This is what dreams are really made of...

[ArsenalJoe]

A continuation of the story that has now been lost. I had a huge word document but I was deleting as I posted so I can't recover what I already did post. The rest of the story that wasn't posted still exists though, so I can continue the story. It's on CM01/02, Brazil, England, Italy and Scotland as the active leagues with fake players used.

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Joe Greenwood, what a name! I could go into so much detail on this man's career as a football manager. In fact, I already have done, but unfortunately it was burnt in a house fire. It's a pain, but it's not as bad as it sounds, as not all of it was burnt in the accident. The bit that was burnt detailed Greenwood's career up until 2010, and it was right in the middle of the World Cup of that year, which Greenwood entered as Portugal manager. Luckily, the rest of his career, from the knock-out stages of the 2010 World Cup through to the end of his days in football, is not lost. It was kept separate and I have managed to recover it. Perhaps this may even enhance his reputation, as like a mythical figure of history only bits and pieces of his career are recovered. In thousands of years they might even look back at him and piece together his career using my writings. Well, let’s not go overboard.

Where do I start? All that research which I had done to detail his career up until 2010, all that time spent. It all means nothing now, but from memory I could give a rough summary. Greenwood never played professional football. He just wasn’t good enough, but through dedication, determination and a pure love of the game, he managed to work his way up to the post of Arsenal manager. The Gunners had always been Greenwood’s favourite team. In 2001 he succeeded French manager Laurent Hoy, who stepped down after a solid tenure in charge of the Gunners. Greenwood’s aim, which he only shared after his retirement, was to win the CL in England, Italy, Brazil and Scotland, the CL meaning the Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores in South America. What a wonderful coincidence that they share the same initials. His aim was to win it, then attempt to retain it. Once the attempt to retain it was over, he would leave and go on to the next country. i.e. his team might be eliminated in the first round of the competition after winning it, and at that stage he would immediately seek a job in one of the other countries on the list, or he might manage to go all the way to the final again and retain it successfully. In that case he would leave having won it for the second time and immediately apply for any existing jobs.

2001/02 was his first season and he did well, signing young striker Gary Wilkinson from Fulham and bringing in some good foreign players such as young holding midfielder Emmanuel Sanchez and veteran winger Claude Buisine. He delivered the Premiership title, winning it on the final day thanks to Eddie Osborne’s equalising goal against Leeds, 13 minutes from time. In the Champions League his team went all the way to the semi-finals, and in the first leg at home against FC Bayern, they were leading 2-0 right up until the final minute. However, the German side scored not one but two stoppage time goals and the game ended 2-2. With those two away goals in the bag, Bayern had the advantage going into leg two, and they came out on top to reach the final at Arsenal’s expense. So in 2002/03 Greenwood concentrated heavily on Europe, and his side brushed aside all European competition with fantastic flowing football, including a record of six wins out of six in the second group phase. They couldn’t retain the Premiership at the same time, as they slipped to third and sacrificed the trophy to Man Utd, but they reached the final of the Champions League and won it, defeating Real Madrid 4-0 thanks to a Wilkinson hat-trick. In the summer of ’03 more foreign talent flooded into North London, with Iker Cortés, Dario Insurralde, Carlos Álvarez and Carlo Giordano amongst the names who joined the club. Some sections of the media were sceptical as he seemed to be changing a winning formula, but this Arsenal side managed to retain the Champions League trophy. Again they failed in the Premiership, finishing second to United, but they breezed into the CL final with excellent results, including a 5-1 victory over Blackburn in the semi-final at Highbury as they came from 1-0 down to score five despite only having ten men on the field for almost the entire game. Against Bayern in the final they got their revenge for that semi-final defeat two years previous. 2-0 down at half time, Álvarez and Cortés got one each to level things up. A tight but correct offside goal ruled out Frederic Lannoy’s potential winner for Bayern in the 85th, and in the 89th a hopeful Cortés strike sealed the Spanish forward’s place in Gunners folklore. 3-2 and Giordano was man of the match for orchestrating the comeback from midfield.

Greenwood then shocked the footballing world by joining Barletta, a newly-promoted side in Serie C2/C. He showed his talent as a manager by taking the squad which had just come up and storming to the C2/C title. No other team was even close to them. Barletta were heavily in debt and their facilities were poor, but top quality free transfers and loan signings helped them up to Serie A by 2009, as Greenwood spent one season consolidating in both Serie C1 and Serie B before being promoted at the second attempt. 2009/10 then stunned many Italian football journalists as Barletta managed to finish 2nd in their first season in Serie A. Despite losing a few key players to more established Serie A sides and being predicted to struggle, Greenwood managed to spend the small amount of cash he had available on bargain signings who performed above their weight to earn a 2nd place finish and a spot in the Champions League main draw for 2010/11. Then it was off to the World Cup with Portugal, who Greenwood had led safely through the qualifiers. In the tournament in Argentina, the Portuguese topped their group by defeating Germany, Iran and Cameroon to finish on maximum points. A group stage of few surprises meant that all the big guns were still present in the competition, and Italy, Spain, Holland, England, Brazil and the hosts Argentina were all more highly fancied that Greenwood’s team, which was comprised of several players who were not too well known outside Portugal. Only the two men known as Morais (no relation), could really be described as world class. Man Utd’s attacking midfielder David definitely was, but whether Sporting striker António was world class or not was a debatable point. The next best player was probably Chelsea’s central defender Manuel Cruz, used in rotation at Stamford Bridge, but looking deeper into the squad there were some true nobodies and some real gambles, including 18 year old Marco China of first division English club Wolves, who had never played top flight professional football anywhere. Portugal were facing Russia for a place in the last eight of the World Cup, and they wanted to beat the unfancied Russians and go on to prove their critics wrong.

[ArsenalJoe]

So the knock-out stages of the 2010 World Cup began:

June 26th

Italy 2-0 Germany (Last 16)
Germany’s punishment for not topping their group ahead of Portugal was a 2nd round match against the impressive holders Italy, and it was easy to see why it goes down as a punishment, as they were easily beaten. Italy went on the attack immediately against the Germans, and in the 13th minute Carsten Walter clumsily knocked into Graziano Caruso and conceded a penalty. Inter’s Tiziano Benedetti volunteered to take it, and he calmly slotted it past German goalkeeper Mario Wimmer. Germany had plenty of time to get back into it, but they never even came close, not even managing to test Italian goalkeeper Giorgio Bruno once. After easily keeping Germany at bay, Italy finally killed the game off in the 89th minute, when Wimmer came out and flapped at a corner, allowing Juventus striker Mario Cossu to head in the second goal. However, there was some bad news for Italy as in stoppage time at the end of the game Inter midfielder Domenico Moxedano, a key player in the Italy team, suffered a twisted ankle, ruling him out for the rest of the tournament.

Spain 3-1 Ukraine (Last 16)
In an evenly matched game, Spain had the top quality forwards to deliver the clinical finishing and take them past Ukraine. Spain got off to the best possible start, as in the 4th minute veteran Real Madrid striker Rubén Arnau collected and controlled a free kick from his club team-mate Franco, then turned and smashed it in to give his side the lead. It got worse for Ukraine on 18 minutes, when José Manuel Franco himself headed in from a corner to make it 2-0 early on. A shocking error from Spain goalkeeper Óscar Prieto of Zaragoza gifted Ukraine a route back into the match, as he hit an awful kick which didn’t clear the ball properly at all, and soon Yury Shevchenko was racing towards him and slotting in a goal for the underdogs. However, just five minutes later the game was all but sewn up when a superb team move from the Spanish ended with Arnau heading in his second goal of the game. Ukraine had the whole second half to try and pull it back but Spain easily held on.

[ArsenalJoe]

June 27th

Holland 3-0 South Africa (Last 16)
No surprises here as Holland cruised past a ten-man South Africa side and into the quarter finals. South Africa started the game well and made all the early running against their more highly fancied opponents, but then on 27 minutes everything changed when Martin Hendriksen headed in the opening goal for the Dutch. South Africa were then extremely hard done by as Peter Coolen of Leeds raced down the right wing and into the box, before appearing to dive theatrically over South African defender Jason Dladla, who immediately held his arms up and protested his innocence. It was no use, as referee Hamid Lindov not only gave a penalty but also showed Dladla a red card, much to the dislike of the South African team. Johan Vonk scored from the spot and there was no way back from there. Just before half time Hendriksen headed in a 3rd goal, and although South Africa did well with a numerical disadvantage in the second half, they weren’t able to score and there was never any way they were going to get back into it from 3-0 down.

England 2-1 Brazil (Last 16)
This was the game most neutrals were looking forward to most from the last 16, and it ended with Brazil on the losing side. The most successful team in World Cup history completed an entirely forgettable World Cup with a shocking exit in only the second round. The damage was done in the group stages as Brazil failed to top their group, and the flaws were fully exposed at that point, but they still believed they could defeat England and get back on track. In truth, it could have gone either way, as both sides had chances to score, but the best chance of the first half fell to Lazio’s Tom Maughan, and he buried it to give England the lead. The Brazil defence was caught out with a through ball and Maughan was in on goal, and he calmly slotted it past the keeper to make it 1-0. In the second half André Luís Cabral of FC Bayern collected a cross to the far post and drove in the equalising goal for Brazil, and now everyone thought it was game on. The best second half chances fell to Brazil, as Cabral’s effort was cleared off the line by Ben White, and with twenty minutes to go Brazil’s captain Amaral had a free header from a corner which he amazingly sent wide of the target. Minutes after that missed chance, England themselves had a corner, and this time a header did find the net, from Milan’s Dean Culshaw. Brazil pushed forward again and they had one great chance to level the scores, as Cabral’s header was saved brilliantly by Andy Harris, but it wasn’t to be and Brazil had to reflect on a disastrous tournament, as England went through to the last eight.

[ArsenalJoe]

June 28th

Argentina 0-1 Sweden (Last 16)
The World Cup was soon turning into a European-dominated affair, as the hosts Argentina followed their fellow South American powerhouse Brazil out of the competition. It was a travesty of a result, as the hosts completely dominated against Sweden but failed to find the net. There was nothing more to say, from the first whistle to start the game Argentina went on the attack and chance after chance was either put wide or blocked by the outstanding Niklas Harrysson, Sweden’s central defender and captain, or saved by the brilliant Jan Karlsson in goal, unbelievably Crystal Palace’s second choice keeper. The key moment came in the 68th minute, as Sweden again cleared an Argentinian cross and launched a rare attack, which ended with Arsenal midfielder Thomas Malm heading in the only goal of the game. Argentina were stunned, they had dominated the entire game and were now 1-0 down. The thousands of home fans remained defiant, hoping that their team would eventually score, but the time ticked away and the ground gradually turned silent. In the final minute Carlos Basualdo hit a venomous shot that was heading goalward, but again the brilliant Karlsson tipped it over the bar. The final whistle went soon after and silence came over the stadium, as Argentina were out of the World Cup in only the second round.

Portugal 2-0 Russia (Last 16)
You could almost feel in the air that Argentina, the hosts, were out of the World Cup, when Portugal took to the field against Russia. Not that Greenwood’s team really cared about Argentina’s exit. If anything, it really had opened up the draw for Portugal to go to the last four or further. First they had to see off Russia, and they did so with a 2-0 win as Russia played more than half the match with ten men. Three of the major incidents occurred in the first 15 minutes, as first José António Oliveira of Belenenses slotted home a rebound after the Russian keeper had spilled a shot, to give Portugal the lead just two minutes in. Five minutes later there was a heart-stopping moment though as Manchester United’s David Morais, the key Portuguese player, their 28 year old playmaker, went off injured. It was later revealed that he was to miss the whole tournament with this shin injury. Nevertheless, Portugal were able to double their lead soon after, as Maritímo’s Luís Santos headed in Oliveira’s cross to make it 2-0. Russia started to get more possession and it looked like they might make it back into it, but when Feyenoord striker Victor Denisov came back to the halfway line and made a poorly timed lunge on Portugal midfielder Hélder Moutinho, he received his marching orders and it was all over for Russia. Portugal had some second half chances, but they seemed to be conserving energy by passing the ball around and keeping Russia at arm’s length. It was enough.

[ArsenalJoe]

June 29th

France 1-0 Ireland (Last 16)
It was a very close game but the superior quality of the French players just about showed as they sneaked past the Irish by a single goal. Nantes striker Mickaël Rossi was a handful all day for the Ireland defence, and after he sent a header just wide early on, he broke the deadlock with just a couple of minutes left of the first half, as he lost his marker and headed in a cross from Liverpool left-back Didier Bertrand. Ireland caused some problems for the French in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, and veteran Sunderland winger John Walsh struck a shot against the bar, the closest Ireland came to levelling the scores. By the end France held on relatively comfortably to reach the quarter-finals, but they lost Wilfried Prévost to injury for the rest of the tournament, as the Arsenal forward picked up a calf strain during the match.

Norway 1-1 Uruguay – 3-4 on penalties (Last 16)
Uruguay made sure that a non-European team was present in the last eight as they defeated Norway in the first match so far to go to extra time and beyond. Norway had the better of the first half, and they were eventually rewarded when Øyvind Lund headed in the opening goal in the 41st minute. However, Lund was reluctantly substituted early in the second half as he limped off with a shin injury, and Norway struggled without his presence up front. Uruguay salvaged a draw in the 72nd minute when Milton Gutiérrez hit a spectacular curling shot which found its way into the top corner, sending the Uruguayan fans wild. Both sides had to settle for extra time, and the extra half hour was very dull as neither side was willing to risk anything, and it went to penalties. Norway were immediately on the back foot when Atalanta forward Ståle Grini sent the very first penalty wide, and his team never recovered. It was obvious that Uruguay had been practising penalties as they scored all four, giving the keeper no chance. That put all the pressure on Odd Grenland defender Robert Håland, Norway’s fifth penalty taker, and it was too much for him as his kick was saved by Carlos Otero, sending Uruguay through to the quarter finals and sending Norway home.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 2nd

England 1-2 Holland (Quarter-final)
A shocking start to the match proved costly as England exited at the quarter-final stage while Holland marched on to the last four. Manchester United midfielder Jan de Groot found some space in the box as early as the 4th minute and he hit a low shot which went in off the post to give the Dutch an early lead. Then in the 9th minute England gave the ball away in their own half and were then caught out by the quick run of winger Johan Vonk, who used his pace to skip past experienced two-time Champions League winner Stuart West of Arsenal and lift the ball in for Martin Hendriksen, who headed in to double Holland’s lead. England couldn’t quite believe it, just ten minutes into a World Cup quarter final and they were already 2-0 down. There was a long way to go for the Dutch but England never really carved out a chance through some good team play. Their goal came just before half time and it was a brilliant strike from Crystal Palace midfielder Phil Keegan, who beat one man and blasted the ball into the net from long range. The England players all punched the air and there were shouts of “Come on!” but the players failed to really create a great chance in the second half. It was actually Holland who had the best second half chance as Martin Hendriksen hit the woodwork, and England went out with a whimper.

Italy 0-1 Spain (Quarter-final)
A turn-up for the books as reigning champions Italy, who were looking unbeatable in the earlier rounds, lost 1-0 to perennial under-achievers Spain and didn’t even make the semi-finals. An Italy exit from a major tournament is never without controversy, and this one was no exception. After a tight start in which no shots at goal were registered, everything changed in the 11th minute, when Sevilla winger Rafael Cruz got away from Lazio’s holding midfielder Federico Bocchino, who then lunged in with two feet, sending Cruz rolling around on the floor. The winger obviously exaggerated the incident, but the referee showed Bocchino the red card and the Italian players’ protests didn’t make any difference. Italy still showed exactly why they were favourites for another title as they kept Spain at bay for a long while even with ten men, but having to play from the 11th minute with a numerical disadvantage is very difficult, and with Spain’s quality up front a goal was always coming. Finally in the 68th minute Real Madrid striker José Manuel Franco met a cross with a diving header and Spain had the lead. The Italian players were heartbroken but Franco pointed to the sky and kissed the Spanish badge on his shirt in celebration. Italy made a double substitution as they had to go for it, but an equaliser was never likely with only ten men, and Spain held on to send the 2006 champions crashing out.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 3rd

Uruguay 1-2 France (Quarter-final)
In a game which was very similar to the Holland-England match, France saw off Uruguay with two early goals to reach the last four. The South Americans seemed drained after their match with Norway which went to penalties, and FC Bayern forward Arman Yagoub beat two static Uruguayan defenders and smashed in the opener after just six minutes. Barcelona striker Eric Boniface then curled in the second goal in the 18th minute and it was 2-0 to France early on. Uruguay tried to get back into it but they were finding it very difficult to create chances against a strong French back four. A hopeful effort from Leonardo Larrossa found its way in on 54 minutes and Uruguay were back in it at 2-1, but they never really looked like getting a second goal, and France held on quite comfortably to reach the semi-finals and make the last four an all-European affair.

Portugal 2-1 Sweden (Quarter-final)
Thanks to Sweden’s lucky win over the hosts Argentina, Portugal had been gifted the easiest route to the semi-finals that they could have hoped for. Joe Greenwood’s team had to try and get through without Manchester United star David Morais and they weren’t particularly convincing, but they made it through to a semi-final clash with France. António Morais of Sporting captained the side in his namesake’s absence through injury, and he put Portugal ahead on 14 minutes when he collected a pass from Marco China and hit it on the half-volley past the goalkeeper. Portugal did come under some pressure from the Swedes but they managed to double their lead when the Swedish goalkeeper dived out to reach a cross only to miss it completely, and Luis Santos headed into the empty net. The main talking point of the match was right on half-time, as Joakim Danielsson was clipped in the box by Portugal’s keeper Filipe Ramos and a penalty was awarded. However, the referee only showed Ramos a yellow card instead of a red, which it surely should have been as Danielsson would have scored had he not been tripped. The Sweden players protested and their protests probably only served to distract the taker, Liverpool’s Tobias Björklund. Veteran Benfica goalkeeper Ramos, lucky to still be on the pitch, went the right way and saved Björklund’s kick, and Portugal remained 2-0 up. The second half was almost all Sweden pressure, but they couldn’t score until deep into stoppage time when Kristian Mattsson beat two defenders and scored to make it 2-1. It was too little, too late, and Portugal went through to a semi-final match against France.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 6th

Spain 1-3 Holland (Semi-final)
Holland deservedly defeated Spain to reach their first World Cup final since 1978. Right from the start they were the better team, as they had three fantastic chances within the first 15 minutes. They finally scored the opening goal in the 18th minute when Peter Coolen’s cross was met by young Milan striker Marcel van der Velden, who spent the 2009/10 season on loan at Sampdoria. Spain had a bit more possession as they tried to get back into it, but they didn’t really look like scoring. Then the defence switched off for a split second in stoppage time at the end of the half, and Rafael Cruz found the unmarked Félix Pinto in the box. The Real Madrid striker calmly put the ball past the goalkeeper and Spain were level at half time. Holland obviously didn’t want to hang around at 1-1, as they came storming back after the break and stunned Spain with two quick goals which all but won them the match. It was like a new brand of Dutch total football as Liverpool centre-back Leon Jol raced down the wing and crossed the ball in for van der Velden, who headed in his second of the match. Then defensive midfielder Willem Jager raced into the box and found Martin Hendriksen with a floated cross, and Hendriksen headed in number three. Holland continued to dominate the rest of the second half and all that Spain could do by the end was congratulate their opponents as they exited the competition so close to a first ever World Cup final.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 7th

Portugal 2-1 France (Semi-final)
After some pretty average displays so far, Portugal were able to raise their game against a strong France side and get through to their first ever World Cup final. France went into the game as strong favourites as most journalists around the globe thought that Portugal were only in the semi-finals because of a fortunate draw, and they had not even looked impressive against Sweden. However, they were playing at a new level in this match and that was obvious from the moment the game started. In the 8th minute teenager Marco China hit a shot which was brilliantly saved by French goalkeeper Laurent Maréchal. José Antonio Oliveira quickly followed up with another strike which Maréchal spectacularly clawed away, but he couldn’t make it a triple-save as China came in and smashed in the opening goal. A teenager who played the whole of the 2009/10 season at first division Wolves was now on the scoresheet in the World Cup semi-final. Just two minutes later though a player who Joe Greenwood knew very well managed to equalise. Emmanuel Sanchez, still an Arsenal player, came forward from midfield and headed in a cross to make it 1-1 after just ten minutes. The match quickly became a World Cup classic as both sides had their fair share of attacks and brilliant team moves, and both goalkeepers, Maréchal and Ramos, were on top form. In the 31st minute Portugal regained the lead with a brilliant goal, as Belenenses forward Oliveira hit a superb volley from 25 yards out which was well out of Maréchal’s reach. It crashed off the inside of the bar and in and Portugal were celebrating again. France had a couple of great chances before the half was up, but then in the second half they created nothing until the 70th minute. Then they pushed forward and went for all-out attack, and the final twenty minutes belonged to Filipe Ramos. The Benfica goalkeeper made a series of magnificent saves, including a fingertip stop from Arman Yagoub in the 94th minute, and he was hailed as the hero as the final whistle blew and Portugal celebrated their first ever World Cup final appearance. Joe Greenwood was now hoping to do what no-one had ever done, to beat Holland in the final and become the first manager to win the World Cup as a foreign coach. There was lots of opposition to Greenwood’s appointment as manager of Portugal because he was an Englishman, a foreigner, but now he was the most popular man in the whole of Portugal, and he was ready to cement that with a World Cup win.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 10th

Spain 2-0 France (Third place play-off)
It was easy to predict who would win this match. While Spain could admit they were beaten by a better team in their semi-final, and had done better than ever before in the World Cup regardless, France had just missed out and were still reeling after that tight defeat to Portugal. Spain were able to get over their semi-final loss better, and they dominated this match against the French. Goals from Real Madrid striker Juan Crespo and Valencia forward Jerónimo Izquierdo either side of half time sealed a 2-0 win and Spain flew back to Europe on a high note with a third placed finish, their best ever World Cup performance.

[ArsenalJoe]

July 11th

Holland v Portugal (The World Cup Final)
Holland went into the game as favourites, and it was easy to see why. Their players looked on paper a lot better than their Portuguese counterparts, as the Dutch team was filled with players plying their trade at clubs such as Lazio, FC Bayern and Manchester United. Portugal’s best two players were the two men known as Morais, David and António. David Morais of Manchester United, their only true world class player, was injured and hadn’t played any part in the semi-final, nor would he play any part in the final. That left António Morais as the captain and star performer, but although he had scored many goals for Sporting, he had never played outside the Portuguese league. Looking at the other players in the team enforced the view that Holland were favourites. Either side of Morais in the front three were Luís Santos, recently signed for Boavista, and José António Oliveira of Belenenses. Both players were playing at unfashionable Portuguese clubs and they were both young. The same could be said of Marco China, the teenager playing in place of David Morais behind the front three. He had moved to England at a young age but had never played top flight football before. The 18 year old had joined the World Cup squad off the back of his first season a first team regular with Wolves in the first division in England. All of this was irrelevant however, as Portugal would give their all and the Dutch couldn’t take victory for granted. Whatever the result, there was going to be a new name on the trophy, as neither Holland or Portugal had ever won football’s biggest prize before.

The players came onto the pitch to massive cheers from all the fans, and both sets of players and fans sang their hearts out when it came to the national anthems. Obviously Joe Greenwood stayed silent through the Portuguese anthem, but it was obvious that he was desperate for his team to win. He wanted to add the World Cup to his list of trophies. Greenwood was no stranger to a thrilling final, as his Arsenal side had retained the Champions League in 2004 by coming back from 2-0 down against FC Bayern to 2-2, and then winning it in the 89th minute with an Iker Cortés strike. Here at the Antonio Vespucio Liberti stadium in Buenos Aires, the biggest game in world football kicked off. It was Holland v Portugal, and at stake was the precious World Cup trophy. Holland began the first half shooting towards many of the Portuguese fans who were packed behind the goal, and they started the game well. In the first five minutes they had a couple of half-chances, as Martin Hendriksen sent a shot over the bar and Filipe Ramos had to claw away a long-range strike from Ruud Maas. It soon became obvious that this wasn’t going to be a boring final, as both teams were going for it and there were lots and lots of chances. Portugal came right back into it and had two great chances themselves, as first José Miranda found some space in the box and saw his shot saved by Dennis Hermans, and then Luis Santos was put through by Marco China, but the 21 year old sent his shot wide.

In the 18th minute there was yet another fantastic scoring chance, as Patrick Esajas chipped the ball over the heads of all the Portugal defenders and veteran striker Bas Coolen was in on goal. The Portuguese fans behind the goal winced as his foot connected with the ball, but then breathed a sigh of relief as the shot was tipped away by Filipe Ramos. Just three minutes later there was nothing Ramos could do to stop another Dutch shot. Jan de Groot hit a superb pass which found Willem Jager, and as the Portuguese defenders raced back Jager was in on goal. He took the shot early and struck it hard right into the top corner of the net, then wheeled away in celebration with the rest of the Dutch players. A sea of orange roared all across the stadium as Holland were 1-0 up in the World Cup final. Could the Dutch finally win a World Cup final at the third attempt? Portugal tried to get back into it, and a cross from Luis Santos found José Miranda, whose header was well saved by Hermans. Then in the 28th minute Portugal were lucky not to go 2-0 down, as Martin Hendriksen collected a loose ball and smashed it in, sending the orange sections of the stadium crazy again until they noticed the linesman’s flag. Hendriksen was judged to have been offside, and the Bayern striker complained to the referee about the decision along with three of his team-mates, and all four of them were lucky to get away with a warning. After that disallowed goal the game quietened down after the furious pace of the opening half hour. Holland seemed to retreat slightly but Portugal couldn’t carve out any chances, and as the minutes ticked by the Dutch were getting increasingly comfortable at 1-0. In the end Portugal passed the ball around aimlessly and waited for the half time whistle, hoping that Greenwood could inspire them in the dressing room.

[ArsenalJoe]

When the two sides re-emerged after the half-time break, Portuguese fans were shocked to see three new faces in the side, while the same eleven players were on the pitch for Holland. João Paulo Silva of Setúbal, a defensive midfielder who was run ragged for much of the first 45 minutes, was taken off and the more experienced Jorge Magalhães of Benfica was brought on to play as the anchor in front of the defence. Luis Santos and José Antonio Oliveira, the two young strikers who had played very well so far in the tournament, were both withdrawn, and again Greenwood went for experience, bringing on 30 year old Américo Augusto of Guimarães and 27 year old Luis Correia of Porto to play either side of captain António Morais. It was the ultimate gamble. Making a triple substitution at half time in the World Cup final is a massive gamble anyway, because if you get an injury you’re in trouble, but there were grumbles of discontent from Portuguese fans because of the players who had been brought on. Usually if you want to take a big risk you’ll bring on some young and untested players for experienced performers who are having a bad game. Greenwood was taking off the young stars and bringing on tried and tested players, and they were players who had been tried, tested, and shown to be nothing more than average. Augusto and Correia were barely into double figures as far as international caps were concerned, despite their age, and Augusto only had four international goals, while Correia had never scored for his country. Both players weren’t stars by any means, they were both half-decent strikers at Portuguese league level, but they both played at teams who were by now well behind the top two, Sporting and Benfica. They were the strikers chosen to make up the numbers in the squad, but now they were coming on and the fate of the country’s football team rested with them. Many fans were fuming, as they thought that Greenwood had over-reacted and thrown the game away by taking Oliveira and Santos off so early on.

The game kicked off again and the orange sections of the stadium were cheering loudly and were highly confident their team was going to win through. Many Portuguese fans were now simply praying that their team would do something to get back into it. The second half was very scrappy to begin with and it was largely a midfield battle with both sides lacking that final pass to create a chance. Before long Holland had also made three substitutions as manager Bart Hoekstra was obviously fed up with the way his team had started the half. On the hour mark Luis Correia twice came close to coming up with a goal, as he received a knock-down from Paulo Vital and forced a fingertip save from Hermans, and he then headed the ball down for José Miranda from the corner, but Hermans just about reached the ball. In the 63rd minute Portugal came closest to grabbing the equaliser, as captain António Morais collected a pass from Marco China and smashed the ball towards goal from 25 yards. Hermans was beaten, but the ball came back off the bar and then went over. The Portugal fans behind that goal were almost up celebrating, and Morais kicked the air and screamed in agony as the ball struck the bar. Maybe it just wasn’t Portugal’s day. Minutes later Chelsea defender Manuel Cruz hit a poor long ball which went out for a throw-in, and Patrick Esajas threw the ball down the line for Peter Coolen. He crossed the ball to the far post where Martin Hendriksen was standing unmarked, and Hendriksen powered the ball past Ramos with his head. It was his second goal of the game, and in the 67th minute Holland were 2-0 up. Again the sea of orange roared, and the Portuguese fans fell silent, other than a few fans who were trying to stay positive.

Portugal kicked off and all that could be heard was the deafening cheers of the Dutch fans, who believed they now had one hand on the World Cup. When Portugal quickly gave the ball straight back to the Dutch from the kick-off, the fans cheered again, taunting the Portuguese players. The Portugal players were obviously riled up and frustrated that things weren’t going their way, and with unbelievable energy Morais, Correia and Augusto all charged towards the defenders in an attempt to close them down. Soon the ball came back to Hermans, and under pressure from Morais his kick was poor, landing at the feet of Paulo Vital in the Dutch half. Vital raced forward and spotted Correia running through the middle, and his pass was inch perfect and perfectly weighted. The Portuguese fans behind the goal all stood up in anticipation, and as Correia’s powerful shot sailed beyond Hermans and into the top corner they all cheered louder than they had done at any other time all evening. The Dutch fans were silenced within one minute, and Portugal were immediately back in it at 2-1. Unbelievably Correia had scored the goal, his first ever goal for his country coming in the World Cup final. Both Correia and Morais looked at the fans behind the goal and punched the air, encouraging them to get behind the team.

It may have been 2-1, but Holland still had the advantage, and as long as they could regain their composure they would still get their hands on the World Cup trophy. As the next few minutes ticked by uneventfully both sets of fans were singing in equal measure, but the Portuguese were wondering whether that goal was just a flash in the pan. They were desperately hoping that their team would put up a fight rather than just limping to a 2-1 defeat rather than a 2-0. Both Luis Correia and Martin Hendriksen tested the opposing goalkeepers with snap shots over the next few minutes, and then in the 78th minute Portugal had the ball in their own half. José Miranda came back from midfield to collect the ball and the fans tried to urge him forward, as they needed a goal at this point, and midfielders weren’t needed in defence. Miranda played a one-two with Orlando Barros at the back and then took the ball forward, hitting a low pass forward to Marco China. The teenager turned and quickly lifted the ball forward to Luis Correia in the box. A quick look across the line by all the players and fans, and sure enough, Correia was in! Anxious cries from both sets of fans were heard, and Correia hit the ball low and it just avoided the despairing hand of Hermans. The ball rolled in and while the Dutch defenders couldn’t believe it, the goal sparked off the wildest celebration of the world cup so far. The Portuguese fans behind the goal were going absolutely mad, and Luis Correia tore off his shirt and waved it around while punching the air, and he then raced over the advertising boards and towards the fans, who all tried to touch their hero. The Porto striker who had never scored a goal for Portugal before today, had now scored twice in ten minutes to bring Portugal back from the dead in the final of the World Cup.

There were still 12 minutes left, and both managers were now shouting messages across to their players, frantically trying to make sure primarily that they didn’t end up losing the match. Was this going to be a repeat of the Champions League final of 2004, in which Greenwood’s Arsenal side came back from 2-0 down and won it with an 89th minute goal? The Portuguese fans behind the goal were now comfortably the louder of the two sides, and they seemed to be sucking the ball goalwards as Holland desperately tried to hang on. In the 85th minute Portugal won a free-kick just outside the box, and Marco China lifted it in. It was a right scramble as everyone tried to get their heads on it, but the head of José Miranda came out on top. The midfielder got good contact on the ball and the fans were ready to celebrate an amazing winner until experienced defender Remco Witschge dived across the line and cleared the ball with a diving header. Miranda held his arms to his head, thinking about how close he was to winning the World Cup for his country, while Witschge got a pat on the back from every grateful Dutch player. No doubt every Dutch fan would have done the same. There was still one more chance right at the death as Luis Correia stretched to reach a pass on the edge of the box and he then struck the ball cleanly towards goal. A strike right at the end of stoppage time to seal a hat-trick and a 3-2 comeback in the World Cup final? It was too good to be true, and Hermans palmed the ball away and as Patrick Esajas cleared the ball by hoofing it up field, the final whistle blew. Extra-time or even penalties would decide the winner of the World Cup 2010.

[ArsenalJoe]

This was already a World Cup final to remember regardless of what was about to happen. Many football fans all over the world, whatever nationality, would be telling their grandchildren about Portugal’s miraculous comeback as Luis Correia came off the bench to score his first ever goals for his country. The fact that it was a good match would be no consolation to the losers though, and both sets of players were so desperate to get their hands on the trophy. The Dutch must have been thinking that there was no way they could possibly throw it all away. They had conceded a two goal lead, but having been 2-0 up they were going to prevail in the end. Portugal must have been thinking that they simply had to win. Surely they could not come back from 2-0 down only to subsequently lose the match anyway? In fact, both sides were so desperate to win that neither really took too many risks in extra time. The first half of extra time wasn’t really dull, but it certainly wasn’t as good as the previous 90 minutes. The tension rose in the second half, in the 111th minute, when José Miranda, who had almost won the match five minutes from the end of normal time, hacked down Remco Witschge as the ball rolled away from him. Miranda was already on a booking and the referee didn’t hesitate to show him his second yellow, and therefore a red. A tense nine minutes for the ten men of Portugal were to come. From the resulting free kick Jan de Groot was left unmarked at the far post and his shot was scrambled away by Filipe Ramos, and in the 113th minute there was another chance from a set-piece as the ball almost fell to Ruud Maas just yards away from the goal, but Ramos dived in and punched the ball away to prevent a goal. Holland didn’t seem to have enough energy to really push for a goal in the dying minutes of extra time, and as the final whistle went the ten men had held on, and the 2010 World Cup final would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Unbelievably this was now the third final in a row to be settled by a penalty shoot-out. After 1994, the 2002 final was the next to go to penalties. Italy and Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw, but the shoot-out lacked any real excitement, as Italy missed their first two penalties and they were never coming back from there. It was left to Pablo Vera to score and seal a 4-2 win and the World Cup trophy for Argentina. Four years later in 2006 Italy were there again against shock finalists Sweden, and again it went to penalties after a 1-1 draw. This time Italy had improved and they scored all five of their spot kicks. Sweden were almost on the same level, but Thomas Malm missed the last Swedish penalty and handed victory to the Italians. Now it was left to Holland and Portugal to battle out that most horrible and tense but at the same time most exciting of things, a penalty shoot-out.

[ArsenalJoe]

First to take a penalty was Américo Augusto, the other substitute striker brought on at half time. Although Luis Correia had stolen all the plaudits Augusto had also played well, but he was a strange choice for first taker. He sent the keeper the wrong way though and Portugal were 1-0 up. Remco Witschge was the first taker for Holland, and despite the fact that he was a centre-back, he still smashed the ball into the corner and Ramos had no chance. Portuguese captain António Morais was next, and after a poor first half he had played better in the second half with Correia and Augusto alongside him up front. Many fans couldn’t watch, as sometimes it is the best player on the team who fails from the spot. Morais showed no nerves and hit it low into the bottom corner, and he followed up his success from the spot by punching the air. He then saluted Joe Greenwood as his penalty had put Portugal 2-1 up. Another top class player was next to test his nerve from the spot, Holland’s striker Martin Hendriksen. He looked like he had probably won the World Cup for Holland as his two goals had them 2-0 up, but his team had thrown it away and now he was needed to score his third goal of the game if you like, and level things up at 2-2. He took a short run-up, and struck the ball to the keeper’s right, but it was at an easy height for Ramos and the Portugal goalkeeper tipped it away. Hendriksen bit his lip as he walked away from the spot and back to the other Dutch players who tried to console him. Meanwhile the Portuguese players didn’t look too happy. While some had reacted to the Hendriksen miss, many stayed still and emotionless. Celebrations could wait until they had actually won the shoot-out, and now they were only 2-1 up.

After Hendriksen’s miss, his two-goal counterpart Luis Correia stepped up to try and send Portugal clear at 3-1. As Correia approached the spot Portuguese fans cheered and applauded his contribution to the match so far. Nerves hadn’t fazed him as yet, and the fans were confident that he would score. For the third consecutive penalty Hermans was sent the wrong way, but you don’t need a goalkeeper save to miss a penalty. Correia’s shot was an inch away from being the perfect penalty, but that inch makes all the difference, and instead it came back off the post to keep the score 2-1. Correia held his head in his hands as he wandered back to the centre circle. Holland were back in it, and they now just needed Ruud Maas to score to bring the scores level again at 2-2. Maas had tons of experience from playing at teams such as Lazio, FC Bayern and PSV, and he calmly slotted the ball past Ramos to make it 2-2. You could feel the anxiety and the worry of the Portuguese fans as Marco China walked forward to take the next penalty. You wouldn’t wish this on an 18 year old, surely? Then again, some players thrive on the pressure, whatever their age. At this stage many fans were holding their hands over the faces and watching through one eye as they couldn’t take it, but China settled everyone’s nerves as he scored from the spot and the Portuguese fans cheered again. Peter Coolen of Leeds was next up, and as the end of the shoot-out was drawing near, a miss would be disastrous. Coolen scored however and after four penalties each it was 3-3.

The penalty with the most pressure attached to it was next, the fifth penalty. A miss at this stage and suddenly Holland would be able to win it with their next kick. Paulo Vital, who was just behind Luis Correia in the stakes for the man-of-the-match award, stepped forward. Hermans this time tried to move around and put off Vital, but the midfielder stayed cool and smashed the ball into the corner. Hermans went the right way, but he couldn’t save the penalty. Now all the pressure flew onto the shoulders of Liverpool defender Leon Jol, who had to score to keep his team in the game. Many Portugal fans must have been trying to convince themselves he would miss, after all, he was a centre-back. Jol took a long run up and smashed the ball into the roof of the net, 4-4 and sudden death penalties would now be needed. From now on every penalty was a Vital or Jol pressure penalty, as any slip-up would hand victory to the opposition. It seemed that Greenwood was going for experience at this stage, as Hélder Moutinho, the 33 year old Sporting midfielder, was going to take the sixth Portugal penalty. He showed his experience and cool, looking to his left and then almost passing the ball to his right and sending Hermans the wrong way. Holland also went for experience as Michel Arts of Rangers walked forward to try and level the scores. If he missed, Portugal would win the cup, but he was also cool under pressure and scored from the spot to make it 5-5. Not many penalty shoot-outs make it this far, and by now many fans had almost stopped watching altogether, relying on the noise around them to work out who had scored and who had missed.

[ArsenalJoe]

Another experienced player was next, Jorge Magalhães, the Benfica midfielder, and he got lucky. No-one so far had shown the real guts needed to simply pass the ball down the middle of the goal, but Magalhães was obviously feeling the pressure, and as nobody else had tried it yet, he decided to go straight down the middle. Hermans only needed to stay still and he would have saved it, but he dived and Magalhães breathed a sigh of relief, it had worked. Patrick Esajas, the right-back now of Feyenoord and briefly of Arsenal, had the responsibility of scoring to level the scores at 6-6. Again it was a very good penalty, as he sent it right into the side of the net and gave Ramos no chance, although he dived the right way. It was a long shoot-out, and a long shoot-out suited Holland. All of the Dutch back four had taken penalties already, but Portugal with a numerical disadvantage now only had three more takers, and they were the two centre-backs and Filipe Ramos himself. Chelsea’s Manuel Cruz was the first of the two centre-backs to try his luck. Again Hermans tried to move around to put off the taker, knowing that Cruz was a centre-back and one of the last on the list of takers for Portugal. Cruz kept the ball low, but the accuracy wasn’t there and it hit the feet of the diving Hermans and rolled back towards Cruz as Dutch cheers filled the ground. Cruz angrily kicked the ball back into the net and walked back towards the centre circle, where his team-mates tried to console him as it looked like he was about to burst into tears. Greenwood stood with his hands behind his head and stayed in that position as Manchester United’s Jan de Groot stepped up to take the most important penalty so far. He only needed to score and the World Cup was going to Holland for the first time in history. Greenwood wasn’t holding onto any hope, as he stood with his hands behind his head as de Groot stepped back from the ball, as if the game was already lost.

Millions of people all over the world were watching Man Utd star de Groot as he prepared to win the World Cup with this penalty. He had just finished his first season with United and he had won the UEFA Cup, scoring a goal in the final against Chelsea, but that tournament meant nothing when compared to the greatest show on earth. Portuguese fans couldn’t watch as their country was set to lose in the most heartbreaking fashion. So close, but still so far. De Groot ran towards the ball and hit it with plenty of power to the left of Ramos, and the players in the centre circle began to celebrate. But the players celebrating were Portuguese. De Groot had gone for power over placement and although Ramos was nowhere near it, he watched as it sailed over the crossbar, and he then jumped up cheering. Greenwood punched the air at the same time, the most emotion he had showed all night, and it was back level at 6-6. Jan de Groot was experiencing that terribly gutting feeling as he turned around and saw the orange shirts disappointed on one side, and the Portuguese players smiling on the other. However, we were no closer to knowing who would win the shoot-out than we were right at the beginning of it. Holland were very much still in it, and they might get another chance to win the shoot-out.

Manuel Cruz had missed from the spot, so why couldn’t the same thing happen to his partner at the heart of the Portuguese defence, Portimonense’s Orlando Barros. The 30 year old was the only outfield player left to take a penalty for Portugal, and what did it say about his spot kicks if he was dead last out of all the nine outfield players in the team? Hermans again tried to put off Barros by jumping around on his goal-line, and when the kick was taken the goalkeeper went the right way and got a hand to it. Luckily for Barros there was just enough power to take the ball past Hermans anyway, and he stopped to breath a huge sigh of relief before walking back to his team-mates. That was his penalty done, unless of course this went all the way round again and he had to take a second one. All the pressure was now on Liverpool’s Marco de Vries, who had to score to level it up at 7-7 and keep Holland in it. De Vries was calm and collected and he ran up and sent Ramos the wrong way to level the scores. Now Ramos didn’t just walk sideways and out of the way of the goal, he walked forwards from his line towards the penalty spot.

All nine remaining outfield players had taken a spot kick for Portugal, and Ramos was next. He wasn’t one of those few keepers known for their ability from the spot, far from it, but by process of elimination he had no choice but to take one. Again Hermans was confident, jumping around on his line and moving from side to side. He had saved from one centre-back, almost saved from the other, and now he was facing a goalkeeper who was undoubtedly scared at the prospect of taking a penalty, rather than facing one. Ramos stepped up, still with his gloves on and still looking out of place, and after a long run up he smashed the ball to the left-hand side of Hermans. The Dutch goalkeeper went to his right. Ramos shouted with joy as the ball hit the back of the net, and he gave Hermans a cheeky pat on the back as he walked past him again to get back to his goal. 8-7 it was now, and another penalty with heaps of pressure on it was facing Henk van Strien, the left-winger of Premiership new boys Swindon Town. He was the last outfield taker for Holland, and providing he scored, Hermans would have to take the next one, while Américo Augusto would have to step up for the second time for Portugal. Henk van Strien stepped up and again all the fans of both sides could barely watch. He stepped back from the ball, then raced forward and hit it with power, then watched as it sailed towards goal. It never reached its destination. Ramos went the right way, and as his palms firmly got the ball away he must have already been dreaming of lifting the World Cup. Portugal had done it. Van Strien dropped to the ground and punched the turf in frustration, while all the Portugal players and Joe Greenwood rushed to congratulate Filipe Ramos on his brilliant save which had won the World Cup for Portugal. All the players in the squad raced towards Ramos and then all 23 of them, including the injured David Morais and Gabriel Lemos, went as a group towards the ecstatic Portuguese fans and the party was set to begin.

The Holland players had to settle for silver medals as the legions of orange-coated fans looked on. Many of the fans probably couldn’t remember back to 1974 and 1978, but this was the turn of a new generation of fans to experience the agony and frustration of a Dutch defeat in the final of the World Cup. The Dutch players and fans could only watch on as the Portugal players each took their turn to walk up and receive a gold medal, and every one of them made sure they touched the World Cup trophy as they walked past. Joe Greenwood got his medal and turned towards the Portuguese fans and did a quick bow, and the fans responded with some loud cheers and applause. Finally, António Morais stepped up to receive his medal, and the Sporting forward had the responsibility of lifting the trophy. He approached it with some trepidation, as most players don’t ever really expect that they will lift the World Cup as the winning captain. Finally he put both his hands on the trophy and held it aloft as fireworks went off behind him. It was a night of celebration for Joe Greenwood and Portugal, and afterwards Greenwood went back to Lisbon with the team for a parade through the streets with the precious trophy.

It was after this victory parade that Joe Greenwood announced that he was resigning as manager of Portugal. He had won the World Cup, and anything else from now on would not live up to that, so he resigned. International management had not been on Greenwood’s original challenge plan, but that didn’t matter at all now, he had won football’s biggest prize and was being hailed as one of the world’s greatest managers. It was going to be difficult to go back to club management after the euphoria of the Portugal World Cup campaign, but Joe Greenwood had a club to run, and his club were on the verge of their first Champions League campaign.

[ArsenalJoe]

It was all change in the summer of 2010 at Barletta. Some players left the club of their own choosing, while others were got rid of by Greenwood, as he sought to improve his squad for Barletta’s Champions League campaign, and their attempt to consolidate their position in the top four. A total of eight players left the club in the summer. Undoubtedly the biggest loss was Carlos Godoy, the ever-present holding midfielder who had signed on a free transfer back in the Serie C days from River Plate. After a good first season in Serie A, the 29 year old joined Inter for £2.4M, a bid which matched a minimum fee release clause. First-choice left-back Marc Clijsters joined Troyes for £250K after just one season at the club, making a £160K profit for Barletta as Greenwood signed him a year earlier for £90K. Several fringe players were released on frees, as Kevin Barker, Angelo Gianni, Alessio Carbone and Valter Bizzarri all left the club. French midfielder Frédéric Giraudon was also released and he announced his retirement from football at 32, while Brazilian forward Carlos Lopes da Silva was released after three seasons with Barletta in which he never played a key role, scoring only two goals in his limited playing time. Ian McLoughlin returned to Bradford City after his season-long loan in Italy.

Several players joined the club to beef up the Barletta squad ahead of the 2010/11 season, and Greenwood signed many experienced players to give his team that bit of vital experience needed to do well in Europe. 33 year old Uruguayan centre-back Nelson Díaz joined on a free from Atletico Madrid, 30 year old striker Mirko Branca arrived on a free from Crotone, 22 year old midfielder Cristian Ferrara joined on a free from Padova, 29 year old Madagascar international midfielder Abdul Rahman Dikoumana joined on a free from Empoli, 29 year old French wing-back Sébastien Hervé joined on a free from Sochaux, 28 year old goalkeeper Johan Ferrara joined on a free from Toulouse, and 24 year old centre-back Sergio Rosales joined on a free from Argentinian club Estudiantes de la Plata. Greenwood spent money on only two players, 26 year old Brazilian forward Gérson Ramos, who joined for £4.5M from Boavista, and 24 year old holding midfielder Diego Urrutia, who joined for £800K from Albacete to act as Godoy’s replacement. Just days before the new season he then signed two more experienced players on free transfers, Marco van der Ven, a 31 year old right-back released by RBC, and Rafael Fernández, a 34 year old Mexican winger released by Sunderland.

When the groups for the Champions League were drawn, Joe Greenwood got a pleasant surprise. Barletta were placed in the same group as Arsenal, winners of the last three Premiership titles under Lee Johnstone, and the club at which Greenwood made his name by winning two Champions Leagues. Once Barletta’s name came out of the hat Greenwood smiled and was obviously happy to be given a chance to return to Arsenal with his new club. The other two clubs who were eventually drawn into the group alongside Arsenal and Barletta were Celta Vigo and Motherwell, SPL runners-up in 2009/10. Greenwood said that his aim was simply to get past round one of the Champions League and to see how far his team could get from there, while in Serie A it wasn’t clear whether Barletta would repeat their heroics of the previous season and retain their place in the top four.

