Come. Let me tell u the story of Nathan Thwangwatra. He plies his trade at one of the best Thai clubs in his country, Bankerz FC. At 26, he is a regular member of the starting eleven. At his peak, Nathan was considered one of the best centre-backs in the whole of Thailand. Not only was he big and strong, he was quick and agile too. Good in the air and with great defensive awareness, he brought stability at the back.
Now although Bankerz FC were constantly touted as title contenders, they always fell short of the championship. The team was full of talented players, but the board left lots to be desired. The board were notoriously stingy when it came to signing new players and training and as a result, the team would constantly find themselves lacking in certain areas which needed strengthening. As the players asked for changes to be made, the coach did nothing for fear of upsetting his bosses. The team were always pushing for top honours, but because of greedy bosses and improper training methods, the team always had to settle for less. Nathan became increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with the setup and decided it was time to leave the club.
Nathan left for Singapore to join one of the top local teams. He was paid well and playing well. Life seemed to be on the up. Then suddenly, during one of the local derbies, he tore cruciate ligaments in both his legs. He could not walk, let alone stand at all. Doctors told him his career was over. Football was all he ever knew and now he felt so helpless. The club decided to let him go as he would be of no use to them.
But Nathan was determined to play again. He got back on the road to recovery. After going through so much pain and rehabilitation, he was finally able to stand and walk on his own 2 feet. After a while, he could now jog. It's been 2 years. Nathan has fully recovered from his horrific injuries and returned to Thailand. So many things have changed. Nobody knew the name Nathan Thwangwatra anymore. Nathan wanted to play professional football again. But who would take him? Jobless and penniless, Nathan swallowed his pride and decided to go back to Bankerz FC for a lower wage.
Although Nathan could no longer recognise most of the team, he still played at his preferred position at the back with his coach's approval. He felt happy playing again after so long and it was good to get back to doing what he did best. The team showed stability of old as long as Thwangwatra ran the show from the back. But not long after, the coach was "relocated" and in came another. The club wanted to be a global name and so wholesale changes were made to the team and almost all Nathan had played with before had left. In came this new guy, a caucasian who had previously coached teams in Russia, Germany and Bulgaria. He could not speak a word of Thai, has never been to Thailand before and never even watched a single Thai football game before, but the board still hired him as he had "European pedigree".
Nathan is a centre-back by trade. Schooled and trained as a centre-back. But here was this caucasian man, he wanted Nathan to play on the wing. On the wing? Nathan has never played on the wing and neither has he been trained for it. He tried to reason with the coach but the coach just could not understand him. The coach felt his own players that he brought in with him can do the job much better. Nathan was out of position. Try as he might, he just could not adapt to it. The coach wasn't playing him to his strengths and with this, Nathan felt frustrated. He knew himself he was much much better than the other centre-backs but his words fell on deaf ears. The team didn't play well at all. They were leaking goals and not scoring too as the midfielders were overloaded with trying to cover for their weak defenders. And because of Nathan's poor games on the wing, the coach often blamed him for their losses when in fact the real problem was that there was no stability at the back.
At 32, he still has so much to offer, but with the current situation at hand, nothing was ever going to change. Nathan felt he could play a few more seasons, but only if he was a centre-back. On the wing, he just didn't have it in him. He felt betrayed but disappointments are what you often get. And with that, he made his announcement that this season would be his last.
A premature end.
No happy endings.
Just finger pointing.
Sometimes it's better to just walk away from it all.
*nobody understands*
