The home fans gave huge cheers for the home players as both teams ran out of the tunnel.
Ricoh Stadium is much bigger than Worthy Road Stadium. But Worthy Road Stadium, located in Luton's city center, is surrounded by residential areas, leaving no room for expansion. Besides, with the club's current impoverished owner, he can't even afford to buy players, how could you expect him to build a new stadium?
John was a bit nervous. This was already the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Just one step further and it would be the semi-finals...
Reaching the FA Cup semi-finals was something a small team like Luton would never have imagined before.
"Can we really reach the semi-finals?" John stood beside Gao Bo, applauding both teams alongside him.
"Not necessarily," Gao Bo didn't look back.
Not necessarily?!!
John became a little anxious, wasn't this the same man who swore days ago that they would win the FA Cup?
Just as John was about to say something, Gao Bo turned around and noticed the nervousness on his assistant's face.
"John, nothing in this world is ever 100% certain. Whether it's 100% or 20%, as long as there's a chance, it's worth doing!"
"You mean we only have a 10 to 20 percent chance of beating Coventry?!" John replied, still lacking confidence. Perhaps it was because they had defeated several higher-league teams this season, but now, facing another one, John had that uneasy feeling again, like it was finally time for reality to catch up with them.
But Gao Bo clearly wasn't as worried.
"I mean we have a 20% chance of winning the whole FA Cup!!" Gao Bo smiled, his face full of confidence.
John froze. He wasn't even sure about one or two percent, and yet, looking at Gao Bo's confident expression, someone might think Luton had a 100% chance of lifting the cup.
"John, do you know what's most important to me on the pitch?" Gao Bo looked at the players taking their positions. For this match, he once again used the single-striker lineup from the previous game, Vardy up top. But Charlie, who had been in great form recently, was left on the bench.
John shook his head. Who could guess what went on in the mind of this talented coach?
"Hope!" Gao Bo said seriously. "Once I set a goal, even if there's just a glimmer of hope of achieving it, I'll go all in to chase it!"
"Only a glimmer of hope to win the FA Cup?!" John was startled again, wasn't it just one or two percent a moment ago?
"You sure know how to focus on the wrong thing..." Gao Bo raised his hands helplessly. "That was just a metaphor. The point is, we must win the FA Cup this season, John! We have our reasons."
Gao Bo turned back toward the pitch.
"If we win the FA Cup, the club will reinvest next season's player sales into the transfer budget!"
"Do you know what that means?"
John nodded. Of course he understood. Just Charlie Austin alone had already attracted a £4 million bid, and for a Epl League Two team like Luton, that was a massive amount. With Gao Bo's "packaging," Charlie's value could only go up.
"Get ready to fight for Europe next season, John!"
For the first time, John Aston realized just how ambitious their head coach really was...
...
"The players are now stepping onto the pitch!" Letkinson gripped his microphone on the commentary platform.
The four FA Cup quarterfinals were spread across two days. The first games were Coventry vs. Luton, and Fulham vs. Liverpool.
Sky Sports arranged live broadcasts for both, but as the lead commentator, Letkinson personally requested to cover this match, the clash between two non-Premier League teams.
He really wanted to see just how far Luton could go in the FA Cup...
"The home side have fielded their best squad! Coleman's team has been inconsistent in the league, but they've had good fortune in the cup. After eliminating Blackburn, they've now reached the Semi-finals. Coventry's starting keeper today is Westwood. In defense, it's White, Dann, Turner, and Hall. The midfield includes Henderson, Gunnarsson, Doyle, and Eastwood, while the forwards are Best and Morrison!" Letkinson read out the lineups for both teams.
Meanwhile, Gao Bo's eyes were fixed on Henderson.
If he remembered correctly, this was the same Henderson who would one day become Liverpool's captain, the new leader of the Reds. Henderson was a product of Sunderland's youth system and had been loaned to Coventry during the winter window to gain experience.
Henderson had no idea he was being watched by Gao Bo. In truth, Gao Bo wasn't particularly interested in him. After all, Henderson came from a Premier League academy, and aside from a loan spell, it would be nearly impossible to convince him to transfer permanently to a League Two club.
...
Ten minutes into the game.
Gao Bo frowned on the sidelines and looked over at Coleman. This guy was really willing to set aside his pride, playing a solid, deep defense and counterattacking against a Epl League Two side like Luton?
Coventry's strategy was very clear: defend first, then counterattack. They barely crossed midfield and instead sat back in their own half, waiting for Luton to attack.
"Coventry is actually... playing a defensive counterattack?!" Letkinson said in surprise. "They're really playing defensive football. Coleman has gone into full defense mode, waiting for Luton to press forward."
Gao Bo was a bit speechless, he hadn't expected this before the match. Coventry was a Championship team, two tiers above Luton. Yet Coleman had no problem dropping deep and defending like this.
This guy really knows when to be flexible.
The real issue was that Gao Bo's own setup, a single-striker formation, was built around counterattacking too. After all, it was an away game, and he had expected Coventry to take the initiative.
As a result, the match became quite dull. When two teams both aim to defend and counterattack, it's bound to turn into a stalemate.
Luton now held the majority of possession but weren't sure if they should press forward. Gao Bo had emphasized that their priority today was defense, they couldn't afford to concede.
Gao Bo saw that some of the players were getting restless and signaled with both hands for them to stay calm.
He wasn't in a rush. Even if the game ended 0–0, it wouldn't be a problem.
This was now a battle of patience between the two managers. Whoever broke formation first would fall into a trap.
Neither coach was willing to abandon their pre-match tactics so easily.