The Greatest Manager of All time

Perhaps because of the impact of the September 11 attacks, the atmosphere inside the Britannia Stadium was not especially passionate. When Lynn walked into the stadium, he could vaguely see many fans in the stands looking distracted.

Although the 9/11 attacks had happened on American soil, the relationship between Britain and America meant that as the incident continued to ferment and escalate, it could very well affect the British public too.

There was a high chance America would launch a war, so how could Britain not take part?

Whether by sending troops or money, Britain could not stand apart from it, and all of that was closely connected to the lives of ordinary British people.

Standing inside the stadium, Lynn felt somewhat fortunate.

Given the bad blood between Swansea and Stoke City, he had thought he would be greeted by wild boos from the home supporters when he arrived away from home. But now the fans had been distracted by the 9/11 attacks. Not only did they fail to put pressure on him, they naturally reduced the match pressure on Swansea's players as well.

Stoke City manager Steve Cotterill walked over to Lynn in high spirits. After shaking Lynn's hand, he went straight to the point.

"Lynn, there's no meaning in keeping Ibrahimović at Swansea anymore. Sell him to Stoke City. Swansea can't only buy and never sell. At some point, you have to do business. £3.5 million. You won't lose money. Why keep him in the squad and create conflict? Looking at him every day must make you feel uncomfortable too, right?"

Lynn looked deeply into Cotterill's eyes. Then, with a disdainful smile, he turned and walked away, saying without looking back, "Idiot."

Steve Cotterill had not expected his fairly sincere words to be repaid with Lynn's contemptuous insult.

He was so angry that he laughed instead, nodding as he said, "Very good! Lynn, very good! When Ibrahimović is truly ruined one day, let's see how many people you disappoint, and how many people spit on you!"

Lynn could not be bothered with him. He walked to the touchline in front of the away dugout and stood there, ready to command the match.

The players from both teams entered the pitch.

The atmosphere inside the stadium finally began to heat up.

"Welcome to the Britannia Stadium, where a key match in the seventh round of the Second Division will take place.

"Fourth-placed Swansea are away against sixth-placed Stoke City.

"There is a three-point gap between the two teams.

"Stoke City have remained unbeaten in their first six matches of the season, with three wins and three draws. Their record has been steady.

"Swansea, meanwhile, have surprisingly achieved five wins and one defeat, and they are now among the teams near the top.

"Let's take a look at today's starting lineups.

"Stoke City start in a 4-4-2.

"Goalkeeper: Neil Cutler.

"Defenders: Vinnie Thomas, Paul Williams, Clint Hill, Marcus Hall.

"Midfielders: Dario Rosser, John Eustace, Cliff Clarke, Peter Hoekstra.

"Forwards: Chris Greenacre, Karl Asaba.

"Swansea also start in a 4-4-2.

"Goalkeeper: Glendor.

"Defenders: Gabbidon, Brunel, Friedrich, Tobias Rau.

"Midfielders: James Cook, Cromwell, Pedretti, Grosso.

"Forwards: Villa, Charisteas.

"The match is about to begin. Let's see whether the Swans can conquer the Sky City!"

Lynn studied Stoke City's lineup.

Steve Cotterill's Sky City was a team with solid fighting strength. First of all, the average age of the squad was around twenty-five. They had young players in their early twenties like Rosser and Clarke, but also veterans around thirty, such as Asaba, Hoekstra, and Williams.

Secondly, Stoke City's defining traits were their endurance and physicality, both of which were astonishing. At Second Division level, they could even be called the strongest!

Their players could run more than anyone, and they were extremely overbearing in physical duels.

It could be said that Sky City was a team made up of blue-collar warriors.

With the referee's whistle, the match began.

After kickoff, Stoke City immediately showed off their strengths: stamina and active running. This might not have been especially obvious in attack yet, but defensively, their players were incredibly energetic.

Their defensive actions were also rough.

In the second minute, Cromwell controlled the ball in midfield. As Eustace counter-pressed, he stuck a foot in from behind and tripped Cromwell. The referee awarded a foul, but did not give Eustace a yellow card.

After all, this was Stoke City's home ground. The home whistle was one of football's unspoken rules, and it applied everywhere in the world.

Lynn looked serious. He knew this was a match that would test Swansea's will and courage.

Whether they dared to face Sky City's physical confrontation head-on would decide the direction of the match.

