Without waiting for Gu Ran to express his opinion, Coach Adkins quickly added: "This month's schedule is too tight. The next game is the knockout round of the League Cup. We will challenge our real rival Portsmouth away. That game is our most important game this month. I have to let you save your energy. In addition, replacing you early can also prevent you from getting injured. It can also be regarded as giving Plymouth Football Club a little face."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Okay, coach. I'll follow your instructions."

——Playing half of this game is already very exciting. For long-term considerations, there is no need to waste all your energy in the remaining garbage time.

What's more, Gu Ran had already prepared himself mentally and had completed today's 10 pickups halfway through the game.

Many basic skills, such as quick short passes, running in the midfield and frontcourt, and short passes, have been maxed out to +4.

In addition, you also get the basic skills of +1 left-foot dribbling and +1 back-to-back passing for free.

Although there are no star-level skills, these basic skills are still very practical.

Seeing that Gu Ran agreed so readily, Coach Adkins patted Gu Ran on the shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Great! Gu, just relax and have a good rest in the second half."

“Good coach.”

Lallana quickly came over and said, "Gu, you still owe me an assist, don't forget it."

Gu Ran said unhappily, "Lalana, are you Xianglin Sao?"

Luke Xiao next to him also came over, "Who? What sister-in-law? Where is she?"

Vice Captain Walton also came over and said, "I told you, Gu Ran, you and Abi must be having an affair! Abi is Gao Lao's woman! In terms of status, she is indeed our sister-in-law!"

Captain Davis frowned and said, "Gu, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you really are... so enviable to us!"

Lallana said persistently: "Gu, don't worry about your sister-in-law for now. Why don't you take a small notebook and write it down. You still owe me an assist."

Gu Ran: ...

After the 15-minute break at halftime, players from both teams returned to the field and continued the game.

At the beginning of the second half, Plymouth was obviously still in a confused state.

Gu Ran was not polite either. After getting the ball, he broke through on the left side, used his speed and body to pass five players, and then went straight to the bottom to pass the ball to Lallana near the penalty area.

Lallana volleyed with his left foot -

Unfortunately, the football went over the crossbar and hit the plane.

Lallana immediately covered his face in annoyance.

The cake was so delicious, but it was a pity that he couldn't hold it down.

Lallana climbed up from the grass, turned around and raised an index finger towards Gu Ran, reminding Gu Ran that he still needed one assist.

Seeing this, Adkins quickly replaced Gu Ran with Ryan Dixon - if it was two minutes later, Gu Ran would have scored another goal himself.

Seeing Gu Ran being substituted, the Southampton fans at the scene were a little disappointed, but despite their disappointment, they could also understand what Coach Adkins meant.

This game has already been won, the next League Cup knockout match against arch-rivals Portsmouth is the most crucial!

We must conserve our strength! Southampton fans stood up and gave Gu Ran thunderous applause.

The Plymouth players breathed a sigh of relief - the cruel butcher had finally left! The live broadcast room was also filled with comments: "Ah ...

"No! I was enjoying the show! Why did you replace Gu Ran?"

"Damn it, I still want to see Gu Ran's five sons get married!"

"I also want to see Gu Ran have a smooth life!"

"I still want to see Gu Ran's seven stars shining brightly!"

"I still want to watch Gu Ran's Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea!"

"I also want to see Gu Ran's Nine Dragons Flying!"

"I still want to see Gu Ran perfect!"

"I, I, I took off my pants!!!"

“Will the Southampton manager ever be a head coach?”

"What are you arguing about? The coach knows more than you do! The second half is obviously garbage time. Leaving Gu Ran on the court is just a meaningless waste of energy, and he is also prone to being deliberately targeted by the opponent and getting injured! This is considered a protective substitution!"

"That's right. Gu Ran is still young and needs to be protected."

"I was worried that Southampton's head coach was deliberately using Gu Ran to death in order to create a meaningless big score. Now that I see him substituting Gu Ran, I feel relieved."

