We’re well into the 2004/05 season now and Leeds are holding it together whilst the rest of the football world is falling apart around us. Why you ask?  Let’s find out.

After running the gauntlet of Real Madrid, PSG & Celtic for a Champions League group, and remaining unbeaten throughout, I was surely deserving of a decent Quarter Final draw. Wrong.

Interesting to see that Bolton have joined us in the last 8, what a treat. They’ve got a much better draw again, too. Whatever. It goes from bad to worse for Real Madrid as Ronaldo is crocked

Competing in the league & Champions League means I have no real need to be in the league cup and have been actively trying to get knocked out by playing my reserves. However, it seems to be harder than it looks

I thought I was sure to lose at Villa with Erik Nevland up front, but he scored in a 2-0 win. It’s Hull in the semis too, so we’re actually off to Wembley again

It wouldn’t be an update without a move between Barcelona and Real Madrid

Great, can’t wait to have to play against him as well. Meanwhile I take the chance to snap up an old favourite of mine

£400k is a steal, well sort of. I’m happy anyway. Joe Kinnear knows how to drive a bargain

I politely decline and Heskey ends up at Man City, much further down the table. No doubt a relegation beckons.

Enough of that though, it’s Champions league time. Decent enough 1st leg result, but going to be tough at the Nou Camp.

But not as good as the 2nd leg!

Away goals! Bakayoko bags it and away we go. However it’s all gone mental on the continent

Standard stun Juve in extra time and Bolton win in the Velodrome. Good grief.

For goodness sake.

One cup I’m not involved in is the FA Cup after a very early exit. Here are the semi finals

Marashliev no doubt ready to cause massive issues for Man Utd. Here’s the Premier League tables

Tony Adams’ Chelsea are the leaders as they continue the recovery they started last season. Arsenal are still in there and Forest are not far behind them, though they have Guardiola in centre midfield which is ridiculous. Also, Stuart Pearce is their manager. Villa have fallen way off the pace, but Brian Little does what he wants.

It’s a very tight table with, with 6 points separating 11th down to 18th. The bottom 2 are already slightly adrift and incredibly Liverpool are also down there. It’s going to be a real dogfight to the end of the season.

To finish on a different note, Riccy Scimeca had a 2 week jaw injury. It’s escalating and he’s now at 2 months out. I’m worried he’s had what Ken Griffey Jr drank in the Simpsons and he might never recover…

Join us next time to see if I can retain the Premier League and if Scimeca can chew again

Welcome to the 2004/05 season, if you haven’t been with us from the start hopefully you have read the summary article which will get you up to speed.

As champions, I’m loathe to hack the squad to bits, afterall I pretty much wrote off a season building it before surprisingly taking the title on the last day. I do want some old guile though, and you don’t get much older or guily-er than this man

Don’t tell him but this was my first choice, only he turned me down

Anyway, it wouldn’t be a summer without a former Real Madrid star moving to Barcelona

At least he had the nerve to turn Real Madrid down. Great times. As champions, I get to play in the Charity Shield against the mighty Bolton, and it’s a good start for us

Robbie Keane is ready for my first team now, he’s had 100 loan moves (many whilst I was over in France admittedly) but I’ve decided this is his year

We’ll see. I get a horror of a Champions Leaue draw

Whilst Bolton, who had to come through qualifying, get this, which looks a bit easier

Still though, rather be in it than not. My league form is ok but I couldn’t have predicted this

He’s arrived! Absolute scenes in my front room when the winner went in. But the World is talking about another striker…

It doesn’t look much to begn with but then you notice in his one international game, he scored and set up the other 3 in a 4-0 win. He followed that up with a goal and an assist against the USA. Kevin Gallen, England hero. Unfortunately, you have to remember England will host World Cup 06 and thus are playing meaningless friendlies right now, but maybe this is where Glenn Hoddle’s masterplan comes together.

Back at Leeds, we follow up the astonishing win over Real Madrid with a win in Celtic and a routine home win over my old enemies PSG. That one’s for Auxerre! But then it’s off to the Bernabeu

Not a problem. What have I created here!?

With 2 games to go, the group looks very healthy

Back on the domestic front, the league table looks ok at this early stage, but some important months to come

Nobody is wielding the axe yet but I’m amazed to see Arsenal are top, I beat them 3-0 at Elland Road with minimal fuss. Meanwhile, look at Liverpool!

Has Roy Evans’ great run finally come to an end? After his early success, Liverpool are definitely on the wane.

Join us next time where I’ll hopefully seal my place in the last 8 of the Champions League and continue to hang in the Premier League title race.

In the previous update, Bolton Wanderers were the unlikely lads leading the way with 8 games to go – could Colin Todd emulate Brian Little & Roy Evans? Or will it all come crashing down? My Leeds side are in with a shout, let’s see how it all unfolded.

