Russell was replaced by Welling United coach Paul. Parker approached the door and invited him to join the news, and the news quickly spread throughout the team at the next training session. Quite a few people came to ask Russell if this was true.

Russell didn't want to make a big deal out of it, because he hadn't decided whether he wanted to accept the offer yet. But in the face of his enthusiastic teammates, he can't lie and say that everything is made out of nothing, which would make it difficult for his friend Borger to do, because the news is his good friend Gavin. The ...... that Borger passed out So he had to nod his head and admit that all this was true, and that there was indeed a man named "Paul. Parker's former England international, Manchester United player, and current manager of Welling United, approached him and did offer him to join Welling United.

Everyone's reactions were different, some were envious, some were indifferent, and some wanted to persuade him to stay but couldn't speak.

Chu Zhongtian didn't belong to any of them, and he had mixed feelings.

When he heard Borger shouting that "Russell is favored by the teams in the fifth division", he at first thought that Borger was joking again. Because Shirin, who was next to him, didn't believe it either, and said to Borger in a joking tone, "Hey, blog. You're bragging again, right? ”

Borger explained the whole process in great detail, and looking at his serious expression, everyone was silent. Although Borger did brag a little before, he had a habit of being the protagonist of the bragging skin without exception, such as what his speed could rival Michael. Owen; I'm Giggs on the right; I was spotted by Chelsea's scouts when I was young, but I turned it down because I loved Wimbledon...... I've never seen him brag about anyone else, even if it's his best friend Alai. Russell.

Maybe what he said was true? Including Chu Zhongtian, everyone has such a question.

When Russell came, he naturally gathered around to ask what was going on.

"Hey, Russell, did you really get an invitation from Welling United?"

"Hey, Alai. Is this true? Didn't that blogger brag this time? The man who asked this was glared at by Bolger.

Chu Zhongtian didn't go up to join in the fun, but he kept watching, and he was also looking forward to Russell's answer.

Russell first glared at Bolger and saw Bolger shrugging at him innocently before nodding and saying, "Yes, it's true, guys." I was looked at by the manager of Welling United. ”

"Whew-" There was a commotion in the humble locker room.

"It's true!"

"Good luck for you, boy!"

"This is the first invitation our team has received from another club!"

"Russell, you lucky guy......"

Everyone shouted.

"Hell! It's enviable! Xi Lin, who was sitting next to Chu Zhongtian, also muttered.

Chu Zhongtian turned his head to look at him, thinking of his reaction when he asked him "do you want to play professional football" in the bar. This person envies Russell, which means that he actually wants to play professional football, but he doesn't have a chance, right?

"Why doesn't anyone take a fancy to Kevin. Cooper? "Andy. Sullivan asked.

Kevin. Cooper is the team's captain and the team's top scorer and currently sits in the top three scorers in the Mixed County League (CCL). It stands to reason that there should be people looking for him, and there should be many teams interested in him.

Shirin shrugged: "Who knows?" Maybe it's because he doesn't have a big-mouthed friend like Borger. ”

Kevin. Cooper has a calm personality and few words, but every word is full of power and unquestionable authority. He is a good helper for Eames to manage the team. He has a few friends, but they are all people with similar personalities to him, not used to long speeches, and not loud enough to attract attention in the team, but they are indispensable. For example, Keith. Ward.

Sullivan looked at Chu Zhongtian again.

"But why doesn't anyone fancy Chu?"

Chu Zhongtian didn't expect the topic to be led to him, he pointed to himself in surprise: "Why me?" ”

"You're the heart of our team's defense." Sullivan explained. "You're doing a great job, but why hasn't anyone come looking for you?"

Xi Lin glanced at the surprised Chu Zhongtian and laughed: "Even if someone goes to him, it's useless, Chu Ke doesn't want to take football as a career." ”

Sullivan shook his head: "That's a pity. ”

Everyone was still coaxing, and Eames had already walked into the locker room. Seeing the boss with a straight face, everyone fell silent.

"Russell, come with me." Eames looked around, waved at Russell, and then turned and walked out.

Everyone looked at each other, and they thought that the boss must be angry. At the critical juncture of the upgrade, one's own general will be dug into the wall, which is not a trivial matter...... Borger also showed an apologetic expression, and he raised his hands to Russell and said, "I'm sorry, Alai...... I didn't expect it to reach my boss so quickly......"

"You big mouth!" Russell gave him the middle finger before following him out to find the boss.

