There was a commotion in the main stand.
Accompanied by the school directors, the seven top executives of Southampton Football Club came to the main stand.
The scouts from the small clubs quickly stood up and greeted them enthusiastically.
Even Chelsea's Emenalo quickly stood up to greet him.
——In the entire stands, only Anne, who was wearing a sun hat, big sunglasses and a Southampton school team jersey and jacket, did not stand up.
Annie doesn't know anyone and doesn't care about anyone. She only knows and cares about Gu Ran.
Emenalo holds a very high position in Chelsea Club, but to be frank he is just an employee.
Even though Southampton has fallen to the English Football League One, these seven senior executives are the real bosses.
Through the introduction of the Southampton High School board of directors, Emenalo was able to shake hands and get to know every senior executive of the Southampton club.
The leader was a plump lady who was only about thirty years old.
The woman wore a crimson coat and had her hair pulled back from her blond locks, a hairstyle that made her round face look even bigger - but she didn't seem to mind her appearance
Although her temperament is not as domineering as Chelsea's NO sister, nor as beautiful as NO sister, her every move is filled with the confidence of a wealthy woman with "billions of euros in assets".
She is the new owner of Southampton Football Club, Katharina Liebherr.
The original owner of Southampton Football Club was Marcus Liebherr, her father.
Speaking of which, Germany's Liebherr Group is a construction brand founded in 1949. China's Haier Group was also an introduction project of Liebherr at that time. Haier's early technology was all introduced from Liebherr.
There is a very famous cartoon character in China called “Haier Brothers”, in which the little boy with yellow hair is called Liebherr.
Markus Liebherr is now seriously ill and bedridden, and is about to die, so he transferred all the shares of Southampton Club to his beloved youngest daughter Katharina.
Catalina has no interest in football. She likes food, movies, and Hollywood stars, but for the sake of her father and her family, she has to accept this job.
As soon as she took over the club, she flew to Southampton to watch the high school students' game at the strong request of the board of directors.
This also made Emenalo very puzzled:
What exactly is the reason that makes Southampton so anxious that they even ask the new owner to come and watch a high school student game when his family is seriously ill?
Is it really for the Chinese genius that Lampard mentioned?
I'm just a high school student, how good can I be?
If he was a genius, he would have been selected by the training camp long ago. Would he have to wait until today?
Emenalo couldn't help but shake his head in his heart.
The second-ranked Southampton club boss is Les Reid.
Emenalo naturally knew Les Reid. This old guy who always had a smile on his face was not only the former sports director of Southampton Club, but also one of the five giants of the English Football Association. His voice in the English Football Association was second only to Greg Dyke, David Gill, and Anthony Fry.
If it weren't for the financial collapse in 2009, which caused Southampton Club to be deducted 10 league points and dropped to the English League One and almost disbanded, Les Reid might have been able to unite all Southampton's small and medium shareholders and raise funds to buy control of Southampton Club.
The Liebherr family currently owns approximately 40% of Southampton Club's shares, while the Reid family owns approximately 20% of Southampton Club's shares.
Therefore, Les Reid's position in the entire Southampton club is very important.
The next four senior executives were financial director Nicola Cortes, general manager Mark Fry, sporting director Mark Watt and executive director Andre Kuwin.
These senior executives are also the steadfast force left over from Southampton Club’s three rounds of purges since the 2008-09 financial crisis.
They obviously don't have as much say as Katarina and Rice, but they are obviously also very important in the Southampton club.
The appearance of the last one surprised Emenalo even more.
The last one is not a chaebol shareholder, and cannot even be considered an official member of the Southampton Club - Nigel Adkins.
This man in his 50s, wearing a blue suit, gold-rimmed glasses, tall and thin, slightly bald, serious, and with his mouth always pursed, is the former head coach of the English Championship team Scunthorpe! Scunthorpe is a weak team, but they have successfully avoided relegation in the English Championship this season, and coach Adkins has played a very important role in this.
There are rumors that Adkins has accepted a contract with Southampton after the end of this season.
However, the two sides have never made an official announcement.
And now, Adkins actually appears in the senior team of Southampton club.
This means that... a certain player from the Bucks Steelers is the main target of investigation for the Southampton first team.
Emenalo's heart suddenly trembled - that's right, they must be here for the Chinese boy Gu Ran.
