Chapter 10 Team
After ending the call with McNeill, Wang Lie looked at his phone still on the wireless charging base and sighed.

Tonight is destined to be busy…

After he finished expressing his feelings in his heart, he immediately called his agent Clement – even though the two of them had just talked before – he was afraid that in just a short while, another call would come in and delay things.

What McNeil said was very important and he must discuss it with his agent.

After Wang Lie told him everything he had talked about with McNeill, Clement asked him, “What do you think, Wang?”

Wang Lie told Clement the truth. After all, they had worked together for fifteen years and knew each other well. There was no need to hide any thoughts:
“My wife convinced me, and I also think we can pay more attention to those mid-table teams. However, I don’t know if Tyne is a good choice… Their situation is a bit complicated. McNeill is integrating the team, but he also has to clean up some people… But he reminded me that since a team like Tyne is interested in me, are there other mid-table teams interested in me?”

“So you want me to get in touch with more teams in the middle of the league?”

“Well, ask them if they’re interested in me…”

Clement thought for a moment and said, “Wait a minute, Wang, I think we should have a video conference and discuss it together. Because your proposal is our last resort.”

“Okay, you initiate the meeting.” Wang Lie felt that there was nothing wrong with Clement’s request for a meeting. This matter really required brainstorming and caution.

Soon Clement convened an internal meeting of their team using video conferencing software.

In addition to Clement and Wang Lie, public relations director Ms. Melissa Ross was also present at the meeting.

At the meeting, Clement gave a detailed account of the situation mentioned by Wang Lie, and then he expressed his opinion: “Let me first state my opinion. I don’t agree with us contacting those mid-level teams everywhere, Wang.”

Wang Lie was a little surprised: “Why?”

Clement explained: “We contacted European giants before, but were repeatedly rejected, which caused great damage to your image. During that period, every piece of news about your rejection would spread wildly on the Internet, attracting people’s ridicule, as if no one wanted you anymore. This became a vicious cycle. The more actively we contacted those giants, the less willing they were to talk to us…Melissa, am I right?”

Melissa Ross, the public relations director of Wang Lie’s agent team, said, “That’s right, Wang, Mr. Clement is right. I counted the opinions on your transfer rumors online during that period, and the negative feedback accounted for 71%. Even among your fan group, many people are annoyed by your transfer rumors. They are very disgusted to see news about you being linked to a certain team, and feel that you are begging for someone to take you in. They would rather let you return to China to play football than want you to wander between European giants like this…

“In addition, when we were frequently contacting those European giants, there were rumors in the UK that you were confronting the head coach because you couldn’t play in the Champions League, to express your dissatisfaction with the club not letting you go to play in the Champions League last summer. Our actions at the time combined with the rumors, unfortunately, just confirmed the rumors. After all, our goal at the time was to be able to play in the Champions League, so many people believed it… This is also one of the important reasons why you have had so much negative online public opinion recently.”

After listening to Ms. Ross’s analysis, Wang Lie remained silent. Clement took over the conversation: “I admit that we made mistakes before. We were a little too eager for success… so we can’t make the same mistake again. If we go all over Europe to look for a suitable team, people will think we are ‘lowering our own value’. After all, our standards have indeed been lowered, from a giant to a mid-level team… This is a huge damage to your personal image and commercial value, and in an unfavorable public opinion environment, it is hard to say whether you can find a target team that can really help you. I think we should be extra cautious when choosing the next team. After all, this is… the last chance.”

“What you said… makes sense…” Wang Lie was convinced by two important figures in the agency team. He admitted that he had thought things were simple at the beginning.

This may be the reason why Clement proposed to hold a meeting?

He might be afraid that he can’t convince himself…

Seeing Wang Lie agree, Clement asked him: “So Wang, are you really not sure that Tain is the place you want to go?”

This time Wang Lie did not give an answer immediately, but fell silent.

During his silence, no one spoke, neither Clement nor Ms. Ross. They just waited for Wang Lie to make a decision.

