Compared with borrowing "Glory Glory Man United" as New Manchester United's club anthem, Ethan felt even prouder of the supercar he had designed himself, the "Red Rebels," because this was truly a blueprint he had spent countless brain cells creating.
When they met for the second time, Ethan learned that the two people he had encountered at the Audi dealership that day were actually the famous supercar designers Marcello Gandini and Fabrizio Giugiaro. The former was Lamborghini's dedicated designer and a giant in the field of sports car design, while the latter's father was as famous as Marcello Gandini and had founded his own automotive design company specializing in car design.
The two men visited Ethan and brought along a car model they had rushed to make based on his design blueprint. However, the scissor doors from the original design had been changed to standard doors. Gandini explained that this car was not suited to scissor doors.
Ethan could only accept this with some regret. After all, they were the experts in this field.
However, when it came to the car's exterior design, Ethan was clearly ahead of them. After all, he had ten more years of experience appreciating supercars than they did, and that was not just empty boasting.
In Ethan's design, the headlights of the Red Rebels should use the full LED headlights found on the Audi R8, because that would make the car look more aggressive and stylish. He had initially worried that current LED technology might not be up to the task, but to his surprise, Gandini readily agreed that it was entirely achievable with existing technology.
As early as 1996, an American car manufacturer had already used LED headlights on mass-produced saloons. Gandini positioned the Red Rebels as a limited-edition, hand-built supercar. Although LED headlights were expensive, they did, just as Ethan had said, enhance the style of this supercar.
"A few days ago, I sent this design blueprint back to Italy. The factory is very interested in the design and has decided to respect your wishes by naming the car Red Rebels," Gandini said with a smile.
"So from now on, the name Red Rebels won't just represent a football club, but also a supercar!" Ethan was also happy, especially when he thought about the possibility of the supercar he had designed going into production. The sense of achievement was immense.
"What? Are you afraid the supercar will become more famous than your club?" Fabrizio asked jokingly.
Ethan immediately shook his head. "No, no, no. Right now, you're only at the model stage. Next, you'll have to carry out many tests and studies, make improvements, then build a prototype, and then keep improving and testing that prototype. Only then can you decide whether to put it into production. The whole process will take at least one or two years, right?"
"That's correct. It seems you do understand this field a little!" Gandini laughed.
"But two years from now, our club definitely won't still be a small National League club. You've seen it. Our goal this year is promotion, and next year's goal is also promotion. So when your supercar is released two years from now, we may well be in the First Division, or perhaps even in the Premier League!"
When he said this, Ethan sounded extremely confident.
His confidence came from the team's excellent recent form. In addition to firmly holding first place in the National League, they had also eliminated their opponent in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup and advanced to the first round proper.
The first team had 25 players, and even the substitutes had a decent level of ability. Because of that, Bruce's light rotation of New Manchester United's squad did not affect the team's results at all, while also allowing some players to recover their fitness.
"I've discussed it with the factory, and we will give you the first car that officially rolls off the production line," Gandini said.
"Really?" Ethan was pleasantly surprised.
"Not only that, but you can also visit the factory in person to inspect it, and configure and modify the car according to your own requirements."
Gandini's words made Ethan excited. Designing a supercar himself, then configuring and modifying it according to his own wishes to create a car truly under his control, was simply fantastic.
"So what do I need to do?" Ethan quickly calmed down.
"Provide more feedback to help us complete the design and development of this car. Also, if the response to this car is good, we may continue researching it and eventually develop it into a series."
Ethan had long known that there was no such thing as a free lunch, but the other party's requirements were not demanding. He only needed to provide more opinions and suggestions. According to them, this was to best reflect the designer's artistic vision.
After Ethan agreed to Gandini's suggestion, he immediately shared his thoughts on the car's interior.
"I think that even for a limited-edition supercar, the interior is very important. For example, if you compare the relationship between a supercar and its driver to that between a man and a woman, then I believe the man's exterior must be strong, powerful, and full of personality to give the woman a sense of security. But inside, he should still have a touch of tenderness."
"But this is a supercar. People who buy this kind of car are pursuing ultimate speed!" Fabrizio countered.
To his surprise, Ethan laughed. "The pursuit of ultimate speed and interior comfort don't conflict with each other, do they?"
After hearing this, Gandini thought for a moment before nodding. "You're right, and your analogy is very good. We will consider your opinion. Anything else?"
