There is no good or evil in the world, only power and those too weak to seek it. A So

[plinie19]

There is no good or evil in the world, only power and those too weak to seek it. A Southampton Story​

Chapter 1 – From Unknown Ex-high School Player to Hot Seat Virtuoso​

My playing career was short to say the least. While I had played the game for 14 years, I had lost my aspiration to continue playing at a higher level. My last game was played on February 17, 2008, in front of 500 fans at Lock hart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It was the semifinal of the State championship. A stage I was all too familiar with.

For three consecutive years my team made it to this point but no further. Two years ago, we didn’t have a winning record at the end of the season, 7-4-7, but a miraculous run throughout the playoffs meant a chance to be state champs. I was central to that run scoring 3 and providing 2 through a 3 game stretch. Injury depleted and far too young for the big time we fizzled out 1-0. The next year we had to go through our biggest rival, and in a game that would go into sudden death double overtime, it would again be I that provided the assist on the winning goal. This time we were healthy and experienced, but a draw against the best team in the state would be our undoing, we lost 3-0. The final game I played in was again in a semifinal. This time though we managed to comeback from 2 down to force OT, and under highly scrutinized refereeing we lost 3-2.

Now that my playing days were over I found myself with a hole that needed to be filled. Without the want to play I turned to coaching/managing. It took me four years to get all of my certifications, but I had done it Now, I needed to find a job
My dream had been to manage in England. I knew it was a long shot, but I needed to try to ease my own mind. This team had a 10 point deduction to start the campaign and the board was looking for someone who could lead the charge.

When I met with the chairman he told me flat out that despite the points deduction he still expected us to win the league, no if ands or buts. I told him that if he hired me, not only would we win the league, but I would have them in the Premiership in 4 years, maximum. I knew he liked that right away. His smile grew and his eyes started to glow like a kid who just found out he was getting a puppy.

As I left his office I was fairly confident that I was going to get a call from him very soon. As I exited the building my phone rang.

“Mr. Gainza?”

“This is him.”

“Hello, this is Markus Liebherr. I want to officially offer you the manager position here at Southampton.”

“I’ll take it!”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Gainza. You’ll start next week.”

 

[plinie19]

Chapter 2 – The Preseason and Transfers

The first plan of business was to meet my team and establish what we needed to improve on. As I looked through the roster and match reports from the previous year I knew my work was going to cut out for me.

Mr. Liebherr expected me to lift the League 1 trophy this year, but there was no way I was going to do it with the players I had now. Luckily, Mr. Liebherr had left me and email on my first day:

Mr. Gainza,
I am delighted to welcome you to Southampton FC. As I stated earlier the expectation for this season is to win the Coca-Cola League 1. In order to accomplish this I am prepared to give you $17.75 million to use in the transfer market. I also am willing to provide the team with $350,000 to spend on wages. Hope all is well on your first day and I am looking forward to see what you can do for the Saints.​

Mr. Markus Liebherr
Chairman of the Board of Southampton FC​

This pleased me immensely. I could definitely get some more capable players to the club with this budget. My first plan of business was to scour the free agent market for players. I quickly identified 4 players who I wanted for my team and submitted contract offers to them. Next was to look to Premier League teams and find one suitable to be a parent club for Southampton. Mr. Liebherr responded well to the idea and let me know which clubs were interested. To my surprise there were only 2, but they were 2 major clubs who could not only help with financials, but also provide us with loans that could significantly impact our team. After careful consideration to the pro’s and con’s of an affiliation with each team I notified Mr. Liebherr that I would prefer the club to establish ties with Chelsea FC.

The next day Chelsea FC had notified me that they were planning on loaning a striker to my team. I immediately sent out a scout to scout the young man. The report came back positive, but also identified three other players, 2 for loan and 1 for purchase, that could help the club out immensely in the next year.

Now that my frees and loans were in order I decided it was time to dip my toes into the transfer water

BREAKING NEWS: SOUTHAMPTON BOSS SEALS THE DEAL ON 5 NEW PLAYERS!​

Southampton, England – Just days after arriving at Southampton FC, JP Gainza has shocked many by signing 5 players, some of whom the public are shocked have agreed to play League 1 football. Gainza’s first deal sees Colin Kazim Richards return to England from Turkish side Fenerbahce for a miniscule fee of $3.1 million. Gainza has also secured the signatures of 2 former Premiership players. Chelsea’s Scott Sinclair and West Ham’s Jonathan Spector have each signed with the Saints for $3.1 and $2.5 million respectively. Gainza has also brought one of England’s brightest talents to St. Mary’s as Derby’s Miles Addison is coming to Southampton for $5.5 million. The finally major transfer for Gainza has brought smiles across the faces of every Southampton fan as former Saint, Chris Baird has rejoined Southampton from Fulham for $3.5 million. The Saints fans have already voiced their opinions and have hailed Gainza as a transfer market genius and cannot wait to see Continued on C6​

I was delighted to see that this made the news. I knew the signing of Richards and Addison were huge, but I didn’t quite realize how much the return of Baird would do for the club. After the window ended, and a scramble on my part to find a suitable 3rd goalkeeper I was satisfied with the changes I was able to make. All in all I had brought in 14 new faces. Of course this meant that some players had to be shown the door, and unfortunately for 11 players, their Saint’s careers were over.

We played 7 preseason matches. It was originally supposed to be 8, but after being more than happy with the first 7 I cancelled the final friendly with the Glen Hoodle Academy as I no longer saw any benefit from that match. We didn’t lose once during the preseason and allowed 6 goals while scoring 27. The attack was there and the defense was not yielding and aside from the poor performance against Bournemouth, we looked ready and raring to go for the start of the season.