Being Bastian... (A Bayern Munich Story)
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Cheers m8 -- thanks for your comment
There'll be another update soon. Hope you keep following martinbissett
The Blue Named Mod !
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if you ever publish a novel i will be the first one to buy it. Your writing is great. Keep it ip
No mate sorry I pretty much reserved that first buy
I'm prepared to fight for it it's just tht goodNo mate sorry I pretty much reserved that first buy
Cheers guys
Update will be tomorrow morning sometime. I gotta hope the writing doesn't get too repetitve for yous now -- there's only so many ways you can describe a goal, lol. Hope yous keep following, your comments are great and very much appreciated -- thanks 8th August 2009...
Finally, the day has arrived. My first league fixture in control of the Bayern Munich first-team. I cannot wait for the action to begin.
It’s hot inside the stadium, a real summers day, and I can feel the pressure of expectancy building as kick-off looms. There’s a hefty crowd in attendance and the atmosphere being generated is fantastic, if not a little intimidating.
Sir Alex Ferguson is in the crowd too -- so I’ve been told. I try not to think of his presence here, but I can’t deny he is becoming a nuisance to me. I can feel him peering down from the second tier from behind his black rimmed glasses. The media will speculate about the reasons for his attendance yet, to be honest, I don’t need their hyper-bole filled headlines to tell me why he’s here. I know who the centre of his attentions are... And so does my star player.
Sir Alex is the king of English football -- there is no doubting that fact, but, without meaning to be disrespectful, he is proving to be a royal pain in my posterior. I’m half tempted to pull Franck from the starting line-up and turn Sir Alex’s journey into a waste of time, but that would be stupid -- ‘cutting off my own nose to spite my face’ springs to mind. No, he must play, but a lacklustre performance within the confinements of a strong overall showing might turn the English attentions away?
Victory is essential to our plans for the season. We need a strong start to boost our confidence and show our closest rivals that we are going to fight tooth and nail to reclaim the championship. With this in mind, I’ve chosen a strong and experienced team -- one that should get the job done…
Bayern : Hans-Jörg ****, Christian Lell, Philip Lahm, Daniel Van Buyten, Holagr Badstuber, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Franck Ribéry, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Miroslav Klose, Arjen Robben.
Substitutes : Michael Rensing, Andreas Görlitz, Danijel Pranjic, Daniel Sikorski, Björn Kopplin, Mark van Bommel, Ivica Olic.
I’m glad to welcome Olic onto the bench today -- his injury disrupted an otherwise fine pre-season and it’s good he is back to full fitness. Görlitz is also on the bench. I have high hopes for him this season, but his mind is not totally on the job at hand. Hopefully, he will sort out his personal problems in good time and become the player I know he can be.
We will begin the match in a 4-3-3 formation -- it’s fluid and allows for great attacking play. On the down-side, the defence can be left slightly exposed at times, but we shall work on strengthening this weakness over the coming weeks.
Arjen Robben, our Dutch pace-master, begins in an advanced role on the right hand side of the three-pronged attack. The coaches have dedicated many hours to re-training him this week and he has responded well to the possibility of playing a more advanced role. If truth be told, despite his amazing talents, Arjen can be a lazy player when it comes to defending. Hopefully, this new role will promote his strengths and limit his weaknesses. Thomas Müller has also gotten the nod today -- he is an exciting prospect held in high regard both by the club and the national team, and I’m expecting big things of him this year.
We put in an efficient performance, which saw us confidently overcome our hosts 4-2. Robben, with typical flamboyance, got the team off to a flyer by scoring a well executed finish on 8 minutes. He is revelling in the extra freedom of his new role.
Despite dominating possession we surrendered our lead after 32 minutes when Tim Hoogland ghosted into the six-yard box to take full advantage of a defensive error -- nipping in ahead of a bemused Van Buyten to score with his head.
Fortunately for us, parity lasted less than 2 minutes -- the tireless Thomas Müller firing us back into the lead with a close range finish.
Schweinsteiger, an assured influence in the midfield, added a third with a well place shot on 38 minutes and sent us into the break two goals to the good.
The second-half played out much tighter than the first and I think it’s fair to suggest my opposite number may have lodged his size elevens in the rear ends of one or two of his players.
Despite their spirited performance after the break, we cheered in delight as Klose buried a 57th minute effort into the goal, “Wait!” Andries called grabbing my arm and pulling me back to my seat, “The linesman’s flag.”