[ArsenalJoe]

2010/11 - Part one

It is rare that you see a first half of the season as strange as Barletta’s in 2010/11. All the talk in pre-season was of their Champions League debut, and Joe Greenwood finally returning to the competition he won and then retained with Arsenal. This lived up to the hype, as Barletta did very well in the Champions League and were more than a match for the other clubs up until January. However, the first half was still seen as a disaster, and Greenwood was having a very tough time in the dug-outs. He was being more vocal than ever before, and for the first time he was really beginning to look anxious. In 2010/11 Barletta’s league form crumbled. The season started with a match against AC Milan at the San Siro, and while chances were scarce, captain José Antonio Llorente was named man-of-the-match as Barletta’s defence stayed tight and the match ended 0-0, a good result. The first home match followed against Roma and Barletta were the better side for much of the match. There was relief as Marco van der Ven ventured forward from right-back to score Barletta’s first goal of the season, cancelling out a first-half strike from Alfonso Cossu and earning Barletta a 1-1 draw. The long-awaited European debut in Spain was next up, and Barletta put in a brilliant performance, controlling the match and winning it late on 1-0 with a Pablo Delfino strike. A comfortable 2-0 away win over Palermo got them their first win of the season, and then it was onto the match Joe Greenwood was looking forward to: Barletta v Arsenal at Comunale. Barletta welcomed the winners of the last three Premiership titles to their tiny stadium, and Greenwood walked over to the away fans, receiving his rightful applause as an Arsenal legend, but he then proceeded to dismantle his former club. Reinaldo Moraes opened the scoring and Mirko Branca came off the bench to add two more, and Barletta had stunned the English champions by beating them 3-0.

Barletta then lost their first match of the season at home against Fiorentina, but there still weren’t any signs that they were losing their touch. They were the better side but they just couldn’t score and a late goal won it 1-0 for the visitors. Greenwood’s team then travelled to Scotland to face Motherwell, who were acknowledged as the weakest team in the group, and two Reinaldo Moraes goals gave them a 2-0 win. Three games, three wins, three clean sheets in the CL so far. Two comfortable league wins over Lecce and Bari followed, and then Motherwell were welcomed to Italy for the second match between the two sides in the Champions League. Barletta failed to win as the match ended 0-0, but they were the better side, denied a win only by Motherwell’s keeper. The draw was still enough for them to qualify for the last 16 after only four games. Then, the first sign came that they were losing it, as an early Gérson Ramos penalty gave Barletta the lead at home against Sampdoria, only for the away side, struggling near the relegation zone, to dominate the second half and put three past them to win 3-1. It seemed like it was only a blip as Barletta beat Celta 2-1 at home to clinch first place in their Champions League group, but Inter then easily dispatched them 2-0 at the San Siro to make it two league defeats in a row, and a late goal denied them victory against Lazio, as that match ended 1-1. Barletta put in another virtuoso performance in their final Champions League group match, as Arsenal were again demolished 3-0. The Gunners had qualified anyway, but they fielded a strong side and were still easily beaten. Rafael Fernández, indifferent in Serie A so far, scored his first goals for Barletta with one in each half, and Branca got the other, as Greenwood’s team went through to face Lokomotiv Moscow, Barcelona and Werder Bremen in the second group stage.

Barletta made hard work of beating Serie B side Parma in leg one of their Italian cup tie, winning 2-1 at home thanks to a Ramos penalty, and league form was still shaky as they lost 1-0 at Udinese. Again they turned it on for the Champions League, as Werder Bremen were beaten 2-0 at Comunale with two goals from Mirko Branca, but they still couldn’t take this form into the league, as Llorente was sent off early on against Bologna and they managed only a 0-0 draw. They had now gone five league matches without a win, and although they beat Parma 3-0 away to reach the quarter-finals of the cup against Lazio, they followed that up with another defeat, as they led Perugia 1-0 at half-time, only to throw it away and lose 2-1. They were now slipping down the table and it was getting desperate. Travelling to Russia in early December is always going to be tough, and with Barletta unable to buy a win in the league, many predicted defeat against Lokomotiv Moscow. It looked like that was going to be the case as the home side held onto an early Danilov goal for most of the game, but Mirko Branca scored a late equaliser and Barletta led their group going into the winter break with four points out of a possible six. They actually looked good in their next league match at home against Vicenza, but they couldn’t score a goal and the match ended 0-0, making it seven league matches without a win. Only goal difference now separated Barletta from the relegation zone. It was a similar story in the first leg of their cup quarter-final against Lazio at the Olimpico, as Barletta looked the better side for an hour, but couldn’t get the breakthrough. Then Diego Urrutia was sent off and they had to battle away for a 0-0 draw to take into the second leg. One match left before the short winter break, and it was against Napoli away. There was lots of talk about how Greenwood was desperate to finally end this dour run of results in the league, and that his players were really up for it. It was all soon rubbished as Napoli were 2-0 up inside seven minutes and Greenwood was visibly furious on the touchline. Barletta showed great character from then on as pulled a goal back, and they piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser. It didn’t come in the first half, and Napoli made it 3-1 early in the second as Barletta again didn’t start playing until a few minutes into the half. Branca scored to make it 3-2 with 15 minutes left, and again Barletta pushed for an equaliser, but the match ended 3-2. The defeat made it eight games without a win in the league for Greenwood’s team, with their last win coming against Bari on October 16th, and the nightmare had come true. They were now in the relegation zone as Bari had got a point and gone a point clear of Barletta.

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Italian Serie A - Saturday 1st January 2011
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2010/1 Table
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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st Roma 14 5 0 1 11 3 4 3 1 14 7 30
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2nd Juventus 14 6 0 1 16 6 3 3 1 9 7 30
3rd Inter 14 6 2 0 10 1 2 1 3 5 7 27
4th Fiorentina 15 5 1 1 10 2 3 0 5 5 9 25
5th Milan 15 4 1 2 6 4 3 2 3 9 9 24
6th Bologna 14 5 2 0 11 2 1 3 3 4 6 23
7th Vicenza 15 4 4 0 6 2 0 6 1 3 4 22
8th Genoa 15 4 2 1 12 5 2 0 6 6 12 20
9th Napoli 15 5 0 3 10 6 1 2 4 7 11 20
10th Perugia 14 5 1 1 10 4 1 1 5 4 13 20
11th Lazio 14 3 2 3 16 10 2 2 2 6 5 19
12th Udinese 15 4 2 2 9 7 1 1 5 3 11 18
13th Palermo 14 2 2 3 6 9 2 1 4 5 9 15
14th Bari 15 1 4 2 5 7 2 2 4 5 12 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Sampdoria 15 2 1 5 6 11 2 2 3 5 10 15
16th BARLETTA 14 0 4 2 3 6 3 1 4 10 9 14
17th Atalanta 15 2 3 3 6 9 1 2 4 4 8 14
18th Lecce 15 2 2 3 9 10 0 1 7 0 13 9

Barletta weren’t the only team suffering in the league after qualifying for the Champions League in 2009/10, as Atalanta, in 17th, were having an even worse season. They went out of the Champions League in the first round and were stuck in the relegation zone. The main reasons for this disastrous first half of the season were widely believed to be as follows:

1. Bad luck. Obviously Barletta weren’t playing as well as they did in 2009/10, but statistics showed that as of January 1st, they had hit the woodwork more than any other team in the league, and had more goals disallowed than any other team.

2. New signings flopping. The key players here were Gérson Ramos and Rafael Fernández, who had both been poor in the first half of 2009/10. The other new signings had all done well, but Carlos Godoy was still being missed, and with so many new players maybe Barletta hadn’t yet gelled as a team.

3. Llorente – the captain. José Antonio Llorente was great in the 2010 World Cup at the heart of the Spanish defence, and in 2009/10 he was a key reason why Barletta only conceded a stunning 20 goals in the whole Serie A season. In 2010/11 the newspapers were reporting that he wanted to leave and go back to Spain, and even though he played very well in all the Champions League matches, in some of the league matches it looked as though he simply wasn’t motivated. Having a captain who isn’t motivated and committed in the league is a key reason why a team might struggle.

4. Greenwood was sussed out. Barletta did so well in 2009/10 because of their watertight defence, which conceded just 20 league goals. In that season they drew the opposition in, kept them at bay and then countered very well. Now, teams weren’t letting this happen. Quite simply, Greenwood’s tactics had been sussed out, and the only reason they were doing well in Europe was because the teams from outside Italy simply hadn’t had the chance to play against Barletta and learn how to beat them. Combine this with the lack of a dynamic DM (Godoy), attacking players underperforming (Ramos, Fernández), Llorente not at his best in defence, and plain bad luck, and had the reasons staring you in the face.

European qualification was now looking like a tall order, and it was impossible for fans of the club to really concentrate on the Champions League campaign, as their team was still struggling badly in the league. No-one really knew what the second half of the season was going to have in store for Barletta, but it was definitely going to include some drama.

[ArsenalJoe]

2010/11 - Part two

Joe Greenwood obviously thought that his squad needed some improvement after the poor league form of the first 14 matches, so two new signings were made in the January transfer window. 22 year old Portuguese winger David Norberto joined from Marítimo for £3M, and 28 year old Swedish left-back Roger Svensson cost £525K to be brought over from Birmingham. Svensson went straight into the starting eleven, but the signing of Norberto backfired as he was registered in Barletta’s Champions League squad, then a day later injured his hip in training, ruling him out until May. In Barletta’s first match of 2011 they finally recorded their first home league win with a 2-0 defeat of Atalanta. Marco van der Ven put them in front, but Atalanta were awarded a penalty on the hour mark, much to the annoyance of Greenwood. Luckily for Barletta, Nicola Simoncelli saved the spot kick and Sebastién Hervé then wrapped up the victory with a late goal. The second leg of the cup quarter final against Lazio was about as entertaining as football can get. The first leg at the Olimpico had ended 0-0, and Lazio soon raced into a 2-0 lead, leaving Barletta with the ominous task of needing to score three to go through. However, their heads never dropped, and goals from Ramos and Delfino made it 2-2. Barletta were then awarded a penalty which Ramos converted to take them through after a great comeback. Ramos scored another winning penalty in a 2-1 win over Genoa, and Barletta then beat Juventus 3-0 at home in Serie A. Relegation had stopped being a real concern now. Greenwood’s team battled away to three consecutive draws against top sides, 1-1 against Milan and 0-0 against Roma in Serie A, and 0-0 away against Juventus in leg one of the cup semi-final. They suffered their surprise first defeat of the year in a home match against Palermo, as Carmine Pardini scored a last minute winner for the away side in a 2-1 win, and they followed that up with two more defeats as Juventus dumped them out of the cup with a 1-0 win after extra time in the second leg of that tie, and Fiorentina beat them 1-0 in a close league match.

Three straight defeats wasn’t the best form to be going into a Champions League match in, but at home against Barcelona, Greenwood’s team raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half, with the two Spaniards, Urrutia and Llorente, scoring the goals. However, Barca made a comeback as they scored two goals in six second half minutes to earn a 2-2 draw, keeping the group wide open. In the following match against Lecce, Barletta led 1-0, but substitute Reinaldo Moraes made a rash tackle in the box and conceded a penalty, which Lecce equalised from. Luckily Moraes made up for it by scoring the last minute winner for a 2-1 win, and that was followed by a very tight 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp with Barcelona which kept Barletta at the top of the group after four games, but only just. Injuries were starting to take their toll as Fernández, Svensson and Ferrara were all out for a month, and a makeshift Barletta side managed a 1-1 draw away at ten man Juventus before a weakened team lost 2-1 to Bari. Avoiding defeat against Werder Bremen in Germany was a must, and Barletta managed to grind out a second successive 0-0 draw in Europe. Going into the final match all four teams had a chance to qualify, and all four teams had a chance to throw it all away, but Barletta were in the driving seat as they led the group from Werder Bremen on goal difference. They warmed up for their final group game at home against Lokomotiv Moscow with a 1-0 away win over Sampdoria, and while the Moscow game was very tense, Barletta were always in control and they eased to a 1-0 win thanks to Marcos Luiz Barreto’s early goal. The drama came at the Nou Camp, where Werder Bremen led 2-0 at half-time, only to lose 3-2 and hand their quarter-final place over to Barcelona. Barletta finished top of the group with two wins and four draws, and their quarter-final opponents were fellow Italian side Inter.

They immediately got a chance to play out a warm-up match for that tie as their next fixture was Inter at home, and it looked like a sign of things to come as the match was very tight, ending in a 1-1 draw as Tiziano Benedetti cancelled out Diego Urrutia’s early goal. There was one more game to come before the crucial first leg of the CL quarter-final, and Mirko Branca’s goal was enough to earn Barletta three points with a 1-0 win over Udinese. Inter were obviously favourites going into the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Comunale, but even Inter manager Luca Clementi was quick to play down the gap in points between the two sides in the league. Barletta got off to the perfect start, as Ramos headed them in front and Urrutia quickly doubled the lead. It all changed on 38 minutes, when Sergio Rosales, in for the suspended Douglas Fonseca at the back, hacked down Ignacio Silvera in the box. A penalty was awarded and Rosales was sent off. Michele Massaro converted the penalty, and Barletta then desperately tried to hold on to their 2-1 lead with only ten men on the field. Against all the odds they held on for the whole second half, and went into the second leg with the advantage, though that would all change if Inter got an early goal. There were three league matches to play before the second leg, and Barletta won all three to storm into the top half of the league. Mirko Branca scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Bologna, Branca and Reinaldo Moraes got on the scoresheet in a 3-2 away win over Lazio, and those two were again on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Perugia. The second leg at the San Siro was tight, as Barletta tried to preserve their advantage and look for a goal on the counter. At half-time it was still 0-0 and Inter had just 45 minutes to get a goal, but they didn’t panic and it arrived early in the second half, as Antônio Dos Santos scored in the 47th minute. Barletta were then up against it and Inter relentlessly killed them off with further goals from Benedetti and Sead Musa to wrap up a 3-0 win on the night and a 4-2 win on aggregate.

All Barletta could do now was book their European place for next season. Champions League football was pretty much out of the question, but preferably Barletta wanted a UEFA Cup place, finishing 5th-7th rather than 8th or 9th, the Intertoto Cup places. A 0-0 draw against Vicenza wasn’t ideal, but a goal from Barreto gave them a 1-0 home win over Napoli to leave them in with a chance of overtaking Vicenza for 7th place with two games remaining. However, they managed only a 0-0 draw with Atalanta and that left them relying on other results to see if they could get into the top seven on the final day. As it was, results went their way, but they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Genoa, so they ended up finishing 8th, and getting with it an Intertoto Cup place. It was a good achievement after the poor first half of the season, but it was still slightly disappointing for Barletta to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, but to miss out on a place in the competition for the following season. In the end it turned out they lost to the eventual champions of Europe, as Inter defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the final of the Champions League.

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Saturday 4th June 2011
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2010/1 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C Roma 34 11 4 2 33 9 8 5 4 21 12 66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Fiorentina 34 13 1 3 24 6 7 2 8 19 20 63
3rd Inter 34 11 3 3 27 9 5 6 6 20 25 57
4th Juventus 34 10 4 3 28 15 6 5 6 17 25 57
5th Lazio 34 8 2 7 36 23 9 3 5 20 18 56
6th Milan 34 12 3 2 22 7 4 5 8 17 23 56
7th Vicenza 34 8 8 1 20 10 4 8 5 8 11 52
8th BARLETTA 34 7 6 4 20 14 6 6 5 21 16 51
9th Bologna 34 9 4 4 26 14 4 6 7 14 15 49
10th Udinese 34 10 3 4 22 13 4 3 10 19 28 48
11th Genoa 34 10 3 4 25 12 4 0 13 13 29 45
12th Napoli 34 6 6 5 17 14 4 6 7 16 19 42
13th Perugia 34 9 3 5 22 16 3 2 12 10 29 41
14th Bari 34 4 8 5 19 16 5 5 7 15 27 40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th R Palermo 34 7 6 4 15 15 3 2 12 9 28 38
16th R Atalanta 34 5 4 8 13 18 4 4 9 10 19 35
17th R Sampdoria 34 6 2 9 17 18 4 3 10 12 28 35
18th R Lecce 34 2 4 11 16 36 0 3 14 4 30 13

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2011 was a frantic time for Joe Greenwood. 8th place in the league was in the end quite a good placing, but that disastrous first half of the season in Serie A had to be addressed, and obviously Greenwood believed that lack of squad harmony had something to do with it. Now he decided it was the right time to let go of all the players who were unhappy at the club, for one reason or another, and bring in a new batch of players who were hungry for success. He had to do this while he was pre-occupied with the Intertoto Cup. In the third round of the Intertoto, Barletta were handed a tough tie with German side Leverkusen, but several ins and outs happened before the first leg of that tie. Centre-back Nelson Díaz retired at 34, while 35 year old Rafael Fernández left on a free after a disappointing season at Barletta to join Durango in his homeland, Mexico. Back-up DM Fulvio Basso joined Treviso on a free, and Sebastién Hervé went back to France after one season, the 30 year old left-back joining Rennes for £2M. Several players joined the club, with five players arriving on frees. These were 24 year old attacking midfielder Thierry Rodriguez from Amiens, 26 year old left-back Alfredo Schiavon from Palermo, Mauritius international goalkeeper Errol Appleby from Utrecht, 30 year old defensive midfielder René Steffens from Leverkusen, and 26 year old Paraguayan international winger Daniel Centurión. Two other players joined, 22 year old centre-back Dave Smith from Sheffield Wednesday for £35K, and 24 year old French striker Olivier Marquet from Martigues for £250K.

Barletta went into the home leg against Leverkusen plagued by fitness problems and problems regarding players at the club. Were player X and player Y staying or going? Squad harmony also received a blow as Nicola Simoncelli was quoted in an Italian newspaper saying that he wanted to leave to join Lazio in a £7M deal. It was almost certainly untrue, as the goalkeeper had pledged his future to Barletta just weeks earlier, but Abdul Dikoumana quickly released a response to the media in which he attacked Simoncelli for his “comments”. With all these problems, Barletta were likely to be a shadow of the side which went all the way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and during the match against Leverkusen, they lost both new signing Marquet and Reinaldo Moraes to injury in the first half. Luckily a goal from Roger Svensson got them a 1-0 victory to take to Germany. There were no further transfer developments ahead of the second leg, and again it started badly as Douglas Fonseca and Diego Acevedo were lost to injury early on, but a goal from Mirko Branca left the home side needing three to go through. They only managed to get one, the match ending in a 1-1 draw, which put Barletta through to a semi-final against Czech side Banik Ostrava. The same squad that travelled to Germany faced Ostrava at home, and the first half didn’t go according to plan, with Fonseca again going off injured, and Jan Licka giving the away team a 1-0 lead. Branca salvaged a 1-1 draw with a 73rd minute strike. In the second leg in the Czech Republic, Barletta were again left up against it when Licka opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, but Branca equalised in the 70th minute and the match was heading for extra time. However, five minutes of stoppage time were added on, and deep into added time Alfredo Schiavon committed a foul in the penalty area. All hopes rested on Simoncelli to save the spot kick, but Zdenek Vecera slotted it home, and a frustrated Barletta side travelled back to Italy knowing that despite their appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2010/11, they would not be competing in Europe this season.

There was still a lot more transfer action to come as the season didn’t start until August 27th, and three more players left the club before then. Striker Pablo Delfino, unhappy at playing second fiddle to Branca and now Marquet, joined Lausanne on a free transfer. Rui Martins, who had voiced his desire to leave throughout 2010/11, joined Treviso for £550K, and 32 year old right-back Marco van der Ven, who had appeared in all four Intertoto Cup games, joined Crystal Palace for £250K. Three players joined Barletta in place of the three departures. Two Argentinian right-backs joined, 22 year old Ricardo Aguirre from Talleres for £1.3M and 29 year old Mauro Lugo from Rosario Central for £1.1M. The other player to join just days before the first league match against Vicenza was 28 year old centre-back Tomas Sjöstrand from Swedish side Norrköping for £190K. This transfer appeared to pave the way for the departure of José Antonio Llorente, who was anxious to go back to his native Spain. Obviously, Barletta’s failure to negotiate their Intertoto Cup tie with Banik Ostrava and get into the UEFA Cup was disappointing, but given a choice between winning the UEFA Cup and finishing top four in the league, it would be top four all the way for Greenwood. Now there was no European distraction, and that would definitely benefit Barletta against the teams who finished in the top seven in 2010/11. His new look squad would now be going all out to finish in the top four again and bring Champions League football back to Barletta.

[ArsenalJoe]

2011/12 - Part one

Into late August and transfer sagas were still ongoing. Greenwood soon wrapped up a £2.2M move to Troyes for Llorente, but it was set to take place in December. A bidding war also began for Barletta’s new trusty DM, Diego Urrutia. Signed from Albacete for £800K, just a year later the newspapers were reporting £15M bids from Valencia and Inter and even a £20M bid from Barcelona, but even those massive bids which would do wonders for Barletta’s finances, were turned down by Greenwood. He didn’t want to let his loyal midfielder go. The opening match of the season, at home against Vicenza, ended in a dull 0-0 draw, and it wasn’t clear from the game exactly how good this Barletta team was. In the days after the game Michel De Paepe joined Sedan for £1M, and his replacement was 22 year old Argentinian midfielder Mariano García, who signed for £1M from Argentinian side Español. One more new signing also arrived, 25 year old Swedish attacking midfielder Jimmy Börjesson for £250K from Malmö FF, and that wrapped up the summer dealings at Barletta. Now they could get on with the league season.

Barletta looked very good in their second match away at Parma, but they let in an early goal and could only manage a draw thanks to Börjesson’s second half equaliser, a goal on his debut. Their first victory of the season arrived in their third match, as an early goal from Olivier Marquet proved enough for a 1-0 home win over Bologna. Marquet then hit two and Börjesson one in a 3-1 away win over Perugia, and Barletta kept up their unbeaten start to the season when Marquet scored an 89th minute equaliser to earn his side a 1-1 draw at home against Bari. A brilliant home win against the European champions Inter followed, as an Inter side bolstered in the summer by £48M worth of new signings were outplayed in the early stages by Greenwood’s team. Gérson Ramos then kicked out at an Inter player and received a red card, but even with ten men Barletta took the lead through Marquet, and held on for the rest of the match to claim an excellent victory. They followed that up with a hard-fought win over Chievo away, as Mirko Branca came off the bench to score a 74th minute winner in a 1-0 win. Unfortunately Barletta then lost their first match of the season at home to Juventus, and it was a difficult loss to take as Barletta were actually the better side for much of the game. Victor Adamu’s early strike was cancelled out by Marquet and Barletta looked the more likely to win the match, but goals from Carter and Cossu made the score 3-1 to Juventus in the end. It soon became two defeats in a row as Barletta never really turned up in a 1-0 away defeat at Genoa, and fans were worried that another collapse was on the cards, but those fears were quickly put to ease as they came from 1-0 down to beat Lazio at the Olimpico. Mirko Branca’s goal drew them level just before half-time, and Mauro Lugo scored a brilliant winner in the 89th minute to stun the home crowd.

Barletta then opened their cup campaign with the home leg of their second round tie against Serie B side Piacenza, and it was a game which they dominated from start to finish, getting a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Börjesson and García, the Argentinian’s first for the club. Back to the league and Barletta scored a very late winner for the second game in a row, as Udinese proved to be tricky opponents at Comunale, but with the scores level at 1-1, Olivier Marquet popped up to score a stoppage time winner. The Frenchman was already a fan favourite and the most likely name to crop up if you asked a Barletta fan what a “goal machine” was. He was on the scoresheet again along with David Norberto in a routine 2-1 away win over newly-promoted Cosenza, and both Marquet and Norberto got the goals in the 3-0 win over Perugia in the second leg of their cup tie. Barletta progressed to a quarter-final with Vicenza after beating the Serie B side 5-0 on aggregate. Fiorentina were the team way out in front this season, as they were sitting pretty at the top after a fantastic start to the season which hadn’t yet let up. Barletta found it difficult playing away from home against the leaders, and when they failed to take a couple of early chances, you knew Fiorentina would punish them. Wilson Leal’s first half goal was enough to separate the two sides in a 1-0 win, and a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Lazio followed, as Barletta had the better of the chances but couldn’t break down their opponents. The first leg of the cup quarter-final against Vicenza at Comunale was all plain sailing until the final minute of the game. Alfredo Schiavon put in his best performance yet in a Barletta shirt at left-back, setting up goals for both Marquet and Norberto as Barletta were cruising to a 2-0 win. However, a last minute away goal from Vicenza meant it ended 2-1 and left it open for the second leg.

That left just one more match in 2011, Roma v Barletta at the Olimpico, but before that there were a couple of transfers to sort out in defence. Llorente finally left the club having not made an appearance since the Intertoto Cup rounds, joining French side Troyes for £2.2M, but another defender was signed. 28 year old German Stefan Walter joined for £200K from Unterhaching, and that paved the way for Alan Reilly to leave the club. The 30 year old Irish defender returned to Scotland, where Barletta signed him from, joining Hibs for £500K. Walter went straight into the line-up for the Roma match, and whether it was because of him or otherwise, it was Barletta’s best performance of the season so far. Roma couldn’t find a way past the Barletta defence, and Olivier Marquet scored two first half goals to make the score 2-0 at half time. Börjesson then added a third early in the second half and the match ended 3-0 to Barletta, a brilliant result which stunned the home side. With 15 games played, Barletta were in 4th place, but with several teams in with a shout of a place in the top four, they had to make sure they could stay there until the end of the season, and it was going to be difficult.

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Sunday 1st January 2012
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2011/2 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Fiorentina 14 7 0 0 13 2 5 0 2 9 6 36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Milan 15 2 6 0 11 6 6 0 1 17 7 30
3rd Vicenza 15 4 1 3 10 6 4 3 0 10 2 28
4th BARLETTA 15 3 3 1 7 6 5 1 2 12 6 28
5th Juventus 14 5 1 1 14 3 3 1 3 6 7 26
6th Inter 14 3 2 1 7 5 4 2 2 12 6 25
7th Lazio 15 3 2 2 11 8 3 2 3 10 10 22
8th Napoli 15 4 2 2 10 7 1 4 2 8 9 21
9th Genoa 15 5 0 2 10 5 1 3 4 5 10 21
10th Udinese 14 5 1 1 14 4 0 3 4 6 11 19
11th Bologna 14 4 2 1 14 6 1 1 5 6 10 18
12th Roma 14 3 2 3 7 7 2 1 3 5 7 18
13th Perugia 15 3 1 4 8 12 2 2 3 6 9 18
14th Bari 14 3 1 3 7 8 1 2 4 6 12 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Cosenza 14 1 1 4 3 9 1 4 3 6 12 11
16th Parma 15 1 3 4 8 12 1 1 5 4 13 10
17th Chievo 15 0 2 5 3 16 2 0 6 7 18 8
18th Verona 15 1 2 5 8 16 0 2 5 3 10 7

[ArsenalJoe]

2011/12 - Part two

There was just the one transfer that took place in early January before the Serie A restart, as 30 year old Madagascan midfielder Abdul Rahman Dikoumana left Barletta for Sampdoria in Serie B on a free transfer. Dikoumana made ten starts in 2010/11, including in both Champions League quarter final legs against Inter, but he was never going to be on the level of fellow creative midfielders Börjesson, Norberto and Rodriguez, so Greenwood was happy to see him go. The 3-0 away win over Roma had been brilliant, but had it been a one off, a teaser of a game which would get Barletta hopes up over Christmas before the team descended back into inconsistency and scraping 1-0 wins? The first match of 2012 indicated that this definitely wasn’t the case. Barletta faced Milan at home, and goals from Marquet and Norberto had them 2-0 up early in the second half. Rubens Costa levelled for Milan, but the home side were always in control and Gérson Ramos scored two late goals, one from the penalty spot, to make the final score an emphatic 4-1 win. The result didn’t flatter Barletta as they had been dominant throughout. After the 2-1 win in the home leg Greenwood’s team scraped a 1-0 away win against Vicenza to go through to the Italian cup semi-final with Lazio, and then Barletta hit four for the second successive league game as the hapless bottom side Verona were beaten 4-0. Norberto and Marquet were on fire, helping themselves to two goals each as Verona were never a match for the fluid passing game of Barletta. The next two league games ended in draws, 1-1 against Vicenza and 0-0 against Parma, but sandwiched in between them was a brilliant 2-1 away win over Lazio in leg one of the cup semi-final. Olivier Marquet’s early goal was cancelled out by Gustavo Salazar, but Reinaldo Moraes came off the bench to score the winner and silence the Olimpico crowd. The Barletta fans were ecstatic, believing that their team was on the brink of a place in the cup final, but Greenwood warned that there was a lot of work to do.

Bologna were the first of many teams to see themselves as hard done by against Barletta in this second half of the 2011/12 season. In their home match against Greenwood’s team they had a 2nd minute goal chalked off for a foul on Ricardo Aguirre, and then on the half hour mark they were incensed as they had Giacomo Neri sent off for a foul on Barletta’s Argentine midfielder Mariano García, when García clearly appeared to dive. Olivier Marquet showed no sympathy, as the clinical finisher scored a second half hat-trick, but the final whistle was greeted with a chorus of boos from the home fans and the newspapers the following day were filled with accusations of cheating aimed at García. Maybe this threw Barletta off their stride slightly in the home leg of the tie against Lazio. A Di Renzo goal made it 1-0 to Lazio early on, but Marquet levelled to make it 1-1 at half time. However, an Eric Boniface penalty made it 2-1 Lazio and the match went to extra time. Luckily Barletta were playing in front of their own fans who acted as a 12th man, and in the 111th minute fan favourite Marquet was on hand to score the goal which made it 2-2 and eventually took them into the final against Serie A leaders Fiorentina. It was going to be on a par with the Inter quarter final tie as Barletta’s biggest occasion. Speaking of Fiorentina, for how much longer were they going to be in front? It had looked like a foregone conclusion that they were going to win it since early November, but Barletta had looked brilliant since the Roma victory and were closing the gap. Two 5-1 wins followed in the league as Marquet scored another hat-trick in the thrashing of Perugia, and Bari away were seen off by the same score. The Bari match was also shrouded in a bit of controversy though. Barletta were trailing 1-0 when they were awarded a penalty and Bari’s keeper was sent off. The penalty was converted and Barletta scored four more goals, including another penalty, to heap the humiliation on the home side, but some journalists were starting to believe referees were favouring Barletta in Serie A, a claim which Greenwood naturally thought was ridiculous.

Barletta were simply on a roll now, as they defeated Lazio at home 2-0, Inter away 1-0 and Juventus away 2-0, and still had time to pack in another 5-1 thrashing, as they came from behind at home against Chievo to win by their favourite scoreline. As the season entered the end of March Barletta were right behind Fiorentina in the league table, waiting for the long-time leaders to slip up. Their brilliant attacking football, the best they had played under Greenwood, meant they were undefeated in the league in 2012, with a 13 match unbeaten run in the league going all the way back to their 1-0 loss against Fiorentina in early December. Unfortunately this run ended in rather dire circumstances against Udinese, as Barletta fielded their strongest side but for some reason simply never got going. Udinese raced into a 2-0 lead and even though they went down to ten men in the 56th minute, Barletta couldn’t capitalise. However, they showed it was just a blip and not a new trend, as they saw off Cosenza at home in convincing fashion, winning 2-0 with goals from Börjesson and Marquet. The first leg of the cup final against Fiorentina kept getting put off because of Fiorentina’s UEFA Cup run, but it finally was scheduled for the Wednesday following the Cosenza game. By some coincidence, that meant the league game between the two at Comunale would immediately follow the first leg of the cup final. These two matches would surely decide the location of the two biggest Italian trophies. It could be a Barletta double, a Fiorentina double, or they could share them and have one each. The matches were certainly full of drama. The first leg of the cup final in Florence was first up, and with both sides fielding their strongest possible elevens, it was a match many people in Italy were looking forward to. Barletta struggled to exert their authority on the match in the first half and it was easy to see why Fiorentina were leading Serie A. The home side took control of the game and Lucas Ribolzi’s goal had them 1-0 up at half time. It looked as if Greenwood was getting beaten tactically, but in the second half Barletta came out looking like a different team, and in the 66th minute Marquet levelled the scores. Barletta were now in control and the Fiorentina fans were desperately hoping their team could survive the onslaught, but in the 76th minute David Norberto was fouled and a penalty was awarded to Barletta. The home fans were furious and they did their best to put off Norberto as he took the spot kick himself, drowning the stadium in a chorus of boos, but the Portugal international slotted it home and it was 2-1 Barletta. Still Greenwood’s team pushed for more, and in the 86th minute Fiorentina’s fans became riotous as this time Marquet was fouled and Barletta were awarded a second penalty. To add insult to injury Samuele Milani was sent off for his involvement in the incident. Norberto stepped up again and scored again, and as Fiorentina fans left the stadium enraged, Barletta had won 3-1 away from home and had one hand on the cup already.

Sometimes people say luck evens itself out over a season, and here it seemed like Barletta’s luck evened itself out over the course of five days. They trailed Fiorentina by three points going into their league match at home against the leaders, and as their goal difference was superior, a win here would mean that Fiorentina would be toppled as Serie A leaders for the first time in months. Anyone expecting a brilliant display of attacking football with goals raining down from the sky was going to be disappointed. It was a tight and tactical encounter, but Greenwood ended the match in a fit of frustration. Centre-back Sergio Rosales had to go off injured early on after a rash tackle from Javier Aquino which went unpunished by the referee, and that angered the home fans. In a game of few chances, if you got a good one you had to take it, and on the hour mark Fiorentina did just that, as Aquino opened the scoring by tapping in a cross from the right hand side. The away side sat back and Barletta pushed for a goal, but Greenwood and all the home fans were getting increasingly annoyed by Fiorentina’s physical approach. With ten minutes to go Diego Urrutia had to go off injured after another rash challenge which went unpunished, and Barletta had to play the final ten minutes with only ten men, but in the 85th minute Olivier Marquet received the ball in space, turned and then fired it into the net, an equaliser for Barletta! The fans and Greenwood were absolutely delighted, but their hopes were crushed when the linesman’s flag was seen to be raised. The final five minutes must have been a blur for Greenwood as he was continually involved in a war of words with the fourth official, and after the match he confronted the referee, but there was nothing he could do. Barletta had lost the match 1-0 and Fiorentina had got their revenge after the cup defeat.

There was still an outside chance of Barletta winning the title, and comfortable wins over Genoa (4-1) and Napoli (3-0) seemed to give the fans some hope that their team could do it, but Fiorentina just weren’t slipping up, and when Barletta were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Roma, that effectively handed the title to Fiorentina as the gap between the two was five points, with Barletta having two matches remaining and Fiorentina three. Thoughts now turned to the second leg of the cup final at Comunale, and the perfect opportunity for Greenwood to bring Barletta their first major trophy right in front of the passionate home supporters. Again there were controversial decisions, as with Barletta already 1-0 up thanks to a Norberto strike, they were awarded a penalty, their third of the tie, which looked particularly dubious. Once Ricardo Aguirre converted it Fiorentina needed four and it was surely well beyond them now. Fiorentina’s Diego Righi did deserve a red card on the stroke of half time for his rash challenge on Norberto, but when the referee awarded Barletta their fourth penalty of the tie early in the second half, this time off the back of a Diego Acevedo dive, it appeared to be going a bit too far. Luckily for Fiorentina Norberto missed this one, and they were able to salvage some dignity as their ten men scored a late consolation, but the 2-1 win for Barletta was enough to seal their first ever major trophy with a 5-2 aggregate win. The fans rejoiced, Greenwood rejoiced, and while Fiorentina looked on Barletta’s goalkeeper and captain Nicola Simoncelli lifted the prestigious cup, the cup that would soon be heading for Barletta’s trophy cabinet. Who would have imagined this when Greenwood took over at Barletta? Or even during the season before as the team were stumbling towards an 8th placed finish in the league? All that was left to do now was to play out the remaining two matches of the season before another summer of transfers and preparation for another Champions League campaign. A 2-1 defeat at AC Milan confirmed what was already a formality, Fiorentina were Serie A champions, but Barletta ended the season on a high note, sending Verona back to Serie B off the back of a 4-1 thrashing. Olivier Marquet scored two goals, meaning he took his tally to 35 in all competitions in just 39 matches, and destroyed the competition for the Serie A top goalscorer award, getting 28 compared to his nearest rival’s 18. Another Frenchman, Thierry Rodriguez, scored the other two, his first goals for the club, and after a difficult season he was ready to go into 2012/13 with renewed confidence. A 2nd placed finish was great, but they had done it with style this time and it was obvious that they were much better than the team which had surprisingly made 2nd place two seasons earlier. There were so many top bargain players in the team now, but one stood out, Olivier Marquet. A £250K summer signing from Martigues, the French striker won the Serie A player of the year award to add to his top goalscorer accolade, and he also went straight into the France national team just in time for Euro 2012, which was to be held in………France. Greenwood really had done wonders for this fellow.

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Italian Serie A - Saturday 9th June 2012
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================================================== ==============================================
2011/2 Table
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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st C Fiorentina 34 12 5 0 26 5 10 3 4 21 13 74
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2nd BARLETTA 34 10 5 2 33 12 11 2 4 32 12 70
3rd Inter 34 13 2 2 26 9 6 3 8 20 22 62
4th Milan 34 6 10 1 24 11 10 1 6 33 28 59
5th Udinese 34 13 2 2 34 9 3 6 8 17 24 56
6th Vicenza 34 8 3 6 25 18 7 5 5 20 13 53
7th Napoli 34 10 3 4 26 12 5 5 7 16 17 53
8th Juventus 34 11 1 5 30 12 4 5 8 18 24 51
9th Lazio 34 8 5 4 28 19 6 4 7 19 25 51
10th Roma 34 9 3 5 20 14 5 4 8 20 21 49
11th Genoa 34 11 3 3 30 11 2 5 10 10 24 47
12th Bari 34 8 3 6 22 23 5 2 10 17 34 44
13th Bologna 34 7 5 5 22 22 3 5 9 14 21 40
14th Perugia 34 7 2 8 22 25 4 4 9 17 32 39
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15th R Cosenza 34 6 3 8 22 26 2 5 10 11 29 32
16th R Chievo 34 3 3 11 18 34 5 1 11 19 35 28
17th R Verona 34 3 3 11 15 34 2 4 11 11 35 22
18th R Parma 34 1 7 9 17 29 2 4 11 10 31 20

[ArsenalJoe]

2012 was another busy summer for Joe Greenwood and Barletta, as he tried to improve his squad further ahead of the Champions League campaign. Throughout the summer Barletta were linked to many players from across Europe, from Scotland to Russia, with people expecting big money moves, but none of these happened, and instead Greenwood looked to improve his squad on the cheap. Big money sales were also reported, notably goalkeeper Nicola Simoncelli joining Inter for £10M and right-back Ricardo Aguirre joining Lazio for £12M, but neither of these materialised and Barletta kept their star players. A few players unexpectedly left the club in July, as holding midfielder René Steffens returned to Germany and Werder Bremen for £1.8M after a one season stay in Italy, and centre-back Sergio Rosales, who looked to have got himself a place in the starting eleven at Barletta, joined Genoa for £1M. Two other players left after short stays at Barletta, as back-up goalkeeper Errol Appleby was released on a free to Avellino after one season, and back-up striker Mirko Branca joined Roma on a free transfer. Reinaldo Moraes, who had been at the club since joining from Brazil in summer 2009, joined Serie B side Lecce on a free transfer after three years at Barletta.

Most of the players signed by Greenwood were direct replacements for those that left. French goalkeeper Grégory Petit joined from Rennes to replace the outgoing Appleby, 27 year old holding midfielder Jorge Traverso joined from Boca to replace Steffens, and a surprise signing saw 32 year old Finnish striker Kari Hirvonen join on a free transfer from Hearts to replace Branca. Unknown 28 year old forward António Hélder joined on a free transfer from BC Branco in Portugal, and Greenwood pulled off two major signings which cost the club nothing. 27 year old attacking midfielder Íñigo Villanueva, a regular in the Spanish national squad, arrived on a free transfer from Real Sociedad, while 31 year old midfielder Jiri Siegl, the captain of the Czech Republic and the scorer of both of their goals in Euro 2012, joined after being released by PSV. The squad now looked very strong, but no replacement for Rosales was signed. The reason for this was that 21 year old Spanish centre-back Eduardo Carmona was promoted to the first team squad. Greenwood had been very patient with Carmona, who was picked up on a free transfer as an 18 year old back in 2009. After three years of steady improvement in the reserves, Greenwood stated that Carmona was now ready for first team football and that he would be a revelation in 2012/13 playing at centre-back. The squad certainly looked very strong and Olivier Marquet showed his quality to the whole of Europe in Euro 2012, finishing as the joint top scorer as he scored four goals for France as the hosts won the competition. If Barletta could pick up from where they left off in 2011/12, then they would definitely be challengers on all fronts in 2012/13.

[ArsenalJoe]

2012/13 - Part one

The season began with the Super Cup, and Barletta were at home as they took on Fiorentina in a repeat of the 2012 cup final, which Barletta won over two legs. This match never really reached the intense, competitive level of those matches, as it was little more than a pre-season friendly. Barletta weren’t at their best and Fiorentina walked away with the trophy as goals from Aquino and Fava gave the league champions a 2-0 win. The Champions League groups were drawn next, and Barletta were placed in a group containing Barcelona, Lille and Kilmarnock, with themselves and Barca expected to qualify. The league began with a home match against Udinese, and it looked like it was going to be a slow start again as an uneventful first half ended with the score still 0-0, but goals from Aguirre and Marquet made it 2-0 before a late consolation from the visitors, meaning Barletta got off to a winning start for the first time since 2009/10. Cristian Ferrara scored the only goal as Barletta put in a brilliant performance away from home against Juventus and came away with a 1-0 win, and then it was onto the CL and a match against Kilmarnock. Barletta were the favourites at Comunale against the Scottish side, but they couldn’t find a goal in the first half and Baba Allotey made it 1-0 to the away side early in the second half. It was left to substitute Antonio Hélder to score his first Barletta goal in the 85th minute and salvage a point for Greenwood’s team, but a 1-1 draw wasn’t the ideal start to their campaign. Another disappointing home draw followed in the league as Cagliari held Barletta at 0-0, but Greenwood’s team produced a good first half performance to see off Lille in France in their second CL match. A 13 minute blitz early in the first half sealed the win, as Marquet, Börjesson and Ramos all got on the scoresheet to put Barletta 3-0 up, but Lille scored two second half goals to make it slightly nervy late on and leave Greenwood wondering how to improve his side’s defence.

More defensive worries followed as Barletta shipped three goals at newly-promoted Reggiana. Luckily they scored five goals themselves and won the match 5-3 to keep up their good early league record. Another tense home match in Europe was next, as Barletta and Barcelona battled out a 1-1 draw at Comunale. Just as Barletta were starting to dominate they went 1-0 down early in the second half, but this time David Norberto was able to snatch a late equaliser to leave Barletta with one win and two draws from their opening three matches. An unlikely first defeat of the season arrived in a home match against Bari, as Barletta didn’t deserve to lose, but they never really got going properly and one first half strike from the away side was enough for a 1-0 win. Fortunately Barletta defeated Lazio 1-0 at home in their next league match in a brilliant game, as Ricardo Aguirre was sent off on 41 minutes with the score still 0-0, but despite this Marquet scored on 57 minutes and the ten men held on to earn another three points. Barletta went some way towards qualifying for round two of the Champions League as they cruised to a surprisingly easy 3-0 win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp. The home fans were silenced as Ramos scored right on half time, and Marquet scored a second half brace to seal the comfortable victory. Points were needlessly dropped the following weekend as Sampdoria came from 2-0 down to secure a 2-2 draw thanks to two late goals, but another crushing away victory in Europe followed as Greenwood’s team sealed their place in the second round of the CL. Olivier Marquet gave them an early lead in Scotland against Kilmarnock, but the home side levelled soon after. Ramos, Börjesson and Norberto all scored though as Barletta ran out 4-1 winners. A tight home match against Milan ended in a 1-1 draw, and the following match away at Napoli was a very strange one, as Barletta didn’t really turn up and were outplayed by their opponents, but despite this they had luck on their side as they kept a clean sheet, and they also had Marquet on their side as the striker scored a hat-trick to seal a flattering 3-0 away victory. Barletta had already qualified for the next round of the Champions League going into their home match against Lille, but two penalties from Gérson Ramos were enough for a 2-0 win and Barletta went through unbeaten to a second phase group containing Leeds, Feyenoord and Levski, which looked relatively easy on the face of it.

Barletta’s defence of the Italian cup which they won in 2011/12 almost began in disaster, as Greenwood played a couple of young reserve players in the home leg against Serie B side Monza and very nearly blew it. Monza raced into a 2-0 lead and he was lucky that Marquet scored a goal to pull it back to 2-1 and make it slightly easier for the away leg. More disappointment followed as Barletta lost their second league match of the season, losing 1-0 to Perugia in a game which was pretty much a repeat of the 1-0 reverse against Bari. They weren’t that bad, but they weren’t that good either, and they just had to travel to Bulgaria for their next match against Levski and put it behind them. Levski had shocked many by getting through to the last 16 of the CL, and Barletta were expected to win easily, but it seemed as if they under-estimated their opponents. In fairness, Barletta did dominate the first half and the start of the second, but Levski stunned them by scoring through Stefan Hristov in the 61st minute, and despite Greenwood’s best efforts, he couldn’t get his team back into it, and Barletta lost the match 1-0. Three defeats in a row in three different competitions, and an away match against Serie A’s whipping boys, the bottom side Treviso, looked like the perfect match to put that poor run to an end. A rare goal from defender Stefan Walter was followed by a Marquet strike as Barletta led 2-0 at the break, but the strugglers scored two quick goals midway through the second half to make it 2-2, and Greenwood looked pretty agitated on the sidelines. Luckily a comical own goal put Barletta back in front, and substitute Diego Acevedo ensured that their blushes would be spared when he scored the 4th goal to seal the victory. The away leg at Monza was next up, and this time Greenwood wasn’t taking any chances, as he fielded a full strength side to try to make up the 2-1 deficit against the Serie B outfit. Olivier Marquet opened the scoring, but Monza still led on away goals, and a free kick from Cau brought them in the final minute of the first 45. Luckily Marquet scored a goal within a minute of the restart after that equaliser to send Barletta into the break 2-1 up. Antonio Hélder made it 3-1 and Barletta were on their way through, but Cau scored to make it 3-2 a minute later and the Monza fans were cheering their team on to score again and put Barletta out. Marquet stopped that from happening by completing his hat-trick to make it 4-2, and although Cau also scored his third to set up a tense finale, Barletta won 4-3 and went through on away goals.

A much better performance followed that cup win, as Barletta eased past Bologna away 3-1, scoring all three goals in the first 16 minutes to effectively seal the victory at that early stage. The home match against Leeds in the Champions League was definitely going to be harder, and after playing reasonably well in Bulgaria but losing 1-0 to Levski, Barletta needed a result in this second match to leave themselves a good chance of making it to the quarter-finals. The game was another frustrating one as both sides were evenly matched, and while Barletta probably didn’t deserve to win outright, a draw would have been a fair result. However, it ended 1-0 to Leeds, who managed to hold onto a first half strike from Julien Ferri for the whole match, and Barletta were left at the bottom of their second phase group with no points and no goals after two games. Obviously frustrated at their Champions League failings, they decided to take out their frustration on their final three opponents of 2012. Struggling champions Fiorentina had the audacity to take the lead at Comunale through a penalty, but Eduardo Carmona’s first Barletta goal brought them level, and Mariano García scored a late winner for a 2-1 win. It got better with the first leg of the cup quarter final against Vicenza away, as Barletta crushed their opponents thanks to a magnificent performance from Olivier Marquet, who scored an eight minute hat-trick in the first half. Jiri Siegl added the fourth to ensure a 4-0 win, and the result improved further as Barletta faced Roma at the Olimpico in their final match of the year. In 2011/12, Barletta had beaten Roma 3-0 at this exact same time of the season, and that result gave them renewed confidence, leading to them crushing everyone in their path in the second half of the season. Here the result was even better and the fans were hoping for a similar effect, as Marquet scored two goals to make it 2-0 at half time. Then Roma’s goalkeeper was sent off early in the second half. Jorge Traverso made it 3-0, and further goals from Marquet, Villanueva and García ensured a remarkable 6-0 away victory, surely Greenwood’s best result yet with the club. It meant that they led the league by one point from Lazio going into the new year, and two new signings were made to try to ensure that they stayed there. 22 year old Brazilian attacking right-back Júnialdo joined from Corinthians on a bosman, while 30 year old Slovenian striker Dejan Bajraktarevic joined on a bosman from Bochum to act as back-up for Marquet. Staying at the top of the league and improving in Europe to try to challenge for the CL were Greenwood’s key aims going into 2013.

