Pentagon Challenge - The unknown student

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The celebrations went on long into the night. 7-0!!!

I laughed as I watched Jake being piggy backed around the room by one of the players and took a sip of my drink.

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This was definitely the highest point of my managerial career so far. Look at me, calling this a career... I was just a university drop out on a gap year. Maybe I was being hasty.. this was actually going pretty well! was it a fluke? or was there actually something in this? Now wasn't the moment to be making career plans. Now was the moment to drink myself under the table and enjoy this victory.
The next morning I groaned as I sat up from where I was asleep on the sofa. This was surely the daddy of all hangovers, but I still didn't care. Things had been magnificent from the moment I set foot in South Africa.

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The defeat to Highlands was disappointing but other than that I have just the one complaint. Seiso, the club captain had been sold to a European club for £22k. I had no say in the transfer as the club needed the money. For such an important player I was gutted to see him go but it would seem that his replacement is adequate enough, Myron Shongwe who signed on a free transfer and has scored 2 goals in 4 appearances.

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I walked into Jake's families dining room and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" I asked, looking around at the sombre faces of him and his family.

"I am selling the club" Pule said. I hadn't even seen him leaning against the wall, looking out of the window.

"What?" I asked, astonished.

"Investments gone bad" Jake said glumly.

"The club is in debt and running at huge losses" elaborated Pule. "I simply cannot afford it any more, I have to cash out.. to look after the family, otherwise I will have no money at all"

"I.. I understand, you have to do what you have to do.. Family comes first" I replied, my heart almost hitting the floor.

"I will still be in charge until we find a buyer.. as will you be, but I am afraid after that it is out of my hands my boy" Pule said, trying to muster some of his famous enthusiasm but falling short.

"You love this club.." I said to him weakly.

He nodded and walked over to his wife who was seated at the table, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Family comes first."


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The next day when I reached the club I locked myself in my office and started sorting through the clubs finance predictions. If things carried on the way they were the club would be more than a million pounds in debt by the end of the season. As things stood now the club was already almost £100,000 in the red.

I leaned back in my chair and exhaled deeply. This was surely going to be the end of my adventure. I owed it to Pule to stay on until he left though, he showed great faith in me and I wasn't going to let him down.

There was a knock at my office door. As I got up to unlock it, I saw that it was the new club captain Muziwandlle Khwela.

"Hey Muzzy, what can I do for you?" I asked, gesturing him inside and to take a seat before assuming my place back behind my desk.

"Boss, I dont know how to say this.. but some of the lads want out."

"What do you mean they want out?"

"They are hearing what is happened to Pule" He said in his bad English. "They no longer want to be at the club, they say they no play again."

"Wont play again? they are under contract! they will do as I tell them!"

"I'm with you boss.. I really am.. but..." The look on his face said it all.

"What is it.. you might as well give me all the bad news in one go"

"They are already gone."

"Fantastic... F**king marvelous" I ran my hands through my hair, thinking. "Can you excuse me Muzzy" I asked him, gesturing to the door"

"Of course boss man" he said, standing up "You know where I am if you need me" He said, leaving.

I picked up the phone and punched in Paul's phone number. Paul was our chief of finance at the club.

"Hey Paul.. Its Tom, look, I want to make this quite clear.. Everybody who has left the football club without permission has 24 hours to come back.. if they don't report back for training tomorrow, remove their pay, tear up their contracts"

I slammed the phone back down into its holder and took a deep breath. Just who did these footballers think they were!?! I picked up the mug full of cold coffee from my desk and threw it with all my might against the wall, shattering it into pieces. I sat and watched the coffee run down the wall sadly, reflecting on how it matched my mood. At least we were still going well in the league.

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Hey Mate - just caught up with this, going great! Looks like a crazy challenge! Great detail in the updates also!
 
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"Come in" Pule called through his office door.

I walked into his lush office and gave him a small smile "You wanted to see me?"

"There you are my boy! good to see you! take a seat!"

"Thanks" I said, lowering myself into the leather armchair across from his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing.. It's what I can do for you that I want to discuss, I realise things have been hard for you! the players are being tw**s and that the money is gone, so I thought I would give you something back in return for your service." He pushed a wad of paper across his desk towards me.

I picked it up and glanced at the first few pages "A new contract?" I asked, astonished.

"You have earned it!" Pule grinned at me "I cant offer you a pay rise, but I can give you an extension.. even if I am not here at the club, I think that you should be. Plus if the new owners don't want you, you will get a whack of compensation out of it." He winked at me.

