Bill Shankly was the greatest football manager of his time. He led the previously unknown Liverpool to become a champion team. He left behind many well-known football quotes, the most famous of which was, of course, "Football has nothing to do with life and death. Football is higher than life and death."
But he suddenly announced his resignation at the most glorious moment of his coaching career, which shocked the English football world at the time. Shankly's reason was that he wanted to spend more time with his wife, and he died of a heart attack seven years later.
Twain was not by Shankly's side at the time, and he did not know if Shankly made such a decision just to spend time with his wife. But from the perspective of a colleague, he felt that he could understand Shankly's actions at the time. Putting aside the thoughts of health and taking care of his wife, Shankly's departure was a good thing for Liverpool from the perspective of the team.
Because if he did not leave, how could the unknown Paisley come out of nowhere? One had to know that before this, Paisley was just an ordinary player and had not proved himself in the coaching position at all. And Paisley and Shankly could be regarded as completely opposite types of managers. Shankly liked to give encouragement and words of encouragement to the team through the media, which was quite similar to Twain. Paisley was more pragmatic and low-key, and Dunn was very similar to him.
It was a coincidence, but it seemed to be the will of the heavens.
Twain and Dunn were like Shankly and Paisley in the past.
Bill Shankly brought Liverpool from the Second Division to the top league in England at the time, the English Football League First Division. In terms of the number of titles won, he certainly could not compare to his successor, Bob Paisley, but he was indeed the founder of Paisley. It was he who made Liverpool a force to be reckoned with in English football. With his foundation, Paisley created the great achievement of "nineteen titles in nine years." But these achievements could not be simply attributed to the foundation that Shankly had laid. One had to know that Shankly's reputation at the time was unparalleled. His influence at Liverpool was like Busby at Manchester United. No matter who became his successor, the pressure was enormous. But Paisley, a low-key successor, had always put himself in the position of "interim manager", but led Liverpool to break away from Shankly's influence and accomplish what Shankly had failed to do.
Would Dunn be like this in the future? Lead Nottingham Forest away from Tony Twain's influence and create his own Forest dynasty?
Tang En was looking forward to that day.
He chose Dunn as his successor after careful consideration. He had confidence in Dunn and it was definitely not the result of a moment of impulse.
The story of Shankly was a household name in England. If Evan had really tried to understand football, then he should know the story. But did he know the rest of the story?
Tang En did not know.
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After once again declining Evan's invitation to stay, Tang En led the team back to Nottingham to continue their journey in the Premier League. In the FA Cup, after getting past Dunn, Tang En simply gave up on the competition. Nottingham Forest, which was made up almost entirely of players from the second team and youth team, lost to Everton in the next round.
For many Forest supporters, the loss was a great pity for them. Because they thought this was Nottingham Forest's only chance to return to Europe, the Forest team would also be able to take advantage of this opportunity to revitalize. But the team actually lost the game. And from the looks of the game, Tang En did not care about the FA Cup victory.
After the loss of the game, there were some slight "objections" from the media. They thought that Tang En must still think that the FA Cup was an insignificant competition, but he did not know that for the Forest team, the FA Cup was the last straw to clutch at.
But as the team's ranking in the Premier League rose, the voices of criticism slowly disappeared. Because they could see Tang En's intentions — from the start, he did not expect to rely on the FA Cup to get the team a ticket to Europe. A cup like the FA Cup was too random and had always been known as a "hotbed of cold wins." Tang En was not willing to gamble on this. In comparison, the Premier League, which had a long competition schedule, was more suitable for the current Nottingham Forest.
By decisively giving up on the FA Cup, it also gave the Forest team enough stamina to ensure that they would not collapse in the end due to fighting on two fronts. It would be like drawing water with a sieve.
The team also agreed with Tang En's strategy. Seeing the rising rankings, they were also full of confidence in this "fire-fighting manager."
Ever since that day, Evan Doughty did not come looking for Tang En again to discuss the topic of him staying.
Tang En did not know if Evan had given up. In any case, he had already made up his mind and did not care how others persuaded him.
In the stands of the home Premier League match, Tang En unexpectedly heard voices from the fans.
In the Robin Hood Stand, some fans hung up a banner that read, "We hope to see you again next season, Tony."
