(Academy of Light, Cleadon, Tyne and Wear, England, Europe)
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(Mike Dods POV)
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Sunderland was in a bad spot, he was only the interim manager and head coach, but it was up to him to make their situation better until the club put someone else in charge. He needed players who were fresh and could do what they did well. This is why John Hewitson called him to come to the Academy of Light. There were three young prospects at the Academy who stood out and had great synergy.
Nathaniel Reddington.
Louis Ingram.
Conor O'Shea.
These three boys were from multicultural families and grew up in New Zealand, Ingram was born in Bristol but was raised in NZ, whereas O'Shea and Reddington both were born and raised in New Zealand and had secondary nationalities. Reddington was eligible for the Netherlands through his maternal grandfather, while O'Shea was eligible for Ireland through his father and grandfather. Reddington was the youngest of the three and seemed to be the lynchpin of their success, with O'Shea and Ingram acting primarily as the Right and Left Wingers, Reddington could act as either a Striker, Central Forward, or Attacking Midfielder. O'Shea could work on either wing or as a striker, while Ingram was limited somewhat in comparison as he lacked as much versatility due to playing exclusively as a Left Winger or Striker.
Between the three of them, their debut with the Under 18's had set a record. Largest win in an Under 18's match at home. 9-1 was the margin, with Reddington netting four, O'Shea netting a hat trick and Ingram bagging a brace. It would seem it was time to call them up. These three could provide a significant boost to Sunderland's attacking play, maybe even push them over the edge for promotion back to the English Premier League. John had warned him that the three were extremely versatile, but their greatest synergy was with each other. He idly noted, however, that Reddington seemed to be able to form synergy with just about anybody. Clearly he was the lynchpin of the trio.
He was familiar enough with the three, having watched their progress closely over the four years they'd been at the academy. The trio had been poached from the Youth System at the Phoenix after Phillips went to New Zealand for a holiday with his family and happened to spend a day or two training with the Phoenix Youth. The trio had been a veritable terror, their successes at youth level and the Special Olympics at that had caught the club's eye. Reddington for instance had two Gold medals at the Kiwi's national summer games for swimming as well as a Bronze and Silver. He later switched to football which is how he got on the Phoenix's Radar. He had suggested they look at O'Shea and Ingram, and thus this Saga had begun. Although all three were Special Needs in some form or another, their disabilities didn't prevent them from playing at a professional level. There were concerns of course, especially with O'Shea, but the club felt the risk was worth taking.
It was interesting to note that although Reddington was the Lynchpin, he was an extremely private and solitary person. Although he could form friendships easily enough, he had a lot of trust issues.
Which naturally made him concerned for the potential cohesion in the squad. The saving grace was he was the peacemaker of the trio. Ingram and O'Shea were extremely competitive, especially with each other. Ingram was extremely proud, bordering on arrogant. O'Shea by comparison.
It remained to be seen for his part whether or not they were ready to come up to the Senior Squad, bypassing the under 21's entirely.
That would make headlines no doubt. Which in turn would put pressure on the three lads. How they dealt with that pressure would be telling.
Mike supposed it was time to see what all the fuss was about….
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(Author's Note:)
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Wanted the first Chapter to be small and simple since the story isn't all about Dodds. I know some of you are probably mad I didn't go for a Premier League side, but respectfully, I don't really care. The reason I don't care is because I have no desire to start off in the Premier League or any other top league. And in any case I'm a Sunderland Supporter for the same reason my Grandfather supports West Ham. It's a working-class club with a loyal fanbase.
Besides it's gonna be very fun to have Reddington, Ingram, and O'Shea come from practically nothing and out of nowhere and set the English Championship on fire and to find out whether that can get them to the Prem and keep them there. I've largely based Ingram, O'Shea, and Reddington after myself and two friends of mine, who've given me their blessing to use them as models for the two relevant characters. I also want to warn my fellow fans in advance that because I don't have access to televised matches for the Sky Bet Championship and the fact that I, therefore, rely upon Football Manager 2024 to provide me with a lot of seasonal stuff, a lot if not all of the matches outright won't line up with what happened in the second tier of English football in the 2023-2024 season, so my story will focus on that season the game gives me as well as any seasons, competitions, International matches and competitions and pre-season stuff after it.
See you guys at the next chapter.
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A special thanks to Mitchell Howard, David Martinez, ROGUE505 Saver, Mathew T Linderman, Luck George, Kyle Diano, Julien, Morgan Sinn, Attila Kovács, and HxC 740 VxD for their support on P-atreon.
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