Yellow Submarines - An Englishman Abroad - Page 11 - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

losblancos · 21-07-08, 12:39 PM

Yeah not what you expected but not a bad outcome in the end.

**Jonners71** · 21-07-08, 02:32 PM

Another rainy day greeted me as I drew back the curtains on matchday.

The press were waiting for me as I arrived at the ground. 2 questions about the upcoming game, 9 questions about Senna's error of judgement.

By the time kick off came round it seemed everyone was paying attention to my final words (even if Ruben did have to translate most of it). I may have been a pretty unconvincing Mr Angry but I was hoping that some of what I said about playing with pride had sunk in.

Recreativo had been poor so far this season and being at home this really was one we were expected to win.

Villarreal began to show La Liga a little more of thier potential tonight on another rainy night on the East Coast.

There was very little in the early exchanges however and most of the buzz around the ground concerned Senna's recent off the pitch antics.

Ladies or Gentlemen? - Senna has had a tough few days

The skipper however led by example and seemed to played with a renewed assurance strangely lacking in his recent appearences.

In fact it was Senna who played a part in winning the corner that produced the goal. His give and go with Nihat left Senna with a clear shot on goal - the keeper doing well to parry it over. From the resulting corner fellow troubled star Cani curled in a wonderful corner which Fuentes headed high into the net for his 3rd of the season.

Man of the match Fuentes celebrates the only goal

The remainder of the half did see Recreativo have a greater share of the ball without ever looking to threaten Diego Lopez's goal.

The second half almost exclusively belonged to Villarreal. Looking more lively in thier passing and invention they opened up the visitors time and time again but an off-key Rossi repeatedly failed to take his chances.

The hour mark witnessed one of the most bizarre refereeing incidents of the campaign so far. Sinama Pongolle took it upon himself to headbutt Fuentes in clear view of the referee. The Frenchman seemed to be resigned to his fate and started to head for the tunnel only to be shocked by recieving just a yellow card. An incensed group of Villareal players surrounded the referee but his mind was not to be changed.

Despite momentum being broken a little by substitutions Villarreal looked comfortable throughout the evening and only the departure of Saivet with suspected broken ribs in the final moments will have dampened thier spirits.

The dressing room was full of noise again, with the exception of a dejected Rossi who had been hauled off on the hour after a lacklustre performance.

Word from the physio wasn't good on Saivet - up to 2 months out.

As the players began to get changed, still fired up from the win I reminded them all to stay focussed. They didn't need me to remind them that on Wednesday night we played Real Madrid away.

....................................

Sunday 28th October 2007

Almeria 3 Valladolid 2
Ath. Madrid 4 Athletic 3
Barcelona 2 Murcia 0
Deportivo 2 Betis 1
Getafe 0 Espanyol 1
Osasuna 3 Levante 1
Zaragoza 0 Real Madrid 1
Valencia 2 Racing 0

....................................

**Bowser** · 21-07-08, 05:28 PM

Unlucky on losing Saivet. Just need a couple more wins on the trot and you'll be fine...is Spanish footie harder then English? hmm....were the plates made of rubber lol?

losblancos · 21-07-08, 06:32 PM

Yeah although Saivet wouldnt have been in your first team plans at the start of the season so I dont think you will be too bothered.

Big game up next! Cant wait for it!

**ChrisA** · 21-07-08, 07:19 PM

good win mate

KIU!

**liveru** · 21-07-08, 08:36 PM

Great win against Recreativo there mate.

Although, I don't know what was madder! Sinama's headbutt in front of the ref, or the ref's blatant neglect of the job by showing him merely a yellow card!

**Jonners71** · 22-07-08, 09:49 AM

I know Ru - it came up with the whole 'moment of madness' quote then yellow card! Must have been the most lenient ref in the world...hate to think what you would have needed to do to earn a red card....shoot someone?

**Jonners71** · 22-07-08, 03:23 PM

The team had the day off on Monday but the rest of us were watching dvds of Real Madrid games from this season.

It was suddenly occuring to me exactly what I was in the middle of here. Those opening games against Sevilla and Athletico Madrid went by in a blur. Since then I've got a bit more used to things but it has been Valladoilid and Murcia. This game was different. Like most managers in England you tend to get to follow the Spanish scene via whatever game Sky choose to show on the weekend. Not surprisingly then I knew Real Madrid and Barcelona better than I knew Villarreal before I came over.

Just reading thier line up brought out the wide eyed fan in me. These were players who were genuinly world class and I was managing a team against them - it felt like some kind of game that had got a bit out of it's depth.

We checked over the team news from Madrid- Casillas was definatly out, his torn groin muscle was a good few weeks from healing and Raul was 2 weeks off recovery too.

But there wasn't much else going in our favour, they had only conceded one goal in thier last 10 fixtures.

The dvds were frightening. How was I going to get a team to keep them at bay for 90 minutes. Surely even Roig can't be expecting anything more than a miracle draw?

"tough tough fixture my friend...but not impossible"

Here we were again, him staring out the window, me sat in the chair wanting to be somewhere else.

"I want to see hard tackles- that is the only way, stop them playing thier pretty football...then when they look tired....BAM! you hit them on the break...tis easy yes?"

