Putting the Boot In

David O'Connor

Description

Illustrious Australian football coach David O'Connor has arrived in Singapore to very little fanfare. His love for the game and desire to develop the tiny country's fledgling professional league in a big way has seen him accepting terms he's less than thrilled about-that is, if his contract even materializes. He faces the daunting task of rebuilding a team whose spirit and confidence is in shatters. He has to bridge cultural divides and finds a way to inspire his team to believe in him, the game, and importantly, themselves and each other. And slowly but surely Gombak United begins to ascend from the bottom of the league table, soon recognized as a force to be reckoned with. But at the height of his success, David is suddenly dropped from the team, marking the start of his downward spiral into drink and womanizing. His journey is fraught with difficulties, leaving him with broken ventures and financial troubles. But David is a fighter, and in a country that seems intent to break him-and jail him even-he is determined to rise again.

Informations

• Publié par: MarshallCavendishM
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814382977
• Langue: English

Extrait

2012 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
Cover art by OpalWorks Co Ltd
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: [phone], fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail] . Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no events be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices: Marshall Cavendish Ltd. PO Box 65829, London EC1P INY, UK Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data O Connor, David, 1952- Putting the boot in / David O Connor. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, c2012. p. cm. eISBN : 978-981-4382-97-7
1. O Connor, David, 1952- 2. Soccer coaches - Singapore - Biography. 3. Soccer coaches - Australia - Biography. 4. Soccer - Coaching - Singapore. I. Title.
GV942.7 796.334092 - dc22 OCN769989567
Printed in Singapore
For Agnes Chan. There is no way I would have finished this book without your help and drive. You inspired me when I had given up on it.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Lincoln Hall who started the book, Agnes Chan for the research and endless hours working on the book and John Taylor for starting the adventure.
Note
To protect the rights of those who have crossed paths with the author, the names of some of the characters have been changed and certain events altered.
Contents
Chapter 1
Welcome Back
Chapter 2
Reflections
Chapter 3
Selamat Datang Gombak
Chapter 4
Losing Face
Chapter 5
The S-League: Then And Now
Chapter 6
Shaping Up
Chapter 7
Morale, Morality And Bad Smells
Chapter 8
Surprise Beginnings
Chapter 9
Kelong
Chapter 10
Turning Point
Chapter 11
Selamat Jalan Gombak
Chapter 12
Depression On The Horizon
Chapter 13
Bad Company
Chapter 14
Was All This A Set Up?
Chapter 15
Downward Spiral
Chapter 16
Return To The S-League
Chapter 17
Clawing My Way Back
Chapter 18
Meeting The Devil
Chapter 19
Back On Track-Yet Again
Chapter 20
On The Run
Chapter 21
Homeward Bound
Chapter 22
Prison Life
Chapter 23
One Door Closes, Another One Opens
Chapter 1
Welcome Back
I walked out of the courthouse, through the glass doors, and down the steps. Suddenly five men surrounded me. One of them stepped forward.
Are you David O Connor?
I recognised him as a former player I had coached only two years before at Woodlands in the S-League.
You know who the fuck I am, I replied. So why are you asking me my name?
I am sorry but I have to ask you again: Are you David O Connor?
Yes, you know I am. What is this all about?
We are bailiffs and you are under arrest. We have instructions to escort you to jail.
I asked him why I was being arrested but all he would say was that his orders were to take me to Queenstown Remand Prison and that the authorities would inform me of the reason for my arrest when I got there.
I had been back in Singapore less than 24 hours and here I was being arrested. What a welcome back.
I told him my lawyer was in the courthouse and that I would speak to him to get legal advice on my rights. I walked back up the steps, back through the big glass doors and found my lawyer, SS Dhillon, in the foyer talking with someone. I interrupted them and told Dhillon my situation. He followed me outside to the waiting bailiffs. I waited nervously as he talked to them.
Well, David, this is the situation. They have a warrant for your arrest and you have two choices: You can make a run for it, but if you do that they will find you for sure. Besides you will not be able to leave the country, as they will get you at the immigration as soon as you present your passport. Or, you can go with them now and I will try and sort it out for you in the morning.
Some fucking choice.
