The Ballad of Charlie McGhee – 2nd Stanza
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Thanks mate!
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30 December 2015 – Drab Draw
It was practically New Year’s Eve as the Jets made the short trip down to Sydney. All the talk around town was of the upcoming fireworks spectacular that occurs every year on the 31st of December in most Australian cities but whilst there was sure to be excitement the following night today’s match between West Sydney and Newcastle was anything but.
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Nil all, in a game full of lethargy that, to the fans, made it look like the players all over indulged over the Christmas period. All McGhee could do was hope that the squad would be better for the run out next time round…
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30 December 2015 – Drab Draw
It was practically New Year’s Eve as the Jets made the short trip down to Sydney. All the talk around town was of the upcoming fireworks spectacular that occurs every year on the 31st of December in most Australian cities but whilst there was sure to be excitement the following night today’s match between West Sydney and Newcastle was anything but.
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Nil all, in a game full of lethargy that, to the fans, made it look like the players all over indulged over the Christmas period. All McGhee could do was hope that the squad would be better for the run out next time round…
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3 January 2016 – New Year’s disappointment
The headlines read ‘Jets rescue late draw’ but McGhee could help but feel that this was 2 points dropped. Victory’s goal was luck, pure and simple, and they hadn’t threatened much at all apart from that. It was clear that Melbourne manager Kevin Muscat had sent his men out to defend and were more than happy to pick up the point in Newcastle.
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Despite the Jet’s dominance in possession Melbourne opened the scoring in the 57th minute when Ki-Je had a shocker and allowed Broxham to slot home. There have been whispers in the media that Ulsan Hyundai have been scouting Ki-Je with a view to a transfer and it occurred to McGhee that this might be going to his best player’s head.
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Following their stroke of luck the Victory began to drop deeper and deeper as the game wore on. On 83 minutes practically the entire Melbourne defense had a brain explosion. Trifunovic picked up the ball and took a couple of touches back towards the Jets goal, for some reason, 5 Victory defenders were dragged out of position but didn’t really close down. He then turned and knocked in a throughball that Crowley accepted with glee and turned home. It was extremely pleasing for Charlie to see the Victory undone by such bad defending when their coach, Kevin Muscat, has been less than complimentary of the Jets so far this season.
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At the end of the match too Charlie couldn’t help but point out the Victory’s poor defending in the post match press conference saying, “Well for a team that is coached by Kevin Muscat they didn’t defend all that great on our goal…”
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3 January 2016 – New Year’s disappointment
The headlines read ‘Jets rescue late draw’ but McGhee could help but feel that this was 2 points dropped. Victory’s goal was luck, pure and simple, and they hadn’t threatened much at all apart from that. It was clear that Melbourne manager Kevin Muscat had sent his men out to defend and were more than happy to pick up the point in Newcastle.
View attachment 213196
Despite the Jet’s dominance in possession Melbourne opened the scoring in the 57th minute when Ki-Je had a shocker and allowed Broxham to slot home. There have been whispers in the media that Ulsan Hyundai have been scouting Ki-Je with a view to a transfer and it occurred to McGhee that this might be going to his best player’s head.
View attachment 213195
Following their stroke of luck the Victory began to drop deeper and deeper as the game wore on. On 83 minutes practically the entire Melbourne defense had a brain explosion. Trifunovic picked up the ball and took a couple of touches back towards the Jets goal, for some reason, 5 Victory defenders were dragged out of position but didn’t really close down. He then turned and knocked in a throughball that Crowley accepted with glee and turned home. It was extremely pleasing for Charlie to see the Victory undone by such bad defending when their coach, Kevin Muscat, has been less than complimentary of the Jets so far this season.
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At the end of the match too Charlie couldn’t help but point out the Victory’s poor defending in the post match press conference saying, “Well for a team that is coached by Kevin Muscat they didn’t defend all that great on our goal…”
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9 January 2016 – Irreconcilable Differences…
6 days after the draw with Melbourne Newcastle had faced another of the competition heavyweights in Sydney. The Jets had played on of their best games to date to beat the Sky Blues 1 nil with the goal initially awarded to Labinot Haliti but upon review it was determined that in fact it had been an own goal.
