Career FMM2019's goodbye tour: A career by S4NCH0

[S4NCH0]

Bzzzz…. Bzzzz…. Bzzzz… 

 

—“Ughrrrrr self-reminder: don’t wake up so early”— I said as, without lifting my face from the pillow, I searched for the snooze button. 

 

Bzzzz…. Bzzzz…. Bzzzz….

 

No snooze button, I couldn’t turn off the alarm, it was someone calling. — “Who can it be so early in the morning?”— I cleared my eyes and opened them with difficulty. 

 

Bzzzz… Bzzzz… Bzzzz…

 

It wasn’t “early in the morning” it was 1:20 pm, guess I had no choice but to pick the phone up.

 

Bzzzz… 

 

—“Yes?” —I said

 

— “Santiago, hope you weren’t sleeping again at this time of the day”— said the voice on the other side of the phone, it was George my agent.

 

— “No, no, no, how could I? I was working on some… err… manager stuff. You wouldn’t know”— my voice made it clear that I had been, indeed, sleeping just seconds ago.

 

— “Yeah sure, so I asume there’s no point in asking if you saw the interview I got you, is there?”— he was getting sick of me, I had been unemployed for the last 3 months since I was dismissed from my post as Celta de Vigo’s manager, and while he hadn’t stopped working, searching for new jobs, I had been packing some weight and living the worst life. —“Santiago, are you still there?”— 

 

—“Ah, ah yes of course”—I had drifted into my thoughts —“the offer, of course I saw it” 

 

—“And what do you think?”— you could hear he was getting overwhelmed by the situation

 

—“Yeah, it’s great, I’ll pack some stuff and travel to my appointment, can you arrange that?”—

 

—“Yeah whatever, just don’t let it slip away this time, your last interview with Zaragoza was a disgrace”— he said in a serious voice— “ if you don’t start managing soon, there’s no point in me being here”— He hung up. 

 

What could be the offer? I asked myself as I processed the conversation I had just had. Would I be managing a team in Southern Spain, enjoying life by the beach with some drinks and beautiful views? Or would I manage a team in a big european city, with good restaurants and historic landmarks to walk around? Both ideas excited me. 

 

As I browsed my email looking for the offer George had got me, I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities my future held, until I found the email. I was in shock when I found out about the interview my agent had gotten me. I immediately called my agent:

 

—“You got to be kidding me George”—

 

to be continued…

Edited September 19, 2019 by S4NCH0

[broodje kip]

Hmm.... Interesting one here

[shosky]

Nice one. Waiting..

[DouBLeR]

Sounds like a good story! I'm guessing English lower leagues or one of the more obscure leagues around the globe

[S4NCH0]

12 hours ago, Lord Danish said:

Hmm.... Interesting one here

 

10 hours ago, shosky said:

Nice one. Waiting..

 

9 hours ago, DouBLeR said:

Sounds like a good story! I'm guessing English lower leagues or one of the more obscure leagues around the globe

Thanks! I'll try to upload the next part tonight. 

[S4NCH0]

Chapter 2: Great Manchester has a new dweller

I got out of the plane at Manchester Airport. What a cold morning it was, and to imagine just months ago I was at Vigo with a beach walking distance away from my home. I regretted the decisions that brought me here. As I waited for my bus I walked into a newsstand and read some of that days newspapers, “Will Ole last any longer at the wheel?”, “Is this year’s Champions League success an ultimatum for Guardiola?”, and “Pogba gets yet another haircut” were some of the headlines. I read through the sport section, bloody Manchester United and Manchester City were every where, guess I’d have to get used to it, until my bus arrived. 

 

The bus arrived, I hoped on it and took my seat. As I was getting comfortable and ready to take a nap someone approached me: 

 

— “Mr. Fernandez, we’ve heard them rumors and are delighted to have you as our new head coach, the papers say you are here to sign the contract”— he said in a trembling, excited voice.

 

— “Ummm not really, nothing’s sure yet, I’m just here to negotiate. Now if you’d like a picture or something it has to be now cause I’m about to take a nap” 

 

We took a picture together, I signed his jersey and turned my head to the window. I woke up around 80 minutes later, we were almost there, the traffic and the various stops had made the bus ride a slow one. Some minutes later I hoped off the bus, called a taxi and headed to my final destination.

 

— “To Gigg Lane, please” — I said

[broodje kip]

From the title says "Great Manchester" I believe it will be Manchester City then also with Kompany statue should be build a few years later

[DouBLeR]

Looks like it's going to be an adventure in League Two.. 

Good luck with the interview and good luck with The Shakers! 

