On the plane from England to Sweden, Valentina hugged Pan Yi happily.
No, they asked to go to Sweden again.
The destination that time was not Stockholm, but a small city called Østersund.
Even though the city has a population of about 60,000 people and does not seem to be famous, it was awarded the title of "City of Gastronomy" by UNESCO in July and 27th 2010!
Around the world, there are three cities that enjoy the official title of "Gastronomy Capital": Popayan in Colombia, Chengdu in the Kingdom of Dragons, and most notably Östersund in Sweden.
The sparsely populated agricultural region has a long-standing culinary tradition and has developed its own unique food culture based on locally produced green food.
It is commendable that the city government has provided strong support to local food entrepreneurs and agricultural producers through guidance, training support and product development, and the resulting food tradition that is closely connected with the surrounding natural environment has not only transformed
The city of Östersund is promoted as a world-class gastronomic capital.
For Valentina, who has always considered herself a "foodie", this kind of city is the most attractive to her.
Why does she also like Huaiyunke City? It’s probably because the food there is much better than in other parts of the UK!
"I'll take it easy when I eat. I don't want to turn into ball lightning again!" Pan Yi said with a smile, "He doesn't want to press F to enter the tank..."
"Bah!" Valentina spat, and then asked, "Wrong, how could I even think of coming to a small city like that to find someone?"
"He has studied whether this guy can bring a fourth-level team to the top league. Is there something there, and he should be very suitable for a low-level team like them."
Pan Yi answered, then looked out the window, thoughtfully.
The person he was looking for when he went to Sweden that time was Potter.
Of course, it's not Harry Potter, but Graham Potter, the Potter who will become Chelsea's head coach in the future.
The 41-year-old Englishman Graham Porter was unremarkable in his playing days.
As a defender, he has played for 10 teams in his club career and has been involved in England's lower leagues all year round, including Birmingham, Wycombe Wanderers, Stoke City...
He even played for York City, so he is considered a team star!
After retiring in 2005, he did not immediately refocus on professional football and instead went to university to study.
During that time, he served as the assistant coach of the England college football team, and even led the primary school women's football team. In 2007, he served as the technical director of the Ghana women's football team.
It was not until 2010 that Porter successfully obtained a taught master's degree in leadership and emotional intelligence from Beckett University and finally started his head coaching career.
Unlike many local coaches who have been working hard in English football, Porter came directly from the UK to Östersund, located in the cold climate of Sweden.
In January 2011, Porter officially took over as the head coach of Ostersund. At that time, the football club was only 14 years old and had been relegated to the fourth tier of Sweden for the first time. The situation was extremely bad.
The arrival of Porter succeeded in giving Östersund a completely new look.
In 6 years, he not only led the previously sinking team to clear away the gloom and become a winning team, but also promoted from the fourth level to the first level of the Swedish Super League, becoming a meritorious coach in the history of the Ostersund team.
It can be said that in the minds of Ostersund people, that Potter can be Harry Potter!
The fact is, Potter's magical experiences are endless.
Later, he led that small team to win the Swedish Cup championship, which was also the first championship in his coaching career.
Through that championship, they also secured a spot in the Europa League qualifying rounds. They fought their way out of the competition and entered the main draw. In the group stage, they even shared the same points with Athletic Bilbao, and the top spot advanced to the knockout rounds.
After that, Porter played a famous game that allowed him to return to England to coach a month later: in the second leg of the 1/16 final, his Ostersunds defeated Arsenal led by Arsene Wenger 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
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London's Evening Standard also gave him a title worth pondering: Harry Potter? No, Graham Potter!
Leading the team to defeat Arsenal made Porter famous. Finally, he spent 7 and a half years wandering overseas in exchange for a ticket home.
The first person to greet him was his hometown team Swansea. At the time of Swansea's relegation, Porter's first English coaching season was not too conspicuous.
But one Premier League boss who makes a living from football statistics noticed him - Brighton boss Tony Bloom.
Bloom is not the typical son of a wealthy British man: rebellious and bold. He graduated from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester. He first accumulated his first pot of gold not through family property, but through gambling and Texas Hold'em poker.
After that, he invested in and founded an investment management company called "Star Lizard", which was actually a gambling management company that specialized in managing funds for wealthy people through football betting.
His company has five powerful servers that collect football data from all over the world.
When he needed to find a potential manager for Brighton, one of the machines spit out a name: Graham Potter.
And when Porter came to Brighton, he immediately built a strong team.
