flipsix3

Ed hugs Sonja tight and then kisses her on top of the head, she always pretends that it infuriates her - screwing her nose up in mock grimace, which in turn makes him laugh. He loves the way she always tries to hug back just as hard, it’s just one of the many little things about her that add up to the wonder that she is. From somewhere he hears faint music growing more urgent…

…and I’d stay for ages, if I could, to wake you-oo…

He rolled over and hit the snooze button on the CD-alarm, turning back to find the bed empty. Of course it was empty, it was always empty, she’d been gone for nearly eight months now but still the dreams came – albeit less frequently these days.

He checked the clock - 7.03, and lay on his back deciding to wait until five past. He tried to bring the feeling from the dream back but, in the cold reality of wakefulness, more recent memories refused to give the happier ones a foothold.

She’s gone Ed, she went off without a word – just that stupid note - and you have to accept that, now get a move on – first day of a new job and all that

Ah yes, the new job, not exactly new but a step up all the same. How long had they…. he… been out here now? Six years? Seven? Even now he could appreciate the slower pace of life, in his final years at Spurs every day had seemed to begin with the knotting of muscles in anticipation of the day’s stresses, but as soon as he’d completed his move to the continent that had all changed.

He rolled over and looked at the clock – 7.11, best wait for quarter past then.

flipsix3

Writer’s Notes:

Yes, it’s me, back from wherever I went (if the phrase Hib/Pryd means anything to you in gaming terms, then you’ll know where that was ).

Early this year I started a story using CM01/02 – my plans were fairly ambitious – and then, one morning, I got up and just had no interest in playing CM at all. The result was that I suppose I just “vanished” from the site.

Now I’ve got wind of the fact that FM2005 is out and I decided to give it a try, to help me get into it all again I’ve decided to resurrect the tale that I was working on, as a result I’ve taken what was already written and remoulded it to give me the bones of my new story. I’ve updated nearly everything – there is just one little excerpt where I’ve tampered with real life timelines to retain a little piece that I was very fond of

My apologies to those of you who will have to wade through the early stages of this odyssey with a strong sense of deja-vu. Let’s see if the new incarnation can hold my interest and prompt a return to these hallowed pages.

Flipsix3
November 2005

(the usual disclaimer applies: anything written about a real life person is purely fictional, except where it’s obviously not)

flipsix3

The drive to work was as pleasant as ever, the Aquitaine region of France was a beautiful area, that’s why they’d felt so relaxed and settled here after a relatively short few months. When Bordeaux had first made a bid for him, back in the late 90’s, they’d both been somewhat reluctant to consider a move – he more than Sonja. In the end it had been her hard work that had convinced him, she’d actually travelled here to look around and had come back a changed woman. He’d been left with a choice, see out his time at White Hart Lane or relocate to the sunny climes of south-west France. Once Sonja had come back from her field trip, all smiles and giggles, the decision had seemed a lot easier.

Whilst the lifestyle change had been easy, the footballing upheaval had been less so. Having arrived at the North London club in 1990, from his home town of Huddersfield, he’d made a few appearances in their last FA Cup winning squad, playing alongside the likes of Edinburgh, Lineker, and Gascoigne. He’d missed out on the final, in favour of a few of the more established players – a fact that he couldn’t begrudge them – and from then on he’d formed a strong friendship with a number of his colleagues.

Leaving for Bordeaux had meant adapting to a whole new style of play, whilst trying to pick up the fundamentals of the French language. He laughed to himself, it was still hard for him to hold anything but the most basic of conversations in the native tongue and he was thankful that English was so widely spoken. He settled eventually, becoming an integral part of the team that made it to two consecutive French League Cup finals (losing both), and played on for several years as he drifted further and further from regular first team action.

The opportunity had come to return to England, Barnet and Leyton Orient had both made offers, but the couple had become enamoured with life on the continent and when Pau FC had offered him a role as player-coach, last year, he’d jumped at the chance.

They hadn’t needed to move from their home – a modest villa in the countryside south-east of Mont-de-Marsan, in fact it had simply meant travelling as far south as he used to travel north, and he thought that nothing could make him happier. Of course, although he was contracted as a player-coach he gradually found himself employed more as the latter, but that didn’t bother him – he studied for his UEFA certification and, on the day that he received accreditation for the final assessment, he came home with flowers and champagne… and that’s when he’d found that note.

Look, just leave it Ed, it’s not the time to start thinking about that again, just get to work and concentrate on the job

Of course he was right, he’d thrown himself into his coaching to try and numb the pain and now, with the new season approaching, he had even more on his plate to keep his mind busy.

Terk

welcome back, flippers

Tyrone the Magazine

Yeah I hope you keep it up it was a good story :thup:

flipsix3

Cheers guys, it's good to be back. It's early days yet but I'm enjoying FM2K5 a little more than CM4 so far...

