Starting With Real Madrid Chapter 1082: Old Rogue

Gao Shen was actually not familiar with the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

He did not co often, and he did not even want to co unless necessary.

Because he was too busy.

And Monaco was really inconvenient.

There is no airport, and transportation is not convenient, so it takes a long ti to get here.

Just like now, after attending this event, Gao Shen had to rush to nearby Nice to catch an evening flight to Prague, Czech Republic, which would take four or five hours round trip.

By the ti they arrived in Prague, it would be almost dawn.

Tomorrow was the European Super Cup match.

So, would Gao Shen be willing to attend?

At this point in his career, he no longer needed to prove himself by showing up at such occasions.

Even if he did not co, the award would still be his.

The award ceremony and the draw were scheduled to begin around 6 p.m., but Gao Shen arrived about half an hour early.

He was traveling with Ronaldo, a fitting companion.

With them were Real Madrid vice president Butragueño and technical director Valdano.

The four of them walked into the Grimaldi Forum and imdiately attracted everyone's attention.

Real Madrid was now the most watched team in Europe. Especially in the year since Gao Shen took over again as head coach, their progress had been astonishing.

From Real Madrid to Napoli to Manchester City, and now back to Real Madrid, Gao Shen had already proven his coaching ability at every stop. Any team he coached was impossible to ignore.

What was more, Real Madrid was currently the richest and most willing-to-spend top club in European football.

This powerful combination could make any team in the world tremble.

Every place and every circle had its own people.

As soon as Gao Shen arrived, he imdiately ran into an old acquaintance.

For example, Marino of Napoli.

The bald Italian powerhouse was doing very well at Napoli. Gao Shen had completely changed his fate. Napoli was now a top Serie A team and could not be underestimated.

Although they could not win the title every year, at least they could get their hands on trophies from ti to ti.

From Manchester City ca Brian Marwood, the chairman's advisor, who ca over to thank Gao Shen.

Previously, Manchester City's general manager Gary Cook had been dismissed because of the email scandal. Marwood had called Gao Shen to ask for advice. At that ti, Gao Shen recomnded Ferran Soriano and Begiristain.

Gao Shen said that by bringing in those two, they would be able to get closer to Guardiola.

Now, Soriano was Manchester City's general manager and Begiristain was the technical director.

Unfortunately, Guardiola had been intercepted by Bayern.

Speaking of which, another person had to be ntioned.

Ferguson retired.

…

"Old Sir, I see you have been enjoying a comfortable life since your retirent."

When Gao Shen saw Ferguson, he took the initiative to greet him.

Ferguson chuckled, "I am carefree every day now. I eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want, and sleep whenever I want. I do not have to worry about being woken up by phone calls in the middle of the night. Is that not great?"

"Great," Gao Shen praised with a smile.

Only after becoming a head coach, especially the head coach of a top club, would one realize how many things there were to handle every day. Many tis, Gao Shen felt that one person was not enough and wished he could summon a clone.

It was a pity that other transmigrators brought superpowers, but he had only brought a library.

It could be seen that Ferguson was in great shape. After retirent, he still received a salary from Manchester United, two million pounds a year.

Of course, he received this as an ambassador for Manchester United.

That was already the level of top players in Europe's top leagues.

The key was that the job required only 10 to 20 working days a year, and he could go to Old Trafford to watch gas for free at any ti.

Tell , where else in the world could you find such a good job?

"Seeing you like this, I really want to retire," Gao Shen joked.

Ferguson waved his hands repeatedly. "No, I am counting on you to do a favor."

"What is it?"

But Gao Shen reacted imdiately. "Let us make a deal. I will find a lawyer later. If you ntion in a speech or a column next ti, make sure you pay , or I will sue you."

Ferguson laughed.

Word had already spread in the coaching circle that Ferguson's speeches had beco more insightful, often analyzing advanced tactics or sharing anecdotes about the two of them.

"I am not here to tell you that this ti." Ferguson spoke seriously, suppressing his smile. "I am planning to publish an autobiography."

"And then?" Gao Shen guessed imdiately.

"Write a preface and I will pay you."

"How much do I owe you?"

"Not much? Even better. You saved money. You have no idea, I am getting older now, and making a little money is not easy. Unlike you, young and strong, with a high annual salary. I really envy you. Thank you in advance."

Gao Shen was a little dumbfounded.

Damn, was this not too shaless?

Did I agree to this?

But in the end, Gao Shen really had no way to deal with this old rogue, so he agreed.

Who could bla him, it was Ferguson.

"But I warn you, I will not go easy on you."

"Write whatever you want," Ferguson said bluntly.

Gao Shen understood that if he started scolding, Ferguson would make sure to include every word in his autobiography, and the sales would probably be even better.

As expected, a shrewd old fox.

