Burying The Past

[sherm]

Walking out onto the pitch, feeling the atmosphere. He lived for it, and for almost ten years, he was enjoying every minute of it. However, one day, it was all taken away from him, by one incident, one horrible incident which led to him losing his career. All the good moments, playing for Liverpool, representing his country, a World Cup hat-trick. All that, and it was all replaced by that one bad day. The lorry coming straight out, no look, no indicator, smashing right into the side of the car. His two friends, the driver and the passenger on his side, were killed instantly, the driver thrown 30 feet from the car. He was luckier, breaking his left leg in six places, aswell as three ribs and his collarbone. The lorry, heading towards him...

Michael Bennett shot up with a start. He was caked in sweat, his bed sheets sticking to his back. He felt the usual shooting pain, as if somebody was drilling into his knee cap, and he tenderly rubbed the area. It may have been eight years ago, but he still had nightmares about it. He glanced at his bedside clock, and when he saw the time, 5.43, he sighed. He had set the alarm for 7 o'clock, ready to start the new job. It was a challenge, a brand new day, and he was delighted to be starting. He swung his legs out of the bed and padded into the bathroom

...

Aged 19, he was late starting into the game, but his talent was enough to be spotted by scouts from Rochdale. A Manchester lad, born and bred, he was quick to accept the offer. After playing for three years at Spotland, playing for the England Under-21's, and making a huge impact, he was signed for £50,000 by Preston North End. Over 7 years, he made 178 appearances, becoming one of an elite few to represent his country while plying his trade in the lower leagues. Many speculated that he was on the verge of a move to the Premiership, 267 games bringing 156 goals, but then, his career was shattered by the horrendous accident. Just 29, he was forced to retire. It took two years for him to recover, but he soon got back into the game, and within three years of starting his coaching badges, he had received his UEFA 'A' and then, a year later, his UEFA 'Pro' Licence. Now, after coaching at Rochdale for the last two years, he finally has the opportunity to sit in the hotseat. Manager of Bury. Talk about starting at the bottom

...

After digging his best suit out of the wardrobe, brushing the mothballs off and scrubbing up nicely, he jumped in his Ford Mondeo and headed for Gigg Lane. The M66 was the easiest route, and within half an hour, he pulled into the car park and dashed through the rain, into reception

He was greeted there by his new boss, Ian Mills, a round, red-faced, jovial chap, who had a warm smile on his face that belied the weather outside

"Michael. Welcome to your new home"

He hung his coat on the rack, before shaking the chairman's outstretched hand and following him into the offices

"Please, have a seat"

He sat down, indicating to the leather cushioned chair on the other side of his desk

"Ian, I just want to say how grateful I am to you for giving me this opportunity"

"Not a problem at all Michael. It was a blow to lose Chris, but I feel you have the necessary qualities for this job"

"Well I'll do my best"

"All I ask is that you keep us up this season. Then, we can start to build for the future"

"Really? You don't want to be chasing a play-off place?"

"Not at all Michael. Staying in the Division is perfect, anything more is a bonus. Besides, we don't really have the resources to do much more"

The chairman threw a file onto the desk, which Bennett picked up and flicked breifly through

"I can offer you £10,000 spending money, no more. Any you make, from player sales for example, has to go back into ensuring the clubs stability. Wage budget is £185,000 maximum, it's around £150,000 at the moment"

"I think that should be fine Ian. Now, where do I sign?"

[viperk1]

There's going to be a day when you actually finish a story, sherm - either way, yet another great start.

[sherm]

Cheers Viperk

---

"Right gents, if I can have your attention please?"

Seven men turned to face Michael Bennett, some of them confused, others just interested

"First off, I want to apologise for getting you back in a couple of days early, but I wanted to get a head start before the players come back"

"Head start on what?"

"Everything really, but mainly the squad lists, and any transfer targets. Now, could somebody introduce yourselves to me?"

A tall man stood up, maybe in his early forties

"I'll do it. I'm Martin Scott, your Assistant Manager. The five gentlemen to my left are your coaches. Two youth team coaches, Jimmy Petruzzi and Ryan Kidd, while the others are to work with the first team. We have Mike Sheron, Chris Beech and finally Ian Wilcox. On my right is your sole scout, Rick Mather"

"OK. Pleased to meet you all gentlemen. I'm Michael Bennett, the new Manager here at Bury. I will be looking to the seven of your for advice, but I do want to set the ball rolling with a few early assignments"

"So we're all going to keep our jobs?"

That was Ryan Kidd, who had been fidgety throughout the meeting

"Absolutely. I have no reason to replace any of you. Now, Rick? I would like you to file reports on our next opponents, starting with the opening friendly in 8 days time"

"OK boss"

"Chris and Ian? If you could compile a list of players available on free transfers, and give it to me in a couple of days, that would be excellent"

"All free transfers or just ones we think would suit us boss?"

