Nicholas Marjan, known as Niels, was an Asian football-obsessed loner in the modern world. A master of FIFA Career Mode, addicted to YouTube tactics videos, and followed every twist of the transfer window like it was life or death, he lived the beautiful game from behind a screen.
Until the day he died.
And woke up in the late 2000s, in the body of a once-promising young player at a lower-league English club. A player whose career had been cut short by a brutal ACL injury. With his playing career over before it could truly begin, his second life offers no glory on the pitch.
But Niels still has one weapon: his mind.
Armed with future knowledge of football's evolution, and guided by a mysterious, almost cheat-like instinct for scouting raw talent, Niels steps into the world of coaching. As an assistant at a struggling lower-league club, he begins to reshape the team from within challenging outdated tactics, unearthing hidden gems, and reigniting hope in the dressing room.
His methods are unorthodox. His instincts, uncanny. And soon, whispers about the "young coach with a gift" begin to spread.
This isn’t the story of a player chasing glory. It’s about someone reborn to change the game from the sidelines. From forgotten training grounds to Europe’s biggest stages, Niels is on a mission, 
not just to win, but to rewrite what it means to lead.
He once dreamed of lifting trophies as a player.
Now, he'll do it as a coach.

The halftime whistle still echoed in the stark away dressing room at Turf Moor, Crawley Town's 0-0 draw against Premier League Burnley a fragile beacon of hope. Niels' squad had held firm, Adam Fletcher's saves and Thiago's flair keeping the FA Cup dream alive against Burnley's relentless pace. Outside, 15,000 Burnley fans roared, their claret-and-blue scarves a storm, while Crawley's 2,500 supporters, a defiant red flame, chanted, "Red Devils!" Niels stood before his squad, their sweat-soaked faces locked on him, Nate Sutton's absence a quiet wound, his knee injury ticking toward recovery.


Chapter 55 - The Final Push at Burnley