The Ballad of Charlie McGhee – 2nd Stanza

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December 2018 (Part 2) – Hitting the ground running



Mere days are beginning the Nice chapter of his career Charlie was required to lead the squad against Stade de Reims. Stade de Reims were surprising everyone – sitting in 5th spot coming into this game so it was expected to be a tough early test for Nice.


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In the end it was anything but! The squad responded magnificently to the new boss and ran roughshod over their (slightly) more fancied opponents. A great 5 nil victory then to start off life in charge of Nice for McGhee!


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After the helter-skelter of the first week Charlie began to ease into life at Nice when another email from Paul Okon (seriously, is he sucking up!?!) arrived in Charlie’s mailbox. The Aussie U/23 side had just played the Iraqi team and Humam Tariq had starred for Iraq. That wasn’t the surprising thing though – he was actually without contract and Okon was alerting McGhee to that fact. A few phonecalls later and Tariq was on his way to join Nice on trial.

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McGhee’s second match in charge of Lille saw them travel cross country to Lille. Unfortunately, despite probably being the better side, they couldn’t fully convert their dominance to goals and had to settle for a one all draw.


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The final match of the month saw Nice travel to Bastia. Charlie had probably the best spell of his career playing for SC Bastia and he is still extremely well regarded in these parts. In fact, it is hard to imagine an opposing manager getting a better reception then the one McGhee received here. Bastia weren’t so accommodating on the pitch though and the 2 sides, who have both been playing quite well recently, effectively cancelled each other out and settled for a nil all draw.


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A good start to life at Nice then for Charlie as they climbed up 3 spots since his arrival. Charlie would like the team to have a real crack at the European spots over the 2nd half of the season – or at bare minimum make some of those sides sitting above them start looking over their shoulders a bit.


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January 2019 – New year new beginnings



As the new year rolled around the transfer window opened but frankly Charlie wasn’t really considering any big purchases. At most he was willing to let 1 or 2 guys leave who don’t fit as well in his system but his big challenge this month was the fend off interest in goalkeeper Mouez Hassan. The young Frenchman was drawing admiring glances from all over Europe and it would be a massive loss if he left.


To the games then and the first of 2019 saw Nice take on some lower league competition in the French Cup. Luzenac had done well to reach this point but a rotated Nice side treated this like a training run - easily accounting for them 7 zip.


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From one of the easiest games they’ll play all season to one of the hardest. PSG visited the Allianz Riviera in the league next for what promised to be a tough test. In the end Nice might have even snatched all 3 points following Angel Di Maria’s dismissal 10 minutes after the restart however they couldn’t find the breakthrough – no matter, this was still a good result for the boys from the south coast.


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Carlos Luque is one player who doesn’t really fit in the narrow diamond formation now favoured by Charlie. As such he was allowed to leave – the 2.5 million pounds recouped for him isn’t quite as high as Charlie would have liked but he saw no reason to stand in front of Luque chasing an opportunity elsewhere that might suit him better as a winger.


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For the second time in weeks then PSG travelled south to take on Nice – this time in the 10th round of the French Cup. This time they emerged victorious also as Martial proved too hot to handle for the Nice backline scoring a brace.


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FC Nantes were next on the schedule and they have been having a down year sitting in the relegation spots so Nice were expected to handle them with ease and that they did. A cruisey 2 nil win for Les Aiglons as Andone scored both.


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“Seriously, just give the referee the man of the match award,” McGhee fumed after the match having watched Alex Alves pick up his second yellow in only the 6th minute. Normally that wouldn’t be cause for too much consternation but Nice only committed 3 fouls the entire match! Someone


needs to check the bank accounts of that ref because someone somewhere was making money off his decision’s today – there is no other explanation for it…


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With the exception then of the Angers result this was a good month for Nice. They are establishing themselves nicely in mid table which should serve as a good platform to attack from in the final months of the season. Also Charlie successfully fended off Everton, Stoke and Napoli who all came in search of Hassan’s signature. The young ‘keeper was disappointed at first but quickly got over it.


