Dreams usually have no beginning. For everyone in a dream, it is as if they have suddenly transmigrated there.
Ethan now felt as if he were dreaming, and this dream similarly had no beginning, cutting in from 1998, with no telling when it would end.
The only thing he could do now was to accomplish as much as he wanted before the dream woke up!
The news that New Manchester United had agreed to the FA's fast-track promotion to the National League did not cause much of a stir. On the contrary, Crozier's disregard for the FA's debts, his desire to renovate Wembley Stadium, and his move to relocate the FA headquarters to Soho Square occupied the most space in the newspapers.
At the same time, the FA's financial audits of clubs below Division One were also causing constant turmoil, while the fast-track spots became less of a focus. After all, the National League was still an amateur league.
England's professional leagues only had four levels: League Two, Division Two, Division One, and the Premier League, and the latter did not even fall under the FA's jurisdiction, having formed its own Premier League Alliance, seemingly independent of the FA's sphere of influence.
In fact, Ethan remembered clearly that in a few years, with the rise of the Premier League, the FA would seemingly become the butler of the Premier League's giant clubs, ordered around at will, with Ferguson, Wenger, and Mourinho among those who frequently criticized its inefficiency and the institution's age and decay.
Perhaps because Crozier had just taken office and wanted to achieve results with vigor and speed, the assessment for the fast-track spots proceeded very quickly.
Of the 20 candidate clubs, 9 withdrew, and of the remaining 11, 7 were semi-professional clubs, including New Manchester United, while the other 4 were professional clubs, mostly competing in the sixth-tier Northern or Southern Leagues, with one from the seventh-tier Isthmian Premier League.
New Manchester United came from the ninth-tier North West Counties League Premier Division, making them the lowest-ranked of all the clubs, but unexpectedly, a week after New Manchester United submitted their application, the FA officially announced that after a series of rigorous assessments, the three teams qualified for the National League fast-track had been selected.
They were New Manchester United from Manchester, Forest Green from Nailsworth, the team New Manchester United had eliminated in the FA Cup, and Sutton United from Sutton.
Before the National League expansion, there were only 22 teams in total, so the three fast-tracked teams, including New Manchester United, would compete in the new season along with four other promoted teams and two teams relegated from League Two.
After the FA announced this decision, New Manchester United's selection caused some controversy, but it was only on a small scale and was quickly quelled by the FA.
While they might have been powerless against the wealthy Premier League clubs, the FA appeared particularly powerful when dealing with those amateur league teams. Under their swift and decisive actions, almost everyone was intimidated.
...
After confirming their participation in the National League for the new season, New Manchester United's preparations had to be adjusted, including the team's recruitment plans.
"A goalkeeper, at least one centre-back, a defensive midfielder, an attacking or central midfielder, a right midfielder, and two forwards!" Bruce presented his required signings to Ethan at the meeting.
Because the team was jumping levels, many players would be forced to leave due to insufficient ability, among whom Ben West and Adam Hamill were already confirmed to be leaving.
The remaining players' fates would depend on the specific strength of New Manchester United's new signings.
After all, having been promoted to the National League, there would be more matches, and it was certainly impossible to rely on 19 people to take on the world like last season. Nor could they continue to bring in players through trials. After all, the requirements for players in the National League were worlds apart from the North West Counties League Division Two.
Ethan recorded Bruce's requirements in detail in his notebook, for fear of accidentally forgetting.
After today's meeting, Bruce would go on holiday and then return to the club in July.
For the sake of New Manchester United's promotion to the National League, Bruce had postponed his holiday time and again. Previously, to confirm the level of the National League, Bruce had even studied videos overnight with Cassel and others, while also using his connections everywhere to understand their opponents as much as possible.
"No problem. I think by the time you return from holiday, at least half of the players you requested will be standing before you," Ethan said confidently.
"By the way, Cassel, regarding the establishment of the scouting network, you should start on it as soon as possible. We've just been promoted and aren't very familiar with our future opponents. We should take advantage of this summer to collect as much information as possible on all our future opponents, so that once Steve returns from holiday, he can get to work immediately!"
Cassel nodded in agreement. Although he had not supported New Manchester United's leapfrog promotion before, since Ethan had agreed and the club's promotion was set in stone, what he needed to do next was help the team as much as possible.
After settling this matter, Ethan looked at Professor Fryer and Derek. The latter two looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
"The Lab certainly won't be fully set up before the start of the new season, so we can only perform some simple data collection then, but we will arrange for team doctors. The real experimental research will have to wait until the new year."
