Managers, blow by blow - Part Two

Karen duToit / Catherine Barwick
A tremendous first N&R FL season for the ladies. They settled into the swing of things quite quickly and spent the first few months in the top half, winning a MoW in week 5. They slipped into the bottom half and at the split found themselves 2nd in the Championship. They seized their moment, carefully transferring players and moving to the summit of the ‘plate’ competition and stayed there for the next 9 weeks. The girls were very deserving winners of the £60 finishing 58 points clear of their nearest rival and ended with a points total better than 8 of the teams in the Premiership.

Simon Jenkins
Not a season goes by without Jenks winning some cash. And this one was no different wining two MoW’s and finishing 2nd in the Championship, this after only appearing in 4th two weeks before.
For most of the season Simon was struggling in and around the re-election area and was back in 9th just 5 weeks before the end of the season.


Robert Beere
Another manager who appeared in the top 4 of the Championship from nowhere. Rob was in 7th in week 39 but had a big week to haul himself into prize contention and that is where he stayed.

In the early part of the season Rob looked like he would match his performance last season (9th). He was 2nd in week's 2 and 3, and this was the week when Rob hammered the season's best weekly total. He did reappear in 7th in week 12 but then went backwards but like others the league split was the saviour of his season.

Simon Newport
Crap season for me. I was in the re-election zone after week one and it only slightly got better. Last year I used the excuse of distance and although I did better this season and amazingly grabbed a bit of prize money in the last week, the fact is I’m probably more up to speed with the football news courtesy of the internet than I ever was when I was at home. As I was told at school - must do better.

Danny Matthews
I hope Dan had better luck in Vegas because he missed out on some winnings by just 3 points. He did win a MoW award and it was a huge improvement on last season’s bottom place. His highest place was 6th in week 1 but he was never in any re-election doubt this time.

Lee Baughan
Birds, jobs, money…. Sweaty never has a lot of luck and another 10 quid went away from him after Nobby sneaked into the top 4 of the Championship in the last week. It was in fact an excellent effort and much- improved performance from Lee bearing in mind he didn't make a transfer.

His best spell was during week's 20 and 21 when he culminated a good run by being in 11th winning a MoW in the progress but he couldn’t improve on that. So no cigar for Lee but hey, there is always the decorating!

Alex Boswell
9 out of 10 weeks Alex lived in the top 4 with Barwick and duToit. Then disaster stuck scoring just 21 points in 2 weeks and he ended up in 7th place. But after 2 continuous re-elections it was a vast improvement for the man around at JLT.

Alex never got out of the bottom half but he looked destined to snatch some prize money in the secondary competition but fell at the last hurdle.

Liz Keiller
Liz always asks me, rather stupidly, to name her team. After her visit to see me in Chicago last summer, I couldn’t resist this one. A lot of wine and a wobbly chair (I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt) and a FL name is born, easy!

Like Alex, Liz has faced two consecutive re-elections, finishing bottom 2 years ago so this too was a massive improvement and similar to Alex, she also could have won some prize money with a bit more luck – some transfers may have helped too mind.

Liz reached the dizzy heights of 4th during three weeks in September and she bounced back into the top 7 again in November and the future Mrs Ready can proud of her campaign and the bruise she got that summer’s evening in Chicago!


Shaun Moulster
Another manager who improved on last season’s finish, it must be catching. Shaun also lived in the poor half of the table all season and flirted a little with re-election without actually dropping into it.

There was no prize’s for the Molester and we will never know what could have happened if he made a few more transfers.

Peter Godfrey
What has happened to the once invincible Godders? Only the mention of the two letters F and L would once stir Pete into action. Last season’s 15th was followed by a 33rd this season, a shocking performance from the two-time N&R FL champion. And who the fuck is Molly? And does he play for Charlton?

Chris Waterman
For the first time in many years Chris will not be buying the curries around at the AIG this summer. A certain Mr Dewberry has that honour this year. It was a pretty insignificant season for Chris who dallied around the lower half of the table, and for most of the first half of the season hovered precariously above the re-election zone. But after the turn of the year Chris climbed away from any trouble.