Although there was only one banner, Tang En saw it. He was not worried that it was Evan Doughty's idea. The club chairman had a very low status in the hearts of the fans. Even if he wanted the fans to do so, they would not cooperate.
This must have been a spontaneous action by the fans.
It was no secret that he would only work for the Forest team for half a season. Back then, the media had all reported about it. It was just that at that time, many people had expressed doubts about whether he could lead the Forest team out of its predicament. So even if he only worked for half a season, no one felt that there was anything wrong with it. They might even think, "Tony Tang En does not have confidence in himself, so he chose to only sign a contract for half a season …"
The fans naturally knew about Tang En's agreement to only work for half a season. However, they had always hoped that Tang En would stay. From the beginning of the interview, they had said so. Now, as the end of the season approached, they simply put their feelings into action and directly expressed them.
So, Tang En saw the banner urging him to stay in the home stands.
Two days later, in Wilford, Tang En saw the banner again. Tang En clearly saw the people holding the banner. It was not John and the others, but another group of people. They probably belonged to another fan group. Tang En did not have a personal friendship with them.
The banner hung alone outside the barbed wire fence, but it attracted a lot of attention. Before the media left, they took pictures of the banner. The players training on the field would also look at the banner from time to time. Even his colleagues in the coaching unit would study the banner in the distance with interest during their break.
"I think if I were a fan, I would do the same …" Freddy Eastwood said as he looked at the banner swaying in the wind in the distance.
His words received the approval of most people. Tang En was that isolated minority.
"Looks like you guys don't want me to leave?"
"That's an interesting question, Tony. Who wants you to leave? "David Kerslake followed up.
Tang En looked into his colleagues' eyes and knew they were not lying. But he had to leave.
He did not want to continue on this topic, so he could only lower his head and touch the tip of his nose with a smile.
Everyone knew that Tang En had his reasons, so they did not continue the topic.
Tang En raised his head again and looked at the banner in the distance in a daze.
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When the weekend came, Nottingham Forest was still playing at home. This time, Tang En saw more similar banners in the stands, all asking him to stay.
Even the live broadcast cameras noticed it and gave the banners in the stands a few shots during the live broadcast of the game.
In this game, Nottingham Forest achieved the final victory. Their ranking continued to rise, and they had already reached seventh place.
Such a result made the fans even more reluctant to let Tang En go.
After the game, there were already fans who spontaneously formed a group to persuade Tang En to stay. The name was "Tony Stay." They quickly set up the group's official website and called for more fans to join in, forming a force that could not be ignored to keep Tang En.
After that, there were banners urging Tang En to stay on the training ground and on the field. Tang En chose to remain silent in the face of the fans' cries and the attention of the media.
The reporters wanted him to express his views on this, but Tang En used the reason of "I only want to focus on the team now" to reject their questions.
His silence did not mean that the media had nothing to say. What did the media do? They could make the dead open their mouths to speak, much less a living person.
The next day, such a headline appeared in the newspapers: "Tony Tang En's Silence in Response to the Fans' Call, Hesitant."
If you don't say anything, they'll just find a random hat to wear first. The more silent you are, the easier it will be. Even if you're dead, they have a way to make him speak.
As expected …
"We can't go on like this … Tony." A large number of fans gathered outside the Wilford training ground. They held Tang En's portrait and banners urging him to stay. It was so loud that it had completely disrupted the normal training order. Looking at these people, assistant manager David Kerslake helplessly spread his hands and said to Tang En.
The players looked at these passionate fans and also felt a little at a loss. Of course, they knew that this was all because of the boss, but they could not say that. They could only secretly look at Tony Tang with worry written on their faces.
Tang En frowned as he looked at the increasing number of fans gathering around. Since a few days ago, the number of fans gathered outside the training ground had clearly increased. They were all here with only one purpose — to make him change his decision to leave the team at the end of the season.
However, he really did not expect that an event organized by the fans could get so many people to respond.
Should I be happy with my charm, or should I feel a headache because of it?
Tang En thought to himself.
"You guys continue training. I'll go talk to them." Tang En waved his hands and let the team continue training. He turned and walked to the side of the training ground.
