The Greatest Manager of All time

Lynn's explosion in the dressing room had a huge impact on the players.

As captain, Cromwell joined forces with vice-captain Ibrahimović and third captain Friedrich the next day to hold a team meeting.

With only about a third of the season left, everyone made a solemn pledge and shouted the slogan of winning the title.

From that point onward, Swansea's performances became extremely steady in every match.

They continued to play outstanding football, their combat strength rising without pause as they became unstoppable in the Third Division.

From league round 31 to round 40, Swansea recorded eight wins and two draws. Among them were two shocking massacres, as they cut down York City and Lincoln City by scores of 7–0 and 8–1 respectively.

In the table, Swansea overtook Brighton in round 33, and by the end of round 40, they were five points clear of Brighton!

If Swansea's six-point deduction were counted back in, then in terms of points earned through competition this season, Swansea would actually be eleven points ahead of second-placed Brighton after the 40th round of the Third Division.

There was no longer much suspense about Swansea being promoted to the Second Division next season.

However, in early April, a Football League Trophy final was waiting for them.

April 2nd, the day before the Football League Trophy final.

Lynn, dressed in sportswear, had just walked out of the meeting room. Behind him, players and coaches came out one after another. They had just finished their pre-match preparation meeting. Tomorrow at noon, they would set off for the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Originally, the Football League Trophy final had the privilege of being held at Wembley Stadium. But Wembley was currently being rebuilt, so the important domestic cup finals were being held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff instead.

The players chatted and laughed, looking full of confidence and spirit. The coaches, more grounded, seriously discussed their views on tomorrow's match.

Lynn was not thinking too much.

He had absolute confidence in this match.

Just two days ago, after the 40th round of the Third Division ended, he had exchanged more points for cards. Over the past two months, he had exchanged a total of eleven cards.

Gabbidon received two S-cards: One-Touch Passing and Sensitive Touch.

Grosso received two S-cards: Sensitive Touch and Sudden Interception.

Hanno Balitsch received three S-cards: One-Touch Passing, Sensitive Touch, and Sudden Interception.

Tobias Rau received three S-cards: Super Sub, Sensitive Touch, and Sudden Interception.

The S-card he had exchanged two days ago was given to Cromwell: Sudden Interception.

The season had already entered its final stage. Looking back on the results of the season, and based on the cards he currently had, Lynn had more or less completed the basic skill development of the first-team starters.

In attack, apart from defenders and goalkeepers, everyone had One-Touch Passing and Sensitive Touch. Depending on their positions, he added Double Touch to improve weak-foot flexibility.

As for the forward line, there was no need to mention it. Cards that could improve attacking technique had long since been distributed.

Defensively, apart from Gabbidon and James Cook still lacking one "Sudden Interception" card, the S-card that strengthened their awareness in expanding defensive coverage, the build was almost complete.

Among the substitutes, some only had a few cards, while others were still completely clean.

Lynn was not in a hurry. The road ahead had to be walked one step at a time. Only by staying grounded could they last.

At the beginning, he had focused on building the attack. In the middle stage, he naturally had to focus on building the defense, allowing Swansea's overall attacking and defensive strength to rise together!

Lynn walked to Swansea's press room.

Quite a few Welsh reporters and a small number of Fleet Street reporters were already seated there waiting.

No matter what, tomorrow was the Football League Trophy final. Holding a pre-match press conference was only natural.

When he walked onto the stage, many Welsh reporters below looked at him with admiration.

The Swansea led by Lynn had risen suddenly this season and pulled away from the competition. That achievement deserved respect.

Lynn sat down and first took a sip of water. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Is there anything you all want to know? Forget it. Let's do it differently today. I'll speak, and we'll cancel the question session."

The reporters below looked at one another.

Lynn had said something unexpected again.

Still, everyone was curious about what he would say.

Especially since this season's Football League Trophy final could be called a meeting of old enemies. Swansea's opponent happened to be Port Vale, the club that had clashed with Swansea back in January.

After ten seconds of silence, Lynn said solemnly, "Tomorrow is the Football League Trophy final. This is Swansea's second time reaching the final of this competition in seven years. I'm happy with the players' performances, but at the same time, I don't think this is something that makes me especially proud. After all, the Football League Trophy is only a cup competition for Third Division and Second Division clubs. Swansea's goals should be bigger and further away.

"I will send out the strongest lineup tomorrow. Right now, we are in very good condition, and we aren't troubled by injuries. That gives me even more confidence in winning tomorrow's match.

"I know what you want to ask. Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite has claimed he will make us suffer in the final. He also said Brentford made a huge mistake when they faced Swansea, and that Port Vale will not repeat that mistake.

"Blah, blah, blah.

"I don't care what Smurthwaite has said. He has his views and ambitions. I have my opinions and pursuits. I have nothing to do with him. I never did, I don't now, and I won't in the future.

