The transfer budget announced by Nottingham Forest last summer was 3.5 million pounds. Collymore had bought so many players, but only Gunnarsson, Rebrov, and Gareth Taylor could play as the main force. Entering winter, Nottingham Forest did not announce their transfer budget. The media told readers that Manager Tony Twain's actual investment in the transfer market had already exceeded the summer budget, and that most of the players were young players. So, was the 3.6 million pounds spent this time worth it? The media put a big question mark on Tang En's actions in the January transfer market. Almost all of them were young players who had not proven their abilities in the adult team. What would they bring to this team? Vitality and healthy competition, or impulsiveness and lack of experience?
At the press conference, Tang En told the media and the fans who had doubts in their hearts that these people were the future of Nottingham Forest. 3.6 million seemed like a lot, but they were investing in the future. In a few years, compared to their value at that time, the current 3.6 million was not worth mentioning.
The winter transfer period was basically to replenish the existing lineup. Tang En's bold and decisive adjustment of the lineup was also a last resort. Considering the stability of the team, Tang En told Evan that he no longer needed to bring in anyone from the transfer market.
Next, he would seriously deal with the English Premier League teams. On January 22nd, the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals, Nottingham Forest hosted Bolton Wanderers.
Bolton Wanderers was a very special team in English football because they were very international. Although internationalization was nothing new after the start of the English Premier League, and Chelsea had previously set a record of not having a single English player in the starting eleven in the English Premier League, Bolton Wanderers' internationalization was not the same as Chelsea's.
Look at the current Bolton Wanderers team of international players: Brazilian striker Jardel, Danish striker Henrik Pedersen, Nigerian midfielder Jaya Okocha, French midfielder Ibrahim Ba, French midfielder Yuri Djorkaeff, Greek midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos, Danish defensive midfielder Per Frandsen, French defender Bruno N'Gotty, and Spanish defender Ivan Campo.
These players were quite famous, but the youngest among them was the substitute striker, the twenty-eight-year-old Henrik Pedersen. The oldest was the former world champion France's main midfielder, Djorkaeff, who was thirty-five years old. Most of these players were has-been star players who could not play in their original teams, so they transferred to Bolton Wanderers. In addition, the current main striker in the team, Kevin Davies, was only twenty-six years old, but because he became famous too early, he became a burden. Now, he had joined Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer from Southampton after drifting from place to place.
This was an interesting phenomenon. In the English Premier League, there were few clubs keen to buy has-been veterans as the main force of the team. These players were not expensive, but their salary requirements were not low. They were still famous, but their strength was not as good as before. Logically speaking, with the qualifications of a Premier League team, although Bolton Wanderers did not have much money and could not buy the foreign superstars, it was not a problem to buy the domestic excellent players.
There was a historical origin behind this, and it had a lot to do with Manchester United. In 1958, after the Munich air disaster, the golden era Manchester United almost disintegrated. Sir Busby, who had narrowly escaped death, reorganized the team and continued to play with the Manchester United youth team and the second team players. Manchester United's misfortune and the arduous struggle after the disaster aroused the sympathy and appreciation of the entire football world. For most English people, in the past and now, football was a sport for the brave. Even if they broke their legs, they had to insist on playing until the end of the game before going to the hospital. Therefore, the fighting spirit shown by Manchester United won everyone's respect. Then, three months after the air disaster, Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers both reached the FA Cup final. In this game, Manchester United, who suffered heavy losses, not only lost to Bolton Wanderers, but also suffered extreme humiliation from the Bolton Wanderers fans.
They made an outrageous gesture at the scene: nearly a thousand Bolton fans waved their hands and made humming noises, imitating the behavior of a plane crash to humiliate Manchester United. This lack of basic sympathy led to the isolation of the Bolton team, and there was even more sympathy for Manchester United.
Since then, Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers became sworn enemies. Bolton Wanderers had been drifting between the English Premier League and League One for nearly a decade. It was said that one of the reasons was that the teams in the North West region of England gave it their all when they played Bolton Wanderers. Furthermore, it was difficult for Bolton Wanderers to buy good players in England. They had to look to the international market to find these outdated or soon-to-be-outdated players to help the team avoid relegation.
