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Chapter 197 A Tenderness That Makes the World an Enemy

"...Taine has finished his training camp in Munich and flew back to Newcastle yesterday morning. Head coach Sam McNeil has announced that the team will have a day and a half off."

"Judging from the fact that they gave the team a day and a half off, it means that McNeil is fairly satisfied with the team's performance during the training camp. But I don't know what he has to be satisfied with. They played four friendly matches and only won one. They couldn't even beat a second-division team... If this is the new Tyne that they spent a lot of money to build, then I think the Tyne club's investors can give up now..."

Lawrence Dadomo is passionately speaking during a live online program.

The original theme of this episode was to preview the performance of various Premier League teams in the new season, not just Tyne's team.

However, as the discussion progressed, the focus shifted to Tyne, and a large portion of the program was dedicated to discussing Tyne's situation.

This situation is not surprising, because the show invited Lawrence Dadomo, a notorious "black hater".

Or perhaps this is the effect the production team wanted to achieve.

After all, Tyne is currently a major influencer, and any news related to Tyne on the internet receives the most comments and the most heated discussions.

As online program producers, traffic is their survival key, so how could they not know how to do it?
Although the host seemed to be on Tyne's side, refuting Dadomo when Dadomo was passionately criticizing Tyne, creating controversy is a way to attract viewers, and a very effective one at that.

If everyone goes along with Dadomor's words, the topic will quickly shift away from Tyne.

Unlike now, when Dadomo says something and the host refutes it, Dadomo has to keep talking in order to prove his point of view.

That creates the desired entertainment value.

At this moment, the comment section of the live stream was filled with "entertainers" who had come to watch the excitement. Many of them didn't care whether Dadomo was right or wrong, nor did they care about Tyne's situation; they just wanted to see the argument.

There was also a fierce battle between Wang Lie's fans and haters in the comments section, with smoke filling the air and corpses strewn everywhere.

These emotions ultimately translated into viewership numbers for the show.

This relatively unknown online program had over 100,000 viewers online at any given time!

The combined traffic of Wang Lie and Tai En is terrifying.

Actually, Tyne didn't originally have this kind of traffic; the previous traffic was all brought by Wang Lie.

But this summer, Tyne used his "money power" to push himself to the top of the "trending topics list".

Fans of teams whose transfer targets were snatched away by Tyne are cursing, while fans of teams whose targets haven't been snatched away yet are closely monitoring Tyne's news, fearing the sky will fall when they wake up to find their target players gone. Even if they aren't snatched, the value of a player targeted by Tyne will definitely rise, since the other team can say, "Tyne has his eye on my player, so tell me, won't your price go up?"
There are also many people who are just there for the spectacle; they don't care who poached the player, they just want to see bloodshed.

They're happy as long as Tyne plays hard against those teams, generating enough news, laughs, and jokes.

All of Europe felt the "fear" of being dominated by Tyne.

In fact, a similar scenario played out when Middle Eastern capital first acquired Tyne, but the impact was nowhere near as great as this time.

why?
Because Tyne's reputation was so low at the time, even if they were willing to spend big money in the transfer market, very few truly capable and ambitious players were willing to come. In the end, most of the players who did come were "leftovers".

This would minimize the impact on top clubs.

But this time it's different. Taine has qualified for the Champions League, and their performance in the second half of last season was evident to all of Europe.

Furthermore, with Wang Lie endorsing them, they become extremely attractive to truly talented players.

The fact that a midfield maestro from FC Madrid was willing to come, and that top players coveted by Atlético Barcelona, ​​Skos, and Eczacıbaşı were all snatched away by Tyne, is the best proof of Tyne's growing appeal.

Those once high-and-mighty wealthy families are now feeling the terrifying aura brought by Tyne.

What does a prestigious family background or a long history matter? Nothing compared to Tyne's money power, which knows no bounds.

We're all professional players; how many of us play football without the money?
Honors are certainly important, but they can't put food on the table. Most of the time, people still need to rely on their salaries to support their families.

Honor is actually a spiritual pursuit. If you haven't even met your basic material needs, talking about spiritual needs is just a form of psychological manipulation.

Moreover, Tyne's aggressive moves in the transfer market demonstrate their ambition; they are definitely not just aiming for the Champions League this season.

Based on their personnel configuration, many experts and journalists believe that Tyne should be aiming to continue participating in the Champions League.

If they can secure a relatively stable chance to participate in the Champions League, then perhaps this little-known team, Tyne, can truly transform from an insect into a butterfly?

※※※

Are you alright, darling?

Sam McNeil, who was watching a live stream on his phone, heard his wife asking him a question from behind.

He turned around and saw his wife looking at him with concern.

“That’s great, what’s wrong?” he asked.

His wife pointed at the phone screen and said, "You're actually watching that famous hater's show now? I'm a little worried..."

McNeil laughed: "So that's why... Dadomo may be a jerk, but I wanted to summarize the team's performance over this period from multiple angles. Even haters can offer a different perspective..."

“But what valuable thing can someone who says ‘scoring goals hurts the team’ or ‘winning championships hurts the team’ offer, no matter how different their perspective is?” his wife asked, puzzled.