“That’s right!”

"Fuck! What's the point of saying all that? I came to the live broadcast room just to watch Gu Ran score a goal. Now that Gu Ran has left the field, what am I going to watch?"

"Don't be so vulgar, we are here to watch the game, not the birds."

"Yes, yes! Let's watch the game in a civilized manner!"

In any case, after Gu Ran left, the number of people online in Ran’s live broadcast room dropped significantly.

After all, most domestic fans have no feelings for "Southampton" and do not regard Southampton as their home team.

The live broadcast room immediately announced: The jersey draw will be held after the live broadcast ends, please be patient! The number of people in the live broadcast room stabilized at 150,000.

Although it has dropped from the peak, such premiere data has far exceeded the psychological expectations of entrepreneurs.

The game continued, and Southampton continued to press Plymouth with the help of Gu Ran's remaining strength, but Southampton's attack was obviously not as fierce, and Plymouth gradually stabilized its position.

The two sides played back and forth, but the scene became increasingly dull, with almost no highlights to speak of.

In the 65th minute of the second half, coach Adkins made another substitution, replacing two main players, Lallana and Lambert, at once to protect their physical fitness and bodies.

This signal is also very obvious, which means we need to release the water.

The Plymouth team recovered and took the opportunity to launch several decent short pass attacks.

Southampton cautiously retreated and practiced defensive tactics.

In the end, Plymouth managed to save a little bit of face by scoring a goal with a header from Roy Fallon before the end of the game.

The referee blew the whistle for the full game, and the score on the big screen finally stopped at Plymouth 1:6 Southampton.

As soon as the game ended, Plymouth head coach Pete Reid took the initiative to shake Coach Adkins' hand.

Although Plymouth suffered a crushing defeat, if coach Adkins had not stopped, coach Pete Reid would have become the fastest coach to be sacked in the English League One.

In this game, Gu Ran made 2 assists and 4 shots. Even though he only played half the game, this data is enough to surpass the data of all players in the first round of English League One.

Gu Ran was also named the best player of the game by the English League One.

However, the English League One is not as grand as the Premier League, and there are no awards or interviews for the best players on the spot.

Gu Ran also had some free time.

After returning to the locker room, Gu Ran received physical therapy while concentrating his mind——

It’s time to get the growth rewards and hidden rewards!

Today's game was only played for a little over half a game, I wonder if the reward will be reduced...

Light~ A clear system prompt sounded in Gu Ran's mind:

"Congratulations to the host. Since the host has perfectly integrated the results of more than 100 hours of specialized training in the professional competition, the corresponding attribute points have increased."

"Your physical attribute - Strong, increases from 77 points to 78 points."

"Your physical attribute - Balance, grows from 64 points to 65 points."

"Your technical attribute - free kick, has grown from 67 points to 68 points."

"Your spiritual attribute - Prediction, has grown from 78 points to 79 points."

……not bad!

There are actually 4 attributes that grow!

Especially the shortcoming of the "balance" attribute has finally been improved.

The higher the balance attribute, the less likely you are to be pulled down or tripped by your opponent while running or fighting.

In the English League One, which is dominated by rough confrontations, this attribute needs to be improved as soon as possible.

——It seems that even though we only played half the game today and even though our opponent is a weak team, as long as we suppress and abuse them, our growth rate will not be low.

I wonder if I can get the SS-level hidden reward with my performance this time?

Light~ Another system prompt sounded in Gu Ran's mind: "This game is the host's first English League One game. The host completed 3 key clearances, 1 fatal clearance, 2 passes and 4 shots in a limited time, completing the first big four in his career, and was evaluated by the system as SS-level performance."

Oh! Got it! It's SS level again! Don't worry about missing out on hidden rewards when playing against weaker teams! As long as you play hard and exciting enough, it'll be fine!

Okay! Let’s draw the lottery first! I hope I can draw a useful football skill this time!

