A tear rolled down Louis Carey's cheek as he drove down the road where he lived making the short journey to Ashton Gate for the beginning of the new season's training. It was not that he hadn't enjoyed his family holiday in the south of Spain. Indeed his wife who insisted that they should get away as soon as the 2012-13 season had finished so that Louis wouldn't have time to dwell on the last catastrophic year, said to Louis when they got back to Bristol that it was the best quality time they had ever enjoyed. Certainly the fact there was no European internationals, nor world cup nor even a play-off involved, meant he could relax. Louis brushed the tear away. Come on, he told himself, I am still on Bristol City's books and am itching to get into training and playing again and meeting up with Sean and my old friends down at the Gate, and I get paid for doing a job I enjoy. What more could a man desire. In this positive mode of thought , Louis drove along the so familiar roads, and turned down into the Ashton Gate car park. That'd odd he said to himself, I expected to see the usual collection of Bentleys, Ferraris, BMWs and Mercedes, but there was only a handful of tired looking cars, none of which worth more than £1k. Louis then realised having got back from his holidays, the day before, he hadn't put his watch forward. I must be an hour early, he said. Never mind I'll have a walk across the pitch, before going to meet Sean and the guys. This was a ritual he had done every year-purely for nostalgeic reasons. Louis stopped still as though hit by a thunderbolt. The Ashton Gate pitch usually so pristine, was in what could only be described as an untidy building site. The goal areas and centre circle were quagmires and the ground staff watering them so profusely that the mud was splashing over the remainder of the pitch. Louis thought that the tractor mower must have broken down, because the remainder of the grass was knee length, and thistles and nettles were growing where they should not have grown.He was reassured though by the sight of the tractor by the Wedlock stand, it seemed to have a plough atttached, although the furrows were not particularly straight. Probably done that way to suit Albert, he chuckled. A loud crash interrupted his thoughts and as he looked to where the sound came from in the Williams stand, he saw a massive digger ripping up the seating. As he gazed around, a similar fate had occured to all the other stands. A quick mental calculation and Louis estimated that the seating in Ashton Gate was reduced to 4,000, and the pitch was of league 1 standard. I guess that is Sean's idea so that we can play the likes of Stevenage and Crawley on a level playing field, so they won't feel intimidated when visiting the mighty Ashton Gate and we get used to playing at home on the surfaces we will be playing on away. The man is a genius. Louis chuckled again, but somehow the concept didn't sit happily with him. It suddenly dawned on Louis that the Ashton Vale project must be completed. That would account for the state of the pitch and why so few cars in the car parking area. Strange though that no-one has put up any signs or told me to go to Ashton Vale. Louis had to admit he was rather taken back by the alacrity of the board in making the move so quickly. Another tear rolled down his face as he realised that he hadn't said good-bye to Ashton Gate. He made his way slowly acroos the pitch and up to the meeting room where everyone gathered at the beginning of the season. He wasn't surprised by the fact there was no one else about and the tired decadent aura of the place as he presumed the office was also relocated at Ashton Vale and he was still an hour early, though he was sure he had altered his timepiece when the trolleydolly on the plane advised him to, but was surprised by the number of discarded zimmer frames and empty crates of tomatoes. There was obviously no-one in the club room, so Louis seeing Sean's door ajar, walked in to his office. 'It''s great to see you back, Louis' said Sean warmly. The two men exchanged warm felicitations, but Louis couldn't help notice that Sean looked about 20 years older. He must have had a torrid time over the close season while I have had a wonderful holiday. Louis felt more than a pang of guilt towards his friend. However his guilt was interrupted by Sean. 'You know we have been encumbered by the Financial Fair play regulations' Louis nodded complicitly. 'There have had to be a number of changes here at Ashton Gate' he continued. Louis inerpreted by that the move to Ashton Vale was complete, and he smiled knowingly. 'Where to begin' said Sean. 'Firstly Nigel Spink is no longer with us. As we don't have an goalkeepers on our books, we don't need a goalkeeping coach'. Louis thought he understood the logic behind that, and nodded, 'But who is our goalkeeper' he inquired. 'OK Louis who is the only person to have played in goal for us in the last 2 seasons and is still on our books?' 'Of course Liam came on against Burnley when David James was injured' Louis said. 'Exactly- and this is a masterstroke of blue-sky thinking. Play Liam in goal and we have killed two birds with one stone. No longer will we have our defensive achilees heel.' 'But who is going to play in the defense. The 2 CH we have been banging on about since way before you came' Louis queried. 'Another masterstroke' Sean was becoming more animated.'You know we want to involve ourselves with the community' Louis nodded in approval. 'And undisputably our glory days were in the late 70's. Well I watched the video of Gerry Gow's testimonial and have decided that he is the sort of player we need at Bristol City, along with Norman Hunter and Joe Jordon up front. Age is no barrier. That shouldf give us the bite we require to survive League 1. True quality is forever. You must know that yourself.' 'But what about our youth academy' Louis mumbled. 'We think, they are too young and we have loaned them all out to Forest Green Rovers, who we are playing in the second match, so it will give me a chance to assess them from a neutral point of view bbefore deciding whether to give them a contract. provided that FFp allows us, that is'. 'But shouldn't we be playing teams in a higher league than us as part of the pre-season preparation' 'Of course' Sean replied. 'I have arranged a match against Bournemouth The B617Y bus driver said he would stop off at Yeovil, as a billy-bonus on the way to Bournemouth, for us to play them also. And we can spend a day at the seaside re-establish our comradeshipship with the squad. There's are some players `I am looking at Pitman, Edwards, McAllister, who we might be able to persuade Bournemouth and Yeolvil to come to us on loan. it seems a good fir to me' 'But now' Sean continued 'we need to have a 20 minute meditation to get our mind in the right karma'. With that Sean sat down in the lotus position and within a minute was away with the fairies. Louis though was not in his comfort zone. Some shouting outside on the pitch distracted him. As he looked out, he saw Joe Bryans do a 30 yard run leaving the defenders statuesque. Just as he was about to shoot, Norman Hunter lashed his legs away with a beautifully executed tackle. Louis was sure even from that distance he heard Joe's both legs crack. Hardly had he time to take in that incident, when Joe Jordon launched himself from 20 yards at Liam Fontaine in goal. The force of the challenge was such that it was impossible to know which was goal post and which was Liam. 'What did you do that for you stupid ***' Joe and Norman said concurrantly to each other. There then emerged one of the biggest fights seen at Ashton Gate for decades. as luck would have it ,four stretchers stationed alongside, which Louis hadn't noticed during the kerfuffle, came on the pitch simultaneosly- and the whole carnage was clleared away in a matter of seconds. 'I wonder what Sean's plan B is' thought Louis, and another tear rolled down his cheek. -just for fun- please accept my apologies for any inaccuracies. manxrobin
Once upon a time a chairman of a football club bought a goal keeper who used to be good for his team.without telling the manager.The manager after one league game left. The end.
When will Chapter Two be published? This is better than Dan Brown, Enid Blyton, Rowling and Roy of the Rovers rolled into one. It's clear from Carey's tears that the reality has dawned on someone at City, of one way our future could go.
Wait for chapter 2 when Collier, Cheesley, Ritchie and Terry Cooper announce they are to unretire and put their boots on again.
