A Flawed Genius

No1VillaFan - Yeah, this kid is gonna be a love to hate him figure i reckon, kinda letting his personality grow organically as i write for him... must be my inner prick coming out?

Red Devil - I have to admit I've based him a bit on Zlatan... although I don't think he has gone so far as to refer to himself in the first person though........... yet

I'll never forget signing for Guiseley's academy. Still at school, still a kid and still a total twit. I genuinely thought I was all that, with the world at my feet I was in real danger of losing it all straight away by alienating myself. The problem with being young though is the reluctance to take advice from your elders, people who have been there and done that and genuinely have something constructive to offer. Sadly at fourteen I was more inclined to listen to my peers and even more depressingly my peers at that time were even more stupid than I was. Ironic really how cool we thought we were and looking back just how uncool we really must have come across as. Some of those guys have gone on to do really well for themselves and we still have a chuckle about the way we were, growing up seems scary and boring when you are young but trust me when I tell you that growing up was the best thing that ever happened to me. I just wish I could have done it earlier!

I suppose my awakening actually started at Guiseley even if I didn't realise it at the time. Dave Currie, our under 18's manager, took me aside before the start of the season and had a 'quiet' word with me. It was probably more effective thanks to his Scottish accent but to his credit he was really patient and even somewhat nurturing with me. He told me some plain truths that I needed to hear, even if I did ignore him at the time. "Focus on school Dex" was one of the main themes, I wasn't doing bad but the more involved in football I got the more I was letting my studies slip, "You've got the rest of your career to focus on the football but at your age it will come naturally, right now school has to be your main focus, a stupid footballer isn't much use to any manager." He was a big advocate of intelligent play, evidenced in his tactics that revolved around anticipating the opposition and countering their every tactic before they even realised that they'd been rumbled. "Do me a favour though lad" he used to say, probably too often for his liking, "Stop thinking you can win a game on your own, you're good I'll give you that, but no man is an island. You simply can't do this alone lad, it's a team game for fucks sake. Pass the fucking ball once in a while, you won't make any friends being selfish." At the time though, I wasn't in it to make friends, all I wanted was the glory.

It would be some time before I truly realised what a difference having good friends would make.

Not going to lie, Dexter sounds like a total prick!

finally someone taps him on the fingers, hopefully some of the manager's words will stay somewhere in this little cunt's head.

Whoa I didn't expect a blast from the future, really well written with alot of your own wisdom put into it I see brilliant!

JasonRM - You are 100% spot on, the kids is a nightmare, lets hope he can change over time

Red Devil - It's the first step on a long road to self actualisation

Icarus - Since when I have I ever given you cause to not expect the unexpected lol

And now to test the database ready for the story to really get going

Oh nightmare children are usually the most talented!!

No1VillaFan - Let's just hope he doesn't lose it before he even has chance to enjoy it though!

"Mr and Mrs Bagley, Dexter, come on in and take a seat."

"Please, it's George… nice to meet you…"

"… and I'm Molly, a pleasure…"

"…No, no, the pleasure is all mine I assure you. Thanks for coming in at short notice I really appreciate you coming in."

"Not a problem at all, so what's he done?"

"Dad!"

*chuckle* "Nothing like that, don't worry. While we've noticed that Dexter can be very… independent… at times it's more his future we wanted to discuss with you. Specifically his future at the club."

"I aint leaving if that's what you are trying to get at!"

"Dexter!! Show a bit more respect young man."

*another chuckle* "It's ok, I couldn't have asked for a better response, you see we want Dexter to stay with us, we… and I'd like you to hear from Brian and Dave on this in a minute… have great hopes for your son and want to see if he would be interested in working with us on a more formal basis? But first, I'd like you to hear it from the people who have worked closest with Dex to date, Brian?"

"Sure, nice to see you again George. As you know I'd been watching Dexter at the school matches for the past season before approaching to see if he'd like to come trial for us. In short I recommended we get him whatever it took, he is one of the most promising talents I've seen for a long time… rough around the edges, true… but exceptionally gifted."

"Dave?"

"Hi, I've been working with Dexter for only a short time but despite those rough edges that Brian alluded to, which can be like bloody sandpaper at times if you'll excuse my language, he is a great kid…"

*mumbled* "…not a kid…"

"… who I really feel can do great things with the right sort of guidance. He's a bit like a firework at the moment and we want to turn him into a guided missile if that makes any sense to you?"

"Ha, firework… that makes perfect sense to me, we've always said that haven't we Mol!"

"So as you can tell we think very highly of Dexter here, now the reason we wanted to see you all today, and the reason why Dave and Brian are here as witnesses, is that we would like to offer Dex a pre-contract. Basically, because we can't offer him a full contract at his age we have to do it this way. It will make him officially at the club and eligible to play in the senior team…"

"Senior team?!"

"… that's right, we've had a couple of injury problems up front and none of the academy players are up to Dexter's level yet."

*mumbled* "Told you so…"

"So this contract would be legally binding?"

"To a point yes, but it is more just a formality to allow us to field him in the senior squad. Red tape and all that. The contract itself isn't restrictive in any way and definitely not a way to shackle him to us, if anything it works the other way. It's more of a promise from us to offer Dexter a full contract when he turns seventeen."

