Monday, July 13th, 2016 - Week 7

I woke up at 5:30am to the alarm. Week two of personal training. My legs were still sore from yesterday's long run, but the system was relentless.

[SYSTEM] Personal Training: Day 8. Today: 6k tempo run. Target pace: 5:50/km. Push your lactate threshold.

I pulled on my running gear and headed out. The London streets were familiar now; same route, same early commuters, same street cleaner who nodded as I passed.

The tempo run was harder than last week's efforts. Faster pace, sustained effort, no recovery breaks. My lungs burned by kilometer two. But I kept going. If I was going to hire a fitness coach today, I needed to prove to myself I could handle the work I'd be asking my players to do.

By kilometer five, I was questioning everything. But I finished.

[SYSTEM] Tempo Run Complete. 6.01km, 35:18. Fitness: +0.8%. Cardiovascular Endurance: 42/100 → 43/100.

I showered, changed, and headed to Copers Cope. Today was the meeting with Gary about hiring the fitness and goalkeeping coaches. I'd spent most of Sunday preparing: reviewing CVs, making notes, cross-referencing with Sarah's input, and preparing questions.

I'd made a spreadsheet. Color-coded. With weighted criteria.

Emma had laughed when I'd shown her on FaceTime. "You're such a nerd."

"I'm being thorough."

"You're being obsessive. But I love you anyway."

She wasn't wrong. But this was too important to mess up. These hires would shape the team's development for years.

Gary's office, 9 am. Sarah, Gary, and I sat around his desk, CVs spread out between us.

"Right," Gary said, tapping the stack of papers. "Fitness coach and goalkeeping coach. Let's start with fitness. Danny, you've reviewed the candidates?"

I pulled out my notes: three pages, single-spaced, with a detailed analysis of each candidate. Gary glanced at it and smiled.

"Of course you have."

"Three strong candidates," I said.

"Rebecca Thompson from Southampton's academy... sports science PhD, 32, excellent references. Published two papers on injury prevention in academy players. Her teams have 40% fewer soft-tissue injuries than league average. Tom Fletcher from Charlton... experienced, old-school approach, 48, fifteen years in academies. And David Brooks from a private training facility... young, innovative, 27, uses a lot of technology and data."

Sarah leaned forward. "I worked with Rebecca briefly at a coaching conference last year. She's brilliant. Progressive thinking, evidence-based, but practical. Not just theory."

"What's her coaching style?" Gary asked.

"Intense but smart," Sarah said. "She pushes players hard but monitors load carefully. Injury prevention is her specialty. And she's great with young players... knows how to motivate without breaking them."

I pulled up Rebecca's profile on my laptop. I'd watched three of her conference presentations on YouTube last night. "Her references are glowing. Southampton's academy director called her 'the best young fitness coach in the country.' She reduced their injury rate by 40% over two seasons through better load management."

Gary nodded. "Bring her in. Interview her this week. If she's as good as Sarah says, hire her."

"What about the other two?"

"Interview them, too, if you want. But if Rebecca's the one, don't overthink it. Trust your instincts."

Next was the goalkeeping coach position. This one was trickier. Ryan Fletcher, our goalkeeper, was talented but raw. He needed specialized coaching I couldn't provide.

"For goalkeeping," Gary said, "I've got a recommendation. Michael Steele. He's 41, worked at Fulham's academy for six years, and recently left to go freelance. He's available, he's local, and he's good."

"Why'd he leave Fulham?" I asked.

"Wanted more autonomy. Didn't like being micromanaged by their head of academy. He's the type who needs freedom to do his job his way."

I made a note. "That could be good or bad."

"It'll be good if you trust him," Gary said. "Bad if you try to control everything. Which, based on the last seven weeks, you have a tendency to do."

Sarah smirked. I ignored her.

"Bring him in too," Gary continued. "See if he's a fit. But Danny, remember: you're building a team. Not hiring employees. You need people who challenge you, who bring expertise you don't have. Don't hire yes-men."

"I won't."

"Good. Because if you do, I'll fire them and make you start over."

He wasn't joking.

After the meeting, I spent two hours preparing for Rebecca's interview. I researched her publications, watched more of her presentations, prepared fifteen questions, and created a scoring rubric.

Sarah walked into my office and saw the rubric.

"Danny, you're interviewing a fitness coach, not defending a PhD thesis."

"I want to be prepared."

"You're being obsessive."

"Is that a bad thing?"

She smiled. "No. It's very you. Just... try to relax. Let her talk. You'll know if she's right."

That afternoon, I went to the pitch. Not to coach, the players had the day off, but to work on my own skills.

The decision had come during the meeting with Gary. He'd mentioned something about coaches needing to demonstrate, not just explain. And he was right. At Moss Side, I'd been hands-on... showing the lads how to press, how to move, how to receive the ball. I'd demonstrated every drill because that's how they learned best.

But at Crystal Palace, I'd been standing on the sidelines, pointing and explaining. That wasn't me. I wanted to be a hands-on coach. I wanted to show my players the right technique, not just describe it. And to do that, I needed to be sharp.

I hadn't touched a ball properly in weeks. At Moss Side, I'd trained with the lads occasionally, kept my touch sharp. But at Crystal Palace, I'd been so focused on coaching I'd forgotten I was still a footballer.

I set up cones and worked on passing. Simple stuff inside of the foot, outside of the foot, driven passes, lofted passes. My first touch was rusty. My accuracy was off. But I kept going.

[SYSTEM] Technical Skill: 52/100. Passing Accuracy: 68%. You're out of practice.

I worked for an hour. Passing, receiving, turning, moving. By the end, my touch was better. Not great, but better.

[SYSTEM] Technical Skill: 52/100 → 53/100. Passing Accuracy: 68% → 70%.

[SYSTEM] Note: Consistent practice required. Your players need to see you can still play.

That evening, I reviewed video footage of Southampton's U18s Rebecca's former team. I wanted to see her work in action. Their fitness levels were exceptional. Their pressing intensity in the 80th minute matched the 10th minute. That was Rebecca's influence.

I made notes. Lots of notes.

At 9:30 pm, I made the mistake of checking Twitter and searching Crystal Palace. Someone had leaked the news about my appointment. The Crystal Palace fan forums were going mental.

@EaglesFan1905: "We hired a non-league coach for the U18s? Are we serious right now?"

@CPFCTilIDie: "Danny Walsh from Moss Side FC. Never heard of him. This is embarrassing."

@PalaceYouth: "Our academy is falling apart. From Paul Duarte to this unknown. What's the board thinking?"

There were dozens of tweets. Hundreds of comments on the forums. Most of them were angry, confused, and dismissive.

One comment stuck with me: "He's 27 years old with zero professional experience. Our kids deserve better than this experiment."

I closed the laptop. My hands were shaking.

Emma texted: You're still working, aren't you?

Just saw the fan reaction online. They're not happy about my hiring.

Danny, ignore them. They don't know you. They don't know what you've done.

They think I'm an experiment. A joke.

Then prove them wrong. That's what you do. You prove people wrong.

She was right. But it still hurt.

Go to bed. You've got an interview tomorrow. You need sleep.

Soon.

Now.

***

Thank you to nameyelus and silentjester for the gifts.

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