Chapter 21 A Bigger Stage
Before the training started, all Tyne players who were supposed to come to the training stood on the training ground neatly dressed.

However, the training did not start immediately.

In front of them, standing opposite them, were the coaching staff and four players.

Sonny Dean stood in the line, looking at the scene with suspicion.

The coaching staff is on the opposite side, so there’s nothing surprising about that.

But why are the three captains plus Wang Lie also on the opposite side?
This……

His temple began to throb, giving him a bad feeling.

Then he heard coach McNeill say:

“Captain Goetz proposed, and after discussion between me and the three captains, we all agreed that Wang should be the first captain of the team.”

As soon as these words came out, they immediately caused a commotion in the team.

Some people exclaimed, some whispered to each other, some whistled, and some were stunned.

Wang Lie looked at the reaction of the team in front of him, and his expression did not change.

I only learned about this matter ten minutes ago, when head coach McNeill found me alone and told him about it.

The matter of being the fourth captain was finalized between Wang Lie and McNeill when he decided to join Tyne.

So when McNeill came to him to talk about the captaincy, he was not surprised, thinking it was still the arrangement of the fourth captain.

As a result, McNeill opened his mouth and said: “We have decided to make you the first captain…”

Wang Lie was surprised: “Didn’t we agree on the fourth captain? Why did you change it? Goetz’s…”

“It was Goetz who suggested that you be the first captain.”

“Ah, this…” Wang Lie didn’t expect Goetz to do this, so he asked, “Did someone put pressure on him?”

“No, he took the initiative to bring it up. If there was any pressure, it was you.” McNeill then smiled and relayed Goetz’s words to Wang Lie, especially his evaluation of Wang Lie.

Wang Lie then realized that what he did in the locker room yesterday had intimidated the old captain Goetz, so much so that he was willing to give him the captain’s armband…

However, Wang Lie is not a pretentious person. He also thinks that he deserves this armband, and it would be even better if he could be the first captain.

He nodded and agreed straightforwardly: “Okay, I’ll be the captain.”

So Wang Lie, who had just joined the team for a day and a half, became Tyne’s first captain, which means that as long as he plays, the captain’s armband will be worn on his left arm.

Amid the commotion, former first captain Elliot Goetz raised his hand and signaled for silence.

After the scene quieted down a bit, he said: “This is the decision I made after careful consideration last night. I believe that Wang is the best person to lead us forward. I also believe that under his leadership, Tyne will definitely have a brighter future than now!”

After saying that, he handed the captain’s armband in his hand to Wang Lie.

Wang Lie looked down at the orange-red captain’s armband and took it with both hands.

Then he gave his first speech as the captain of Tyne to his new teammates in front of him: “I said everything I needed to say yesterday. Now I just want to say… relegation is definitely not our goal! We should go to a bigger stage!”

The whole team was in an even greater commotion than before!

Not only did his teammates across from him look as if they had seen a ghost, but the entire coaching staff and three captains behind him also stared at Wang Lie in amazement.

※※※

“Dean! Focus! Pay attention!!”

“Vitini, faster! Faster pace!”

“nice shot!”

“Oh yeah, that’s it!”

During the offensive and defensive training, Wang Lie’s voice rang out again on the training ground, just like in yesterday’s team game.

But this time he wasn’t just targeting Sonny Dean, but everyone on the team. Of course, he still mentioned Dean’s name more often than anyone else on the team, because who said Dean had the most problematic training attitude?

During a break between training sessions, assistant coach Varro asked McNeill, “Has Wang ever taken the coaching certification exam?”

McNeill smiled, knowing why Varro asked this question: “I actually asked him a similar question, that was… that was nine years ago.”

“What’s there to talk about what happened nine years ago?” Varro curled his lips, disappointed with McNeill’s answer.

McNeill didn’t take it seriously and continued, “I was already preparing for the coaching certificate exam. I don’t know why, but everyone in the Sofia United locker room started talking about this topic, and I asked Wang if he had ever considered becoming a coach after retirement? Because from that time on, Wang liked to give orders during training…”

Varro asked, “Like now?”

“Well, Wang was always the noisiest one at the Sofia training ground.” McNeill nodded and continued, “I remember Wang told me very firmly at the time that he didn’t think about what would happen after retirement because he hadn’t retired yet. He didn’t like to prepare a way out for himself in advance. When he was a player, he only focused on playing football.”

“That is to say, if he wants to take the coaching certificate exam, he will wait until he retires?”

McNeill nodded: “That should be what it means.”

