Rothouse is the general manager of Hoffenheim Club. The person who injects funds into the club is the boss Dietma Hope, but the person in charge of all the specific affairs is this middle-aged man.

He was once the general manager of the Bundesliga powerhouse Stuttgart. He resigned from Stuttgart in 2005, accepted Hope's invitation, and switched to this small team that was still in the German League C at the time. It actually took some courage to make such a choice. After all, Rothouse worked very well in Stuttgart and his income was satisfactory. He could not see any need to start from scratch in another place. The small team going to the German League C would make him fall into the quagmire if he was not careful. But after several months of careful consideration, he decided to come to Hoffenheim to do something.

If he was compared with when he came to Hoffenheim, then he had actually succeeded.

He was promoted to the Bundesliga and won the second place in the league in his first season, and also trained two German internationals, one of the best scorers in the Bundesliga and Europe. Although his second season was not as good as last season, he was also stable in the middle of the Bundesliga. At least there was no worries about relegation. Their original plan was to spend two years to consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.

Hope and he are not in a hurry to build Hoffenheim into a team that will win the championship immediately. The large amount of funds invested by Hope is first used to build new training bases and courts, and look for young players everywhere. They do not buy big-name stars.

From this point of view, they are also miracle makers, and they are a world of difference from Nottingham Forest.

Last season, news about Rangnick being fired by the club was flying all over the place, but Hope immediately instructed Rothouse to provide Rangnick with a new five-year contract. The news of the head coach's contract renewal soon appeared in major media, and the rumors were self-defeating.

Rotterhouse expected the situation that the team encountered last season, and he was not disappointed by it. What was disappointed were the strangers who had never known each other but had high hopes for Hoffenheim.

Rothouse has a big ideal, which may be greater than his boss Hope's ideal - he wants to build Hoffenheim into a club that can survive and maintain normal operation without relying on Hope's investment. It is exactly the same as the famous clubs that already exist in the world. Investors can change many batches, but this team always exists. He and Hope will grow old and die one day. Hoffenheim cannot fall back to the seventh league just because Hope leaves. They should have the ability to continue to stay in the Bundesliga. He must let this team gradually put aside Hope's investment and influence and become independent step by step.

Now maybe there is a chance to start the first step.

Just this morning, he received a fax from the UK.

Nottingham Forest asked him whether the team's forward Vedad Ibisevic could be sold. The miracle of England and the miracle of Germany finally had its first official contact.

He received countless such faxes last summer, and at that time he refused without asking Hope's opinion. No ambitious club could sell the leading scorer in his team. What's more, Hoffenheim is not short of money. He also has to participate in the Champions League next season, and he does not think Ibisek would choose to leave.

There are fewer faxes like this this summer. Teams that were once interested in "Super Ibibi" have expressed that they will not introduce this once famous super scorer again. Teams that are still interested in Ibisek are just second-rate teams in the top league, or second-rate league teams.

After the end of last season, a German media once sarcastically said: "Ibisevic is a ranger who is scattered in the low-level European leagues. He does not have any adaptability to football games of that level. Maybe he will start over from scratch in another place and may even succeed. To be honest, he is not a striker who can play in the top league..."

This sounds harsh. But it is the true thoughts in many people's hearts. Many people think that Ibisek's crazy performance in Hoffenheim's Bundesliga debut was just an accidental outbreak. In fact, he is more suitable to play in the low-level league. Look, wasn't he beaten back to his original form in the second season?

In fact, there is also debate within Hoffenheim about Ibisek's true level. Some people think he is indeed the top striker's material, while others think he is just lucky. It seems that every side is right. Head coach Rangnick does not belong to either side. But he also has a headache about Ibisek's sudden good and sudden bad performance.

When he first joined Hoffenheim, Hoffenheim was still playing in the Bundesliga. He played 31 times, most of which were substitutes. He scored only five goals, and as a striker, the data was simply terrible. At that time, some local media thought that Hoffenheim bought the wrong person. Ibissevic's long-term experience proved that he could not meet Hoffenheim's requirements at all. No one knew why Hoffenheim fell in love with Ibissevic, who had not shown his strength in Aachen.

If it weren't for the Beijing Olympics, Ibisekvic might have continued to sit on Hoffenheim's bench until the contract expires, or he is sold to any club by Hoffenheim in the middle and no longer cares about him. But fate is often so wonderful. Unpredictable in advance, full of various changes and surprises.