------------------------------

When Marc Lévy had announced his resignation at the end of the 2003/04 campaign many had been surprised, at 42 he was a fairly young manager and those associated with the club – Ed included – had expected him to spend time there proving himself before looking to move up. Instead he had simply walked away, it had been a number of weeks before any of his closer friends at the club discovered that he had left to spend more time with his wife who had, much to everyone’s horror, been diagnosed with bowel cancer at the tender age of 34.

Ed had always been a popular player with the fans, although he’d be lying if he claimed to have been a regular part of the squad. In his two seasons or so he’d amassed little more than two dozen starts, and a handful of appearances from the bench. It therefore came as a shock when Monsieur Le Coadou had offered him the managerial role for the new season.

“…yes Mister Allen, I’m completely sure that you’re the man for the job as you put it. The other coaches will back you, and none of them have what is needed to take the helm, it is you job if you want it”

He sat behind his new desk and recalled the conversation with a smile, management wasn’t something he’d considered, but then he hadn’t dismissed the idea either – it just had never come up as a topic of conversation before. It had taken him a while to make his decision, his mind still kept wandering to Sonja, but in the end he’d agreed a deal with Le Coadou and now here he was.

Thankfully there were no high expectations, he’d learned in his few months with Pau that they were unlikely to challenge for the National Division title, in fact Le Coadou and his associates were just looking to retain their league status. From what he’d seen in the games at the end of last season, that would be tough enough.

flipsix3

Ed looked down the squad roster, it was going to be interesting trying to get the team playing his way – he didn’t favour the standard 4-4-2, or 5-3-2 formations that most European managers seemed to work with but he only had access to one of the attacking full-backs that his desired tactics really craved.

Jacques Leglib, at 28-years-old, would be the obvious choice in goal, a veteran of some 90 or more appearances in the years that he’d been at Pau, not counting the two or three seasons that he’d spent at other clubs during that time.. The Frenchman was well travelled, including two seasons in Portugal, and in training he looked a decent proposition.

It was interesting to Ed that Pau contained so many players from outside of France, albeit from countries with strong ties. His central defensive partnership would be part (Republic of) Congolese, in the form of Eugène Kangulungu Mbahu (fortunately known as Kangu to his team-mates), and part Senegalese – a rising star by the name of Khalifa Elhadji Ba, a strong teenage prospect whom Ed had managed to arrange a season-long loan for from Marseille. Kangu looked solid and reliable, an established player who gave the feeling that he knew how to do exactly enough, and nothing more - Ba, on the other hand, looked full of bravado and seemed to put himself about a bit more, never shying away from a strong tackle in training. Both were big men, a trait that Ed favoured, and they should control the box well.

Whilst he lacked the sort of flying right-back that he really wanted, Ed did have a player who could fill the role for now. Julien Labat, a 22-year-old local boy in his fifth season with the club, would take up station on the right. He frequently showed his pace in training but his enthusiasm needed to be toned down a little, Ed was trying to instil in the teenager the fact that he would be expected to carry the ball at his feet, rather than outrun it as he seemed prone to doing.

On the left Anicet Adjamossi – loaned from Bordeaux (the benefit of still having friends at the club) – looked to be more of a fit to the role that Ed intended and he already considered him to be one of the key players from what he saw on the practice pitch.

One of the most important elements of Ed’s chosen style would be the covering man, sitting in front of the back four Vincent Di Bartolomeo would be asked to drop back as the full-backs pushed up. When the opposition had possession though, he would push on to add extra weight to midfield. It was an unusual role, most players were accustomed to playing more defensively when out of possession and then pushing up when their team was on the attack, but in his playing days it was a tactic that Ed himself had adopted – it had not always impressed his manager… until he was on hand to make a decisive tackle or two.

The midfield trio would be anchored by the veteran Laurent Bédani, the 31-year-old Frenchman was the perfect fit for the role as far as Ed was concerned. He would bring the experience and cool head that his pivotal role required, with much of the play coming through him.

Pushing up from midfield, while Bédani played the holding role, would be Matthieu Aernoudt and Nicolas Cami. Neither was quite the attack-minded player that Ed would have chose, given carte-blanche, but he knew that he was working within limitations and they both looked like they could do a job.

The strike partnership would be a strong pairing, quite literally, with Ed opting for two big forwards who could both act as target men and hold the ball up. Stéphane Millereau was embarking on his second season at the club, although he hadn’t really performed in his first Ed had seen the signs of a good striker in the making. He would be partnered by Bertrand Tchami - a pacey forward who had spent a couple of seasons struggling in the French Second Division after a stellar season with Romorantin. Ed hoped that his return to the National Division would see him turn on that style again.

Outside the starting lineup Ed had yet to form any real opinions, Gaël Bonnel was, according to the coaching staff, a star in the making – he would push Tchami and Millereau for a spot, but other than that he would wait until a few games in before marking anyone else as a regular sub.

gino

Good to see you flippers! :thup:

Educated Hick

Welcome back, it's been awhile. Good start to the story too!

SCH

Welcome back Flip And the best of luck with this one!