Simon’s business empire was finally starting to take shape with millions of pounds moving through a number of companies of different industries and some of it always finding itself back to his bank.

The key to his nascent business empire was the Brandermill football club which served to facilitate growth in all the other companies that EPD Holdings held a stake in. For example, all catering would be handled by an associated company, while construction, transportation and merchandise would also be handled by associated companies.

Simon’s model of associated companies working in conjunction was nothing revolutionary, however, in a small city like Brandermill with a population that barely reach 50 thousand, this was very much unheard of.

This caused Simon to turn into the talk of town as the local media pay special attention to him. Even though the Emerson Family was one of the oldest and most prominent in this families in the city, no one really ever paid any attention to them since they never made waves and simply managed their bank.

However, Simon did not mind this increased level of attention at all. In fact, this led to the development of a lot of interest in the club as well as the generation of much more interest in those companies associated with the club and in some sense Simon.

Sensing a sort of an opportunity, Simon commissioned the construction of advertisement board around the field in the stadium instead of regular barriers to serve as a platform for local business to advertise themselves, naturally, the construction was done by the associated company.

Simon also proceeded to establish a public relations department for the club which handled everything from advertisement and promotions. But, the most important function he gave them was to establish and maintain a constant online presence on social media sites such as Facebook and twitter.

Naturally, the sale of merchandise was also handled online so as to maximize revenues from there since that is one of the biggest sources of income for small teams like Brandermill that didn’t have access to premier league crowds or deals.

All these factors were very much dependent on the club performing well this coming season and mounting a successful campaign that will improve the public’s image of the club. Simon really needed the club to be profitable as soon as possible since he couldn’t keep bankrolling it indefinitely.

The other side of Simon’s empire was EPD Holdings which was the linchpin that connected all these seemingly random networks and avenues that were important to the success of Simon’s empire.

The holdings company’s worth was steadily increasing over the last two months as the companies they help shares in grew in size due to the club’s business. The company itself served as a sort of an unofficial bank as they moved about money that Simon made they made from each company to pay for services to each company.

It was a very complex and delicate procedure that was spearheaded by Silver who, while working with half a dozen accountants, made sure to keep track of all revenues and spending while maintaining cashflow between the associated companies.

Charles, on the other hand, had a much harder time than both Simon and Silver as he juggled complex contracts between companies while ensuring that all available assets are used to their full potential while keeping an eye on the entire company.

In the last two months, Charles saw the total worth of his measly company increase in value so many times over that he was suspecting that it was a dream. And even though the company’s operations were slightly outside of his original idea, he was still rather satisfied.

The dominos were all arranged in place for Simon’s empire and all the was missing was a simple push.

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“ARE YOU READY YET?”

Simon who was sitting on the front steps of Silver’s house while wearing blue jeans and a gold jersey with a purple line running diagonally across from it was yelling towards the inside of the house with a lit cigarette in his hand. Charles who was wearing a similar jersey was standing next to the porch with a blank look on his face.

Simon turned to Charles and spoke while stifling a laugh:

“What’s the matter little Charles?”

Charles turned to him with an aggrieved look as he spoke:

“Why can’t you just take Silver. This was my day off after a long week and I would have liked to spend it catching up on sleep.”

“Oh, you’ll sleep when you’re dead, you need to enjoy yourself and hangout with your friends when you can. I SWEAR AM LEAVING WITHOUT YOU.”

Simon finished yelled towards the inside of the house again before continuing his smoke. A few seconds later, a disheveled Silver walked out of the house wearing a similarly gold and purple jersey, except was a different style, and had the words ‘Anderson Motors’ instead of ‘Emerson Bank’ which was on the front of Simon and Charles’ shirts.

Simon immediately stood up and stomped on his cigarette before walking towards his Aston Martin and speaking as he went:

“Alright boy’s. Let’s get going cause so that we can beat the crowds.”

Silver who was getting his disheveled hair fixed spoke up with a mocking tone:

“What crowds. It’s a damn friendly, I would be surprise if anyone even shows up.”

Simon’s turned to look at his friend of his mockingly while speaking:

“I thought you were a big fan of Brandermill. You should know that were playing Southend United, a team that missed promotion by a hair’s width last season and a favorite to win the league this season. I don’t believe people won’t come see this matchup.”

“I haven’t had much time to follow football lately thanks to you.”

Simon couldn’t help but laugh out at Silver’s words. He really has been working a lot lately, which would have caused Simon to feel bad for him if it weren’t for the fact that he volunteered for it.

