It really has been a mixed bag this season. There have been highs and lows, oooh’s and argh’s, and all serve as a reminder as to why we beat the Sunday morning blues to go and play the beautiful game. Well, we try to anyway.

It all started so well last August. A pre-season friendly saw the Pups and the Lags draw 3-3 in the Testimonial, and there was even some pre-season training. Confidence was high, there was a new gaffer at the helm () and a settled squad - all the necessary ingredients for a successful campaign.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the first match, so the club captain was left in charge, (). I couldn’t have written a better script either; Logica ran out comfortable 4-0 winners against a good Townmead side, with young notching an impressive brace. It got even better the following week. For my first game in charge, I didn’t dare to tinker with a side that had won so comfortably the previous week. And a good decision it proved to be, as we romped home to a 5-1 victory over ten-man St.Augustines. This time it was 's turn to bag a pair.

With the controversial 4-4-2 system in place and established, we should have gone on to sweep all before us. But in typical Logica style we somewhat self-destructed. Our next game saw a visit to Boston Manor to play the Archers, who were also showing good early season form. It all started well enough with Skippy taking the pre-match warm-up and insisting that anyone doing anything silly like pulling a hamstring due to inadequate preparation, would be fined. Sure enough, fifteen minutes in Skippy duly pulls up with a hamstring injury. He stills owes me his fine as well... This resulted in the good old Logica panic, and despite leading with an early goal (complete with belly display), we were soon losing and eventually finished the game with a 2-7 defeat.

With our confidence dented we strode into the Pump House game with a weakened squad and we were given the spanking of our lives. The worst thing about this defeat was the fact that we were fortunate to get away with a 0-10 defeat.

With the weather then causing absolute havoc up and down the country, half of the pitches in South London were submerged under water, and it was practically a whole month before we got some action again. This time our opponents were the Arabs Boys - the league whipping boys. This was a game which we should have won, and won comfortably after leading 4-1 at half time. But after a dismal second period, we only managed a 6-6 draw, to give the Arab Boys their only point of the season - truly embarrassing. An hat-trick is a rare enough event, and as well as this game supplying 's first goal for the club, it has to be said that if you score six goals you expect to win and when you don’t you feel like dying, and it was at this point that I began to realise why was only too happy to hand over the reins to a younger man. It’s certainly a job that ages you!

We also had a brief cup run comprising two consecutive matches that were separated by two months and many downpours. At the end of November we did our annual giant-killer’s impression, courtesy of a convincing 4-2 victory against Red Star Athletic, who were sitting pretty two divisions above us. This of course got the team and board talking over the next couple of months about a lucrative cup run. But come the end of January, and despite playing well, we got hammered by Portuguese club FC Machio in the next round. It was scant consolation that Machio went on to win the competition.

The thrill and spills of the Cup seemed to perk up our league form, and February saw consecutive and resounding victories against both the Arab Boys and Sportabello - the latter an invaluable double-header pair of victories for six points. In both these games we asserted our class over inferior opposition, with notching against the Arab Boys via a spectacular volley from a corner - it’s moments like this one that make it all worthwhile! It was a good week for Supreme notching, as also memorably scored against Sportabello with a thunderous lob from the left wing. More Supreme entertainment was provided by , doing the hard bit but missing open goals - these games had it all, even clean sheets!

These games also exemplified the wide distribution of goalscorers throughout the team, with these three games alone providing nine different goalscorers. scored his first hat-trick for the club against Arab Boys, scored four goals in these games, and continued his consistent run of scoring with three more. But perhaps the pick of the bunch were two finely crafted strikes from in the Sportobello games.

Despite a defeat at the hands of title-chasing St.Anselms (the impressive scoring on his debut), our league campaign came to hinge on a second of the dreaded double-header fixtures against London Radnor. This time out it was a single game for six points: victory, and promotion would be within reach; defeat, and the season would be all but over. Despite taking the lead through an own goal, plus a late sitter from a disappointing performance resulted in a 2-3 defeat. Mid-table mediocrity it was then.

The season duly fizzled out now. We lost each of our remaining two games by the odd goal, which was frustrating, even though we put up a quite a fight in each. It’s these sort of games that I’m looking to address next season (and the ones where we’re hammered of course). Hopefully they will be a thing of the past.

The match against Archers was the proverbial game of two halves. After being 1-4 down at the interval, a brilliant second half performance which included a hat-trick, and a virtuoso midfield display by , was not quite enough and we eventually went down 4-5.

Our final match, a month later, was against St.Anselms, who needed the three points to clinch the divisional championship. It appeared that it would be a day of school-boy heroics, as a World Cup ravaged bare eleven with a hobbling in goal, stole clinically into a 2-0 lead with brilliant strikes from first and then debutante . But the effects of an international tournament finally told, as we conceded three goals in the final quarter (climaxing with 's fourth ownie of the campaign) to go down 2-3.