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But that wasn’t what was troubling Charlie. He’d been furiously working all evening to overcome the problem presented to him by meddling Jets Chairman Blake Hooper. McGhee was aware that Ulsan had been sniffing around Lee Ki-Je for a while but had a handshake agreement with Hooper that Ki-Je wouldn’t be sold during this season.
Ulsan, unperturbed, had tabled a 1.3 million pound bid and Hooper just couldn’t help himself. ‘How could be so stupid!’ McGhee fumed, 'We would make that easily if we win and get into the ACL! How could he be so short sighted!!!' Overcoming his anger McGhee had quickly identified that slotting Carney back into left back would be the easiest way to compensate for the loss of Ki-Je.
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That though would create an issue higher up the pitch in the wide midfield spot that Carney would now vacate. As such, McGhee had worked feverishly through the night calling agents trying to replace him before Ki-Je inevitably agreed terms with Ulsan and had come to realize that former Victory youngster Connor Pain was now available on a free transfer. He would do nicely thanks.
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Even with a replacement lined up the fact that Hooper had gone behind his back and accepted, irrespective of the amount, the Ulsan offer was something that McGhee was having a lot of trouble coming to grips with. How could he do his job if he was worried about the next boneheaded decision that the Newcastle administration was going to make??
To complicate matters even more McGhee had just received an SMS from Jim McInally saying that Peterhead had finally had enough and sacked him and that he had put in a good word for Charlie.
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So here he was, staring at the computer screen wondering if what he had just done after an emotion filled day would end up being the biggest mistake of his life. Suddenly he received a reply email, ‘**** it,’ He thought to himself, ‘I guess we are going to find out soon enough!’
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9 January 2016 – Irreconcilable Differences…
6 days after the draw with Melbourne Newcastle had faced another of the competition heavyweights in Sydney. The Jets had played on of their best games to date to beat the Sky Blues 1 nil with the goal initially awarded to Labinot Haliti but upon review it was determined that in fact it had been an own goal.
View attachment 213189
View attachment 213188
But that wasn’t what was troubling Charlie. He’d been furiously working all evening to overcome the problem presented to him by meddling Jets Chairman Blake Hooper. McGhee was aware that Ulsan had been sniffing around Lee Ki-Je for a while but had a handshake agreement with Hooper that Ki-Je wouldn’t be sold during this season.
Ulsan, unperturbed, had tabled a 1.3 million pound bid and Hooper just couldn’t help himself. ‘How could be so stupid!’ McGhee fumed, 'We would make that easily if we win and get into the ACL! How could he be so short sighted!!!' Overcoming his anger McGhee had quickly identified that slotting Carney back into left back would be the easiest way to compensate for the loss of Ki-Je.
View attachment 213187
That though would create an issue higher up the pitch in the wide midfield spot that Carney would now vacate. As such, McGhee had worked feverishly through the night calling agents trying to replace him before Ki-Je inevitably agreed terms with Ulsan and had come to realize that former Victory youngster Connor Pain was now available on a free transfer. He would do nicely thanks.
View attachment 213186
Even with a replacement lined up the fact that Hooper had gone behind his back and accepted, irrespective of the amount, the Ulsan offer was something that McGhee was having a lot of trouble coming to grips with. How could he do his job if he was worried about the next boneheaded decision that the Newcastle administration was going to make??
To complicate matters even more McGhee had just received an SMS from Jim McInally saying that Peterhead had finally had enough and sacked him and that he had put in a good word for Charlie.
View attachment 213184
So here he was, staring at the computer screen wondering if what he had just done after an emotion filled day would end up being the biggest mistake of his life. Suddenly he received a reply email, ‘**** it,’ He thought to himself, ‘I guess we are going to find out soon enough!’