League Cup

Brian Little’s at it again – just. A narrow 1-0 win over big rivals Birmingham leaves Big Ron gutted. It gets worse for Ron as his team finish 3rd, and miss out in the playoffs. Disaster.

Henry goes on to finish top scorer in England, to the surprise of nobody.

Premier League

This is as tight as it gets, it boils down to a three horse race

Leeds host Bolton in the game in hand, and then go to Arsenal to finish. To make it even more squeaky bum time, Man Utd host Bolton in the final game. We have to beat Bolton to keep our hopes alive, and fortunately for me, we nick 1-0 win

With Bolton going to Man Utd, I think I’m favourites. I’m 3 goals ahead on the goal difference, so unless Man Utd thrash Bolton, a win will be enough for me unless Bolton can win at Old Trafford. It’s a North West love in, basically.

Just to add to the drama, the bottom of the league looks pretty tight too

So, can we take care of Arsenal?

Yes, surprisingly easily. Good old Dave Hopkin. So, Bolton need a win at Man Utd. They’re ahead with 7 minutes to play…

I owe Alan Rogers a pint. Get in!

It’s curtains for Sunderland and Bradford though

Reid and Jewell are both sacked by their respective clubs but Jewell goes to Sunderland and Reid to Bradford, so that’s nice.

FA Cup

Big Ron continues his remarkable run in the cups, and Bolton are still on for the double (little do they know what Alan Rogers is about to deny them)

Bolton get over that disappointment though by at least winning the FA Cup.

I finally bring Brian Little’s manager of the month run

But Little has the last laugh, winning the UEFA Cup and taking Manager of the Year

Brian Little is quite the craftsman.

Champions League

Semi finals go with form, Milan have the chance to avenge their second place from last year…

…which they manage

It’s also Euro 2004, but as I’m not going to write it up in depth, here’s how the groups finished:

England recovered from this all too familiar news

The hosts Italy finish without a point. The holders Czech Republic manage one point, but England see them off

Here’s how the knockout stages shaped up:

The World Champions Spain will fancy their chances, whilst Denmark have been the most consistent nation throughout this game. England see off France

Leroy Chambers of Rangers doing the damage. Beckham is back from that foot injury too. It’ll be a re-match with Denmark next, who beat England in the group stages. Holland and Spain are the other semi final.

Can England find a way to beat Denmark? This won’t help.

It will be interesting to see what Man Utd do now, as with no Champions League football I wonder who they can attract to partner Vieri, as he and Alfonso are getting on. Anyway…

Not even a man of the match performance from Steve Haslam can get the job done. It’ll be a Denmark/Holland final as they take care of the World Champions

That man Bruggink again! Can he inspire Holland to a final win though?

In short, no. The Danes are just too strong. I’ll be surprised if a Danish Club doesn’t do very well soon, their National team have been brilliant throughout. It’s Spain 2008

So, finally, here are the awards. Curse you Brian Little!

My mate Steve Simonsen taking PFA Player of the Year is a good effort. Anyway, join us next time to see if I can make Leeds a force in Europe – there will be a post inbetween times which will summarise the game to date, as seven beautiful seasons have passed.

Thanks for reading.

2003/04 is progressing well and amazingly, it looks like we might have a 6 horse race for the Premier League title. Add to that, a Midlands Derby for a League Cup final and an all French Champions League clash, it’ll be amazing if there are any friends at all after this season.

As the clock ticks towards 2004, Marseille give Tigana a way out of Monaco which he will be delighted with. The problem Monaco have is that they have 18000 seats in their stadium and a host of star players, they leak money worse than me in a casino.

Monaco, without the Champions League, will struggle to ever repeat their successes of the early seasons. They’ll also have to do it without Sol Campbell

Good on Vicenza for throwing their hats in the ring.

With Euro 2004 at the end of this season, I feel it’s worthwhile pointing this out:

Just the 6 for Arnold Bruggink. Meanwhile, Ken Bates has got the axe out again

Who can you possibly appoint? Well, it’s only Arsenal legend Tony Adams

Totally forgot Tony Adam was at Lens. Anyway, there’s a few other managers on the move

So Roy moves on yet again, to one of my former clubs. Speaking of former clubs…

Poor Auxerre. They’re down in 12th in Ligue 1 but Dida is still there. Here’s a thought for you:

Somewhat remarkably, Birmingham have made the League Cup final. Managed by Big Ron, they’re 2nd in Divison 1 but have knocked Man Utd out of both cups. Less remarkably, Villa will play them in the final.

In the FA Cup, we bow out to Bolton in round 5 after a replay. More on them later though.