"Beating Port Vale won't suddenly send Swansea flying into the Premier League, nor will it make Swansea famous around the world. Any random Premier League match at the weekend will probably receive more attention than the Football League Trophy final. So there's no need for me to fight a war of words with Smurthwaite through the media. We'll see what happens in tomorrow's match."

After Lynn finished speaking, he stood and left.

There were still reporters below unwilling to give up, raising their hands to ask questions.

But Lynn did not turn back, nor did he stop walking.

He did not want himself to care too much about the Football League Trophy final, nor did he want to trade words with Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite.

He only wanted to crush the opponent into dust in tomorrow's match.

Even so, in order to hype up the Football League Trophy final, the Welsh media still ran highly aggressive headlines.

"Lynn Looks Down on Smurthwaite!"

"Swansea Don't Take Port Vale Seriously at All!"

"The Swan Sea Has Its Eyes Set on the Premier League!"

"Lynn: Winning the Football League Trophy Will Be as Easy as Reaching Into a Bag!"

"Port Vale Not Worth Mentioning!"

...

The next morning, the entire city of Swansea burst with rare energy.

Large numbers of local fans put on Swansea shirts. The April weather had already shed winter's cold coat, and the supporters traveled in groups toward Cardiff as if celebrating a special festival.

It was true that the Football League Trophy did not receive much attention. But after all, a Welsh team had reached the final. In the history of the competition, among Welsh teams, only Swansea had ever reached the final before, back in 1994. Now, seven years later, Lynn had led Swansea back into the final. For the fans, this was an enormous thrill. Of course they were as excited as if it were a holiday.

Swansea's preparation for the Football League Trophy followed the usual routine. Lynn did not give some grand motivational speech. At noon, while they were on the team bus heading to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Lynn gave an important talk to the whole squad.

The players sitting on the bus were all dressed in suits. They looked handsome and composed. Now, whenever Swansea left home to play elsewhere, the entire team traveling together became a distinctive sight.

Swansea were stirring up a craze. Many fans from nearby towns around Swansea had begun switching their allegiance to them.

Looking at the whole squad, Lynn said in a low voice, "Lads, there are only seven matches left this season. As long as we don't lose seven in a row, we've basically locked down qualification for next season's Second Division."

Just after Lynn finished saying this, James Cook suddenly raised his hand.

Lynn had no choice but to say, "James, what's your question?"

Seeing the teammates around him all turn to look, James Cook said in a slightly embarrassed low voice, "Boss, we do have seven matches left, but one is the Football League Trophy final and six are league matches. Right now, we're twenty-one points ahead of fourth-placed Hartlepool United. Even if we lose seven in a row, we won't drop to fourth. We'll at least finish third in the league and go straight up to the Second Division. So... so..."

Everyone understood what he meant.

Lynn nodded. "All right, I made a mathematical mistake. We've already secured promotion to the Second Division. But I hope you understand that promotion is only our basic target. What is our longer-term goal?

"One day, we will step onto the Premier League stage, the top level of English football. And if we cherish every match and use it to sharpen ourselves, to make ourselves stronger, then we can shorten the time it takes us to reach the Premier League!

"I hope you remember this. Securing promotion is not the end of this season. Before we step into the Premier League, before we become Premier League champions, before we rule Europe, we will never have reached the finish line!

"We are always on the road moving forward. Remember what I'm saying. Today's Football League Trophy final — you may not care about winning or losing, but you should care whether you gave everything in this match, whether you treated it seriously, and whether it made you stronger!"

After saying this, Lynn walked back to his seat and sat down.

The players looked at one another.

They were somewhat startled by Lynn's words.

Become Premier League champions?

Rule Europe?

Boss's ambition was not small!

Ibrahimović smiled, turned to everyone, and said, "You heard him. Boss wants us to rule Europe. Everyone, get yourselves sharp."

Everyone laughed.

It was not mockery of Lynn's words, but rather a laugh filled with longing for the future.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the Swansea squad arrived at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

When they stepped off the bus, many reporters were already waiting there. They not only recorded the scene of Swansea's arrival, but many also wanted to ask the players questions.

The players getting off the bus were surprised to see a much larger number of reporters than usual.

Perhaps only at this moment did they realize that as their strength improved and their results rose, they would gradually become protagonists receiving more attention.

Pitch inspection, warm-up, returning to the dressing room to change shirts, preparing for kick-off — Swansea's players were already very familiar with this process. That was the mark of professionalism.

Twenty minutes before kick-off, Lynn entered the Millennium Stadium.

This stadium, which could hold nearly 75,000 people, should be the largest stadium he had ever led a team into. Large sections of the stands were empty.

Clearly, even in Wales itself, Swansea's appeal was not enough to bring more than thirty thousand people here to support the team. Swansea had sold around 18,000 tickets. Port Vale had probably sold slightly more. After all, English fans were more fanatical, and football was their number one sport. In Wales, rugby was the sport that made them proud.

Lynn estimated the width and length of the pitch. It was slightly larger than Liberty Stadium.

He was not worried.

For Swansea, the wider the pitch, the more their wing attacks could show their strengths. The longer the pitch, the more obvious their speed advantage became.