He had just left when assistant coach Ingrid appeared at the door again: "All right, boys. Tea time is over, let me go out for training! ”

Eames stands outside King's Ranch, which is the parking lot, but most of the time there are not many cars parked here. Petrol in the UK is so expensive that most of the players in the squad choose to take public buses to train and Eames has his own car parked here, but it looks old.

"Uh, boss, I'm sorry...... I was going to tell you the ...... after the training, "On the way here, Russell has already thought about it, at this time, he should turn from passive to active, confess himself, and maybe make the boss feel better."

"What do you think?" Eames didn't dwell on the question, he waved his hand, lifted it, and asked.

Paul. Parker came to see Russell two days ago, and Russell has been thinking about this question for the past two days, ever since his dad asked him "Do you still want to play professional football" for the third time in the evening.

"I ...... To be honest, I haven't figured it out yet. He didn't hypocritically cry to the manager about his loyalty to Wimbledon, saying clichés like "I was born a Wimbledon man, and died a Wimbledon dead man", he honestly showed Eames his inner hesitation.

Eames nodded, "But I don't think you need to be so hesitant. The fifth tier is better than the ninth tier anyway, and whether Welling United can be promoted next season or not, they are better than us. ”

Russell looked up and looked at the manager who said this in surprise.

"Do you really think we can move up to the top in one year and back in the top flight in nine years, Russell?" Facing Russell's quizzing gaze, Eames asked.

When the club is the president of Chris. Mr. Stewart and the more than 4,000 fans in the stadium chanted "Go where you need to go!" that afternoon. Back in the top flight! Go back where you need to go! South West London! At the time, he believed that it wouldn't be long before they could be back in South West London and back in the top flight.

But after calming down, he had to admit that it was just a relatively good wish. The league journey is long, a total of nine leagues, the higher you go, the more difficult it is to play, and when you enter the fifth league, it is estimated that it is not only the strength of the team, but also the ability of the club. If the club does not have the financial resources, it is pointless to be promoted to the fourth tier and become a "league team", because they will quickly fall back into the fifth tier without financial support. And what Wimbledon lacks most is probably money.

There is no shortage of such teams in the English league, many of which are 100 years old but still struggling to survive below the fifth tier.

Even clubs that now seem to be in the Premier League have spent a lot of time in the lower leagues.

"I think I should be able to take this team up two or three more leagues and then I don't have that ability. The club should find someone better than me to coach the team if they want to get back to the top flight. Eames said. Assessing his own level, his tone appears calm. 'I don't know how long Wimbledon will be in a league like this, maybe really one year at a level, maybe ...... It will take 10, 20 years for us to be back in the league team. ”

The term "league teams" refers to the teams that play in the four divisions of the Premier League, League One, League Two and League Three (the latter three have been called the Championship, League One and League Two respectively since the summer of 2004), and they are all truly professional teams, and they are not at all the same level as the teams in the league that Wimbledon now plays.

'From a team point of view, your departure has an impact on our quality. But I guess you personally want to leave, right? ”

"I'm ......" Russell tried to distinguish himself, but was interrupted by Eames waving his hand.

"Being looked at by a higher team is a dream for a lot of people when they play in the lower leagues, who doesn't want to play at a higher level? If you have the strength, go for it. I'm talking about ruthlessness, Russell. Wimbledon isn't your team, it's not like you can't play without you, we're a team, no matter who leaves, you have to be able to continue to survive and develop, do you understand what I mean? Eames asked.

Russell nodded. Although these last words made him a little depressed with pride, he had to admit that what his boss said was right. Although he is now the core of the team, it would not be for Kevin. Cooper received his pass in front and took a shot, and without Chu pressing frantically behind him to provide him with protection, he alone would not have done anything. Football is a team game at all times, and even Maradona and Pele can't single out eleven opponents.

"I want you to think about it, if you're going to stay, I'm welcome, and if you're going to go, don't think it's some kind of bullshit betrayal. We don't play with such pretentious things. But I have one request - whatever you choose, as soon as possible. I don't want this to affect your form and our team's results. At the very least, even if you decide to leave, you'll still be part of us until the end of the season. ”

"I see, boss. Thank you. ”

Eames's words, although a little ugly, helped Russell to remove the heaviest stone in his heart - if he did choose to leave, what would the club and his teammates think of him? Will they feel like a traitor in pursuit of glory and wealth? Will you hate yourself? What about the Wimbledon fans? What will they think of their departure? Will you scold yourself?

He doesn't know how the fans will react, but at least he doesn't have that to worry about the team now.

"Good, we've been delayed long enough, now go back to training." Eames slapped Russell in the back and pushed him out.

