Twain resisted the urge to go to the sidelines to see what was going on. Instead, he retracted his gaze and returned his attention to training. Although he still did not understand why Michael was here, he felt that he would be able to find him and ask for the answer after the training was over.
It was just that when he first saw Michael, he thought it was an illusion. He wondered if he had transmigrated again. Back to 2003? Wouldn't that be an endless loop where he couldn't get out?
He glanced at the players training on the field and was relieved to see the old Bale. If he had transmigrated back to 2003, Bale would never have appeared in front of him.
Since he was sure that he had not transmigrated again, Twain was relieved and threw himself into training.
The 15 minutes of public filming was very short. The reporters did not feel satisfied and wanted to continue filming when the security guards appeared in front of them.
The reporters reluctantly packed up their equipment and left the training base. They waited outside the gate, waiting for the end of training to come in again for an interview. The fans could stay on the sidelines of the training ground, not subject to the "15 minutes" restriction.
Would there be some reporters among the fans in disguise? At least from the experience of the past decade, the probability was very small.
As tomorrow was a match day, there was only one training session in the morning and a break in the afternoon. The team would gather at the hotel in the evening and spend the night together before going to the stadium to prepare for the next day.
In today's training session, the team mainly practiced set pieces. This was a reserved program before every game. Set pieces were very useful when breaking the deadlock.
However, the team's training results were very average today, and there were often some mistakes. For example, Gareth Bale could not send the football to the designated position, causing his teammates in the middle to run empty time and time again.
What was the reason for this?
Twain decided to stop the training. He had to find out for himself.
"Bale." He waved to the little monkey, motioning for him to come over.
Bale ran over with his head down.
"What's the matter? You're not paying attention." Twain crossed his arms and looked at Bale.
"Uh, nothing …"
"Quarreled with your girlfriend?"
"No, no …"
"Then what's the matter? Tell me. Is there anything that I'm not allowed to know? "
Bale lowered his head and hesitated for a moment before looking up at Twain. "I'm a little distracted when I think about this being the boss' last training session …"
Tang En did not know whether to laugh or cry. So it turned out that the problem was with him …
He looked at the training ground in front of him. Due to the pause in training, everyone was looking at him. Only then did he see the same emotion in the players' eyes as Gareth Bale.
To be honest, he had once lamented about his last training session, but that was early in the morning. Once the training started, he stopped thinking about it. Everything was normal. Other than the fact that there were more reporters, everything else was the same as usual.
There would definitely be people who would be reluctant …
Tang En realized that this kind of emotion was not one that should be shown during training. This would definitely affect the final results of the training. A place kick was a very important training item. In tomorrow's game, the final victory might be decided by a place kick.
Bale still stood in front of him with his head down, like a child who had done something wrong. But what did he do wrong?
Twain looked at Bale's submissive look and sighed.
"Follow me," he said and walked straight to the players.
Bale obediently followed behind Tang En, dragging his feet all the way to his teammates.
The two assistant managers and six coaches watched as Tang En walked into their work area. No one said anything. Tony Twain did not usually interfere with their work during training because all the plans had been arranged during the work meeting on Monday. But if he called a halt to the training and intended to say something personally, then it must be something very important.
Tang En walked straight into the spontaneous circle formed by the players and stood in the middle. Bale stopped beside Aaron Mitchell. Mitchell lowered his head and bent over to ask him in a low voice, "Hey, little monkey. What did Boss say to you? "
"He asked why my performance was a little off."
Mitchell pinched his chin and said, "Your performance today was indeed a little off."
"Aren't you the same?" Bale nudged Mitchell's waist with his elbow.
Mitchell chuckled.
"How did you answer him?" Mitchell asked in a low voice after he finished laughing.
"I told Boss that my performance was off because it was his last training session."
Mitchell was silent for a moment when he heard this answer. If Boss found him and asked him the same question, his answer would probably be similar to Bale's.
"Did he say anything to you?" Mitchell asked again after the silence had subsided.
"He said 'follow me.'" Bale pointed to Tony Twain, who was already standing in the middle of the crowd.
The two men turned their eyes back to Tang En.
Their Boss stood in the middle of the crowd and raised his hands. He had something to say.
"I can see something in your eyes, guys." Tang En began to make his impromptu speech. This might be his last speech in the training session?
"But I want to say that those things are wrong. Do you know what you are doing? This is training. We have a very, very important game tomorrow. Do any of you think that this last game is irrelevant because we have already gotten into the top six of the league tournament? "
Tang En turned around and surveyed the surroundings, looking at the players surrounding him.
"If you still have the leisure to consider this on the training ground as my last training session, then it means that you really think so. You can easily win the game against Manchester United, or you don't care about the final result? But that's not what I want, guys. "
Tang En stopped to catch his breath. The sun was a little strong today. Exposed to the sun, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. He felt a little short of breath, which reminded him once again how wise his decision to retire was.
"I know some of you are not from the original batch of Forest players. In fact, there are not many people like that left now. I understand the feelings of those old players. " Tang En looked in the direction where Bale was. Perhaps it was a coincidence, perhaps it was intentional, or perhaps it was a natural habit. To Bale's left stood Mitchell, and to Mitchell's left stood Joe Mattock. The person standing behind Mattock was Agbonlahor. To Bale's right stood Koulou. To Koulou's right was Gago. In front of Gago stood Chris Cohen. Only George Wood was not among them. He stood on the opposite side with his teammates who were relatively considered "new players".
"But it is precisely because of this that I feel even more dissatisfied. Remember the words on the wall of the players' tunnel at the Crimson Stadium? 'Other than victory, there is still victory!' This is the belief of Nottingham Forest. Have you all forgotten? "
Tang En stared straight into the eyes of the old players, trying to see something different from before in their eyes.
