When the league champions, Arsenal, defeated the cup champions, Liverpool, and picked up the FA Community Shield, the 2018-2019 English Premier League officially began its countdown.
Everyone's attention was on the four traditional powerhouses of the English Premier League, with Manchester United and Arsenal still receiving the most attention. No one talked about England's newly won World Cup, and no one cared why Tony Twain decided to retire.
Twain, who often went shopping with his daughter, was surrounded by fans asking for photos and autographs after being recognized, and no media came to harass him. Twain did not like the media, but he enjoyed interacting with the fans, especially the Nottingham fans. Especially with the Nottingham fans, because this was his home ground, and every fan here was like a friend.
Of course, it was not that Twain did not feel awkward. For example, when the fans greeted him, they would often ask, "Are you coming back, Tony?"
Twain knew what they meant by that question. Now that Nottingham Forest was in a mess, everyone hoped for a strong character to come out and save the team. After thinking about it, the only person who could convince them was Tony Twain.
Faced with such passionate fans, Twain did not want to let them down, but he could not take back what he said. He could only shake his head and smile helplessly. "I don't know, who can say for sure what will happen in the future?" Just like that, he dodged the question.
Later, Twain received a call from John Motson. "Tony, are you interested in coming to BBC5?"
Just like CCTV5, BBC5 was a sports channel. The England national team's matches were all broadcasted on BBC5. Twain had briefly signed on as a guest commentator for every major tournament like the World Cup and UEFA European Championship. However, ever since he became the England national team's manager, the two sides had not worked together again.
"Go to BBC5?" Twain was a little puzzled, but he immediately understood. Last year, BBC had the last laugh in the battle with Sky TV, ITV and other broadcasting organizations, and bought a portion of the English Premier League's live broadcast rights. They were recruiting people from all over the place. Tang En, a guest commentator who was quite popular among the audience, naturally had to be recruited through his relationship with Motson.
"Yes, commentating on the new English Premier League season. Are you interested? "
"Ah, John … I haven't had enough rest." Tang En shook his head and refused. "I've only retired for two months. How can the rest time I've saved up over the past decade be up in two months?"
"What a pity …" Motson knew Tang En's temper. If he was unwilling, then no matter what he said, it would just be a waste of breath. He only felt sorry for the loss of such an interesting commentator for the new Premier League season.
The day after Motson's call, Martin Taylor also called. Like Motson, he wanted him to join Sky TV's Premier League commentary lineup for the new season. Although Taylor had retired a long time ago, he had worked for Sky TV for more than 20 years. Even though he had retired, he still cared about Sky TV. It was reasonable for him to come out to recruit talents for Sky TV.
But … Tang En still refused. The reason was the same: he hadn't rested enough.
In fact, he knew very well that if he wanted to continue working after leaving his position as a manager, then going to a television station was a very good choice. But at the moment, he liked this leisurely life, and he also had to take care of Teresa. His daughter had just come to England for more than half a month. How could he leave her to go work? With Shania working outside, he could now be at ease as a "housewife." Anyway, the family was not short of money for the time being. There was no rush to go out and earn money to support the family.
※ ※ ※
The new Premier League season kicked off on August 17. The opening game was Manchester United's home game against the newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers. Manchester United won easily at home with 2: 0.
The next day, the Premier League was fully launched. Nottingham Forest also welcomed their first opponent of the new season at home — Everton.
Despite the Forest team's poor results, the ticket revenue before the new season was still very impressive. Thirty-eight thousand season tickets were sold, not much different from the previous seasons. During Nottingham Forest's most glorious period, the season ticket sales figures from that time were now of little value due to the small capacity of the City Ground stadium. Although thirty-eight thousand sets were more than ten thousand less than Manchester United's fifty-five thousand sets, considering the size of the city itself, it was already remarkable to have such a result.
Nottingham Forest's operations were not problematic, so Evan also had the capital to bargain with the financial groups.
From the sales of season tickets, it could also be seen how hardcore the Nottingham Forest fans were. No matter how dissatisfied they were with the club's top management, they still chose to support the team. However, there were also people who explained why they were so keen to buy season tickets: "Just treat it as spending 35 pounds every home game to scold that f * cking Evan Doughty."
This statement was quite popular among the Forest fans, who formed a radical fan group called "F * cking Evan." This group made up the majority of the slogans insulting Evan Doughty at the Robin Hood Stand.
