September 18th, the seventh round of the EFL Championship kicked off one after another.
In this round, Sheffield United was still at home, and their opponent was Portsmouth from the southern coastal city.
This was once a veteran powerhouse, having won the FA Cup two years ago. However, due to excessive spending on players, the club is currently in receivership.
Most of those players have been poached by top-tier leagues, leaving behind only a group of EFL Championship-level players.
Bar Street, in a forty-five-year-old establishment.
"Quick, help me carry the signs out!"
Kodall, having confirmed in the pre-match press conference that Maël would still start, quickly called for people to carry the advertising boards out, while he himself held several small banners.
These were newly made in the past few days, related to fan activities.
It was clearly written on them that a table spending £200 would receive a beautiful gift signed by Maël, or spending over £50 in the store would allow them to purchase a gift separately for £50.
Limited to 25 purchases per week, the activity would last for four weeks.
In fact, compared to Kodall's investment, even if all these gifts were sold, he probably wouldn't make much profit.
But opening a store is mainly about cultivating customers' habits.
If this activity could accumulate some fans who recognize their Fan Bar, it would have long-term benefits.
"Actually, I wanted to release this during the last game."
After Kodall finished with the staff, he looked at the new store with anticipation and sighed, "But for some reason, I had a premonition at that time that the home game against Scunthorpe might be lost, maybe even a big defeat."
"I didn't expect the prediction to be quite accurate. It's a good thing I didn't rush, otherwise the fans' enthusiasm in the early stages of the activity wouldn't have been high."
One of the staff members smiled and turned to ask him, "So releasing it today means you predict Sheffield United will win this game?"
"Winning is hard to say."
Kodall shook his head, knowing the team's situation this season, but there was one thing he could hope for, "But I feel like Maël has a chance to score, who knows, he might give us a surprise."
Looking at the laughing expressions of the staff, he waved his hand and walked inside, "Don't disbelieve an old man's intuition, it's more accurate than a woman's sixth sense."
"Hahahaha..." These words caused many people to laugh again, and many raised their heads.
Kodall hummed a couple of times. Sometimes the older people get, the more they are like children. After entering the pub, he personally sat in front of the bar, waiting for customers.
Before long, several regulars walked in, ordered some beer, and sat down to wait for the game to start.
They asked a few questions about the activity, but so far, they didn't seem very interested.
Until the game was about to start, some fans who hadn't managed to snag tickets from scalpers rushed to Bar Street. The street instantly became lively, and many people noticed the activity here.
"Let's go in and take a look."
"Maël's signature? Are kids these days already so commercially aware, hahaha."
"Not bad, if he has a good performance today, I might consider buying one."
With the logic that spending money on drinks is inevitable, might as well participate in an activity, many people gradually sat down.
Kodall didn't expect the effect to be so good, and immediately greeted everyone with a smile, and several staff members also became busy.
"Are you sure it's Maël's signature?"
Some wealthy fans who particularly liked Maël even took out their money directly after entering, ready to buy.
"Honest and fair."
Kodall opened his phone, clicked on Maël's social media platform, and showed them the pinned advertisement message on Maël's social media.
"Bought it!"
Many people ordered £50 worth of drinks and directly spent another £50 to buy a signed gift, choosing for themselves whether they wanted a scarf, hat, or flask/bottle.
At this time, most fans chose scarves and hats with the club's "Blades" logo.
Flasks and bottles would be gone after drinking, inconvenient to carry, and keeping them at home didn't feel like a collectible.
In this lively atmosphere, the start time of the match was also approaching.
Bramall Lane Stadium, near the center circle.
"You are a light in the dark
That there's only the road down the dark!!"
Listening to the songs of the surrounding fans, Maël stared sharply at the opponent's goal, his desire to score and win reaching its peak.
He could feel an extremely strong Strength from the songs, seemingly emanating from the depths of people's hearts, passed down and carried forward by generations of Sheffield fans.
At this moment, he deeply felt the power of community football.