"I.. I dont know what to say, I'm honoured.. where do I sign?"

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Christmas came and went at Jakes place with no movement in regards to the club being sold. Crazy old loveable Pule was still in charge and the club was even deeper in debt then we were. I guess nobody finds a debt ridden South African 2nd division club with barely any players and an untried and untested teenage manager in charge who doesn't even speak the language too appealing. Still, as bad as that sounds there was one massive plus! we were top of the league!!

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"More players are going to have to go" Pule said solemnly over dinner one night.

"I know, I know.. more have already gone and we have bids accepted on some of our stars"

"I'm sorry that this is happening my boy"

"No, it's not your fault.. I don't blame you its just frustrating that we are top of the league, going so well and all of a sudden the squad is ripped apart, we are risking everything"

"I know what you mean.. and we cant even bring players in because of the transfer embargo. the good news is that the board are trying to gather the money to buy me out, so that might be lifted by the end of the window."

"Well lets hope so, we could be in real trouble if all our players leave and we are left with nothing. We are not safe from relegation yet."
 
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The transfer window was finally closed and it had been a stressful one! we had managed to raise about £100k through player sales and had cut our wage bills by almost 50% but we were still going to be making a loss. The board takeover had fallen through and Pule was still in charge. Surprisingly everything that had been going on hadn't affected our league form at all.

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Some excellent results in this run included a tight win against 4th place side Santos and a good point against 6th place side FC Cape Town. These results meant we were still at the top of the table going into February.

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With 11 games to go in the league we were looking really good! just three defeats all season and the best goal difference in the league had us top of the table. In case anybody doesn't know the champions of the league get automatic promotion to the South African Premiership, while the 2nd and 3rd places enter into a playoff to take the other promotion place. Considering where we are at the moment and what the squad has been through, 3rd place is going to be our target. If we can stay in those playoff positions then anything can happen.
 
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I tore open the post excitedly and immediately found what I was looking for. A very professional certificate and a letter of congratulations telling me that I had successfully passed my National C level coaching qualifications. This meant that I had taken the first step into proper official football coaching! I couldn't wait to try out what I had learned with the lads on the training field. Maybe this could increase our chances in the league? and it certainly would improve my reputation if I wanted to stay in the game if things fell apart here!

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Some more really decent results, including a hard earned draw against 2nd place Witbank Spurs have ensured our unbeaten run continues. Pule informed me that our 12 games unbeaten was actually a club record! and that I had written my name into the clubs history books for all to see.

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With just 7 games to go it is looking very tight at the top with probably 5 teams in it. I am thrilled that we have the best defence in the league as it is something that the team work hard to achieve. We just need to believe that promotion is possible!


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I prowled the touchline nervously as the seconds ticked past. This was the last game of the season and we needed a point to guarantee the league title! 82 minutes had passed and the scoreline was still locked at 0-0. I had already almost yelled myself hoarse as we defended wave after wave of attack in a match where we were clearly 2nd best.

Despair washed through me as one of our centre backs pushed too high up the pitch and got caught out by a lofted through ball. Their striker Moriri ran through and slotted a cool finish past our goalkeeper to put them ahead. As he ran towards his own fans to celebrate in front of them I kicked at the ground in frustration. We couldn't let all this slip away.. not now..

"GET FORWARD!" I yelled, waving everybody up into attack. Once again that left a gaping hole in the defence which they exploited on the counter attack and this time it was the turn of attacking midfielder Ntuli to score and celebrate with his fans. I turned my back on the game, my hands in my pockets, completely overwhelmed with frustration.

As the final whistle went I went and did the decent thing, shaking my opposing managers hand.

"Congratulations my friend" he said to me.

"For what?" I asked dumbly looking at him.

"You don't know?" he asked, obviously amused. He went back to his dugout and picked up his tablet, showing me the live table that had been updating. There we were, at the top of the table on goal difference alone.

"We did it.." I said slowly, letting it sink in. "WE DID IT!"

I charged onto the pitch to join my players who were slowly starting to realise what had happened "WE DID IT!" I kept yelling over and over again as I joined the group of players who were jumping around on the pitch. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find Jake. If my face was anything like his then it must have been a picture, overjoyed.. eyes burning with excitement. Then Pule was there, crying with happiness as he was lofted into the air with several players. "PREMIER LEAGUE MY BOY!" he was shouting as Jake and I jumped about celebrating.

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Some time later, after the stadium had emptied out, I walked the edge of the pitch. I was still holding the tablet and looking at the table. I had never loved goal difference so much in all of my life. As an added side note Shongwe had the won the league golden boot as well!