Ethan smiled and was not in a hurry, nodding. "That's fine, Professor. During the time I'm away, if you need anything, you can go directly to Andy, and he will cooperate with you."
Professor Fryer naturally had no objections to Ethan's arrangements. In fact, Ethan was very supportive of their research, which could be seen from how he consulted their opinions as much as possible when setting up every corner of the training base, showing how much he valued the Lab.
Incidentally, through Professor Fryer and Derek's connections, New Manchester United reached a cooperation agreement with the Manchester Royal Infirmary, covering internal matters related to the laboratory as well as injury treatment and physical examinations for the players.
Of course, Ethan had to pay the salaries for this!
"It seems you already have a suitable target in mind. Care to share?" Bruce felt Ethan had been acting mysteriously lately and was somewhat curious.
As soon as Bruce said this, everyone immediately looked at Ethan.
"Have you heard of Peter Crouch?" Ethan asked with a smile.
Everyone present was instantly dumbfounded. Who had heard of that name?
"Which team?" Cassel pressed.
"Tottenham Hotspur!"
Everyone frowned. Walsh even started flipping through newspapers, trying to find old news to see if this person was in Tottenham's starting lineup, but in the end, he was disappointed.
"Hey, is there even such a person at Tottenham?" Walsh thought Ethan was intentionally playing a trick on him.
"There is. He's very tall, over 2 meters, but his physique isn't outstanding. On the contrary, he's a technical player, but he just hasn't been able to find an opportunity at Tottenham. This January he was loaned out to Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian League, and he only got a measly 6 chances there. Although he scored a goal, it still ended in tragedy."
"I heard Tottenham want to continue loaning him out, so I want to go to London to talk to them."
"Will he be willing to come?" Bruce asked the most critical question.
Would a player growing up at a Premier League team be willing to serve in the National League?
"He will, I guarantee it, and the price definitely won't be high, at least within our acceptable range," Ethan said with a chuckle.
In Ethan's memory, Crouch was loaned by Tottenham to the Swedish Second Division in the 99-00 season, but he did not get much playing time there either, scoring 3 goals in a measly 8 appearances, which was not too bad. But after returning to Tottenham, he was still sold to Queens Park Rangers for £60,000, where he made a name for himself. After that, things went smoother and smoother, eventually leading to a transfer to Liverpool and a call-up to the national team.
For such a player, now was the ideal time to snap him up.
...
However, when Ethan proposed to the White Hart Lane executives to acquire Crouch, their first reaction was to refuse.
Good heavens, these bastards, these blood-sucking capitalists. They clearly had no use for the player, yet they simply refused to sell.
But Ethan was clearly not someone without patience. On one hand, he increased the transfer fee to Tottenham, raising the bid to £40,000. On the other hand, he got in touch with Crouch.
"Although we are newcomers to the National League, anyone can see our club's strength. Last year we almost defeated Arsenal at Highbury, and we also won the double in the North West Counties League Division Two. Although it was only an amateur league, don't forget, our club was only founded a year ago."
"This year is an important year for our team's development. We've been fast-tracked to the National League by the FA, so we've decided to increase our recruitment efforts. Our goal isn't just to stay in the National League. Our goal is the championship and promotion!"
"Peter, our team's manager Steve Bruce admires you very much. Believe me, once you come to our team, you'll be a starter, and Steve will do his best to draw out your potential, letting all the teams know that you aren't just an ordinary beanpole, but a technical beanpole with footwork that doesn't lose out to the Brazilians!"
In this way, after exerting a tremendous amount of effort, Ethan finally persuaded Crouch. After all, the latter clearly realized that he had no way to break through at Tottenham, and if he stayed, the result would just be another loan. Rather than that, it was better to transfer to a lower-level team to get match experience and improve his strength.
With this thought, Crouch went to the team manager and publicly stated that he was willing to stay with the team, but on the condition that his playing time be guaranteed. Otherwise, he hoped the club would consider New Manchester United's offer, as they had promised him a starting position.
It was precisely because of this pressure from Crouch that Tottenham finally softened their attitude and held two negotiations with Ethan in one day, finally setting Crouch's transfer fee at £50,000, a full £10,000 less than it would be later. Ethan was so happy that he ordered a big meal at his hotel that night to indulge himself.
After finishing the transfer negotiations for Crouch, Ethan did not leave London immediately but instead took a bus north to the small town of Hitchin in North London.
(To be continued.)