TheAwesomeAtom
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Part I: The Beginning
3 July 2023 - Thursday
Dear Diary, I'm John Craven. For all of my twenty-one years, I've lived in the district of Yorkshire that shares my name my whole life, as has my dad, and my granddad, and so on. And for all of those nineteen years, there has been nothing I've loved more than football. That's why with nothing but a suit, a dream, and a head full of numbers, I've decided to try to get into football coaching. I put some applications in at the four teams in the Craven & District League Division Three that are hiring, and given that these are amateur teams on the seventeenth rung of the English Football Pyramid, I figured I've got a shot.
10 July 2023 - Monday
I had an interview at Worth Valley FC, a small club based in Keighley, a town on the outskirts of Bradford and on the River Worth (hence the name). The chairman, John Clarke, really seemed to like to me, which is a good sign.
16 July 2023 - Sunday
The most wonderful thing has just happened. The chairman called me and told me that in their hunt for a manager, every single candidate had been vetoed by some member of the board. He brought up my name, and I ended up being the compromise. That's right, I've been offered a job as a MANAGER! Sure, the condition was that I work for free, don't change any of the staff, and that I have to bring the team to a top-two finish, but I don't mind, I get to be a manager!
17 July 2023 - Monday
I came to Marley Playing Fields, Worth Valley FC's somewhat run-down grounds, and met with the general manager Alex Pigott and my assistant manager, Ceiran Hoey. They filled me in on the squad and the supporters. I asked them why neither of them were the manager, and they told me that they were too busy with their day jobs (Pigott is an accountant and Hoey's a realtor). Fair enough. I met up with the squad, and they were skeptical at first, but if there is one thing I'm good at it, it's talking.
Based on Hoey's advice, I drew up a basic 4-2-3-1 fluid counter-attacking tactic. The squad didn't suit the tactic well in the midfield, but I couldn't make a single tactic without a hole somewhere. It'll be fine, I hope. I named Sam Maxted, a midfielder, as captain. He's a builder by trade, and a hard worker. I'd better acclimated fast, as we've got a friendly tomorrow against Hawcoat Park, a much larger (but still amateur) team in the West Lancashire League Division Two, on the 13th level of the football pyramid.
3 July 2023 - Thursday
Dear Diary, I'm John Craven. For all of my twenty-one years, I've lived in the district of Yorkshire that shares my name my whole life, as has my dad, and my granddad, and so on. And for all of those nineteen years, there has been nothing I've loved more than football. That's why with nothing but a suit, a dream, and a head full of numbers, I've decided to try to get into football coaching. I put some applications in at the four teams in the Craven & District League Division Three that are hiring, and given that these are amateur teams on the seventeenth rung of the English Football Pyramid, I figured I've got a shot.
10 July 2023 - Monday
I had an interview at Worth Valley FC, a small club based in Keighley, a town on the outskirts of Bradford and on the River Worth (hence the name). The chairman, John Clarke, really seemed to like to me, which is a good sign.
16 July 2023 - Sunday
The most wonderful thing has just happened. The chairman called me and told me that in their hunt for a manager, every single candidate had been vetoed by some member of the board. He brought up my name, and I ended up being the compromise. That's right, I've been offered a job as a MANAGER! Sure, the condition was that I work for free, don't change any of the staff, and that I have to bring the team to a top-two finish, but I don't mind, I get to be a manager!
17 July 2023 - Monday
I came to Marley Playing Fields, Worth Valley FC's somewhat run-down grounds, and met with the general manager Alex Pigott and my assistant manager, Ceiran Hoey. They filled me in on the squad and the supporters. I asked them why neither of them were the manager, and they told me that they were too busy with their day jobs (Pigott is an accountant and Hoey's a realtor). Fair enough. I met up with the squad, and they were skeptical at first, but if there is one thing I'm good at it, it's talking.
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