"Looks like the media is only interested in your style and popularity." David Kerslake, Tang En's assistant manager, was flipping through the newspapers in his hands. Recently, he had enjoyed reading the articles about Tang En in the newspapers, because the reporters' satirical articles always made him laugh out loud and made him happy for the whole day.
"Not a single one of them mentioned the results when they talked about you." After flipping through all the newspapers, Kerslake folded them up and put them aside. He looked at Tang En opposite him.
Tony Twain was re-examining the office desk in front of him.
It was exactly the same as when he came to the club 15 years ago. It had not changed. The dark red solid wood desk exuded an air of age from the inside out.
He placed his hand on the surface of the desk, gently stroking it back and forth. He felt every tiny bump and scratch on the surface of the desk.
Now the desk was empty. Other than an LCD computer monitor, there was nothing else on it. Freddy Eastwood had already taken away all his personal belongings. The reports and other things were also neatly stacked in the bookcase at the side.
"Isn't that good? That way, we won't be under so much pressure. "Tang En lowered his head and stroked the surface of the desk as he replied.
"I thought you'd fly into a rage because the media looked down on you."
"I'm not a brainless person, David. This kind of doubt about the results won't work just by saying it. You have to use the results to defeat them. "Finally touching every inch of the desk, Tang En sat down on the chair.
"They love to hype up my personal style. That's just right. Right now, I can't wait for anyone to care about the Nottingham Forest team. Let's talk about the team, David. "
Hearing Tang En say this, Kerslake also put away the smile on his face and opened up a thick notebook on his knees.
"Right now, there are 26 players in the First Team. The goalkeepers are Vincenzo Fiorillo, Mark Howard, and Chris Kelly. The defenders are Thiago Silva, Mamadou Sakho, Ryan Shawcross, Mathias Jorgensen, Jan Vertonghen, Joe Mattock, Nicolas Nkoulou, Jack Cork, Nedum Onuoha, and Carl Dickinson. The midfielders are George Wood, Jake Livermore, Fernando Gago, Stephen Ireland, Chris Cohen, Alex Teixeira, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Kieran Gibbs. The strikers are Aaron Mitchell, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Mario Balotelli, Matt Derbyshire, and Steven Fletcher. "
As Kerslake read the list, Tang En's brows were constantly furrowed. Although he knew these names and could match the names to their faces, these names now gave him a sense of unfamiliarity. Such a sense of unfamiliarity was caused by his lack of understanding of these players.
Tang En's so-called understanding was definitely not as simple as knowing what they were called, what positions they played, or how their recent performances were. His understanding was comprehensive. He even needed to know what the players liked to eat and what they liked to do before a game.
"Actually, most of these players are quite good …" Kerslake added after he finished reading. "The goalkeeper, Fiorillo, is Italy's substitute goalkeeper. When he debuted, he was known as' Little Buffon. ' Koulou is Cameroon's main defender. Sakho is France's main center back, and Jorgensen is also a frequent visitor to the Denmark national team. Wardenghen is Belgium's main player, and he can play in many positions in the middle and back field. Anuoha also played under you for the national team. Gibbs is an outstanding player cultivated by Arsenal, and he was also selected by you for the England team. Ireland is the main midfielder of the Ireland national team. Although Teixeira has not been selected for the Brazil national team, his strength is obvious to all. Wijnaldum is the main player of the Netherlands national team. Derbyshire has also played under you, and Fletcher is the main striker of the Scotland national team. But they are so bad together. "
Tang En laughed. "Football is not a game where eleven Maradonas put together can win every battle. Some of these players' styles may not be suitable for Nottingham Forest, some lack fighting spirit, some just want to leave, and some are old and frequently injured. How do you think such a team can achieve good results? "
Hearing Tang En's words, Kerslake also felt that the team had no future.
"Go on with your observations, David."
"Uh … I think there's no problem with the main lineup that Freddy arranged. This is the strongest lineup that Forest can produce. I think the reason for the team's poor results is not the players, but the techniques and tactics."
After Tang En patiently listened to Kerslake's analysis, he pondered for a while before shaking his head. "Techniques and tactics are certainly one of the reasons, but the root of the problem is precisely the players. No matter how good the tactics are, if the players don't execute them, there's nothing that can be done. But this problem can't be rushed. Let's talk about the tactics. McAllister's method of letting Wood play as the attacking midfielder is not advisable, and letting the two flanks lean towards the middle is also not feasible. To be honest, I think the team has already forgotten what Forest's tradition is. "
Tang En spoke with fervor and assurance, as if he had not just taken over the team, but had been teaching in the team for a long time.
