"I think the signings Mr. Matiak has made can take this club back to where they belong on their own..."
The voice of radio pundit Ivan Bogdan crackled as i tuned into the radio on my way home from work..
"The main problem area was at left back, and he has acted quickly to bring in young Shenol Galip, a youngster who had been released by Loko (Mezdra) in "A" Division, he is an exciting player, solid defensively and quick, so he likes to get forward too. Akademik have a real chance to gain automatic promotion this year..."
I switched off the radio as i pulled into the small concrete car park outside my new flat. At 55 i was embarrassed that until very recently, i had been living with my parents.. I had nowhere else to go.. money in Bulgaria was hard to come by anyway, especially in my new found profession and with a chairman like Mano Velev backing me. Velev had made no secret of his desire to sell up and move on. Since the club had been relegated he had grown tired of his plaything.
I had just played my first friendly, my first game in charge of the second tier Bulgarian side, my home town side and the club i had supported and had the joy of playing for, before my unhappy move to France. I had settled with a wide 4-2-3-1 in the end, Samir Ayass would push up into the 'hole' and Nikola Bozhnov would come deep to link up with the young playmaker, two natural wingers would come deep, then run at the full backs with their pace and trickery. The final score against the reserves was a solid, if unimpressive 1-0. Of all people, the right back, Ivaylo Vasilev had tucked the ball under the keeper after a quick free kick and a through ball from Ayass. We dominated the whole game though, and as poor as the reserve team is - that's always a plus. In the 83rd minute, Ayass was instrumental again, playing the ball into the area from the centre, and as Bozhov took a touch, 20 year old Harizanov went to ground and brought down the big striker. Penalty said the referee, and as i hastily pulled out my Sony-Eriksson camera phone, captain Nikola Asenov stepped up, and smacked the penalty straight down the middle, but straight at the keeper.
I stepped out of the car, and as i locked the door, i caught a glimpse of something in my side mirror. A young girl behind was running, bag in hand, pursued by a big blonde man, and another, smaller but still muscular man in all black, including a balaclava. Behind them, a black van parked next to the main road.
The girl was petite and was clearly distressed, even from a distance of around 30 metres. She stopped for a second, trying to balance herself as she removed her high heels, but this gave the men behind her time to catch up, the smaller man got there first, and tried to grab her, but she wriggled loose of his grip and proceeded to hit him with her shoes, as she did so though, the bigger man came up on her, a brute of a man, he looked about 6' 6" at least, dark blonde hair and a body that looked like it belonged to 'Jaws' from the old Bond movies. The second man succeeded in restraining the girl, picking her up in a sort-of 'bear hug' kicking and screaming he carried her over to the van as the first man inspected the damage of his bruises.. and as he did so, he caught sight of me - i had just been staring at him, there was a pause for a second as we both considered our options, then he started to walk towards me, making sure his balaclava was covering his face, and he reached into his inside jacket pocket, all sorts of things went through my head, and sure enough, i saw the handle, and the shiny barrel of his glock as he drew it, and then pointed straight at me as he continued towards me.
"Andrei!" Shouted a third man, the driver of the black van, leaning out of the door.
Andrei ignored his comrade's shouts and took firm hold of his gun with his left hand now supporting his right hand gripping the handle, still pointing it at me, i was petrified, and couldn't move, looking around for options i saw no escape route. The man took something else out of his pocket, and screwed what looked like a silencer onto the front of his pistol..
"Politsiya!" The driver was distressed now, eager to get the attention of his partner in crime, this time the man seemed to pay more attention, stopping and turning around, before turning back to me, and having a quick look around. He took aim fired..
..finally my body gave way and i was able to drop to the floor as one round smashed my car window, and another flattened my tyre.
I lay down on the floor, and saw the man's feet as he turned and ran back to the van which sped off with the sound of police sirens not far off. My ordeal was over, and i slumped against my car for a full ten minutes before finally collecting the nerve to move towards my door, still crouching and let myself into my warm, safe flat.
The voice of radio pundit Ivan Bogdan crackled as i tuned into the radio on my way home from work..
