Strikers Instinct (25 page)

The rest of the morning passed quickly and soon the players were all back in the canteen eating lunch. The main topic of conversation was Adi. Everyone was disappointed that he was going but they also were unhappy that he seemed to have left without saying goodbye.

Suddenly the canteen door opened and Adi stood there – seemingly unsure what to do. He nervously stepped forward into the silent room and began to move towards the main focal point of the space. No-one spoke as he turned to address everyone.

“I'm sorry guys, I really am,” he began, “but this chance has come along and at my age it's simply too good to turn down. I'm 31 with only six months left on my contract and I've been offered a 3 year contract by a Premier League Club. The main thing is that it offers security for my family but it also gives me one last chance in the Prem. I didn't ask to leave, after Pryce was arrested I came off the transfer list but they still came in and offered the chairman a lot of money for me so it looks like it's a good deal all round. But I'm sorry to be leaving you lot – and I hope you don't hold it against me.”

Nothing happened for a few seconds and Adi began to look as if he was going to cry when suddenly all the players rose from their seats and began to applaud. Then they surged towards him – cheering and shouting as they moved. “Well done you jammy sod!” was one of the less-juicy comments as the players congratulated and hugged Adi. It all proved too much for him as he finally did begin to cry.

“I'll never forget you lot.”

Finally he stumbled from the room with the cheers still ringing in his ears. Sandy was waiting outside for him and Adi was genuinely scared to face him. Before Adi could speak Sandy embraced him and whispered in his ear.

“Don't worry – I would have done exactly the same thing if I were in your shoes. I wish you the best of luck and make sure you don't forget us!”

“I'm sorry boss.” Adi said sadly. “I wanted to talk to you as soon as I heard about the offer but my agent and the chairman said we had to give them an answer within the hour so there was no time to waste.”

“Don't worry son,” Sandy replied, “I know exactly how these things work. Just make sure you score a few goals for your new club.”

Adi shuffled away towards his waiting agent who smiled apologetically at Sandy before he ushered Adi into the car, then they were gone. Sandy sighed as he thought back to his conversation a few minutes ago with Ed Tierney. Ed repeated exactly what Adi had said and stressed that it was a good deal for Wishton – Sandy now had money to spend on a new, younger striker but Ed just didn't understand. They had sold something that money couldn't buy – an in-form goal scorer and one half of a formidable striking partnership.

Sandy's fears sadly proved to be justified. The next two games Wishton didn't score a goal – and Rae seemed lost without Adi. For the first time in many weeks Wishton slid to second place in the League table and the warning bells began to ring. The following week was FA cup weekend so Sandy took the opportunity to experiment and played a different system to try to help Rae – but nothing seemed to work. In fact the opposite happened and Wishton went down to their first defeat in months – and they were out of the cup. Sandy urged the players not to panic but secretly he was worried. He had two weeks left in January in which to try to find a replacement striker – and he also knew that some clubs were still sniffing around Rae.

The following week Wishton were back in action in the League – at home to Bournemouth. Sandy hoped that the long journey from the south coast would have taken the edge off the Bournemouth team but sadly the opposite was true. A goal in either half sealed the points for Bournemouth and shocked the home fans. At Christmas they had seemed unstoppable and many fans were secretly looking forward to visiting Premier League grounds next year – but now it looked as if it could all be slipping away.

The mood was sombre at training on Monday morning. Luke tried to spread some cheer but no-one seemed interested and most of the sessions that day took place in near-silence. Just after lunch Luke was warming up with a few of the reserves with laps around the pitch when he was joined by Rae who began jogging alongside him.

“Do you mind if I have a word?” Rae asked nervously.

Luke glanced around and saw they were trotting alone on the edge of the small group. “Go ahead,” he muttered, “but I hope that this has nothing to do with my daughter.”

Rae paled but plugged on. “Actually,” he spluttered, “it was Lexi's idea to talk to you.”

Luke glared at Rae. “You had better be very careful what you say next.” he said quietly.

“No, no.” Rae panicked. “It's nothing like that. Lexi and I chat by text and on the phone – she knew I needed advice from someone and she suggested that I talk to you. Lexi said you usually had the right answers.”

Luke softened. “I'm sorry Rae,” he said quietly, “I shouldn't have snapped at you like that and I certainly shouldn't have pre-judged you. Please go ahead – I'll do my best to help.”

Rae hesitated as if unsure where to start. “I'm sure that you've heard the rumours about various Premier League teams trying to sign me?”

Luke nodded.

“Well it's all true,” Rae admitted, “and I don't know what to do.”

