Football Dynasty-Chapter 49: Fired

The 1989/1990 season finally came to a close.

Before returning to England, Richard made one last attempt to sign Francesco Toldo from AC Milan. The current Milan squad already has three established goalkeepers: Francesco Antonioli, Giovanni Galli, and Andrea Pazzagli.

Based on their current performances, it seems unlikely that fourth-choice Toldo will get his chance for the next four or five years. However, Richard was helpless once again, as Italy's tight-knit, family-first culture blocked his path, making it impossible for him to sign even a single Italian player for his books.

With no other choice, Richard decided to return to England empty-handed from Italy.

Arsenal clinched the league title in dramatic fashion, with a late goal from Michael Thomas securing a 2-0 away win over Liverpool. This victory marked their first league championship in 18 years.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United endured a disastrous season, finishing bottom of the league after five years in the First Division. They were relegated alongside local rivals Middlesbrough and a West Ham United side that had nearly won the league title just three years earlier.

Liverpool triumphed in the FA Cup, defeating Everton 3-2 at Wembley. Ian Rush, who had returned to Anfield the previous summer after a year at Juventus, scored twice in the final.

Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest ended a nine-year trophy drought, beating holders Luton Town 3-1 to win the League Cup. They also captured the Full Members' Cup, edging Everton 4-3 in the final after extra time, having come from behind twice.

Bolton Wanderers claimed their first major trophy since the 1958 FA Cup, overcoming Torquay United 4-1 in the Associate Members' Cup final.

Before the domestic season truly came to an end, a shocking, thrilling match sent shockwaves through the entire English football community.

Crystal Palace staged an incredible comeback, overturning a 3-1 deficit to defeat Blackburn Rovers 4-3 on aggregate, earning promotion to the First Division after an eight-year absence.

Moving on to the national team, the fans of the Three Lions saw their frustrations begin to ease as the team prepared for their World Cup qualifying campaign.

David Rocastle, Paul Gascoigne, and Tony Cottee earned their first international caps for England in a 1–0 friendly win over Denmark at Wembley.

England's World Cup qualifying campaign kicked off with a goalless draw against Sweden in Group 2 at Wembley.

The team then drew 1–1 with Saudi Arabia in a friendly in Riyadh, with goalkeeper David Seaman making his international debut.

England secured their first wins of the World Cup qualifying series, defeating Albania 2–0 in Tirana and 5–0 at Wembley. Substitute Paul Gascoigne scored his first international goal in the latter match.

The two positive results set the stage for even more success, as England went on to beat Poland 3–0, marking three consecutive wins after their draw with Sweden.

As for City, when the season began, the club had an ambitious roadmap.

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The newly promoted City spent almost £2m in the summer, bringing in Clive Allen from Bordeaux, Ian Bishop from Bournemouth, and Gary Fleming from Nottingham Forest.

Mel Machin recouped £725,000 with the sale of Wayne Biggins and Ian Scott to Stoke, and Paul Moulden to Bournemouth.

City opened the season at Liverpool, but despite a good performance by Mel Machin's team, they suffered a 3-1 defeat. The next match was even less impressive, as they lost 2-1 against Southampton.

Their first point of the season came in a 1-1 draw against Tottenham at Maine Road. However, another defeat, 2-1 at Coventry, meant that The Blues had taken just one point from a possible twelve.

A first win of the season came with a 1-0 victory at home against QPR, but that was quickly forgotten as the next match saw them lose again, 1-0 in their third consecutive away loss, this time at Wimbledon.

Things didn't get any better for Mel Machin in the Littlewoods Cup, as The Blues were beaten 2-1 at Brentford in the first leg of the second round.

The next match? Manchester United.

You could well understand the trepidation of the City fans as the Manchester Derby at Maine Road loomed on the horizon.

This was also the first match Richard attended this season, and his first derby as a Manchester City shareholder. The result?

Maine Road witnessed one of the most amazing derbies as City ended up 5-1 winners.

The Blues carried on the momentum into their next home game, beating Luton 3-1. After that, they won three matches in a row, with the last being a 4-1 victory over Brentford at Maine Road.

City fans were elated, their confidence was high, but they were brought back down to earth at Highbury, where they were beaten 4-0 by Arsenal.

With the first half of the season done, City stood in 14th position after nine games, just four points above the relegation zone.

City lost again a week later, suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. However, in the Littlewoods Cup 3rd Round, the Blues pulled off an impressive 3-1 victory at Maine Road to eliminate Norwich.

