Thursday morning, 5:30 am. Interval training 1 minute fast, 2 minutes recovery, repeat eight times.
[SYSTEM] Interval Training Complete. Fitness: +0.6%. Speed: 29/100 → 30/100.
Tom Fletcher's interview lasted twenty minutes. He was 48, old-school, with a no-nonsense demeanor. He was competent, experienced, but his approach was outdated. He talked about "running them into the ground" and "toughening them up." He didn't mention load management, injury prevention, or sports science once.
After he left, I called Gary.
"Rebecca Thompson. I want to hire her."
"Done. I'll get HR to send the contract."
"And Michael Steele for goalkeeping."
"Also done. When can they start?"
"As soon as possible."
"I'll make it happen. Good choices, Danny."
I hung up, feeling a mix of excitement and terror. I was building a team. A real coaching team. It was exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.