Luke remembered hearing that Rae's dad had left home when Rae was very young leaving his mum to bring up Rae and his young sister alone. Rae's grandad had been the biggest male influence in his life but he had died a couple of years ago.

“You'd better start at the beginning.” Luke said.

“There's not much to tell really.” Rae replied. “It seems there has been a bit of an auction to buy me and it looks like Chelsea have won. They have offered me a great salary and a three year contract and certain people are trying to force me to sign.”

“Let me guess,” said Luke sourly, “those certain people are your agent and the chairman?”

Rae nodded. “Chelsea have offered a lot of money to buy me and Mr. Tierney says that it could help rebuild the team.”

Luke stared at Rae as they continued to trot around the pitch. “And what do you want to do?”

Rae seemed unsure but answered firmly. “I want to play in the Premier League and I want to look after my mum and sister.”

“So why are we even having this conversation?” asked Luke.

“Because I'm not sure,” Rae replied, “and I would appreciate an unbiased opinion.”

Luke nodded. “How much longer on your contract?” he asked.

“About another 18 months.” answered Rae.

Luke considered for a moment and then continued. “OK,” he said, “I'll tell you what I would tell Tom if he was in your position. I would be the proudest person in the world if my son played in the Premier League but it isn't as straightforward as your agent has probably explained it. The fact of the matter is that the big clubs don't necessarily sign good, young players because they want them in their teams. A big reason these days that they sign players like you is so that other teams don't get their hands on them.”

Rae nodded as if this was something he had already considered.

“You may be the exception,” Luke continued, “but most players in your position won't get to play in the first team for at least a couple of years – if ever. The common practise these days seems to be to send young players out on loan – sometimes to Premier League clubs but usually to Championship clubs. So you could actually find yourself back in this division!”

They continued to jog around the pitch – not seeming to notice that the other players had returned to the changing room.

“On the plus side you would be financially secure for life and you could be straight into the first team and be an instant success,” smiled Luke. Then his smile vanished, “but on the minus side you could be living alone, hundreds of miles from home, stuck in the reserves or loaned out to another team.”

“That's all very well Luke but what would you do?” Rae seemed to be begging for an answer.

Luke seemed torn but he finally answered the younger man. “If you really want to hear what I think – then I would leave it to the end of this season.” he said firmly. “If Wishton get promoted then you will be playing in the Premier League next season. You can also take the opportunity to re-negotiate your contract and to start making some serious money. If Wishton don't go up then you are no worse off than you are today and the big clubs will still be sniffing around.”

Rae seemed relieved that someone had finally given him an honest answer.

Luke hadn't finished. “You need to go home and talk to your mum – and also think what your Grandad would have wanted for you. You also need to do some research – check how many young players from the UK and from abroad – were signed by top teams last year. Then check how many of them actually managed to get a game in the Premier League – and how many of them were later loaned out to other clubs.”

“Thanks Luke.” Rae finally smiled. “I know what my Grandad would have wanted – that's easy – if he thought I could play for Wishton in the Premier League he would be the proudest man in the world as well.”

“That's only one of the things you need to consider.” Luke reminded him. “But I will say one final thing – it's much better to learn how to play when you are happy and surrounded by friends and families. Many promising young players have been destroyed by loneliness and bad advice.”

Rae nodded and seemed deep in thought as the two men parted. Sandy noticed them walking back to the changing room and wondered what they had been talking about. If the rumours were correct then it seemed that Rae wouldn't be with Wishton much longer. He sighed and mentally added that to his growing list of problems.

Luke showered and then headed for home, the January weather was cold and icy and he took his time as he headed up through the hills towards home. He left the car in the large garage and as he was walking into the house he noticed Sue's car winding up the drive towards him so he waited to walk in with her. Sue smiled and she held Luke's arm as they walked through the biting wind towards the house.

Before they could open the door it flew open and Lexi threw herself into her father's arms.

“You're the best dad in the world!” she screamed as she smothered her father in kisses.

“Whoa!” he cried. “What have I done?”

“Rae just called,” she yelled, “he's decided to stay with Wishton and not move to Chelsea!”

Sue raised her eyes. “And what does this have to do with your father?”

“Rae says that it was daddy who convinced him to stay!”

Sue gave Luke an amused look and he just gave a sickly grin and shrugged his shoulders.

Sadly the good news that Rae was staying with Wishton didn't seem to have a positive effect on the pitch. They still struggled to score and the next two games were both goalless – and more worryingly for Wishton fans – their team dropped out of the top two. The Championship winners and runners-up were automatically promoted to the Premier League whilst the four teams below them had to fight it out for one remaining Premier League place. Sandy shuddered as he contemplated the prospects of having to go through a sudden death playoff – that was to be avoided at all costs.

