Tang En, who had returned home, could only vent his disappointment to Dunn. After all, Dunn had done this for a long time. He listened to Tang En complain as he ate.
"… Damned Celts! Damn it! If it weren't for them, Roy Keane would be my man now! We would have a player in the midfield who would make all opponents tremble in fear, a valiant general, a commander! He can help me win all the championships, and he can still play at a high level for three more years, instead of running to a cold Glasgow to retire! And it's not a good place to retire, much worse than Qatar … "Tang En finally muttered.
Dunn finished his meal and tidied up the plates. He glanced at Tang En, who was still a little agitated. "In that case, the media will say that Nottingham Forest is the new nursing home."
"I don't f * * king care what the media say." Tang En took a bite of his beef.
"And we have Wood in the midfield."
"You mean George? He's still young, and he still has a lot to learn. Roy Keane is a good teacher, but the time is too short. I don't know what he has learned, or if he has learned nothing. "
"If you don't know, you'll know during the game."
Tang En sighed. "Dunn, my original plan was good — Albertini taught George how to be a qualified midfielder and professional player. Now it looks like the results are good. George is much better than when he first entered the First Team. And then Keane, well, the two of them have similar temperaments and personalities. I want George to become that kind of player, with the ability to lead a team. Why did Manchester United succeed? Because they had Roy Keane. I think you know this better than I do. "
Dunn nodded. In the 1997-98 season, Wenger's Arsenal won the Double. Roy Keane only played nine games for Manchester United that season because of a knee injury. At the end of the season, Ferguson admitted that without Keane, Manchester United was simply unable to compete with Arsenal.
Roy Keane's role and status in Manchester United were no longer as simple as a captain. To a large extent, he represented the spirit of Manchester United. He was the pillar of Manchester United. It was almost impossible for others to associate the name "Roy Keane" with other teams. When it came to Keane, they would think of Manchester United. When it came to the Manchester United captain, it was definitely not Beckham or Gary Neville, but Roy Keane. He was even considered by many Manchester United fans to be the greatest and most successful captain in Manchester United's history. His status had surpassed "King" Cantona and the other legendary captains in history.
In football, there is a word that vividly describes this kind of person – flag.
Paolo Maldini is the flag of AC Milan, Raul Gonzalez is the flag of Real Madrid, Del Piero is the flag of Juventus, Oliver Kahn is the flag of Bayern Munich … and Roy Keane is the flag of Manchester United.
Tang En hoped that one day, George Wood could also become a flag bearer for Nottingham Forest. So, he hoped that Keane could give Wood more help and guidance in the Forest team, so that his path to becoming a flag bearer would be closer and less detours.
But now …
"My plans are all ruined …" Twain leaned back in his chair and spread his hands.
"I remember you told me that you can't make plans in football."
"Ah …"
※ ※ ※
No matter how unwilling Tang En was to let Keane go, there was no way to change it now. The only thing that was gratifying was that, through this incident, he and Keane, who originally had no relationship, became friends. Perhaps this would be a good thing in the future. After all, as an "outsider," it was always better to be able to have one more friend in football than one more enemy.
On the second day of training, Roy Keane showed up on time on the other half of the field. Tang En went over to greet him, and then he would continue to lead the team to train. Everyone was already used to this scene, and they no longer stared at her like they did on the first day.
But now, they probably did not know that this was the last time Keane appeared on Wilford's training ground.
After returning home yesterday, Tang En paid attention to the major media and did not find any news about Keane's transfer to Celtic. Keane could not have lied to him, so there was only one possibility: the news had not been made public yet, and he, Tony Twain, was perhaps the first to know about it other than the two parties involved. From this point of view, Keane really regarded Tang En as a friend.
Because the entire team in the squad list had to go away tomorrow to prepare for the game against Aston Villa, there was only half a day of training in the morning today. After the training, George Wood, as usual, arranged extra training for himself.
The coaching staff and all the players on the team knew that this had become Wood's habit. Half a day of training might be too easy for him. As long as it was only half a day of training, he would give himself an extra forty minutes of training after training.
But when the players on the training ground returned to the locker room one after another and came out of the locker room to shower and change before leaving the training base, in addition to George Wood, Roy Keane was also on the training ground.
