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IAG Manager TeeDee interviews Fortress manager TopGun2 - 25/04/2010 -
There is no better place to begin than with a manager who is arguably the greatest of them all, having won 10 League titles, 7 League Cups and 2 Super Cups with the club he has been with since day 1. Such is his renown, his name has long been a byword for a forensic statiscal approach to the game. I speak, of course, of the legendary.......... TopGun2!
Hi TG!
Delighted to have you join me!
Hi TD! Thanks for inviting me to this interview, I’m honoured to be the first in what will be a long and distinguished list of managers.
You’re back on top of the Fortress Premiership - how does it feel?
Ha, it feels good, but not as good as you might imagine. I was top for a while last season too. The trouble with the Fortress Premiership is that a single slip-up will probably cost you the title so you have absolutely no opportunity to take it easy or enjoy being top.
Would you say it’s the toughest Premiership around?
That’s a tough call. It’s certainly the only one to have won 5 super cups or have 2 top 10 clubs and managers!
We have a number of other really strong clubs as well but some would argue our depth isn’t as tough as some other leagues. Neon and Aristotle (among others) have some strong claims to be the strongest Premiership overall but I do think Fortress is the hardest to win.
It must seem a long time since your first title! What are your memories of your early days with White Hart Winners?
I remember first looking at the squads in my division (Div. 3) and realising they were all higher rated than mine (we were ranked in the bottom 10% of the game)! I lost 5 games in my first half a season and then once my training regimes had taken hold I charged back to only miss promotion on goal difference.
The next few seasons were based around regular tussles with Volcanic redeye who progressed up the divisions with us. We came out on top mostly but they pushed us close every season.
Season 2 I got to my first final (league cup) and lost to a better side. It was enough to whet the appetite though!
The first 5 seasons were all about preparing for the premiership. I knew I needed 13,800 seats before I got there and I made sure I had. Squad development came second to setting up the infrastructure we have relied upson since.
Arrived in the Premiership in season 6 and never expected to win it but as it happens I picked up 111 points that season, only dropping points with a defeat away to IanD’s Altostone City. That’s when my club came of age, we haven’t looked back since!
Season 6 didn’t just bring you your first major piece of silverware: you landed the League and League Cup double! Did you think then that you were going to dominate for seasons to come?
I knew that I had set my club up so that it was possible but I didn’t expect to be able to pull it off. At that point I knew my tactics weren’t up to scratch when playing against equal squads so I expected to get beaten more often than I was. Of course, it did take quite a while before I was able to lay my hands on the biggest cup of all.
I also knew there were other teams still making their way up to the Premiership who were just as well set up as mine, I knew they were going to give me problems when their time came.
One of those teams was of course MOT Whites, who won the Premiership at the first attempt in Season 11. Did you see that coming?
Yes and no! I thought they would be a serious force and would challenge for the title, DchRoxanne was clearly a brilliant manager and had a squad more than capable of beating anyone. That was confirmed after a draw with them at The Lane on the opening day of the season. However, having then beaten them away I was sitting 2 points clear with 3 games left to play. I thought I had it won then.
I was too complacent though and slipped to a silly 2-2 draw in match 36, at home to none other than my old rivals Volcanic Redeye! That was a bitter pill to swallow having thought I’d beaten off the challenge of MOT.
If that was bitter their Super Cup win the following season must have been a choker!
That’s an understatement! They did that to me a lot; every time I thought I’d got one step ahead again DchRoxanne pulled another rabbit out of the hat and closed the gap! That 20m was the last thing I wanted in his hands then!
It made for great entertainment though, I could easily have got bored around that time and left. In fact at one point just before then I cleared out my youth academy in preparation to leave the club in search of a new challenge. The arrival of MOT onto the big stage gave me the motivation I needed to carry on.
With that in mind, what can you tell me about Season 13?
Most of season 13 is a blur, the friendly cups were in full swing by then, I’d got the now familiar premiership tussle with MOT and then came the big one. So many big games it’s tricky to recall what happened inbetween.
I remember losing to MOT at their place early in the league season so I was chasing them for the rest of the season. After drawing with Jemfy’s Diamonds and Altostone City I thought I had no chance of catching MOT, the pressure was off.
