Russell never expected Chu Zhongtian to call him at this time. He had just finished watching the press conference after the Wimbledon Athletics match with Ipswich, and then prepared to take a look. It was almost dawn and he couldn't sleep for long.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the phone rang at the hand, which was brought by Chu Zhongtian.

What surprised him even more than this was that Chu actually wanted all the players in the team to talk to him.

Unable to allow him to agree, Chu Zhongtian had handed the phone to Kevin Clark beside him.

Kevin Clark played for eight seasons with the team, from the age of 20 to almost 29. He is currently the longest player in the team, so he became the captain before Chu Zhongtian.

In terms of relationships, he and Russell are the deepest. When Russell was the coach of the youth team, Kevin Clark had already played for Wimbledon. Later, when Russell became Terry Brown's assistant coach, he began to establish relationships with Kevin Clark, get to know each other, and gradually became friends.

In the first two seasons, if Kevin Clark had not scored a goal desperately, it would have been really difficult for Wimbledon to relegate... The first time Kevin Clark and Russell was the call, Chu Zhongtian was very dedicated.

"Hi, boss." Kevin Clark didn't know that Russell was planning to resign. He thought Russell could not come back for the time being because of his father, but he would come back after all. "How is your father's situation? We all care about this issue."

While he was speaking, he looked back at the other teammates, and the teammates immediately made a sound of echoing: "Yes! Yes! We all care very much!"

Faced with such enthusiastic players, can Russell really say his plans? Chu Zhongtian stared at Clark who was on the phone. He couldn't hear what Russell said to the striker, but he could tell from Clark's expression whether Russell had said his plans.

Kevin Clark was listening to the phone with a smile, which meant that Russell had not said he was resigning.

Hey, I was stubborn at the beginning, but now I faced my own players, right? Look, this is the real you, Alai, you can't live without Wimbledon!

Kevin Clark ended the call with Russell. Because there were too many people, he only recommended a few players to call Russell on behalf of the entire team, and there were still restrictions on the time for each person to call.

Clark handed the phone to goalkeeper Larry Rosek beside him, the team's third captain and the second longest player.

Then he announced good news to his other teammates - "The boss's father has woken up!"

"oh!!!"

"This is really good news!"

"Great! Great!"

"Does this mean the boss will be back soon?!"

There were warm cheers, applause, and excited whistles in the bus. Everyone was happy for the news, for the head coach, and for the head coach's father.

Chu Zhongtian looked at the reactions of the team members, thinking that these voices must have entered Russell's ears through the phone. I wonder what he felt when he heard such a voice?

Russell did hear the cheers from the players and said for a moment that he was very happy with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he was planning to resign, and on the other hand, he was so cute, and the players really cheered him.

"Hi, boss, I hope you can call you at this time and not disturb you. I know it's too late in the United States now, ha! But I really want to talk to you or something. We've finished the first play-off game. When will you come back?" Rossek made a question that Russell was difficult to answer.

Chu Zhongtian laughed when he heard Rosek's question. He wanted to see how Russell would answer.

Russell was really stunned when he heard this question. He really didn't know how to answer this question. To be honest, is he going to resign? He couldn't bear to hurt these players. Some of the players had been with him for two seasons and were with him to relegation. In the first two seasons, he was still saying to these people: "No matter what the situation is, don't give up. You don't give up your hope of relegation until the last second of the last round of the league!"

Now that I turn my eyes and want to abandon them, who will easily accept this result?

Do you lie and tell them that they will be back soon? But if they don’t come back then, wouldn’t they be cheating?

In short, Russell found this matter difficult to answer.

"Uh...I don't know yet. Larry, my father just woke up, you know... Uh..." He could only find an excuse to make excuses.

Rosek thought Russell was telling the truth, and he didn't think too much, thinking that this was human nature. His father had just woken up and was about to return to the team. Such a request was indeed unreasonable, so he believed Russell's explanation.

He then handed the phone over to assistant coach Alvin Stonefield.

"Hey, Alai, first of all, congratulations to your father on awakening." Stonefield said as he picked up the phone.

