Christmas was fast approaching, and the first half of the Division Three season was also entering its final stretch. The last match before the halfway point would be played on Boxing Day.
On December 19, after Swansea beat the ordinary Southend United at ho, they led second-placed Brighton by three points and third-placed Cardiff City by five.
Over the past month or so, Swansea had been winning one match after another. In the league, aside from being held to a draw by Chesterfield, who had been relegated from Division Two last season, they had won every other match.
In the Football League Trophy, they had passed the third round smoothly and reached the quarter-finals. Two weeks ago, they had then advanced to the semi-finals, becoming the only Division Three side among the last four. The other three teams were all from Division Two.
In mid-January and early February, the two-legged semi-final would be played ho and away. Swansea's drawn opponent was Brentford, one of the stronger teams near the top of Division Two.
The FA Cup, anwhile, involved clubs from across the entire English football pyramid. In the first two rounds, Swansea had drawn weak non-league opponents and passed through without difficulty. They had already reached the third round.
Everything looked so beautiful. Swansea winning the Division Three halfway title seed to carry little suspense.
As Christmas arrived, other European leagues had already entered their winter breaks, but English football was still ablaze with battle.
On December 23, Lynn was chatting with Kerry McConner, the head of the training and rehabilitation center. McConner gave him a brief report on the players' physical developnt and training results over the past six months.
Under effective professional and scientific training, the improvent of Swansea's entire squad had been astonishing. Advanced training concepts, combined with modern scientific equipnt, had rapidly improved the players' physical condition. Add to that individual training designed around each player's strengths, and fast players like Villa could now produce eye-catching results in both the 100-ter sprint and 30-ter acceleration tests.
Ibrahimović and Charisteas had already reached a level of physical confrontation strong enough to dominate Division Three. The younger players' growth was even more pleasing.
Cromwell, Jas Cook, Tobias Rau, Kalunbel, Pedretti, Evra, and others had all made rapid progress. This referred specifically to their physical condition.
To challenge higher-level leagues, physical demands would also increase accordingly. If they wanted to play in the Premier League, a body built like steel would be the foundation of everything!
Finally, Lynn looked through Cristiano Ronaldo's growth data.
From stamina to muscle, speed to explosiveness, his developnt was simply monstrous!
Lynn was extrely satisfied with that.
Just as he and McConner were discussing plans for the next stage of work, Ibrahimović walked over with a towel around his neck. He looked as if he had just co out of the gym. Wiping sweat from his face with the towel, he said to Lynn, "Boss, I want to ask for leave. Christmas is almost here. I want to go ho for the holidays."
Lynn frowned slightly and said, "I know what I'm doing. After the next match, you can have two weeks off."
Ibrahimović looked displeased. "But the next match is after Christmas."
"That's right. But we need to fight for victory. Zlatan, you're an important part of this team. You have to lead the team to victory. And you have to understand, the next opponent is Cardiff City! Swansea must bring out our strongest fighting power for this match. Cardiff City are our enemy — the enemy in this Welsh civil war!"
Lynn's words were decisive and brooked no doubt.
Ibrahimović had originally thought Lynn would be easy to talk to. Tobias Rau and Grosso had both taken around ten days off in rotation over the past month. Other teammates had also been rotated through short breaks. Lynn's managent was still very humane.
He simply had not expected his own holiday to be scheduled after Christmas.
He still wanted to say sothing, but Lynn said with dissatisfaction in his tone, "What else do you want to say? Go rest. Once we finish the next match, you can go on holiday. The condition is that you perform properly for !"
Ibrahimović hesitated.
After leading the team for four months, Lynn had developed an authority that no longer required anger. He had already established absolute power in the dressing room. Players could laugh and chat with him, and occasionally even joke around, but when it ca to serious matters, Lynn's decision was final.
Ibrahimović left feeling sowhat depressed.
In the heart of that arrogant man, the Welsh derby was not really an important match at all. Besides, Swansea were in such strong form this season that as long as they did not lose heavily at Ninian Park, they would easily beco the league's halfway champions.
However, Ibrahimović soon adjusted his mood.