After getting in the car and riving off, the three of them talked around about all that was going on aside from work. Less than twenty minutes later, Simon pulled into the Foster Stadium parking lot which was filled with multitudes of cars. After driving around a bit, he eventually made his way to his parking spot after which they headed inside.

While they were walking towards the inside of the stadium, Simon was looking around at all the supporters who were all wearing Brandermill jerseys of varying colors. Charles and Silver behind him were talking about something, but he was more interested in seeing how many people showed up.

Under the insistence of Tom, Simon agreed to make all home friendlies half price to gauge the public’s interest in the club. However, even half price tickets could not justify such large crowds on a preseason friendly, but he was happy none the less.

The three of them made their way to the viewing lounge which was located on top most level of the main stands of the stadium. Foster stadium was not a very large stadium since it only had two single level stands and two double level stands with a total seated capacity of 15 thousand.

Simon was flabbergasted as he looked at the sea of purple and gold that filled all four stands of the stadium. This was only a preseason matchup, but it seemed that more than 10 thousand people showed up.

He couldn’t help but wonder if it was the half-price tickets that led to this, or if the club simply had so many avid fans. Either way, Simon was very excited at the prospects that this game showed, the only thing he needed now was a win to ensure that the crowd’s confidence is solidified.

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Ten or so minutes later, as the crowds kept pouring into the stadium stands, the players of bother teams came out of the tunnel to start warming up. The player’s entrance elicited a roar of excitement from the crowd causing Simon’s heart to beat loudly in excitement.

Southend United who were wearing their light blue and black colors were clearly that away team as they stood out amongst a sea of gold and purple. However, they were a professional team and didn’t seem to be alarmed.

Simon’s attention as well as the entire stadiums, however, was on the Brandermill team, specially Pelletier who wore a sharp blue suit and gold tie. He stood at the sideline speaking to a couple of players while the remainder warmed up.

After warming up for a bit, the official gave the two-minute warning and the two teams got on the field as the captains shook hands and changed pleasantries before choosing side with a coin toss.

The match’s start was met with a roar from the crowd as the excitement reached a boiling point, however, the excitement soon died down as the match progressed. The Brandermill team played with an atypical 3-5-2 which emphasized on discipline and defense.

This style of play which focused on the keeping the opponent from playing effectively was not very well known in English football which favored strong attacks with tall and powerful forwards. However, Pelletier did not intend to accept the norm.

By the time 45 minutes passed, both teams were still scoreless. However, Southend united had 17 shots with 1 on target while Brandermill boasted 4 shots with 2 on target. This showed the difference in focus between the two teams.

James Pelletier stood on the sideline the entire half without uttering a single word of guidance to the players, eliciting various reactions from the supporters who wanted more action. However, he seemed to not notice any of this as he continued watching the match.

After 15 minutes of half time, both teams returned to the field with a few changes in their lineup. Since this was a preseason friendly, there was no limit placed on substitutions, however, Pelletier seemed to have only made a single substitution.

The crowd off supporters cheered once again, although not as loudly as soon as the match restarted. As the time went on, people starting to notice a shift in the way Brandermill played with their formation resembling a 3-3-1-3.

The team still played their disciplined defensive game, but there was more life in their plays at the final third as the new player that Pelletier put in who played at the below top position seemed to pump live into the team.

The game continued going like this with Southend being denied chance after chance sometime even through the use of tactical fouls, while Brandermill found more chances but were unable to capitalize.

At the 80thminute, Pelletier made another substitution, but by this point, the supporters have settled for a draw so there was nothing expected out of this young substitute that made it into the field yelling and gesturing to the other players.

However, not even five minutes after entering, that player that was now playing at the below top position scored a through a beautiful free kick that was more than 30 yards away. The entire Stadium erupted into a roar as even the stands shook.

Simon himself was excited beyond measure as this proved that Pelletier was capable of accomplishing the same things he did in his past life even with the difference in timing. Simon knew that this Italian manager was to be the bane of many English teams with his defensive football that focused on not making any mistakes while punishing all mistakes made by their opponents.

And sure enough, Brandermill went back to playing 3-5-2 right after the goal, but with less than fifteen minutes left and their team up by one, the supporters where no longer bothered as they waved and cheered enthusiastically.

Simon looked at his scene and felt a sense of pride and anticipation. He really underestimated the capability of this team and the shear potential that it had. But for now, he couldn’t worry about this as he cheered and yelled with the crowd for their first win of many.

This will hopefully be that first push his dominos needed.