Mr.T

Banned for being a rebel
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
1,229
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Before I start I would like to say this was inspired by Memiors of a Slovak by Kris and the aim is really to have a good fictional story where in I can control the personal life of the manager completely but the footballing world is a complete unknown so there is no guarantee of a happy ending. I will post the occasional screenshot but my main aim is to captivate you with words and put you in the life of Nathaniel Bond, I hope you will follow and enjoy. I accept constructive criticism and look forward to feedback. Now lets start this journey. Who is Nathaniel Bond?






My confidence surprised everybody including myself. I handled the questions fired at me superbly. My first press conference as Barnet manager and I was surrounded by an aura of youthful enthusiasm. I was relishing the opportunity to display my skills I had been gaining from the days of my youth; I can recall countless hours spent playing management simulation games. As my chairman Tony Kleanthous talked to the press about this fresh start for all parties involved I reflected on the events that led up to this day.


I was in ‘The White Lion’ a local pub in Barnet guzzling down a couple of pints with the lads. Sky Sports News was on the TV.


Georgie Thompson: “Breaking news from Barnet F.C., we understand that caretaker manager Paul Fairclough has been sacked after a bust up with a director.”


Gobsmacked. Robert, Francis, Gary and I just sat in silence. We were all season ticket holders and die hard Bees fans. It could have been the alcohol in my system or just one fan with a dream, but I stood up and boldly claimed to my friends I would be the next manager of Barnet F.C., naturally they just laughed it off, but that night as I lay in my bed I began meticulously planning my bold face move to become the new manager of my local team.


I awoke at 6am. Went for a jog. Took a shower. Ate Weetabix. I remember every last detail as if it were yesterday. I put on my favourite suit, left a message at work that I had pressing issues to sort out and would be in after lunch. I left my house at 8.30am and drove my brand new 2010 plate all black A3 to Underhill, the Stadium of Barnet. I strode in a little after 9, 9.02am to be precise (I took the time to glance at my all black Casio G-Shock) and approached the front desk.


“Good morning Miss, my name is Nathaniel Bond and I am here to make Mr. Kleanthous an offer he will not refuse”.

A cute, blonde haired young lady looked up

“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Kleanthous”? She asked

“I do not actually have an appointment but I only want 5 minutes of his time to pitch an idea to him”

“Hmm...” She raised a eyebrow and pondered,

“Please just ask him if he is willing to see me”


She picked up the phone and spoke to Barnet’s Chairman Mr. Kleanthous, after which she rose from here seat and instructed me to follow her. I followed a stride or two behind so I could admire her beautiful figure; I almost forget why I was at Underhill I shook my head to regain focus. We arrived at the Chairman’s office, the young lady opened the door smiled at me and said


“Good luck with your offer”.


I drew breath and entered.


“Mr. Kleanthous before you say anything I would like to say I am a life long, and die hard Bees fan, and the old saying goes if you want something done right do it yourself. So I am here pleading with you make me the new manager of Barnet. I took FA coaching courses in college and have Sunday league management experience, I know it is really out there but this club needs a new approach and someone who has the club at heart”.


I took a deep breath and awaited what I thought would be instant rejection.


The next thing I remember is Mr. Kleanthous standing over me with a glass of water, for you see I blacked out as soon as I heard Mr. Kleanthous say
“You know what? I’m going to give you a shot”.


The next couple of hours were surreal. The chairman called his accountant up and between the 3 of us a contract was drawn up. I was handed a one year deal at £775 a week. Mr. Kleanthous told me that he would call a press conference for tomorrow morning. He also told me to call him Tony, ‘Mr Kleanthous is my father’.


As I left Underhill I approached the front desk once more,


“It was nice meeting you....”

“Melissa” the blonde replied

“Miss Melissa, I look forward to working with you” I winked and left a noticeable swagger in my step. Though I didn’t glance round my ego assumes she was watching me leave.


I snapped back to reality when I heard the ripple of applause (mainly from Rob, Francis and Gary) as the conference was drawn to a close.
“The hard work begins now “, Tony whispered in my ear.
 
