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The Alan Thompson Chronicles

The ups and downs in the life of a Football Manager
Started on 4 December 2012 by a_esbech
Latest Reply on 20 October 2013 by edu1878
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a_esbech's avatar Group a_esbech
12 yearsEdited

Index

Prologue: Meet Alan Thompson

*Please note that the parts that haven't been published yet may have title changes or new parts may be inserted*


Prologue: Meet Alan Thompson

”Alan!” an angry voice came from downstairs.
”Alan!” the voice bellowed.
Alan turned over and tried to cover his ears with his pillow.
-”Alan! Breakfast is ready!” the voice continued.

Slowly Alan sat up on his bed looking around his room. What on earth did he do to deserve to be here? He looked to the wooden dresser by the door; the glass framed clock was showing that it was 8.30 am on a Saturday morning. Alan thought of the football fixtures, “who was playing the early game today? Swansea – Liverpool?” It wouldn’t matter anyway as Alan would do exactly what he has done the past eight weeks, sit in his armchair and watch every game on TV. It wasn’t exactly his armchair nor was it his dresser or even his clock, in fact the only things that were his in the house was the sky+ box, his clothes and some of his books and DVDs. All of his stuff was in a self-storage unit and had been there since his fiancée had thrown him out of the house for not having hovered properly. She would never let him watch his football because that was when Coronation Street, Eastenders, Neighbours, Dallas, Dynasty, Days of our Lives, The Jeremy Kyle Show, and some Korean Sitcom was on.

“What have I done to deserve this?” Alan muttered to himself whilst looking towards the mirror that stood next to bed. The guy looking back seemed like he was past his due date, he had a brown mess at the top of his head which seems more like a dark bale of hay than an actual hairdo. The stubble on his chin must have been at least 5 days old. He must have been carrying at least 2 stone too much which made him look at least 10 years older. He stood there pondering his life, Alan Thompson, 32 years of age, single, broke, and miserable.

His poor physique was what ended up deciding that he should do his coaching badges. He was playing for a local Sunday league team called Hardly Athletic, a good joke at the time he signed up, but quickly realized that it was just a joke. Most of the guys there could run 10 miles, do push-ups for 20 minutes, haul the all the clubs kit on to practice field, and shag the neighbour’s missus without even breaking a sweat. Alan usually spent an entire game on the bench looking on, the few times he actually got on the pitch he was put up as a striker, because that was where he was least rubbish. The only real break that Alan got in the team was when the team started looking for a coach, no one volunteered. At some point in the discussion one of Alan teammates pointed to Alan and said that Alan would be a great coach as he was usually sitting on the bench anyway. Alan accepted on the condition that all players should chip in to pay for his coaching badges. The only thing that was right in Alan’s life was the fact that 2 weeks ago he got his coaching badges.

Alan looked at himself in the mirror and said to himself. “I want to become a football manager!” He thought about the prospect of standing on the touchline at White Hart Lane calling obscure hand signals to the players whilst the crowd was singing his name. He looked at himself intently and said out loud. “You’d be a terrific manager. You’d be the best. Gaffer.” He looked around grabbed his trousers and put them on.
“ALAN!” the voice called from downstairs.
“I’m coming Mum, take it easy!”.
It is an interesting and original start. Any chance in the future you leave a line between paragraphs? Just looks like a lot of text!
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2012-12-04 17:59#70896 Jamesg237 : It is an interesting and original start. Any chance in the future you leave a line between paragraphs? Just looks like a lot of text!

I've edited the opening post so there's a few paragraphs, it should lighten the reading,
Nice start mate, keep it up!
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Brilliant start man! Cannpt wait for this stpry to progress :)
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I like your humour. I forgot that this was a story for Football Manager. It was fun to read, but it will be a challenge to see how you're going to keep it interesting. Since I haven't been playing FM for a while, I am not keen on results, strategies, etc. I would like to read interesting stories, though.
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If you asked me who 'Alan Thompson' is, 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't have had the slightest clue. When we heard from our sources that the Northern Londoner had gotten his coaching badges, we did a little bit of research on this nobody. His physique isn't what modern football demands, so it is no surprise he never made it as a professional footballer.

