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but both
smiled and gave her a warm welcome. Mitchell said, “ Charlotte will no doubt have lots to take in so
we have arranged for her to spend some time with each of you to see
how you do things, and to get acquainted. ”
    He turned to
Charlotte and said, “ you know where we
are if you need us and don ’ t let these
men put you off. ” He left the room
chuckling to himself. Maurice smiled at her and followed his
brother. They were all looking at her as though waiting for her
instructions and Charlotte felt really uncomfortable. Luckily Luke
stepped in and said,
    “ I have some
things to go through with Charlotte first, then we will come and
find each of you and she will get you know you better then. Now you
had best get on because the team are back tomorrow and we have to
prepare. ” With that the men all left the
room without as much as a smile. Charlotte knew that they must
resent her and vowed to win their respect if it was the last thing
she did. Luke turned to her and once again she looked at his dark
eyes and scowling face, noticing his aggressive manner. It made her
feel uncomfortable so she kept quiet waiting for him to speak
first. They went to her office in silence and Luke spent the next
hour showing her the ropes as such. She found it very difficult to
warm to him as he was very abrupt and cold with her. This was going
to be a lonely job she thought with dismay. It was like being the
unpopular one at school again - something she knew a lot about and
didn ’ t particularly want to experience
again. What do you expect? she told herself, you have taken this
man ’ s job and made the rest of them
laughing stocks in the league, why on earth would they show you any
respect? When he had explained the procedures he turned to her and
said in a sharp voice. “ If you take my
advice, now that you have taken on this role you will need to work
harder than you have ever worked before. You will need to know
everything about the game, the team and the club. Everyone will be
out to trip you up and make you look stupid. They will want to
prove that women cannot and should not manage football teams.
It ’ s not going to be easy, for any of us,
so remember to keep on your guard and keep quiet if you
don ’ t know what to
say. ”
    He gave her another
long, hard, angry look as he continued. “ Make sure that you are always prepared, because even though
you have been told that you are to take direction from myself and
the board there will be times when you have to stand up and be
counted. I can only protect you to a degree but it is mostly up to
you. ” Charlotte sat up straight and
looked at him defiantly thinking I ‘ ll
show you Mr Angry and said shortly. “ You
don ‘ t have to worry about me, I can look
after myself. What I don ‘ t know I will
find out, so you just carry on doing whatever you do and try not to
worry about me. ” He looked at her for
what seemed like an eternity and a look that she
couldn ’ t quite place came over his
face. “ Come on it ’ s time to meet the others, ” he
said and they headed off to meet the rest of the coaching
team.
    Charlotte spent the
next few hours with Colin and Mark, who she found very pleasant.
They seemed willing to teach her and answered all of her questions.
She found it all really interesting probably due to her background
in sports science. The time whizzed past and suddenly she realised
that she hadn ’ t eaten. Mark looked at his
watch and said, “ you must be hungry
I ’ ll show you where the canteen
is. ” She liked Mark; he had blonde hair
and brown eyes and was in his early thirties she guessed. He had
what her mother would call an honest face and he had a great sense
of humour and had been good company. She felt at ease with him and
he didn ’ t seem to resent her half as much
as the others appeared to. Charlotte followed him to a large
bustling canteen full of tables and chairs. He apologised as he had
to leave her due to some meeting or another