Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: League 30th Round (2)
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Stride, stride!
With each vigorous step, her blonde ponytail bounced roughly up and down.
Strategic Planning Team Leader Charlotte Emma huffed as she strode down the corridor.
“How could he...!”
Her cheeks were flushed with anger.
The problem had been Ma Jeong-woo's official press conference just moments ago.
“Losing even one of the three matches means he'll step down as manager himself...?”
It was an absurd statement.
Before the interview with the reporters, Charlotte Emma had provided him with researched materials.
From the reporters' tendencies to anticipated questions.
Even safe, neutral responses.
But... Jeong-woo hadn't followed any of it.
He had simply gone ahead on his own, creating this mess.
“Really...!”
From Charlotte Emma's perspective, it was utterly incomprehensible.
On one hand, she even suspected he was taking the club too lightly.
“How could he... make that ridiculous deal with the supporters?”
She came to an abrupt halt—!
Panting as she walked the corridor, she had arrived at the owner's office entrance.
“Hoo—!”
Charlotte Emma let out a long breath.
If she didn't steady herself like this, she felt like she might kick the door open and unleash her fury.
Whether it got her fired or not.
“The owner... the owner...!”
Slap, slap!
She lightly slapped both cheeks with her slender hands twice.
Finally calming her unsettled self, Emma knocked.
As soon as she stepped into the office, Charlotte Emma froze after just two steps.
Jeong-woo was sitting cross-legged on the guest sofa, brows furrowed.
A tactics board sat on the table.
Across from him was Park Hee-won, newly appointed as first-team senior coach.
‘Not a fan...’
The skin under one of Charlotte Emma's eyes twitched faintly.
Rumors were swirling within the club.
One of them concerned this Park Hee-won.
Hadn't he jumped straight from U-21 youth coach to first-team senior coach?
Naturally, people whispered it was nepotism.
“What's the matter?”
Jeong-woo asked without taking his eyes off the tactics board.
Hee-won glanced at Emma's slightly ragged breathing and flushed cheeks, got the hint, and stood up.
“Ahem, hmm! Think I'll step out for a drink.”
Soon, the quiet office held only Emma and Jeong-woo.
“Why are you so upset?”
As the fifth-generation Wanderer, Emma swallowed her anger once more and asked.
But her voice trembled faintly.
Only then did Jeong-woo casually look up.
A white blouse that clung just right to her body, paired with a black skirt.
Emma, with her slightly tousled blonde hair, stared straight at him.
Her eyes brimmed with resentment.
‘She's mad at me.’
It had been just over a month now, but Jeong-woo knew better than anyone that this head of the power planning team valued neatness above all.
She had never once appeared disheveled at the club.
Yet the woman before him now couldn't even catch her breath properly.
It was obvious.
‘Must be the press conference.’
Instead of responding in kind, Jeong-woo brazenly opened his mouth.
“Some hack reporters throwing one-two punches with their mouths... you just sit there and take it? Oh, and a hook came flying too.”
“You still should have held back. No, that's exactly what the reporters were baiting you for. I emphasized it how many times... Hoo—! Let's set that aside for now... What was that deal?”
“Ah, that~”
Her face burned even hotter at his nonchalant reaction.
“Ah, that? Do you have any idea what damage a spur-of-the-moment remark like that brings to the club? The owner... represents the club!”
Emma saw Jeong-woo as impulsive.
His recent management style only reinforced that.
‘He fired nine people...!’
And in their place, he'd signed just two players.
She had briefly understood him.
As the executive director had said, there had been moments when Bolton seemed alive again, pulsing with energy after lying dormant.
‘How...!’
Now, she felt like bursting into tears.
As a fifth-generation Wanderer, she worried that the current Bolton might sink even deeper into the pit.
Jeong-woo rolled his eyes leftward at Emma, whose eyes were reddening, and muttered.
“It's not impulsive. It was planned from the start.”
“That doesn't make sense...! Who in the world makes a crazy plan like that!”
“Right here?”
Emma clenched her fists, hidden in her skirt.
“Owner... you seem awfully full of yourself. Do you really believe the team won't lose a single one of those three matches?”
Of course, it would be great if they pulled off three straight unbeaten games as the owner hoped.
But that was nearly impossible in reality.
Emma knew it well.
The current owner had zero managerial experience.
And the team wasn't supporting him either.
There were no standout talents among the coaching staff.
‘In this situation, even winning one game would be a miracle...!’
Even so, she had harbored a sliver of hope from the executive director's positive assessment.
“The executive director praised it as confidence, not arrogance. Well, different perspectives, I respect that.”
“Haa...!”
Any lingering hope plummeted at Jeong-woo's playful mutter, oblivious to the gravity.
Meanwhile, Jeong-woo stared straight into Emma's green eyes and thought.
‘More love-hate than outright hate.’
He had heard it from Richard Geers.
Her personal profile confirmed it too.
That the woman before him was a fifth-generation Wanderer.
So, even as she felt helplessness and disappointment in the current situation, she still directed that love-hate gaze at him.
She even looked like she might cry if poked.
‘Better if she just got mad.’
Of course, she was still clenching her tiny fists...
‘The hiring criteria here must favor die-hard supporters.’
She seemed to desperately hope he, as owner, had some convincing plan.