"Whether it has value or not is unknown, but it will definitely offer some perspectives that are beyond the imagination of ordinary people, which may provide us with some reference. Do you remember the giant TIFO that Tyne fans displayed before our home game against Sofia United?"

His wife nodded: "I remember, it's that 'Road to the Champions League'."

"Yes. Actually, the fans' original intention for TIFO was that the entire Tyne team was striving for Champions League qualification, hoping that we could successfully defeat Sofia United and secure Champions League qualification for next season. However, Dadomo, for the sake of the Yin-Yang King, interpreted it in a bizarre way as Tyne's goal being to win the Champions League title..."

“But to be honest, not many people believe his nonsense,” the wife said. “After Tyne won the match, everyone was mocking Dadomo.”

“That’s right. But it was after that match that Wang told me that he had found the team’s goal for the new season in the Champions League: to win the title, to win the Champions League championship.”

The wife stared at her husband in disbelief; she had no idea what was going on.

McNeil laughed and said, "I don't know if Wang got his inspiration from Dadomo, since he often likes to do these kinds of 'good deeds' that backfire. So you see, even an idiot like Dadomo can be useful in certain situations."

He spread his hands.

"Besides, Dadomo did make a valid point earlier: we've brought in too many players, and the team needs time to gel and for everyone to understand each other. That's why you haven't noticed that after signing Adam Little, we haven't made any more signings. That's what I asked of the club. I believe the squad is already strong enough; what we need isn't to further strengthen our squad on paper, but to focus on team cohesion..."

His wife, however, seemed to just realize something and interrupted him, saying, "Wait a minute, Sam. How come I didn't know about the Champions League title?"

McNeil explained, "Because it was Wang who told me privately, I haven't told anyone else, and not many people know about this target yet..."

"So you want to win the Champions League in your first appearance?"

McNeil corrected her: "Not 'you,' that's the King's target."

"And what about you? What are your goals?"

"To be honest, I haven't set any goals for the team's first Champions League season. We'll see how far we go. I'm more focused on the league... Actually, I do have a 'crazy' goal."

McNeil raised his hands and bent his fingers to make a quotation mark gesture.

"What is it?"

"The goal is to strive to participate in the Champions League again next season."

The wife now understood why her husband had called the goal "crazy."

For many non-elite teams, participating in the Champions League is actually a "sweet trap."

Because of their lack of experience and ability in competing on multiple fronts, their performance in the league is significantly affected when they participate in European competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League.

Ultimately, this could result in a team performing exceptionally well in European competitions, but facing relegation in the league, or even being definitively relegated.

Of course, it's also possible that they won't perform well in European competitions and will fall into the relegation zone in the league. This team, which was fighting relegation just last season, is now participating in the Champions League for the first time. If her husband is a normal person with normal thoughts, then the most realistic goal should be to ensure the team doesn't get relegated while competing on multiple fronts.

In other words, Tyne still has to fight to avoid relegation.

As it turned out, her husband was thinking about how they could still finish in the top four of the league while competing on multiple fronts!

It's definitely crazy, but...

She chuckled softly, "If I hadn't heard about Wang's goal first, I would have thought you must be crazy to have such a bold idea. But now... ha! I suddenly realize it's a very pragmatic goal."

McNeil was amused by his wife's words:
"Yes, compared to the king's goal, I seem rather cowardly..."

The wife asked, "So what's your opinion on the king's goal? Or rather, the king told you about his goal not just to chat with you, right?"

"Of course, he can't achieve his crazy goal by himself. He wants the support of the team."

"So what are your thoughts?" The wife looked at her husband with a half-smile.

She had actually figured out what her husband was thinking.

Sure enough, in front of his wife, McCann readily admitted:

"I want to try."

His wife couldn't help but laugh: "Ha! I knew it, you must have fallen for it!"

"How many coaches can remain unmoved by the prospect of winning the Champions League?"

"Is it possible to get it?"

McNeil shook his head: "I don't know, I'll just do my best."

His wife remarked, "I feel like Tyne has changed so much since Wang came. I remember when you first took over this team, all we talked about was whether we could avoid relegation. Now our conversations are about whether we can win the Champions League..."

"Because Wang is a true championship-caliber player. No matter where he goes or what environment he is in, he always thinks about things related to championships. That's why I insisted that Tyne sign Wang."

His wife laughed: "What? Did you already want to win the Champions League back then?"

McNeil shook his head: "Of course not. But for Tyne, who is mired in internal and external troubles, he really needs a championship-level player like Wang to inject a kind of spirit into the team. At the time, I just hoped to use Wang's spirit to help the team avoid relegation, but I never expected... the effect was much better than I expected."

"I'm afraid it's not just beyond your expectations, no one in the world guessed it at the time. Wang really opened people's eyes. When you were his teammates at Sofia, although I thought he was very strong, it was still within my understanding. No matter how strong he was, there were still a few like him. But his performance in Tyne this half season, I searched the entire history of world football and couldn't find another person like him."

