23rd August 2007
10:00

I arrived at the training ground to be greeted by Ricky Waddell's agent, Harry McDowle. He asked me if he could watch us train and i agreed to it as i knew my players played better with someone watching them.

There was only me and goalkeeping coach Scott Tait to train the players as David McGinlay's Dad passed away last night so i had no choice but to let him have a few days off. This caused me to change my traning schedule a little bit, i left the defenders and goalkeepers in the hands of Scott and i trained the midfielders and strikers. This was a welcome change for the lads instead of the same old routine and halfway through our new spanish scout pulled up in his mercedes and began to train with us, showing off his silky Spanish skills. We had a little match in the last 20 minutes seeing the defenders cruise to a 4-1 victory because they had a good goalkeeper, the forwards and midfielders had to put the helpless Martin Bavidge in goal who was bombarded with shots from start to finish.


Martin Bavidge-
Step In Keeper


Waddell's agent was impressed with the family feeling at the club and with the quality of our players. After training he came into my office and asked me if i would like to put a contract offer on the table. I had a brief 10 minute chat with him and offered him 150 pounds a week with a 5 percent yearly wage rise. He said that he wanted time to think about it and would get back to me as quick as he could.


Waddell in action



Ricky's squad photo



16:00

As i put on my jacket and got my car keys to leave a skinny, dark man with dreadlocks slipped through my door and said in his deep, jamaican accent "I'm here on behalf of Onandi Lowe"

I wondered why someone would come all the way from Jamaica just to see me because i declared my interest in the player. I asked him if he lived in Scotland but he shook his head and said "No, i live in Capetown."

This showed me how much he wanted this move to take place, i had a 30 minute chat with the man, he told me about Onandi's situation at Portmore United and how talented this 32 year old Jamaican forward was. I looked him up on Football Manager 2008 and looked at his history, he had a fantastic goalscoring record, and he had experience in England.

I offered him a contract of 95 pounds a week which he accepted on the spot. I didn't have any intention when setting out for work this morning of meeting this man, let alone signing his player! Now we need to get a work permit for him.


Lowe suiting an extravagant haircut



Flying the Jamaican flag



I've given the boys the majority of the day off tomorrow so they can give there comisserations to David on the loss of his father. But i'll need an hour or 2 with the lads as the match against Airdrie is the day after that.

Thanks to Ap and Dargo

24th August 2007
9:00

I was awoken by the sound of my phone, i answered it and was greeted by the Ayr United boss Brian Reid saying that he accepted my offer for out of favour defender Martyn Campbell and he said that the player and his agent were coming to my house in an hour and i should be ready to offer them a contract.

I got out of my bed and walked into the kitchen to be greeted by a delicious bacon butty sitting on the table. I grabbed the plate sprinted upstairs and put on a shirt and jeans whilst eating my breakfast. I sprinted downstairs and told my wife of the news, she decided to make them a bacon butty to make a good impression.

The duo arrived bang on 10 o'clock, they introduced themselves. I sat them down in the lounge and my wife brought the food in. It turns out, they were both vegetarians. Not the first impression i wanted to make, yet i soldiered on and explained why i wanted Martyn at the club.


The bacon butty that was rejected by
Campbell and his agent


Despite the bacon incident, Martyn Campbell and Francis Dunne his agent seemed very keen to sign for us and they accepted the wage offer of 110 pounds a week. Dunne told me that Campbell would be at the club by tomorrow evening and he will do all the work like telling the league ecetera.




13:00
Training

I called the lads in for a couple of hours of talking about tomorrow's game. The lads seemed so eager to win tomorrow's game and you could feel the confidence within the team, i announced the events of today regarding the signing of Martyn Campbell and this got the boy's buzzing. We already have a strong defence but a new defender can only strengthen the side.


Future Scenes

Originally Posted by WozzaWolves I thought it looked rather appetising lol

Thanks to Ap and Dargo

25th August 2007
MATCH DAY

Today we face top of the table Airdrie United. The odds are stacked against us but i smell an upset, even getting a point would be an upset and a fantastic result in my opinion.

