Lost in the Soviet Union: (The USSR Domination Challenge)

[Nisbet]

Lost in the Soviet Union
(The USSR Domination Challenge)
(The Story...)

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/chal...t-soviet-union-ussr-domination-challenge.html

(Click on link to view the Challenge)

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I had worked in the fitness industry as a personal trainer for several years since studding a masters in sports science at Edinburgh University. I had always enjoyed my job however I never felt completely for filled by it. My passion had always been football. I had played at a fairly decent level however I was never good enough to play as a professional. It had not been one bad injury that had lead to my early retirement from playing the beautiful game but more a combination of small injuries. As I played as a centre half I had always been fascinated by the tactical side of the game & this had led me to doing my basic coaching badges.


After spending some time coaching at amateur level I realised that I wanted to learn more so at great expence I put myself through the UEFA “B” & then the UEFA “A” Licenses.


I found them both really interesting so I decided that I wanted to do my UEFA Pro License however there were a couple of stumbling blocks. One was the fact that it cost over £7000 and I’d already spent all my savings on the previous courses & the other main reason was I had no past experience in the professional game & this was one of the requirements.


I sent my CV to every club in the top 4 leagues in Scotland offering my services for free so that I could get some valuable experience working with professional or semi professional clubs so I could apply for my UEFA Pro Licence.
The only club that got back in contact with me was Scottish 3rd Division club Peterhead. This was a three and a half hour drive from Edinburgh. Not an ideal location for me but I welcomed the opportunity to have a chance of working with a team in the football league. I drove up to have a meeting/interview with the manager former Scotland internationalist Jim McInally.


We spoke in great detail & I gave him my personal thoughts on the game as a whole, tactics & various types of training. I told him that I was happy to help with the coaching for the team & that I didn’t expect any money for it. After a few hours & several cups of tea he offered me the job of First team coach with specific regards to the fitness & conditioning of the squad. I was also to devise individual training programs for some of the players to do in their own time. He said that they always had a hard training session on a free Saturday when they never had a game & that I could take a few of those sessions also.


I would drive up early on Saturday mornings & assist with getting the team ready for the match & take the team for their warm up pre match & cool down post match. I would stay up there on Saturday night & take the first team squad for a recovery session on the Sunday. Jim said that I was more than welcome to come up for a mid week evening training session if I wanted but he understood the issues with travelling & that I had work commitments. I was delighted I couldn’t believe how well are chat went, Jim even said that the club would pay for my travelling costs.


I couldn’t wait to take my first training session & to sit in the dugout at a game.

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[Nisbet]

UEFA Pro Licence

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I had been with the club for a few months & things had gone well. The players had responded well to my training ideas & their fitness levels had improved. Jim told me that in the past they had been prone to loosing late goals but this problem seemed to have disappeared. I think that their improved levels of fitness had contributed significantly to this.

I had taken out a loan & applied for my UEFA Pro Licence. To my delight they said that despite my inexperience as long as I continued to work at Peterhead then my application would be ok. There was a lot of work involved but I was determined to achieve my goal.


A year later & around 240 hours of studying, combined with a mixture of distance learning, online learning, conference calls & a residential study week at the University of Warwick I had completed my UEFA Pro Licence.


Effectively I was now allowed to apply for management jobs!


I couldn’t wait to see what would happen…

 

[Nisbet]

After completing my UEFA Pro License I was desperate to get my first professional job. I had been wanting this for ages now & my time at Peterhead had only made me want it more. I had met a guy called Simon whilst on my week course at the University of Warwick. He had spoken to everyone on the course & said that he was a type of agent/manager head hunter. In simple he had a lot of connections & said that he would let me know if he heard about any possible jobs. We exchanged phone numbers & email, he said that he would be in contact if he had any news.


I continued to do my regular job & help out at Peterhead. Jim & I were getting on really well & after I had completed my UEFA Pro Licence he asked me to cover as his assistant a few times when the other assistant was on holiday or sick (which he was fairly regularly). I really enjoyed the experience.


I got a phone call from Rodger Morrison (the Chairman of Peterhead) early on the morning before a game. I had not even left Edinburgh yet. He said that Jim had suffered food poisoning & that as the assistant was on holiday he wanted me to take control of the team!


I spoke to Jim briefly as he was seriously ill. He said that I’d know what to do & then hung up. I was very nervous on the drive up but also extremely excited. I had almost four hours on the way up to get my thoughts together & pick a team.
It was a shock for the players when I told them that I’d be in charge for the day, but I told them that we were more than capable of getting a result & that they all needed to pull together.


We were 2:0 down at half time but came back to draw with Alloa 3:3.


I had enjoyed my experience in charge but it just made me want a team of my own even more. I didn’t know it at the time but I’d be getting the opportunity much sooner than I thought…

 

[Nisbet]

The phone call

I was driving home from Peterhead on the Sunday evening when my phone rang.

It was Simon.

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“Simon.”

“Hi Jon how are you?”

“I’m good thanks, what’s new?”

“I’ll cut to the chase Jon, a job has come available & I wanted to let you know in case you were interested.”

“Go on…”

“The team is Krymteplitsya Molodizhne.”

“Who?”

“Krymteplitsya Molodizhne, they are a Ukrainian team in the second top league.”

“Wow I wasn’t expecting that. Bit of a strange one, I’ll prob send them my CV just in case.”

“I’m one step ahead, I thought you’d say that so I sent it for you this morning.”

“Ok.”

“They’ve got back to me already. They want to set up an interview asap!”

“When?”

“As soon as you can get yourself across there.”

“Wow, that’s crazy! I’ll look at flights when I get in.”

“OK, I’ll send you an email with the details. Let me know how you get on.”

“I will do, that’s great, thank Simon!”

“Speak soon.”​

 

[chrisstanley1987]

Looks like an awesome thing you've got going on! Will follow

Sent from my BlackBerry 9780 using Tapatalk

 

[Nisbet]

The meeting

My meeting with Krymteplitsya Molodizhne was arranged threw email for Wednesday.

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I arrived at the ground for the interview with Olexander Vasyljev (Chairman), Mykhaylo Sachko (Director of football) & Sergiy Cherevko (Director) & an interpreter.

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I was at the stadium for four hours in total. The interview seemed to go well & they showed me around the facilities. The stadium was a modern 5700 seater & their training facilities were better than I thought they would be. I spoke of my ideas & they told me theirs. It all seemed to happen very quickly & before I new it I was shacking their hands on a 2 year deal to manage the club worth £1,200 per week.

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[Nisbet]

Any comments/thoughts welcome.

Cheers

 

[ZeCarlos]

Very good so far - great idea. Could be very interesting if you stick with it.

 

[The Ultime FM God]

Love this mate, like the concept