Читать книгу Brilliant - Greg Pius - Страница 10

With the death of his father, Simon couldn't cope with sponsorship deals or public relations deals or any of the mundane aspects of life or of his career. Thankfully Saltos was there to make whatever decisions had to be made, to act as a buffer between Simon and those wanting to waste his time and energy and to remind Simon of his promise to his father to keep playing football.

Christopher Saltos was born in Greece. After an outstanding career in the Special Forces, Saltos turned his hand to managing sports men and women. He started in golf and moved on to soccer, only managing the best of the best. When the opportunity came up to act as Simon's manager Saltos grabbed it. He had seen Simon play and knew he had a great career in front of him. He liked Simon and his no nonsense attitude to the sport and he liked Simon's father who obviously cared for his son and what was in Simon's best interests.

Now that Tamum had died, Saltos felt a strong need to protect Simon in this saddest of times and to encourage him to return to the sport he loved so much. Santos knew that if Simon could focus on playing, time would heal the pain which seemed overwhelming. Saltos said to Simon,

"Simon I know you miss your dad very much. We will keep your non-playing commitments to a minimum. Concentrate only on your football and leave the rest to me. I promised your father that I would always look after your best interests first and I never break a promise."

Simon remembered that his father had trusted Saltos and had told Simon to trust him too. Honouring his father's memory, Simon replied,

"Okay Mr Saltos. Anything you say. I want to bury myself in playing. When I am on the field all I can focus on is scoring goals, everything else falls away. Which is a good thing at the moment."

True to his word, Saltos stood up for Simon when the team's public relations people wanted Simon to make frequent public appearances. In a hard tone Saltos said,

"Simon is in a fragile state at the moment. He has just lost the most important person in his life and needs to time to grieve. Keep him out of the spotlight and on the field for a while. I will know when he is ready to face the public again."

The English born PR manager stated rudely,

"Your client is new to the game. He is in no position to dictate what he will do and when."

Saltos fixed the PR manager, Ms. Emily Smythe, with a steely gaze forcing the manager to shift uncomfortably in her seat and look away. Saltos moved his face to within an inch of the manager and said between clenched teeth,

"I have spoken with Dr Mary Dougherty. Have you? The doctor is of the firm view that Simon would benefit from an extended leave from playing. If you want to play hardball, I will join in the doctor's recommendations and ensure that Simon does not play for the rest of the season. Is that what you want, the team's best striker off the pitch for months?"

When Ms. Smythe took Saltos' threat to the club's owner, she was left in no doubt that if Simon did not play then the PR Manager would be looking for a new job. Anyone who threatened the winning streak of the club, did not have the club's best interests at heart, or so the owner bellowed at the hapless PR Manager.

Emily Smythe later put in a quick call to Saltos, ensuring him that Simon's health was of prime concern and that of course the club would allow Simon time away from off field commitments to recuperate. Saltos could have rubbed salt into the manager's wounds but