I couldn’t believe it, “What was wrong with that?” Nothing, by all accounts. A legitimate goal had been questionably chalked off -- though we did view the incident through rather biased eyes.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Dragan Bogavac, the Mainz striker, scored a real poacher’s effort on 68 minutes to give the home fans a glimmer of hope -- rubbing salt into our freshly cut wound in the process.
“Oh dear,” I thought. They were exposing our defensive frailties and I needed to act fast, “Fresh legs,” I said, nodding at Andries to send the substitutes for a warm up.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
“We’ll go 4-4-2 diamond for the last 15 minutes,” I replied, “Shore up the midfield and add a little extra protection to the defence.”
“Sounds good,” Andries said, nodding his head in agreement.
Pranjic, van Bommel and Olic soon took to the field in place of Lahm, Ribéry and Müller. They’d given their all for the cause and fatigue was evident in their expressions as they left the pitch.
“Good jobs,” I said with a smile, shaking each of their hands as they headed for the bench.
The changes freed up space up top and, within minutes, paid dividends -- Klose, a colossus on the day -- and not to be denied his own glory -- stooped low to head home our fourth goal on the 80 minute mark.
Mainz rallied for the final minutes of the match, but we held firm and proved too strong for their tired advances. They’d put up a great fight, but we had matched them all the way and our class ensued we claimed a well deserved victory.
“Excellent,” I cried out at the final whistle, chuffed to bits at the outcome, “Well done everyone.”
I’m happy with the referee’s performance too. All too often a game (a week’s training) can be wrecked by the incompetent decisions of the officials, but today I have no qualms. Mr Kempter and his assistants performed excellently and I was honoured to shake their hands after the match.
“Brilliant game,” I called to Miroslav. There was no doubt in my mind that he is fully deserving of the Man of the Match award presented to him as he left the field. He rolled back the years today and gave a performance of the highest order -- his goal being the icing on his cake. If he can keep up this early form, he’ll be a formidable force for us this year.
The coach trip home will be a happy affair after this strong showing, but, despite all the positives, I must not paper over the cracks of reality. Once again, we have been unable to rid ourselves of conceding goals. I have no doubt this will hurt us in the future and we must put a stop to it before it‘s too late. I’ll wait until training before addressing this problem with the players -- they deserve to enjoy their glory on the way home.
8th August 2009...
Finally, the day has arrived. My first league fixture in control of the Bayern Munich first-team. I cannot wait for the action to begin.
FC Mainz 2 Bayern Munich 4.
(Venue : Bruchwegstadion. Attendance : 20,300.)
It’s hot inside the stadium, a real summers day, and I can feel the pressure of expectancy building as kick-off looms. There’s a hefty crowd in attendance and the atmosphere being generated is fantastic, if not a little intimidating.
Sir Alex Ferguson is in the crowd too -- so I’ve been told. I try not to think of his presence here, but I can’t deny he is becoming a nuisance to me. I can feel him peering down from the second tier from behind his black rimmed glasses. The media will speculate about the reasons for his attendance yet, to be honest, I don’t need their hyper-bole filled headlines to tell me why he’s here. I know who the centre of his attentions are... And so does my star player.
Sir Alex is the king of English football -- there is no doubting that fact, but, without meaning to be disrespectful, he is proving to be a royal pain in my posterior. I’m half tempted to pull Franck from the starting line-up and turn Sir Alex’s journey into a waste of time, but that would be stupid -- ‘cutting off my own nose to spite my face’ springs to mind. No, he must play, but a lacklustre performance within the confinements of a strong overall showing might turn the English attentions away?
*
Victory is essential to our plans for the season. We need a strong start to boost our confidence and show our closest rivals that we are going to fight tooth and nail to reclaim the championship. With this in mind, I’ve chosen a strong and experienced team -- one that should get the job done…
Bayern : Hans-Jörg ****, Christian Lell, Philip Lahm, Daniel Van Buyten, Holagr Badstuber, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Franck Ribéry, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Miroslav Klose, Arjen Robben.
Substitutes : Michael Rensing, Andreas Görlitz, Danijel Pranjic, Daniel Sikorski, Björn Kopplin, Mark van Bommel, Ivica Olic.
I’m glad to welcome Olic onto the bench today -- his injury disrupted an otherwise fine pre-season and it’s good he is back to full fitness. Görlitz is also on the bench. I have high hopes for him this season, but his mind is not totally on the job at hand. Hopefully, he will sort out his personal problems in good time and become the player I know he can be.
We will begin the match in a 4-3-3 formation -- it’s fluid and allows for great attacking play. On the down-side, the defence can be left slightly exposed at times, but we shall work on strengthening this weakness over the coming weeks.
