Based on the results of the past decade, Newcastle United was a strong team in the English football scene. This concept began when Kevin Keegan took over at St. James' Park. Tang En even felt that Keegan's most glorious years as a manager were at Newcastle United and not the England national team later on.
Of course, aside from the Premier League's ten years, Newcastle United was also considered a traditionally strong team in England. Even though they only won four league titles at the beginning of the last century, they had won a total of six titles in the FA Cup, the most prestigious competition. Even in the early days of the Premier League, the FA Cup was still the most important competition in the hearts of the English people. It was not until the influence of the league and the UEFA Champions League grew that the FA Cup gradually lost its status.
What made Newcastle United unable to be compared to Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool was that they did not leave a mark in the history of English football and did not continuously dominate this land. Therefore, they could only be a second-rate team and not a powerhouse.
Nottingham Forest was also not a powerhouse, but they had an advantage over Newcastle United — they had once won the UEFA Champions League.
However, it was meaningless to talk about how glorious their past achievements were now. Newcastle United could still be considered a second-tier team, while Nottingham Forest was considered by the media to be weaker than the Magpies when they faced Newcastle United, even though Nottingham Forest was currently ranked above Newcastle United …
What did Tang En think of such an evaluation?
"Newcastle United is a strong team, and Souness is also an outstanding senior …" Tang En said in an interview with The Echo outside Newcastle United's airport. Since when did Tony Twain address his opponent as "senior"?
He did not use it against Wenger, nor did he use it against Ferguson. He did not even address his opponents as "senior." Souness was certainly a senior, but his achievements were far from those three. Did Tang En's words mean that he was really going to admit defeat in an away game?
"Away games are always harder to play than home games. St. James' Park is even harder to play in. So if you ask me what the result of this game will be, I'm sorry, I have no comment. "Tang En squeezed out of the crowd of reporters and quickly got into the bus. The door closed behind him, leaving behind a group of reporters who did not get any news, and drove out of the airport.
As the car drove into the city, the roof of St James' Stadium loomed over the banks of the River Tyne, peeking out from behind the buildings and disappearing again. Because the stadium was in the heart of Newcastle, it would be very crowded on the day of the game. Therefore, the hotel that the Forest team was staying at was near the stadium. If the traffic was smooth, it would only take ten minutes by car.
Newcastle had been England's gold-medal city for a long time because compared to other English cities that were rich in "derbies", there was only one team in the big city of Newcastle, and that was Newcastle United. In a city with a population of 280,000, St James' Park would be filled with 50,000 people for every home game.
The Forest team had never experienced such a scene. They had previously mentioned that the largest venue for the game was the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, but that was only a neutral venue. St James' Park could probably be ranked second in terms of the stadium with the most fiery atmosphere in England's top league.
You want to ask which stadium is the first? That stadium was not big. It could even be said to be very small, with a capacity of less than 10,000 people. But it was the stadium that terrified their opponents the most, because it was the home ground of the "Crazy Gang" Wimbledon.
Since being promoted to the English Premier League, the Forest team had played many away games, but Tang En felt that St James' Park was the best place to test the team's ability to withstand pressure.
Of course, everyone hoped to meet an opponent that was easy to deal with, but in reality, that was impossible. Nottingham Forest had played a total of ten matches this season. The matches against Arsenal and Chelsea were considered matches against strong teams. Other than that, the strongest opponent was probably Everton, who had an undefeated record of one win and two draws. But considering the matches against Arsenal and Chelsea, the Forest team was on their home ground, and they had a big advantage.
Newcastle was not weaker than Everton, and the Forest team was playing an away game this time. It was no wonder that Newcastle's local newspaper, 'The Echo', was optimistically analysing the match and felt that Souness's team should be able to get three points.
The local media in Nottingham had the exact opposite view from Newcastle's side. The Nottingham Evening Post believed that Nottingham Forest was currently in its best form. Even if Nottingham Forest were to play at St. James' Park with consecutive victories, the worst result for them would still be a point.