His position was not because Rangnick knew talents with keen eyes, but purely a coincidence. You should know that before the 2008-09 season, he was just a substitute forward in head coach Rangnick. However, the team's main striker O'Brassi will miss most of the team's preparations and the first few rounds of the season because he wants to participate in the Beijing Olympics.

So Ibisevic was able to play in the first round of the league.

It was this Hoffenheim's Bundesliga debut against Cottbus, which started a legendary start. The unknown pawn, who has never been favored, has never been recognized, and has never been paid attention to, has never been paid attention to, has twice in the game! He helped the team beat Cottbus 3-0. Then he scored goals every game. He even scored twice in the game many times. Even if Obasi returned after the Olympics

In the team. Rangnick also found that he could not let his state be as strong as Ibissevic as a substitute, but Obasi was also a very capable striker. He also couldn't bear to let the forward sit on the bench. So he simply modified his tactics and let Obasi, Wellington and Ibissevic appear at the same time, and instead played the more aggressive 433! As a result, he received a miraculous effect. No one in the Bundesliga could stop for a while.

Ibisevic became the top scorer, and Rangnick was still saying: "To me, he is like a player we just introduced this season."

In the second season, Ibisevic was inexplicably in a sluggish state, and Rangnick spoke again: "To me, he is like a player we just introduced this season..."

The famous Bundesliga coach was also at a loss against Ibisevic.

Maybe he should have been sold?

This thought flashed through Rothouse's mind.

But he still turned down Nottingham Forest, saying that we will not sell Ibissevic, he is an important member of our team.

He didn't wait for the second fax for Nottingham Forest. He thought the team must have given up. Maybe they just asked casually...

Unexpectedly, he waited for Nottingham Forest's head coach Tony Donn and German translator.

"Hoffenheim is such a quiet village. I like this... If I live my life, I will choose this kind of place." Tony, wearing sunglasses, disguised as if he was a tourist. Tangen and his German translator stood by the training ground, watching the alone in the ground through the barbed wire fence.

The normal training time has ended. The fans who had been around here have long dispersed. Not many people are still there.

They are all fans of the guy on the field.

Vedad Ibisekic is practicing shooting for himself in the training ground. This is a program that cannot be solved - he practices for half an hour after training every day. He is a striker, and there is nothing more important than shooting.

Tang En watched from the side. His shooting skills were very good, perhaps because of his long-term persistence in training.

Half an hour passed quickly. Ibissevic did not go directly to the locker room, but turned over to sign the fans who were still waiting outside the court.

He was 1.89 meters tall. Eighty kilograms made him very strong, but not bulky. He stood behind the barbed wire fence to sign autographs one by one for the fans, and then walked in front of Tony Donn.

Don't passes it into the net and he just bought the blue Hoffenheim jersey with the Ibissevic number and name printed in the souvenir store outside, a marker, and a business card.

No fans handed over a business card when asking him to sign. Ibisevic looked up at the middle-aged man wearing sunglasses in front of him with a strange look.

"Tony Don.   I'm very happy to see you, Ibisevic." The man outside took the initiative to introduce himself.

This name sounds familiar...wait!

Ibisevic widened his eyes and asked directly in English: "Are you the head coach of Nottingham Forest? Why are you here?"

"Because Nottingham Forest is very interested in you." Don grinned.

It has been three days since he received the call from his agency, and he has not yet responded to the agency. Because he doesn't know whether he should leave here. And whether he should go to Nottingham Forest, there are more than one Nottingham Forest who is interested in him.

"I watched the video of you playing football, but I thought I had to see this kind of thing with my own eyes to count, so I came. Do you practice this way after every training?"

Ibisevich nodded.

"No wonder, your success was not accidental. How about it, go to England with me? I will help you get back to your form and get it back in the Champions League." Tang En smiled very much like a demon who was seducing mortals.

Ibisevic was silent for a while, then shrugged: "I don't know how to answer you. Mr. Tang En. Maybe you can have a new feeling when you change your place, but I still have a contract with the club now. If the club doesn't let me go, then nothing is useful."

"Ah, you just need to show the club that you want to change the environment. Leave the other things to us." Tang En patted his chest.

