Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 71

71. Is April Cruel?

“Hey, what are you doing…?!”

Jay Rodriguez, expecting a pass, watched Hannibal Mejbri blow past him, slicing through Crystal Palace’s penalty box on the right. Dumbfounded, he shouted, then snapped to attention, darting between Crystal Palace’s two central defenders.

Marc Guehi, Crystal Palace’s left central defender, and Jeffrey Schlupp, the left central midfielder, worried about Burnley’s central striker breaking the offside trap, had no choice but to track Jay Rodriguez.

Consequently, only Joachim Andersen, the right central defender, and Conor Gallagher, the right central midfielder, continued to pressure Hannibal Mejbri, trying to force him out of the penalty area.

The solid Crystal Palace defensive setup crumbled due to Hannibal Mejbri’s independent move, disregarding even his own team’s tactics.

“Joel!”

“Who should I block first?!”

An irritated response came to Joachim Andersen’s urgent shout as he chased Hannibal Mejbri.

Joel Ward, Crystal Palace’s right-back, hesitated, unsure whether to block Dwight McNeil, Burnley’s left-winger, whom he was originally marking, or Hannibal Mejbri, who had just entered his zone.

Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace’s right midfielder, was still rushing back from the attack to support the defense.

Having successfully dribbled the ball horizontally across the penalty box, evading Crystal Palace’s pressure, Hannibal Mejbri finally turned to face the goal.

Joel Ward and Wilfried Zaha, responsible for Crystal Palace’s right side, were too far away to interfere, so he ignored them.

Midfielder Conor Gallagher, rushing from behind, couldn’t touch the ball or restrain him without risking a penalty, so he ignored him too.

Therefore, only Vicente Guaita, Crystal Palace’s goalkeeper, rapidly closing in to narrow the shooting angle, and Joachim Andersen, the right central defender, already diving to block the shot, were factors hindering his next move.

Hannibal Mejbri, having finished his calculations in a split second, raised his left foot high behind him.

And lightly chipped the bottom of the ball.

“Huh?!”

Goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, right central defender Joachim Andersen, and the rest of Crystal Palace’s defense in the penalty box, who had rushed in to block the expected powerful shot, all stopped in unison, watching blankly.

Maxwel Cornet, Burnley’s right-winger, who had already made a deep run into Crystal Palace’s penalty box, stood firmly with both feet planted in front of the far goalpost, staring at the ball while leaning his upper body slightly back.

“Ugh!”

Tyrick Mitchell, Crystal Palace’s left-back, screamed as he belatedly realized that the opposing team’s right-winger, whom he should have been marking, had appeared right in front of the goal. The French forward, not known for his heading ability, simply grazed the ball with his head.

“Uwaaa!!!”

As the home fans erupted in cheers, sensing victory, the ball, deflected off Maxwel Cornet’s forehead, changed direction and floated leisurely into the goal.

After the opening goal, Hannibal Mejbri recorded three assists in a suddenly lopsided game, and Burnley eventually won 3-0.

In reality, it was a score that resulted from Crystal Palace’s all-out attack to equalize after conceding the first goal, which allowed Burnley to freely exploit the space behind them, but Hyungmin was very satisfied with the 3 points earned.

Of course, he was also happy to meet a familiar face and say hello after a long time.

“Sean!”

“Kim! Long time no see!”

Although he was managing a team stuck in the relegation zone, he didn’t look bad, perhaps because of the eight-month break.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been good. You seem to be doing even better than me!”

“Hehe…”

If it hadn’t been for Sean Dyche, he wouldn’t have come to Burnley, and he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to manage Burnley so luckily.

As Hyungmin tried to express his gratitude, Sean Dyche spoke first.

“Thank you.”

“Yes? No, I’m the one who’s grateful.”

“What do you have to be grateful for? I’m the one who’s grateful. Thank you for leading Burnley well even after I left.”

Hyungmin wanted to say something, but it was difficult to continue a long conversation in the chaotic atmosphere on the field after the game.

Perhaps this scene of Burnley’s former and current managers facing each other would also make a good news story.

Amidst the flashes of reporters’ cameras everywhere, Hyungmin chuckled and shook Sean Dyche’s outstretched hand, conscious of the reporters.

“I’ll contact you again next time!”

“Yes, please do!”

***

“…How much are they asking for? Is that bastard crazy?!”

Jonathan Landris, Burnley’s technical director, was fuming at the person on the other end of the phone.

“…No, no. We don’t need him! Just give up and say we’ll look for another player!”

“What’s wrong?”

Hyungmin asked cautiously at Jonathan’s display of slamming the phone roughly on the desk.

Jonathan, still not calmed down, stared at the ceiling for a moment and exhaled sharply.

He had called the manager to his office to briefly discuss the progress of the summer transfer market he had planned, and he was about to deliver one particularly frustrating update.