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". Not only did Thompson make a good lemonade, but also added vodka to it just to make things interesting. We will be following this 32 year-old in this managerial journey, wishing him luck wherever this weird world of football management takes him.
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Wow interesting start, thanks to Glenn i'm now a bit more in the know of who Alan is...

Really like the opening!

looking forward to the progress :)
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Part 1: The Job Hunt

There wasn’t a job anywhere in the world that would be too small for Alan. He just wanted to go out and start his new life as a football manager. He started by scribbling a small CV listing his achievements at Hardly Athletic and summing up his latest save game in Football Manager, in hope someone would find it sufficient enough ground to employ him. He got in contact with most of the European football federations and asked if they could provide a list of clubs that were looking for a young manager, and ended up sending letters to 28 different countries in hope of getting employed. He started wondering what a job in Hong Kong or New York would be like. That would be great.

Alan went to the mailbox every day to see if he had gotten a reply. He would check his email every hour. However the hours became days, the days became weeks and Alan still sat in a big armchair in his mother’s living room watching the Premier League on Sky. As time wore on Alan thought that he would never get a chance to manage a big football club. Not even a small one, not even one of those where the dressing room is a trailer, the stands are 4 Euro-pallets on top of each other, and the club’s chairman, green keeper and supporter is the same person. The entire adventure seemed hopeless. How was it that he ended up at 32, living at his mum’s place and the only viable education he had was his coaching badges?

It was a rather rainy day late in July and Alan was getting ready to watch the Europa League match between St. Johnstone and Vitesse on an illegal stream found on some Eastern European website. He had just slumped into his usual armchair when the phone rang, angrily he got up and picked up his mobile. The number was unknown.
“Hello?” Alan immediately regretted picking up the phone; it must be some telemarketer he thought.
“Alright mate!” said the voice on the other end.
“Alright? – Who is this?” asked Alan even more bewildered than before.
“Oh, sorry it’s Tony Knight from Athlone Town Football Club, I’m calling you be...” Alan interrupted “Listen Dave, this isn’t funny you can drop that silly Irish accent, I’m about to watch the game”.
“I’m sorry? I’m not Dave” Said the man on the other end of the line “I am Tony Knight from Athlone Football Club – I want to offer you a job”.
Alan took a moment to realise what he had just been told and after what seemed like hours it dawned on him. This guy is the chairman or director of football in some football club that wants me as their next manager. He actually had a chance of becoming a football manager.

“Alan? Are you there?” Tony Knight asked.
“Yes” He said confused “Yes I am, your phone call just struck me with surprise that is all”.
“OK, we’ve read you resume, you seem like an intelligent young man and we would like to offer you the chance to become our next manager”.
“Well of course, but I don’t know anything about you or the team. Where are you from?” Alan asked knowing what the answer might be.
“We’re from Ireland, we play in the little town of Athlone, the name pretty much gives it away” Tony Knight said “We can offer you a 75€ per week full time contract. However most of our players are amateurs and our staff is part time”.
“Well I haven’t heard anything else, so why not take the chance?” Alan asked rethorically “When do you want me there?”
“Can you be here tomorrow” Tony Knight asked
“I’m already looking at Ryanair tickets” Alan responded.
Awesome story! Keep it up mate!
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Ta suil agam go mbeidh a lan trofai a bhuaigh ar Alan Thompson. Is baile deas e Athlone.
(A bit of Irish for you) :)
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2012-12-05 22:40#71079 The FM Rookie : Ta suil agam go mbeidh a lan trofai a bhuaigh ar Alan Thompson. Is baile deas e Athlone.
(A bit of Irish for you) :)

Go raibh maith agat. Is mór agam sé go mór.
Keep it up mate! Looking forward to see how this progresses.
2012-12-06 06:36#71110 Glenn T : Keep it up mate! Looking forward to see how this progresses.

So am I mate! :D
Great writing, enjoying it!
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