staff once he hangs up his boots.
The bookies rate us 80-1 to win the title, expecting a lot worse my optimism for success grew. The title favourites are Celtic and Im looking forward to seeing the quality of football they can produce against a team of our calibre.
Another injury, this time Ex-Barcelona Franck Songo'o, who just signed a new youth contract with Clyde faces a nasty groin strain which will need to be looked at in more depth. I have arranged him to go into Rehab, as I do with all players to stop further injuries from occuring.
Franck Songo'o's absence for the first couple of weeks means the Centre-Midfield spot will be up for whoever proves me they can produce there. Another friendly coming up against Dunfermline before our SPL debut against Dundee Utd in 10 days.
A solid victory against Dunfermline, proved to me that my side was ready for the SPL, winning 2-0 with a great performance from Oskarsson and the whole team in general.
Match Day #1 is coming up but for now I will bid you farewell.
Chapter 2 - Diving in the Deep End
An enjoyable summer for football fans, watching the Euro 2004 which was won by France in a well fought final against Denmark. A lot of teams were manager-less after this tournament as teams like Italy, England, Germany and Holland failed to qualify for the latter stages of the tournament.
I decided to post an innocent application to all those jobs, knowing I wouldn't get the positions.
After a successful season I wanted to test our team out against some SPL teams. I setup a friendly tournament featuring Hibs, Kilmarnock and Hearts. Winning the tournament I entered the season confidently.
I gave the players a rest for a couple of weeks and waited for the SPL to start.
The board were aware that our team were not-yet ready to win the SPL, they expected us to get relegated, so did the fans.
However I had created a reputation for doing better than what's expected so I was optimistic of a top-half finish.
I noticed that the SPL lacks depth, and only 2 teams really consistantly win, which will help me in my quest to win it.
A win against Celtic or Glasgow is worth more than 3 points.
I booked a holiday and let the players rest for a couple of weeks. For now, you will have to wait to hear about our quest in the SPL.
I decided to post an innocent application to all those jobs, knowing I wouldn't get the positions.
After a successful season I wanted to test our team out against some SPL teams. I setup a friendly tournament featuring Hibs, Kilmarnock and Hearts. Winning the tournament I entered the season confidently.
I gave the players a rest for a couple of weeks and waited for the SPL to start.
The board were aware that our team were not-yet ready to win the SPL, they expected us to get relegated, so did the fans.
However I had created a reputation for doing better than what's expected so I was optimistic of a top-half finish.
I noticed that the SPL lacks depth, and only 2 teams really consistantly win, which will help me in my quest to win it.
A win against Celtic or Glasgow is worth more than 3 points.
I booked a holiday and let the players rest for a couple of weeks. For now, you will have to wait to hear about our quest in the SPL.
Chapter 1 - Prelude
Broadwood Stadium - The Story Begins.
The first season flew by, with us winning the First Division. It was a tough season with a harsh run of injuries towards the end which almost cost us the title. However the players put it on some great performances and caught up the 5 point gap between us and Ayr. We ended up winning with 72 points which was an all-time record for the Scottish First Division.
When I joined the club I knew I had to make a lot of signings. I brought in 2 quality players for the start of the season. The experienced Matt Carbon and an unknown striker called Orri Freyr Oskarsson. The striker was mentioned in a football magazine in Iceland, which my Scout had happened to buy in his tour of Scandinavia. He was a good bargain, costing a mere 26k. That 26k was well spent as he scored 23 goals and would have scored more if it wasn't for a 4 month injury towards the end of the season.
Matt Carbon, was a steady purchase, I'd heard good things about him and I needed a solid left-back that could deliver every saturday. He had a good season, and I was pleased with the signing.
After a Slow start to the season I decided to bring in some more players, fortunately the Scouts found a lot of talent in their holiday to Iceland and other Scandinavian countries.
I snapped up a young striker called Porarinn Brynjar Kristjansonn and what a signing that was. Scoring 22 goals in 22 games and winning Player of the Year he was a key factor in our campaign.
By the end of the season I had reconstructed the side with more transfers:
Dikoumeh, Nicola
Þórhallsson, Jóhann
Pedersen, Tore
Songo'o, Franck
Warhurst, Paul
Shand, Calvin
Robb, Richard
Seppani, Paolo
Selling most of the initial first team and only spending 70k on all those players mentioned. I had a lot of money to spend, which I chose to keep as Ground Maintanance and Wages were draining funds. Towards the end of the season we were 400k under and things were looking grim.
However climbing into the SPL we sold TV Rights for 750k and the financial burden was relieved from our shoulders.
Making a few more signings my team was complete, full of promising youngsters that were constantly improving. I picked up Simen Brenne after scouting him, he had an impressive season at his previous club, Moss. I also signed Daniil Ratnikov and Mickael Grondin to add to our Youth System.
The reason Im investing in youth is because I belive in 5 years we will have a team strong enough to annihalate all European sides, with good training and a solid 4-3-3 tactic I will hopefully accomplish this task.
Now Im in Season 2, I will record my progress in more detail.
Enjoy.
The first season flew by, with us winning the First Division. It was a tough season with a harsh run of injuries towards the end which almost cost us the title. However the players put it on some great performances and caught up the 5 point gap between us and Ayr. We ended up winning with 72 points which was an all-time record for the Scottish First Division.
When I joined the club I knew I had to make a lot of signings. I brought in 2 quality players for the start of the season. The experienced Matt Carbon and an unknown striker called Orri Freyr Oskarsson. The striker was mentioned in a football magazine in Iceland, which my Scout had happened to buy in his tour of Scandinavia. He was a good bargain, costing a mere 26k. That 26k was well spent as he scored 23 goals and would have scored more if it wasn't for a 4 month injury towards the end of the season.
Matt Carbon, was a steady purchase, I'd heard good things about him and I needed a solid left-back that could deliver every saturday. He had a good season, and I was pleased with the signing.
After a Slow start to the season I decided to bring in some more players, fortunately the Scouts found a lot of talent in their holiday to Iceland and other Scandinavian countries.
I snapped up a young striker called Porarinn Brynjar Kristjansonn and what a signing that was. Scoring 22 goals in 22 games and winning Player of the Year he was a key factor in our campaign.
By the end of the season I had reconstructed the side with more transfers:
Dikoumeh, Nicola
Þórhallsson, Jóhann
Pedersen, Tore
Songo'o, Franck
Warhurst, Paul
Shand, Calvin
Robb, Richard
Seppani, Paolo
Selling most of the initial first team and only spending 70k on all those players mentioned. I had a lot of money to spend, which I chose to keep as Ground Maintanance and Wages were draining funds. Towards the end of the season we were 400k under and things were looking grim.
However climbing into the SPL we sold TV Rights for 750k and the financial burden was relieved from our shoulders.
Making a few more signings my team was complete, full of promising youngsters that were constantly improving. I picked up Simen Brenne after scouting him, he had an impressive season at his previous club, Moss. I also signed Daniil Ratnikov and Mickael Grondin to add to our Youth System.
The reason Im investing in youth is because I belive in 5 years we will have a team strong enough to annihalate all European sides, with good training and a solid 4-3-3 tactic I will hopefully accomplish this task.
Now Im in Season 2, I will record my progress in more detail.
Enjoy.