At this time, Wang Lie’s Chinese agent Ran Hanming came online: “Sorry, sorry, Fernando called me out of bed… He has left me a message to tell me the details. What stage is it at now?”

Clement briefly told him the development of the topic just now, and Ran Hanming expressed no objection: “I agree with your opinion. Now we really can’t cast a wide net. We still have to focus on the key points. I think after today’s news spreads, it is estimated that many teams will be interested in Wang Lie. But it doesn’t mean that we have to talk to all teams. The team’s strength, economic factors, tactical position… etc., all need to be considered comprehensively.”

After giving his suggestion, Ran Hanming remained silent and waited for Wang Lie to speak with the other three colleagues.

“As for whether I want to go to Tyne, I definitely don’t want to do that now – and I don’t know if there will be a better choice than Tyne. But Tyne is indeed the first team that has actively expressed interest in me, which at least shows that they have ideas and hopes for me…” Wang Lie broke the silence and said in a hesitant tone.

“I remember you and Sam McNeil were teammates at Sofia United?” Ran Hanming asked.

“Yes, but only for the 2027-2028 season. I joined in and he left in . Apart from being teammates, we didn’t have much personal relationship. After he retired, he returned to Sofia to be a youth training coach, and we didn’t have much contact.”

“No wonder I’ve never heard you mention this person before… It seems that you really have no connection with him.” Ran Hanming nodded.

“I remember that he played as a defensive midfielder when he was a player?” Clement confirmed to Wang Lie.

Wang Lie nodded: “Yes. But when I went to Sofia, he was already a substitute rotation player. He was thirty-four years old at that time, and he was injured and in average condition. He retired one season after leaving Sofia. He should have retired at the age of thirty-six… Yes, thirty-six.”

He thought about it for a moment to confirm that the number was correct.

During their conversation, Melissa Ross had found some relevant information about Sam McNeill on the Internet: “After retiring, McNeill took a year off before taking the coaching certificate. After getting the coaching certificate, he returned to Sofia and became the head coach of Sofia U16. Before he left Sofia, he was already the head coach of U18. He did a good job in the youth team, and some people speculated that he would be the youth training director of Sofia…”

Wang Lie remembered, “Oh, yes. Harris’s head coach during the U16 and U18 periods was McNeill. He was indeed trained and promoted by McNeill.”

After Wang Lie finished, Melissa Ross continued, “However, McNeill did not serve as the youth training director at Sofia United. He left Sofia United two years ago and became the head coach of West Lothian United in the Scottish Championship. In his first season, he led West Lothian United to be promoted to the Scottish Premier League. On December 15th last year, he signed a contract with Tyne and officially coached the team that was in the relegation zone at the time.”

“It sounds like this resume is not as good as Helden’s…” Ran Hanming complained. “Helden at least led the team to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.”

Swede Sven Heldon’s coaching record before coaching Sofia was indeed “poor” compared to the requirements of coaching a top club, so his becoming the head coach of Sofia at that time came as a surprise to many people.

Compared to Helden, Sam McNeill’s coaching record is as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

After finishing his complaints, Ran Hanming asked again: “So we can’t infer this person’s level from his past coaching experience?”

Melissa Ross introduced: “Tyne has risen from 19th to 13th under his leadership.”

Ran Hanming disagreed: “It’s only been four rounds of the league, nothing can be seen, this can’t be used as evidence. And Tyne’s current points can’t be considered to have escaped the relegation zone.”

Ross was just introducing the information, and she thought so too, so she didn’t argue about this topic with Ran Hanming.

Wang Lie said: “McNeill had a nickname when he was a player, called ‘The Thinker’. He and I were not close friends, but he was indeed quiet in the locker room and liked to read books. He seemed a bit out of place compared to other teammates. And I remember that when he was coaching the youth team, there were rumors in the club that they planned to train him step by step, following the route of youth team coach, youth training director, first team assistant coach, and finally let him coach the Sofia United first team.”

“It’s obvious that he didn’t accept this arrangement…” Ran Hanming complained before guessing, “Does he have a conflict with the club?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, I haven’t heard of it.” Wang Lie shook his head.

