25th August 2000   

Posh sign Guy Whittingham

IT will be as you were for Andy Ritchie tomorrow when Peterborough United test Athletic's new-found strength at Boundary Park. Ritchie will stand by the players who beat Huddersfield on Tuesday, naming an unchanged side for the first time in 15 games. Athletic have won both home matches so far and the manager hopes they have turned the corner after two years of struggle in front of their own fans. Ritchie said: "Peterborough are very strong and we expect to be put under pressure. But things are going okay at the moment and we are playing better as a unit." Teenager Danny Boshell is set to keep his place in midfield after a fine display in the midweek Worthington Cup tie. With John Sheridan injured, the cultured youngster will again edge out transfer-listed colleague Mark Innes.

Newly-promoted Peterborough have taken four points from their two league games and, in former Wimbledon star Andy Clarke, have one of the division's most dangerous strikers. An upbeat Ritchie added: "Clarke is very quick, but we have played against that before and managed to handle it. We have the players who can look after that threat." 

Athletic: Kelly, Jones, Garnett, Hotte, Adams, Holt, Duxbury, Boshell, Rickers, Allott, Corazzin. Subs: Miskelly, McNiven, Innes, Tipton, Whitehall.

Peterborough signed Guy Whittingham on loan from Portsmouth today and the striker was immediately added to their squad. As Whittingham is short of match sharpness, he is likely to be left on the bench. Clarke, who has been declared fit after a scare over a groin injury, will be one of three forwards in an adventurous line-up named by Barry Fry. Definitely out are striker Jason Lee, midfield man Matthew Gill and Wales under-21 defender Gareth Jelleyman.

Peterborough (probable): Tyler, Scott, Drury, Edwards, Rae, Shields, Hanlon, Cullen, Farrell, Clarke, Green. Subs (from): Connor, Hooper, Forinton, Oldfield, Forsyth, Whittingham.

OLDHAM is bracing itself for another visit from Posh this weekend — but this time there’ll be no designer ripped jeans, no entourage of minder's and definitely no dubious pop records. The person aiming to spice up your life is Barry Fry, a star is his own right even if he doesn’t draw a baying crowd of 12-year-old fans. Fry, who began his football career as a wannabe Busby Babe, is now manager of Peterborough United, known affectionately as Posh and tomorrow’s opponents for Athletic. And if you think Fry’s newly-promoted side will be pushovers, well, as Victoria Beckham might say, you must be out of your mind. Goal power, as opposed to girl power, was Peterborough’s secret as they fought through last season’s play-offs to earn promotion at Wembley. Fry has made a career of defying the odds and, after an unbeaten start, his surprise high-flyers currently stand at number three in the second division charts. Such is Fry’s profile as a charismatic chatterbox of a manager that it is easy to forget he was once a promising young player at Manchester United. He failed to fulfil his potential because, by his own admission, he became more dedicated to enjoying himself than to making the grade at Old Trafford. Instead, Fry found his niche as a manager during spells with Dunstable, Barnet, Southend and Birmingham. He has had countless run-ins with his bosses — most notably Stan Flashman and Karren Brady — but always comes up smiling and with a joke not far from his lips.

Typically, Fry’s arrival at London Road four years ago was greeted with a grand fanfare, most of it conducted by himself. He was trying to buy the club and quickly announced he was the new owner. But a closer look at the books put him off and the deal never actually went through. Cash-strapped Peterborough were eventually saved by businessman Peter Boizot, the multi-millionaire founder of Pizza Express. Fry happily restricted his job to team affairs and the two of them work closely on building a brighter future for a club with a turbulent past. Like so many of their rivals in the lower divisions, Posh still lose around £30,000 per week. Yet, according to those in the know, Boizot’s personal fortune is so vast that it hardly makes a dent in his bank account. The owner, however, has not thrown money around by paying big transfer fees and sky-high wages. Although Fry spent £250,000 on striker Howard Forinton, he has worked the oracle with a squad of players assembled at a very reasonable price. Peterborough have chosen to make their major investment at grass-roots level by setting up one of the few Football Academies outside the Premiership. It costs £500,000 per year to run, but already the value of the venture has paid off handsomely.

Towards the end of last season, teenage starlets Simon Davies and Matthew Etherington — touted as the new David Ginola — were sold to Tottenham for a combined fee of £1.2million. In his four years in charge, Fry has already seen seven coaches come and go while his own position appears to get stronger. The latest assistant is Wayne Turner, who has organised Posh so well they have lost only four out of 28 league games since he arrived. The extra resilience helped Peterborough make steady headway from the turn of the year, raising themselves from 12th place to fifth. They saw off Barnet in the play-off semi-finals before Andy Clarke’s goal beat Darlington to clinch the return to division two after a three-year absence. Despite being expected to struggle this term, they won at Oxford on the opening day and then drew 2-2 with Bristol Rovers in a cracking match at London Road. This week’s Worthington Cup stalemate at Luton proved that Athletic face a tough task at Boundary Park tomorrow. Athletic are chasing a quick hat-trick of home wins after overcoming Port Vale and Huddersfield. But, if they continue their excellent form, Posh could prove a scary proposition.