[ArsenalJoe]

2012/13 - Part two

The start of 2013 wasn’t particularly encouraging. Barletta faced Vicenza twice in succession in the league and the cup, and while they won both matches 1-0, with Börjesson and new striker Bajraktarevic getting the winning goals, Vicenza actually dominated in both games. Inter away was next in Serie A, and Barletta were played off the park in the first half, lucky to go in just 2-1 down at the break. However, their second half performance was much improved, and despite the sending off of Ricardo Aguirre they got a deserved late equaliser through Börjesson for a 2-2 draw. Against Genoa at home Barletta were great from start to finish, but they needed to come from behind, with goals in the last twenty minutes from Sjöstrand and Bajraktarevic giving them a 2-1 win. Against Udinese away Grégory Petit, Barletta’s second choice goalkeeper signed from Rennes, got his belated debut as Greenwood cited a lack of fitness from Nicola Simoncelli for the Italian international’s drop to the bench. Petit made it very difficult for Greenwood to leave him out as he was named man-of-the-match in Barletta’s 2-0 win which kept them at the top of the table. The Frenchman continued in goal and kept his place for the rest of the season. An excellent result followed in the Italian cup semi-final first leg as Barletta ran out 3-1 winners away from home over Fiorentina with Bajraktarevic and Acevedo getting the goals, and they cemented their place at the top of the league ahead of the second leg with wins over Juventus and Cagliari. It was tempting to believe ahead of the second leg at Comunale that Barletta were already into the final after their 3-1 away win in leg one, and when Olivier Marquet gave the home side an early lead it looked like there was no way back for Fiorentina. However, a goal on the stroke of half time made it 1-1, and the visitors took a 2-1 lead early in the second half. Greenwood’s team were then on the back foot as they desperately tried to keep it 2-1 and avoid conceding a third, but in the final minute of the game disaster struck as Dong-Keun Diane scored his second of the game to make it 3-1 and send the tie into extra time. The extra 30 minutes failed to produce a goal and a penalty shoot-out was needed. The unfortunate player was wearing the red and white of Barletta, as Mariano García missed in sudden death and it was left to Diane to score and seal an unlikely comeback and a place in the final for Fiorentina. Barletta would not be retaining the trophy they won in 2011/12.

Greenwood fielded a weakened team against Reggiana in the league as the match was sandwiched between the draining extra time period of the cup semi-final, and the crucial Champions League fixture with Feyenoord. Nevertheless, he still wanted to win the match, but in the end Reggiana had Barletta under pressure for much of the game and another man-of-the-match performance from Petit in goal earned Barletta a 0-0 draw and a point. Barletta knew that they needed preferably to beat Feyenoord both home and away in the Champions League to get right back into the running for qualification to the quarter-finals after their opening two defeats. They raced into a two goal lead in Rotterdam with goals from David Norberto and Cristian Ferrara either side of half time, and although a Feyenoord penalty made it 2-1, a late goal from Marquet sealed a crucial 3-1 victory. They got a hard-fought away victory over Bari as they came from behind and won it with a last-gasp strike from Bajraktarevic, and then Feyenoord were welcomed back to Comunale for the return fixture in the Champions League group. The extremely unreliable Stefan Walter was played at centre-back because of suspensions for Sjöstrand and Carmona, and he put in his worst performance to date in a Barletta shirt, which was no mean feat. Luckily his partner at the back Douglas Fonseca was on top form, as well as Petit in goal, to stop Feyenoord from getting a sniff in front of goal. Barletta had to be patient, but the breakthrough finally came when Marquet converted Júnialdo’s cross with ten minutes remaining. They held on for a crucial 1-0 win, and with six points from four games they were right back in the hunt for a quarter-final place, though the group was looking very tight. Vicenza were looking increasingly like a bogey team for Barletta, as again they caused them problems and inflicted Barletta’s first league defeat of the year with a 1-0 victory. Barletta were then denied an away victory over Lazio after dominating the match, as the home side scored a late equalising goal.

The Feyenoord results would mean nothing unless Barletta could get a good result against Levski in their penultimate group game at Comunale. Their final match was against group leaders Leeds away, so this one was undoubtedly an easier encounter and they needed to win it. Greenwood was furious when six minutes into the game, a Levski player punched Jimmy Börjesson in the face. It was a definite red card offence, but neither the referee nor the linesmen saw it, and the referee ended up just showing a yellow card to the offending player, despite protests from Barletta players who had seen the incident clearly. They still dominated the match, but Levski’s keeper was on top form and they couldn’t find a way through. The match ended 0-0 which was a disappointing result, and Greenwood knew that unless Barletta beat Leeds in their final match then it was all out of their hands. They were still top of Serie A, and they maintained their lead at the top with a 2-1 home win over Sampdoria, but then it was off to England for the crucial Leeds match which they needed to win. Barletta started well but it was Leeds who took the lead through Simon Jackson. However, Greenwood’s team stunned the home side as António Hélder scored two goals in two minutes right at the end of first half to turn the game around and put Barletta 2-1 up. For the whole of the second half Barletta were torn between attacking to try to add to their lead, or defending and holding on for that all-important win. Whatever they were doing, it was working as the minutes ticked away and they were still in front. However, late in stoppage time Leeds were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, and despite Greenwood’s prayers for it not to go in, Peter Coolen curled it into the corner and the whistle blew straight away on a 2-2 draw. The result meant that it was out of Barletta’s hands, a Feyenoord win and Feyenoord were going through, a Levski win and Levski were going through. Only a draw in that game would send Barletta through. Levski and Feyenoord had battled out a right thriller of a game, but luckily it had ended 3-3, with Levski coming back from 3-1 down to draw the game and send Barletta through with only eight points. You know you’re lucky if you get out of a Champions League group with a 2-2-2 record and just eight points. The quarter-final line-up was strange, as it included four English sides and four Italian sides, and the ties were all between teams from the same country. While Inter and Milan faced each other in one all-Italy tie, Barletta were up against Fiorentina in the other. The two sides really were developing a rivalry at this stage, and this was Barletta’s chance for revenge after Fiorentina had knocked them out in the Italian cup semi-final.

Barletta went into the first leg of the tie off the back of two more wins in Serie A which cemented their place at the top of the table. They defeated Milan 2-0 at the San Siro thanks to another excellent performance in goal from Petit, and they then ground out another away win, hanging on to beat Perugia 2-1 despite playing with ten men for the whole second half after the sending-off of Dave Smith. In the previous season’s Italian cup final, Barletta had beaten Fiorentina 3-1 away in the first leg, enabling them to cruise to victory in the second leg at home. However, in this season’s cup semi, Barletta had won 3-1 away in the first leg again over Fiorentina, only to lose 3-1 at home in the second and go out on penalties. This match was a lot more tense and tight than those two had been, but Barletta got the crucial breakthrough just before half time as Cristian Ferrara scored in the 43rd minute. Salvatore Di Gennaro levelled soon after half time and although Barletta had the better of the chances, it looked like ending in a 1-1 draw. However, in the final minute a quickly taken free kick from Jorge Traverso was headed in by Ferrara, his second goal of the game and a 2-1 win for Barletta. They couldn’t afford to be complacent, but the hard work was now done and they just needed to finish their opponents off at Comunale to reach the semi-finals of the CL. The three league matches before the second leg ended in two wins and one defeat for Greenwood’s team. They comfortably beat bottom side Treviso and Bologna at home, but they were “supergoalied” by Napoli, losing 1-0 despite having all of the possession and chances. What Barletta had to avoid in the second leg of their tie against Fiorentina was throwing away their advantage with a poor home display, but it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen by the 32nd minute, as goals from Jimmy Börjesson and António Hélder had them 2-0 up on the night. Thierry Rodriguez came off the bench to make it 3-0 late on, and Barletta cruised into the semi-finals of the Champions League with a 5-1 aggregate win. The last four threw up a massive tie with Arsenal, Greenwood’s old club who were now looking like genuine contenders again for the biggest possible club prize.

Fiorentina happened to be Barletta’s next opponents in the league, and this time there could be more humiliation heaped onto them by Greenwood’s team. A Barletta win would see them win the title for the first time, in the stadium of the previous season’s champions no less. Once again Fiorentina came out on the losing side in the match, as Jimmy Börjesson hit two goals in a 2-1 win, securing the title and completing a historic day for Barletta. This was Greenwood’s 9th season at the club, and it had taken him only nine seasons to turn Barletta from Serie C2 also-rans into the champions of Italy. They were officially presented with the trophy after their next match, a 1-0 home win over Roma. Could they unbelievably finish as champions of Europe as well? The first leg of the Champions League semi-final tie was at the Emirates Stadium in London, and Greenwood was given a standing ovation again on this, his second appearance back at Arsenal with Barletta. However, Arsenal wouldn’t be showing him any favours as the club wanted to win the trophy again for the first time since 2004. Greenwood wasn’t going to show Arsenal any favours either, and after David Norberto hit the crossbar early on, Olivier Marquet gave Barletta an 11th minute lead by heading in a free kick from Traverso. Greenwood jumped for joy when the goal went in, and a valiant defensive effort from his side ensured that the game ended 1-0, a fantastic result for Barletta. Greenwood wasn’t taking any risks regarding injuries ahead of the second leg. A weakened side faced Genoa and drew 0-0, but no-one really cared about the result, as all eyes were on the second leg of the Arsenal tie. Could Barletta really reach the final of the Champions League? Cristian Ferrara gave Barletta an early lead and they held onto it to make it 1-0 at half time. The home fans had to pinch themselves to convince themselves that this was all really happening. They only needed to go for 45 minutes without conceding two or more goals and they were in the final of the Champions League. However, Grégory Petit made possibly his first mistake since ousting Simoncelli as Barletta’s number one, as in the 49th minute he was caught out of position and Massimilliano Borrelli, who Greenwood signed as a youngster at Arsenal, lobbed him to make it 1-1. Now Barletta were under pressure and the 41 minutes left on the clock seemed like an eternity as Arsenal pressed and pressed for a winning goal against a weary Barletta team. The fans tried to will Greenwood’s team on to hold on for the win, but in the 85th minute a moment of magic from another Greenwood signing unlocked the door which they were frantically trying to keep shut. Thomas Malm skipped past Sjöstrand and Schiavon and slotted the ball under Petit to make it 2-1. Arsenal now led on away goals and Barletta were in trouble. They threw everyone forward and missed one last great chance, as Dejan Bajraktarevic’s shot was inches wide of the target in stoppage time, but Arsenal made it to the final.

The last match of the season ended in a 1-1 draw with Inter at Comunale, and the 2012/13 season still went down as a historic one as Barletta ended it as champions of Italy for the first time. However, Greenwood’s real aim at the club was to win the Champions League, and the way they lost out in the semi-finals to Arsenal was heartbreaking with Malm scoring the late winner. Barletta were eliminated from both cup competitions they were in at the semi-final stage by losing the home leg and going out despite having won the away leg. They needed to find a way of successfully defending their leads in the second leg, and that would surely be sealed by the signing of an extra defender and the departure of Stefan Walter, who was simply abysmal every time he played in 2012/13. He ended up going into the reserves and Greenwood had to rely on his remaining four first team defenders. Now that the title was won Greenwood was going to go all out to win the Champions League. He wanted to get his hands on it once again, ten years after he retained it with Arsenal.

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Wednesday 19th June 2013
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2012/3 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C BARLETTA 34 9 4 4 18 12 13 4 0 42 16 74
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2nd Bari 34 11 5 1 22 5 8 3 6 21 15 65
3rd Lazio 34 11 6 0 32 10 7 3 7 22 18 63
4th Milan 34 13 1 3 28 12 6 5 6 16 17 63
5th Inter 34 12 3 2 25 8 5 6 6 17 17 60
6th Sampdoria 34 8 5 4 27 22 8 3 6 17 19 56
7th Fiorentina 34 9 5 3 23 7 5 7 5 16 17 54
8th Udinese 34 9 5 3 17 12 4 9 4 14 12 53
9th Vicenza 34 8 3 6 21 13 6 6 5 19 17 51
10th Roma 34 7 6 4 20 18 6 5 6 18 17 50
11th Napoli 34 5 7 5 12 16 6 2 9 12 21 42
12th Bologna 34 5 3 9 17 24 6 5 6 18 17 41
13th Juventus 34 3 7 7 12 17 6 5 6 16 16 39
14th Perugia 34 7 2 8 18 16 2 4 11 10 30 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th R Reggiana 34 5 2 10 15 19 2 7 8 6 22 30
16th R Cagliari 34 5 5 7 19 24 0 4 13 3 29 24
17th R Genoa 34 4 7 6 16 19 1 0 16 6 28 22
18th R Treviso 34 4 3 10 16 23 1 1 15 4 30 19

[Spav]

Great work, ArsenalJoe. :thbup:

Congratulations on finally taking Barletta to the Serie A title. As I said in the first part of this thread before it went missing, taking a Serie C side to the very top in Italy is one the hardest tasks on CM01/02.

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Spav, that's one of the reasons I originally chose to select Italy for this as I'd never taken a club up through the divisions in Italian football on the game.

-----

2012/13 had been a brilliant season for Barletta, as they ended the season as champions of Italy and were just five minutes away from reaching the Champions League final (incidentally Arsenal did not end up as European champions again, as they were crushed 4-1 by Milan in the final). Barletta were now officially Italy’s top club team, but what Greenwood really wanted was a Champions League trophy with them. That would be the ultimate prize, and it would enable him to move on to the next stage of his journey after a long ten seasons with the small club from southern Italy. There was a lot of sorting out to do to make sure his squad had the depth it needed to sustain another European challenge.

Stefan Walter was quick to be shifted out of the club over the summer of 2013. The German defender had been signed for £200K from Unterhaching in December 2011, and it had been regarded as another excellent bargain signing from Greenwood, as Walter went straight into the German national team soon after. However, he never performed well consistently for Barletta and was so bad during 2012/13 that he was sold for just £275K. Werder Bremen were all too happy to take him and it seemed as if homesickness was a factor that contributed to the 30 year old’s poor performances. Also leaving the club during the summer of 2013 were left-back Roger Svensson, who left to join Ajax for £800K, English defender Dave Smith, who joined South African club Sundowns for £500K, and Argentinian forward Diego Acevedo, who joined Serie A rivals Lazio for £2.5M. Some Barletta fans might have been wondering exactly what Greenwood had planned to fix the gaps left by the departures of these players, but he quickly put their fears to rest by signing several players to improve his squad.

Most of them were little-known in Italy, as they were all foreigners picked up from elsewhere. Acevedo’s replacement was New Zealand international forward Marcel Brennan, who struck 24 goals in 39 games for his club, Metro FC, in 2012/13. He was signed up for £180K. Two Dutch players were signed for £2M each: 27 year old winger Henk Hernandez from NEC, and 22 year old left-back Marcel van der Wal from RKC. Any Dutch football fan would have told you that both players had been consistent performers in Holland for a few seasons. One of Greenwood’s most exciting signings was 23 year old Mário Martins, a Brazilian centre-back who had been performing at the highest level in Brazil for Internacional since the age of 17. Internacional were reportedly asking for £10M+ for the defender, but his contract became unprotected and Greenwood signed him for a bargain price of £2.1M. It was great value for money for a player who had been capped for the Brazilian national team. Young Spanish right-back Joseba Fernández Álvarez joined on a free from Manchester City, and Greenwood’s final signing of the summer was a familiar one. Irish defender Gerard Quinn, 31, arrived from Istanbulspor in Turkey for £775K to improve squad depth in the defence at the club. If you faintly remember the name from much earlier on in this tale, it’s because Quinn was signed by Greenwood as a promising 20 year old from Celtic in the summer of 2002, and he made his fair share of performances over Greenwood’s last two seasons at the club, collecting the two Champions League winners medals with the rest of the squad. Since then he had been all over the place, joining Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell in Scotland, then moving to Turkey to play for Antalyaspor and Istanbulspor. He wasn’t a world-beater and he was never going to be one, but Greenwood had always been an admirer of the Irishman and he would certainly be more reliable than Stefan Walter had been. But would Quinn and Greenwood collect Champions League trophy number three in 2013/14?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Great work ArsenalJoe. Barletta are right gits on my CM 01/02 game, but reading this makes up for it, almost. Keep it going, you're still one of my favourite writers.

[ArsenalJoe]

I just went into the CM01/02 section and read about your crazy career in the Italian lower leagues Jimmy. That is mad. :D

--------

2013/14 - Part one

There was a bit more transfer activity before the start of the season, as Spanish holding midfielder Diego Urrutia handed in a transfer request. Greenwood quickly tried to engineer a move for Urrutia away from the club as he didn’t want a player at Barletta who didn’t want to be there. However, a move to Inter fell through and Urrutia remained at the club after the transfer window closed. Greenwood did sign a replacement defensive midfielder anyway, picking up Scottish midfielder Paul Milne from Walsall for £2.5M. Urrutia was left in the reserves with Jorge Traverso now comfortably the first choice holding midfielder. The season started slowly with defeat in the Super Cup after extra time to Fiorentina. Nicola Simoncelli was offered a second chance in goal, having been replaced by Grégory Petit for the second half of the 2012/13 season, and he was good in the match, making several good stops. His Fiorentina counterpart also made several good saves to keep the score at 0-0, but in extra time Marino Maggioni finally beat Simoncelli and Fiorentina won 1-0. The league season began with another 1-0 defeat as Barletta were defeated at home by Bari, with Marcel van der Wal collecting a red card late on. Barletta’s first good performance came in the next match away at Bologna as they completely ran the game, but the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Simoncelli made a costly error, letting in Bologna’s only shot of the game to prevent the early Gérson Ramos goal from winning the game for Greenwood’s team. The Champions League then started, with Barletta in a group containing Barnsley, Deportivo and Sturm Graz. Barletta faced a tricky trip to Barnsley on match day 1, and again Simoncelli made some costly errors. Barletta fell behind early on, but Olivier Marquet levelled with his first goal of the season and Barletta began to dominate. However, a Mário Martins own goal made it 2-1 Barnsley, with the blame resting firmly with Simoncelli for letting the harmless back-header slip through his fingers. Marquet again drew Barletta level with an 89th minute strike, but Barnsley took a 3-2 lead just a minute later. However, with the rest of the team’s heads dropping, Marquet scored a stunning 93rd minute leveller to complete his hat-trick and salvage a 3-3 draw.

A decent result, but Barletta should have won comfortably. The positive was that Olivier Marquet was up and running for the season, but Nicola Simoncelli was dropped for the next match after that calamity performance. Barletta finally recorded their first win with a 2-1 victory over Udinese thanks to two more Marquet goals, and when Marquet was out injured for the next match against Sturm Graz at home, Dejan Bajraktarevic came in and scored one in a 2-0 win. Marquet then hit another hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Lecce, and the French striker also netted the late winner in a 1-0 win in Spain over Deportivo which ensured that Barletta topped the Champions League group at the halfway stage. This run of four straight wins was ended with a 0-0 home draw with Milan, but it was then quckly back to winning ways as Marquet scored two and Marcel Brennan scored his first for the club in a 4-1 away win against Roma. Marquet then scored another hat-trick, his third of the season, as Deportivo were crushed 5-0 at Comunale, with David Norberto getting the other two goals. Revenge for the Super Cup defeat was extracted as Fiorentina were defeated 3-0 on their own turf by a now rampant Barletta team, and that was followed by another routine victory as Barletta beat Barnsley 2-0 at home in the Champions League. No rocket scientists needed to figure out who scored both goals – some French dude called Olivier apparently.

It was here that things changed slightly, as Thierry Rodriguez left Barletta and joined Napoli in a £6M deal. The French midfielder was never anything more than a bit-part player after his arrival from Amiens and £6M seemed a decent amount to get for him. It did leave a gap in midfield in the squad which Greenwood needed to fill, but instead of going for a low-profile back-up midfielder, he strangely decided to splash the cash and make his record Barletta signing to fill the void. 29 year old Jussi Hyvärinen was signed for £14M from Liverpool in a move which stunned many observers. It was the most obvious display yet of Barletta’s increasing power in the transfer market, but was it necessary? Greenwood normally bought cheap midfielders who nobody had heard of, but everyone had heard of Hyvärinen. The Finnish winger had spent his entire career as a professional in England, playing for Watford, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Arsenal and Liverpool (again), and it seemed like a big risk to bring him to Italy at this stage of his career. Could he adapt to Serie A? Jimmy Börjesson was quite harshly dropped so that Hyvärinen could take his place in the team for the next match against Vicenza, and although Barletta won 2-0 thanks to two Gérson Ramos goals, Hyvärinen was probably the poorest Barletta player on the pitch. The following match was very similar as Chievo were beaten 3-0 by Greenwood’s team, but Hyvärinen was largely absent. The Finn couldn’t play though as Barletta drew 0-0 in Austria with Sturm Graz to seal top spot in their Champions League group and reach a second stage group containing Hearts, Barcelona and Olympiakos.

The intense media spotlight on Hyvärinen continued into the Italian cup first leg away against Venezia of Serie B. Barletta crushed their opponents 5-0 but Hyvärinen was substituted and his replacement, Henk Hernandez, scored after only two minutes on the pitch. Greenwood’s team then suffered a massive blow as Olivier Marquet damaged knee ligaments in an international friendly, ruling him out until January. It was no coincidence that most of the team were quite poor in the next game as Barletta suffered their first defeat since the opening day, and their first away defeat of the season, going down 2-0 to Atalanta. However, that was followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Hearts at Comunale in the opening game of the Champions League second group stage. With Hyvärinen not available, Börjesson came back in and scored two goals, really piling the pressure onto Greenwood to drop the underperforming Finn who hadn’t yet put in a great performance for the club. It didn’t happen though, as Hyvärinen returned for the 2-0 home win over Perugia. Many fans were criticising the club’s most recent recruit and asking for him to be dropped, but he was becoming an unnecessary scapegoat at this point. He wasn’t performing particularly badly, but because he wasn’t getting on the scoresheet he was being made a scapegoat. And a scapegoat for what exactly? Barletta were still keeping clean sheets and slotting the goals in against every team they were playing. They were very relaxed in their next match, going down 1-0 at home to Serie B side Venezia in the cup, but they still advanced with a 5-1 aggregate win to face Lazio in the quarter-finals. The pressure on Greenwood to drop the underperforming Finn continued as Barletta played poorly against Avellino away. They were 1-0 down and they didn’t look like getting anything from the game until Hyvärinen was substituted for Börjesson. The Swede grabbed an equaliser within ten minutes to earn Barletta a 1-1 draw. Börjesson was then on the scoresheet again along with Dejan Bajraktarevic in Greece as Barletta battled their way to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Olympiakos to put themselves in a great position after two games of the Champions League second group stage with maximum points so far.

Still Jussi Hyvärinen kept his place in the team, and he was substituted again after a sub-par performance in a 1-1 draw at home against Inter. The last two matches before the short Christmas break were both against Lazio, one in the cup and one in the league, and they both turned out to be very difficult as Bajraktarevic was out injured, and with Marquet still out, 33 year old Kari Hirvonen had to lead the line at the Olimpico in the first leg of the cup quarter final. It didn’t work out well as Lazio won 1-0, but Barletta were in with a chance for the second leg. There was more injury woe as Gérson Ramos tore a hamstring during the game, ruling him out for 2 months. Barletta were desperately short on forwards for the repeat fixture that followed, a league match away against Lazio. Marcel Brennan led the line this time, with Jimmy Börjesson playing in the withdrawn striker role, and injury-hit Barletta pulled off a magnificent victory, Mariano García scoring the winning goal right at the end of the first half. Börjesson was named man-of-the-match, causing several fans to continue to ask for the dropping of Hyvärinen. However, Barletta had reached the halfway stage at the top of Serie A and going well in the Champions League, the trophy which Greenwood really wanted to win. There was one major bit of transfer activity which took place just before 2013 drew to a close, as Argentinian right-back Ricardo Aguirre left Barletta after 2½ seasons with the club. Brazilian Júnialdo had replaced him in the team, and the man who Greenwood had signed in 2011 from Talleres and moulded into an Argentinian international in such a short space of time, left to join Porto for £8M. Some were stunned that Greenwood was willing to let one of his biggest transfer successes go so easily, but within days a new right-back was found, as another Brazilian, Roberto Moreira Júnior, joined for £1.9M from Juventus. Some were extremely sceptical, questioning whether a Juventus reject could really hack it as Greenwood attempted to win the Champions League in 2013/14, but the manager had turned nobodies into stars with Arsenal and with Portugal by winning the biggest prizes available. Could he do the same with Barletta?

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Wednesday 1st January 2014
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2013/4 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st BARLETTA 14 3 2 1 7 3 5 2 1 17 5 28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Milan 13 6 0 1 15 4 2 3 1 5 4 27
3rd Vicenza 14 4 1 1 10 3 4 1 3 12 9 26
4th Roma 14 3 2 2 9 8 4 2 1 10 7 25
5th Bari 14 3 4 0 14 8 3 2 2 6 4 24
6th Atalanta 14 3 3 0 6 1 3 2 3 11 10 23
7th Inter 14 4 2 1 14 7 2 1 4 7 11 21
8th Bologna 14 5 2 1 16 10 1 1 4 2 8 21
9th Avellino 15 5 1 2 8 4 1 2 4 3 12 21
10th Napoli 15 5 0 3 13 4 1 2 4 4 6 20
11th Juventus 15 5 0 3 13 10 1 2 4 6 12 20
12th Lecce 15 6 0 2 16 14 0 2 5 8 20 20
13th Fiorentina 14 3 3 1 8 7 2 1 4 6 9 19
14th Lazio 14 3 1 3 9 7 2 2 3 7 8 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Udinese 14 4 2 2 6 5 0 2 4 5 10 16
16th Sampdoria 14 2 2 3 5 10 0 2 5 9 18 10
17th Chievo 15 2 2 3 15 15 0 0 8 2 18 8
18th Perugia 14 1 3 2 4 6 0 1 7 6 17 7

[ArsenalJoe]

A huge update:

2013/14 - Part two

Barletta began 2014 with their third consecutive match against Lazio. This one was the second leg of the cup quarter final and Barletta had to come back from 1-0 down without Olivier Marquet still out injured. Marquet’s replacement, Dejan Bajraktarevic, scored the goal which levelled the aggregate scores at Comunale, smashing in David Norberto’s cross. The game was tense all the way through, and with the scores still level a nervy extra half hour was played, but the score remained 1-0 and a penalty shoot-out was needed. The shoot-out didn’t start well as Jimmy Börjesson struck the post, but two Lazio players missed, and it was left to Roberto Moreira Júnior to slot home the winning penalty on his Barletta debut. It was especially fitting as Moreira Júnior was also named man-of-the-match, and the club’s fans were excited at the start the right-back had made. Maybe the players were tired after playing 120 minutes against Lazio, as they put in a lacklustre performance next at Napoli. Luckily, Grégory Petit was on top form in goal, and he made several top saves to earn Barletta a 0-0 draw. Then it was back to form for the team as they defeated Bari 3-1 away. Moreira Júnior was man-of-the-match again, scoring one of the goals in the victory as both sides ended with ten men. The home leg of the cup semi-final followed, and like in the home leg of the quarter-final, one goal was enough to separate the two sides. Henk Hernandez lit up a dull game with a late winner for Greenwood’s team, and that gave them the advantage ahead of leg two.

It was goals galore next as Jorge Traverso scored twice in a 4-2 home win over Bologna. However, Jussi Hyvärinen was still not doing much to impress the club’s fans. Still without a great performance in Barletta colours, he was sent off in the game for losing his cool and lashing out at a visiting player. Many fans were pleased that he was going to miss a few matches because of how little he had offered so far. Marquet returned from injury and reminded everyone of his quality by scoring within seven minutes against Sampdoria. Hernandez then added the late second in a 2-0 win, and Barletta followed that up by beating Udinese 3-1 away with goals from Brennan, Hélder and Börjesson. It was difficult to see anyone taking the title away from Greenwood’s team, but Milan were the closest challengers and Barletta had to finish them off at the San Siro to reach the cup final. Börjesson struck with an early away goal which left Milan needing three goals to win, but they did manage to score two before half time, Mário Carlos and Rubens Costa making it 2-1. Barletta though managed to hold on until the end to go through on away goals to a final meeting with Atalanta. They then warmed up for the continuation of their Champions League campaign with a 3-2 win over Lecce. It wasn’t quite as close as the scoreline makes out, as Barletta raced into a 3-0 lead, only for Lecce to score twice in the final five minutes.

Barcelona visited Comunale on matchday 3 of the Champions League second phase and were played off the park by Greenwood’s team, who dominated possession and created chances at will. However, they couldn’t put them away, and 0-0 was the final result. It was then déjà vu as Barletta travelled to the San Siro again and Milan got their revenge for being knocked out of the cup with a 2-0 win. Again though, Barletta dominated the game and created the better chances only to waste them all. Then for the third consecutive game Barletta fired blanks, as Barcelona defeated them 2-0 at the Nou Camp despite another fairly good performance from Greenwood’s men. The critics were quick to latch onto these three straight games without a goal, and although Barletta ended it against Roma at home in their next match, it wasn’t particularly encouraging. Although Antonio Hélder scored to earn a 1-0 win for Barletta, it was their only shot of the entire game as they struggled to create chances this time, and Marquet was struck down with yet another injury. Many were claiming that the Frenchman was simply becoming too injury prone to be relied on. Despite all the criticisms, Barletta went and played Juventus off the park in their next game, and this time they had the goals to show for it, putting four past the visitors in a 4-1 win. It seemed like they were back to their best, but Mariano García was then sent off after just four minutes against Sampdoria away, and the home side scored moments later. With ten men for almost the entire game, Barletta never looked like coming back into it and they lost 1-0.

After dropping points in those two games against Barcelona, some haters were hoping that it would all go belly up and Barletta would fail to reach the quarter finals. That never even looked possible though as a rampant Barletta crushed Hearts 5-1 in Scotland to ensure qualification to the last eight. Fiorentina were then brushed aside 2-0 with both goals coming within a minute of each other from David Norberto and Marcel Brennan, and that was followed by a comfortable 2-0 win over Olympiakos at home in their final Champions League group game. They did qualify, but they qualified as group runners-up thanks to those poor results against Barcelona, setting up a tricky tie with FC Bayern, still unbeaten in the competition. With the games piling up, Barletta were bound to put in a few poor performances, but winning when you don’t play well is key to picking up the big prizes, and that was what they did as a Bajraktarevic goal clinched a 1-0 win at Vicenza despite a disappointing performance. The cup was then all but sealed as Atalanta were brushed aside 4-1 at home in the first leg. Olivier Marquet returned from injury again and scored one, but the real hero was Brennan, who got the other three with a superb hat-trick. Barring a complete disaster, the cup was heading for Barletta. Marquet’s return from injury was timed very well, as he then scored in the home wins over Chievo and Atalanta in the league, making it three in three since his return. He was then ready to explode in Germany against Bayern, and explode is what he did. Barletta seemed to have the edge right from the start in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, but it all went wrong for the home side once Marquet headed in the opener on 27 minutes. Minutes later Marquet was in on goal and keeper Mario Wimmer had no option but to bring him down. He saw red, and another player returning from injury, Gérson Ramos, showed that he had not lost his penalty-taking ability as he scored from the spot and made it 2-0. Just before half time Marquet scored his second with a tremendous volley from Norberto’s cross, and Bayern were completely demoralised. A second Ramos penalty made it 4-0 late on, and this unbelievable result had all but sealed Barletta’s place in the last four.

They kept on plugging away in the league, recording close wins over Perugia and Avellino despite playing half of each game with ten men as Hernandez and Norberto were sent off. They then beat Bayern 2-1 at home in leg two of that Champions League tie, setting up a semi-final clash with surprise package Club Brugge. Victory in that tie would set up an all-Italian final, as Bari and Milan faced off in the other semi. Suddenly Barletta suffered two poor results in the league. It was like a flashback to the Barcelona matches as a David Norberto own goal gifted Inter a 1-0 victory at the San Siro, and Barletta then passed up the chance to win the title at home against Lazio, shockingly losing 2-0 thanks to two strikes from Barletta old boy Diego Acevedo. They now went into the first leg of the tie against Club Brugge low on confidence, and again the critics were out in force, dreaming of Greenwood’s team getting knocked out of the Champions League and handing the title to Milan. Watching the first leg in Brugge you began to wonder what all the fuss was about, as Barletta dominated the game and came away with a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Marcel Brennan. It was a good result, but Barletta couldn’t afford to forget that they beat Arsenal 1-0 away in the first leg of the semi-final in 2012/13 and were still eliminated. Confidence was now back up again, and Barletta went into their away match with Juventus knowing that a win would finally secure the league title. The result never looked in doubt as Brennan and Marquet got the goals in an emphatic 3-0 victory. The result was symbolic of the shift that had now occurred in Italian football. Juventus were now also-rans while Barletta were picking them off to retain the league title. There was little time for celebrations though as Barletta had to make sure that they didn’t waste their opportunity to reach the Champions League final. Olivier Marquet opened the scoring early on and the home fans were confident, but the Belgians struck back with an equaliser, and there were many tense moments as another goal from the visitors would put them through on away goals, just like Arsenal a year earlier. Barletta fought like lions though, and when the final whistle went they celebrated as if they had won the trophy. They hadn’t, not yet, but they were now just one game away from doing so, and their opponents would be Milan, who they had beaten to the title.

With the league title won, Greenwood could afford to rest some players in the final match at home against Napoli. Marquet and Brennan were both in action though, and they scored a goal each as Barletta won 2-1, ending the season on 74 points, the exact same points total they got in 2012/13. Then the cup final second leg was next, and with that all but won some players were rested ahead of the Champions League final. Somewhat predictably the game wasn’t very exciting. The sending off of Barletta’s left-back Marcel van der Wal was the only significant incident in a dull 0-0 draw, but that was enough for Barletta to complete a stunning league and cup double with a 4-1 aggregate victory. Now could they possibly complete a treble by defeating Milan? With no real injury problems the team picked for the big match at Wembley pretty much picked itself. The only real dilemma was who to play up front as the support striker for Marquet. Gérson Ramos had entered the season as the first choice, but injuries had hampered the 30 year old’s season and the New Zealander Marcel Brennan was performing outstandingly well in his absence. Brennan got the nod, so this was the line-up: Petit ©, van der Wal, Carmona, Martins, Moreira Júnior, Traverso, Norberto, Börjesson, Ferrara, Brennan, Marquet. Barletta seemed to start the game well, as Brennan had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside, and a Marquet header forced an excellent save from the Milan goalkeeper, but disaster struck as against the run of play Mario Cossu skipped around van der Wal and curled in a wonderful goal to open the scoring for Milan. Barletta didn’t let their heads drop and ten minutes later they levelled, with Marquet striking the woodwork with a header only for Norberto to collect the rebound and cross the ball in for Brennan to knock it in. Throughout the second half Barletta seemed to grow in confidence, dominating possession and creating many chances, but Milan were hanging on at 1-1. Then in the 77th minute simple poor marking from Milan allowed Greenwood’s team to finally get their noses in front, as Traverso’s free kick found the head of Marquet, who powered it beyond the goalkeeper’s reach to make it 2-1. Barletta seemed to think they had already won it, but they reckoned without a wonder strike from Michele Grieco. The young winger had hardly been involved in the match, but he collected a loose ball 25 yards out and smashed in only his 2nd goal for the club, 2-2. It was typical of the way Barletta had played from the moment Greenwood took over that they didn’t settle for that. In the 83rd minute Ferrara cut out a through ball and backheeled the ball for Eduardo Carmona to collect. The Spanish centre-back hit a long pass that found Moreira Júnior racing forward from right-back. The naturalised Italian skinned one and then hit a pinpoint ball into the box for Marquet. The French striker had everything you’d want in a striker: pace, movement, strength, anticipation and finishing ability with his feet and with his head. He got across his man and met the cross perfectly with a glancing header which directed the ball towards the corner of the net. It didn’t have much power on it, but it didn’t need any. The keeper stood still and watched it go in, 3-2. Milan knew it would take a massive effort to equalise again, but when the fourth official held up the board and it had the number 5 on it their hopes were lifted. Barletta fought right to the end, as in the 94th minute Petit pulled off a magnificent stop to deny Pardini. Borges was first to the rebound, but in came Jorge Traverso flying in to block the shot, and David Norberto hoofed the ball clear. When the final whistle blew the Milan players could hardly stand up, they had given everything to try to retain their trophy, but Barletta had done enough to win. Ten years in charge exactly and Greenwood finally had the big one. Grégory Petit lifted that massive trophy and Greenwood was standing there with the European Cup again. Who would have thought that he would be here again when he left Arsenal to join these Italian nobodies? Not many I would expect, but he had done it again and he had done even better than he had done at Arsenal. There he hadn’t won the Champions League and the Premiership in the same season, but here this trophy was capping off a stunning treble. How fitting that this was happening back in London, where Greenwood’s career in football had started all those years ago.

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Tuesday 3rd June 2014
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2013/4 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C BARLETTA 34 13 2 2 33 15 10 3 4 28 11 74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Milan 34 9 5 3 27 12 11 3 3 27 13 68
3rd Vicenza 34 10 3 4 28 15 8 4 5 24 17 61
4th Inter 34 12 3 2 30 15 5 6 6 16 20 60
5th Lazio 34 11 1 5 32 15 6 7 4 22 19 59
6th Bari 34 9 6 2 38 16 6 5 6 15 16 56
7th Udinese 34 10 4 3 20 13 5 4 8 18 22 53
8th Atalanta 34 6 8 3 16 10 7 5 5 27 20 52
9th Napoli 34 10 3 4 24 10 4 5 8 12 16 50
10th Fiorentina 34 7 7 3 19 13 4 6 7 15 21 46
11th Sampdoria 34 8 3 6 20 19 5 4 8 19 26 46
12th Roma 34 5 6 6 16 19 6 4 7 17 22 43
13th Bologna 34 6 7 4 24 20 5 2 10 17 25 42
14th Juventus 34 8 2 7 21 19 3 4 10 16 32 39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th R Avellino 34 6 1 10 13 19 2 4 11 12 30 29
16th R Chievo 34 4 4 9 26 33 3 1 13 10 31 26
17th R Lecce 34 6 2 9 26 38 1 3 13 15 43 26
18th R Perugia 34 3 5 9 10 18 0 2 15 9 39 16

The road to European glory:

11.9.13 Barnsley ENG A Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 3:3 23554 Marquet 3
17.9.13 Sturm Graz AUT H Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 2:0 16739 Bajraktarevic, Ramos pen
24.9.13 Deportivo ESP A Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 1:0 34737 Marquet
16.10.13 Deportivo ESP H Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 5:0 16723 Marquet 3, Norberto 2
22.10.13 Barnsley ENG H Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 2:0 16724 Marquet 2
6.11.13 Sturm Graz AUT A Champions Cup Ph.1 Grp H 0:0 19973
20.11.13 Hearts SCO H Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 4:0 16736 Bajraktarevic, Börjesson 2, Brennan pen
3.12.13 Olympiakos GRE A Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 2:1 74742 Bajraktarevic, Börjesson
11.2.14 Barcelona ESP H Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 0:0 16734
19.2.14 Barcelona ESP A Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 0:2 97959
4.3.14 Hearts SCO A Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 5:1 17343 Hélder, Norberto 2, Brennan pen, Villanueva
12.3.14 Olympiakos GRE H Champions Cup Ph.2 Grp C 2:0 16728 Brennan, Norberto
2.4.14 FC Bayern GER A Champions Cup Qtr Final Leg 1 4:0 73237 Marquet 2, Ramos 2 pens
16.4.14 FC Bayern GER H Champions Cup Qtr Final Leg 2 2:1 16713 Marquet, Ramos pen
30.4.14 Club Brugge BEL A Champions Cup Semi Final Leg 1 1:0 29951 Brennan
7.5.14 Club Brugge BEL H Champions Cup Semi Final Leg 2 1:1 16751 Marquet
21.5.14 Milan N Champions Cup Final 3:2 89991 Brennan, Marquet 2

[ArsenalJoe]

Where had the years gone? Ten years at Barletta for Joe Greenwood seemed to have come and gone just like that, but now that he had won the Champions League he knew he would be moving on very soon. He just had to have a go at trying to retain the trophy, as he did at Arsenal. Barletta’s wonderful season did not pass without notice. Olivier Marquet won the European Striker of the Year award for the second season running after his outstanding record of 15 goals in just 12 Champions League games. Marquet also won the European Footballer of the Year award for the second season in a row. Marcel Brennan picked up the Oceanian Footballer of the Year award after an extremely good first season in Barletta colours, while in the big one, the FIFA World Footballer of the Year award, Jorge Traverso finished in second place.

Club football was shoved to one side at the beginning of the summer as the 2014 World Cup was taking place in Switzerland. Greenwood certainly had some interest in the tournament as Portugal were aiming to retain the trophy he won for them back in 2010. Plenty of Barletta players were in action, with David Norberto and António Hélder in the squad for the holders, Grégory Petit and Olivier Marquet for France, Marcel van der Wal and Henk Hernandez for Holland, Cristian Ferrara and Roberto Moreira Júnior for Italy, and Mário Martins, Douglas Fonseca and Gérson Ramos for Brazil. Mariano García was called up for Argentina, but a shock omission was Jorge Traverso, who was left out of the Argentina squad. Portugal’s campaign was a disaster as they were eliminated in the first round and they went out as one of the most boring teams in the competition, as they lost 1-0 to Iceland, drew 0-0 with the Ivory Coast and beat South Korea 1-0. All three were dull games. Two sides with some Barletta representation contested the final, as Holland faced France. Petit, Marquet and van der Wal started the game, while Hernandez came off the bench in the second half. Marquet had scored four goals in the games leading up to the final, but unfortunately he just didn’t turn up for the final and was substituted well before the penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. France struggled without their key striker, and although they seemed to have the psychological edge over the Dutch, who lost in a penalty shoot-out in the 2010 final, Petit was unable to stop any of the Dutch penalties. Misses from Eric Boniface and Gregory Boulanger handed Holland a belated first ever World Cup trophy.

Then it was down to business at Barletta. They were already the most feared team in Europe, but Greenwood knew that there was room for improvement. It seemed like it was going to be a pretty low key summer of transfer activity though. Out of favour midfielder Diego Urrutia finally left, joining Udinese for £3.7M, and left-back Alfredo Schiavon joined Bologna for £2.5M. Millwall left-back Riccardo Guida returned to his home country on a free transfer to replace Schiavon, and Greenwood bolstered his attacking options with the signing of Serbian winger Dusan Babic for an excellent price of just £950K. That seemed like a quiet pre-season for Barletta, but that all changed as Serie A rivals Bari bought Mariano García from the club for £7.75M. That left Greenwood needing a midfielder, and he shocked the world by prising away Chelsea’s prize asset. Barletta’s transfer record was broken as 26 year old Chris Palmer transferred from the West London club, where he was a fan favourite, to Southern Italy for £20M. Newspaper reports also speculated about the wages which were required to lure Palmer from his home country to Italy, with some claiming that Barletta were paying the England international over £90,000 per week. Whatever the details, the signing was undoubtedly the clearest example yet of Barletta’s growing status as a great power in world football, and Greenwood talked up the chances of his team retaining all three trophies that they won in 2013/14.

[Spav]

So the Champions League cup now sits in the trophy cabinet next to add to the Serie A title - that really is superb work with Barletta, ArsenalJoe. :thbup:

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Spav.

---------

2014/15 - Part one

2014/15 was going to be a season packed with matches, and it began with two Super Cup matches. First Barletta hosted the Italian Super Cup match against Atalanta, and the match got off to a bad start as Jorge Traverso was sent off just six minutes in. They still took an early lead though, and the scorer of their first goal of the season was Jussi Hyvärinen, who scored only his 2nd Barletta goal. The fans hoped it would signal a drastically improved season from the Finn. Atalanta levelled things up with a penalty and the match went to extra time, and the deciding moment arrived in the 99th minute as Atalanta’s Antonio Savini was sent off for bringing down Jimmy Börjesson. Gérson Ramos slotted home the resulting penalty, and Börjesson then wrapped up the result with Barletta’s 3rd goal. The Swede was criticised in the press after the game for diving to win the penalty. The next Super Cup game was against UEFA Cup winners Rangers in Monaco, and Barletta won this one as well. It wasn’t as exciting as the Italian match, as it ended in a dull 0-0 draw, but Barletta had obviously been practising their spot kicks as they converted all five in the shoot-out to win the trophy.

Then the league started and Barletta were unable to begin their title defence with a win, as Henk Hernandez’s opening goal was cancelled out by Napoli and the opening match ended 1-1. Their Champions League group pitted them against Hearts, Benfica and Arsenal again, and they began their campaign against Greenwood’s old club. Barletta dominated the first half at Comunale, but they needed a penalty late in the half to open the scoring as Andy Harris fouled Marquet and saw red, leaving Marcel Brennan to put the ball past the substitute keeper from the spot. Marquet then grabbed his first goal of the season in the second half to wrap up a 2-0 home win. Their first league win still had to wait as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Fiorentina, leaving them with just a point after the first two matches, and they then fired blanks again in their Champions League match in Portugal against Benfica, which ended in a 0-0 draw. They got their first league win in an away match against Atalanta as Dusan Babic netted his first goal for the club in the 87th minute to win the match 2-1, and Hearts were then beaten in Edinburgh 1-0 thanks to a late Marquet goal. They still couldn’t quite find any consistency in the league as a controversial decision resulted in the sending off of Brennan early in the match against Torino, and the ten men of Barletta could only draw 0-0. Then Bari took two points off them with a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

After the October international break they really hit form, earning their best result of the season as they defeated Lazio 2-0 away from home thanks to goals from Hyvärinen and Brennan. Greenwood’s team defeated Hearts 3-1 at home to reach the second round of the Champions League, and then they put an end to Inter’s unbeaten start to the season as goals from Babic and Bajraktarevic stunned the pace-setters at the San Siro in a 2-0 win. Barletta then travelled to Arsenal and had Henk Hernandez sent off, but they showed their character by battling away and winning the match anyway thanks to an excellent Jussi Hyvärinen strike. A third consecutive 2-0 away win in the league followed as two Marquet goals saw off Udinese, and an unbelievable match at home against Parma was next up. Marquet went off injured early on and Hyvärinen followed him off the field with a red card just moments later. That enabled Parma to race into a 2-0 lead, but the ten men sensationally struck back in the second half with goals from Hernandez and Chris Palmer, his first for the club. Parma then lost a man to a red card themselves in the 89th minute, and Mário Martins headed home a last-gasp winner to complete an amazing 3-2 victory. Barletta then defeated Benfica 2-0 at home in their final Champions League group game, going through comfortably as group winners to a second phase group including Paris SG, Blackburn and Sporting. The first leg of their Italian cup last 16 tie with Avellino was next, and a late goal from Júnialdo ensured a 1-0 win over their Serie B opponents. It was then time for another amazing comeback in a league match, as Vicenza were pegged back from 2-0 up and Barletta earned a 2-2 draw, and they got off to an excellent start in their second phase Champions League group as they managed a walk-in-the-park 2-0 win over Paris SG in France. Verona were then defeated 2-0 as Barletta sustained their 1st place in the league, and Avellino were then brushed aside as Greenwood’s team went through to a cup quarter final meeting with Napoli.

There were still some problems with the slight injury-proneness of Marquet, who went off injured against Juventus in Barletta’s next match, but they still won the game with Bajraktarevic getting the winner. Even without Marquet, Barletta managed to blitz Blackburn at Comunale in their next match to make it six from six in round 2 of the Champions League. Bajraktarevic and Traverso had both got onto the scoresheet within six minutes, and the Slovenian striker added another late on to wrap up an easy 3-0 win. Unfortunately the long trip to Tokyo for the Intercontinental Cup match with Palmeiras affected the two league games either side of it. A last-gasp Fábio Dias goal earned Roma a 1-1 draw at Comunale before the match against the Brazilian side, and that match itself went to extra time and penalties, as Barletta fell behind, drew themselves level and dominated the rest of the game. They didn’t score though, and they needed another excellent penalty shoot-out to take the cup. That must have sucked away much of their energy as they were outplayed by Genoa in their final league match of the year. Barletta couldn’t get going and the mid-table side eased to a 2-0 win which knocked Greenwood’s team off the top spot in Serie A.

