The Greatest Manager of All time

Cristiano Ronaldo made the first professional appearance of his career at Liberty Stadium.

After the match, however, he was not happy, because he felt he had not performed well.

In the dressing room after the match, Lynn came to Cristiano Ronaldo's side and said, "It was only your first match. You need to remember that your road is still very long. Besides, you broke a club record today. You're the youngest player in Swansea's history to appear for the club in an official match, exactly sixteen years old. That's an incredible record.

"And I didn't put you in the squad just because it was your birthday. Even without your birthday wish, I would still have let you experience the professional stage within the next two months.

"All right. Lift your head and pull yourself together. Your parents are still waiting for you. Hurry up, get cleaned up, and go see them."

After listening to Lynn, Cristiano Ronaldo felt much better. He nodded to Lynn, then walked into the showers.

Lynn looked around at the players busying themselves inside the dressing room and could not help smiling. Their performances had been much better than he had expected, and they were growing quickly too. Next, apart from the Football League Trophy final, Swansea would put all of their energy into the Third Division.

They were only one point behind Brighton.

In the remaining sixteen league matches, Lynn was extremely confident that Swansea would definitely win the league title. Even so, the team still had to stay grounded. Matches had to be played one at a time, and difficulties had to be overcome one by one.

Lynn stood with a smile and left the dressing room.

Before the real sprint stage of the season arrived, he also needed to relax a little. He had not forgotten his date with Erin tonight. Now, he would sit with Erin on the balcony of a hotel suite, admire Swansea's night view, and taste the "legendary" 1982 Lafite.

When Lynn, full of ambition and optimism, believed Swansea would smoothly overtake Brighton and reclaim top spot in the table, he did not expect reality to slap him mercilessly in the face three days later, away at Torquay United.

Swansea were overconfident at Torquay's home ground.

In the first half, the players looked far too relaxed, almost as if they were trying to hand Torquay a free win. They wasted chances casually. Defensively, everyone seemed to be working hard, but they failed to form effective collective cover. Torquay scored twice in the first half!

At half-time, Lynn erupted in the dressing room.

Like an enraged lion, he roared at the entire squad.

"Have our recent wins already satisfied you? Do you think winning no longer matters? Do you think it's enough to get promoted smoothly even if we don't win the league title? If that's what you think, then next season, we'll still be stuck in this damned Third Division!

"We're in big trouble now, and we caused this trouble ourselves!

"You were too relaxed, too full of yourselves, too dismissive of the opponent! The reality is that we showed no fighting power against a weak Torquay side!

"We let them score two goals far too easily!

"Let me tell you what this road is like. We will meet difficulties. Everyone meets difficulties. But every time you face difficulty, it isn't simply about testing who can overcome it. If you can't face hardship with strength, then someone will be eliminated! Ruthlessly eliminated!

"If you want to be eliminated, if you want to fall behind before even stepping onto the top-flight stage, then do whatever you like!

"Damn it, we didn't even manage one decent shot in forty-five minutes. Our defense was ridiculously loose, and letting Torquay lead us by two goals is a bloody joke!"

After roaring, Lynn walked out of the dressing room and went to smoke near the restroom entrance.

Inside the dressing room, there was dead silence.

After everyone had recovered a little, the three captains, Cromwell, Ibrahimović, and Friedrich, spoke one after another to rally the team.

They did not want to suffer such an embarrassing defeat against Torquay either.

In the second half, Swansea's state was clearly different.

The whole team's performance kept improving, and every player seriously sharpened their focus against the opponent.

Lynn had replaced Tobias Rau at half-time. It was not because Tobias Rau had performed terribly, but because the team were two goals down and he needed to strengthen the attack.

In the Third Division, there was no deep and mysterious tactical battle. The most direct and forceful method was often the most effective way to fight.

If they needed attack, then add a striker.

Charisteas came off the bench, Grosso dropped back to full-back, and Swansea switched to three forwards.

This arrangement quickly produced results.

James Cook repeatedly sent crosses in from the right. In the 59th minute, Charisteas found a chance inside the penalty area and headed the ball into the net!

He had been serious from the moment he came on and seized his opportunity well.

