Last time out I had just begun my journey in the dugout at Sincil Bank and guided the Imps through a poor quality pre-season and a mediocre start to the league campaign. Now it’s time to see what September and October bring for my penniless football club!
September
The start of September seemed to be dominated by transfer offers for the players I was desperate to keep hold of. There was a rumour of Bradford City, in the First Division, being interested in John Finnigan for £475,000 and at that figure I am afraid I would be selling. As it turns out, Bradford wasn’t interested but Blackpool were to the tune of £200,000 and the deal was done. I didn’t want to sell him, but we are skint!
Manchester City (not the good one) were in for Justin Walker but a measly £250,000 was rejected without hesitation, as was the offer of £10,000 more from Middlesbrough. Walker’s agent was suggesting a potential bid from West Ham United for a whopping £1.6 million but this comes to nothing and a Norwich City bid of thirty grand for Paul Mayo is almost insulting!
Before the month is out, the bids for my main man Walker would increase impressively, with Aston Villa (£375k), Charlton Athletic (£450,000), Tottenham (£550,000) and Crystal Palace (an insane £1.7 million) all bidding for the former Scunthorpe United man. I know how important he is, I know the interest won’t go away and I know I will end up getting more so it’s a no to all of the bids.
The month wasn’t just a frenzy of large transfer bids, we did play some football too. September started with a home match against Exeter City on a very warm afternoon at The Bank as we looked to kickstart our season against the side who were sitting top in the young shoots of the season. Lee Thorpe latched on to a rebound from a long-range Shaun Derry shot to give us the lead before former Manchester United youngster Graeme Tomlinson latched on to a low cross at the back stick to make it 1-1. We sit 19th in the table!
A draw against the top team is a decent result but we lost Derry for three weeks due to the injury he picked up in the match. Young Paul Morgan slotted in alongside Steve Holmes (a lovely man who I once met on holiday!) for the long trip to Carlisle United. Former Huddersfield Town defensive midfielder Richard Logan smashed one in the top bin to set us on our way before Ben Sedgemore dived in at the back post to head in number two.
A Mamady Sidibe-inspired Swansea City then rolled into town and were duly dispatched 7-2 in one of the greatest games I have been involved in during my two months in the job. It was 2-2 at halftime before we ran riot in the second half in front of a less-than-mighty 3594 fans!
The decent run of form would continue with a come-from-behind away victory at Rushden and Diamonds, before being halted ever so slightly in a League Cup defeat at Premier League Everton before a stunning 6-0 win at home to 5th-place Hartlepool United.
The following game away at Bristol Rovers called upon all of my managerial prowess to shape the result. We were playing poorly but managed to get in at halftime at 1-1, a scoreline that would remain until the final 20 minutes when I made my tactical moves. Off went Jason Barnett and Ben Sedgemore and on came Mark Camm and Terry Cooke. The lads would have an immediate impact as Bristol Rovers’ striker Martin Cameron would net twice to hand The Gas a 3-1 victory.
The soon-to-be legend Justin Walker was named September Player of the Month for his impressive displays. So far this season he has played 12 games, scored six goals, assisted four more, earned three Man of the Match awards and has an average match rating of 7.92. Good. Very good!
September saw a forced introduction of young 17-year-old defender Craig Stant (I was delighted to have a Stant in the team!) who was thrown in at the deep end but in his opening eight games had scored three goals, mainly due to somehow being on penalties, and had an average match rating of 7.00. Stant was partnering with the experienced Steve Holmes, keeping Paul Morgan out of the team and playing the better of the pair.
October
Drawing 0-0 in a boring encounter at home to Oxford and a defeat after a massive trip down to Plymouth was not how we wanted to start the new month so it was pleasing to get a victory at home to Torquay on a brisk Tuesday night under the lights. There was no surprise that Lee Thorpe was the man who bagged a brace to seal the win. The striker would score again a few days later as would draw at Leyton Orient in a topsy-turvy game.
Justin Walker’s strike was not enough in a really poor 1-1 draw against struggling Scunthorpe. Frustrations through the roof here and I subsequently received a three-match sofa ban for foul and abusive language. Thankfully, the month would close with a fantastic 4-0 away win at Moss Rose against Macclesfield.
Portuguese striker Joao Paiva and the ever-reliable Thorpe both netted two a-piece in a win that delighted the board and sent us up to 9th. His form would also see Thorpe named the Third Division Player of the Month for October and his form is electric at present, having notched 10 in his last 17 games.
Unfortunately, the constant rejection of transfer offers for Justin Walker had left my star man feeling unhappy and frustrated at not being allowed to move clubs. He hasn’t quite come knocking on my office door but we need to get on a good run and climb the table to appease him as there is no way that I can sell this man and watch the club slip down the table as I fail miserably to find a suitable replacement.
We still have a small amount of the John Finnigan money in the kitty (small not because it has been spent but small because it is all I have been given) so selling Walker is not a necessity.