Gu Ran secretly took a breath and said to himself: ... Let's start! Last time, I used the metaphysical mentality, and the result was that I drew the equestrian proficiency that had nothing to do with football. Although equestrian proficiency can also be used, it is not as good as football skills after all!

This time, Gu Ran didn't think about anything! Yes, he didn't think about anything! Sometimes, the more you think, the less you get. If you keep your mind clear and have few desires, maybe it will have the opposite effect! Stop——

The lottery disc then slowly stopped.

"Congratulations, host."

"The skill that was randomly selected in this system hidden reward draw is: Charming Smile."

"Your Charming Smile increases from +1 to +4, effective immediately."

Gu Ran's mouth twitched.

What the hell! What pure heart and few desires! What reverse effect! All I want is to play football, and this is what the system gives me? ? ?

Why would I want to be a popular person? System, are you planning to let me debut right here?

I am handsome, I am cool, I attract a lot of people! I can charm everyone with just a smile!

Now the smile of the heartthrob is +4, isn't this going to kill millions of girls? It's okay if I meet an ordinary little fan girl, but what if I meet Victoria Beckham in the future, what should I do? !

The charming smile has a double bonus to Victoria Beckham! +4 doubled is +8. I am afraid that a foreign boy like me will make her heart beat faster than her husband David Beckham! ... Calm down! First of all, the world is so big that I may not meet Victoria Beckham.

Secondly, even if I really meet Mrs. Beckham in the future, as a serious person, nothing will happen...right?

Most importantly, SS-level hidden rewards can be reorganized and reset.

Although the enhanced Charming Smile will be more effective after resetting the points, at least 4 general talent points can be reset.

No loss, no loss!

Gu Ran took a deep breath, then reset and reorganized the skill "Charming Smile +4" that he had just upgraded.

The system prompt sounded immediately: "Host will reallocate the Charming Smile + 4 skill. Are you sure?"

Sure!

There is a line of small text below the newly advanced Charming Smile skill: You feel that you are more attractive to Victoria Beckham.

Gu Ran: ...

Forget it, let’s not worry about it for now, let’s allocate the 4 general talent points first.

It is better to make up for the shortcomings first! Gu Ran thought quickly and then allocated all the four talent points to the "ball control" sub-attribute.

In this way, the ball control attribute was raised from 71 points to 75 points! Another sub-attribute reached the 75-point standard! Now there are 10 sub-attributes that have reached the standard, and we are one step closer to reaching the A-level rating!

Half an hour later, the Southampton team left Home Park on a bus.

After returning to the Staplewood training base, Coach Adkins called the players together for a brief post-match summary meeting, where he praised Gu Ran's performance and then announced that they would have a day off tomorrow.

Coach Adkins asked all team members to return on August 9th. During the vacation, no one was allowed to drink or go to bars, and excessive strenuous exercise was not allowed.

The Southampton players all agreed with serious faces, and no one dared to express any dissatisfaction.

After all, the next game, which is 3 days later at 7:45 pm on Tuesday the 10th, will be the first round of the League Cup knockout match, and Southampton will challenge their real rival Portsmouth away.

For Southampton Football Club, they can lose any game, but they must not lose the game against the scab Portsmouth team!

Portsmouth is a Championship-level team and is in the middle of the Championship. Judging from past data, Portsmouth is much stronger than Southampton.

The first knockout round of the League Cup will see the team face their arch-rivals. This match will surely be very exciting, and both teams will certainly fight to the death and will not give the opponent any leeway.

Therefore, before a tough battle, you must be fully prepared.

Before the team disbanded, Coach Adkins emphasized: "If we win the first round of the League Cup, our team can get an official promotion bonus of 22,000 pounds. Of course, this bonus is not much if it is distributed equally among everyone. After all, it is only the first round. However, the club's top management has said that if we can beat our arch-rival Portsmouth, the club will give us an additional 200,000 pounds as a club reward!"

"Oh yeah!"

The players applauded excitedly.

