2.
Saturday, January 9
FA Cup Third Round: Chester versus Sunderland
"I think I might have defied the gods one too many times," I mused, as the Sunderland players ran around hugging each other and celebrating and all that crap. It's just a goal, mate. Get over yourself.
For the away team, the stakes weren't high. Sunderland had been to Wembley Stadium four times in the last ten years; Chester had never been in its entire 142-year history. We h...
2025-06-02 12:18:19 +0000 UTC
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Soccer Supremo 2
The story so far:
2025-05-30 14:35:54 +0000 UTC
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End of Book Numbers Party!
XP balance: 4,114
Your Reputation in England: Average
Your Reputation in Germany: Good
Your World Reputation: Poor
Manager Ranking*: 59
* In the English leagues
UEFA Coefficient points won by Max: 11 (4 in Germany; 7 in Gibraltar).
Men's Team:
First in League One.
P21 (of 46) - W15 - D4 - L2 - Goals For 39 - Goals Against 11 - Goal Difference 28 - Points 49
...
2025-05-22 22:46:43 +0000 UTC
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15.
Saturday, December 19
The Lufthansa lounge was packed, so we had to split up. Emma and Briggy grabbed a couple of recliners, while I went with Angel to a sort of alcove thing with two comfy armchairs separated by an ugly square table. I bagsied the space German-style by leaving a scarf - a gift from Bayern Munich - on the seat. Angel left her coat there and we went to the buffet.
I wasn't hungry but there was a selection of wines, a couple of draft beers, some soft drink...
2025-05-20 21:35:36 +0000 UTC
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14.
LEAVE THE CAPITAL WASTELAND
The Brig drove while my mind raced. Every police car seemed to be hunting us, every rando speedster that came up our arse seemed ready to knock us off the road. My right forearm felt like it had ballooned up, making it seem like I was wearing a Pip-Boy from the Fallout video game franchise.
I suffered in stoic silence, a sentence which is at least half true.
My dread increased as we approached the border, getting ever closer - what wou...
2025-05-17 14:08:42 +0000 UTC
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Hi, sorry for this but it has been a weird day. I'm nearly done with the first draft of the next chapter but I have a headache and my back hurts and if I try to power through it's just not going to be polished and I'll miss important elements. The theme should be cool so I'd rather take a minute to do it right.
Saturday chapters are not as fun, I know, but the last chapter wiped me out. (Super mega thanks for the reception! It was one I worried about, as you can maybe imagine. I'm blown...
2025-05-16 12:57:57 +0000 UTC
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13.
Tuesday, 8 December
Buda
2025-05-13 15:56:26 +0000 UTC
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12.
Sunday, December 6
"Hell
2025-05-09 15:30:32 +0000 UTC
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11.
"There is a saying," said Paul Braun, star player turned superstar sports executive, "that all publicity is good publicity. What do you think, is that true?"
"No," I said. "If your player goes drink driving, films himself kicking a cat, films himself singing racist songs, that's bad. Flat-out bad. If you make him your club captain, times the damage by ten."
Paul's eyelids drooped closed, then came back open. "I wondered if you were describing the same player with three i...
2025-05-05 14:09:00 +0000 UTC
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10.
Snakes on a Plane
2025-05-02 15:25:31 +0000 UTC
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9.
I fumed and scowled pretty much all the way to Bologna's airport, ignoring the rapidly-growing number of texts, emails, and voice messages popping up on my phone.
Brooke: Well done!
Jackie Reaper: Amazing!
Gemma: Want me to sue UEFA over that yellow card? I was fuming, Max. Fuming! You know what? I still am. I'm going to re-read the competition handbook to see what we can get them on.
Ryan Reynolds: La...
2025-04-28 14:51:10 +0000 UTC
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8.
Saturday, November 21
In
2025-04-25 13:52:57 +0000 UTC
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7.
It was gloomy, overcast skies, and a l
2025-04-21 15:19:19 +0000 UTC
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6.
"Servus, Max."
"Servus, Dieter."
2025-04-18 18:11:56 +0000 UTC
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Become a Patron to read ahead!
5.
