Dad was a Genius - Chapter 6
Only Noblemtl
My Dad Was a Genius Episode 006
widely-.
After meeting with the front office and the players, I quickly returned to the manager’s office and closed the door.
My heart is pounding and for some reason my chest feels tight.
I was barely able to hold back the tears that were about to well up in my eyes.
“father…….”
It was amazing to see my young father, but at the same time I was filled with longing and regret.
He will never know that I am his son.
That’s okay though.
If only I could help him blossom his talents to the fullest, I would be someone who could support him as firmly as you have been my assistant all your life.
dripping-.
Just then someone knocked on the director’s office door.
I wiped away the tears that were welling up in my eyes and quickly calmed down my emotions as I spoke.
“Yes, please come in.”
The one who opened the door and came in was Manager Kim Tae-hwan.
He was smiling brightly.
“Coach, I listened carefully to your speech earlier. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the players’ morale so high as it is today.”
“That’s good. The most urgent thing for our team was to improve morale.”
“Yes, that’s true, but are you really going to push for a contract extension and a doubling of your salary?”
“I’m not lying. The one-year contract extension and doubling of the salary will go through without a problem.”
Of course, if Chairman Cha doesn’t give his approval, it will end up in vain.
“So you’re saying that you haven’t released anyone yet? Then, what about recruiting other players… ?”
“Let’s wait and see. As you know, the players don’t want to come to the Cheonan team.”
At my words, Director Kim Tae-hwan coughed in vain.
A team that no one wants to come to.
A team that even avoids foreign mercenaries who are trying to continue their careers while receiving the lowest salary.
That was the proud Taesan Cheonan right here.
But there was another reason why I wasn’t too keen on changing up the squad.
“Before coming to the Cheonan team, I looked at the players’ profiles and videos. After looking closely, I found that among the players remaining on our team, there are some who could show great performances if we just train them.”
“Really?”
Director Kim Tae-hwan looked at me as if he was surprised.
I have to say that I feel like asking why the team’s performance is like that when there are such talented raw materials.
“I plan to meet with the players one by one soon. But before that, I need to meet with the coaches. I need to discuss with them to decide on the direction of the players’ training.”
Coaches become the arms and legs of the manager.
Attack, defense, goalkeeper, fitness, tactics, and player recruitment, etc.
It is very important to get along with them because you have to train the players and devise tactics while working together with them.
So usually when the manager changes, the coaches also change.
This is because there is usually a separate team of coaches that the newly appointed manager brings with him.
But I didn’t have any coaches working with me.
“Oh. I was going to tell you this anyway, but one of the coaches expressed his intention to resign.”
“… … Are you by any chance the Coach Hwang who was in the office last time?”
“Haha. No, that guy, even if you say that, he’ll still stay on the team until the end. I was so happy to hear that the team was extended by another year.”
I also thought that the coaches would stay on the team if possible.
Because they have nowhere else to go but here.
“Scout Kim Soo-han… … He’s someone who has worked for our team for several years.”
Not someone else, but a scout?
Why?
“Scout Kim Soo-han has a very good career. He has also worked overseas for a long time. He eventually settled down with the Cheonan team, but since the team’s performance has not been good, I think Scout Kim Soo-han feels a lot of pressure and responsibility.”
That’s quite possible.
In fact, the Cheonan team changed its players several times under the orders of Chairman Cha Cheol-ho.
Naturally, scout Kim Soo-han, who was at the center of it all, could have seen the team’s poor performance and thought that it was all his fault.
“The former coach who was in charge of the Cheonan team also complained that the quality of the players was too low rather than the problem with his tactics. At that time, the arrows were directed at scout Kim Su-han.”
“You must have been in a lot of pain.”
“Yes. In addition, since the Cheonan team’s performance continues like this, scout Kim Su-han’s skills are also undervalued, so no team is calling him up. In fact… … I think we should consider him completely leaving the soccer world.”
The scout’s resignation.
But most of the players in the current squad were picked by scout Kim Soo-han. And my father was among them.
Perhaps I am the only one in this era, other than myself, who has discovered my father’s talent?
I wanted to appreciate his abilities.
“I would like to meet Coach Kim Soo-han. Could you please call me to the director’s office?”
* * *
“Phew-.”
Scout Kim Soo-han exhaled a long puff of cigarette smoke.
The smoke scattering in all directions seemed to represent his own feelings.
“… … .”
He looked quietly at the Cheonan Stadium.
When he first came to Cheonan, he was full of confidence.
Even at that time, the team’s performance was just average, but he was confident that he would definitely improve the team’s performance by using his outstanding sense and eye to recruit talented players.
However, Cheonan’s performance continued to decline, and they ended up being branded as a perennial last place team.
“I thought I was right, but… … .”
That wasn’t the case.