Then it was all-change, as the look of Barletta’s squad changed with three players in and three players out in mid-December. All six transfers were cut-price as they were all due to unprotected contracts. Forward Gérson Ramos left the club to join Napoli for £3M, and he was replaced by Greek forward Vagelis Nikolaidis, who joined from AEK Athens for £450K. David Norberto left to join rivals Milan for £5.25M and he was replaced by 31 year old winger Rafael Cruz from Sevilla for £3.1M. Douglas Fonseca, one of the longest-serving players in the squad, joined Bologna for £2.5M, and his replacement was another Brazilian centre-back, as Silvando arrived from Flamengo for £1.3M from Fluminense. No-one was quite sure whether these transfers weakened or strengthened the Barletta squad, but Greenwood was sure that they had strengthened it. All three players who had left had been itching to leave since the start of the season he said, and now they were gone and three players who wanted to play for Barletta had arrived in their place. All three played some part against Napoli away in the first leg of the cup quarter-final, with Silvando partnering fellow Brazilian Mário Martins at the back and both Cruz and Nikolaidis coming off the bench in the second half. Marquet’s early goal was cancelled out by a penalty from Gérson Ramos, making his debut and scoring his first Napoli goal against the club he had only just left. Hyvärinen made it 2-1 in the second half and Rafael Cruz then scored a debut goal to make it 3-1, leaving Barletta with one foot in the semi-final. They were looking pretty good in all three major competitions, and if the three new players were going to improve the squad, then there was a real chance of them retaining all three trophies.

************************************************** **********************************************
Italian Serie A - Thursday 1st January 2015
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2014/5 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Vicenza 15 4 3 0 16 7 4 2 2 11 8 29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Bari 15 7 1 0 15 5 0 5 2 6 9 27
3rd BARLETTA 14 2 3 1 7 5 5 2 1 13 7 26
4th Napoli 14 4 2 2 11 7 3 1 2 6 5 24
5th Milan 14 4 1 2 10 8 2 4 1 7 6 23
6th Inter 14 4 1 2 8 5 2 3 2 5 6 22
7th Bologna 14 4 2 2 11 11 2 2 2 6 5 22
8th Roma 14 4 3 0 12 5 1 3 3 5 8 21
9th Lazio 15 4 1 2 9 7 1 3 4 7 14 19
10th Genoa 15 5 2 1 10 7 0 2 5 2 10 19
11th Fiorentina 14 1 5 2 3 5 3 0 3 6 7 17
12th Juventus 14 4 0 3 11 7 1 1 5 5 10 16
13th Parma 15 2 3 2 5 4 2 1 5 12 15 16
14th Sampdoria 14 2 1 4 6 7 2 2 3 9 8 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Torino 15 2 5 0 9 6 0 3 5 1 7 14
16th Udinese 14 2 4 1 6 5 1 1 5 4 10 14
17th Atalanta 15 1 4 2 5 6 1 4 3 5 9 14
18th Verona 15 2 1 4 6 9 0 3 5 6 16 10

[ArsenalJoe]

2014/15 - Part two

Barletta kicked off 2015 by making it safely through to the semi-finals of the cup with a 1-0 home win over Napoli, Jussi Hyvärinen getting the early winning goal. That threw up a semi-final clash with Inter, and they got three straight wins in the lead-up to the first leg. An early red card for the opposition helped in a 2-0 win over Bologna and a 5-0 win over Sampdoria, but against Bari away it was 11 v 11 for the entire 90 minutes and Barletta still produced an excellent performance to see off the home side. Mariano García opened the scoring for Bari with a goal against his former club, but goals from Hernandez, Marquet and Hyvärinen turned it round as Greenwood’s team won 3-1. Another fantastic away win followed as two Marquet goals in the second half defeated Inter 2-0 at the San Siro in that first leg of the cup semi-final, and it was win after win as Barletta beat Milan, Napoli and Fiorentina without conceding a goal to create a significant gap between themselves and their nearest challengers. They had won every single match they had played so far in 2015 as the year entered early February, but that run ended in sensational fashion as they threw away their 2-0 lead over Inter at Comunale in leg two of the cup semi-final. Inter were much improved after their big money capture of Massimiliano Borrelli from Arsenal, and from the moment António Morais gave the visitors an early lead, Barletta knew they were in trouble. Borrelli made it 2-0 just before half time to level the aggregate scores and Inter continued to dominate in the second half. Finally they got that crucial third goal when Santosa’s free kick deflected off Hyvärinen and into the net, leaving Barletta needing two goals in 14 minutes to go through to the final. Marcel Brennan made it 3-1 with five minutes remaining and Barletta went on the attack looking for the second, but their hopes were crushed when Morais scored again to make it 4-1, and the Portuguese forward completed his hat-trick in stoppage time to make it an unbelievable 5-1 to Inter.

Barletta were out of the cup and another treble was now impossible, and the thrashing they had received at the hands of Inter had really exposed their weaknesses. European champions are not meant to lose 5-1 at home to anybody, and teams now seemed to think that taking the game to Greenwood’s men was the way to beat them. It didn’t work for Atalanta in Barletta’s next match, as goals from Marquet and Babic made sure of another three points with a 3-1 victory, but Barletta struggled again against Sporting as the Champions League got underway again. They got off to a fantastic start, racing into a 2-0 lead against the Portuguese side at Comunale, but Sporting pulled one back and despite going down to ten men, they managed to score a late second and the game ended 2-2. In the league there was still no such luck for opponents of Barletta, as Torino were next to be easily beaten. Marquet and Moreira Júnior got the three goals in the first 20 minutes as Barletta eased to a 3-1 victory, and then Barletta travelled to Portugal and crushed Sporting to silence some of the critics. Marquet and Marcel van der Wal fired them into a 2-0 lead, but Sporting pulled it back to 2-1 and even when Brennan slotted in from the spot, Sporting struck back again to make it 3-2. However, Barletta always had more in the tank and Marquet and Brennan added another goal each to make it 5-2. It didn’t matter if Barletta were going to let goals in if they could score them at will. There was a clean sheet in their next game though as Marquet scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Lazio.

Barletta dropped their first league points of 2015 with a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria which ended a run of nine straight league victories, but another excellent win followed as they beat PSG 3-0 in the Champions League to secure 1st place in their group. Inter at home was their next league fixture, and they must have been fearing the worst after that 5-1 reverse in the cup. This wasn’t quite as embarrassing, but they still went away with nothing as Santosa’s goal early in the second half won it 1-0 for the visitors, who held on despite playing the final 15 minutes with ten men after António Morais was sent off. Despite the defeat, Barletta still held a commanding lead in Serie A, and Europe was also going well. Barletta beat Blackburn 2-1 in their final group game thanks to a late Rafael Cruz winner, and that set up a quarter-final with Hearts, who were probably the weakest team in the last eight. Struggling in the league, the Scots had been in the same first phase group as Barletta, and Greenwood’s team had beaten them both home and away. Teams were making it difficult for Barletta in the league but they were getting the wins anyway. Udinese were beaten 1-0 thanks to a strike from van der Wal, and Barletta came from behind to beat closest challengers Vicenza 2-1 with a late Jorge Traverso winner.

What happened? What on earth happened? Those questions will forever be asked by fans of Barletta and Hearts alike with regard to the events of April 1st, 2015. It was the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Comunale, and Barletta had their strongest team out there. They were expected to win with relative ease, but somehow it all went wrong. They started poorly and in the 21st minute Chris Palmer committed a foul and conceded a penalty. Luckily Nicola Simoncelli saved from Tony Turner to keep the score 0-0, and then to their credit, Barletta improved significantly. The problem was Colin Senior, who was having a blinder in the Hearts goal, combined with the poor finishing of the Barletta attackers. Marquet’s finishing was unusually un-Marquet like in the first 45 minutes. Still, they had dominated the first half since the penalty miss, and when they started the second half in the same way, it seemed like a goal was coming. It did arrive in the 59th minute, but for the away team, as Scott Robertson silenced the home fans with a remarkable volley to send Hearts in front. Barletta threw everything forward but it wouldn’t go in, as Hernandez struck the crossbar, then on the counter attack disaster struck, as Robertson found Ben White who made it 2-0 Hearts. The team who were in the bottom half of the SPL were dismantling the European champions on their own turf, and it got even worse when teenage Dutchman John Moonen made it 3-0 late on. At the final whistle the home fans, players and manager were stunned, as the Champions League outsiders had beaten them 3-0 and all but knocked them out of the competition. Greenwood put on a brave face in the aftermath, but he must have known that barring a miracle, his team’s attempt to retain the Champions League and his time as manager of the club was almost at an end. Verona received the backlash, as they were crushed 5-1 in their own backyard by Greenwood’s men, a result which relegated them to Serie B. Parma were then beaten 1-0 and Barletta could have won the title by beating Juventus at home. Greenwood rested the entire starting eleven though ahead of the second leg of the Champions League tie in Edinburgh, and his team managed only a 2-2 draw.

What happened? What on earth happened? The second leg of the quarter-final was one of the most sensational games of Greenwood’s career as a manager, as thousands of people across Europe witnessed Barletta’s attempt to stay in the competition which they were defending. The team arrived fresh after being rested against Juventus, and Greenwood tried to pile the pressure on Hearts by claiming that his team would go out there and have a go, and it was up to the Scots to keep them at bay. All the talk before the game seemed to be rendered meaningless though as Marcel Brennan foolishly kicked out at Keith Cox in the first minute of the match and received a red card. A comeback seemed to be impossible, but Greenwood quickly went on the attack, leaving Marquet up on his own for the first ten minutes to let his players get into the game, but then sacrificing Traverso’s protection in front of the back four for a replacement for Brennan in the shape of António Hélder. Removing the holding midfielder, the rock of the team, was something which Greenwood had never done before, but these were extreme circumstances. Luckily for the manager, Olivier Marquet seemed to be on a one-man mission to get Barletta back into the tie, and he opened the scoring in the 13th minute, heading in Moreira Júnior’s corner. Ten minutes later the Frenchman scored again, collecting Hélder’s pass and firing a shot with vicious power past the static Senior. Greenwood’s attacking gamble was paying off, as the ten men had unbelievably almost got back on terms. They had most of the play for the rest of the first half, but it was difficult for them to carve out clear cut chances with a numerical disadvantage. Whatever Hearts manager Jörg Albrecht said at half time, it didn’t work, as the ten men of Barletta immediately began to pile on the pressure again. In the 57th minute the breakthrough arrived, as Marquet was felled by Underwood in the box and a penalty was awarded to Greenwood’s team. Somewhat surprisingly, Marquet shunned the opportunity to complete his hat-trick, and Mário Martins took the spot kick. The Brazilian centre-back finished it perfectly and it was 3-0. They had completed one of the great European comebacks, something which would have been unthinkable in the first minute with Brennan’s red card. Now Greenwood had a choice to make: he could either keep going on the attack, or get back and play a bit more conservatively. He clearly wasn’t willing to take the unnecessary risk, as Hélder dropped back into midfield and Chris Palmer started playing the holding role. The game became tighter but Barletta still had the better chances, and the moment to look back on came in the 88th minute, as Palmer’s strike came back off the post and the midfielder missed out on the chance to surely take Barletta through. It went to extra time which was also tight, but the key chance again fell to Barletta, as Senior denied Hélder in the 97th minute. In both penalty shoot-outs Barletta had competed in so far in 2014/15, they had scored every single spot kick, but that wasn’t to be here. They took an early lead as Keith Cox missed for Hearts, but cruelly it was the two best players on the night who missed, both Hélder and Marquet blazing it over to send Hearts through. The effort they had put in was almost unbelievable, and despite Marquet’s miss the Frenchman received a standing ovation from the away stand, who stayed behind for a long time afterwards. Despite their team’s elimination, they had to show appreciation for their side’s outstanding performance on the night.

What the European elimination meant was that Greenwood had to immediately apply for any jobs in Brazil or Scotland, his two remaining destinations. Luckily for Barletta, there were none available, so he continued until one opened up. He was criticised in some quarters though for not sticking with the attacking formation which had opened up the 3-0 lead over Hearts. If he had stuck with it he would have got a 4th and won it, said some sections of the press. Marquet took out all his frustration on Roma at the Olimpico in Barletta’s next match, as he scored a tremendous hat-trick to win the game 3-0 and secure the title with three matches remaining, Barletta’s third in a row. Even the home fans offered applause for Marquet’s outstanding show. Greenwood stuck around until the end of the league season, as Barletta drew 1-1 with Genoa, 3-3 with Milan, and then beat Bologna 3-0 on the final day. Marquet scored five goals in those three encounters. It was only a matter of time though before he was on his way out of Italy. In Brazil, vacancies at Corinthians and Vasco de Gama opened up on the same day. Corinthians called first.

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Italian Serie A - Wednesday 20th May 2015
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================================================== ==============================================
2014/5 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st C BARLETTA 34 10 5 2 28 11 12 4 1 36 14 75
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2nd Inter 34 12 3 2 21 7 7 5 5 15 14 65
3rd Vicenza 34 7 10 0 26 13 8 4 5 27 24 59
4th Milan 34 10 4 3 35 20 7 4 6 18 19 59
5th Napoli 34 11 3 3 25 13 5 6 6 11 12 57
6th Sampdoria 34 8 4 5 22 16 8 2 7 24 22 54
7th Lazio 34 10 5 2 24 10 3 7 7 16 29 51
8th Bologna 34 9 4 4 22 16 4 5 8 15 26 48
9th Bari 34 11 3 3 33 18 1 8 8 14 23 47
10th Roma 34 8 4 5 27 22 4 5 8 15 22 45
11th Atalanta 34 6 5 6 21 18 4 7 6 14 19 42
12th Genoa 34 9 4 4 19 13 2 5 10 8 23 42
13th Juventus 34 8 1 8 21 17 3 7 7 17 24 41
14th Parma 34 6 4 7 16 13 3 3 11 17 27 34
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15th R Torino 34 5 7 5 17 17 3 3 11 6 20 34
16th R Udinese 34 5 6 6 15 16 3 2 12 9 21 32
17th R Fiorentina 34 4 6 7 6 11 3 2 12 9 25 29
18th R Verona 34 4 5 8 16 27 0 4 13 7 30 21

[ArsenalJoe]

The Barletta legends

It must have been hard to follow those eleven years of Greenwood’s management at Barletta, as he turned them from Serie C2 nobodies into the champions of Europe. So here are the key players you need to know about, the players who contributed towards that success:

Goalkeeper – Nicola Simoncelli/Grégory Petit
Signed from: Nice/Rennes
Both crazy keepers didn’t just throw and drop footballs, as tantrums and clangers were part of their repertoire as well. They both got their chance in the starting eleven, with Petit playing for much of the treble winning season, but Simoncelli ousting him again for much of Greenwood’s last season at the club. It’s difficult to forget Simoncelli’s woeful performance at Barnsley in September 2013, and Petit’s horrendous error at home to Arsenal earlier that year which helped eliminate Barletta, but both keepers were brilliant at times and their careers flourished under Greenwood’s management. Simoncelli never made an appearance at Nice, the team he started his career at, as Greenwood spotted his potential early and got him on loan from the French club while his team were in Serie C1. He continued to pursue him, eventually signing him on a free ahead of Barletta’s first Serie A season, which remains his greatest, as he conceded just 23 goals in 30 games. He eventually collected 9 caps for Italy while Greenwood was manager. Petit was signed for nothing from another French club, Rennes, in 2012, and his record of 104 games and just 62 goals conceded during the Greenwood years is extremely good. He became France’s first choice keeper while at Barletta.

Left-back – Marcel van der Wal
Signed from: RKC
Marcel van der Wal was hardly a complete unknown. At RKC he was one of the most consistent left-backs in the Dutch league, but Greenwood was the one who thought that he was good enough to play in Serie A for a team going for all the major honours. He was proved right as van der Wal added that extra bit of quality to the team, improving the position where they had looked pretty ordinary until his arrival. His rampaging runs forward and hard tackles on opposition wingers meant he was a formidable full-back, and it was no coincidence that his first season at the club ended with the treble being won. He also got into the Dutch team and started the World Cup final of 2014, which of course the Dutch won. That’s something he will always owe to Barletta and Joe Greenwood.

Right-back – Roberto Moreira Júnior
Signed from: Juventus
Like his counterpart on the left, Moreira Júnior joined the club just in time for the treble win, and that was no coincidence. It seems quite strange that Juventus were willing to let the young right-back go for a paltry £1.9M, but that is with the benefit of hindsight. That price was on the cheap side, but no-one at that time would have believed that by the summer of 2015, rumours would be abound that Milan were chasing him for £23M. Such was his meteoric rise. Right from the moment he joined it was like he had always been there. He was almost impossible for a winger to beat and he was formidable going forward, and you can probably count his poor performances from December 2013 until May 2015 on one hand. The style of full-back which Greenwood wanted seemed to fit him like a hand in glove, and by the time of Greenwood’s departure he was one of the most sought-after players at Barletta.

Centre-back – Mário Martins
Signed from: Internacional
Martins was another highly-rated player who might have commanded a £10M fee when Barletta went after him in the summer of 2013, but his contract became unprotected and Greenwood swooped to sign him for just £2.1M. That was a bargain as you would expect, as Martins fitted right into European football, winning the treble in his first season and breaking into the Brazil team which finished 3rd at the 2014 World Cup.

Centre-back – Eduardo Carmona
Signed from: N/A
Where did he come from exactly? God knows. The Spaniard was spotted and signed up by Greenwood at a young age, but he seemed to have been completely forgotten. He didn’t make an appearance for the first team until he was 20, when he went straight from the reserves into the starting eleven. It seemed like a strange way to introduce a player to first team football, and it probably didn’t work out too well in 2012/13, Carmona’s first season, as he wasn’t great. He showed promise though, and all he needed obviously was a solid partner alongside him at the back. That arrived in the shape of Mário Martins, and Carmona went from strength to strength playing alongside the Brazilian at the back, forming an excellent partnership which was key in the treble-winning season. The centre-back, like so many of Greenwood’s gems, also broke into his national side, becoming a mainstay at the heart of the Spanish defence.

Holding midfielder – Jorge Traverso
Signed from: Boca Juniors
Traverso wasn’t a youngster when he was signed by Barletta for £975K in the summer of 2012. At that time he was 26 and he was, and always had been, a solid member of the Boca midfield in Argentina. It was unbelievable how Greenwood managed to revitalise Traverso in front of the Barletta back four, as the Argentinian began to churn out better and more consistent performances than ever before. His peak was reached in the treble-winning season as he was managing 5.5 tackles per game, surpassing any other player in Serie A and most players in Europe. Certainly there was no midfielder out there who was as good at breaking up play as him, and there were rumours that Milan wanted to take him off Barletta’s books for £30M. Yet another example of how Greenwood unearthed a fantastic player from out of nowhere.

Midfielder – Cristian Ferrara
Signed from: Padova
Greenwood was criticised for the number of non-Italians in his squad, but one excellent young player who he uncovered who was Italian was Cristian Ferrara. Picked up on a bosman from Padova aged 22 as Barletta entered Serie A, he had to be patient and wait for his first team chances. Sometimes he was in the first eleven, then sometimes he was out of it again. This was no more evident than in Greenwood’s last year at the club. Ferrara had been the token Italian in the side which had won the treble, but he soon found himself ousted because of the big money signing of Chris Palmer from Chelsea. Palmer probably was the better player and the more marketable, but Ferrara will always be more of a fan’s favourite.

Midfielder - Jimmy Börjesson
Signed from: Malmö FF
It was unfortunate that the Swedish midfielder saw his first team opportunities gradually become more limited, such that in 2014/15 he was hardly seen, making just seven starts and scoring just the one goal. A bargain signing from Malmö FF for just £250K in 2011, he fitted right into the Barletta set-up, and fans will tell you that when he was on fire there were very few better attacking midfielders in the world. The writing was on the wall when Jussi Hyvärinen arrived, but as the Finn was unavailable for Europe, Börjesson retained his place for Champions League games and was present in the team which won the cup against Milan. However, when 2014/15 started he was discarded as Hyvärinen, Cruz, Hernandez and Babic all stole his place. Nevertheless, there was always something he had over those four, and you were always sure that he would put in a solid performance for you in midfield.

Midfielder - David Norberto
Signed from: Marítimo
Some fans will never forgive Greenwood for breaking up the fantastic midfield which won Barletta the Champions League. Norberto completed that trio alongside Ferrara and Börjesson, and the £3M signing from Marítimo was absolutely magnificent from the moment he joined the club. To some it was no coincidence that Barletta lost their European trophy once these three were displaced. Big money players with big reputations like Palmer, Hyvärinen and Cruz got the nod over the players who had given everything for the club. What pained fans the most was seeing David Norberto actually leaving the club and joining Milan, and there he proved that he could perform in any team by actually playing better in the second half of 2014/15 in a Milan shirt than he had ever done for Barletta. Sadly, the last goal Greenwood saw this Barletta legend score was against his team. He proved his quality by driving in a goal at the San Siro against the visiting Barletta side, and he was named man-of-the-match in the 3-3 draw. What a player.

Forward – Marcel Brennan
Signed from: Metro FC
Metro FC? Who are they? Exactly. Bringing this wild card over from New Zealand and turning him into a success almost overnight was key to delivering the treble in 2014. Gérson Ramos had been solid as the support striker for Marquet, but he was nothing more than that. At times the Brazilian was average, and what Brennan provided was a bit more dynamism. He quickly displaced Ramos from the starting eleven and lessened the burden on Marquet by comfortably scoring more goals than Ramos had ever done, with 16 goals in 27 starts in the treble winning season. His goal in the Champions League final itself dragged them back into it and allowed Marquet to work his magic later on.

Forward – Olivier Marquet
Signed from: Martigues
As far as players go it would be impossible to argue about Greenwood’s best signing. Signing this rough diamond from France for £250K and moulding him into the world’s most feared striker will always be his greatest achievement. It wasn’t as if Olivier wasn’t a goal machine before he arrived at Barletta, as a teenager he burst onto the scene at Martigues with 20 goals in his first professional season. He then began to score more and more goals, peaking with a goal tally of 34 aged only 19. So why weren’t clubs queuing up to sign him? It just seemed like too much of a gamble for clubs who thought he just wouldn’t be able to take this form into the higher echelons of world football. Greenwood finally took the gamble when he signed the 24 year old after he had just hit 42 goals in 2010/11, and he clearly upped his game even more when he joined Barletta, with 35 goals in 39 games in 2011/12. Suddenly he was a French international and he ended up going home with a Euro 2012 winner’s medal as France dominated that tournament. He didn’t score in the semi-final or the final, but he did get four goals earlier on in the competition. 2012/13 was a slight comedown, but he still scored 30 goals in 43 games, and if that goes down as a bad season you know you’ve got an excellent striker on your hands. Then came 2013/14, the season in which Marquet played fewer games due to injury and was amazingly written off after a few scoreless games. In 38 games though, he scored 33 goals, and this season provided some memorable moments, such as the match against Barnsley away in which he scored an 89th minute goal to make it 2-2, only for Barnsley to make it 3-2 seconds later. Marquet still hauled Barletta back into it though with an amazing goal to draw them level again at 3-3 with almost the last kick of the game. That was at the beginning of the season, and at the end of it Marquet scored the two goals which won the Champions League final for Barletta, as they were trailing 2-1 but Olivier turned it round to make it 3-2 and secure Europe’s greatest club prize. Even in the comparatively disappointing season of 2014/15 there were some great moments, as Marquet scored the two goals which set Barletta on their way to a 3-0 win over Hearts despite playing almost the entire game with ten men, a result which almost kept them in the Champions League. Then the following weekend he scored a ruthless first half hat-trick at the Olimpico to secure a 3-0 away win over Roma, and this led to him being applauded even by the Roma fans. His Barletta record under Greenwood? 167 appearances and 142 goals. Also during that time he scored 25 goals in 30 appearances for France. A true legend.

[Nath Boy]

This is brilliant. One of my favourite stories on the forum at the moment. KUTGW. :thbgrin:

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Nath Boy.

----------

Arriving at Corinthians

Barletta had been a small club in a small town in southern Italy, but Corinthians was completely different. It was like going back to the Arsenal days, as now Joe Greenwood was in charge of a big club that was steeped in history, located in a big city. When Greenwood arrived there was shock on both sides of the Atlantic. Barletta were stunned at the departure of their legendary manager, and fans were worried about their club’s future without him. All over Europe the news was widely publicised. One of Europe’s most successful managers, a man who had won three Champions Leagues and one World Cup with European sides, was now leaving Europe and arriving in South America. In Brazil it was an extremely high-profile managerial appointment. How would Greenwood adapt to life in South America? How would he adapt to this completely different culture? Despite his excellent CV, the fans of Corinthians reacted warmly at best to his appointment. Many were disappointed at the appointment of an Englishman in charge of their club. It was up to Greenwood to be as successful as he had been at Arsenal and Barletta to turn them around.

There was to be no mass-buying of foreign players at Corinthians, as Greenwood had done at Barletta and at Arsenal to a lesser extent. With a non-Brazilian player limit of just two, Greenwood was going to rely almost exclusively on Brazilians. That didn’t look like it was going to be a problem though due to the sheer number of talented Brazilian footballers around. He did have one foreigner slot free though, as only one non-Brazilian was currently contracted to the club. That was someone who he had encountered before, 32 year old Alberto Lima, who had been present in his Portuguese World Cup squad five years earlier as a Cruzeiro player. Lima was able to play in both defence and midfield and when Greenwood took over he had 66 caps to his name for Portugal. There were a few other players at the club with Brazilian international caps: 29 year old Róbson Cipriano had 55 caps and was a long-serving midfielder at Corinthians, 32 year old midfielder Lopão had 18 caps and had been at Corinthians for his entire career, and two ageing defenders, Everaldo Dias and Rezando, both had a handful of caps each. This didn’t really indicate that these players were the key players at the club though, as there were many younger players who made up the majority of the squad. Greenwood knew that he was going to get to know the whole squad a lot better in the coming months.

So what was the situation when Greenwood arrived at the club? In case you don’t know, each year in Brazilian football is split into two. From January until the summer the State Championships take place, and Corinthians were part of one of the top states, the São Paulo state. As he joined in May, this was coming to a close, and Corinthians were into the semi-finals along with Ponte Preta, Portuguesa and São Paulo themselves. Greenwood was almost going straight into the two-legged semi-final clash with São Paulo, and his aim was definitely to reclaim the title which Corinthians had won in 2012, but which Ponte Preta had won for the last two seasons. The Brazilian cup however was still in full swing, and that goes from February until July alongside the state championships. Corinthians had already won the away match of their 3rd round clash with Avaí 4-3, and Greenwood’s first match in charge was set to be the second leg at home. It had been 20 years since Corinthians had last won the Brazilian cup back in 1995, so success in the competition would also get Greenwood firmly on the side of the fans. Then with all that done the National championships go from August through to November, and Corinthians had last won the National First Division in 2012 as well, the same year in which they had last won the São Paulo state championship. He had a clear aim: to get Corinthians back to the success of 2012, and after that the Copa Libertadores awaited.

[ArsenalJoe]

2015 - Part one

Greenwood wasn’t going to buy and sell players in droves. He was going to retain the current squad and see where it was good and where it could be improved. His first match in charge was in front of the home fans against Avaí in the Brazilian Cup 3rd round 2nd leg, with Corinthians already holding a 4-3 lead from the away leg. If he somehow messed things up it wouldn’t do much for his popularity, and when Cão opened the scoring for the visitors early in the second half he must have feared the worst. Luckily young striker Édson Pinto scored the first goal of the Greenwood era just minutes later to tie things up at 1-1. That was good enough to secure a 4th round meeting with Fortaleza. The next two games though were obviously going to be a lot harder, as Corinthians met São Paulo both home and away, with a place in the final of the São Paulo state championship up for grabs. The away leg was first, and São Paulo were strong favourites, with Corinthians still finding their feet under their new manager, and with two 16 year olds in their line-up due to injuries, Moisés at right-back and Meca in the holding midfield role. That lack of experience proved vital as Corinthians were blitzed by the home side in the opening 30 minutes, going 3-0 down. No further goals were scored in the first leg and the 3-0 defeat seemed to all but kill their chances of a place in the final. The second leg performance was encouraging though, and it was undoubtedly the best performance yet under the new management. Unfortunately, despite dominating the first hour of the game, Corinthians couldn’t score, and then it was Antônio Mehl opened the scoring for the visitors to open up a 4-0 aggregate deficit. There was surely no way back from there, but Corinthians did salvage their pride by scoring three goals to ensure that the scoreline more accurately reflected the balance of play on the night. Young winger Giuliano Vieira and forward Renato Bezerra got the goals as it ended 3-1.

Out of the state championships then and now the cup became the focus of Greenwood’s attention. His team produced an excellent performance in the away leg of the 4th round tie against Fortaleza, as Bezerra and Cipriano made it 2-0 early on, and Pinto added a 3rd to make it 3-0 by half time. They held onto that and it was done and dusted really ahead of leg two. Fortaleza were hopeful as they took an early lead in the second leg, but Corinthians were never in trouble and Pinto levelled the scores as it ended 1-1 and 4-1 on aggregate. Flamengo awaited in the quarter-finals, and the now-Second Division side were expected to be beaten by Greenwood’s men. Despite their status as underdogs, Flamengo took the lead in front of their home fans in the first leg thanks to a Francisco Alves own goal. Greenwood’s young goalkeeper Amoreto had to make a few smart stops to keep the score at 1-0, and luckily for Corinthians Édson Pinto finally equalised in the 87th minute after much second half pressure from the away side. 1-1, and with that away goal Corinthians had the advantage as they entered the home leg. Once Renato Bezerra had made it 2-1 on aggregate within three minutes the result was never in doubt. Flamengo never turned up and Corinthians went through with that 1-0 win to the semi-finals and a tie against Atlético Mineiro. This was definitely going to be difficult, but if Greenwood could lead his players to victory over the two legs then they would be in the final, and it would be a very early chance to win his first trophy with the club. They got off to a great start in the away leg with a goal from Róbson Cipriano early on, and they perhaps could have gone further in front, but they wasted chances and Sinhosa levelled the scores at 1-1 just before half time. That was how the game ended as Corinthians were denied several chances to score a 2nd in the second half. Nevertheless, with the away goal they had the advantage going into the second leg, and towards the end of the first half Pinto opened the scoring to make it 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate. Greenwood’s team then started the second half brilliantly with a goal from Bezerra within two minutes, and when Bezerra scored again midway through the half that was it. 3-0 on the night, 4-1 on aggregate and a place in the final. A late consolation from former Barletta forward Reinaldo Moraes couldn’t take the gloss off the win.

Guarani would be Corinthians’ opponents in the final, and Greenwood’s team would be favourites going into the match. Before that though, the National First Division and Copa Mercosur were kicking off. In the Copa Mercosur, Corinthians were drawn into a group including Olimpia of Paraguay, and fellow Brazilians Grêmio and Palmeiras. Palmeiras would be a massive game as they were the club most hated by the Corinthians fans. Greenwood wasn’t quite sure what the tournament even was, but he was still looking forward to winning the games and attempting to win the tournament. They arrived in Paraguay for the first match against Olimpia, and 16 year old Moisés gave them the lead in the 20th minute. They held onto it for most of the game, but with 20 minutes remaining the Paraguayans levelled with a penalty from Roberto Caballero. However, there was one final twist as Édson Pinto drove in the winning goal in the 86th minute for an impressive 2-1 victory for Corinthians. The National First Division then got underway with a home match against Paysandu, and despite dogged resistance from the visiting team, Corinthians finally clinched a deserved three points with the only goal coming 15 minutes from time from Bezerra. Then it was time for the first leg of the cup final against Guarani, and it was a brilliant performance from Corinthians as they all but won the trophy with a 4-0 win. They outplayed their opponents from start to finish but the real star was Édson Pinto, as the 20 year old striker scored all four of their goals. They hit four in their next match at home against Santa Cruz in the league, as they won it 4-1, albeit with a helping hand from the referee, who sent off an opposition player after just eight minutes. That left them with six points out of six after two league games, and they sealed the cup with an entertaining 2-2 draw in the away leg of the final against Guarani. Pinto again scored both Corinthians goals in the match, and it was left to midfielder and captain Sandro Dias to lift the Brazilian Cup, Joe Greenwood’s first trophy. It had come within just three months of his arrival at the club and it had certainly got most of the fans on side. The cup isn’t as prestigious atrophy in Brazil as the FA Cup is in England, but it still showed that Greenwood could deliver the trophies at whatever club he was at. Now could Corinthians be crowned champions of Brazil?

[ArsenalJoe]

2015 - Part two

Corinthians kept up their 100% start to the season in the National First Division with a 1-0 win over Botafogo, Renato Bezerra getting the winning goal. Then it was time for Joe Greenwood to face his biggest game yet as Corinthians manager. Forget the cup final, this was Corinthians v Palmeiras in the Copa Mercosur group stage, one of the fiercest rivalries around. If Greenwood could lead his new club to victory over their rivals at the first attempt, then that would really get the fans on side. There was a great atmosphere at the Pacaembu stadium, but the football never really matched it as it was a dour 0-0 draw. Corinthians weren’t helped by the fact that they lost two players to injury, Giuliano Vieira and Vânder Quieroz. They still had the better of the game, but the Palmeiras goalkeeper was on top form, and when Rezando saw red with 20 minutes to go, Corinthians saw their hopes of winning the match go with him down the tunnel. Even with their injury worries they still kept up their fantastic start to the league season, defeating Cruzeiro away thanks to a late Felipe Noguiera goal, and following that up with an away victory over São Raimundo, with Édson Pinto getting the winner in a 1-0 win. The Copa Mercosur was proving more difficult, as Corinthians again had the better of the match against fellow Brazilians Grêmio away, but Bezerra’s first half strike was cancelled out midway through the second half and it ended 1-1. They also lost another player to injury, Andrade this time leaving the field early.

The injury worries kept coming as Corinthians drew 1-1 at home against América (MG) to lose their 100% start in the league. Rezando went off injured and a last-gasp equaliser denied them victory, but they were quickly back to winning ways with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at home over Grêmio. Two more points were dropped against América (RJ) in another 1-1 draw, as centre-back Sandinho was sent off in the first half with Corinthians leading 1-0. In the end they did well to hang on at 1-1 as they played with a numerical disadvantage for most of the game. They then gave themselves a great chance of reaching the Copa Mercosur quarter finals by grinding out a 3-2 home win over Olimpia. The Paraguayans took a surprise early lead, but Corinthians reacted quickly to turn it around to 3-1 before half time, and then survived a second half scare as Olimpia pulled a goal back in the second half. The result left Greenwood’s team with eight points from four games in the Copa Mercosur group stage. They continued to get wins in the league as they opened up a significant gap at the top with 2-1 away victories over Goiás and Guarani and their biggest win yet under Greenwood’s management, a 5-0 home win over Avaí. The visitors went down to nine men in that match, allowing Corinthians to run riot with five different players getting on the scoresheet. One thing Greenwood couldn’t seem to do though was beat Palmeiras. His first trip to Parque Antártica, the stadium of his team’s fiercest rivals, ended in defeat, as Giuliano Vieira’s goal which gave Corinthians a half-time lead was cancelled out in the second half, and the home side carved out a 2-1 victory. It meant that qualification for the Copa Mercosur quarter-finals was still in the balance. League wins kept on coming, with Édson Pinto’s goals playing a key role. The young striker scored in wins over Fortaleza, Portuguesa and Sport Recife which meant that as Corinthians went into their final Copa Mercosur group match against Grêmio, they were on a run of four league games without conceding a goal. The Grêmio match at Pacaembu was full of tension, as an early goal from Sandro Dias was cancelled out by the away side, and Andrade was then sent off for Corinthians for a reckless challenge. They had to hang on at 1-1 for the majority of the second half with ten men, but they managed it and it meant that both themselves and Palmeiras went through with nine points, with Corinthians edging out their local rivals on goal difference. The side awaiting them in the quarter finals was Nacional of Uruguay, who had got into the last eight ahead of Chile’s Colo Colo.

Corinthians faced Fluminense away from home next, and after going unbeaten for the first 14 games of the league season they were finally defeated, going down 1-0 after wasting several chances to score. They recovered to beat Santos away in a comfortable 2-0 victory, Bezerra and Pinto getting the goals, but then they were beaten again, losing at home to Atlético Mineiro this time with veteran playmaker Fernando Monteiro getting the only goal. Greenwood also lost centre-back Sandinho to injury, and it wasn’t the best preparation for the home leg of the Copa Mercosur quarter final against Nacional. The performance was patchy, and on another day Corinthians could easily have let an away goal in which would have left them facing an uphill battle. As it was, Nacional failed to get a goal, and first half efforts from Vieira and Bezerra earned Corinthians a 2-0 win, meaning they had a foot in the semi-finals already. They immediately travelled to Montevideo for the second leg three days later, and when Rezando was sent off just three minutes into the game for violent conduct, Nacional seemed to be in with a real chance of hauling back the two goal deficit. However, Joe Greenwood had plenty of experience of playing with ten men from his time at Arsenal and Barletta, and his side dug deep to win the match 1-0, Róbson Cipriano with the only goal just after the half hour mark. Their reward was a semi-final clash with fellow Brazilians Vasco da Gama.

A place in the top four of the National First Division and with it a play-off place was effectively secure at this stage, even with several games left to play, as Corinthians just couldn’t stop winning. They managed to beat Internacional 2-1 away and state rivals São Paulo 1-0 at home, but that was followed by a bore draw with ABC. Then a crazy game against Ponte Preta was next up. Ponte Preta took an early lead in the match, but just minutes later the home side’s goalkeeper Guedes was sent off, conceding a penalty in the process. It was a great chance for Corinthians to go on and win the game, but Cipriano missed the spot kick and Greenwood’s team were unable to claw their way back into the game over the course of the first half. Then right at the end of the half Corinthians themselves conceded a penalty which saw centre-back Sandro Dias sent off for a second yellow. The home side, unlike Corinthians, converted theirs, and it was 2-0 to Ponte Preta and 10 against 10. Greenwood’s team gave it their best shot in the second half, but they couldn’t find a goal and they ended the match with only nine men as Flávio followed his fellow centre-back Sandro Dias down the tunnel with 20 minutes remaining. That was the end of any comeback hopes and the game ended 2-0. Then there was some transfer news as Greenwood finally began to reorganise the squad as he saw fit, having relied on the existing squad since he arrived. Flávio’s red card was his last action in a Corinthians shirt as he joined Juventus (SP), one of the six players to leave within days of each other. Surprisingly, Lopão and Vânder Quieroz were amongst them, the two ex-Brazilian internationals joining Cruzeiro and Internacional respectively. Two players were signed, 34 year old Swiss centre-back Tomás Vítor from Fortaleza and 29 year old striker Felix Marito from Guarani. Due to their age, both players were short term fixes only, and neither were expected to feature much as first team regulars.

The Copa Mercosur semi-final clash with Vasco da Gama was a chance for Vasco to see what they could have had. They were the other club who were managerless at the same time as Corinthians, but Greenwood had ended up at Corinthians rather than Vasco. He showed them exactly what they were missing by leading his side to a 1-0 win in the away leg, Édson Pinto getting the late winner after a very tight match. Vasco were then finished off at Pacaembu, as Corinthians eased to a 3-0 win on the night and a 4-0 aggregate victory with Pinto, Bezerra and Cipriano, their three major goal threats, all getting onto the scoresheet. A two-legged final with Argentinians San Lorenzo would decide who would be taking away the trophy, but first there were six remaining regular league season games to play. Corinthians already had a spot in the play-offs secure, but they wanted to secure first place over the 27 games, and they did so. They beat Juventude and Atletico Paranaense and their next opponents were Palmeiras. It was Joe Greenwood’s third attempt at beating public enemy number one, and after two failed attempts in the Copa Mercosur, this was his first attempt in the league. Yet again in front of the Pacaembu crowd it ended 0-0, and it went down as another failed attempt at beating Palmeiras, though the fans didn’t care at this stage. Palmeiras were down in lower mid-table while Corinthians were flying high at the top of the league. There were three matches remaining and Corinthians took maximum points, seeing off Ceará, Criciúma and Bragantino with remarkable ease to end the 27 game regular season with 64 points, eleven clear of runners-up Fluminense.

This was different though – play-offs to decide the winners of the national league. With Arsenal and Barletta, like any European league, Joe Greenwood was used to being handed the trophy if his team collected the most points over the campaign. This wasn’t the case here, and Corinthians needed to negotiate a play-off semi-final with Ponte Preta, who had already beaten them once. First up though was the first leg of the Copa Mercosur final against San Lorenzo. The first leg was at home and only one goal was scored, Giuliano Vieira getting it for Joe Greenwood’s men to give them a good chance of winning the competition in Argentina. They then made great strides towards the domestic final as they blew Ponte Preta away in the first leg of their play-off, going 3-0 up by half-time. That was how it stayed. Corinthians then travelled to Buenos Aires to play San Lorenzo with a 1-0 lead behind them, but they didn’t aim to defend the lead. They went to attack and within four minutes they had their reward, Renato Bezerra firing home to make it 2-0 on aggregate. Pinto soon doubled the lead, and although San Lorenzo scored two late goals to make it 2-2, that Corinthians would win it was never in doubt. Marcelino Dias netted a late winner on the night just for good measure, and Greenwood walked away with the Copa Libertadores’ little brother, the Copa Mercosur. It was his second trophy with the club after the Brazilian Cup, and it was time to make it three. The second leg against Ponte Preta was a dull 0-0 draw, and that was enough to send Corinthians through to the two-legged final with 2nd placed Fluminense. 1st versus 2nd for the title, and Corinthians travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the first leg away from home. Corinthans had the better of the game, and Bezerra’s first half strike looked like it was going to be enough for the win for a long time, but Fluminense eventually levelled, Machado scoring 20 minutes from time. Still, 1-1 it was and Corinthians had the advantage going into the second leg. However, just four minutes into the second leg the Pacaembu crowd was silenced, with Alessandro Pelisarri giving Fluminense the lead. Corinthians eventually levelled in the 33rd minute, Bezerra scoring yet again, but as hard as they tried they couldn’t find a winning goal. Time ticked away and it looked like extra time was imminent, but then right at the death Fluminense launched one more attack and won a corner. It was a nightmare moment for Joe Greenwood as his players were guilty of slack marking and Bruno was left completely free to power in a 94th minute header and win it for Fluminense. The home fans were left stunned and Fluminense were able to celebrate their victory. This damn play-off system, eh?

************************************************** **********************************************
Brazilian National First Division - Saturday 2nd January 2016
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2016 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st CORINTHIANS 27 9 3 1 22 3 11 1 2 24 11 64
2nd C Fluminense 27 11 1 2 23 6 5 4 4 18 14 53
3rd ABC 27 9 3 1 17 5 7 1 6 24 15 52
4th Ponte Preta 27 10 3 1 26 10 4 3 6 16 21 48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5th Atlético Mineiro 27 5 6 3 21 17 8 2 3 21 13 47
6th Fortaleza 27 8 0 6 18 16 7 0 6 13 9 45
7th Portuguesa 27 6 4 3 19 17 7 2 5 19 16 45
8th América (RJ) 27 6 4 3 20 15 6 3 5 11 10 43
9th Grêmio 27 7 3 3 16 12 5 4 5 17 18 43
10th Santos 27 7 2 4 16 12 4 8 2 17 14 43
11th Santa Cruz 27 5 3 6 22 24 7 3 3 24 18 42
12th Sport Recife 27 4 4 5 12 13 7 4 3 24 15 41
13th Goiás 27 6 3 4 24 17 6 1 7 17 19 40
14th Paysandu 27 8 2 4 25 15 4 2 7 13 18 40
15th Guarani 27 7 2 4 22 15 5 2 7 13 15 40
16th Criciúma 27 7 2 5 18 15 4 3 6 17 23 38
17th Atlético Paranaense 27 9 0 5 33 19 2 4 7 12 24 37
18th Cruzeiro 27 6 4 3 9 5 4 3 7 13 19 37
19th Palmeiras 27 7 5 2 21 12 2 4 7 12 16 36
20th Juventude 27 7 2 5 21 17 4 0 9 14 21 35
21st Internacional 27 6 2 6 19 19 2 4 7 10 21 30
22nd Botafogo 27 5 4 4 15 12 2 4 8 12 21 29
23rd Avaí 27 4 3 6 13 22 3 4 7 12 25 28
24th Ceará 27 3 1 9 19 30 4 1 9 18 25 23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th R São Paulo 27 3 6 5 10 14 1 5 7 10 18 23
26th R São Raimundo (AM) 27 4 1 9 10 17 2 2 9 6 17 21
27th R Bragantino 27 3 5 6 16 23 1 0 12 11 37 17
28th R América (MG) 27 0 3 10 5 22 1 7 6 6 19 13

[ArsenalJoe]

Joe Greenwood had made a good start to life as manager of Corinthians in Brazil, winning the Brazilian Cup and the Copa Mercosur, and coming so close to winning the national title. Naturally Barletta were missing him in their 2015/16 season in Italy. Under new manager Corrado Carnevali they were struggling at the halfway point, having sold key players, and it seemed as if Champions League qualification was miles away, let alone retaining their title. They still looked like they were under threat of relegation. Roberto Moreira Júnior joined AC Milan, Jimmy Börjesson joined Barcelona, Nicola Simoncelli joined Rangers and Dusan Babic joined Atalanta. Under Joe Greenwood Barletta performed well both domestically and in Europe, the players were loyal to the club and the manager who had spotted them and made them the players they were, and it was very difficult for the top clubs to prise the club’s most valuable assets away from southern Italy. With Greenwood gone and the club seemingly on the slide, some players had gone and although the likes of Marquet were soldiering on to try and improve Barletta’s fortunes, they were still looking a shadow of Greenwood’s world-beaters. They were still in the Champions League though.

Not that Greenwood now paid too much attention to what was going on in Italy. After a bit of reorganising of the Corinthians squad in November, it was time to really start changing things. It was time to be ruthless and to make the squad really fit with his ideas. That would mean a few players in and a few players out. Lots of reserve players were released to cut down on the squad size, and there was some major transfer news as well. Veteran centre-back Rezando was the only major casualty, as the defender, capped six times by Brazil, was released and joined Flamengo on a free transfer. There were several new players arriving at the club ahead of the start of the São Paulo state championship. A lot more depth was gained at centre-back with the signings of Luson for £1M from Camaçari and Ilya Shiryaev, Greenwood’s first foreign signing, for £250K from Dinamo Moscow. You don’t see too many Russians in the Brazilian league, so many suggested that Greenwood’s fierce ambition for the future of Corinthians had convinced Shiryaev to pack his bags and leave his native Russia for the completely different culture of Brazil. There were two other signings, as 24 year old Remo winger Chimo joined the club for £1M, and Atlético Paranaense’s highly-rated 19 year old Olincha joined in a £3.5M deal. It wasn’t clear what Olincha’s best position was, as he could be utilised as a defender or as a creative midfield player, but he was definitely going to improve the Corinthians squad.

What was clear was that Joe Greenwood and the Corinthians board wanted a lot of wins and some more trophies. Top of their list was the Copa Libertadores, which Greenwood needed to win if he was going to complete his task. Corinthians were handed an opening stage group containing Boca Juniors, El Nacional of Ecuador and Bolivia’s The Strongest. It wasn’t going to be easy, but Corinthians and Boca were expected to progress, and anything can happen once you’re into the knockout stage.

[Nath Boy]

Good update again. At the moment, your two stories are my favourite at the moment by a long way.

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Nath Boy.

-----

2016 - Part one

The teams who are in the Copa Libertadores don’t play in the Brazilian Cup, so Corinthians would not be offered the chance to retain the first trophy Joe Greenwood won for them. For the first half of 2016 the two tournaments they were concentrating on were the São Paulo state championship and the prestigious Copa Libertadores. Winning them both would certainly be difficult because of the fixture congestion, so it became quite clear early on that Greenwood would play a weakened side in a lot of the state championship games, keeping his team fresh for the Copa Libertadores, which was his main aim. With the number of Division 2 and 3 teams in the state championship, this seemed a reasonable way to approach the two competitions. There was one further transfer ahead of the start of the season as veteran Alberto Lima was sold for £1M to Juventude.

Greenwood wanted to get off to a winning start in the state championship against fellow first division side Guarani, so his strongest possible line-up was fielded. It didn’t get off to a great start as Olincha went off injured after just 18 minutes of his debut, but Corinthians ran out 2-0 winners anyway, a goal each from Pinto and Bezerra. Going to high-altitude Ecuadorian city Quito is always difficult for visiting sides, but Greenwood had played his strongest side in the previous game, meaning it was going to be an extremely testing opening to the Copa Libertadores campaign against El Nacional. Greenwood’s team went behind early and it stayed 1-0 for a long while, but finally Corinthians levelled, new signing Chimo scoring his first goal for the club from the spot with 20 minutes remaining. They would have been happy with a point, but they messed it all up, going behind again with nine minutes left. Thankfully Bezerra popped up to equalise again on 88 minutes, and it seemed like it would end 2-2, but they fell asleep again and goalkeeper Matisco was forced to trip the oncoming striker in the final minute of stoppage time to stop El Nacional regaining the lead. A red card for the keeper and a late penalty was the outcome, and it was converted to give the Ecuadorians a thrilling 3-2 win, but Greenwood was certainly not amused.

