Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 212

“…so Billy Bean, the general manager, and Paolo Maldini, the director, are also scheduled to visit Burnley for the next game.”

“Ah, I see.”

Hyungmin nodded in response to Helena’s explanation.

The two of them were doing volunteer work at Pendle Hill, located in the northwest of Burnley, on their long-awaited day off.

After the away game against AC Milan, Hyungmin conducted a recovery training session the following morning and then granted the squad and coaching staff a day off ahead of the Manchester United game scheduled for three days later.

Around April, individual or team training sessions don’t mean much.

With only about a month and a half left in the season, Hyungmin’s idea was to trust the players who had been running together for a season and allocate their physical strength, rather than trying to improve their physical condition, strengthen their teamwork, or give tactical instructions.

The coaching staff actively agreed, which allowed Hyungmin to enjoy the beautiful scenery and hike Pendle Hill on his day off.

Of course, it was only a low hill at a mere 557 meters [1,827 feet] above sea level, so the word ‘hike’ might be an exaggeration.

The contrast between the increasingly rugged hills closer to the Scottish border and the well-maintained farms around them, along with the unspoiled nature of Pendle Hill and its surroundings, evokes a sense of wildness.

Thanks to the unpredictable weather in April, which can still be a bit chilly, the young East Asian man and Western woman couple, dressed in jeans, jackets, and baseball caps pulled down low, weren’t a particularly noticeable combination.

Of course, it helped a lot that there was no one around.

Helena, who was climbing Pendle Hill hand in hand with him, asked Hyungmin as if she had just remembered something.

“Does Mika like presents?”

“Puhahaha!!”

Hyungmin burst into rare laughter at Helena’s question.

It was Helena who had obtained Paolo Maldini’s autograph on his permanently retired jersey and delivered it to Mika Marmol. Maldini, the AC Milan technical director, was practically worshipped by AC Milan supporters, and Helena had orchestrated the delivery, even joking about directing threatening letters to the local government and mayor from his seat in the San Siro [AC Milan’s home stadium] director’s box. Upon hearing that Mika Marmol revered Paolo Maldini almost religiously, she thought of it and delivered the gift, but her boyfriend’s reaction was unusual.

“You can say that again… According to Amar, who shares a room with him, he put it in a frame, hung it on the wall, and then covered it with a small curtain.”

Helena tilted her head at the unexpected words.

“Covered it up? Why? I thought he would like it…”

“It’s not that, he said it might fade if it gets too much sunlight…”

Hyungmin continued, recalling the expression on Amar Dedic’s face as he explained the situation with a mix of fear and shock, and laughed again.

“…Every morning when he wakes up and every night before he goes to bed, he opens the curtain once, looks reverently at the uniform, and then closes the curtain again. He might light a votive candle or burn incense in front of it soon and pray to Saint Maldini, the protector of all defenders…”

“Pwahahahaha!!”

Helena burst into laughter as she understood the situation.

He was actively revering him, but it seemed to have degenerated into something similar to worship.

“Then will he be able to play in the next AC Milan game?”

“He’s really eager, you know? He doesn’t insist on starting, but he says if he gets another chance, he’ll completely shut down the AC Milan attack… He was disappointed that he conceded two goals.”

Helena shrugged at Hyungmin’s words.

“Losing by one goal in the AC Milan away game isn’t that bad, is it? The away goals rule has been abolished in the Champions League now.”

Hyungmin remained silent for a moment at Helena’s words. She had thoroughly studied the rules and regulations that determined victory and defeat in sports, even if she didn’t know much else.

“…Hyungmin?”

Helena carefully examined his face, worried that her boyfriend, who still hated losing as much as ever, might be upset. However, Hyungmin was looking down, lost in thought.

“Hyungmin, what are you thinking so hard about?”

At Helena’s repeated question, Hyungmin seemed to snap out of it and looked up at her blue eyes.

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

“Shall we go back? We have to prepare for the Manchester United game and the AC Milan game, and I was wondering if I dragged you out for nothing.”

“Oh, no. It’s not that.”

Hyungmin forced a smile at Helena.

“It’s nice to get a change of scenery.”

“Ah, I see.”

Helena nodded and walked with Hyungmin for a while, then asked what had been bothering her.

“…But why do you keep fiddling with my hand?”

“….”

***

The Banfield Training Center.

The first team conference room.

The conference room where the Burnley first team manager and coaches usually gather to hold meetings and discuss tactics had all four regular members in attendance.

Manager Hyungmin Kim.

Head Coach Karolina Stefan.

Coach Taejin Jung.

Fitness Coach Paulo Morais.

The tactics that came out of this conference room had defeated numerous strong teams and led the small rural club in northwestern England to the Europa League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup titles.

In the past two seasons, their Premier League rankings were 6th and 4th respectively.

This season, they are currently in 2nd place, 5 points behind 1st place.

They have risen from being considered the top candidate for relegation to now competing for the championship.

They have to prepare for the Premier League game against Manchester United tomorrow, but the conference room was engaged in a serious discussion about a much more important topic than such trivial matters.

“…So you couldn’t check the size?”

Hyungmin, who had been dejectedly burying his head on the table at Taejin’s serious question, lifted his head and shook it from side to side before burying his head on the table again.

“Hey, how are you going to buy an engagement ring if you don’t know the size?”

