I became the Premier League’s youngest manager

"Oh, something feels strange?"

After finishing an unscheduled meeting with Helena, Hyungmin left his subtle feelings behind and headed to the training ground.

He arrived a little late at the Banfield training ground, where morning training was taking place, and tilted his head at Arthur, who was leading the session in his stead.

The players were passing the ball between circles, triangles, and squares of various sizes marked by cones. Their faces were brimming with passion and energy that had been missing in the past few weeks.

Arthur smiled as he looked at Hyungmin's bewildered expression.

"Everyone has gained hope."

"What hope?"

"If you do this kind of strange training, you can win the next game."

Hyungmin frowned, clearly wanting to object to Arthur's description of the training as "strange."

Arthur looked at Hyungmin, seemingly anticipating a protest, and smiled before continuing.

"And if you follow my instructions, we might salvage something from the game. We might not get relegated this year."

"Whew..."

Hyungmin let out a sigh as a sudden heaviness filled his chest.

"All three are burdensome?"

Hyungmin awkwardly smiled back at Arthur's laughter.

"Huh? Something seems off."

"What is it?"

Arthur approached him, flaring his nostrils as he sniffed the air. Hyungmin frowned and took a step back, raising his hand.

Arthur smiled slyly at Hyungmin.

"It smells."

"Hey, what does it smell like?"

Hyungmin sniffed his own clothes, just in case. The club's laundry room wasn't that shabby.

He gave Arthur a puzzled look as he noticed the faint smell of the training suit.

"Hmm... the smell of positivity and hope?"

"No, what smells like positivity and hope?!"

"There is. There definitely is. There's something."

Hyungmin had already agreed with Helena that they would make an official announcement after the Aston Villa match.

He began to distance himself from the persistent British grandfather, who was sweating profusely inside.

What if I told Arthur to keep it to himself?

There was little doubt that the news would reach every pub in Burnley within the hour.

While the manager (temporary, soon to be permanent) and head coach (temporary, soon to retire) were busy with their duties, the players continued their training in the rare sunlight, working seriously but with a positive attitude, without further instructions.

Aston Villa, a historic club founded in 1874, is located in Birmingham, the second-largest city in England after London.

Aston Villa, once a fixture in the Premier League, fell into a dark period after being relegated to the second-tier Championship in the 2015/16 season.

However, in 2017, Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sabiris and American billionaire Wes Edens jointly acquired the club.

Since then, the club has invested large sums of money every year, making great strides, including winning promotion to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season.

If there is one similarity between Aston Villa and Burnley, it's that their arch-rivals, Birmingham City Football Club, are still in the Championship, leaving fans of both clubs eager to claim moral victories.

Aston Villa fans were particularly delighted recently, as their rivals, Birmingham City, located in the same city, had started to downsize their youth team and sell off promising young players due to ongoing financial difficulties.

Above all, Aston Villa fans, who had been upset over losing local talent to their rivals, celebrated when they sold midfielder Jude Bellingham—who had been called up to the England national team at the age of 17—to Borussia Dortmund for a bargain price of £25 million.

Aston Villa also lost youth team ace Jack Grealish to Manchester City in the summer transfer window.

However, Villa fans found comfort in the £100 million transfer fee for Grealish, the largest in English football history. This, along with the £33 million signing of Norwich's Argentine midfielder Emiliano Buendia, was seen as a moment of relative triumph.

Liverpool, plagued by injuries, were considered a mid-table team, so they spent £30 million to sign Southampton's English striker Danny Ings, who is known for scoring 20 or more goals a season when fit.

They also spent another £30 million on Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen, one of the Bundesliga's top wingers.

In fact, critics said that Aston Villa had made the most substantial squad strengthening in the transfer market, investing £93 million in three players capable of joining the Big Six.

The expected result for the season was at least a 10th-place finish.

In fact, the general assessment of Aston Villa before the 2021/22 season was that, with some luck, they could aim for 6th place or higher, which would secure a spot in European competition.

