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Harbinger Of Glory

Chapter 24: How It’s going · Oct 18, 2026

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Chapter List (629)

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1 Chapter 1: Once Upon A Team 2026-10-18
2 Chapter 2: The Shift 2026-10-18
3 Chapter 3: An Olive Branch 2026-10-18
4 Chapter 4: Relations 2026-10-18
5 Chapter 5: The Offer 2026-10-18
6 Chapter 6: Resolution 2026-10-18
7 Chapter 7: A New Day 2026-10-18
8 Chapter 8: An Unimportant File 2026-10-18
9 Chapter 9: New Goal 2026-10-18
10 Chapter 10: School- A Means To An End 2026-10-18
11 Chapter 11: Learning The Art 2026-10-18
12 Chapter 12: Extra Work 2026-10-18
13 Chapter 13: Behind The Scenes 2026-10-18
14 Chapter 14: New Dawn 2026-10-18
15 Chapter 15: Wigan’s U21s 2026-10-18
16 Chapter 16: Testing The Waters 2026-10-18
17 Chapter 17: Unfolding 2026-10-18
18 Chapter 18: Sign The Kid 2026-10-18
19 Chapter 19: One Step At A Time 2026-10-18
20 Chapter 20: Player To Be 2026-10-18
21 Chapter 21: Honing 2026-10-18
22 Chapter 22: Possibilities 2026-10-18
23 Chapter 23: The Ball Whisperer 2026-10-18
24 Chapter 24: How It’s going 2026-10-18
25 Chapter 25: The Talk 2026-10-18
26 Chapter 26: Tell Me Everything 2026-10-18
27 Chapter 27: Meet The Calderons 2026-10-18
28 Chapter 28: Contract Negotiations 2026-10-18
29 Chapter 29: Welcome to Wigan, Leo 2026-10-18
30 Chapter 30: Interest from an Old Flame 2026-10-18
31 Chapter 31: First training session 2026-10-18
32 Chapter 32: First training Session [2] 2026-10-18
33 Chapter 33: All eyes on him 2026-10-18
34 Chapter 34: First shirt 2026-10-18
35 Chapter 35: First Game 2026-10-18
36 Chapter 36: Vanishing Act 2026-10-18
37 Chapter 37: A story writes itself 2026-10-18
38 Chapter 38: Paper Boy 2026-10-18
39 Chapter 39 - 3-body Problem 2026-10-18
40 Chapter 40: Method- Acting 2026-10-18
41 Chapter 41: Uncanny Hero 2026-10-18
42 Chapter 42: On the Cusp 2026-10-18
43 Chapter 43: On the Cusp [2] 2026-10-18
44 Chapter 44: Top for A reason 2026-10-18
45 Chapter 45: Dumb It Down 2026-10-18
46 Chapter 46: Price For Genius 2026-10-18
47 Chapter 47: First Team Calling. 2026-10-18
48 Chapter 48: First Team Calling [2] 2026-10-18
49 Chapter 49: Slowly But Surely 2026-10-18
50 Chapter 50: Number 22 2026-10-18

One month passed, quietly, yet nothing was quite the same.

For Leo, each day had been a test—and every one of them had left its mark.

His body, once lean and slightly awkward, had begun to carry itself with definition.

Muscle shaped his arms and legs now, subtle but visible, built not from vanity but from need.

His gait had changed too. No longer did he slouch or move like he was trying to shrink himself out of view.

Now, he walked taller. Shoulders rolled back. Chin held steady.

Still reserved, still quiet, but with a silent strength in the way he stood.

Even his clothes seemed to sit differently on him now.

The training gear clung to a frame that no longer looked like a kid’s, and when he caught his reflection in the gym’s mirrored wall, he had to do a double take.

He hadn’t noticed it happening—just small steps, day after day. But now, it was clear. He had changed.

Part of it was the training schedule, which had been relentless.

Gym sessions, sprint drills, recovery cycles, flexibility work, rest days—nothing had been left to chance.

But the real difference was in the structure Dawson and Nolan had created for him.