Unlike coaches who come from wealthy families, Porter is cautious in the transfer market and has never asked any boss to spend money. Instead, he prefers to believe in the players' own abilities.
But despite such low investment, Brighton has taken the Premier League by storm.
Brighton, under Porter's command, has flexible tactics, and some players who originally seemed to have fixed characteristics have shined differently than before in their careers.
Soon, Brighton changed from a team that everyone liked before to a real "Seagull Army", which repeatedly overturned the strong teams.
Finally, Porter was favored by Chelsea again. Having previously been on the road to a wealthy club, this could be considered an end to his legendary experience.
Well, why not full stop?
Maybe it's because Porter didn't coach for a full season and quit the class midway...
If not for that initial "failure", his wonderful experience would have been enough to make an excellent football-themed film and television work.
But that may mean that a grassroots coach like him is currently unable to control the locker room of a wealthy team.
In fact, that's normal. There are many coaches who can lead small teams but can't drive an aircraft carrier. Aren't Moyes and Emery like that?
As for Pan Yi, whether a coach like Porter is very suitable for York City.
That person will not only adapt to local conditions, but also like technical football and promote talents.
Later, he played a pleasing game at Brighton, and he also used the usual formation. Everyone in the frontcourt participated in high pressure, and immediately launched a fast break after stealing the ball.
Frequent switching of positions of the attacking legs in the frontcourt is one of their offensive features, with special emphasis on the coordination between the wings and the ribs.
Brighton's offense is based on the midfield, with orderly changes of positions based on the positions of the midfielders. It can be seen whether it has been carefully drilled: when the midfielders stand parallel, the wing backs and outside forwards conduct a group attack;
When positioned in a diamond position, the wingers and wide midfielders take turns to advance forward.
During his three years in charge of Brighton, the players from the Eastern Conference have scored goals one after another, completing the leap from carp to dragon.
Cucurella, who was once abandoned by Barcelona, has become a top all-purpose full-back on the left; Bisuma has grown into a top all-purpose midfielder in the Premier League. He was transferred to Tottenham shortly after the start of the summer window.
Income account owner.
Later, the British media even called Porter: the local version of Guardiola.
But back in time, he didn't even do that in Ostersund.
In the Swedish low-level league, where physical confrontation is particularly fierce, Porter went in the opposite direction and recruited a large number of technical players, laying the tactical foundation for the team's rise in the next month.
Midfielder Jamie Hopcart, who was not playing in the professional league in England and was released by York City, an amateur club at the time, was brought to Sweden after a trial and became the core of the midfield.
Iraqi midfielder Bois Nouri, who has a poor reputation in Sweden and is known as the "bad boy", was also entrusted with important tasks by Porter, and later became the first Iraqi to score in the Europa League...
In short, for a person who can succeed in low-level leagues, including civilian teams like Brighton, will he have his place in York City?——
After arriving in Sweden, Pan Yi did not go to the Östersund Club, but took Valentina to a local theater.
Of course, if Pan Yi simply "disguised" himself by wearing sunglasses or something, that would avoid unnecessary trouble.
After all, as a national hero of Sweden, no matter where he appears in Sweden, he will most likely arouse a warm welcome from the masses...
At this time in Taitung, a group of male actors were performing the ballet "Swan Lake" for more than 1,600 people in Taitung.
And from the poster at the entrance of the theater, we can know that it is a program for a local charity gala.
At this time, in the center of the venue, the protagonist of the show, the "beautiful" princess Odette.
The reason why I ask for quotation marks is not because of the "princess", nor is it a man!
No, the elegant man in the center of the stage is Pan Yi’s target person for this trip: Graham Potter!
The row of actors behind him are actually players of Ostersund Club...
Why did the head coach of a professional club suddenly bring his players to the theater to dance?
That is actually one of Porter's characteristics.
Whether he can be a person who thinks about the club in an all-round way will be equivalent to a position like "sport manager".
Although Porter is not the head coach, he has successfully helped the club establish its own culture in Ostersund, allowing the club to establish a cultural academy, encourage players to participate in community cultural activities, and will lead player organizations to participate in music campaigns.
Ostersund Football Club, which was originally in a bad situation with few people supporting it, has gained widespread recognition and support in the local area.
I think, isn’t that exactly the same as what Pan Yi did in York City?
The support and enthusiasm of the masses are the most important factors for the long-term development of a football club!
Actively participating in such activities can also allow Porter to get along with the players, be honest with them, and win their trust.