Even though they had suffered a crushing defeat in the previous game, even though he himself was so disappointed, feeling powerless and guilty seeing the fans leave with dark faces.
But when a new round of the EFL Championship began, these people regrouped and sat in the stands again, doing everything they could to cheer for the team, still full of hope and expectation.
"Beep!!"
As the referee officially blew the whistle to start the game, he rushed forward, running towards the left side of the opponent's defense, eager to receive the ball.
He recalled the advertisement he helped Kodall post before the game, thinking of the £4,000 filled with the warmth of palms.
These people must be closely watching his game today, right?
He couldn't afford to ruin the reputation of his first brand partner. He had to do his best to use his influence to attract business for Kodall's Fan Bar.
And his influence must be built with goals and assists.
Although many media outlets had reported on him, the number of people paying attention was not large, and it was only on a small scale in various places.
He had to continue to deepen his impression in the minds of fans with one brilliant moment after another!
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Following the team's formation for a few minutes, touching the ball twice to warm up his feel, Maël was not impatient. He was not the same as before.
After several professional games, his match experience had improved significantly.
It was like training a sharpshooter. In addition to having talent and growth potential, he also needed a lot of bullets to feed him.
The more you shoot, the more familiar you become.
Maël never felt that he could only rely on Long Shots and Crosses to score goals. With playing time on the field, opportunities would arise.
And as long as the opportunity came, he could still seize the chance for a one-on-one or even a header! It was a kind of composure, a composure to adapt to the EFL Championship.
"Beep!"
In the twelfth minute of the game, Gilbert was brought down by an opponent player while dribbling the ball forward in the middle, and the referee whistled for a foul.
But unexpectedly, the opposing midfielder, Michael Brown, suddenly bent down and brought his head close to Gilbert's face, his eyes flashing fiercely, "Arsenal kid, if you think you're precious, go back to Arsenal!
"The EFL Championship is not suitable for you, nor is it suitable for your partner. You will be wasted here."
After speaking, he heavily bumped Gilbert's head with his forehead, then got up and prepared to leave.
"What did you say?!"
Gilbert was also a young man, and his temper was naturally not small. He immediately got up and quickly followed, "You're 33, right? Living in this place your whole life! You can only envy people like us, because you have nothing."
"What?" Michael Brown quickly turned his head, glaring and leaning his forehead forward, bumping it against Gilbert's.
Head-butting, a classic scene on the football field!
The smell of gunpowder filled the field, and players from both sides rushed over quickly.
"What are you doing!"
Maël was the first to arrive, pushing Michael Brown away. On the field, both sides were in a state of confrontation, and there was no need to indulge anyone.
Gilbert had a conflict with someone, and he had to come up and rescue him.
Feeling the heat around him, a fire rose in his chest. You couldn't deal with this kind of football hooligan according to common sense.
"Beep beep beep!!" Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, the referee blew an emergency whistle and ran over, standing between the two sides.
The two sides confronted each other like this, and personal grudges were mixed into the originally pure football competition.
"Boo boo boo!" The boos of the Sheffield United fans rang out, and many fans threw water bottles and debris onto the field, venting their dissatisfaction.
This was their home field, and the opposing players had the nerve to provoke first? "Isn't that a straight red card?"
On the sidelines, Gareth Speed rushed out from the coaching bench, angrily heading towards the fourth official, "He threatened our player and directly headbutted our player in the face, can't you see that?"
"Tell him through the headset, quickly!"
The fourth official kept a cold face, avoiding eye contact with Gareth Speed, and didn't say anything into the headset.
A farce played out like this, and was quickly calmed down by everyone's belated rationality.
After the referee showed Maël and Michael Brown each a yellow card, the players gradually separated.
Only Michael Brown, feeling insulted, gritted his teeth before being pulled away, and threatened, "You two kids better watch out!"
Unnoticed by him, Maël, holding the ball, arrived at the free-kick spot, ready to take the free kick.
The team's first free-kick taker was Janu Hans, who had only gained the responsibility of taking corner kicks two weeks ago.
But this time, he was going to take this kick.
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