Forest had changed managers frequently in the past few years. In less than four and a half seasons, they had already changed seven managers. The direct result of this was that their tactical thinking was in a mess. The players were at a loss, and in the end, they simply could not follow. They still played according to their own habits and style in the game. This was also the reason why the team's results were getting worse.
Tang En was, of course, aware of this. To return the team to the peak, it was impossible to rely on just this half a season. Since he had already decided to let Dunn inherit his career, what he had to do now was just to make the transition. He could not determine Nottingham Forest's development path for the next ten years while he was still in office. That was not something he should be doing. His job was actually very simple. No matter what method he used, he had to let the team recover its combat strength in a short period of time, so as to ensure that they could still stay in the Premier League next season. Just like he said to Dunn, "A bigger stage."
And this was precisely what Tang En was best at.
Wasn't it just leading the team to victory? He had been doing it for 15 years.
"No attacking midfielder; restore the offense on the flanks; the two forwards can't stand in parallel positions, one in front and the other in the back; the two forwards must actively retreat and link up the middle and front field; stabilize the defense … Our work in the near future must start from defense. If we want to stop the momentum of the team's decline in results and restore the low morale, not conceding goals and not losing are the first elements."
Kerslake nodded in agreement with Tang En's opinion. After consecutive losses, the consideration should not be whether the team's offense was strong, but whether their own defense was stable. Defense was the foundation of victory, and defense was also the source of offense. Asking the team to strengthen their offense instead of focusing on defense was putting the cart before the horse.
"Then, regarding the personnel arrangements …" He asked a very crucial question. Would the players who could play as the main force in the team in the past still catch Tang En's eye? If he were to make adjustments to the starting lineup, it would inevitably affect the interests of some people. Then, how would he ensure the atmosphere in the team's locker room?
"It depends on the training state," Tang En answered simply. Then, he thought that Kerslake was actually worried about the locker room, so he asked, "Isn't George the leader in the locker room?"
"The local players all obey him. As for the foreign players … Actually, the locker room is mainly divided into a few factions." Speaking of this, Kerslake also became a little embarrassed. Such a matter of forming cliques had never happened during Tang En's coaching period, and it was absolutely impossible for it to happen.
"The local cliques and the foreign cliques?" Tang En was not surprised by this, nor did he feel embarrassed to talk about it. After all, it did not happen under his rule.
Kerslake nodded, unwilling to say more.
Tang En grinned, not knowing if it was a smile or an expression of helplessness.
"Interesting," he muttered, pinching his chin.
Then, he sat in the chair for a while without saying a word. After about ten minutes, when Kerslake was a little bored from waiting, he raised his wrist to look at his watch and then stood up.
"Let's go, David. I think the players should be here by now, right? "
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"The boss is coming back!" In the locker room, Joe Mattock excitedly announced the news that was definitely not considered news. "I can't believe I can still wait for this day!"
But not many people were interested in his topic. On one hand, the news of Tang En's return was more than two weeks ago, and the fever of discussion had long passed. On the other hand, naturally, the players in the locker room had their own thoughts.
What Kerslake said was the truth. In the current locker room, there was indeed an invisible clique. The English players huddled together, while the other non-English players gathered into some small groups. At the same time, the old players in the Forest team had a harmonious relationship, and there was a gap between the players who joined after Tang En and these old players.
The 33-year-old Brazilian center back, Thiago Silva, was a leading figure in the foreign legion. Because of his age and qualifications, he joined the team in the summer when Tang En had just left the Forest team. He had even played on behalf of the Forest team against Tang En's England team in a friendly match. He had always disapproved of the legendary manager. On one hand, he was influenced by the media, and on the other hand … he felt that for a manager who had abandoned his own team, he really could not understand why the old players would still be so obsessed with him. He felt that it was quite stupid.
Another person who was not interested in the news of Tang En's return was more of a loner. He did not have any group or clique, and he went against the entire team alone. He was Mario Balotelli, the "Super Mario" who clamored to leave every summer, but never left, and the more he clamored, the higher his salary became.
His character and temper made him have no friends in the team. The goalkeeper, Fiorillo, who was also Italian, could not stand Balotelli's arrogant temper and behavior. He believed that he should be the real core of the team, and not George Wood. But the coaches could not clearly recognize this fact, and that was why the team's results were so poor. If Tony Twain still could not recognize his role and value, he believed that his return would only be another tragedy.
