samd577

there were no news crews. no cameras. no Gabby Logan interview. When Sam Draisey shook the hand of KPV Chairman Jorma Nikkanen, the only other other witness was the general manager, who seemed dissapointed to not be offered the job himself. But woah. stop. settle down. take a breath. how did we get here so fast?

Draisey, a 30 year old coffee shop musician and sunday league footballer, was just another guy looking for a big break. He had had relative sucess in the music industry, releasing a couple of albums of his own soft acoustic tunes. Now it was time for a new challenge.

He had travelled the world before. He had busked in every continent, and learned much about this world in which he lived. He was not a wealthy man, but had lived his young life well and filled it with experiences.

Now Draisey wanted to try his hand at management, and you will never belive how he got there.

Sam was playing guitar one night in a bar in Finland. After an entertaining set, he went upstairs for a chat with the owner about payment. he decided that he would try and butter up the landlord, and try and get a bit extra cash and maybe a room for the night, because Finland is not the warmest place for a Volkswagon Camper. The Landlord let slip that he owned a semi-professional football team. well, one thing lead to another, an Draisey went down to see them train. after a few weeks of watching the team train and play, and playing in the bar on the nights, he offered his services, almost jokily, as the teams coach.

'we have a coach' said Jorma, smiling tipsily. 'what we dont have is a manager'.

much drinking and gloating ensued. promises and alliances were made, and Draisey went to bed with a smile. He couldn't be serious.

He was.

a whirlwind week left Sam Draisey in charge of semi professional relegation candidates KPV, with the job of keeping them up. with half the season gone, and them 13th out of 14, only time will tell if he can turn thsi around.

The Saga Begins.

hotshot_V

nice story line, lookin 4ward to reading this one

samd577

twelve games. twleve games was all Sam Draisey had to turn his newly adopted club away from relegation. With little money, and no intereted players, Draisey had to make do with what he had got, and what he had got was a side doomed for relegation.

The twelve games soon evaporated into history as it came down to the final day, with Draisey's side having to win away from home against the side placed above them in order to stay afloat. lose or draw, and all predictions would be realised. And yet, through all of this, Draisey was quietly confident. he had close to a full strength side, and the mood in the dressing room was good.

But it was not to be. Sam's side went 1-0 down very quickly, and after resorting to a brave 4-2-4 tactic, they conceded again on the break. Draisey's side were denied a penalty shout. it tirned out to be the correct decision, but maybe had it have been his day, it may have swung the other way.

in the 92nd minute, Draisey's side scored a consolation, and even manged to draw level with the last kick of the game. 2-2 a fine battling result to bow out to, but it was a bow out no the less.

The prospect of another year in Finland, managing a side now without a major league to compete in, did not sit kindly with Sam Draisey. He began to scout the European market for a new job, which resulted in a falling out with his current employers. After a swift resignation, our hero packed his bags and made for home. maybe the coffee shop would still have him.

it was in fact the first tie Sam had been home in nearly four years. As he touched down in Birmingham he smelled the sickly sweet air of the place and sighed. he remembered in an instant the reason that he had left.

through all his trials and tribulations, the football season was still going in the rest of europe. he went to a few games of his beloved Villa, and sat by the phone. then, three weeks later, the call came.

Prefabricate '05 modelu is a relegation candidate out of Romania, and they wanted him. He scouted the website before jetting out to sign the forms. Sam Draisey was back in management. With no money at all to spend and the club massively in debt, Draisey would have to use all of his skill and knowledge to save this club from relegation. But a silver lining came in the crop of youngsters at the club ready to break through and prove themselves to their new manager. Talented and naive, Draisey hoped that he could use their ability to his advantage and steer his new club to success.

A New Hope.

kopking2006

wow...this is great cant wait to here the next bit..im now thinking of managing abroad now..KUTGW

Big thanks to Y2Stu for my sig and avatar

Huggy B FmF-UniT co-founder

evertonfan

great story, cant wait for the next installment :)KUTGW

thanks to James M for the sig, cheers buddy :D

EFC Diddy
FMF Unittttt :P

you'll_never_walk_alone

I Have to agree with what everyone else has said

Its like an episode of Dream Team, only this has a decent story line

KUTGW

samd577

Loyalty. Thats all you can call it. sheer loyalty.

While the rest of Romania was on winter break, there was one team still turning out for training four days a week. Prefabricate '05 Modelu. Sam's side braved the weather and realatively poor facilities in order to keep on top form coming into the second half of the season.

Prefab are 14th, one place above relegation. It sounds pretty dismal, but Draisey's side have been consistantly in that spot since he took over. only difference is, now there is only a two point gap between them and the team above. thats not bad for a team predicted to finish bottom of the pile.

Sam Draisey moves to his office after training. The small room looks a lot like the office of Bob Hoskin's character in 'Who framed Roger Rabbit'. Its messy, dark and everything is made of wood! And now its time to contemplate the impossible. How do you attract players to a club fighting against relegation in the second tier of Romanian football. He calls in his assistant....

