Chapter 12: Interim Manager (6)

"Huh, something feels off here."

After an unscheduled meeting with Helena, Hyung-min stepped onto the training ground with a subtle mix of emotions. Joining the morning session at Barnfield Training Centre a bit late, he tilted his head curiously at Arthur, who was overseeing the drills in his place.

The players, weaving between cones arranged in circles, triangles, and squares of varying sizes while exchanging short passes, radiated a passion and energy that had been absent for weeks.

Arthur grinned at Hyung-min's puzzled expression.

"They've found hope."

"What kind of hope?"

"That doing this weird training might actually lead to a win in the next match."

Hyung-min's face twitched, as if he wanted to strongly object to Arthur calling his drills "weird."

Noticing Hyung-min's reaction, Arthur smirked and continued.

"And that following your instructions might actually get us something in the games. So maybe we won't get relegated this year."

"Phew…"

Hyung-min let out a sigh as a sudden weight settled on his chest.

"All three of those feel like a lot of pressure."

Arthur's laughter was met with an awkward smile from Hyung-min.

"Wait a sec, something's fishy here."

"What?"

Arthur leaned in, sniffing the air around Hyung-min, who recoiled with a grimace, raising a hand to fend him off.

With a sly grin, Arthur said, "I smell something."

"What smell?!"

Hyung-min sniffed his own clothes just to be sure, but the club's laundry staff weren't that sloppy. His training gear smelled fresh as ever. He shot Arthur a confused look.

"Hmm… the smell of positivity and hope?"

"What? Positivity and hope don't have a smell!"

"They do. They definitely do. There's something here, I'm sure of it."

Hyung-min and Helena had already agreed to make the official announcement after the Aston Villa match. Now, facing the persistent prying of this British grandpa, Hyung-min broke into a cold sweat internally while deflecting.

If he let Arthur in on the secret?

There wasn't a shred of doubt that within an hour, the news would spread to every pub in Burnley.

As the manager (interim, soon-to-be-official) and assistant coach (interim, retirement overdue) bantered pointlessly, the players continued their serious yet upbeat training under the rare sunlight, even without direct instructions.

---

Founded in 1874, Aston Villa is a historic club based in Birmingham, England's second-largest city after London.

Once a Premier League mainstay, Aston Villa hit a rough patch when they were relegated to the Championship, the second tier, in the 2015/16 season.

But in 2017, Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American billionaire Wes Edens took over the club. With heavy annual investments, they secured promotion back to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season, and the club has been on an upward trajectory since.

One similarity between Aston Villa and Burnley is that their biggest rival, Birmingham City Football Club, remains stuck in the Championship, giving both sets of fans a default mental victory to lean on.

Recently, Aston Villa fans have had even more to cheer about. Their city rivals, Birmingham City, have been plagued by ongoing financial troubles, forcing them to scale back their youth academy and sell off prized prospects.

Most notably, when 17-year-old prodigy Jude Bellingham—called up to the England national team at such a young age—was sold to Borussia Dortmund for a measly £25 million, Aston Villa fans, long bitter about losing local talents to their rivals, raised a collective toast.

Of course, Aston Villa weren't immune to losses either. This summer, their youth academy star Jack Grealish was snatched up by Manchester City.

But with a record-breaking £100 million transfer fee—the highest in English football history—Villa fans found relative solace and another mental victory in the deal.

Add to that their signings this window: £33 million for Norwich's Argentine midfielder Emiliano Buendía, who'd dominated the Championship last season after shining in the Premier League two seasons prior; £30 million for Southampton's English striker Danny Ings, a proven 20-goal-a-season man when fit, despite injury setbacks at Liverpool; and another £30 million for Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga standout winger Leon Bailey.

Spending a total of £93 million on three players capable of performing at a Big Six level, Aston Villa earned praise from pundits for assembling one of the shrewdest squads of the transfer window.

Expected finish? At least 10th.

With some luck, they could even aim for 6th or higher, securing a spot in European competition—that was the pre-season assessment of Aston Villa Football Club for 2021/22.

Having crammed last-minute research on Aston Villa to feel prepared sitting in the directors' box for the away match, Helena could fully understand why Nassef Sawiris, the Villa co-owner seated next to her watching the first half, was fuming.