That Chinese kid really has great magic! Emenalo suddenly felt that today's game was becoming interesting.
After the school director introduced Emenalo's identity, the senior executives of Southampton Club exchanged glances with different expressions: ...Falk, Chelsea is here to snatch someone! ...Go buy the old golden boy Torres! ...Don't come to our territory to make trouble!
...I'm so hungry. The food here is terrible. Besides, there's not even a Hollywood star here. The weather is so bad. Oh, God, please end this soon!
Both parties smiled politely and sat down.
Emenalo took out the notebook he carried with him and solemnly wrote on the first page: [“Scouting report on Southampton High School Bucks Steelhorns left back Gu Ran.”
Investigation target: Gu Ran.
Height, according to the English Football Association's registration list statistics, is 181cm.
Weight, according to the English Football Association's registration list statistics, is 73.8KG.
Age: 17 years and 9 months.
First impression evaluation: This player is a left-back, but based on his height and weight, his body should be relatively thin. He may not be very good in confrontations on the wing and it will be difficult for him to defend the left side.
In addition, the player has received great attention from the top management of Southampton Club. ] ... 2:30 pm!
The concert by local singers in the venue ended here.
Immediately afterwards, the sounds of "boom boom boom" and "boom boom boom" were heard all around the stadium.
Emenalo looked up at the gloomy sky in surprise, thinking it was thunder.
However, as the thunderous roars sounded in a regular pattern, Emenalo realized that the shocking sound was actually the jazz drum of Southampton High School.
More than 200 Southampton high school students, led by the head cheerleader drummer, beat the drums in unison! Accompanied by the drumbeats, the adaptive warm-up of the players from both sides began.
First, the players of the visiting team Rosal High School Angel Wings came on the field to conduct adaptive warm-up exercises.
The Angel Wings players behaved themselves and avoided the Bucks Steelhorns logo at the exit of the player tunnel.
However, the 2,200 students and parents in the stands still booed Angel Wings:
"Shit wings! Puff~"
"Shit wings! Puff~"
The players of Angel Wings all had red faces and were filled with anger.
When the Angel Wings players began to warm up, the jazz drums on the court suddenly became more passionate—
The players of the Bucks Steelhorns are on the court!
The entire stand was instantly engulfed in enthusiasm and excitement! Everyone in the stands was cheering for the players of the Milwaukee Bucks! The simple iron stand was shaking violently with the jumping of students and parents, and the security staff were all so scared that they dared not breathe! The scene was too crazy!
The craziest people are not the students, but their parents!
Old Les on the main stand smiled at the fat girl Katrina next to him and said, "It's been a while since you've seen such a passionate scene, right?"
Katerina hissed, "It's a little scary."
Old Rice: ...
Old Rice cleared his throat and pointed at Gu Ran who was tying his shoelaces on the sidelines and said, "That kid is our target today."
Catalina looked at Gu Ran from a distance and nodded slightly.
Not only Catalina, but several other senior executives, including the new coach Adkins who has not yet been officially announced, are all keeping an eye on Gu Ran.
Chelsea's assistant coach Emenalo was also staring at Gu Ran intently.
Also, Annie stared at Gu Ran excitedly.
When Annie saw Gu Ran wearing the red and white jersey again, she subconsciously felt that she was about to have fun.
At this moment, Gu Ran had no idea that he had been targeted by many people.
Gu Ran squatted on the sidelines with full concentration, tied the laces of Messi's exclusive sneakers, then stood up and jumped a few times on the spot.
The shoe is very comfortable and the turf is very comfortable.
The air is very humid today and it will rain soon. This is the time when this pair of expensive sneakers can perform at their best! The DJ on the scene began to introduce the home team players.
Every time a player is introduced, there is cheering and shouting.
When the DJ introduced "Left Back No. 3 Gu Ran", Gu Ran simply waved to the audience to express his gratitude, and then concentrated on the passing and receiving training.
The atmosphere at the scene instantly exploded!
Almost everyone in the stands was yelling at Gu Ran:
"Gu! Come on! Come on!"
"Hubby, look at me! Look at me! I want to give birth to your baby!"
"My dear, my parents are here to watch you play football! As long as you play well, they will agree to our marriage!"