It was a typical contradiction: I liked to arrive early but hated waiting. Waiting's simply what you do in a waiting room. Waiting was my mission so I would wait like a champion.
After ten motionless seconds, I stood and paced to the far side of the room. It was bland, windowless, almost featureless except for a couple of doors and a row of chairs. It was what people call a liminal space, a place with an eerie, hard-to-defi...
2025-04-14 11:51:28 +0000 UTC
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4.
I led Pedro Porto and Briggy into the Ninth Circle of Hell, also known as Ambers' Bar. I knew that a watering hole inside Sutton United's stadium would be full of people who hated me but I wanted to have the meeting in public with alcohol available so there weren't many options. Any pub near the stadium would also be full of Sutton fans. I couldn't head out too far; my lads were either in the showers, getting changed, or eating the post-match scran. When they were all done we'd get o...
2025-04-11 12:04:14 +0000 UTC
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3.
Sunday, October 25
In
2025-04-08 13:55:24 +0000 UTC
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Hi all! Friday's chapter was so massive it set me back a tad. I've done 80% of the next one but it's also running a little long and my wife doesn't like one of the scenes (apparently I'm 'such a boy') and she's super busy today so we're not going to have time to sit and work it out until later.
Let's push it back to tomorrow so I can do it right. Thanks for your patience!
2025-04-07 10:10:13 +0000 UTC
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2.
Wednesday, October 21
The
2025-04-04 16:50:26 +0000 UTC
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Soccer Supremo 1
"Anything less than th
2025-03-31 13:47:17 +0000 UTC
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Note from Ted: This is an experiment in doing the numbers as a separate 'chapter'. I probably should have done this from the start... If you don't care about the data side of Player Manager, why not check out Mexico's 1978 World Cup kit instead. Look whose name is on instead of the manufacturer. Whut.
Thanks for your support!
...
End of Series Numbers Party!
X...
2025-03-26 18:07:06 +0000 UTC
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16.
I Know What You Did Next Summer
by Bethany Alban
(Embargoed until the facts about [redacted] become public knowledge.)
"Today isn't about me."
Max Best says this so many times through the day I almost start to believe it. It's not true, though. Best has taken a sixth tier team that was in danger of relegation, turned them into serial winners, and out of thin air has conjured a rapidly-improving training ground and the first major renovatio...
2025-03-24 15:47:01 +0000 UTC
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15.
Thursday, October 1
The
2025-03-21 14:15:37 +0000 UTC
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[Thanks for all the support and feedback on
2025-03-17 13:10:13 +0000 UTC
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Hey all, I need to postpone tomorrow's chapter.
This week (with incredible help from Nid - thankksssss) I went through the final proofs for book 6 and sent in the audiobook notes. Lots of work, quite draining.
My deal with Podium goes to book 6. If you remember, it's the one where R. Brown jumps ship and in the epilogue, Max finds Wibbers. I don't really want to leave Kindle readers who don't know about Royal Road/Patreon hanging so I asked if we could put a note at the end al...
2025-03-13 18:26:59 +0000 UTC
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13.
Saturday, September 26
2025-03-10 16:21:56 +0000 UTC
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12.
Friday, September 18.
I
2025-03-07 17:14:18 +0000 UTC
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11.
R.E.M. is a sports agency based in Chester, England. REMSA is its South American arm and is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Both branches rely heavily on Masterplanalytics, a Wales-based company that uses sophisticated algorithms in conjunction with a more old-fashioned approach to make its talent ID recommendations. As everyone involved likes to say, 'It's the eye test AND the AI test.'
REMSA keep in touch with the mothership through phone calls and video chats, but their primary...
2025-03-03 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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10.
"All who are bald are not bald frauds
2025-02-28 15:07:04 +0000 UTC
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9.
Monday, August 31 - Transfer Deadline Day
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant, time is the best healer, Max is the all-time Best back-heeler."
To my left, Emma held onto her big floppy hat and pushed up her sunglasses. She was in a brain-melting bikini and was just as oiled up as I was. It was impossible to look at her without getting frisky. She said, "Your poetry is the main reason I agreed to marry you."
"You're the writer. Do you think it's lame to rhyme healer w...
2025-02-24 13:24:07 +0000 UTC
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