Championship Manager 2 96-97 - The Hereford United Rebuild - Season 3

After last seasons disaster turned triumph, where thanks to a bug in the game I had to cobble half a squad together from free transfers, zero transfer targets, and in less than 3 weeks... only to go on to achieve promotion just behind Wrexham in 2nd place, we find ourselves mixing it up with the likes of former Premier League heavyweights like Tottenham, West Ham and Leicester. But first we had to say goodbye to Warren Patmore who, as expected, as his Big Club release clause triggered with a £1.2 Million bid from Austria Vienna.

I was disappointed as he was a key player, but he joined on a free and we cashed in a cool £1.2 mil so to be fair, we did ok out of it! To replace him I brought in Central Midfielder Jason Rees, a Welsh international from Portsmouth for £160k, and joining him was Left and Right Winger Tony Folan on a free from Crystal Palace who had played for us before on loan, Left and Right Winger / Wing Back David MacKay who I think will slot in at Right Back, Central Defender Linvoy Primus, and Left Sided Forward Neil Tolson. I also picked up a new Goalkeeper in Derek O'Connor who I fancy as our future Number 1, as well as schoolboys Edwin Griffiths - a Defender / Midfielder Right / Centre and Philip Bould - a Defender / Midfielder Left / Centre who I think both have the potential to go on to be future stars.

The new season started off a bit shaky as it was clear the squad were struggling slightly to transition to the increased competition. We drew our first 5 games in a row before suffering a 5 -3 defeat at Wimbledon that forced me to consider whether it was time for Derek O'Connor to step in for Paul Tomlinson in goal. Despite some then more positive results; 2-0 at home to West Ham, 3-1 at home to Birmingham, 2-1 at home to Norwich, a heavy 5-1 loss to Blackburn in the League Cup coupled with losses to Sheffield United and Wrexham made me re-think reinstating Tomlinson and eventually held down his place in the first team. Not before we were unable to claw back anything against Blackburn at home though and our League Cup campaign was over at the 2nd Round. In the interim period though, somebody I'd had my eye on suddenly became available for transfer and I moved quickly to ensure we snapped him up!

Matthew Daly cost us £120k from Sheffield Wednesday and I have high hopes that he is going to be our future top goalscorer. I have vague memories of him being a superstar in my Middlesborough team back when I played this the first time around 20, 30 odd years ago...! And I hope he develops in the same fashion in this save. Form in the league was starting to pick up as the team began to gel and adjust and we picked up a 4-0 win at home to Bolton, a 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace, a 2-1 win at home to Leicester and a 3-0 win at home to Barnsley, quickly propelling us up the league! Further good results against Watford, Southend and Wimbledon despite losses at Chesterfield, Huddersfield and Blackpool meant that after 28 games and by January we sat comfortably inside the Playoffs and nowhere near the foot of the table.

My goal this season was mostly to just survive and adapt to the higher level of competition, so to sit quite comfortably in 4th place was a good feeling and with there being no pressure to challenge for promotion, or a title, I wasn't quite so hung up when we picked up the odd defeat. And then... the odd defeat started to become much less fewer and far between...! We picked up a great 5-1 win at Ipswich, a 4-0 win away a recently relegated Birmingham, a 3-1 win away at West Ham, a 2-1 win at Man City and a 3-1 win at home to Sheffield United! All whilst holding down a respectable run in the FA Cup, knocking out Second Division Brentford in the 3rd Round, First Division West Ham in the 4th Round and First Division Blackpool in the 5th Round to set up a Quarter Final date hosting Premier League contenders; Chelsea in the Quarter Final!

Unfortunately it was there that we found our limited and despite holding them to a 2 - 2 draw at Edgar Street, we were soundly beaten 3-1 at Stamford Bridge and our FA Cup run was over. Chelsea went on to lose to Second Division Nottingham Forest?! Who I genuinely felt we could have beat to meet Everton in the Final. But focusing on trophies maybe comes further into the project! Back in Division 1, we stayed on a strong run of form, despite losing to Bolton 3-1, we beat Barnsley, Leicester, Blackpool and picked up a vital win at home to Crystal Palace who sat just above us to move onto the top of the table for the first time!

My initial goal of; just survive in the First Division had quickly developed into winning the First Division title! News game through that we were guaranteed a promotion place after picking up wins at Leicester and Blackpool, and after a 0-0 draw at Portsmouth, we picked up wins at Chesterfield, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest to be guaranteed promotion, and take the title race take it to the final game of the season. Win at Southend and we were Division 1 champions. Anything less and we were likely to lose out to Crystal Palace.

We left it late! But a 79 minute goal by David MacKay who, usually played at Right Back and was filling in for injured Kofi Nyamah on Left Wing, was enough to pick up a 1-0 win and enough to just creep passed Crystal Palace on goals difference to win!

Despite equal points, a difference of 4 more goals scored and 12 less goals conceded means we pipped Palace to the title but, and even scarier... we were going to be playing PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL next season! That is a scary thought! Ben Thornley was by far and away our best player this season;

Picking up 24 goals in 46 games as well as 18 assists and 19 man of the match awards he was the key player around which the rest of the team was built. Club Captain and first name on the team sheet but his performances have not gone un-noticed and, with him also wanting to move on to a bigger club, I think we may struggle to keep him with us next season.

Gary Worthington was joint topscorer with 24 goals and 14 assists in 39 games and despite competition from new signings continued to hold down his spot and performed better than he did last season. He will likely continue to feature in our Premier League campaign next season and I hope he continues to put the ball in the back of the net regularly for us!

New signing Jason Rees picked up the most assists all season for us with 28 in 37 games and signed as a replacement for Warren Patmore he's done a very good job of filling that gap and I'm hoping his good form continues, if not improving, into next season.

For guiding Hereford United to the Division One Title I was rewarded with the Division One Manager of the Year which is always nice! But now my attention is focused on prepping for the Premier League! I'd be keen to bring in a new Goalkeeper as I suspect Paul Tomlinson may retire at the end of this season and I don't think Derek O'Connor is ready yet. There are a couple of other areas I want to strengthen but... dare I say it... I think the rebuild might almost be complete! Just in time for Premier League football!