By winning the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Bolton Wanderers, Tang En had not only gained a victory, but also a higher reputation. Now, the whole of England knew that Nottingham Forest had a genius manager. He was young, but he had led a team that was previously ranked fourth from the bottom in League One into the semi-finals, and even won against a Premier League team in the semi-finals.
After Forest scored the first goal, the scene of him being crushed to the ground by his players in celebration was put into a small segment of the Sunday edition of Match of the Day called "2 _ Good _ 2 _ Bad." It was a segment that only appeared in the Sunday edition, usually only showing the highlights of the Premier League and rarely showing scenes from other leagues. But Tang En's incident was too interesting, so the editors added it into the highlights.
Adrian Chiles, the host of the show and the BBC's famous host, gave the scene his own lines. As a result, it sounded witty and interesting, making the already interesting matter even more interesting.
"The ball's in! That's great, heh … heh! Heh! Freddy, you're in the wrong place … Ah! Someone ~ ~ save me ~ ~ Alright, Tony Tang En might be the only manager who doesn't want his team to score … "
The host and guests laughed heartily.
And so, everyone knew that there was such a manager in England — he was the happiest after his players scored, but he was also the unluckiest.
It was not only Tony Tang En's reputation that increased, but also his Forest team and the outstanding young players.
George Wood had only played two games for Forest's First Team, but there were already teams asking for a price.
This was a matter of the player's sale. Evan Doughty kept his promise and did not interfere, letting Tang En handle it himself. Tang En's attitude was firm — not selling!
He knew how lacking a good defensive midfielder would be in the football world in a few years' time. As long as Wood continued to play like this, his value would soon rise. Selling now that someone was offering him a price? He was not a fool. Besides, the club had just signed an eight-year contract with Wood. Was it just for show?
In fact, Tang En was not worried about Wood's loyalty. The club had helped him so much, and the kid knew very well that he should choose to stay or leave. But this matter made Tang En start to be concerned about another matter — perhaps George Wood should have a manager to help him handle his personal affairs and finances.
The players' union can also help the player by negotiating a contract with the club and dealing with some financial issues. Although this could avoid being exploited by Mr. Ten Percent, who had ever seen a big star player being handled by the players' union?
Tang En believed that Wood would definitely become a big star. However, there was a precondition: he was under him, and not transferred to another team.
He was not against players looking for an agent because they needed such a professional to help them with their finances and public relations. The manager was not a god. He had to consider everything for the sake of the players. This was what an agent should do. What he hated were those agents who, for their own benefit and not the benefit of the players, desperately urged the players to have conflicts with the club and the manager, endlessly asked for a pay raise, and threatened the team with a transfer at every turn.
Why did he hate them? It was not because he could not bear to see the players and agents earn money. It was because they had to go against the manager, Tony Twain. They would infringe on Tang En's interests, which Tang En could not allow.
So, if Wood wanted to find an agent, he had to find someone he felt he could trust. If possible, it would be best if it was not one of those big-name agents. They did not have much power in this circle and would not cause trouble for no reason. But at the same time, they could also work hard to package Wood and run a successful business operation, allowing Wood to earn a lot of money and allowing his family to live a life without worries.
Wasn't this asking a little too much?
Tang En shook his head and decided not to think about this problem for now.
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He could take his time to find an agent. The competition waited for no one. A week later, Tang En led a high-spirited Nottingham Forest to battle at Bolton Wanderers' home ground, the Reebok Stadium. This time, although his team lost to the opponent, they scored a valuable goal. The rules of the EFL Cup semi-finals were not quite the same as normal cup competitions. If both sides were tied, the away goals would not be looked at. Instead, overtime would continue. If it was still a tie in overtime, then it would be the away goals. The team with more away goals would win. If the away goals were the same, then it would be a penalty shootout.
Nottingham Forest beat Bolton Wanderers at their home ground by 3: 1. In the away game, Bolton Wanderers tried very hard to beat the Forest team. They did it, but to no avail. When the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard on the big screen showed the final score — 2: 1. Bolton Wanderers won this game, but lost the entire semi-final.