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17 January 2015 – In limbo…
McGhee was walked straight passed him and up the tunnel, not so much as even glancing in Hooper’s direction, as he left he field and the Jet’s Chairman had attempted to congratulate him. Charlie didn’t care if the camera’s caught it. He was still furious, it had been no surprise when Ki-Je signed for Ulsan earlier in the week for what ended up being a club record amount.
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Peterhead hadn’t been back in contact as yet with Charlie to let him know if he was successful in securing an interview so he had continued on as normal this week. No one, not even JP with whom Charlie now held a good working relationship, knew of his application.
If it had been a distraction though it didn’t show. Charlie had the Jets firing here today. They completely dominated all facets of the game. Realizing that too many long balls were being played over his striker’s heads he had asked his team to shorten up their play a bit and by pushing his fullbacks on he was seeing a lot more possession retained.
Today they had hardly given the Pheonix a sniff. As early as the 12th minute the Jets were on top when Alivodic tucked away a Leonardo cross who had reverted to left midfield with Carney sliding back and Pain not quite ready.
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Despite the dominance it had remained 1 nil until the 71st minute when Bojic was rewarded for a day filled with industry when his lung-busting run from deep was paid and he slotted home from a tight angle.
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Wellington had 4 shots total the entire match but managed to score with one of them. Former Ajax youngster Jeffrey Sarpong guided a deep cross home in the 74th minute to give Wellington hope.
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That flicker of hope was extinguished in the 84th minute when youth striker Tom Waller, a late substitution, looped his header over Glen Moss for Newcastle’s 3rd goal.
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The result moved Newcastle up to 3rd spot in the ladder. McGhee felt a tinge of guilt as the players celebrated in the dressing rooms – even if they do make the finals, he might not be around to guide them.
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17 January 2015 – In limbo…
McGhee was walked straight passed him and up the tunnel, not so much as even glancing in Hooper’s direction, as he left he field and the Jet’s Chairman had attempted to congratulate him. Charlie didn’t care if the camera’s caught it. He was still furious, it had been no surprise when Ki-Je signed for Ulsan earlier in the week for what ended up being a club record amount.
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Peterhead hadn’t been back in contact as yet with Charlie to let him know if he was successful in securing an interview so he had continued on as normal this week. No one, not even JP with whom Charlie now held a good working relationship, knew of his application.
If it had been a distraction though it didn’t show. Charlie had the Jets firing here today. They completely dominated all facets of the game. Realizing that too many long balls were being played over his striker’s heads he had asked his team to shorten up their play a bit and by pushing his fullbacks on he was seeing a lot more possession retained.
Today they had hardly given the Pheonix a sniff. As early as the 12th minute the Jets were on top when Alivodic tucked away a Leonardo cross who had reverted to left midfield with Carney sliding back and Pain not quite ready.
View attachment 213174
Despite the dominance it had remained 1 nil until the 71st minute when Bojic was rewarded for a day filled with industry when his lung-busting run from deep was paid and he slotted home from a tight angle.
View attachment 213172
Wellington had 4 shots total the entire match but managed to score with one of them. Former Ajax youngster Jeffrey Sarpong guided a deep cross home in the 74th minute to give Wellington hope.
View attachment 213171
That flicker of hope was extinguished in the 84th minute when youth striker Tom Waller, a late substitution, looped his header over Glen Moss for Newcastle’s 3rd goal.
View attachment 213170
The result moved Newcastle up to 3rd spot in the ladder. McGhee felt a tinge of guilt as the players celebrated in the dressing rooms – even if they do make the finals, he might not be around to guide them.
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Connor Pain would be a great free pick up, thats if Charlie stays in Newcastle of course
(H)
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24 January 2016 - Mo' drama...
'Seriously?!? This is how they want to play it??' McGhee thought to himself after hearing the news from Peterhead. Following the Perth match that the Jet's had won 2 nil thanks to goals from a Bojic crot and Haliti there had been speculation in the media that McGhee might be on the move at the end of the season.
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Forget the end of the season if Charlie had his way he'd be out of there now!! Furious at Newcastle's demands for compensation that were blocking his exit Charlie had demanded a face-to-face meeting with Newcastle Chairman Blake Hooper.
