Tying with Aston Villa on their home ground made the Forest players realize that the number of reporters on the sidelines had suddenly increased during training. Everyone knew the local media. Most of the unfamiliar faces were from London.
"We only tied a match. Why are the media so excited?" Eastwood asked as he pointed to the cameras outside the barbed wire during a break in the team's training.
"Because they also know we're destined to be this season's champions!" Tang En nodded vigorously at the side, his tone certain.
Eastwood turned his head to look at Tang En in surprise. "Boss, you're not joking, are you?"
Tang En shook his head seriously. "No, of course I'm joking."
Someone beside him began to chuckle.
David Kerslake explained, "They're paying so much attention to us, not because of ourselves, but because of our opponent in the next round of the league tournament — Arsenal."
Recently, the media had been hyping up the fated entanglement between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. It was like a melodramatic eight o 'clock TV series. Not many people did not know about it. Only someone like Eastwood, who did not care about anything other than playing well, would be surprised to see so many reporters gathered at Wilford.
Pierce Brosnan, who stood outside the training ground with the other reporters, could not help but lament the arrangement of fate: Arsenal's moment of breaking the record was against the team that had set the record. When Clough led the team to set the record, it was thought that no one could reach it for a long, long time. Now that he was not dead, the record was in danger of being broken.
The North London media, other than those who supported Tottenham Hotspur, were all overwhelmingly optimistic about Arsenal, believing that Arsenal would break the dusty 25-year-old record at Forest's home ground. After all, Arsenal was strong and in good form, while Forest was not quite used to the pace of the English Premier League. They had only obtained one point in the first two rounds of the league tournament. The results of one loss and one draw were too unconvincing against the mighty Arsenal.
At the end of training, the players walked from the training ground to the locker room. Along the way, reporters came up to them to ask them questions about the record and Arsenal. Most of them asked, "What do you think of Arsenal's strength? How likely are they to break the record? "Some players were more polite in answering questions that had little to do with them.
If they met someone with a bad temper, they wouldn't even bother with the reporters. For example, George Wood looked coldly at the reporters who put their microphones in front of his mouth. Just when the reporters were full of expectation, he looked away and left without saying a word.
And there were more and more Forest players who treated reporters like him. At first, everyone was still very interested in this kind of attention and felt that it was fresh. After all, they were too far away from the record from 25 years ago, so they didn't feel that it was a bad thing to be broken.
But if the people around you kept talking about "how is Arsenal" and "how is Henry", and being asked such questions, there would always be a feeling of "I'm being belittled".
At the Forest team's regular press conference, 95% of the reporters asked questions about the next game, and 80% of them asked Twain to talk about his views on Arsenal's pursuit of the record.
Tang En himself did not hate Arsenal, nor did he hate Wenger. After all, he could be considered to be on friendly terms with Wenger. But he hated the media, who jumped on the bandwagon at the first sign of trouble, and did not intend to give them any face.
So, when all the reporters were done asking their questions, Tang En picked his ear in front of the cameras and asked, "I tried to think that I heard wrong, so I picked my ear, intending to let this organ function normally. But I realized that there was nothing wrong with my ear, so I tried to make myself think that there was something wrong with my brain, and I couldn't correctly understand your question. But it was too difficult for me to think that, because it's impossible for there to be anything wrong with my brain. So, in the end, I could only come up with one question: there must be something wrong with you guys. "
He said a lot of specious things, leaving the reporters completely confused. They did not know what he was talking about or what he was trying to express.
Looking at the group of confused reporters, Tang En sighed. "Indeed, I have to be more straightforward so that you can understand. I say, ladies and gentlemen, you've come to the wrong place. To follow Arsenal, please go to North London. This is Wilford, not Colney (Arsenal's training base). Here, I believe you won't be able to ask any questions other than about Arsenal. So, today's regular press conference is over. Before the end of the game, my team and I will not accept any more interviews from the media in any form. "
With that, Tang En got up and left the press conference hall, leaving the room full of stunned reporters looking at each other.
Tang En was determined to leave. Miss Barbara Lucy of the Forest Club stayed behind to clean up the mess for him. "Today's press conference is over. Ladies and gentlemen, please go back."
With that, she also quickly walked out and caught up with Tony Twain, who was striding back to his office.