After eating lunch personally cooked by Tang En, Tang En looked at Teresa, who was sitting on the ground playing with a doll and asked, "Teresa, daddy will take you out to play this afternoon, okay?"
"Okay." Teresa stopped what she was doing and looked up at Tang En. She rarely had any objections and was very obedient.
"Daddy will take you to watch a game, okay?" Tang En magically pulled out two tickets from behind him and waved them in front of Teresa.
Teresa tilted her head and thought for a moment, then realized what her father meant by "game". She then nodded and said, "Okay."
Tang En was overjoyed. He quickly picked up Teresa and gave her a big kiss on her pink cheeks.
"Let's go now!" He carried Teresa out and got into the car. They drove to the Crimson Stadium in the southwest of Nottingham.
Actually, Tang En did not really want to bring his daughter out to watch the game. He just wanted to watch the game live, but he could not leave his daughter alone at home. It was too dangerous. So, he brought her along and let her experience the atmosphere of a football game. Maybe Teresa would even like football in the future? Her mother did not like football, so he would let her like it. When the time came, it would be 2: 1 at home, and he would win.
As a coach who had been in charge of Nottingham Forest for 11 years, even if he was not a Forest fan in the past, he had long been the most hardcore Forest fan. Those hardcore fans were invested in the Forest team, and so was he. No matter how disappointed he was with the current Forest team, and no matter whether he was still the coach of the Forest team, even during the four years he was the coach of the national team, he had bought season tickets for the Forest team every season.
In fact, he had never watched a game in the stands of the Forest team's home stadium as an ordinary fan. When he was able to watch the game from the stands, there were generally two types of situations. The first was when he was still the manager of the Forest team and was sent to the stands because he contradicted the referee and criticized the Football Association. The other was when he became the manager of the England team and came to the stadium to observe the performance of the England national footballers in the Forest team. In short, it was not related to being an "ordinary fan."
Watching a game as an "ordinary fan" meant that when he watched a game, he did not analyze the tactics of both sides, was not allowed to look for their loopholes, and did not think about how to correct these flaws during halftime or the next game. In any case, he just needed to free his mind from the manager mode.
Tang En felt very happy at the thought of being able to get rid of those heavy burdens. He hummed a little tune as he drove.
Teresa, who sat in the passenger seat with her seat belt fastened, looked a little like a doll. She turned her head to look at her father, probably unable to understand why he was so happy. Because logically speaking, the happiest person should be herself when they went out to play.
After arriving at the stadium, Tang En was not in a hurry to get off. He first put on his sunglasses, then put on a baseball cap for himself. He then straightened his collar and put on a pair of toad sunglasses for Teresa, covering half of her face. He also put on a woman's hat for her. After taking a closer look and confirming that he could not be recognized at a glance, he opened the car door and carried Teresa into the crowd, walking towards the stadium.
Following the crowd, Tang En looked up at the huge outer wall of the Crimson Stadium. It was the first time he had the leisure to slowly admire the appearance of the new stadium from outside. In the past, he always had a dedicated passageway. If the national team's manager came here to watch a game, he would certainly not let him line up with the ordinary fans.
From the looks of it, the stadium that had taken six years to build and caused the team's frequent mishaps was truly magnificent. No wonder Evan had the confidence to call it "the best stadium in the world." Just by looking at the outer wall, one could imagine what it would feel like to play inside. It was a pity that such an outstanding stadium had witnessed Nottingham Forest's decline season by season.
Tang En sighed softly and turned his head to look at the fans around him.
The new season was about to begin. No matter how Forest's results were last season, they were still full of hope. To them, the club's top management and the team were separate. Many people were discussing today's game in high spirits. For example, how would George Wood perform? Would Aaron Mitchell score a goal?
A group of people were discussing excitedly, and it did not take long for the topic to turn to the manager.
"McAllister can't do it at all. Look at what kind of manager the club hired. Nottingham Forest is a team that has won five UEFA Champions League titles. How can anyone be a manager? "
"That's right, that's right. I don't think there's anyone other than Tony Twain who can manage Forest's locker room. "
"It's a pity that Tony has retired. He retired before he's even 50."
"If only he could come back …"
"That's right, that's right!"
…
Teresa, who was in Tang En's arms, suddenly leaned over to Tang En's ear and said, "Daddy, are they calling you?"