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After the team checked into the hotel, they had a simple lunch and rested. Then, Tang En asked Kerslake to gather the team and go to St James' Park for training to adapt to the ground.
Because it was the pre-match adaptation training, there were not many media members following them, and they did not have permission to enter the stadium to film interviews. They could only film the image of the Forest team's bus entering the stadium from outside the main gate of the stadium. Instead, after the adaptation training, the Premier League would arrange for a pre-match press conference attended by the managers of both teams to answer some questions of concern from the media.
For example, the conflict between Alan Shearer and Souness, or the gossip about Kluivert going to the nightclub … They could also look forward to what shocking words the arrogant Tony Twain would say.
Then, a large number of media would rush over.
Currently, there were not many media outlets, but there were many Forest fans who followed the team from Nottingham to Newcastle. They wore eye-catching red jerseys and waited outside St James' Park, hoping to catch a glimpse of their idol.
The fans' request was that simple.
Tang En saw them in the car and said to Kerslake, "Tell the players later that I'll only give them ten minutes to shower and change after training. Then, come out and sign autographs for the fans. "
David also noticed the group of fans and did not raise any objections. He nodded and said, "I understand."
Turning his gaze away from the fans, Tang En continued to think about how to beat Newcastle in the away game. However, he did not notice the dot of green in the sea of red.
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The adaptation training was very simple. It was mainly to let the players adapt to the ground, do a few simple set piece exercises, and finally shoot some shots for fun and relaxation. The plan was all arranged before they came here, and the specific training was handled by the coaching staff. Tang O pulled Kerslake back and forth on the field, as if he was taking a stroll, but in fact, he was using his feet to personally test the quality of the field's turf.
"It's a little loose. It won't rain tomorrow, will it?" Tang En raised his head and looked at the sky worriedly. It was gloomy, and he could feel the humidity in the air just by using his nose.
"There's a high chance of it raining," David Kerslake said, walking beside him.
"Damn it!" Tang En cursed in a low voice. "Let me think, in my memory, how many games have Forest played in sunny afternoons? Fortunately, there's no hurricane weather in the North Sea … "
Kerslake laughed silently. "I think of that youth team match where you used the tap to wet the playing field and caused trouble for Arsenal."
Hearing Kerslake's words, Tang En really squatted down and used his hands to fiddle with the wet turf. "Damn it! They also watered it quite a bit! "
This time, Kerslake did not laugh silently. He laughed loudly. "Looks like everyone knows this trick. Tony, I rarely hear you complain about the weather. What are you worried about? "
Tang En looked around the empty stands at St. James' Stadium. In a day's time, it would be filled with countless fanatical Newcastle fans. They would constantly use boos and songs to create pressure on Forest. Forest had only lost one game this season, and that was against Blackburn Rovers in the first round of the league tournament. Playing away and playing at home were two completely different feelings.
He was indeed worried, but he could not tell Kerslake.
"No, I'm not worried about anything. There's nothing for us to worry about. "
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After the adaptation training ended, Tang En met Souness in the stadium's press conference hall. The gray-haired Scotsman looked somewhat serious. He had just taken over the old manager, Robson, as the team's manager in September. Newcastle had achieved two consecutive victories the moment he took over. The results were not bad, and he was currently riding the crest of success. Tang En's "senior" address seemed to make him take on the airs of a senior. When he shook hands with Tang En in front of the reporters, the smile on his face was so faint that it could not be seen.
To be honest, this was the scene that the reporters wanted to see the most. They were looking forward to Tang En's counterattack, but Tang En disappointed them. After casually answering a few questions at the press conference, Tang En did not interact with Souness again until the end of the press conference.
When the press conference ended, Forest's players also walked out of the locker room and went to the parking lot to sign autographs for the fans. This was the coach's request, and everyone had to abide by it. Tang En walked out of the press conference hall and went straight to the parking lot outside. The coaches had already boarded their cars. Tang En stood outside and chatted casually with Kerslake. He also took the opportunity to see the players' performance. No one showed any impatience in the face of the passionate fans, which made him very happy.
(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!)
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