"You will never be able to play football again." The words continued to ring through my head. I had expected to be ruled out for maybe a season, but not for the rest of my life! It was nothing short of tragedy, and I thought: "Why me god??!".
I am Matthew Pike, a professional footballer for both Tottenham and the England national team. I had spent my entire career at Spurs, rising from the youth academy into an accomplished attacking midfielder. It was during an international game against Spain in 2005, when a wild challenge from Busquets left me with a dislocated right leg. Busquets was only shown a yellow card, and I was stretchered off to hospital. And then, the doctor's words hit me like a hammer on my head.
CHAPTER 1 - REDKNAPP RETIRES
It is the 4th of July,2011. I was sitting in Starbucks, sipping coffee and on the lookout for a job as Head Coach. I had just obtained my badges the previous year, which meant I was ready to step into a role as manager of a club. Well, atleast I didn't have to stay away from the game itself.
Suddenly, came the news that was to change the rest of my life.
"Sky Sports can confirm that Harry Redknapp has resigned from his post as manager of Tottenham, and has decided to retire from management altogether. The decision comes as a huge blow to Tottenham, who now have to look for a new manager."
I drove back home, thinking about this bit of news I heard. At the very moment I stepped out of my car, I got a text message from some unknown number:
"Hey Matt! Get yourself to my office, now!
- Daniel Levy"
"Aah welcome Matt! Come on in!", said Daniel Levy.
I went in, and sat on a sofa, still wondering what all this was about.
"So, Matt", Daniel said, "do you think you have what it takes to succeed Harry?"
Was he offering me the job? Well, there was only one way to find out. "Yes, I do", I said.
"Well come on then, the press is waiting for you", said Dan, and he smiled.
I couldn't quite believe it. I had only been in his office for 2 minutes, and now I was walking out as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, my boyhood club!
The Press Conference
"Hello Matthew this is Bob Johnson from sportinglife.com. How does it feel to be unveiled as the new head coach of Tottenham Hotspur? And are you looking bring about any staff changes"
"Well, it definitely is a great feeling, given that I spent my entire career at the club. I am overjoyed that the board has entrusted me with this position and I can't wait to repay their faith. As for the staff, the setup here is already fantastic and it would be foolish to disrupt that, so I will not bring about any staff changes for now. I am just looking forward to expand our scouting network."
"This is Brett Maxwell from KiCK! Magazine. What sort of transfers will you be making?"
"I will mostly be investing on youth talent. However, I will also make a few big-money signings as I feel this club is in need of maybe one or two more excellent players."
That went off pretty well! So here I am, manager of Tottenham Hotspur!
After meeting my staff and my squad, we started training for the pre-season fixtures. In order to keep the squad match-fit, I arranged five fixtures. First, was a trip to Israel to take on Hapoel Tel-Aviv. This was followed by a trip to the USA to take on the San Jose earthquakes. We then returned to England to take on Hereford. This game was followed by two games at White Hart Lane, against Velez Sarsfield and Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, on the transfer front, Niko Kranjcar left for Anzhi and Roman Pavlyuchenko was sold to Bayern.
The league fixtures were also released, with our first game a North London derby at the Emirates (gulp).
PRE SEASON
Hapoel Tel-Aviv 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur Scorers: Defoe (x2)
Two goals from Jermain Defoe helped us to victory in this game against a spirited Hapoel side. Heurelho Gomes and Kyle Walker had pretty solid games. Benoit Assou-Ekotto, unfortunately, picked up an injury that ruled him out for the rest of pre-season.
San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur Scorer: Wood
An unlucky defeat against San Jose. Gomes and Walker had good games yet again. Brad Friedel made his first appearance as a substitute for Gomes on the hour-mark. Ethan Wood scored with about 20 minutes to play.
Hereford 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur Scorers: Defoe (x2), Adebayor (x2), van der Vaart(pen)
An excellent display against Hereford, and we actually could have scored more. Defoe bagged Man of the Match for 2 excellent goals and 2 brilliant assists. Adebayor added 2 more goals, and van der Vaart chipped in with a penalty.
