Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 25

"Mother Jo," Anton said as he sat next to Joyce Roman, the mirrors reflecting the comings and goings of the characters on the big screen.He spoke briskly and whispered, "You don't need to worry about me. The pressure I feel in Sunderland now is nothing compared to my previous work."

"I knew you would say that," Qiao's mother blamed Anton in a low voice, "I don't care what you did before, even if you were president! But as the head coach of the team, this kind of pressure is different! "

Anton was sitting in the darkness of the projection hall, and when he heard Qiao's mother's words, he couldn't help laughing silently.

Indeed, it is indeed different.

He has never been a professional player, and he has become a monk halfway through his career as a coach.Before becoming a football coach, he also worked in other professions, holding tens of millions of funds, or dealing with numbers and machines all day long, and dealing with massive calculations... He really has to admit that standing on the field By the way, the feeling of adrenaline rush is really different from any profession.

What's more, he can still feel that he is carrying the progress of the entire team, the hopes of so many fans.

Anton responded in a low voice: "Don't worry, Mom Joe, I like this pressure!" Pressure can push him to do more for the team.

Mother Qiao breathed a sigh of relief: "That's a good relationship. Remember, sometimes don't pay too much attention to what others say." She pointed to the screen, "Clough is that kind of coach, he never puts what the media said Take it to heart."

"Have you seen this film about feelings?" Anton asked.

Eriksson and Halldosson sitting in front hurriedly turned their heads and whispered to Joe's mother in unison, "Please, don't spoil the story!"

Mother Qiao let out a chuckle, and lowered her voice, "I'm not interested in that!" She patted Anton on the shoulder and said, "I'm relieved to see you like this!"

Then she didn't forget to add: "I really feel relieved when I see mineral water with roasted cauliflower!"

All the players in the auditorium: ...!

It seems that this chef and chief nutritionist is really worried about the health of the players!

After taking the players to watch a movie to relax, Anton immediately returned to Guangming Academy with Russell.There, the club CEO Martin was busy with the transfer matter. He made phone calls one after another without even stopping to talk to Anton. He only had time to hand Anton a note with a few words A player's name, followed by a column of numbers, should be the player's current offer.

After Anton received this note, he immediately went back to his office, turned on the computer, pulled out all the data of the above players, and analyzed it with Russell, trying to find a suitable signing for Sunderland.As long as there are suitable signings, Russell will be recorded on a formation map.

On this formation map right now, the vacant position is still at the tip of the team's front-they need an excellent striker.

Nowadays, there are always three ways to sign recruits: one is to contact player agencies in various countries to understand the transfer intentions of clubs and players, choose suitable targets from them, and negotiate with players and clubs.

The second is to send out scouts to find good seedlings in youth training camps, reserve teams, and even amateur teams across the country and even in Europe, and sign players with players before they join the first team. middle.

This method is a bit like spending money to gamble on the player's future. If the bet wins, it is equivalent to winning the jackpot.Of course, if you don't hit it, it's not too bad.The training strength of Guangming Academy is not weak, and it is enough to train for a period of time to send people back to the transfer market.

But there is a problem with this approach: Sunderland does not have its own scouts.

As early as the 90s and [-]s, Sunderland still had many amateur scouts, who would watch youth and amateur teams all over the country.But with the development of football as a competitive sport, the scouting industry is becoming more and more professional and professional.Many scouting agencies are monopolized by big clubs and giants. Even though a club like Sunderland has a profound historical background, but does not have enough financial support, it can only pick leaks from the fingers of the giants.Therefore, the chance of actually picking up the treasure is very small.

The last way Anton has already done is to pick people from his own youth training.Anton had already promoted young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to the first team ahead of the game against West Bromwich Albion.Pickford had just signed a first-team contract with the team with great excitement, and was loaned out by Anton to the relegation team Sheffield Wednesday who was also in the British Championship.

Young Pickford: ... what?

Of course, Anton personally explained to Pickford the intention of his move: relegation teams are especially prone to good goalkeepers.If Pickford stays in Sunderland, it will be difficult to compete with Halldosson for the main goalkeeper position now, but he will easily have more opportunities to play on Sheffield Wednesday and can exercise himself better.

Anton said that he was loaned out precisely because he had great hopes for him.