The ”Player Management Program,” they called it.

A mouthful of a name, but behind it was a system built to shape Leo into more than just a footballer—it was there to shape him into a professional.

Dawson had even brought in a specialist nutritionist from London to craft a meal plan that would accelerate natural growth, optimize recovery, and slowly build the kind of engine they believed Leo needed.

And it worked. His energy levels stayed high, his recovery rate increased, and week by week, his coordination seemed to catch up with the sharpness of his mind.

He had even grown a few centimeters taller. It wasn’t dramatic—but enough that boots felt snugger, long sleeves shorter, and defenders who used to tower over him now stood eye-to-eye.

But as the boy’s body evolved, so did the club.

The previous first-team manager—liked, but clearly not fit for the demands of Wigan Athletic’s rebuild—had been let go.

The decision hadn’t caused tension; in fact, it came with a kind of quiet respect. People understood.

The tactics were good—forward-thinking, expansive—but the execution had always faltered.

Dawson admired the system but had privately told Nolan on more than one occasion that good ideas mean little when the players can’t carry them out.

So, when the call came from the boardroom, it wasn’t a surprise.

Dawson took over as interim manager of Wigan Athletic.

And the first name he wrote down for his coaching staff was Nolan.

Neither celebrated. There was still too much work to be done. Too many matches left. Too many questions were still unanswered.

But they didn’t waste time either.

Within hours of the appointment, Dawson had moved to solidify the groundwork they’d already been laying.

Leo was still young, but the boy was their vision incarnate.

He was the fulcrum of the new system—a playmaker who understood the game before it even unfolded.

A conductor before the orchestra arrived.

However, there was still one problem.

His shooting.

It wasn’t just average—it was bad. Bad even by the standards of a midfield distributor.

And Dawson had been firm about one thing:

”You can be a genius in the middle of the park, but if no one fears you around the box, your danger is incomplete.”

That’s when they brought in Tim Zardes.

The former midfielder had played in four different countries, each time carrying a reputation for thunderous goals and late runs from deep.

Zardes was pragmatic, and patient, and knew how to build shooters from the ground up.

While Nolan continued handling Leo’s overall development—fitness, positioning, movement—it was Zardes who took charge of shaping his final-third instincts.

Zardes didn’t start with power or technique. He started with understanding.

”I don’t want you to score yet,” he told Leo on the first day. ”I want you to know why you’re shooting.”

Then came the drills.

Repetitive, demanding, and at times humiliating.

Shooting from a standstill. From motion. From absurd angles. Against mannequins. With reduced goals.

With only corners to aim at. Day after day, the sessions pushed Leo into discomfort, and at first, it felt like a failure.

The ball would fly wide. Over. Sometimes he’d barely clip the turf properly. And Zardes never coddled.

”Again,” he’d say. ”You’re not done learning.”

But Leo never complained. And slowly, he began understanding something. He had already been working himself before Zardes arrived so things clicked.

His shooting didn’t need to mimic others. It needed to reflect him. Passing was his strength.

Why not use disguise, timing, and subtlety? Why not shape the ball like he was threading it between defenders, only this time, the net was the space?

So at night, he’d still sit in bed, notebook in hand, mapping ideas. Watching clips and taking notes.

His body ached. His eyes stung. But his mind never stopped.

And slowly... the failure stopped feeling like a failure. It became curiosity.

Now, one month on, Leo stood at the edge of the pitch—changed in every way.

His focus was absolute.

The boy who had once flinched under pressure now met it head-on, day after day, fueled not by praise or pressure, but by the quiet belief that he was becoming something—someone—worth remembering.

....

The afternoon sun hung low over the youth ground, casting long shadows across the pitch.

The place was mostly quiet—until the sharp crack of a ball being struck rang out.

Dawson stepped onto the pitch just as Leo’s shot curled and kissed the right corner of the crossbar, bouncing out with a satisfying clang.

Dawson raised a brow. ”Not bad.”

Leo turned, surprised.

”That’s enough for today,” Dawson called out, walking over. ”Go freshen up. We need to talk.”