It was quite pitiful. The sins committed by the fans had to be repaid by the team. This was part of the tradition of English football. The club and the fans were inseparable. The fans fanatically followed the team, and the team would never abandon their supporters.
Of course, Tang En did not intend to use this past as the motivation for the team to defeat Bolton Wanderers. Manchester United had nothing to do with the Forest team. Moreover, Manchester United had once slaughtered the Forest team 8: 1 in an away game in the English Premier League. The relationship between the two teams was not close. On the contrary, Manchester United's arch-rival, Arsenal, had a closer relationship with the Forest team because Arsenal was built by the Forest team.
Tang En did not want to care about the enmity between Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers. However, thanks to this enmity, it gave him an opportunity to take advantage of it. Bolton Wanderers had been unable to buy any high-quality players. Therefore, although they were in the English Premier League, their strength was not strong. Most of the players on the team were older. Although they were experienced, they were much weaker in terms of physical fitness compared to the young Forest team.
Under the circumstances of continuous battles, injuries had already appeared in the Bolton Wanderers team. For example, their main striker, Kevin Davies, was injured in the last game against Portsmouth. If he wanted to play in a game like the EFL Cup semi-final, he could only play with his injury, which would greatly reduce his power.
The other striker, Judd, seemed to be born in the wrong place. At 1.89 meters tall, he should not be in Brazil, but in some European country. His rough technique was the main reason why he was neglected by the powerhouses. Although he did not score in the first seven games of the Bolton Wanderers and was benched by the club, his height and headers were still a big threat to Tang En. No one knew when such a player would suddenly explode and bite the enemy. Tang En did not want to be the person who was bitten. Just one day after the end of the last round of the English Premier League, there was news from the transfer market that made him happy. The 29-year-old Brazilian striker was loaned to the last-place Serie A team, Ancona, to help the team avoid relegation. His departure made Tang En heave a sigh of relief. If this black tower played in the EFL Cup semi-final, then his impact would be a severe test for the Forest team's new defensive line.
As for Djorkaeff, he would turn 36 in a little more than a month. He could only play as a substitute in the team, and his chances of playing were getting fewer and fewer. Apart from his experience, everything else was draining away from his lifeless body.
The biggest threat on the team was the Nigerian, Okocha. He was excellent at dribbling and could also pass to assist. He was the current core of the Bolton Wanderers' midfield and the initiator of the entire team's offense.
If it had been before the last English Premier League match, Tang En might have had a headache on how to defend against this African. But now he had a plan.
There was still a problem with George Wood's defensive position, which could not be helped. He could only make up for it by continuously competing and accumulating experience. But his ability to mark people one-on-one was at its peak. When the time came, that troublesome Okocha would find his opponent even more troublesome.
※ ※ ※
On the morning of January 22nd, the atmosphere of the big battle had not yet enveloped the skies of Nottingham. It was a rare sunny day. Tang En woke up early and went to the Forest team's training base.
According to the team's regulations, before every home match, the players on the roster had to arrive at Wilford in the morning. Then, they would take the team bus to a hotel near the stadium to eat, rest for lunch, and then take the bus to the stadium for the match.
Now Tang En liked to arrive earlier than the others before home matches, and then chat with Eastwood, who was warming up on horseback in the empty training base. This was a rare time to relax before a match. After the team had assembled, Tang En and Walker would lock themselves in the hotel room to study their opponents.
"Good morning, Sir." Eastwood appeared in front of Tang En on time on his horse and greeted Tang En loudly.
Every time he saw this young man, a smile would unconsciously appear on Tang En's face. Eastwood was such a cheerful and optimistic person, and he could also make the people around him cheerful and optimistic.
"Good morning, Freddy. How are you feeling today? "He looked up at the Romani Gypsy on the horse.
Eastwood jumped down from the horse. "Very good, Sir. I think I can score in this afternoon's match. "
Tang En smiled. This kid had been scoring continuously since he joined the team at the beginning of January. Three goals in two matches perfectly proved his ability. Now, whether it was the newspapers, television, or radio, there was no longer any criticism or doubt about this amateur Romani Gypsy player.
