Previously...When the plane touched down at the Manchester airport, their original destination, Landers had the new scheduling plans set in motion. They'd have an overnight layover anyway, but the assistant coach Jonathan Rothstein announced to the players that their plane would not be headed next to Barrassa, but to Cleopatrana.
The players cheered - not only were they relieved to not travel to this desolate venue, which they hadn't quite understood when the DFA first announced the decision - but they were excited at the prospect of heading to Cleopatrana - which was now quickly becoming internationally known as Delaclav "party central".
Jared Thompson - who was by now, unofficially the elder statesman of the team and of the "crew" - exchanged a glance with Michael DeFrancis, who knew exactly what his job was - to put on a party that made the Manchester orgy seem like a private gathering in comparison. Michael got to work immediately making calls, finding houses and venues, and spreading the word in the "party network".
Landers was back on the phone too, but while Michael was trying to track down as many people as he possibly could, Landers was on the phone looking for one person, and he thought he knew who could help - Dhiego Vera, the Cleopatrana SC manager. When Landers was still the Steckholl United manager, they shared an intense yet respectful rivalry, and he was sure Vera would be alarmed about the recent developments.
Landers dialed and thankfully heard an almost immediate, "Hey Tim, how are you?"
"Well, Dhiego, and you?"
"Very good. Congrats on your success so far!"
Landers laughed, "It's been a bit tough. We're really up against it with some of the teams out there, but it's been a heck of a journey."
"Well, what you've done with this team is admirable. You've set us up very well going forward. And our league will benefit from it."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it. Listen, I have a favor to ask."
"Okay?"
"Can you provide Ryan Keating's Cleopatrana address, or point me to someone at your club who can?"
"Uh...sure, but why can't you ask him?"
"He's not with the team. He left?"
There was a brief yet heavy silence on the other end. Then, "Are you serious?! What happened?"
"I don't know - he texted me the evening after the Jeruselem match that he was packing up and heading home. He didn't answer when I tried to reach him. We had to go straight to Acronius so I'm trying to handle this now."
"My goodness... is he okay?"
"I think so? I'm assuming at least that he headed home, but I'm trying to talk to him and figure this out? I had him on the bench but I don't think he would have stormed out over that."
Almost interrupting Landers, Vera replied, "Absolutely not. I saw in some matches that he wasn't playing great, but I'd think he would keep working to make it back."
"Yes, Dhiego, that's exactly what was happening. So I'm shocked."
"Ok, well give me a second here, let me find it..." Landers heard shifting of papers in the background. "So when are you paying him a visit?"
"Tomorrow, actually."
"You're not headed to Barrassa?"
"I told the DFA to put this together so we could play the Shipyard instead. It makes more sense anyway. We badly need some morale to get through these last few games."
"Well, good, I'm not sure why they were sending you to that forsaken place at all. Anyway, Ryan lives at 128 Timiocato Drive. I know the area, it's just a side street right along Ocean Avenue, not far from the Shipyard actually."
"Great, Dhiego, thank you so much. And I may need to call later too - if I can't get Ryan back, I might need to know who's in town to replace him."
Dhiego laughed a little bit. "Sure - I bet some of these guys should be with you now anyway."
Landers chuckled as well. "I know, I know - I wish I'd had more to do with the selection. The guys I have are great, but the DFA threw it all together in about two days and I've tried to manage."
"No, I get it, that's not on you at all. It's a learning curve for everyone."
Landers, relieved that he wasn't dealing with that situation now, replied, "Well, I should go - it's not long before we're headed back on the plane. Thanks so much for this."
"Anytime. Let me know if you find out what's up with Ryan. I don't want him to feel like he's being hunted down, so I'll give him space until you get here."
"Sounds good, Dhiego. Take care."
***
Tim Landers barely slept that night, and eventually he just gave up and got ready to meet his team and get back on the charter plane. It was just under two hours to get from Manchester to Cleopatrana, but it was a highly nervous wait for the Delaclav manager.
He didn't know exactly what he was going to find out when he spoke with Ryan - or rather,
if - but he knew he was not going to like it.
The plane finally touched down, a shade before 8 am. At this time of year in Cleopatrana, that meant the sun was long out. The early risers had already gotten in their morning runs, coffee and pastries, and the shopping district was already starting to fill up.
