Season 9 Episode 18 Episode 374 Sky One Transmission Date: Sunday 19th February 2006 Directed By Riita-Leena Lynn

Marlon, Eugene Alex, Liam Chloe Ashleigh Lynda, Alex

GS: Marlon Baldon (David Gyasi) Oji (Jason Barnett) Merrick (Alisdair Simpson) Court Clerk (Lawrence McGrandles Jr.) Prosecution Witness (Quill Roberts) The day of Eugene's trial arrives, and Cass, Ryan and Sully come to wish him luck as he and Chloe leave for court, and Casper reminds Chloe to make sure she and Liam do the “right thing”. Alex is working himself up over the owner, and dictates to Amy an angry message to the owner, warning he will take legal action if he doesn't reply in seven days. Lynda is preoccupied with getting Liam on side for Eugene's trial, and suggests that Alex play Liam, who points out she only wants him to do this so Liam will lie in court. Eugene comes face-to-face with Marlon again and imagines scaring his brother-in-law with a gun. Casper, Ryan and Sully are just as keen as Lynda to keep Eugene out of prison, and pressure Gavin to persuade Liam that it's the right thing to do, but Liam is adamant that he never lies. Mr. Oji for the prosecution gets points from a witness who specifically recognised Eugene at the scene that night, being a life long Charlton Athletic fan. Alex re-watches the tape of the friendly in which Liam ended his career. Calling him to his office, Alex pins Liam against the wall and accuses him of being made to end his career by the owner. Lynda breaks them apart and is now worried about Liam not co-operating after what Alex has done. Day one of the trial ends, and taking him home, Cass questions Gene on whether Scarlett turned up. Liam has dinner with Lynda at the Grange, where he calls her bluff and asks straight out whether he would be in the team for tomorrow if she didn't need him to defend Eugene in court. Lynda replies no, but adds that fate has landed Liam the chance to play first team football and he shouldn't be too scared to take it. In the physio room, Ashleigh finds Alex pushing his knee to the limits on a lifting machine. She pulls him off it before he cripples himself, but he resentfully refuses help from her. The next day Chloe takes to the stand, where she corroborates the story of Eugene arriving at the restaurant half-an-hour after she and Liam got there. The team arrive for training and are confused by Alex's formation for the Chelsea game, with almost all of the players out of their usual positions. On the stand, Oji brings out of Chloe that Eugene is one of her most valuable clients, having made around £450,000 from him this year alone. A fitting reason for her to lie to keep him out of prison. Liam accuses Alex of using his crazy formation to settle a score, but Alex replies that it actually has nothing to do with him. Oji cross-examines Chloe that on August 15th last year, Lynda stated she had no prior knowledge of the charges against Eugene when Chloe had already made a statement about it, hinting that she had kept it a secret in order to get Eugene in at Harchester. And that if she was prepared to withhold the truth on that occasion... Eugene and Chloe return to Harchester for the Chelsea game, and in the dressing room Casper leads the team to put pressure on Liam into making a decision on Eugene. Lynda is shocked when Amy shows her Alex's team sheet for the game, and Ashleigh is more than concerned when they are only one win away from managing a Premiership team. She is further flabbergasted when Alex leaves her to manage the game, and the lads alone. By half time Harchester are losing 2-1, and Lynda realises this is all to get her to fire Alex. When she demands he get back to the team, Alex spins her round and forcibly kisses her. Horrified, Lynda pulls away and slaps Alex, who can see for himself that she cannot fire him for real. Harchester's bad luck continues throughout the second half, and they concede two further goals to Chelsea. Ashleigh is convinced she will now be let go by Lynda, and hands in her resignation letter. Lynda instead promotes Ashleigh to First Team Coach as she wanted, and tells her the job will be hers whoever comes in as manager. That night Lynda finds Alex drinking alone, and tells him when she fires him she'll do it on her own terms. She reminds Alex that next week they have to go to Cardiff, and the team who he has just let down, especially Ryan, Tyson and Sully, will need him as a leader. Alex apologises, and Lynda tells him it's not her he should be saying that to. Liam's day in court arrives, but there is late news before he is about to be called. Merrick tells he and Chloe that Marlon has changed his testimony and is saying that he and Eugene both carried out the burglary together. Notes: Best Known For: Jason Barnett played the regular role of CSE Eddie Olosunje in “The Bill” from 2008 until it's final episode in 2010, Shel in the "Porridge" remake (2016-17), Midnight in "Lee and Dean" (2018-19), "Waffle The Wonder Dog" (2019-20) and DCI Denzel Wilkes in "Agatha Raisin" (2014-22) Amongst his acting career, Alisdair Simpson has narrated more than 30 documentaries ranging from history to nature and science. Logic: Oji says the robbery in which Eugene and Marlon were involved took place on the night of 31st May 2005, when it was actually the 30th - the night of the crash (9.1 Phoenix From The Flames) Foreshadowing: Liam says what happened with Alex was just a tackle, and he'd do it again if he ever gets to play for the club (9.19 Just Another Game) Additional Info: The pre-season friendly in which Liam is seen in the Crewe Alexandra strip, and ended Alex's career would have been in summer 2003. What Was The Score?: Harchester begin the game well, with Sully scoring the first goal, but a penalty sees Frank Lampard take it to 1-1. Chelsea score again on the brink of half time. Two further goals from Cole and Geremi and Harchester suffer an embarrassing 4-1 defeat. Soundtrack: Arctic Monkeys: "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", Fall Out Boy: "Sugar We're Going Down", Richard Ashcroft: "Break The Night With Colour", The Dead 60s: "Riot Radio", The Strokes: "Juicebox" <<SE09 EP17 |  Season 9 Main Page | SE09 EP19>>