That was it, now he would definitely be playing his second string in the state championship games. Second division Bragantino took the lead twice in the next game, but they were then reduced to ten men and Corinthians ran riot, eventually coming away with a 6-2 victory. Points were dropped again though in the Libertadores, as Corinthians never really got going against Boca Juniors at home in their second match. It ended in a dull 0-0 draw and Greenwood certainly had his work cut out now to get them through with only one point from a possible six so far. The second XI ran riot on some lower league no-hopers again in the state championships, crushing 4th division União São João 5-2, and then Corinthians finally registered their first win in the Copa Libertadores, grinding out an unconvincing 1-0 win at home over The Strongest. Renato Bezerra got the winner and they had to hang on for most of the second half after Sandinho’s red card. That was an early weight off their shoulders, and after another easy win over Comercial (SP) in the state championships, El Nacional arrived in Brazil. Unfortunately it was another disappointing game as it ended 0-0, just as it had done against Boca. Corinthians had thrown everything they could at the Ecuadorian side, but they couldn’t break through. Another win which Greenwood’s team could have achieved with their eyes closed, 4-1 against Matonense, followed, and then Corinthians finally produced a top class performance in the Copa Libertadores, as Boca were demolished in Buenos Aires. Luson gave Corinthians the lead, and then Boca went down to ten and Andrade and Édson Pinto added further goals for a 3-0 away win. It was an excellent result and Corinthians had laid down their marker, albeit four games later than planned, for the tournament. Sorocaba were defeated 3-1 away, but then Corinthians suffered their first domestic defeat of the year, going down 1-0 at home to Botafogo (SP) of the 2nd division with their second string. Some fans said it was stupid to play the second XI in the first place as Corinthians were pretty much through in the Libertadores anyway. Nevertheless, that was what Greenwood did and it paid off as Corinthians went through to the last 16 of the Libertadores in style, defeating The Strongest 4-0 in their own backyard, Bezerra, Olincha and Pinto contributing the goals. It had taken a bit of time, but Corinthians were now playing well and their opponents for the last 16, San Lorenzo, knew they were in for a game when the two sides met. After that game Corinthians announced the signing of 25 year old Nigerian midfielder Henry Musa from Rangers International for £1M, who had apparently turned down Everton of England to join Greenwood’s Brazilian revolution. He replaced ex-Brazilian international Róbson Cipriano, who left to join FC Utrecht in Holland for £2M.

The second string took to the field against São Paulo, a match which they were always going to find extremely tough, and when Sandro Dias saw red just six minutes in, that was pretty much that already. São Paulo were comfortable 2-0 winners in the end, and throwing that game away didn’t even benefit their match against San Lorenzo, as it was another frustrating 0-0 draw at home. Corinthians had now played four home games in the Copa Libertadores, and three had ended 0-0, the other 1-0 to Greenwood’s team. On the plus side they were yet to concede a goal at Pacaembu in the tournament, but just one win from four wasn’t good enough. With a fortnight until the second leg, Greenwood could afford to play his strongest team against Ponte Preta, and Pinto and Bezerra got a goal each yet again as it was an easy 2-0 home win, and the second string then pulled off a stunning 3-2 win against Mogi Mirim away. After Almeosa had given Corinthians the lead, the second division side turned it around to 2-1, only for goals from Almeosa and Filipe Nogueira to earn Corinthians the three points. All of Corinthians’ better performances in the Copa Libertadores were coming away from home, and their match against San Lorenzo was no different, as the plucky Argentinians were finished after 20 minutes in Buenos Aires. Goals from teenager Lourenço and Giuliano Vieira put Corinthians 2-0 up after just 17 minutes, and San Lorenzo soon went down to ten men, enabling Greenwood’s team to pull off a routine 3-1 win and reach the quarter-finals and a meeting with Colombia’s Atlético Nacional. Corinthians then produced their best performance of the season so far to demolish Santos 5-0 on their own turf. Renato Bezerra and Marcelino Dias got two each with Édson Pinto getting the other, and the only low point of the match was Henry Musa coming off the bench for his debut and promptly getting sent off.

Next up was Palmeiras at home, and a chance for Greenwood to finally defeat his club’s fiercest rivals. At the fourth attempt he succeeded, though it was only due to an own goal. Palmeiras centre-back Adílson put the ball into his own net just before half-time and that was enough for a 1-0 victory. Joe Greenwood also improved his relations with the fans by emphatically celebrating the goal in front of the stand. That result meant that Corinthians needed one more win to ensure a play-off place in the state championship, and they got it in their next match against Portuguesa, coming away with a 3-1 victory thanks to goals from Édson Pinto, Marcelino Dias and a brilliant solo goal from Ronaldo Gaspar. The second string then appeared against São Caetano and Henry Musa scored his first goal for the club and was man of the match in a 4-1 win, though admittedly it was against a third division side. The big game was up next, the first leg of the Libertadores quarter-final against Atlético Nacional of Colombia, and Corinthians delivered with a magnificent 4-0 win in front of the fans at Pacaembu, thanks in no small part to an unplayable performance from Édson Pinto. The 20 year old striker scored a phenomenal four goals in the first 32 minutes, putting the whole outcome of the tie beyond doubt. The bad news for Corinthians was that several European suitors were now on his tail, hoping that Pinto was the next hot property to come out of Brazil.

A 4-2 win over lower league Araçatuba to finish off the state championship league stage was next up, and Corinthians then finished off Atlético Nacional with a 1-0 win in Colombia. It was a dull game that was lit up by Ivano’s excellent winner, and Greenwood’s side went through with a 5-0 aggregate win. Now Corinthians faced a crucial stage of the year, as they were aiming for the state championship and the Copa Libertadores, with a two-legged semi-final against Ponte Preta in the São Paulo state championship, and a similar clash with Santos in the Libertadores. The away leg of the Ponte Preta tie was first up, and Greenwood risked upsetting the fans by playing a weakened team, as the Santos game was taking place a few days later. Sure enough, Ponte Preta cruised to a 2-0 victory against the weakened Corinthians team, and there was some animosity directed towards Greenwood for throwing away the prestigious state championship and a chance for bragging rights in the São Paulo state. Certainly if Corinthians could not defeat Santos in leg one of the Copa Libertadores semi-final then Greenwood’s plan would have completely backfired. Luckily Corinthians had a psychological advantage over Santos having crushed them 5-0 in their own backyard just over a month earlier, and that seemed to help them as they won easily 2-0 at home, Vieira and Pinto getting the goals. That comfortable win gave Greenwood a bit of leeway so he could sprinkle the 2nd XI with a few more key players for the second leg against Ponte Preta, and his side showed great character to battle back from the two goal deficit. Felix Marito’s first half strike was added to in the second half by Ivano and Chimo to make it 3-0, and a late missed penalty from the away side sealed a miserable afternoon for Ponte Preta, but a glorious one for Corinthians, who were now into the final of the state championship against São Paulo themselves. All that was left to do now was to reach another final, that of the Copa Libertadores, and they did so, defeating Santos 2-1 away to set up a mouthwatering final meeting with River Plate.

The win over Ponte Preta had vindicated Greenwood’s policy of fielding a weakened side in the domestic games, so despite a lot of unease from the fans, he did the same in the away leg of the state championship final against São Paulo. The weakened Corinthians team was played off the park by São Paulo’s strongest eleven, and Greenwood was lucky to escape with only a 2-0 victory. His team had lost by the same scoreline in the first leg of the semi-final, and he had clawed it back in the second leg, but would that really be possible against São Paulo, the kings of the state? The rest that the key players had got certainly paid off in the first leg of the Libertadores final at Pacaembu. Corinthians dominated the match with Pinto and Bezerra each getting on the scoresheet, and they appeared to be cruising to a 2-0 home win until Felipe Nogueira conceded a penalty late in the game, which River converted to make it 2-1. That meant the Argentinians were in with a real chance for the second leg, and Greenwood was not going to change his policy of playing a weakened side in the state championships. The second leg of the São Paulo clash was therefore viewed as a write-off by many fans, but Greenwood had a secret weapon. After the River Plate game, Greenwood had completed the signings of 26 year old striker Rodrigo from América (SP), and 22 year old midfielder Nathaniel from Atlético Miniero. The two bargain signings made their debuts against São Paulo and were instrumental in the outcome. It seemed like it was going to be a game to forget for a long while, as Corinthians had the better of the match but São Paulo stayed firm at the back, knowing that the home side would have to score twice to deny them victory. Then with 20 minutes left, Marcelino Dias chipped the ball in and Rodrigo headed home his first Corinthians goal. Now it was edgy for the away side as Corinthians huffed and puffed to get a second, and with three minutes left it arrived, Vieira’s through ball finding Rodrigo again, and the striker hit a low drive past the goalkeeper. At 2-0, with the aggregate scores level, the winners would be the team who finished highest in the league stage, and that was 1st placed Corinthians. São Paulo threw everything forward in a last ditch attempt to win it, but Greenwood’s side hung on and they were São Paulo state champions for the first time since 2012. What’s more, they had done it playing a weakened team in almost every game. If their second team were capable of that, then surely their first team would be capable of defeating River in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final in Argentina? It was cagey stuff from Greenwood’s team in Buenos Aires, as they sought to hold onto their lead first and foremost, looking for a goal only on the counter attack. River simply couldn’t break them down, and although they pushed a bit harder towards the end, they never really offered enough to threaten the Corinthians back line, and at the final whistle there were wild celebrations from Greenwood and everyone connected to the club. It had taken him only a year to turn Corinthians into state and South American champions, and after a colossal 10 year struggle at Barletta, he had achieved his aim in one season at Corinthians.

The state championships:

************************************************** **********************************************
Brazilian São Paulo State Championship - Wednesday 22nd June 2016
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2016 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C CORINTHIANS 15 7 0 1 21 7 6 0 1 24 8 39
2nd São Paulo 15 6 0 1 11 2 5 2 1 13 5 35
3rd Guarani 15 6 1 1 18 7 4 1 2 11 9 32
4th Ponte Preta 15 4 3 0 15 4 4 2 2 12 10 29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5th Santos 15 3 2 2 8 10 5 3 0 15 5 29
6th Mogi Mirim 15 5 1 1 14 6 3 3 2 9 5 28
7th Palmeiras 15 4 2 1 11 4 4 0 4 13 12 26
8th Portuguesa 15 5 0 2 14 6 3 0 5 12 12 24
9th Bragantino 15 5 1 2 14 12 1 1 5 11 14 20
10th Botafogo (SP) 15 3 0 5 12 9 3 1 3 9 9 19
11th São Caetano 15 3 0 4 9 15 3 1 4 7 12 19
12th Araçatuba 15 1 1 5 9 16 1 3 4 9 16 10
13th Matonense 15 1 4 3 6 13 1 0 6 4 18 10
14th Comercial (SP) 15 1 1 6 8 22 1 1 5 7 17 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th R Sorocaba 15 1 1 6 9 19 1 0 6 4 12 7
16th R União São João 15 1 2 5 8 14 0 1 6 6 23 6

The Copa Libertadores run:

================================================== ==============================================
2016 Fixtures
================================================== ==============================================

Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24.2.16 El Nacional ECU A Copa Libertadores Grp 5 2:3 34918 Chimo pen, Bezerra
2.3.16 Boca ARG H Copa Libertadores Grp 5 0:0 37376
9.3.16 The Strongest BOL H Copa Libertadores Grp 5 1:0 37389 Bezerra
16.3.16 El Nacional ECU H Copa Libertadores Grp 5 0:0 37360
23.3.16 Boca ARG A Copa Libertadores Grp 5 3:0 49208 Luson, Pinto, Andrade
5.4.16 The Strongest BOL A Copa Libertadores Grp 5 4:0 42294 Bezerra, Olincha, Pinto 2
13.4.16 San Lorenzo ARG H Copa Libertadores 2nd Rnd Leg 0:0 33766
27.4.16 San Lorenzo ARG A Copa Libertadores 2nd Rnd Leg 3:1 25065 Lourenço 2, Vieira
18.5.16 Atlético Nacional COL H Copa Libertadores Qtr Final Le 4:0 37389 Pinto 4
25.5.16 Atlético Nacional COL A Copa Libertadores Qtr Final Le 1:0 50999 Ivano
1.6.16 Santos H Copa Libertadores Semi Final L 2:0 35300 Vieira, Pinto
8.6.16 Santos A Copa Libertadores Semi Final L 2:1 17026 Nogueira, Pinto
15.6.16 River ARG H Copa Libertadores Final Leg 1 2:1 37352 Pinto, Bezerra
22.6.16 River ARG A Copa Libertadores Final Leg 2 0:0 54400

[Spav]

Joe Greenwood :hail:

CM01/02 Managerial Reputation - Supreme Being of the Universe. Congratulations, you have reached the top level.

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Spav, if you added it all up I have probably spent an extremely unhealthy number of hours playing on this game. :D It was my first CM game in October '01 and FM07 has been the first game to really dethrone it, 5 years later.

--------

2016 - Part two

Joe Greenwood probably wasn’t keeping much of a close eye on Barletta’s fortunes at this point in time, but if he was he would have seen that they were sliding downhill at an alarming rate. Their first season without him ended with an 11th placed finish, with Barletta only securing Serie A safety with a few games remaining. A long way from European football now. Even more worryingly, the exodus was continuing, as some more of the club’s most prized assets left the club in the summer of 2016. Jussi Hyvärinen joined Napoli and Henk Hernandez joined Italian rivals Inter, while club legend Olivier Marquet went back to his native France, joining up and coming club Nantes, who were now firmly established as France’s best team, and who had reached the last four of the Champions League in 2015/16. The biggest money deal was Chris Palmer joining Barcelona for £30M, and while this did leave a lot of money in the coffers, Barletta weren’t spending it, and even if they wanted to, they simply didn’t have the pulling power to attract the new Palmers and Hyvärinens to the club.

There was also a bit of selling going on at Corinthians in the summer of 2016. Greenwood seemed quite happy with his squad, as there were no buys, but there was one big-money sale, as Édson Pinto joined Bari in Italy for £10.75M. For the 21 year old striker it capped off a meteoric rise as he finally got that most precious of moves for a South American player to one of Europe’s top leagues, and it was down to Greenwood’s management, as Pinto, like Marquet before him, was a striker who had thrived in Greenwood’s attacking system. In South America though, you can’t hold onto a player if he’s at the top of his game, and with Bari throwing the cash around having just capitalised on Barletta’s demise to qualify for the Champions League, Greenwood at least managed to receive a spectacular sum for the striker. Rodrigo was already there as a replacement, which seemed to indicate that Greenwood already knew he was going well in advance. Renato Bezerra and Andrade were also rumoured to be moving to Italy, with stories floating around involving Lazio and Inter, but these never materialised.

Joe Greenwood was going to see the true beauty of fixture congestion in the summer, as Corinthians as São Paulo state champions were involved in the Brazilian Champions Cup, drawn into a group stage with Ipatinga, Goiás and Vasco. They were also set to begin their defence of the Copa Mercosur, and in that competition they were in a group containing Cruzeiro and Vasco of Brazil and San Lorenzo of Argentina. The Champions Cup got underway first, with Corinthians looking in imperious form as they crushed Vasco 4-0, Vieira and Marcelino Dias each getting two goals, sneaked a 1-0 win over Ipatinga with Rodrigo on the scoresheet, and cruised to a 3-0 home win over ten man Goiás. That was enough to see them through to a semi-final clash with Bahia, and although they conceded their first goals of the competition in the first leg, they did get two away goals in a 2-2 draw, Rodrigo and Vieira on the scoresheet. The Copa Mercosur then started and Corinthians showed alarming superiority over Vasco, fielding a weakened side yet still completely dominating the match. Henry Musa and youngster Gabriel Nunes got the goals in a comfortable 2-0 win, and Corinthians then saw off Bahia by the same score to reach the Champions Cup final with Rodrigo and Chimo getting the goals this time. Grêmio awaited them there, but first they got their league campaign off and running with an extremely entertaining home game against Fortaleza. They raced into a 2-0 lead early on, only to throw it away over the course of the game. However, with the scores at 2-2 going into the last five minutes, Chimo grabbed a late winner for a 3-2 victory. Then there was one bit of transfer dealing as the left-back position was freshened up a bit, second choice left back Alexandre Souza, 33, leaving the club for Camaçari to be replaced by 20 year old Ricardo from América (MG).

The two goals conceded against Fortaleza must have given hope to Grêmio as Corinthians had showed plenty of defensive frailty, but in the first leg of the final in Porto Alegre, Rodrigo gave Corinthians the lead. However, he was stupidly sent off for lashing out at an opposition player and Grêmio turned it around to 2-1 against Greenwood’s ten men. However, Corinthians showed plenty of character as Almeosa popped up in stoppage time with a last-gasp leveller to make it 2-2 and put his team in the driving seat. Almeosa scored two more in the next match at home against Guarani in the league in a 2-1 win, and as the fixtures piled up, Corinthians faced Grêmio two days later in the league, with the second leg of the final against them following just two days after that. Corinthians were limp and lifeless in the league match, going down 1-0 away, but that was all forgotten as they were much improved in the second leg of the Champions Cup final at Pacaembu. Rodrigo struck twice to make up for his red card in the first leg as they eased to a 2-0 victory to secure yet another trophy for Greenwood. He was building up a spectacular medal collection in South America in a very short period of time, and this was another trophy to place in the Corinthians cabinet. Some managers might have relaxed having won almost every trophy available, but it simply made Greenwood hungrier for success, and he wanted one more successful year for Corinthians before he left for pastures new.

[O'B]

:hail: brilliant stuff, simply brilliant :hail:

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks for the compliment.

--------

2016 - Part three

Corinthians swiftly got going again with their league season, top marksman Rodrigo scoring an excellent hat-trick to see off Criciúma by a 3-0 scoreline. They were less fortunate in their second Copa Mercosur match, going down 1-0 to Cruzeiro away despite having the better of the game, and losing Olincha to injury in the process. They were soon back on track though, producing a virtuoso performance to dispatch Avaí away from home 3-0, and then cruising to a 2-0 away success over San Lorenzo in the Mercosur. Their solid defence was proving to be the backbone as they defeated Goiás 2-0 and then kept another clean sheet to come out 1-0 winners in the hostile atmosphere of the Parque Antártica against fierce rivals Palmeiras. It was a great feeling for Greenwood to take his side to a place where they were resoundly despised, and to silence the crowd with a victory thanks to Luson’s first half strike. Corinthians then battled away to record a 1-1 draw with Vasco away in the Copa Mercosur, before continuing their excellent league form with a 2-1 home win over Atlético Paranaense thanks to a last-gasp winner from Rodrigo. Two points were dropped in a 1-1 draw with ABC, but it was no big deal as they then defeated Atlético Mineiro 1-0, another Rodrigo goal proving to be the difference between the two sides.

Finally, in match five out of six, Corinthians returned to top spot in their Copa Mercosur group with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Cruzeiro, though that was followed by a rare defeat, as even two more goals from Rodrigo could not prevent Greenwood’s team from losing 3-2 at Flamengo. They did turn the style back on again to defeat Ceará 2-0 in a game which could easily have ended 5 or 6-0, and they then did hit five to ease their way past San Lorenzo in their final Copa Mercosur group match. Rodrigo was again the driving force, scoring twice as the Argentinians simply couldn’t cope with the expansive football played by Corinthians in the 5-1 win. Predictably, the quarter-final draw threw up a tie against Palmeiras, which was sure to be heated. After producing a brilliant performance to put five past a top Argentinian side, the next match was a bit of a disappointment, as a poor game saw Ponte Preta come away from Pacaembú with a 1-0 victory. Fixture congestion seemed to be taking its toll on the team, but they managed to recover to earn two stylish away wins over América (SP) and Internacional. A weakened team was then played in preparation for the Palmeiras tie, and Corinthians delivered a subdued performance in a 0-0 home draw with Juventude.

Palmeiras v Corinthians in the Copa Mercosur quarter-finals. The Mercosur wasn’t the biggest tournament around and it certainly didn’t touch the Libertadores for prestige, but you could be sure that it would still be taken extremely seriously by these two sides. Any excuse to give your local rivals a good thrashing. The first leg was at the Parque Antártica, where Corinthians had already sneaked a 1-0 win in the league, but this performance wasn’t on that sort of level. Corinthians were poor, but luckily Palmeiras failed to take their chances, and 0-0 was a good result for Greenwood’s team in the end. However, they could have undeservedly squeezed out another 1-0 victory, but Almeosa missed an 89th minute penalty. With no game at the weekend, both sides had a week to recover for the return leg, and Corinthians were confident of a much-improved performance and result with their home fans behind them. It failed to materialise though, as they started poorly again, and Tavares gave Palmeiras the lead. It didn’t take long for Rodrigo to level the scores, and with no away goals in this competition, a 1-1 draw would take it to penalties. However, the key moment came just before the hour mark, as Marcos Cabral fouled Palmeiras’ Leonardo Nery and was sent off and conceded a penalty. There were furious protests from the Corinthians players who were convinced Nery had dived, but the decision stood and unlike Almeosa in leg one, Palmeiras were able to convert the spot kick. It was 2-1 and Corinthians had half an hour to find a goal with ten men, and they gave it their best shot, especially Olincha who was fantastic flying down the right wing, but they couldn’t score and they were dumped out by their fiercest rivals. Only the league to concentrate on now.

It was heartbreaking to lose to Palmeiras, but Corinthians went back to the league and quickly put it behind them, winning three straight games against Santos, Sport Recife and Bahia. It was almost certain even at this stage that they were going to get a top four place and a place in the play-offs, as they were building up a nice lead at the top. They dropped two points with a 0-0 draw with Botafogo, but then they sneaked two 1-0 home wins over Paysandu and Camaçari, and that was followed by a comfortable 2-0 victory against Santa Cruz, with Rodrigo getting both goals. Portuguesa were another team nicely poised to make the play-offs, but Corinthians beat them away with ease, Rodrigo scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 win. It was difficult to see exactly how they had been beaten by Palmeiras based on this performance. That victory was the 4th in a run of seven straight wins to finish off the league stage, as it was followed by a 1-0 win over Cruzeiro, a 3-0 win over Vitória and a 1-0 win over Fluminense. By the end of the 27 games, Corinthians had earned 64 points, beating their tally from 2015 and finishing well clear in 1st place, and they had conceded just 12 goals. If anyone deserved the trophy it was them, but they still had to go through the play-offs, with Grêmio, Portuguesa and arch-rivals Palmeiras the other three sides involved.

Corinthians went into the semi-finals as strong favourites, and their semi-final clash was against Portuguesa, who they had beaten easily in the league stage, so it seemed very likely that they would reach the final, as they had done the year before. However, in the first leg at Pacaembú, they were stunned by the underdogs, as Portuguesa came away with an unlikely 1-0 win. Corinthians never really got going, and although they probably still edged the game on chances created, it was Portuguesa who took their chance and seized the win. The odds on Greenwood’s team were cut slightly, but they remained many people’s tip to win it, as if there was one team who could score goals at will and turn round a first leg deficit, it was Corinthians. They came out all guns blazing in the second leg, and sure enough, it didn’t take long for Renato Bezerra to level the aggregate scores with the opening goal. However, Portuguesa made it 1-1 just two minutes later to regain their overall lead. Soon though it was 2-1 to Corinthians, Almeosa scoring the decisive goal which gave Greenwood’s side the lead on away goals. Then three minutes later Portuguesa were harshly punished for a handball, giving Almeosa the opportunity to slot home from the spot and make it 3-1. Portuguesa needed two goals to make it through, and although they got one in the second half, a red card for the home side 15 minutes from time killed their chances. A 3-2 win for Corinthians was enough to send them through to the final against Grêmio, who had just edged out Palmeiras in the other semi. First, however, there was the brief distraction of the Intercontinental Cup, as Corinthians as Copa Libertadores champions represented South America against European champions Rangers. There were two players who Greenwood knew quite well on the Rangers side, goalkeeper Nicola Simoncelli and centre-back Mário Martins, who had both been brought to the club from Barletta, having been originally brought to southern Italy by Greenwood himself. In the end, the game emphasised the difference in quality between European and South American football, as Corinthians, almost unbeatable in Brazil, were easily cast aside by Scotland’s dominant force. It didn’t help that star striker Rodrigo was missing through injury, but overall Corinthians seemed hopelessly out of their depth as Rangers dominated and beat them 3-0, with youngster Martin Wilson scoring and England veteran Phil Bent getting the other two.

There was a possibility that being beaten so easily, such a rare occurrence for Greenwood’s players, could demoralise them ahead of their match-up with Grêmio in the Brazilian National 1st division final. Before the game there was some transfer activity, as Almeosa left the club for Lazio as his contract became unprotected, with £2.7M going to Corinthians as a compensation payment. 27 year old striker Nascito from Paraná was his replacement. Two other players were signed on free trnafsers, 24 year old right-back Rogério Fábio from CRB, and 22 year old forward Jairo from Ipatinga. This presented a striking dilemma, as Rodrigo and Lourenço were already injured, and new signing Nascito happened to be injured as well. 4th choice striker Felix Marito played against Grêmio, and he had a moment to forget after just 4 minutes, as Corinthians won a penalty which he took, only to see it saved by the goalkeeper. After a poor first half, Grêmio took first blood with a goal on the hour mark to make it 1-0. Corinthians had lost at home 1-0 to Portuguesa in the semi-final, and although they had pulled that back in the second leg, they couldn’t count on doing that again against Grêmio. As the minutes ticked by, it looked like it was going to be another defeat, but in the 78th minute Giuliano Vieira struck to level the scores. Then four minutes later, with Grêmio still reeling from the equaliser, Felix Marito made it 2-1. The away side seemed to be not sure whether to attack or defend, and the result was that Corinthians were all over them as the game neared its end. Deep into stoppage time, Vieira struck again to make it 3-1, and Corinthians were now firmly in the driving seat, when with just 12 minutes remaining they had been heading for defeat. In the second leg Grêmio needed a 2-0 home win to win the tie, and that looked unlikely from the moment they started the match, as they were unable to create chances. Just before half-time Vieira scored his third goal of the tie to make it 4-1 on aggregate, and Rodrigo, just back from injury, put the icing on the cake with a late goal to make it 5-1 overall. Corinthians were national champions, and it hadn’t taken long for Greenwood to establish them as the best team in the country. He had now won everything there was to win at the club.

************************************************** **********************************************
Brazilian National First Division - Tuesday 3rd January 2017
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2017 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C CORINTHIANS 27 11 1 1 21 6 10 2 2 26 6 66
2nd Grêmio 27 10 2 2 22 11 6 2 5 12 14 52
3rd Palmeiras 27 8 4 2 23 9 7 2 4 17 10 51
4th Portuguesa 27 7 5 1 19 9 6 2 6 16 14 46
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5th Atlético Mineiro 27 5 6 2 15 12 7 2 5 16 10 44
6th Criciúma 27 10 1 3 22 12 3 2 8 10 22 42
7th Vitória 27 7 3 4 19 14 4 4 5 15 22 40
8th Goiás 27 6 4 4 18 14 4 4 5 11 13 38
9th Paysandu 27 6 6 1 18 9 3 5 6 13 19 38
10th Ponte Preta 27 4 7 2 12 7 5 4 5 14 17 38
11th Santos 27 5 5 4 14 11 3 9 1 14 11 38
12th Guarani 27 7 5 2 20 10 2 5 6 5 12 37
13th Internacional 27 7 2 4 20 13 4 1 9 12 19 36
14th Sport Recife 27 6 3 4 12 12 4 3 7 13 16 36
15th Bahia 27 6 3 4 14 8 3 5 6 15 21 35
16th Fluminense 27 7 3 4 14 9 2 5 6 8 14 35
17th Botafogo 27 5 5 3 15 11 2 9 3 11 13 35
18th Fortaleza 27 8 2 4 22 17 1 5 7 8 12 34
19th Ceará 27 4 3 6 14 19 5 3 6 19 20 33
20th Atlético Paranaense 27 6 4 4 19 15 2 5 6 16 22 33
21st Juventude 27 4 7 2 12 8 2 8 4 14 17 33
22nd ABC 27 6 3 5 17 17 2 5 6 12 17 32
23rd Santa Cruz 27 4 5 4 14 16 3 5 6 17 20 31
24th América (RJ) 27 5 3 5 18 13 2 4 8 12 25 28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th R Flamengo 27 3 5 5 13 16 3 3 8 15 24 26
26th R Cruzeiro 27 3 8 3 9 9 1 6 6 2 10 26
27th R Camaçari 27 3 7 4 12 16 0 4 9 2 17 20
28th R Avaí 27 2 5 7 13 27 0 3 10 5 24 14

[ArsenalJoe]

2017 - Part one

Joe Greenwood knew that 2017 was going to be a significant year for him. He now had to try to retain the Copa Libertadores in the first half of the year, and when the attempt to retain it was over, he would have to seek a job in the 4th and final country on the list, Scotland. By the start of 2018, he would be in Scotland, far away from the exotic culture of Brazil. The Copa Libertadores groups were drawn, and Corinthians were drawn into a group containing Paraguay’s Cerro Porteño, Peru’s Universitario and Uruguay’s Peñarol. All three of those sides had failed to get past the group stages in 2016, so it didn’t look like it was going to be too hard a task to get into the knock-out stage. The first match was set to be against Peñarol at Pacaembú, and Corinthians would be looking to get off to a winning start in their defence of the trophy. Greenwood was also looking to retain the state championship and keep Corinthians at the top of the São Paulo tree, and their campaign in that competition would begin with a match against Ponte Preta away.

There wasn’t much January transfer activity at Corinthians. Greenwood had already done much rebuilding since he had arrived, with players such as Ricardo, Nascito, Rodrigo and Olincha joining the club, so there was only one new player before the beginning of the state championship. It was another young player, 18 year old left-back Josimar joining from Goiás for £3M. He was the replacement for Marcos Cabral, who was out of contract and left the club aged 34. When Greenwood joined the club, over-30s Cabral and Souza covered the left-back positions, but now 18 year old Josimar would act as cover for 20 year old Ricardo at left-back. It showed how willing Greenwood was to rely on youngsters in the Corinthians team.

Since there wasn’t much going on at Corinthians in January, maybe Greenwood was tuning into Serie A coverage, as Barletta were having a surprisingly good season. Many had tipped them for relegation, especially as they had unbelievably not brought in a single player since Greenwood had left them, while selling the majority of the players who had won the Champions League. However, they were now sitting pretty in 5th place in February, and they were well in the hunt for a Champions League place. Young players from the Barletta academy were coming through and playing well, the best one being forward Alessandro Ripa, who had broken into the Italy under 21s team and who had scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over AC Milan. Greenwood would have been pleased to see his old team proving the critics wrong.

[zen]

Thats an awesome story. Great management career as well.

[ArsenalJoe]

2017 - Part two

Greenwood wanted to go out with a bang, he wanted to win the Copa Libertadores and be crowned São Paulo state champions, just as he had done in 2016. It was going to be difficult, but there was no reason why he couldn’t do it again. He approached the two competitions in the same way as he had done in the previous year, playing his strongest team in the Libertadores, and resting the key players in the state games. His back-ups were now of greater quality than they had been in 2016, so winning both competitions was a very realistic aim. That was proven in the first match, away at Ponte Preta, as he played a weakened side and still came away with a 1-0 victory, Felipe Nogueira getting the only goal. Peñarol at home was the first Copa Libertadores match, and Corinthians got off to the perfect start. They took the lead in the very first minute through Rodrigo, but the Uruguayan side levelled a few minutes later, and Corinthians missed a chance to regain their lead soon after, as Chimo missed a penalty. They had to wait until the second half to go back in front, but once they did, Peñarol had no response. It was another penalty early in the second half, and this time Chimo was able to convert it, and Corinthians then blew their opponents away with further goals from Rodrigo and Olincha to begin their tournament with a crushing 4-1 win.

The weakened team then defeated Botafogo (SP) 2-0, with two players getting their first goals for the club, December signings Nascito and Rogério Fábio. Then Corinthians laid down a clear marker for the Copa Libertadores, crushing poor old Universitario 5-0 away from home. Chimo and Rodrigo got two goals each to make it 4-0 at half time, and Rodrigo completed his hat-trick to make it five in the second half. You could have forgiven the home fans for leaving the stadium at half time, but they stayed right until the end to witness a breathtaking display of the beautiful game at its best. You could sense the bookmakers cutting the odds on Corinthians to retain the trophy from Southern Chile to Guyana. Another easy state victory followed against Araçatuba, as Greenwood’s team won 3-0 and even allowed goalkeeper Amoreto to take a penalty. He missed it. Their next game against Cerro Porteño away wasn’t quite as good as the Universitario match, but again Corinthians got the three points on the board, sneaking it 1-0 thanks to yet another Rodrigo goal. The second XI came from behind to defeat Portuguesa 2-1 at home and retain their 100% record in the state championship, and Peñarol were then crushed 3-0 in Montevideo by a rampant Corinthians team, who allowed 16 year old Mauro Padrão, a forward poached from Internacional, to come on and score his first goal for the club. The teenager then struck again against third division América (SP), with Ilya Shiryaev getting his first for the club and Nascito hitting a hat-trick in a 5-1 win. Universitario were then brushed aside 3-0 at Pacaembú, with Rodrigo scoring all three goals.

Corinthians were on a storming run of straight wins, having won all ten games they had played so far in 2017. That continued as they won two more state championship encounters. Third division side Matonense gave them a right scare at Pacaembú, as they managed to level the scores at 1-1 with their only shot of the game to cancel out Rodrigo’s early goal. However, December signing Jairo popped up in the 88th minute to give the home side a 2-1 lead, and Nascito followed that up with a third in stoppage time. Then a weakened team beat Santos away with frightening ease, Henry Musa, Nascito and Vanderlei scoring the goals in a 3-1 victory. All Corinthians had to do was make it 13 wins on the spin to go through to the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores with 18 points out of 18. They managed it, with three goals in a seven minute period winning them the game. Rodrigo got two of them and Chimo the other, as Corinthians were 3-0 up at half-time, leaving a stunned Cerro Porteño side wondering exactly what had happened, as it had been 0-0 on 38 minutes. Corinthians were the clear favourites for the competition, as their odds, which had been short anyway before a ball had been kicked, had been cut with each victory. Grêmio were the unlucky team to draw them in the last 16.

With the first leg of the Grêmio tie coming up, Greenwood played a weakened side against São Paulo, and the result was that they ended their run of victories with a 1-0 defeat at home. He had achieved some great victories without all his best players so far in 2017, but in the end São Paulo just had a bit too much quality against the side that Greenwood put out. It wasn’t the end of the world though, as Corinthians still led the state championship, and all their players were fresh and raring to go for the home leg of the Grêmio tie. It wasn’t the best Corinthians performance ever, but Grêmio didn’t offer much, and in the end Chimo’s goal separated the sides in a 1-0 win for Corinthians. It could perhaps have been more, but a 1-0 win was a good enough result, and it left Grêmio needing a win in leg two. Rodrigo provided a masterclass in finishing in the next match, striking three times to score yet another hat-trick in an away match against Guarani. After a see-saw of a first half in which both sides took the lead and then were pegged back, it was 2-2 at half-time, and chances were scarce in the second half. However, Rodrigo sruck in the 86th minute to complete his hat-trick and earn a 3-2 victory for Corinthians. As the weakened side then played against non-leaguers São Caetano, second choice striker Nascito showed that he could match anything Rodrigo could do, scoring a hat-trick himself in a 3-1 win.

Ahead of the second leg against Grêmio away, Greenwood lost some of his key players as they were called up to play for Brazil. The likes of Olincha and Sandro Dias were called up, and he also lost his best striker Rodrigo. It was a proud moment for the striker as at 26 he had finally broken into the national squad thanks to his performances for Corinthians, but Greenwood was not amused. He did have Nascito as back-up, but he still would have liked to see Rodrigo playing, and Grêmio were only missing one player, as their goalkeeper had been called up. All Corinthians had to do was avoid defeat on a ground where they had won 2-0 in the National First Division final in December. However, the tournament favourites were stunned early on, as the home side levelled the aggregate scores within two minutes, Felipe Campos scoring the opening goal. The first half overall was one to forget, as Corinthians never really got going, and they had Amoreto to thank for preventing Grêmio from taking an aggregate lead. At half-time, Corinthians had a chance to regroup and Greenwood had an opportunity to get his players to perform better in the second half. Whatever he said didn’t work though, as Grêmio scored early in the second half, Argemiro Silveira giving them the overall lead at 2-1. Now it was getting desperate, Corinthians needed a goal in the next 40 minutes but they had yet to get going in the match. Nascito, Renato Bezerra and Giuliano Vieira were all taken off right there and then having been anonymous for 51 minutes, with Felix Marito, Jairo and Chimo replacing them. Immediately Corinthians were a different team, and chances began to rain down on the Grêmio goal. All three substitutes had an excellent chance each to make it 2-2 on aggregate over the next 20 minutes, but the Grêmio goalkeeper, Ribeiro, was keeping everything out. He was only playing because their first choice keeper was off with Brazil, but he made three fantastic saves to keep out Corinthians. Greenwood urged his team forward as the minutes disappeared, with almost every player on the pitch camped in the Grêmio half for the final five minutes, but Corinthians simply couldn’t find a way through, and at the final whistle a massive upset had occurred. Corinthians, who had beaten Grêmio 5-1 on aggregate over two legs in December, had now been dumped out of the continent’s most prestigious competition by the same team. The team who had won the competition the previous year, the team who had crushed all before them in the group stages, the team who were clear favourites going into the knock-out stages, had not even reached the last eight.

Greenwood was devastated at his side’s defeat. A knock-out competition is unpredictable, and going out in the semi-finals or even the quarter-finals was something he might have accepted, but going out in the last 16, to a team who he knew his side could beat convincingly on their day, was extremely hard to take. What it meant was that his attempt to retain the trophy was over, and he was now on his way to Scotland. There were jobs available, and he just had to wait for the call. In the meantime, he would keep on going at Corinthians, where the fans and the players were oblivious to the fact that he was going to leave in the very near future. Corinthians took out their frustration on their next two opponents, as Comércial (SP) were crushed 4-1, and the state championship’s surprise package, second division XV de Piracicaba, were beaten 4-0 in their own backyard. By sheer chance, Greenwood’s last game at Corinthians just happened to be Palmeiras away. The script could not have been written any better, as Rodrigo scored twice to make it 2-0 to Corinthians, only for Palmeiras to strike back with two goals of their own to make it 2-2. The home fans were urging their team to score a third and complete a stunning comeback against their hated rivals, but instead it was Corinthians who bagged the winner, and more specifically it was Rodrigo with yet another hat-trick. Rodrigo’s 79th minute winner against Palmeiras was the last goal scored under the reign of Joe Greenwood, as he said his goodbyes the next day, and soon after he was being unveiled as the new manager of a Scottish First Division club.

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2017

Joe Greenwood’s new club was St. Johnstone Football Club in Perth, who in 2017 were a Scottish first division club. It must have felt a bit like coming home for Greenwood, as although it was Scotland rather than England, and managing St. Johnstone in Perth was very different to managing Arsenal in London, he was back in the UK where he was from and where he started his managerial career. Here there was no new language to learn, though the thick Scottish accent used by some of the players and staff at the club probably sounded like a different language at times, and there was no wildly different culture to get used to, though some Englishmen might point to the ‘custom’ of eating deep fried Mars bars.

Scottish football in 2017 was dominated by Rangers. Years of stunningly inept managing meant that Celtic were finally relegated to the lowest division of the Scottish league in 2016/17, so they were residing in division three for the season to come. Their spectacular demise had left Rangers free to dominate Scottish football, and that was what they were doing, buying top European players and winning the SPL with an amazing record. In the season just gone they had finished almost 40 points clear at the top, scoring 100 goals in 38 matches, and they collected the Scottish Cup as well. As for St. Johnstone, they had flirted with relegation in the SPL for years before finally going down in 2009. Then they flirted with promotion for a few years before slipping down to mid-table in the first division. In 2016/17, the season just gone, they had just escaped relegation to the second division on the final day:

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish First Division - Friday 12th May 2017
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2016/7 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C Albion Rovers 36 7 4 7 38 39 11 5 2 47 23 63
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2nd Livingston 36 12 1 5 34 24 6 5 7 22 26 60
3rd East Fife 36 6 3 9 24 26 11 1 6 30 23 55
4th Brechin 36 8 4 6 27 23 8 1 9 33 32 53
5th Forfar 36 5 3 10 21 31 10 3 5 35 27 51
6th Cowdenbeath 36 6 6 6 21 23 8 1 9 28 32 49
7th Clyde 36 5 3 10 24 30 8 4 6 27 21 46
8th ST. JOHNSTONE 36 6 2 10 28 37 7 4 7 25 28 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th R St. Mirren 36 9 2 7 33 30 4 3 11 18 31 44
10th R Morton 36 6 3 9 24 31 6 4 8 29 31 43

That poor season was the reason why previous manager Adrian Parry had been sacked, paving the way for Greenwood’s appointment. Now Greenwood’s task was to eventually get them back into the SPL, but obviously the man himself wanted to go further than that. He wanted to win the SPL, and he wanted to win the Champions League as well. Barletta was obviously a smaller club than St. Johnstone, and bringing the Italian club up through the leagues had been a difficult task, but once Barletta were established as a top Italian club, the European success was a natural continuation. In Scotland, it was going to be more difficult to make that final step and turn St. Johnstone from a top Scottish club into a top European club.

Speaking of Greenwood’s former clubs, there was differing success for them in May 2017. Corinthians managed to poach São Paulo’s coach, Carlos Eduardo, and he then defeated his old club in the São Paulo state championship final, so Corinthians retained their status as São Paulo state champions. Rodrigo was sold to Inter for £12.25M, and he was replaced by Reinaldo Moraes, who Greenwood had signed for Barletta for £250K eight years earlier. He hadn’t achieved much at Barletta, but he had moved back to Brazil and discovered the best form of his life at Atlético Mineiro. Now Corinthians had bought him for £6M. Greenwood’s first club, Arsenal, slipped well off the pace in the Premiership, finishing 7th. They would have missed out on a place in the Champions League, but they didn’t, because the Gunners were crowned European champions for the first time since 2004, when Greenwood won his second CL at the club. The captain who lifted the trophy after the 2-1 win over Dortmund in Berlin was 33 year old veteran Emmanuel Sanchez, who Greenwood had signed as a 19 year old back in the summer of 2002. As for Barletta though, oh dear oh dear. They were going reasonably well all the way through January, proving the critics wrong, and they were still in the hunt for a Champions League place. However, they went on the worst run in their history to plummet down the league rapidly. They went on a run of six straight defeats from the start of February through to mid-March. Their next win came on April 23rd, four games from the end of the season, and by then they were in relegation trouble. Bizarrely, having not won since January, they defeated Chievo away 3-1 despite playing almost the entire match with ten men for that win, and they followed that up by crushing Venezia 5-1. However, they were relegated on the final day, losing 2-0 to Inter. Bari followed them after a nightmare season. The club splashed out £33M in the summer of 2016, including the £10.75M that was spent on Édson Pinto from Corinthians, and they ended up getting relegated and selling Pinto to Udinese at a shocking loss, selling him for just £2.5M a year after buying him for four times the price. Almost the entire Champions League winning side at Barletta was now gone, but one of those players who won everything with Greenwood at Barletta, Roberto Moreira Júnior, won the World Player of the Year award, now at AC Milan. It was Greenwood who gave him his first big break having signed him from Juventus.

Anyway, back to St. Johnstone, and Greenwood carried out a lot of reorganising, getting rid of several players. There were a few pre-arranged transfers when he arrived, and he augmented these signings with his own new players, who were all foreign players. There was money to spend at the club, and Greenwood bought 22 year old Portuguese winger Francisco Veríssimo from Raith Rovers, 24 year old Brazilian forward Júlio César from Nice, 30 year old German winger Lars Kohl from Lüneburg, 24 year old Portuguese midfielder José Marco from E. Amadora, and 22 year old left-back Jonathan Pasturel from AC Ajaccio. Friendly results were encouraging, as St. Johnstone played two SPL clubs and didn’t look out of place as they drew 1-1 with Aberdeen and beat Dunfermline 3-0. They also beat English second division side Southend by two goals to nil. The Daily Record was full of little stories about Greenwood’s revolution at St. Johnstone throughout the summer. Greenwood had a reputation now, he had won big at Arsenal, then people were sceptical when he moved to Barletta, but he won everything there. Then people were sceptical when he went to South America, but he won everything there. There were no reservations whatsoever now, he was expected by many observers to take St. Johnstone to the top. And it all started in the 2017/18 season.

[ArsenalJoe]

2017/18 - Part one

They probably fitted a revolving door in at the entrance to McDiarmid Park, if there wasn’t one already, because players were coming and going throughout the first half of the season. Greenwood focused on both youth and experience, bringing in several first team players and four young prospects. Two Scottish teenagers, Peter Cameron and Stephen Vaughan, joined in addition to 17 year old Dutch left-back Wim van der Meer and 19 year old Italian centre-back Lorenzo Guarnieri, all costing the club nothing. Several first team players left and were replaced by new signings from all over Europe, with Greenwood bringing in £900K worth of new signings by January, and selling £775K worth of players. New players who joined between August and December were Spanish left-back Luis Benítez, 20 year old midfielder Craig Dolan from Forfar, Peterhead’s star striker Ross Henderson, forward Kevin Gallacher from promotion rivals Brechin, Albion Rovers midfielder Darren Fitzgerald and Celtic forward John Caldwell. In addition to that, Greenwood loaned in two centre-backs, Everton youngster Joe Brown and Clyde’s experienced defender David Shearer. Every player brought in was a replacement for somebody who left, and by January the squad was almost entirely different to the squad which St. Johnstone had finished the previous season with. Eyebrows were raised at the sheer amount of transfer activity, not least by the board, who in December placed restrictions on all the ins and outs, to at least make sure the squad was kept constant until the end of the season.

While all this was going on, there was also a bit of football taking place, and St. Johnstone had a pretty successful first half of the season. It began in very promising fashion as Greenwood’s team comfortably beat fellow first division side Falkirk 2-0 away from home in the first round of the League Cup, but they were denied a winning start in the league, drawing 1-1 at home with Brechin, who equalised with just ten minutes left. The Saints defeated Elgin City 4-2 in the League Cup 2nd round, with Pasturel and Veríssimo both getting their first goals for the club, and Stirling were then demolished 5-1 in the league, with midfielder David Watson securing a hat-trick with two injury-time goals. Fellow promotion contenders Livingston eliminated them from the League Cup on penalties after a 0-0 draw at McDiarmid Park, and they then fired blanks at home again with a 1-0 home defeat by Partick Thistle. They got their revenge by beating Partick 2-0 in a replay of that fixture in the Challenge Cup 2nd round, but then slipped up again in the league with a 1-0 defeat at Livingston. Their league record was one win, one draw and two defeats, and although Greenwood maintained that his side were promotion challengers, Livingston and Brechin were the early pace-setters and St. Johnstone didn’t seem to be on their level.

In the Challenge Cup, things appeared to be going well, as Brechin were defeated 3-1 away in the quarter final thanks to late goals from Craig Dolan and David Watson, and the Saints carried that form into the league with a 3-0 win over East Fife. Only late strikes from Veríssimo and Martin McPherson, who was soon to join Hibs, added gloss to the scoreline, but it was gloss that was richly deserved, as the Saints had been completely dominant in the match. Second division side St. Mirren were demolished 4-0 at home in the Challenge Cup semi-final, and St. Johnstone then hit four again in the next match, defeating Forfar at home by the same scoreline, with latest signing Ross Henderson opening his account for the club with a hat-trick. Three more wins followed, as Greenwood’s team defeated Clyde 1-0, Falkirk 2-0 and Cowdenbeath 3-0 to make it six straight wins in all competitions without even conceding a goal. Now they were at the top of the league and looking unbeatable, and they made it seven straight victories without conceding as Livingston were brushed aside 3-0 in the final of the Challenge Cup. Craig Dolan got two goals and Henderson the other in what was an easy victory for Greenwood’s side, and it resulted in a first trophy of his reign. The Challenge Cup certainly wasn’t the most prestigious trophy Joe Greenwood had ever won, but what it showed was that his team was capable of beating anyone below the SPL. Promotion was certainly possible.

