Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 144

144: The End of the Chase

“…Director Kim, what do you think?”

It was the press conference after the game against Arsenal.

After a tense first half, Burnley’s manager was up to speak, following a fierce attack led by Luka Sukic, who was substituted in the second half. However, they had to settle for a disappointing draw due to the outstanding performance of Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale.

Amidst the loud clicks and flashes of cameras, Hyungmin paused for a moment to consider the reporter’s question before answering.

“I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to comment on this issue…”

“Please, just a word!”

“To be honest, I do think that Mikel Arteta should have been given a bit more time. It takes time to change the overall direction of a team, after all.”

Amidst the loud flashes and clicks of the cameras in the press conference room, the reporter continued with another question.

“But Director Kim, it seems like you changed Burnley’s direction right away?”

“Well… I think my situation is different from Arteta’s. It takes time for a big club like Arsenal to change direction, and there’s a lot of pressure to reach the desired destination.”

Shelley Piper, Burnley’s press officer, who was listening to Hyungmin’s answer from the side, looked uneasy.

It was as if a delicious bait had been thrown out for the reporters to pounce on.

There were dozens of questions that could arise from the change of direction, the time it takes to change, and the destination to be reached, all of which could lead in a bad direction.

The problem was even bigger because the person who gave the answer was Hyungmin, who had led Burnley to compete for a spot in the European competition in just one season.

But reporters are reporters, after all.

The next question was directed in the direction Shelley Piper least wanted.

“Are you saying that Burnley is not a big club yet?”

Oh, come on, why are you doing this to me?

Hyungmin, who received the question, tried hard to suppress the anger that was rising up.

Of course, he understood that they were clinging to the other manager because the opposing team’s manager had been suddenly dismissed before the game, but what was the point of asking such a question?

Hyungmin tried to answer as calmly as possible, trying to hold back a sigh.

“…I think Burnley is still growing. Of course, someday it will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with other big clubs in the Premier League, but right now, the club’s size is a bit small.”

Hyungmin thought it was a harmless answer, but the reporters didn’t seem to think so, as the clicks and flashes of the cameras suddenly became more urgent.

Oh, usually when this happens, something…

Hyungmin, who was about to look at the press officer’s face to confirm his strange feeling, was immediately met with the next question.

A question thrown even faster than Shelley Piper, who was trying to cut off the reporters’ questions and intervene to prevent the situation from spreading.

“Are you saying that you are willing to move to a bigger club?”

Structurally, it was clearly a question, but the end was a period, not a question mark.

In the past three weeks, three clubs, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Newcastle, had dismissed their managers due to poor performance.

Manchester United was 8th, Arsenal was 9th, and Newcastle was 15th.

The fired managers could argue that they had inherited teams that were a mess and had not been given enough time to properly reorganize them, but all three teams had already started taking steps to prepare for the next season, not this season, as they were pushed into the rankings where they had no hope of advancing to the European competition.

Coincidentally, all three were clubs that were objectively larger in scale than Burnley, with better finances, fan base, stadiums, and facilities, even though their performance was worse.

“Haa…”

Hyungmin couldn’t help but sigh at the reporters’ efforts to reignite the transfer rumors that had flared up with Chelsea earlier this year.

“Director Kim? So, you’re thinking of moving to a bigger club…?”

“…Unless Burnley goes bankrupt, no! No!”

A silence flowed through the press conference room for a moment.

While Hyungmin and the reporters were all silent, pondering the words that had just come out of Hyungmin’s mouth, Burnley’s press officer, Shelley Piper, simply buried her face in her hands.

And then, the clicks and flashes of the cameras, which I thought couldn’t get any louder, got even louder.

“…Director!”

“…Director Kim! About bankruptcy…!”

“…The situation is really bad…!”

“…How is the club’s finances…!”

As Hyungmin looked at the press conference room turning into chaos in an instant, he realized that he had caused an accident and sent a look of pleading for help as pitifully as possible.

However, Shelley Piper, who received the desperate gaze of Burnley’s young maestro, could only shake her head.

Director, we’re screwed.

Hyungmin despaired at the hallucination that he could hear Shelley Piper’s voice in his ear.

Ah, damn it.

***

Hyungmin cringed as he read the headline written in large letters on the front page of the newspaper spread out ostentatiously across the table in the conference room.

No, Helena must have been protesting to him by deliberately unfolding the newspaper.

Who reads paper newspapers these days?!

