Make It or Break It

Chapter Three: Team Bonding

It had been over a week since Richard had become the new coach of Chelsea Football Club; Riley had gotten to meet most of the team although she wasn’t surprised that they weren’t that open with her.

Stretching Riley stepped out of her car and walked into Stamford Bridge; her father was organising some team exercises and insisted that Riley be there to supervise them to see if she could think of anything to make things better for the team.

The brunette sighed as she stepped into the lobby where the team were waiting to be told what was happening for the session; Richard was running a little late since he’d had Aiden for the night, insisting that his daughter have the night off.

Riley noticed that some of the players were watching her from their small groups, others just ignored her since they didn’t think she deserved the job she had been given.

“Mummy,” Aiden cried as he ran to Riley make everyone fall silent as they looked at the little boy as Riley picked him up and hugged him; her.

Richard nodded at Riley as she cuddled Aiden, then he turned his attention to the players who were looking at Riley and her son with interest.

“Alright boys… locker room and then on to the pitch,” Richard said snapping the boys into action, Aiden already telling Riley about his night staying at his grandparents. W

alking towards the pitch, Aiden continued to tell Riley about his night; she nodded along as her father talk about what they were doing today with his assistant coach.

Stepping onto the pitch, Riley quickly stepped into the dug-out and set Aiden down as he smiled up at his mother; she glanced at her father making sure he was far enough away before she spoke.

“Was Grandma nice to you?” Riley asked softly, Aiden suddenly fell silent and it was another moment before he nodded but Riley knew better; she knew just what her mother was like when it came to her only grandchild.

“Ignore her baby,” she said as the players started to make their way onto the pitch. Richard frown as he watched the older players group together while the younger ones and the newer players banded together; he took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Right, forwards on the right, midfielders centre, defenders left and goalkeepers far left,” he barked making the players look at him oddly, but didn’t move wondering where he was going with this; they looked at him as they waited to see what he would do.

“It wasn’t a suggestion pansies, get a move on,” he shouted making them quickly move into the team’s that he had told them to. Fernando sighed as he stood next to his fellow forwards, he never felt like he fit in with them and often tried to stay away from the older club players.

The Spaniard glanced at Riley who was talking quietly with Aiden; he watched them interact carefully, wishing that Olalla treated his children the way Riley treated Aiden.

***

The next few hours were spent doing team bonding and motivation exercises, Riley spent the day watching from the side-lines and taking a note of where there seemed to be problems in the team’s relationships.

Riley knew why her father seemed uneasy about training this team and was working them like dogs; Roman wasn’t known for his ability to wait for results after he had fired Andre Villas-Boas after eight short months.

“Mummy, what’s wrong with Grandpa?” Aiden asked making the brunette sigh and smiled down at him; ruffling his hair, she moved him onto her lap and hugged him close to her.

“Grandpa’s just a bit stressed,” Riley said making Aiden nod, they looked over at Richard who was shouting orders at the team.

The team played their first game in a couple of days and it didn’t give her father a lot of time to put his plans into place with Roman wanting results straight away.