Hot Prospects - Page 2 - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

**WozzaWolves** · 18-04-08, 08:42 AM

Good story mate, the font is too large like has already been mentioned and the colour is a bit too bright but apart from that it's great :D

**Hartynips** · 18-04-08, 03:31 PM

Hot Prospects

As you could probably imagine I didn’t have the foggiest idea how to break the news to my good lady. To tell her that we had probably little to worry about now financially was one thing, to move her abroad though, with all her friends and family so close, would be very tough on her. I broke it to her gently, expecting her to flip, but instead she took it extremely well. Her seemingly main concern was not as to whether me managing a foreign football club would be a benefit to us, no all she was bothered about was whether our Golden Retriever could come with us.

Knowing his pet passport was still valid, I reassured her that our little blonde fella would love it where we were headed, she rang her mum to tell her the great news. I rang mine. She was initially very sceptical and advised me to take it easy “After all, you know how much pressure Kenny Keegan is under at Newcastle, I don’t want you turning out grey and old looking like him.” I assured her I’d take it steady, and let her know when she could come over. I was dreading that, because I’d probably somehow have to drive it, Mum being scared of flying, and prone to seasickness too!

Four days later we were all packed, had said farewell to various friends and relatives, and luckily, rented our house to a neighbour’s daughter for £650 per month. This would cover our mortgage and ensure we still had a property at home in the UK. Tam’s brother in law had bought our Fiat Punto off us, and drove us to Gatwick. He was also in charge of our container at a storage depot. I intended to buy all new kit once we arrived at our destination.

The flight over was without incident, except Tam wanted to go down to the cargo hold to check on Jack every two minutes. She was worried about him, I knew he would be fast asleep. Lazy old bugger. We checked out at the airport, and after an hour and a half wait to collect our luggage, and of course, our mutt, we walked out into the bright sunshine. Tam was amazed by what she saw.
“It’s just like home” There was an element of disappointment in her voice. I looked at her, her blondeness never ceases to amaze me “What were you expecting?”
She was looking over my shoulder “There’s a man in a suit looking at you” she whispered “He’s holding a board saying “Hart” on it”
I turned and looked, and sure enough, stood to a top of the range black BMW X5 was an imposing looking broad black guy in a black suit and sunglasses. “Hold on” I said to Tam.
I walked over. His face lit up in a smile as he must have recognised me from a photo or something
“Mr Hart” he said holding out his hand. I’d been told a man named Ryan Meeskens would meet me at the arrivals entrance How do you do?” I asked shaking his hand “How did the Men In Black convention go?” I immediately winced at the poor joke, and expected a smack in the mouth to head my way any second.
He looked at me over his sunglasses and laughed. “Corporate dress I’m afraid, I’m not a fan, but they won’t let me turn up in jeans and T-shirt.” He turned to my other half “And you must be the lovely Tamsin?” He shook hands too, and then lent down and ruffled Jack’s ears. He lapped it up then shook. I noticed a stream of drool flew from his chops and landed on Ryan’s pressed trousers, thankfully, our own personal Will Smith didn’t.

He chucked our bags in the back then courteously opened the rear doors for Tam and Jack to hop in. I sat in the front.
Ryan jovially opened conversation “We are about 35 minutes from the training ground, that’s where we are going first just briefly. You will meet a couple of the senior players, and also Maarten van Geil, and I’m sure Mr Keizer is there too.”
Tam was more concerned about the sleeping arrangements.
“Ahh...A specialty from us” Replied Ryan, “You will for time being stay in the corporate guest house, on the edge of our club’s private drive, situated just outside the city. Its beautiful, you will adore it!”
We pulled off the main Highway, and headed towards a massive state of the art looking sports complex, with a road leading to it lined with tall trees. Fields graced the flanks of the road for miles, with small towns scattered in the distance left and right. My heart was pumping now, nervous as hell. I looked at Tam, her face flushed with excitement.

We passed what I assumed to be a complex of three all-weather training pitches, then a building which looked like it may house a pool or something. We were there, turning into the car park, and Ryan stopped the BMW near the entrance. Whereupon a dark haired man in a suit, and my new mate, Piet “Jorge” Keizer appeared from a set of glass doors.

