Helping Hand

The collusion was so painful that he was gone for a second. He can't recall ever feeling so much pain in his life before. When he was laying on the wet grass, with rain still heavily pouring down on him, everything around him was going so fast. He can only remember that breathing was hard and his body was reacting slow and weak but everyone else was rushing around him. One of the players on his team was next to him. Talking but he can't tell what he was saying. He doesn't even know who it was, the only thing that made him recognise that the player is from his team, being the light blue coloured jersey. The last thing that he can remember was someone touching his leg and the pain being back. He passed out and the next time he woke up, he was in a hospital bed.

What follows was a series of disasters. His injury was dreadful, he was told not to try to get his form back but to end his career and do something else while he was still young. Twenty-seven years old and his life was already over. John spend his first months at home. First he was sad, angry and finally he gave up all together. His wife couldn't take his negativity at some point and has left. He didn't even realise how much they did not have in common, since he wasn't ever home as often to even understand that they weren't meant to be. She didn't leave empty handed though. She left him a lawsuit that cost him half of his wealth.

Six months after the injury, he was back on his legs. His agent got him a few jobs as a commentator and a couple of underwear advertisement deals.

His mental health was suffering big time. Being at the top one day and loosing everything the other. Some of the boys were still in contact with him but each month they would text him less and less.

He got in contact with some of his old friends from Barnsley. Spent the whole summer in Ibiza creating one scandal after the other until it cost him his job as a commentator. He had to find a new agent. Released a biography that was clearly only bought by women who thought he was hot. He turned to alcohol. Spent each day drinking his fortune away until his mom begged him, with tears in her eyes to get therapy.

His new agent convinced him to become a manager and he started with the training, two years after his injury.

His first job was at Barnsley FC. He got them to the 8th place in Championship. It was a great success, since he took the job when they were about to relegate. He did not want to stay though. This latest chapter in his life gave him so many new possibilities and he wanted to take them and make a name for himself again. If he failed as a football player, he wants to succeed as a coach.

-

It was a Thursday in November. He wakes up early every morning to go for a run in a nearby park. It was raining heavily today but he still wanted to complete his usual route. When he came back, he took a shower and sat down to drink a cup of tea and check his phone for the newest notifications. He got a call from his agent who also left a massage, asking him to call him back since it was important.

'What have you got for me?', he asks his agent when he answers his call.

'Something big. Got a new job for you. They want you to coach the U19 England youth. The last manager had to leave due to a health condition. They presumed that you'll be the best for this job.'

And from there it felt like his life is going to be good again. He called his parents, crying out of joy when he told them the good news. He picked up his daughter from school and drove to his family. They celebrated with tea and cake, leaving the champagne in the cupboards since he was successfully abstinent from alcohol for over a year.

-
One month has passed when he got the call and he was finally scheduled to start at his new job today. He was bombed with press interviews before he even got to meet his team. The International break was in just under a month and he was stressed. Already been looking for potential players before he even attended the job. He was nervous. Media was not his best friend in the past. He suffered immensely from all the articles that destroyed his public image after the end of his career.