After the training session, Russell was called by Eames for another question, this time by Paul. Parker has said to himself that he plans to be prepared if the opponent comes to the door and knows what hole cards the opponent has, so as to seek the maximum benefit for the club.

When he returned to the locker room, Chu Zhongtian was the only one in it.

"Are you going to accept the invitation?" Chu Zhongtian looked around and asked.

Russell had thought about the training session all and he felt it was time to make a decision. "I've thought about it and I still want to play professional football." He said to Chu Zhongtian.

Chu Zhongtian already knew what the answer was.

"What about going to school?"

"Apply for leave of absence. Anyway, I've skipped a lot of classes in the past two semesters. Russell shrugged nonchalantly, he wasn't a good student who loved to learn.

"The only regret is that I can't continue to torture you anymore." If he transferred to Welling United, although they were all in Greater London, they obviously didn't have so much time to guide Chu Zhongtian to improve his foot skills. The thought of not being able to take this opportunity to torture Chu Zhongtian and let him complete some training projects that ordinary people could not complete at all, Russell felt regret from the bottom of his heart.

Although Russell was a little dirty with Chu Zhongtian before, he was very serious and responsible in training Chu Zhongtian. In the past half a season, because of his training, Chu Zhongtian has been greatly improved in ball control, and now he is no longer afraid of two people's sandwiching, even if he is surrounded by three people, he can also keep the football in a short period of time.

"I'm sorry too." Chu Zhongtian said.

He had considered Russell his friend, even though they had been eager to kill each other before. But that kind of contradiction is nothing at all, and after so much time, it has long faded. But in normal times, Russell helps him improve his foot skills, which benefits Chu Zhongtian a lot. Regardless of what kind of psychology Russell trained himself for, as long as this matter was beneficial to him, Chu Zhongtian felt that Russell was not evil. Emily was right, neither he nor Borger were bad people, they were just a little mean at times.

Emily went to the United States to film, and she was so busy that she basically couldn't see it a few times, and she would go to the United States to develop her career after graduation, and she should not be seen again until she graduated. Now Russell is leaving Wimbledon and Wimbledon School of Art to pursue his dream of professional football again.

I finally met some friends, but now I'm slowly leaving. When he graduated after two and a half years, how many of these friends were left?

"Good luck, sissy."

Russell was surprised that Chu Zhongtian didn't even fight with him to fight the most tempered, and he didn't react when he heard Chu Zhongtian say this, but Chu Zhongtian had already changed his clothes and left the locker room.

Only then did he react, and Chu Zhongtian still scolded himself at the end.

"! You mad dog! He could only vent to this Chu Zhongtian's cabinet in the empty locker room.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian tried hard to forget the news that Russell had accepted Welling United, because it had nothing to do with him. But I don't know why, when he works at the Dons Bar at night, this thing always hovers in his mind.

He was a little concerned about Russell's choice, but he shouldn't have cared so much. It's not that he leaves Wimbledon, it's that he goes – a fifth-tier team that would move into the league and become a true professional team if they can be promoted.

Chu Zhongtian didn't know how to describe his inner feelings.

There is a little envy, some loss, and a little longing...... It's like knocking over a five-flavor bottle, and all the flavors are mixed in.

When Russell got home, he told his dad about his choice.

"I thought that 'withdrawal from training' made you completely dead." The father was noncommittal about his son's decision.

Russell shook his head, "I was dead, Dad." But after playing at Wimbledon for most of the season, I realized that I wasn't dead yet. ”

That dream was like a fire that was gradually cooling, I thought it was already completely cold, but I didn't expect a gust of mountain wind to blow away the ashes on the upper layer, but it revealed the dark red inside.

"I don't think I'm reading material." Russell continued with his head down.

To be honest, he has always been afraid of his father, and every time he makes a choice, he is worried that his father will disagree with him, although this has never happened once, he is always worried.

Just like now, he is still worried that his father will suddenly be angry, disagree with his choice, and must let him continue his studies. But none of this has happened yet...... After he said this, there was silence in the study.

"Fifth Division ......," the father spoke.

Russell thought he was going to object, and hurriedly said, "The fifth level is always closer to the goal than the ninth level, Dad......"

There was silence again.

Mom knocked on the door outside: "It's time for dinner, honey." ”

As if awakened from his sleep, Russell looked up and saw his father smiling at him. I have the impression that my father rarely laughs...... He doesn't know if that means a good thing or a bad thing.

"Good luck, son. It's your own choice. ”

(To be continued)