Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 158

158. And May 2023

[…So the teams advancing to the next season’s European Champions League have also been decided.]

Late night.

Not far from Turf Moor, Burnley’s home stadium.

At ‘The Rifle Volunteer Inn,’ a longtime favorite pub for Burnley residents, a smaller crowd than usual—game days are always packed—was scattered around, nursing their beers and listening to the news on TV.

“Still, I was a bit nervous there, but we secured our Champions League spot before the final match,” Henry Smythe commented.

At Henry Smythe’s words, his longtime friend Mitch Tyler slammed his beer glass down roughly.

“What, you didn’t trust the manager?!”

Feeling the sharp gazes of the other patrons turning towards him, Henry Smythe felt a sudden wave of anxiety and cold sweat began to trickle down his back.

What should I do? Should I apologize for misspeaking?

No, a man faces a crisis head-on!

Summoning his courage, Henry Smythe retorted to his friend.

“It’s not that! I was worried that the manager couldn’t put his full effort into the last few games because he was managing the players’ condition! It’s all because those players were ailing! Isn’t that right, Henry?”

Henry Tyler, a close friend of those players and the godson of Henry Smythe’s father’s friend, emptied his beer glass without a word.

The Burnley official supporters club chairman election was just around the corner, and he almost got branded as a traitor who distrusted the manager because of his tipsy friend’s slip of the tongue.

Henry Smythe, who almost lost his chance for re-election due to his friend’s drunken mistake, sighed in relief as he confirmed that people’s attention had shifted away from him and back to the TV, the cold sweat on his back subsiding.

“Anyway, did Margaret let you go to Hungary?”

“Of course! I got tickets for such a big game, how could she not let me?!” Mitch Tyler exclaimed boastfully, trying to change the subject.

However, Henry Tyler, ignoring his father’s bluff as he remembered his father kneeling and begging his mother, promising to do all the housework for the next year if she just allowed him to go, sighed deeply, emptied his beer glass, and gestured to the bartender for another drink.

“Well, it’s not an opportunity that comes every day. So, let’s get this straight again. First, we take the train to London, and from there, we take the Eurail…”

“No! Let’s just take a low-cost airline…”

While the two middle-aged men were arguing about the fastest and most comfortable route to Budapest, Hungary, Henry Tyler, the vice-chairman, general manager, secretary, treasurer, and standard-bearer of the Burnley official supporters club, turned his gaze towards the TV where the news was playing.

[…Both the Champions League and Europa League have only the finals left, and Premier League teams have advanced to both finals. In the Champions League, Liverpool will face Bayern Munich in Istanbul, and in the Europa League, Burnley will play against Tottenham in Budapest.]

[…Liverpool seems to have good memories in Istanbul. I wonder if they can create another miracle in Istanbul this time.]

[…Anyway, I can say that the probability of both major European trophies coming to England is 75%. Because no matter who wins the Europa League, a Premier League team will win!]

***

Tuesday morning.

With the manager and assistant coach absent due to preparations for the Europa League final on Thursday, Burnley’s board of directors and the football director were having a serious discussion with a lighter atmosphere.

“So, now that we’ve secured a Champions League spot for next season, I think we can immediately allocate the transfer budget. We could increase the transfer budget further at this point, but it would be helpful for you to know the immediately available budget.”

“Of course,” Burnley’s football director, Jonathan Landris, nodded in agreement to Helena, who still held the positions of CEO and CFO.

“First, the weekly wage budget is £1.1 million, a slight increase from this season. The transfer budget will be initially set at £68 million, adding £44 million to the £24 million I mentioned during the transfer window. And if player sales occur, 80% can still be reinvested in player acquisitions.”

John Banaskiewicz, sitting at the conference table, whistled softly.

“This is… I think this is the largest transfer budget in Burnley’s history based on net expenditure?”

At his friend’s words, Mike Garlic, Burnley’s former owner who was sitting next to him, bristled.

“No, we spent £40 million in the 2016/17 season!”

“£40 million is less than £68 million! And almost all the guys we signed then were failures! Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick, even Steven Defour! Steven Defour left for free after two seasons!”

“But we got Nick Pope for £1.3 million! That’s enough!”

Helena, watching the two elderly men suddenly start reciting ancient history, lightly cleared her throat.

“Um… Mike, John. I think we can discuss that later.”

“Ah… Oh, yes. That’s right.”

The two old friends, who exchanged glances that said, ‘It’s not over yet!’, glared at each other, while Helena sighed lightly and turned her gaze to Jonathan.

“So, are the acquisition targets now confirmed?”

“Um… Actually, it’s a bit ambiguous.”

At Jonathan’s unusually cloudy words, Mike Garlic and John Banaskiewicz, who had been exchanging meaningful glances, turned their attention to Burnley’s football director.

“First, I reported that Adam Hlozek and Tomasso’s acquisitions were confirmed. So, we need to deduct £18.5 million from the transfer budget. We’re still talking to Barcelona about Nico… but frankly, it’s not very fruitful. Well, that’s okay.”

Jonathan manipulated his laptop and displayed the prepared data on the large screen.

“The problem is that while reinforcing these deficient positions is almost complete, we don’t know perfectly who will leave in the summer.”

Burnley achieved brilliant results this time, leading the youngest squad in the Premier League.

They have secured 4th place in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup [a domestic English football cup competition], and have advanced to the Europa League final to compete for the championship.

At this point, winning the championship itself is not important to the teams trying to sign players.

