Soccer Supremo - A Sports Progression Fantasy

”That’s right, buddy,” says Andrew, bending to fuss Solly around the mouth, around the ears. The elderly dog’s tail wags. Michael and Noah bend, too, and take their turns making Solly feel like a star player. The humans are doing a good job at making this easy for him.

Gemma says, ”Are you sure about this, Max?”

Max is wearing an expensive hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. He’s as fit as he has ever been and hours spent in the gym have given him a strong, upright posture. His face, though, is much more gaunt than usual. Managing in high-pressure football matches for Bayern Munich didn’t turn his hair grey, but this current situation is affecting him deeply. He says, ”Solly,” and the dog wiggles towards him. After a rocky start, they are fast friends. That’s how it goes with Max. ”Do you want to live with me or the Triplets? Bark ten times for me, eleven for Triplets.” The dog admires Max, tongue hanging out. ”That’s settled, then.”

”What does that mean?” says Gemma. ”You didn’t answer my question.”

”I can’t take him to Scotland or the Middle East, can I?” He kneels and Solly uses the human’s knees as a step, with the apparent intention of licking Max’s face. Max favours him with a chin rub instead. ”Anyway, he loves it here. He’s got his park, his people, and you can drop him into my mum’s house when you’re popping out. He’s got his corner and Angela has cupboards full of food and treats.” Max stands, decisively. ”No, he should stay here. He’s a gobby Manc twat, isn’t he? You can take the man out of Manchester, but you can’t take Manchester out of the man.”

Gemma says, ”If you take the man out of Manchester, you get Chester.”

Max smiles at her as though she’s a child who has counted to ten for the first time. ”That’s right, Gemma! Great spelling!”

Emma, a stunning blonde who is just as sharp as her friend, elbows Max in the ribs. ”Gems,” she says, hugging her bestie.

”Ems. See you in a few weeks.”

There are hugs and handshakes. The Triplets and Gemma take Solly’s lead and take him towards his favourite spot in the whole world - his park. His tail slaps from side to side; he doesn’t look back.

Anna says, ”Can I cry yet?”

Max says, ”No. He’s gone from living with two elderly women to living with four energetic young people. The house is five times bigger and three of the guys work outside. Every day’s gonna be a new adventure. Solly has levelled up. He has ascended.”

As we watch the four people cross the road, Solly straining against his lead to get to the park faster, it’s hard to argue with Max’s logic.

Anna cries anyway.

Max looks down and kicks a stray piece of gravel back onto the driveway. ”Let’s get into The Hearse. We’ve got a long drive ahead.”

***

We’re going to a city called Opole, which lies between Wrocław and Krakow. In theory, we could blast through the 1,130 miles in 20 hours, but Anna is too frail. Max has come up with a plan that involves as many as 34 stops, and a route that will take us through France, Belgium, and Germany. While Anna is in her hotel room resting, there will be plenty of time for football.

”What’s on today?” I wonder, as we leave Manchester and take the motorway south towards Birmingham.

”We’re having lunch with the Smith-Smithes,” says Max.

”Oh,” I say. ”Dani’s family? That’s unexpected.” Dani is one of the players on the Chester Women team. She’s deaf and Max had to work extremely hard to persuade her to sign up.

”They’re on the way, more or less.”

”Hmm,” I say. Part of my reason for coming on this trip was to be the first to know his plans, and if he hadn’t already decided, then to follow his thought process. Recent comments on my posts suggest that readers love it when I track my ideas in numerical form. To that end, I created the Decision-o-meter, which tracked Max’s options and the likelihood of them ’winning’.

Stay at Chester 33%

Conquer Scotland 33%

Sell Soul to an Oil State 33%

Why are we going to Dani Smith-Smithe’s house? To say goodbye? I take a couple of points from ’Stay at Chester’ and distribute them to the other options.

I take stock of the mood in the van. Anna is upset; she’ll never see Solly again. Emma is pensive, looking out of the window. Briggy, a tough German woman who is Max’s personal assistant and his bodyguard, is quiet. Saving her energy, perhaps, because she will be driving next. No-one is chatty and now that Max is distracted, this could be a good chance to get some info out of him. I have to start gently, though. ”How are the Triplets doing?”