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Great to be back and up to date with this, Charlie's progressing rapidly!
 
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February 2019 – Everthing’s coming up Charlie



As the January transfer window closed Charlie liked the look of his squad. Yes, things would be reasonably tough for the next year or two whilst his young guns developed but by the time they are hitting 22/23 he should have some amazing players so the challenge will be to build the rest of the squad up gradually so not as to waste this opportunity.


First match in February saw Nice take on Lorient, who are surprising everyone this season sitting in 3rd place. Despite their respective table positions it was Nice who looked like ladder leaders as they dominated proceedings. Romanian striker Andone continued his recent good form scoring another brace – the 25 year old seems to in the form of his life under Charlie becoming first choice for both club and country.


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About half an hour by car is all that separates Nice and Monaco so the stadium was rocking with fans from both sides packing the Stade Louis II. Monaco, since their recent takeover, have become one of the real glamour clubs in France alongside PSG and perennial powerhouses OM and Lyon. Whilst PSG are running away with things at the top Monaco have battled their way to 2nd spot so McGhee knew his boys would be up against it here. In the end, despite probably shading it in terms of performance, it was a moment of class from Falcao that won it for Monaco. Despite being 33 the mercurial Colombian can still turn on the style and it was his classy side-foot finish that proved the difference.


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Following the Monaco match McGhee got an unexpected bit of news. Ange Postecoglou, after 6 years in the top job of Australian football, was stepping down. McGhee initially umm’d and ahh’d about applying but once he saw that Paul Okon was considered a favorite for the post, given their differences when Charlie was a player, he didn’t want to see the Socceroos put in the hands of that man, now it made sense why Okon had been sucking up a bit lately – he must have known Ange was thinking of quitting and wanted Charlie on side – no chance of that mate.


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Once word of his application reached the media it quickly it was quickly revealed that Charlie was a firm favorite for the job, both internally at the FFA and with the fans. As in time so it proved, with no need for an interview Charlie was appointed as the new Socceroo manager. How he will split time between the national team and club duties will be interesting – luckily he is only married to the game.


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He first order of business with the Socceroo setup was to review his staff. Franken had been around the setup when Charlie was a player so he knew him well. Millicic was relatively new to the scene and had played with the Socceroos prior to Charlie’s time so he will have to observe him. Okon well, what else is there to say? Charlie has been looking forward to dealing with him for a while now.


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That would have to wait though as club duties called. Next on the agenda for February was Lens. Nice have been on a tear at home recently and this game was no different. In fact, Dabbur’s goal only served to spur on Nice as Adryan ran the show from that point on. The attacking midfielder has been ok, if not amazing since Charlie’s arrival but performances like this could see him cement a place in McGhee’s future plans.


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“We’ll grow,” was McGhee’s response when queried about their collapse at Lyon. After taking the lead through Andone early on it was disappointing to see them not even collect a point, particularly with Lyon’s winner only arriving in the 88th minute.


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After the Lyon match Charlie had some spare time to devote to getting ‘his’ team in an around the National team setup. First point of call was to tell Okon to take a hike – that felt good. To replace him Charlie desperately wanted his good friend Lucas Neill to be involved. Unfortunately for Charlie, but not so for Lucas, he is now in charge of the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and, given he is only new to the management caper, didn’t feel he was quite ready to split time just yet. In his stead came another on of Charlie’s mates from his playing days. Former world-class goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer will now be joining his staff as the U/20’s manager.


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So that was it for February then. Nice didn’t really improve their position but, seeing as their losses were to Monaco and Lyon, things aren’t all that bad. The first challenge for Charlie is to get the team re-established in the top half of the table. Europe is probably a bridge too far for them now this season


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Tariq had done wonders for me in last Fm ! Is it possible for you to post a screenshot of him ? Congrats for the Australian job as well !
 
"World class" is a bit rich for Schwarzer :p And pretty harsh on Okon after he gave you a couple of good tips when at Swindon.
 