However, there was at least some good news for Sandy – the transfer window had closed and that meant his players were safe until the summer at least. In addition he had managed to bring in a couple of temporary loan signings from the higher division. He didn't see the new signings as the answer to his scoring problems but Sandy felt that he needed to bulk up his squad for the final run-in.

Luke had another couple of outings for the reserves and the team continued to play well – proving very difficult to beat. He was once again enjoying training – if only the first team could start winning a few games then everything would be perfect. If he was totally honest then there probably was still another small black cloud on the horizon. Lexi's 15th birthday had taken place a few weeks earlier and Sue had arranged two parties – one for Lexi and her friends and another smaller affair for family and close friends.

The party for Lexi's friends was held in the pool room at the house – the pool was designed to be covered over for exactly this kind of occasion. Sue and Luke made sure that the gathering was appropriately supervised with no alcohol allowed – Sue thought the evening was a great success but Luke wasn't so sure. There wasn't any trouble but Rae had been the guest of honour and every time that Luke had checked Lexi and Rae seemed inseparable. Rae was even invited to the family party and although Luke was civil towards the young man he couldn't help but throw a few warning glances towards him throughout the evening.

Sue found the situation hilarious – Luke was so used to being in control and he seemed confused that he couldn't just arrange things as he wanted them to be. What was even funnier was that Rae was so frightened of Luke that he wouldn't get too close to Lexi – he wouldn't even hold her hand! Sue decided that she would keep that to herself for the time being – it would do Luke good not to always have his own way!

The Linden family were all looking forward to visiting London the following week – probably all for different reasons. Sue and Lexi were looking forward to watching a show and hopefully going shopping whereas Tom and Luke were looking forward to a rare away game. To be fair, Lexi was looking forward to the game as well – if only because she wanted to watch Rae.

Harry had made all the arrangements and he had booked four first class train tickets which would get them to Euston early on Saturday morning. The only downside to that was that they had to leave home at a ridiculous time – and Lexi wasn't really a morning person. In spite of that, they managed to catch the train and even Lexi soon felt better as they began to tuck into breakfast and soon the miles were rolling by.

Luke thought back to the previous week and immediately began to worry. Wishton had played at home on Tuesday evening and had suffered another defeat. The fans were now getting restless and the same people who had been cheering the team in December were now grumbling in February. Luke shared their concern – if this continued they would drop out of the top six and they could all forget about playing in the Premier League. Suddenly Luke realised that someone was talking to him.

“I'm sorry,” he apologised, “I was miles away – what did I miss?”

Sue shook her head. “It's OK,” she grinned, “I know you are worried about the team. I was just asking about Harry's arrangements for picking us up at the station?”

“It's all sorted.” Luke answered. “Harry will send a car to Euston to take us to the hotel to drop our bags off.”

Luke paused whilst he glanced at the luggage. He and Tom had one small bag each – Lexi and Sue seemed to have brought the kitchen sink with them. “You do know that we are only away for one night don't you?” he asked sarcastically.

“Don't be mean darling,” replied Sue sweetly, “You know that girls need more bags than boys!”

Luke sniffed then continued. “As I was saying – we can drop our large number of bags at the hotel and then we have a couple of hours to kill before the game. After the game we need to get away fairly quickly to catch the show and then we will be meeting Harry afterwards for dinner. Then back to the hotel and tomorrow we have the day to ourselves until we catch the afternoon train back home.”

An argument started then between Lexi who wanted to go shopping before the game and Tom who wanted to go to the London Dungeon. Luke let them get on with it – he was fairly sure that they would end up shopping so he didn't waste his breath. Before too long they were pulling into Euston and as they pulled their bags along the platform Harry appeared to help them.

“I've got the cars waiting this way.” he said.

“Why do we have more than one car?” Luke asked, noticing for the first time that Harry seemed quite agitated.

“Unfortunately there has been something of a development.” Harry answered uneasily.

“What do you mean?” Sue demanded.

“Well,” answered Harry, “I don't know exactly what has happened but there seems to have been an outbreak of food poisoning – and a lot of the first team squad seem to have been affected.”

The Lindens glanced at each other until Lexi blurted. “How's Rae?”

Harry grinned for a second. “He's fine.”

“So how does this affect us?” Luke asked bluntly.

“For one thing,” replied Harry, “as chief medical officer, I need to get straight back to the team. It looks as if the match may be called off but I need to check on the players. And one other thing.”