"The main problem area was at left back, and he has acted quickly to bring in young Shenol Galip, a youngster who had been released by Loko (Mezdra) in "A" Division, he is an exciting player, solid defensively and quick, so he likes to get forward too. Akademik have a real chance to gain automatic promotion this year..."
I switched off the radio as i pulled into the small concrete car park outside my new flat. At 55 i was embarrassed that until very recently, i had been living with my parents.. I had nowhere else to go.. money in Bulgaria was hard to come by anyway, especially in my new found profession and with a chairman like Mano Velev backing me. Velev had made no secret of his desire to sell up and move on. Since the club had been relegated he had grown tired of his plaything.
*
I had just played my first friendly, my first game in charge of the second tier Bulgarian side, my home town side and the club i had supported and had the joy of playing for, before my unhappy move to France. I had settled with a wide 4-2-3-1 in the end, Samir Ayass would push up into the 'hole' and Nikola Bozhnov would come deep to link up with the young playmaker, two natural wingers would come deep, then run at the full backs with their pace and trickery. The final score against the reserves was a solid, if unimpressive 1-0. Of all people, the right back, Ivaylo Vasilev had tucked the ball under the keeper after a quick free kick and a through ball from Ayass. We dominated the whole game though, and as poor as the reserve team is - that's always a plus. In the 83rd minute, Ayass was instrumental again, playing the ball into the area from the centre, and as Bozhov took a touch, 20 year old Harizanov went to ground and brought down the big striker. Penalty said the referee, and as i hastily pulled out my Sony-Eriksson camera phone, captain Nikola Asenov stepped up, and smacked the penalty straight down the middle, but straight at the keeper.
*
I stepped out of the car, and as i locked the door, i caught a glimpse of something in my side mirror. A young girl behind was running, bag in hand, pursued by a big blonde man, and another, smaller but still muscular man in all black, including a balaclava. Behind them, a black van parked next to the main road.
The girl was petite and was clearly distressed, even from a distance of around 30 metres. She stopped for a second, trying to balance herself as she removed her high heels, but this gave the men behind her time to catch up, the smaller man got there first, and tried to grab her, but she wriggled loose of his grip and proceeded to hit him with her shoes, as she did so though, the bigger man came up on her, a brute of a man, he looked about 6' 6" at least, dark blonde hair and a body that looked like it belonged to 'Jaws' from the old Bond movies. The second man succeeded in restraining the girl, picking her up in a sort-of 'bear hug' kicking and screaming he carried her over to the van as the first man inspected the damage of his bruises.. and as he did so, he caught sight of me - i had just been staring at him, there was a pause for a second as we both considered our options, then he started to walk towards me, making sure his balaclava was covering his face, and he reached into his inside jacket pocket, all sorts of things went through my head, and sure enough, i saw the handle, and the shiny barrel of his glock as he drew it, and then pointed straight at me as he continued towards me.
"Andrei!" Shouted a third man, the driver of the black van, leaning out of the door.
Andrei ignored his comrade's shouts and took firm hold of his gun with his left hand now supporting his right hand gripping the handle, still pointing it at me, i was petrified, and couldn't move, looking around for options i saw no escape route. The man took something else out of his pocket, and screwed what looked like a silencer onto the front of his pistol..
"Politsiya!" The driver was distressed now, eager to get the attention of his partner in crime, this time the man seemed to pay more attention, stopping and turning around, before turning back to me, and having a quick look around. He took aim fired..
..finally my body gave way and i was able to drop to the floor as one round smashed my car window, and another flattened my tyre.
I lay down on the floor, and saw the man's feet as he turned and ran back to the van which sped off with the sound of police sirens not far off. My ordeal was over, and i slumped against my car for a full ten minutes before finally collecting the nerve to move towards my door, still crouching and let myself into my warm, safe flat.
***
Tell me what you think guys, i don't think it's my best update, but hopefully you still enjoyed it! I haven't quite got into the football side of it yet, simply because i felt i should update before people lost interest despite not being very far into the game!
Tell me what you think guys, i don't think it's my best update, but hopefully you still enjoyed it! I haven't quite got into the football side of it yet, simply because i felt i should update before people lost interest despite not being very far into the game!
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