As the players were standing up, taking down their duffel bags, Landers motioned for Keaton Durbridge to come forward. The captain stepped up, and Landers said:
"Keaton, today's going to be easy going. The bus is going to take you all to the Cleopatrana practice facility - get everybody loose, light practice, get the heart rate going a little bit."
"Sure, Coach. Where are you going?"
"To get Ryan."
Keaton nodded, his eyes now tinged with worry. "Good luck."
***
Landers was blown away as he drove up to the large, bright, open house. The exterior seemed to be equal parts white oak and glass, with balconies and views all around - most importantly, the ocean. Whether this was inherited money or prizes from Cleopatrana SC's success, Ryan at least had this going with him.
Through one of the large glass panes, Landers could see Ryan walking around, and was flooded with relief. Landers hadn't thought the worst outcomes to be likely, but it was certainly nice to rule them out.
***
Ryan Keating was going about business as usual. He'd been back home for a few days, and following the usual routine that he enjoyed - morning run, coffee and breakfast, take in the beach views, then fill up the day with visits to the markets and cafes. He'd encountered some people he knew, and they were glad to see him - and fortunately, since it was now national news that Keating had left the team without notice, they didn't ask too many questions.
Ryan didn't know what was next for him, but at the very least, he had been able to put that out of mind for the next few days.
Then he heard a knock on the door, saw his coach through the glass, and at first was filled with a hot surge of discomfort. That was quickly replaced, as he realised,
Okay, time to deal with this. And on some level, he was grateful that his coach had cared enough to find him.
Ryan walked over and opened the door. "Hey, Coach, how can I help you?"
Landers cocked an eyebrow as he shook Ryan's outstretched hand. "Really?"
Ryan shook his head with amusement. "You're right. Dumb question. Come in."
Landers stepped in, taking in the splendor of the house. He had no idea that this place would get regularly trashed by hundreds of partiers on the evenings - it was immaculate, had a peaceful yet energetic flow. Landers couldn't help but understand exactly Ryan would want to be here instead of anywhere else - especially depending on what he was about to hear.
"Coffee?" Ryan asked.
"Sure," Landers said. "What've you got?"
"It's a Laurelan blend." Ryan looked at his coach. "You want a bit of MCT oil in yours? You look like you could wake up a bit."
"I definitely could," Landers said, and Ryan obliged. They walked over into the living room, on two sofas positioned corner to corner, and sat down.
Ryan looked at his coach hesitantly. "So, uh... where do we begin?"
"Well," Landers tried not to be too blunt, but it was the only question he could lead with, "why did you leave?"
Ryan sighed and ruffled his hair a bit. "Look, you have to understand, it wasn't about the playing time. Did I want to play more? Of course. But I know at that time when I needed to be in my best form, I wasn't. Then Brent got on a heater and you stuck with him. So I get that you stuck with him, and I hope you don't think I wasn't working my butt off the whole time."
Landers laughed. "I know, I know. That isn't you."
"But it just got to a point - what with losing the starting job, then I've had other stuff going on - I really just felt like I didn't know who I was. Honestly, I panicked a bit. I'm sorry."
"No, no, it's fine," Landers reassured him. "But what else was going on? You don't have to tell me, but if just losing the starting job wasn't enough - well, I'm curious."
Ryan paused for a moment, then thought, What the hell. "So I came back here during the qualifying break for a few days, before we headed to Manchester for the Stars match. And there was a party that I went to..." he trailed.
He saw the look of fright on Landers' face and quickly continued, "It's okay, nothing terrible happened! But there was a good friend of mine - I was too drunk... and he tried to force himself onto me. Like, this is someone I've hooked up with before, but a bunch of my teammates were there, I'd be talking to them and this guy would come up behind me and start fondling. So it just put me in an embarrassing spot. Then he tried to solicit me when I was about to leave."
Ryan didn't realise that he was going to divulge that much to the manager - not even his own club coach - but there it was, and he again put his head in his hands to collect himself. Landers shook his head. "Wow, that's... I'm sorry."
"Thanks. Yeah, so since then, it's just really hurt my mood. I was trying to keep working hard but I just couldn't focus. Then with some of the stuff going on with the team, it was just a constant reminder."
Landers' eyes flew wide - no need for coffee at this point. "What does the team have to do with this?"
Ryan realised what he'd let slip. He hadn't meant to do that, but at this point? There was no use running from the truth.