The leader of the English players and the old players was naturally George Wood, but Wood would not do something like this to split his own locker room. So, in fact, he was just a spiritual leader, like a totem that was erected by someone. The players who were unhappy with Silva and Balotelli spontaneously gathered around this totem, and used Wood's name to fight against them.
This was the current situation of the Forest team's locker room. With such a locker room that was not united at all, how could they have any fighting power? David Kerslake said that the team's problem was with the tactics, and not the players. Twain was right, the root of the problem was precisely the group of players …
"Stop shouting." Wood appeared behind the excited Mattock. "If you don't hurry up and change, you'll be late. The boss doesn't like people to be late. "
Although he said this to Joe Mattock, his eyes were looking at everyone in the locker room.
Thiago Silva and Balotelli, who had their backs to him, did not say anything.
Mattock, on the other hand, shrunk his neck and went to change into his training clothes.
There were still sounds of discussion in the locker room, but they did not stop what they were doing. The old players and the English players all knew how strong Twain's concept of time was — he used to hold a stopwatch on the training ground to wait for people, and his practice of asking people who were late to run a lap every ten seconds had long been known by the players.
※ ※ ※
"Do you want to prepare a stopwatch?" Kerslake asked on the training ground. At this time, there was not a single player on the training ground, but it was still early to the stipulated time for training to start.
"Do you have it with you now?" Twain asked.
Kerslake took his hand out of his pocket and showed the thing in his hand to Twain to see. It was a black stopwatch.
Twain grinned and said, "You really know me. Let's start when it's time. "
The other coaches also came to the training ground one after another and greeted Twain and Kerslake. Some of them were old people who helped Twain when he was coaching, and some were poached from other clubs. They had a good relationship with Kerslake and were new to Twain.
Among the coaches, he saw Freddy Eastwood, who had returned to being an assistant manager. Twain went up to him and said, "Are you free now, Freddy?"
"Of course, I feel very good now, boss!" Eastwood said to Twain with a grin. "I don't have to wake up in the morning thinking about the tactics the team should use to beat Manchester United anymore."
Twain smiled. A person like Eastwood was suitable to be an assistant manager, and he did not have much ambition. This was also good. He could be Dunn's assistant manager with peace of mind. Eastwood, who was familiar with the team and had a good relationship with the players and fans, would be a competent and excellent assistant manager.
The coaches also came to the training ground early when they saw that the new manager had arrived so early. As a result, a scene was formed: all the coaches were here, waiting for the players on the field.
When Mattock was the first to run out of the locker room and saw the situation, he quickly thought to himself that it was a close shave. If he dawdled and was late, then he would have been the unlucky one. Joe Mattock knew his boss's temper well. Although he usually had a good and harmonious relationship with him, if he violated his rules, then no matter how good their relationship was, he would still be out of luck.
Since he was not late, then there was no need to be afraid of the boss. Mattock smiled and went to greet Twain. "Good morning, boss."
"Good morning, boy. Where are the others? "Twain asked.
"They're all at the back. They'll come out soon …" Mattock looked back in the direction of the locker room behind him. He was not sure if his teammates would really come out soon. But he did hope that Silva and Balotelli would be five or six minutes late …
His wishful thinking did not come to fruition. Before the stipulated assembly time arrived, all the players appeared on the training ground neatly dressed.
Twain looked at this group of his soldiers, his subordinates, and felt very sorry. "You're so lucky, guys." He shook his head. "How I wish you guys could dawdle in the locker room until 10: 15 pm. From 9: 30 pm to 10: 15 pm, 45 minutes, one lap every 10 seconds. I'm not very good at math, so you guys can calculate how many laps you have to run. Maybe the whole morning training session will have to be spent in running, but I don't care. But it's a pity … "He sighed heavily.
"You lucky bastards, but don't be so quick to breathe a sigh of relief." He pointed to the players who were just about to breathe a sigh of relief and said, "From now until the end of the season, we have six months to spend together. I'll have the chance to catch you guys by your tails."
After saying that, Twain paused for a moment. He glanced at all the players on the field. He could see a lot of things from those people's eyes. Some of them looked at him excitedly, full of anticipation for the future; some of them kept their heads down and did not know what they were thinking; and some of them looked away the moment their eyes met, unwilling to have any more contact with him. Of course, there were also people who stubbornly looked at him, as if deliberately reminding Twain of his existence.
After glancing around, Twain spoke again. "I'm a retired man. Look at the white hair on my head." He pointed to his temples and said. "But if any of you think I'm old, you can come and try!"
Among the players, some of their eyes lit up.
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