The guy was clearly nuts.

"yes sir, it would seem so"

He reminded me of the press conference tomorrow and another shiver went down my spine. I just wanted to fast forward to the weekend's game - I didn't feel ready to be facing one of the biggest teams in the world.

losblancos · 22-07-08, 03:47 PM

Usually teams go into such matches with nothing to lose. But Roig hasnt put you in the same situation. The press conference might be the toughest you've had till date where language is not the only problem.

Brilliant read.

**Jonners71** · 22-07-08, 08:16 PM

Tuesday and it was hard to think of anything other than tomorrow nights fixture. Sports channels wanted to interview me at every turn and most of the players looked restless.

The press conference was due and I knew I had to get it over with. Roig kept me waiting for once and I was sat there in front of a crowd of journalists and photographers feeling stupid.

When he did arrive he looked in a bad mood, this was going to be worse than usual.

"Rodrigues Miguel - Marca - es esto el juego mas grande de su vida?"

I actually knew what this one meant....it was the biggest game of my life by far....I managed to reply "si" and that was about it.

"Julio Pellegrini - El Pais - usted cree a su equipo puede batir Real Madrid?"

Roig was quick to answer this one on my behalf.

I later found out that he had every faith in us beating Madrid...

"Dave Keeling - Sky Sports - surely you can't expect to get anything out of this game?"

"well, I'd be happy with a draw to be honest but as long as my lads play to my tactics I wont have any complaints"

Roig leaned towards me "no complaints huh?..we will see"

"Fernando Sierra - El Mundo - cuales son sus tactica para parar Robinho?"

I picked up the gist of this one...tactics and Robinho? I didn't have the first idea of how to answer it though and a long silence followed. I turned to Roig for help but he just appeared to be waiting for a reply too.

I gave in and answered in English - "Senna will stop Robinho"

The whole thing wound up after a few more questions I couldn't answer.

Meanwhile Schuster had been on the TV playing a few mind games.

"I really think Villarreal will fancy thier chances against us. We've been in good form but this is perhaps our toughest test of the season so far"

Yeah right, they were flying and my team had fear in thier eyes.

losblancos · 22-07-08, 08:36 PM

Even Schuster has now made it much harder for you by using that "toughest test" statement.

I guess you need to tell the players that they have nothing to lose to release the pressure.

**Jonners71** · 23-07-08, 09:42 AM

Despite the obvious signs of fear, the team boarded the plane to Madrid with a certain amount of defiance. Even if they did lose they would go down fighting.

There were few surprises in our line up -
Lopez (GK)
Angel (DR) Fuentes (DC) Godin (DC) Insua (DL)
Bruno (DM) Senna (DM)
Cani (AMR) Nihat (F) Fernandez (AML)
Rossi (ST)

I'd instructed both Senna and Bruno to get stuck in early and try to disrupt thier build up play.

They had Van Nistelrooy and Robinho up front, Drenthe and Robben supplying the crosses.

As we entered the stadium for warm up exercises the atmosphere was fairly quiet. There were evevitable whistles from the home fans as our players got nearer to the stands but there didn't seem to be much to fuel the fear already in them.

By the time kick off came things had changed. It is not uncommon for Spanish grounds to suddenly fill at the last minute and the difference was breathtaking. The more experienced players seemed to be soaking it up, others looked like rabbits in headlights.

The game kicked off and I sat myself down. If we could just hold them for 20 minutes then we could maybe get a grip on the game....

Anyone who just glances at this scoreline would be forgiven for thinking that the hosts destroyed a hapless Villarreal. But that would be a long way from what actually happened at partizan Bernabeau tonight.

The earliest of chances fell to the visitors, Jerzy Dudek, in for the injured Casillas denied Rossi from close range in what would be a familiar duel. However whatever advice and tactics Englishman Jon Mills may have given his team were swiftly made obsolete by a swift move down the flank. Robben, who would torment Villarreal's right back Angel all night, played in a perfect ball for Van Nistelrooy to toe poke the ball home.

By no means downhearted the away side rallied, often forcing Dudek to pull off more and more saves. The home side were glad to hear the half time whistle and at that point few would have forseen such a final scoreline.

It was Angel who did his team little favours by playing a shocking hospital ball back to Lopez. Van Nistelrooy was quick to spot the possibility and nicked the ball away from the keeper and passed it into an empty net.

Again the visitors fought back, Rossi again denied after great work from the forward. Although on this occassion he really should have scored. It was a costly miss as it was game over a minute later. Guti was given far too much time on the ball to pick out Robinho's run. The young Brazillian took the ball in his stride before curling it with power over Lopez for 3-0.

Man of the match Robinho celebrates the first of his two goals

The stadium errupted and at last Villarreal heads began to go down. The visitors made some changes and seemed to throw caution to the wind in search of a consolation goal but it was Real who picked them off twice more on the break.

Robinho then Higuain both capatalizing on sloppy defending and an absent midfield put an unrealistic gloss on the scoreline before Pjanic gave the Yellow Subs at least one of the goals they deserved. The Bosnian substitute got on the end of Fernandez's fine dribble and cross to wrong-foot Dudek.