Nerves jangling, we all got out and they walked over, the dark haired man extending his hand, and a very warm smile.
“Mr Stephen Hart, an absolute pleasure at last” I shook and introduced Tam to him, and to Keizer. I looked at the famous crest situated above the glass doors, and realised the whole building was fronted by massive sheets of tinted windows.
“Impressed?” Maarten asked me. I nodded. He beamed at me. “I’m very glad. Welcome to Ajax Football Club!”

Dheano · 18-04-08, 03:37 PM

Nice one, loved the “How did the Men In Black convention go?” bit :D

Good update to the story, KUTGW!

**WozzaWolves** · 18-04-08, 03:45 PM

Finally the club is revealed!

This is an incredible read Mr Hart!

KIU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

adamjigey · 18-04-08, 03:53 PM

fantastic story it sounds intresting KIU m8

**Hartynips** · 18-04-08, 03:54 PM

Cheers Wozzy I like a bit of suspense and the story writing turned out not so bad in the end. Im keeping the big green font for the time being, I feel it stands out in the normal black text and being a well used colour on FMF isnt too offensive. Cheers for all your comments so far guys

Bowser · 18-04-08, 04:03 PM

damn Holland xD....what were the first 11 u put in the 4-3-3 formation? really want to know xD...

**Hartynips** · 18-04-08, 09:05 PM

hahahaha....I dont know why im laughing actually, I've already lost out on three of them
:(

Never mind, I will portray the Ajax newboys in the next couple of updates.

Akenatwn · 18-04-08, 11:03 PM

very nice intro (if you can call it that) Harty.i really like it so far!the suspense idea is really good...but i had figured out the club ;)
kiu m8

**WozzaWolves** · 20-04-08, 07:14 PM

I'm beginning to like the big green lettering now lol :D

**Hartynips** · 21-04-08, 08:38 AM

Hot Prospects

That afternoon came what I'd been dreading: The press conference. I was shepherded into the room next door to it, accompanied by Club captain Edgar Davids, Keizer and Van Giel.
"Listen" Maarten said to me "You have nothing to worry about. Answer their questions as truthfuly as you can, but do not give too much away. If they probe and get on your nerves, ask for another question. Relax, everything will be fine"
I nodded, took a deep breath, then followed him out into the glare of the press spotlights and what seemed like a thousand lightning flashes. I took my seat in between Van giel and Edgar, took a sip of water and waited nervously for the onslaught. They were gonna have a field day.
Van Giel stood, and took up the reins. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ajax football club, and our press conference here today. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you all, a young man who we hope can rejuvenate the Godenzonen, this great football club, back to its former glories. Please welcome our new manager, Steve Hart" He sat down "Now I'm sure there are a few questions, so one at a time please." Here we go. I put on my poker face and tried to look authoritative. I doubt I convinced anyone. They all put up hands or shouted questions at me, so waiting a second for the din to abate, I paused then nodded at someone in the front row.

Here it came, the first question.

It was in dutch. The press reporter, a pretty girl who asked it sat back down, and everyone looked at me expectantly. I just stupidly smiled. What the hell did she just ask me? Before I could open my mouth, the translator kicked in.
"How do you feel to be the new manager at this club?" I looked at her "Obviously I'm absolutley delighted" I replied. "This is a club with a massive history, but things havent gone so well recently. I'm hoping to put that right"

Phew, well that was easy. After that though they came at me hard and fast and I had to think on my feet. I did try to inject a little humour into the answers, keep the press on their feet a bit.

"Where do you see a man of your extremely limited experience taking Ajax Football Club?"
"Well at the end of the day, all we want is success, to give the fans what they want. I think we can win at least one trophy with the talent we have here"

"How long do you think it will take to get Ajax back to the glory days of the past?"
"I'm hoping for domination of the domestic fronts as soon as possible. European success will take longer, maybe about 10 or 15 minutes"

"You took over from Henk ten Cat who was very unpopular, how will you get the fans on your side and back you?"
"I think they will identify with the position I'm in. At the end of the day I'm a football fan, same as them. I want what they want, and I'm now so fortunate to be in a position that I never dreamed of. I'm not in this for personal gain"

"What made you take the Ajax job?"
"Well initially I refused, but they were very insistent, and had a compromising photo of me with a microphone, an elastic band and a jar of Nutella, so in the end they became very persuasive"

That one shut them up for a second, there was a bit of a murmur at the back, and it wasn't helped that Van Giel hadn't quite registered what I'd said, and had nodded throughout. I grabbed my glass of water.

