The Greatest Manager of All time Chapter 7 7 : Recruitment Drive

Lynn had once thought about buying a club before, but he had never been especially confident in himself.

After all, the card system was only for training players.

If he hired a manager to lead the team while he, the owner, worked as that manager's assistant, it would undoubtedly be the most absurd thing in the football world.

Because of that, he had dismissed the idea.

Now, it seed he had stumbled into the right outco by accident.

He had beco the club's owner, so he no longer needed to consider hiring a manager.

He could do it himself.

The card system he possessed could not only help him train elite players, but also build a powerful coaching team.

The two complented each other perfectly.

After fully understanding the card system, Lynn imdiately began preparing a plan for rebuilding the club.

First, he opened the scouting system interface and carried out a player screening of Swansea City's first team, reserve team, and youth team.

He listed many players whose ability and potential were both very low.

There were nearly fifty of them.

After that, he began to truly understand the club he now owned.

Swansea's training ground facilities were poor, and the players' dormitories were extrely simple.

The club's dical room was also very basic.

If a player suffered even a slightly more complicated injury, he had to be sent to the city hospital south of Walter Road.

The worst part was the team's stadium.

The Liberty Stadium had a capacity of just over twenty thousand.

Although that sounded quite good—it was Swansea's largest purpose-built venue and the third-largest stadium in all of Wales—the stadium was still shared.

Aside from Swansea City using it, the Ospreys Rugby Club also used it.

That ant the club's inco was greatly restricted.

At the sa ti, there were enormous limitations on developing the comrcial chain around the stadium.

Just as Lynn finished reading through so of the basic information, Benn returned with Mo Yuan.

Lynn handed Benn the player list he had prepared earlier and said, "Notify these players that the club no longer needs them. Give them two choices. First, switch careers and beco coaches. Second, switch careers and beco scouts."

"If they are willing, they can sign new contracts with the club. If they are not willing, then terminate the contracts of those on non-full-ti deals directly. Players on full-ti contracts can be transfer-listed. Even giving them away to other clubs for free is fine."

"I also looked at the salaries the club previously paid coaches and scouts. We will significantly increase the wages of coaches and scouts. A fifty percent increase will be the treatnt this sumr, followed by a ten percent increase every year after that."

Benn looked utterly shocked.

"Boss, that will increase the club's operating costs. It's a huge expense! If everyone on this list stays, the wage bill—"

"That's a small matter. Mo Yuan, make a note of sothing. Later, go find my dad. If I rember correctly, he's quite familiar with senior executives at British Airways and KLM. Ask him to introduce you. Then we need to obtain the most cost-effective airline mberships possible. That will save us money on our scouts' travel costs."

Mo Yuan took out a palmtop computer and wrote down Lynn's instructions.

"Oh, and it would be best to get mberships with so affordable, cheap, and comfortable hotel chains too. Think of a way to handle that. In the na of Swansea City Football Club, we would absolutely be a major custor that hotel chains would want to win over."

After Lynn finished speaking, Mo Yuan continued adding tasks to his list.

Benn, however, was worried that Lynn was acting impulsively and taking things for granted, so he reminded him, "Boss, even if our scouts travel farther out, they can just go by car. Trains would also be fine."

Lynn smiled at him.

"Our scouts will be going to France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, and Brazil. By train? No. They will definitely need to fly!"

Only then did Benn understand why Lynn wanted so many scouts.

After sending Benn off to handle the work of converting club players into coaches or scouts, Lynn assigned Mo Yuan another task.

"You've already t the club employees just now, right?"

Mo Yuan nodded.

"Yes. Other than one coach who took leave because his wife is giving birth, I've t everyone else."

"Good. Go hold a staff eting. Tell everyone that the club is willing to let them stay and work here long-term. But if anyone wants to leave and seek better opportunities elsewhere, we'll part on peaceful terms."

After Mo Yuan noted it down, he was about to leave, but Lynn called him back.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot sothing."

"What?"

"The current manager is Ray Kennedy. Tell him that from today onward, he has been demoted to assistant coach."

"Oh. Then are we going to recruit a new manager?"

Lynn shook his head, his eyes shining with confidence.

"No need. I am the team's manager."

Mo Yuan's face filled with astonishnt.

...

On his very first day at the club, Lynn issued instructions and began rebuilding Swansea City.

The club needed to expand internally.

From the first team to the youth team, expanding the number of coaches would allow Lynn to quickly build an elite team of staff.

His thinking was simple.

It could be called a pyramid model.

It could also be called a vampire model.

The Coach Experience Cards accumulated by the youth-team and reserve-team coaches through their work would definitely all be used on the first-team coaches during the early stage of his reign.