McNeil's wife said she was clearly not the kind of woman who knew nothing about football, or at most could tell whether a ball was offside or not.

"By the way, didn't you say before that the club was going to hold a signing ceremony for Wang? Has the date been set?"

McNeil nodded and said, "It's confirmed. Saturday, August 8th. It's said that Will consulted someone knowledgeable about Chinese culture and found that the number 'eight' is a lucky number that everyone in China likes. The opening day of China's first Olympic Games was set on August 8th, so they also set the date for Wang's joining ceremony."

"The club's general manager really put in a lot of effort. Wang must have felt the club's sincerity, right?"

After the wife asked that question, she saw her husband smile. Curious, she asked, "What's wrong?"

McNeil laughed and said, "But Wang didn't actually want to schedule it for this day. He originally wanted to use the time after warm-up and before the game to greet the fans in the stadium before the first round of the new season, which would be enough to complete the welcome ceremony. But Will disagreed, he felt it was too perfunctory and not worthy of Wang's status. In the end, I was the one who persuaded Wang."

"How did you convince him?"

McNeil said, "In the first round of the league, when we played Witton Hill at home, I told Wang Lie that match day is match day, and nothing else should be considered except the game. The team should concentrate on preparation and not be distracted by off-field factors. If we hold a welcoming ceremony before that game, it will affect the team's focus. I persuaded Wang with the team's interests, and he had no choice but to accept the date that Will arranged for him."

The wife gave her husband a thumbs up: "You're still the king of knowledge!"

McNeil shook his head: "No, actually I'm trying to get to know him more comprehensively because I've found that my previous impressions of him no longer apply to him now. Sometimes I even have the illusion that my memory might be wrong, that the King isn't like that... As I just told you, the King used to have one major characteristic: he was not easy to get close to and difficult to get along with."

His wife said, "Yes, so your relationship with him during your playing days was very ordinary, at most just a normal colleague relationship."

"Yeah, he didn't have many friends back then. The only person he could be considered a friend at Sofia was Enrique Wandson. But they didn't interact that much... To put it bluntly, back then, Wang was more like a ruthless football machine; his eyes and mind were only on training, matches, goals, and victories. But now..."

At this point, McNeil couldn't help but smile:

"And now, in addition to retaining his former competitiveness, he has gained some warmth..."

※※※

"The club scheduled my welcoming ceremony for August 8th."

During dinner, Wang Lie announced the news in front of the whole family.

"Great!" shouted Wang Ziqi, the son, raising his arms.

"Great!" Wang Zilin, the daughter, followed suit and raised her hand to cheer just like her brother.

Tang Xingmei asked him, "So you ended up agreeing to the club's arrangements?"

She knew what was behind that date because her husband had told her.

“Hmm.” Wang Lie nodded. “Sam said that if we hold the welcoming ceremony before the game against Witton Hill, it might distract the teammates. I think he’s right. That wouldn’t be serious enough. We should definitely take it seriously…”

As he said this, Tang Xingmei rested one hand on the table, propped her chin up, and gazed at the man in front of her with deep affection.

Previously, almost everyone outside said that Wang Lie was aloof, naive, and difficult to approach or befriend.

She didn't feel that way.

Because the Wang Lie in front of her was never the way the outside world described him.

She thought that Wang Lie must have focused all his attention on pursuing perfection, so naturally he couldn't spare much thought or energy to take care of other people's feelings.

Even so, this boy, whom she had known since her teenage years, was the only one who was willing to treat her gently, and this had never changed in more than twenty years.

When she was young, many people thought that Wang Lie was a typical straight man who didn't understand romance at all, and they couldn't understand why she would fall in love with him.

What do these people know?
How incredibly romantic it is for a man who is as strong as iron in front of the whole world to only smile at you...

However, she is genuinely happy that this man is now willing to slowly reconcile with the world.

After all, it was heartbreaking to see her heroes battered and bruised in battle against the world.

Just to show him support and encouragement, I will never show weakness—if he really wants to be at odds with the whole world, then I will stand with him!
Now she is glad that her husband doesn't have to go that far. Seeing him get along well and happily with the people around him makes her happy too.

Wang Lie finally noticed his wife's gaze and asked, "What's wrong?"

Tang Xingmei also snapped out of her daze and smiled gently, shaking her head: "It's nothing. So, can we go to the welcoming ceremony to watch?"

Upon hearing their mother's words, the two children immediately turned to look at their father, their eyes filled with both anticipation and nervousness.

Because they all knew that their father wouldn't allow them to go to watch his games live... saying it was for their safety.

Although they didn't know what was so unsafe about going to watch a game live, were they afraid of football hooligans?

However, they listened to their father and could only endure it, no matter how much they wanted to see it.

"That's exactly what I wanted to say." Wang Lie sensed the meaning in the children's eyes, and he turned to the two children with a smile: "It's not just about going to the ceremony in person. You two and your mother will come with me to the welcoming ceremony. The four of us will appear together in front of the Tyne fans and greet them."

The two children didn't cheer; instead, they stared blankly at their father, unable to believe what they were hearing.

Not to mention the children, even Tang Xingmei stared at her husband in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)