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Velez Sarsfield Scorers: Defoe (x3), Kaboul
An easy win against the Argentinian side including a brilliant hat-trick by Defoe and a goal from Kaboul. Nothing much to write about in this match, except that Adebayor sent a stoppage time penalty into the stands.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Atletico Madrid Scorers: Lennon; Godin, Adrian
A game which we lost inspite of a good display. Diego Godin gave the visitors the lead on 13 mins before Adrian doubled the lead 20 mins later with a piledriver from 30 yards out. An Aaron Lennon goal on the hour mark gave us hope, but Atletico held on for the win.
So, three wins and two defeats in pre-season. An okay pre-season, now the time to get ready for the new season!
It was great to finally get the season underway. Bookmakers had made Man City favourites for the title, and considered us as potential title-challengers. The board expected me to obtain qualification to the Champions League. So, I figured,a third place finish would do. Nonetheless, I had my sights set on the title.
The draw for the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League handed us a game against Videoton, a Hungarian club. The first leg was to be played on the 18th of August, with the 2nd leg at home on the 25th.
Meanwhile, on the transfer front, we completed the signing of Lenny Nangis from Caen for $7.5 million. Niang joined Man City for $15 million. We also managed to sign Edinson Cavani for $45 million.
THE NORTH-LONDON DERBY
The first game of the season couldn't have been harder, a trip to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal.
Arsenal:
Arsenal lined up in a 4-5-1, with Robin van Persie the lone striker. Arshavin and Gervinho on the wings, while Arteta and new signing Andre Ayew at the heart of the midfield. Song was a defensive midfielder, while the back four consisted of Santos, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Sagna. Wojciech Szczesny was in goal.
Tottenham Hotspur:
We lined up in a 4-1-3-2, with Adebayor and new signing Cavani up front. Nangis and Jermain Defoe dropped to the bench. Brad Friedel made his league debut for us. Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson were our centre-backs. Bale and Rafa van der Vaart on the wings, with Modric just behind the strikers (AMC). Scott Parker was at the centre of our midfield.
The match: Things got off to a horrible start, with Kaboul scoring an own-goal after 10 minutes. About 7 minutes later, van Persie doubled the lead. Arshavin scored after 4 minutes and we went into the break trailing 3-0. Kaboul managed to redeem himself and offered us a glimmer of hope, which vanished with van Persie's second on 56 minutes. Vermaelen completed the rout after 10 minutes, and we were hammered. It could have been worse had it not been for their profligacy.
Arsenal 5-1 Tottenham Hotspur Scorers: Kaboul (OG), van Persie (x2), Arshavin, Vermaelen; Kaboul MOTM: Robin van Persie
Very easy win over the Hungarians, thanks to braces from Adebayor and Defoe. Cavani was rested, as were Friedel, Kaboul, Bale and Dawson.
English Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Bolton MOTM: Jussi Jaaskelainen Red Cards: Assou-Ekotto
A frustrating game, which we dominated, but could only draw thanks to a fantastic performance by Jaaskelainen, who made several top-notch saves to deny us a victory. To make matters worse, Benoit Assou-Ekotto got sent off for a second yellow card.
UEFA Europa League Play-off Round (Second Leg)
Tottenham Hotspur 8-0 Videoton (Agg: 12-0) Scorers: Bale (x3), Adebayor (x2), van der Vaart (x2), Dawson MOTM: Emmanuel Adebayor
A brilliant display of attacking football. Bale bagged a hat-trick, while Adebayor and van der Vaart bagged braces each. Adebayor picked up man of the match for a brilliant all-round display.
English Premier League
Swansea 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur Scorers: Dawson (OG); Williams (OG), Lennon, Cavani (pen) Injuries: Bale (out for 7 weeks) MOTM: Aaron Lennon
A good result, except for the fact that Gareth Bale was ruled out for 7 weeks with a hip injury. Cavani scored his first league goal, which was good news. Aaron Lennon picked up man of the match for a good overall game, including his first goal of the season.
Europa League Group Stage Draw
Tottenham Hotspur
Metalist Kharkiv
Stade Rennais FC
Lokomotiv Moscow
Deadline Day - Summer Transfer Window
Michael Owen joined us on loan for the season. We also signed young goalkeeper Alphonse Areola from PSG for 5 million USD.
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