We ended the last update with my Leeds side just ahead in the Premier League race. Things were going swimmingly until Beckham gets a 3 month injury when away with England and we miss him massively, falling off the pace a little but not tragically so, we’re still in with a shout. Few, however, could have predicted Bolton to have this handy 6 point lead.

Feasibly though anybody down to Villa in 6th are in with a chance. Colin Todd’s been Bolton’s manager since the start and they’ve had a few relegations but they keep bouncing back. Their final 2 games are away to Leeds & Man Utd though, so it’s not over yet.

If Brian Little wins the League Cup, he’ll probably end up with 5 manager of the month’s in a row

Finally, the Champions League semi finals have some unfamiliar names in there, not only the all French semi final but also Kaiserslautern

Spot the familiar name in the Kaiserslautern midfield…

So then, the final few months of the 03/04 season should be the most open yet. There’ll be a new name on the Champions League trophy (in this game) but will there be a new Premier League champion? Join us next time

2003/04 promises a lot with a European Championship finals in Italy at the end of it. I’m back in the Premier League and having had a season to consolidate and get the squad the way I want it, I’m confident of a top 5 finish. As we reached November, it’s fair to say things are going even better than I could have hoped.

The last update ended with France sacking Aime Jacquet, and their appointment shakes up World Football a great deal

Real Madrid are one of the powers in club football, so they’ve poached Valencia’s manager to try and maitain their lofty standards.

Fair enough. Transfer season is back in full swing, and look who’s making a familiar trip

Elsehwere, Newcastle are flexing their new found muscle having won the UEFA Cup and sign an England international

However, what they gain they also lose to even bigger clubs in the food chain

Joe Kinnear wants some more firepower, so he recruits a striker who is on the verge of an England cap

From a Leeds point of view, most of my signings were done last season but I do take the opportunity to snap up Bakayoko from Auxerre for just £1m

My only other business is bringing in Kieron Dyer in exchange for Gudnason, who Spurs were keen to sign and I’ve decided to go back to my wingbacks formation, which Dyer is perfect for.

The Charity Shield provides the first action of the season

No surprise there then, eventually. Man Utd certainly seem to be a waning force though. As the regular league season gets going though, it’s definitely apparent that it’s a more level playing field. We’ve been excellent, and the table makes for good reading at this early stage

Joe Kinnear’s Spurs in second but 6 points separate 1st and 9th, so it’s not exactly a healthy lead. My goals for column is very encouraging though, Marco and Hasselbaink have formed a decent strike partnership and with Bakayoko in Shearer in reserve, life is good. Here’s how we lineup:

To finish on a strange note, Spain, the reigning World Champions, qualified for Euro 2004 easily, without losing a game. How did they celebrate?

There’s just no pleasing some people. Spain go down the same route as last time, having stolen the PSG manager they’ve taken two time Ligue 1 winner Rolland Courbis from Marseille.

PSG fell away once their manager left allowing Marseille to become the dominant team in France, it’ll be interesting to see what happens now.

Come back next time to see if this Leeds form is a flash in the pan or whether we are actually going to mount a title challenge.

We’ve reached the end of season 6 and there’s a familiar look about many of the competitions – but can I finally get my name on the honours board? Are the good times on their way back to Elland Road?

League Cup

I’m still drunk.

A disaster of a start, but Tricky Trev galvanised us. Chelsea then kicked us a lot and broke Pessotto’s leg, but there was bedlam in my front room when Collins scored – and it had to be re-taken. The board are delighted and I get manager of the month for my efforts

Unfortunately, winning the League Cup doesn’t even get you a place in Europe. It is a very pointless endeavour, but buys me some favour with the board.

Premier League

Nothing exciting here really, Man Utd win it again. It looks like it might be a four horse race but Kinnear’s Tottenham fall apart, I’m partially responsible

Marco incidentally is the re-generarion of George Weah, signed for all of £5k. He’s some boy. I took no pleasure in this:

They were however already relegated, poor Dons. Here’s how the tables finishedLook what I get for 11th! The days of a couple of hundred grand at Auxerre a thing of the past

After the cup final we had a great run to finish a respectable 11th. Not great but could be a lot worse. Arsenal survive on goal difference, which is incredible really. It’s obvious where our problems lie when you look at how many we scored, but look at how many we let in. The signing of Mickael Landreau from Liverpool, who was a constant menace to me at Auxerre, should help. Meanwhile, the axe is out

Everton appoint Kevin Ratcliffe which makes sense I suppose. There’s a surprising England recall on the cards too

Given that Shearer is nearly 33, Hoddle’s obviously still favouring the older generation. Anyway, there’s good news for Shearer’s old club

Dalglish’s reputation is soaring and he sits very high up the pecking order.

Champions League

Juventus deny Fergie a final spot, where they’ll face Milan, in an all Italian final, in Italy

Juventus win it though – with Euro 2004 in Italy next season, it’s a great time to be Italian.