PatrickLFC said:
"World class" is a bit rich for Schwarzer :p And pretty harsh on Okon after he gave you a couple of good tips when at Swindon.
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After the amount of times Okon chopped Charlie for big clashes in the player story there was no way I wasn't taking some revenge!
 
Congratulations on landing the Aussie Job!! Cant wait to see how you get on.
 
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March 2019 – Solid



Things were beginning to warm up, and not just off the pitch, for Nice as March rolled around. First McGhee oversaw his first youth intake since taking over on the South Coast. His coaching staff was a little reserved about the quality but Charlie feels there are at least a couple who could be really good players moving forward for the club. In particular Abdellaoui and Toumi, who are also players in positions of foreseeable need, stand out as potential stars.


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Nice then faced Guingamp in the first match of March. Continuing their good run of home form, the boys from the South Coast handled their business today and ran out 1 nil victors. The goal coming from a really nice header from Adryan after he was picked out by an Emerson cross.


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It was Charlies’s birthday as he then took the side to face Bordeaux. Bordeaux, once a real powerhouse in France, have been struggling a bit in Ligue 1 this season sitting in mid-table. Nice needed to be wary of the wounded giants though as they quickly skipped out to a 2 goal lead. Hassen was at fault for both really, failing to stop a shot from an acute angle for the first and then spilling a rebound that was tucked home for the second. Nice, to their credit though, never gave up and rescued a draw though goals to Andone and then a late equalizer to Torje in injury time after he had one put on a plate for him by Human Tariq.


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It was a packed house for the 3rd game of March when Olympic Marseille came to town for the derby. McGhee had his boys bouncing off the walls before kickoff and they started on fire. Modeste, who after having trained as a complete striker since McGhee’s arrival had shown competence in the role, swapped positions with Andone and the change worked well with the towering young Frenchman getting on the end on an Adryan free kick and heading home inside a minute! Nice were three up and coast come the hour mark after first Roni has finished off a flowing move and then Torje had again scored after coming on as a sub. Wilifried Bony earned a dubious penalty in the dying stages that Cabaye converted but there was no denying Nice today – great win!!


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Metz, who have been travelling well – sitting in 4th spot coming into this one, were next up for Nice. The opening hour was quite drab as both teams struggled to create any real clear cut chances but all that change for the final 30 minutes. Roni, who had come on to add some attacking spark to the midfield, did so, starting and finishing a move that left the Metz defence all at sea. In the 80th minute Baysse managed to create a yard of space and he sent in a zinging cross into the Metz area that found Modeste sliding in at the back post. Young Argentinian Di Santo though didn’t allow Charlie to leave without some nervy moments after dragging one back for Metz in injury time but Nice held on for all 3 points.


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Whilst that was it for action as far as Nice was concerned for the month Charlie was still hard at it as the international break rolled around. His first match in charge would see the Socceroos travel to Côte d'Ivoire and the 35,000 seater Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny for a friendly with the Ivory Coast.


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Under Postecoglu Australia had favoured a very patient passing game, not all that dissimilar to how Charlie has got his teams to play. Where they do differ though is Charlie’s preference for lightning quick counters should they be on so there was some growing pains expected as Charlie looked to get them playing his brand of footy. It showed early too as the Aussie efforts were quite disjointed and the Ivory Coast took the lead through Bony after he outmuscled Sainsbury in the area and turned home a cross. That goal seem to steel the Socceroos and they began to take over the match. Minutes later they were equal as the first goal of Charlie’s reign as Socceroos boss was scored by Massimo Luongo. The attacking midfielder figured to feature heavily in Charlie’s system and guided his finish home under Ibrahim Kone nicely here. The Socceroo’s then took the lead as Behich slammed home after reacting quickest to a loose ball in the area. From there Charlie endured some nervy moments but in the end the Socceroos ran out victors over their more fancied opponents – a good start then!


