Glory Of The Football Manager System

Chapter 75: A Different Path II

Emma found me in my office on Thursday evening, staring at my laptop, my eyes glazed over. I had been looking at the league table for the past hour, running scenarios, calculating permutations, trying to figure out exactly what we needed to do to secure promotion.

"You look terrible," she said.

"Thanks," I said. "That’s exactly what I needed to hear."

"I’m serious, Danny. When was the last time you slept?"

I tried to remember. Tuesday? Monday? I honestly could not recall.

"I’m fine," I said.

"You’re not fine. You’re a wreck." She sat down across from me, her expression serious. "You made the right call with JJ. You know that, right?"

"Do I?" I asked. "Because right now, it feels like I’ve just bet everything on a hand of cards that I haven’t even looked at yet."

"You’ve looked at the cards," she said. "You’ve done your research. You’ve talked to your contacts. You know that club would have destroyed him."

was his only chance, and I just took it

Because you’re not just a manager who sees players as assets to be bought and sold. You’re a manager who sees them as people. And that’s why they follow you.

up. "Now get some sleep. We have a game on Saturday. And we’re

the league table, and I felt something settle inside me. The

Belief.

---

paper, it should have been an easy game. But I had learned, over the course of

no messing around. They knew what was at stake. They knew that every game from now until the end of the season was a cup final. They knew that JJ had

not need to motivate them. They were already motivated. I did not need to inspire them. They were already inspired. I just needed to remind them of what we were

said. "He chose this team. He chose this club. He chose you. Now we’re going to show him that he made the right

At Marcus Chen, the obsessive perfectionist who had learned to trust

go win this," I

And we did.

a beautiful game. It was not a tactical masterpiece. It was a statement. A statement of intent. A statement of unity. A statement that this team, this club, this

Both goals were brilliant. The first was a solo run from the halfway line, beating three defenders before slotting the ball

that nearly tore the net off its hinges. He celebrated both goals