So it certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom then. The start of the season was very promising and proves that I have some quality players at this club. A final league position of fifth out of nine is not the end of the world either.

During the midseason slump, the board opened the club coffers and told me to bring in some quality. My greatest need was some extra midfield cover particularly after ’s transfer to Brazilian outfit Sao Paulo. The club’s international scouting network was informed of my needs, and it wasn’t long before I was in contact with a French midfielder who was available on a ‘Bosman Free’. He agreed to a trial, and passed it within about two minutes of being on the pitch. We agreed personal terms and duly signed a one year contract.

was also signed, a winger by trade and he has looked promising. has been brought into the senior team from the juniors, and has put in a couple of good performances. I signed a new goalkeeper, , as cover for who can now be utilised in his favoured position on the left. I’ve also had talks with , a striker who scored on his debut, so next season is certainly looking very bright indeed. There was also who came in at the start of the season and has enjoyed a good rapport with our notoriously hard-to-please supporters.

Of course it’s all very well bringing in extra players to improve your squad but often it’s easier if you just improve the ones you already have. is a good example of this, a player who felt that he was reaching the end of career not so long ago. However exposure to himself on video changed all that; he got himself a personal trainer and started pounding the treadmill. The results have been spectacular, and he’s been one of the more consistent performers at the tail end of the season, although he still has the odd tendency to test his own goalkeeper. He has an impressive tally of own goals , even out-doing . The overall result of this is that he’s signed a one-year contract extension and shall be turning out for LFC next year.

No season review would be complete without a look at the World Cup Finals, which this year took place in Amsterdam. I resigned as the International Manager of the England Pups in March and we didn’t have to look far for a replacement. was the unanimous choice of both the board and the majority of supporters up and down the country, so it was easy appointment to make. With being promoted to the Pups, that left the Under 23’s job open and was duly appointed as boss of the Nippers. Last but not least was retained as the boss of the Lags - the first Lag captain in history to be appointed for two consecutive World Cups.

I felt that both the Pups and the Lags had a good chance of glory this year. It wasn’t to be however. The Pups struggled in usual fashion to score enough goals, the Nippers struggled to stop conceding goals, and the Lags were just unfortunate... The Pups did however manage to beat the Italians which now means that we’ve played them three times and remain undefeated - a noble record. Lets hope next year that one of the teams can go all the way.

If you actually examine our statistics this season it makes very interesting reading. We scored a lot of goals: across all the divisions in the whole league, only a handful of teams actually scored more, and those are generally the teams that won their league. The other side of the coin is that we also conceded a lot goals. In fact, few teams conceded more than us, and those that did were mainly teams that got relegated.

As mentioned earlier, the goals we scored were generally spread widely throughout the team as well. Twelve different players notched during the campaign, and six players scored five or more. Particular credit goes to two relative newcomers, and , who share the Golden Boot Award with nine goals apiece. Further plaudits for the lad , who was the only ever-present in an admittedly weather-shortened season.

This all points to a general defensive problem. The first problem is that the midfield doesn’t seem to work with the defence, as we always seem to end up with a big gap between the two. The other point is that about half the goals we conceded were from set pieces - why is this? The answer is simple: too many people in the team cannot head the ball when put under pressure. This is proved when you analyse how many goals we scored with headers - I can’t actually think of one, though I’m sure there were at least a couple ['s Lofthousesque forehead thumper against Arab Boys is the only one I can think of - Ed]. This really does have to be addressed for next season.

That’s about it from me but in retrospect it hasn’t been a bad season. I think I’ve done a reasonable job and built on the foundations set in place by , though it remains to be seen if we can hang to our best players - for example, we await to see whether will remain at the club after impressing O’Leary O’Leeds. If this happens then I shall be back in Europe scouring for the bargain of year.

For next year I think we need to be challenging for promotion, and with the squad I’ve got that should be the least we’re doing.

Have a good summer and keep fit.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Most Appearances: (12+2 out of 14 games max)
Golden Boot: (9 goals in 12+2 games) and (9 in 9+3)
Players' Player of the Year:
Goal of the Season: vs Italy (World Cup)
Football Writers' Player of the Year: (Three MoM Awards)
Biggest Victory: 10-0 v Arab Boys (a)
Heaviest Defeat: 0-10 v Pump House (h)
Goals Scored: 53 goals in 14 games (average 3.79 per game)
Goals Conceded: 49 goals in 14 games (average 3.50 per game)
Clean Sheets: Four in 14 games (average one every 3.50 games)