Arjen Robben, our Dutch pace-master, begins in an advanced role on the right hand side of the three-pronged attack. The coaches have dedicated many hours to re-training him this week and he has responded well to the possibility of playing a more advanced role. If truth be told, despite his amazing talents, Arjen can be a lazy player when it comes to defending. Hopefully, this new role will promote his strengths and limit his weaknesses. Thomas Müller has also gotten the nod today -- he is an exciting prospect held in high regard both by the club and the national team, and I’m expecting big things of him this year.
*
We put in an efficient performance, which saw us confidently overcome our hosts 4-2. Robben, with typical flamboyance, got the team off to a flyer by scoring a well executed finish on 8 minutes. He is revelling in the extra freedom of his new role.
Despite dominating possession we surrendered our lead after 32 minutes when Tim Hoogland ghosted into the six-yard box to take full advantage of a defensive error -- nipping in ahead of a bemused Van Buyten to score with his head.
Fortunately for us, parity lasted less than 2 minutes -- the tireless Thomas Müller firing us back into the lead with a close range finish.
Schweinsteiger, an assured influence in the midfield, added a third with a well place shot on 38 minutes and sent us into the break two goals to the good.
The second-half played out much tighter than the first and I think it’s fair to suggest my opposite number may have lodged his size elevens in the rear ends of one or two of his players.
Despite their spirited performance after the break, we cheered in delight as Klose buried a 57th minute effort into the goal, “Wait!” Andries called grabbing my arm and pulling me back to my seat, “The linesman’s flag.”
I couldn’t believe it, “What was wrong with that?” Nothing, by all accounts. A legitimate goal had been questionably chalked off -- though we did view the incident through rather biased eyes.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Dragan Bogavac, the Mainz striker, scored a real poacher’s effort on 68 minutes to give the home fans a glimmer of hope -- rubbing salt into our freshly cut wound in the process.
“Oh dear,” I thought. They were exposing our defensive frailties and I needed to act fast, “Fresh legs,” I said, nodding at Andries to send the substitutes for a warm up.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
“We’ll go 4-4-2 diamond for the last 15 minutes,” I replied, “Shore up the midfield and add a little extra protection to the defence.”
“Sounds good,” Andries said, nodding his head in agreement.
Pranjic, van Bommel and Olic soon took to the field in place of Lahm, Ribéry and Müller. They’d given their all for the cause and fatigue was evident in their expressions as they left the pitch.
“Good jobs,” I said with a smile, shaking each of their hands as they headed for the bench.
The changes freed up space up top and, within minutes, paid dividends -- Klose, a colossus on the day -- and not to be denied his own glory -- stooped low to head home our fourth goal on the 80 minute mark.
Mainz rallied for the final minutes of the match, but we held firm and proved too strong for their tired advances. They’d put up a great fight, but we had matched them all the way and our class ensued we claimed a well deserved victory.
“Excellent,” I cried out at the final whistle, chuffed to bits at the outcome, “Well done everyone.”
I’m happy with the referee’s performance too. All too often a game (a week’s training) can be wrecked by the incompetent decisions of the officials, but today I have no qualms. Mr Kempter and his assistants performed excellently and I was honoured to shake their hands after the match.
“Brilliant game,” I called to Miroslav. There was no doubt in my mind that he is fully deserving of the Man of the Match award presented to him as he left the field. He rolled back the years today and gave a performance of the highest order -- his goal being the icing on his cake. If he can keep up this early form, he’ll be a formidable force for us this year.
The coach trip home will be a happy affair after this strong showing, but, despite all the positives, I must not paper over the cracks of reality. Once again, we have been unable to rid ourselves of conceding goals. I have no doubt this will hurt us in the future and we must put a stop to it before it‘s too late. I’ll wait until training before addressing this problem with the players -- they deserve to enjoy their glory on the way home.
***
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great stuff mate! still reading and enjoying it!
martinbissett
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Cheers for support It's great to know people are enjoying the story so far. Thanks.
---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 PM ----------
9th August 2009 -- Morning.
I arrived at the training nice and early and prepared for the morning session.
After speaking with Andries, I’ve decided to work on the defensive side of our game and he has drawn up a good set of exercises to address this problem.
At the moment, our goal-scoring has been good, but we won’t be able to hit such high standards in every match (the players are not robots) and we need to be able to cling on to result now and then.
Hopefully, with a little dedication and lady-luck, we’ll be able to keep a few clean sheets in our upcoming matches.