Last edited:
Nice start pal how about making one of your mates that was in the pub with you your assistant manager (for the story) just an idea.
Anyway great start mate
 
Great minds think alike, mini spoiler: One of my mates has been snapped up as a coach and a former premiership player as ***. manager
 
Well Done, I thought it started off a bit farfetched but it picked up towards the end and kept me interested. Good Luck you have a follower.

Glad my story inspired you :wub:
 
Well Done, I thought it started off a bit farfetched but it picked up towards the end and kept me interested. Good Luck you have a follower.

Glad my story inspired you :wub:
 
Thanks for the support so far
@Kris: Yeah farfetched did pop in to my mind once or twice while I was writing up but I thought hey let me throw out the bait and hopefully I can get a few nibbles.
 
Yeah, just be careful not to rush parts of the story, go into detail so it all becomes a bit more natural.
 
Who is Nathaniel Bond


Me XD


Great start m8, it really is
 
I felt like I was 'The Special One' Jose Mourinho. Confidence on the borderline of arrogance, only without the proven track record to back it up. I felt I had to make some bold moves to exert my authority.


I arrived at Underhill bright and early strode past Melissa and gave her a wink coupled with a smirk, which she would become accustomed to.


I walked to my door and looked at my name. Nathaniel Bond – Manager. I opened the door and saw a relatively small room with a Macbook pro on the table with a small card


A little welcome gift


Tony​

I smiled, took of my jacket and took a seat. My first order of business, see the kit man and collect my NB tracksuit. I did think I would look dashing sporting a tracksuit on match days, but like the players it would be a requirement to attend games in full suit and tie.


I had been contemplating on how to exert my authority over the club to let everyone know I’m here and I’m in charge, at 25 there was a risk that not every player older than me would respect me especially Gary Breen the player/assistant manager. I resolved that as a new manager it was my prerogative to bring in my own backroom. So I confidently buzzed Melissa asking her to get hold of all the backroom staff including the player/coaches and tell them to meet me in my office.


It was a tight fit when all 8 members of the backroom staff arrived about 5 minutes later. I had gone over what I was going to say but with everyone in front of me I somewhat lost my nerve. I stood up to address them.


“Ahem” I cleared my throat, “Well good morning men, I am Nathaniel Bond and as new manager of Barnet my first official act of duty will unfortunately be to sack you all....” My voice tailed off.

“Ahem” I cleared my throat again, I mustard up some courage “Unfortunately all your contracts will be terminated effective immediately as I believe the club needs a full body makeover, you will each receive a £6K pay off packet”.


The reaction was somewhat muted and tame, I had been expecting an uproar, then Cover George the goalkeeping coach told me Tony had briefed them that he had given me full control of the backroom and many of them may well be laid off. Needless to say that was a load off my chest, a big impact on the club with no backlash from the departing staff.


Next order of business get rid of all the players I have cringed watching on the TV, I have never been a fan of old legs, over 30 years olds trying to prolong their careers in the lower leagues as such I released Paul Furlong a 40 year old striker, Lee Harrison & Gary Breen (My two player coaches, bad day in general for them). I also released Will Viner a young goalkeeper I have not rated since the day I saw him sport a Barnet shirt. A bit of bias toward personal opinion with that decision but I am the gaffer what I say goes.


Now with a squad I was pleased with and bare backroom I set to work looking for a right hand man. I buzzed Melissa and asked her to come to my office (a button my fingers would get used to pressing).


She seemed to float into the room and looked ever so radiant. Dark blue dress hugging her curves, long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and a smile to light up a room.


“Yes, Mr. Bond” she politely said.

“Call me Nathan, Mr. Bond is James”

“Ok then Nathan...”

“I would like you to put out an ad in local and national papers saying I am searching for an assistant manager”.

“If I could just stop you there Nathan as you will be surprised to see who is waiting in the lobby to see you, a vastly experienced former premiership player who would like to apply to be your assistant manager. Turning up unannounced like a certain person I know”

“Well what are you waiting for send him in”


A few moments later Melissa returned


“Announcing Mr. Dean Windass” She proclaimed.


