Rise of the Phoenix

[bergtaur]

Author's note: Played in FM09 on patch 9.3. Australia and important European leagues(ie England, Spain, Italy etc) loaded with all players from Australia and New Zealand retained

I’ll tell you what; Wellington is a beautiful place in June. It’s just cool enough to get by and the hopes of an entire nation are turned again to the Wellington Phoenix, the only New Zealand team in the Hyundai A-League. Well, that’s where I come in. My name is Blake Watson and I’m the bloke they hired to try and turn this team around. I come from an area near Sydney known as Bathurst. Yeah, I know, seems weird for an Aussie to be giving a helping hand to the Kiwis, but sometimes you’ll do It for the money.

I went to Charles Stuart University for my college schooling, but that was 15 years ago. I was a decent player in my own right, playing for Sydney FC regularly in the reserves while getting spot starts at the first team over 3 years of my life. I started to grow disinterested and just left the game thinking I wouldn’t ever want to be involved with it again.

The last time I stepped on a pitch was 7 years ago. I ended up going into TV production for the local shows in the area while working for my coaching licenses in Australia. In 2007 I got axed at the station, but it turned out that the hand of fate was waiting for me because the day I was fired we were in Wellington covering the Phoenix.

I turned to my camera man, “Christ man, first I get told this is my last assignment and I have to spend it here watching this awful team compete, life isn’t getting any better.”

“It’ll be fine Mr. Watson, you can bounce back. Everyone does.”

[ScottleeSV]

I like your choice of league. I've developed an interest in recent times for following the online scores of the Hyundai A-League. I see an 11th team has been added for next season in real life - Melbourne Heart.

Good start to the story.

[bergtaur]

Thanks Scott, Just so everyone knows I'm going to be updating this on Monday,Wednesday and Friday since those are my slow days at school. Plus it gives me time to push on the weekend!

Cheery bloke that cameraman, I wonder what ever happened to him. But you don’t care about that; you want to know how I got the job. At halftime, I needed to hit up the restroom to take care of business and I ran into the general manager of Wellington, Tony Pignata. I handed him my resume as I remarked to him, “Looks like you’ll need a new man in charge here next season. Take this.”

A couple of phone calls and 1 interview later I was sent a letter with plane tickets to Wellington to be introduced as new manager of Wellington Phoenix. To say I was thrilled would be a complete lie. These men were picked to finish dead last or second to last every season, how was I going to change that?

I looked next to the front gate of Westpac Stadium where there stood a bar. Never to shy away from the liquid courage I trundled in and sat down.

“What will it be?”

“Two shots of whiskey, thanks.”

The bartender fixed the drinks and brought them over before he asked me, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen around here. Who are ya?”

“Me,” I laughed as I downed both shots, “I’m Blake Watson, the new manager at Wellington and if the team is as bad as everyone says, I figure you’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

[archie#10]

Oh an A-League story. Looking forward to it mate.

[Marmoset Junior]

I look forward to this A-League story as well.

P.S. I'm going to the Sydney FC - Melbourne Victory game this Sunday.

[Guest smack chap]

the mighty mighty phoenix.....gonna beat the jets this weekend.

Im liking the story so far

[bergtaur]

It had been a few weeks since I started in at Wellington. Some moves needed to be made and some plans needed to be put in place. First thing was to get moving in the transfer market. We were a decent team with ok talent, but we could afford to be a little younger in spots and maybe better. The issue became how to be thrifty with that stupid salary cap in place. Well, I decided that I’d be looking for depth in midfield, a solid Keeper and Left Back, and if money was left over, I needed to find a replacement for Shane Smeltz. Sure, I have Shane for the upcoming season, but he’s on his way to Surfers Paradise once the season is over and I lose the best attacker in the A-League.

I went across the globe and found some good talent. First on the list was Rodney Wallace, a young American left back that my scouts told me would fit right into the first team. Best part was that he was free, so we could go after some other talent.

Franck Moussa was the second man on board. A young man who would provide midfield depth and at the age of 18 he is very raw but the talent is there. The $24,000 spent on him could prove to be a great buy on my end.

Finally I had to decide to get rid of one of our keepers. Mark Paston is a good player, but at the age of 31 his best days were going to be behind him. I sold him to Hibernian for $24,000 and brought in a 22-year-old Dutchman named Gijs Koopmans for $20,000. Koopmans is equal to our other keeper Glen Moss so it could be an interesting battle.