This would rapidly improve the training ability of the first-team coaching staff, which in turn would allow the first-team players to improve faster.

Expanding the scouting network was to allow him to discover more players with potential through the card system and build a larger talent reserve for the future.

Lynn did indeed have many future stars in his mind.

But with Swansea City's appeal as a fourth-tier English club, trying to sign those future stars was almost impossible.

However, with the card system's scouting function, he could gather more good young prospects who were buried among the crowd, then guide and train them.

Turning those players into stars would bring even greater returns.

Just as Lynn was about to leave the club, he saw Erin standing outside the entrance in tight sportswear, chewing gum with both hands in her pockets as she curiously looked inside.

Lynn waved to greet her.

Erin saw him, but she continued chewing her gum.

Only when Lynn walked up to her did she say, "I heard a lot of supporters are preparing to co here and protest. They want you to get fucked off."

Lynn shrugged.

"That's normal. In the eyes of the Welsh people, I'm a 'foreigner.' I'm also an ignorant bastard who knows nothing about football. Wanting to get lost so I don't tarnish football, which supposedly only British people understand, is perfectly reasonable. If it were , maybe I'd do the sa thing."

"Will you leave?" Erin asked calmly.

Lynn rolled his eyes at her.

"Sotis you really aren't pretty at all. Even thinking with your backside would tell you that's impossible. Let them protest. It's not as if they'll put a knife to my neck."

"Mm. As expected. Where are you going now? Hiding?"

"I'm going to Liverpool. Want to co with ?"

"Sure. We'll take my car."

Erin's Ferrari was parked in the small car park outside the club.

She went to drive, while Lynn got into the passenger seat.

Then the dazzling red Ferrari headed toward Liverpool.

From Swansea on the southwestern edge of Wales to Liverpool in northwest England, the drive would take about four hours.

But with Erin's driving skills and the speed of the Ferrari, Lynn and Erin could reach the port city of Liverpool in three hours at most.

The route was basically a straight crossing from southwest Wales to its northeastern corner. Once they left Wales, they would not be far from Liverpool.

In previous years, when the two of them had gone driving together, they had travelled through many places in Britain.

They had even taken self-driving trips up north to Scotland, so this distance was nothing to them.

Sitting in Erin's car, Lynn chatted with her casually.

"How's the family business?" Lynn asked offhandedly.

Erin said, "I don't really pay attention. Judging from the way my dad and uncles drink and chat every day, it should be doing pretty well."

Lynn raised an eyebrow and did not ask further.

Erin Taylor was the little princess of the Taylor family.

Although Swansea was the safest place in all of Britain, it was inevitable that there were still grey areas here.

The Taylor family were local powers in Swansea.

Three years ago, Erin's father wanted to clean up the family business, and the Lin family had been the key force behind helping the Taylors complete their transformation.

Aside from providing funds to help them start legitimate businesses so they could launder inco of unclear origin, the Lin family had also helped them establish a credit company.

This gave so of their businesses a legal form, so they no longer had to fear exposure.

With the Lin family's help, the Taylor family successfully cleaned itself up and ca ashore.

At the sa ti, their legitimate businesses also flourished.

Now, north of Swansea's main road, Walter Road, starting from Mansel Street and extending to Cromwell Street, the area had practically beco Taylor family territory.

From hotels and nightclubs to restaurants and karaoke lounges, all of them belonged to the Taylor family's businesses.

As for the small street-front shops they had no ti to bother with, those had all been rented out.

After three years, the Taylor family had also gained enormous prestige in Swansea.

Especially in the area from Mansel Street to Cromwell Street, they were practically loved like great benefactors.

While driving, Erin suddenly rembered sothing and said, "Uncle Riley ntioned sothing last night. He wants to invite you and Uncle Lin to dinner today."

The mont Lynn heard the na "Riley," his head started to hurt.

"No need. I know what it's about. He definitely wants my dad to talk to the mayor and the councillors so they'll stop bothering him."

"Please. Does he have to open a brothel on Cromwell Street? There are two schools within two kilotres, and BBC Wales's office building is only five kilotres away. Of course the dia exposed it quickly and won't stop watching him."

"Tell him to change locations. Don't go looking for trouble. Don't even think about the south side. The city governnt and county hall are both there. Besides, that kind of place isn't suitable near the Grand Theatre or the bustling city centre either. He should consider the east side of the city instead."

Erin did not object at all after hearing that.

"All right. I'll call him later. I still haven't asked you why you're going to Liverpool this ti."

Lynn imdiately beca interested.

In high spirits, he said, "To recruit."

"To buy players? A football club definitely needs to buy players. But will Liverpool sell to you?"

"No, no, no. I'm not going to Liverpool Football Club. I'm going to Liverpool John Moores University."