After Swansea pulled one goal back, their fallen morale rose again, and their attacks became even more ferocious.

Torquay themselves were not strong. If Swansea approached the match properly, then even away from home, with Swansea's current strength, beating them would not be too difficult.

In the 77th minute, Hanno Balitsch, who had come off the bench ten minutes earlier, combined with James Cook and Cromwell in a triangular passing move to tear open Torquay's flank defense.

After reaching the byline, Balitsch cut the ball back toward the top of the penalty arc. Cromwell played a direct through ball into the left side of the box, where the defense had opened up. Villa, who had shifted to the wing after Charisteas came on, cut inside and met the pass with a curling first-time shot, sending the ball into the far corner!

Swansea equalized!

Torquay were frightened by Swansea's momentum and immediately set up a parked bus.

At their own home ground!

In the 80th minute, Lynn used his final substitution. He replaced Brunel with Evra, removing a defender and adding another wide attacking player.

For the final ten minutes, Swansea bombarded Torquay's penalty area.

Through constant crosses and combinations between the wings and the middle, Swansea ultimately could only create danger through long-range shots.

Unexpectedly, Grosso pushed forward at the final moment and fired a long shot from outside the box, forcing the Torquay goalkeeper to spill the ball. In the chaos inside the penalty area, Ibrahimović poked the ball into the net.

After scoring the comeback goal, Ibrahimović took off his shirt to celebrate!

On the touchline, Lynn let out a long, heavy breath.

A match that should have been won comfortably had turned into something so dangerous. He knew he needed to remain alert at all times and occasionally give the team a sharp wake-up call.

This young team could easily become proud. If they got carried away, then no matter how high they climbed, their fall would only be more painful.

After the match ended, Lynn walked toward Torquay manager Paul Cos. He had thought it would only be a routine handshake, but after Cos held his hand, he said sincerely, "Lynn, you're doing a good job at Swansea. I envy you for being able to develop such a group of young players. Swansea can win the title this year."

Lynn replied politely, "I'm only rich. If I had been managing Swansea's original group of players, I might have taken the team down instead."

"Don't say that. Although many people have misunderstood you, there are still people who can see your effort and ability. Good luck. I hope I don't see you again next season."

Lynn smiled, patted the man's arm, then turned and walked into the players' tunnel.

Torquay United were based in Devon on the southwestern coast of England, across the Bristol Channel from Swansea. Many Welsh reporters had come today to the holiday town of Torquay in Devon to watch the match.

After the match, they waited specifically for Lynn in the mixed zone.

Originally, after the defeat at Anfield, Lynn had stopped personally appearing for post-match interviews. Instead, he left assistant manager Emlyn Hughes to say a few diplomatic lines and deal with the reporters.

No one knew what was different today, but Lynn did not want to return to the dressing room. He wanted to give the players some private space.

Yes, they had won the match.

But he did not think the players deserved to be rewarded.

They could have scored ninety marks, yet they had only scored sixty. Although they had lost thirty-five marks in the first forty-five minutes and only five in the second half, Lynn still felt he could not spoil these lads too much.

Before, they had needed encouragement.

Now, they needed a suitable amount of calm and reflection.

Because of that, Lynn happened to run straight into the reporters waiting for him in the mixed zone.

Facing the reporters surrounding him, Lynn could not act too coldly. Turning around and walking away would be too unreasonable. He raised his hands in surrender and said, "All right, all right. Three questions. First one, Hans."

Liam Hans cleared his throat and asked, "Swansea were two goals down in the first half, then scored three in the second half and completed a last-minute comeback. What happened at half-time? Some people said they heard you getting angry in the dressing room. Was it your anger that woke up the Swansea players' fighting spirit?"

Ah.

Plainmoor, which could only hold 6,200 people, was truly simple and crude. Naturally, the dressing room's soundproofing was poor.

Lynn said calmly, "Yes, I severely criticized the players' first-half performance. I think many people would agree with my view. Swansea in the first half looked like we hadn't woken up. Perhaps things have been too smooth for us recently, especially in the league. We haven't lost for a long time. When the players begin to relax, as the manager, I must wake them up and make them raise their attention toward the match, focus on the game, and fight for victory.

