PILGRIMAGE TO THE MECCA OF SOCCER , SIR ALEX FERGUSON , TEAM DYNAMICS– CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
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Last Sunday the TV, was on while I was reading a magazine sipping chilled beer.
The soccer match between Manchester United and Aston Villa had just got over. Manchester United had won the English Premier League for a record 20th time.
I saw the manager of Manchester United club Sir Alec Ferguson wending his way to the Stretford End to pay tribute to the noisy die hard supporters of his club as the loudspeakers pumped out The Courteeners, the rock band of Manchester.
He bend down to bow and hail . The hooligans loved it and they creamed their collective heads off .
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My wife shouted “ Look out for Ashwin ( my eldest son ) . He will be somewhere in the Stretford stands sitting right between all those hooligans . ( to soak in the atmosphere )”
My eyes picked out my son in a black coat .
My wife said “ No, that cant be him, for he had promised to wear the red Manchester United Jersey”.
I told her off “ Baby, you are now challenging ze trained Captain’s eye , who has navigated his ship through heavy traffic and fog for 30 years “
We could NOT verify who was right immediately and he left his mobile in USA. It makes no sense to go on a holiday with a mobile you take to your workplace in your pocket . Computer developer colleagues keep calling to ask doubts.
So later it so transpired it was indeed him in that black coat, standing with both his hands on the railings in the courseway looking down directly at Ferguson...
See how times have changed.
I remember in my time going to the local beach was a great thing – leave alone a trans-Atlantic flight to see a game of soccer.
Of course he went and saw some old castles in Wales. He could feel ghosts inside the dark and dingy rooms.
My elder son is a soccer nut. He supports Manchester United. My wife supports Chelsea and yours truly supports Manchester City.
My son travelled all the way to City’s stadium too, and sat on the seat of Tevez in the player’s lounge ( I am a Tevez fan ) , just for mE sake.
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Above: My elder son grinning like the cat who swallowed all ze cream.
There is a lot more to soccer than what meets the eye. A good soccer manager understands “team dynamics”.
In my official email messages from my ship, under my signature would be a subtle “team dynamics” message. Officially I am NOT allowed to do this. But then who is gonna bell the cat? – nobody tried.
Needless to say, the recipients of my emails used to telephone me and say that they always read my “RE-INVENTING TEAM DYNAMICS “ ( RITD ) agent provocateur punch lines first and then only the read the actual message.
Some of the Yanks used to save these punch lines in a word document , because their wives and children back home can read it— they thought it was eastern mysticism .
Punch into Google search TEAM WORK, TEAM DYNAMICS VADAKAYIL.
You can check it out yourself – basically “Thought for the day” .
In my case every punch line related to something which happened the previous day— it alluded to something and somebody, and people in the shore offices used to put 2 and 2 together , make it 5 and have a nice laugh.
TO BE CONTINUED