They have closely watched the players’ performances over the past season and have seen them play in the world’s best league and in big European competitions, so you can say that the player verification is almost complete.

Now, all that remains for them is to decide who to bring in and for how much.

“Have there been any offers?”

“Apart from the one I mentioned last time, there are no places that have clearly expressed their intention… but we are receiving many inquiries. If I’m getting this many inquiries, the agents must be receiving non-stop calls.”

“Who are they contacting?”

Jonathan, who was answering Helena’s question, sighed deeply at John Banaskiewicz’s question.

“Well, you can assume it’s almost everyone, but almost all the players in our squad who can be considered veteran-level have received inquiries at least once.”

“Veteran-level or higher…?”

“Well, James Tarkowski, Nick Pope, Abdu Diallo, Charlie Taylor… Even Jung Tae-jin received an inquiry asking if he had any intention of reversing his retirement.”

“Pfft.”

Helena, remembering Tae-jin being scolded by his wife for reversing his retirement when Tae-jin’s family visited England last March, burst into a brief laugh.

Then, the football director, who was starting to suffer from stress, looked at the club CEO who burst into laughter with a displeased look.

“This is not something to laugh about. We’ve received more than ten inquiries about Kim and Carolina.”

“Ah…!”

***

“Ugh… Ugh… Tottenham… Tottenham…”

At the same time as the board meeting.

Jung Tae-jin, sprawled out on the sofa in the manager’s office, hummed.

The atmosphere of Burnley’s first team coaching staff is, to put it nicely, free-spirited, and to put it badly, a lawless zone.

The manager is young, the assistant coach is a close friend, and the playing coach is also a close friend.

The fitness coach is older than the manager, so the manager treats him with respect as a senior in the industry, and the team doctor is an old man who is close to Arthur Brimlow.

The atmosphere is not one where the manager’s authority is strongly established.

Of course, there are managers who prefer a military-style top-down approach, asserting their authority, but Hyung-min had no intention, will, or interest in doing that.

But even so, not all actions are allowed.

“Hey! Be quiet! It’s grating on my ears! You can’t even sing!”

Hyung-min, sprawled out on the opposite sofa, watching the Tottenham game unfolding on the large screen, complained irritably.

“Me?! I sing better than you! What did you sing at your soccer team initiation in high school? You sang ‘Namhaeng Train’ [a Korean pop song]!”

“What’s wrong with ‘Namhaeng Train’?”

“How old are we to be singing that?”

In fact, I don’t remember what Jung Tae-jin sang, but I do remember that he butchered the latest popular song and received even more jeers than Hyung-min.

Watching the manager and playing coach, who were digging at each other, even bringing up trivial incidents that happened in high school, Burnley’s assistant coach sighed as she looked down at the tablet recording the important moments of the Tottenham game.

“Well, isn’t it okay if they relieve their tension like that?”

Carolina scoffed at the words of fitness coach Paulo Morão, who was sitting next to her.

“Paulo, does that look like they’re relieving tension? I thought so at first, but now that I think about it, they just enjoy teasing each other.”

“Well, there’s that too. Anyway, it’s good if they’re both having fun. Still, it’s a huge improvement compared to before, right?”

“That’s true.”

Carolina nodded in agreement at Paulo Morão’s point.

Before, Hyung-min would have been pale-faced, reconfirming the previous day’s meal menu with stomach acid, but now it ends with him just being a little hysterical, so it’s a big improvement.

And objectively speaking, Jung Tae-jin’s singing ability… many things need to be supplemented before it can be considered singing.

For example, rhythm or pitch.

“Hoo…”

Carolina sighed deeply and looked down at the tablet again.

The final is now two days away.

Since we have to move to Budapest on Wednesday afternoon, today is practically the last time we can properly analyze and develop tactics.

We could push the players hard and make them train, but Hyung-min gave the players a special day off today instead.

“4th place in the Premier League is Burnley’s best result since the Premier League era. Everyone worked hard. There are two games left, but you all know that the next game is a big one, right? Rest well tomorrow and the day after, and gather at Banfield [Burnley’s training ground] with your bags packed by lunchtime on Wednesday.”

When Hyung-min declared after the recovery training held on Sunday morning, the players started to look noticeably embarrassed.

The players, who were prepared to give up their usual Monday off, exchanged glances at the extra day off, then started poking captain James Tarkowski in the back.

“Um, manager. Shouldn’t we be doing extra training since the final is not far away?”

Hyung-min shook his head at the captain’s question.

“Why would we do extra training here? Playing games throughout this season has been more effective than any training. Instead, rest well here and see you in good condition on Wednesday.”

“Ah, yes…”

Looking at the captain and the squad, who still had embarrassed faces, Hyung-min said as if he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, and you can’t drink alcohol from Tuesday! So, if you want to drink, drink only until Monday night!”

“Uh…? Yes…”

While the squad answered awkwardly, James Tarkowski glanced at the squad and made a face that the manager couldn’t see.

Nicholas Seiwald, next to him, also made a similar face while looking at the squad, which caught the captain’s eye.

‘No matter what the manager says, I’m going to kill all the bastards who drink this week!’

‘Are you crazy? How can you be drinking at such an important time?!’

As the squad, who expressed their absurdity to the captain and vice-captain with intense eyes, dispersed, Hyung-min turned to the coaching staff.

“Then, let’s rest until tomorrow and meet at Banfield on Tuesday morning.”