“But this was his answer nine years ago…”

“Ha, Cesar. Do you think the king is any different now than he was nine years ago?”

Cesar Varo looked at Wang Lie who was chatting with his teammates in the rest area and said with emotion: “I feel like we have one more coach…”

McNeill said: “Isn’t that good? I think Goetz made a very correct decision – we didn’t see this when he was captain. Wang is indeed a natural leader.”

“Of course, I didn’t say anything bad…” Varro explained, and then asked McNeill: “Sam, what do you think Wang meant by ‘a bigger stage’?”

“What else? The European war,” McNeill answered casually.

“So do you think Tyne… can we do this?”

McNeill shook his head: “I don’t know, let’s give it a try. Anyway, the club’s mission for us is to successfully avoid relegation. If we can really qualify for the European Cup, the mission of avoiding relegation will definitely be accomplished.”

※※※

“Hey, what do you think the king meant by ‘a bigger stage’?”

Sonny Dean had just finished training and walked to the door of the locker room when he heard someone inside ask this question.

And he just happened to push open the door of the locker room.

Someone in the room glanced at him, then quickly looked away, obviously not paying attention to him, but joining in the heated discussion in the locker room.

“What else could it be? Of course it’s the qualification for the European Cup! You can’t call it a bigger stage just because you finish in the middle of the league, right?”

“Wang may hope that the team can get seventh place in the league at the end of the season, so that they can have a chance to participate in the UEFA Champions League…”

“Europa League? Does Wang think highly of the Europa League? I feel like he doesn’t even think highly of the Europa League…”

“What can we do if we don’t like it? With our current points, we should thank God for qualifying for the UEFA Champions League!”

Everyone was discussing it heatedly, but Sonny Dean, who was stuck at the door, felt very embarrassed…

He is almost suffering from PTSD towards Wang Lie. He feels uncomfortable whenever he hears or sees Wang Lie.

There’s no way around it because we have to face this old scoundrel on the training ground.

But now that the training was over, why did he still hear everyone talking about Wang Lie when he returned to the locker room?

You know, the old rogue and that two idiot Vitini are still practicing on the training ground, he shouldn’t be in the locker room!
At this moment, people in the locker room should be talking about what to eat in the evening, where to go, which girls are the hottest, whether they have heard any good music recently, and making plans to play online games…that kind of thing.

This is the normal team atmosphere!
Instead of being like now, where you keep asking, “How about Wang Lie? How about Wang Lie?”…you have to discuss for a long time whatever he says.

What are you doing? He is not the sun, and he does not need us to revolve around him!

And what a coincidence, just as I pushed open the door of the locker room, I heard everyone discussing Wang Lie.

If he had heard what his teammates were saying a little earlier before he pushed the door open, he would have definitely turned around and left.

But now that he was already at the door, wouldn’t it seem… too deliberate if I turned around and walked away? It would be as if I was afraid of that old scoundrel!
Tsk, no, I can’t give up at this time!
Thinking of this, Dean pretended to be calm as he walked into the house, walked through the bustling crowd, went straight back to his closet, and started changing his clothes.

His movements were obviously faster than usual. He didn’t even take a shower. He just took off his training clothes and started putting on clothes.

He doesn’t want to stay in this locker room with a very high “king content” for even a minute!
While Dean was quickly changing his clothes, the discussion in the locker room was still going on and becoming more heated.

“Why can’t it be the Champions League?”

This sentence suddenly popped up in the heated discussion, making the locker room quiet for a moment.

Even Dean stopped what he was doing and looked up to see who had said this.

He saw that everyone was looking at Matej Katić.

The former world No. 1 central defender who came to Tyne from the top giants Madrid FC to retire greeted everyone’s gaze and repeated what he had just said:
“Why can’t it be the Champions League? Do you think the UEFA Champions League is considered a ‘bigger stage’ by the king?”

The team’s main right back Jacob Barnabas said: “Majie, you are right. Wang probably doesn’t regard the UEFA Champions League as a ‘bigger stage’. He may not even take the Europa League seriously. But… do you think we can participate in the Champions League at our current level?”

His words were agreed by many people in the locker room: “Yes, doesn’t the king know this?”

“Has he not yet changed his mindset from a wealthy club? Is he really comparing us to Sofia United?” “Well, didn’t Sofia United also not make it to the Champions League?”