"Will you be making any signings?"
"Not immediately for the first team squad, as the talent there is of a very high standard. I want to bring in around 8 or 10 "Hot Prospects" for the second team however, I want to recreate the "total Football" days of years gone by, where the talent comes through the ranks at the same time"

"Are you nervous of the Dutch Super Cup on Sunday?"
"It'll be a tough game, PSV are a fantastic side, but I think we more than have the capability to cope with them.

That was enough for now apparently as Van Giel called a halt to the proceedings. There was a brief moment or the press to take photo's of me shaking hands with Van Giel, then it was all over. Thank god!

**T.H** · 21-04-08, 08:57 AM

Great effort and commitment going into this, also very well written with the odd mistake but thats agiven

Miss Bitch is in the house again

Love the sense of humour going into it too, especially the bit about the pet passport!

Good luck with the game, we know you can win!

Target 1: Keep going with this, and you'll know doubt go very far!

Target 2: Just check over a couple of things, there's a couple of missed letters and things. If you're not already, plan it out in word and then do a spellcheck, also helps in case you lose your work!

A

RyanTheGunner · 21-04-08, 09:07 AM

Wow, very good took me some time, the 10-15mins to get european success made me laugh, youve inspired me to start a story when i get home, a blend of your ideas with Wozza i will have a decent thread tbh =p. So who do i be? lol

**Hartynips** · 21-04-08, 10:01 AM

Hot Prospects

My first week at work was fairly eventful. Monday I flew to Romania with Keizer and over a two day period managed to secure the signings of fledgling stars Bogdan Stancu and Gabriel Torje. These were two players I'd had a "Heads Up" from by a forum based scouts network. Keizer was dubious at first, but after the cup game between Poli 1921 and Urziceni finished 5-4 with a brace from both players and a stunning induvidual performance in particular by Torje, he was convinced.

Negotiations began in earnest, with Poli keen to talk money. An initial bid of £250k+clauses was rejected, but they accepted a deal worth in excess of £1.4million after clauses and a possible sell on fee of 25%. Keizer felt this was steep. I was convinced we had a bargain. We would pay £500k up front then installments to cover the balance. Torje was delighted, and would join his new team mates to be a guest at the final on Sunday.

Unirea Urziceni were a nightmare. At first they refused to even see us. They knew why we were here, and were extremely unhappy that we wanted their star talent. However, Stancu was keen to move. We signed him at the eleventh hour, just before we had to leave for the airport. With negotiations reaching stalemate, it took a final end-of-dealings offer of £1.4m upfront to prise Stancu free. I wasn't happy, though it became clear why his club negotiated so hard. A certain Italian outfit, known as Inter had also been sniffing around the starlet. Stancu would also join his compatriot at the AAA on sunday.

Exhausted, we arrived home to more good news. We had also signed Alex Fernandez on a free transfer from Coslada in Spain. Keizer and I had spent the night after the press conference viewing tapes of his performances and decided to send Gerrie Muhren and Frank deBoer on assignment to scout him for two days. They were more than impressed, and when it came to light he was stalling over a new contract at Coslada, the boys moved in for the kill. Result.

It got better and better. Despite landing at 5am, after 5 hours sleep I hit the training ground office later that day. I sent a fax to Hungarian side Debrecen enquiring as to the availability of Balazs Dzsudzsak, a gifted young midfield playmaker. My best scout Rene Moon rang at stupid o'clock his end, from his hotel in Buenos Aires, he'd bagged signing number four. Ever Banega was now officially going to be an Ajax player, if I could fax contract details there and then. Moons would fly back into Amsterdam the day after next, complete with our new Argentine midfielder. I dreaded asking him how much Boca had wanted, as I had authorised him to offer up to £5m if neccessary. The wily old goat had done so much better than that, securing Banega on a four year deal, Boca accepting just £2.6m for him.

Thursday training however would prove very difficult. This was where my managerial headaches would begin. A training ground accident followed by a mass bust up in the dressing room afterwards...Who would be a manager?

**T.H** · 21-04-08, 10:09 AM

Some fantastic signings there and I love the way you're reporting on them, with the friendly match and fax, videos etc!

Damnz a training ground bust up, just give them some Pic 'n' Mix and they'll be fine

Target 1: Try make some more signings if necessary, and nestle your team together as a unit asap.

Target 2: Keep up the great work with this story or I will bite off your ear!