As they say the rest is history. I had an assistant manager and we got cracking on putting together a backroom. When we had formulated a plan we moved onto the fun part the meet and greet with the playing staff.


The meet and greet was pretty uneventful, called up the youth team to train with the seniors and no jokers tried anything silly. We had lunch together and overall it was a very morale boosting session.


At the end of the long day I was on my new Mac book pro handling my last piece of business, downloading steam and football manager 2010. I logged out, shut down and sighed


“This job looks a lot easier on TV”.
 
Last edited:
Great start pal and great writing, you have a follower in me.
 
A hint of nepotism when I walked in with Gary Montgomery one of my best mates and new first team coach, but his love for the club, youthfulness, ability and of course his affiliation with the gaffer made him the perfect choice for 1st team coach.


Gary was actually the last addition to my backroom staff and my last dealing with contracts this transfer window. I had no plans to sign any players as I wanted to take full advantage of the youth available. I had everybody training together at the moment senior and youth, I paired off some of the more promising members of my u18 squad with mentors to further aid their football development.


I cancelled all the friendlies Barnet had planned as I had a specific plan I wanted us to adhere to throughout pre season. I wanted us to take on two very small foreign opposition at Underhill, before a change of scenery and a 2 week tour to Wales. One of the friendlies cancelled included Barnet vs Arsenal one that had been taking place annually for a couple of years now. Due to this I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Arsene Wenger himself.


“Hello”, I tentatively said when I took the call

“Yez, Mr. Bond, Arsene Wenger on the line and I wanted to find out the reason you cancelled this yearz annual friendly between our teamz”

“Firstly, I would like to say it is an honour to talk to you Mr. Wenger and would relish the chance to lock horns with you, but I don’t think it is beneficial playing yourselves right now as I am trying to raise morale not destroy it by taking charge of morale sapping losses”.

“Zo you would just ruin our planz becauze your players don’t know how to handle a defeat to a far better team”?

“Quite bluntly put, but with the upmost respect, YES”!


Click


And here was me thinking it was me who was meant to hang up then, but as it happened Mr. Wenger slammed the phone down on me. Does he know who Nathaniel Bond is? I assumed that it would be the end of our footballing partnership and my suspicious were confirmed when we received an official fax from Arsenal.


Arsenal FC said:

In light of recent events that have transpired the officials here at Arsenal have come to the conclusion that a footballing partnership between Arsenal and Barnet is no longer beneficial to ourselves and hence forth we would like to official break all ties.


We wish you every success for the future and thank you for the benefits we received during our affiliation.​


I put that out of my mind and went back to focusing on the most important team to me, Barnet. I had a lunchtime meeting with Tony to discuss our goals and aims for the upcoming season, in The White Lion of all places.
I sipped on OJ killed the drink, no Simpson, whilst Tony sipped a water (we both steered clear of alcohol). Drinks were on the house naturally for local celebrities.


“Nathan, I am going to be upfront, consolidation will be an achievement for you”.

“Yeah I am looking to consolidate our status in League 2 but also push for a top half finish, but I plan to do all this without you spending a dime. I want to secure the teams long term financial security”.

“That is music to my ears, but it is a bold statement and very tall order, I’m sure you will be back in January pleaded for some cash for new signings, so I won’t retire my chequebook just yet”.

“Ha-ha I doubt it Tony, but another thing that has been playing on my mind what is the deal with relationships between staff”

“Ah you have your eye on Melissa, beauty isn’t she”?

“Yes Sir”

“As long as these relationships don’t interfere with the clubs interests then it has nothing to do with me, if I weren’t happily married I would have certainly tested her waters”.


We joked for a while longer and laid the foundations for a beautiful friendship on and off field. Its nice having a Chairman you can relate to.
 
This story was great...wish I had the save game so I could continue it
 
Good to see you back Mr. T, good introduction and good luck.

(Y)
 
Top