[shosky]

I'm seeing Bolton here

[S4NCH0]

Chapter 3: Never read Bury's Newspaper before an interview

— “You can wait right here, Mr. Dale will receive you in a few minutes” — said the secretary as she showed me into the wait room. 

 

It was a comfortable room. A regular sized couch and a small table, filled the tiny room. The dim light and relative heat inside the room helped me with the nerves. an interview was an interview and therefore should be treated as one. I’ve always said job interview were among an adult’s most nerve-racking moments (imagine being judged, with uncomfortable questions, false emotions and cliché phrase being thrown at you for an hour straight; something like a family reunion), and today wasn’t the exception. To ease myself I picked up the newspaper: The Bury Today; I skipped through it until I reached the sports section “Nothing new” I thought as I saw it packed with Manchester City and United news, again. I kept reading until…

 

— “Ok, that definitely changes everything”— I said aloud as I read “Bury FC in danger of disappearing: board owes players 2 months salary” What was I doing here? Could I ditch the interview with a fake excuse and get myself our of here?

 

—“Mr. Fernandez, Mr. Dale is ready, please follow me”—said the secretary from the other side of the room. 

 

Too late, I’d have to stay here at least for another hour. 

Edited September 20, 2019 by S4NCH0

[S4NCH0]

Chapter 4: Two struggling subjects, one objective

— “Welcome to Bury, Mr. Fernandez. How has your stay been?”— said Steve Dale in a amicable voice. 

 

He was the chairman here at Bury FC, which he had just bought for 1£. He had been a somewhat successful businessman until now but as for today he was sick here at Bury, just as me. Is that ironic? I don’t really care. 

 

—“It’s been good, I arrived today so nothing to write home about”—I said, my words came out too rude, but well, one can’t erase what’s already been said — “So what’s the deal? What am I here for?”—

 

—“Ok. As you know the club has been going through tough times lately and we feel a manager with your reputation and coaching ability can help us achieve our short and long term goals”—

 

—“Yes, I understand that, that’s applies almost to every managerial interview I’ve been to. What I mean is what do you want me for? What are your goals? What do you offer me? Why me?”—

 

—“Thought we might hit it off with some small talk, but I see you want the raw facts straight from the beginning”— he said understandably reluctantly— “Let’s start with the goals” 

 

—“Ok then”— I said as I opened my notebook, pulled out a pen and leaned back in my chair-

 

—“As I’ve said, the institution has both short and long-term goals. Our short-term goals are promotion to League One in the next two seasons, we also want you to rebuild the squad and give game time to our youngsters”— this felt very rehearsed—“as of the long-term goals, we are expecting the team to play Championship football in no more than 5 years and Premier League in no more than 10. We also want you to know that the economic stability of the club relies heavily on you, so try buying cheap and selling high” 

 

—“The long-term goals are somewhat unrealistic, but I understand.” — I replied — “Now let’s talk numbers, how much will I earn?”

 

—“You’ve probably heard it somewhere that Bury are going through a very tough time financially speaking, so there’s no too much to offer you. As you are a top manager coming down the leagues, we can pay you a little bit more than what managers at this level are paid, around 200,000£ per annum, and we can offer you full control of some important club affairs. We thought you could use us as stepping stone to revitalize your career, which as Bury FC is having an all time low. You help us grow, we help you grow, that’s it”.—he mentioned trembling. 

 

To be fair 200K is a lot for a manager at this level, but I wasn’t changing the comfortability of Spain for Bury for that amount. As if I hadn’t been enough of a cunt already I said: 

 

—“200k? If you pay peanuts, expect monkeys. I’m sorry Dale but I won’t take that”—

 

—“Mr.Fernandez…uhm… we really wan’t you here at Bury, but we can’t risk our stability because of only one man, 250,000£ is my final offer”—

That’s what I’m talking about, those 50K are enough to pay one year rent for a decent house, a new car and my son’s school. The remaining 200K were worth the risk of managing such a small team. 

 

—“I’ll take it, when do I sign?”—

 

—“Why not now? We can get the paper work ready in ten minutes”— his eyes lid up

 

—“All right”— I said, “Why am I doing this to myself?” I thought

Edited September 20, 2019 by S4NCH0

[DouBLeR]

Nice story to read! You'll need some good skills to get the set goals.. 

Good luck! 

[S4NCH0]

  

 

 

added 0 minutes later

11 minutes ago, DouBLeR said:

Nice story to read! You'll need some good skills to get the set goals.. 

Good luck! 

Thanks for following! I will indeed need a good set of skills

[shosky]

Interesting read. Let's see how it all goes. Good luck

[S4NCH0]

1 hour ago, shosky said:

Interesting read. Let's see how it all goes. Good luck

Thanks, I really appreciate your comment.

[broodje kip]

Intersting and good luck in non-league