Having finished her Aston Villa news briefing, Helena, feeling the need to understand something for the boardroom at the away game, could see why Aston Villa owner Nassef Sabiris, who was sitting next to her watching the first half, was furious.

The Cartwright Fund had spent just £20 million to acquire Burnley Football Club, covering bad debts and some administrative costs. That amount was after they had acquired the first team, reserve team, youth team, Turf Moor stadium, and Banfield training ground, before sending an additional £10 million in support.

In total, the Cartwright Fund had acquired an entire Premier League club for just £30 million—an amount that would have allowed them to sign only one of Danny Ings or Leon Bailey, and not even Emiliano Buendia.

Sabiris would be furious if he had invested £93 million in just three players, only to see his team beaten by a club expected to be relegated.

30 minutes before the game starts, Hyungmin entered the locker room for a final tactical check and smiled awkwardly at the serious gazes of the players.

"Oh, what's this?"

"Coach, I heard there's a rumor that if you win today's game, you'll be appointed as the official coach?" Ben Mee, standing up, asked on behalf of the players.

"Is that true?"

Hyungmin scratched the back of his head awkwardly and tilted his head.

"Um... that's not the important thing. What's important is how we deal with Aston Villa today."

"We thoroughly reviewed the operation yesterday. Just answer this!" Vice-captain Jack Cork shouted from a corner, and the other players murmured their agreement.

When Hyungmin turned to Arthur for help, Arthur smiled and replied.

"I want to know too."

"Ha..." Hyungmin sighed.

"If we win today's game…"

Before Hyungmin could finish speaking, the players cheered and high-fived each other.

"I knew it!"

"Good!"

"Congratulations~!"

Hyungmin groaned in annoyance, seeing the players already in a festive mood.

"Guys, we have to win today!"

"Yes! We have to win! Guys, we have to win today!" Captain Ben Mee's voice rang out.

The players responded with enthusiasm.

"Victory~!"

After starting the first half with high energy, Burnley and Aston Villa, both trying to engage in a light-hearted battle of exploration, found themselves at a crossroads of victory or defeat after an unexpected accident before either side could properly launch their planned attacks.

In the 2nd minute of the first half:

"Dwighty!"

Burnley, attacking down the left, had the ball passed forward by left-back Charlie Taylor to left-winger Dwight McNeil.

"Chris!"

McNeil dribbled the ball down the sideline and crossed it into the middle for striker Chris Wood.

Inside Aston Villa's penalty box stood Argentina's first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Alongside him were central defenders Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, left-backs Ashley Young and Matty Cash, and attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendia, who had inexplicably dropped back to help defend.

No fewer than five Aston Villa players surrounded Chris Wood, the only Burnley player in the box.

In a normal situation, the defenders would have cleared the ball or the goalkeeper would have caught it or punched it out.

Even McNeil, who had crossed the ball, turned back to help defend rather than expecting the attack to continue.

But before Chris Wood could even rise to head the ball...

Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings, who had positioned himself between the opposing player and the ball, accidentally headed it into Aston Villa's own goal.

A clean header that would have been praised if it had come from the opposition.

However, the own goal left the stadium in stunned silence.

While the players from both teams froze, staring at each other in disbelief, the Burnley players, who realized the situation first, raised both hands and cheered, anticipating victory.

"Eww!!!"

The game that followed saw Aston Villa, growing impatient, rush to attack, but they repeatedly gave up the ball or shot under pressure from Burnley, who had nothing to rush for and fell deeper into a rut.

Even in the 24th minute, Dwight McNeil, who had made a similar run down the left side as for the first goal, sent another cross into the penalty box, which was now guarded by no fewer than six Aston Villa players (including the addition of defensive midfielder John McGinn).

The problem was that the Villa defenders, still haunted by the memory of the own goal, were not bold enough to clear the ball.

While Chris Wood kept the defense's attention, Burnley's right attacker Jay Rodriguez quietly snuck into the blind spot at the opposite post.

The ball passed through Villa's defenders without them reacting, and Rodriguez's header, which barely glanced off the opposite post, changed direction into the goal.

The score changed to 0-2, accompanied by the cheers of the away fans.