Jonathan tried to explain the situation to Hyungmin as calmly as possible, suppressing his rising annoyance.

“You know Omar Richards, right?”

The 24-year-old English left-back that Burnley was targeting this time.

When he was picked up from Reading in the English Championship to Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga [German Premier League], he must have thought he had the world at his feet, but after spending about a season warming the bench in the reserve team, he should have come to his senses…

“His agent asked for £60,000 a week.”

“…Huh?”

In Burnley’s newly reorganized wage structure, the highest wage is £80,000, which is received by Wout Weghorst, and the next is Dwight McNeil, a youth academy product and club icon, who receives £70,000.

One is a Dutch international striker who has scored more than 16 goals in each of the last three seasons in the German Bundesliga, and is on the same pace this season.

The other is Burnley’s beloved player who has grown up since his youth days, and is virtually the team’s symbol and fans’ favorite, attracting interest from other teams.

Both have proven their worth for that level of wage, whether in terms of symbolic value or actual skill.

Next is Abdou Diallo, who joined for a bargain after stints at Dortmund and PSG [Paris Saint-Germain, a top French football club], with a weekly wage of £65,000.

But the promising player they are trying to sign as a backup for starting left-back Charlie Taylor is demanding the same wage as Nick Pope, the English national team’s starting goalkeeper.

“He says he’s getting £35,000 at Munich… Burnley is a lower-level team, so he needs to get a higher wage.”

“Uh, what kind of logic is that? He’s moving from a big team to a small team after being pushed out?”

Hyungmin, fully sympathizing with the technical director’s bewilderment, asked in disbelief.

“That’s what I’m saying… Anyway, Omar Richards is off the table.”

Jonathan sighed, turned his chair, picked up a whiteboard marker, and drew a line through a name at the top of the whiteboard, which was now starting to resemble a combination of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a mad mathematician’s demon summoning ritual.

“Uh, then who is our alternative for signing a left-back?”

Jonathan stared at Hyungmin without saying a word.

“…You’re looking at the scout reports with me.”

“I’m looking at them. But I’m asking just in case my memory is wrong.”

“I know you memorize everything related to football tactics and player information, if nothing else.”

“What the f…”

There is no alternative list for left-backs at all.

No, there is a list, but there are no names on the list that have a realistic possibility of being signed.

Whether it’s because of a lack of transfer fees (which applies to most), or because they can’t match the wages (in fact, they don’t even want to), or because the club’s status is too low and they won’t come to Burnley (which is actually the most frustrating case).

Omar Richards was the only one who survived from the narrowed list for various reasons, but he suddenly picked option number 2 from the above choices, not understanding his place.

Hyungmin slumped on the sofa, his head aching at the thought of spending the next season with only one left-back, then jumped up again.

“Then, can we re-loan Oscar next season?”

Jonathan looked at Hyungmin with a pitiful expression.

“Oscar’s contract expires next season. If Barcelona doesn’t renew his contract, they probably won’t send him on loan, and Oscar doesn’t seem to be very interested in renewing his contract with Barcelona unless they significantly increase his wages or guarantee him a starting position.”

Hyungmin slumped back onto the sofa, powerless.

A left-footed left-back is really rare wherever you go. That’s right, it’s rare. That’s how I got to college… [referring to how being left-footed gave him an advantage]

Jonathan tried to comfort the young manager, who was becoming dazed.

“…Let’s look for some promising players to loan when the summer transfer market opens…”

***

Following Marcus Solbakken, Omar Richards.

Burnley’s summer transfer market plan was falling apart even before the summer transfer market began.

But regardless, time flows, and the game must go on.

Was it just bad luck in the last game against Crystal Palace?

Burnley brought Norwich to their home in the 30th round of the Premier League and struggled again.

Norwich had drawn once in the Premier League in the first half and was the main culprit for eliminating Burnley in the Carabao Cup [a domestic English cup competition].

They were counted as relegation candidates along with Burnley every season, but this season, under the leadership of manager Dean Smith, they were showing quite stable performance and maintaining around 15th place, but strangely, they had good chemistry against Burnley.

This time, with 10 players openly defending inside the penalty box, Burnley fired a whopping 19 shots to Norwich’s 3 and overwhelmed the opposing team with an expected goals (xG) of 2.67 to 0.13.

However, it was not until the 95th minute of the second half that Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson barely escaped the nightmare of a draw by successfully converting the penalty kick he had won himself, allowing Burnley to maintain 5th place after defeating Crystal Palace.

Then, four days later, on Saturday.

Burnley, who were mentally and physically slightly battered from playing two consecutive games where the outcome was decided until the very end of the second half, visited Arsenal’s home stadium, the Emirates Stadium, for the 32nd round of the Premier League.

Unaware of what kind of determination the home team, who were fighting a battle for first place in the league against Manchester City and Liverpool, was waiting for them with.