Tang En and his two "MI6 bodyguards" sat in the stands. He realized that the host was really "considerate" of him, arranging for him to sit in a place with the worst view. He was miles away from the Forest team's substitutes' bench. It looked like Coventry was even more worried about him than the Football Association. He had directly cut off his most primitive means of communication.
Sitting in the middle of a group of fans wearing Coventry jerseys, Tang En had no choice but to keep a low profile. England's football hooligans were famous. If one of the brothers beside him drank too much and acted rashly, the consequences would be unthinkable. Tang En was not afraid of fighting with people. He was afraid of being recorded and reported by the two gods of plague beside him. Who knows, his career as a professional manager might really end …
He did not want to be the first football manager to have his career ruined because of a brawl with a fan.
The match kicked off at two in the afternoon sharp. The moment the whistle sounded, the Highfield Road stadium became a pot on a hot fire. The stands were like boiling water, gurgling and bubbling. Other than the shouts of the home fans, Tang En could hear nothing else.
Tang En opened his mouth and said something. He realized that he did not hear it himself. This atmosphere was much crazier than the one he felt in Forest's technical area.
The Coventry fans stood up to cheer for their players. Tang En also stood up and raised his hands. However, he was not cheering for his opponent, but cursed loudly.
"Damn Old Trafford's security system! Can this kind of fan be considered a B-level security? " He was not worried about causing a disturbance, because the people around him could not hear what he was saying. "Damn it! The Coventry fans are not friendly at all! "
After complaining, Tang En obediently sat down to watch the match. The people around him must have thought that he was a loyal Coventry fan.
Perhaps it was the words he said before the start of the match that stirred up the fighting spirit and ambition of the Forest players. Perhaps it was the crazy performance of the Coventry fans that stimulated the pride of the entire Forest team. In short, when the match started, Forest turned the tables and played offensive football against Coventry at the Highfield Road stadium.
Tang En specially put Gareth Williams in the starting lineup for this match. He was an important contributor to the victory against Coventry in the first half of the season. He scored the only goal in the match and helped the team win at home. Today, Tang En hoped to borrow Williams' luck to bring good luck to the team.
Watching his team suppress the home team in an away game, Tang En could only chuckle. Sure enough, the coaching staff was not just for show. The tactics they came up with were very on point. Looking at the Coventry City assistant manager pacing back and forth anxiously on the sidelines, Tang En felt that perhaps winning this match would not be a problem.
His work these few days was not in vain. Compared to when he first found out that their next opponent was Coventry City, he was now confident that he had a good understanding of this team.
From the statistics of the 28th round of the Premier League, Coventry City's attacking power was not very satisfactory. In 28 rounds of the league tournament, they only scored 35 goals and conceded 30. On the other hand, although Nottingham Forest's results were not satisfactory, they scored forty-four goals and conceded thirty-one goals with one game less.
From this data, Tang En found something that could be used. Of course, he still needed to observe the competition to be able to confirm it. However, this damned seat was not suitable for watching the game live. At the very least, it was not suitable for him to watch the game with a clear and calm mind.
Coventry City finally found a chance to counterattack, but their shot ultimately hit the advertising board behind the goal. A loud sigh rang out in the stands. Everyone around Tang En held their heads in their hands, looking regretful. Tang En and the two people beside him were like black reefs in a blue ocean, somewhat out of the ordinary. Fortunately, the fans' attention was on the game. Otherwise, he, who had been in the news recently, would soon be recognized. Tang En was already planning to have the two guys beside him negotiate with Coventry City during the halftime interval to change their seats. At the very least, they had to sit on the side of the stands close to the Forest fans. He was really afraid that he would be recognized by these unfriendly people.
Three years ago, when Coventry City was still competing in the English Premier League, there was a young talent in the team — the Irish youngster Robbie Keane. He made his debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers and performed well for three seasons. Subsequently, he was bought by Coventry City for six million pounds. However, he only played for the team for one season. He scored 12 goals in 31 games. At that time, he had only just turned 20. After a season, Coventry City was unable to resist Inter Milan's 13 million pound check and sold young Keane to the Italian powerhouse club. However, his time in the Italian star black hole was not very happy. He only played six games in the league tournament and did not score a single goal. After a season, he was brought back to England by the newly rising youth guards, Leeds United, in a loan deal. Now, he was in Tottenham Hotspur in North London. He had long since parted ways with the team he had played for for a season.
Now, the Coventry City fans must miss that passionate Irish youngster. Why? Because their strikers could not score goals. Most of the team's points actually relied on the set-pieces of the 38-year-old manager and player, McAllister. It had to be said that it was very sad.
After watching the game for more than 20 minutes, Tang En firmly believed that the conclusion he had analyzed from the data was correct. There were two reasons for the weak attack. First, Coventry City's players were not capable. Second, their manager was not good. McAllister was an outstanding player, but he could not be considered an outstanding manager. Moreover, this was his first season as a manager. Not everyone could be a natural leader like Roy Keane. He had just been kicked out by the Red Devils and could lead Sunderland to the Premier League.
Coventry City's starting striker for this game was the 27-year-old black man, Julian Joachim. He was only 1.68 meters tall. This was a very classic height. However, Joachim did not have the ability of Maradona, Zola, Carlos, and the others. According to Tang En's observation, the man's speed was not bad. However, his shooting skills were not flattering. He once had a close chance to send him flying. It was a chance that was harder to send him flying than to score. The huge cheers that erupted from the stands at Highfield Road almost made Tang En's heart stop for a second.