“I don’t know either…”

Hyungmin mumbled, moving his lips next to his cheek pressed against the table.

“I think it’s about this size…”

Hyungmin roughly spread his thumb and index finger to show the size, and the two married men let out long sighs.

“How are you going to measure the ring size with that!”

This was an outburst from the tall, former striker-turned-coach.

“You really don’t know anything about this, do you.”

This was a sigh of exasperation from the passionate Portuguese fitness coach, who was shaking his head with his arms crossed.

The three men, sighing gloomily, sat silently for a long time before simultaneously turning their attention to the only woman in the room.

“You want me to find out? How am I supposed to find out?!”

Hyungmin flinched at Karolina’s outburst, but Taejin stubbornly persisted.

“Still, when women are having private conversations…”

“…When women are having private conversations, you want me to ask, ‘Hey, you have pretty fingers. What’s your ring size?’ Don’t you think it would be too obvious why I’m asking if the question comes from me?”

“Hmm…”

All of this is happening because they have to keep it a secret from the person receiving the ring.

The married man from Korea, where there is a proposal but no tradition of kneeling and presenting a surprise engagement ring, shook his head.

“Hey, just be honest with Helena and go see the rings together. You can’t even pick out the design.”

“That’s not true!!”

The middle-aged Portuguese married man butted in, huffing and puffing.

“How can you think so unromantically, Taejin? That’s an insult to romance, huh?! You go to a nice cafe and watch the sunset over the sea, and at that moment, a band you’ve hired in advance comes to play for your beautiful woman while she’s drinking a glass of wine! Then you kneel down and take out a small box and open it…!”

“Paulo. This is the 30th time I’ve heard it, so please stop talking about it.”

Every married man thinks the proposal he made was the best.

But whether every married woman thinks the proposal her husband made was the best is something they really don’t know.

Moreover, you can’t see the sea in Burnley, Hyungmin doesn’t know how to pick a nice cafe, and where on earth are you supposed to hire a band?

Taejin, pondering, decided to solve the immediate task first.

“But weren’t we supposed to be preparing for the Manchester United game tomorrow?”

Karolina and Paulo Morais simultaneously turned to him at Taejin’s question.

“Ah, this is much more important than that!”

This was Karolina’s retort.

“The kids will take care of Manchester United on their own!”

This was Paulo Morais’s outburst.

“Hmm…”

Taejin swallowed a sigh.

Simone Inzaghi, the manager of Manchester United, who is barely maintaining his position but is still considered a master tactician, would be upset if he heard that…

***

“Wooooooo!!!”

The boos of the home fans echoed from the stands, but the Burnley players, who quickly finished their goal celebration, returned to their own half in an orderly fashion.

“0-3. The score is 0-3. The scorer is Burnley’s Keane Lewis-Potter. Keane Lewis-Potter.”

The dry voice of the Old Trafford [Manchester United’s home stadium] stadium announcer echoed, but the Burnley players, heading to their respective positions, exchanged whispers without paying attention.

“Is he still doing that?”

“Yeah. He’s been doing that ever since the game started, you know?”

“Why is he doing that? Could it be because we lost to AC Milan?”

The anxious players glanced at the away team’s bench.

The manager, who usually came out to the technical area to watch the game or give instructions, was holed up on the bench today, sitting silently with his arms crossed.

Head coach Karolina came out to the technical area to give instructions or encourage the players, but even she went down to the bench after the Burnley players succeeded in scoring their second goal in the 26th minute of the first half.

The manager and all four coaches were sitting side by side on the bench with their arms crossed in a gloomy atmosphere.

“Hey, hey, don’t you know anything?”

“Me? What do I know? I don’t know either.”

Captain Nicholas Seiwald shook his head and answered the players’ questions.

“A long time ago, why… there was a time when the manager kicked a water bottle.”

The water bottle kick incident, which is now a legend among Burnley’s young players.

The number of people who directly witnessed the incident has decreased a lot, but every player who newly joins Burnley hears the anecdote from the existing players.

Our manager is usually gentle and kind, but you should never ignore or underestimate him!

A warning to prevent a single troublemaker from causing damage to the entire team.

“…That’s true, but we completely screwed up in the first half back then. This time, we finished the first half 2-0!”

Keane Lewis-Potter, who started today, tilted his head at Nicholas Seiwald’s protest.

“Did he think we would trample Manchester United even more thoroughly? So he doesn’t like our performance in the first half?”

“Hmm…”

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a long time since the manager sat on the bench like that, stirring up dark clouds.

Nicholas Seiwald, tilting his head, looked around and nodded.

“I don’t know, so let’s just score one more goal for now.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea!”

The surrounding teammates agreed in unison.

It was a statement that would make Manchester United’s Simone Inzaghi, who was suffering in the home team’s technical area, faint, but the young Burnley players were serious.

Another water bottle kicking incident must not happen.

So the most accurate thing to do is to thoroughly dominate the opposing team so that the manager doesn’t get angry.

“Okay, let’s go! For ever and ever! Who are we?”

“We are Burnley!”

***

While the Manchester United directors sitting in the director’s box above, watching the Burnley players who were regaining their momentum, were turning pale, Helena, who was sitting among them, sighed inaudibly.

“Did you say something, Miss Cartwright?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Helena smiled and answered the question from the side, then sighed again, looking down at the empty away team technical area.

“It’s size 7, you idiot.”