The league cup was lost on penalties, to MOT whites of course, that was during a run where we met in the final several seasons running and the winner alternated each time. In season 13 they became the first Fortress club to retain the cup.
Things turned my way in the second half of the season, starting with a 2-1 win in the return league match with MOT. That closed the gap but we still lagged behind until the final days of the season. I had progressed well in the super cup, thanks in part to some nice draws but I had to face Superhoops in the last 16. Somehow we got through that 2-1 and the next day the bombshell hit....
MOT whites had one of 'those' days. The battered their opponents but couldn’t get the ball in the net. They dropped points despite a ridiculous set of statistics. We had jumped back to the top of the table just as MOT had done in season 11! DchRoxanne decided enough was enough, he did not want to play a game where years of work was snatched away by the RG in such cruel fashion. We were lifted.
Ciudad were beaten, away, in the quarter finals of the cup (having just beaten them over two legs in Cookie’s cup final), followed by Medkirciai in the semis. I had finally reached the holy grail, the super cup final, where we faced Academia di Calcio del Prateria. We were lucky enough to squeak through that game after penalties to lift the cup. Finally I’d achieved my goal!
(apologies for rambling there!)
Of Course you went on to win the Super Cup a second time in a period which established you as one of the great managers. How did it feel to be No. 1?
Pretty awesome if I’m honest! Being #1 is what we’re all playing for. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so there was no chance I was going to give up without getting my hands on top spot. Although, I said at the time, the manager rankings are a bit whacked on IAG, being #1 club meant more to me. My job as manager is to manage the club, build it and improve it so the real measure of my success as manager is the ranking of the club.
Meanwhile, your great rivals, MOT Whites, under the management of Scolly, seemed to lose their way. Was there a point when you felt that you had seen them off once and for all?
Not really. Any top club is going to take a knock back after a reset but they had been set up the right way and were always going to come back strongly. It’s a shame that DchRoxanne couldn’t have stayed another half a season really, he had started building works on another large stand which would have brought their capacity closer to WHWs (although we subsequently built again ourselves straight after). Scolly did a good job of picking them up from the reset but he seemed to just drop points a little more often than he could afford in the title races.
They were always a giant of a club though, even if they were not at their best in that period. Scolly certainly did them no harm during his tenure.
Then came BigTyksen, fresh from success in Dragon. How soon did you realize that you had a new fight on your hands?
I didn’t know anything about BT when he arrived in Fortress. We played against MOT late in season 16, after BT’s arrival, and won at home to all but secure the league title. I’ll admit that, after that, I thought I would be able to hold off his challenge.
That view was clearly wrong and it only took a few days for me to find that out. BT went on the following week to lift the Super Cup for the second time in MOT’s history. That was quite a surprise considering they had undergone another reset halfway through the season! It was definitely no fluke though and it showed me what I was going to be up against.
This must be one of the strangest periods of your managerial career! You lose your grasp on the Premiership, only to win a second Super Cup, and then, with the Holy Grail of back-to-back Super Cup triumphs in your grasp, who should turn up to not only spoil the party, but secure the treble? MOT Whites!
That was pretty painful and probably my lowest point on IAG. My league season 17 had been awful, I lost 4 matches, including to MOT twice, and failed to reach 100 points for the first time since season 1! League cup was scant reward when times were so dark but to come through a nightmare run of matches in the super cup and to follow in MOT’s footsteps again salvaged everything. It kept me going once again when I had other thoughts on my mind. I was within reach of a club rating that nobody had dreamed of before let alone achieved but I decided to look after the long term future and let that target slip away, for a while.
Season 18 started better, I got an early lead in the league and thought I was going to regain it, but defeats to MOT Whites in league and cup (penalties again!) had me doubting myself again. The league title battle was close and we both kept making it through in the super cup. I allowed myself to start dreaming of IAG immortality and a place in the hall of fame!
We started to wonder if the RG would pair us together in a final as it had done so many times before domestically (and in a super cup quarter final many seasons before). Indeed it did and yet again BT got the better of me and lifted his 2nd, MOT’s 3rd, Super Cup - after penalties of course...