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Funnily enough once face-to-face the wrinkly old ******* rolled over like a little puppy dog and immediately acquiesced to Charlie's demands. Evidently all he really cares about is wringing every possible penny out of every asset at the club. Following the meeting McGhee was more sure than ever that his future lay elsewhere and promptly re-submitted his Peterhead application...
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24 January 2016 - Mo' drama...
'Seriously?!? This is how they want to play it??' McGhee thought to himself after hearing the news from Peterhead. Following the Perth match that the Jet's had won 2 nil thanks to goals from a Bojic crot and Haliti there had been speculation in the media that McGhee might be on the move at the end of the season.
View attachment 213163
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Forget the end of the season if Charlie had his way he'd be out of there now!! Furious at Newcastle's demands for compensation that were blocking his exit Charlie had demanded a face-to-face meeting with Newcastle Chairman Blake Hooper.
View attachment 213161
Funnily enough once face-to-face the wrinkly old ******* rolled over like a little puppy dog and immediately acquiesced to Charlie's demands. Evidently all he really cares about is wringing every possible penny out of every asset at the club. Following the meeting McGhee was more sure than ever that his future lay elsewhere and promptly re-submitted his Peterhead application...
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31 January 2016 - If it bleeds, we can kill it!
Today had started like any other game day for Charlie. Earlier his team had finally overcome their nemesis Adelaide - in Adelaide no less - and come away with a solid, come from behind 2-1 victory! The Jets had to do it the hard way, scoring 2 goals in the last 15 minutes to seal all 3 points.
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Arriving home after the flight back Charlie checked his emails and saw the one he had been waiting for.
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Barely taking the time to pack a bag he got on the Qantas app and booked a ticket on the next available flight to the United Kingdom. On his way to the airport he texted JP to let him know what was going on.
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The interview seemed to go pretty well and Charlie was confident that he would be offered the job. First though he had to head back to Australia to make arrangements there. Upon arriving though, rather than receiving the "come pack up your desk" call he was expecting, he instead received an email proposing a contract extension! 'After all this! Are they for real?' is all Charlie could think...
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Irrespective of what Peterhead's decision ends up being Charlie has resolved that he will only, at the most, see his contract out with the Jets. Regardless though of the outcome, McGhee has left the Jets in a significantly better position than he found them!!
View attachment 213147
31 January 2016 - If it bleeds, we can kill it!
Today had started like any other game day for Charlie. Earlier his team had finally overcome their nemesis Adelaide - in Adelaide no less - and come away with a solid, come from behind 2-1 victory! The Jets had to do it the hard way, scoring 2 goals in the last 15 minutes to seal all 3 points.
View attachment 213156
Arriving home after the flight back Charlie checked his emails and saw the one he had been waiting for.
View attachment 213154
Barely taking the time to pack a bag he got on the Qantas app and booked a ticket on the next available flight to the United Kingdom. On his way to the airport he texted JP to let him know what was going on.
View attachment 213153
The interview seemed to go pretty well and Charlie was confident that he would be offered the job. First though he had to head back to Australia to make arrangements there. Upon arriving though, rather than receiving the "come pack up your desk" call he was expecting, he instead received an email proposing a contract extension! 'After all this! Are they for real?' is all Charlie could think...
View attachment 213149
Irrespective of what Peterhead's decision ends up being Charlie has resolved that he will only, at the most, see his contract out with the Jets. Regardless though of the outcome, McGhee has left the Jets in a significantly better position than he found them!!
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ninjaskill
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Doing great keep it up. Good luck in Scotland if you go
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5 February 2015 - New Beginnings
Not long after the interview the press began to speculate that McGhee might be on the move.
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In time that speculation was proven to be true.
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McGhee now takes over a club he holds dear to his heart from his time at the beginning of his playing career. Peterhead helped provide a springboard for Charlie's playing career - might it do the same for his managerial career also?
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McGhee is unsure if this is fate or not but this year just so happens to also be Peterhead's 125th anniversary!