“It’s hard for me to understand…” Matej Katic responded to everyone’s questions, “Logically, Wang should know that setting such unrealistic goals is not good for the team – what’s the point of saying a goal that is doomed to be impossible? But I also don’t believe that he thinks the UEFA Champions League is a ‘bigger stage’, so…”

Katic shrugged and didn’t continue because he didn’t know what to say.

Wang Lie’s words are just like him, making it really hard to judge him.

To put it nicely, it is “how can a sparrow understand the ambition of a swan?” To put it bluntly, it is “arrogant,” “sensational,” and “mystifying”…

Katic couldn’t explain why Wang Lie set such a goal, but when he mentioned “Champions League”, the locker room became even more lively.

Some people actually started discussing it.

“Champions League… that means we have to finish in the top four of the league? Who are the top four in the league now?”

Someone asked the question, and someone answered: “Hackney Knights, Clayton Athletic, Scots and Sofia United. Sofia United, who are fourth, now have 37 points.”

“Thirty-seven points, doesn’t seem like a lot…”

“Ha! But we only have twenty-one points now, sixteen points short!”

“Champions League, Champions League, Champions League… I haven’t played in the Champions League yet…”

“I have played in the Champions League, but it was the English Champions League…ha!”

Sonny Dean, who was listening silently, really wanted to wake them up loudly:

Why don’t you look in the mirror? Can this rotten team even think about the Champions League?
He really didn’t understand why Wang Lie’s casual words could cause such a big stir in the locker room, making so many people follow him like a demon and dare to discuss playing in the Champions League!

A bunch of lunatics!
He didn’t have time to tidy up, so he stuffed all the things he had taken off into his backpack, zipped it up, threw it over his shoulder, and turned to leave.

He is mentally ill, so he won’t go crazy!
Apart from Elliot Goetz, no one cared about Sonny Dean’s departure. Everyone was still discussing the Champions League and the UEFA Champions League.

Goetz kept staring at Dean’s back until he disappeared out of the locker room door.

Logically speaking, it wouldn’t be a big deal for Dean to be in a hurry to leave the locker room. Maybe he was in a hurry to meet a girl he met online?

But Goetz still relied on his familiarity with each of his teammates and his keen intuition to realize that something was wrong with Dean – if he was normal, shouldn’t he be mocking Wang Lie’s arrogance to the utmost at this time, just like he did yesterday?

As a result, when everyone was discussing, he packed up his things and ran away without saying a word…

※※※

“King, the ‘bigger stage’ you mentioned is the European war?”

During the extra training after the game, Vitini threw the questions that he had been holding back for the entire training session to his idol.

Wang Lie nodded: “Of course, European war.”

Vitini frowned: “But we were eliminated in the third round of the FA Cup…”

On the same day that Wang Lie caused a scene on the field because he refused to be substituted by Heldon, Tyne lost 1:2 to Championship team Macfield Athletic away in the third round of the FA Cup.

It was somewhat of an upset for a Premier League team to lose to a Championship team.

However, Wang Lie’s incident quickly became the front-page headlines of British football news after the game, so Tyne’s defeat did not cause any waves and only had a certain impact in Newcastle and Macfield.

Besides, Tyne’s goal this season is to avoid relegation. The FA Cup and other things are completely unimportant in front of relegation. Losing may be a good thing, as it can allow Tyne to avoid fighting on multiple fronts.

As for the League Cup, Tyne was eliminated even earlier – in the fourth round of the League Cup at the end of December.

Therefore, if you want to participate in the European competitions next season, no matter which cup it is, you can only rely on the league rankings.

This is really too difficult.

Wang Lie comforted him: “It doesn’t matter, the FA Cup champion can’t participate in the Champions League.”

“That’s right, I can’t… huh?” Vitini looked at Wang Lie in surprise, “The ‘bigger stage’ you mentioned refers to the Champions League?!”

Wang Lie spread his hands: “What else? What bigger stage is the UEFA Champions League or the Europa League?”

Vitini was a little confused and stammered, “We…we, can we participate…in the Champions League?”

Wang Lie shrugged: “Why not?”

“But… we are only twenty-one now…”

“Don’t count the points, Vitini. Just focus on what’s in front of you. Work hard in training and win games. Just win one game after another.”

“Really… is it really possible?” Vitini was still unsure.

Wang Lie said seriously: “If you doubt it, then it will definitely not work.”

Vitini shook his head quickly: “I believe, I believe, I believe you can lead us to victory, King!”

Wang Lie also shook his head: “It’s not about believing in me, but believing in yourself. Football is a team sport, and I can’t do anything by myself. If I am the only one in the team, or a few people believe that we can win, and no one else believes, then we still can’t win.”