Villarreal faces at the final whistle said it all. 5-1 but perhaps 3-2 would have been more accurate. They will fly home well out-scored but I would imagine deep down with the knowledge that they were not out-played.

..................................

Wednesday 31st October 2007

Betis 2 Getafe 0
Deportivo 5 Osasuna 1
Espanyol 2 Barcelona 1
Levante 1 Almeria 0
Mallroca 1 Zaragoza 1
Murcia 0 Sevilla 1
Racing 0 Athletic 1
Recreativo 1 Valencia 3
Valladolid 0 Ath. Madrid 0

..........................................

losblancos · 23-07-08, 10:01 AM

Football can be mean sometimes. A good display against the defending champs, and the scoreline is very very harsh. Hopefully Roig has a similar thinking.

**Jonners71** · 23-07-08, 02:21 PM

The following day when Roig invited me to join him on his luxury boat I feared the worst.

He'd also summoned Senna the captain, Ruben and Lopez Ufarte our head coach.

"Surely he can't kill all of us?" I asked Ruben quietly as we waited for Roig to sort out the boarding plank.

"I dunno, he looks pretty mad"

As it turned out the guy wanted to have a bit of a summit. Senna (sulking constantly at having to join us on the player's day off) was the least willing to get involved and seemed a bit agitated, constantly looking at the surrounding boats in the harbour.

Roig had handed us all fishing rods which if nothing else gave us a useful diversion from the shouting that was bound to come. An hour passed and the guy was being nothing but a fantastic host, pouring out red wine and making sure we had the right fishing set up.

I nudged Ruben - "this is errr....all very nice...what's the deal?"

Ruben just shrugged and gave me the 'no idea' look.

I also noticed though that Ruben had his virgin Mary statue with him, perhaps he was expecting the worst afterall.

It was an hour later before he finally sat down beside me.

"you know Mills - you may be expecting me to be angry after last night yes?"

"well, ye.."

"well, believe me, inside there is plenty of rage left for another time. But I will tell you my friend that I saw a team play with heart - play with fire - even when they were being humiliated"

"well, yes, I..."

"and that my friend is why you are not on the end of the hook you have out there in the water - you understand? I want you to win the next 3 games - if you do not then you will experience a side to me you will never forget"

You mean this guy could be even worse? I looked him in the eye and waited for his face to move further away. As he stood up he kicked my sandwich into the water.

He walked a little further down the deck and sat down next to Ruben for what I imagine was the same speech.

Shortly afterwards I realised why Senna had been so tetchy. He knew that some of the players were out on thier speedboat today and would probably relish the chance to cause a scene.

In fact it was around the time that Senna was getting his little chat with the boss that they began to come into view. I saw Senna's face change and I thought he was going to spew. Ruben and I started to make out what was heading our way but luckily Roig was still oblivious.

He finished talking to Senna and stood in the centre of the deck so we could all hear him.

"now, from this day forward I want to see this team triumph. I want to see us victorious...I want...."

We all winced as he cut his sentance short...it was no good, even he could see it now.

As the speedboat wake began to shake our boat the disturbing sight of the bare arses of Pires, Capdevila, Lopez and Josico came into view.

They all cheered as they went passed, the boat being driven by Cazorlo. He was the first to spot that they were mooning Roig's boat but the damage was done.

Roig's eyes fixed on me.

"changes Mills or goodbye"

losblancos · 23-07-08, 08:50 PM

Not as bad as I thought......thats until I read the last part. Senor Roig is a clever little fox!

**liveru** · 23-07-08, 09:28 PM

Oh dear.

Talk about dropping you in it. I don't think it's a good idea giving them a day off anymore. Especially if that's how they spend it.

It was funny though. Shame Roig doesn't see the funny side.

**Hartynips** · 23-07-08, 09:55 PM

Id start throwing plates at the players mate not the walls!

**Jonners71** · 24-07-08, 09:27 AM

I was starting to wonder if I cared enough about all this to put myself through it anymore. Ok so I was managing in La Liga pretty much by accident and should be pinching myself that it was all real. But if that was the case then I wouldn't have been slumped in a chair in Pablo's that night blind drunk with Lucy nagging away in my ear.

She was reminding me that this was meant to be our little adventure in Spain. But here we were 4 months later and I was feeling 10 years older with high blood pressure, she was getting more homesick by the day and I still couldn't have a conversation in Spanish.

This had to be the lowest point yet and considering I've had to deal with hotel riots, party punch ups and a gang-mooning whilst on a boat....that was saying something.

We were home to Betis on Sunday night and I had a feeling that it was going to be some kind of goodbye.

I'm not sure what it was going to take to get this bunch of players all playing with real desire. I got home late that night and called my old mate Harry back in Portsmouth.

"it effin' 2am" was the first thing I heard.

"well it's 3am here Harry...and I'm not good mate"

To his credit he didn't put the phone down on me but it wasn't the longest conversation we'd had either. But he gave me some solid advice and said that he would perhaps keep me in mind for a role at his club should I come back to England. But most importantly he told me that football can change so quickly that you could be