"Well, a bunch of us have kind of all been...seeing each other. Mainly, I was in a relationship with Jared, but a lot of other guys were involved too. And in all the different cities, there'd be different get-togethers, we'd get as many people as we could and go at it. But after this party happened, I wasn't interested in it anymore, but kept getting pressured into continuing on. It just broke me down."
Landers was shocked. "So - in Manchester, after the Jeruselem match - "
"We had another hotel with at least a thousand people. I was told I had to go. I ended up bailing early, that's when I told you I was out."
Landers felt anger boiling up inside of him, but was determined to temper it, and now he put his head in his hands, to calm himself. "Ryan... I know this is a tough spot you're in, and I'm sorry. And I'm not trying to come down any more on you."
"But-"
"But this is not good. We were in a position where if a few games had gone our way the past several weeks, we could have had a real shot at qualifying. This tells me that you and anyone one who was involved with this, you guys were fooling around and weren't focused enough on getting the job done."
Ryan sighed, almost near tears. "I know. I'm sorry - this just got out of hand."
"This is not the culture we need to be building if we are to succeed as a football team. You know I have to do something about this. Who else was involved?"
Ryan paused. "Coach, you must know I want to help. But I can't rat on them."
Landers was about to boil over, when Ryan added, "I told you about Jared - if you want to find out more, maybe start with him?"
Landers took a breath. He respected Ryan's honor in the situation, and he at least had enough info to keep going. "Yeah, I'll do that."
There was a long silence. Eventually, Tim thought it best to defuse the conversation for a bit, asked Ryan about the house, and they made small talk for a while.
Eventually, Landers said, "Well, I should get going, figure all of this out. I just want to know - are you doing ok?"
Ryan smiled. "Yeah. I'm really sorry to bail, but I really needed this break."
"Any chance I could get you to return?"
"Not right now, honestly. On and off the field, the team's not the best place for me to be."
"I understand that. Well, take care. We're in town for a few days, of course, let me know if you need anything."
"I appreciate that, Coach."
Landers strode out of the house a few minutes later, on a mission. This was bigger than one man's personal troubles. He had a culture of distraction and indulgence on his team, and it was his job to wipe it out.
***
Landers got back to the hotel just as the team had returned from practice. The team was buzzing, ready to put their stuff away and hit the town. Landers had different ideas.
"Durbridge, Thompson! May I speak with you?"
The captain and the veteran goalkeeper came over. "Gentlemen... I just had an interesting chat with Ryan Keating. Jared, who's taking part in the team orgies?"
"What??" the captain reacted, incredulous.
Jared swallowed uncomfortably, then managed to get out, "What?"
"Don't play dumb, Jared," the manager pressed on. "Are you planning one of these tonight too?"
"Sir, I really don't know what you're on about," the goalie lied through his teeth.
Landers wasn't sure how to proceed with this stonewall, but at that very moment, Michael DeFrancis, the equipment manager, walked into the hotel. He and Jared exchanged a furtive glance, and Landers caught it, and walked up to Michael, who had taken out his phone almost immediately.
"Son, give me that."
"This is none of your business!"
"Listen, son," but he had no more to do, as Durbridge had stepped over and smacked the phone out of Michael's hand, picked it up and handed it to his coach, standing menacingly between Landers and the young equipment manager.
Landers scrolled through and quickly found the group chat called "Cum On Phoenixes
". He found the distribution list and was stunned. Donato Girardi. Rhydian Campbell. Pavel Cicak.
This was some serious star power on this list, but Landers knew what he had to do. But he had one more question for Jared. "So, I'm going to take care of this, but Jared, do you want to tell me why you wouldn't let Ryan get out of this?"
Jared hung his head, and said, "Honestly? I just wanted to mess with him, and keep him around. And he was so easy to treat well, make him feel good, make him want to stay."
Durbridge had heard enough. Thompson was a full five inches taller than Durbridge, but he pushed the goalie hard and shouted, "Are you fucking kidding? We're been trying to win football matches and you've been getting everybody to screw around? Don't try to play in this country ever again - I will fucking cut you down -"
Fortunately, a few players had stuck around from the very start of the conversation, suspecting some drama, and now Lukas Meyer and George Ross came into the lobby, took Durbridge back a few steps, forcing him to relax for a second. Landers took over:
"Jared, I think this goes without saying, but pack your bags, you're done. Michael, you're going to help me figure all of this out. Come with me and Keaton now."