Russell was very surprised to hear that it was Stonefield. He didn't expect that Alvin would have a share... Alvin was his teacher and his assistant, and he respected such a person very much.

Chu Zhongtian certainly knew the relationship between Alvin and Russell, so he went to ask Alvin if he wanted to talk to Russell and talk. At first, Alvin felt that it was too late and there was no need to talk, so Chu Zhongtian motivated him to talk, and finally convinced him.

He wanted to see what Russell would say when facing a person he respected very much.

Unfortunately, Alvin Stonefield did not ask the players the questions that Russell found difficult to answer.

He just cared about Russell's father and asked him to say hello to his father on his behalf. Then he told him about the situation of the team.

There was no question like "When will you be able to return to the team" during the entire call.

Just said at the end: "The interim head coach Chu did a good job..."

When Chu Zhongtian heard this, he felt that it was going to be bad. After saying this, wasn’t this more determined to Russell’s idea of ​​staying in the United States and not returning?

He really wanted to organize the old man to continue talking, but he had no right reason and could only be anxious in secret.

Unexpectedly, Stonefield made a 180-degree turn next sentence: "But I have observed it for half a season and feel that he is a two-person team and it is really not good for the team. If we can enter the Premier League next season, we still need a real full-time head coach. So I am really happy to hear the news that your father has woken up. It doesn't matter if you can't catch up with this upgrade. I hope you can return to the team next season. Alai. The team needs you, you are the team's head coach."

Stonefield's words made Chu Zhongtian stunned - he had obviously not told anyone about the news that Russell might not come back. Why did he hear Stonefield speak as if he already knew what Russell was thinking?

Russell was also shocked. He even wanted to blurt out and explain his idea of ​​resigning... Fortunately, after Stonefield finished speaking, he handed the phone directly to Chu Zhongtian, otherwise Russell would have confessed himself... When Chu Zhongtian took the call, he heard Russell stammering in panic and he smiled.

"Hey, Ahlai. Are you feeling a little overwhelmed by everyone's enthusiasm? Well, we won't bother you to rest, I'll tell you, although I think you've probably seen this game. We won the first leg against Ipswich, and next we'll win the second leg, then win the final at Wembley Stadium, and finally we're going to the Premier League! Right, guys!"

He turned around and asked his teammates loudly, and at the same time he reached out his phone to them, while the players in the car replied loudly: "Yes!!!"

Chu Zhongtian took back his cell phone: "That's it, Alai. Good night!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

※※※Russell didn't have time to say anything during the whole process, and he just listened to Chu Zhongtian's words in a daze.

Russell, who had finished the call, did not go to rest, but sat on the edge of his bed and looked at his cell phone.

The phone call just now was really surprising to him. He almost didn't have time to think about it, and these things happened.

He did not guess the intention of Chu Zhongtian's sudden call to him. His mind was now full of cheers from Wimbledon's competitive players and the last sentence "Yes".

※※ Chu Zhongtian slept well. He didn't think about what Russell would do after receiving this call. The call was the last effort to keep Russell. If Russell insisted on resigning, he had no choice.

After sleeping, he was all thinking about how to lead the team to win at home.

Although many people think that there is no suspense to win at home to advance to the finals, Chu Zhongtian himself cannot think so. If he thinks so himself, this game will be very dangerous. As the head coach, when the whole team is optimistic, he must be pessimistic, and when the whole team is pessimistic, he must be optimistic. This is the mentality that a head coach should have.

Now everyone is optimistic, Chu Zhongtian only needs to think about difficulties. For example, what should I do if I scored the goal of the total score by the opponent just starting at home? What should I do if my main player was injured shortly after the game started?

Chu Zhongtian must estimate all these difficulties and then make corresponding countermeasures so that he will not be frivolous and at a loss due to emergencies during the game.

※※※In the second round of four days later, Kings Ranch was squeezed out. This is a great opportunity to witness the team enter the playoff finals. How could Wimbledon Athletic fans stay at home to watch TV? Of course, they have to come to the home court to experience the atmosphere and cheer for the team.