"Swansea's performance clearly improved in the second half. There was definitely some luck involved in completing the comeback, but at least when we focused on the match, we were able to gain the upper hand in terms of the game itself."

After answering that question, Lynn lifted his chin toward Carter.

Carter handed the microphone in front of Lynn and asked, "Tobias Rau was substituted at half-time. His performance in the first half was actually decent. Meanwhile, Friedrich, who made a marking mistake, and Pedretti, whose attempted interception turned into an accidental assist for the opponent, both stayed on the pitch. Did Tobias Rau become the scapegoat?"

Lynn shook his head and said in a low voice, "If possible, I would have wanted to replace all eleven players at half-time, but that wasn't possible. In the second half, we needed to fight back and reverse the score. We needed goals. Tobias Rau was taken off for tactical reasons. It wasn't because I was dissatisfied with him.

"If I got angry over every individual mistake, I'd end up killing myself with rage.

"No matter what, after the players return to Swansea, they need to reflect. We won today, but this is not a victory we should be proud of. This kind of situation won't happen every time. Next time, in a more important match, if we perform the way we did in the first half, we won't have the chance to correct our mistakes and still get the result we want.

"We must treat today's match as a warning."

For the final question, Lynn gave the right to Roy Wood.

The ITV Wales reporter stared at Lynn for a while, then suddenly asked, "Do you think you're too harsh on your players? Their average age is only twenty."

Hearing Roy Wood's slightly strange question, all the reporters became curious about how Lynn would answer.

Lynn smiled and said in an indifferent tone, "Harsh? Maybe. I know many people think that in their hearts. What does the Third Division matter? More than eighty percent of the players in the Third Division are just getting by. Play matches, take wages, either support their families or mess around.

"But I'm tired of the Third Division.

"I want to stand on the top stage and manage Swansea in those matches. I'm also working toward that goal. When I'm working hard, I hope my players work hard too. Work hard to become better. Work hard not to waste their talent.

"Some players have already been called geniuses by you, like Zlatan, like David, like Oliver, and others. Am I harsh on them? But Zidane, Vieri, Totti, Raúl, Henry, Figo, and others — aren't they geniuses too? When those geniuses work hard every day, why should my players be allowed to relax?

"And for the players who don't look so gifted in your eyes, what I want to tell them is this: work hard. Work hard to prove one thing — effort can surpass talent.

"Even if we were in the Premier League today, I wouldn't change a single word of what I just said."

After saying that, Lynn walked around the reporters and headed toward the car park.

The reporters left behind looked at one another.

Suddenly, as they watched Lynn's back, he seemed so tall and imposing. This Chinese man who had been kicked down to the bottom by English football and had suffered endless humiliation carried a calm beast inside him.

Carter suddenly laughed.

Still laughing, she also walked toward the car park.

"What is she laughing about?"

Roy Wood asked in confusion.

Walter Raleigh shrugged. "The man she likes just said something very cool and very handsome. How could she not be happy? Honestly, if I were a woman, I'd like Lynn too. His strength is a kind of charm. And he's rich. He could easily fulfill all my greedy dreams."

"Unfortunately, you're not a woman. And even if you were, Lynn wouldn't like your type. First, you'd need Carter's full figure. Second, you'd need Carter's fox-like, soul-stealing eyes. And finally, you'd need Carter's sense of knowing when to stop."

After Roy Wood said that, he shook his head and walked away. He would wait for the players to come out and continue interviewing them.

Walter Raleigh rolled his eyes, then also turned toward the dressing room area, waiting for both teams' players to emerge so he could keep interviewing them.

The next day, the Welsh media published their match reports and column reviews.

Local Swansea media were divided over Swansea's comeback victory.

Some believed Swansea had won in a difficult and dangerous way, and that this was not Swansea's true level. Swansea had almost played with fire and burned themselves.

Others believed Swansea's ability to adjust in time and complete a major second-half comeback deserved praise.

But regarding Lynn's post-match interview, the major media outlets were unanimous.

They praised it highly.

"Swansea Has a Calm Beast. His Name Is Lynn!"