Only then did Pickford understand the intention of the head coach. Although he knew that his prospects were quite bright, the young man was still reluctant to leave his teammates and coaches who had been with him for a long time—until Anton agreed to him, he would Take his youth training companions to watch Sheffield Wednesday's game.

In addition to Pickford, Anton was promoted to the first team, and the red-haired boy who wanted to "test" Anton's skills in the youth training, Jack Colbeck.Anton thinks he is very talented, and he is very suitable for playing on the wing. On the right side, he can almost attack and defend.

But with regard to Anton's decision, assistant coach Russell seemed to disapprove.Anton asked the reason, and Russell replied: "This kid, there is a bone in the back of his head!"

After Anton asked carefully, Russell told Anton: Colbeck's family lived between Sunderland and Newcastle.And Colbeck himself turned out to be a fan of Newcastle United - the Magpies Newcastle United, and the black cat Sunderland, unfortunately, are a pair of sworn enemies.

Russell stammered and asked Anton at the time: "You Chinese, there seems to be an old saying that says this?"

Anton laughed out loud, expressing his gratitude to Russell for his efforts to understand Chinese culture, and taught Russell these seven words in a straight-forward manner: "I am in Cao Ying and my heart is in Han!"

Russell: "God planted jujube... well, no, no!" Chinese is so extensive and profound, he still shouldn't expect instant success.

Anton listened to Russell explaining the "anti-bone" in the back of Colbeck's head, and immediately smiled: "It's simple, I will give him a contract and explain the meaning of the contract to him. Let him choose. If he only wants to give Newcastle He doesn’t have to sign the contract. But once he signs the contract, he must be loyal to the Sunderland club. This is an important choice for his career and life, and I believe he will be careful.”

The end result was that Colbeck decided to sign the contract Anton offered him and become a member of the Sunderland first team.But he also asked whether he can still transfer to Newcastle United when the contract expires.Anton answered of course, but I advise him not to.

It is not uncommon for players to transfer to rivals, but once they return to their old home stadium, most of them will be booed and sprayed by the old fans and enjoy the treatment of thousands of middle fingers in front of them.The former golden boy Michael Owen is a living example.

Colback listened to Anton's persuasion, thought for a while, and finally signed his name on the contract.He smiled and said to Anton, "Coach, thank you!" The red-haired boy had a harmless expression on his face.

"Last time it took me four or 10 minutes to find the ball that you kicked," continued Colbeck.

Anton: ...

He looked into the blue eyes of the redheaded boy.This young man may really be like what Russell said, he has a rebellious bone in the back of his head.

At 10 o'clock in the evening, Martin, Anton and the entire coaching staff sat together and made a summary of the progress of signings.

"Through the efforts of all parties, we have strengthened in several key positions. The goalkeeper, the midfielder, and the two wings are all much better now. But our most obvious shortage is still in the striker." Russell pointed out Summarize with his formation diagram.

"But we obviously don't regret Vincent's departure, do we?" Anton asked the people present.

Anyone who knew the inside story of Vincent's transfer shook their heads.Vincent's heart was gone, and there was no point in forcing him to stay.The most important thing is to find a suitable person who can replace Vincent.

"Our problem is that Sunderland is still in the British Championship." Martin said the difficulties he encountered, "Of course we know that we will not always stay in the British Championship, but France, Germany, Spain... many have already Some well-known players heard that we are the British Championship team, so there is no further information."

"Winter window signings, money is not a big problem, but it may still be difficult to attract the people we really need just by spending money. Everyone doesn't want to rush to buy a few parallel imports, right?" Martin added .

"So the most urgent thing is to find a way to discover some players who have great potential but are not well-known." Russell sighed, "If the amateur scouts from the previous club are still there, how good would it be?"

"Amateur scout?" Anton suddenly had an idea, "I might have a channel."

"Anton, do you know a reliable scout? Why didn't you say so earlier!" Everyone who heard this was excited.

Anton shook his head quickly: "It's not the scouts, but the result of the scouts' evaluation of young players from all over the world."

Everyone in the meeting room stared at Anton and looked at each other.Anton rubbed his hands: "Please let me be a little tricky first, I have to try how to extract and process these data, and organize them into the way we need."

Just when everyone was looking at Anton suspiciously, Anton's thoughts had already flown back to his home on Messwood Road-there were servers of "Life in Greenery" in the entire European region.

In "Green Life", there is data.