Vitini was a little worried: “But Wang, didn’t you see everyone’s reaction? During training today, many people seemed to be scared by you. So in this team, perhaps… those who believe they can win are indeed a minority.”

Wang Lie didn’t care: “There is always a process of adaptation. Take your time. Don’t rush. The second half of the season has just begun. And there is another key point.”

“what?”

“Of course no one will believe us easily if we just talk about it. It lacks persuasiveness. We still have to prove through actions that we have the ability to win.”

“Proof of action?”

“Yes.” Wang Lie nodded. “Before we make others believe that we can win, we have to actually win.”

※※※

Vitini’s father found that his son was in a very excited state of mind from the time he came home to dinner, so he curiously asked him: “Did anything special happen in training today?”

Vitini nodded repeatedly: “Wang became the captain of the team!”

Dad wasn’t surprised, “With his fame and status, it would be surprising if he didn’t become a captain in Tyne, right?”

“No, Dad, it’s not just a captain, it’s the first captain! Goetz handed his captain’s armband directly to Wang!” Seeing that his father did not seem to fully understand the shock of this matter, Vitini emphasized.

Dad was also surprised, his eyes widened, and then he shook his head in admiration: “This is what he would do, this is what he can do – Goetz is a real ‘team first’.”

Vitini added, “There’s more! Wang just took over the captain’s armband and told our entire team that relegation is not our goal and we should go to a bigger stage! Then the whole team was shocked! Can you imagine such a scene, Dad? When he said this, the entire training ground became chaotic, even… even our coach and Goetz, who just handed him the captain’s armband, looked at him with such an expression…”

Vitini imitated the expression he saw, with his eyes wide open, his neck tilted and his mouth grinning, as if he had seen a ghost.

The father was amused by his son: “Wang really is…ha! Really…ha!”

Vitini continued: “Later, during extra training, I asked Wang what the ‘bigger stage’ meant. He said it was the European competition. I was still frustrated that we were eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup… But Wang comforted me and said, ‘It doesn’t matter, the FA Cup champion can’t participate in the Champions League anyway’!”

Dad’s laughter stopped abruptly: “He said the Champions League?”

“Yes, the ‘bigger stage’ he mentioned is the Champions League!” Vitini clenched his fists excitedly.

Looking at his excited son, the father frowned and said, “Have you forgotten how we were tricked into coming to Tyne? Wasn’t it because of the Champions League?”

Before coming to Europe, Vitini was already a Brazilian teenager that attracted the attention of many European clubs, including some of the biggest clubs.

But what is surprising is that Vitini’s final choice was Tyne, a team ranked in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League.

why?
On the one hand, of course, it was because Tyne, who was backed by the Middle Eastern oil boss, gave too much at the time. On the other hand, they were attracted by Tyne’s ambitious plan:
Tayne promised to let the 18-year-old Vitini play as a starter in the first team, instead of signing him and then loaning him out like other giants.

In addition, Tyne also guaranteed that the team would appear in the Champions League within three seasons.

A team with a lot of money, ambition and which promised him a starting position… It can be said that both Vitini and his father thought this was the perfect start in Europe at the time.

Who would have thought that… apart from the money and the main players, the Champions League ambition was torn to pieces by the cruel reality. So much so that Vitini’s father always believed that Tyne deliberately made false promises that could not be fulfilled in order to snatch his son from other competitors.

Both he and Vitini were tricked by Tyne!

This is also the main reason why they have never negotiated contract renewal with the club and have been determined to leave in the four seasons since they came to Tyne.

Dad doesn’t want his son to be completely stuck in the quagmire of Tyne.

He is only 22 years old now. As long as he chooses the right platform, he will still have a promising future!

Tyne was clearly not the right choice.

Vitini was also aware of his father’s concerns, but he still said to his father: “Actually, I also think it is difficult to qualify for the Champions League, which means we have to get into the top four of the league at the end of the season. But… I am willing to believe in Wang and fight with him.”

“Why? Why are you willing to believe him? Just because he is your idol?”

Vitini shook his head: “Of course it’s not that simple. Am I such a mindless fan of idols, Dad? Wang told me that in order to make others believe that we can win, you must first really win…”

“It sounds like nonsense at first, but if you think about it carefully, it does make sense.” Dad nodded thoughtfully. People are always willing to follow those who can fulfill their promises.

“Really? Ha! I thought so too, so why did I believe Wang? Because he said he wanted to go to the Champions League, and he really did it!”

(End of this chapter)