"Any you find suitable lads. Jimmy and Ryan, the youth team are back in a couple of days. If you could mark out any promising youngsters you see, that would be good"

"Sure thing boss"

"OK. Finally, Martin and Mike, you two are working with me. I want to go over the squad list, see who's got talent and who hasn't"

--

With the coaches and scouts set off on their assignments, Michael Bennett sat down with Martin Scott and Mike Sheron to sift through the players on the books and pool a first team squad together

The goalkeeping department was easy, and almost picked themselves. Alan Fettis had experience from the Premiership all the way down, and was the obvious number one choice. There were some issues though, mainly his age of 35, and the fact his back-up, Andy Warrington, wasn't that good, so a new goalkeeper became the number one priority

Defending options were deep, with eight players earmarked as being good enough. Club captain Chriss Brass looked like the viable option for the right back role, although Paul Scott would provide a more than capable back-up. Should either of those fail, 18 year old Richie Baker could step into the role quite easily. On the left, it was more straightforward. 21 year old Tom Kennedy was the natural choice, as he had all the qualities needed. However, another left back was needed, as 37 year old Colin Woodthorpe would, despite his experience and knowledge of the game, not get much playing time. In the central roles, three players were fighting for two places, with Dave Challinor definately taking one of them. That left one place, and though Irishman John Fitzgerald was probably the slightly better defender, 18 year old Andy Parrish was a more than viable option. Defence wasn't a problem, with options and a touch of quality, but midfield was where the problems lay

Mainly because we had just four decent midfielders on the books. Brian Barry-Murphy was the standout performer, having played over 150 games in the lower echelons of the football league, and he would be a definate starter. However, the rest of the midfield was less easy to be so sure about. David Buchanan, a Northern Irish Under 21 international, was another central midfield choice, and he was supposedly quite talented. The other two were both right wingers, and of the two, Nicky Adams was slightly better, although Marc Pugh could fill the role without too much hassle.

Four strikers made up the remainder of the squad, although one of them, Matthew Tipton, was on loan at Macclesfield. It was felt he could add depth to the squad, so he was recalled to Gigg Lane. Without a doubtthough, the star man was Andy Bishop. He had joined the club at the end of the last season, and he was seen as the man who would score the majority of our goals. Tom Youngs was the most likely choice as his strike partner, another with a decent amount of experience, as had Glynn Hurst, although injury kept him out until September. It was clear to see that midfield was the area that needed strengthening most, and that was put to the top of the list

--

Author Notes ; Game played on FM07, 7.0.2, with English (League Two and above), Spanish and Italian Leagues loaded

[sherm]

Being a footballer, it was a new thing. Women threw themselves at you, three, four, five at a time. It took some getting used to, particularly as he was a shy young guy anyway. It wasn't until he was 21 that he met a girl who he wanted to be with. Almost immediately, he was smitten. Her stunning figure, lovely long legs. He kept seeing her everywhere, but it took one of the other players to get her phone number for him.

The first date was, to put it bluntly, a disaster. The car broke down before he even got in it - OK, phone her, say I'll pick you up a little later. They get to their destination, only to find the reservations he made hadn't been noted down. They get a table over an hour later, the wrong order comes - you get the drift. Anyway, he walks her to her front door, says goodnight with a kiss on the cheek, before texting one of the lads

Date was a disaster, everything that could go wrong went wrong. She'll never want to see me again I doubt

He still didn't have a reply ten minutes later. That was strange, Thommo normally replied back ultra quick. So he checked his inbox - nothing. Then, he had a horrible thought. He couldn't have sent it to the wrong person? Checked the sentbox - ****!

As it happened, it worked out well, gave them something to start a conversation about, and from there it began a six year relationship. They weren't the sort of couple that were in the papers, always in the limelight, and it was only in the best season of his career, where he hit 29 goals, and when his girlfriend had their son, that they were in the papers. He hasn't seen his son in nearly four years, since he and his mum moved to Spain with her new husband, but he does still speak to him. He's 16 now, old enough to do what he wants to do.

--

Over the eight days leading up to the first game of his Bury career, Michael Bennett and his staff were very busy men. They managed to bring in five new additions to the playing squad, all players that they felt would add something to the team and bring out the nest in the players they already had. One of these was Kings Lynn full back Mark Camm, whose contract had expired. He had played for Lincoln in the lower leagues, so had experience at this level, and both Michael and Martin Scott felt he would be a useful addition to the team. Another lower league player came in, also on a free, but this time it was as merely a back-up player. Stalybridge midfielder Lee Ellington, cousin of Nathan, had pace as his main asset, and he would be useful against the older players in midfield that would line up against us. He could also play upfront if need be, versatility becoming a key part of the modern game

That was the main reason why Danny Tilbury was brought to the club. His ability to play anywhere across the back four, and anywhere across the midfield meant that he was useful to any club in League Two, and Bennett was just grateful he chose to play at Gigg Lane. It was central midfielder Michael Standing who was the main signing though. He was a skilful, very talented player, and he would be a regular feature in the first team. He was asking for fairly high wages, £800 per week, but seen as there was no fee involved, it didn't do any harm to give him that. It took much less money to land another experienced player at this level, midfielder Michael Sisson agreeing a two year deal. He was a more attack minded player than any of the other central midfielders in the squad, and this would allow a bit more freedom to him if he was to play alongside one of them