"Gu, handsome boy, auntie is optimistic about you!"
The entire stands seemed to be going crazy. The steel frame of the stands was shaking like noodles. The whole scene was much more intense than before.
Only at this time did Annie dare to speak out her true feelings.
Anyway, no one knows who she is!
The scouts and reporters in the main stand all looked at us sideways - it seemed that a strange woman had sneaked in among us.
Emenalo casually wrote on his scout report: [Gu has a good personal image, has a high influence in the school, and can easily incite the emotions of the fans.] After writing, Emenalo added a line of small words at the end: [Especially for female fans.] At this time, the scouts from the small clubs sitting in the back row whispered: "The Chinese kid from the Bucks Steelhorns is really handsome."
"Oh, being handsome is useless. This isn't an entertainment talent show. With his small body, I'm afraid he won't be able to withstand a shoulder collision from the Angel Wings striker and will fall to the ground."
"I agree. I don't understand what these students and parents at Southampton High School have to be so proud of."
"Heh, heh, what do Southampton scabs know about football?"
"Hey, you're from Portsmouth, aren't you? Don't sit next to us, or they'll beat you up and make us bleed..."
After 20 minutes of pre-match warm-up, players from both sides returned to their respective locker rooms to make final pre-match preparations.
The atmosphere on the scene became even more passionate, and more than 200 jazz drums have never stopped from the beginning to now.
Emenalo wrote in his notebook: [Judging from the pre-match warm-up, Gu’s passing and receiving training performance was average, not up to the level of Chelsea’s U18 youth training team. Out of a full score of 100, I can only give him 60 points, barely passing.
This even makes me a little disappointed. So far, I have not seen any young talent. I don’t know why Lampard is so optimistic about this Chinese kid, and I don’t know why the top management of Southampton Club will come here specifically to watch him play.
Not only is Gu physically thin, his skills are also very average. On the contrary, Ross Barkley of Angel Wings has good skills.
If I had to choose, I would immediately recommend Ross Barkley to the Chelsea youth team, although there is no need.
In my opinion, Gu Ran needs at least a full year of professional training before he can barely reach the level of Chelsea U18 youth team.
Although the game has not started yet, judging from the basic physical condition and basic technical training, it is impossible for Gu to enter the Chelsea youth team. ] After writing, Emenalo closed the notebook and shook his head slightly.
His interest in Gu Ran had already worn out before it even began.
After all, as an important reference figure for Chelsea to buy players, he has very high requirements for players.
If it weren't for Lampard's face, he wouldn't have come at all. Moreover, if the top executives of the Southampton club hadn't been here, he would have left long ago.
At this time, in the home team's locker room.
Coach Carter said in a deep voice: "My boys, please put down everything in your hands and listen to me--"
"Today will be your last game on this field. If you lose, your football journey will end here."
"I'm not trying to scare you. What I'm saying now is the truth."
"If you lose this game, some of you will barely graduate from high school, but won't be able to go to college, let alone have the opportunity to become a professional player."
"You will continue to live an ordinary life here in Southampton, get married and have children, occasionally find a free field to play football, and occasionally go to the bar to brag with friends."
"Yes, I tell you, most of the players who graduated before were like this."
Coach Carter paused, choked up a little and said, "...including me."
The home team's locker room was quiet, and every player looked at Coach Carter with emotion.
This coach always likes to scold them.
But at this moment, every player is empathizing with Coach Carter.
Coach Carter continued, "In life, there are not many opportunities to change your destiny. Today is the closest moment for you to change your destiny."
“You all understand without me telling you that if you win this game, you will be one of the top four teams in the country, you will make history for Southampton High School, you will be everyone’s hero, you will be able to successfully enter university, and some of you may even be selected by the Football Association and recommended to English League Two or English League One clubs to become professional players!”
"Listen, there are war drums outside. They don't stop for a moment."
"Listen, the students and parents outside are shouting and cheering. They haven't stopped for a moment."
"They are fighting hard for this game just like me and you!"
"This is our Southampton spirit!"
"Although we are not the strongest, we are the least afraid of the strong!"
"Yeah!!! Yes! The Southampton spirit will never die!" The players of the Bucks Steelers roared wildly.
The whole locker room is about to be overturned!