Since joining Swansea, Lynn had been frank with him about almost everything. Their conversations were always man-to-man. There was nothing hidden or concealed.
After finishing his discussion with McConner, Lynn returned to his office.
He opened the card system. He currently had 26 points, enough to exchange for eight S-cards.
After reviewing the whole squad, he considered the next direction for building the team.
Strengthening the forwards and midfielders was the most effective route, because goals brought victories.
Between focusing on cultivating a few players and evenly distributing resources to raise everyone together, Lynn thought it over and finally decided to concentrate on developing several key players.
He gave Villa one One-Touch card and one Two-Footed Touch card. In this way, all the basic developnt cards that could be invested in a forward had now been placed on Villa!
He then gave Ibrahimović one One-Touch card. Aside from having a different P-card from Villa, Ibrahimović now also had five S-cards.
If nothing unexpected happened, this forward pairing would be Swansea's fixed main attacking duo for at least the next three years: the traditional English combination of one tall striker and one fast striker.
As for the main midfielders, the growth of local players Cromwell and Jas Cook had delighted Lynn. Naturally, he would not be stingy with major investnt in them.
After giving Cromwell one Outside of the Foot card and one Two-Footed Touch card, Cromwell also had five S-cards. There would be no need to invest further in him for now.
Jas Cook received Two-Footed Touch. As for Outside of the Foot, Lynn felt it was not yet necessary for a wide player. It was enough to turn his right foot into a golden right foot. Wide crossing relied more on the inside of the foot, while the outside of the foot was a more effective technique when attacking goal head-on.
With two cards remaining, Lynn thought for a while and gave one to Tobias Rau and one to Pedretti. The forr received One-Touch, while the latter received Sensitive Touch.
After deciding how to distribute the cards, Lynn reviewed the squad again.
Looking only at the starting eleven, Swansea now had seven players with the One-Touch S-card. It was a basic technique, but if all seven players improved together, it would strengthen Swansea's positional ground attack, especially the speed and success rate of their pass-and-move combinations.
Of course, this did not an Lynn could simply assign the cards and then sit back to enjoy the results. How to blend team cooperation in daily training, cultivate team awareness, and build player chemistry were all matters for the coaching staff.
Swansea's coaching staff had also improved rapidly in efficiency over the past six months. Lynn had adopted a thod of "draining blood" from the reserve and youth team coaches to "inject adrenaline" into the first-team coaching staff, causing the first-team coaches' abilities to progress at high speed as well.
With the coaches' ability and the players' strength improving in tandem, Lynn was full of confidence for the future.
The Lynn family had no tradition of celebrating Christmas. Living in Swansea, they often watched these foreigners celebrate Christmas from the perspective of outsiders, so the house had not been decorated with festive touches.
They passed Christmas Eve peacefully.
On Boxing Day, Lynn led the team south to the Welsh capital, Cardiff.
Large numbers of Swansea supporters also flooded happily toward Cardiff.
What Swansea fans looked forward to was not rely defeating Cardiff City. They hoped Swansea could achieve sothing they considered highly aningful this season:
Overthrow Cardiff City!
Since Welsh clubs had joined the English football league system, Cardiff City had been the highest-ranked Welsh club for more than half a century.
Although Cardiff City could not be considered a famous traditional power in English football, among Welsh clubs, they had always stood head and shoulders above the rest.
If Swansea could finish above Cardiff City this year, it would write a new record for Welsh clubs!
It would rewrite the long-standing record of Cardiff City suppressing all other Welsh sides in the rankings.
Swansea arrived at Cardiff's Ninian Park in high spirits. Because local dia attention was extrely high, the scene of Swansea's players arriving at Ninian Park was also recorded by the dia.
On the television broadcast, Swansea's players were all dressed sharply in suits. It had taken more than a month, but the custom-tailored suits the club had ordered for the players had finally arrived. When these young n arrived at Ninian Park dressed neatly and stylishly, they truly attracted attention and created an unprecedented visual impact!
Especially for female fans watching on television, the sight of Swansea's players almost made them drool!