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What a title fight it had been, and the season wasn't over yet! defying all expectations we had made it to the final of the South African cup, beating several premier league teams along the way! What a chance it was, to do the double in my first ever season as a football manager, we would need to make sure not to mess it up.

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Ok, so we got absolutely spanked in the final against Sundowns, which is a real shame because winning it would have qualified us for the equivalent of the Europa League in Africa. But even with this heavy defeat I couldn't bring myself to be downhearted, we had won the league! and were going to be playing in the South African Premiership against teams like the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates.

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After the match Pule pulled me aside and shook my hand firmly.

"I owe you so much my boy" he told me quietly and I knew how much this meant to him.

"I owe you just as much, you gave me this chance!" I said to him, grinning.

"Will you stay?" He asked, and I knew we had reached the point of the conversation.

"I don't know" I said to him slowly. "It depends on my family.. on what I feel I should be doing"

Pule nodded solemnly "The job is yours for as long as you want it, you know that.." He said, walking away.
 
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It was a tearful goodbye as Pule came to the club to claim his possessions. The clubs staff and players formed a makeshift guard of honour for him to walk out through.

As he walked past me I took his hand and shook it warmly.

"I'm staying" I said to him, giving him a small smile.

"My boy that is the best news I have heard all day!!" Pule grinned "I already have my season ticket!"

"I will look forward to seeing you next year.. if you ever want to join me on the bench, you know who to call"
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The new owner was Sibusiso Thompson who insisted on my calling him Tomo. He was a nice enough chap but lacked the enthusiasm that Pule had. He had informed me the previous day that I would be kept on as manager however there would not be any extra finances put into the club so we would have to be cautious.

"One more thing" Tomo said as I got up to leave "I want us to sign some big name players.. to get attendances up.. make it happen"

I nodded. Brilliant.. he was already starting to interfere in transfers.
 
Great stuff man congrats on the promotion. There's always decent players knocking around on a free you can get in. Just watch out for the foreign players rule!
 
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A fairly decent start to life in the Premier League. An opening day point was hard fought and then we got absolutely thumped by Polokwane which was a hard result to take. We vastly improved in the next game and got our first win of the season against Jomo Cosmos which left the table looking like this.

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In terms of the big name signings that the new chairman wanted I have been making inroads. David James has joined as our goalkeeper/reserves manager and Chinese international centre back Du Wei will strengthen the heart of our defence. By far the biggest signing we made is El-Hadji Diouf. Love him or hate him he is a big name for a club of our statue and is capable of doing the spectacular when he feels obliged to.
 
Just caught up with this, fantastic work! Great to read, keep it up!
 
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"Come in" Came the voice through the office door.

I walked into the Chairmans office "You wanted to see me?" I asked

"Yeah, take a seat" He said gesturing to the empty seat across from his desk. "I'll get straight to the point, results have been less than impressive" He continued, showing me an I-pad that had been sat on the table.

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I looked at the table and could feel myself wince inwardly. "It was always going to be a struggle back in the top flight, especially with our financial situation".

"You can make all the excuses you want.. we need to be doing better and I think that somebody else could be doing better."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, starting to feel angry.

"Im saying you need to gather your belongings.. I'm relieving you of your duties.. here is your final paycheck, you dont need to come back" He said, handing me an envelope.

"You have got to be kidding.." I started "After the success we had last season??"

"The decision has been made.. I'm sorry" he said.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, completely stunned. "Fine" I said eventually, turning around and walking out the door. I didnt need them. I was going to prove them wrong.
 
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After a whirlwind couple of weeks I had said my goodbyes to everybody in South Africa and thanked Jake's family profusely. They had been so good to me, it was just a shame it had to end like this.

"You know your welcome any time mate" Jake said, smiling sadly as we shook hands.

"I might just take you up on that!"

"So what do you think your'e going to do? find another managers job?" He asked.

"I really don't know.. hopefully! winning a second division title in South Africa must mean something!"
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Before I knew it I was back in the country, walking out of Heathrow Airport and a little part of me was delighted to be home. The familiar cold drizzle that hit me was almost refreshing as I walked to the coach station to find a way back down to the south coast.

Just at that moment my phone rang and I stopped to answer it.

"Hello?"

The phone conversation lasted just a few minutes and as I hung up a huge grin split across my face. Change of plans.. I'm not going home at all.
 
**** did they actually sack you in game?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
They sacked you!! Shocking behaviour by the board! Love too see were this little twist leads though!
 
I did think it was particularly harsh! but there we go, onwards and upwards!!
 
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