Review (4/10)
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The city government responded quickly to New Manchester United's proposal to acquire the land at the Newton Heath training base.
For the total of 165 acres of land, New Manchester United offered 3 million pounds, to be paid in full over three years at 1 million pounds per year.
It was not that Ethan did not have the money to pay it all at once. Rather, he was following Walsh's advice to play it safe. After all, as a transmigrator, Ethan knew very well that one should not flaunt their wealth.
After paying 1 million pounds and signing the contract with the city government, the large plot of land opposite Brookdale Park belonged to Ethan.
However, regarding the district athletics stadium, the city government still refused to give in easily. Their explanation to Ethan was that it required further negotiation because the matter was of great importance.
But the truth was, anyone with a discerning eye could see that with the city government intending to preserve the stadium's intended use, some real estate developers had already withdrawn from the competition. Manchester City appeared to be the most hopeful of acquiring the land, but in reality, they had no money. They could not even afford a single acre.
Last year, Manchester City were relegated from Division One to Division Two. This year, they increased their investment and brought in several capable players. Since the start of the league, they had been near the top of Division Two, even ranking first at one point. Their hopes of promotion were very high, so after the winter break, they increased their recruitment efforts, doing almost everything they could to escape the quagmire of Division Two.
Now, Manchester City were ranked 4th in Division Two and had basically secured a play-off spot, but they were clearly not satisfied with the high-risk play-offs. They preferred direct promotion.
If Manchester City did not have enough financial resources to compete, then there were only three options for the district athletics stadium land. First, sell it to a real estate developer, which did not seem likely now. Second, according to the history Ethan knew, leave it there and wait until another year later, when it would be planned as a venue for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, then leased to Manchester City at a low price for 250 years.
Judging by the current situation, the second option would only be chosen as a last resort.
As for the third possibility, it was to sell it to New Manchester United, but the only concern was New Manchester United's performance.
Regarding this, Ethan was truly helpless. Although the outside world unanimously acknowledged that with New Manchester United's current strength, there would be no problem staying in the National League, and in the North West Counties League Division Two, they were simply head and shoulders above the rest, what could he do?
Britain was a country full of rigid rules!
On the day Ethan signed the contract with the city government to purchase the Newton Heath training base, New Manchester United hosted the visiting Abbey Hey at Butcher's Arms Ground and won 5-1.
After 35 league rounds, New Manchester United had 25 wins, 6 draws, and 4 losses, totaling 81 points, ranking at the top of the North West Counties League Division Two and leading the second-placed team by as many as 19 points.
That meant that once New Manchester United defeated their opponent in the next away league match, they would secure the North West Counties League Division Two title six rounds early, and potentially set multiple records for the tenth-tier league at the same time.
New Manchester United's 36th-round opponent was the seasoned North West Counties League powerhouse Glossop. This semi-professional team from a small town of less than 30,000 people in eastern Manchester was well known in the North West Counties League, but due to financial issues, they had been relegated from the first division to the second division last year.
This year, they had also reached the main stage of the FA Cup, but it was precisely because they were fighting on two fronts that their league performance was not outstanding. They were currently ranked fifth in the league, only one point ahead of the sixth-placed team, and were fighting for a place in the promotion play-offs.
Every year, one of the promotion spots in the North West Counties League Division Two went to the champions, and then the teams placed second to fifth competed in a play-off to determine the other spot, so Glossop still had hopes of promotion.
It was foreseeable that this match would be very difficult.
...
Because this was a match related to the league title, and because the distance from Manchester to Glossop was not far, this match attracted nearly 2,000 Manchester fans to watch the away game.
Such a huge number of away fans clearly made Glossop worried about the stadium's capacity. Fortunately, New Manchester United fans were only crazy about the game and rarely got involved in reports of trouble outside the stadium, so maintaining order was not difficult.
Glossop's stadium, which could only hold 2,500 people, was suddenly flooded with 2,000 New Manchester United fans. Added to their local fans, the entire stadium was packed. Standing in the stadium and looking up, there were moving figures everywhere.
New Manchester United's starting lineup for this match did not change much. Since Rhodri Giggs sprained his leg in training two days ago, David Bell started in his place, partnering Jonathan Matten up front.
David Bell was the balanced, all-round type of player. His speed and technique were not as good as Giggs', and his physical condition and shooting ability were not as good as Jonathan's, so he had not made many appearances this season, only getting chances when the other two were injured or suspended.