Before this game, when the media interviewed Wimbledon Athletics fans, everyone was relatively relaxed, thinking that even if they only had one goal ahead, Wimbledon Athletics had no reason to lose to their opponents at home. Therefore, no matter how many away goals the opponent scored, as long as Wimbledon Athletics could win this game and win, they would enter the finals.

Chu Zhongtian still put on a defensive counterattack at home. He knew that Ipswich needed to score goals and win, so they would definitely attack regardless of everything. Wimbledon's Athletics did not need to fight head-on with his opponent.

This is not a clever approach.

Defensive counterattack is indeed the tactic that Ipswich is most afraid of now.

From the beginning, the game turned into a situation where Ipswich attacked wildly, and Wimbledon was defending in a competitive manner.

As long as the Ipswich players get the ball, the Wimbledon Athletics fans in the stands will make huge boos and various insults to interfere with the Ipswich players.

In addition, when Wimbledon Athletics players get the ball, they will make huge cheers and singing.

Such a warm home atmosphere really affected the performance of Ipswich players. Some players even stopped the football directly to Wimbledon Athletics players during the game, causing Wimbledon Athletics fans in the stands to burst into laughter.

Seeing that Ipswich's players were unable to let go at Kings Ranch, the commentator shook his head and sighed: "I think Ipswich is finished. I have no intention of offending Ipswich's fans, but they must recognize the reality - the game has only started less than ten minutes, and they have lost to Wimbledon Athletic..."

This is true. Wimbledon Athletics uses defensive counterattacks to wait for Ipswich to attack. As long as the ball is intercepted, it will pass straight to the front. Although many times these passes seem to be blind and are a waste of offensive opportunities. But not long after, everyone discovered that Wimbledon Athletics' seemingly blind passes are actually a murderous intent.

Although there are many wastes of offensive opportunities, once you succeed, it is almost fatal. Moreover, this style of play ensures the number of defenders in the backcourt, so that you will not be scored by your opponent before scoring a goal.

Ipswich initially felt that Wimbledon's counterattack was not dangerous and was simply blind. So they increased their pressure. But when they did, they suddenly realized that their defense was under increasing threats... "Kevin Clark! His header almost flew into Ipswich's goal!"

"Kiran Agad! His speed is so fast..."

"Chu's straight pass...beautiful! Edu Seschel received the ball, and he cut into the penalty area from the side! One-on-one! Oh, it's a pity that he missed!"

"Oh...oh!oh!! Robin Heming's shot-!! Oh! How could this kind of ball miss? I thought I had read it wrong..."

"Although Ipswich was almost attacking in the half of Wimbledon Athletic, most of their attacks were not threatening... Wimbledon Athletic's counterattack was very sharp and threatening... This scene reminded the first round of the two sides. This was how Wimbledon Athletic defeated Ipswich away!"

Wimbledon Athletics fans were not worried about the besieged team, but cheered for every counterattack from Wimbledon.

Ipswich's players have truly experienced what "away game" is!

Wimbledon took the lead in the first half, and the goal was Edu Seschel. At that time, Chu Zhongtian organized an attack and passed the football to Kevin Clark in the middle. Clark was closely guarded. He did not directly dribble the ball, but instead divided the football to the side. Edu Seschel received the ball and broke into the penalty area. After forcibly kicked the ball with a small angle, the football flew into Ipswich's goal.

The ball ignited the atmosphere of Kings Ranch, and everyone jumped up and shouted.

"Wembley! Wembley! Wembley!!"

They were shouting about the venue for the promotion final, which means we are going to Wembley!

※※※Kevin Clark added icing on the cake in the second half, and he scored a goal in the 60th minute, so Wimbledon Athletics led Ipswich with a total score of 3:0.

"Ohhhh! Kevin Clark!! A beautiful header!"

After scoring the goal, Clark ran to the camera, then lifted the jersey up, revealing the T-shirt inside, which read: "We're with you, boss!"

This goal was dedicated to Russell.

Chu Zhongtian didn't expect Clark to keep such a move, and he laughed after seeing this sentence.

Alai, you must be watching live TV now, right?

How about it, how are you feeling now?
To be continued...