So off we went-the five bailiffs, my friend John Taylor and myself-all squashed into a little car. In no time the car entered through massive iron gates and into Queenstown Remand Prison. I was escorted out of the car and into a reception area and told to sit down. After about five minutes a prison warden beckoned me into a room. I was told that I had been sentenced to 14 days jail for contempt of court arising from a problem with my former employers.
I was not allowed a phone call and after completing some paperwork I was told to empty my pockets. I had given John Taylor my passport and valuables in the car on the way to Queenstown, so all I had on me were a few dollars and my reading glasses. They would not let me keep the glasses because the rims were not plastic, so I passed them to John and asked him to change them and bring them back as soon as possible.
I was then taken into a big corridor and told to wait outside another set of big iron bar gates. Then I was led through the gates into a courtyard where I saw prison wardens with dogs. One of them shouted for me to remove all my clothes and to be quick about it. I was wearing a suit and tie as I had been in court but I quickly changed into my other suit- my birthday suit .
So there I was standing in a stone courtyard completely naked when suddenly two guards picked up water hoses and turned them on me. The water was freezing and took my breath away. I was told to bend over and they checked to see if I was hiding anything up my backside.
Fuck me dead, I thought, I am only here for contempt of court. What the fuck do you think I would have up my arse? They turned the hose off, threw me a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and told me to put them on. I wasn t even given a towel to dry myself.
Next they marched me through a number of doors, unlocking and then locking each one as we went through. I was then put into a cell, which was just four walls of concrete with nothing inside besides the toilet, which was just a hole in the corner. There was nothing else, no bed or washbasin, absolutely nothing. The door banged loudly behind me and the key turned, locking me in. The light was switched off leaving me in darkness. I lay down on the concrete floor, my mind trying to take in the events of the day.
How the fuck had I ended up like this?
Only a short while ago I was a sought-after coach in the S-League. I had successfully turned Gombak United from a team of easy beats at the bottom of the league into a team of winners that were respected by all.
I reflected on the roller coaster six years that I had spent in Singapore where I had tasted the fruits of success and also the bitterness of despair. I lay down on the floor. The concrete floor felt a lot like rock bottom to me. Singapore had tried to break me on many occasions and in truth, it had nearly succeeded. But I was not going to let it break me especially since I was back for just a visit. My six years had been controversial to say the least. In that time I had both loved and hated the place. I should have known from the moment I first arrived in the Lion City that I was in for a bumpy ride. Talk about sex, drugs and rock and roll. Singapore is that and then more, and if you are not careful it can eat you up and spit you out.
Chapter 2
Reflections
It s funny but whenever you are in trouble or your life is at a crossroad you always seem to reflect on your past. It s like you are trying to look for comfort to blank out your situation. When I was in prison I thought a lot about my past.
Despite not being a real Christian I have somehow always turned to the Lord for help. Many times I thought He had forsaken me but the truth is He was beside me all the time. I was born into a Roman Catholic family but stopped going to church at an early age. When I was young, a friend who lived on our street was going to visit his uncle who lived on a farm. His mum and dad asked me along. I was so excited because I had never been on a farm before. I ran home to ask my mum if I could go but because they were going to the farm on a Sunday I was not allowed to go because my mum said I had to go to church. I begged her to let me go but she would not change her mind and insisted that I had go to church. I was so disappointed and upset. This small thing turned me against religion for a long time. On a recent visit home I spoke to my mother about the incident and she was surprised to hear about it. She told me that she regretted not letting me go as God would have understood me missing one Sunday. Funny how such a small incident can have such a big effect on one s life.
My childhood was wonderful and I have only happy memories growing up in a poor but loving family. I come from a family of 17-15 children plus Mum and Dad. There were nine girls and six boys and we were brought up in a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Rotherham, Yorkshire, in the north of England. It will be no surprise to learn that