The Scotland Job

Saturday 5th September '09
Today is the match against Macedonia, i was even more nervous than I was during the Norway game. If we lost or drew today it was all over. When I was taking my seat at hampden I was informed I had a special guest coming to sit next to me. I just thought " F*ck off, If it's Smith im going to sit in with the fans but thats when i saw ... Kenny Dalglish ! what the F*ck was he doing here. He sat next to me and after talking for five minutes he gave me a proposition. You will never guess what happened in the five minutes I sat next to him. He had declared his interest in being the number 3 in our management trio. I told him he can talk to Rogers and Ferguson after the match and tell them. That was it now - Rogers, Ferguson and Dalglish. Match Whistle went, I was now extremely excited.

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SCOTLAND V Macedonia (SkySports 1 also in HD)
Macedonia started but we soon won the ball, we played it around nicely along the floor, Hutton knocked the ball forward to Boyd who dinked it into the Macedonian area, McCormack with a right footed strike... GOAL! 2nd min - McCormack!

1-0

Possesion was domintated by the Scots, however Macedonia won a throw deep in Scottish territory, the ball was then swung in and headed home by Pandev

1-1 18th min

31 mins - Hutton knocked a lovely ball forward, S.Fletcher picked it up and blasted it just scrapping the bar.

Half time soon arrived and I couldnt believe we were not in the lead, the amount of chances we had, we should have burried Macedonia.


47th min - Macedonia come forward and whip a good looking ball into the area Pandev with the header... Beats the keeper..... post!

54th min - Scott Brown picks up the ball at half way, he runs 10 yards and crosses into the area, awful looking ball... Hits the bar! So unlucky, keeper was lost!

61 mins - K.Boyd OFF, S.Naismith ON

63 mins - Brown on half way he comes forward, spots McCormacks run, hits it forward, McCormack one-on-one with the keeper, gets into a tight angle, shoots... GOAL!

2-1, well deserved Scotland goal!

70 mins - Pandev whips in the corner, penalty! Handball, surely not?!
Pandev steps up (he's been a ***** in this game) GOAL!

2-2, back to square f*ckin' one!

73 mins - Wallace OFF, D.Fox ON

89 mins - Thomson OFF, Bannan ON

Final score 2-2

I couldnt believe we didnt win! both games the referee has f*cked us over! I wasnt at all happy, the press were definatly going to be on my back, not sure what Mr Hart thought about the game, but from start to finish we dominated, we didnt take our chances we should have been 8-0 up by half time, im devastated. However that said it was a very action packed game and very enjoyable for anybody who's not Scottish.

I made my way to the press conference room.....










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After The Match
I went straight to my office and locked the door. I tried to drown out the boo's from the supporters. I told David Rogers that these qualifiers didn't matter but they do and now we would need to beat Holland for the smallest chance of playoffs. I hope Dalglish can bring some experience to Rogers and Ferguson.
Should I sack Rogers after two games. I want him to stay on but i need to listen to he fans. Is Craig Brown the man to take us foward.
5 Minutes Later
I was in the car park about to go home then a reporter approached. " Mr. Hart, was choosing Rogers a mistake. I quickly got in my car locked the doors and drove as fast as i could. As I was leaving I seen Gordon Smith outside talking to a group of reporters. I sped home and turned on the news. Gordon Smith gives Rogers the vote of confidence ? Is he playing mind games or something ? I need to get him away from the Scotland team and away from interfering with me. What Should I do ?
 
After match press conference (V Macedonia)
As I made my way to the press conference room, I grabbed a bottle of Irn Bru and walked down the corridor, I heard the name Kenny Dalglish from various Hampden Park empoyee's, surely not, was my job going to be taken by Mr Dalglish?

"Mr Rogers, your chances of going to South Africa were just swept away, how do feel?" Asked a reporter.
"We played Macedonia off the pitch and back to the airport however the referees were terrible, the officials could have my job lost" I replied.
"McCormack has come under fire recently by fans, why did you start him?"
"Did you see the same game as the rest of us? Ross netted 2 goals today" I got up and walked out.

I felt sick, I got in my car and went for a long drive, when I got in I switched on SkySports news, as per....

Smith gives Rogers vote of confidence

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Monday 7th September '09
Tomorrow was the Holland game, I was still crushed from the Macedonia result, spent the morning training with the team, they are very much ready for the Dutch, this afternoon I spent a few hours playing golf with Kenny Dalglish & Clark Ferguson. We discussed the the Macedonia game and they both agreed Scotland were cheated out of it by the ref. Kenny seemed very enthusiastic about his new role with the Scotland national team and I felt success was heading our way.
I got back to my office as rain stopped play, I checked my emails and one was from the Iran FA requesting a friendy match for the 5th June 2010, in Iran. I accepted, although feeling a bit nervous about travelling to Iran.

I got home and started thinking about tomorrows game, my biggest test so far.
 