St. Johnstone let a goal in against Stirling in their next match to end their run without conceding, but it was another three points regardless as they were 3-1 victors. Then disaster struck as closest challengers Brechin City went 2-0 up early on in their next encounter. It was still 2-0 at half time, and the Saints were set to be overhauled at the top by their opponents, but midfielder Dave Cook pulled a goal back, and after relentless pressure in the second half, veteran full-back Kevin Reid scored a last-gasp equaliser to keep the Saints at the top of the pile. It was then nice and easy again as Cowdenbeath were beaten 2-0, but St. Johnstone finally slipped to their first defeat in 11 games, losing 3-1 to the division’s in form team, Partick Thistle. A remarkable hat-trick from midfielder Dave Cook, all three coming from outside the box, earned Greenwood’s team a 3-0 home win over East Fife, and faltering Livingston were then beaten by the same scoreline, but then two consecutive home draws caused the Saints to miss a chance to increase their lead. Falkirk held them to a 1-1 draw despite only having one shot in the entire match, and against Partick Thistle at home, the Saints went 1-0 down early on and turned it around to 2-1, only to lose that lead in the second half and draw 2-2. It was back to winning ways with a 3-1 home win over Clyde, and Brazilian forward Júlio César then scored a stunning hat-trick in a 3-0 away win over Forfar. The final game of 2017 was away at Stirling on Boxing Day, and Greenwood’s team battled their way to a 1-0 win courtesy of midfielder Michael Christie’s goal in the 61st minute. The result meant that St. Johnstone led the division with just over half the season gone, and with Livingston and Brechin both falling away, Partick Thistle seemed to be the only obstacle to the Saints earning SPL status for 2018/19.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish First Division - Sunday 31st December 2017
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2017/8 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st ST. JOHNSTONE 20 6 3 1 22 7 7 1 2 21 7 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Partick Thistle 20 6 1 3 21 12 6 3 1 16 11 40
3rd Livingston 20 6 2 2 13 8 4 3 3 11 10 35
4th Brechin 20 4 4 2 16 13 5 2 3 16 8 33
5th Clyde 20 4 2 4 13 11 1 7 2 7 10 24
6th Falkirk 20 2 4 4 9 14 3 3 4 13 15 22
7th Stirling 20 3 4 3 10 11 1 3 6 9 13 19
8th Cowdenbeath 20 3 4 3 8 9 1 3 6 7 15 19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th Forfar 20 1 2 7 6 18 4 2 4 11 13 19
10th East Fife 20 3 2 5 9 17 2 1 7 9 25 18

[ArsenalJoe]

2017/18 - Part two

St. Johnstone had 16 games left to play, and all they had to do was hold off Partick Thistle to reach the SPL. There was only one new signing in January, and that was a loan, as young defensive midfielder Keith Hayward was brought in from Norwegian side Vålerenga as cover until the end of the season. 2018 got started with a New Year’s Day match against bottom club East Fife, and Greenwood’s team cruised to a 2-0 victory with goals from Ross Henderson and Dave Cook. That was the bottom side, but the Saints then showed they could do it just as easily against one of the better teams in the division, easing to a 2-0 win away at Livingston with goals from Henderson again and Júlio César this time. Then there were two exciting 3-2 home wins. The first was against Brechin, who twice came from behind to leave the scoreline at 2-2, but Ross Henderson scored an 86th minute winner to keep St. Johnstone’s winning run going, and to surely destroy any lingering hopes Brechin had of promotion. The next match against Cowdenbeath seemed like it was going to be a bit easier as Jonathan Pasturel gave Greenwood’s side the lead, and two Júlio César goals made it 3-0. However, Cowdenbeath did pull two goals back and that set up a tense final 20 minutes, but in the end St. Johnstone held out to keep up their 100% record so far in 2018.

The fixture list then threw up two consecutive matches against Falkirk, as St. Johnstone had been drawn against them in the Scottish Cup. The cup match at McDiarmid Park was up next, and Greenwood’s side were expected to win, but they struggled to get going in the first half and were 1-0 down by the interval, Falkirk taking the lead right on half time. However, David Watson levelled in the second half, and substitute Francisco Veríssimo scored a stoppage time winner to take the Saints through. The league match away from home was much easier, as Watson and Júlio César had the Saints 2-0 up inside nine minutes on their way to a routine 4-1 win. St. Johnstone then faced the same side twice in a row again, as they were drawn against Partick Thistle in the cup. The league match was first up and it was a real six-pointer, as St. Johnstone were seven points clear, a lead that could be extended to ten with victory or cut to four with defeat. Greenwood’s team fell behind in the first half but quickly responded through Dave Cook, and a tense game ended 1-1. It ended St. Johnstone’s run of victories, but it was job done nevertheless, as a draw was a better result for them than it was for Partick Thistle. In the cup game St. Johnstone won through with a last-gasp winner for the second round running, as it was another tense encounter which remained 0-0 almost in its entirety. In the 87th minute Saints defender Alex Walker was sent off, and Partick seemed to be the team more likely to win it, but instead it was Watson who popped up in stoppage time for St. Johnstone to win it for the ten men. For the 5th round they were drawn against SPL side Raith Rovers away from home.

In the league things were going very well, as St. Johnstone defeated Clyde away from home 3-1, and followed that up with a comfortable 3-0 win over Forfar. They seemed to be cutting the division to ribbons, but Partick Thistle continued breathing down their necks. While Greenwood’s side were playing attacking football and ripping apart many of the other teams. Partick continued to keep up by consistently grinding out victories. At one stage, St. Johnstone’s closest challengers won four consecutive games by a 1-0 scoreline. It wasn’t pretty, but it was doing its job and making it tougher for Greenwood’s team. The Saints pulled off their best result of the season so far next as they faced Raith Rovers away in the Scottish Cup quarter final. Júlio César gave them the lead, but Raith quickly equalised, making it 1-1 at half time. Then in the second half Greenwood’s men raised their game, Ross Henderson making it 2-1 and David Watson wrapping it up late on for a stunning 3-1 victory. The Saints looked right at home against SPL opposition, and an even sterner test would come in the semi-final, as they were drawn against Hearts, who were still going strong in the Champions League. Then results took a slight dip, as after beating Raith Rovers in style, St. Johnstone were unable to defeat Stirling Albion at home, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw. Then they were beaten for the first time in 2018, as Brechin scored a late winner to beat them 2-1. Meanwhile, Partick Thistle continued to grind out 1-0 wins, and the gap between the two sides was narrowed to just three points. The next game against Livingston at McDiarmid Park was very tense, as the home fans were determined to see their side come out on top again and get back to winning ways. It was 1-1 at half time, but a penalty converted by Júlio César in the 61st minute brought the relief that the fans wanted, and it ended 2-1 to the Saints. That little two match dip was over.

Hearts would be a much tougher test. This was a team that went into the Scottish Cup semi-final off the back of a 2-0 victory over Feyenoord in leg one of the Champions League quarter-final. Joe Greenwood’s Barletta had been eliminated as holders in the Champions League quarter-finals by Hearts in 2014/15, so trying to beat them with his St. Johnstone side was going to be extremely difficult. His team produced an outstanding performance. Against their far more illustrious opponents, St. Johnstone weren’t overawed by any means, and they were the better side in the first half. Just as the whistle was about to go for half-time, Júlio César struck to give Greenwood’s side the half-time lead. However, just minutes into the second half everything changed, as Hearts cut through the St. Johnstone defence, forcing Saints goalkeeper Chris McKeown to come out and trip Hearts striker Paul O’Donnell. He was sent off and a penalty was awarded to the SPL side. It was a dubious decision, as the St. Johnstone players claimed that not only had there been little contact, but that there was a covering defender anyway and it should only have been yellow. Young substitute keeper Phil Eaton was unable to save the spot kick, and St. Johnstone faced an entire half of football against Hearts with a numerical disadvantage. It seemed a certainty that Hearts would win it, but St. Johnstone held firm through a combination of great defending, good fortune and great goalkeeping from the substitute Eaton. It ended 1-1, and that meant a replay which took place three days later. Not too many people could have predicted the eventual result of the replay. As it turned out, it was the best performance Greenwood had seen by his team in Scotland so far. Ross Henderson stunned Hearts by scoring an early goal to give the Saints the lead. Yet again, Hearts were behind against the underdogs, but this time they couldn’t strike back. It remained 1-0 until towards the end of the half, when Greenwood’s team hit the Champions League semi-finalists with a double-blow. David Watson made it 2-0, and Henderson then scored again just two minutes later to make it a phenomenal 3-0 at half time. Hearts tried to lift the tempo in the second half but it didn’t work, as Greenwood’s team held firm. A goal in the 83rd minute from Massimo Pregnolato raised the possibility of an unbelievable comeback, but those hopes were very brief indeed, as just a minute later St. Johnstone’s veteran Finnish defender Vesa Manninen scored his side’s 4th of the afternoon. That was how it ended, and Joe Greenwood had pulled off a magnificent result, destroying Champions League semi-finalists Hearts 4-1 to reach the Scottish Cup final.

While St. Johnstone were off playing in the cup, Partick Thistle had dropped crucial points in the race for promotion, so the door was now wide open for the Saints to reach the SPL. They defeated Cowdenbeath 3-1 away thanks to two late Júlio César strikes, and then they played their game in hand against Falkirk at home, winning it 4-2 thanks to another crucial Júlio César goal when the scores were still locked at 2-2. That restored St. Johnstone’s seven point lead, and it meant that victory over bottom side East Fife would secure promotion with two games to spare. Greenwood’s team really meant business, as the result was pretty much sealed within five minutes, as Júlio César continued his good scoring form with a goal inside the first minute, and that was followed by a Craig Dolan goal four minutes later. It remained 2-0 as St. Johnstone passed the ball around to shouts of “Olé!” from the home crowd for almost the entire second half. At the final whistle promotion was secured in front of the home fans at McDiarmid Park, and Greenwood had restored St. Johnstone to the top flight at last. Two more games were played out, with the Saints losing 4-2 to Forfar, a result which helped keep Forfar up in the first division, and then beating Clyde 3-0 on the final day.

Aberdeen v St. Johnstone – the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park. This was already a magnificent achievement for Greenwood, as St. Johnstone had never reached a Scottish Cup final before, and he had taken them there as a first division side. However, he now believed he could cause an upset and take the cup home against Aberdeen, who had finished 3rd in the SPL. St. Johnstone’s fast-paced attacking football caused the SPL side problems in the first half, but there weren’t many clear cut chances, and eventually the class of one of the SPL’s top sides began to shine through. In the second half Aberdeen took the lead through Graeme Nicol, and while St. Johnstone desperately tried to get back into it, chances were scarce, even going into the final ten minutes of the game. It was an odd tactical masterstroke which got St. Johnstone back into it, as in the 91st minute, the first of just three added minutes, Greenwood made his third and final substitution, and it was to swap his left-backs, taking off Luis Benítez and bringing on Jonathan Pasturel. It didn’t seem like the sort of change which would grab a goal with just two minutes left, but almost immediately Craig Dolan found Pasturel racing forward down the left, and the Frenchman hit a pinpoint cross into the box which was met by David Watson’s glancing header, 1-1 right at the death. Aberdeen did show strength of character though, as right from the start of extra time they began to boss the game again, and within six minutes they had their reward, Graeme Nicol slotting in his second of the game after a slick passing move. However, almost straight from the restart Greenwood’s team struck back, Kevin Gallacher getting a quick leveller. The second half of extra time was dull as both sides struggled to drag their tired legs through another 15 minutes, and penalties it was. It was unfortunate that having put so much of an effort into the match, St. Johnstone lost with little more than a whimper in the shoot-out. It was also unfortunate that two of their best players throughout the season missed from the spot. They obviously hadn’t been practising penalties much, because Ross Henderson put his shot wide, and after Kevin Gallacher had at least scored one for the Saints, Craig Dolan’s spot kick cannoned off the crossbar. Aberdeen converted all four of their penalties for an easy 4-2 win. Maybe Greenwood had been so sure that his side would win it in normal time that he didn’t bother practising penalties. Despite the defeat in the final, Joe Greenwood had once again had a great season, taking St. Johnstone up into the SPL quite comfortably in the end, and the cup run had showed that his team were perfectly capable of competing in the Scottish top flight.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish First Division - Thursday 14th June 2018
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2017/8 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 36 13 4 1 42 14 12 2 4 39 17 81
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Partick Thistle 36 11 4 3 31 14 11 5 2 22 13 75
3rd Livingston 36 10 4 4 22 16 6 5 7 17 18 57
4th Brechin 36 10 6 2 29 17 5 5 8 22 23 56
5th Stirling 36 6 7 5 21 21 5 5 8 22 24 45
6th Clyde 36 9 3 6 25 19 1 11 6 10 21 44
7th Falkirk 36 3 9 6 18 24 5 4 9 23 29 37
8th Forfar 36 4 4 10 18 29 4 5 9 14 24 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9th R East Fife 36 6 4 8 18 26 3 2 13 16 42 33
10th R Cowdenbeath 36 5 4 9 13 19 2 5 11 14 26 30

[Nath Boy]

Brilliant, can't wait for the next season.

[Being Unique]

Bloody hell!! That was a major achievement with such a small club. Well Done!! I tried to do one with Frosinone or someone and it was hard, I got to the Serie A but it just got harder from there.

[Alex Ferguson]

Excellent story as usual. KUTGW :thbup:

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2018

Joe Greenwood had a lot of work to do over the summer to prepare St. Johnstone for a season in the top flight.He also had to prepare them for a European campaign, as the Scottish Cup run mean that they were entered into the UEFA Cup, as Aberdeen who beat them in the final finished 3rd in the SPL and got a Champions League place. He had several attacking options, so it was in the defensive half of the field that he needed to bring in a lot of new players to ensure a good performance in the SPL.

Midfielder Dave Cook joined Aberdeen for £300K, and second choice goalkeeper Phil Eaton joined Everton for £100K. Four first team players were released, veteran defenders Vesa Manninen, Robert Campbell and Kevin Reid as well as defensive midfielder Stephen Henderson, no relation to St. Johnstone’s best striker, Ross Henderson. This left several gaps in defence, midfield and in goal which needed to be filled, and Greenwood was given plenty of cash to spend to bring in all the necessary players. In goal, veteran Italian keeper Christian Clemente was brought in from Pescara to compete with Chris McKeown for the keeper’s jersey. He was 34 and had plenty of experience from playing for Fiorentina and Piacenza. In defence, Aberdeen’s unwanted centre-back David Johnson joined on a free transfer, and Salisbury’s promising 17 year old Glenn Thomas chose Greenwood’s team over Doncaster Rovers. Aberdeen’s Steve Gibbens also arrived to occupy the right-back position, and Greenwood signed Spanish holding midfielder Josep María Rivas from Cultural Leonesa and Italian midfielder Enrico Millesi from Albalonga. Then in late July two African players were brought in who both looked very useful. 30 year old Cameroonian centre-back Kioyo arrived from Canon Yaoundé for £250K, and Greenwood said that the gigantic defender was spotted and shortlisted at the African Nations of January 2018. 28 year old Angolan Victor Abreu joined the club from Petro de Luanda for just £200K, and it seemed clear that he was signed based on some impressive performances in the World Cup, where Angola surprised many. Abreu appeared at centre-back in one match, and was impressive playing as an old-fashioned sweeper in Angola’s 2-2 draw with Ireland. For St. Johnstone, he was signed primarily to sit in front of the defence.

However, the best signing of the summer, not just for St. Johnstone but surely for the entire Scottish league, was Greenwood bringing in a centre-back on a free transfer who he knew very well. Eduardo Carmona, now 26, had been an unknown Spanish teenager when he was signed by Greenwood when Barletta were Serie A newcomers. He broke into the first team and when Barletta won the Champions League and just about everything else available, it was Carmona who formed one half of one of the world’s best central defensive partnerships alongside Mário Martins, now also in Scotland of course with Rangers. He had also been part of the Spanish national side, but once Greenwood left the Italian club, he had been left on the sinking ship known as Barletta. Performances had plummeted, and he was left playing in Serie B in 2017/18, miles away from the Spanish international set-up. His contract had not been renewed, and he was released by Barletta in the summer of 2018. Somehow, Greenwood convinced him to take a huge pay-cut and sign for the newly-promoted SPL club, as Carmona believed that Joe Greenwood, the man who made his career in the first place, was the man to revitalise his career after the slump of the past few seasons. Think of St. Johnstone FC as Pulp Fiction to Eduardo Carmona’s John Travolta, and Joe Greenwood’s Quentin Tarantino. Carmona had never lost the talent, but his career had simply taken a downturn due to Barletta’s demise. Now St. Johnstone had a player marshalling their defence who had won the treble in Italy – the excitement and expectation ahead of the new season was turned up a notch.

[ArsenalJoe]

2018/19 - Part one

It was difficult to know what to expect from Greenwood’s revamped squad, but the early signs were good, as St. Johnstone got the season up and running with a 1-0 home win over Dundee United. It was an excellent performance from the team, with new defensive midfielder Josep María Rivas playing brilliantly on his debut, and Jonathan Pasturel getting the only goal in the 47th minute. Then, in only their second match of the season, they faced Rangers at Ibrox, an extremely intimidating fixture. Mário Martins started at centre-back for Rangers and captained the home side, and he had a quick chat and a handshake with Eduardo Carmona and Joe Greenwood on the St. Johnstone side before kick-off. Rangers were expected to blow the Saints away, but right from the start Greenwood’s team had a gameplan which they stuck to, and Rangers were unable to cause them too many problems. Despite losing Carmona to injury early on, St. Johnstone continued to have the edge, and a solitary goal from Ross Henderson in the 36th minute won the game for them against all the odds.

The start to the season with two 1-0 wins seemed to be a fluke as Motherwell came to McDiarmid Park for fixture number three and completely outplayed St. Johnstone, eventually winning the match with a last minute winner 2-1. However, Greenwood’s team hit back to beat ten-man Raith Rovers 2-0 away from home. Two entertaining 2-2 draws followed, as Hearts left McDiarmid Park with a point, and Ross Henderson was on target twice in a draw away to Aberdeen, as Henderson twice dragged St. Johnstone back level after they had gone behind to a penalty. The UEFA Cup campaign then got underway, and Greenwood took his side to Sweden and a match against Halmstad. It was a tie that was difficult to call, as neither side had much European pedigree, but in the end St. Johnstone proved to be head and shoulders above their Swedish counterparts. An early Henderson strike gave them the lead, and the Saints made light of David Watson’s foolish 11th minute red card for dissent to dominate the match. Even with ten men they had the edge, and Francisco Veríssimo’s second half strike meant that it ended 2-0 and Greenwood’s team were almost into the 2nd round already.

St. Johnstone’s good league form continued as they easily beat Dundee at home 3-1, but they were then eliminated from the League Cup with a 2-1 defeat after extra time to Raith Rovers. Kevin Gallacher’s late equaliser had made it 1-1 and taken it into extra time, and Raith had then gone down to ten men in the second half of extra time, only to win it with five minutes left on the clock. That wasn’t going to keep Greenwood awake at night though, as the League Cup was the lowest on his list of priorities. St. Johnstone then lost again, going down 1-0 in the league at Kilmarnock, before wrapping up the UEFA Cup tie with Halmstad with a 3-2 victory in the second leg. The Swedish side gave themselves hope by taking an early lead in Scotland, but Ross Henderson levelled and Halmstad then saw their goalkeeper sent off, conceding a penalty in the process which Júlio César converted. Another Henderson strike made it 3-1 before a late consolation from the visitors. Porto would be St. Johnstone’s opponents in round two, and they went into the first leg of that tie on a great run of form, as they demolished reigning champions Ross County 3-0 away, defeated Hibs at home 4-1 and then beat Dunfermline 3-1 away. The goals were coming thick and fast, but the first leg of the Porto tie ended in a 0-0 draw at McDiarmid Park. This Porto side was not one of the better Porto sides ever, but they still had that touch of class about them compared to Greenwood’s men, and 0-0 at home was a decent result for the Saints.

More free-scoring wins followed, as St. Johnstone defeated Dundee United 3-1 away and then Aberdeen 3-0 at home, a game in which Carmona scored his first goal for the club, to move to the top of the SPL table. They were taking everyone by surprise, and Porto were no exception, as Greenwood’s team stunned the Portuguese side by demolishing them as well at the Estádio das Antas. Ross Henderson scored an early goal which was cancelled out to make it 1-1, but Henderson then struck again, with Júlio César also grabbing two goals, to ensure a final scoreline of 4-1 to the Scots. It was an unbelievable result which must have had the Porto players fearing for their safety as they were booed and hissed down the tunnel by the furious home fans. Greenwood’s men were into round three of the UEFA Cup and a meeting with German giants Dortmund. In Scotland, the press were wondering exactly what Greenwood’s secret was, as his side were ripping it up in the SPL having only just been promoted. Early pace-setters Motherwell were crushed 4-0 at home by a rampant Saints side, and it seemed like only Rangers could stop St. Johnstone from running away with it. The next fixture was St. Johnstone v Rangers, and Rangers really went for it as they tried to claim the three points. However, Ross Henderson yet again got onto the scoresheet, and goalkeeper Christian Clemente produced his best performance yet in a St. Johnstone shirt to keep the score 1-1 and prevent Rangers from taking all three in this match. Then it was back to winning ways for the Saints as they completely dominated at Tynecastle against a woeful Hearts side, winning 1-0 through a Henderson goal, though it could and should have been more.

St. Johnstone may have been performing well in the SPL, but there was still much scepticism ahead of their match-up with Dortmund in the UEFA Cup. This was a club who were normally Champions League regulars, and who just two seasons earlier had reached the Champions League final, losing 2-1 to Arsenal. Dortmund certainly showed enough quality to mark Ross Henderson out of the game in the first leg at McDiarmid Park, but unfortunately for them they didn’t count on Júlio César sticking two goals past them. The Brazilian forward was at the top of his game on the night and his two first half goals meant that the match ended 2-0, a result which gave the Saints the clear advantage going into the second leg. In the league, points were dropped in two consecutive home games, which gave Rangers a chance to catch up a bit. Kilmarnock drew 1-1 with St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, then between that game and the next one, Ross Henderson was sold. The striker, signed by Greenwood from Peterhead, had turned into a bit of a goal machine in the SPL, but he apparently had a clause in his contract which allowed Hearts to pick him up for £475K. It seemed a bit of a low price for someone who had turned out to be an important player for St. Johnstone, and they missed him in the next match against Raith Rovers, going 1-0 down at home and generally missing his goal threat. Luckily a penalty from Júlio César with 15 minutes remaining rescued a point, and St. Johnstone then drew 1-1 for the third time in a row. This time it was in Germany, where they were never in danger of throwing away their 2-0 lead against Dortmund. Júlio César gave them the lead, his third of the tie, and despite a red card for Josep María Rivas, Dortmund only scored once, when they needed four to go through. St. Johnstone were handed a very winnable tie with FC Slavia Mozyr of Belarus in the last 16, so the quarter-finals was a very realistic aim.

The replacement striker for Ross Henderson was revealed before the next match against Ross County, and it was 29 year old Spaniard Javier Castro, signed from Cultural Leonesa, the same club Josep María Rivas had arrived from in the summer. He cost just £210K, and he was looking like good value already as he scored on his debut against Ross County, opening the scoring to make it 1-0. Eduardo Carmona then made it a real Spanish affair by doubling the lead in the second half, and despite a late consolation the Saints held on to win it 2-1. A shock home defeat by bottom side Dundee United followed, as both sides had a player sent off within minutes of each other early in the second half. Rivas was red carded for St. Johnstone, only for Andrew Baker of Dundee United to walk soon after. Despite losing the numerical advantage, the away side still won the match with a goal just after the hour mark. Any hopes Rangers might have had of a December collapse never materialised though, as Greenwood’s team crushed Dundee 4-0 away from home in their next match, beat Dunfermline 3-1 at home and then demolished Hibs 4-0 away to wrap up 2018, Javier Castro getting onto the scoresheet again in that game. Due to Greenwood’s reputation as an excellent manager, there had been some who had expected St. Johnstone to finish in the top half, possibly even to claim a Champions League place, but even they would have been surprised by the club’s amazing first half of the season. They held an eight point lead over Rangers with 23 matches played, and it was looking very much like they could do the unthinkable and win the SPL at the first attempt. The UEFA Cup run was also going extremely well, and this looked like being St. Johnstone’s best season ever.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Tuesday 1st January 2019
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2018/9 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st ST. JOHNSTONE 23 6 4 2 22 12 9 1 1 27 5 50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Rangers 23 7 2 2 15 6 5 4 3 15 11 42
3rd Aberdeen 23 6 2 3 14 9 5 3 4 14 13 38
4th Kilmarnock 23 8 2 2 13 6 2 5 4 14 16 37
5th Motherwell 23 5 2 4 11 10 5 4 3 14 12 36
6th Dunfermline 23 5 3 3 16 17 4 2 6 13 17 32
7th Raith Rovers 23 5 3 4 9 11 2 4 5 9 13 28
8th Ross County 23 4 3 5 12 14 3 3 5 10 12 27
9th Dundee 23 3 4 5 12 20 3 3 5 10 13 25
10th Hearts 23 1 3 7 10 17 5 3 4 14 12 24
11th Dundee Utd 23 2 5 4 10 14 2 3 7 6 13 20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th Hibs 23 2 3 7 10 19 3 1 7 9 17 19

[Alex Ferguson]

Celtic relegated?! :lol:

KUTGW :thbup:

[ArsenalJoe]

Yep, Celtic have gone all the way down to the Third Division, though now they've been promoted again so they are in the 2nd division. Still, about 20 times the size of any other club down there and they're still not finding it easy.

---------

2018/19 - Part two

St. Johnstone began the year 2019 with an away match against Rangers on New Year’s Day. Defeat at Ibrox would have cut their lead at the top, but they managed to grind out a 0-0 draw to remain eight points clear. A thrilling match against Hearts followed. St. Johnstone trailed 1-0 at half time, but they turned it around with two quick goals early in the second half from Castro and Dolan. Hearts levelled again within a minute, but the Saints regained the lead straight from the restart. It was 3-2 after four goals in eight minutes, but Hearts made it 3-3 with 15 minutes remaining. Then there was one final twist as centre-back David Johnson scored an 88th minute winner to make it 4-3, and it was another three points on the board for Greenwood’s team. Then it was time for St. Johnstone’s Scottish Cup campaign to get up and running, with them hoping to go one better than in 2017/18, when they were losing finalists, and win the competition this time. Their opponents in round three were Partick Thistle, and in the end it was an easy 3-0 win as Partick were reduced to nine men when they were 1-0 down, ensuring an easy passage through for Greenwood’s team.

There was a minor setback in the race for the league title as St. Johnstone were beaten 1-0 at third placed Aberdeen. After a tight first half, Júlio César picked up a second yellow card for dissent, and Aberdeen soon punished the ten men by scoring the winning goal. St. Johnstone then struggled a bit in their next match, finding it difficult to break down a stubborn Motherwell side at home. However, right-back Steve Gibbens was the unlikely hero, scoring his first goal for the club in the 80th minute to give them a 1-0 win. Gibbens then scored again in St. Johnstone’s next game, a 2-0 away win over Raith Rovers, adding to Kevin Gallacher’s early penalty. In the Scottish Cup, the Saints progressed to the quarter finals which a much easier win over Motherwell away from home. Javier Castro struck twice, with Júlio César adding another in an easy 3-0 win. Several players were then rested for the next match at home against Dundee, keeping them fresh for the UEFA Cup match against Slavia Mozyr, and the result was that a lacklustre Saints side were beaten 1-0 by the struggling visitors, keeping the title race a bit more open. Then it was time for the UEFA Cup to get going again, and Greenwood knew that his team needed to win the home leg against Slavia Mozyr, as the away leg in Belarus was not going to be easy. His team delivered, as Javier Castro struck early on, and Enrico Millesi doubled the lead with his first goal for the club. It was 2-0, but St. Johnstone pushed on looking for the 3rd to all but seal their place in the last eight, and at last they got it in stoppage time at the end of the game, as Castro was dragged to the ground in the box and Júlio César converted the spot kick. A 3-0 win meant that only a complete disaster in Belarus would prevent them from progressing.

Greenwood’s side managed to grind out a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock away, with Javier Castro scoring the only goal, to sustain their healthy lead at the top. Then it was off to Bealrus, which in early March isn’t the warmest place in the world. Slavia Mozyr took an 11th minute lead, and there were fears that they might claw back that 3-0 deficit from the first leg as they dominated the entire first half. St. Johnstone survived though, and then in the second half Castro scored two quickfire goals to make it 2-1 and end the tie completely. A late equaliser meant that Slavia Mozyr avoided defeat in the second leg, but St. Johnstone went through to a quarter final meeting with Werder Bremen with a 5-2 aggregate win. The games were piling up, as just two days after the match in Belarus, St. Johnstone were up against Ross County in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup. Greenwood was furious that the game hadn’t at least been moved to Sunday to give his side time to recover from their trip to eastern Europe, and he was forced to give most of his first team a rest for the game, with the match against Werder Bremen also at the forefront of his mind. Ross County blew away his weakened side, going 3-0 up by half time, and a Júlio César consolation in the second half was all the Saints had to show for their efforts.

The St. Johnstone squad then travelled to Germany to face Werder Bremen, and despite what they had achieved so far in the competition, they were expected to be beaten in this match, and in this tie overall. Bremen were one of the sides eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages, and their star striker, Mario de Léon, was going to provide Kioyo and Carmona in the Saints defence with a tough test. They were lucky that de Léon’s regular strike partner, Maciel, another South American, was out of both legs with an injury. Greenwood’s team really took the game to Werder Bremen right from the start in Germany, with Javier Castro scoring a superb volley just three minutes in, only to have it disallowed for offside. Eventually they did open the scoring though, with David Watson finishing off a slick move to make it 1-0 after 24 minutes, giving St. Johnstone that crucial away goal. The lead only lasted ten minutes, as the home side were stunned into action and levelled the scores through veteran Brazilian midfielder Jair Silva, and then the second half was very even, though the Saints probably edged it, with Castro and Gallacher both seeing shots saved by the German keeper. 1-1 it finished and that was a good result which left Werder Bremen needing to score in the second leg. St. Johnstone’s next match was Ross County away yet again, and again some players were rested ahead of the following UEFA Cup encounter. Again it looked like that would cost St. Johnstone as the home side led 1-0 at the break, but Greenwood’s side turned it round with a stunning second half performance, Castro, Gallacher and Gibbens all scoring to earn the Saints a 3-1 win. So they went into their second leg against Werder in high spirits, and that showed as they attacked their opponents right from the off in the UEFA Cup match. Júlio César opened the scoring 20 minutes in, and Castro made it 2-0 just ten minutes later. Werder were in danger of crashing out at the hands of these plucky underdogs, and they managed to dust themselves down and pull a goal back before half time, de Léon finally getting free of Kioyo and Carmona to score. Another goal for the German club and St. Johnstone would be heading out on away goals, but Castro made it 3-1 in the 67th minute and they seemed to be home and dry. However, de Léon was doing his utmost to keep his side in it, as he scored to make it 3-2 with ten minutes remaining and the home side had to endure a tense ending to the match. They managed to hold out though, and an immensely entertaining tie had ended with St. Johnstone winning 4-3 overall and making it through to the semi-finals, a stupendous achievement. Paris SG awaited in the last four.

The UEFA Cup was now becoming the main priority, but St. Johnstone still had to make sure they didn’t mess up their lead in the SPL. They went 1-0 down at home to Hibs in their next match, but again they came back to claim three points, Craig Dolan scoring once and Castro once to ensure the game ended 3-1 to St. Johnstone. Then it was time to welcome Paris SG to Scotland for the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final. PSG had surprisingly won the Champions League the season before, but they had been eliminated from that tournament in the first round on their attempt to retain it and had gone into the UEFA Cup. Now they were in the semi-finals, having beaten Motherwell in the quarter finals, and they were looking to reach another European final. However, despite their European pedigree, Greenwood’s side were quietly confident of victory having got this far against the odds. In the first half at McDiarmid Park the French side showed their class, scoring an early away goal through Eric Fischer and holding onto it until half-time. St. Johnstone were in trouble, but they struck back early in the second half with a Frenchman scoring the goal. Jonathan Pasturel beautifully curled in a free kick from 25 yards with his left boot to level the scores, and then St. Johnstone had all the momentum and they pushed for a winner. It arrived with ten minutes left, Javier Castro scoring to make it 2-1, and that was how the game finished. Greenwood’s team finished off the regular league season by snatching a 3-1 away win over Dunfermline thanks to late goals from Júlio César and Castro. Then in the Championship group they defeated Aberdeen 1-0, with Javier Castro again on the scoresheet. For the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final in Paris they were without Kioyo and goalkeeper Christian Clemente who were both injured, which weakened their backline. It was crucial therefore that they scored, and Júlio César, as he did so often, popped up just five minutes in with an all-important goal. PSG needed two goals now just to force extra time, but after 25 minutes in which the Saints were very comfortable, they hit two goals in just five minutes to level the aggregate scores. There was a real danger that they might continue on and score again to dump Greenwood’s team out of the competition, but that didn’t happen as St. Johnstone held on to force extra time. In the extra time period it was St. Johnstone who had the two best chances, Castro and Dolan both denied by the goalkeeper, but since they couldn’t convert the chances it went to penalties. St. Johnstone’s first choice keeper Clemente was missing, but back-up Chris McKeown made a crucial save in the shoot-out. Veríssimo missed from the spot for St. Johnstone to hand PSG the advantage, but McKeown pulled them back into it by saving from Emmanuel Boulanger. Then on the fifth and final penalty Javier Castro held his nerve to score for the Saints, and Christophe Arphexad sent his kick wide to send St. Johnstone through 4-3 on penalties. There were wild celebrations as St. Johnstone had unbelievably progressed all the way to the final of the UEFA Cup and a meeting in Lisbon with Lazio, who had come out on top in an all-Italian semi-final with AC Milan. The only thing that took the shine off the victory was the fact that Júlio César, goalscorer and man-of-the-match on the night, and scorer of many important goals throughout the cup run, was booked and would miss the final. That was for later though.

Now, St. Johnstone simply had to get the remaining points on the board to seal the SPL title, as a stuttering Rangers had been unable to cut the points gap when they had slipped up. Three points against Motherwell in their next match would seal the title as long as Rangers dropped points at the same time. The entire starting eleven that played against PSG was rested due to the extra time exertions, but that didn’t stop St. Johnstone racing in front early on. Neil Gardiner struck twice in the first 15 minutes, and Darren Fitzgerald made it 3-0 before half-time. Rangers were trailing 1-0 against Kilmarnock, so St. Johnstone were about to be crowned champions of Scotland. Rangers didn’t find a way back into that match, and a late consolation goal from Motherwell couldn’t take the gloss off the fact that St. Johnstone were SPL champions. They had secured it with most of their key players watching in the stands. They won their next two matches, defeating Raith Rovers 2-0 at home and Kilmarnock 3-1 away, and their final match was against Rangers at home. Both sides were looking ahead to European finals, as Rangers had reached the Champions League final, and while the result wasn’t going to decide anything, there was a significant amount of pride at stake. It was St. Johnstone who came out on top, with a goal from Jonathan Pasturel right on half time proving to be the difference between the two sides.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Wednesday 5th June 2019
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2018/9 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 38 12 4 3 36 18 15 2 2 40 9 87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Rangers 38 13 4 2 29 9 7 5 7 22 21 69
3rd Aberdeen 38 9 5 6 22 17 9 3 6 22 17 62
4th Kilmarnock 38 10 2 6 18 12 6 9 5 22 21 59
5th Motherwell 38 9 5 5 23 15 6 8 5 22 22 58
6th Raith Rovers 38 6 6 7 10 16 4 5 10 15 28 41
7th Dundee 38 5 7 6 17 24 6 8 6 16 17 48
8th Ross County 38 5 7 6 17 19 6 7 7 23 24 47
9th Dundee Utd 38 5 8 7 21 25 3 6 9 13 19 38
10th Hearts 38 2 6 10 20 30 7 5 8 23 25 38
11th Hibs 38 7 4 9 25 27 3 3 12 15 32 37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th R Dunfermline 38 6 5 9 24 34 4 2 12 13 27 37


So now it was time for the UEFA Cup final in Lisbon, where St. Johnstone faced Lazio, who had just finished 5th in Serie A. In almost every round St. Johnstone had been expected to lose, but they had proven the critics wrong every time. Yet again they were expected to lose against the Italian giants, especially as they were without Júlio César due to suspension. Lazio looked the better side early on, but then it was Greenwood’s side who took the lead, Millesi’s cross headed in by Castro in the 20th minute. Lazio worked hard to try to get back into it, but St. Johnstone held firm until the Italian side were awarded a free kick in the final minute of the half. Captain Jérôme Mary stepped up and powered the ball into the top corner to make it 1-1, but that wasn’t the last goal of the half. With the half-time whistle about to go at the end of stoppage time, Lazio fell asleep and allowed St. Johnstone to catch them out with a quick free kick, Dolan chipping the ball forward for Castro to head in his second goal of the game, 2-1 at half time. St. Johnstone must have spent the whole of the half time break talking about how they simply had to not concede in the second half to win the trophy, but early in the second half they did concede and there was nothing they could do about it. Mary again showed his class for Lazio, beating Pasturel and Rivas and then leaving Clemente stranded once more with a fearsome strike into the top corner, 2-2. Parity lasted longer than it had done after Mary’s first equaliser, but not by much, because just five minutes later it was 3-2 St. Johnstone, and it was another cross into the box which caused problems for the Lazio defence. Millesi’s ball in was met this time by David Watson to make it 3-2, three crosses, three headers and three goals for Greenwood’s men. Lazio seemed to have the sting knocked out of them by that goal, because they didn’t muster much in the way of clear goalscoring chances in the remaining half hour. At the final whistle Greenwood had achieved yet another unbelievable feat. Two years after narrowly avoiding relegation to the Scottish 2nd division, St. Johnstone were lifting a European trophy. It wasn’t the one that Greenwood really treasured, but these performances certainly showed that winning the Champions League might not be too far away after all.

[Nath Boy]

Great season, now time for a Champions League win! Great story.

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2019

Joe Greenwood didn’t want to deviate too much from a winning formula. He had managed St. Johnstone to the SPL title and UEFA Cup glory, so he obviously had a squad at his disposal with both ability and potential. Some strengthening simply had to be done though, because the Champions League is a different tournament altogether when compared with the UEFA Cup. He was striving for that little extra bit of quality in the St. Johnstone squad that would benefit their Champions League campaign and help them to retain the SPL, as Rangers would undoubtedly be going all out to claim the title again after two years without winning it.

Three players left the club in the summer of 2019. Back-up forward John Caldwell left on a free to join Clydebank. Greenwood had signed him from Celtic purely as a stop-gap when St. Johnstone were in the first division, and he left having made just three appearances for the club. The other two players who left looked like they would harm the club’s chances of success a lot more. Francisco Veríssimo was sold to Aberdeen for £400K, with a clause apparently inserted into his contract to allow him to leave for that amount of money. The Portuguese winger would undoubtedly have had a lot more to offer to the club, but the transfer was a reminder that despite St. Johnstone’s success in the 2018/19 season, they were still a small club at heart and they could have key players snatched away from them. First choice left-back Jonathan Pasturel was sold to closest title challengers and European champions Rangers, but Greenwood was happier with this one because he was at least able to negotiate a fee of £3M for the player who he had bought two years earlier for just £100K. It was smart business and the money was made available to Greenwood to spend, on top of millions more generated from the previous season’s domestic and European success.

Considering the size of St. Johnstone as a football club, Greenwood had a real warchest available to him for bringing in new players. His first priority was to replace Veríssimo and Pasturel, and he did so by bringing in two players for less than he sold the two players that left. For the left-back position there was another addition to the Spanish legion at the club, as Ferrol’s Carlos Valle arrived for £210K. Then to replace Veríssimo a midfielder was brought over from across the border. Richard Grant of Ipswich joined the club for £3M, and he was a left-footed midfielder which was something St. Johnstone didn’t really have in abundance. That covered the departures but four other players were brought in. 22 year old holding midfielder Bruno Traoré arrived from Reims on a free transfer, veteran centre-back Jon Radcliffe, 34, joined on a free from Forest Green, 31 year old Motherwell forward Peter O’Rourke was snapped up for £625K, and 24 year old Argentinian striker Maximiliano Garbero, who Greenwood described as a natural finisher, was brought over from Portugal for a fee of just £24K. These new players were not guranteed starters, but they all provided that extra bit of competition in the squad which was needed to compete in the Champions League.

[ArsenalJoe]

2019/20 - Part one

Confidence must have been high as St. Johnstone began the 2019/20 season, with fans dreaming of another league title and another great European run. However, the champions were brought down to earth with a bit of a bump on the opening day as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Motherwell at McDiarmid Park. Perhaps Greenwood and his team were going to find it difficult to live up to the standards set by the previous season’s achievements? In the end there was nothing to worry about, as it seemed as if St. Johnstone merely started the season a game too late. Javier Castro scored a hat-trick as they crushed Raith Rovers 4-0 away from home on matchday 2, and he unbelievably netted three more against Kilmarnock, scoring another hat-trick in a 3-1 victory. Hearts were the Saints’ next opponents, and although former St. Johnstone player Ross Henderson got on the scoresheet for Hearts, Greenwood’s team ran out 3-1 winners anyway. Then it was time for the Champions League campaign to begin, and St. Johnstone were drawn into a group including FC Bayern, Sporting and, predictably, Arsenal. It seemed as if Greenwood was destined to continually face his former club in Europe, as he had met them a few times with Barletta, and now he was up against them again. That was his side’s first Champions League encounter, as the fearsome Gunners were welcomed to McDiarmid Park. Greenwood received applause from the Arsenal fans, as they still had not forgotten what he had achieved for their club, but the game itself was not particularly eventful. Defences were on top, with Eduardo Carmona showing his class to marshal the St. Johnstone defence and keep the score 0-0.

St. Johnstone carved out several clear chances in their next match at home to Dundee, and the result was a 5-2 win. Richard Grant got two goals, his first for the club, in what was an easy victory, but in Europe it’s a lot harder, as Greenwood’s team found out in their next match in Portugal against Sporting. They actually had more of the chances, but they couldn’t score and they suffered for it, as a goal from Rafael Andrade gave the home side a 1-0 victory. They then struggled in their next match against Partick Thistle away, firing blanks again and losing 2-0. St. Johnstone weren’t in good scoring form and in their next game, at home against FC Bayern, they continued to fail to find the net. Maybe it was nerves, because they did create a few clear chances, but they just couldn’t convert them and they were punished. Bayern took an early lead and Eduardo Carmona, so good against Arsenal in the first group game, was then sent off for hauling down a Bayern attacker when he was the last man. The resulting free kick was converted, and striker René Haas bagged two more to condemn the Saints to a humiliating 4-0 home defeat. This was the reality of Champions League football. Things improved though as St. Johnstone produced an excellent performance to defeat Rangers at Ibrox. Only days before the game, a new signing was revealed as Coventry’s 19 year old centre-back Micky Barnes joined the club for a fee of £2.7M, and he started at centre-back in the match against Rangers. In the end he turned out to be the hero, as in a game of continuous missed chances, the ball only hit the back of the net once, and it was when Barnes headed it home in the 31st minute from a corner. He was already a match-winner and in this possible early title decider, St. Johnstone had come up trumps. However, Motherwell continued to hold the edge over Greenwood’s side, as the team that had beaten the Saints on the opening day at McDiarmid Park repeated the trick in the League Cup 3rd round. In a repeat fixture, the result was exactly the same, as two first half goals condemned St. Johnstone to a 2-0 loss.

Having scored just one goal in their last five games, St. Johnstone must have been relieved when they scored two to defeat Kilmarnock away from home. Javier Castro’s free kick broke the deadlock, and Maximilliano Garbero came off the bench to score St. Johnstone’s first goal from open play for almost six games. That wrapped up a 2-0 victory. St. Johnstone’s best result of the season followed, as they travelled to Germany and stunned Bayern with a win in Munich. The team that had demolished them in Scotland was now made to look second best, as Castro and Júlio César both struck in the first half for a spectacular 2-0 win. It was a performance reminiscent of the UEFA Cup run from the season before, and St. Johnstone were still in with a chance of qualification, after that possibility had looked doomed with three games played. Castro and Garbero were each on the scoresheet again as Greenwood’s team eased to a 2-0 home win over Hibs, but their next match was at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal. It was a very tough looking fixture, and they were unable to repeat the heroics of Munich, as Arsenal earned a routine 2-0 win, with Mário Martins, their signing from Rangers getting the opener. While the Saints were very much in the hunt for the SPL title, there were still a few question marks which were raised again as Greenwood’s men capitulated to lose 3-2 at home to Raith Rovers. They were seemingly cruising at 2-0, but they took their foot off the gas and allowed the visitors to pull it back to 2-2. Then in stoppage time at the end of the game, the defence fell asleep and Christian Clemente fouled Sunday Emeka to concede a penalty. It was converted and Raith had pulled off an unbelievable comeback to win 3-2. Greenwood must have given his players a right rollicking because they produced a much improved performance to cruise to a 2-0 win at Dundee. Then St. Johnstone faced a crucial test at home against Sporting in their final Champions League group game. They had only won one game so far, but they still had a chance of going through, as if they could beat Sporting they would go through if Arsenal defeated FC Bayern in Germany. Steve Gibbens gave Greenwood’s team an early lead against the Portuguese club, and there was good news from Germany as Bayern were down to ten men and Arsenal were 1-0 up. Those were the half time scores, and then after half time both St. Johnstone and Arsenal’s results were made safe. In Germany, Bayern had another player sent off, going down to nine men, and they were then crushed by an Ulrich Menzel hat-trick, losing 4-0. Meanwhile, goals from Castro and Kevin Gallacher made it 3-0 in St. Johnstone v Sporting, and Greenwood’s side were into round two. They had failed to score in their first three games, and they had only won two games out of six, but that was enough to pip Bayern and Sporting to 2nd place in the group. The other three teams in their 2nd phase group were Benfica, Milan and Nantes, which looked like a very tough test.

In the league, St. Johnstone began to stretch their lead at the top with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Hearts and a 2-0 victory over Motherwell away, which was good revenge for Motherwell’s two wins by the same score at McDiarmid Park earlier in the season. Greenwood must have wanted to get off to a better start in the Champions League 2nd group stage than he did in the first, but it was going to be difficult. Their first opponents were France’s top team, Nantes, at home. The first half was very even, but a goal towards the end of it from Richard Grant gave St. Johnstone the lead at the break. However, Nantes turned on the style in the second half, levelling the scores through Cédric Robert and threatening to score a second. St. Johnstone looked to be escaping with a draw, but in the 89th minute a familiar face struck for Nantes to win it for the visitors. Olivier Marquet, once a Barletta legend, headed in his 505th career goal to sink Greenwood’s men, and it wasn’t the start to the group phase the St. Johnstone manager wanted. There was then a further setback in the league as the Saints were defeated 2-1 at home for the second game running. Ross County this time put two past them and a consolation goal from Garbero wasn’t enough to rescue any points from the match. Greenwood’s team recovered to win their next two games, winning 1-0 against both Aberdeen and Partick Thistle, but then they faced AC Milan at the San Siro. The Italian giants were clear favourites and it was easy to see why as they dominated the entire 90 minutes. St. Johnstone managed to keep it goalless until half time, but a goal from the home side seemed inevitable and it arrived through another striker who had once played under Greenwood. This time it was Édson Pinto, who had been on a real journey since leaving Corinthians for Bari. He had spent one season at Bari, one season at Udinese, one season at Nantes and was now in his first season at Milan. He headed in the opening goal on 57 minutes, and St. Johnstone never really threatened to level the scores. Late in the game Carmine Del Fabbro sealed a 2-0 win for Milan, and St. Johnstone were left with no points after their first two matches in the group.

