by Robert Mann
Miles had considered his statement carefully before he spoke. He was angry and fiercely critical of the obviously unsettling tactics Bournemouth had been using on Terry Pauls. He concluded by saying
"If there is any further illegal approach from AFC Bournemouth we shall have to consider making an official complaint to the FA"
The focus then switched to Terrance who was asked the very question he had been expecting by the sports editor from the Redbourne Gazette
"Have you spoken to Terry Pauls about this article and is he still committed to Redbourne long term"
Terrance was very honest with the editor who he had had a very good working relationship with since he had become manager for The Countrymen.
"Steve I shall be speaking to Terry straight after this meeting before training starts, I believe in honesty with all my players but expect it back as well. I am sure if you get in touch with our press officer tomorrow he would be prepared to speak to you"
Two days later Redbourne fans heaved a sigh of relief as they read an exclusive interview with Terry Pauls conducted by The Gazette's chief sports editor Steve Dodles. Steve had come straight to the point asking Terry for his reaction to Bournemouth's interest in him and his thoughts on the season so far.
Terry had given an insight to his first season in professional football explaining that only now did he really feel he was starting to adjust to the hectic pace of playing so many games. Of course he wanted to play at a higher level but he would love to achieve this with Terrance Fletcher and Redbourne Rovers that was where his loyalties were. He confirmed to Steve that there had been no contact from Bournemouth although he was naturally flattered by the Chairman's kind words after his winning goal. Steve then enquired about what had been his favourite footballing moment so far this season. The winning goal at Dean Court and the celebrations after the final whistle was Terry Pauls instant reply. On his thoughts for the remainder of the season Terry replied
"Top scorer for The Countrymen and a Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final winner's medal wouldn't be a bad first season!"
Tickets for the area semi final against Wycombe Wanderers went on sale the next day. Within forty-eight hours the home allocation had totally sold out leaving hundreds of disappointed fans still trying to get tickets!
Redbourne were now faced with fourteen days without a game before a hectic Xmas period having been knocked out of the FA Cup. On paper their Xmas fixtures didn't look too bad, home to Wrexham, an away trip to Wycombe Wanderers who were just below them in the league followed by a Boxing Day clash at home to Bristol Rovers the reversal of the opening days fixtures. These fixtures were then followed by another home game to Bury on the following Saturday then away on New Years Day to Barnet. There would then be a brief chance to draw breath before The Countrymen's biggest game of the season at home to The Chairboys now managed by Paul Lambert in the area semi final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy!
Coming up now for the first team squad, reserves and the entire Redbourne Rovers staff was the eagerly awaited Xmas Party with a difference! Whilst Exeter City would be battling out a home 2nd Round tie against their near neighbours Torquay, Miles had hired three private jets which would transport the whole staff of the club from Gloucestershire airport to Malaga for a weekend of partying and winter sun. On each of the three jets to greet the players and staff off their chartered coaches were three Santa Clause’s two female and one male (for Deborah’s hard working ticket office staff!) armed with ample supplies of champagne for the flight of just under four hours. Terrance chose not to go on the excursion preferring to stay home and enjoy some quality time with Ashleyne, which during the season was an unexpected pleasure for him. His assistant Steve went along however in case there were any problems whilst there that needed a club official to sort out.
It was all going so well until on the second and final night the first team squad decided to play a trick on a very drunken Graham Durrance their central defender fondly known as Chopper! He had been single for a while and the jokers in the team lead by Dwight Edwards decided it would be fun to set him up with a transvestite prostitute who was plying his or her trade near the hotel that they were staying. Dwight who knew a little Spanish had done the negotiating and handed over the necessary euros. The players dotted around the hotel disco bar had had difficulty in restraining themselves as Chopper was easily picked up by the voluptuous redhead who wasn’t all she seemed to be! As the two of them vanished upstairs to his hotel suite the players quietly followed, gathered outside in the corridor awaiting his reaction! It wasn’t long in coming! The roars of rage could be heard down in the hotel lobby as the drunken Chopper realised exactly who or what he was trying to seduce!
The players had fled into the first open doors they could find. Everyone on the first floor then in the foyer were treated to the rather surreal sight of a half dressed transvestite being chased around the hotel by a drunken Chopper who was screaming abuse at the unfortunate creature. In his mammoth hands was a packet of condoms he had been about to open and he was making some very unedifying suggestions about where he would now like to deposit them, the rest of the first team tried to follow the chase most of them laughing until their sides hurt! The chase went out onto the poolside and only a conveniently placed foot by Steve Hayter saved the transvestite as with a roar of panic and anger Chopper went flying headfirst into the pool!
Everyone agreed it had been the best Xmas party yet that the club had ever had on the flight back to Gloucestershire airport!
17
A Gift Wrapped Three Points
The players reported back for training on the Tuesday eager to get back down to playing some football and improving their faltering promotion push. As Chopper walked into the changing rooms a roar of laughter went up from the rest of the squad that intensified on his reaction, which was to say indignantly
"She seemed nice at first!"
Terrance who had been informed of the goings on in Malaga by Steve, smiled ruefully at his huge central defender.