Monday 7th September '09
My Blog
A good day for us all. I was invited to Golf with the management team but i didn't want to interfere with their tactics. David informed me about a friendly match in Iran which im optimistic about but we have Holland tommorow and we need to win to have any kind of chance at all. I just hope David Rogers can win his first match prove everyone wrong. Even if he loses he will keep his job there is no doubt about that.
 
Tuesday 8th September '09
I woke up and decided straight away I was going to stick to the 4-3-3, I wasnt going to change the players around too much but I decided Craig Gordon will start. I didnt want to hear the rest of the management staffs opinions of this as I knew we played Macedonia off the pitch last game and felt confident we could give Holland a run for their money. According to the latest World Rankings Holland were 3rd. A win would be fantastic but Id take a draw, a loss would be disappointing but we cant kid ourselves, they are one of the best national sides in the world.

I got to Hampden Park very early to avoid the media, I didnt need them to tell me how to do my job, I just wanted to get on with todays task. The World Cup had pretty much gone from us so there wasnt much added pressure. I didnt meet up with my players today like I done with the Macedonia game, I trusted they would turn up on time and in shape.

They all turned up roughly at the same time, I told them the starting line-up and they went out to warm up, shortly followed by the Dutch, I shook Van Persie's hand and got on with match preparation.

---------- Post added at 09:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

Match update will be up tomorrow
 
Why are you playing Neil Alexander over Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor?
 
SCOTLAND V Holland
Three players that were due to start got injured during the warm-up. Ridiculas. Lee Wallace, David Weir and Kevin Thomson.

I put in Berra, Bannan and Fox.

I let Dalglish take the team talk and I said "Good luck".
It was the same routine, the ref led the sides out and the national anthems played. Despite the game being against one of the best national sides in the world I was treating it very much like a pre-season at club level.
The players got into positions and we were ready for kick-off.

---------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:24 PM ----------

SCOTLAND V Holland
We had dominated possesion but it was Holland who had the best chances, Craig Gordon was playing superbly!
Before I knew it 30 mins had past, Berra knocked the ball forward to Brown who flicked it right to McCormack, McCormack came forward and crossed it into the box, it was easy for the defence to head away but van Bronckhorst misjudged the header, Boyd was fast to react and volleyed it bottom left. 1-0 Scotland!

34th min, Boyd strayed offside, freekick to Holland the keeper hoofted it forward and it was headed in by Huntelaar 1-1, route one goal. Very disappointing.

Half time 1-1

58th min - Miller OFF, McFadden ON

Very slow start to the second half, it was like watching Luton Town away against Crawley Town.... boring.

64th min - van Persie comes forward, the defence back off him, he strikes it from 30 yards out, hits the bar, cleared by Berra

75th min - Holland slowed the game down even more, passing back to the keeper and out to their defence, a weak pass put Boyd through on goal and he finished calmly, 2-1 Scotland!

76th min - McCormack OFF, Webster ON, Scotland change to 5-3-2

78th min - Another dodgy pass by the Dutch defence puts McFadden through on goal, must score, shoots, hits the keeper and goes out of play, corner kick! The corner was rubbish, straight to the keeper

80th min - we had won a freekick on the edge. The game was finally starting to come alive! Fox takes the freekick, goes for goal, great save by the keeper :(

85th min - Boyd OFF, Naismith ON, the hattrick wasnt to be, Scotland change to 5-4-1

88th min - the ball finds it way through to Gordon, an easy one to pick up, but his missed it! Huntelaar takes the ball and scores, poor poor mistake from Gordon. Scotland change to 5-3-2.

Final score 2-2
Another game we should have won! Gordon was fantastic however his mistake cost us the 3 points. Unbelievable.

Despite the result I was delighted with our strikers, they were completely fantastic, didnt put a foot wrong all game.





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After match press conference (Holland)
"The team played well, what did you think of the game?" BBC 5 live reporter asked.
"We were great in the second half, first half both teams never really got going, the last 15 mins of the game were spectacular, Gordon was fantastic despite the awful mistake, but we can take so many positives from this, in 30 days we travel to Japan for a friendly and Im sure that will be my first win as Scotland manager" I said.

After the press conference I went to my office and already thinking about my squad against Japan. 4-3-3 definatly works for us, the problem is our defence, I shall be paying close attention to our defence over the next month.
 
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My Match Recall
I took my seat and seen some Scottish Legends taking there seats: Billy Connely, Sean Connery, Andy Murray and Gordon Brown. 1-1 at half time ! I was delighted. It was a good second half and we got a draw which was great to draw against one the best countries in the world. We know were not going to the world cup which is disappointing but under David Rogers we have been undefeated and just need luck to come our way and we can qualify from our Euro's group.

In other news I got rid of Gordon Smith. He was run over funnily by an ambulance, just kidding he retired and moved to spain.

