A day in the life of Johan
Today is a big day. I arrive at our Training Centre nice and early to meet Igor for the first time. He looks grumpy. I asked Fabio to tell him all about me. I wonder what he said. Anyway, I offer my hand and say nice to meet you Igor - I am looking forward to working with you... he takes my hand, a very strong squeeze which almost makes me cry. He turns to his assistant coaches and says something in a language I don't really understand... "Danska picka" or something like that... they all laugh out loud. I decide to laugh too.
After pleasantries with Igor, I hurry to meet Vinai for breakfast. Danish pastries with coffee. My favourite. He has a copy of this mornings papers. There are some very unpleasant articles about the club today but he seems transfixed on one page in The Sun. I don't get it he says and turns the paper around to show me an unfinished Sudoku puzzle. I quickly spot the mistake and get my pencil case out offering Vinai my favourite eraser. He smiles. Thanks Johan. We share a laugh and I almost cry. I'm so happy when the boss is happy.
After breakfast I go to my office and load Championship Manager. I set the parameters to under 19s, playing for clubs not ranked in UEFA's top 30, who have played over 20 games for their club. Jesus Maraude, already played 25 games for the top team in Bolivia and has been capped by the national team. Still only 18. I add him to my players to watch list and move on to the next. Yudong Wang. 11 goals in 28 matches last season, 3 caps for national team, just turned 19. Commercial opportunities here for sure. I look on YouTube for some more evidence
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeUqeVXuCDk
I am impressed and ask Vinai if I can fly to Zhejiang first class with five star hotel to meet his representatives. Vinai signs it off and I leave in the morning.
I'm feeling good and decide to head to the pool and sauna for the rest of the morning.
It is now lunch. I go to the communal hall but it appears all the seats have a reserve sign on them and I have to sit on my own. I make a note about speaking to Mr Charrington about a seat booking system for lunch. I ask my personal chef to prepare my favourite fresh pasta dish. I can see Igor and his assistants on the other side of the lunch hall eating what looks like a hearty stew with dumplings. The sort of food you feed prisoners. They are deep in conversation. I hear the GK coach say something about punching Vicario. I think he must have been working on Vicario's punching this morning.
The afternoon is a bit slower. I watch some of the academy games. These boys are the future. I try to speak to one of the coaches at HT to see how things are but he brushes me off abruptly saying he needs to focus on the second half tactics. I feel very sad and almost cry. He didn't need to be so rude. I decide to get my tablet out and load PowerPoint to start a presentation about why academy coaches should respect their peers and line managers. I'll finish this when I get home and email it to Vinai and Viv. I can't email it to Igor though. He told me he doesn't do email and has already put his out of office on.
Home now. I walk to the car park but the lads are having some banter with me. They've sprayed 'ubod' on both sides of my new car. I take a photo to show my wife but google lens cuts in and translates the word ubod. It means prick in Croatian. I cry.
Today is a big day. I arrive at our Training Centre nice and early to meet Igor for the first time. He looks grumpy. I asked Fabio to tell him all about me. I wonder what he said. Anyway, I offer my hand and say nice to meet you Igor - I am looking forward to working with you... he takes my hand, a very strong squeeze which almost makes me cry. He turns to his assistant coaches and says something in a language I don't really understand... "Danska picka" or something like that... they all laugh out loud. I decide to laugh too.
After pleasantries with Igor, I hurry to meet Vinai for breakfast. Danish pastries with coffee. My favourite. He has a copy of this mornings papers. There are some very unpleasant articles about the club today but he seems transfixed on one page in The Sun. I don't get it he says and turns the paper around to show me an unfinished Sudoku puzzle. I quickly spot the mistake and get my pencil case out offering Vinai my favourite eraser. He smiles. Thanks Johan. We share a laugh and I almost cry. I'm so happy when the boss is happy.
After breakfast I go to my office and load Championship Manager. I set the parameters to under 19s, playing for clubs not ranked in UEFA's top 30, who have played over 20 games for their club. Jesus Maraude, already played 25 games for the top team in Bolivia and has been capped by the national team. Still only 18. I add him to my players to watch list and move on to the next. Yudong Wang. 11 goals in 28 matches last season, 3 caps for national team, just turned 19. Commercial opportunities here for sure. I look on YouTube for some more evidence
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeUqeVXuCDk
I am impressed and ask Vinai if I can fly to Zhejiang first class with five star hotel to meet his representatives. Vinai signs it off and I leave in the morning.
I'm feeling good and decide to head to the pool and sauna for the rest of the morning.
It is now lunch. I go to the communal hall but it appears all the seats have a reserve sign on them and I have to sit on my own. I make a note about speaking to Mr Charrington about a seat booking system for lunch. I ask my personal chef to prepare my favourite fresh pasta dish. I can see Igor and his assistants on the other side of the lunch hall eating what looks like a hearty stew with dumplings. The sort of food you feed prisoners. They are deep in conversation. I hear the GK coach say something about punching Vicario. I think he must have been working on Vicario's punching this morning.
The afternoon is a bit slower. I watch some of the academy games. These boys are the future. I try to speak to one of the coaches at HT to see how things are but he brushes me off abruptly saying he needs to focus on the second half tactics. I feel very sad and almost cry. He didn't need to be so rude. I decide to get my tablet out and load PowerPoint to start a presentation about why academy coaches should respect their peers and line managers. I'll finish this when I get home and email it to Vinai and Viv. I can't email it to Igor though. He told me he doesn't do email and has already put his out of office on.
Home now. I walk to the car park but the lads are having some banter with me. They've sprayed 'ubod' on both sides of my new car. I take a photo to show my wife but google lens cuts in and translates the word ubod. It means prick in Croatian. I cry.