If they did not dare, then their technical superiority would be useless, because they would have already lost in terms of momentum!

In the fifth minute, James Cook and opposing full-back Marcus Hall became tangled in a duel down Swansea's right. When James Cook controlled the ball, Hall directly and roughly knocked him off the pitch. After getting back up, James Cook immediately shouted at Hall, "Do you think this is rugby?"

Marcus Hall snorted with contempt, treating Cook's complaint as a joke.

The Sky City fans in the stands also mocked Cook.

"Coward! If you're scared, get off the pitch!"

"The Swans are a bunch of sissies!"

"Welcome to the Sky City! Feel what real football is like!"

Lynn walked over to the fourth official and began chatting with him.

"So when we come to the home ground of a team with this kind of rough style, does the refereeing standard loosen like a call girl's belt whenever it feels like it?"

The fourth official was very young. His name was Mark Clattenburg.

Lynn had a deep impression of him, because in ten years, Clattenburg would become a famous referee. The day before Lynn had been reborn, the Champions League final he watched had been officiated by Clattenburg.

Right now, Clattenburg was only twenty-six. He was not yet qualified to referee matches himself, but he could be part of the officiating crew, serving as fourth official, recording match events and assisting the main referee.

Hearing Lynn's words, Clattenburg turned his head and saw Lynn standing beside him with a calm expression. He wanted to laugh, but did not dare. In a low voice, he said, "The refereeing standard is the same, but the actual conditions of each match are often different."

Lynn casually said, "I'm very curious. If two identical Stoke City teams appeared on the pitch, would the referee's current standard turn the match into a rugby game?"

Clattenburg shook his head slightly. "Definitely not."

The meaning behind his words was clear: if both teams had "violent tendencies," then the referee's standard would definitely become stricter.

Lynn put on a look of sudden realization and said in an exaggerated tone, "Ohhh, so my team is just too gentlemanly! Looks like I'll have to plan on signing a few players from rugby clubs when I go back, specifically to deal with opponents like Stoke City."

Clattenburg could not help laughing silently.

Lynn put both hands in his pockets and walked back to his technical area.

Although Stoke City's pressing on the pitch was full of aggression, Swansea began creating shooting chances by moving the ball quickly and increasing the tempo of their attacking organization.

In the 16th minute, Cromwell, Pedretti, and Grosso completed a triangular passing move in the left half of the attacking midfield area. Then Cromwell immediately switched the play with a beautiful low pass, sending the ball rolling to James Cook on the right.

James Cook delivered a forty-five-degree cross from the wing. Stoke City's center-backs were tall and strong, so crossing was not exactly ideal, but this time, the young Clint Hill misjudged the flight of the ball and let it sail over his head!

The instant he missed it, Villa sprinted into the area behind him.

As Clint Hill landed and turned around, he saw Villa flying in with an outstretched leg, stabbing the ball toward goal.

Goalkeeper Cutler clearly had no time to save it, but the ball struck the post and bounced behind for a goal kick.

Clang!

That crisp sound made the Stoke City players break into cold sweat.

"Swansea nearly open the scoring! Clint Hill made a basic mistake by misjudging the ball, and David Villa stabbed a shot at the far post, but unfortunately, the ball hit the upright and went out! What a pity. James Cook's crosses are becoming more and more dangerous!"

Lynn leaned back slightly and bent forward, feeling deep regret that the chance had not gone in.

Stoke City's attacks, meanwhile, came frequently from the flanks. They were using traditional English crossing and long-ball tactics.

Dario Rosser's threat on the right was still fairly ordinary. After all, he was only twenty-two. But Peter Hoekstra on the left was different. Before 2000, he had spent a long time playing for PSV Eindhoven and Ajax, two of the three Dutch giants, and had also made five appearances for the Netherlands national team.

Now twenty-eight, he was in his prime. Although his peak ability looked rather ordinary compared with the stronger players in the Dutch national team, on the Second Division stage, he was still capable of stirring up wind and rain.

He repeatedly used his footwork on the left to escape Swansea's local defensive pressure, then delivered quality crosses.

Brunel and Friedrich kept clearing the ball in the air, temporarily preventing Stoke City from finding any truly good shooting chances.

In the 23rd minute, Villa actively pulled out to the left flank. After receiving Grosso's pass, Villa cleanly knocked the ball past Vinnie Thomas and changed direction, shaking off Thomas's defense. Then, as he cut into the penalty area, he attracted the defensive attention of defensive midfielder Clarke and center-back Williams.

