November 24, 2007
Match #17: away at Chesterfield (14th with 20 points, we have 10 points)
Odds: Luton 6-4(fav), Chesterfield (13-8)
S: D'Sane/Kaviedes/Mellor
AMC: Mansell
DMC: Keane/Wellens
D: Piotto/Bruce/James/Foley
GK: Jensen
I'm scratching my head at how the oddsmakers came up with these odds....
Following his good second half against Hereford,
Brian Jensen is back in the nets.
Chesterfield shows a 4-4-2 formation with moderate push from the wingers.
10': A deflection through the wall on a free kick from 25 yards out leads to them taking a 1-0 lead.
13': Their spraying
Jensen with shots. Three shots in 10 seconds is a bit much for him. Down 0-2.
The half ends with us down 0-2, they are killing us...
60':
Jacopo Piotto is caught too far up, leaving a man open behind him. Down 0-3.
They will add a fourth, then a fifth goal before the game is over. I write that now, but I had stopped writing down stuff at the Piotto goal.
We will lose this match 0-5 and it's the last notes I've taken about my career.
I kept playing, trying to bring the team back on track. We didn't win much, and when I looked at the squad screen, all I could see was UNH everywhere. Players had definitely turned on me.
Despite us having possession, and often outshooting everyone, we kept losing tight games. Beginning of December, I got the first words through the media that my job could be in jeopardy. A second time a week later, until that ill-fated day where we lost 0-5, to whom I can't even remember. When I got to my inbox screen I had this message waiting for me:
Say it ain't so? Huh, it's not real? Even though I expected it to come, it still hit pretty hard. I was devastated, still am. I cared so much about this team, I am not pathetic, am I?
Oh well. December 22, 2007 marked the end. There is no frog at Kenilworth Road anymore
This will also mark the end of this dynasty... Thanks to the 4, 5 regulars that read almost every words in here, hope you had a good time.
As for me, well life doesn't end when you get fired, right. So I started applying for jobs. Four teams had open manager spots when I looked up on December 23rd. Two of them were Conference sides and I was looking for something a bit higher, so I didn't even apply there. Leeds was one of the other two, I applied there, but got rejected. The other place I had applied, before applying to Leeds, is Q.P.R. They hired me on January 1st, 2008, posting this announce in the news:
Fans didn't like the decision at first, as you can see here:
But I finally won their hearts with a few wins.
When I got with the team, almost half way into the 2007-08 season, they were in 23rd position. I got them up to 17th, and then overtweaked my tactics again to let us go back down to 22nd. The season is now over and we have been relegated to League One, where the board expects us to win the League. hrm, can you say deja vu all over again? This scares me a bit, although I must say the roster I have with this QPR squad is downright scary, as in scary good. Much better than what I had with Luton...
You know what hurts me the most? When I left Luton, I had them sitting in 23rd place, not good, not good at all. Well, they finished the season in 13th, bastages...
I have not even started playing friendlies in July 2008, and I will now fade into the sunlight, leaving you to our good Luton memories. Bye Hatters, see ya in league play in 2008...
FM