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McGhee clearly has his work cut out for him though with Peterhead rooted to the bottom of the table.
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5 February 2015 - New Beginnings
Not long after the interview the press began to speculate that McGhee might be on the move.
View attachment 213121
In time that speculation was proven to be true.
View attachment 213120
McGhee now takes over a club he holds dear to his heart from his time at the beginning of his playing career. Peterhead helped provide a springboard for Charlie's playing career - might it do the same for his managerial career also?
View attachment 213119
McGhee is unsure if this is fate or not but this year just so happens to also be Peterhead's 125th anniversary!
View attachment 213118
McGhee clearly has his work cut out for him though with Peterhead rooted to the bottom of the table.
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PatrickLFC
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Congrats on the dream job!!
Looking forward to the next chapter in your career
Great to go back to your football roots and have faith you can keep Peterhead up!
Congrats on the dream job!!
Thanks Gents. Ideally I would have had at least the first full year at the Jets but when the Peterhead job came up I figured I had to at least go for it seeing as it was the only club Charlie had on his favoured list after his playing career and I thought if I didn't do it then it would be difficult to find a spot for them in the story later on.
Just played my first game against league leaders Ayr - got some work ahead of me!!!
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6 February 2016 - What have I gotten myself into...
They don't ease you in when in Scotland!! One day into the job and Charlie had to pick up his bottom of the table Peterhead side and travel to ladder leaders Ayr. Looking over his squad Charlie began to understand exactly why Peterhead were bottom of the ladder. Only one natural Central Defender and no right backs!! Ouch - this was going to be tough! A bevy of central midfielder meant that Charlie felt he could get them playing a solid 4-4-22 narrow diamond if he could only get some extra players. Being that it was past the close of the January window these could potentially only be free transfers or trialists...
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No matter who he would like to bring in however this squad was who would face Ayr. Early on it showed though as Ayr continually attacked down the Peterhead right flank. In only the 2nd minute they broke through - Alen Trouten nipping in from the left wing spot and firing home.
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Half and hour later and Peterhead were sensationally level. A cross was sent in by right back Baptie and Devin cut it out for what appeared to be a routine clearance. Instead he managed to slice his hack right into the top corner of the Ayr goal - fantastic finish!! (well at least as far as Charlie was concerned!
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From the point on though it was all one way traffic as Ayr dominated and extended their lead. First Teale headed in at the far post and then Moore grabbed a late double.
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They say that sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the hill. Well that may be true but this patch of turf means something to McGhee and his determination to turn things around only grew with this result.
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6 February 2016 - What have I gotten myself into...
They don't ease you in when in Scotland!! One day into the job and Charlie had to pick up his bottom of the table Peterhead side and travel to ladder leaders Ayr. Looking over his squad Charlie began to understand exactly why Peterhead were bottom of the ladder. Only one natural Central Defender and no right backs!! Ouch - this was going to be tough! A bevy of central midfielder meant that Charlie felt he could get them playing a solid 4-4-22 narrow diamond if he could only get some extra players. Being that it was past the close of the January window these could potentially only be free transfers or trialists...
View attachment 212915
No matter who he would like to bring in however this squad was who would face Ayr. Early on it showed though as Ayr continually attacked down the Peterhead right flank. In only the 2nd minute they broke through - Alen Trouten nipping in from the left wing spot and firing home.
View attachment 212914
Half and hour later and Peterhead were sensationally level. A cross was sent in by right back Baptie and Devin cut it out for what appeared to be a routine clearance. Instead he managed to slice his hack right into the top corner of the Ayr goal - fantastic finish!! (well at least as far as Charlie was concerned!
View attachment 212913
From the point on though it was all one way traffic as Ayr dominated and extended their lead. First Teale headed in at the far post and then Moore grabbed a late double.
View attachment 212911
View attachment 212909
View attachment 212908
They say that sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the hill. Well that may be true but this patch of turf means something to McGhee and his determination to turn things around only grew with this result.
View attachment 212906
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Thanks mate!