In the end, George Wood did not go to Eastwood's ward. He left the flowers at the reception downstairs and asked the nurse to pass them to him before leaving.
Tang En watched him write "Good Luck" on the card and asked, "You're not going to write your name?"
Wood shook his head. "No."
Tang En knew what he was thinking and smiled. "But it doesn't matter. Your handwriting is so unique in the team. He'll know who it is even if you don't write your name. It's hard to see that you can't even write your own name. You're the only one, George. "
Wood did not mind Tang En's joke. He inserted the card into the flowers and gave the bouquet to the young and beautiful nurse.
The nurse had long recognized who the man standing in front of her was. She took the bouquet and put it aside. She then picked up another card and handed it to Wood. She said nervously, "I … I'm your fan, George. Can you … give me an autograph? "
Wood hesitated for a moment. Perhaps he felt it was not a good time to sign.
Tang En coughed behind him, reminding Wood not to disappoint everyone who supported him. Wood obediently took out a pen again and signed his name on the white paper. It was crooked and did not have the demeanor of a star. But the girl liked it very much and carefully kept the autograph.
Tang En and Wood walked out of the hospital building. Tang En looked up at the fourth floor and asked Wood, "You're really not going up?"
Wood shook his head. "No."
"What a pity …" Tang En looked away. "This was a good opportunity. Can't you be a little more honest? Where's the courage to shove Rochenback's ankle? "
Wood did not say anything. There were some things he did not know how to say.
He rarely said the words "I'm sorry" to others. Sometimes, even if he knew he was in the wrong, he did not know how to say it.
"Forget it. I won't force you. When Freddy saw you injuring Rochenbach, he must have understood. " Tang En shrugged. Some things were better left unsaid. Let them stay in his heart. "Do you have something urgent to do now?"
"No."
"Very well, come walk with me."
"Where to?"
"Anywhere." Twain pointed to the path in front of the hospital gate. "Walk along this path and we'll walk around. Take a walk. "
※ ※ ※
"George, I think your punishment notice will come by tomorrow at the latest. Do you have any ideas? "Twain and Wood chatted casually as they strolled along the quiet path.
"What thoughts?"
"It's been almost a day. Do you regret what you did? I mean … have you ever regretted getting a red card for taking revenge on Rochenbach? "
"Nope. So be it. "
Hearing such an answer, Tang En could not help but burst into laughter.
"If you encounter such a situation again, will you still choose to shovel it out?"
Wood nodded without hesitation.
"Well …" Twain rubbed his chin. "You can ask the senior players in the team for advice on how to not be sent off … Well, do you understand what I mean?"
Wood looked at Tang En and nodded. "I understand."
But Tang En sighed again. "But I know it's a little difficult for you … You're always so straightforward. It doesn't seem like you would play dirty."
Wood finally could not help but ask a question he had long wanted to ask. "Well … How's his injury?"
"Not too good." Tang En glanced at Wood. "Two serious injuries in the same area. It's already a great victory for him to be able to persevere and return to the field this time. I can't ask for more …"
Hearing Tang En say so, Wood lowered his head. Of course, he knew who was the cause of the first serious injury. If not for the first time, then the second time might not be so serious.
"Will he … retire?"
"I don't know. It depends on the surgery and recovery after the surgery." Tang En was speaking the truth. Who could predict the future?
Looking at George Wood's grave expression, Tang En smiled. "Don't take it to heart. Injuries are common for football players. It has nothing to do with you. "
Despite Tang En's words, George Wood's expression did not change for the better. Eastwood's current situation stemmed from his foul in the youth team. It was impossible for him to really not take it to heart.
Seeing him like this, Tang En did not continue to persuade him. Let him be. Maybe giving him a little pressure would be better. But there was still something he had to say.
"George, do your best. You're not just playing football for yourself now. Freddy might not be able to participate in competitions for half a year. Count him in and work hard together. "
Wood nodded vigorously.