This was the first time he had given himself extra training in these ten days.
Wood was practicing his passing, while Keane was practicing his shooting.
Twenty-five minutes later, Keane was the first to leave the training ground. He returned to the locker room with a body full of sweat and dragged his clothes to the next room to take a shower. He did not stand under the shower, but lay in the pool to take a bath.
Fifteen minutes later, Keane heard the sound of the door opening from the locker room. He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was exactly forty minutes from the end of the training, not a minute more, not a minute less.
This kid …
After the rustling sound of undressing, George Wood walked naked into the steaming bathroom, turned on the faucet, reached out to test the water temperature, and then put his whole body under the shower to let the hot water pour from head to toe.
Just as he closed his eyes to enjoy the relaxing moment after the training, a voice made him reflexively tense up his body.
"Hey, kid."
It was Roy Keane's voice.
"What are you nervous about?"
Wood relaxed his body and continued to stand under the shower, doing nothing, letting the water pour down from his head.
"Don't tell me you don't know who I am. We've even exchanged jerseys."
"… Keane, Roy; Keane." Wood finally spoke.
Keane grinned and chuckled twice, "It seems that you haven't forgotten me. Remember what I said to you when we exchanged jerseys? 'We'll play often, don't let me down, kid.' It's a pity that we won't play often … I'm going to Glasgow tomorrow. Do you know where it is? The capital of Scotland. I'm going there to sign a contract with a team. At that time, I didn't think that one day I would leave Manchester United early … "Keane changed his sitting position in the pool, put his head on the edge of the pool, put his arms on the shore, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Although we won't play often, I'll continue to pay attention to you. Do you want to know why I pay so much attention to you, kid? "
Wood moved a little and turned to look at the figure in the pool. "Yes."
"Because you and I have some similarities, well, just some … Your talent is far worse than mine. Hey, I heard that Real Madrid was very interested in you some time ago. Why did you refuse in the end? It's a much bigger club than Nottingham Forest. When your current team has to fight hard for the Champions League qualification, they only consider failure if they don't win the title. If you go there, you'll soon become a star player who will be watched by the world. Countless halos, glory, and money will take the initiative to find you. Why don't you go? "
"I don't want to go."
"Hey, don't those glory and money appeal to you at all? Why did I transfer from the Forest team to Manchester United? Why did I insist on adding the condition 'if the Forest team is relegated, I can leave the team' when I renewed my contract with Nottingham Forest? Because I know Nottingham Forest is just a small team and they can't keep me. I have higher goals and more ambitious ideals. I want to win a lot of things … Hey, have you thought about this? Why do you play football, kid? "
Why do you play football? This question had been asked to George Wood by two people in just half a month. The first person was his manager, Tony Twain.
In the past, Wood wanted to play football because professional players had a high salary and could support himself and his mother and treat his mother's illness. Later, the Forest club paid to help them move out of the slums to pay for his mother's surgery. His goal of playing football had been achieved, so what else was he doing it for?
After thinking for a long time, Wood lowered his head and said, "I don't know …"
Keane did not mean to embarrass Wood on this issue, but changed the subject. "By the way, I heard you're the team's second captain now. How does it feel to wear the captain's armband? "
"It's … very complicated."
"Have you ever felt proud of it?" Keane asked.
Wood nodded.
"And then you also felt pressure and worry?"
Wood continued to nod.
Then Keane smiled. "That's right. I thought you were a monster with a heart of stone. Kid, what do you think a captain does? "
Wood recalled what Tang En and Albertini had said to him in the past. "Help your teammates solve problems and lead the team to victory …"
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"It's not that simple, kid. When I played for Nottingham Forest, I met a very, very good captain, and I still have to thank him. Stuart Pearce, have you heard of this name? "
Wood nodded. He still knew about the Forest team's best captain.
"He opened the eyes of a young kid like me. He let me know what a professional player is, what a good professional player is, and … he let me know what a captain is. So later, when I wore the Manchester United captain's armband at the age of 26, I seemed to be able to do it with ease. "
"Let me tell you … a captain must first be a man. Do you know what a man is, kid? "
Wood did not know how to answer Keane's question. Men … Did they not have that thing down there physiologically? He lowered his head.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support genuine reading!)
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