Swansea had practically sent out a male model squad to play a football match!
The new change in the Swans' public image on away trips was finally being displayed before the public!
This was bound to make Swansea even more distinctive!
When the players entered the pitch to warm up, many Bluebirds supporters in the stands booed the Swansea players.
Wearing long-sleeved training tops, Swansea's players ignored the boos completely. Under Lynn's leadership, they were beginning to develop an aura of being different from the rest.
Lynn was now wearing a stylish fitted overcoat. The black coat made him look even colder and sharper.
After the players finished warming up and returned to the dressing room, Lynn stood in the middle with his hands in his pockets and said calmly, "Today is Boxing Day. We need to give the supporters a big gift. We must win. Where are we ranked right now?"
The players answered in unison, "Top of the table!"
When they said "top of the table," everyone instinctively straightened their chests, carrying a faint pride.
The youth storm stirred up by the Swansea Swans was sweeping through Division Three!
Wherever it passed, it destroyed everything!
Lynn nodded slightly, then asked, "How many points behind us is the team in second place?"
"Three points!"
"Then today, we take the victory and try to leave Brighton even farther behind! How many points are Cardiff City behind us?"
"Five points!"
"Then today, we make the gap eight points! Kick them out of the title race!"
The Swansea players clenched their fists and nodded. Everyone was united in purpose. Lynn left the dressing room satisfied.
When he strode into Ninian Park with his head high, he was greeted by boos from the entire stadium!
All the Welsh local sports reporters had already taken their seats in the dia area. They had arrived early precisely so they would not miss the treatnt Lynn received when he appeared!
Because yesterday, on a wonderful day — Christmas Day — Lynn had opened fire on Cardiff City!
ITV Wales, BBC Wales, Swansea Voice, Golden Radio, the Western Mail, the South Wales Evening Post, and the South Wales Argus had all published Lynn's comnts blasting Cardiff City, igniting the smoke of the Welsh derby on Christmas Day!
That was why, after Lynn appeared at Ninian Park, he was booed by Cardiff supporters from every side.
Lynn stood calmly by the touchline, his expression indifferent as he scanned the stadium. In the end, his gaze locked onto Cardiff City manager Alan Cork.
Lynn stared at him so openly and without restraint.
Alan Cork glanced at Lynn and tried to pretend not to see him. But he had not expected Lynn to keep staring at him. His discomfort gradually turned into embarrassnt and anger.
When Lynn attacked Cardiff City yesterday, he had said bluntly:
"Before the season, Alan Cork claid that Swansea could not build a competitive team with money. Reality, he said, would make realize that my investnt in the club would end in failure. But only a few short months have passed, and I now see Swansea sitting top of the league while Cardiff City are behind us.
"Although it is still too early to draw final conclusions, Alan Cork has proven that he speaks without using his brain. I advise him to be more careful when he talks in future. Stop saying foolish things and embarrassing yourself in public.
"As for the Welsh derby, Alan Cork says he will make us taste defeat. I only have one thing to say: Swansea are not going to Ninian Park to play football. We are going there to win.
"I don't care much about what Welsh football was like in the past. But from now on, Swansea are the boss of Wales!"
Lynn's words made Cardiff City supporters extrely dissatisfied.
On the one hand, there was resentnt over Swansea snatching Danny Gabbidon from them before the season. There was also the grievance from when Mo Yuan counterattacked and humiliated Cardiff City over their one-pound offer for Swansea's six discarded players.
On the other hand, Cardiff City had long been the senior club in Welsh football. Now Swansea had suddenly risen, a black swan appearing out of nowhere, and this created a sense of crisis deep in their hearts.
In truth, deep down, Lynn did not care about internal competition within Welsh football. After all, it was like trying to find the tallest person among a group of short n. There was not much aning in it.
But supporters were very sensitive about it. Wales was not a large place, after all. Supporter groups often saw one another. If they could not compare with the wolf-like powers to the east in England, then at least being able to "rule" locally in Wales gave them so comfort.
Now that the position of "local overlord" was in danger, Cardiff City supporters naturally could not accept it.
They needed to vent.
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