\u201cHey Roy, heard your new gaffer is on the plane right now eh?\u201d shouted Frank from the stands.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t difficult to spot where the voice came from. There was only one man seated in the rows of blue plastic chairs.<\/p>\n
Roy signalled to the team to move along without him and made his way up the steps, taking a seat beside Frank Doherty, the sports writer from Non League Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got that right mate. He\u2019ll be here on the night before the Poole game. You coming for the press con?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI should be, yeah. Anyway, what\u2019s this guy like? Never really heard of him and I can\u2019t seem to find anything on the web or in the football databases.”<\/p>\n
\u201cHaven\u2019t got a clue either mate. From what I heard, he hasn\u2019t got any managerial experience. Not exactly from a great footballing country either but I\u2019m hoping he\u2019s got some ideas for us.\u201d Roy then turned around to face Doherty, and added, \u201cThe whole squad\u2019s curious and seems open to trying out what this strange Singaporean\u00a0might bring with him. I just\u00a0hope this works out man.”<\/p>\n
Frank placed a reassuring hand on Roy\u2019s firm shoulders and said, \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s alright. Even if he\u2019s not, he\u2019s got you, the famous Roy Essandoh whose goal took Wycombe to the FA Cup semi-finals, to teach him a thing or two about English football right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy snorted a laugh then stood up and said, \u201cWell, thanks for reminding me of my glory days Frank but I think I should change up now. Gotta sort out some stuff for the new boss. His accommodation at Days Inn, summary team reports, briefing notes, yada yada. Guess I\u2019ll see you at the press con tomorrow. Cheers mate.\u201d And with that, Roy made his way down the steps.<\/p>\n
Frank offered a salute and leaned back, scanning the ProKit stadium. He allowed himself a moment to wonder what these grounds will see for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The past hours have been spent preparing for this move and the last 18 hours of flight time have been spent on catching up on football history to get his mind shifted to his new football management career. More importantly, Jac has been psyching himself up to stay positive for this new beginning with a new mantra: “This is the second half of my life and I\u2019m going to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drive to his temporary accommodation barely took 6 minutes. According to Trip Advisor, it was the best that the city had to offer and besides, being a 2 minutes walk from the stadium doesn\u2019t hurt.\u00a0With so much to do, such convenience was appreciated.\u00a0He had been told to expect some briefing sessions later as there is no time to waste – a press conference and his first competitive game awaits tomorrow. There\u2019ll be time to get to know the city as he serves out this contract but there won\u2019t be a need to do so if he can\u2019t step up in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cShit is real,\u201d muttered Jac to himself as he looked at the alien landscape outside the window. Things had moved really fast since the interview. Barely 72 hours after the call disconnected, he is now\u00a0enroute to what he will call home with all his life belongings inside 2 luggages. He now has a job that he didn\u2019t know anything about and there is no turning back now. He’s going to put 24-7 effort into this job and give his all.\u00a0He needs to fake it till he makes it.<\/p>\n
As the car pulled over at the low-rise brick building, Jac took a deep breath before stepping out of the car. He stood at the driveway, paused for a moment, and let the freezing 2 degrees celsius February wind hit him. This was the polar opposite from the tropical weather that he was used to and as uncomfortable as it is, it felt right. It felt like catharsis. It felt surreal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Second Half\u00a0is a story about Jac Grey who lost everything in his life and tries to rebuild it all by travelling halfway across the world to take up a job that he was unqualified for \u00a0\u2013 as a football manager.\u00a0For the full story, visit Jac’s at shadowcatjac.wordpress.com. You can also get me\u00a0on Twitter @shadowcatjac.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cHey Roy, heard your new gaffer is on the plane right now eh?\u201d shouted Frank from the stands.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t difficult to spot where the voice came from. There was only one man seated in the rows of blue plastic chairs. Roy signalled to the team to move along without him and made his way up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,90],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n