Clement, who had been listening, said, “At least he has one advantage – that is, he knows you well enough, Wang. I think this is also the reason why he took the initiative to contact you.”

“I was only his teammate for one year, and we were not close friends.” Wang Lie had to emphasize this point again, for he was afraid that everyone would think that he and McNeil were old friends.

Clement laughed: “After listening to what he said to you, I think he knows you very well.”

Wang Lie wanted to refute, but when he thought about how he felt when he heard McNeill say to him, “Tyne needs a real leader to inject soul into this team. And you, Wang, the World Footballer of the Year and the winner of the European Golden Ball, are the most suitable candidate,” he couldn’t say the words to refute.

Because his heart was really beating violently at that time.

The Chinese say “A scholar will die for his confidant”, and Wang Lie felt that McNeill was his confidant at the time. He was really moved by what this “confidant” said – both in terms of rhetoric and literal meaning.

In the locker room of Sofia United, he seemed to have become a burden that caused trouble, but in Newcastle in the north, someone still needed him so ardently…

When he thought of this, it was hard for Wang Lie to say that he was indifferent to the option of going to Tyne.

If he was eighteen or nineteen years old, he would have agreed to McNeill’s request over the phone without hesitation.

But now, he knew he couldn’t be so rash, after all, this was his last chance to continue playing football in Europe. He was almost 40 years old and he knew very well that many things were not determined by what the other party said, but by what he did. Nice words were meaningless except that they sounded nice, and he couldn’t be easily fooled by a few nice words that flattered him.

Seeing the expression on Wang Lie’s face change again and again, Clement knew that he had hit the nail on the head, so without waiting for Wang Lie to give a reply, he said directly:
“Okay, I think at least Tyne is the highest ranked team in the candidate list, after all, they are the only one on the list. I believe that a large number of teams will contact us in the future. Some of them should not be strong and ranked in the middle and lower reaches. Some should not want to pay too high a salary, and some may just want to try their luck… We don’t need to contact all of them. My team will give each contacted team a detailed analysis report, and then select a limited number of teams, write them on the list, and contact them after confirming with you, Wang. If it really doesn’t work, returning to China to play football should also be an option that can be implemented.”

As he said this, he looked at the Chinese agent Ran Hanming.

Ran Hanming looked at Wang Lie.

Wang Lie did not object this time. He nodded and said, “Okay.”

Ran Hanming said: “There is definitely no problem in China. In fact, there have been clubs looking for me all the time, but I have never given them a firm say.”

“Okay then, I’ll go screen the teams I can contact, and then discuss it with Wang…” Seeing Ran Hanming raise his hand, Clement asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ran Hanming said: “I have a question… Lao Wang’s contract with the club will not expire until the end of this season. What if the club does not let him go before the expiration date?”

Melissa Ross applied for the floor: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly what I wanted to say. Before this, Wang’s image in the public opinion field was rather negative, especially after the FA Cup match with Drettin. But because Heldon asked Wang to train with the youth team, I noticed that some people on the Internet have expressed confusion and opposition to this decision, and these people are not Wang’s fans. So I thought, why don’t we take advantage of it and turn a bad thing into a good thing? We can use this incident to put pressure on the club. You have to let the whole world see that you have been treated unfairly. So I hope that when you go to training tomorrow, Wang, you can take some photos of the youth team training and post them online…”

Before Ms. Ross could finish her words, Wang Lie laughed first: “What a coincidence! I was just talking to my wife on the phone about filming a video of me eating in the youth team restaurant!”

Rose’s eyes lit up when she heard that, and she said excitedly, “Let’s do it, Wang! After filming, we’ll simply make some production and post it on various platforms. But be careful not to mention the first team when filming, and don’t complain about the club’s decision. The audience will naturally speak up for you.”

Wang Lie had no objection to this suggestion. Even if it was not for public relations, he would have made a video to taunt head coach Holden and general manager Hall.

Now that he can kill two birds with one stone, there is certainly no reason for him to object.