The friendly season is about to get underway, but I was told by management that the coaching would be done by Brian Turner, the Assistant Manager of not only Wellington, but the New Zealand national team. Fine by me, more time to spend with my new friends here in Wellington and chill at that nice little bar next to the pitch. Is that a sense of confidence I feel?

[bergtaur]

Well, just when you seem the most confident life comes back and slaps you right in the face and tells you to calm down. An injury to Shane Smeltz made sure that the start of our season would be tough, but nothing could prepare me for the horror show that was the friendly schedule.

The 0-0 draw with YoungHeart wasn’t that bad, first game, gotta get the rust out. I was cool with that. Things started to take a turn with the 1-0 loss at Auckland City. On the road I really wasn’t expecting to win huge, but I sure as hell wasn’t expecting Brian to coach the team to the loss to AUCKLAND CITY!! That was a night that I really don’t remember much as I saw the bar by Westpac as a beautiful place.

A 3-2 win at Canterbury Dragons wasn’t a great win, but it might have turned some things around. Then, disaster struck. On the road, we suffered a loss to Hawkes Bay 2-0. That night was the night where I seriously though of giving up the job. I wandered into the bar and sat down.

“Tough day Blake?”

“Tough day? Ha, life is bloody perfect right now John. I’m the manager of the worst team in the A-League and we showed that today with a craptastic showing at Hawkes Bay. I’m sure you caught it on the tube, right?”

“Well Blake, I did and it was a total disgrace, but it’s not your fault. As good as Turner is there is a reason why he isn’t the manager of this club and you are. Your ideas are great, but here is where Turner is lacking.”

I looked as the bartender grabbed a coach clipboard from behind the bar and showed me where Turner was letting people get space. It was perfect; he knew the team inside and outside. Maybe I had a few drinks in me, maybe I had an a-ha moment, but I let words come out of my mouth that looking back on it could make our break our season.

“John, how would you like to get out of this bar and join my coaching staff?”

“Sure mate, I don’t think you have that authority. Beside, don’t you have anything else to do?”

“No mate, John Adshead will be the next coach at Wellington Phoenix, expect a contract tomorrow.”

[bergtaur]

John showed up at the training ground the next day with the signed contract in hand. He gave it to me when I introduced him to the team.

“Gentlemen, this is my friend John Adshead. He will be my primary adviser and the coach I will look to for getting an idea about how the team is coming together. He sits third in command behind me and Turner. Be prepared to have him put you through the paces. We needed something to shake up this team after that loss and we will use this new staff signing to finish the friendly season strong before the Pre-Season Cup starts. We have Central Coast, Sydney, and Queensland in our group but I have faith in you guys. Now it’s time you repay that faith by getting some wins for me!”

A few days after my speech the boys got a 3-0 win against Team Wellington. The boys followed that one up with a 3-0 win at Olympia and we were rolling on a little moment going into the Pre-season Cup. The only problem, Smeltz wasn’t back yet. But maybe we found our lucky charm in my new coach John. We shared some scotch on the plane to Melbourne and John said something notable before we walked into the locker room at Olympic Park.

“Such a crazy ride to here, Mr. Watson. Time to go get us a win!”

[bergtaur]

I walked into the locker room at Olympic Park and I looked into the eyes of the team I brought with me. This was a moment I have waited for and the guys looked up for this game. I turned to the board and drew up a solid 4-5-1 with the names of the boys who would get the start.

“Gents, do you know where we are?”

Our star left midfielder Daniel looked up and said, “Olympic Stadium, coach.”

“Thanks Dan. In 1956 this stadium hosted the Games of the 16th Olympiad. This stadium was a point of pride among all Australians and held the coming out party they felt they deserved. Well, today is our coming out party. We have been treated as the stepchild of this league and today we make our mark. Now Central Coast may be projected to finish 1st this season, but the media doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know you gents have it in you to get a win tonight. Let’s go out there and prove to this entire nation that Wellington will not be a laughing stock anymore. Let’s prove that this season is the season of the Phoenix!”

The boys ran out onto the pitch with an excited look in their eyes while I called Andrew Durante, left side defense over and handed him the captain armband.

“You deserve this mate. You are my eyes and ears out there, do the best you can. I know you are the right guy for this job.”

Andrew nodded his head and ran out to meet his teammates. I looked around the locker room one more time and ventured out toward the pitch. Today is a day to become a star, I told myself. My eyes closed for a minute and then there were only bright lights and green grass.