The Gun And The Bullets

The first two months of my new profession were the toughest times of my life. After working with the team for a week I realized that this team had no positives. The unfit players, the barely nonexistent training facilities, the slack management and the revolting fans made me realize that this would be lot harder than just a walk in the park. Life had thrown a larger than life challenge for me. As days progressed, I started developing a sense of respect for Mick even more. He became my motivation. He had led this club all the way from the bottom to nearly the top. I had to go just a step forward……..take the club to the very top……………the premier league.

I still remember my first week in the club. As I addressed the team for the first time in the training grounds on that chilly day, I could notice most of the players and even some of the training staff laughing and joking around. The first thing I needed to do was instill a sense of confidence in the players and a trust for their manager. John had come up once to meet the players and cheer me up with my new job. He advised me that I had to handle the players with an iron rod to maintain discipline which would later reflect in their game resulting in both confidence and trust. However I had other ideas. I invited all the players and training ground staff to my apartment on New Year for a party. Most of the players turned up and all of them had a blast. The younger players like Luke and Clay even showed interest in my trophy cabinet. They listened enthralled as I told them the tale behind each of those medals and trophies. As for the others, they slowly started to trust me, taking me more as their friend rather than just their manager.

I came up with two taglines for our team to perform well……… Discipline and Team work. However one thing I could be proud of my team was their fitness. Mick had turned these boys into stallions.

The poor playing conditions had no effect on their health owing to their fit bodies. Another good aspect of this team was that all the players were young and willing to learn. They belonged to the same age group which helped me to build up a sense of team spirit among them. The training sessions were grueling and took a toll on my players. Even though they were the fittest bunch of players in the league, they started to suffer. They were subjected to four training sessions per day. Each player who failed to complete their respective objectives in those sessions was subjected to an extra session in the evening.

The training staff showed resistance to such demanding sessions. However the chairman showed his utmost confidence in me. This acted as a true morale booster to serve my cause and in turn to serve the purpose of stamping my authority on the players and the staff as the manager of the team.