JUST 10 MEN

By Phil Brennan

It's been a strange week since my departure from Edgeley Park.

I still get up at 6.00 am. Still put my laptop on before I put the kettle on. Still put SSN on before settling down with a brew and checking through emails, message boards, social networks and any articles I have been working on.

I still have my morning shower at 7.30 am before dressing for work.

I have carried out this routine almost every morning in the last three and a half years.

The difference this week has been that after getting dressed I have had no work to go to.

On Monday, (my 29th wedding anniversary as it happens), my three and a half years working for my hometown football club came to an end by 'mutual consent'.

I will be honest and admit that as much as I have enjoyed my time at Edgeley Park, I would have preferred to remember my time at the club with some success on the field but sadly that wasn't to be. I think it's every football fan's dream to be involved with their club, and as a County supporter of many years standing I have been very fortunate in that, as well as being part of Steve Bellis' programme team back in the day, along with my late friend Richard Harnwell, I have written extensively about Stockport County in book and DVD format in the past.

When I was approached by the 2015 Group in the summer of 2010 I didn't think twice about the opportunity to finally have the opportunity of a full time position at Edgeley Park. Although with two relegations during my time in service, including the club dropping out of the Football League for the first time in over 100 years, I have thought about whether or not it was my fault that things haven't gone as well as any of us wanted.

In my time in the Media Manager's role I have served under 10 managers in just three and a half years. I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed working with all apart from one, who for one reason or another, never really understood or cared about our great club.

Back in that summer of 2010, after several off-site meetings, we finally arrived at Edgeley Park. 'We' were new Chairman Alwyn Thompson, Chief Exec Sean Connolly, Directors Mary & Tony Gibbons, Club Secretary Peter Wilson and myself. (There were other Directors and shareholders who weren't available on the day).

A press conference had been arranged to unveil the new Board and staff, unbeknown to many of the people there the deal to take over the club had yet to be agreed with The Football League. Several hasty calls later the deal was finalised, with approximately 20 minutes to spare before the new board met the press.

The following weekend there was a huge County following at the 'open day' in the Cheadle End car park. The new board, including Lord Peter Snape, were on show again along with old County favourites Mike Flynn and Andy Thorpe as well as the town's top dart player, and big Hatters supporter, Tony O'Shea.

With no first team manager in place it came as no surprise that the name of Jim Gannon was chanted throughout the morning. 

It did indeed look as though the Irishman, who had lost his job when the club entered into 'administration', was the clear favourite to take on the vacant role. Especially as the club had already re-employed his trusty sidekicks Peter Ward and Alan Lord to take over pre-season training.

Wardy and Lordy not only took on training the few players we already had, but also created a list of prospective players at the club's training ground. The comprehensive list included the names of players already contracted, players who were available both to sign and bring in 'on loan' and also players who were going to become available in the January 'window'.

Having seen the list I was very much looking forward to the coming season. 

However there were rumblings of discontent at the club almost from the first minute. For reasons I cannot divulge, Connolly and Wilson left within a matter of weeks. The widely accepted appearance of Gannon also didn't materialise.

The club eventually appointed Paul Simpson as the new manager, he swiftly brought in his own man Stuart Delaney as 'head of youth' to replace the recently departed Craig Madden who had joined big spending Fleetwood Town as assistant manager.

Simpson soon made it clear that he was not going to be seen as second choice to Gannon, one of his first actions was to rub off all the players names off the 'list' on the whiteboard at Manor Farm as, in his words, he didn't want to be seen to be bringing in any of the players Jim Gannon wanted.

He also instructed that the big poster of the club's Wembley triumph of just two summers previous, which had pride of place on the central wall, was taken down. (Incidentally this was eventually replaced with a photo of a team 'huddle' with his son Jake a focal point). 

The standard of player on the rubbed out list can be summed up in one name - Jamie Vardy

Alan Lord had been watching Vardy and others on the list for some time. Some of them were on the point of joining the club before administration, Vardy and Skelmersdale United's George Donnelly and Sean McConville amongst them. (Donnelly actually joined Plymouth Argyle and played several games on loan at County under Gary Ablett the following season).

Simpson, under pressure from Lord, sent Delaney to watch Vardy, who was available for a small fee. Simpson decided against signing Vardy after Delaney's debrief as apparently he wasn't the type of striker we needed.

A couple of days later Simpson signed Barry Conlon.

Vardy went on to score dozens of goals for Halifax Town before joining Fleetwood Town where he also scored dozens of goals prior to joining Leicester City in The Championship, where he is still plying his trade.

Simpson did relent and bring in Donnelly in on loan but Conlon left Stockport County by 'mutual consent' after a much publicised drink driving ban before Christmas 2010.