The Cartwright Fund had acquired Burnley Football Club in its entirety for £20 million to take on its bad debts, plus some loose change for legal and administrative fees.

That swallowed up the first team, reserves, youth squads, Turf Moor stadium, and the Barnfield training ground—only then did they inject an additional £10 million.

In essence, the Cartwright Fund nabbed a Premier League club for £30 million—a sum that could barely afford one of Danny Ings or Leon Bailey, let alone Emiliano Buendía.

So when the guy next to her had spent £93 million on just three players, only to watch his team get thoroughly outplayed by the league's top relegation candidate, Helena could see why he'd be enraged—she'd feel the same.

---

Thirty minutes before kickoff.

Entering the locker room for a final tactical rundown, Hyung-min let out a nervous chuckle at the players' intense gazes fixed on him.

"Uh, what's this about?"

"Boss, is it true that if we win today, you'll be made permanent?"

Captain Ben Mee stood up, speaking on behalf of the players seated around the room.

"Is it?"

Hyung-min scratched the back of his head awkwardly, tilting it slightly.

"Well… that's not the important part. I think what matters is how we're going to handle Aston Villa today, no?"

"We went over the strategy enough yesterday. Just answer this!"

Vice-captain Jack Cork shouted from a corner, and murmurs of agreement rippled through the room.

Hyung-min glanced at Arthur for help, but Arthur just grinned and said, "I want to know too."

"Haa…"

Hyung-min sighed.

"If we win today…"

Before he could finish, the players erupted into cheers, high-fiving each other.

"I knew it!"

"Awesome!"

"Congrats, boss!"

As the locker room turned into a premature celebration, Hyung-min yelled in frustration.

"Damn it, I said we have to win today!"

"Got it! Then we'll win. Lads, we're winning today!" Ben Mee shouted.

"Victoryyyy!" the players roared back.

With that spirited start, Burnley and Aston Villa kicked off the first half, intending to feel each other out. But an early mishap derailed both teams' plans, setting them on divergent paths.

Two minutes in.

"Dwighty!"

Burnley attacked down the left as usual. Left-back Charlie Taylor sent the ball forward, and left-winger Dwight McNeil collected it.

"Chris!"

McNeil dribbled down the sideline before whipping a cross toward striker Chris Wood, charging into the center.

But Aston Villa's penalty area was guarded by Argentina's national team goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.

Plus center-backs Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, full-backs Ashley Young and Matty Cash, and—for some reason—attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendía, who'd dropped back to defend.

Five Villa players surrounded Burnley's lone intruder in the box, Chris Wood.

Normally, the defenders would clear the ball, or the keeper would catch or punch it away.

Even McNeil, who'd delivered the cross, turned back to join Burnley's defense, expecting the attack to fizzle out.

But before Chris Wood could leap for a header, Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings stepped in to intercept the ball between the striker and the flight path—and misjudged it.

The ball struck Mings' head and sailed into Aston Villa's net.

A header so clean it'd earn praise if it were an opponent's goal.

Instead, an absurd own goal from the home side left the stadium in stunned silence.

As both teams' players stared blankly at each other, Burnley's squad snapped out of it first, raising their arms and roaring in anticipation of victory.

"Raaaahhh!!!"

What followed was a rattled Aston Villa rushing their attacks, only to lose possession to Burnley's pressure and concede more chances, sinking deeper into the mire.

Then, at the 24-minute mark, a near-identical scenario unfolded. Dwight McNeil broke down the left again, lofting a cross into the box—now guarded by six Villa players (the same five from before, plus defensive midfielder John McGinn) alongside their keeper.

This time, Villa's defenders hesitated, haunted by the earlier own goal, and failed to jump aggressively for the ball.

Chris Wood drew the entire backline's attention in the center, milling about, while on the blind side, Burnley's right-winger Jay Rodriguez quietly darted to the far post.

The ball sailed past Villa's defense—who didn't even jump to contest Wood's feigned header—and Rodriguez, with a subtle nod at the back post, redirected it into the net.

The home fans' groans filled the air as the scoreline flipped to 0-2.