Chapter 152: A Score to Settle

"Mate, we should start a new life." At Saint’s house, Jasper had officially taken over a spare room.

The gossip columns had not been shy about it. The Daily Courier and a few of its cousins had run plenty of pieces about Saint and Jasper, and in those pieces the word "girlfriend" was only ever used as a cover for what was really going on between the two of them.

Especially now that the news of Saint’s break-up with Imogen had leaked, and Jasper had split up with his own girlfriend as well, and Jasper had now moved straight into Saint’s house. For a certain kind of editor it was a gift.

And so what? Jasper had got used to the stories. He did not much care about them any more, and sometimes he read them out loud as jokes over breakfast.

As for Saint, he had no time to worry about any of it. He did not care what the papers said, but his aunt and his cousin Chloe, who lived some distance away, were another matter.

The day after Jasper moved in, his aunt phoned and told Saint a great many things. The gist of it was, "You’re the last Maddox of your line, and if you don’t settle down, you’ll be the end of the whole family."

Saint did not believe she meant it half as seriously as she sounded, and he could only sigh and let her carry on.

What Saint did not know was that his aunt had already started arranging a blind date for him. She had even made good use of her position as the aunt of the Aston Villa manager, dropping it into conversation at her restaurant until the girl’s family were suitably impressed, and she meant to have it all ready for the day he came back.

Jasper, meanwhile, had made himself at home faster than anyone expected. He had already reorganised the kitchen cupboards, bought a coffee machine nobody had asked for, and taken to reading the transfer gossip aloud at seven in the morning.

"You know what they’ll write if I walk out of here with a suitcase?" he asked cheerfully one evening.

"Whatever they like," Saint said, without looking up from his laptop. "They always do."

In the middle of all this noise, Villa arrived at their meeting with Derby County, one of the other newly promoted sides. So far that season Villa had met only one other promoted side, Hull, and had lost.

"Win. I’m only thinking about winning this game." This time Saint did not tease the reporters. He simply told the world, flat out, that he meant to win.

That stopped the press room in its tracks. They had become used to Saint’s polite brush-offs before a match, the kind of thing that said nothing at all, and now here was a straight answer.

"Last season we were right there with Villa all year, and this match will be no different," Derby’s manager, Ian Pellew, said, showing no sign of weakness in front of the challenge Saint had laid down.

Pellew was a veteran of the lower leagues who had spent years working his way up, and he had always been wary of the young manager in the other dugout.

A manager who speaks out in public usually expects his players to follow, but the media were disappointed. Neither side’s players stood up and said a word.

Pride Park was already buzzing before the teams came out. Never mind the clash between the two managers; there was a competitive spirit between the two promoted clubs themselves.

Villa’s place in the table above Derby was the thing Derby’s supporters could least bear. For most of last season it had been Villa who were looking up at them.

"We have a score to settle with this table," Saint said in the dressing room, after he had looked slowly around the room. "Four defeats cost us places we should have had. Today we start getting them back."

For the start, Saint picked almost all of the players who had been at the club last season. Rami started at the back, alongside Barzley. In midfield were Conlan and Reyes. Lavelle took the right wing in place of Jurek, Rocher stayed on the left, and Tomlin and Salerno played up front.

Tactically, Saint held nothing back. Villa went at Derby from the first minute, and in the first minute they had their first big chance.

"Rocher! Thirty-eight seconds gone, and Villa have already shown their hand!" Reyes threaded a first-class pass through to Tomlin.

Tomlin flicked it on with his head. Rocher, using his speed and his sudden burst of power to leave a defender behind him, took the ball in his stride and cut into the area with Salerno alongside.

But Rocher’s first shot was too ambitious to be praised. He sent it high into the stand like an anti-aircraft gun, and the Derby fans laughed.

It was a pity for them, because their laughter could not touch Rocher. After this year’s work he had not been the old Rocher for a long time, and now even jeers could spur him on.

Soon enough, Rocher showed the Derby fans just what their laughter was worth.

In the third minute, two minutes after the first shot, the Frenchman was back, and this time it was better than the first.

Step-over, and another step-over; he changed direction, wobbled, almost throwing Gareth Penn completely, then burst away and accelerated once more, and Rocher was in Derby’s penalty area again.

This time the shot forced the Derby goalkeeper into a save.

"Villa’s momentum in this game is terrifying!" And Villa’s attack had not ended.

From the corner, Rami got above his marker and headed the ball towards Derby’s goal.

"It’s off! Almost! It flew out past the bye-line, just brushing the bar!" Boos came down from the stands. They were not just for the Villa players; the Derby fans were booing their own team and their manager too.

The home fans were unhappy with what they were seeing. In the first five minutes Villa had created three clear chances, and the team in front of them was still half timid.

That was true. Derby’s plan in this match was to defend and counter, and although Pellew had talked big in public before the game, on the touchline he looked very cautious.

Perhaps he heard what the supporters were thinking, because on Derby’s next attack they finally got their first shot of the game.

Vince Holloway took the ball across the halfway line and sent a direct pass under Conlan’s challenge to Lee Danvers. Derby played with two strikers, Danvers and Billy Hadlow, and Danvers was the one sitting just behind.

Danvers had good ability on the ball, and he could organise, pass and score. As for Hadlow, he had been very good since he joined Derby last season.

But the shot was no threat, and Vacek did not even have to make a save. With Barzley breathing down his neck, Hadlow pulled it far wide of the goal.

Even so, the Derby fans applauded their team for it. They were that kind of supporter.

In their eyes, this was the sign that Derby’s counter-attack was coming. Fans always believe their team is better than the opposition.

But that was only wishful thinking. They never dreamed that this shot would be Derby’s only one in the first twenty minutes.