"I know Nottingham Forest is a team to participate in the new season's Champions League, but I don't understand why you came to me?" There is another question Ibissevic can't figure it out. In his opinion, teams that are capable of competing for the championship should pursue those well-known stars. Anyway, the financial crisis is still there. Those big-name stars are not expensive either.

"I only buy players that meet my requirements, and I never care whether they are famous or not. Are they big names? You are the one I need. Ibi. Come to my team, I will give you a bigger stage."

Ibisevic was silent for a while, then nodded: "Okay, Mr. Done. If you can convince my club, I will give priority to signing with the Forest."

After saying that, he planned to leave, but unexpectedly Done grabbed him: "Sign." He pointed to the jersey in Ibisevic's hand, "I am your earth fan, sign me."

Ibisevic signed his name on his jersey helplessly. He handed it back, but he accepted the business card.

He felt that it was time to change places. Anyway, he was always changing teams, from the United States to France, from France to Germany, and now he was just from Germany to the United Kingdom, which was no big deal. He changed teams almost a year, and Hoffenheim was the team he had been in the longest. Do you know what European media called him?

Ranger.

On the afternoon of that day, Donn met with a German translator Rothouse, general manager of Hoffenheim Club.

The two sides held an unknown secret talk.

No one knew what they were talking about. The outside world didn't even know that Tony Donn suddenly ran to this small village south of Frankfurt, Germany to meet Rothhouse.

A day later, Nottingham Forest and Hoffenheim Club officially announced that former European Golden Boot winner Vedad Ibisekic transferred to Nottingham Forest with a transfer fee of 10 million euros plus a place to exchange players. The two sides signed a four-year contract, and the specific benefits such as annual salary have not been announced.

Only then did the German media meet Tony Donn, who was back to Nottingham with Ibisevic at the airport in Frankfurt.

"He is the player I need." After Tang En was surrounded by reporters at the airport, he didn't care about the doubts at all. "I don't care what you think of him. I bought it for myself, not for you. Parallel goods? You are so sure of the future development of a player, why don't you quit your job and become an agent? I promise to be richer than you are trying your best to make up in the newspaper!"

"What are you dissatisfied with? From now on, Super Ibi is my person, a player from Nottingham Forest. He is going to become a registered player in the Premier League. You German media don't have any control over it."

"I believe in his ability, and I am willing to give him a chance to prove it again... I have problems with my vision? Yes, but I can win the championship because I rely on those 'parallel goods' that I like."

"I'm spending the club's money indiscriminately? I'm willing, can you take care of you?"

...

Amid the noise and doubts, Ibisevic was pulled by Donn on a flight from Germany to the UK.

Eleven years ago, Ibisevic, who was only fifteen years old, left his country where wars broke out and stayed in Switzerland for a short time. Due to visa issues, he did not obtain legal residence, so he traveled across the ocean and came to St. Louis, the United States to seek relatives. He insisted on his professional football dream in a country like a football desert in the United States, and was attracted by the coach of the French Ligue 1 giant Paris Saint-Germain and returned to Europe. He was only nineteen years old at the time. He was then loaned to Dijon, a small team in the French League, and grew up there and got a chance to play.

He got some balls. He saw many new things. Then he was terminated by Paris Saint-Germain. Just like any young man with no prospects faced. Fortunately, he was noticed by a German agent in Dijon and recommended him to two German teams. He chose to join Aachen at the time of the Bundesliga. He only played for Aachen for a year, and Aachen was unfortunately relegated. He wore a No. 9 jersey and did not make any great contributions to the team. This time he chose to leave Aachen and switch to another German second-tier team, Hoffenheim.

In the first season, he played thirty-one and scored only five goals. The best scorer in the second season of the Bundesliga and the winner of the European Golden Boot Award. In the third season, he was called "a goal that scored a lifetime in one season". It was like a dazzling meteor, which quickly rose in the sky and disappeared in the vast space.

He has been unknown, and has been popular, successful, and failed. He has seen big scenes and has persisted in a dilemma that others cannot imagine. He believes that he will succeed one day. Eleven years have passed, and he is no longer the child who fled with his parents. He has become a professional player, lives in a spacious big house, has his own car, and enjoys the cheers of fans to him, and he has changed a lot.

But there is one thing that has never changed-he is always wandering from here to there.

This time, Ranger Ibi began a completely new journey.

He may continue to wander and fully confirm the name of "Ranker". Perhaps, he will stop wandering around the world and choose a place as his last station.
Chapter completed!