Chapter 17: First training session or not..
After his conversation with the manager, Harry went to find his locker. Thanks to Ross giving him the directions, he easily found the main entrance of the club's buildings.
Entering from the main gate of the training complex, the left side has the helipad and the right side has the goalkeeper training area. A path runs in between them to the club's buildings. These buildings sit behind the helipad and the goalkeeper training area.
One needs to turn left to arrive at the main entrance of the buildings. Harry had instead walked on to the right and got lost in the small alleys leading to the various facilities.
Nodding to the security guards at the main door, Harry stepped into the building. He found himself in a big hall, with walls painted red and white. There were various black doors left and right, probably leading to the club's facilities and offices.
It was obvious at a glance that the three colours belonged to the Peasant's home kit. Red and white striped shirts and black shorts.
At the back end of the hall, there was a lavish wooden counter. Behind it sat a beautiful young lady. There was a big notice board on the wall behind her.
Identifying her as the receptionist, Harry made his way to her. After quick introductions and small talk, the reception lady named Amanda showed Harry the building maps on the board behind her.
Harry was astonished to find the various facilities on the three maps of the three floors. These facilities included a gym, indoor running tracks, a rehabilitation training hall, a tennis court, the weights room, a spa pool, a sauna and steam room, a yoga room, the administration and executive offices, two team changing rooms, staff changing rooms, laundry rooms, two kit/boot rooms, the first team manager's office (overlooking the two outdoor training pitches), manager's personal assistant's office, assistant manager's office, coaches offices, a match and opposition analysis suite, a physiotherapy treatment room, a massage room, a first aid station, the doctor's office, the physio's office (overlooking the rehab hall and weight room), couple of conference rooms, a restaurant (seating over 30 people) and the player's lounge. etc.
Harry learned from Amanda that the outfield area of the training complex has three football pitches of varying sizes; 2 of which are grass pitches (with drainage, irrigation sprinklers, under-soil heating and floodlights) and one full-size indoor floodlit and heated AstroTurf artificial pitch. There is a special goalkeeper training area at the backend of the grass pitches, near the entrance of the training grounds.
The artificial pitch is the furthest on the right. It is like a small stadium with its own entrance and parking lot. Many intersquad scrimmages and some specific first team training sessions are held at the pitch. The little stadium is also used for other purposes.
Harry was really glad that he stayed here. Not only is the Stadium the most beautiful in the country, even the first team training complex next door has so many facilities.
Harry got his stuff like the training kit, boots, shin guards etc from the logistics department. He went to the dressing room, changed into his training gear. He carefully placed his bag and the kit that he was originally wearing inside the big cupboard like locker.
Afterwards, he briskly walked back to the training grounds. Harry wanted to dash back, but it was not allowed to run in the buildings. There were many No Running signs all along the path he had previously taken.
On his way, Maria notified Harry that he had two new missions.
*** Unlocked Active Mission: Score or Assist in each of the next five matches.
Rewards: All Skills Proficiency +10%, Overall Rating +3, System Points +15.
***** Unlocked Passive Mission: Become the Club's Fan Voted Player of the Year.
Rewards: A+ Strength Training Manual, Overall Rating +6, System Points +30.
Harry was pleasantly surprised. His road to stardom was becoming clearer. All he had to do was grasp his chances. He was determined to never let an opportunity slip away again.
However, as the ancient saying goes that man proposes while God disposes, Harry's good mood did not last long. He was late for his first training session and was punished to run 10 laps around the pitch by one of the assistant coaches. Harry remembered that this person was one of those people completely against his signing. Not wanting to argue on his first day, Harry just gave him a look and set off.
Manager Ross was a bit further away and did nott notice Harry's arrival. He only noticed and managed to intervene when Harry had already completed a lap.
Harry stopped, but Ross's intervention immediately led to a heated debate within the coaches. Voices were raised and curses flew.
A large part of the staff took the side of the assistant coach. The argument didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. Even the senior players joined in. It was a complete bust-up between Ross, the staff he brought, the captain, the vice captain, the goalkeeper and the rest of the coaches and most of the senior players.
Harry and the younger players could only watch the poisonous tongue duel from afar. The topic of discussion was not even Harry anymore. Instead, people were trying to prove the incompetence of Ross or the coach named De Boar.
To be honest, Harry was disappointed. This was not how he imagined his first day at all. This was not how bad he expected for the professionalism of the management staff to be. He never wished for Ross's position to be in such jeopardy. He has never wanted a team so disjointed.
Harry thought that he joined one of the top three top clubs and secured an easy ride to stardom. Alas, how could he know that this club was on a downward path because its core was rotten...
Nevertheless, not wanting to give up the opportunity he had finally got, Harry decided to do something about the situation.
"Hey! Does anybody know why these two coaches are so against each other?" Harry moved near the other players who were spectating and asked.
"Why should I tell you?" One of the guys rudely asked in return. Before Harry could respond, another one spoke sarcastically, "Is Mr. Big Money going to save the day?"
Some other guy added, "What sort of hot shot do you think you are?" The group ignored Harry collectively and someone answered acting all scared and squirmy, "He must be related to the chairman, so he is going to telltale on people.. Oh no." Roars of laughter followed before most of the guys continued to talk bad about Harry.
Harry felt pretty angry. It looked like his contract details were leaked to the players. Even the meeting details were clear to them.
"You should ignore this jealous group of people, kid. Relax, things are not as bad as they really look." A strong hand was placed on Harry's shoulder, calming down Harry.
Harry looked up to see that it was the 31-year-old, out of form striker, 'Wout Weghorst.' Wout was signed on loan this summer from 'The Wolves.' A club which was previously in the top division of the G country. Big things were expected from the 6'6 feet tall man who scored an astonishing amount of 20 goals for the miserable Wolves who couldn't prevent relegation.
However, unlike the expectations, Wout was finding trouble settling in his home country and he managed a meager number of three goals within 15 appearances. Two of which were scored in one match. Moreover, these goals were scored against a division 2 side in a cup match.
"Yeah, kid. We have seen worse in our time here." Another senior player, who had not been performing recently, came near Harry and comforted him. Harry did not know this person's name, but he appreciated the fact he was trying to make Harry feel better.
Two more players gathered around Harry. They were quite young. Only twenty, but they had been in the squad for three years. Harry remembered their faces due to the records they left in the academy. Both of them had deadly speed.
"Hi, as you might have heard, I'm Harry. I have just joined the club. It's my first day here, hence I was not expecting this kind of unprofessional and messy scene."
"I'm Samir Nasgir and this is Jarno Westerman. We have played on loan for Bluefingers last season, the club right above us in the points table." One of the young boys introduced the two of them.
"I'm Pablo Rosario, the defensive midfielder. You should have heard of me. I played for the national team in the previous World Cup. Although I look older, I'm only 26."
"I'm Wout Weghorst, I think you recognize me. Jarno does not speak English, so do not mind him. You need not worry about the situation here. Since day one, De Boar and Ross have been against each other."
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