After the Christmas Eve dinner, Tang En took his leave. He had originally thought that he would have to spend this Christmas "miserably" alone. He did not expect to not only have a "reunion dinner" at Wood's, but also receive a gift. Tying the white scarf around his neck, he would no longer be afraid of the cold this winter.
The next morning, Tang En woke up to find the streets quiet. It was not the lively scene of a family calling friends out to play like he had imagined. It made him think that he had woken up too early. It was not until he woke up and fell asleep several times that he realized something was wrong and took out his watch to find that it was already ten in the morning.
As usual, he went to the mailbox at the door to get the newspaper. He found that two letters had fallen out of the mailbox along with the newspaper.
Tang En did not remember any friends of his who would send letters to his house and not to the club.
He picked them up and opened them. The first one was sent by Yang Yan from Liverpool. Other than the holiday greetings, it also said that she was doing an internship there and would probably be staying for half a year. She was sorry that she could not continue teaching Tang En and tactfully suggested that he cancel the Chinese lessons. After all, Tang En's current level of Chinese was already very high. He was proficient in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Tang En shrugged his shoulders. The Chinese lessons for the past six months were basically in a state of half-stop. On one hand, it was because Yang Yan was always very busy in the last semester. On the other hand, in the past six months, other than leading the team to competitions and secretly learning how to train the team from Kerslake, Tang En had finished reading and studying the football books, lesson plans, and notes that the original Tony Twain had left at home. His failure last season made him realize that he still had many shortcomings. Now that he had a coaching license, it was impossible for him to go to a coaching school to take the test or something. At the same time, in order to not let others know that he actually knew nothing and was a fake, he could only hide at home and learn by himself. He did not dare tell anyone, afraid that it would arouse suspicion and expose him. So, it was good that the time-wasting and meaningless Chinese lessons were canceled.
The second letter was an airmail letter. The postmark had a word that Tang En was familiar with — "Brazil!"
This discovery made Tang En excited. It had been half a year. He had almost forgotten about that person's existence. He thought that the other party must have also forgotten about the experience in the summer. Unexpectedly …
He opened the envelope. It was indeed a Christmas card. A yellow letter floated down from the folded card. Tang En bent over to pick it up, carefully brushed off the dust on it, and then opened it.
"Dear Uncle Tony, you haven't forgotten me, have you? Guess who I am … Alright, you must be frowning and unable to guess, right? "
The naughty tone was everywhere in the graceful handwriting.
"Forget it, let me unravel the mystery myself! If you want to know who I am, hmph … please look at the signature at the end! "
Seeing this, Twain could not help but laugh out loud. I don't need to look at the signature, I know who you are …
"After returning to Brazil, I began to do the model training that I hated the most … But in the end, I still promised my mother that I would work hard to become a supermodel. You want to know why? But I won't tell you, you guess! This time, you won't get an answer even if you see the last date. "
Tang En really shifted his gaze downwards. Indeed, there was no answer …
"It's sunny here in Brazil. It must be raining in England, right? When I'm with the annoying Aunt Lane, it always seems like there's only one topic of conversation. She's always complaining to us about how terrible the weather is in England and envying the sunshine in Brazil. I find it strange that since she hates the wet England so much, why didn't she move to Brazil? Hmm … I think it's better if she doesn't move. Otherwise, I won't have a reason to run away from home the next time. Speaking of running away from home, I haven't apologized to you for what happened last time. My father and mother are very strict with me. They both hope that I can become a model and say that I have a lot of talent in that area … Why can't I tell? I don't like them because they always force me to practice this and that. Although an uncle like you, whose brain is full of football, is also very boring, I think you're still better than my father and mother. "
Hey, kid!
"So, if I run to you again one day, you're not allowed to chase me away, and you're not allowed to take my room rent. So, you must help me keep my Totoro … Ah, hey, Uncle Tony, you're not going to throw it away, are you?! I know adults like you don't like fluffy toys … "
How is that possible? That thing is still in my bedroom, safe and sound. You don't have to throw it away even if you don't like it. It doesn't take up space anyway …
"… Actually, I just wanted to write 'Merry Christmas, Uncle Tony' on the card and send it out. But I suddenly have a lot to say to you, so I just wrote it on the paper. Dad and Mom never listen to me, so I can only say it to you. I hope you won't find me annoying. A football coach shouldn't be that busy, right? "
If I received a letter from you, of course I'm not busy at all, kid.