Ethan thought for a while longer and offered some suggestions regarding smaller details. They were all fairly simple, but they better reflected the details that could make a supercar feel closer to its customers, so Gandini agreed to them one by one.
The three of them talked until evening before parting, as Gandini and his partner had to rush back to Italy overnight.
...
Time soon passed to the end of October. New Manchester United had just beaten Southport 3-1 away in the 20th round of the league. They sat top of the National League with 16 wins, 2 draws, and 2 defeats, giving them 50 points and a 4-point lead over second-placed Boston.
Incidentally, after losing to New Manchester United, Kidderminster's league form went from bad to worse. By the 20th round, they had even suffered a shock home defeat to Forest Green, and their league ranking had dropped to fifth, putting even their qualification for the National League promotion play-offs in danger.
Only now did everyone suddenly realize that, halfway through the season, the team sitting top of the National League was none other than New Manchester United.
With 47 goals scored in 20 league rounds, they had the strongest attack among the 22 teams in the National League. Moreover, New Manchester United had conceded only 13 goals in those 20 rounds, which also gave them the best defence in the National League.
Unlike before the season began, everyone was now starting to heap praise on New Manchester United, believing that this promoted side would likely become the biggest dark horse of this season's National League. Just as they had won the North West Counties League Division Two title immediately after being founded last year, it was very possible that they would win the National League title this year immediately after promotion.
Although a newly promoted team winning the title was uncommon in top-tier leagues, it was not rare in the lower divisions, so no one was too shocked by this.
But with the team's excellent results, the players' reputations naturally rose as well. In particular, the young Serbian and Montenegrin striker Žigić, who had scored an astonishing 18 goals in 20 league matches, was far ahead at the top of the National League scoring charts. For a 20-year-old, "excellent" was no longer enough to describe him.
However, in the eyes of Ethan and the coaching staff, Žigić's success was not only due to his own excellent form, but also closely related to the team's tactics.
New Manchester United's main weapon this season was attacking down the flanks. Krzynówek, Hleb, Darren Lyons, and Evra were all excellent wide players. Combined with the free-kick specialist Juninho, Žigić's height advantage had been fully brought into play.
That was clear from the fact that 12 of Žigić's 18 goals were headers.
Of course, this did not mean that Žigić was not well-rounded. It was just that in New Manchester United's current tactical system, his heading ability was simply too prominent. As a result, even though only half the season had passed, many Second Division sides, Third Division sides, and other National League clubs had already expressed interest in him and were asking about the possibility of signing him during the winter transfer window.
Ethan felt very helpless about the offers made by these clubs. The highest offer came from Third Division side Brighton, who had just received investment from a wealthy owner and wanted to make a statement in the Third Division. They offered a transfer fee of £800,000, which the media described as an astronomical price, in an attempt to sign Žigić.
A transfer fee of £800,000 was indeed very high. One had to remember that when Ethan had originally brought Žigić over from Serbia and Montenegro, it had cost only £150,000. In the blink of an eye, his value had increased more than fivefold, which was certainly a very profitable deal.
But even so, Ethan rejected Brighton's offer without a second thought and publicly announced that Žigić was not for sale. Fortunately, Žigić himself was not tempted by these clubs. He approached Ethan and Bruce separately to say that he had no intention of leaving the club for the time being.
But it was precisely because of the words "for the time being" that a thought arose in Ethan's mind. Perhaps the reason Žigić did not want to leave was not because of his loyalty to the club, but because he did not think much of the clubs making offers for him.
So, what if it were a club from a higher level, such as the First Division or the Premier League? Would he still choose to stay?
Ethan was not the type to cling sentimentally to the past. In his view of the club's players, apart from a few carefully cultivated by the club, such as Leo Messi, Curtis, Evra, and Essien, the others were not absolutely "not for sale." After all, the club was still in the National League. Asking players with professional ambitions to remain loyal to a lower-level side was a bit too much.
But this did not mean that Ethan would sell them casually. After all, the club's goal this year was promotion, and next year's goal was also promotion. Therefore, he would do his best to keep the current group of players, because their ability would improve with age and richer match experience, and they would become more and more important to the club.
Therefore, Ethan's attitude was the same as Žigić's. It was not that they were not for sale, it was just that the price offered was not high enough.
However, what truly caught Ethan off guard was that someone had actually been persuaded!
(To be continued.)