February 14:
Valentine’s Day is a day of love. A day specifically set aside each year for
couples to affirm how much they care about each other. All around the world(The world, right? Valentine’s
Day isn’t just in the US/Europe is it?)men and women are showing their
affection for each other through gifts and whatnot. My Valentine’s Day has been a bit
different. Why? Well I’m glad you asked:
Haka told me today that I was released and now I’m in
Jakobstad, Finland to start a trial with FF Jaro of the Veikkausliiga.
I have been dumped by
my club. On Valentine’s Day.
And that is how you bury a lead. Let me backtrack a bit. First, we gotta set the scene. Cue the music that plays while the heist from Ocean's 11 is explained at the end…screen fades to white
to signify that we’re talking about the past aaaaaaannnnnnnddddd we’re in:
Six hours ago I was getting a massage to help recover from
the double trainings that I had with Haka on Monday and today. This morning, I spent the better part of an
hour after training with Sami and the other strikers working on finishing. In the afternoon we finished a difficult
practice with fitness. After it was all
done I was pretty tired and looking forward to an off day Wednesday. I was going to go look for a television for
my room.
While I’m getting my massage, Sami hands me an envelope with
the reimbursement from my flight and asks to speak with me in his office as
soon as my massage is finished. This
struck me as a bit unusual, but I figured that there were only one of a few
things that the meeting could be about: 1) He wants me to sign a contract for
less money, 2) He wants me to sign a contract with more years since I’m going
to be an obvious starter, or 3) A combination of the first two. Before I can meet with him I get a call from
my finnish agent who was provided to me by my agent here in the US saying that
Sami has made an unacceptable offer and that he (the agent) will be around to
pick me up in an hour to go to another club.
Quite the shocking message to receive.
By this time, Sami had to run out to do something so I went
home and started to pack everything I owned back into the suitcases, duffle bag
and backpack. I was truly very sad and
couldn’t figure out how or why this was happening. Wasn’t my contract guaranteed after the 11th? Wasn’t I the starting striker for this
club? Did I not show in training and the
first match that I could help disproportionately to the value of my contract? I even wondered if the prospect of me leaving
might force Sami into reconsidering his decision.
The meeting did finally happen about an hour later at the
clubhouse, with my bags packed in the agent’s car. Sami and I had a frank discussion about the
situation. I don’t feel any qualms about
discussing our conversation here because I think that info like this is kinda
the whole point of me making a blog about playing in Europe and secondly
because I seriously doubt Sami reads my blog.
Anyway, Sami told me that he liked my play and that he believed that I
was up to the level of the finnish league, something I agree with. However, the club is not in a great place
financially and for him to make the commitment to find a way to pay my salary,
he had to be absolutely sure I was the player for the job. He said that he just couldn’t be sure. Sami then went on to say that after the first
match I played against Mariehamn, he was ready to go through with the deal
100%, but that after my performance in the 2nd match he became
hesitant. As I think about that it makes
my mind go all over the place. I believe
that had the two matches been reversed and my better performance had been more
recent, then the contract would have been granted. Sami wanted me to stay for an extended trial
for another week or two, but the finnish agent and I both thought that was an
unacceptable request. I also didn’t
mention the fact that I have a signed contract as far as I know. I signed a contract they faxed to me and then
faxed it back. I assumed the team
president then signed the contract making it valid, but it’s possible he never
did. That would have made my contract
more like a mortgage without a promissory note aka worthless.
Once Sami had his say, I had a chance to speak my mind. I didn’t run my mouth off and yell and scream
but I did make some points that I thought he should know before I left. I started by saying that my performance in
the second match was in part due to fatigue since I hadn’t played a full match
in a very long time, let alone two in four days. He agreed there and also noted without my
suggesting it that the whole team played poorly and it would have been
difficult for me to show well in such a game.
I then went on to say that I really enjoyed my time at Haka and I hoped
that Sami changes his mind because I’d be happy to put this little mess behind
us and join up again with the boys. I
also asked him to tell the squad goodbye for me and sorry that I couldn’t tell
them in person. I didn’t want any of the
guys thinking I just disappeared in the middle of the night for no reason and
didn’t even give them the courtesy of saying goodbye. But, most importantly, I made sure that Sami
knew that what he saw in the three weeks I was here over two separate trials
was the player he was getting. He didn’t
need to see me for another week because I’m still gonna be the same player next
week as I am this week. If you need to
see more at this point, you’re saying one of two things: either you think I just need to be coached to
be the player you want or you don’t think I can be that player and you just
wanted to be extra sure. I think Sami
believes the former so maybe there’s a chance I end up at Haka after all.
Anywho, now I’m in Jakobstad in a hotel. I play a match tomorrow with a team that I
have never met and know nothing about. I
have no idea what formation Jaro play, where they want me to play or how they
play. I don’t know the coaches name or
where they finished in the league last year.
I do know that we are playing the club that finished 3rd
place last season, so we’re definitely in for a tough test. I just hope my body can handle a match on a
day that I thought would be free until a few hours ago. Stay tuned people and wish me luck!
Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day.
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