Tony Hepburn
Probably the best-looking bloke in Lloyds with probably the longest name in the N&R FL (Herecomethewildebeests not Tony!). Another man who spent a lot of time looking over his shoulder at the bottom 6 but moved away comfortably in the last third of the season.

This was Tony’s best ever N&R season in 8 years as a manager and he never even made a transfer!

Alan Oakley
Better than 2nd indeed Chelsea were but Al has struggled to rediscover his form 2 seasons ago when he finished 3rd. Last years 17th was followed by this season’s 36th. Another manager who didn’t move out of the bottom half of the table.

Tim Feldbruegge
Bottom after the first two weeks, then 2nd from bottom for the next 22. He was then in the bottom 6 for the next 8 weeks but during this time he was one of the best managers around, consistently scoring well and Tim moved well away from the drop-zone to finish in 37th place.

A fantastic achievement for the soccer fan from Wisconsin and I know Tim will have a wry smile on his face knowing that he finished ahead of 9 Brits.

Greg Harris
Still no leads on who the secret bird was on his arm the other month. Greg was one of a host of managers who made no real impact in this season’s league table. He flirted with re-election but was never in any danger but maybe love was to blame as Greg had his worst ever finish in his time in the N&R FL.

Brian Rutter
Rutts who last year finished 3rd would have joined an exclusive club of finishing in prize winning places one year and re-election the following year. So exclusive that the club would have been just Brian!

However, a sterling last 2 weeks meant that Rutts escaped the drop after being in the grey matter for 16 weeks. He will be hoping to do a tad better next year like his beloved Gunners.

Giles Crowley
Up until the middle of November Giles was a regular in the bottom 6 but he sped away, looking like he had enough pace to move into the top half but safety was enough for Giles as he settled in the bottom half of the league, which was true to form as he has finished in the lower half of the table every season since 1998 / 99.

Mark Dewberry
Another first timer who will be satisfied that he missed out on re-election even though if he reads the small print in his AIG contract he will read about the curry that he owes his colleagues.
Mark's Judas boys also spent many weeks in the bottom 6 but escaped by a lucky for them 13 points.

Tony Murray
If you check the league table, you will see two colours against Tony’s name. One a light grey in week one (6th place), and two darker grey squares in the last 2 weeks (re-election). It was tough on Muzza but the tide was against him in the closing weeks. Whilst other managers gained momentum (Rutter, Dewberry, Feldbrugge), Tony could not get it going and was treading water and clearly misunderstand the transfer rule, i.e. you can make 12 at any time, before he dropped into the bottom 6 on the penultimate week.

Alan Waters
A second consecutive re-election for Muddy - Paul Kelleher saved him the year before that. I am probably in the UK more than Al to be honest and it showed. No transfers were forthcoming and we all know what that means don’t we kids?

John Tiernan
For years we have been hoping that John would join the N&R party and this season he did but apart from one email after Charlton’s well-deserved victory over Palarse at Selhurst last year, that was it. No transfers, no letters, no words of abuse after the Addicks relegated his beloved Palarse, nothing. So chances of him flying to Chicago and buying me lunch? Nada.

Brian Dougal
Doug’s was unlucky not to grab the penultimate place. £25 goes a long way here and lets face it, it could have bought a rather large cubic zirconia! But a month ago serial penultimate placer Birdy snatched the mantle and Brian had to settle for 45th place – but like Tim, he is happy that he finished above 2, in fact 3 Brits.

James Bird
Two MoW’s and the penultimate prize – not a bad season for Birdy. In fact it is very rare to see Birdy walk away without some cash and he succeeded again clearing 35 notes. James, like Dougal spent every single week in the bottom 6, and that ain’t easy.

I have a feeling that James actually plays for this prize, it is his 2nd on the trot and we wonder if next season will see a return to the 5th and 6th’s we once witnessed or will he aim for something else?

Dom Barrett / Alex Baxter
The Hinge and Bracket of the N&R FL. The story goes that they went out for lunch around Christmas time to discuss transfers. Dom and Alex ended up getting pissed and they forgot to make the transfers. They were 5th from bottom then, but at least the thought was there.

Up until November they were doing alright but the lethargy crept in and frankly teams around them had a bit more oomph in the closing months of the season and they ended up 59 points adrift at rock bottom.