If you succeed, everyone will naturally shut up.
Looking at Eastwood, who was stroking his beloved horse, Tang En nodded and said, "Very good, Freddy. You will start today's match. You may have a new partner then. "
"That 'Telephone Pole'?" Eastwood was referring to Crouch, which was the nickname he gave to his new teammate. Crouch quickly accepted the nickname because everyone on the team called him that. He was tall and thin, so he really deserved the nickname "Telephone Pole."
Tang En found a problem. It seemed that those who were taller were more dull or honest, such as Robert Huth and Crouch, who had just joined the team. Although Crouch was not dull, he was honest and had a good temper. When Eastwood called him by his nickname, he was not angry. When everyone started calling him by his nickname, he was very happy. Because Walker had told this new player that if the players called him by his new nickname, it meant that they had accepted him.
"Yes, but I don't know when he will play." Tang En shook his head. Who could say for sure what would happen in a match? If a football match only relied on words, thoughts in the brain, and tactics, where the results could be predicted based on round after round of deduction, there would not be so many people who would like it.
The suspense of not knowing what the future would be was the most heart-wrenching.
"Also, Freddy. I don't think your relationship with George is very good. "The two of them would work together many times on the field in the future. If their relationship was not good, it might drag the team down. This was not what Tang En wanted to see. No matter how strong the team was, it could fall apart because of the locker room problems. He had to kill this kind of development directly in the "possible."
Speaking of this problem, Eastwood was silent for a while. Optimistic and cheerful people also had past events that they were not willing to talk about. Originally, he had a good future in West Ham United. If he had continued to play like this, he might have played in West Ham United's first team by now. But that serious injury ended everything. He was laid off by West Ham United's youth team. After his injury healed, he could not find a team willing to accept him. In the end, he could only play in the amateur league. The training time for amateur games was not guaranteed. It was a far cry from the training he received in West Ham United. When he was not training, he helped buy cars in his father's second-hand car dealership and worked as a salesman.
Sometimes, when he was free, he would stare into the distance in a daze. Would this kind of life continue for a lifetime? When his father was old, he would take over the dealership, sell second-hand cars, and raise a few children with his wife. Then, when they grew up, he would send them to play football. Every day, he would go to the club to pick them up and watch his dreams come alive in his son's body.
Was this what his future would be like?
And who was the cause of all this? It was that taciturn George Wood who always liked to look at others with unfriendly eyes!
Although they were now in the same team, it did not mean that they had to be as close as brothers.
Tang En saw that Eastwood did not speak. He must have thought of the past that he could not bear to look back on. So, he suddenly asked, "Gypsies should be descendants of Indians, right?"
This question was very different from the previous one. Eastwood was stunned for a moment before he nodded and replied, "Yes, that's what everyone says."
"Then do you believe in Buddhism?"
Eastwood shook his head. "No, I don't believe in any religion."
This surprised Tang En. He felt that this kind of nomadic people should always believe in some religion, such as Christianity. But the topic had to continue. He said, "There is a saying in Buddhism called 'cause and effect.' Do you know what it means? "
This word was easy to understand from the literal meaning of the word, "cause and effect." Eastwood nodded, but soon he shook his head again.
"Well, to put it simply, it means that everything in this world is connected. It seems unrelated, but it is actually related. If... if you had not been injured, do you know where you would be now and what kind of life you would be living? "
This question made Eastwood think for a moment, and then he shook his head and said, "I don't know. That didn't happen."
"We can use common sense to speculate. If there were no accidents, you should have been transferred from West Ham United's youth team to the first team, and then represented the team in the English Football League Championship this season. We would have become opponents." Tang En pointed to him and then to himself. "But you're right. That didn't happen. We are now in the same team. I signed, and you used goals to prove that my decision was correct. Why can we chat here and not spit at each other before the game? "
"Because... of that injury?" Eastwood thought for a moment and then asked.
