1
INTO THE FIRST TEAM
(Pre season Bursa FC)
Ertugrul Saglam looked on as his players finished the last part of pre-season. He had managed to push this club to sixth last season but he wanted more. Missing out on Europe, especially in the way they did, hurt him. He had to get back to the European stage. He had to.
"Hey! Hey not so hard," he shouted to Gimsir, his new combative defensive midfielder. He was a fantastic player but his aggression was a problem and he had already shown it several times during pre pre-season but unfortunately he was exactly what they needed. He didn't have much in the market anyway.
Ertugrul watched on as Ivankov, his first team goalkeeper and captain, booted the ball into midfield. (MF) controlled it and passed it into (AMF) who turned swiftly and began rushing at the defense. This was going to be his new weapon. (AMF) danced past a few more players before touching it back to (MF). He was supposed to hit a long ball into the final third but then…. 'Prrrrrrr!'
Ertugrul's face palmed as he saw his assistant rush into the pitch. Gimsir had tackled recklessly again. He couldn't even rationalize this one.
"Gimsir take a lap."
"But…"
"I said take a lap! In fact, take five, maybe that will calm you down."
Ertugrul looked on as Gimsir begrudgingly jogged off and then turned to (MF) who was twisting and turning on the ground. With one look he knew he was going to be out for a while. Why was this happening? Just one week to the start of the season!
"We have a few options," Topcu, his assistant, says as he walks into the office. The physios had already come back with the bad news, (MF) would be out for 5 to 6 months. Saglam picked the files and began to peruse through them, they were all good players but they were all expensive, which made sense considering the profile they were trying to replace. He shook his head in anger, they could get none of these.
"We might have a wildcard though."
Ertugrul's eyes lit up as he took the file.
"There's a youngster in our academy, his name is Cetin Anderson."
Ertgrul's eyes seemed to light up further and further as he read through the file. His numbers were incredible.
"How's he still in the academy!?" He asked in some shock.
"The last manager wasn't really big on youth and by the time you came in he was leading a title run with the under 20's."
Ertgrul nodded, he remembered getting a report on it. They ended up missing out on the title by a whisker. He was supposed to go watch them but… now he wished he had.
"Call him up," he said, dropping the file onto his desk, at least he had a way out.
*****
(Bursa U-21)
Anderson tied his boots as he prepared to get onto the pitch. He tried to block out the noise but it was difficult.
Did he really need to leave?
That's what his agent seemed to think. He could be getting first team football elsewhere but… he didn't want to leave. This was his club, his city, he had dreamed of wearing the green and white forever. How could he leave?
Motivated, he clenched his fists and ran into the pitch intending to show why he should be on the pitch for the first team.
Anderson turned as he received the ball. It was a really simple move but it was also incredibly effective, for example the defense was in shambles now trying to get back into shape and track the several runners who had sprung from seemingly nowhere. Anderson picked up the stricker and launched a pass using the outside of his boot. The stricker brought it down and scored an easy one on one.
4-0 (Anderson 90min, 2 assists 1 goal)
The referee looked at his watch and blew the final whistle.
Now that's how you started the season. Much like the first team they had also marginally missed out on their season goals and they also wanted to correct their mistakes. After greeting and consoling the opposition Anderson began to make his way out of the pitch when he was approached.
"Hey Anderson, good game…"
Anderson put his hand out of habit then he noticed it was the Firsts team's assistant.
He tried to manage his expections but his heart was screaming out.
"Thank you," he said trying not to say much and somehow mwss this up.
"The boss wants you in for first team training yommmorrow, are you up for it."
Anderson was stunned still. He had finally done it. He was into the first team!!!!