"I'm glad you didn't catch her, sorry, ‘him’ - well you know what I mean! You would have been no good to me in a Spanish jail"
Further chuckles followed his innocent remarks from the chief instigators of the prank!
Redbourne's next game was to be that coming Saturday at home to Wrexham. Cheltenham had played their 2nd Round FA Cup tie the Saturday before when they had been out in Malaga in horrendous conditions at Whaddon Road. The game had been played in torrential rain and a howling gale. The state of the pitch afterwards had been horrific though. The Cheltenham groundsman took one look at it before the floodlights were turned off and the stadium locked up for the night and shook his head ruefully. Redbourne would be lucky to be playing on this surface in seven days time was his somewhat bleak outlook!
The two groundsmen who had developed a close friendship since the ground sharing arrangement were fighting against the elements all week. Even for mid December the weather was truly dreadful and it was a case of one step forward and two back as the rain poured down all week and the wind howled in from the west. Come Friday lunchtime and despite their best efforts, the pitch was still a quagmire, more suited to mud wrestling than football. It was only fair to call a local referee in and save Wrexham the expense of travelling south. It took him all of five minutes to call the game off, with the lying water on parts of the pitch threatening to come over his boots, the two morose and drenched groundsmen trailing behind him, their yellow waterproofs being whipped violently into strange shapes by the gusty wind! The news was released quickly on the club website and to all the media outlets - match postponed!
Saturday morning the first team squad was called in for an extra training session. Terrance and Steve worked them extra hard trying to compensate for the lack of a game that afternoon. The good news though for the players was that they then had the rest of the weekend off and Monday before reporting back for what was likely to be a very important and busy Xmas period! Terry Pauls took advanta
ge of this unexpected free time to travel north, back home much to the delight of his family and friends.
There were some other postponements but not as bad as the first weekend in December. The net result was that Redbourne Rovers slipped further adrift from the pacesetters at the top of the table albeit though with games in hand! Top of the table were Hartlepool with Yeovil breathing down their necks. The Countrymen were now in ninth place among a pack of teams clustered just three points outside of the playoff places. One of these teams was their next opponents Wycombe Wanderers.
Terrance and Steve took advantage of this free Saturday to watch their next opponents Wycombe play. They were away at Bristol Rovers and the two of them just managed to make it to The Memorial Ground for kick off after training had finished on what was now a well known route for them! The game was a highly entertaining 2-2 draw. Both Terrance and Steve made copious notes during the game and they discussed their findings over a meal on the way back to Redbourne. The two of them were very impressed by The Chairboy's resilience as they had twice come from behind showing admirable fighting qualities when it looked like they might be overwhelmed! Jermaine Easter was marked down as a big danger man that the Redbourne defence would have to be on it's toes against. He had speed and skill in abundance plus a great understanding with his team-mates. The recently appointed Wycombe captain Tommy Mooney a striker with bags of experience although now losing a bit of speed was also marked down as a big threat. Steve saw in him some of the unique qualities that made Jock Mcleish so indispensable for Redbourne Rovers. What both of them had seen though was an Achilles heel, that they felt could be exploited, a desire to play too much football at times trying to walk the ball almost into the net. When their intricate passing moves broke down, too often their defence would be horribly exposed! Terrance and Steve felt they both had just the man to take full advantage of this in Terry Pauls!
The week before Xmas the weather at last relented and groundsmen around the country heaved a sigh of relief. Preparations were full steam ahead for Redbourne's first ever visit to Adams Park. The squad was proverbially chomping at the bit not having played for over three weeks and the management were being very careful in their final training sessions to avoid them injuring themselves through over enthusiasm!
About five hundred Redbourne fans were expected to make made their way to Adams Park for this mid table clash between two teams with promotion aspirations. As the Countrymen fans began to arrive in Wycombe, parking in and around the industrial estate, they soon found that the area around Adams Park was devoid of any pubs; with the nearest one being over a mile away from the ground. Two hours before kick off there were a large number of very thirsty and bored Redbourne fans around. The supporter's club even turned away a host of frustrated away fans as it now only allowed in home supporters due to size and safety restrictions!
The net result was that by the time the gates opened at around one thirty there was a queue of several hundred Redbourne fans eager to get into The Hillbottom Road End. When the Redbourne players came out to warm up they were greeted by a sea of red and black scarves being waved by their fans. Their warm up routine was greeted enthusiastically by cheers of encouragement as they roared on their favourite players after three weeks off! As kick off time approached there was quite a small crowd in the stadium, the traditional Saturday afternoon sport having to cope with the obvious counter attraction of Xmas shopping.
Despite the desperate need for the win to make up for lost ground Terrance was very mindful of the cup semi final that was coming up. He thus took a huge gamble and left Angelo Mizuel on the bench much to the young Spaniard’s obvious disgust. In his place he put the even younger Ian Hargreaves much to the surprise of the travelling Redbourne fans. Just to mix matters up even further he played Terry Pauls totally out of position for him in a holding role in front of a back three, a totally new formation for The Countrymen much to the surprise of the relatively new Wycombe manager Paul Lambert.