A true passionate Wanderer.
Soon, Jeong-woo chuckled softly and stood from his seat.
Even in this situation, her angry expression was subtly cute, making him want to tease her more...
‘Keep playing around, and I'll get skinned alive.’
Jeong-woo lightly recited the list of the next three opponents before continuing.
“Well, if it's proof against your 'arrogance' or my 'confidence,' it's these three teams. Truth is, they're all bottom-dwellers. Easy opponents, you see.”
“You haven't forgotten that among those bottom-dwellers, Bolton's at the very top of the heap, right?”
“Nah. Bottom-dwellers are all the same. Meaning, any of them could finish dead last without surprise. Ourselves included.”
“Even so!”
“That means the players' ability gaps aren't that big. In this situation, it'll come down to the manager's game.”
This was tantamount to boasting he was better than other managers.
‘What on earth does he trust?’
Emma was dumbfounded.
Just then, Jeong-woo smirked and continued.
“And about the interview... people are inherently two-faced, you know that? I used that.”
“What do you mean?”
“A lot of them hate my guts. From me becoming owner, my management style, to now taking the manager role. Hell, they're hoping I get humiliated big time.”
Jeong-woo shoved both hands into the pockets of his wrinkled dress pants and stepped forward.
“The people in the club are no different. Even our Strategic Planning Team Leader here, right?”
“...”
Not quite humiliation, but she did dislike him, so no excuse came to mind.
Jeong-woo flashed the warm smile he'd learned from Geers and added lightly.
“I played on that psychology. More precisely, I set the frame. The three-game window. Lose even one inside it, and I step down—that deal.”
Emma felt confused.
“So those who hate you will say, one game in three? Fuck! Even winning one will be tough. And deep down, they'll hope I crash and burn spectacularly. The team's already at rock bottom. Nowhere lower to go.”
Jeong-woo shrugged.
“In short, I'm the villain now. Everyone wants me to fall. So they'll want a front-row seat to the collapse.”
Emma narrowed her brows slightly.
Hearing it out, she could somewhat picture what Jeong-woo wanted.
“No way...? You said that to draw in crowds?”
Snap!
Jeong-woo lightly snapped his thumb and middle finger.
“Bingo.”
Just as she thought.
Jeong-woo was certain.
This deal would bring more fans to the home stadium starting with Rochdale than he even imagined.
The signs were already there.
From local media to public opinion, everyone was buzzing about his interview.
The reactions were near the worst.
Many Wanderers hoped he'd lose to Rochdale and step down quick.
Individuals were even recruiting spectators.
Come watch him crumble up close in the Rochdale match.
“Really... such a reckless method!”
Emma's anger had somewhat subsided.
Instead, she cried out in worry.
But Jeong-woo just grinned.
Stopping a step before her, he said.
“Reckless or not, someone has to start it.”
For a moment, Emma's pupils shook.
In the owner's dark eyes burned a fierce desire to win.
A glimpse of affection for the club shone through.
Jeong-woo looked down at her and added.
“And... just so you know, that's why I don't take this club lightly. If the club goes under... my life goes with it.”
“Yes?”
From the moment he joined this club, he had bet his life on it.
‘Relegation means straight bankruptcy.’
No turning back now.
“So watch me. Keep showing that passionate love for the club like you are.”
Meanwhile, he thought to himself.
‘Damn, that's cool.’
* * *
Match day.
Rochdale manager Burtland headed straight to the dugout upon entering.
He didn't even shake hands with the opposing manager, Jeong-woo.
‘Shake hands with a punk kid? Hmph!’
The owner doubling as manager rubbed him the wrong way from the start.
It was a show of intent.
Even the Wanderers shared Burtland's sentiment.
Just look at the Bolton home stadium banners everywhere.
[MA OUT!]
[Ma Jeong-woo, the club destroyer!]
[Get out, Ma! Bolton isn't a team anyone can manage!]
On the other hand, Burtland was surprised.
“So many fans...?”
Bolton's home ground was sizable even among League One stadiums.
The issue was the exponential drop in attendance after falling to League Two.
But today,
“Over 32,000 in the stands.”
His senior coach, seated beside him, said with envious eyes.
A number unseen even in the derby.
“Only a Sunderland-level team could pull this off...”
The stadium didn't match a League Two side's scale, and he envied it.
Still, he didn't show it.
Instead, Burtland sneered.
“Looks like they're all here to witness the Bolton owner get humiliated firsthand.”
He didn't even call him manager.
Burtland chuckled and added.
“Then we'll oblige. Heh heh heh.”
He absolutely did not see Bolton beating Rochdale.
The squad had been completely overhauled in a week.
Today, Bolton fielded mostly reserves, unfamiliar faces in the starting lineup.
Park Chung-ah among them.
Burtland clicked his tongue watching the black-haired Asian head to the pitch.
“Easterners... tsk!”
* * *
7th minute of the first half.
Splash—!
“Huh?”
Burtland froze, legs crossed in his seat.
Even the stadium announcer, caught off guard, paused for about a second before shouting belatedly.
[GOOOOOOAL!]
[Bolton Waaaaanderers! They strike an early opener against Rochdaleeee!]
[The goal scorer is Park, signed as a free agent in this winter transfer window!]
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