Dynasty Awakening: Building My Own Football Empire-Chapter 243: The FA’s Wrath

Michael noticed that he was receiving a lot of confused looks from the cleaning staff thanks to the massive purple wine stain on his white shirt, yet he didn’t care all that much.

In essence, he was a manager who had just conquered the billionaires of London, therefore he cared little about what others thought of his laundry.

The morning emails were as mind-numbing as usual, but thankfully he had Arthur Milton sitting next to him on the floor, organizing jelly babies by color, to ease his boredom.

After what seemed to be a lifetime of reading transfer offers for his players, the alarm for the afternoon training session sounded, eliciting a big stretch from Michael in response.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew what being a stressed relegation-battler was, he probably would have whined and complained about the paperwork like he had in his first season.

The two headed off to the training pitches, yet there was no excitement in the air like there usually would be after a trophy win. Michael had already seen Kenji Sato earlier that day and noted how the billionaire owner looked grumpier than a man who had lost his favorite silk handkerchief.

Not long later, everyone gathered on the field in front of Michael. His usual calm atmosphere was a little off, breathing nerves and unease into the Misfits who waited for his words.

"Well... There’s no use keeping this information hidden any longer. I notified the club board about what the FA said this morning and they have decided to open a disciplinary case against us regarding the Community Shield celebration." Michael said simply, keeping his face expressionless.

"What!?"

"But we didn’t even start the fight!"

"This is stupid. What the fuck kind of punishment did those Chelsea bastards get for losing?"

Immediately, the players erupted with anger and began to shout out in disagreement. Diego Nunez seemed a little bummed, however, he had been expecting something like this ever since he ripped the corner flag out of the Wembley turf and used it as a guitar. There was no way that the Football Association would allow their sacred grass to be desecrated, even if it was a rockstar moment.

They would rather fine the club into oblivion than lose their prestige within the media. An event like this could be held over the club’s head for much longer than they would be celebrating, it may even carry over into the league fixtures.

"Now now. No amount of whining or bickering will change this fact, I was merely informing you of the FA’s decision. If it makes it easier to swallow, Chelsea has been fined for failing to control their players during the melee." Michael continued.

This information seemed to quell much of the backlash, however, there were still a few boys like Amara and Kaito who were upset with the decision.

Diego’s eyes lit up, "Papa Michael, are you saying that we’ll still be able to compete in the Premier League opener?"

Michael nodded. "Since we did not punch anyone and the damage to the pitch was... artistic... the FA decided that a points deduction would be too harsh. Consider yourselves lucky."

Hearing that they would still get to start the season on zero points rather than minus three, the team rejoiced.

"However, to help you all understand the consequences of vandalism, I volunteered for us to do community service for the next 6 weeks." Michael said matter-of-factly.

"Community service?"

"Every Wednesday, we’ll be helping out the town. Trash collecting in the park, painting the local schools, anything and everything."

A collective groan rang out between the players, however, it quickly died down when they saw their manager’s expression.

"I trust no one has any objections?" His face seemed apathetic, however, there was a danger within his eyes that was almost daring someone to speak out of line.

"No Boss!" Everyone replied, no matter how they felt on the inside.

"Good. Now everyone go and do 15 laps around the complex." Michael made a shooing motion and retrieved his tablet once more.

This time, no one uttered a word, quickly getting into formation and beginning their laps.

While he may seem harsh on the outside, Michael really cared about his team. Originally, the FA had decided to ban Diego Nunez for three matches and fine the club a million pounds, seemingly already tired of the Misfits’ chaos.

It was only thanks to Michael’s pleading and suggestion of the community service—and perhaps a large donation from Kenji—that he was able to salvage the start of the season for his star defender. Of course, he would never say this aloud as it risked undoing his strict manager facade that he had worked so hard to put into place.

He watched on as the millionaires ran the full 6km distance, taking note of the usual three—Kaito, Amara, and Leo—who did not seem out of breath by the end.

"Okay, attackers and wingers please go warm up with the shooting drills. The rest of you start playing rondo." Michael barked out his orders, waiting for some of the team to get off the floor and head to their designated areas.

"Vladimir, come here for a moment."

Michael raised his eyebrow in question, yet he still urged Vladimir Petrovic to go by himself.

Vladimir seemed a little confused but agreed, heading towards the manager, clutching a small flower he had found on the pitch. Michael was too far away to listen to what he was saying to the flower, but he saw the shocked and confused expression on the giant’s face and felt his curiosity thicken.

"Diego! Come here too." Michael waved him over after a minute or so.

"What’s up Papa Michael?"

Michael had a bit of a frown on his face, as if he wasn’t sure why he needed to involve Diego in the discussion.

"I’ve suggested that Vladimir try and take on the Vice-Captaincy role, based on his immense strength and the fact that he is the only one who can physically stop you from doing something stupid. However, he said that he won’t make the decision without your input for some reason."

"I’m not sure why, but as the heart of this defense, you should understand that Vladimir has the talents to move into such a leadership position." Michael finished, looking almost pleadingly at Diego.

Diego’s eyes lit up. He had been wondering how he would get Vladimir to stop being so shy and unleash his inner beast before the Chelsea game, but it seemed as if Papa Michael was already way ahead of him.

"Vladimir! You should do it for sure!" Diego all but jumped up and down in his excitement, startling Vladimir and almost making him drop his flower.

"Remember, Sergio also contemplated training you in the leadership position but told us to hold off until you learned English. Now that we have all this time before the Liverpool match, it’s the perfect opportunity to learn." He continued, grabbing Vladimir by the massive shoulders.

"A-Ah, I almost forgot that’s what Papa Sergio said. Well, if Diego says so then I’ll do as you say Papa Michael." He responded after a moment.

"Great! Let’s head over to where the defenders are warming up." Michael said with a beaming smile.

’Wait... Did Vladimir just call me Papa also?’ He thought while walking away.