9.1 - Var Var Voom
...
Player Manager 9
2024-04-15 09:28:05 +0000 UTC View Post
tedsteel posts
Quick Bit O' Admin
As most of you know, I published the last blob of book 8 on Monday so I'm on a mid-season break. (I'm actually not, I'm still writing but without deadline pressure it's like a holiday.) Here's what that means:
T3: Next chapter on Monday. (My wife read the first draft and said 'it's good but make it more arrogant.')
T1+2: You get something today (shortly after I post this) but not on Monday. (You guys make sure you check out the bonus content from the end of book 7! If you missed i...
2024-04-12 08:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post8.15 - Epilogue
15.
Saturday the 28th of September was a day with a lot of league games, including an early kick off. Salford were at home to Chesterfield.
I raced back from the bathroom and took my spot next to Sandra. "Did I miss anything?" I said.
"Chesterfield had a goal ruled out," she said. "Offside."
"Salford are getting battered," I said, shaking my head. Chesterfield were no mugs, but Salford had an average CA of close to 100. In League Two terms, they were a Fer...
2024-04-08 09:11:43 +0000 UTC View Post8.14 - Be Gone, Yeah?
14.
Gardening glossary: hardening off. The process of moving plants from ideal growing conditions into a slightly harsher environment in order to prepare them for life in the cruel outside world.
***
Wednesday, September 18
It would be a warm day but it was still a cool morning. A slow morning. I watched a solitary cloud drift across the sky. Watched it for ages. It was going at the pace of a pensioner at a checkout on Saturday morning. Why couldn't they go ...
2024-04-05 10:45:04 +0000 UTC View Post8.13 - Winner Is Coming
13.
Monday, September 9
There was a fair amount of excitement in the large meeting room at BoshCard, mostly centred around the fact I'd plugged my laptop into the AV equipment. Max Best would speak without the use of flipcharts! What could prompt him to step into the future like this?
In addition to the usual staff, I'd also invited MD, Brooke, and Trish and Pete from the kitchen. Livia must have told Jackie that something was up because he had invited himself. Th...
2024-04-01 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post8.12 - Influence
12.
Untitled Documentary
Episode 2: Influence
Medium close-up: Angel
Text: Angel, Striker, Number Ten
From context, the viewer knows this was recorded long before the season started.
"I want to be an influencer."
Angel looks down the camera lens with a mix of cockiness and insecurity. The producer mumbles off-mic and the question appears on screen: Why d...
2024-03-29 10:03:03 +0000 UTC View Post8.11 - The Max Best Players
11.
We went through the various formalities of entering a prison - I let the Brig talk to people and sign things - and we were escorted through various doors. Some that were opened remotely, some with an ID badge carried by a prison guard, and some that were simply fire doors that could be pushed open.
The final door led us into a wooden-floored room that might have been intended as a badminton court but was now a plain rectangle with a raised platform at one side. Yo...
2024-03-25 10:28:33 +0000 UTC View Post8.7 - Maidenhead United
7.
Saturday, August 3
Match 1 of 46: Maidenhead United versus Chester
The referee blew his whistle and the season was underway!
Maidenhead kicked off and immediately knocked the ball long. Glenn Ryder leaped and headed the ball away. There was a tussle in midfield and Sam and Youngster between them nudged the ball out to Eddie Moore. He knocked it first time to Aff, who hit a big diagonal to Pascal on the right wing.
Pascal raced ahead, then cut ...
2024-03-11 10:45:42 +0000 UTC View PostA Big Ol' Swing (Chapter News)
When I was young, my cousins came to town and we went to the local fields to play some football. We had a lovely old time until the youngest cousin awarded himself a penalty kick.
Now this little guy - let's call him Pascal - was about eight inches high. The ball loomed over him. But while he was little, he had learned one important lesson in his brief life. That lesson was that if you wanted to kick the ball hard you needed to take a huge run up.
So he placed the ball on...
2024-02-28 23:13:09 +0000 UTC View Post8.4 - Chariots of Hire
4.
Football glossary: Welcome to Wrexham.
2024-02-26 16:42:03 +0000 UTC View Post[Bonus 7.77 - Chester's Finest]
[I'm still working on the next chapter - will be out tomorrow at the latest.]
In the meantime please enjoy this video message Max Best received from Danny Actual Murphy.
Born: Chester
Played 150 games for Crewe (and some for Liverpool, ugh)
Played 9 times for England
Does Danny one-thumbs
I remember THIS vividly!
"He developed a habit of scoring the deciding goal in 1–0 wins away to Manchester United, a feat he achieved three times in four seasons."
Top p...
2024-02-19 10:13:29 +0000 UTC View Post8.1 - Goalscorers
Player Manager 8
Recap:
Max Best has led Chester FC to the National League North title; his team will now be promoted to the absurdly tough National League. The women’s team won their league and will also move to the fifth tier. Max has vowed to win the FA Youth Cup, has an opportunity to shine on German television, and must help the small team he owns progress up the pyramid.
"Quote." not sure who from yet obvs
***
1.
May 7, 2024
- Hello and welcom...
2024-02-16 10:18:48 +0000 UTC View Post[Patreon-only Bonus] Book 7 Epilogue Epilogue
Whaaaaaat!
That's right, y'all. You get free stuff!
Would you like a BONUS CHAPTER?
I went a tiny bit BONKERS and made one. It's very multimedia and Patreon isn't the right place for it (not even close), so you'll have to pop over to my website. And I never thought I'd say this but it actually looks better on a phone than on a desktop, so consider sending the link to your mobile device and enjoy it 'as Max'.
2024-02-15 16:51:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Post-Book Break
Hi all!
On Monday 12th there won't be a chapter. That's because in a bit I'll be posting the last chapter of book 7! I'll take a couple of days to recharge and to think what the 'theme' for the next season will be. I think I know but it doesn't hurt to check. Also I need to make all-new spreadsheets and whatnot.
These preparation days help me to write at such a fast pace, so I'm sure you'll understand I need them from time to time, especially when there's a new season in the story...
2024-02-09 10:54:11 +0000 UTC View Post7.14 - The Final Countdown
14.
TEN
ten ten ten
Tuesday, April 2
Sandra was leading training in preparation for Saturday's match against Gloucester and I was taking part, partly to keep fit, partly to gauge the mood. There was a strange vibe in the camp; the league was won and the remaining three matches weren't important in a collective sense; as a team we weren't too bothered about going for records. The final match against my former team was one that I cared about, but for most player...
2024-02-02 12:18:36 +0000 UTC View Post7.12 - Schrödinger's Max
12.
Science glossary - Schrödinger's cat.
2024-01-26 12:02:23 +0000 UTC View PostA Miniature Annoucement
Quick version: There WILL be a chapter tomorrow but there MIGHT not be one on Monday/Tuesday. (80% chance there won't.)
Longer version: Long-term supporters (yeah whoo) will know that every now and then I need to check the book proofs from the publishers. They always try to take my jokes out and I try to put them back in. It's a lot of concentration and detail and also I have to pay attention to the names of clubs and players for the audiobook narrator. (I make a spreadsheet where I hav...
2024-01-18 13:04:06 +0000 UTC View Post7.10 - Expected Worms
10.
Max Best glossary: Expected worms. A statistical measure of the likelihood that a given constellation of characters will include a worm.
***
Instead of giving one of my inspirational movie-based half time team talks, I was looking around the Grimsby dressing room wondering who the mole was, and since any detective story set in the world of football must now always be likened to the delicious Wagatha Christie case, here’s a quick primer.
The scandal started when C...
2024-01-15 11:35:43 +0000 UTC View Post