Just as he was deep in thought, someone suddenly walked up beside him.

He turned and saw a smiling face. A tall, thin man, also dressed in a suit, stood before him.

Robert Page.

Port Vale's manager!

Before Lynn could react, Robert Page extended his hand toward him, looking very friendly.

As Lynn hesitated, he heard Page speak with a smile.

The corners of Page's mouth moved slightly. Although the motion of speaking was not especially obvious, his voice was very clear.

"Hurry up and raise your hand, idiot. If I keep holding my hand out and you don't shake it, then in the outside world's eyes, you'll look ill-mannered and I'll look embarrassed. So raise your hand now, let's shake hands, and remember to smile. Smile like we're friends."

A flash of surprise crossed Lynn's face.

In the end, he still raised his hand and shook Robert Page's.

Just as Page was about to let go, Lynn gripped his hand tightly instead. Smiling at him, he said, "Why go through the trouble? Since you clearly aren't sincere about greeting me."

Page's smile did not change. Looking straight at Lynn, he said, "Thanks to you, and to that bubbling idiot of a chairman at my club, the whole world knows we once humiliated you. Yes, I actually agreed with making you clean the toilets. But our damned chairman apologized to you, and now we have to treat you like some precious protected animal.

"We can't sincerely discriminate against you, reject you, or belittle you. Congratulations, Mr. Rare Protected Animal Lynn. You've become a curiosity in English football. Anyone who offends you becomes your enemy and gets condemned by the outside world. Everyone will shout, 'We must give Lynn respect! We must give Lynn respect!'

"To hell with that.

"I hate people like you. Almost everything about you is perfect. You're bloody rich, so what do you need respect for? And when others give you respect, you throw it on the ground, stomp on it, and spit on it. Fuck your hypocritical acting. You humiliated my chairman and humiliated my club, which means now I also have to take the initiative to show respect to you and display Port Vale's friendly side to the outside world.

"I can hardly stand it. But who told us we live in a country where everyone has to look like a gentleman on the surface? We have to lock the demons in our hearts inside cages, either unknown to others or only released when no one can notice.

"So this country is also the place with the most hypocritical beasts in the world.

"Lynn, welcome to English football. Judging from your performance a few months ago, it looks like you've already learned how to survive here.

"Idiot, how long are you planning to hold my hand? Let go of your filthy hand."

From the sideline reporters' perspective, Robert Page and Lynn seemed to be having a wonderful conversation.

Both men kept smiling. Page spoke confidently and at length, as if he and Lynn had become close friends at first sight.

Not only did Lynn not release Page's hand, he even pulled him slightly closer. Leaning toward him, Lynn smiled and said in a low voice, "Yes, I do know how to survive here now. I've entered the game, and so far, I'm not playing badly.

"Robert Page, I don't need your respect, because I look down on you lot just as much. It's only that the outside world has exaggerated many things. If I were so fragile that I could be knocked down with one blow, then I wouldn't be standing here today. A year ago, I would have found a hole in the ground to hide in and never shown my face again.

"Maybe you've misunderstood one thing. In your eyes, Port Vale are the strong side now, and Swansea are the weak side. So the strong side giving the weak side enough respect and winning applause from the outside world is what the public expects, because most people think of themselves as weak.

"But you're wrong.

"Completely wrong.

"When you think the 'brave hero' will wave his butcher's knife, cut the black swan down from the sky, and roast it over a fire for a grand dinner, be careful. The black swan might descend from the sky and swallow the hero whole. No cooking needed. It'll open its mouth, swallow him in one piece, then shit the 'hero' back out."

Robert Page's smile changed.

Then he chuckled, looking even happier than before.

Feeling Lynn release his hand, he turned to leave, but before doing so, he smiled at Lynn and said, "I'm looking forward to the match. The 'hero' and the 'swan'? Hahaha. The hunt is about to begin."

Lynn also chuckled. "Let's see who's the hunter and who's the prey, bastard."

Before Robert Page turned away, he patted Lynn's elbow.

Lynn directly reached out and patted his face!

Robert Page's eyes instantly sharpened. Before he could speak, Lynn withdrew his hand and said, "You dare touch me? I don't mind making you the second Alan Cork."

Robert Page suppressed his anger and threw down one sentence before turning away.

"If I remember correctly, at Ninian Park, you were the one who got injured, collapsed, and went to hospital. If I make a move, you won't leave this stadium."

Looking at his back, Lynn smiled and said, "But you don't know that Alan Cork hid in hospital for over a month and didn't dare see anyone, because I beat him into a pig's head! Hey, do you want to become a pig's head too?"

Robert Page did not respond again.

The reporters at the side were extremely curious. They had already captured many images of Lynn and Page talking.

No matter how they looked at it, the two managers seemed to be chatting and laughing happily.

Had they buried the hatchet with a smile?

What gentlemanly conduct from both managers!

Lynn turned back toward the pitch, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

A general's success is built on ten thousand bones.

Today, he would turn the "hero" into white bones.