The players listened and put our advice into practice -- all looks good and we‘ll continue to work throughout the week, but we’ll have to wait until the next competitive match to see the real benefits (if any) of our work.
Afternoon.
I sat in my office enjoying a ham and cheese baguette, relaxing as the television played in the background. Suddenly…
Sky Sports News Breaking News : “Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has reiterated his desire to bring Franck Ribéry to Old Trafford. Sir Alex, a keen admirer of the Frenchman, was spotted in the crowd at yesterday’s match between Mainz and Bayern. It is believed that Ribéry is interested in joining the famous Scotsman in Manchester.”
“Really?” I thought, “How on earth would SSN know that?”
Bang! Sudden realisation struck me in the face. There, on the screen before me, was a familiar face in a familiar surrounding. It was Franck stood outside our training ground! I got up and looked out of the window -- I couldn’t see him; I couldn’t see any cameras; nor an SSN news van. They must have caught up with him when I was in the cafeteria!
Ribéry : “Manchester is a great club. Sure, I would like to play there one day. They have a great manager, something I long for. If Sir Alex made a bid I would definitely consider my options. I want to win the Champions League at some point.”
I scrunched my lunch in my hand in anger. Our star player had dismissed me; dismissed the club; and dismissed the quality of his team-mates in one foul paragraph.
“Where’s Franck?” I asked as the players and staff reconvened for our afternoon session.
No one knew. I didn’t make a fuss -- now is not the time too.
We continued the day’s training without him. I was angry at his televised comments and disappointed by his behaviour -- no matter what he thinks, he is still a Bayern player and he has duties to fulfil.
Thomas Kraft, our third choice goalkeeper, came to see me after training. It was obvious the players had been talking amongst themselves in the changing rooms. I expect they’ve seen a re-run of Franck’s comments too.
“There’s unrest in the camp boss,” he said, “Some of the players feel let down by Franck’s actions.”
They weren’t the only ones. I felt let down too, but I was happy that Thomas had come to see me. After all, it wasn’t his job -- he is a squad member with little first-team experience, yet he showed great maturity by coming to talk about this problem.
“Thanks,” I said, “I’ll speak with you all in the morning.”
I would have too. I don’t want today’s events to derail what has been a bright start to the new season.
Evening.
“He’s gone,” Franz growled, his face distorted with anger, “I won’t have any player bring such disruption to this team. I’m putting him up for sale. Ferguson can have him.”
I didn’t respond. It seemed my best course of action -- when Franz is mad he reminds me of an old headmaster I used to know. Stern, scary, and not to be messed with.
“This club has suffered from players attitudes before,” he continued through clenched teeth, “Bad attitudes can destroy a football club, but I will never allow such things to destroy this one.”
I left without uttering a word -- when a storm is brewing it is best to take cover.
It's great to know people are enjoying the story so far. Thanks.---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 PM ----------
9th August 2009 -- Morning.
I arrived at the training nice and early and prepared for the morning session.
After speaking with Andries, I’ve decided to work on the defensive side of our game and he has drawn up a good set of exercises to address this problem.
At the moment, our goal-scoring has been good, but we won’t be able to hit such high standards in every match (the players are not robots) and we need to be able to cling on to result now and then.
Hopefully, with a little dedication and lady-luck, we’ll be able to keep a few clean sheets in our upcoming matches.
The players listened and put our advice into practice -- all looks good and we‘ll continue to work throughout the week, but we’ll have to wait until the next competitive match to see the real benefits (if any) of our work.
*
Afternoon.
I sat in my office enjoying a ham and cheese baguette, relaxing as the television played in the background. Suddenly…
Sky Sports News Breaking News : “Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has reiterated his desire to bring Franck Ribéry to Old Trafford. Sir Alex, a keen admirer of the Frenchman, was spotted in the crowd at yesterday’s match between Mainz and Bayern. It is believed that Ribéry is interested in joining the famous Scotsman in Manchester.”
“Really?” I thought, “How on earth would SSN know that?”
Bang! Sudden realisation struck me in the face. There, on the screen before me, was a familiar face in a familiar surrounding. It was Franck stood outside our training ground! I got up and looked out of the window -- I couldn’t see him; I couldn’t see any cameras; nor an SSN news van. They must have caught up with him when I was in the cafeteria!
Ribéry : “Manchester is a great club. Sure, I would like to play there one day. They have a great manager, something I long for. If Sir Alex made a bid I would definitely consider my options. I want to win the Champions League at some point.”
I scrunched my lunch in my hand in anger. Our star player had dismissed me; dismissed the club; and dismissed the quality of his team-mates in one foul paragraph.
