Andriy Shevchenko: From Hero to Hero

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The Revolution Begins

Andriy Shevchenko has stamped his authority on QPR, with two more departures following the sales of Radek Cerny, Armand Traore, and Luke Young.

The club have confirmed the sales of third-choice keeper Brian Murphy and left-back Clint Hill, both to West Bromwich and Middlesbrough respectively. In total, they have fetched the club only 775k. However, Shevchenko appeared to be happy about letting some deadwood leave the club.



The Ukrainian wrote on the club website: "Brian and Clint were great professionals and I am sorry we had to see them leave. However, I believe I had to, if we want to see the club push on in the Premier League this season."

Transfers and Friendlies

"What the fuck is this?" I said to myself, out of annoyance more than anger. Alone in the office, I had started reading one of those English newspapers. One of the headlines were "Queens Park Rangers prepared to bid for Jonathan Parr".

I haven't even heard of this... Jonathan Parr person. The newspaper said he was from Norway, and played for Crystal Palace in the Championship.

The news was great at making up things at times. Maybe next time they could write something like "Messi wants to join Man City"?

I was interrupted by a knock on the door. I yelled to come in and in came Mike, and chief scout Steve Hitchen. Also present was one of Steve's team of scouts - a Brazilian scout named Gilmar Francisco.

"The job's done, boss," Mike grinned at me. "We headed out to Brazil for negotiations with those two Brazilian players you were talking about, and I brought along Steve. Steve brought along Gilmar here, who is more knowledgeable of Brazil than us. The three of us managed to watch the two of them in a match, and negotiate contracts, all in one day. Not bad, is it?"

"Not bad at all Mike. Thank you Steve, Gilmar."

The two scouts nodded at me. "They are young, yet both of them have first-team experience. Their acquisition will only bring positive things," said Steve. Gilmar simply nodded, he had only joined us a month ago and couldn't speak much English yet.

When the two scouts dismissed themselves, Mike continued speaking.

"You've booked a flight back to Ukraine, haven't you, boss?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have, Mike. I'm sure you know why," I replied.

"Ah, that Maxym Koval lad."

"Yes, him. He's 19, yet he already looks like he's going to be a world class goalkeeper in the future. And he's Ukrainian. What a plus," I chuckled.

"Do you need me or Mark to go along with you, then? Or maybe Steve?"

"No, I would rather make this short trip myself. I'll be back within the day - I'm only going there to watch a match."

"Alright Andriy. Oh, by the way, Mark told me to hand this to you. Here's a round-up on our pre-season."

Friendlies
Torquay 0 - 4 QPR
Mbia
Taarabt
Cisse
Wright-Phillips

Dallas 3 - 2 QPR
Zamora
Zamora

Bury 1 - 2 QPR
Zamora
Zamora

QPR 0 - 0 Besiktas

"Not a very satisfying pre-season, if you ask me," I remarked.

"I think it was okay," Mike replied. "We tried very hard against Dallas. Besiktas' goalie was on form."

"You are right, but I wouldn't be complaining if Dallas was Manchester United, or if Besiktas was Chelsea. We will be facing much, much tougher opponents in the Premier League. Unless the boys step up their training levels, there will be no way we can compete with the higher powers of the Premier League."

"Fair enough. I will tell Mark and the others to give them extra training, and such. Is there anything else, Andriy?"

"No, Mike. Thank you for helping with negotiations and all!"

"Don't thank me, Andriy! It's my job!" Mike laughed. "I'll be going now."

First Signings: Bringing the Samba

Andriy Shevchenko and Queens Park Rangers have confirmed the Ukrainian's first signings for the club - Brazilians Wellington Nem and Wallace from Fluminense.



Altogether, Wellington Nem and Wallace cost the London club a total of 8 million due to release clauses in both their contracts. Shevchenko has deemed this amount "a bargain", and a majority of the QPR fans seem to agree with him.

The two Brazilians have not been heard of before, but the Rangers manager seems convinced that both will deliver.

Nem, an attacking midfielder, will wear the number 21, while Wallace, a right-back, will don number 13.

"Wellington and Wallace will be massive bargains for the club," remarked Shevchenko, in a press conference. "They will cost much, much more than 8 million in the future."

The two Brazilians are not expected to be the first and last of Shevchenko's signings, as newspapers report that the former Chelsea and Milan striker is keen on bringing one of his own country mates to Loftus Road.

The Second Debut of Andriy Shevchenko

The Premier League. My 'official' debut. It's here.

I watched as the Carrow Road crowd roared Norwich-related chants I haven't really heard of. I hardly came face-to-face with Norwich while playing for Chelsea.

My Norwich counterpart, Chris Houghton, emerged from the tunnel, and gave me a firm handshake, and also a warm smile. "Welcome to Premier League management, Andriy," he chuckled.

"Thank you."

We took our respective positions on the touchline, and watched the two teams' handshaking commence.

QPR XI: Cesar; Bosingwa, Mbia, Onuoha, Fabio; Granero, Faurlin; Park, Nem, Hoilett; Cisse

Norwich XI: Ruddy; Martin, Turner, Bassong, Garrido; Bennett, Johnson, Tettey, Surman; Holt, Morrison

1' - And we kick off here at Carrow Road!

2' GOAL - Martin hits the ball up long to Holt... it's going to cross the line... a goal kick....? NO! Holt has got to it! He's got a header! It goes past the unsuspecting Julio Cesar, and it's a goal! Norwich take the lead! Not the kind of start Andriy Shevchenko must be hoping for!

19' GOAL - QPR equalise after Djibril Cisse runs in through the box, evading defenders and scoring a classy goal from a tight angle.

33' - Grant Holt is injured, and he has to come off for Jackson.

45' - HT: Norwich 1-1 QPR

45' - It seems Andriy Shevchenko has made two substitutions, Bobby Zamora coming on for Djibril Cisse, who scored the vital goal to keep QPR in the game. Hogan Ephraim will come on for Junior Hoilett, who hasn't looked to be playing well today.

49' GOAL - Ephraim has the ball and he plays Zamora through with a superb pass... and Zamora hits it! GOAL! QPR take the lead! Shevchenko's substitutions have given QPR the lead!

55' - Jose Bosingwa comes off for Wallace to make his QPR debut.

65' GOAL - Morrison and Jackson combine and a wonderful pass from Morrison sees Jackson being the last man. He's too fast for the QPR defenders... they catch up to him... but he's already hit it! GOAL! What a goal! Superb combination from Morrison and Jackson!

87' GOAL - Andrew Surman takes his throw-in, and his long throw finds Jackson in the box. Onuoha gets in the way but his interception goes to Sebastian Bassong, who is left horribly unmarked and swings the ball past Julio Cesar... AND NORWICH TAKE THE LEAD!

89' - GOAL - Johnson's cross finds Jackson and he heads it accurately into the box, past Julio Cesar! What a terrible day this is turning out for Queens Park Rangers! 4-2 to Norwich! Their fans are evidently delighted!

90' - FT: Norwich 4-2 QPR. And with that loss, Queens Park Rangers drop to 16th in the Premier League after their first league game of the season. Not the debut Andriy Shevchenko had in mind, but very certainly a wonderful debut for Chris Hughton. If I was Shevchenko, I would be giving Julio Cesar the harshest lecture of his life.

August: Injuries, Losses Everywhere

"What is this?" I asked.

"A monthly report," said Mark. I looked at my desk at the documents he had presented to me.

"I don't like documents," I scowled.

"Well, Tony says you need to keep them," Mark sighed. "For... future references, apparently."

Shaking my head, I took a look at what was inside.


Premier League
Norwich 4 - 2 QPR
Cisse
Zamora

QPR 0 - 3 Tottenham


Capital One Cup
QPR 0 - 1 MK Dons

"I know perfectly well how the team did this month, Mark," I said, annoyed. "I don't need to be reminded of it!"

"Well, it's a direct order from Tony, so.... you should be expecting me to give you these every month."

I sighed. Three losses. One against MK Dons. He was already prepared for a call, or a visit from Tony, asking what the fuck was happening. He had a pretty good team, there were people like Julio Cesar, who by the way had already conceded 7 goals in two matches, as well as Esteban Granero, who had been playing like shit. With that, I continued reading through the documents.

QPR Player of the Month

Bobby Zamora


Zamora scored a goal in his first appearance of the season, after coming on as a half-time substitute for Djibril Cisse. Although he hasn't played much for the Hoops this month because of Cisse's presence up front, when he played, he has performed.

"Player of the month? Rubbish," I shook my head again. "That's only because he played a handful of minutes, and scored a goal!"

"Well, the rest of the players who played a lot did nothing much anyway, so I say you let Bobby have his glory," Mark scratched his cheek.

"Right..." I thought about Bobby Zamora. Djibril Cisse had played 180 minutes of football, in all competitions, for Queens Park Rangers so far, with only one goal and one non-impressive performance. Zamora had one goal in just 90 minutes of football or so, and he had been impressive in every minute. Maybe it was time to start utilizing the Englishman.

"Oh, and here's a transfer report," Mark took out more documents. "It consists of our transfer history, basically a record of the players you bought and sell. There is also a bit of what our finance is like now, and our remaining transfer & wage budget. I will send this to you every six months, I think, after the end of every transfer window."

I sighed. More documents?


"Woah, woah, wait, who is this Andreas Ibertsberger person? I didn't buy him," I said quickly. "Is this a mistake?"

"Nope," Mark shrugged. "Tony heard you were fishing around for a new left-back. He didn't think you would get a new one in time, so he picked one out himself. Mike handled negotiations. A few of the other coaches watched him in solitary training for a bit. They told me he should be fine."

"I'm the manager..." I felt slightly irritated, although I admit - Tony's actions had provided me with a lot of convenience. The concern was whether this Andreas Ibertsberger, someone whom I've never heard of, could make the step-up to Premier League level. Mark told me he wasn't a young player, just a 30-year-old-ish, short-term solution.

It was true, we were lacking in the left-back department.

"Ah, fine... he could be useful."

"Oh, yes, and Pete..." Mark began.

"Pete? Who?"

"Pete, Pete Friar. The Head Physio. The one you employed?"

"Oh, yes. Him." I had trouble remembering names. "What did he say?"

"You know how Junior Hoilett and Fabio got injured this month? He's finally finished examining the extend of their injuries... Junior will be fit for selection in about two weeks, but Pete says he can resume light training within a week."

"That's good, then. What about Fabio?" I asked, recalling the on-loan Manchester United left-back.

"There's a slight problem there," Mark sighed. "Pete says Fabio will be out for at least 3 months... 90 days... minimum."

"3 months?! Minimum?!"

I flew out of my seat.

September: Luck's Run Out

I sighed. This was bad.

3 points taken from 6 games....

Mark came in, with his monthly report. "Hello Andriy. You look a bit under the weather!"

I snorted. "You know why."

"We're 19th in the table," Mark replied understandably. "But you know the team tried their best." He placed the documents on the table, and I reluctantly went through them.


Premier League
QPR 1 - 0 Wigan
Cisse

Liverpool 2 - 0 QPR

QPR 2 - 4 Man City
Taarabt
Cisse

Aston Villa 2 - 1 QPR
Cisse

"This is annoying," I was frustrated. "We play well, every damn time, but we just can't score. Every fucking time!"

"Calm down Andriy," Mark soothed. "Let's go over the Wigan win."

"Yeah, that. We played very well, I could see. The training did a lot of good. But we couldn't score... we couldn't. We tested Ali Al-Habsi so much... yet only Djibril managed a goal. ... Against Liverpool... we couldn't even find the net! We played so well, even after Liverpool scored just before half-time. I was so certain we could at least draw a point..." I ranted on, my frustration building.

"Against Manchester City, we took the lead. A 2-0 lead! Then they just had to hit back with 4 goals!"

"And Aston Villa were lucky," Mark agreed. "They got the winner in 88 or 89 minutes, didn't they?"

"Yes, they did," I replied bitterly.

"You don't have to worry Andriy," Mark patted his boss' shoulder. "I spoke to Tony. Your job should be fine."

"It's not about my job," I snapped. "It's about helping this club, getting Queens Park Rangers to the top. I'm not concerned about whether I get fired or not, I'm more concerned about pulling the club, us, from the relegation dogfight. And we are 19th!"

Mark smiled. "You are a good manager, Andriy."

I blinked.

"Anyway, we just need to work on attacking movement, and maybe finishing," Mark continued. "We are relying too much on Djibril."

"Oh yeah. Djibril. I bet he's Player of the Month." I flipped to the next page of the monthly report, and sure enough, Djibril's face stared right back at me.