"Hmm, I think you shouldn't be busy either. You look so relaxed all day, as if you've lost your job. Okay, okay, I've said what I wanted to say. Finally, I wish you a Merry Christmas, Uncle Tony! "
It was signed "Thinking of you, Jordie," with a smiley face next to it.
This was perhaps the card that made Tang En the happiest he had ever received. He originally thought they were just passersby in his life, but he did not expect them to meet again. When he thought of the little girl's playful smile and tone of voice, as well as her crisp "Uncle Tony," Tang En felt that this damned rainy day was as cute as the sunshine on a Brazilian beach!
What a beautiful Christmas! Tang En, in his pajamas, stood at the door with the letter in his hand, smiling foolishly, forgetting to go in.
※ ※ ※
The team resumed training in the afternoon. Tang En went to the training base with an eye-catching white scarf around his neck. The players were already waiting for him on the training ground.
"Merry Christmas, guys! How are you guys? "Standing in front of the players, he waved and asked loudly.
"Very good, Boss."
"Not bad, Boss."
The players answered one after another. Tang En noticed that Dawson was not in high spirits. He knew it must be because he would be leaving the team in two more matches.
"Hey, Michael, did your girlfriend kick you out of bed again?" he suddenly asked. "Why do you look so down?"
"Ah? No! No! How dare she kick … "Dawson only realized he had been tricked halfway through his sentence. The teammates around him had long been in a mess of laughter. "Boss, you're tricking me again!" he said with some grievance.
"Alright, alright." Tang En waved his hand to signal everyone to stop laughing. "Guys, on the 27th and 28th, we have to play two consecutive league matches. First away, then home. It's a test. I hope you guys have recharged your batteries and recharged them before Christmas! I feel itchy all over after not playing for ten days. How about you guys? "he asked, raising his voice.
"Same, Boss!" The players answered loudly.
"Very good. The fourth from the bottom is not a position we should be in. Beat all our opponents, and we'll go to the Premier League next season! "Tang En clenched his fist.
Two days later, on the 27th of December, at Norwich City's Carrow Road stadium, Tang En's Nottingham Forest team defeated the current top-ranked home team 1: 0 with a tenacious defense and a sneak attack. Their points ranking rose one place, from the fourth from the bottom to the fifth from the bottom. Norwich City had obviously underestimated their opponent at home. In the face of the Forest team's tight defense, they could not break through the situation for 79 minutes. They became more and more impatient as they played. In the end, their defender made a mistake and gave a gift, which Tang En naturally accepted without hesitation. The Forest team looked bad on the field, but they won. For the Forest team, this game was not as simple as getting three points. More important than the points and ranking was the return of confidence. Tang En used the victory to make the players believe that they could beat any team, whether they were ranked first or last. They could win. This played a crucial role in future games.
The Forest team that won in Norwich City took the bus back to Nottingham that night without stopping. The next day at the City Ground stadium, they faced West Ham United, who had been relegated from the Premier League to the First Division.
This opponent had a very special meaning to Tang En. On January 4 of that year, in the third round of the EFL Cup, he faced West Ham United in this stadium. He fired his first shot in coaching the team and confirmed the direction he was striving for — — a natural coach. Now, almost a year had passed. He had experienced a lot in between, separation and reunion, reunion and parting. He did not lead the team to successfully advance to the Premier League, and West Ham United fulfilled his "curse" at the press conference to be relegated to the First Division. Meeting this team again at the City Ground stadium made him feel as if he had returned to the starting point.
The opponent had not changed, the location had not changed, and the goal had not changed — — to go to the Premier League at the end of the season. This time, I, Tang En, will not fail!
On December 28, at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, Nottingham Forest beat West Ham United, who was previously ranked eighth in the league, by 2: 0.
The Forest team, which had won four consecutive games in the league, also rose from 20th to 18th. As Pierce Brosnan wrote in the newspaper:
Tony Twain's team is on a highway heading in the right direction!
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
