http://www.newcastleunited.com.au
I was appointed manager of Newcastle United FC in the Australian NSL on 4.7.01 with the aim of making the squad stronger. No lofty ambitions then. We finished 7th that season and turned over a lot of older players at the end of the season. We pushed strongly the second season and made our first finals appearance after finishing 3rd, but crashed out in the elimination final.
Two cruel 7th place finishes where we lost a playoffs spot on the final day of the season followed. We were developing a strong rivalry with nearest neighbours Northern Spirit
Season 05/06 saw us again make the finals after finishing 4th, but we crashed out to the Spirit in the elimination finals!
Season 06/07 saw us do a bit better, with a great late season run to finish fourth, before eventually upsetting the previously dominant Brisbane Strikers on their home turf to win the NSL title!
Season 07/08 saw our first attempt at the Oceania Champions Cup which we won with relative ease to qualify for the 2009 World Club Championships. We went on to finish minor premiers and make the grand final, only to cruelly lose to the Spirit's 90th minute winner.
Season 08/09 saw us dominate again and finish on top after the regular season, breeze through the playoffs (sort of) and claim the title with an amazing grand final win over the Spirit. With scores locked at 1-1 after we got a 74th minute equaliser, on came our super sub striker who had scored a hat-trick off the bench in round one. A brilliant Newcastle move late in the game saw our star AM C find the super sub unmarked in the box to hit home a 94th minute winner and clinch the title in dramatic circumstances!
Season 09/10 started with the World Club Championships in France. We were tired from a long season and I ran out almost the entire squad during our 3 games, losing all 3 games but coming home with a ridiculous amount of prize money for such a crap display. We proceeded to dominate the league with a 20-3-3 record and snuck past Spirit on away goals in the major semi. A third consecutive home grand final versus the Spirit awaited us. It was a tight affair with not a lot of chances, and went to penalties. The shooout was tense but the Newcastle keeper was superb. He recovered our early mistakes to put it into sudden death. Our right midfield sub hit the bar!! It was left to Spirit's right midfielder to hammer home the winning penalty. After such a dominant season, to lose on one kick hurt hard so I decided it was now time to take that next step, no matter how crap the club (any decent clubs had turned me down for the last 3 seasons).
A call was placed to the offices of newly promoted German Regionals South team FV Hassia Bingen to see if the services of a manager with World Clubs Championships experience would be appreciated. The answer was a protracted yes... and I was on my way to Germany!