tedsteel

3.20 - Das Tournament

20.

The youth team training sessions were almost as good as the first team's. Vimsy had volunteered to take them, with Terry as his assistant, so that Spectrum could rest before the big weekend.

The 16s still lacked quality, with Kian ...

3.19 - Playdar

GUYS I FINISHED BOOK 3 and the Club Legends are letting me have a day off. You get this today (whoo) but this Friday there won't be a chapter (to bring schedules back into balance). People loved the end of b3 so I hope you'll agree it's...

3.18 - As It Was

18.

"Sorry for barging in. What's this you're doing?"

"I'm doing a no glitch 112% Hollow Knight speedrun."

"Wow. Is that what I sound like when I talk about underlapping full-backs?"

"Probably." Sumo chuckled. I think he wa...

3.17 - Culture

17.

Football glossary: cultured left foot. Reference to an aesthetically-pleasing left-footed player whose ability to curve a pass around a defender is the closest most football fans get to watching live ballet. 'He struck the free-kick with...

3.16 - Inverting the Pyramid

16.

Football glossary: Inverting the Pyramid. The seminal tactics book by Jonathan Wilson, in which he tracks the evolution of football formations from the pyramid-shaped 2-3-5 to the modern 5-3-2. Which is also a pyramid, but, you know... i...

3.15 - A Glimpse of the Beloved

15.

All I expected from Saturday was a colossal injection of experience points, but the day gave me that and more.

I'd decided to hit the Championship, the division below the Premier League, because I hadn't scouted that level yet, and...

3.14 - Root and Branch

14.

I was plagued by dreams of loneliness and turmoil, only remembering flashes when I threw the covers back and put my feet on the floor. An empty fridge when I was supposed to be hosting a party. The unsmiling, unfriendly faces of my guest...

3.13 - Food Chain

13.

The Premier League. The world's best and best-loved football league. Twenty teams playing each other twice to determine the winner. To win, you need to perform better than Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. The American equivalen...

3.12 - Wishlist

12.

***

XP Balance: 5434

Debt repaid: 332/3000

***

Spectrum set the 14s up in a daring 4-2-4, which took us to a two-goal lead. The other team knew Tyson was our danger m...

Blood, Sweat and Tiers

Hi everyone!

Important-ish announcement. Thanks to your support, Player Manager is still going! We're closing in on half a million words. That's bonkers.

Anyway, it's getting hard to keep to my 3 chapters a week schedule even though I'...

3.11 - Nothing Odd Will Do Long

11.

The three of us left the stadium and paused in the car park. The thrill of going on a tiny adventure paused while we negotiated the logistics. "What was your plan?" said Ruth.

"Plan?"

"Emma told me you'd be making some grand ...

3.10 - Scenario B

...

10.

I was so in my head, so internal, replaying Pascal's moves, wondering what made him go there and why that made me go there, that it took me ages to get back to the sidelines. It took me almost as long to rea...

3.9 - Goals

9.

Football glossary: Goal. The only method of scoring in association football. Goals are scored when the ball passes the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar.

***

After the pleasant discovery that Pascal existed an...

3.8 - Space Invaders

8.

After lunch, I moped around for a bit wondering what I'd got myself into. Work was piling up, and I was constantly finding ways to give myself more. Chester needed an injection of money. Of talent. And I wanted to change the culture. Each...

3.7 - January Sales

7.

The office of the Chester FC manager, 9 am sharp. Behind his desk, in the position of power, doing his usual impression of an Egyptian mummy stolen by the British, Ian Evans. Behind him, leaning against a window, his trusted lieutenant, V...

3.6 - Marathon Not a Sprint

6.

Tuesday, 3rd January, 2023

"Fanciful ornamentation in art and furniture originating in 18th century France."

"Pretentiousness."

"Six letters."

"Any crossings?"

"Yellow sauce served on desserts... custard... s...

3.5 - He Bangs the Drums

5.

In 1989 my home town was known as Madchester. It was a drug-fuelled era of dancing, raves, and great tunes. The fridges full of ecstasy are mostly a thing of the past, but the swagger lives on. And so does the music.

As the ref blow...

3.4 - Flamingo Land

4.

Monday 2nd Jan, 2023

A two-hour trip to North Yorkshire through some of the ugliest and most beautiful parts of the country.

Junior was next to me on the team bus, asking what it was like at Chester and didn't it feel weird th...

3.3 - Seven Funerals and a Wedding

3.

My appearance on Seals Live has lit a fuse and the Chester fans are the powder keg. Their team are 18th - a mere three places above the relegation zone. They are playing diabolical, drab, defensive football. October's thrilling FA Cup qua...

3.2 - Seals Live

2.

Boggy was in his 40s, average height, slim, tidy beard, glasses. My sense of him was that he'd had some media training in his youth, or had studied journalism, but it hadn't quite worked out for him as a career. So volunteering...

3.1 - Crackers

Season 2022/23 - The Third Half

Books 1 and 2 Recap

"Max did some stuff."

***

“Famous quote that turns out to be incredibly thematic and you only realised it on re-read.” Einstein Maybe

***...

2.45 - Epilogue

45.

I was mashed. Decision fatigue. Overstimulation. Too much football. Too much progress.

Or maybe just too much champagne.

Emma took the car keys and I fell into the passenger seat.

She concentrated until we got onto the ...

2.44 - Max Loses Big (Part 3 of 3)

44.

At the final whistle, the kids ran around shaking hands with their defeated foes. I supposed I had to do the same with my equivalent, if only to be a role model. So I pottered over and offered a handshake to Spectrum. He took it in silen...

2.43. Max Best Wins It All (Part 2 of 20)

43.

My match overview screen read: Broughton Under 14s versus Chester Under 14s.

I had my in-vision clock, but for the sake of seeming like a real boy I suggested Emma set a 35-minute timer.

"35?" she said.

"Matches are sev...