I was gutted but have returned to the opportunity I had previously to reach new heights and have made that my new aim.
For many, that would be the time to call it a day, make a dignified exit, and close the door on a glittering career. Is that you?
No.
It has crossed my mind, not because I’ve missed out on retaining the super cup or because I’ve finally found an opponent who can beat me regularly but because of the lack of time and motivation I have now. My club has not been progressing how it should be in recent seasons, they’re surviving on a squad I put together a while ago but have not had the drive to refresh lately. I feel that if I continue in this vein for too long then I’ll do irrepairable damage to the club’s future.
However, I have given myself a new challenge, a target to aim for which has re-motivated me and convinced me to hang around a bit longer. It would be nice to regain the league title and to find a way to beat BT too!
So you won’t be throwing away the spreadsheets just yet!
You might be surprised to hear that the first consequence of my lack of time is that I have stopped maintaining my spreadsheets, all of them. I no longer monitor training or finances for either of my clubs and it’s clear for me to see the negative impact that’s had on both. Fortunately I am able to trade on the knowledge I have gained from them in the past but I am not in control of the club as I well as I should be now. I no longer have a long term plan because I reached the end of it and haven’t had time to extend it!
Well I won’t tell anyone if you don’t!
Been great talking, TG.
Many thanks mate
It’s been a pleasure, thank you!
Hamilton Unacademicals - welcome to the Premiership.... -
The small, tight ground at Waikato stadium is full to the rafters for the first ever visit by Premiership heavyweights Altostone City. It’s the new season and Hamilton Unacademicals, the small unfashionable team from deepest, darkest New Zealand are playing their first ever season in the Premiership. Pundits have predicted that they will drop faster than posh spices drawers, but The Chairman has high expectations. He insists that the title must be ours in the next 2 seasons! Now, I’m a positive person who always feels our team can do themselves justice, but the Title! I think I could be looking for a new job soon. The thing is, it’s been rather quiet here recently since we got promotion and I'm rather enjoying it. The Chairman has been far too busy servicing his wife to spend too much time ordering me around. He’s gone back to chain-smoking mind you. I’ve had no secret love messages (except the usual ones from Slansky, the Club Secretary) from the “double-chinned behemoth”, which has been of great relief. But sadly, when I visit the Chairman’s office, the gorgeous trio of “office assistants” have gone, replaced by, none other than Slansky. Hence, I don’t go there too often (nor the office!)
So today is a special day. As I look up, I can see the building works for the new stand. It’s a bit chaotic but The Chairman insists it’s all running smoothly (he should know-it’s his company doing the work!). I’m sitting in the director’s box (sadly). I’d rather be down with the lads but sometimes you have to do what you’re told. The first half is all level. Then the wheels start to fall off. Altostone, known for their dirty tactics, play their trump card. A tall, leggy lass in the highest stiletto’s I’ve ever seen wanders up the touchline. She’s (barely) wearing a tiny Altostone skirt and drops her match day programme just as she passes the directors box. The Chairman snorts as he inhales his cigarette and then screams as he burns his tongue. His black eye appears shortly after Iana (as our goalkeeper later discovers) bends to pick up the programme. Mr’s Chairman has a hell of a left jab. All the screaming attracts the attention of our keeper, Ferfecki. Commonly known as “donkey” Ferfecki, he immediately spots the still bent over Iana and starts to drool. He doesn’t even notice Altostone’s first goal, claiming he had a foreign body in his eye.
The home crowd cheers this tremendous performance on the side-lines and barely notice Altostone’s second. It seems their players have somehow become immune to these tactics. As I shake hands with IanD, their manager, after the game, he winks at me. I want to punch him, but soft hands grab me from behind and Slansky pulls me away. It seems, ironically, that he was the only person in the whole ground who was actually watching what was happening on the pitch! A tough welcome to the harsh realities of Premiership football.
Still, a trip to my old club, Wynvale Wanderers beckons. I wonder if the crowd will cheer me or jeer me. More importantly, I wonder if their new manager is keeping my expensive tropical fish collection well?