With everything sorted, all that’s left is for France to sack their manager after this nightmare

And finally, some awards

Landreau on the honours board is good to see, and my old broken legged pal Jason Euell has bounced back in style.

Join us next time where we’ll find out who gets the France job and if I can get Leeds back into the top 6

I’ve been back in England for most of the 02/03 season, and after an initial honeymoon period, things have turned a bit sour for me at Leeds. It’s not a disaster, but it’s not as good as I would have liked. On the plus side, I’m building a decent side and if the board are patient, I might be on to something. Here’s how 2003 is treating me.

My league form is atrocious, even Joe Kinnear is getting one over me

It would be that man Heskey too, who to be fair is now a 1 in 2 striker. Spurs are pushing the top end of the table and the unthinkable is..well kind of thinkable.

Meanwhile it’s all kicking off for Brian Little

Hot on the heels of losing Robbie Fowler, maybe it’s all falling apart for Brian. Mind you, I can’t talk, it’s one disaster after another. Out of the FA Cup at the 4th round, the UEFA Cup might add some solace. Wrong.

I’ve never liked the away goals rule. The problem I’m having is that we don’t score as many as I would like and we concede plenty. I’ve also set about making the squad my own, including this chap

He’ll never amount to anything. Also, my old pal from Wimbledon and Auxerre has come to help out

Him and Scimeca will make a dream team. Speaking of Wimbledon, the half dozen fans who travelled to this one will have given me pelters. Thankfully, Andy Gray dug me out of this hole.

No, not that Andy Gray. It’s all getting a bit weird anyway, Wimbledon you may remeber are now managed by Dave Bassett, after John Toshack went to Arsenal. Well, watch this unfold

Job swap. If that’s not enough, there’s the usual array of transfers going on

Never one to be left out, I finally get my hero to the club

He might be coming to the end of his career but hopefully he can solve my problems. I doubt it though. Overall I’ve ripped the squad to bits and it should make for a decent season next year.

It’s no wonder we can’t win, half the lads probably don’t know each other. On the plus side, we do have a cup final to attend. Might even get my suit on for the trip to Wembley

Gordon Milne’s Chelsea will give us a game. Here’s how the table looks at the end of March

It’s really gotten quite grim, we’re no better off than when I took over. But we will be fine. Kevin Keegan’s Blackburn, however, might not be. Dave Bassett’s Wimbledon have no chance.

For those interested, here’s the FA Cup semis

Bloody Kinnear. And finally, the Champions League semis

Man Utd are perenially in the semi finals, maybe this could be their year?

So join us next time where we’ll find out if I’m going to wear a full suit for a video game, if I can remember the lyrics to abide with me and hopefully at the end of it all not get relegated.

I know you’re going searching but I can still feel you here.

As I’m determined to be back in the Premier League, it’s a massive spanner in the works that no jobs are available. I was hoping somebody would retire or something but they didn’t, so I’m still at Axuerre. I thought about resigning but it could be months for all I know, so I’ll make the best of it. The board seem to realise I’m keen to upsticks and dangle a £13m carrot

I could do a lot of damage with £9m. So much so, my first move is to bring Auxerre legend Antoine Sibierski back to the club

Sibs been winning everything with PSG and has broken into the France squad so it’s a bit of a coup, and he slots well into the team. Elsehwere there’s the usual flurry of moves

Coventry clearly know the way to my heart as well, offering an old favourite of mine

I’ve wanted Zetterbeg off the wagebill for a while and Mulryne can keep Nevland company, so that’s happening. Things are going pretty well and we’re off to a good start in the league, but then…

I’ve got to have it. Leeds have money in the bank and UEFA cup football having just finished 5th. It’s the perfect solution. Goodbye, my friends.

It took them 2 weeks to get to it but I’m in charge, and it’s not even a bad squad

The main man Scimeca will be useful, Lee Bowyer is an England regular and they’ve got Robbie Keane, who will not have forgotten that I gave him his chance at Wimbledon (shakes fist).  We’re off like a train too

It does help that Liverpool implode. Just as I think this has all got very easy, we run into Marashliev and his mates

Steve Simonsen obviously shows no sentiment to what I did for him. With the dust settled, Leeds were 15th when I took over, now they’re slightly higher

Maybe my defeat to Leicester wasn’t so bad afterall! Man Utd mean business anyway, they’ve finally got their man

The managerial musical chairs is back underway, with poor Wimbledon again the victims. Neville Southall quits Ipswich, leading to this:

Wimbledon have nothing left to do but appoint everybody’s final card

The bottom of the table already looks grim for Bassett.

Elsewhere, what has Michael Brown been doing in Bilbao!?

Anyway, it’s great to be back in England and hopefully I can restore Leeds to the top half of the table by the time we meet again. Bye for now