A

**liveru** · 21-04-08, 10:25 AM

Some great signing there Harty.

You're not hanging around are you?

Good work.

**Fedorico Roma Fan** · 21-04-08, 10:31 AM

lmao this is hilarious! i love it mate KUTGW!

johnireland · 21-04-08, 04:19 PM

Good Stuff Harty ............ Keep it up

**Hartynips** · 21-04-08, 06:17 PM

Hot Prospects

Initially Thursday morning passed without any incident. The first team squad took to the training pitch and after four circuits, came in and split into two groups of attackers, and two groups of defenders, three teams of six, and Maduro had seven. I then announced that the winners would be the ones after three 20 minutes games, had won the most amount of games, if it was tied it would come down to goals scored by defenders or goals conceded by attackers. We made our way over to the state-of- the-art 6-a-side pitch.

They started the games brightly, and the attacking team led by Edgar Davids won round one, defeating the defenders team, led by John Heitinga 5-1. Jaap Stam's defending team also won their game against team Maduro, though it was so close to call, 2-1. Round two saw Stams side storm into the lead 4-0 after just ten minutes, and the score finished 5-1 to them, the big man himself netting a hattrick. Meanwhile Ever Banega, on Maduro's side had the misfortune to net an own goal right at the death, losing them the game 1-0 to team Davids. So it was all to play for in the final game, after Maduro v Heitinga finished 3-3 and then went to an exhausting 11-10 shootout in the penalties.

Team Stam, level on points but with a goal extra cutting the difference between the two sides, started awfully. Huntelaar, showing his class, nutmegged Emmanuelson with ease, and fired home the opener after just 40 seconds. It got worse when Luque made it two, albeit a deflected effort, but just before halftime, Vito Wormgoor smashed home after Urby's shot came back off the post. Stam's side still needed to pull back two though, and in the second half he himself came out like a man posessed. He got their second just two minutes in, powering home from close range, before Emmanuelson provided the goal of the mini tournament, shooting from inside his own half, and left grasping at thin air, Stekelenburg could do nothing about it.

Davids went ballistic at his keeper, Stam urged his team on to make the final assault, with just over a minute left. Davids side played keep ball, looking to try and get round the wall of orange vests blocking their path to the winner. Out of nothing, Kennedy Bakircioglu let fly with a screaming effort, which Gentenaar could only parry. The ball skidded across the astro, loose ball and suddenly two of the most unforgiving forces in modern european football collided going for the 50-50...Davids and Stam.

There was an almighty crunch as Davids met Stam's right shin with his outstretched left, and both players went crashing to the plastic turf. Almost immediately Stam was back on his feet, collecting the ball, with Davids in hot pursuit. At that point Davids had no idea until he had taken two steps, that he had fractured his tibia in three places, such was the ferocity of his challenge. Of course as soon as he put his weight down on it, he realised in that fateful second he'd done serious damage.

************************************************** **************************************************

The ambulance arrived 15 minutes later. Davids in a lot of pain but being hard as nails, tried shrugging and joking it off, but the lads were still concerned, all understanding that the play match had gone a bit too competitive. I now had the new headache of picking a new captain, until Davids was well again. He would be out for at least 3 months if not more. I was to get the report back from the specialist later that day; at that particular time however, I had no idea how bad it was.

Then some stupid argument that had started on the pitch between Banega and Maduro escalated about twenty minutes later in the dressing room. I arrived in there having just got off the phone to Keizer telling him about the accident, to find Banega with his hands round Maduro's throat, hanging on grimly while Maduro punched him in the side of the head. Both guys had three players trying to pull them off each other. I got right in between the pair of them, only to receive a crack in the ribs for my trouble, thankfully it was more handbags than anything else. 10 minutes later they were both hauled over the coals in my training ground office and both fined a weeks wages for their mis-conduct. They agreed it was a stupid fight, and shook hands, though I had nagging doubts that this was the last of it. Despite it being only 4pm, I decided to call it a day and dismissed everyone home. I left at 4.30pm, absolutely exhausted.

I got home to find Tam kicking off at somebody down the phone. I was to discover later that the boiler in our old house we were now renting out had packed up, even though it was still under warranty. Tam was onto the plumber who fitted it, only to be told that it would be at least a week before he had time to pop round and have a look at it. More expense, more aggro. The perfect end to a perfect day.