In a later interview with the Football Association, Porter once talked about his "five major values" in coaching: transparency, vision, sincerity, reliability and professionalism.
And that is his secret to keeping the players closely united around him.
It can be said that those five major values are very close to the "corporate culture" of York City under Pan Yi Zhidong!
Scaloni, even Chairman McGill and Director Horta have never been aloof, but they are as close to the players and staff as a family.
Therefore, when recruiting Porter, you can also say "If you don't belong to the same family, you won't join the same family."
And Pan Yi had done his homework in advance and learned about tomorrow's performance from the Ostersund Club, so he came directly to the theater.
——
After watching the somewhat eye-catching "Swan Lake" in Taitung, Pan Yi walked backstage.
After all, as the "protagonist", Porter had a dressing room to himself, which was convenient for Pan Yi's visit.
At this time, Porter was taking off his makeup, and when he felt someone coming in at the door, he looked up and was stunned for a moment.
"Pan...Pan Yi?"
In the dim light of Taitung, no one could recognize Pan Yi, but under the lights in the dressing room, Porter could not help but recognize the most awesome football coach in the world at a glance.
"No." Pan Yi said, taking off his sunglasses.
The first impression that Porter's face gave to Pan Yi was that of deep hatred and bitterness. His brows were always deeply furrowed, as if there were always troubles that could not be resolved.
Feeling a bit like Allegri? He looks embarrassed all day long.
"Why am I here tomorrow?" Porter asked, then suddenly slapped his head, "I'm not looking at any of his players, right?"
It is no secret that Pan Yi is good at collecting unknown players from all corners of the world and then turning them into famous stars.
Let's not talk about the past. That season Pan Yi took away an Aman from the Norwegian league that almost no one knew, and now that Aman has already made a killing in the English League One.
As the Swedish Super League is similar to the Norwegian league, or even slightly better, it is not particularly unusual for players to be favored by Pan Yi.
Although it is quite some time before the English League winter window opens, it is already November after all.
Contacting relevant clubs and players earlier can also better prepare for the opening of the transfer window. This is considered a routine operation of each club, so it is normal for Pan Yi to do that.
"No Bois Nouri?" Porter began to guess, "He is the core of his midfield. It would be very troublesome for him to leave. It would be difficult to find a replacement at that time...ah, he knows,
No Jamie Hopcart! He is a former York City player and I definitely want him back!"
Because of Pan Yi's magic, everyone knows that it is difficult for players to refuse invitations from York City, especially from small clubs in places like Norway and Sweden.
So Porter has begun to worry about the future of his team. After all, he really wants to take the team to the next level!
As he talked, he thought, Potter's face looked more like a bitter melon.
"No, did he invite me to join York City?" Pan Yi got straight to the point.
"Ah?" Dong Bo opened his mouth wide, like a cut bitter melon.
On the one hand, he didn't expect Pan Yi to come on his own, and on the other hand, his heart was really shaken.
There are many rich bosses in the football world today, and there are also some bosses who are rich and willing to invest in football. But there are very few bosses who are rich and willing to invest in football. At the same time, they have deep feelings for football and understand football very well.
Pan Yi's background as a coach obviously gave Porter a deeper sense of identification with him, not to mention that the football Pan Yi played when he led the team was not the kind of football that Porter dreamed of!
Including what he is currently using in the Ostersund team, he was actually inspired by Pan Yi's three-back system and launched it based on the actual situation of the team.
"But...can I not have Scaloni already? He leads the team very well." Porter asked one of his doubts.
"Haha, it seems that I am not very concerned about their team, at least very concerned about English football." Pan Yi said with a smile, "He did not let me take his place instead of being the technical director of their team.
how?"
The position of technical director is not available at many English clubs, including York City now.
Pan Yi plans to invite Porter to take up the position. This position is more like an assistant and consultant to the head coach, taking into account the affairs of the youth training camp, player training, etc.
In that case, it can not only help Scaloni in all aspects of competition and training, but also make full use of Porter's characteristics.
After all, does Porter have the ability to formulate and implement things that are beneficial to the development of the team from the perspective of the entire club?
If you give him a higher position and authority, will you encourage him to do it more freely?
At the same time, this would also be a way to attract Porter to return to England at that stage. After all, although Porter is not in the Swedish league now, he is still a head coach.
If we just ask him to come back as an assistant coach, it will obviously not be attractive enough.
As for the real full-time assistant coach... Pan Yi has someone else in mind at this time!