"Let tell you, there is still a score I have not settled with you." Gao Shen rembered sothing else.

"What is it?"

"Do not play dumb. I am asking you, were you the one who brought Bayern Munich and Guardiola together?"

Ferguson could not help laughing again.

"I am the manager of Manchester United..."

"Ahem, say that again."

"The forr head coach, now an ambassador, earning two million a year. I think about Manchester United's interests, should I not?"

Ferguson's words sounded perfectly reasonable.

Gao Shen really could not argue with him.

It had to be said that Ferguson's move had really given Manchester City a headache.

Originally, they planned to let Guardiola take a year off and have Pellegrini act as a bridge. In the end, Guardiola went to Bayern.

"Is it useful for you to care so much about Manchester United? The successor you handpicked has one win, one draw, and one loss in the Premier League to start the new season, ranking 8th, five points behind Manchester City." Gao Shen could not help but poke at him.

Speaking of which, Manchester United's performance to start the new season was really surprising. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel{f}ire

Of course, not to Gao Shen.

He had long concluded that Moyes was not capable of managing the current Manchester United.

Because Manchester United's problem was not just the squad, and not just the team. It was an issue that ran through the entire club from top to bottom.

"The league has just started, it is still early," Ferguson said stubbornly. "Besides, how good are you, Leeds United? Your ranking is even worse than ours, at 10th."

Leeds United also had one win, one draw, and one loss, the sa points as Manchester United, but behind on goal difference.

The two teams were sowhat similar, both with one win and one loss in two away matches, plus a draw at ho.

The difference was that Manchester United had faced Chelsea and Liverpool, while Leeds had encountered mid and lower-table teams, which led to Leeds' less than ideal situation.

Judging by last season's performances, Leeds should have won those three matches, but they only won one, and even lost the ho ga to the Black Cats, Sunderland. That really should not have happened.

"Seriously, is Pochettino the one you chose okay?" Ferguson asked.

"Our goal this season is to avoid relegation."

Seeing Ferguson's disdainful look, Gao Shen laughed and said, "Just wait. I have confidence in him."

Gao Shen's vision in selecting coaches and players was always astonishing.

No need to talk about players. Just look at the coaches.

Gao Shen had been coaching for seven or eight years. How many coaches had he helped develop?

He strongly recomnded Guardiola to coach Barcelona, and Sarri studied under him for three years and beca his apprentice. Klopp, Tuchel, Conte, Allegri, and others had all attended his lectures and maintained close ties with him.

Pochettino was by no ans ordinary. He had already proven his coaching ability at Espanyol.

But after last season, many people no longer compared Leeds United to Espanyol. After all, Leeds finished sixth in the Premier League last season.

Those were all individual coaches he had worked with, and there was also a highly skilled coaching team, all top professionals in today's ga.

So many people now said that while they were certainly talented, what mattered more was that they had t Gao Shen.

Take Leeds United's current CEO Fernando Lucas as an example. He was originally a university student who graduated in economics. He was recomnded by Gao Shen to study data analysis, then was gradually trained by Gao Shen and beca a leading data analyst.

Up to now, he had beco a well-known professional manager in the Premier League, which was also due to Gao Shen's trust.

What if he had not t Gao Shen?

Perhaps he would have remained an ordinary young coach in Real Madrid's youth academy.

This was true for Fernando Lucas, and for everyone else as well.

The reason they beca leaders in the industry was because they had t Gao Shen.

…

Gao Shen and Ferguson parted ways on bad terms, mainly because the old man failed to extort any money.

According to UEFA's schedule, the awards would be presented first, followed by the draw.

Gao Shen sat with Butragueño and Valdano, while Ronaldo sat with the players.

The first award was for Coach of the Year. Gao Shen went on stage to receive the award and gave a routine thank you.

UEFA's Player of the Year was different from the FIFA Ballon d'Or. It was divided into two rounds of voting. The first round determined the top three, and the second round was on-site voting. There were a total of 52 votes. Ronaldo received 42 and was elected Player of the Year without any suspense.

When the Portuguese star accepted the award, he did not forget to thank a group of Real Madrid players, and he emphasized his gratitude to Gao Shen.

He said that the two head coaches he was most grateful to were both sitting in the Grimaldi Forum tonight, which was the best gift he could receive along with the award.

Needless to say, those two were Gao Shen and Ferguson.

After the awards were presented, the draw ceremony began.

The four draw guests tonight were Figo, Cruyff, Owen, and Paulo Sousa.

Among them, Figo was also the image ambassador of the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, where this year's Champions League final would be held.

Sitting in the audience, Gao Shen thought that if Leeds United's new stadium was built in the future, they might consider bidding to host a Champions League final.

However, if you want to bid to host the Champions League final, the stadium's capacity cannot be reduced.

(To be continued.)