A new signing was unveiled after the Milan game, as St. Johnstone completed the signing of Getafe’s teenage winger Diego Miranda for a fee of £2M. He was highly rated and had made a real impact in Spain, and the 19 year old went straight into the squad for the match against Rangers at McDiarmid Park. Miranda was an unused substitute as St. Johnstone twice fought back from a goal down to draw the game 2-2. Javier Castro pulled them back level the first time, then a Gary Milton own goal rescued a point for the Saints. Then Diego Miranda started his first game for the club away at Dundee United, and he scored his first goal. He opened the scoring in the first half, and Kevin Gallacher, Richard Grant and Max Garbero also got on the scoresheet in a comfortable 4-0 win. A dour 0-0 draw with Hibs followed, then a goal from Castro ensured another three points with a 1-0 home win over Aberdeen. St. Johnstone then faced Dundee United again, and this time the Terrors made it a lot more difficult for Greenwood’s team, but the Saints passed the test, winning the match 3-2. On Boxing Day St. Johnstone faced Motherwell at home, a fixture they had already lost 2-0 on two occasions that season, and it looked like it might go the same way as Peio Sanchís gave the visitors an early lead. The second goal never arrived though, and a late David Watson goal salvaged a point. That left one game in 2019, and it was away at Raith Rovers. St. Johnstone completely dominated, winning it 2-0 through goals from Júlio César and Javier Castro, while the home side never even managed a shot at goal. That meant that going into 2020, St. Johnstone held a 13 point lead at the top of the SPL, though Rangers did have two games in hand. It was still difficult not to see Greenwood’s men lifting the title again come the end of the season.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Wednesday 1st January 2020
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2019/0 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st ST. JOHNSTONE 24 7 2 3 24 17 10 1 1 24 3 54
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2nd Rangers 22 4 6 1 8 3 7 2 2 22 14 41
3rd Ross County 23 6 3 3 10 11 5 4 2 17 17 40
4th Aberdeen 24 7 2 3 18 6 3 5 4 13 12 37
5th Partick Thistle 24 7 4 1 14 5 3 3 6 5 7 37
6th Dundee 24 4 3 4 12 13 4 5 4 8 12 32
7th Hearts 24 5 1 6 10 16 4 3 5 10 11 31
8th Motherwell 24 3 4 5 14 15 4 5 3 14 10 30
9th Hibs 23 4 4 3 13 7 3 2 7 8 15 27
10th Raith Rovers 24 2 6 4 8 14 2 4 6 5 12 22
11th Kilmarnock 24 4 2 6 11 15 1 4 7 8 20 21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th Dundee Utd 24 1 3 9 8 20 2 2 7 8 17 14

[Nath Boy]

This is a great story. Keep it up!

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Nath Boy.

----------

2019/20 - Part two

St. Johnstone began 2020 with an easy home win over relegation battlers Kilmarnock. It was only a 1-0 win thanks to a Javier Castro goal, but the Saints were dominant from start to finish. Then they were dominant again away at Hearts, and this time they converted their dominance into goals. It was a tight game for 36 minutes which Hearts probably edged, culminating in the opening goal from Mikael Nordberg. Then Greenwood’s team brought it up a notch, quickly turning it around through two Castro goals, then Richard Grant made it three and two late Max Garbero goals made it a phenomenal 5-1 to St. Johnstone. They then faced Kilmarnock at home again, this time in the Scottish Cup, and Kilmarnock this time took a surprise early lead. It was a subdued Saints performance, but they still led by half-time, Castro again and then a Júlio César penalty making it 2-1. Enrico Millesi then made it 3-1 to wrap it up, though Kilmarnock did get a late consolation to make it 3-2 by the end. The performance in that game from St. Johnstone wasn’t great, and there were enough weaknesses there for Dundee to exploit in the next game at McDiarmid Park. St. Johnstone never really got going and they were 1-0 down at half-time. Although Castro scored yet again to level the scores, Dundee quickly scored again and the home side limped to a 2-1 defeat. It certainly wasn’t encouraging with two crunch games against Benfica looming on the horizon, but Greenwood’s team showed that they could be Jekyll and Hyde at times by crushing Ross County 4-0 away from home in their next encounter. Javier Castro kept up his amazing scoring form with a hat-trick, with Júlio César adding the 4th.

Could St. Johnstone reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League? They were up against it after defeats to both Nantes and AC Milan, but it was still a possibility. They faced two matches against Benfica in quick succession which would decide if there was any hope, as the Portuguese side had also lost to both of the other two teams in the group and were stuck on nil points. Greenwood’s team travelled to Portugal first, and they were hoping to snatch a win, though a draw wouldn’t be the end of the world. Both sides seemed very nervous, and it was very tight with few goal-scoring chances. 0-0 it ended, and that meant St. Johnstone needed a home win over the Portuguese side to sustain any realistic hope of making the last eight. There was no weekend game, so they had a full week to prepare for the European clash. They blitzed their opponents early on in the game with goals from Castro and Steve Gibbens making it 2-0 early on, but it ended up being a lot more difficult than that. Sérgio pulled a goal back for the visitors, and Micky Barnes was then sent off for St. Johnstone five minutes before half-time, leaving them to play on for much of the game with ten men. Benfica threw everything at Greenwood’s men hoping to get something out of the match, while Javier Castro was left to toil on his own up front, isolated from the rest of the team, but the Saints held on for a 2-1 win. They still had a chance of making the quarters.

Again St. Johnstone showed that they can be a Jekyll and Hyde team at times, as they served up their most inept performance of Joe Greenwood’s reign just three days after seeing off Benfica with only ten men. Forfar, division one relegation battlers, visited McDiarmid Park and humiliated the Scottish champions. It all started routinely for Greenwood’s team, as Eduardo Carmona gave them the lead within three minutes, but it soon turned sour as Forfar turned it around to make it 2-1 to the visitors by half-time. This was a nightmare of a result, and St. Johnstone did their best to pull it back, but they struggled to break down the first division side, and disaster struck in the 84th minute when Chris McKeown brought down Scott O’Neil in the area. It was a red card for the St. Johnstone goalkeeper and a penalty for Forfar, which Javier Castro pulled on the gloves to face since all three substitutions had already been made. It was converted, as you’d expect, and Forfar then piled on the humiliation by adding a 4th in added time. St. Johnstone 1-4 Forfar. An unbelievable result and total humiliation for Greenwood and his team. They managed to pick themselves up and sneak a 1-0 away win over Partick Thistle in the SPL, but their next match was against Nantes in France, and their form wasn’t particularly encouraging going into the game. Again though, they showed they could step up to the plate in the big games, as Javier Castro struck early on to make it 1-0. They held onto it until half-time, but then Steve Gibbens was sent off, and just like against Benfica they had to hold on with a numerical disadvantage. With the support of their home fans against Benfica they had done it, but now they didn’t have that support, and Nantes were a better side than Benfica. It was Olivier Marquet who came up with a stunner to level the scores, skipping away from Radcliffe and firing a swerving shot into the top corner, and St. Johnstone did well to hold on for a point in the end.

Again, there was no weekend game, as St. Johnstone were already out of both domestic cups, so a week later they faced AC Milan at McDiarmid Park. The situation was that St. Johnstone needed to win against AC Milan and hope that Nantes lost in Portugal against Benfica. If that happened, St. Johnstone would make it through, but it didn’t look too likely. Nantes were favourites in Portugal, and even if they did lose, the Saints would have to find a way to beat Milan, who had won all five games in the group so far, without even conceding a goal in the process. There was good news early on from Portugal as Benfica took the lead, but Milan showed their class to dominate the first half against Greenwood’s team, and on the half hour mark they were awarded a penalty, as Antonio Leal was clattered by Micky Barnes. It was a tense moment, but Chris McKeown managed to pull off a save from Carmine Pardini to keep the score at 0-0. By half-time, Nantes were 2-0 down, and Greenwood obviously told his team to go all out for victory in the second half, because go for it they did. Shots rained down on the Milan goal, but young goalkeeper Pasquale Savi was at the top of his game for the Italian giants. When he was beaten by David Watson’s low drive, the post came to his rescue. St. Johnstone gave everything, but they simply couldn’t get the ball in the net, and Nantes sneaked through with AC Milan, despite a 2-0 defeat for them against Benfica.

Now there was only the league to concentrate on, and that creditable performance against Milan seemed to give St. Johnstone renewed confidence, because they churned out formidable performance after formidable performance in the SPL. Aberdeen were brushed aside by a 3-1 score, and St. Johnstone then produce a performance which was up there as one of their best ever. They travelled to Ibrox and completely demolished Rangers to effectively end any lingering hopes of a comeback for the title from the Glaswegians. The job was all done in the first half, as the Saints produced a scintillating 45 minutes, playing Rangers off the park with Júlio César and Castro helping themselves to two goals each to make it 4-0 at half-time. They then slipped into second gear and cruised through the second half, and 4-0 it ended. The Rangers players were booed off the field at both half-time and full-time, but St. Johnstone had simply been too good. The result meant that St. Johnstone could seal the title with six games remaining if they could beat Hibs at home and Rangers lost to Partick Thistle away. Hibs took an early lead as they attempted to spoil the party, but St. Johnstone eventually turned it around thanks to goals from Castro and Gibbens. Meanwhile, Rangers were 2-0 down against Partick, and by the end the scores had stayed the same and that meant St. Johnstone were SPL champions again. There had been signs of weakness at times, but overall they had been head and shoulders above everyone else, and that was proven by the league table.

With the title already won, all the fans wanted as a bit of entertainment, and St. Johnstone certainly provided that. In their next match at Dundee United they fell behind early, then were 2-1 up by half-time. The home side made it 2-2, but almost immediately the Saints regained their lead. An equaliser 20 minutes from time looked to have stolen a point for Dundee United, but Max Garbero scored with two minutes remaining to win it 4-3 for St. Johnstone. Then they entered the Championship group and the wins kept on coming. A late Júlio César goal won it for them away at Aberdeen, and they then sneaked past Motherwell 2-1 at home in a bad-tempered game which left both sides playing much of the game with ten men. Two players also saw red in their next match, but this time it was two players on the same side, as Dundee were reduced to nine men and St. Johnstone punished them with a 3-1 win. Javier Castro scored twice in a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle, and the final game of the season was at home against Rangers, who must have been dreading it having been thrashed by four goals to nil at Ibrox just under two months earlier. The result was the same again, as St. Johnstone put four past the league’s runners-up. Javier Castro got two of the goals, while Júlio César got the other two, converting a couple of penalties. It was an excellent end to the season, and although there had been no real success in the cups, St. Johnstone had cruised home in the league, winning their final 11 games in a row. They seemed to be ready for a real assault on the Champions League in 2020/21.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Friday 19th June 2020
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2019/0 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 38 13 2 4 39 22 17 1 1 47 9 93
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Rangers 38 9 6 3 15 11 10 4 6 32 27 67
3rd Motherwell 38 5 8 6 22 21 8 6 5 23 15 53
4th Aberdeen 38 9 2 8 26 19 5 6 8 21 22 50
5th Dundee 38 7 5 7 25 26 5 9 5 11 15 50
6th Partick Thistle 38 8 6 5 17 11 5 4 10 9 16 49
7th Ross County 38 7 3 8 14 23 8 5 7 29 32 53
8th Hibs 38 7 6 6 21 14 7 3 9 17 21 51
9th Hearts 38 6 2 11 19 34 7 4 8 21 20 45
10th Raith Rovers 38 7 7 6 14 17 4 5 9 11 22 45
11th Dundee Utd 38 6 3 11 22 29 4 4 10 13 23 37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th R Kilmarnock 38 5 5 9 15 22 4 4 11 15 27 36

[Spav]

I've just caught up with the Scottish leg of your great adventure - it's been a fantastic journey so far, AJ. :thbup:

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Spav.

-----------

Summer 2020

It was time for Joe Greenwood to make that real step up in quality with his St. Johnstone team. They were dominant in Scotland and it seemed as if no-one could touch them in the SPL, even if they had only been in it for two seasons, but how could they make that step up to compete for the Champions League? They had nearly reached the quarter-finals in 2019/20, but even so there was still a gap in quality between themselves and the top clubs. They had faced two of 2019/20’s Champions League semi-finalists, AC Milan and Arsenal, during the competition, and they had been unable to score against either of them in two games against each one, drawing 0-0 at home and losing comfortably away. It wasn’t going to be easy, but Greenwood had to raid the transfer market to pick up a few more bargains that would enable his team to get closer to the top English and Italian sides.

First though, they simply had to replace players who left the club. As St. Johnstone were still seen as a small club, they lost two players to the traditional European heavyweights. Richard Grant left after just one season with the club to join Rangers for £6M. It was a sign that although St. Johnstone had finished ahead of Rangers for the past two seasons, it was Rangers who were still seen as the bigger force. Perhaps it was because Rangers were still seen as a much better team in the Champions League, and St. Johnstone’s main rivals for the SPL obviously believed they’d reclaim the domestic league title in the near future as well. The move did enable St. Johnstone to double their money on Grant, as they had signed him for £3M a year earlier. The other big-name player who left was Javier Castro, who joined Valencia for £10M. He was 31 years old, so an offer of that magnitude simply couldn’t be turned down, but Valencia were willing to pay that much for an over-30 because Castro simply hadn’t stopped scoring since trading his native Spain for Scotland two seasons earlier. Four other first-teamers left on frees: Craig Dolan, Martin Clark, Kevin Gallacher and Peter O’Rourke.

Those big sales must have given Joe Greenwood a large amount of money to spend, but he was still sifting through the bargain bin because the players who did arrive all came in on the cheap. Two players were signed on bosmans, 26 year old winger Raúl Saavedra from Universidad de Las Palmas to keep up the number of Spaniards in the squad, and AZ’s highly-rated centre-back Rene Keur, 23. Crystal Palace’s 20 year old left-back Tony Marsh joined for £475K, Portuguese midfielder Luis Rocha arrived from Feirense in Portugal for just £30K, 28 year old German attacking midfielder Oliver Baumann was snapped up for £1M from Greuther Fürth, Manchester City’s Irish forward Brian Byrne was brought in for £425K, and Dutchman Frank Goossens arrived from MVV in a £200K deal. That left the replacement for Javier Castro. Greenwood needed a striker to bang in the goals, following in the tradition of Wilkinson and Cortés at Arsenal, Marquet at Barletta, Pinto and Rodrigo at Corinthians and Castro himself. Having bolstered the transfer kitty with a £10M sale, and having bought on the cheap all the other players he wanted, the fans might have expected Greenwood to really spend big to bring in a top striker. Instead though, it was another one from the bargain bin. 28 year old Swede Urban Ståhl was signed for just £210K from Örgryte in Sweden, and he would be entrusted with the task of replacing Castro’s masses of goals. There were some good omens, as Javier Castro had been a similar age to Ståhl when he had been signed, and the fee was exactly the same, £210K, for the Spaniard. However, there was a lot of scepticism as you’d expect. Could a striker brought over from Sweden really get the goals to fire St. Johnstone to European glory?

[Nath Boy]

Good stuff, can't wait for the Champions League campaign to kick off. :thbgrin:

[ArsenalJoe]

2020/21 - Part one

St. Johnstone were looking to get off to a better start to the 2020/21 season than they did to the season before, when they lost 2-0 at home to Motherwell on the opening day. This time Aberdeen away were their first opponents, and they went behind in the 29th minute. Luckily a debut goal from Urban Ståhl levelled things up almost immediately, and although the Saints couldn’t find a winner, a 1-1 draw was a decent start to the season. Their first home game was against Ross County and again the opposition made things difficult for them. Ross County twice took the lead, but Júlio César struck with a hat-trick to drag Greenwood’s side to their first three points of the season with a 3-2 win. They then came from behind again to claim three points at Livingston, with Frank Goossens getting his first two goals for the club in a 2-1 win. Two new signings were then unveiled before the next game against Hibs, as Stirling’s 21 year old Dutch midfielder Harry van der Heijden arrived for £400K, while 21 year old French forward Stéphane Brachet also joined the club in a £3.2M deal from Nancy. Brachet started against Hibs at McDiarmid Park, but he couldn’t prevent St. Johnstone from slipping to their first defeat of the season, as they again fell behind, and although Ståhl equalised, Hibs continued to cause the Saints problems, and they nicked all three points with a last-gasp winner.

Stéphane Brachet then showed everyone in Scotland what he could do by firing St. Johnstone to their best result of the season at Motherwell. The new signing from Nancy scored a stunning hat-trick in a 3-0 win, and at the 5th attempt it was the first game in which Greenwood’s side hadn’t fallen behind at some point. Max Garbero scored the only goal as St. Johnstone won 1-0 over Partick Thistle, and then it was time for the Champions League to begin. Greenwood’s team were in the same group as reigning champions Leeds, Swedish outsiders IFK Göteborg, and tricky Russian side Spartak Moscow. On paper, it seemed as if Leeds would top it, the Swedes would be bottom, and St. Johnstone would be battling it out with Spartak for a place in the last 16. Leeds visited McDiarmid Park on matchday 1, and they showed their class early on as England striker Karl Walton made it 1-0 Leeds, but Ståhl again popped up with a quickfire equaliser, and the Saints eventually took all three points, as Júlio César made it 2-1 and Oliver Baumann’s first goal for the club wrapped it up at 3-1. It was an excellent start to the group stages. After grinding out a 1-0 win over Dundee thanks to a goal from Josep María Rivas, St. Johnstone travelled to Russia and a match against Spartak Moscow. Russia is always an intimidating venue in the Champions League, and so it proved for St. Johnstone as they lost 1-0. They never really got going and a single goal from Vitaly Lebedev was enough to sink them in Moscow. They then won 1-0 in the league for the third straight game, Ståhl scoring the only goal in a win over Raith Rovers, and that set them up nicely for an easy home win over IFK Göteborg. The Swedish side were never really in the game as Carlos Valle and Ståhl made it 2-0 early on. Brachet then scored his second hat-trick for St. Johnstone already, albeit with two of them penalties, to cap off a 5-0 thrashing.

Rangers were struggling in the league at this early stage as they travelled to McDiarmid Park looking to give their season a kickstart. They failed, as Stéphane Brachet had his scoring boots on again. The Frenchman didn’t score a hat-trick this time, but he got two, including one penalty, and Oliver Baumann added the third as Greenwood’s team won the match 3-0. Then in the League Cup 3rd round St. Johnstone dominated the game at Motherwell, though they only won 1-0 with Ståhl getting the only goal. There was then a momentous occasion as St. Johnstone’s transfer record was broken. Joe Greenwood finally spent a significant amount of that money earned from the Castro sale, bringing in Slovenian international goalkeeper Andrej Oblak for a fee of £8M, reportedly beating off competition from several German clubs for 1860 München’s 23 year old. They now had a player to keep goal for the club for years to come, replacing the inconsistent Chris McKeown and the ageing Christian Clemente. However, just as they did having brought in two players in August, they lost their next game. Harry van der Heijden gave St. Johnstone an early lead at home against Livingston, but Greenwood’s team were dangerously below-par for the rest of the game, and the newly promoted side punished them, forcing Oblak to pick the ball out of the back of the net twice in a 2-1 victory for the visitors. With Oblak ineligible for Europe, McKeown returned to the field for the game in Sweden against IFK Göteborg, and St. Johnstone disappointingly dropped two points in their bid for a last 16 place. Greenwood’s side completely dominated the match, but they couldn’t convert their chances, and they trailed 1-0 at half-time. Although Urban Ståhl eventually got the equaliser in his home country, further chances were wasted and the game ended 1-1. It was two points dropped against the Swedish outsiders.

Urban Ståhl struck again to win the game against struggling Hearts 1-0, and then St. Johnstone took on Leeds at Elland Road in a very difficult fixture. With seven points so far, anything from this game would have been a bonus, as a win over Spartak Moscow would most likely take them through. They were outclassed in the first half, with Walton scoring twice to make it 2-0 to the reigning European champions at half-time. However, St. Johnstone, who seemed dead and buried, came back in the second half. Former Barletta goalkeeper Nicola Simoncelli brought down Brachet in the area, and the Frenchman himself slotted home the penalty. Then Diego Miranda struck to level the scores at 2-2, and that was how it ended. That excellent result meant that the Saints only needed a point at home against Spartak Moscow in their final group game to go through. St. Johnstone seemed to be on a high as they crushed Ross County 5-0 away from home, with Ståhl and van der Heijden getting two each and Miranda scoring again. Then they came from behind to beat Dundee at home 2-1. In the Champions League, Spartak Moscow had been the surprise package of the group, as they were effectively through to the last 16 going into the final game. St. Johnstone needed only a draw at home against the Russians to cause a shock and eliminate reigning champions Leeds at the first stage. It was a terrible time for St. Johnstone to produce one of their worst performances, but that was exactly what they did. They were completely outplayed by Spartak Moscow, relinquishing their last 16 place with very little fight. Yury Averjanov underlined Spartak’s first half dominance at McDiarmid Park to make it 1-0 at half-time, but the Saints were thrown a lifeline when Spartak were reduced to ten men in the first minute of the second half. However, five minutes later Stéphane Brachet was also heading down the tunnel having been sent off, and when it was 10 against 10 the Russian side continued to dominate. Roman Dmitriev put Greenwood’s men out of their misery by scoring the second, and Greenwood himself was left to reflect on how his team had thrown it all away. They had been so close to a spot in the quarter-finals in 2019/20, and they had seemingly strengthened the squad over the summer, but now they had failed to make it into the last 16. Now all they had for consolation was a spot in the UEFA Cup and a 3rd round tie against Coventry in that competition, but dropping into a lesser tournament which St. Johnstone had already won was scant consolation.

It was almost infuriating as St. Johnstone then went to Hibs and crushed them 5-2, as they had been unable to produce that sort of form in the game against Spartak Moscow just a few days earlier. That was followed by a 3-2 home win over Aberdeen, and then it was time for the UEFA Cup 3rd round first leg at home against Coventry City, who were in the competition as English League Cup winners. Coventry were no match for Greenwood’s side as Ståhl, Goossens and Baumann got a goal each to make it 3-0, but the English side did grab a late goal to make it 3-1 and perhaps make it tougher for the second leg. An early red card for Carlos Valle meant that St. Johnstone couldn’t get anything more than a 0-0 draw at Partick Thistle, but they did then progress to the semi-finals of the League Cup with a 3-0 away win over Aberdeen in the quarter-final. Urban Ståhl scored his first hat-trick for the club to send them through. However, the Saints then produced one of their unexplainably bad performances to lose comfortably at the hands of Hearts at McDiarmid Park. It was the sort of performance which had seen them knocked out of the Champions League in round one, as they took an early lead through Harry van der Heijden, but simply stopped playing after that point. Hearts, struggling at the lower end of the SPL table, took advantage to put three past the hapless Saints in the second half. To be a European heavyweight you simply can’t have games like this where you just don’t perform. Following that game, St. Johnstone fans travelled across the border to Coventry with a bit of trepidation, as there was very much a possibility that the English side could overturn the two-goal deficit from the first leg. After a tight first half, Mario Carrasco struck for Coventry to make it 1-0 early in the second half, and they only needed one more to go through on away goals, but St. Johnstone stuck to the task, and Max Garbero levelled the scores, making it 1-1 and eventually sending the Saints through with relative ease. Greenwood’s team were drawn against Ajax in the 4th round.

It had been an inconsistent season up until now, but from then on until New Year’s Day, St. Johnstone finally produced some real consistency. A thrilling game against Rangers at Ibrox proved to be the catalyst. Martin Edwards gave Rangers the lead, only for Diego Miranda to make it 1-1, but Edwards quickly scored again to put the home side 2-1 up. Rangers looked the better side, but David Watson made it 2-2 right on the stroke of half-time, and Greenwood’s team looked like a different team in the second half. Max Garbero made it 3-2, and the Saints then held out with an excellent defensive display to win the match. Then they went on a simply stunning run of results over the rest of December. David Watson contributed a hat-trick as St. Johnstone crushed Dundee United 5-0, and that was followed by an easy away win over Raith Rovers. Raith went down to nine men by the half hour mark, and that allowed Greenwood’s team to put three past them for a routine 3-0 win, Baumann and Ståhl contributing the goals. St. Johnstone then faced Dundee United again, away from home this time, and it was a calm and controlled performance. It remained 0-0 for a long time, but they continued to remain patient, and eventually hit the Terrors with a double blow, Brachet and van der Heijden scoring within three minutes of each other for a 2-0 win. They travelled to Livingston next, and they got revenge for Livingston’s victory at McDiarmid Park earlier in the season, as Brachet and Ståhl nabbed a goal each in a 2-0 win. Then it was Brachet and Ståhl again scoring the goals as St. Johnstone ended the year 2020 with a 3-0 home win over Motherwell. December’s first league result had been the dire defeat against Hearts, but that had been followed by a 3-2 win over Rangers, followed up with a run of five straight victories, each without even conceding a goal. Andrej Oblak, having had a decent start, was now commanding the Saints area and was looking unbeatable, though in fairness he didn’t have much to do in those five straight clean sheets, as the team in front of him were simply in stunning form. Getting knocked out of the Champions League right at the start had been a real shock, but now St. Johnstone were looking to make up for it by picking up every trophy they could get their hands on.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Friday 1st January 2021
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================================================== ==============================================
2020/1 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st ST. JOHNSTONE 23 8 0 3 24 12 10 2 0 28 6 56
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2nd Hibs 23 6 3 3 15 10 7 1 3 15 11 43
3rd Motherwell 23 7 1 3 15 11 5 5 2 14 11 42
4th Aberdeen 23 7 4 1 22 15 4 3 4 14 12 40
5th Dundee 23 6 3 2 12 7 4 3 5 12 14 36
6th Rangers 23 5 5 1 15 5 4 3 5 14 16 35
7th Raith Rovers 23 5 3 4 7 13 3 3 5 7 11 30
8th Dundee Utd 23 5 3 4 10 7 1 4 6 9 19 25
9th Ross County 23 3 3 6 11 23 2 4 5 10 13 22
10th Partick Thistle 23 1 5 5 5 10 2 4 6 6 10 18
11th Livingston 23 1 5 6 10 17 2 2 7 8 16 16
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12th Hearts 23 1 1 9 10 19 3 2 7 12 17 15

[ArsenalJoe]

2020/21 - Part two

New purchases and sales could now wait until the summer, as Greenwood kept the squad he currently had until the end of the 2020/21 season. The SPL title was looking like a formality already, as St. Johnstone entered the new year in stunning form, and they kept up that run of straight wins without conceding at the start of January, thrashing Hibs 4-0 and then beating Aberdeen away 2-0. They conceded their first goal in over 675 minutes of play in a cup match at first division side Peterhead, as they were reduced to ten men very early in the match as Tony Marsh was sent off in the 12th minute. However, they still won the match by three goals to one to progress to the next round, and the league the run was still going, as they beat Dundee 2-0 away to make it nine straight wins and eight straight clean sheets in the SPL. Both of those runs ended against Ross County at McDiarmid Park, as the Saints raced into a two goal lead, only to let it slip and draw 2-2. By the time Ian Downes netted the first goal for Ross County in the 59th minute of the match, St. Johnstone had gone a phenomenal 779 minutes plus stoppage time without conceding a league goal. Then they conceded again just two minutes later.

It was soon back to winning ways as Júlio César struck twice in a 2-0 win over Raith Rovers, and St. Johnstone then produced a scintillating performance to crush Dundee in the League Cup semi-final. Dundee took an early lead in the match, but the Saints then dominated for the rest of the game, firing six goals past their bewildered opponents for a 6-1 victory, and a final meeting for Dundee United awaited. After an easy 2-0 win over third division Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup 4th round, St. Johnstone then hit six again, only this time it was away from home in the SPL. Motherwell were ripped apart by the ruthlessness of St. Johnstone’s strike partnership of Stéphane Brachet and Urban Ståhl, with Brachet getting four goals and Ståhl two in a stunning 6-0 win. Then the Saints produced yet another virtuoso performance to crush Ajax 5-0 in Amsterdam in the first leg of their UEFA Cup 4th round tie. Ajax of course were not the force they had been in the past, but not many teams could beat them by such a crushing scoreline. Again, Brachet was at the heart of it, as he scored two of the goals in the match and was the centerpiece of every attack. After those two thrashings, the fans might have been forgiven for expecting double figures in a home match against the bottom side, Partick Thistle, but football is a strange game, and this time St. Johnstone scraped to a 2-1 win thanks to a second-half strike from the in-form Brachet.

Greenwood fielded a weakened side for the home leg of the UEFA Cup tie with Ajax, losing the game 1-0 but progressing comfortably on aggregate to a quarter-final clash with Dortmund. Brachet and Ståhl were once again on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Aberdeen in the 5th round of the Scottish Cup, then St. Johnstone welcomed Dortmund to McDiarmid Park. Greenwood’s team had played them two seasons earlier in their UEFA Cup run, but that had been a lot earlier in the competition. Dortmund seemed to have improved since then, but St. Johnstone were in such ruthless form that the Germans never stood a chance. Ståhl and Brachet once again ripped apart the opposition, getting two goals each as Dortmund were thrashed. A red card for their goalkeeper Ricardo Silva only compounded the misery, and all they had to show for their efforts was a late consolation goal in a 4-1 defeat. Next up was the League Cup final at Hampden Park against Dundee United, and United did a good job of stopping the threat of the two Saints frontmen. It didn’t quite all go St. Johnstone’s way, as Júlio César’s early goal was cancelled out on the hour mark by Jamie Boyd, and despite Greenwood’s team pushing for the winner, it ended 1-1 and went to extra time. Then, most of extra time passed without much incident. In the end, St. Johnstone stunned their opponents with a sudden burst of ruthlessness right at the death. First, in the 117th minute, Brachet headed home Frank Goossens’ cross. Then, in the 119th minute, Harry van der Heijden raced clear on the counter attack and hit a perfect strike into the top corner from 20 yards out. Finally, in the final minute of the extra time period, a demoralised Dundee United were well and truly sunk by another piece of Brachet brilliance. The Frenchman skipped away from two defenders and calmly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper to put the icing on the cake. It had remained 1-1 until the 117th minute, but the final score was 4-1 to St. Johnstone, and they lifted the League Cup, which Greenwood hoped was only the first of four trophies in 2020/21.

The UEFA Cup run continued as Dortmund were finished off by more fantastic play from Brachet and Ståhl. The strikers grabbed one each in a 2-1 win, and St. Johnstone progressed to the semi-finals, where they would face the UEFA Cup holders, Bologna. St. Johnstone were so far ahead in the SPL that a win in their next match would ensure the title, with seven matches remaining. By coincidence it happened to be Rangers at home, and the fans would love seeing their side winning the title with a win against the well-and-truly deposed former kings. St. Johnstone were helped by the stupidity of Rangers midfielder Liang Liu, as the Chinese player cynically fouled Josep María Rivas in the 15th minute, then squared up to the Spaniard and pushed him. That equalled two bookings and a red, and the Saints cruised to victory from there. With the score at 3-1, the fans were already celebrating the SPL title, but it was sealed in the best possible fashion, as Stéphane Brachet, the current star of the team, won a penalty in stoppage time and converted it with ease. He then jumped into the crowd to help celebrate the title, which St. Johnstone had sewn up in style with a 4-1 win. The UEFA Cup and the Scottish Cup were now the priorities, and Greenwood fielded a weakened side in the next league match against Hearts away. His side sneaked to a 1-0 win thanks to Júlio César’s penalty kick, and then Bologna arrived in Scotland for the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final. St. Johnstone dominated the first half, with Ståhl giving them an early lead, and there were countless chances to increase the lead. However, these chances weren’t taken, and right at the start of the second half the Italians levelled the scores. It ended 1-1, and that meant advantage Bologna, with St. Johnstone needing a result from their tough trip to Italy in order to reach the final.

St. Johnstone had only two days rest after that game before a crucial Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts at Hampden Park. It meant that they had to field a weakened side, and due to that and fatigue they clearly weren’t at their best, but Frank Goossens scored a freak goal to have them 1-0 up at half-time, with his cross inadvertedly finding the top corner. However, Bruno Traoré was sent off early in the second half, tipping the balance even further in favour of Hearts, as the tiring Saints legs were stretched even further. Hearts soon made it 1-1, and they had several excellent chances to win it, but Greenwood’s team just about held on for a replay three days later. Now the key players were back in the team, but Hearts still made it very difficult for the league champions. The two sides traded blows in the first half, and the score at the break was 2-2, and that was how it remained, so the match went to extra time. Both sides had chances in what was an open game, but as you might expect it was Brachet who won it for St. Johnstone, scoring a wonderful volley in the 100th minute to win it 3-2 and send St. Johnstone into the final, where their opponents would be shock finalists Brechin City. With the title already secure and the players still feeling the effects of those extra time exertions, a weakened side was played against Dundee United, allowing the visitors to walk away from McDiarmid Park with all three points in a 2-0 win.

Then, St. Johnstone travelled to Italy to face Bologna in the second leg of that UEFA Cup semi-final. Domestically, Bologna were mid-table also-rans, but they had won the cup the season before and were now close to retaining it, so St. Johnstone needed to be at their best. Bologna cut through the Saints defence to take an early lead, but the referee pulled play back to award a penalty instead for an earlier foul. It angered the home fans, but they soon didn’t care as Salvatore Rizzi slotted home from the spot to put Bologna 1-0 up. St. Johnstone struggled to get a grip on the game in the first half, but early in the second half they struck with an equaliser, Stéphane Brachet heading in David Watson’s cross. They then had a very dominant spell, and Bologna must have been fearing the worst, but against the run of play the Italians regained the lead with 25 minutes remaining, teenager Simone Longhi getting the goal. St. Johnstone were forced into action and they began to pile men forward. Eventually they got some reward in the 78th minute, as Oliver Baumann collected Brachet’s pass and was then tripped in the box. It was a penalty and a chance for Greenwood’s side to take the lead on away goals with little more than ten minutes remaining. Stéphane Brachet stepped up to take it, and there was nothing wrong with that. He was the player who most fans would have picked to take the crucial spot kick, as he had simply been unable to stop scoring in recent months. There was only one problem – he missed it. Veteran goalkeeper Mario Massa pulled off a save to deny the French forward, and that was the last great chance for St. Johnstone to win it. Bologna held on for the rest of the game and progressed to the final. The match was an indication of just how strong St. Johnstone were in comparison to the bigger leagues. They might have been comfortably the best team in Scotland, but they had been knocked out of the UEFA Cup by a mid-table Italian side. The gap between St. Johnstone and the top Italian or English sides was still significant.

The only important game left on the 2020/21 calendar was the cup final against Brechin, so St. Johnstone played out the rest of the league matches mostly in second gear. Hibs and Dundee both inflicted 2-1 defeats on Greenwood’s team, but they quickly stepped it up a level when they visited Ibrox. Rangers were helpless as the Saints ripped them apart on their own turf. Urban Ståhl scoring a hat-trick and Harry van der Heijden adding another in a 4-1 victory. It severely dented Rangers chances of getting into the Champions League, and Rangers’ success in that competition was the only thing they had over St. Johnstone at this point in time. The Saints finished the season strongly, beating Motherwell 3-2 at home in a thrilling match, with Diego Miranda scoring a late winner, and capping it all off with a 3-1 away win over Aberdeen. Fittingly, it was Ståhl and Brachet getting the goals in that match. No-one gave Brechin City any chance of beating St. Johnstone in the cup final, with the ruthless champions aiming to complete a domestic treble against the nobodies from the first division. However, the underdogs shocked Greenwood’s team by taking the lead 20 minutes in through Stephen McKeown. Could there possibly be a major upset on the cards? The answer was a simple no. Brechin stayed in front for 11 minutes before Ståhl levelled the scores with an excellent finish from a cross from Frank Goossens. It remained at 1-1 until half-time, but in the 54th minute Stéphane Brachet struck with what turned out to be the winning goal. Brechin had given it a valiant effort, but once again St. Johnstone had been led to victory by Brachet and Ståhl’s goals. A domestic treble seemed to be a good season on the face of it, but what Greenwood really wanted was European glory, and in Europe, St. Johnstone had actually gone backwards. Greenwood was desperate for his team to make major strides forward in Europe in 2021/22.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Thursday 3rd June 2021
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================================================== ==============================================
2020/1 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 38 13 1 5 42 22 16 2 1 47 10 90
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2nd Hibs 38 11 5 3 24 12 9 2 8 20 25 67
3rd Aberdeen 38 11 4 4 31 25 8 5 6 28 21 66
4th Motherwell 38 11 1 8 26 32 7 7 4 22 18 62
5th Rangers 38 8 9 2 26 14 7 5 7 24 23 59
6th Dundee 38 9 5 6 17 18 5 4 9 16 24 51
7th Hearts 38 6 2 10 18 20 7 4 9 26 26 45
8th Raith Rovers 38 7 7 5 11 16 4 4 11 10 20 44
9th Dundee Utd 38 6 7 5 15 12 4 5 11 21 31 42
10th Livingston 38 5 7 7 19 23 3 5 11 11 25 36
11th Ross County 38 5 3 11 18 34 3 7 9 13 19 34
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12th R Partick Thistle 38 4 6 9 10 17 2 7 10 7 15 31

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2021

The summer of 2021 was a summer of many wheelings and dealings at St. Johnstone. People often say that it’s never wise to bring in too many players in one summer, because of the difficulties of getting them all to gel, but Joe Greenwood obviously didn’t subscribe to that way of thinking. Maybe he would have done if he was a little closer to his goal of Champions League glory, but just as he must have expected, the Champions League was proving a tough nut to crack with St. Johnstone, a small Scottish club. Many fans had been saying for months leading up to the summer that Greenwood had decided on a major overhaul as soon as the club were eliminated from the Champions League in round one, and that from that moment he was targeting future transfers, who would all arrive once the summer came around. There must have been some truth in that because of the sheer number of players who joined the club in the summer.

Firstly, there were some key departures. The goalkeeping overhaul was completed, as veteran Christian Clemente, relegated to third choice, left on a free along with second choice Chris McKeown. Two big departures were Urban Ståhl and Josep María Rivas. Ståhl only got one season at the club, and was actually pretty impressive, but Greenwood felt that goals against Scottish sides in the SPL meant very little now, and Ståhl, 29, had little room for improvement into a top European marksman. He joined Hibs for £500K, more than double the price he was bought for a year earlier. Rivas had three great seasons at the club after joining from Cultural Leonesa for just £190K, but Greenwood felt that the 29 year old also wasn’t good enough to really take them to the next level, so he was sold to Deportivo for £3M. Steve Gibbens headed to South Africa and Sundowns for £1M, Enrico Millesi joined Aberdeen for £725K, and bit-part player Brian Byrne joined Raith Rovers for £100K.

So what about the new arrivals? There were a lot of them. In goal, a back-up to Andrej Oblak was needed, and St. Johnstone swooped for Rotherham’s 20 year old Scottish keeper Alex Munro to be second choice. At right-back, 22 year old Dean Powell was signed on a free transfer to be the back-up for Frank Goossens in place of Steve Gibbens. There were major changes at left-back, with two new left-backs being brought in. 25 year old Paul McGregor joined from Everton for just £55K, which seemed like a bargain, and that was followed by the signing of Northampton full-back Craig Bentley for £350K. That surely meant that the days of Tony Marsh and Carlos Valle were numbered. Greenwood was never going to pass up the chance to buy someone from his favourite club in Spain, Cultural Leonesa, so in came centre-back José María Díaz García, which sounded like a nice short poem rather than a footballer’s name. For the holding midfield role, Rivas needed replacing, and Greenwood brought in not one but two holding players. The first was a low key one, Portuguese player Joaquim Hélio brought in on a free from Chaves. The second was a bigger signing, coming second to Oblak as the second biggest money signing in St. Johnstone’s history. Scottish international and Manchester United midfielder Alan Kelly arrived at McDiarmid Park for £4.1M. He was a Man Utd youth product and he had been a loyal servant to the club, but now he was back in Scotland and the fans thought it was great news when they heard that St. Johnstone had signed the 24 year old. Still there was more. Watford’s young midfielder Greg Morrell was brought in to take Millesi’s place in the squad, Greenwood raided the bargain bin for 31 year old Frenchman Christian Royer, and finally, a new striker was signed. A replacement for Ståhl was needed, and it came in the shape of a Dutchman, signed on a free transfer from FC Twente. 25 year old Frans Aerts was one of those strikers with a good scoring record in Holland, averaging 0.74 goals a game. He was very likely to get goals in the SPL, a league on a similar level to the Dutch league. The question was, could he get goals in the Champions League? Joe Greenwood obviously thought he could, and that was why he had given Aerts his chance.

The new signings were unlikely to take St. Johnstone to the level where they could really compete with the top clubs in Europe. The fact that the biggest signing of the lot was a Manchester United back-up player spoke volumes, and while Greenwood was mainly pulling off bargain buys and buying obscure players, the clubs he’d be going toe to toe with in Europe such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Inter were pulling off multi-million pound buys over the summer. What Greenwood wanted was progress, for that first step to be made so that his team were on their way to Champions League glory.

[ArsenalJoe]

2021/22 - Part one

The major transfer work was done, but the finishing touches still needed to be added to St. Johnstone’s squad for the 2021/22 season. The team got off to a brilliant start in the SPL, winning their first four games, helped by the fact that their opponents had at least one man sent off in every single one. Dundee resisted valiantly until their goalkeeper was sent off on the stroke of half time, and then in the first minute of the second half Diego Miranda scored St. Johnstone’s first goal of the season to win the match 1-0. Aberdeen were then beaten 5-1 after being reduced to ten men in the 18th minute, while Ross County went down to nine men and were crushed 5-0. Against Hearts at McDiarmid Park, St. Johnstone did all the hard work 11 against 11, with Frans Aerts scoring his first two goals for the club to put them 3-1 up, but Hearts had a man sent off deep into stoppage time to keep up the astonishing run of reds for the opposing teams. Motherwell put a stop to that, managing to keep all eleven players on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, and they also managed to take points off St. Johnstone, the first team to do so in 2021/22. Stéphane Brachet had to salvage a point for the Saints after Motherwell had taken the lead. Various unwanted players were removed from the club, with one left-back, Carlos Valle, joining Hibs for £950K, and another, Tony Marsh, leaving for Dunfermline on a free transfer. Bruno Traoré joined fallen giants Celtic on a free, while aging centre-back Kioyo also joined Dunfermline for the small fee of £100K. One more player was brought in before the end of August, and that was veteran Englishman Andy Ryan. He was a 33 year old attacking midfielder who had famously never played for England, but he had been a star performer for Wolves, Ipswich, Blackburn, Coventry, Millwall and Aston Villa in England, and he had also enjoyed a great season in the SPL for Kilmarnock back in 2014/15, scoring 27 goals in 42 games as an attacking midfielder. Those days were behind him, but on a free transfer Greenwood still thought he had a lot to offer.

League action resumed with a 2-0 away win over Dundee United, and then the Champions League got underway. St. Johnstone obviously needed to do a lot better than the season before when they were eliminated in round one, and their group seemed a lot easier this time, as it included Galatasaray, Werder Bremen and Panathinaikos. None of those were real European heavyweights, and it certainly seemed like Greenwood’s team had a point to prove in the competition, because on matchday one they raced into a 3-0 lead in Athens after just 13 minutes. PAO were stunned, and even a Joaquim Hélio red card later in the first half couldn’t stop St. Johnstone from recording a 4-1 win, with a late Rene Keur penalty kick sealing it. Yet another red card helped out the Saints in the SPL, as Rangers goalkeeper Aitor Costa was sent off on the way to a comfortable 2-0 win for Greenwood’s side. Then St. Johnstone failed to make it two wins out of two in the Champions League as Galatasaray held them at McDiarmid Park, but the performance was encouraging as the Saints ran the Turkish side ragged from start to finish, simply failing to put the ball in the net. The astonishing number of red cards for opposition players continued as Livingston were reduced to ten men early in their match, allowing St. Johnstone to record a 4-0 win, but Greenwood and his team didn’t need red cards to win matches, as they showed with a comfortable 2-0 win in Germany over Werder Bremen, Craig Bentley and Max Garbero scoring the goals to fire them to the top of their Champions League group.

St. Johnstone left it late to record another league win, with Júlio César getting the winner in a 2-1 win over Hibs, and they then encountered problems against first division side Clyde in the League Cup. Still unbeaten in all competitions, they went 2-0 down early on against their lower league opponents and a shock seemed like it could be on the cards, but nothing came of it as Greenwood’s team were 4-2 up by half time, and that was the final result. After a 2-1 win over Raith Rovers which extended further their lead at the top of the SPL, they trounced Werder Bremen 5-0 at McDiarmid Park to reach the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare. The first real bad news of the season came against Dundee, as despite a 1-0 win for Greenwood’s men, they lost both Frank Goossens and Craig Bentley to injury. That left them without both their first choice full-backs for a month, and maybe it was that absence of width which prevented them from taking all three points at home against Panathinaikos. The Greeks went down to ten men just four minutes in, but they managed to take the lead and St. Johnstone only salvaged a draw thanks to a Stéphane Brachet goal. Two more easy league wins over Aberdeen and Ross County followed, then St. Johnstone capped off the first round of the Champions League with a 1-0 win in Turkey, Stéphane Brachet’s late goal sinking Galatasaray. The first round had proved to be a walk in the park, but the second round pitted them against Club Brugge, Blackburn and Real Madrid, so that would be a lot harder. Before then, Greenwood decided to do some reshuffling, as two long-term Saints players, David Watson and Júlio César, were sold. Watson, an academy product who had stepped up from first division to Champions League, was sold to Ross County for £325K, while one of Greenwood’s first signings for the club, Júlio César, was now deemed surplus to requirements and was sold on to Standard Liège for £2M. The replacements were two British players, with Aberdeen winger Ronnie Mitchell brought in for £250K to replace Watson, and Colchester’s 20 year old forward Kevin Richardson brought in for £3.9M to replace the departing Brazilian.

Hearts became only the second side to take points off St. Johnstone in the SPL so far, holding them to a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle. Greenwood’s team immediately took three points once again with a 2-1 win at Motherwell, and then it was time to welcome Blackburn to McDiarmid Park for the first game of the Champions League second group stage. Unfortunately, the Saints were once again left exposed against a team from one of the bigger leagues, just as they were against Bologna in the previous season’s UEFA Cup semi-final. After one Dutch striker, Peter van Delft, had struck the opening blow for Blackburn, another Dutch striker, Frans Aerts, levelled for St. Johnstone. However, that couldn’t stop them slipping to defeat, as Adam Hughes won it for Blackburn 15 minutes from time. It was St. Johnstone’s first defeat of the season in all competitions, and a 2-1 defeat at home left them with a lot of work to do. There seemed to be a noticeable drop in performance, with St. Johnstone now grinding out narrow wins rather than scoring goals upon goals upon goals. Livingston were beaten 1-0 in the SPL, and Aberdeen by the same scoreline in the League Cup quarter-final, and then the unbeaten league start came to an end in disappointing fashion, as Dundee United came to McDiarmid Park and left having claimed a significant scalp and three points. St. Johnstone simply never got going and lost the match 2-1, and it was hardly the best way to prepare for a crucial trip to Belgium to play Club Brugge. Having lost at home in the first match in the group, a win over the weakest team in it was a must. St. Johnstone didn’t look like winning it the way they had played in recent weeks, but they just about managed to scrape it thanks to another red card for the opposition. Belgian goalkeeper Frédéric Geerinckx was sent off after just 11 minutes for tripping Greg Morrell, and it was a penalty to St. Johnstone. However, Brachet missed the spot kick, and for the rest of the game Greenwood’s side struggled to find a way through and to exert any real dominance on the ten men. Luckily, in the 83rd minute, Christian Royer popped up to score his first goal for the club, and they scraped it by one goal to nil. It was scrappy, but they didn’t care. They had three points and they were back in with a shout in the group.

St. Johnstone’s attacking football seemed to have gone on a winter’s holiday, because 1-0 now seemed to be the result of choice. Hibs were sneaked past by that scoreline next, and after a brief return of the goals goals goals style of play, with a 6-2 win over Kilmarnock, it went back on holiday again as Ross County and Kilmarnock again were both beaten by a 1-0 scoreline. St. Johnstone weren’t looking particularly convincing, so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when they were beaten in the league for the second time that season so far by Raith Rovers, who won 3-2 at McDiarmid Park. A tame 0-0 draw at Ibrox against Rangers finished off the year 2021. St. Johnstone were comfortably ahead in the SPL, but that was to be expected. What Greenwood really wanted was the Champions League trophy, and the first half of the season seemed to show that they were still a significant distance from being able to battle the English, Spanish and Italian giants in Europe.

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Saturday 1st January 2022
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2021/2 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st ST. JOHNSTONE 23 8 1 2 26 12 10 2 0 22 2 57
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Raith Rovers 22 7 2 2 15 8 6 2 3 13 8 43
3rd Hearts 23 4 4 3 11 7 6 3 3 13 6 37
4th Hibs 22 7 1 3 11 4 3 5 3 9 8 36
5th Motherwell 23 3 5 3 13 15 5 7 0 10 3 36
6th Rangers 23 5 3 3 14 7 3 5 4 11 12 32
7th Aberdeen 22 5 3 4 13 9 3 3 4 9 13 30
8th Dundee Utd 23 3 7 1 6 4 2 5 5 5 11 27
9th Ross County 23 2 5 5 7 14 2 4 5 10 14 21
10th Dundee 22 2 4 6 4 12 1 3 6 6 16 16
11th Livingston 23 1 6 4 7 13 1 3 8 5 13 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th Kilmarnock 23 3 2 7 7 15 1 1 9 7 28 15

[Nath Boy]

Glad to see this back, great stuff.

