Cath Carter and the BBC Wales caraman were being shown around Swansea City by Lynn.
Lynn introduced them to the club's current facilities, explaining the purpose of each building as they walked.
When they arrived near the training ground, Lynn looked out over the pitches and said, "We're planning to expand the training ground this sumr. Right now, we only have four pitches. The initial plan is to expand that to twelve."
"Then, on the east side, we'll build a training and rehabilitation centre. It will have a more complete and scientific indoor training area, all kinds of training equipnt, and with the help of our professional staff, players of every age group will be able to develop in a healthier and faster way."
"No matter what, physical health cos first. Improving athletic performance and technique cos second. That is the main reason we want to build a training centre that can keep up with the tis."
As soon as Lynn finished speaking, Cath Carter praised him.
"That's a huge investnt. You're rebuilding Swansea according to Premier League standards, aren't you?"
Lynn shook his head. "We're not using any other club as our benchmark. We're simply trying to do the best we can. Competitive sport and science are inseparable. Once you understand that players are a club's greatest assets, this kind of investnt becos perfectly natural."
Carter was clearly interested.
She asked, "Then what about your players?"
"There's no rush. The club's recruitnt work will officially begin at the end of this month. For now, we're improving the environnt first, so that when players co to learn about Swansea, they won't see a shabby training ground or outdated, monotonous training thods."
"We want players to feel that Swansea is different. These investnts represent our ambition. We want to pursue a higher stage and greater achievents. At the sa ti, we want players to feel happy about coming to Swansea. Only then can we make Swansea stronger through long-term construction and developnt."
"It seems you're truly putting your heart into this, and sparing no effort to be a good owner for Swansea."
Lynn turned his head and gave Cath Carter a gentle smile.
"Of course. Look over there."
Lynn pointed beyond the wall on the west side of the club.
Across the street was a residential area.
Cath Carter looked confused. Lynn said, "The club plans to acquire that residential area and build new staff accommodation and player accommodation there. As more and more people co to Swansea City, whether players or staff, we want to provide them with the best possible living conditions."
A trace of doubt appeared in Cath Carter's eyes.
What Lynn described sounded too perfect.
And all of it required money.
Not tens of thousands of pounds, which would already count as a significant expense for a lower-division club, but hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of pounds.
Even if a Premier League club wanted to make this kind of investnt, its board would have to consider it again and again.
Yet Lynn spoke as though it were nothing.
That inevitably made people suspect he was simply making empty promises.
It was not that she doubted whether Lynn had that much money.
Based on his background, including the developnt history of the Lin family's business, they had built their fortune from scratch.
They were the very image of shrewd investors who would never waste money unnecessarily.
If he poured in so much money, could he earn it back?
Swansea City did not look like a particularly profitable club.
Or rather, in this era, after the collapse in returns following the wave of football club stock-market listings, football clubs had long since been branded as poor investnts.
People were far more used to club owners being tight-fisted misers than generous benefactors.
Lynn noticed the doubt in Carter's eyes, but he did not point it out.
Just then, a young man in a shirt and suit trousers walked up to Lynn.
He spoke respectfully.
"Boss, may I take a few minutes of your ti?"
Lynn rembered this clean-looking young man with rimless glasses.
He was one of the university graduates recruited yesterday.
He said, "Kerry McConner, right?"
McConner had not expected Lynn to rember him after only a brief eting the day before.
He imdiately straightened his chest and nodded.
"Yes. You rembered correctly."
Lynn glanced at Cath Carter.
The BBC Wales cara was pointed straight at them, but he did not avoid it.
"What is it? Go ahead."
Kerry McConner handed Lynn a report he had spent the entire night preparing.
After taking it, Lynn began to read through it.
Cath Carter was curious, so she quietly moved one step closer to Lynn and discreetly glanced at the contents of the docunt.
As Lynn read, the corners of his mouth rose slightly. He seed very pleased with McConner's report.
After returning ho yesterday, Kerry McConner had fallen deep into thought.
Swansea City's application of sports science was practically zero.
In other words, everything had to be built slowly from nothing.
New departnts, new projects — all of it had to be established from scratch.
Because of that, he realized this was a golden opportunity.
He was not going to wait for the club to assign him work.
In this area, he even had a sowhat high opinion of himself, because he was an expert in the field.
At the very least, apart from his classmates, he was more professional than everyone currently at Swansea City, including Lynn.
Therefore, the correct way to work was obvious.