"So he will get to play for the first team.. this season?"

"Certainly, the way he is progressing I was hoping to select him for our friendly against Grimsby next week."

"Next week! Where is it, I'll sign it now…"

"Dexter, calm down. Your Father and I need to discuss this first, it's a very serious matter."

"Of course, take as long as you need. We can reschedule for once you've had chance to read through the contract if you like?"

"I don't think that will be necessary, we'll have a quick read through now and as long as it all looks good…"

"And we can be assured that it won't interfere with his school work…"

"… yeah, his school work, but if all that is ok and Dexter is ok with it then I think we'd be selfish to not give him this chance."

"It will mean increased training loads but I'm certain we can work around his school work. We'd like to keep him in training with the academy to begin with anyway and he'd just attend the pre-match build up training sessions to work with the senior team. During holidays as well it'd be good for him to work with the first team too but me and Dex have an agreement regarding school anyway, don't we Dex?"

*mumbles* "Yeah…"

"Oh?"

"I've been telling him that a stupid football won't get far and that his school work comes first. What I will be doing is checking his homework myself if you'll allow me to? If it isn't up to scratch he'll be studying on the bench rather than training or playing… what do you think about that?"

"Ha, I think that is a great idea. See if you can get him to do it 'cause God knows we struggle at times. Anyway, this all looks in order to me. Where do we sign?"

haha i love his confidence. What a kid ermm I mean what a young man.. He got that ego to become a big one, but lets hope he dont have to make much homework on the bench ^^

This is great, every update is a creative treat and I look forward to the next. He's a little jerk, Dexter, but I wonder how many real-world players were exactly the same at that age? Anyway, do keep it up!

Red Devil - Will serve the little bugger right not to mention it would hilarious seeing him on the bench in a televised cup match doing homework!

MichaelBBack - I wanted to explore the uglier side of a talented players personality so i'm glad that it is coming across, thanks

I'll try to keep it as creative as possible but a lot of this story will turn more and more to excerpts from his autobiography to hurry the story along a bit, sort a summary intersperced with more detailed 'as it happened' stuff.

It may have only been a friendly, if such a thing truly exists in football, but I'll never forget my first match in the senior squad. I'd only been at the club for a short time and in that time only played in a couple of youth matches and a handful of training matches. Despite my bravado at that age I still didn't expect to be making the first team so soon but a couple of key injuries to the senior squad and I was in!

At just 14 it was a surreal moment in the dressing room before the match against Grimsby. The rest of the team weren't sure what to make of me sitting there, probably looking like one of the mascots who come out holding the hand of the captain. Even for me it was hard to maintain my air of supreme confidence and superiority in the face of these grizzled veterans of the lower leagues, I'd already faced these guys in training matches so they knew what I could do and while I was already my final height there would be a few years of hard work before I stopped looking like a strong breeze would knock me down.

Mark, the manager, came into the dressing room and immediately everyone fell silent. That was one of the things about Mark, he had the players respect, hell, he was a player so how could they not respect him. While his career was coming to a close now that management had taken over a lot of the men in that room could remember him and Danny Ellis holding the back line like immovable objects. Like they say though, out with the old and in with the new and they don't get any newer than a fresh faced, nervous teenager.

"Morning lads," he said, looking around the room and sharing genuine smiles and nods of greetings with the team until he got to me, we looked eyes as he announced to the room "I want you all to welcome Dexter Bagley to the team, with Danny and Nicky out for a time and the backup striker not back from bloody Spain yet we've decided to go in a new direction. You'll probably know Dex from training, but try not to think of him as that cocky little shit who left you standing, think of him more as that cocky little shit you'll get to watch leave the other team standing." That brought a bit of a chuckle to the room but there were still a lot of doubting faces in there and they weren't shy about showing it either.

"I know, I know" Mark went on "He's only young but he's good, you all know that. See this less as a problem and more as an opportunity to show him how a team works, god knows he needs a bit of help in that respect." The last bit was directed straight at me but of course at that age, in that place, at that time, I was still determined to ignore all of the well meant advice in place of my own ill placed sense of self-worth.

Mark then got down to business, outlining the tactics and responsibilities of each player. Even for a friendly there was a determination to win, thats the thing about being at a low league club, every match matters, it's all about momentum. As it was, I knew my role. Get the ball, score goals, simple, it would be up to the other guys to get me the ball and stop the other team scoring so as always at that age I zoned out and thought about the fans cheering my name when I won us the game. It genuinely never crossed my mind that it could be any different.

Pulling that yellow shirt on as a senior player for the first time and heading out onto the pitch was a pivotal moment for me. Life had suddenly gotten interesting and it was up to me to make it count. If only lower league clubs had a tunnel to wait in rather than a miserable trek from the changing rooms to the field, it would have been so much more poignant and dramatic in a tunnel...

Great blast from the past, I'm looking forward to seeing how he did!

When are the match reports starting I feel you didn't even start the save yet LOL! j/k m8 greate updates so far really gives the reader a figure/character to care for in the future.