“What?” Luke asked.

“Sandy told me to bring you back with me.” said Harry. “Just in case.”

“Just in case what?” Sue demanded.

Harry just shrugged. “Look, I'm sure everything will be fine but I think the game will be called off if we can't raise a team. In the meantime I have a car waiting to take you to the hotel and the driver has been told to take you wherever you want for the rest of the day. We'll call you and let you know about the game – we'll either meet you at the ground or back at the hotel.”

Luke and Harry placed the luggage into the waiting car and they jumped into a similar vehicle.

“OK,” said Luke, “what's really going on?”

Harry raised his hands. “You know as much as me.” he replied indignantly. “It's obviously something the players ate in the hotel last night. There doesn't seem to be a pattern at the moment but a large number of the squad and backroom staff have been affected. We are going to meet them at the ground but hopefully the referee will call the game off.”

A few minutes later the car pulled up outside Craven Cottage – Fulham's famous ground – and Harry and Luke hurried inside through the players entrance. They made their way towards the away team dressing room – nobody needed to guide them, they just followed the raised voices. Harry opened the door and quickly looked around for one of his colleagues – Dr. Jeff Symons. Jeff was the main match day medic in attendance and always travelled with the team.

“What's the latest Jeff?” Harry asked anxiously.

“No further cases.” Jeff replied. “We left the infected players back at the hotel. They don't seem too bad now but none of them are fit to play.”

“So how many fit players do we have left?” was Harry's next question.

“It looks like we have fifteen,” Jeff replied, “but perhaps we have 16 now.” he added mysteriously.

“Hopefully it won't matter.” Harry said quickly. “Surely the referee will call the game off?”

Jeff pointed to a room at the far end of the changing room – that seemed to be where all the shouting was coming from. “Sandy's “discussing” the situation with the referee at the moment.”

Just then the door flew open and a figure appeared, Harry and Luke assumed it was the referee.

“You haven't heard the last of this,” bellowed Sandy from within the room, “I'll have your hide you flaming idiot!”

The official turned slowly to face Harry.

“I don't make the rules.” he said calmly. “I've given my ruling so stop moaning and make the best of it.”

With that he stalked out of the room at great speed without a glance at any of the players. It looked as if he wanted to spend as little time with the possibly infected players as possible.

All eyes turned towards Sandy.

Harry asked the question – even though they all already knew the answer.

“Well?”

Sandy glared around the room. “As you know, the referee had an independent doctor check all the players over and he says that we now have enough for a full team plus the necessary five reserves. So the game goes ahead.”

“But we don't have five reserves.” Andy said.

“Actually we do.” said Sandy, staring at Luke.

“No way!” Luke protested.

“We don't have a choice son.” Sandy said bluntly. “You are a registered player and you have had reserve team experience so you are in.”

Andy and the rest of the team mumbled a few words of encouragement to Luke but they all had their own problems to think about so Luke was soon left alone to consider his options.

Suddenly Sandy broke into all their thoughts.

“OK listen up,” he shouted. “this could be a lot worse. It seems that the main core of the team remains unaffected. In fact my intended starting eleven seem OK so we have to be thankful for small mercies. The main problem we have is with the reserves. We are allowed five and now that Luke is here we can just about scrape together five bodies. So that's one goalie, two youth team players, Joe and Luke.”

Sandy paused for a second. “It looks like the starting eleven will have to play for the full ninety minutes so some of you are going to have to pace yourselves – and don't go throwing yourselves into any crazy tackles – we can't afford any injuries. OK – you'd better go ahead and get changed.”

Some of the older players led by Andy started to move around the room – trying to create a more confident atmosphere. They began joking and laughing and it did seem to help – a sense of normality began to return to the changing room and Sandy began to breathe a sigh of relief. He risked a quick glance at Luke and again was reassured by what he saw. Luke seemed completely calm – in fact he seemed to be in some sort of trance. Just as he was starting to get slightly worried, Luke stood and began performing various stretching exercises.

After what seemed a very short period of time the referee's assistant poked his head around the door and shouted to the team. They lined up and followed Andy – a few seconds later they were walking out onto the pitch. The reserves followed behind and took their places on the benches behind Sandy. Up in the stands the Linden family had just arrived – they couldn't believe the call they had received earlier from Luke and their driver got them to the ground with a few minutes to spare. Now they were nervously sat wondering what was going to happen next.

Sue looked down anxiously at the back of her husband's head. “Oh Luke,” she murmured, “what have you got yourself into this time!”

Then the referee blew his whistle and the game was underway.