Clement also thought that Ms. Melissa Ross’s suggestion was very good and inspired him: “Now everyone knows that Wang can’t stay in Sofia, so we need to make preparations for both situations. On the one hand, we should contact potential new teams, and on the other hand, we should speed up the negotiations with Sofia and try to terminate the contract with them in advance. If we can put pressure on the club and make them suffer moral condemnation, it will be conducive to the termination of the contract.”

Ran Hanming suggested: “Maybe we can throw some more smoke bombs? For example, publicize that Lao Wang is going back to China to play football. Wouldn’t that make it easier for us to negotiate the termination of the contract with Sofo United?”

Clement thought for a moment and agreed: “You can give it a try, but don’t have too high expectations.”

Ran Hanming smiled and said, “It doesn’t take too many resources anyway. What if it works? Who knows if Sofu League is really worried that Lao Wang will go to a competitor in the same league? They are always narrow-minded…”

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The video conference call finally ended. Wang Lie looked at his phone which was still charging. There were no new calls this time. He looked at the time again. It was 10:11.

It’s time for him to go to bed.

After returning from Heaton Sports City, I did nothing this evening except making phone calls…

But it was not without gain.

At least someone was extending an olive branch to him, even though he himself found it incomprehensible.

He also arranged the next work direction and focus with his agent team.

Perhaps because of the plug-in update, he now has more confidence in his future.

Thanks to the professional team behind him, who have considered many things for him.

Just like the traveler said, he just needs to concentrate on scoring goals. And that is exactly what he is best at.

But…it seems like I haven’t experienced the feeling of scoring a goal in a long time.

Thinking of this, Wang Lie carefully searched his memory to find out when was the last time he scored a goal.

Coincidentally, the team he joined is the one that is interested in him now – it was on November 16 last year, in the 11th round of the Premier League, when Sofia United played against Tyne at home. He came off the bench and scored a goal, which was also his only goal of the season.

That was fifty-five days ago.

He hadn’t scored a goal in 55 days, which was the second longest goal drought in his career except for the two serious injuries. The first longest goal drought was also this season. From the 35th round of last season when he scored a goal until the 11th round of this season when he scored against Tyne, excluding the offseason, he had not scored a goal for 77 days.

Previously, the outside world used this goal drought to try to prove that Wang Lie was old and it was difficult for him to score in such a fierce competition as the Premier League.

Wang Lie felt that they were talking nonsense. Why didn’t they think about how much playing time head coach Helden gave him and whether he gave him tactical support?
He still firmly believes that as long as he is given enough playing time and trust, he will definitely repay this trust with goals.

Since he couldn’t get this kind of trust in Sofolian, he left here and started a new adventure.

Wang Lie came to his senses and saw that the screen of his mobile phone was off. He knew that no one would disturb him tonight – the whole world knew that it was almost impossible to find Wang Lie through the mobile phone after 10:30 in the evening.

He got up, washed up and prepared to go to bed.

Although he was demoted to the youth team, he still had to follow his original schedule to ensure that he was in good mental and physical condition when he went to training tomorrow.

This has become his habit, which he has maintained for thirty years – before he became a professional player, he started to have a regular schedule. Except when he played in La Liga and participated in very late games in La Liga, he rarely went to bed after 10:30 in the evening.

Because from that time on, his father always said to him: “Wang Lie, remember, you can’t even do something as simple as going to bed early, and you still want to win the World Cup? Dream on!”

When he was young, he didn’t understand how going to bed early could be so easy. He was obviously still very energetic and wanted to play very much. He also didn’t understand what this had to do with winning the World Cup… But his father repeated this sentence over and over again, forcing himself to follow the schedule he set.

He also cried, made a fuss, and had tantrums.

But in the end, it was Dad who engraved the habit of “going to bed before 10:30” into my body, and it eventually became a valuable asset left to him.

Because of the cheats, he never suffered any serious injuries in his career.

But even the injuries were not many, and Wang Lie felt that this was due to the good habit his father left him – adequate rest, so that the hidden injuries accumulated in the body could be recovered.

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(End of this chapter)