Joachim had played nine times in the first 28 rounds of the league tournament and had only scored two goals. Such a result could only be described as "dismal" for a striker.
The black man's partner was 18-year-old David Pipe, a young player who had just been promoted from the youth team to the First Team this season. He had made 11 appearances so far and had not scored a single goal.
Look at this pitiful forward combination. Look at the Forest team's forward line: David Johnson had made 20 appearances and scored 10 goals. Marlon Hailwood had made 19 appearances and scored 11 goals. This was the forward combination that had forced the Premier League team, West Ham United, into a fluster 14 days ago. Tang En felt that it would be equally effective against a First Division team.
Behind these two men were four midfielders standing parallel to each other. From left to right, they were Andy Reid, Riccardo Scimeca, Gareth Williams, and Ian Jess. Of these four men, Scimeca was mainly responsible for defense, while Williams was responsible for organizing the offense. Reid and Jess assisted him on the left and right. Most of the Forest team's offense came from the midfield combination of these four men. It was also the midfield configuration that Forest used the most in the early stages.
Other than putting the older Jess on the substitutes' bench to rest in the FA Cup match, he had not touched a single spot in this lineup. This was the wealth that Paul Hart had left him. He believed that his teacher's failure was not due to the tactical configuration.
Tang En's trust was quickly rewarded. After Pipe also wasted a chance, the Forest team quickly launched a counterattack. The goalkeeper, Darren Ward, sent the ball forward with a long leg. Coventry City's defensive midfielder, the Moroccan Shafari, successfully fought for the header and headed the ball forward. Dawson, who had pressed into the midfield, intercepted midway and headed the ball back.
Hailwood controlled the ball with his outstanding physical qualities and waited for his teammates to come up to receive him.
McAllister saw through his plan and shouted for his teammates to return to defend. He also came up to rob the ball, hoping to disrupt or delay the Forest team's offense. The 38-year-old McAllister was defeated by the 22-year-old Harewood in terms of physical strength. Harewood easily held his opponent behind him, and then with a beautiful diagonal pass, he passed the ball to Andy Reid, who was rushing up from the left flank.
When Reid was in the youth team, his long shots and long passes made him stand out. Although this was only his second League First Division match, he had already shown qualities that made people excited. He used everything he was good at in the youth team on the field for the senior team. Seeing that Coventry's defense line had shifted to the right and his own right side was unmarked, he passed the ball to the right. The ball crossed the field and hit the back of Coventry's defense line!
The player who appeared here was David Johnson, who had a strange speed that caused West Ham to suffer. He knocked Reid's ball forward and took advantage of the momentum to speed up, leaving Coventry's defender behind!
Coventry's right back turned around and only saw Johnson's back. His first reaction was not to chase after him but to raise his right arm to signal to the assistant referee that Johnson was offside and had committed a foul!
"Yue your mother!" Tang En stood up from his seat and cursed in a filthy manner. He did not have to worry about becoming the target of the Coventry fans because he was surrounded by Sky Blue fans who had jumped out of their seats.
Johnson dribbled the ball and sprinted on the side. In just a few steps, he was close to Coventry's penalty area. He looked up at the assistant referee. He was running after him, which meant he was not offside. He dribbled another step and looked up. The Coventry players were pouncing at him like crazy, and the two center backs were running towards him …
In the stands, Tang En could not help but make a cross gesture. This was the offensive routine that he had practiced these few days in training: the forward attracted the attention of the opposing defenders, but the real killer move was the midfielders who plugged in from behind. Among the four midfielders, other than Smeka who was more defensive, all had good scoring ability.
Johnson moved the ball to the center of the penalty area with the outside of his right foot. No matter how one looked at it, he looked like he was going to dribble horizontally and then raise his leg to shoot. The attention of Coventry's defenders, from the defenders to the goalkeeper, was attracted by his every move. They completely forgot about the Forest midfielder who was plugging in at high speed.
Johnson had already reached the center of the penalty area with three Coventry defenders beside him. He raised his leg … but he did not shoot. Instead, he moved the ball behind him! There was nothing there!
All the Coventry players were fooled by him. When a red figure ran past him, Coventry's Danish goalkeeper, Morten Hyldgaard, was still standing in the middle of the goal.
"Gareth Williams!"
Forest's number eight received Johnson's ingenious pass in the corner of the penalty area. Without hesitation, he raised his leg and shot! The football rolled quickly across the turf and into the goal!
“Goal！！ 1: 0! In the 33rd minute of the first half, the visiting Forest team is leading Coventry! It looks like Forest team has already walked out of the shadow of their poor form in the first half of the season. They're playing proactively in their away game, turning the tables on us! "
The Coventry fans in the stands booed. Tang En was unable to express his excitement amidst the booing. He could only clench his hands into fists and put them on his head, pretending to celebrate the goal with a regretful look. Looking at the jubilation in the Forest team's technical area in the distance, he was a little jealous.
This was Tang En's first time watching a game from the perspective of a fan. Seeing his own players huddled together on the field to celebrate the goal, he felt a glimmer of confidence in the team's future. His worry that Bowyer would leave also lessened a little.
After scolding the visiting team, the Coventry fans quickly sat down to continue watching the game, their mouths still cursing incessantly. Tang En also sat down and continued to watch the game in silence. He had forgotten that he had two "bodyguards" beside him. So when he heard the person beside him say, "Congratulations, Mr. Tang," he was very surprised.
"Ah, you are …"
"… We're from the English Football Association's disciplinary committee …"
"Is there such an institution?"
"Mr. Tang En, don't make such jokes."
Tang En laughed heartily and ignored them, minding his own business to watch the game.
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