Theo arrived at the club the next day and the team vice-captain, Sam Sodje, gave him a copy of the South London Press.
That’s when he realized he had been reported on extensively by the media, and they had even brought up the Olympic issue.
He just smiled when he saw it.
He didn’t think England would choose him as an Olympic football player.
With so many goalkeepers trained by Premier League giants, neither his fame nor the power behind him could compare.
After reading it, he just laughed it off and didn’t take it to heart at all.
Theo felt he was still very weak, so he continued to follow his daily training rhythm.
In fact, he had already improved very quickly, but he just couldn’t feel it yet.
On the way between his accommodation and the training base, there were always watchful gazes on the road.
At first, Theo didn’t pay attention, thinking it was fans paying attention after the news reports.
It wasn’t until someone handed him a business card on the way home that evening that he realized the other person was actually a football agent, wanting to sign him, saying he knew some big-shot executives and could help him operate a move to a Premier League club, sweet-talking him, mentioning a weekly salary of £100,000 and so on.
To this, Theo politely accepted, then stated that it was a critical period for the league, and he wouldn’t discuss transfers.
If there was a need, he would contact them again after the season ended.
The person then gave up, saying they understood.
If Theo couldn’t see his own attribute panel, he might have really believed the flattery and thought he could actually guard the goal for a Premier League team.
After the weekend league match ended, Theo gained 17 points, plus the 14 points from before, totaling 31 points.
This time he didn’t save them; he added them all to his goalkeeper-related attributes.
Adding the 10 attribute points accumulated last week, his attributes this time saw a massive improvement.
Theo became even more motivated to play matches and secure a starting position.
Name: Theo Age: 18 Height: 190cm Wingspan: 198cm Weight: 82kg Position: Goalkeeper (Locked) Team: Charlton Athletic (EFL League One) Attribute Points: 0 Points: 0 Overall Rating: 58 (Mid-table EFL League One starting goalkeeper) — — — — Physical (58) — — — — Strength: 59 (2) | Speed: 53 (2) | Reaction: 60 Explosiveness: 53 (1) | Jumping: 58 | Stamina: 67 (2) — — — — Goalkeeper Ability (58) — — — — Saves: 70 (8) | Positioning: 70 (7) | One-on-One: 70 (9) Rushing Out: 59 (4) | Aerial Ability: 60 (3) | Goal Line: 60 (4) Handling: 55 | Goal Kicks: 46 | Throwing: 48 Penalty Saving: 48 | Free Kick Saving: 50 — — — — Associated Abilities (55) — — — — Balance: 56 | Anticipation: 56 | Composure: 54 Seeing his attributes, his ability had finally reached the level of a starting goalkeeper for a mid-table EFL League One team.
While he breathed a sigh of relief, he also had more expectations for the future.
If Charlton Athletic could be promoted to the EFL Championship this year, he could continue to play in the EFL Championship.
But who can say for sure about the future.
What he needed to prepare for now was tomorrow’s match.
Yes, tomorrow, which is the match on April 5th.
Not sure which god-forsaken person scheduled this—this Easter Monday “holiday schedule” was only one day apart from the last match.
It was comparable to back-to-back games on a basketball court.
Fortunately, this time it was a home game.
Most teams would be playing today; everyone was in the same boat; it just depended on which club had greater bench depth.
This match was Charlton Athletic at home against Carlisle United.
The head coach had already announced the starting lineup, which was almost identical to the last one, except Shelvey replaced the forward Mooney in the starting lineup.
Theo’s performance in the last match had truly conquered him.
Not only could he guard the goal, but he could also score.
He continued to serve as the starting goalkeeper.
April 5, 2010 (Monday) 3:00 PM The Valley Stadium This was Theo’s first time starting at home, with 17,229 fans coming to watch.
The atmosphere of Easter added to the home atmosphere, pushing the passion inside the stadium to the extreme.
Charlton Athletic had the advantage in strength, plus the home-field factor.
The whole match suppressed Carlisle United, leaving them with no chance to perform.
The opponent had four shots, none on target, and three corner kicks were all collected by Theo in advance, giving Theo no experience at all.
He didn’t even get a single backfield free kick.
In the 44th minute of the first half, the current team captain, Sam Sodje, headed the ball into the goal from 2 meters in front of the net after receiving a corner kick from full-back Frazer Richardson, scoring the only goal of the match for Charlton Athletic.
Two defenders joined forces to bring a victory to the team.
After the match, the coach, Coach Phil Parkinson, in a good mood, gave everyone a day and a half off, telling them to report on Wednesday at 1 PM.
Everyone cheered and celebrated, calling the boss generous.
In this match, Theo only got 8 points, extinguishing his idea of continuing to add points crazily.
So he didn’t move them, saving them for future use.
4 days later, April 10, Charlton Athletic visited Southampton.
The focus of this match was that Southampton’s then-manager was the former Charlton Athletic manager, Alan Pardew, who would also be intercepting the EFL Championship-aspiring Charlton Athletic at home.
Eventually, both sides drew 0-0.
Theo made save after save in this match, using up all his skills to ensure the goal remained unbreached.
April 13, Round 42, back at home, Charlton Athletic defeated Colchester United 2-0.
In this match, Theo had an ultra-long-range assist, helping Charlton Athletic seal the victory.
After this round, Charlton Athletic ranked fourth with 78 points, tied with Millwall, who had played one less game, but ranked fourth due to a goal difference disadvantage.
Behind them was Swindon Town with 77 points, ranking fifth.
In the competition for the direct promotion spot to the EFL Championship, Leeds United ranked second with 80 points, and the gap between Charlton Athletic and their opponent was only 2 points.
But Charlton Athletic’s next opponent was the first-ranked Norwich City.
Originally, Theo was full of confidence; he had accumulated points from three matches and was even prepared to upgrade his skills, all in preparation for this match.
But on April 16, the original starting goalkeeper, Rob Elliot, had fully recovered from his injury and was in good form, and would return in the match against Norwich City, and was even directly arranged by the head coach to be the starting goalkeeper.