Since Theo had already signed his professional contract and completed his academic courses early to earn his certificate, he did not need to attend classes in the morning and could go directly to the training ground for individual training.
When he arrived at the training ground, he was surprised to find Cousins there as well.
Cousins, who was two years younger than him and born in 1994, had signed his professional contract back in July 2009.
He greeted him and began his own individual training session.
After yesterday’s match, he had asked the assistant coach for a goalkeeper training manual, planning to train alone in the morning and practice under the coach’s guidance in the afternoon.
He started by jogging around the pitch for ten minutes, and after warming up, he began practicing his fundamentals—kicking the ball against a wall or rebound net, then repeatedly practicing his catching technique and diving saves.
Next was reaction training, where he threw the ball against the wall and then moved quickly to catch it.
This exercise would also help the 5 points of reaction speed he had added yesterday to quickly convert into muscle memory.
Finally, he did footwork exercises using an agility ladder and cones, practicing sliding steps, crossover steps, and other movements.
After the full 40-minute routine, he was already feeling somewhat tired.
After resting and rehydrating, Theo began his physical conditioning, working on his upper body with exercises like push-ups and planks.
He then moved on to lower body and explosive power training, such as squat jumps and frog jumps.
A goalkeeper needs a strong physique to compete against opposing attackers; if he were easily knocked over, he would be prone to injury.
He also did some comprehensive agility tests, including repeated shuttle runs and sprints in different directions.
After 15 minutes, Theo began his cool-down stretches.
This set was complete.
During his break, Theo looked toward the distant training grounds of the Reserve Team and the First Team, where there were not many players present, with only about a dozen on the Reserve Team.
Due to the club’s financial constraints and the recent accumulation of player fatigue, the First Team was currently plagued by injuries.
Even the starting goalkeeper, Rob Elliot, had a fractured elbow, and there were rumors of an old groin tear; he had not trained with the team today.
Word was that the club was seeking to loan a goalkeeper to cope with the final sprint of the EFL League One season.
The current goalkeeper was the team’s regular backup, Darren Randolph.
However, this didn’t have much to do with him.
His current ability was not enough to support a starting position in the First Team; what he was fighting for now was this weekend’s match on March 6th in the England U18 League.
It was the match between Charlton Athletic U18 and Fulham U18, and it would be best if he could start.
Recently, the First Team had been stretched thin by injuries, and the U18 head coach was focusing his energy on the Reserve Team, hoping to provide some necessary support for the First Team.
The afternoon training session was still led by the assistant coach, with some simple goalkeeper training mixed in.
After training, Theo was notified that the contract matters were finalized, so he went directly to the finance department to collect his signing bonus and his first week’s salary.
With a £5,000 signing bonus plus a £300 weekly salary, after deducting taxes and national insurance, he received £4,244, meaning £1,056 had been deducted.
Adding in what he had left before, he now had about £6,600 in his account.
Theo complained bitterly about the British tax system; they were deducting so much even from an ordinary player like him.
There was no other way; to survive, he had to think of other methods to pad his small treasury.
In 2010, professional players in England were still allowed to bet on football matches, provided they were not matches their own club participated in, such as EFL League One or FA Cup matches.
As long as it wasn’t related to himself or his club, betting on other events like the Champions League or the World Cup was permitted.
Unlike after 2014, when FIFA and the Football Association completely banned all football-related betting for players.
Theo’s target was the currently heating-up Champions League.
He knew full well that this time, Jose Mourinho, who was not favored by anyone, would lead Inter Milan to the title.
Plus, he knew a few upset results, which would be perfect for making some windfall money to enrich his net worth.
Of course, he wouldn’t put all his energy into making money; his primary goal now was training and then getting into matches, regardless of whether it was the U18 League or the First Team—though, of course, the First Team would be even better.
On the way home, Theo found an internet cafe to check the current odds for the Champions League matches.
Unfortunately, it was the international warm-up match week, so there were no Champions League matches, and he couldn’t cash in that quickly.
Among the matchups and the pile of odds, Theo selected two of the matches with the highest payouts.
The second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 held at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, on March 10, 2010, saw Manchester United facing AC Milan.
He remembered the score of this match: Manchester United defeated AC Milan 4-0, winning 7-2 on aggregate to forcefully advance to the Champions League quarterfinals, and Rooney even scored two goals.
After Manchester United won the first leg away, no one expected them to achieve such a lopsided score at home, so the odds for this score were as high as 1 to 20.
There was another match: Chelsea versus Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge on the evening of March 16.
Inter Milan had won the first leg 2-1 at home, but at that time, the Blues had maintained an unbeaten record of 15 wins and 6 draws in 21 Champions League home matches over the past 4 years.
Their record at Stamford Bridge this season was an astonishing 14 wins and 2 draws, and they hadn’t conceded a single goal in big matches.
Inter Milan was known as a poor away team at the time, and no one favored them to win before the match; a draw or a loss was considered much more likely.
For this reason, betting companies had pushed the odds for an Inter Milan 1-0 away win against Chelsea to 1 to 20.
Theo didn’t have extra time to recall other matches; these two alone were enough to fill his plate, as their combined odds were as high as 1 to 400.
Theo didn’t dare to place all his bets on one platform, so he found 4 different compliant betting companies online, registered, and placed a bet of £1,000 on each, spending his entire signing bonus.
After saving the receipts, he just had to wait for March 16.
His current goal was to train, eat, and strive to get into matches.
In the following days, Theo trained regularly, sometimes going to the First Team to seek help from the goalkeeper coach to make up for his deficiencies in positioning and saves.
Because of this, he became somewhat familiar with several of the First Team coaches.
On the afternoon of March 5, after the training session concluded, no one left, as everyone was waiting for something.
Tomorrow, the 6th, was the match day for the England U18 League, with the Charlton Athletic U18 youth team playing at home against the Fulham U18 youth team.
Everyone was concerned about whether they would be able to play tomorrow.
Just then, the U18 head coach, Head Coach Damian Matthew, arrived, accompanied by several age-eligible players from the Reserve Team who had originally been in the U18 squad but were drafted to the Reserve Team to be ready to fill any vacancies in the First Team.
Matthew didn’t say much; he got straight to the point, as he was very experienced with pre-match arrangements.
“Tomorrow’s starting lineup against Fulham U18: Forwards: Azeez, Bobo; Midfielders: Stavrinou, Harryott, Bellamy, Pell; Defenders: Ajayi, Morris, Cousins, Jenkinson.” Except for Shelvey, the rest of the lineup was the same as the one that played against the Reserve Team.
Finally, Head Coach Damian Matthew looked between Jack Binks and Theo.
He took in the expressions of both men: Jack Binks wore a look of full confidence and certainty; after that big guy Connor Gough asked for leave, it seemed as if this position could only be his.
As for that bum Theo, he wasn’t even worth comparing to him.
Theo, on the other hand, had a calm expression with a hint of expectation; after his training over the last few days, his physical attributes like strength and stamina had begun to grow rapidly, and what he needed now was the tempering of a match.
Finally, after a pause, Head Coach Damian Matthew uttered the last few words: “Goalkeeper: Theo!”