Despite the terrific atmosphere being generated by the vociferous away support, the game took a long time to get going. Not surprising, although Redbourne had practiced this formation in training they were taking a while to adjust to it in a real game. Passes kept going astray and Terry under strict orders not to venture forward was finding it very hard to curb his natural game. After about thirty minutes of stalemate the home crowd started to get restless with scarcely a shot on goal to trouble either keeper. At last on the forty three minute mark Redbourne won a corner in what had been a very mediocre game so far. Up trotted Terry Pauls to take the corner, who was starting to enjoy his new role. Terry was not the normal corner taker but he sent in a superb in swinger which had the Wycombe keeper Batista in all sorts of bother. He punched frantically at the ball trying to prevent a goal. He only succeeded in hitting it against his own defender Will Antwi, striking him on the back of his head and rebounding into the empty net! Xmas had definitely come early as Redbourne were gifted a half time lead!
It was quite a subdued Redbourne dressing room at half time. They knew that they could play better but a combination of ring rustiness and the new tactics forced on them had together stifled their normally very creative midfield. Terrance knew that Paul Lambert would more than likely have scouts watching them over the Xmas period in preparation for the area semi final when Terry would be back playing in his normal position. However he was damned if he was going to hand to him on a plate the true ability and skills of what this young man could do with a football! The same applied for Angelo-the only way Terrance was going to let him on to the field today was if his team had to chase the game.
The second half was very much a continuation from the first. The Chairboys probed and pushed and tried their hardest to find a way through this new look formation which they had not been ready for at all! However whenever they looked like remotely threatening, Redbourne defended superbly, ably led by Chopper. There was Terry Pauls tidying up in front of them almost starting to enjoy himself! Dave Francis in the Redbourne goal was having one of his easiest matches of the season. Halfway through the second half and he had not even had to make a save in anger yet!
The match at last livened up with fifteen minutes to play on what was now a cold December’s early evening. Up in the away stand the five hundred or so Redbourne fans now all standing despite the seats began to see a vital victory coming if they could hold on and upped the support levels yet again having easily out sung the bored home fans all afternoon. Playing strictly to orders Redbourne were really trying to bore the three points out of their opposition, not a tactic that Terrance or Steve liked but their attitude was that the ends justified the means! They did not want Paul Lambert or his backroom staff to really see what they could do on a football pitch yet.
Chants of
“Boring boring Redbourne”
Could be heard from those fans in the home end that could be bothered to sing when the Redbourne fans eventually fell silent for a moment! In the away dugout Terrance looked at Steve and smiled with just minutes left as if to say job done! Disaster struck, with the board having gone up for two minutes time added on. A long hopeful ball was punted in to the far post of the goal Redbourne were defending. In a crowded penalty area up went a red and black arm. There was no doubt about it-penalty and the referee pointed immediately to the spot before booking Chopper for his indiscretion! Terrance couldn’t believe it, out at the edge of his technical area he looked forlornly down towards the far penalty area in front of the Redbourne fans where the kick was about to be taken.
As Jermaine Easter placed the ball on the penalty spot Jock Mcleish had a thought and raced over to Dave Francis. He had time for to whisper to him
“Bounce about on your line. Don’t stay still”
Memories of Bruce Grobbelar in the last but one Champions League Final had suddenly come into his mind!
Jermaine stepped up to take the kick with a keeper that was quite legally bouncing from side to side on his line. He was totally put
off his stride and fired the ball high into The Redbourne supporters over the bar. They went mad as Terrance caught up in the moment punched the air in delight! There was not even time for the goal kick to be taken before the final whistle went! As the two managers shook hands before returning to their team’s dressing rooms, Terrance couldn’t resist a parting quip at his opposite number
“Thanks for giving us our Xmas present a couple of days early”
An hour latter as Redbourne fans still queued to get away from Adams Park on the one road that wound it’s way through the industrial estate the Xmas league table showed the team to have moved back up to 6th in the division!
18
Xmas Wishes From Redbourne
The Boxing Day clash against The Pirates had been moved to a midday kick off on police advice. There were genuine fears that the season of goodwill would not extend to relations between a new hooligan element that seemed to be attaching themselves to Bristol Rovers and The Country Firm who had been maintaining a remarkably low profile since the abortive clash against Yeovil!
Miles Grimley and Inspector Morrison had had several acrimonious meetings since the debacle at Michael Wood Services with the Inspector starting to feel that Redbourne Rover’s chairman was becoming his personal nemesis and would remain that way until Oliver and James were behind bars. The problem was that although the police knew who they were, they had been too clever so far and the only crimes that they could charge them with at the moment would be minor ones which would involve a minor slap on the wrists from the courts! He had explained this to Miles until he was blue in the face but this obstinate man couldn’t or wouldn’t accept it! Miles had long since dispensed with the services of Rick the private investigator. Rick though didn’t like to leave a case unfinished and still drunk once or twice a week in The Crooked Flag with the hope of bumping into Oliver or James. Since the Yeovil game though they seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth!