Matt is here with part 4 of his adventure back to Turin, where he has assembled some of the cast of Italia 90 to try and help get Torino promoted. Oh and there’s a twist…

Welcome back to Turin, where the Serie B season is drawing to a close and my Torino side are hanging onto 4th spot and the last promotion place. Will Shilton save the day? Can Terry Butcher lead us to glory? Will McMahon keep his temper? Is bombing down the wing too much for Dorigo? Will Lineker keep scoring? Will Schillaci start scoring? Why did I sign Dave Beasant? Let’s crack on.

With 9 games left to go in the season, I’m keen to put some distance between us and 5th place. We struggle against Salernitana, but it’s a point earned when Shilton guesses the right way and saves a second half penalty from Muoio.

The stats page tells me all I need to know about drawing a blank.

Things improve for Torino and Toto in the next game as we beat Castel di Sangro at home…

….and then away to Padova, we fall behind but English grit from McMahon and Lineker secures us all 3 pts.

Meanwhile, over in England, Man Utd wrap up the Premier League nice and early. They are stil in the Champions League so will give them some breathing space to prepare for that.

They really did win at a canter, look at that Goals Against column.

The UEFA Cup semi-finals conclude and its an all-Italian affair.

Whilst in the Champions League, Man Utd see off Bayern Munich to set up a final showdown with Serie A champs Juventus.

The Cup Winners Cup will see Chelsea face off against Betis and their host of attacking talent.

Back to the league we draw 2-2 at home with Perugia and then require a Lineker double to see off Ancona. With 4 games to go, we host Ravenna in 5th place.

A win will see us secure promotion. So, of course, we lose!

The same happens to Inter, giving Sampdoria victory in the UEFA Cup Final – poor Ronaldo.

Our disappointment at losing to Ravenna is obliterated when Verona come to town. Lineker hits 3, Toto gets 2 and former world record signing Lentini is the other goal-scorer. I even let Shilton off for conceding twice.

Promotion confirmed and mission accomplished. I would have liked to have won the title, but getting promoted with 47 year old Peter Shilton in goal for the whole season is an achievement all of it’s own.

Lineker’s form has captured the imagination back in England, with calls for him to be recalled to the England squad being ignored by Glenn Hoddle. Maybe he should have given Gary the chance to equal Sir Bobby’s record, especially when they lose 3-1 to Spain in a friendly.

One England stalwart who definitely won’t be earning a recall is Steve McMahon who is out for 3 months, that’s his season done and dusted.

Chelsea reign supreme in the Cup-Winners-Cup

Middlesbrough celebrate promotion back to the Premier League by beating Leeds in the FA Cup Final. Colombian Freddy Leon with both goals, taking his tally to 32 goals in 34 games for Boro.

Man United edge out Juventus on penalties to claim their 2nd European Cup

And that’s the season over, and as the promotion celebrations die down, attention turns to the 1998 World Cup in France, but there’s trouble brewing in the England Camp.
Reports suggest that after the 3-1 defeat to Spain, the England squad took to the Spanish streets to drown their sorrows and were involved in an altercation with a dentists chair and a faith healer.

Glenn Hoddle refuses to accept any blame and the FA swiftly remove him from his position. With the World Cup looming, fans are obviously anxious as to who will lead England in France, especially with Sam Allardyce just being given the boot by Notts County.

The FA speak with the Torino Chairman and it seems our exploits in Turin haven’t just caught the imagination of the press and fans back in England. I’m offered the chance to lead England into the World Cup, but there is one catch – I have to take the players from Italia 90!

The FA have had enough of the tabloid exploits of the current England stars and reckon that the last time England were proud of their team was in 1990 (We’ll ignore Euro ’96 for the sake of this nostalgic fantasy!)

I don’t have much time to prepare and only 2 warm up friendlies before I face off against Germany, Cameroon and Japan.

I’m sure I can get the Italia 90 squad back together, but where are they and what have they been up to?

Well, Shilton, Beasant, Butcher, McMahon and Lineker have all been with me in Turin, but what of the rest? Let’s have a look.

Chris’ Woods and Waddle have just finished 17th in Division 2 with Burnley, finishing 6 pts above the drop zone. Waddle of course is player-manager and helped out with 6 goals and played 49 games to Woods 27.

Paul Parker, Steve Hodge and Neil Webb have all spent the season as unwanted free transfers, so they’ll no doubt be as rusty as Rusty Rustison. While technically Bryan Robson has been on a free, but he’s also managed Middlesbrough to a league and cup double.

Gary Stevens has played 44 games for Tranmere, while Stuart Pearce and John Barnes have been performing for old mate Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle. Des Walker has played 20 games for Sheff Wed and Mark Wright has been at the heart of the Liverpool defence. Gazza is in his pomp at Rangers still and Platt likewise at Arsenal. Trevor Steven has played an impressive 52 games for the less than impressive Bristol City/ Beardsley has 8 goals in 39 games for Bolton and Steve Bull has 19 in 42 for Wolves to compliment Lineker’s 28 in 40 ratio at Torino.

Of course, the Italia 90 squad was a 22 man squad and now the upper limit is 25, so I can add some more faces to this aging side. Of the original call up, Tony Adams, David Rocastle and Alan Smith, all of Arsenal were dropped. Adams and Rocastle are still around, but Alan Smith isn’t, so I opt for those two plus Mark Hateley and Ray Wilkins from Mexico ’86, and why not?

This is the squad I have, and isn’t it a thing of beauty? Steve McMahon you remember is out for 3 months, so he is dicarded, but then Wilkins gets injured and I have left it too late for a replacement, sorry Ian Wright!

For my first friendly against Scotland, I opt for the line-up which started against Germany in that famous semi-final, which means I have a right wing-back who hasn’t played any football all season, genius!

Wembley is packed and sensing the enormity and history of his last appearance there, Hendry gets himself sent off for a foul on Gazza after 7 minutes, which surely helps our cause.

Chris Waddle starts this brave new/old reign with a fizzing shot past Andy Goram, and Platt takes us into half time, two to the good. Wembley is bouncing.

On 48 minutes, Gary gets his 49th goal for England, equalling Sir Bobby C and delighting Sir Bobby R in the stands.

With 10 minutes to go I enjoy the luxury of using all 5 subs and Trevor Stevens wraps things up on the last minute with number 4.

We’re all over the front and back pages of the tabloids the next morning and people are starting to talk up our chances of going all the way, steady on.

Before all that, it’s the small matter of Brazil and Ronaldo, Romario, Denilson and Rivaldo away.

I stick with the shame formation and line up, but it’s an altogether different result in the Maracana, and not even a sending off and an own goal can help us. Denilson lobbed Shilton twice, 3 minutes from the start and 3 minutes from the end – what is it with England keepers getting lobbed by Brazilians?

Oddly, amongst the friendlies, I notice that Germany, our first group opponents, lost to our recent foes, Scotland, 1-0, so England > Scotland > Germany means we should beat them, right?

Join me next time to find out, cheers.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @Matt_C_Wills