The Rise of the White Eagle and The Making of a Legend

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January 18th, 2012

I sat in the waiting room at the Polish FA Headquarters twiddling my thumbs, sick with nerves. There wasn't much reason for a person like me to be nervous though, not really. It's not like my life depended on this job, I was fairly comfortable remaining as a Sky Sports pundit, and I wasn't getting a major wage boost if I became the manager of the Polish national team. I think the sickness stems from the first job interview we ever have, our overactive brains piecing together possible scenarios and possible outcomes, possible futures. Because, after all, what career a person eventually embarks upon has a major impact on their future, and it is human nature to worry about the future.

But for me, my career had been over for 5 years now. I had signed for Southend United at the age of 16, way back in 1988, and while I was sitting in my parent's car travelling to my trial match, I felt much the same as I do now. I was quite a skilled midfielder in my time, and racked up many assists and game-changing tackles in my time at Southend, which eventually led to interest from bigger clubs. In 1992 I signed for my boyhood club West Ham United, where I had a few good years, and even managed to pick up a handful of England caps. Non footballing fans who heard about my game winning goal against Germany in the Euro '96 semi-finals assumed I was a German player who had scored an own goal, well, with a name like Josef Stankiewicz, I could see where the confusion came from.

I was born to a Polish mother and a German father in southern Essex, and I always wanted to feel in touch with my parent's cultures. Which is why I left West Ham in 1998 for Borussia Dortmund, and when I flopped there, moved to Wisla in 2000 to get my carer back on track. I loved living in Poland and always wanted to return, but luckily I managed to take a bit of Poalnd home with me when I married my lovely Polish wife in 2001, before returning back to England to see out the last few years of my career at Colchester United.

And now here I was, back in Poland looking at a brand new career opportunity. After taking my coaching badges I went on to manage Southend United, and the clubs two successive promotions did not go unnoticed by the higher ups at the Polish FA.

"Stankiewicz?" the receptionist said, as she peered over her thick rimmed glasses, undressing me with her eyes. The interview hadn't even begun yet and I already felt like I was being judged. My nerves got even worse when she ushered me towards a large glass-panelled door, as all the thoughts of what the future may hold came back to me. All of a sudden I was a teenager in the back of a Ford Cortina, driving through Southend, wondering if my dreams of becoming a footballer would ever come true.
 
Brilliant start mate, looking forward to see where this goes :)
 
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As a West Ham and Polish national team fan, I am really looking forward towards seeing this develop!
 
Great start mate, just subscribed. Looking forward to the update now.
 
Later that day...

Phoning Ela, that would be the deal breaker, I knew. If my wife didn't want to move back to Poland, then I would have to decline the incredible job offer I had just been given.

"Joe, how did it go!?" I could hear the rest of the family in a hushed excitement, waiting for me to confirm that I was the new Polish national team boss. Me and Ela had discussed the move at length, but she was unsure on uprooting the children and taking them to a completely new environment. At the moment she was with the kids at her mother's home in Warsaw, and I'm sure that my in-laws had been convincing her to stay, all quietly confident that I would land the job.

"I hope you're comfortable Ela, because we're going to be staying in Poland for quite a while." From the excited shriek I recieved as a reply, I gauged that my wife was finally sold on the move to Poland.

January 19th, 2012

Sitting in front of news reporters and flashing camera bulbs was not something I was unfamiliar with, being an ex-pro footballer and a TV personality back in media-driven Britian, but sitting in a press conference never got easier. After my £250,000 move to West Ham United in the summer of 1992, I experienced this sort of stardom for the first time. I was under no illusions at that first press conference though, I never thought for a moment that I had 'made it' in the game, not yet. Billy Bonds had told me as much. He took me aside after I signed my contract and made it clear that I was nobody special, I was a good talent in an average Division One team, and now I was an average talent in a good Division One team. He told me that if I worked hard, next year I could be a great talent in a great team, competing in the greatest league in the world.

Now, I had to start back at square one. I had no achievments, not really, this is where I had to make a name for myself all over again.

I answered the journalists questions without many problems, making clear that I would completely transform Polish football and make this team, ranked 50th in the world, a dominant force. With the European Championships being held in Poland, the country were really getting behind the national team and hoping for a good performance. The hardest question that was posed to me that day, was by an Englishman working for The Sun. The Sun, a newspaper I wouldn't wipe my **** with due to all the stories that they've plastered across their pages about me in the past.

"Joe, do you honestly believe that you can turn this team of, lets face it, quite poor quality players, into a major force within 6 months?" What could I reply to that? Did I really think that I could upset the odds and go far in the Euros with this team?

"I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't think I could do it. When I was an 18 year old young man sitting on the sidelines with a potentially career threatening injury, I never believed that 6 years later I would be playing in the European Championship final for England. In football, anything can happen."

Indeed anything can happen in football. The Czech Republic beat us 3-0 to win the European Championship that day, and my career was never the same again.
 
Thanks for the comments so far, if anyone wants me to come and look at their stories I'd be happy to oblige.

I promise that soon the action will hot up but I find character development quite important, and as we continue we'll find out more and more about the main character and his motives, attitudes and feelings towards others both in the world of football and out of it. I'm not looking to write a generic story and I know that will drive some people away, but hopefully it will make others much more eager to read.
 
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(Not only will I be writing from the point of view of myself as the manager, but also from other sources in the form of interviews. I will always make it clear when this is happening)

From Kuba the Autobiography of Jakub Blaszczykowski, published 2018


It had been a hard season for me up to that point. I picked up a knock at the start of the campaign and never really regained my fitness, turning out only 7 times for Dortmund, all from the bench. When Stankiewicz took the post as the Poland national team manager I thought things were looking up.
Josef Stankiewicz is a hero of mine, being a lifelong Wisla fan, and was a real inspiration for a youngster growing up in the game, at least from my point of view. Others say that he was ineffective, or lazy, but all I saw was a tenacious warrior who wouldn't let anyone past him. I still pictured that image the first time I met him. It was mid-January when the team all met together, and me, Robert Lewandowski and Lukasz Piszczek arrived a day before the others. When I first met the big man I was overawed, not because of his history but because of the sheer size of him. The guy is six and a half feet tall, and the first handshake we exchanged almost broke my hand.
But anyway, he took me to one side and frankly told me that I could no longer remain as captain. That was a crushing blow. I mean I went back to my hotel devastated that night, really devastated, thinking that my career was over. Joe told me to request a transfer away from Dortmund and start to impress at club level to remain in his plans for the European Championships. Playing at the Euros was something that I had dreamt of since Poland was announced as one of the host nations, and I would do whatever it took to make that dream a reality. My transfer to Everton was wrapped up a week later.
 
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