QPR Player of the Month

Djibril Cisse


Djibril Cisse scored 3 goals in 4 games this month to contribute to the club's cause. He delivered fascinating performances, that only served to inspire his teammates.

"Inspired?" I gave Mark a loud snort, something I've been doing regularly. "Djibril's practically the only one scoring all the goals. I really can't see how his teammates are helping. Ji-Sung is the captain but all I see from him is running up and down the field without doing anything."

"Well, yes..."

"Who writes this stuff, by the way?"

"These Player of the Month reports are off a reputable Queens Park Rangers fan website," Mark explained. "It was Tony's idea to take it off there and include it in this monthly report. He thought it would be of use."

I shrugged.

"Oh yeah... Junior's injured again."

"What the hell?" I was exasperated. It seemed that the Canadian had two football-related hobbies. Number one - playing football. Number two - getting himself injured. "What is it now, then?"

"He picked up a knock in the gym. I think it was something about exhausting himself and lifting too much weights. Pete Friar mentioned something about a broken wrist. Anyway, he will be out for 3 to 4 weeks."

"Broken wrist, huh?" I shook my head. "... I think it's time for me to call my first team meeting."

You know that things have gone bad when Djibril Cisse is your Player of the Month... Keep your head up Glenn because You'll Never Walk Alone! (Woops! Wrong Story :P)

2012-12-08 00:04#71342 The FM Rookie : You know that things have gone bad when Djibril Cisse is your Player of the Month... Keep your head up Glenn because You'll Never Walk Alone! (Woops! Wrong Story :P)

1000 views in 4 days, thank you so much guys

Nice story Glen,, but very bad results :/, you can do it Glenn, Q.P.R to the Champions League (:p)!!!

October: Improvements

"Hello, Mark," I said dryly. "The monthly report, I presume."

"Yes, Andriy," Mark grinned, presenting me with his report.


Premier League
QPR 3 - 2 Sunderland
Cisse
Cisse
Mbia

Swansea 2 - 1 QPR
Cisse

QPR 2 - 0 Fulham
Cisse
Riise

"Well... at least this month's results improved," Mark smiled.

"Yes... we are now 15th in the table. We just need to keep moving upwards."

"Chelsea and Everton are one point below you, but they both have a game in hand," my assistant manager reminded me.

"Oh yeah, right, okay... Wait.... Chelsea and Everton?"

"Yes... Chelsea and Everton," Mark laughed.

I resisted the urge to laugh along. Chelsea... in 16th place? Everton in 17th place? Was reality being warped?

Well, then again, they were only 8 games into the season. Plenty of time for both Roberto Di Matteo and David Moyes to turn things around.

"Oh, yes, have you been reading the news lately?" Mark asked.

"The news?" I shook my head. "I only read it when I'm bored."

"They are saying that your job is under threat," Mark explained. "That Tony is growing impatient with you and such, for your poor start. The Fulham manager and the Sunderland manager have both got sacked... so maybe they are trying to predict who'll get sacked next."

"The papers usually publish crap," I waved the rumors away.

"Usually? No, 1/2 the time it's the truth. Thankfully these reports are the other half the time, when it's not the truth."

I blinked, not understanding a word.

"Tony is more patient than that. Mike has been speaking to him and he's telling me that Tony still has a lot of faith in your ability. You should be fine, unless results stay stagnant throughout the season."

I grunted.

"Oh by the way... it's Djibril Cisse again," Mark chuckled, pointing to the report on my desk.

"Ah. Of course," I flipped to the page.

QPR Player of the Month

Djibril Cisse


Cisse scored 4 goals in 3 appearances this month to hand him the fans' Player of the Month award for the second consecutive time. He has been unplayable throughout the month and is already looking like an early contender for the Golden Boot.

"The Golden Boot?" I regarded the words with distaste. "Aren't these fans getting too far ahead of themselves. There are 29 games left to play... 30 games for a few of the other teams...."

"Well, they are the fans after all," Mark sighed. "After one of our players hit a bit of form, they get excited."

"Yeah, true. Hey, Hogan got an injury against Swansea, didn't he? How is he now?"

"Devastated," Mark admitted. "Pete says he'll be out for 3 months... much like Fabio."

I swore. "Another long-term injury."

Another story with Malaysian-owned team Goodluck Glenn...

2012-12-08 15:09#71444 afhp89 : Another story with Malaysian-owned team Goodluck Glenn...

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