Bale stood up again. In the current team, only he and Wood had been with Tang En the longest and had the most seniority. But it was impossible for Wood to do such a thing, so only Bale could stand up for him.
"But, Boss. We don't want to lose the game, nor do we think we can easily win the game. We just … just think that this is your last training session, and we're a little distracted … uh, distracted. "
"Then how can you make me believe that you won't also be distracted in tomorrow afternoon's game? You know, that's the last game of my coaching career. It's much more important than the last training session. Isn't that so? " Tang En winked at Bale. He said it in a joking tone, but Bale would not take it as a real joke.
Some of the "new players" laughed. It looked like they did not understand the Boss well enough.
Tang En did not care about the sudden laughter. He just stared at Bale, insisting that he give him an answer, and an answer that satisfied him.
What could Bale say? He could say, "I don't think we'll make that kind of mistake, Boss." But the Boss would certainly not believe him, and he might even anger him. Although the Boss looked a lot gentler after his comeback, no one dared to look down on him. Think about what he said on the first day he came back to the team: If any of you think I'm old, you can come and try!
How powerful it was.
He was just hugging his ambition under the shell of a kind old man. If there was any stimulation, it might just explode.
"I can't guarantee it, Boss …" Under Tang En's intense gaze, Bale chose to admit his mistake honestly.
"Then forget about the boring idea of 'the last training session'." Twain waved his hand. "Just like any other day, continue training. If I see anyone being absent-minded in training again, I don't mind crossing his name off the starting list and the squad list. "
After Tang En said that, he walked over to Kerslake and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll leave this to you, David."
"Don't worry, Tony," Kerslake said to Tang En's back.
Tang En walked out of the crowd and returned to the sidelines, once again becoming a "spectator."
Then he glanced to the east. The fans were still there. The scene that had just happened on the training ground was an interesting interlude for them, and they were excitedly discussing something.
Tang En's mouth twitched. Look at these fans. Their behavior is more normal than my own players. Really …
Among the fans, Michael Bernard was clearly still the core. He was the focus of everyone's attention. Everyone unconsciously stood around him, surrounding him in the center. However, he did not speak much. He was not at all like the football hooligan leader and fan leader who had dominated this area decades ago. Wearing a shirt, trousers, and leather shoes, he looked like an ordinary office worker.
It would be even better if he had a briefcase under his arm.
Tang En thought somewhat viciously in his heart.
After the training ended, he must look for him, but … it might not be soon.
Tang En thought of the media that should still be waiting outside the training base's main gate. Once they received the notice to come in, he would definitely not be able to escape.
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After being "taught a lesson" by Tang En, the team's training finally returned to normal. No one dared to be absent-minded under the boss's eyes. They were even more serious and hardworking than before. Because no one wanted to miss out on tomorrow's important match because of a distraction. After all, that was the last match of the boss's coaching career. Although Tang En did not let them think about it, it was impossible. It was just that mature professional players knew how to temporarily suppress their inner thoughts, or how to turn them into motivation.
After the training ended, the players waited for Tang En to speak again. However, Tang En waved his hands and refused.
"I've said what I need to say. Saying anything else would just be repeating what I've said before. I'm not interested in wasting your time. Go back to shower and change your clothes. Don't let me catch a cold! "Tang En added before he turned to walk towards the reporters." Oh, by the way. Your training in the morning was excellent. "
Tang En did not walk towards the fans. He knew that the restless reporters would not let him go.
Sure enough, as soon as he walked to the exit of the training ground, he was surrounded by many reporters.
Countless microphones, recording pens, and mobile phones reached out to him.
"Tomorrow is the last match. Do you have anything to say, Mr. Tang?"
"I'm very calm, thank you."
"How confident are you in beating Mourinho's team?"
"I don't know. That's not up to me. You should ask God. I only know that my goal is to win. "
"As long as Manchester United wins against you, they can defend their league title …"
"I know. I'm very happy that I can encounter such an interesting thing before I retire." Tang En laughed. This time, he genuinely laughed because it was really interesting. He worked hard to get his team out of the situation of having to look at others' faces in the last round of the league tournament, but he did not expect that Manchester United would need to look at his face.
He wasn't a good person with a compassionate heart who would let people off the hook when he didn't pursue them. On the contrary, he was so bad that he was very happy to kick Mourinho at the crucial moment and kick him into the abyss.
Yes, he did drink with Mourinho in Brazil, but that was all in the past. Who asked him to become a manager again by a freak combination of factors, and he just happened to be Mourinho's opponent?
"Do you feel nostalgic for the last training session?"
If the reporter had asked Tang En a day earlier, Tang En would probably have nodded very seriously. But Tang En had done the nostalgic thing yesterday, and he did not want to do it again today. Besides, he was already fifty years old. What was there to be reluctant to part with?
He shook his head. "I'm only thinking about tomorrow's game. What you said is not in my consideration."
There were more reporters today, and there were more questions. Tang En patiently dealt with them one by one and did not walk away impatiently like before. His temper really seemed to be much better than before.
The reporters surrounded him and asked questions for about twenty minutes until Tang En waved his hand and did not accept any more interviews.
Behind him, the players had long left, and the fans on the east side had also mostly left.
Tang En took a look and did not see Michael among the people who stayed. It looked like he would have to find time to go to Burns' bar to find him. Anyway, he had the whole afternoon, so he was not in a hurry.
Just as Tang En turned to walk to the parking lot, he suddenly heard someone call his name from behind. The voice was very, very familiar.
Turning around, Tang En saw Michael Bernard standing under a tree by the road!
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