"What? All the tickets for this game are sold out? The whole place is full?"
After hearing the manager's report, Lecce's team director Moroni was so overjoyed that his eyes nearly popped out.
Although he was happy, it was still hard for him to believe that this was true.
Lecce's home stadium, the Vidimali Stadium, can accommodate 40,000 spectators.
For a small team in a small city with a population of less than 100,000, it is actually not an easy task to fill this stadium.
Not to mention Lecce's poor record this season is also driving their fans out of the stadium.
In the past six rounds of Serie A, Lecce has 1 win and 5 losses, scoring 4 goals and conceding 13 goals, with only 3 points, ranking 18th among all 20 Serie A teams, and has fallen into the relegation zone.
At their feet, Cesena and Bologna are even worse, both with only 1 point, but the gap with Lecce is only one game.
So this can explain why Moroni was so shocked.
With such a rubbish record, and the fact that Lecce doesn’t have any star players with charisma, it’s really surprising that the stadium is suddenly full.
"Is it because our opponent today is AC Milan? They are all here to watch Milan's performance?" Moroni thought of this possibility.
After all, AC Milan has been on a roll since the start of this season, and most of the time they played a pleasing game and scored a lot of goals, so it is understandable that they are popular among fans.
"There are indeed many fans from Milan who bought tickets." The manager nodded, "but there are also many... tourists from the Dragon Kingdom."
"Dragon Kingdom? Tourists?" Moroni frowned, "They also came specifically to watch the Milan game?"
Of course Moroni is self-aware.
When foreign fans come to Italy to watch football, of course most of them come for the top three in the north, namely Juventus and Milan.
They have the largest number of fans overseas.
Next are the two teams in the capital, and below that there are not many overseas supporters such as Fiorentina and Naples.
For a Serie A upgrade machine like Lecce, any fan of the Dragon Country can just dream.
"Yes and no." The manager explained, "They are indeed here for Milan, but specifically, they are here to support Milan's assistant coach."
"Ah? Assistant coach?" Moroni was a little confused, "How can anyone watch the game just to see the assistant coach? Even if he is the head coach, in this world, he can let fans buy tickets to the scene.
There aren’t many star head coaches, right?”
"His name is Pan Yi, he is from the Dragon Country. He is only 25 years old this year and is very popular with the Dragon Country people." The manager added, "He is also the first Dragon Country coach in the history of Serie A. And many coaches have mentioned that it is
Because of his joining this season, Milan's tactical system has been improved, and he has achieved a winning streak."
"Oh, no wonder. Longguo finally found a coach who can coach here. It's strange that he is not popular." Moroni frowned, "But if he is really so good, how can he be just a coach?"
An assistant coach?"
"He is only 25 years old." The manager emphasized, spreading his hands, "This is his first job. Isn't it too exaggerated to be the head coach of Serie A?"
"That's right..." Moroni lowered his head and pondered for a while, then suddenly raised his head, "Do you think it's possible for us to invite him to be our head coach?"
This cannot be said to be Moroni's whim.
Lecce's start to the season was so poor, and he was under a lot of pressure as the team director.
He has already considered using head coach Di Francesco as a scapegoat and firing him.
And if Pan Yi can be poached at this time, maybe he can kill two birds with one stone.
First of all, if Pan Yi is as good as the manager said, he will have a chance to bring Lecce out of the quagmire and avoid the bad luck of relegation;
Secondly, as Pan Yi is the darling of the Dragons, wouldn’t being the head coach in Lecce also help increase attendance?
The improvement in this game is obvious!
Even if the performance does not improve much by then, it will be good if it can attract fans and make money.
We might even take this opportunity to open up the Dragon Country market, and then we might really be able to make a lot of money.
The people of the Dragon Kingdom are now the richest! How much better than the declining Italy.
With money, anything can be said easily.
You can buy new players to enhance your strength. Even if you fall to the second level, you can quickly rise back up.
Moroni couldn't help but tremble with excitement at his genius idea.
But at this time, the manager said hesitantly: "Uh...actually..."
"Actually what? Tell me quickly!"
"Actually, this Pan Yi came to our team for an interview in June."
Moroni stood up from his seat with a whoosh: "What? He came for an interview? Then why didn't we keep him?"
"You, me, and head coach Di Francesco were all present at the time, just wanting to recruit an assistant coach for the team." The manager swallowed and said, "But as soon as he came in, you thought he was young and a dragon.
He was a Chinese, so he drove him out."
Moroni: "..."
Manager: "..."
Moroni: "Why didn't you stop me then!"
Manager: "...I said, at least let him come in and have a chat. But you didn't listen, and you said how could a young man from the Dragon Kingdom understand football? There is no one in the entire Dragon Kingdom who understands football. You also said, Dragon Country
Chinese people only cook delicious food, but nothing else is good!"
Moroni: "..."
Manager: "..."
Moroni scratched his head: "Why don't I remember such a thing! Hmm... Do you think this Pan Yi will remember this?"
The manager smiled bitterly: "What do you think..."
Moroni patted the manager on the shoulder: "It doesn't matter. I heard someone say that there is an old saying in the Dragon Kingdom that the person who becomes the prime minister can drive a Titanic in his belly."
"What does this mean?" The manager was confused.
"That is to say, the people of Longguo are very broad-minded and don't care about trivial matters." Moroni said in a relaxed tone, "As long as we are sincere enough, how can he refuse to be the head coach of a Serie A team?
This is a big step forward in his career! Are you right?"
"Maybe... right?" The manager could only nod.
"Of course, we can't be too hasty." Moroni added, "We still need to conduct an on-site inspection. In this way, we will go to the game tonight to see if he really has a say in the Milan coaching staff.
You can also see how many of the fans at the scene are here for him."
"Okay, then I'll make arrangements." The manager was about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Moroni.
"Please help me get something to eat in the box. I'm not going to have dinner."