Coaching legend

"Pfft..." Jasklainen was soaked. When he just tried to save the ball, the water on the court fell into his mouth.

During the warm-up before the game, the weather was still very good. Unexpectedly, it started to rain after the game started. It was a drizzle at first, and it turned into a downpour ten minutes after the start.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. George stood on the sidelines, and his suit was completely soaked.

Looking at Turf Moor, George shook his head. Because the drainage system of Turf Moor was so poor, there were piles of water everywhere in the stadium.

Although it was raining heavily, George could no longer care about that. He frowned and looked at the situation in the field, because the number on the scoreboard read 0:1. The home team Burnley was in front, and the visiting team Birmingham was behind.

George stood on the field with a frown, but the fans at Turf Moor were singing and dancing. The cheers at Turf Moor started from the ninth minute of the game and never stopped. Because in another venue, Nottingham Forest was also scored a goal in the ninth minute.

What made Burnley fans even happier was that in the fourteenth minute, Nottingham Forest was already two goals behind. When the news reached Turf Moor, all Burnley fans were jubilant.

With Burnley's current advantage, even if they lost this game, if Nottingham Forest also lost, Burnley would still be promoted in advance.

But George was different. George would never allow this game to be lost. In a game where Burnley was promoted in advance, George would not allow the opponent's mistakes to win.

George was very dissatisfied with the current situation on the field. Birmingham's style of play was very simple after the rain. It started with a long pass from the backcourt to the front, with the center forward controlling the landing point, and then another forward and midfielder controlling the second landing point.

Burnley lost the ball because they did not control the second landing point well, so they were scored.

George stepped forward and waved to Ballack. George was very dissatisfied with Ballack in this game. For some reason, Ballack was in a very bad state in this game. He played without spirit, could not control the rhythm on the field, and failed to protect the front of the penalty area.

"Michael, what's wrong with you? Do you know how important this game is? If you feel you can't do it, then I will replace you." Although George usually scolded Ballack a lot, he was rarely so serious as now.

George didn't know what Ballack was worried about now. Anyway, George didn't believe that Ballack would be nervous because of the promotion. Even in the League Cup final, in the clash with Chelsea, George didn't see any nervousness in Ballack.

Even Ballack's calmness surprised George at the time. In that game, Ballack was not only not nervous at all, but also did a perfect job in defense, offense, and shooting.

Although George paid more attention to this game, everyone knew that even if Burnley failed to win this game, there would be no problem in upgrading. Therefore, Ballack should not be nervous in such a game.

But so far, Ballack's performance has been too abnormal. Since George coached Ballack, this situation has rarely occurred.

"I'm sorry, boss." Ballack seemed to be a little dazed. He saw George wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything and fell into silence again.

George patted Ballack on the shoulder and softened his tone. "Michael, I don't know what's wrong with you. But you have to remember one thing, you are a player. As long as you are on the court, you can't think about other things. This is the professional ethics of a player."

Ballack looked up at George and nodded vigorously.

"Okay, Michael. If you have anything, you can find me at any time after the game. Now go up, put aside distractions, and play well."

Sure enough, after Ballack came on the court, his performance was very different from before. The biggest difference was in the timing and strength of the pass.

It rained heavily, which was not conducive to the performance of some technical players. But Burnley's strength is far higher than Birmingham. After Ballack, the core midfielder, returned to normal, Burnley immediately controlled the rhythm of the game.

Although in this environment, Birmingham's long pass rush is still very dangerous to Burnley's defense. Because of this rainy weather, defenders are prone to mistakes. If Birmingham wants to beat Burnley, they can only look for opportunities when Burnley's defenders make mistakes.

But after Ballack played normally, Birmingham was never able to grab the second point. And Burnley's offensive became more and more fierce.

"Robbie Keane received the pass from Camoranesi...Robbie Keane was very fast and had a one-on-one chance...GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Robbie Keane, this is Robbie Keane's twentieth goal for Burnley. This is Robbie Keane's first full professional league, and he scored twenty goals in the English League One!"

"Many teams were eyeing Robbie Keane in the summer, and Robbie Keane finally chose Burnley. I heard that George went to see him in person for Robbie Keane. This is definitely a win-win result. Robbie Keane scored twenty goals for Burnley and was a major contributor to Burnley's promotion. And under George's training, Robbie Keane has become a leader among young forwards. Now on the court, I don't know how many scouts from Premier League teams are observing this rising Irish star!"

While explaining, Mortensen admired George in his heart. George had never made a mistake in his choice of people.

"John, it's 1-1. It seems that Burnley's promotion is just around the corner." Alan Hansen was not too excited. In his opinion, Burnley's promotion was no longer a suspense. Falling behind after the opening was an accident, and it was a bit late to equalize now.

"Yes, there are still four rounds left. As long as Burnley gets one point in these four rounds, there will be no problem with promotion. Not to mention one point, even ten points should be no problem for Burnley."

Indeed, after scoring a goal, Burnley players played more and more calmly.

Before the end of the first half, Daniel received Camoranesi's pass in the corner attack and headed in the second goal. Leading Birmingham 2-1.

The rain never stopped, and it was still pouring in the second half. But this could not dampen the joy of Burnley fans. After the second half, Nottingham Forest was still trailing 0-2.

With Kevin Phillips' goal in the 73rd minute, who replaced Robbie Keane, Burnley completely killed the suspense of the game.

At the moment Kevin Phillips scored, the fans of the entire Turf Moor Stadium went crazy. Knowing that the team can be promoted and when the team is actually promoted, the feeling is definitely different.

With the outstanding performance this season, Burnley fans all know that Burnley will definitely be promoted after the end of the season. But when it really came to this moment, all the fans couldn't help crying.

"Kevin-" "Phillips-"

"Three to one, we have won the League One championship in advance. Burnley, we are going to the Premier League! We are back, we are finally back!" The commentator on the scene was already incoherent at this time, but his incoherent speech just expressed the voice of Burnley fans.

Birmingham players have no fighting spirit and played weakly. After entering the third goal, Burnley got several opportunities in a row, but it was a pity that Burnley players were also infected by the atmosphere on the scene and too excited, wasting many opportunities. Of course, no one blamed Burnley players for wasting opportunities at this time.

"Look, Turf Moor is boiling! They have gone crazy!" Mortensen looked at the thunderous cheers at Turf Moor and said with a smile.

"Of course, this is the first time Burnley has returned to the top league since it was relegated from the top league in 1976. For this promotion, Burnley fans have waited for 22 years, and they have reason to go crazy."

"Yes, 22 years. How many 22 years can a person have in his life? Burnley fans are lucky. They can see Burnley return to the top league and see Burnley's future. How many clubs that were once glorious can only struggle in the lower leagues and see no hope at all." Mortensen sighed. Mortensen has been a commentator for a long time. In the English League One and English League Two, he has seen too many clubs struggling just to survive.

"We should thank George for this. It was George who brought hope to Burnley and brought such a miracle to Burnley."

As if echoing Alan Hansen, the cheering Burnley fans at Turf Moor suddenly shouted "George! George! You are Burnley's hero, you are our hero!"

The referee was very tactful. Although there were many dead balls in the second half, there was no extra time.

"Beep beep--" It echoed at Turf Moor like beautiful music.