***
A couple of hours later - a lot of shouting from Keaton Durbridge, overwrought crying from Michael, and Landers just trying to make sense of it all - Landers was armed with all of the details he needed. He picked up his own phone to redial his last call:
"Hey, Dhiego, you got a minute?"
"Yeah! Is Ryan okay?"
"He's fine. I spoke with him, he's doing well, just needed a break. Listen, I can't explain what's going on yet, but I need you to help me find seven players who are in town."
"Seven? My goodness, what is going on?"
"We've got a major problem - everyone will find out more later, but I just need to fill out the roster to play Simpralia tomorrow."
Landers had already instructed his staff to call a press conference at the team hotel, and after the phone call, Landers stepped into the hotel's ballroom. The press were all in attendance, confused about what they were about to hear.
Landers sat down, took out a piece of paper, cleared his throat, and began:
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming on such short notice. I have a significant announcement that will pertain not only to tomorrow's game against Simpralia, but for the remainder of the campaign and for this program going forward.
"Effectively immediately, the following players are dismissed and suspended indefinitely from the team for misconduct, pending further investigation: Jared Thompson, Josh Torres, Pavel Cicak, Brent Ritchie, Zane Davis, Donato Girardi, Rhydian Campbell, Gunnar Sash, Jesse Bates, Quentin Bard, Ryan Walters, and Declan Mullins, as well as coaches Jessica Garcia and Allison Rhimes."
"Tomorrow's starting lineup will be as follows: goalkeeper George Ross; defenders Luke Lemieux, Valentin Gusev, Chris Lang, Kelly Torres; midfielders Timur Zaitsev and Keaton Durbridge; attacking midfielder Lukas Meyer; and midfielders Dathan Ingram, Dashaun Howard, and Alexei Gusev.
"The reserves will be goalkeeper Tomasz Janaczek, defenders Mike Hamill and Radko Rácz, midfielders Sawyer Rotan and Jeremy Walsh, and forward Kevin Dillon.
"I would like to thank Dhiego Vera, the manager of Cleopatrana SC, for helping me to procure players who could fill out the lineup for tomorrow's match, to my captain Keaton Durbridge for his team leadership, and the players who are stepping up on short notice to play for their country. I will have more information regarding the misconduct of the suspended players at an appropriate time. For now, we need to prepare to take on Simpralia. I will not take any questions."
Delaclava 2-2 Simpralia
SIMP, Simp (Simp, Simp) 17'. SIMP, Simp (Simp, Simp) 23'. DEL, Meyer (Durbridge, A. Gusev) 41'. DEL, Howard (Lemieux) 58'.
DEL, Ross (Janaczek 46'); Lemieux, V. Gusev, Lang, Joseph; Zaitsev (Rotan 46'), Meyer, Durbridge; Ingram, Howard, A. Gusev.
Landers was relieved that the Simpralia game was now over, but he barely had time to enjoy that the Phoenixes had achieved a home draw despite a raggedly assembled bunch of nationals and club players, when his phone rang. It was Ted McQueen, the president of the DFA.
"Hi Ted."
"Tim. First of all, well done with the match. You were up against it and your team managed to pull through."
"Thank you," Landers replied, fearing what was coming next.
"Look, we saw the press conference, we've gotten some leaked information about the misconduct you're talking about. We're not at all pleased with how this went down."
"Ted, I did the best I could -"
"I'm sure you were trying to do the right thing, but when someone tells us that you're going to find seven replacement players without having us in the loop at all-"
"Did Dhiego say something to you-"
"then you go out into a presser and suspend twelve players, again without giving the DFA so much as a heads up, it's a major pain in the ass for us."
"You're right, it would've been better if I'd called, but I had to act quickly."
"That's not even our biggest problem. The fact that there were massive orgies and parties going on under your nose, and you had no idea? Either you didn't know, or you're cultivating such a lax culture that the players can do whatever they want without any regard for their responsibilities. I know you have a tough job, but these players had no accountability to you, and more than half of the team took advantage of that in some of the worst ways."
Landers had no rebuttal for this. None of it was wrong, and he was in no position to fight back.
"We're going to investigate all of the suspended players, and Ryan Keating. And while we're doing that, you're done as well."
"Excuse me?" Landers inquired. This was the one outcome he had not foreseen at the beginning of the day, but here it was:
"You and the remainder of your coaching staff are also suspended until further notice."