Looking at Tang En's receding figure, Eastwood spread his hands and sighed. "This is the trouble of being too popular …"
The fans standing outside the field saw Tang En walking toward them, but they did not excitedly clamor. Instead, they quieted down and watched quietly as Tang En walked in front of them and looked them in the eye only separated by the barbed wire.
"What should I say, guys …" Tang En shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm very grateful that you think so highly of me, but you've really interfered with our normal training … I don't want to do closed-door training anymore."
"Tony, we just want you to stay." Among them, the person who was clearly the leader stood up. Tang En noticed that the T-shirt he was wearing had his own portrait printed on it, with the words "stay" written under it. And there were many people wearing this T-shirt. It was really organized. They even printed the theme T-shirt …
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Although David Kerslake blew the whistle to continue training, the players on the field seemed a little distracted. Some of them would glance at the area where the fans gathered from time to time. The boss was still talking to them.
"Hey, George. Do you think the boss will stay? "
Joe Mattock asked Wood, who was in the same group as him, while they were practicing passing the ball in groups.
Wood had yet to answer, but his teammates at the side pricked up their ears and attentively waited for Wood's answer. Everyone knew that Wood had the closest relationship with Tang En in the team. If there was anyone who understood the boss the most, it would definitely be Wood.
After Wood received Mattock's pass, he did not immediately pass it back. Instead, he adjusted the ball twice under his feet. He took advantage of this short period of time to think. When he passed the ball back, he shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
Sighs of regret and disappointment immediately sounded around them.
"Why not?" Mattock passed the ball back again. "I think he quite enjoys his work and football. Won't he change his mind at the last moment? "
"I don't know. But this time, I don't think he'll come back. "Wood also passed the ball and his answer to Mattock.
"Intuition?" Mattock continued to pass the ball back to Wood.
"Yes, intuition." Wood passed the ball back to Mattock again.
This time, Mattock did not pass the ball back to Wood. Instead, he stepped on the ball and sighed.
"Why doesn't the boss want to stay for a few more seasons? I don't think there's anything wrong with his body at all … "
This time, no one answered his question, not even George Wood. He turned his head to look outside the training ground. Tang En was still negotiating with the fans, and the voices coming from there had become much softer.
"Why don't you persuade him to stay? Aren't you the captain?"
The person who asked the question was not Mattock, but Balotelli, who was next to him.
For this black Italian, Tony Twain had conquered him in just a few short months. Now, he only wanted to play for Tang En. If it were any other manager, he was afraid that he would not listen. Now that he heard that Tang En would leave, how could he not be concerned?
Wood retracted his gaze and looked at Balotelli. Wood did not hate this person who had always looked down on his authority as captain, but he did not like him either.
"Everyone has their own life." He replied expressionlessly. "I have no right to interfere."
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"That's enough, guys. In order to cooperate with the team's training, I hope you can leave and not do this kind of thing again. As for your wishes, I will seriously consider them. Please give me a few days, when the time comes, I will specially hold a press conference to inform you of the results of my consideration. "Tang En said to his loyal fans through the barbed wire.
"Our team is now in a very critical period. Whether we can return to Europe next season depends on our performance during this period. I don't want them to be disturbed … Look at them, they don't even have the mood to train now. "Tang En pointed to the training ground behind him.
The fans could also see the team's performance. Indeed, ever since they appeared at the side of the training ground with great fanfare, the group of players appeared to be a little distracted. Some mistakes that would never occur during training began to appear frequently.
They also knew that they were interfering with the team's normal training, but they wanted to keep Tang En so badly that they had to do something extraordinary.
"Disperse, guys. Thank you for your support for me and the team. I will definitely seriously consider your request. "
After saying this, Tang En stood at the other end of the barbed wire and looked at the fans opposite.
Under his gaze, the leader of the group was the first to express his opinion. "Alright, Tony. We also don't want it to affect the team's training and results. Thank you for coming here to talk to us. We know that you are a busy man. "
Then, the leader waved his hand and was the first to turn around and leave. The others followed behind him and left the training ground one after another. Of course, many of them did not forget to look back at Tang En who was standing at the side of the field. Tang En still stood at the side of the field and watched them leave.
A voice asked in Tang En's heart: Will you seriously consider their request?
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