Much was made of the decision to release Simpson from his duties at Edgeley Park just over a month later, perhaps if he had gone when was originally discussed, Stockport County may have stayed in The Football League, at least for another season. The indecision regarding his replacement is, in my opinion, the reason the club were relegated. Chairman Thompson also left his position and with no candidate coming forward, Mary Gibbons took on the role of 'acting' Chairman.

Peter Ward and Alan Lord were put in 'temporary' control of first team affairs before Ray Mathias was brought in to assist them as 'technical advisor' in February.

I have known Wardy since he was a player and we have always got on famously. However during the early days of Simpson's reign he had instigated an 'issue' regarding Wardy which subsequently caused problems between myself and Wardy. (I am happy to state that we made our peace after Simpson's departure)

Mathias became my third gaffer that season when he took over from Ward the following month. Unfortunately it was all too late and the club were relegated from The Football League after a disastrous campaign both on and off the field.

During the summer several candidates were interviewed for the manager's job, before the board decided to stick with Mathias. The biggest problem with this was, having been released from his temporary role at the end of the previous campaign, Ray had booked a family holiday to Mexico and so wasn't available to start immediately.

That holiday proved to be the catalyst in the appointment of my next gaffer - Dietmar Hamann.

Liverpool businessman Tony Evans had held talks with the board regarding investment and once he had agreed to join the club he wanted to appoint Hamann.

In scenes reminiscent of our original arrival at the club, Hamann was still on the phone to his employer, Sven Goran Eriksson at Leicester City, trying to negotiate his release, just minutes before sitting on the top table at the press conference to announce his arrival.

Then we really started to see the influence of Evans, there was a camera crew constantly following all of the backroom staff, management staff, players and supporters, apparently for an, as yet unseen, documentary about how to run a football club (sic).

The biggest change came at the training ground where literally coach loads of Liverpudlian footballers turned up for trials, many of them not returning their County training kit when told they were not to be signed up. (eBay was very busy over the next few days). Old stagers like Andy Parkinson and John Miles were there, alongside several youngsters, the likes of Ryan Fraughan and Jon Nolan that had been released by clubs.

There was a new 'fitness' coach, who as well as introducing a fitness regime that seemed more suited to the likes of Geoff Capes and his 'world's strongest man' colleagues, also had the players eating pre match meals that included nuts and salad.  - He and his diet didn't last too far into the season.

Didi is a living 'legend' on Merseyside and as a footballer of world renown his arrival at Edgeley Park made my job all the more exciting. Everyone wanted to talk to him, every day we had some radio or TV station wanting his time. Even to this day I get requests for his contact details.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Didi, he was probably the most laid back boss I have ever had in my working life - it was such a shame that it didn't work out for him at County.

One little story I must tell about his time at Edgeley Park featured Soccer-am. I have had previous dealings with the SKY TV Saturday morning show and it came as no surprise when they asked if they could feature County. I agreed immediately and duly put the information in with my daily requests/reports on the gaffer's desk.  

On the day of the 'shoot' I got a call from Didi asking why I had agreed to allow Soccer-am to film at the training ground. He sounded fairly angry and stated that a football club and especially the training ground was a professional place and not the place for a 'comedy football show', and told me to call them and turn them back.

It appeared that he had only just seen my note from the week previous and as the team were in a run of bad form I assumed that he didn't want to appear as though he wasn't running a tight ship.

I called my contact, who was literally half an hour away from Manor Farm with his film crew. Not to put too fine a point on it they weren't too happy. Luckily for them a quick call to Boundary Park saw Oldham Athletic take our place on the show.

A week or so after he had left the club by 'mutual consent' I turned on the TV and there sat on the Soccer-am couch was none other than Didi Hamann!!!

I knew he would have his phone turned off but I called him all the same and left him a message asking him to call me back. The next day he called me back. "Hey buggerlugs, after what you told me about Soccer-am, what were you doing on there yesterday?" I asked

 "they paid me enough to appear" was his reply

Even though his time as manager wasn't a success, Didi Hamann was great to work with, nothing was ever too much trouble, we used to get photos sent from all over the world for him to sign, which he always did, he always made sure players were available to attend events if he couldn't make it himself, but best of all he brought his mate John the 'scouse chef' with him. The food at Manor Farm has never been as good before or since!!

Willie McStay was gaffer number 5, even if it was only for a week. McStay had been brought in by Didi after Ray Mathias had refused the option of staying on as number two when Tony Evans had named Didi as manager. Unfortunately for McStay his one game ended in defeat at Ebbsfleet.

Gaffer number 6 was Jim Gannon. I had had the pleasure of working with Jim before, putting his testimonial programme together alongside my late friend Richard Harnwell, We had remained in touch throughout the years, so I was looking forward to working with him again.