"Mr. Twain?" She called out to Tang En in a questioning tone.
Tang En stopped in his tracks and looked back at Evan's private secretary. "Miss Lucy, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Uh … I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow morning, Sky TV has another interview with you …"
"Sitting in the coffee shop at the Wilford training base and asking me questions about Arsenal?"
"This … I don't know, but I think … yes." Lucy nodded.
"Very well, help me reject it. If we've already agreed to accept this interview, let David deal with those annoying reporters. I'll lead the team to train. "
Lucy nodded and left. Tang En had just walked into his office when he received a call from Evan Doughty. "Tony, I heard that you've embarrassed all the British media?"
"You're really well-informed, Evan."
"Don't forget that I also have friends in the media." Evan laughed. "They called to complain to me that the Forest manager is not cooperating at all."
"I want to cooperate with them, but all they ask are questions about Arsenal. I can't cooperate even if I want to." Tang En shrugged as he held the phone in his hand.
"Come on, Tony. Don't be like this in front of me. You must be feeling very uncomfortable, right? "
"Well … If someone praises your direct competitor in front of you, and then asks you to say good things about this competitor, and if you say something bad, they will be dissatisfied with it … I think you'll be very unhappy, Evan."
"This … You're right, Tony. Do a good job and let those who look down on us suffer! "
Just after ending the call with the club chairman, Tang En received another call from Pierce Brosnan. "Tony, were you serious about what you said at the press conference just now?"
Brosnan was still standing in the parking lot of the Wilford training base. The other reporters left while complaining about Tony Twain, who was putting on airs. Only he was still not satisfied and hoped to use his personal connections to obtain exclusive interview rights.
"Of course it's true," Tang En said in a tone that was not joking.
"This …"
"Alright, Mr. Reporter." Tang En habitually addressed Brosnan as "Mr. Reporter." He did not want Brosnan to feel that the relationship between the two of them was intimate. "I think it's more appropriate for me to say it myself than for you to say it on my behalf, so I'll update my personal column in the Evening Post soon."
"But …" Brosnan still hoped to have his name on a report that could attract the attention of the public.
"Mr. Reporter, do you dare to call your peers' sons of b * tches' in the report you write?"
"How is that possible … Why would I …"
"That's right. I dare." Tang En laughed heartily and hung up.
※ ※ ※
In the next day's Nottingham Evening Post, Tony Twain's column published a statement regarding his refusal to interview the reporters. In the article, Tang En scolded the media for not knowing how to respect others and lacking professional ethics. In the article, he used the phrase "sons of b * tches" for the first time to the media. Of course, despite the use of profanity, his tone was not fierce. It was still his inherent style — sarcasm and foul language coexisted, irony and all kinds of bizarre metaphors intertwined …
Tang En was not cooperative with the media. It was wishful thinking to want to get any information from him. The first to bump into the window was a Sky TV reporter. Tang En used the excuse that he had to lead the team in training and should not be distracted in the face of a big battle, so he rejected the exclusive broadcast of the English Premier League.
The media could only dig for deeper gossip. They tried every possible way to find the Forest players from 25 years ago, but there were not many people they could find. Of course, most of the focus was still on the Forest manager, Brian Clough.
In a day, more than 20 reporters gathered at Clough's home far away from Derby County. They all wanted to hear what the record maker had to say about the person chasing the record.
In terms of dealing with the media, Clough was much more experienced than Tang En. In the interview, he praised Arsenal without restraint, saying that he was an admirer of Wenger, that his favorite team was Arsenal, and that his favorite striker was Henry. He believed that Arsenal played artistic football that was ten years ahead of the English Premier League. As a result, he had nothing to complain about when his own record was equaled or even broken by such an outstanding and great team. In the end, he even encouraged Arsenal to surpass the Forest of that time.
His words might have made the Arsenal fans very happy, but the unruly old man then added, "Just like Manager Tony Twain said, all records are made to be broken. After all, we've created a record. No one can look down on the existence of a record. To me, being unbeaten in 42 games is more exciting than being the Champions League champion. Arsenal is just a younger generation challenging us. "
This sentence was said at the end, but it was enough to show the old man's pride. It was a pity that not everyone noticed this.