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Thursday 10th September '09
World Cup qualification was over, we had failed to qualify, but I wasnt too upset, I was very much looking forward to Euro 2012 qualifers and Im very confident of qualification. Next up was Japan in just under a month, I've never been to Japan and im looking forward to it, hopefully its going to be my first win as Scotland manager.

Tomorrow Im heading off to the south of France for a few days break and change of scenery, get away from the media attention and chill out in my villa. I trust Ferguson & Dalglish will look out for talent to take to Japan while im gone. :D


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Ferguson makes reccomendations​

Scotland assisstant manager has made his reccomendations for the next Scotland squad. Ferguson suggested that youth could be key to future success.
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Ferguson: "Scottish football is in a rut. We must look to the future to be ready for future challenges. That is why we should give the youths a chance as soon as possible. The friendly against Japan is a perfect oppertunity."​

Ferguson has reccomended a host of youngsters.​

The first of which is Rangers wonderkid John Fleck and then another midfielder Kevin McDonald from Burnley.​

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His other reccomendations include David Goodwillie (Fwd), Leigh Griffiths (Fwd), David Templeton (Mid), Danny Wilson (Def), Ross Forbes (Mid), Fraser Fyvie (Mid), James McArthur (Mid), Charlie Mulgrew (Def), possibly Andy Carrol if he chooses Scotland over England (Fwd), Paul Caddis (Def), Paul Slane (Mid), Jamie Ness (Mid).​

Obviously all of these players won't be selected but Ferguson has advised David Rogers to at least give some a chance in the upcoming friendlies and in the future.​






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Is anyone following because if you are please comment.
 
Wednesday 16th September
I had just got back from France and Im fully refreshed, I checked my mail and found a letter. I opened it and read it, it was a written appology from Scott Robertson. I was impressed, but I wasnt going to change my mind, he was banned for just under a year and he will remain banned. I checked my emails and found Clark Ferguson's reccomendations, I'll be paying special attention to John Fleck & Kevin McDonald, and I do agree, youth is the key to Scotland's success!

If we could beat Japan we can definatly start thinking about the Euro's, the group's for the qulaifiers should be drawn soon, Im so excited! :D

I couldnt thank Mr David Hart enough for hiring me, and I now had to repay him and bring some glory to Scotland, I would like nothing more than scoring one over on the smug pr*cks down south (England) and the Euros was a perfect chance to do so, COME ON SCOTLAND!



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---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------

Followers please comment! :)
 
2 great updates there lads, keep going!

Ps, call me old fashioned, but us "Englishmen" don't like being called "pr*cks...."
 
I said ****** for effect :L

Truth is, im english

---------- Post added at 10:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------

Wednesday 16th September (Cont.)
5pm I checked up on my emails and had received one from FIFA, it was the latest World Rankings, I was dreading this. We had dropped 6 places to 38th, Spain went up to 1st, Brazil dropped to 2nd but the bottom line was we were 38th. We had work to do....
 
Wednesday 16th September.
I was on holiday in Hawaii with my family when i received a phonecall from assistant manager Clark Ferguson, he told me the world rankings and where we had dropped to. It was early days and i have faith in David (Rogers) to take us up in the future. I also have had a few applicants for the job of Assistant head of the SFA. it should be announced with the next few weeks.
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Sunday 4th October '09
It was time to decide my 26 players to take to Japan. Not much had change as our last game, against Holland, was a success despite drawing. I had dropped Garry O'Connor due to injury and recalled Kris Commons, I had also brought up John Fleck & Kevin McDonald. After phoning the players to tell them they were coming to Japan, I started packing. I felt this was a must win game, its only a friendly and theres not much at stake but I havent won yet while being manager of Scotland. Our flight was on Thurday morning, training starts tomorrow, exciting stuff!

---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Goalkeepers: Neil Alexander, Craig Gordon, David Marshall

Defenders: Christophe Berra, Danny Fox, Alan Hutton, Stephen McManus, Lee Wallace, Andy Webster, David Weir, Steven Whittaker

Midfielders: Scott Arfield, Barry Bannan, Scott Brown, Kris Commons, John Fleck, Darren Fletcher, Kevin McDonald, James McFadden, James Morrison, Keven Thomson, Ross Wallace

Strikers: Kris Boyd, Ross McCormack, Kenny Miller, Steven Naismith
 
Sunday 4th October '09
I was expecting a phone call from Rogers to tell me the squad but instead it was Kenny. I was pleased with the choices but im wondering why Allan McGregor still has not been called up, oh well Rogers must see something in Marshall. Good News for Scotland as it looks very likely that Scotland will have a new Assistant head of SFA. I will give you a clue, he supports Greenock Morton.

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no idea who this could be there at least 1,000,000, morton supporters on this site alone haha
 
Monday 5th October '09 9AM
David Hart has announced that Scotland have a new Assistant head of the SFA, 76 year old Arthur Montford, the former presenter of Scotsport. The long time Morton supporter has now got a shot in football. Arthur will be available to speak later today at 12.
 
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