Tang En nodded. "George's foul was indeed his fault, but he did not do it on purpose. In fact, he had only been in contact with football for less than three months. I wanted him to play as a striker, but he was completely at a loss on the field. He was a little nervous, and his mind was blank. Then he saw you dribble the ball and run past him. "What happened next did not need to be said. Eastwood still felt pain in his right leg when he occasionally recalled it.
"I don't want to explain anything for him, because that was indeed his responsibility. That was a very immoral foul, and it almost destroyed your future. But what I'm going to say next may make you unhappy after hearing it, but I have to be honest with you. Freddy, sometimes I think, 'I should thank George. If it weren't for his foul, how could I have such an outstanding striker like Freddy Eastwood?' Maybe I would fly into a rage on the sidelines because you breached my team's goal. Maybe you would eliminate my team from an important match and let me taste the bitter fruit of failure. Then, maybe I would be dismissed because of this and continue to be the manager of my youth team, or do some work at some unknown place. Just like the future you once envisioned. But now, all of that did not happen. They only exist in another future. You, "Tang En said, pointing at Eastwood.
"Freddy Eastwood is now wearing the Forest team's red jersey and has scored three goals in two consecutive games. He lives in the Wilford training base and jokes with my players. He comes to training in a good mood every day and uses his goals to bring me victory in games. Even your horse has become the darling of this city. This is your present. As for your future, you will become the greatest striker in the history of the team. You will score many, many goals. You will bring me and the fans of Nottingham Forest one trophy after another. The stands of City Ground Stadium will go crazy for you countless times, and then when you decide to retire... "
Tang En looked up at the sunset in the eastern sky and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Then he shook his head and said, "I can no longer imagine what kind of scene that would be."
Hearing Tang En say so much in one breath, Eastwood did not say anything. His hand unconsciously stroked back and forth on the horse's neck.
"If you were not injured, maybe you would be at West Ham United, or maybe you would go to another team in a lower league. Then, you would eliminate Manchester United in a cup match, and you would score the winning goal. You would become a celebrity in England within a week, appearing on television and in newspapers. Then you would be forgotten, and you would still play in that team until you retire in obscurity. That goal that eliminated Manchester United would become the most glorious moment of your career. " Tang En continued. This was a different future from the outer circle that Eastwood had envisioned. He had never thought of a future. But Tang En knew that that was the future that he should have continued.
"It's different now. You don't have to worry about that kind of future. Because you have joined Nottingham Forest, joined my team, you and I will become the creators of Nottingham Forest's second glory. "Tang En opened his arms and enveloped the Wilford training base.
"I will become a legendary manager, and you will become a legendary striker. Until we are very old, it will still be mentioned often. People will say, 'Eastwood is the greatest striker in the history of Nottingham Forest. How can that clumsy kid be mentioned in the same breath as him? The most successful transaction in Tony Twain's coaching career was to buy Freddy from an amateur team! Look at the trophies in the Hall of Fame! '"
Tang En imitated the tone of the fans when discussing issues, and Eastwood was amused by his manner of speaking. He spoke so seriously about that illusory "future" that Eastwood did not know whether it was true or not. Perhaps it was just a story made up casually, or perhaps … it was really a future that could be realized?
"So I want to say … Freddy, I am very grateful that you accepted Nottingham Forest's invitation to join this team. I also thank God — even though I have never believed in him — that it is fate that has allowed us to stand together now to discuss each other's future. Do you doubt our future? "
Freddy shook his head. "I'm not sure, sir … What you said is too crazy. I don't know if it's true or not …"
"Yes, it's very crazy." Tang En thought of that lunch that day, when Evan and Allan told him about the plan, and the shock in his heart. "To prove that I am not lying, to prove that I can see the future. Freddy, we will definitely win this afternoon's game, because this game is the starting point of that future! "
After saying that, Tang En turned and waved goodbye to him.
"Goodbye. Go back and have breakfast, Freddy."
Eastwood looked at the man's confident back and opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not say anything.
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Well, it's finally been pushed. Thank you, everyone, for your support. There will be new updates around 6pm and 9pm. I hope everyone will support me.
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(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please go to www. CMFU. com. There are more chapters. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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