“Paper newspapers still sell well in the UK. Especially sports tabloids.”

Helena chimed in, as if reading his mind.

“No, you know that’s not what I meant!”

“I know…”

Helena and the rest of the board sighed.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I’ll take care of it.”

It was just that she was a little annoyed at the reporters for causing this situation when she was busy with the stadium reconstruction.

Helena, as if not wanting to see it anymore, pushed the newspaper away and looked around at the people gathered in the conference room.

“Okay, let’s start the meeting!”

The first agenda item was a progress report on the stadium reconstruction, presented by Emile Cartwright, who had specially attended the core management meeting.

“…It’s progressing smoothly. The semi-assembled stadium modules have started arriving at the Manchester docks from the United States. They will be unloaded in the open space behind Turf Moor [Burnley’s home stadium], and all modules are scheduled to arrive semi-assembled or fully assembled by early May.”

A slide changed on the large screen.

“As planned, the box seats will be installed after all the general seats are assembled. Well, since the box seats are also placed on the stadium in a fully assembled modular manner, it doesn’t actually take long. Now, let’s review the overall schedule again.”

A video started playing on the large screen.

“We will play the last game at Turf Moor on May 28th and have a farewell ceremony immediately, and the demolition work will begin on May 29th. We will conduct a preliminary survey in advance, so it will be enough to install explosives and carry out the demolition in three days. Then, from June 1st, debris removal work will be carried out for a week.”

In the video, the 3D model of the existing Turf Moor collapsed, and the debris was being cleared away along with the schedule.

“And from June 8th, we will carry out the work of leveling the ground for a week, and from June 15th, we will sequentially install the modules that make up the stadium’s seating. At the same time, we will also be re-laying the grass.”

The modules were assembled one by one like Legos, and a new stadium began to appear.

“The schedule is to finish assembling the seating and installing the grass within a maximum of 6 weeks. It’s a bit tight, but fortunately, the weather in Burnley is not bad in June and July, so we believe it’s possible.”

Not bad means it doesn’t rain every day.

It was not an easy situation to carry out the construction normally, but Emile omitted the detailed explanation of that part because it was not a construction that was being carried out in a general way anyway.

Because the people gathered in this conference room had experienced Burnley’s weather for much longer than that.

“At the latest, the stadium and general seating can be used from August 1st. The box seats will take time because they will be installed little by little on days when there are no games, but we expect them to be completed by the end of October. In the meantime, various convenience facilities and shops in the stadium will be installed in parallel.”

Finally, a video of the box seats being installed one by one on the completed stadium began to play along with the schedule below, and finally, a 3D model of the completed stadium rotated 360 degrees on the screen.

“Hoo…”

Mike Garlic took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

It was something that had been discussed and confirmed several times already, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous in many ways.

“Can the stadium really be completed in just three months?”

“It’s possible, but only the general seating excluding the box seats.”

Emile replied confidently.

“I really can’t believe it. That such a big project can be completed so quickly.”

John Banaskiewicz, who had a similarly nervous expression next to him, added.

“Inter Miami has already shown that it’s possible once, and since then, the technology itself has been developed a lot. In the case of stadiums being newly built in the United States, they are often built in this modular way. And residential areas too.”

Since Mike Garlic and John Banaskiewicz were the mainstays in communicating with fans and coordinating opinions on a regular basis, Emile continued to provide detailed explanations until the two felt comfortable.

It was the moment when the words of the architecture professor, that you should never begrudge the time you spend reassuring customers in any construction project, resonated with him.

The two middle-aged men, who had confirmed not only their own questions but also the content that fans might ask, finally nodded as if they were sufficiently convinced.

Then Helena started the next step.

“When the stadium is completed, it will have a total of 35,000 seats. There will be a total of 24 boxes. Now we need to discuss how to divide and distribute this…”

Helena turned to Emile.

“Emile, you can leave now.”

“Ah, I…”

He wanted to ask if he could stay, but Helena raised one eyebrow.

“Mr. Cartwright shouldn’t have enough time to attend unnecessary meetings here, should he?”

Emile flinched at the blue, cold eyes that glanced at Carolina and then back at him.

“…I just remembered something I had to leave for right away, so I’ll see you next time!”

Helena, who was satisfied with the unpaid employee who hurriedly left behind Carolina, who was waving goodbye openly, began to discuss the contents that would determine Burnley’s finances for the next 30 years with the board of directors.