There may be tactical issues on the part of the manager, but his confidence has gradually fallen to the bottom as the players he brought in himself have not been able to show any noteworthy performance.
And then the knife that the former manager had aimed at him flew and stuck in his chest.
‘You only bring these trash players! This is all your fault!’
After much deliberation, scout Kim Soo-han finally decided to resign.
I could no longer trust my own senses, and the confidence I had built up over time had all but disappeared.
“Coach Kim. The manager wants to see you.”
“The director?”
“Yes. Because you are resigning this time… … .”
Has the time finally come?
Scout Kim Soo-han fiddled with the resignation letter he was holding.
“I didn’t know the leader himself would come to give me a message… … Thank you.”
Does the fact that the director called you mean that he will personally accept your resignation?
Well, who would want to hire a scout who messed up the squad and ruined the team’s performance?
Besides, when I saw the new director speaking in the auditorium earlier, I could tell right away that he was a very confident person who had no qualms about approaching anyone.
When you see them do something crazy like double their annual salary without any hesitation.
Maybe that’s why I feel like I’m naturally developing a belief that I didn’t have before.
“What’s the use of all that?”
Anyway, I’m going to be leaving this place soon.
dripping-.
“Director, this is Kim Soo-han.”
“Oh, yes. Come in.”
Scout Kim Soo-han entered the director’s office cautiously.
Then, the first thing that came into view was the neat and tidy director’s office.
The previous managers always left their offices messy, but this guy was so clean that it seemed like he cleaned it himself as soon as he got there.
“Have a seat. Coffee, would that be okay?”
“Oh, yes. You can give me anything.”
Scout Kim Soo-han, sitting on the sofa, looked at Cha Seong-eun, pouring coffee with the impeccable attire and elegant gestures he had seen in the auditorium.
A person who is cool even to men.
I felt like I was seeing a noble person.
“I looked closely at the team selected by scout Kim Soo-han. And I realized something.”
Are you trying to criticize the team for being so poor?
Why is it necessary for someone who is about to resign and leave?
“Fortunately, we have a very good scout in Cheonan.”
For a moment, Kim Soo-han doubted his ears.
“… … Yes? Joe, a good scout?”
“Yes. I briefly looked over the reports you’ve submitted to the team. Perhaps because you have a wealth of experience overseas, your perspective on players is different from that of other scouts. What was particularly impressive was that you scouted various players from various places, not through a set route.”
What is all this talking about now?
No director has ever said this to Kim Soo-han before.
And by looking through all those reports, you’ve completely figured out how I scout?
“Kang Dae-ho, Ko Jin-cheol, Lee Su-yong. These three players were not able to debut in the K-League. Nevertheless, scout Kim Su-han found these talented players and made sure they joined professional teams.”
A K-League professional team is not a place you can enter simply because you have good skills.
Has the player been training since childhood, graduated from a university that qualifies him for a K-League team, or received training from a coach with connections to a professional team?
It is a place that you can only enter if you have money and connections.
So Korean scouts only discover players who have taken that classic route.
However, Kim Soo-han also discovered players who were unable to take the traditional route due to unavoidable circumstances.
“In the case of player Kang Dae-ho in particular, I heard that the coach strongly insisted that he join the team despite his age.”
“Yes. He is a player with such outstanding talent. I met him by chance during a friendly match at Cheonan University.”
At the time, I thought the player had great talent, but now I couldn’t be sure of anything.
This is because none of the players he brought to the Cheonan team so far have blossomed properly.
“I looked into what kind of season Cheonan had had so far. There were so many things going on, such as the coach’s tactics, lack of leadership, discord among players, and injuries. The team’s morale hit rock bottom because of that. Because of these reasons, I could see why Cheonan had not been able to advance to the top ranks.”
It seemed that Kim Soo-han and himself were largely at fault for the reason.
however,
“It’s not Scout Kim Soo-han’s fault.”
“… … ?”
“Even if our entire team is at fault, the only person who is not at fault is the scout.”
Kim Soo-han blinked and faced the young man who was looking at him with confident eyes.
“Rather, the scout is the person I am most grateful to. Even though the team was going through a difficult time, he put such precious players like jewels into my squad.”
“You’re joking to tease me right now… … .”
“Look at me. It’s already obvious from my suffocating outfit. I’m not particularly humorous, so I don’t joke around.”
At those words, Kim Soo-han’s hands began to tremble and all the sadness he had felt came rushing back to him.
“Ugh-.”
I was so shocked and thought, what on earth am I doing? But I couldn’t help but shed tears.
‘You are not wrong.’
Maybe this is what I was most waiting for someone to say.
“Scout Kim Soo-han.”
Cha Seong-eun held his hand still.
He seemed very cold on the outside, but I could feel the warmth from his hands when I held them.
“Can you continue to stay with our Taesan Cheonan team?”