"Remember my name." Jahzir Adams watched with seriousness in his eyes as a young footballer the same age as him take English football on notice with an electric performance, coupled with a fantastic presser.
The evaluators of his team's football academy said that he only had two things going for him: One is his rapid pace down the left side, and the other was his ability to score long shots out of nowhere. When he graduated, he was bitter.
His team said that they'll give him a one year contract to test him out at the first team, a contract that should be something fantastic for young football players from lower league academies, but to him, it was like a death knell. It was like Doncaster telling him, "You're not good enough, but since you're young, and home-grown, here's a one year contract."
He had full belief that he could improve and reach the top, but what if his team gave up on him too early?
To this, he saw Blaise Atkinson's short career's story as a wake up call.
"Let's see who'll get there first." His newfound decisiveness showed as his face became tense and his hands balled up into fists. "I'll work as hard as I possibly can, this time without any care for pretenses."
The diminutive winger looked at Blaise's direction, and gave him a smile that seemed like a mix of a challenge and a threat, along with a nod. Two goals in the first half made Jahzir a little emotional, however, he knows he should not stop here. It was only the second time that his hard-nosed manager allowed him to start a match, and he wanted to build up his manager's trust with an elite performance against League One's media darlings.
Jahzir felt a little lucky even, since he was given a start against Blaise Atkinson in this derby. And now, after having scored both the goals today? He's going to up the tempo even more. This wasn't enough for me.
Doncaster was relentless after the restart. They won't let their foot off the pedal this time, knowing that Sheffield United had the capability to turn the game around in one instant. Today's surprise, Jahzir White became the focal point of their intense assault.
Scattered in the stands, several higher division youth evaluators watched the game with a renewed sense of purpose. Almost all of them wondered about this small, pacy hitman of a left winger for the home side.
"Have you found data on this guy?" One of them asked his companion with an inquisitive look.
"Yeah. He also made his debut this year, and has made four appearances for Doncaster's senior team so far."
Sheffield manager Steve Bronson though, has been uncharacteristically mum the whole night. To him, games are worth the same, except for games in which he's evaluating future transfer targets.
This derby against Doncaster is one of those.
He'd known Jahzir White for quite a long time now, ever since his scouts put him into his attention. They liked the youngster's blend of skill a lot.
He had a very low center of gravity, giving him wonderful balance. He had frenetic pace, making Steve envision a bright future in the wing with Cameron Okojo. Plus, that power in his right foot was gravy.
Now that he's watching him live, he's liking every bit of what he's seeing from the young lad.
"The guy's got the attitude to succeed huh." For the second time today, Steve Bronson said this underneath his breath. This was the biggest draw, the reason he'd get far.
'If only Doncaster will let him go to a rival club like ours…' Steve was reminded of his biggest dilemma. The thing about transfers that is hardest for him, was convincing teams from the same division to a transfer. After all, they had always been a diligent club at scouting to get their absolute money's worth at every transfer deal, but the transfer negotiations itself… were a different beast.
However this time, it's a local rival.
All of a sudden, Steve's heart sank.
Fuck… I forgot that we might be put under a transfer embargo in the near future…
Steve attended a board meeting last night that would have major implications for the League One club moving forward. He himself was feeling the air getting more tense as the meeting went on, until it came to a head when the club chairman himself answered a phone call, and went outside.
He suspected that it might either be the representative of the consortium, or it might even be the prospective owner.
But when the current chairman came back in, he was alongside real life royalty.
'Focus on the match, Steve.' He scratched his balding scalp that was tingling for a while now, ending the review in his head. 'Oh, great timing.'
Jahzir White was once again blowing up the space at the wide left hand side, a quick change of direction lost his man, as the breakneck pace of his game flashed into view. He shuffled his feet, finding himself entering Sheffield's final third for what felt like the nth time today.
His strikers supported him with strategic runs, which was closed off in an instant by the Sheffield back line. But as he scanned for options, his movements slowed, giving a chance for the Blades midfield to recover.
"Too fast even for you, eh?" Blaise saw through what White's biggest problems were. The decision making when on the move sometimes lags behind his actions, leading to missed opportunities, or bad reads on the situation. It might be something exploitable for Blaise today, but he had to admit that it was a flaw easily correctable by the proper coaching and experience.
If this were a few years later, Blaise might've been a little scared… but a flaw like this today… was something he will exploit.
A small, almost imperceptible mishap like that was all Blaise Atkinson needed, to pounce.
White was closing in on the box with his slower movements. His search for options failed him the first time, so he started taking the chance for himself. And as he neared, the sight of the goal looked even tastier to him.
A hat trick? On such an important game? Against someone with Premier League potential?
"You can't stop me!"
His face held a ferocious smirk, when the ball made contact with his right foot, right around the same area as his second one, he knew that it was a nightmare to try and stop.
The ball carried all his hopes and dreams with it.
That was, until Blaise's boot deflected the shot up…
"I can stop you."