I went on the club website in the morning and went onto the forums. Everyone wanted a point today, we were at Balmoor so the expectations were expectedly high.

I saw the odds on Betfred and saw that we were 9/4 to win and Airdrie were Evens. That was quite a shock as i thought they would be odds on favourites. I don't know much about Scottish football so this must be a sign that the teams in this league are of close quality.


Here is the side which will start today:





Subs:







Kick Off - 15:00

Pre-Match Interview:
Media: The odds are firmly against you today, what do you think you can get from this game?
Worrall: I think everyone is rating Airdrie too highly, they may be top of the league having won all of their 3 games but it's only 3 games in. We can still win the league! I believe that if we play to our best then anything is possible, the fans will undoubtedly get behind us and they will be key today.

We walked out of the tunnel to the smell of pies, beer and grass. Airdrie kicked off and immediately put us under pressure with McKeown hitting one well wide. The game was completely drab until the 36th minute when McDonald hit one at Good and it went out for a corner to Airdrie. Holmes took the corner but it went straight accross goal and out for a throw-in. On the 41 minute mark Iain Good picked up the ball in his own area and smashed it up for McAllister to run onto, McAllister took the challenge and slotted it home! 1-0 to Peterhead!! Nothing at all happened before half time so we went in 1-0 to the good!

I told the lads not to get complacent and swapped Donnie Munro with Andy Bagshaw.

We came out after half time and played well, in the 56th minute Iain Good played a similar long ball to Rory McAllister than the one that created the goal, McAllister was one-on-one with the keeper when Donnelly took him out from behind! Penalty! Callum MacDonald stepped up cooly. Into the bottom right! 2-0 Peterhead! MacDonald's first goal of the season! What a shock this is! Before this game Airdrie hadn't conceded a goal this season Now they concede 2 in a match! Airdrie's Soutar had the ball around the halfway line but he kept hold of it for too long and McAllister snook in and took it off him, he took on 3 players before slotting it past the keeper! An outstanding individual goal from Rory McAllister!! 3-0 to Peterhead! Our fans are in dreamland! A few minutes later i took captain Bobby Mann off and brought new signing Martyn Campbell on, it seemed like a good time for him to make his debut. Campbell made an immediate impact by winning another penalty for us! Marino Keith took this one and he didn't dissapoint, he smashed it in the top corner, no problem! 4-0 to us! Airdrie replied by going straight down the other end and scoring a consolation goal via Stephen McKeown. In the 83rd minute i brought Martin Bavidge on and brought Marino Keith off. In the 88th minute the ball was pinballing round the Airdrie box but it eventually fell to substitute Bavidge who tapped it home! 5-1! The fans couldn't believe this! There was 5 minutes of injury time but nothing happened in that time!


We won 5-1 against top of the league Airdrie Utd and before this game they hadn't even conceded! I said i was delighted with the players and asked them why they can't perform like this in every match.

PETERHEAD 5-1 AIRDRIE UTD FULL TIME

Post-Match Interview:
Media: Daniel, what a result! The shock of the season so far! You've made an instant impact here at Peterhead and the fans are loving it! What is your secret?
Worrall: I don't have a clue if i'm honest, i just do the usual stuff. Training, sign players ecetera. This is all down to thep layers and the other staff, the loss of David's father spurred us on today and this is in memory of Fred McGinlay. There were some magnificent individual performances today and i was pleased with Martyn Campbell when he came on because he's been taking a lot of stick from our fans and the press recently. He proved his point with minimal fuss.


Jubilation on the field




Jubilation in the
dressing room




I saw one of the board members as i was leaving the stadium and he sprinted up to me and hugged me. He congratulated and thanked me on the result and hoped we could build on this and stay clear of relegation. That was a nice gesture!


Tomorrow we have a day off so i hope to get out to do a bit of scouting with Carles and maybe spend some time with the wife.

Thanks to Ap and Dargo