Facing the encirclement, Villa calmly laid a short pass across to Cromwell, who was arriving from deep.

Against Stoke City's already slightly panicked back line, Cromwell did something the opponent did not expect at all. He clipped a pass into the empty right channel of the penalty area.

As the ball flew over the heads of Stoke City's defenders, they felt it was unbelievable.

On the Second Division stage, passes with this kind of imagination were almost never seen.

Cromwell was not a player developed by traditional English football. Sometimes, he could do things in matches that seemed impossible to understand, because he always had many strange and clever ideas to attack opponents, and after working hard in training, he would put them into practice.

Charisteas ran two steps forward. His tall, strong body held Clint Hill on the outside. Facing the ball dropping from the air, Charisteas did not hesitate and headed directly at goal!

The moment the ball he headed flew toward Stoke City's goal, Lynn helplessly closed his eyes on the touchline.

The angle was too central!

Goalkeeper Cutler had originally panicked and was about to make a save, but luckily, he hesitated for a moment and reacted only after the ball flew toward him.

He gathered it straight into his arms.

After the header, Charisteas covered his face. He felt he had wasted Cromwell's wonderful pass!

"Whoa, Charisteas has wasted a golden chance! If he had brought the ball down, or waited for it to drop in front of him and hit it on the volley, perhaps the result would have been better. But he rushed to complete the header and sent the ball straight into Stoke City goalkeeper Cutler's arms. Still, Cromwell's lofted pass over the top was truly eye-catching."

Steve Cotterill was watching from the touchline and felt as if his heart disease had almost been scared out of him.

He knew Swansea were not easy to deal with.

He had known since last season.

He had watched the matches where Port Vale and Brentford were crushed by Swansea. Perhaps outsiders who had not paid attention would think it was because of the Football League Trophy, and that Port Vale and Brentford had not gone all out, while Swansea had overperformed.

No.

That was completely wrong!

Precisely because Stoke City chairman Peter Coates had also held a press conference to publicly apologize to Lynn at that time, Steve Cotterill had paid special attention to Swansea.

Moreover, he had been interested in Charisteas back then, so naturally he had studied many of Swansea's matches.

Swansea had failed to take two chances after the opening whistle. Cotterill did not feel lucky in terms of mentality, but he had to admit they really were fortunate.

At the same time, he was also relieved.

Ibrahimović was not on the pitch.

With a chance like the one just now, if it had been Ibrahimović, he definitely would not have tried to finish with a header. He would have used his footwork to complete the final shot. He had that ability.

Thank God Ibrahimović was sitting on the bench!

While the three thousand Swansea fans who had come to the Britannia Stadium were sighing over the team's poor luck, Stoke City stabilized themselves again and launched another attack.

In midfield, Clarke and Eustace advanced together. Shortly after crossing the halfway line, Eustace played a forward pass. The veteran Asaba dropped back to receive it, controlling the ball and drawing Pedretti's defense. He was deliberately creating more comfortable space for the flank to control the ball.

Before Pedretti could stick a foot in to intercept, Asaba passed the ball across to the left wing, then immediately charged into the penalty area after releasing it.

On the left, Peter Hoekstra had always hugged the touchline and driven to the byline before crossing, but this time, he actively came inside to receive the pass. In the left half-space in front of the penalty area, he took the ball in stride, controlling and carrying it toward the box in one smooth motion.

Pedretti and Friedrich immediately formed a surrounding net, preparing to stop him.

Peter Hoekstra did not take a second touch forward. Instead, he stabbed the ball into the penalty area!

Brunel turned his head and saw Greenacre standing unmarked in that area!

This time, Friedrich had lost his man!

No, rather, the threat created by Hoekstra cutting inside to receive the ball had forced Friedrich to move over, which freed Greenacre.

Seeing Greenacre bring the ball under control and prepare to shoot after adjusting, Brunel suddenly rushed over and slid in!

The instant Greenacre had already struck the ball, Brunel's sliding tackle arrived. Greenacre lost his balance and fell heavily onto Brunel!

The two of them seemed to become tangled together!

The ball Greenacre had shot did not even hit the target. It flew straight past the goal line.

Just as everyone from Swansea thought it was a false alarm, the referee's whistle sounded.

He pointed toward the penalty spot inside Swansea's box.

Penalty!