That night at Fleetwood for his first game back in charge was unforgettable. The atmosphere was electric, the TV cameras were there as the home side closed in on promotion, and as many County fans could fit in were there to cheer on their returning hero. Sean McConville looked as though he had earned the Hatters the draw their supporters deserved but Jamie Vardy (yes THAT Jamie Vardy) sealed a late win for the Cod Army.

The changes required were obvious to all, Gannon's second spell as manager saw his side lose six of his first eight games, including an FA Trophy replay defeat at local neighbours Stalybridge Celtic, before he finally won against Barrow at Edgeley Park on New Year's Day, perhaps a sign of things to come?

By the time County had claimed 'back to back' victories against Wrexham and Darlington, the first time in over 3 years that the team had managed this feat, Gannon had made wholesale changes to the squad he had inherited. Only two of the side that started at Darlington had been regulars under Hamann, with seven of the fifteen man squad on the day brought in by Gannon.

Edgeley Park was again becoming a fortress under Gannon, with four wins and just one defeat in seven home games since the turn of the year to the end of March. But the team were still paying for those away defeats and the earlier inability to remain undefeated at Edgeley Park, and were still in the relegation dogfight.

The home win against relegation rivals Lincoln City, a third win on the trot for the Hatters and a draw at home against Braintree was enough to secure safety with two games to spare. Winning the last two against Tamworth and Hayes & Yeading put the icing on the cake as far as the end of season run went.

Unfortunately, even though his side were top of the table following two wins out of two at the start of the following season, Gannon was also soon shown the Edgeley Park door. Defeat against eventual champions Mansfield Town in January being his seventh in nine games, he was ousted in a hastily arranged board meeting after the game.

Alan Lord was gaffer number 7 as he took control of the team for the visit of Forest Green Rovers. The visitors were looking to claim a place in the play offs and the game was in doubt until the day before but Lordy rallied his troops and was rewarded with the best performance of the season as Sean Newton and Jon Nolan scored the goals that claimed the points.

Gaffer number 8 was a name so far from left field that I would have sat all night coming up with names of potential manager's and still not come up with - Darije Kalezic

Regardless of how he arrived, or indeed who was responsible for his arrival, Kalezic was a really decent man, a good coach undoubtedly, but manager of a struggling Conference team - Never.

The facts are Kalezic lost 7 of his 12 games in charge. Players were allowed to leave the club. Players were brought in. The team won at Barrow. Then inexplicably four new signings, none of which played in the excellent win at Barrow four nights previously, were thrown into the side for the visit of Braintree. The game was won by Braintree. County then lost at Luton. Kalezic lost his job to be replaced by Ian Bogie the next day.

Geordie Ian Bogie, (gaffer number 9 by the way), took charge of the sinking Edgeley Park ship with seven games to play. He won two, lost two and drew two in the first six, meaning that his team had to win at Kidderminster Harriers on the last day and then hope that at least two other results went his way for County to survive.

In the end a hammering at the hands of the Harriers meant that results elsewhere were immaterial. County were to play at the lowest level in their history next season.

I felt for Bogie, as he had turned down the offer of being number two to Kalezic because he didn't think it would work. Bogie was a good hard working gaffer who made it easy to like him and we will never know what would have happened had he been given the manager's job instead of Kalezic.

Despite the pre-season 'buzz' as results improved with each game, County have started their season in poor form and once again find themselves near the foot of the table and once again we have lost yet another manager.

Ian Bogie resigned after the defeat at Harrogate Town, his fourth in the opening five games, and has been replaced by 'caretaker' Alan Lord, making Lordy gaffer number 10.

Anyone who has ever worked with Al will know how enjoyable his company is. I believe he should be given the job until the end of the season at least. His record of finding players is second to none, and he has a good record so far with three wins and just one defeat in his six games in charge.

History has shown us that appointing three managers in a season will more or less lead to relegation. We need a period of stability and more importantly we don't need another relegation.

On a personal note, over the last few months since our relegation to The Conference North the offices have become a very different place to be. We have lost some very good backroom people from the club as County moved from a full time to part time outfit. Every day has brought a new challenge as those of us left have had to continue with the everyday business.

Having agreed to leave the club I now intend to take some time out to complete my biography of Danny Bergara, who is still the second longest serving manager in the history of Stockport County, and that at just six years, goes some way to explaining the lack of long term success at the club.

'The Man From Uruguay' Will hopefully be out in time for Christmas and, in the mean time, I will also be keeping my hand in at Edgeley Park as I will be covering most home games for The Non League Paper.

Animo et Fide.

PHOTOS: SUE CORDON & MIKE PETCH