※ ※ ※
The next day, the UEFA's punishment notice for the Nottingham Forest player, George Wood, came down. From the video of Wood's tackle on Rochenbach, there was no conclusive evidence to prove that he had maliciously assaulted and deliberately took revenge. Because when Rochenbach received the ball, the football was between him and Wood. Wood's foot was certainly aimed at the football. He did not expect Rochenbach to push the football away in order to lure Wood into a foul, leaving his ankle directly under Wood's tackle, which resulted in the injury.
As a result, Wood's punishment was a four-match ban in European club competitions. The punishment was not serious. A straight red card usually meant a two-match ban. Wood's number was only two more than that. It was a far cry from the previous predictions of a six-month ban. The strong contrast made people feel as though Wood was not punished, but pardoned.
Following that, the UEFA evaluated the work of the referee on duty for the game and felt that there was no bias. There was no doubt about Rochenbach's yellow card.
This explanation could basically be seen as targeted at Tang En.
Sure enough, after the explanation, the UEFA warned the Nottingham Forest manager, Tony Twain, not to criticize the referee's work. The UEFA referees must be carefully selected.
The UEFA Referees' Committee was very dissatisfied with Tang En's remarks. They felt that Tang En was interfering with the referee's work and wanted to use his influence to infiltrate the referees' world of work. He wanted to use his specious views to influence the judgment of the referees. Tang En was dismissive of this anger. He felt that since it was all work, the referee's work should also be open to others' evaluation. If he was wrong, he was wrong. There was no need to hide it.
However, he did not have the chance to release his remarks. Evan Doughty found him and hoped that he would not go against the UEFA at this juncture. Tang En knew that Evan was doing it for his own good. He could only suppress his dissatisfaction with the UEFA Referees' Committee for the time being. He would wait for the opportunity to explode in the future.
Nottingham Forest Football Club accepted the punishment. But what could they do even if they did not accept it? The era of Nottingham Forest's reputation in European football had passed. Now that they were insignificant, the UEFA was already lenient by not suspending Wood for half a year.
Having lost two of their key players, Forest's trip to Lisbon was not very promising.
Even though Tang En still had a variety of choices and combinations in the forward line, Tang En found that there was only one George Wood in the defensive midfield position. He did not even have a qualified substitute. The home game against Sporting Lisbon had already proved that Gunnarsson could not replace George Wood's role. If the away game was arranged in the same way, Tang En reckoned that his team would die a worse death.
As the team's manager, Tang En was already considering selling Gunnarsson at the end of the season and finding a qualified substitute for Wood.
He was not worried about Wood's health, but the red card had sounded an alarm in him — Wood was not the kind of good-tempered person. The English Premier League's competition was fierce, and it was inevitable that there would be conflicts. Wood would definitely have a lot of chances to get red cards in the future. When Wood was suspended due to accumulating yellow cards or red cards, there must be a substitute that Tang En could be at ease with. It could not be as good as Wood, but it could not be too bad either.
In fact, there were many times when choosing a substitute was more difficult than choosing a main player. Because a main player could be a main player as long as you had the ability. A substitute not only needed to have the ability, but also the psychological quality to be on the bench and be able to endure loneliness. Especially to be a substitute for a player like Wood who was not injured all year round, it was a tough job.
Which player would be willing to stay on the substitute bench most of the time? Almost none. But the team could not afford to not have a strong substitute line-up. Rotation might be a good idea, but it was only a possibility. The stability of the line-up and the rotation system itself were a pair of spears and shields.
Moreover, to rotate the defensive midfielder position … it sounded a little unbelievable. The most important thing for a defensive midfielder was stability. Rotating back and forth, not only would the players participating in the rotation feel uncomfortable, but the entire team would also be at a loss.
In Tang En's mind, if the Forest team were to become so strong that they needed to rotate players in order to satisfy the need for multiple battles, then there were two positions that he would definitely not rotate. One was the goalkeeper, and the other was George Wood.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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