Roy of the Rovers Return to GloryPart 3

* * *Unfortunately for Derek Mostin and the millions of Melchester Rovers supporters around the world, that was as good as it got for the interim manager. A run of just three wins in eleven meant that after twenty-five matches, Rovers sat nineteenth in the Premier League, with only Deans Park beneath them and in real danger of relegation. One man was feeling the pain of the struggle more than most. Roy Race, whose application for the vacant managers job in December had been laughed away by the increasing influential Basranian owners, felt hopeless. Having not even been offered an interview, Racey had resigned from his role as director of development believing that his continued presence at the club would only put Mozzie under unnecessary pressure. Somebody within the club had leaked the story of Roys application to John Lucas, the famed journalist for the Daily Gazette who took great delight in humiliating The King once again and at Christmas too.Roy had the whole Race family with him in the mansion for the entire festive period. They all talked jovially about Roys potential return as manager and how he was the only man with the talent and knowhow to turn the clubs season around. Declan McKaffree, Roys son-in-law was especially looking forward to working under Racey again, the man who had given him his debut as a seventeen year-old way back in the 1998/99 season. He knew firsthand the impact Roy could have on the side, all those years of experience would be just what the first-team players needed. Racey would have them organised, confident and winning again in no time, Dec was sure of that.But then it happened, live on Big Sports News, no telephone call, no letter, email or even text. Dr Mahmud of Melchesters main shareholders, Basranian Capital Investment Fund (BCIF), was on camera outside the main entrance to Mel Park, that iconic place that meant everything to Roy Race, about to make an announcement. In anticipation of the leaked Gazette story, Mahmud had prepared a statement that included the key line, Roy Race will not be the new manager of Melchester Rovers, that is not going to happen, never! he continued, Derek Mostin is to remain in charge, albeit as interim manager until the end of the season, when we hope to appoint Johan Seegrun once he has worked his notice period for the Dutch.The whole family was stunned, Mels son, the youngest Roy of the clan, burst into tears and ran into the garden despite the heavy rain, Dec his favourite footballer gave chase. The girls, Diana, Mel and Rockys wife Jeanette and their two daughters, all shuffled sheepishly into the kitchen area, leaving Roy with his son. Classless, Dad! Youre better off without Melchester Rovers, not with those divs in charge! Roys face hung like a basset hound, Thats easy for you to say, son. You made it away from Mel Park, first with Melboro as a player and then as a coach in the States. Whenever Ive left Rovers Ive flopped, Walford and Monza, nothing achieved, I just longed for home. Im a Rovers man, son, and will never be anything else. All I wanted was one last chance to help save my club, I know Im the man to do it. But worst of all, and I hope this doesnt sound like sour grapes; Mozzie is not the man for the job. With Derek Mostin in charge Melchester Rovers will be relegated.Even though that day was over two months ago, Roy still felt gutted and desperate to contribute something to Rovers survival cause. Rocky and his family had returned to Baltimore after spending the off-season in Melchester, so Roy again had the massive house to himself. He had too much time to think and plan and plan some more. He scanned the fixtures section of the latest Melchester Rovers matchday programme:

Roy had attended only a handful of matches since Mostins appointment, preferring to keep away and avoid the awkward situations that would arise from his presence. But to Roy there were many reasons, clear and obvious from the teamsheets, for Rovers current predicament. Firstly, Mostin had no idea what his best eleven was, he was determined to find the players to fit the traditional Melchester-way, 4-3-3 formation. Roy had already determined that Rovers did not have the players for that system any more. Mostins inexperience was shown by his determination to have a consistent line-up. He made drastic changes, the new line-up would lose badly, but he would stick with it, even though it was clear from the outside that it was never going to work. But for Roy, Mostins biggest mistake was his treatment of Richie Lyons.Lyons was difficult to manage, Vernon Eliot and Gerry Holloway in partnership were great at motivating and keeping discipline in the squad, they could do it. But Mostin was a joker, he found the transition to being the boss difficult and he lost control of his best striker. The top scorer was dropped for the Boxing Day match away at Kelburn following a trio of indifferent displays after being asked to play on the left-wing to accommodate Mostins moving of Jake Cheetham to the false-number nine position. He had started just one Premier League match since. Even as Rovers struggled for goals, Mostin stubbornly stuck to his system with Cheetham as the central attacker. Again, Roy saw this as evidence of Mozzies naivety, Cheetham was playing superbly in his new position, but the rest of the team were not gelling. Mostin should have found a role for Lyons, his biggest goal threat, but in order to do that he had to abandon 4-3-3 and it appeared that that was never going to happen. Roy prayed that it would as he turned on his television ready to cheer on the mighty Melchester against reigning Champions, Johnny Dexters Danefield United.

NEXT Can Derek Mostin find a way to solve Rovers problems?Storky Knight