The four midfielders were still Carl Makinson and Smith in the middle, with Frank Karack and Darren Lyons on the left and right flanks. Among them, Makinson, Smith, and Lyons were New Manchester United's first choices in midfield this season. Unless there was an injury or suspension, they would generally start.
As for Karack, he was paired with left-back Evra. Generally, if Evra played, the winger was definitely Karack.
The defensive line consisted of Gary Turner, Danny Collins, Evra, and Kevin Evans, while Steve Bruce sat steadily on the coaching bench, believing that if this match was won, he would consider giving Danny Collins more opportunities in the next few games.
After Cassel finished reading the starting lineup, some were happy and some were disappointed!
"How important today's match is, I believe I don't need to say much. You all know very well!" Bruce said in a serious, deep voice. "I don't have any more demands for you. The only requirement is to win this match. Can you do it?"
"Yes!" the players replied in unison.
Bruce waved his hand, and the players began to take the field.
Since most of the amateur teams in the North West Counties League Division Two did not have player tunnels like Highbury, the players left the rest area and went straight onto the pitch.
"It seems our players are very excited today!" Derek, who was sitting next to Ethan in the stands, said with a smile.
This was his first time coming to watch a New Manchester United match in person. Of course, like Jim, he found a very legitimate excuse for himself: work!
"Glossop are no pushovers. They also want to be promoted. If they win this match, they can maintain their league position, but once they lose, they could drop out of the top five at any time, so they will definitely fight desperately!" Ethan also felt uneasy about such a match.
In terms of strength, Glossop were definitely not as good as New Manchester United, but now New Manchester United had a huge lead in the league. If they did not win this round, they could still win the next round and still claim the title. But Glossop were different. Once they lost this round and their rivals won, they would completely lose the advantage of having matters in their own hands and would have to depend on others.
Therefore, Glossop had more reason to fight desperately than New Manchester United!
In this kind of amateur match, on this kind of bumpy, poor grass, strength often did not represent everything. In fact, on the football pitch, the weaker side could often turn defeat into victory. That was an upset!
As a fan, Ethan undoubtedly liked to see upsets, but as a club owner, Ethan did not want an upset to happen to his own team.
This kind of double standard was sometimes really contradictory!
...
With the referee's whistle, David Bell passed the ball to Jonathan, and the match officially began!
Just as Ethan expected, Glossop launched a near-desperate fight for the ball against New Manchester United from the beginning, without sparing any stamina. From the start of the match, their tackles were very aggressive, and scenes of New Manchester United players being tackled along with the ball and falling over frequently appeared on the pitch.
Since such scenes were often seen in amateur matches, the referee's punishment for such fouls was not as strict as in professional matches. One could even say that even in professional leagues like League Two, Division Two, and Division One, such scenes were still common.
This was the case in the lower-tier leagues of any country in the world!
Since Cassel arrived, New Manchester United had added more off-the-ball movement training and passing-and-receiving drills to their regular training. The addition of these aspects had slightly improved New Manchester United's overall technical and tactical level, but only slightly.
The poor condition of the pitch and the uneven level of the players' technique made it difficult for New Manchester United to maintain smooth attacking combinations, only occasionally producing flashes of brilliance. But even so, it was enough for New Manchester United to earn the reputation of a "technical team" in the North West Counties League Division Two.
But the more technical a team was, the more they feared teams that played rough and messy football. So when New Manchester United encountered a team like Glossop, who spared no stamina and launched mad-dog-like pressing in every corner of the pitch, with tactics that seemed to revolve entirely around the ball, New Manchester United undoubtedly met a formidable opponent.
No matter which New Manchester United player had the ball, two or three Glossop players would always appear in that area, rushing up to surround him and forcing the New Manchester United player to pass the ball away.
With such hurried passing and switches of play, there were naturally many mistakes.
But what about Glossop?
New Manchester United's two defensive midfielders worked together skillfully, and with Darren Lyons and Frank Karack in midfield, both capable of attacking and defending, it was difficult for Glossop to break through New Manchester United's midfield defense. Often, after getting the ball, they would simply kick it into the front court.
Although Gary Turner was slow to turn, his physical condition was excellent. After a season of coaching from Bruce, his positioning and judgment of the ball's path had also improved to a certain extent, and he could always head the ball clear before the opponent.
Glossop did not seem to regret it at all and started a new round of pressing.
It was in this cycle of constantly fighting for the ball, playing long passes, losing the ball, falling back to defend, and fighting for the ball again that the first half passed.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)