*
“Where’s Franck?” I asked as the players and staff reconvened for our afternoon session.
No one knew. I didn’t make a fuss -- now is not the time too.
We continued the day’s training without him. I was angry at his televised comments and disappointed by his behaviour -- no matter what he thinks, he is still a Bayern player and he has duties to fulfil.
*
Thomas Kraft, our third choice goalkeeper, came to see me after training. It was obvious the players had been talking amongst themselves in the changing rooms. I expect they’ve seen a re-run of Franck’s comments too.
“There’s unrest in the camp boss,” he said, “Some of the players feel let down by Franck’s actions.”
They weren’t the only ones. I felt let down too, but I was happy that Thomas had come to see me. After all, it wasn’t his job -- he is a squad member with little first-team experience, yet he showed great maturity by coming to talk about this problem.
“Thanks,” I said, “I’ll speak with you all in the morning.”
I would have too. I don’t want today’s events to derail what has been a bright start to the new season.
*
Evening.
“He’s gone,” Franz growled, his face distorted with anger, “I won’t have any player bring such disruption to this team. I’m putting him up for sale. Ferguson can have him.”
I didn’t respond. It seemed my best course of action -- when Franz is mad he reminds me of an old headmaster I used to know. Stern, scary, and not to be messed with.
“This club has suffered from players attitudes before,” he continued through clenched teeth, “Bad attitudes can destroy a football club, but I will never allow such things to destroy this one.”
I left without uttering a word -- when a storm is brewing it is best to take cover.
***
He's done this on every save I've had with Bayern for some reason. I don't know why, because he seems quite content there in real life compared to some other players around the globe. Maybe his ambition rating is higher than the value of the German League in the database? Or maybe it has something to do with the manager's experience? It is a bit weird.
Lol, I might sell him yet. I'm just mulling over the next plot turn and will base his transfer outcome on that
Cheers m8 -- thanks very much
---------- Post added at 12:11 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 10:16 PM ----------
10th August 2009.
And so the wanderer returns…
Franck walked into training this morning as if the previous day’s events had never happened. I kept my mouth shut… for now. I have a training session to tend too and he has caused enough problems already.
The rest of the squad welcomed him, but I could sense bad feeling amongst them. Perhaps they are waiting for me to make a stand?
We continued to work on our defensive frailties and, I must say, I’m quietly confident that we may have sorted this problem.
*
As the players left for lunch I pulled Franck to one side, “We need to talk,” I said.
He shrugged his shoulders and didn’t appear particularly bothered.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I want to leave,” he replied, “I want to go to Manchester.”
“Why?” I asked, “Is it money? Is it me? What’s the problem? You already play for a huge club.”
“But do I play for a huge manager?” he inquired with more than an undertone of sarcasm accompanying an ever growing smirk, “I don’t think so.”
I didn’t know what to say. Sir Alex wasn’t born as the manager of Manchester United and Franck wasn’t born as a great French international footballer. They were both in a similar position to my own at some point -- working hard to prove their worth as they strove to get to where they are today.
“I want to win the Champions League,” he added, “I don’t believe you are capable of such an honour.”
With that, he ended our conversation and walked off in the direction of the changing rooms.
What to do now? I have no idea.
*
It was time for lunch, yet I wasn’t hungry. My mind is a mess and I need time to think. I paced up and down the training pitch hoping for an answer to fall out of the sky and land in front of me. But it never did…
“I’ll go and see him,” I thought, “Tell him what Franz has said. At least we can try and bring this all to an amicable ending.”
“Is Franck still here?” I asked the security guard as I entered the main building.
“He should be,” he replied, “He hasn’t come back past me.”
“Thanks,” I smiled and headed towards the cafeteria.
He wasn’t there, “Maybe he’s still getting changed?” I wondered.
I stormed off down the hall and approached the changing rooms when, suddenly…
A mobile phone began to ring -- a tune quite familiar to me echoing from within the room : “I’m the Firestarter! Twisted Firestarter!”
The last time I heard those words I was in Belgium and they were followed by drunken calls of ‘Wooo-la, Wooo-la, Wooo-la, Yarrrrrr!’ in the early hours of morning.
“I’ve got him!” I thought, finally about to discover the identity of our rule breaking player. I’m sure I know who it is and, as I peered in through the door to see a lone figure about to answer the call, my gut-feeling proved correct.
“Hello,” Franck said, picking up the phone, “Who is this?”
I pushed open the door with force, “Got you!”
***