Tang En suddenly felt very embarrassed. It had been two months, and he had yet to introduce his previous profession to Teresa. On one hand, he felt that Teresa was still young and might not understand what a "football manager" was. On the other hand, he had already retired, so there was no need to mention what he had done in the past.
Moreover, he had brought Teresa to Kenny's bar some time ago. Fat John and the others would always call him "Tony," and Teresa had completely memorized the word. She was still young and did not know that there were millions of people called "Tony" in this world. She thought that only her father was called "Tony."
"Uh … No, they're talking about the other 'Tony.'" Tang En did not want to explain further here because he was afraid that the people next to him would recognize him. Because of his guilty conscience, he even pulled down the brim of his cap again. "Let's go in, Teresa."
※ ※ ※
Tang En carried his daughter up the stairs step by step. After finally entering the interior of this huge building, he was not in a hurry to find his seat. He stood at the entrance and could see the situation in front and below. On the opposite side was the stands that were filled to the brim. On the green field below, the players from both teams were warming up. The fans from both teams gradually gathered in their own square formations and were competing with each other in songs.
Tang En was no stranger to such a scene. However, when he looked at it from a different angle, he still felt a surge of emotions. This was football!
Teresa, who was in Tang En's arms, suddenly reached out her hands to cover her ears. To her, the stadium was too noisy. One had to know that the home fans of FC Schalke 04 had once set a record. At certain times, the decibels of their shouts had exceeded the noise of a jet plane taking off. The Crimson Stadium was not inferior.
Fortunately, Tang En was prepared. He took out a furry headset and put it on Teresa. The noise was greatly reduced.
"Let's go, baby." Tang En gently patted Teresa's little face and walked down with her in his arms.
The surrounding fans constantly responded to the home broadcast's call to stand up and sing loudly, expressing their "welcome" to the Everton fans who had come from afar. Tang En only focused on finding his seat. On the other hand, Teresa, who was lying on his shoulder, was very curious about these things. She was no longer as afraid as when she first came in. Instead, she looked around and sized up her surroundings like a curious baby.
After finding his seat, Tang En sat down quietly. He did not stand up and shout slogans like "Everton go to hell" like the people around him.
In fact, the stadium was really not a good place to bring children to play. It was full of all kinds of profanities and vulgarities, and it was easy for children to learn bad things. Tang En remembered that when he was still a China football fan, there was a picture that was widely circulated on the Internet. It was a picture of a child wearing an England jersey in the stands, giving the camera the middle finger, and looking at the shape of the child's mouth, it was clear that he was cursing "F * ck".
But anyway, Teresa still did not understand the incomprehensible Nottingham dialect and slang.
※ ※ ※
When the players entered the stadium, every starting player of Nottingham Forest received enthusiastic cheers from the home fans. Even Tang En, who had kept a low profile for a while, shouted along with the people around him. On one hand, it was because he was infected by the atmosphere at the time, and on the other hand, everyone stood up and shouted "Saint George!" Instead, he sat firmly in his seat. That was the biggest "not keeping a low profile."
Looking at Wood's back in the stands, Tang En felt gratified and proud. This kid was completely the leader of the team. He was vaguely domineering.
He did not expect Teresa to recognize Wood, because after returning to England, Tang En had brought her to visit Sophia and Wood's family. She pointed at Wood's back on the field and shouted excitedly, "Brother! Brother! "
Fortunately, at this time, everyone was a hundred times more excited than she was. No one noticed this little girl's strangeness, which surprised Tang En. She had only seen Wood once, but now she could recognize him just by looking at his back. Teresa's memory was really good!
Turning his gaze back to the field, the players from both sides had already come out. They were lined up on both sides of the referee, allowing the media to take pictures. Tang En looked over and realized that this Nottingham Forest team was actually made up of players that he was unfamiliar with.
Being unfamiliar did not mean that he did not know what those people were called and what positions they played.
Rather, it meant that his understanding of these people was limited to what they were called and what positions they played.
Thinking back to ten years ago, even if they were just substitutes, he felt that they were like family to him. He understood and was familiar with them. When they stood together, they were a whole. A sea of red with the words "Nottingham Forest" written on it.
But now?
They stood there, but they were just eleven unrelated individuals. George Wood, Mario Balotelli, Gareth Bale, Nkoulou, Joe Mattock, Chris Cohen … They stood there one by one, but they could not form a team.
The fans around them were still shouting, "Forest, Forest! Nottingham Forest!! "
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