Tang En noticed it. This sentence made him feel much better. He knew that the boss was still helping him. It was just that this old Englishman's way of expressing his feelings was more traditional in the English way — he always preferred to express his feelings in silence and low-key.
I support you, Tony. But don't expect to hear a good word from me.
Maybe one day, when you reach the heights I reached in the past, I'll reluctantly say, "It's alright, just like when I was young."
That's already the highest praise I can give you, kid!
※ ※ ※
Unlike Tang En's rough treatment of the media, Wenger did not have a good impression of the English media, because when he first arrived in England, the English paparazzi claimed that the Frenchman was gay. However, he always tried to be cautious and rarely appeared alone in front of the media.
Now that Arsenal was about to break the record, he had no choice but to appear in front of the television cameras or the sports pages of the newspapers more often than usual.
When talking about Nottingham Forest, he expressed the necessary respect for the team. Clough said that he was his idol, which made Wenger a little emotional. He announced that he was also a Nottingham Forest fan and loved watching Clough's team play since he was young. The years when Forest dominated Europe was still unforgettable to him. Just thinking about it made him excited …
But who knew how many of these words were true and how many were false …
When talking about the upcoming match, Wenger put away his admiration for Nottingham Forest. Although he affirmed Tony Twain's actions in the summer transfer market, he also confidently expressed that his team was ready to create a new record.
"The best way to pay tribute to the record maker is to defeat them and create a new record." After saying this "victory declaration" that made the media excited, Wenger walked back to the office building. He already knew how to deal with the media, but clearly, his opponent did not.
Thinking about how the relationship between Tang En and the media was strained because of this matter, a smile appeared on the Frenchman's face.
A 35-year-old manager? How young …
※ ※ ※
"Welcome to Nottingham! The historic city in the middle of England. Here is the lush Sherwood Forest and the world-renowned hero Robin Hood who robbed the rich to help the poor! There is also a great team here — Nottingham Forest! " When the Sky Television reporter said this, the cameraman tacitly gave a shot of the City Ground behind the reporter. The camera zoomed in, and the Nottingham Forest logo in red was particularly eye-catching under the sun.
"Yes, Brian Clough founded the Forest dynasty and also left a record that future generations look up to — the record of unbeaten streak in England's top league: 42 games! Until today … 25 years later, this record may be rewritten. And what makes us sigh at the miraculous thing about the hands of fate is that for a team to have the chance to rewrite the record to succeed, it has to defeat the record maker! "
Just as he finished shouting, he saw two groups of fans wearing the same red jerseys, but walking in different directions, walk past him. The Arsenal fans sang a song supporting Arsenal, while the Nottingham Forest fans sang a new song they wrote for Tony Twain.
The cameraman's lens closely followed the two groups of people, as if he could see what the game would look like later from them.
The stands had long since been filled to the brim, and the media had practically formed a circle outside the stadium. Everyone was looking forward to seeing how these two opponents, who had been brought together by Fate's Hands, would perform in this fateful match.
Arsenal and Nottingham Forest had a deep relationship, because two of the founders of Arsenal were Nottingham Forest players. When Arsenal was first established, they did not even have their own jerseys. It was the two founders who went to the Forest Football Club to borrow a batch of jerseys and footballs, which was considered to be their own team.
But the subsequent development of the two teams could be said to be very different. Arsenal relied on Chapman to create their own dynasty in the 1930s, and from then on embarked on the road of a powerhouse. And Nottingham Forest? They were never considered a powerhouse. At most, they were considered a veteran strong team, and it was only because of Clough's era that they became a household name. Economy, influence, strength … No matter how one compared them, the Forest team was like a poor relative in the countryside in front of Arsenal, even though it was this poor relative who gave them a lift when Arsenal had no milk.
In front of Arsenal, perhaps the two glittering Champions League trophies and that forty-two consecutive unbeaten English top league record could still keep the Forest team's pride.
But now … the Champions League trophy was a matter of the future, and it was hard to say when it would come. But the record of forty-two games had been tied by Arsenal, and the day that the record was broken was even publicized by the media as if it was today.
The glory of the past was gradually drifting away from them, and now the Forest team had to start from scratch …
※ ※ ※
I can't update on Saturday morning because I have something to do. I'll post it tonight and tomorrow morning's edition together, please forgive me. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM, more chapters, support the author, support the 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.