Coach Carter pressed his palms together and continued, “I just said that this will be your last game on this field. Yes, if you win, then we will play the semi-finals and finals at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. So, win or lose, this will be our last home field.”
"We have such a good home advantage, this is also our best chance!"
"Today, I'm not asking you to win - I really am not asking you to win."
"Half of our opponents are semi-professional players who have been training since childhood. Objectively speaking, it is difficult to beat them."
"Even if you lose this game today, I won't blame you."
"In my heart, you are already one of the top eight teams in the country!"
"I only ask you to play with all your might for the spirit of Southampton! I only ask you to stand bravely on the field and show all your abilities under the watchful eyes of your brothers, sisters and parents! I only ask you... one day in the future when you recall this past, you can proudly say - I fought!"
"When you are closest to your destiny, you must go all out to control your destiny!"
Coach Carter said passionately: "Tell me, who can control their own destiny?"
"I! It's me! It's me!!!"
The main players of the Bucks Steelhorns roared like thunder, and the entire home team's locker room was buzzing.
Coach Carter nodded in satisfaction. "Very good - now, line up in the player tunnel! Your moment has arrived!"
"Yes! Coach!"
"Steel Horn of a Stag—"
"Fight to the bitter end!"
The main players put their palms together and cheered in unison.
At this moment, Gu Ran was also filled with excitement!
"Gu, please stay for a moment. I have something to tell you privately." Coach Carter waved his hand.
"Yes, coach." Gu Ran stayed immediately.
After everyone else left the home team's locker room, Coach Carter said in a deep voice, "Gu, you have to perform well today."
Gu Ran immediately said: "Coach! I know!"
Coach Carter shook his head. "No, you don't really know. Today's game is not only a semi-final for you, but also a turning point in your life. At this moment, seven senior executives of the Southampton Football Club are sitting in the main stand, specially to watch you play."
Gu Ran was stunned.
This...a new type of PUA?
Inviting the entire Saints club's top management to cooperate with PUA me, this is a huge investment, right? Then I heard Coach Carter solemnly said: "In order to get them to watch you play, I did a lot of work behind the scenes - of course, that's not worth mentioning. What I really want to tell you is that they will decide today whether to activate the special talent clause for you and get a work permit for you."
Gu Ran was completely stunned.
He always thought that Coach Carter was just PUAing him, but he didn't expect that Coach Carter actually did such an important thing for him silently!
Labor certification...
With a work permit, you can play in the professional league!
Even though Southampton is now a Premier League club, it is also a professional league! This is much better than going to a big club and only being able to train in the youth team and not being able to play in professional games!
Moreover, this also means that as long as he performs well today, Southampton will immediately offer him a professional contract! Not a semi-professional part-time youth team contract, but a professional first-team contract!
This is indeed the moment to change fate! Gu Ran suppressed his inner ecstasy and took a deep breath, "Coach, I... I really don't know how to thank you for everything you have done for me."
Coach Carter patted Gu Ran on the shoulder and said, "Don't thank me yet. Maybe we will lose today, but no matter what, you must try your best to show your strongest side - this is your chance! What is a truly strong person? A truly strong person is someone who can seize the opportunity when it comes!"
Gu Ran felt the hot blood in his veins rushing towards his heart, and he could no longer suppress his passion. "Yes! Coach!"
Coach Carter grabbed Gu Ran's arm tightly and said, "I know you are a rare talent, but they don't know. The parents of those students don't know, the scouts from those small clubs don't know, the local media don't know, Chelsea's assistant coach Emenalo doesn't know, and Southampton's top management don't know!"
"So... Gu, today, I give you unlimited firing rights!"
"Yes, this is probably the first time in my life that I have given a left-back unlimited firing rights!"
"But, who cares! What matters is that I believe in you. I trust you 100%!"
"You have all my support! You have all the support of the entire Southampton High School Bucks Steelhorns team!"
"Gu! You are not alone!"
"All you have to do is - let them know who you are!"
"Yes! Coach!" Gu Ran's face turned murderous, "I will never let you down!"
"Go, my child! God will be with you!"
Coach Carter also hugged Gu Ran excitedly.
Gu Ran excitedly walked out of the locker room and lined up in the player tunnel with his teammates.
2:55! Under the leadership of the referee, the players from both teams officially took to the field! …
(End of this chapter)