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As Charlie prepared for the next International fixture at the start of April he got good news from Nice. Having fought all January window to hold onto homegrown keeper Hassen McGhee had seemingly annoyed the young shot stopper. However Nice’s recent performances proved enough that he can see a future at a higher level with the South Coast club and he signed a new contract that will hopefully put an end to the speculation linking him with moves abroad.


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A really solid month then that sees Nice climb a few spots up the ladder to now sit in the top half. It is probably asking too much to see them press for Europe with only 7 games remaining but Charlie knows, that with one or two quality additions over the offseason, they can really put a cat among the pigeons next season.


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Nice youth intake and good results what place would you have to finish to get into Europe?
 
ninjaskill said:
Nice youth intake and good results what place would you have to finish to get into Europe?
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To be guaranteed I think 4th! Top 2 go to CL group stage, 3rd to CL qualifying. 4th into Europa group stage and then the other two Europa spots go to Cup winners unless they qualify for the CL.
 
A couple of potential stars in the intake! And fantastic results, Charlie is working miracles once more!
 
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April 2019 – Well that could have gone better…



Fresh off their impressive win over the Ivory Coast in Africa the Socceroo’s then travelled on only days rest to take on Mexico in a friendly in Chicago USA of all places. Some bozo in the FFA office clearly throught it would be clever to schedule a match in Africa, followed by a match in North America to be played by a team with players predominately in Europe and Australia – why not???


As would be expected things didn’t go so well for the Socceroos. They actually started ok and took the lead when Adam Taggart got on the end of a Luongo through ball and prodded home. By the time David Garay equalized when a deflection fell kindly to him it was all one way traffic though. Mexico continued to dominate from that point despite the Aussies having more of the ball with Carlos Vela in particular a constant thorn in the Socceroo side. It ended up 4-1 but in truth it could actually have been even worse for Australia. Charlie with some thinking to do then before the next sojourn with the National team at the Confederations Cup in June.


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Back in the more familiar climes of Ligue 1 McGhee then oversaw Nice taking on St Etienne. If one was simply reviewing the scoreline then next day they could be forgiven for thinking this was a walk in the park for Nice. Unfortunately it was anything but. St Etienne, buoyed on by some vociferous home support, battled away to a one all scoreline with only 6 minutes remaining. Unluckily for them though at that point their resistance broke and Nice ran in 3 goals. Andone was the pick of the Nice players today with a brace but the pick of the goals was Baysse’s strike that broke St Etienne hearts – an absolute thunderbolt from outside the area worthy of winning any game.


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Up next for Nice was Montpellier. They are currently coached by one Jocelyn Gourvennec who, as a coach at Marseille had repeatedly mistreated McGhee during his playing career there. As such, when asked of his opinion of the Fenchman didn’t hold back.


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Perhaps Charlie should have kept his mouth shut though. Despite more possession, shot, shots on target and clear cut chances Nice were defeated by Montpellier. Fin Bartels scored a sucker-punch of a goal just before the break when his looped his header in over Hassen. From that point Nice tried hard but couldn’t find an equalizer. It took all the reserves McGhee had not to knock that dopey smile off Gourvennec’s face at the final whistle…


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Looking to get things back on track Nice then travelled to Rennes. What follow was a lesson in disappointment. Nice skipped out to a 3 goal lead just after 20 minutes thanks to efforts from Adryan, Modeste and a lucky OG and seemed to be dominating. At that point though the team seemed to switch off and nothing Charlie did seemed to help. Rennes came storming back in the 2nd half and salvaged a point as Grosicki turned out to be their hero, getting on the end of 2 deep crosses and nodding home.


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After what was an indifferent month for the club Charlie was somewhat surprised, but pleased nonetheless for right back Baysse when he was named player of the month for Arpil. He has been as solid as they come for Charlie since his arrival and figures to feature for a few years yet at Nice.


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A little bit disappointing then as Nice slide down a few spots to finish the month in 10th. With so few games remaining it is likely that this is where Nice will be aroundabouts come the end of season too.


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How many games left until the curtain drops for the league ? Is it possible to chase a place in the table which will lead to Europa league ?
 
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