The conversation that ensued resulted in the following. The assisstant manager would create a constantly updated list of players he felt would be interested in joining the club. After a few days, Draisey announced his first two signings. Veteran full back/midfielder Damian Galeja, a thirty year old Pole signed to take the pressure off the two current full backs, who are 16 and 17 respectively, and Robert Ilyes, a 33 year old creative centre or right midfielder. When commenting on the signings to the local newspaper, Draisey said the following.

'I have no doubt that if we keep this current squad, with the talent we have in the ranks, in four or five seasons this club will be a force in this division. But untill then, i have made some signings of more experienced players i hope will help ease the youngsters pressure both on and off the pitch.'

Draisey later unveiled the signing of 21 year old Slovenian forward Rok Grkinic on a free transfer. This signing was said to underpin Draisey's optimism for the future of Prefab.

And so, with the first game in more than four months dawning next week, how will Draisey's team fare? Will the new signings gel quick enough to help them escape relegation? Will some of his youngsters blossom into the talents they could become? and if they do, will he be able to keep them? only time will tell.

kopking2006

goodluck and i cant wait till the next part =D KUTGW

Big thanks to Y2Stu for my sig and avatar

Huggy B FmF-UniT co-founder

samd577

There were parties in the streets. Draisey was hailed by the fans. The festivities went on long into the night.

Prefab were safe.

With three games to go, prefab found themselves in 15th place, the top of the relegation zone. with two sides already down, and them three points behind the team above with a higher goal difference, fans were 'nervously optimistic'. But Draisey was confident. The fixtures had been kind to them. After beating the side above them, they leapfrogged into the relative safety of 14th. with the bottom side visiting Prefabricate next, and the two teams in the relegation zone below them playing each other, Draisey knew that if his side won, he would be a hugely strong position. Whats more, if the two teams below him drew, they would both be relegated and he would be safe! You wont belive what happened.

Prefab kept up their end of the deal, running out comfortable three nil winners of relegated Snagov, and the crowd eagerly awaited news from the other game. It was announced over the intercom. With two minutes to go, Dunaria had gone one nil up! it looked like it would go all the way to the last day, with prefab having a difficult away date with Brazi, the overacheivers of the season. But then, just as that was announced, the scoreline changed.

Prefabricate held its proverbial breath.....

1-1! CS Otopeni had done nothing to save themselves, but that goal would condemn Dunaria to relegation, and save Prefab!

they even drew the final game at Brazi after being 3-0 down at half time!

Draisey didnt spend long before sending his players on a well deserved holiday, not withut taking one himself. But work was not over. The club was still almost 500,000 pounds in debt, he was carrying some players that he wanted rid of and he had transfer targets to talk to. All that accompanied by the new intake of youth players and no youth team added up to a stressfull summer for him.

James M

wow, this is good, kutgw!

samd577

Once again, Sam Draisey was at the stage of the romanian season where he didnt have a game for another .... 78 days! He even had a little calendar pinned up on his wall, with big red 'X's' for days ticked off and a large red circle around the first of March. He sits in his office. Its seven days untill he flies home for christmas, and he is seriously bored. let me bring you up to speed.

Prefab are 11th. thats not bad for them, especially since they are still tipped for relegation. But Draisey has higher hopes that that. he wants to build on last years fairytale with a top half finish. thats 9th or above for those in the know. He has brought in three players for this season. A romanian fullback, Adrian Brazovan, who has started most games this season, but between you and me, Draisey only sees him as a short term player untill his young full back, Valentin Balan, can take his place. This could be as soon as next season. He also signed Dioisio Cabrera, a former Uruguay under 20's international. Due to the legislation of the league that states that no more that four foreign players may be in a match squad, Dioisio has had little match experience. Untill recently. Draiseys final signing has sent shockwaves through the Romanian second division. Young Pole Kamil Wojnak has been in the local paper's 'team of the week' almost every week since his arrival. The young winger has made 20 starts this year, scoring three goals. The fact that he can play on the left, the right or up front makes him a dangerous player indeed.

Draisey has also recently changed his formation. After a good start to the season, which included a run to the fourth round of the romanian cup, Prefab's form started to become unsettled. After losing three nil in the fourth round, Draisey changed from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and, after a shaky start, the team seem to be adjusting well to the change. Only time will tell if they can take momentum into the second part of the season and push for a top half spot. 78 days time should be enough.

So Draisey sits in his little dark office. He has little to do. He has a clear out. The place is starting to remind him the office from the old Ultimate Soccer Manager games. He feels like he should be turning the light on and off, killing the plant, scribbling on the notepad and pushing the picture of the chairmans wife.

Being in Romania for such a long time is a very lonely thing to do. He speaks the language pretty well now, but cheesy chat up lines dont sound the same in Romanian. it will all be better once he gets home for christmas and new year. Then he can come back and enjoy the rest of the season. He picks up his guitar from the corner of his office. The first chord he strums sends waves of dust into th air. 'I think il write a christmas song', he says.

philikins0

haha this is really funny.. KUTGW!!!

i support Reading F.C. dontcha kno!