In fact, the £200,000 winning bonus is not high when divided equally, but for Southampton, which was in financial difficulties before and almost went bankrupt, it is definitely the first time in recent years that it can give out £200,000 to win the knockout match! This also shows that Southampton's financial revenue has a good surplus.

The players dispersed and went home, but Gu Ran stayed in the players' restaurant to eat Loina's customized dinner.

Personal affairs assistant Rick found Gu Ran with a pile of documents, "Hi, Gu! Congratulations, you did a great job today."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Hi, Rick, thanks. What's going on?"

Rick immediately said, "Oh, it's nothing serious. As a personal affairs assistant, I need to report some data to you."

"First, Sky Sports released the post-match ratings of this game. Gu was the best player of the game with a rating of 8.2 points."

Gu Ran himself couldn't help but be shocked.

This score is definitely high in the English League One, and he only played half the game.

If we play the whole game, we can get at least 8.5 points.

"According to your latest contract, if you win the best player award, you can get a bonus of 10,000 pounds from the club for each game. I have already transferred this bonus to your bank card, but before the end of the year, remember to hire a professional accounting and tax team."

"Okay, Rick."

Rick grinned and continued, "Also, the first round of the English League One has already ended. Our Southampton team is currently ranked first in the English League One standings thanks to the advantage of goal difference."

"Currently Huddersfield Town is in second place, Charlton Athletic in third, Brighton in fourth and Peterborough United in fifth."

"This is detailed information on points and goals."

Rick handed Gu Ran a prepared form.

Gu Ran took a quick look at it.

The top few teams all got three points, and the difference in ranking is only due to the number of goal differences.

"Also, the English League One scorer list has been updated. You are currently ranked first in the English League One scorer list with 4 goals."

"Second on the English League One scoring list is Craig McKell-Smith of Pittsburgh United, who scored a hat-trick."

"Brighton's Charles Wood is currently third in the English League One scoring list. He scored 2 goals in the game."

As he spoke, Rick handed Gu Ran the information of the English League One scorer list.

Gu Ran looked at the scorer list and couldn't help but feel a little amused.

As a left-back who only played half the game, he actually led the English League One scorer list...

Ahead, but not far enough ahead!

Keep working hard! A defender who doesn't want to win the Golden Boot is not a good midfielder!

"Thanks, Rick, you've worked hard."

"No, no, this is all my job." Rick happily hugged Gu Ran, "Gu, you are really great. It is my greatest honor to be your personal assistant."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Well, is there anything else?"

Rick quickly said, "Oh, no, Gu, you should go to bed early. We have to face our mortal enemy next Tuesday! We must defeat those scabs!"

"Yeah, okay, bye."

"goodbye!"

After saying goodbye to Rick, Gu Ran drove home with the information of the standings and the scorer list for ice and fire therapy.

Only half of the match was played today, and only half of his physical strength was consumed. Thanks to ice and fire therapy and a strong physique, Gu Ran recovered completely quickly.

On the second day of the holiday, Gu Ran got up early as usual and practiced on his own.

After a day's vacation, Gu Ran returned to the training ground and conducted recovery training with his teammates to prepare for the first round of the League Cup.

During the two days of personal and team training, Gu Ran exchanged for 2 talent points by picking up white training bubbles.

Without a Hollywood-level female star as a tool to gain talent points, it is indeed slower to obtain talent points.

Fortunately, the growth points and hidden rewards are still good, and Gu Ran's overall improvement speed can still maintain a high speed.

Gu Ran did not hesitate and directly allocated these two talent points to the "balance" attribute.

The balance attribute then increased from 65 points to 67 points.

——9:30 am on Tuesday, August 10th!

Southampton's main players gathered and boarded the bus to head to Portsmouth's home ground, Fratton Park.

Today, Chamberlain's suspension was lifted and he regained his starting position!

Chamberlain seemed particularly excited and excited on the bus, "Haha, I told you, how can Southampton survive without me? In important games, I still have to start!"

Vice-captain Walton couldn't help but tease: "Hey, Liverpool's Chamberlain, which part of your leg are you going to score a goal with today?"