A solid 1-1 draw at Chelsea followed, before City bounced back with a 3-0 home win over Crystal Palace. Just as things seemed to be improving, the wheels fell off as Mel Machin's team were humiliated in a 6-0 defeat at Derby.

The glaring issue was clear this time: defense.

Colin Hendry was brought in for £750,000 from Blackburn to try and shore up the defence, however City lost again, 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest and were now second from bottom of the league.

The final nail in the coffin for Mel Machin came in the next match when City suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Coventry in the Littlewoods Cup 4th Round.

This time, Richard couldn't stay silent. He called an EGM, directly addressing the poor performance of City.

One of the advantages of being removed from day-to-day operations, yet still holding a large stake in the club, was the ability to oversee without getting caught up in the daily struggle. In short, Richard is the only one who has the right to flip the bird to anyone on the board.

"What the hell are you doing here?! Are you telling me this is how City is supposed to perform?!" He pointed his finger at every board member, his frustration boiling over.

"Almost three million pounds spent, and we're still staring relegation in the face?!" Richard slammed the papers on the table, pointing to every mistake. "Look at this!" he shouted, moving to the next page. "And this!" He kept going, finally pointing at the disastrous strategies, including the botched transfer decisions.

The room fell silent as the papers scattered, the weight of his anger hanging heavy in the air.

The faces of current chairman Peter Swales, president Joe Smith, vice-president Simon Cussons, vice-president John Humphreys, and vice-president Sidney Rose darkened. Not only had they never been scolded, but when had anyone dared shout at them like this?

"Mr. Maddox, this is the boardroom, please show some respe—"

"You've failed the club," Richard cut off whatever Swales was about to say. "You failed me. I trusted your competencies to run the club, and most importantly, YOU FAILED THE FANS!" He stood up abruptly and pointed at Swales, leaving him speechless.

"Especially you." Richard finally toned down his voice, but everyone could feel the tension building—everyone knew how dangerous his next words would be.

"You. Yes." He pointed at the current manager, Mel Machin. "I said your transfers went wrong. You spent £700,000 on a brick wall, and you ignored me, and you." Richard shifted his finger to point at his assistant manager.

Was clearly pointed out by Richard, which made the assistant manager furious. But he didn't dare to retort. After all, he had failed to deliver.

Richard sneered. "And where is this Greenwich Borough anyway, right? This is what you told me before, right? Fine. Let me show you."

Richard picked up a document from the table and practically threw it in his face. "That Ian Wright you dismissed because he played in some lower-league club—he's scored nine goals and helped bring Palace back to the First Division via the playoffs! And he only played half the season!"

After Richard brought Ian Wright to trial at Crystal Palace, it didn't take long for him to impress then-manager Steve Coppell. In fact, he joined the first squad just three months after his trial began.

Despite only playing in the second half of the season, Ian Wright quickly made his mark, scoring nine goals in his first season.

He finished as Palace's second-highest scorer and established a successful striking partnership with Mark Bright, the current main striker of Crystal Palace.

"Get out."

The room fell silent, stunned by this words.

"Get out of here!" Richard's voice rose. "Let's do a vote, right here, right now! The current manager doesn't have the capacity to manage Manchester City. We've spent millions, and we're still heading toward relegation. This is beyond unacceptable."

He then turned to the board, warned them. "You're supposed to be running this club, making decisions that matter. But instead, we've been stuck in mediocrity. How much longer are we going to let this circus continue? I expect you to make the right decision... and fast."

Peter Swales had initially intended to sack Mel Machin, but Richard's outburst changed everything.

He felt his position as chairman was being directly challenged, and while he wanted to assert his authority, he didn't anticipate that the support he believed he had would backfire.

Vice Presidents Simon Cussons, John Humphreys, and Sidney Rose all raised their hands in support of non-executive shareholder Richard Maddox.

On the opposing side were Chairman Peter Swales and President Joe Smith.

4-2 vote in favor of Richard.

In the end, the decision to dismiss the current manager, something that could have been delayed, was forcibly made—and it was Richard Maddox who had the final say.

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The next volume includes: The anti-Swales campaign, death threats, and Francis Lee's takeover bid, all of which shook the club to its core. In this volume, you can expect three major events.

First, Richard sets up his first company and rides the wave of the dot-com bubble.

Second, the Bosman ruling is applied, including the legal battle that took it to the European Court.

Third, Richard fails in his bid for City due to an agent-ownership issue before he finally has enough when City drops to the third tier for the first time in its history.