"They are really sincere, Mr. Porter." Seeing the confusion and hesitation on Porter's face, Pan Yi added,
"Tan Hong said that York City is just a small team at the moment, but they will be upgraded next year, and will probably continue to be upgraded next year. In the future, they will enter Europe, and I can realize my ambition there!"
"York City can be my destination, and it can also be my springboard. When the time comes, I am willing to be the head coach of a new team, and he will never stop me."
"Nagelsmann, Inzaghi, Arteta, including the current York City coach Scaloni, I know all of them. They were all his assistant coaches before, but now they have started their own coaching careers.
.”
"Believe in him and follow him. It will be easier for you to attract the attention of strong European teams than me in Sweden!"
Potter was stunned when he heard this.
His previous ideal was, of course, to return to the mainstream European leagues, or even to coach a Premier League team in his hometown of England!
After coming to Sweden and coaching a fourth-level league team, it can be said that he has adopted a strategy of saving the country through curves.
Otherwise, an Englishman would go to the freezing cold Sweden to coach?
Is it because his career resume is too mediocre and no English professional team is willing to invite him to be the head coach after he retires?
However, when the team in the small town of 60,000 people in north-central Sweden, which had fallen to the fourth tier of the Swedish league, invited him, he accepted.
Unfortunately, that job was not enough to bring him the professional recognition he desired.
So when he went to St. George's Park (the FA headquarters) for the first time to apply for UEFA's professional coaching course, he was stopped outside the classroom door: Who am I? What am I doing here? I'm enough.
Are you qualified?
Those three questions of the soul have been running through Porter's entire career.
Even if he now leads Ostersund to the Swedish top league, it will obviously be difficult to gain recognition from English football.
——After all, he really attracted the attention of English football when he led the team to defeat Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, and that incident has hardly happened now.
And Ruming, Pan Yi mistakenly made a promise to Porter, which obviously hit his heart!
Pan Yi is right. It is indeed easier to get ahead by following the most awesome football coach in the world.
Is Mr. Pan Yi willing or even encouraging to let his disciples go out and teach independently?
On the one hand, is it because Pan Yi thinks about their future? On the other hand, it also shows that those disciples have made rapid progress with Pan Yi, otherwise they would not be accepted by the teams in the five major leagues.
Taken together, isn't that a hundred times better than staying in Sweden with a team that no one knows about?
Moreover, Porter had played for York City as a player and was familiar with the environment there, so he really had no reason to refuse.
"But no, he has a contract with Ostersund, and he's afraid..." Porter moved his lips and expressed his initial doubts.
"Don't worry, he will handle the contract matters. Depending on how much the termination fee is, their club will help me pay it!" Pan Yi said with great wealth.
The fact is that in leagues in countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, the salary of the head coach is basically a few thousand euros per week, so the termination fee is not very high.
For Porter, the termination fee of tens of thousands to one hundred thousand euros is something he cannot afford, but Pan Yi can easily help him "redeemed", so it is not a big deal at all.
Pan Yi does not have the ability to make money!
He was saving money at that stage. On the one hand, it was not time to really spend money. On the other hand, he also wanted to avoid giving them the impression that he was a "big dog" and being ripped off for no reason.
Besides, every sponsor is currently trying hard to get money from the club. Even the profit part is enough for the team to cover its own profits and losses. Where is the need to use Pan Yi's small treasury?
Therefore, can Pan Yi feel comfortable being a "back-up" boss now and wait until there is any big demand for funds later?
This is not the biggest guarantee for York City.
Although having money may not necessarily mean you can compete in the Premier League, having money can at least ensure the management of the club and prevent the team's development from being suddenly hindered.
There are many cases of selling players, team facilities, or even selling stadiums and eventually going bankrupt due to lack of money!
But now that he heard Pan Yidu say that, Porter naturally no longer hesitated and nodded immediately in agreement!
Things will be simple after that.
Pan Yi stayed in Sweden for two days, allowing Valentina to enjoy a good time in the "food city" of Ostersund, and helped Porter resolve the contract issue with the Ostersund club.
The club didn't have too many difficulties when Porter left. After all, Pan Yi had agreed to pay the termination fee, so he easily let Porter leave.
Then, "Harry Potter" finally reached his "Magic Kingdom"!
After all, in the "Harry Potter" series of movies, the train station Hogsmeade Station where Hogwarts is located and the Magic Street and Twist Alley were all shot in Yorkshire or were their inspirations.
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After taking care of Porter, Pan Yi immediately took Valentina to Italy.
There, there is a real candidate for York City's first team assistant coach!