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Nath Boy.

-------------------------

2021/22 - Part two

As January began, there was a real hint of a drop in form at McDiarmid Park, and St. Johnstone did nothing to dispel that notion in their first two games of the month. First they faced Aberdeen at home and they were completely outplayed from start to finish, a rare occurrence in a domestic match. Luckily a spectacular goal from Stéphane Brachet rescued a point in a 1-1 draw, but there was no such luck in their next match at home against Motherwell. After an edgy first half hour, Brachet was sent off for headbutting defender Peio Sanchís. Seeing as he had been the only good performer in their previous match, it didn’t bode well for the rest of the game, and Motherwell ripped the ten men to pieces in the second half, winning the match 3-0. Even without the suspended Brachet, St. Johnstone managed to produce a decent performance to win 1-0 at Dundee in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup. However, they then seemed to hit new lows in their next home match against Hearts. Greenwood’s team simply didn’t turn up in the first half and Hearts raced into a 3-0 lead. It was possibly the worst 45 minutes of football ever played by a Greenwood side, but they managed to get back into it. The first step was a bit of luck, as the Saints were awarded a very dubious penalty early in the second half, which Frank Goossens. Then Greenwood made a triple substitution in an attempt to mount a comeback, and one of the players who came off the bench was St. Johnstone’s most recent signing, Kevin Richardson. The young forward produced a spectacular performance, scoring within five minutes of coming on, then getting a second goal, and the team’s third, with five minutes remaining. St. Johnstone had pulled back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3, and it felt like a victory.

Despite the great comeback, that game still made it five league games without a victory for the leaders, but the second half performance against Hearts proved to be a major turning point. St. Johnstone travelled to Dundee for their next league match with Stéphane Brachet once again, and they played the full 90 minutes like men on a mission. Brachet got two of the goals in a magnificent 4-0 win, which they achieved despite Rene Keur being sent off early in the second half. Form seemed to have been found just at the right time, as the resumption of the Champions League was just around the corner. After an uneventful 0-0 draw at Livingston, St. Johnstone took on reigning European champions Real Madrid at home in the Champios League, in a game they needed to get something from. It was obvious that confidence was up as they were 1-0 up at half time, Max Garbero getting the goal. However, Real were a top side, and they quickly turned it round at the start of the second half, going 2-1 up. St. Johnstone could have slipped back into that poor form and let their confidence plummet, but they didn’t, and a goal from Brachet earned them a 2-2 draw and a point. After an easy 3-0 win over Dumbarton in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup, St. Johnstone travelled to Madrid for the away game against Real, surely the most difficult game they had yet encountered. It was to go down as their greatest victory yet. They looked dangerous right from the beginning, with Diego Miranda putting the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed for offside. Then Goossens nodded them in front in the 38th minute, and just as the half-time whistle was about to go, Christian Royer doubled the lead. The Saints then produced an excellent second half performance, keeping possession and frustrating Real Madrid, to come away with a 2-0 victory. They had beaten the European champions in their own backyard, and were now in a great position to qualify for the last eight. They had also put to rest the idea that they couldn’t really compete with the European heavyweights.

There was slight disappointment next as St. Johnstone went 2-0 up against Rangers, only to throw it away and draw 2-2, but they still had a healthy lead at the top of the SPL, and they were still going strong in both domestic cup competitions. Luis Rocha and Brachet got the goals in a 2-1 win over Hearts which sent St. Johnstone into the League Cup final once again, and the Saints then came from behind to crush Dundee United 4-1. Then they crossed the border for a crucial Champions League match against Blackburn. After losing to the English side in their first match in the group, they had taken seven points from a possible nine, and a win here, coupled with a win for Club Brugge over Real Madrid, would take both Greenwood’s team and the Belgians into the last eight, at the expense of the clubs from the more fashionable leagues. St. Johnstone got off to a great start, dominating the play and opening the scoring through Oliver Baumann. It seemed only a matter of time before the second goal, and they finally got it on the hour mark from Rene Keur, who headed home from a corner. In Belgium, Club Brugge had just taken the lead against Real Madrid. With ten minutes to go, Blackburn pulled a goal back, but Greenwood’s team survived a late onslaught to win 2-1. Club Brugge had also held on to their lead, so that was it. Job done, St. Johnstone and Club Brugge were both into the quarter-finals with a game to spare, with Blackburn and reigning champions Real Madrid crashing out. Next it was time for Frans Aerts to shine, as he scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over third division Alloa in the Scottish cup, then followed that up with another hat-trick against Club Brugge in the final Champions Legaue group game. Aerts scored three goals inside the first half hour as the Saints beat the Belgian side 4-1 to take top spot in the group. Paris SG awaited in the quarter-finals, and St. Johnstone were looking very impressive. Could they really win the tournament?

St. Johnstone were still in the hunt for a possible quadruple, and their next match was the League Cup final and a chance to secure the first of those trophies. Raith Rovers were their opponents, and it was clear that they didn’t have any intention of rolling over at Hampden Park. Raith took an early lead which was cancelled out by Luis Rocha, but they continued to attack Greenwood’s side, and after having a stonewall penalty appeal turned down, they regained the lead anyway right on the stroke of half time. St. Johnstone attacked Raith right from the start of the second half and there were plenty of chances, but Raith were playing a perfect counter attacking game and getting a few chances of their own. St. Johnstone were running out of time when Stéphane Brachet, so often their saviour, scored a pinpoint header in the 87th minute to take the game into extra time. Then, almost straight from the kick off at the start of extra time, Brachet and Aerts exchanged passes and the Dutch striker volleyed in a superb goal to give St. Johnstone the lead. Still Raith wouldn’t back down, as they repeated St. Johnstone’s trick by scoring in the first minute of the second half of extra time to make it 3-3. However, it was Brachet who had the last word, the French forward capping off a wonderful move with a sensational strike into the top corner from the edge of the box. St. Johnstone won an excellent final by four goals to three, and that was trophy number one.

The 4th straight SPL title was getting closer, but St. Johnstone dropped two points against closest challengers Hibs drawing 1-1. That was followed by an easy 2-0 win over League Cup final opponents Raith Rovers, which was good preparation for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris SG. St. Johnstone were at home for the first leg, and they produced an excellent performance to win the match 2-0. Frans Aerts was the star, scoring both goals in the victory as Greenwood’s team controlled the game from start to finish, never allowing the French side to grab an away goal. The games were coming thick and fast now, but Greenwood was able to chop and change a bit to keep his squad fresh, while still getting the wins. St. Johnstone secured a place in the Scottish Cup final with a 2-0 win over Aberdeen, and just two days later recorded another 2-0 victory, this time over Kilmarnock in the SPL. A chance to win the league was wasted as St. Johnstone could only draw 0-0 with Aberdeen, when a win would have secured the title, but that was followed by an excellent performance in France as the Saints finished off Paris SG in the Champions League quarter final. St. Johnstone had no intention of defending the lead as they immediately threw everything at PSG, but they couldn’t score, and despite an early red card for the home side they kept on dominating and dominating, but failing to put the ball in the net. There was always that fear that however unlikely it was, PSG might be able to get one goal and then pile on the pressure for a second, and when Joaquim Hélio was sent off for the Saints to even it up at 10 v 10, it seemed like it might be possible. St. Johnstone finally killed off the home side in the 89th minute when Rene Keur scored the winner on the night. St. Johnstone would face English giants Manchester United in the semi-finals, but the real downside of the game against PSG was Hélio’s sending off, as the defensive midfielder would surely be missed against Man Utd.

St. Johnstone sealed their 4th consecutive SPL title in their next match away at Hibs, as they were always in control in an excellent 3-1 win. Aerts, Carmona and Brachet scored the goals, and it was an excellent achievement to win four straight league titles, all of them without any real challenge. It meant that all attention could now be turned towards the Champions League campaign. After beating Raith Rovers 4-0, St. Johnstone welcomed Manchester United to McDiarmid Park. It was a massive match against a team with world class players, and all the talk was about the significance of Joaquim Hélio’s absence, and how he was replaced in the line-up by Alan Kelly, a former Manchester United player. The match didn’t offer much in terms of entertainment. It was a tight tactical battle in which Kelly did his best to nullify the attacking threat of Man Utd’s midfield players, and the end result was a 0-0 draw. Greenwood was relatively happy with that, since his side hadn’t conceded an away goal, but they had nothing to defend at Old Trafford and it was going to be tough in the second leg. Preparation for the second leg was good, as St. Johnstone put four past Motherwell in a 4-2 victory, and then it was off to Old Trafford. Unfortunately for St. Johnstone, Manchester United got off to a fantastic start, asking all the questions of Greenwood’s team, and they didn’t have any answers. Veteran midfielder Chris Palmer, still Greenwood’s record transfer purchase for his move from Chelsea to Barletta for £20M in 2014, scored the opener early on for Man Utd, and it meant a significant dilemma for Greenwood and the Saints. They weren’t quite sure whether to play a more expansive game or whether to try and consolidate a bit a 1-0 before pushing for the away goal. The home side continued to dominate, and doubled their lead in the 32nd minute through a Jean-Marc Mangione free kick. At half-time St. Johnstone faced a monumental task – score two goals without reply in 45 minutes at Old Trafford against Manchester United. They gave it their all, but there was no way they were coming back once United had done their damage in the first half. It ended 2-0, and after a great European run, St. Johnstone finally bowed out of the Champions League.

Now all Greenwood and his team had to look forward to was the Scottish Cup final meeting with Rangers. They finished off the league season with a 2-0 away win over Hearts, ending on 87 points, then waited for their trip to Hampden Park, aiming to complete a second consecutive domestic treble. In the cup final the Saints had the edge right from the start, and took the lead in the 34th minute with a Stéphane Brachet special – a volley from the edge of the box. Then four minutes later Rangers defender John Smith was sent off for a rash tackle on Frans Aerts, and it seemed like it was all over. However, ten-man Rangers managed to drag themselves back into it, Matthew Edwards levelling the scores. For much of the second half, there was little to choose between the two sides, but Aerts had the final say, scoring the winning goal in the 79th minute to put an end to the Rangers resistance. Overall, 2021/22 had been a great season. St. Johnstone had made serious headway in the Champions League, and they had won everything there was to win in Scotland (again).

************************************************** **********************************************
Scottish Premier Division - Sunday 12th June 2022
************************************************** **********************************************


================================================== ==============================================
2021/2 Table
================================================== ==============================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 38 10 6 3 39 22 16 3 0 41 6 87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Hibs 38 13 1 4 23 11 8 7 5 20 15 71
3rd Raith Rovers 38 10 3 5 22 17 9 4 7 20 19 64
4th Motherwell 38 7 7 6 30 30 9 8 1 18 6 63
5th Hearts 38 8 6 6 18 14 8 4 6 27 18 58
6th Aberdeen 38 7 6 6 19 16 6 7 6 22 22 52
7th Dundee Utd 38 6 9 3 15 12 4 7 9 14 21 46
8th Rangers 38 8 6 6 28 21 3 6 9 18 24 45
9th Ross County 38 6 6 6 13 17 2 13 5 14 18 43
10th Dundee 38 6 5 9 15 25 3 3 12 14 27 35
11th Kilmarnock 38 5 4 10 15 27 1 4 14 16 46 26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th R Livingston 38 2 11 6 11 19 1 4 14 7 26 24

[Alex Ferguson]

I must know, where do you get the inspiration and the will to write so much and in such good detail?

[ArsenalJoe]

I don't really know. :sorry:

Maybe the best way of explaining it is that when I'm playing CM or FM and I'm not writing a story about it, I always feel like I want to write it down and I want someone else to know about it. Like if I win the Champions League on FM then that's it, no matter how good the game was I just click continue and it's on with the next season. I'm trying to expand on that but I can't really find the words in my head.

Basically it's because I'm a sad loser. ;)

[Alex Ferguson]

I don't really know. :sorry:

Maybe the best way of explaining it is that when I'm playing CM or FM and I'm not writing a story about it, I always feel like I want to write it down and I want someone else to know about it. Like if I win the Champions League on FM then that's it, no matter how good the game was I just click continue and it's on with the next season. I'm trying to expand on that but I can't really find the words in my head.

Basically it's because I'm a sad loser. ;)

I do exactly the same thing, but then I get bored when I have to write out the match reports.

[ArsenalJoe]

I'm kind of the same and that's why the story is written in this style, summarising the whole season in two long posts. I managed to keep Stevenage and Twelve Flowers going with the match reports but when Twelve Flowers stopped then I started a couple of other stories and kept getting bored.

That's why I decided to do this one in this style, and it's what stopped me from getting bored with it.

[Alex Ferguson]

I'm kind of the same and that's why the story is written in this style, summarising the whole season in two long posts. I managed to keep Stevenage and Twelve Flowers going with the match reports but when Twelve Flowers stopped then I started a couple of other stories and kept getting bored.

That's why I decided to do this one in this style, and it's what stopped me from getting bored with it.

I think I shall try that in my story and see how it goes. Thanks for that. KUTGW anyway :thbup:

[Spav]

It's great to see St. Johnstone becoming a European powerhouse. :)

[ArsenalJoe]

Summer 2022

The general consensus was that St. Johnstone were not far from being where Joe Greenwood wanted them to be. Domestically they now had no challengers, having won two consecutive domestic trebles, and they were not too far away from the ultimate aim of being champions of Europe, having reached the semi-finals in 2021/22. One good summer of transfer activity could represent the final pieces of the jigsaw.

The first stage of transfer activity saw some major developments. Three players were brought in on bosmans: 18 year old centre-back Stuart Thomson from Brighton, 27 year old defensive midfielder Gustavo Murado from Levante, and 21 year old midfielder Simone Martini from Reggiana. The departures were even bigger news, as there were two major sales. There were two low-key players who left the club, the first being 21 year old Glenn Thomas, departing for Blackpool in exchange for £100K, who never really fulfilled his promise, and the second veteran midfielder Andy Ryan. He had only signed a one year contract and that wasn’t renewed, which wasn’t surprising seeing as he hadn’t made much of an impact. Then onto the two major sales. The first was Alan Kelly, who left after only one season with St. Johnstone. The midfielder signed from Manchester United for £4.1M hadn’t quite fitted in with Greenwood’s style of play, and in the end the Saints boss was happy to sell him on to Boavista for £6.25M, making a reasonable profit after only one season. Another player leaving after just one season was Frans Aerts. The Dutch striker had been another good find by Greenwood, signing on a free transfer from FC Utrecht, and he had scored an impressive 26 goals in 40 games, but Valencia came calling with a £10M offer, and St. Johnstone weren’t going to turn that down. It was a sense of déjà vu for Greenwood, who had sold striker Javier Castro to Valencia for the exact same amount two seasons earlier. There were a few concerned fans around who wondered whether Greenwood could replace Aerts adequately. Castro had left, and he had been well replaced by Ståhl, then Ståhl had left and been well replaced by Aerts. Now Aerts was leaving. The fans were desperate for a bit of continuity up front, and for Greenwood to find a striker who would remain at the club for more than one season.

The situation was that Kelly had been replaced in the squad by Murado, and now two players were needed urgently – an extra midfielder to replace Andy Ryan, and a striker to replace Frans Aerts. St. Johnstone fans were left scouring internet messageboards and blogs trying to find out the possible identity of these two players, and any other possible signings. The first player to be unveiled was a bit of an anti-climax, as it was 27 year old attacking midfielder Nicholas Day on a free transfer. A player who was struggling to appear regularly for Crystal Palace didn’t seem like the man to lead St. Johnstone to European glory. Luckily for the fans, Greenwood had much bigger plans up front. St. Johnstone soon broke their transfer record to buy a new striker, as 20 year old Bruno Lombardi arrived from Napoli for the astonishing fee of £12.5M. It was a major gamble, as the youngster was far from the finished article, and he was not yet renowed for scoring lots of goals in Serie A. The fans, however, were simply pleased to see Greenwood splashing the cash. There was speculation that perhaps that was the end of the summer’s transfer activity, but a few days later Dutch winger Johan Vink was unveiled as a St. Johnstone player. The 28 year old had been a star player for Roda JC for years, and now he had the chance to strut his stuff in the Champions League. That spelled the end of another Dutchman’s St. Johnstone career, as Harry van der Heijden was sold off to Kilmarnock to £675K. Greg Morrell also left the club, the young midfielder’s position under threat from the earlier arrival of Simone Martini. Morrell joined Hibs in exchange for £2.5M.

Now was it the end of the summer’s transfer activity? Not quite, as St. Johnstone were stunned by an announcement from Christian Royer. The 32 year old French forward announced that he was retiring from football with immediate effect, prompting Greenwood and his management team to swoop almost instantly for Partick Thistle’s 28 year old forward Peter Young. He was a boyhood St. Johnstone fan and a product of the club’s youth academy, who had left and joined many Scottish clubs. Now, for the sum of £2M, he arrived back at St. Johnstone in a dream move to replace Royer. Greenwood then had one last surprise in store before the start of the new season, as he signed another big money striker. Young Scotsman Martin Reid was a Northampton youth product, and he had been banging in the goals for the first division club in a bid to get them promoted to the Premiership. He scored 14 in 35 in his first season, 10 in 20 in his second season, then 25 in 39 in his third season. It was that 25 goal haul that prompted several Premiership clubs to move for him, with Charlton, Leicester, Blackburn and Sunderland all touted as possible destinations. Some newspapers even went as far as to announce that Reid’s move to Charlton was pretty much a done deal. Then Greenwood swooped and out of nowhere, 21 year old Martin Reid was a St. Johnstone player in a £7M deal. This was a major success – Greenwood had managed to beat several Premiership clubs to a very promising player, and he now had two new strikers bought for a combined total of almost £20M. With Lombardi and Reid now spearheading the Saints attack, could they finally win that elusive Champions League trophy?

[Alex Ferguson]

I wish I could have read the beginning of this. :(

Superb story, should definitely be archived. KUTSW! :thbup:

[ArsenalJoe]

If you didn't read the beginning then you missed out on Arsenal's comeback in the 2004 CL final from 2-0 down to win 3-2 thanks to an 89th minute Cortes goal. I feel for you. :D

I appreciate the continued comments. :)

---------

2022/23 - Part one

The big money signings of Martin Reid and Bruno Lombardi appeared to signal the end of Max Garbero’s St. Johnstone career, and indeed they did, as the Argentinian was swiftly sold to Colchester for £1.3M after scoring 33 goals over three seasons for Greenwood’s team. That left them ready to start the season at last, and it began in promising fashion, as St. Johnstone crushed Dundee United 4-1 at Tannadice. Luis Rocha scored the first Saints goal of the season, and Martin Reid came off the bench to open his account in his first appearance, adding the 4th and final goal. Hibs caused a scare in the next match by taking the lead in the second half, but St. Johnstone turned it around thanks to goals from Oliver Baumann and Peter Young, his first for the club. Then an early Young goal helped Greenwood’s side to a 2-0 win over Kilmarnock. Bruno Lombardi then struck with his first goal for the club, scoring the winner in a 2-1 home win over Dundee. He had been involved in a lot of good moves in his first three games, but now he was off the mark and Greenwood expected the goals to start flowing now. That was exactly what happened in the next match away at Dunfermline, as Lombardi hit two goals, as did Stéphane Brachet, in a 4-0 win over the league’s early strugglers. It was five wins out of five so far, but it seemed like St. Johnstone might have more of a battle on their hands this season than in previous ones, as they hadn’t yet pulled away at the top, with Aberdeen clinging to their coattails, also unbeaten.

After points were dropped for the first time in a 0-0 draw with Motherwell, the Champions League campaign got underway. The aim, quite clearly, was to win it, and in the group stages they were drawn into a group containing Werder Bremen, Rapid Vienna and Valencia. That meant they would face former strikers Javier Castro and Frans Aerts when they played the Spaniards. Rapid Vienna, the weakest side in the group, were their first opponents, and the result in Vienna was slightly disappointing, as they only managed a 0-0 draw despite dominating the match. St. Johnstone managed to grind out an impressive 1-0 win over Hearts away, playing the majority of the game with ten men, and then Valencia arrived at McDiarmid Park. It was an exciting game, and Lombardi broke the deadlock just minutes before half-time. However, the Saints couldn’t hold on for those final few minutes of the half, with former striker Frans Aerts making it 1-1. It stayed that way for most of the second half, but with 15 minutes left Johan Vink chose a great time to score his first goal for the club, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal. They wavered at home again in the league, as Rangers managed to hold Greenwood’s side to a 2-2 draw at McDiarmid Park, but a great comeback in Bremen brought them one step closer to a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. St. Johnstone went behind early against Werder, the score remained 1-0 for most of the match, but Brachet struck in the 72nd minute, then Lombardi won it with just three minutes left on the clock.

Fresh from that late winner in Germany, St. Johnstone’s new Italian marksman scored his first hat-trick for the club in their next match, scoring all three goals as Aberdeen were sunk 3-0 at home. It was like a message to a club who had the audacity to be seriously challenging St. Johnstone’s top spot in the SPL, and Greenwood must have hoped that would put Aberdeen back in their place. Lombardi then scored three again as St. Johnstone defeated Partick Thistle 3-1 in the League Cup, and that was followed by another 3-1 win over Dundee United, though Lombardi wasn’t on the scoresheet this time. A comfortable win over Werder Bremen at home guaranteed St. Johnstone’s place in the next round of the Champions League with two games to spare, as Brachet and Lombardi got two each in a 4-1 win, though two more league points were dropped next in a 0-0 draw with Ross County. Aberdeen still weren’t going away, and pundits were asking whether there was a real possibility of Greenwood’s team being deposed as champions. In the Champions League it was all good as St. Johnstone defeated Rapid Vienna 2-1, but then more points were lost away against Hibs. It took a late Bruno Lombardi goal to preserve their unbeaten run in the league in a 1-1 draw, and Aberdeen were still catching up. Luckily it was followed up by a crushing home win over Kilmarnock. Gustavo Murado scored his first goal for the Saints, and Brachet got a hat-trick, as they ran out 6-0 winners. After that they travelled to Spain for what was essentially a meaningless game. Valencia and St. Johnstone had both already qualified for the last 16, and Greenwood’s team already had top spot sewn up, but there was still pride at stake. After Aerts scored again against his former employers, it seemed as if Valencia would take the three points, but that pride led the Saints to really push for an equaliser late on, and in the dying seconds Brachet struck to deny the home side victory. St. Johnstone faced a tricky second round group against Deportivo, PSV and Greenwood’s former club and reigning European champions Arsenal.

There were still some pundits who were pointing out weaknesses in the St. Johnstone team, and they must have loved seeing Dundee race into a 2-0 lead after only 11 minutes against Greenwood’s side. However, in the 51st minute it all turned very quickly. Bruno Lombardi pulled a goal back, and in some bizarre scenes after the goal, Joseba Fernández Álvarez, who had actually been one of Greenwood’s last signings as Barletta boss, punched Johan Vink. That was a straight red, and the demoralised ten men of Dundee were ripped apart from then on, with Lombardi getting another and Vink recovering from Álvarez’s left hook to slot in two goals of his own. It ended 4-2 to St. Johnstone, but there were still question marks, as it had really taken a foolish red card to turn the game in their favour. Any weaknesses that did exist were unlikely to be capitalised on by bottom side Dunfermline, and St. Johnstone cruised to a 3-1 home win over the strugglers before jetting off to Spain to begin round two of the Champions League. Deportivo were their opponents, and they were another Spanish side containing a former Saints man, Josep Maria Rívas, but he could be described as a Saints reject, unlike Aerts. Deportivo took an early lead, but St. Johnstone managed to turn it around with goals from Baumann and Brachet. At half-time they led 2-1 and it all looked good, but Joaquim Hélio changed all that. A talented midfielder he may have been but this wasn’t the first time he had seen red for St. Johnstone in only his second season with the club. He picked up a second yellow for a rash challenge just outside the box. The resulting free kick was converted by the home side, and the ten men of St. Johnstone were run ragged for the rest of the game, with two further goals tying up a 4-2 victory for Deportivo. A win would have been a fantastic result, and they may well have got it were it not for Hélio’s recklessness. The Portuguese midfielder’s disciplinary record was criticised publicly by a disappointed Joe Greenwood, who hoped Hélio could clean up his act.

St. Johnstone then faced two matches against Motherwell away, one in the SPL and one in the League Cup quarter final. Both ended in comfortable victories, with a 2-0 win in the league and an impressive 4-0 win in the cup match. However, points were then dropped in a 2-2 draw with Ross County, as St. Johnstone pulled back from a goal down, only to let in a late equaliser. A win at home against PSV was a must, as in all honesty this was probably their easiest match of the 2nd group stage in the Champions League, and after losing in Spain, they needed three points. They looked a bit nervy, but they got the goals from Lombardi and Murado to win 2-0, and that left them confident of qualification after their first two matches in the group. Despite the fact that St. Johnstone were still unbeaten in the league, Aberdeen were still breathing down their necks. Their next match was at home against Aberdeen, a great chance to win and give themselves more breathing space at the top. It looked like that was going to happen as they led for much of the game thanks to a 7th minute Brachet strike. However, they failed to extend the lead, and Aberdeen scrambled in an 84th minute equaliser to keep the pressure on at the top. After a Lombardi goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Raith Rovers, St. Johnstone travelled to Ibrox, and although Rangers were now not the force they once were, this fixture was always a tricky one. It was made even more tricky when Alex Munro clipped Yannick Métivier’s feet in the area just 20 minutes in. It was a red card for the Saints goalkeeper and Rangers converted the spot kick to go 1-0 up. St. Johnstone played on the back foot for most of the match, but they didn’t concede any further goals, and a Brachet equaliser in the scond half earned them a 1-1 draw.

St. Johnstone then won two straight away games comfortably, against Dundee United and Raith, and that meant that there was only one SPL game left of the year 2022. It was a game in hand between St. Johnstone and Hearts. Greenwood’s side were two points ahead of Aberdeen, so all they needed to do was win at home against Hearts and that would give them a five point cushion at the top. It did not start well, as Gustavo Murado went off injured after just six minutes. Then in the 14th minute Hearts took the lead, and from then on the Edinburgh side tightened up, making it as difficult as possible for Greenwood’s side to break through. Peter Young struck the crossbar and Oliver Baumann missed a seemingly unmissable chance, and that was that. Hearts survived to claim a 1-0 win, and St. Johnstone lost for the first time in the SPL that season. The assumption before the season was that St. Johnstone had domestic football all sewn up, and that all they needed now was the Champions League. As unlikely as it would have seemed before the season began, there really was a title race on as the SPL entered the new year, with Aberdeen still believing that they could overthrow Greenwood’s dominant Saints as Scottish champions.

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Scottish Premier Division - Sunday 1st January 2023
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================================================== ==============================================
2022/3 Table
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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st ST. JOHNSTONE 23 6 4 1 20 8 9 3 0 29 8 52
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2nd Aberdeen 23 7 3 1 20 9 8 2 2 24 12 50
3rd Hearts 23 4 4 3 9 7 7 4 1 18 10 41
4th Ross County 23 5 2 5 16 14 5 5 1 15 8 37
5th Rangers 23 4 6 1 15 12 5 3 4 18 14 36
6th Dundee 23 4 2 5 12 12 6 1 5 12 12 33
7th Motherwell 23 6 2 4 21 18 2 6 3 10 10 32
8th Raith Rovers 23 4 2 5 10 11 3 3 6 7 8 26
9th Dunfermline 23 3 3 6 12 22 3 2 6 12 24 23
10th Hibs 23 1 3 8 7 19 4 0 7 11 18 18
11th Dundee Utd 23 2 4 6 12 19 1 4 6 8 17 17
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12th Kilmarnock 23 2 1 9 6 20 1 3 7 7 19 13

[Nath Boy]

Good stuff, but a bigger challenge this year.

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks Nath Boy.

--------

2022/23 - Part two

The January transfer window did not signal any new transfer activity as Greenwood was perfectly happy with his squad, and the first task was to get over that defeat against Hearts with a win over Motherwell. Bruno Lombardi scored twice and fellow Italian Simone Martini got his first goal for the club from the spot as Greenwood’s team won 3-0 against Motherwell, and they were back on track. Kilmarnock were their next victims, as the bottom side couldn’t resist St. Johnstone’s attacking play, slipping to a 2-1 home defeat. Aberdeen still weren’t backing off, and the league’s top two sides locked horns next in the Scottish Cup 3rd round. It was a tight game at Pittodrie, but St. Johnstone edged it, and an early goal from Joaquim Hélio was enough to win the match. It did mean, however, that Aberdeen now had no Scottish Cup or European commitments, meaning they could concentrate more on their bid to wrestle the SPL title from St. Johnstone’s grasp. Hibs were the next visitors to McDiarmid Park and it wasn’t a happy return for Urban Ståhl, who was sent off for the visitors as Greenwood’s side eased to a 4-0 victory. Two points were then dropped against Dunfermline, allowing Aberdeen to draw level with St. Johnstone at the top of the league, though the Saints still led on goal difference. In the next match at home against Dundee, St. Johnstone found it difficult to break down their opponents, but they got the breakthrough with a second half penalty and red card incident, and in the end they won 3-0.

St. Johnstone then faced two of their most important games of the season, as they came up against Arsenal both home and away in two matches which would go some way to deciding their Champions League fate. Arsenal were the reigning champions, but this was perhaps the best time to play them, since they had lost their last five league games and were looking extremely vulnerable. That proved to be the case, as St. Johnstone won in London 1-0 thanks to a Bruno Lombardi goal, and they were always in control. Arsenal were booed off at the end of the match. St. Johnstone then progressed to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 away win over Raith Rovers before welcoming Arsenal to McDiarmid Park. The reigning champions were desperate for a win, because anything less would signal the end of their defence of the trophy, but Greenwood clearly wasn’t in the mood to do any favours for his old side, as his team were on top form right from the first minute, with Peter Young giving them the lead just over a minute in. Johan Vink then wrapped up the 2-0 win by scoring the second goal with 20 minutes left. Arsenal were out of the Champions League, and St. Johnstone were almost into the quarter finals. Two crucial games followed, both against Aberdeen. First St. Johnstone travelled to Pittodrie looking to put some distance between themselves and their closest challengers in the SPL. They succeeded, dominating the match and cruising to a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Diego Miranda and Lombardi. It was a clear example of why St. Johnstone were champions, as they had completely outplayed Aberdeen from start to finish. The next encounter between the two was in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, and this time Aberdeen produced a far better performance. After Diego Miranda opened the scoring for the Saints, Aberdeen turned it round before half-time, going into the break at 2-1 up. St. Johnstone struggled to get back into it, and time was running out, but Lombardi rescued them with a 79th minute equaliser. It finished 2-2 and 30 minutes extra time couldn’t separate them any further, so it went to penalties. As it turned out, penalties were yet another thing the Saints were brilliant at, as they slotted home all five of their spot kics to win the shoot-out 5-3 and reach the League Cup final.

Despite the victory on penalties, the performance against Aberdeen hadn’t been too good, and it was followed by another poor performance at home against Rangers. St. Johnstone were never really in control of the game, and Rangers stole all three points with a 86th minute goal. Then the Saints produced a similar performance at home against Deportivo in the Champions League. All the hard work seemed to have been done in the two matches against Arsenal, but St. Johnstone slipped up at home against the Spaniards, losing 1-0 and that meant that they required a win in Holland against PSV to guarantee themselves a place in the last eight. A 4th dodgy performance in a row followed as St. Johnstone found it a lot more difficult than it should have been against Partick Thistle of the first division at McDiarmid Park in the Scottish Cup quarter final. The first division side took an early lead, but St. Johnstone eventually turned it around to go 2-1 up in the second half and it seemed like they were going to scrape through. However, Partick Thistle had other ideas, scoring a 93rd minute equaliser to earn a replay. This wasn’t the best form to be going into a crucial Champions League match off the back of, but St. Johnstone weren’t guaranteed a place in the last eight unless they beat PSV away. Luckily John van Beukering helped them out by getting sent off early on for shoving Stuart Thomson. Minutes later Luis Rocha scored a magnificent volley to put the Saints 1-0 up, and ten-man PSV weren’t coming back from that. The win was eventually sealed by Oliver Baumann, and St. Johnstone topped their group, going through to a quarter-final meeting with rank outsiders and shock quarter-finalists Helsingborg. It was a great opportunity to reach the last four again.

The confidence boost from beating PSV, even it was against ten men, seemed to spur St. Johnstone on, because they then produced a magnificent performance to crush Dundee in the League Cup final. Bruno Lombardi scored a hat-trick, in addition to goals from Brachet and Vink, as they won 5-0 to secure their third straight League Cup. That was trophy number one for the season. Now that Greenwood’s side were back on form, Partick Thistle had no chance in the replay of the cup quarter-final. Craig Bentley opened the scoring, and although another foolish display of indiscipline from Joaquim Hélio saw the Portuguese midfielder sent off in the second half, Micky Barnes added a second goal to seal the win and a place in the semi-finals. Stéphane Brachet scored both goals as St. Johnstone then beat Ross County 2-0 to open up a gap between themselves and Aberdeen at the top of the SPL, then after a 1-1 draw with Hearts it was time to welcome Helsingborg to McDiarmid Park for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Helsingborg were shock quarter-finalists, able to reach this stage by keeping a nucleus of Swedish internationals at the club and pulling off a couple of shock victories. St. Johnstone were clear favourites and they just needed to be professional and not let complacency creep into their game. That was exactly what they did, with Brachet scoring two first half goals and St. Johnstone then holding on to that 2-0 lead until the end of the match. Barring a second leg disaster, that meant a place in the semi-finals. Hearts were St. Johnstone’s next opponents in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, and Greenwood’s side were pegged back after taking an early lead. With the score at 1-1, ex-Saints player Tony Marsh was sent off for Hearts, and St. Johnstone then pounded the Hearts goal looking for a winner. It looked like it wasn’t going to come, but then in the 85th minute Luis Rocha was barged over in the box, and Brachet converted the penalty to win it 2-1. That was job done and a place in the cup final secured.

Just as many had predicted, Aberdeen were losing touch with St. Johnstone at the top as the season neared its end. They did just about stay close enough to keep the pressure on though, even as St. Johnstone defeated Raith Rovers 3-1 and Hearts 1-0. Then Greenwood took his side to Sweden for the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final. It seemed like St. Johnstone were almost through going into the second leg, and they wanted an early away goal to seal it, but after having the better of the first half it was still 0-0. Then, early in the second half, Alex Munro was adjudged to have tripped Rolf Jönsson and it was a penalty for Helsingborg. It was a harsh decision as Munro clearly took the ball, and Greenwood wasn’t happy, but the penalty was converted, and then disaster struck as just minutes later Jönsson curled in a free kick to level things up a 2-2 on aggregate. For the next 10 minutes it was all Helsingborg, with St. Johnstone struggling to get a grip of the game again, and it seemed like Greenwood’s side might do the unthinkable and lose 3-0 and go out. However, they managed to hang on in there, and then with 15 minutes left Bruno Lombardi scored a truly wonderful goal from 25 yards to make it 2-1 on the night, and that pretty much sealed the victory. All they needed was an away goal, and finally they had got it. The semi-final draw presented St. Johnstone with another relatively easy draw, as they were drawn against Anderlecht, the weakest team in the semi-finals. This was an excellent chance to reach the final for the first time.

A 1-0 win over Motherwell meant that St. Johnstone had the chance to seal the SPL title at home against Rangers, but Greenwood played a weakened side to rest key players for the Champions League semi-final. The result was that Rangers won the match 1-0, and bizarrely they won it 1-0 thanks to an 86th minute, which was exactly what happened when the two sides met at McDiarmid Park in March. St. Johnstone then faced Anderlecht in the Champions League in Brussels, knowing that a good result away from home would give them a great chance of reaching the final. The match was very strange, as it was very tight and very even for the first 35 minutes or so, with St. Johnstone possibly just about edging it. Then in the 39th minute Bruno Lombardi drilled in the opening goal, and by half-time Anderlecht were completely sunk. In the 45th minute it was 2-0, with Brachet finishing off a cross from Frank Goossens, and in the final minute of added time Baumann collected Rocha’s pass and found the top corner with an excellent half-volley. The home fans were stunned, as it a little over six minutes St. Johnstone had raced into a 3-0 lead and all but killed Anderlecht’s chances of reaching the final. A low-key second half passed by without a goal and St. Johnstone were pretty much through with a magnificent victory. The SPL title was then secured with a win against closest challengers Aberdeen away. Greenwood was quick to praise Aberdeen for giving St. Johnstone a real scare in the race for the SPL, and he believed that the close race kept his team sharp throughout the season, but the Saints underlined their superiority with a 3-0 win. Martin Reid got two goals and Nicholas Day the other as the Saints wrapped up the title. The second leg of the Anderlecht tie was uneventful as the Belgian side never really believed they had a chance of overturning the 3-0 deficit, but Lombardi won it 1-0 on the night with a late goal which set off the celebrations in the crowd. Greenwood had reached the final, and St. Johnstone’s opponents there would be PSV, who had shocked Real Madrid in the other semi-final, knocking them out on away goals. A dull 0-0 draw with Ross County finished off the league season, and St. Johnstone then began preparing for two finals, the Scottish Cup final, and the far more important Champions League final.

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Scottish Premier Division - Monday 19th June 2023
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================================================== ==============================================
2022/3 Table
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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts
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1st C ST. JOHNSTONE 38 12 5 3 36 11 13 5 0 39 11 85
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2nd Aberdeen 38 10 4 5 28 19 14 3 2 39 17 79
3rd Hearts 38 8 5 7 18 16 10 7 1 27 13 66
4th Ross County 38 6 6 6 22 20 9 8 3 22 15 59
5th Motherwell 38 9 3 6 29 22 6 8 6 19 18 56
6th Rangers 38 6 7 7 26 26 8 5 5 25 20 54
7th Dundee 38 5 6 8 16 23 8 3 8 18 22 48
8th Dunfermline 38 8 6 6 25 26 4 3 11 15 30 45
9th Raith Rovers 38 8 2 8 16 16 4 6 10 9 15 44
10th Dundee Utd 38 4 6 9 20 29 3 7 9 20 30 34
11th Hibs 38 2 7 9 10 24 6 2 12 18 35 33
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12th R Kilmarnock 38 3 4 12 13 29 1 4 14 10 33 20

The Champions League final wasn’t one the neutrals and TV companies would have wanted, as PSV v St. Johnstone didn’t quite have the same ring to it as Real Madrid v AC Milan, or Manchester United v Arsenal, the all-English final of the season before. That didn’t matter to St. Johnstone though, as they had managed to get through the knock-out stages without facing any real superpowers, and they only needed to beat a team who they had beaten home and away in the last 16 to win the Champions League. The Amsterdam Arena was the venue, and those who did make the trip were celebrating just six minutes in, as Paul McGregor’s cross was headed home by St. Johnstone’s star striker Bruno Lombardi. PSV worked hard to try to find a way back, but St. Johnstone were edging the game and playing some beautiful football. Lombardi doubled the lead in the 38th minute, collecting the ball in acres of space and running at the petrified defenders before planting a 20 yard effort into the top corner. Then the icing on the cake came in stoppage time, as St. Johnstone put together a wonderful flowing move. Luis Rocha skipped past one challenge and found Johan Vink, who beat another defender and found Stéphane Brachet. The French forward stopped the ball dead with a great first touch, manoeuvred around another defender and hit a curling strike into the top corner of the net. Just as they had done in the semi-final, St. Johnstone had killed it in the first 45 minutes, and the second half was one big celebration as the St. Johnstone fans knew they were set to be crowned champions of Europe. When the final whistle went the players rejoiced, with one classic image of the final the image of goalkeeper Alex Munro falling to the floor as soon as the whistle went and remaining there for about five minutes. Bruno Lombardi was also parading around pointing at the St. Johnstone badge on his shirt and showing off possibly the biggest grin ever seen. Joe Greenwood had now won four Champions League trophies, and the man who lifted the trophy as captain was 31 year old Eduardo Carmona. This was his second Champions League trophy, as he had won his first as a young centre-back in Joe Greenwood’s all-conquering Barletta team, and now he was completing Greenwood’s original aim of winning CLs with teams from England, Italy, Brazil and Scotland.

It seemed strange that after winning the Champions League, St. Johnstone still had one more game left to play of the 2022/23 season. The odds on Greenwood’s new champions of Europe to win the cup final against Dunfermline were possibly the shortest odds ever seen for a cup final. Dunfermline simply weren’t expected to win by anyone, and St. Johnstone showed their strength in depth by fielding several players who didn’t start the Champions League final and still winning easily. It was one of those players, Diego Miranda, who scored a hat-trick from midfield to win the match 3-1. Eduardo Carmona almost seemed bored of lifting yet another trophy as he hoisted the Scottish Cup aloft. I said almost. It was a magnificent quadruple for Greenwood’s men: League Cup, Scottish Cup, SPL and Champions League. This season was unlikely to be bettered by any Scottish club, ever.

[Nath Boy]

Brilliant stuff, so St Johnstone finally won the Champions League. I'm wondering where Greenwood goes now, or finishes his career. A big :thbup:

[Alex Ferguson]

Story of the year for me. KIU!

[ArsenalJoe]

Thanks for the comments.

-------

Summer 2023

The aim at the start of Joe Greenwood’s career had been to win the Champions League or Copa Libertadores in each country, then to begin one more season at each club to attempt to retain the trophy before moving on. Now there was nowhere to move on to. Scotland was his final destination, the icing on top of the cake. He still wanted to do as he had done at previous clubs, however, and stay in an attempt to retain the trophy. The only difference was that now he was sure to stay until the end of the season, no matter what. Even if St. Johnstone were eliminated from the Champions League in round one, he would stay until the end of the season rather than walking out halfway through. The 2023/24 season, however, was his last season as a professional football manager.

If you look right back at what Greenwood did at Arsenal in 2003, having won the Champions League, he didn’t keep the squad intact, thinking they were perfect because of that tag as European champions, or because he thought it would be too harsh to let some go having won the ultimate prize. There was change, new players were brought in to replace old ones, such that the man who scored a hat-trick in the 2003 final, Gary Wilkinson, was no longer assured of a regular place in the starting eleven. The same thing happened at St. Johnstone now. Change took place in certain positions to improve the squad even further, and it mostly occurred in the defensive half of the field. In goal, St. Johnstone had a new young talent coming through the academy. 19 year old Craig Black, a Saints fan through and through, had progressed wonderfully well over the past two seasons at reserve level, and now he was ready to make the leap up to second choice keeper behind Alex Munro. That meant big money signing Andrej Oblak was sold to FC Köln for £7.5M. At the time it seemed like a great signing, finally splashing the cash to bring in a top class goalkeeper, and he did perform extremely well, but in the end Munro was uncovered dirt cheap, and now Black had come through, so Oblak just wasn’t needed anymore. In defence, Rene Keur finally paid the price for a number of lapses in concentration over the past couple of seasons. The Dutch centre-back had exceptional talent, but he delivered far too many mediocre performances. He could marshall the back line against Arsenal, then three days later have rings run around him by Motherwell strikers. He was put up for sale and no big clubs were all that interested, so he went back to Holland and FC Utrecht. José María Díaz Garcia also left the club having been a reliable back-up for two seasons, joining Independiente for £2.5M.

Experience was the key word in defence. Again, drawing the parallels to Arsenal, where Greenwood brought in 32 year old Iker Cortés to lead the line after winning the first European Cup, two experienced centre-backs were brought to the club. Now that Greenwood knew this was his last season he didn’t want youngsters with room to improve, he wanted top class experienced players to lead them to yet more glory in the season ahead. Dejair was the first, a 32 year old Brazilian from Marítimo in the Portuguese league who towered above most strikers and who had been a very consistent performer for years in Portugal. He was happy to move to Scotland for the possibility of winning a Champions League trophy. The second defender was Ingo Anders, another 32 year old, who had never played in European competition, but who had 46 caps for Germany. He had it all, but his loyalty to his hometown club SC Freiburg had meant he had never left them. Now with that club in turmoil he finally moved, joining St. Johnstone where he could marshall the defence as one of the senior players in the squad. Better late than never I suppose.

At left-back there was a change, with Paul McGregor moving to America to play for DC United for £2.5M, and 24 year old Andrew Miller being brought in from Sheffield United for £4M to replace him. Then the final change that took place before the new season started saw 21 year old John Welsh snapped up from Hibs. He was extremely versatile but Greenwood saw his best position as a forward, although he could also play in midfield and defence and was a specialist at playing anywhere down the left hand side. Kevin Richardson made way for him, moving to Hibs themselves for £2.5M.

St. Johnstone accepted an invitation to play in a pre-season tournament at West Ham’s Upton Park, and that involved beating Club Brugge 3-0 in the semi-final, with Stéphane Brachet scoring a hat-trick, but then losing to French side Nantes in the final 3-1. You couldn’t read too much into the results, but what it did show was that St. Johnstone as European champions were now a highly respected club in Europe, since they had been invited to participate in the tournament. Greenwood wanted to make them even more highly respected by retaining the Champions League, so could he do it and go out with a bang?

[ArsenalJoe]

2023/24 - Part one

Greenwood’s final season began with a 4-0 thrashing of newly-promoted Livingston, with Stéphane Brachet and Bruno Lombardi scoring two each. Then there was one more bit of major transfer activity, as Oliver Baumann apparently wanted a return to Germany now that he had won the Champions League. He was sold for £2M to Nürnberg, with French midfielder Hervé Weber arriving quickly to replace him in a £1.2M deal from Guingamp. Weber scored on his debut as St. Johnstone scraped past Aberdeen 3-2, and then he was on the scoresheet again as Dundee United were crushed 4-1. Rangers managed to take an early lead and dominate the first half in their match at McDiarmid Park, but St. Johnstone struck back with Brachet equalising and they won it with two late goals from Lombardi and Johan Vink. Four straight wins to kick off the season, and no fewer than three goals scored by the Saints in each match. The European Super Cup then took place, with St. Johnstone taking on UEFA Cup winners Lazio in Monaco. It was a lot more difficult than it should have been, as young defender Luca Ferrari was sent off after just 11 minutes for Lazio. However, even with ten men the Italian side proved to be tricky opponents, and they managed to hold out at 0-0 and take the game into extra-time. That extra 30 minutes proved to be too difficult for Lazio to hold out, with a 102nd minute goal from Brachet finally winning the match. It wasn’t the most prestigious trophy in the world, but it was another trophy for the St. Johnstone cabinet, so who was going to turn that down?

After the international break St. Johnstone dropped their first points of the season with a 0-0 draw at home against Ross County, and then what Greenwood had been waiting for since May, the defence of their Champions League crown, began. St. Johnstone’s group contained Red Star, Juventus and Lille, and they travelled to Serbia first to face Red Star. Any trip to Eastern Europe can be tricky and intimidating, and St. Johnstone delivered a professional performance to win 2-0, with Weber and Joaquim Hélio scoring the goals. The Saints then produced a similar performance to win 2-0 away against Dundee in the SPL, and that was followed by a dominant home win over Lille, with Weber opening the scoring and Andrew Miller and Dejair both scoring their first goals for the club to make it 3-0. After these impressive performances, St. Johnstone were then left stunned as Hearts raced into a 2-0 lead at McDiarmid Park inside the first nine minutes. Bruno Lombardi scored twice to drag Greenwood’s side back level at 2-2, but that was how it ended so that was two points dropped. Aberdeen were lurking just behind St. Johnstone in the league table once again. That proved to be a mere blip, as Greenwood’s team were back to their dominant best against Juventus at home. The Italian giants barely got into the game as the Saints raced into an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Vink and Lombardi. Juventus did pull a goal back, but Lombardi soon made it 3-1 and St. Johnstone probably should have scored more. Another Johan Vink goal secured a 1-0 win over Motherwell, then St. Johnstone demolished Dundee United away from home in the League Cup, winning 5-1 with five different goalscorers. Goals really were coming from everywhere on the pitch, as centre-back Ingo Anders then got his first for the club in a 3-0 away win over Raith Rovers, and against Juventus away the Saints won 2-0 thanks to goals from two centre-backs, Dejair and Stuart Thomson.

It seemed like there was no stopping Greenwood’s Saints as they continued to destroy everyone they faced. Dundee United were cast aside 2-0, and Red Star were then beaten by the same scoreline, though it did take two own goals to beat the Serbian champions. A 3-1 home win over Hibs made it eight straight wins in all competitions for St. Johnstone, and they weren’t stopping jus