Real Sporting Gijón - Rojiblancos

I was too young. That's all that went through my head as I stepped onto the green grass of the El Molinón. Its 30,000 seats were filled with Rojiblancos shirts. A thunderous rapture of cheers and applause echoed around my head, darting into my ears and filling me with both excitement and trepidation. I dropped down to one knee, grabbed a blade of grass and blessed both myself and the pitch in the name of the lord.

I was only twenty-two. I had never heard of another manager this young in the top leagues, and especially not a manager this young managing in a foreign country. I could only speak basic, GCSE level Spanish and that wouldn't save me here. So I couldn't really speak the language and a lot of the team were older than me. I was going to have to earn their respect.

Managing a professional football team was all that I had ever dreamt of. I stepped into the middle of the pitch and onto the announcement podium. The crowd continued to roar. I heard a mix of nervous boos within the roaring, but I had expected that. Their club had just hired a nobody, after all.

I stepped up to the microphone and took a deep inhale.

"Hola."

"For those of you who don't know. My name is Peter Bard. I only have one sentence to say to you all."

"Nuestro tiempo es ahora."

I waited with baited breath. The crowd roared.

Great start!!! Looking forward to a La Liga story! Currently have a save with Las Palmas and I am having a blast.

Hi, thanks MJK! Glad you're enjoying it. I seem to enjoy Ligue 1 saves more, but I'm looking forward to getting into this.

great star, good luck my friend!

Thanks Aaron.

Good start, you've described the scene well Looking forward to what's in store.

Great start, not too many La Liga stories on this site. Keep it up!

http://sporting.elcomercio.es/archivos/201212/nue-665xXx80.jpg

The papers loved my short and simple speech. Success. The club had rented me a very upper-class apartment near the stadium and had bought me a car, even though I couldn't drive. At least it provided me with incentive to learn.

I took the brief walk from my apartment to the stadium and was greeted with hordes of paparazzi. For five minutes I stood answering questions and shaking hands, before the president of the club Javier Fernandez came and ushered me inside.

"You do not always need to be so welcoming to the journalists." he said, placing a hand upon my shoulder.

"I have gone through the trouble of booking the teams tour. We are going to do a tour of England so that you are comfortable and can bond with the team over your heritage."

"You will play Dagenham and Redbridge. Colchester. Dover. And Burnley. Then we return to Spain and play Almeria before the season begins."

I had a lump in my throat. I had just left England and I was about to be back there with less than a click of my heels. In retrospect, it wasn't that much of an issue, I'd just be more wary of the impression I was going to make.

After discussing little amenities with Javier, I walked down to the gym facilities where the team waited to greet me. They all smiled and waved, but I wasn't about to lull into a false sense of security so easily. I walked around the gym, shaking hands and greeting and laid out my plans for the the season once they had all finished their workout.

"I know that I am young. I know that you are unsure of me. All I ask is for your passion and your hope. We need nothing more."