An expert should lead this departnt and serve the club, instead of waiting for the club to issue instructions.
If they did that, the work efficiency would certainly be low.
So he worked through the night and designed the basic facilities and departntal responsibilities that should be included in Swansea's planned training and rehabilitation centre.
His report was extrely detailed.
It included the requirents for indoor training areas, large-scale exercise equipnt, training apparatus, and the functions and staffing arrangents of each departnt.
Lynn read it with great focus.
In this area, he was indeed an outsider. That was why he needed to hire professionals.
And the report in his hands was very professional.
Kerry McConner proposed that the club establish a system to monitor and track players' physical and ntal health as well as their athletic performance.
Such a system would require regular testing and dical checks for players.
This included aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, tactical understanding, decision-making ability, technical level, emotional control, and more.
As for the staff required for this system, the division of responsibilities, the necessary equipnt, testing thods, and scientific evaluation standards, McConner had written everything clearly and convincingly in the report.
He also proposed forming a nutrition team to create reasonable nutrition and supplentation plans according to the different physical conditions of each player.
Finally ca the most important functional plan for the training and rehabilitation centre.
McConner had clearly categorized the training content.
The first category was aerobic training, including recovery sessions, low-intensity training, and high-intensity training.
The second category was anaerobic training, including speed training and speed endurance training.
The latter was further divided into production training and maintenance training.
The third category was specialized muscular training, including strength training, muscular speed-endurance training, and flexibility training.
Strength training was the most complex.
It was divided into two subcategories: functional training and basic strength training.
The latter was further divided into eccentric training and concentric training. Concentric training itself contained two parts: low-speed and high-speed training.
The equipnt, facilities, training areas, and testing instrunts required for all these forms of training were also written into McConner's report.
Lynn spent more than ten minutes reading McConner's report.
After he finished, he could not help but applaud him.
"To make an outsider like roughly understand things I originally couldn't make sense of — your report is excellent. Kerry, tell , did soone tell you to prepare this report?"
Lynn stared at McConner as he asked.
McConner imdiately shook his head. "No. But I believe the club needs these things. Even if it turns out to be unnecessary, I won't regret doing it."
Lynn put away his smile and said solemnly to McConner, "From this mont on, you are officially hired. And you are now the director of Swansea City's training and rehabilitation centre. Go. Build your team. Then improve this report, bring it back to , and we will turn these proposals into reality."
Kerry McConner had indeed hoped to improve his standing through his performance, but he had never expected to receive such a "reward" from Lynn.
It felt like winning the lottery.
Yesterday, he had still been applying for the job together with his classmates.
They had all been unofficial probationary staff.
Less than twenty-four hours later, McConner had already been given a permanent position.
And not only that, he had been promoted directly to director.
McConner felt sowhat overwheld.
After hesitating for a mont, he said, "Boss, I can't hide certain facts from you. Among the applicants who ca to the club yesterday, I'm not the most outstanding one. At least three of them had better academic results than ."
Lynn waved his hand dismissively.
"We're not doing academic research. What use are good grades by themselves? A solid foundation of professional knowledge is necessary, of course, but what matters more is initiative."
"People who may be better than you did not stand in front of and give what I needed most. So from my point of view, there is no such thing as who is more outstanding here. There is only who brings greater value to the club."
"Clearly, you perford the best."
"Kerry McConner, I am the owner, not your teacher. What I want are people who take the initiative to serve and contribute their talents to the club."
"Once you understand that, you can go and enjoy throwing your weight around as a director with a clear conscience. Right now, you hold the fate of those classmates of yours from yesterday in your hands."
"Go. Keep making use of your talent."
"Oh, right. I can tell you one more thing. Very soon, club staff at director level will be given independent apartnts. I hope you'll like Swansea."
Kerry McConner broke into an excited smile.
Before leaving, he loudly said, "Boss, I've already fallen in love with Swansea!"
Lynn and Cath Carter watched McConner's back disappear in front of the office building.
Carter smiled and asked, "Perhaps he was right. Maybe he isn't the most outstanding one."
Lynn shrugged. "More than half of the managent staff under my father have better academic qualifications than he does. And then what? They work for my father."
"I have to be both the owner and the manager. That will be exhausting. Of course I need to delegate authority."
"McConner may indeed not be the most outstanding, but as long as he can direct the most outstanding people to do the work well, that's enough."
After hearing this, Carter seed to fall into thought. Then she revealed a faint, rather intoxicating smile.
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