The player who scored the key goal for the Forest team was the tall striker, Crouch, who was on loan from Aston Villa. His career with his former club was in deep winter. He did not expect to score in two consecutive games when he came to the Forest team. Looking at the big man's excellent performance on the field, constantly using his excellent skills to create opportunities for his teammates, Andy Gray in the commentator's box could not help but admire Tang En's ability to train the players. In terms of stimulating the potential of the players and helping them build up their confidence, he did have his own unique skills. First, there was Rebrov, then there was Eastwood, and now there was Crouch. It was no wonder that he was so popular and supported by the players. How could the players not love a manager who could make the players who had fallen to the lowest point shine again?
The referee's final whistle also became the prelude to the Nottingham Forest players' revelry. They celebrated to their heart's content at the opponent's home ground for reaching the EFL Cup final. Even though the EFL Cup was of little value in the eyes of the strong teams in the Premier League, and its only purpose was to train the young players and reserve teams, for Nottingham Forest, a powerhouse team that had been struggling in the lower leagues for many years, reaching the EFL Cup final did not just mean that they had a chance to win a title.
More importantly, it allowed people to recall the years that had passed. More than 20 years ago, Nottingham Forest wore a red jersey and swept through the English football world and the European continent. But now, that formidable team seemed to have been buried in the dust of time. Just when the people of Nottingham thought they would never see the Red Forest again, Tony Twain brought that team through time and came back!
"The game is over! In stark contrast to the dejected Bolton Wanderers players, the ecstatic Nottingham Forest players were! They have reached the EFL Cup final. This is the first time they have reached the final since they were runners-up in the EFL Cup in 1992! Twelve years have passed, and the venue for the EFL Cup final has changed from Wembley to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The Red Forest is finally back! " Andy Gray's emotional commentary in the final moments of the commentary made people feel like he was a Nottingham Forest fan, but in fact, he was an Everton supporter.
Yes! We're back! Nottingham Forest is back!
The Nottingham Forest fans who could not go to watch the game live and could only follow the game in front of their televisions and radios let out cries that could be heard all over England.
"February 29th, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff! Let us look forward to the EFL Cup final between Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough! Will Middlesbrough win their second EFL Cup in the club's history, or will Nottingham Forest win it for the fifth time and become the team with the second most EFL Cup titles in history? Everyone, we'll find out when the time comes! "
The Forest team's celebration was wild, but when they entered the locker room, Twain put on a straight face. Now was not the time to celebrate.
"Guys, I'll give you ten minutes to shower and change, and then we'll leave here by car. If you want to open the champagne to celebrate, wait until the night of February 29th! "
With his words, everyone calmed down, and one by one, they obediently went to shower and change their clothes.
Then, Twain turned to participate in the press conference. As the winner, he had the right to make Bolton Wanderers' manager, Sam Allardyce, wait in the press conference hall for a while.
The winner was the star of the press conference. This could almost be considered a rule. Twain faced the most questions, and most of them revolved around the matter of the Forest team once again advancing to the EFL Cup final after 12 years. Twain was in a good mood and did not feel annoyed by the repeated questions. However, he was also smart and did not reveal any plans for the final at the press conference. He did not even tell the media about his goal.
Of course, he hoped to win the championship. They had already advanced to the final. What was the point of saying things like "we have a learning attitude" and "we've tried our best. We've tried our best. As for the result, it's not too important"? Of course, we're here to fight for the championship. If we don't win, it's a failure!
But there was no need to tell the media.
Although Allardyce, who had lost the game, was a little depressed, he also praised the Forest team's performance at the press conference and said a few good things about Twain. It was really admirable that he could achieve such an achievement at such a young age.
With his words, the reporters focused their attention on Twain's age again. Indeed, as a manager who had led the team to the EFL Cup final, 35 years old was really too young. He was even a year younger than the Bolton Wanderers player, Djorkaeff, who was playing on the field! The reporters who discovered this became excited. This was a good topic to hype up!
Twain's reaction to this was very calm. "Since the player is 15 years old and can represent the club's First Team and the national team at 16, why can't the manager be younger? I don't think age is a problem. The key is to look at the results. Whether he's 76 or 26, as long as he can lead the team to victory, he's a good manager! "
The next day, his words appeared in the newspapers. Everyone knew that there was such a manager who only believed in victory.
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