The teammates in the car burst into laughter.

Chamberlain's face turned red, and he said, "Don't laugh! I will definitely score a goal for you today! I want you to know that I, Chamberlain, am the real nemesis of Portsmouth! No one hates Portsmouth more than me!"

"Yes, I believe that."

Captain Davis chuckled, "Speaking of this, I can't help but think of a story that is widely circulated among the older generation of players. You all know Chamberlain's father, Mark Chamberlain, right? Mark Chamberlain is also a veteran player of our Southampton team. When Uncle Mark was young, he secretly went to the mortal enemy Portsmouth for a trial. The weather was very cold at the time, and Uncle Mark was only wearing a single layer of clothes and was freezing to the point of sneezing. In order to keep warm, he went back to the car and put on a jacket, which was exactly our Southampton jacket. As a result... Uncle Mark was pinned to the ground and beaten like a pig by the Portsmouth players!"

All the teammates in the car couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing wildly, slapping their thighs.

"Oh my god, no wonder! No wonder you are so fierce, Chamberlain!"

“It turns out it’s genetic!”

"I am dying of laughter. Wearing the jersey of his sworn enemy to try out for his sworn enemy! Only a man from the Chamberlain family can do such a cool thing!"

"He wasn't beaten to death because Uncle Mark is so strong!"

"No wonder you hate Portsmouth so much, Chamberlain!"

“Hahahaha! Help me, I can’t laugh anymore!”

Not only the players, but also the coaches, team doctors and even the driver were laughing.

Gu Ran also couldn't stop laughing.

Chamberlain's face turned red. "Stop laughing! My dad was beaten on the ground, but shouldn't we, Southampton, work together to beat Portsmouth against Southampton?"

Hammond stood up and said, "Let me be fair - we are duty-bound to attack Portsmouth, but we still have to make fun of Uncle Mark! There is no conflict between the two!"

"Hahaha!" The bus burst into laughter again.

In such a relaxed and joyful atmosphere, the bus sped along.

In less than half an hour, Fratton Park came into view.

Southampton and Portsmouth are neighboring cities, and the distance from Staplewood Training Base to Fratton Park is almost the same as the distance to St. Mary's Stadium.

Historically, Portsmouth originally belonged to Southampton. It was not until 1835, when Portsmouth became the headquarters of the Royal Navy, that the small fishing village of Portsmouth was separated from the territory of Southampton. Then the people of Portsmouth began to become arrogant.

In terms of dialect and living habits, Portsmouth still maintains the customs and style of Southampton - it's just that the people of Portsmouth are unwilling to admit it.

When Portsmouth people talk about Southampton people, their faces are full of disgust. In addition to the word "scab", they also use two special terms to refer to Southampton people: skates and scummers.

The original meanings of these two words are, one is a capricious ray, and the other is a despicable villain.

If you understand it literally, it doesn't seem to be a big deal, but when you combine it with the expressions and tone of the people of Portsmouth, you can see how sarcastic these two words are.

As port cities so close to each other, there is a competition for living space between people in Portsmouth and Southampton.

They belong to the same country and the two cities cannot go to war with each other, so the most direct outlet for their anger is the football match between the two sides.

Historically, Portsmouth has won the top league championship twice.

Although Southampton has been in the top league for longer than Portsmouth, it has never won the top league championship and has only been runner-up at best.

Even when Southampton had Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer, they never won the top league title.

The confrontation between these two teams was once the most eye-catching south coast derby in the top league.

But now, these two veteran teams have fallen, one has been in the Championship for many years, and the other has fallen to English League One.

But the South Coast Derby is still the most popular derby in English football, yes, no doubt about it.

——Just as the Southampton bus was about to enter Fratton Park, bang! A coin hit the window of the Southampton bus!

!!!

Thanks to my old friend "快乐崇拜964" for the 10,000-coin reward. I've made a note of it in my little notebook. I already owe you two big chapters.

Wait till I recover.

(End of this chapter)