With that, the matter with George Wood was considered resolved. Tang En realized that he had made a huge mistake in the past. He did not look at Wood's physical condition at all, nor did he know which position his technical characteristics were suitable for. It was completely based on what position Wood said he wanted to play. In reality, even some professional players who had received training from a young age did not know what position they were really good at, let alone this kind of football rookie.
For example, Didier Drogba, the Ivorian "Beast" Drogba, who later squeezed Andri Shevchenko onto the bench at Chelsea, first played as a defender. The Portuguese striker, Nuno Gomes, also changed his position on the field many times, from defender to midfielder, and from midfielder to forward. Cafu, the captain of the Brazilian national team, and Lucio, the center back, both played as forwards when they debuted. They later switched to playing as defenders and became successful. The world-famous striker, "War," Gabriel Batistuta, even switched from playing basketball to playing football because football was more profitable than basketball. Then, a freak combination of factors created an illustrious striker in Argentina's history, and even in the history of world football. Batistuta himself also admitted that he did not like football at all. After leaving the training ground and the football field, he talked more about basketball with his friends at home.
These successful facts gave Tang En confidence. He felt that his decision to switch George Wood to a defensive midfielder was a wise and successful one. Wood did not have the talent to play as a striker. He did not know how to seize opportunities, how to move so that he could appear in an empty space when his teammates passed the ball, how to remain calm when facing the goalkeeper alone, and how to choose the right way to shoot.
Some things could be achieved through training, but some things could only be understood by oneself. If one did not have the talent, they would waste their entire professional career in a position that was not suitable for them.
Fortunately, he had gone to watch the youth team's match on a whim. Otherwise, how long would Wood walk on this wrong path? Who knew? Maybe in two months, maybe four months, he would discover that he had no future and be abandoned by the team.
The next day, the Nottingham Evening Post reported in an inconspicuous place that West Ham United's youth team striker, Freddy Eastwood, had been injured in a youth league match against Nottingham Forest. After the match, it was diagnosed that he had fractured his right calf and would miss the entire season. The recovery time was expected to be as long as ten months.
A young player's future might be ruined, but no one cared about it anymore. Since the beginning of football, things like this have happened all the time, like car accidents.
Professional football … was just that cruel and inhuman.
March 11th, match day.
Nottingham Forest, which had won five games in a row, would face Grimsby Town, which was previously last in the league, at their home ground.
"Thirty-five matches, seven wins, eight draws, and the losses …" Tang En looked at the statistical table in his hands and smacked his lips. "A total of twenty matches. Thirty-nine goals scored and seventy conceded. This is our opponent. "He could not help but whistle, which even attracted the attention of many players in the carriage.
"Tony, don't underestimate your opponent," Walker reminded. It looked more like a routine.
"I know, I know …" Tang En, who had just settled Wood's future, was in a good mood. He was also very relaxed to face a team that was last in the league. The team had already won five games in a row. Morale was high, and it was their home ground. What reason was there not to continue winning against such a terrible opponent?
He got up and turned to the players in the carriage. "Our opponent is very strong!"
A burst of laughter immediately rang out in the carriage.
"Don't slack off." Tang En did not hold back his laughter when he said this. Naturally, an even louder laughter answered him.
"Kill them!"
"Oh!!"
Looking at the players with high morale, Tang En sat down again and shrugged at Walker. "The danger has been eliminated." With that, he turned to look out the window. He could already see more and more Forest fans by the roadside. They were getting closer and closer to the stadium.
When the Forest team's red bus passed by them, these fans would raise the scarves and flags in their hands and wave them in greeting. Tang En even saw slogans singing praises for him among these people. The slogans of two young and beautiful blonde beauties read: Tony, we love you!
Tang En waved at them through the window, and the two girls sent him flying kisses. Whistling, he turned to stare at them until he could no longer see them. Turning back, Tang En closed his eyes, still reveling in it.
What a hot and soft girl, foreign women are so open-minded ….
The number of media reporting on this match was clearly much more than any of the previous matches. Nottingham Forest had already won five games in a row in the league. After being eliminated from the FA Cup by West Ham, they were undefeated in seven games. Of course, these were not all the reasons that attracted the media. Tang En's unique experience was also an important factor in attracting the public's attention. Everyone wanted to see what other miraculous performances this February's Manager of the Year, who had been knocked out by his own players, would have. His on-the-spot commands in the second half of the match against West Ham and the league match against Wimbledon were considered by many critics to be quite representative.
Tony Tang was currently enjoying the taste of becoming a national celebrity. From the moment he jumped off the bus, the media's microphones extended almost all the way to the door of the locker room. Everyone was asking how Forest and himself would perform in this match. Tang En answered with a smile, "Everyone will naturally know after the match is over!"
Everyone would naturally know after the match is over …
What a great sentence. It fully reflected the unpredictability of football matches and the correctness of the old saying "a football is round."
The City Ground slowly quietened down, but the match was not over yet. On the other hand, more than a thousand Grimsby fans were excited. Looking at the scoreboard, they had enough reason to celebrate in someone else's home ground.
There were still four minutes to the end of the match. The current score was 2: 1, with the visiting team, Grimsby in the lead.
Tang En sat in the technical area. He had already used up three substitutions. At this moment, there was nothing he could do but sit there and wait for the outcome.
That's right. He had become the focus of the media's attention. He could even guess what the media would be like tomorrow. The reporters on the sidelines all aimed their cameras at him, and the sound of their shutters did not stop. But in fact, they could only take one photo after 80 minutes, because Tang En had not changed his expression since then. He did not have any expression at all.
At this moment, Tang En was trying hard to maintain this expressionless posture, but his heart was beating faster in his chest. It was okay to lose the game, but he did not want to lose the game in this context — everyone thought they could win, even he himself did not doubt it. Everyone was singing praises for him, waiting for the good news of his six consecutive wins. And the result?
Damn it … Tang En could not help but want to say that word that started with an F.
Forest was like a headless fly bumping around on the field. Their offense and defense were disorganized. As time went by, the visiting Grimsby became calmer and calmer.
The Forest players certainly did not expect that what should have been an easy victory would be played so badly. They seemed to be spinning in a quagmire throughout the match. No matter how much strength they had, how beautiful their coordination was, or how sharp their attacks were, they could not perform at all.
Tang En glanced sideways at the opposing manager, who was standing on the sidelines directing the match.
Paul` Groves, a 37-year-old center back and the head coach of Grimsby Town. Another player-manager! But unlike Coventry City's manager, McAllister, Groves had been directing the match from the technical area the entire time. When he played, he was a center back and defensive midfielder. Most of the time, he was at the back of the field, observing the match. He had long learned to use his brain to think about the progress of the match, which was very helpful in his transition to being a manager.
Tang En did not think that he would lose to this part-time manager. He had long forgotten that he was also a rookie manager with only seven matches of experience.
At the beginning of the match, the home fans were full of anticipation. Forest scored in the 13th minute, and everything was developing in Nottingham Forest's favor. But in the last minute of the first half, Grimsby scored the equalizer. Then, just three minutes into the second half, Forest suffered another heavy blow, and Grimsby overtook them.
What followed was Forest's frenzied counterattack, and Grimsby went all out to defend. The city gates were tightly shut, and Forest could not do anything. It was already the 88th minute, and it looked like the hope of equalizing the score was getting slimmer, let alone winning.
"The 88th minute!" John Motson reminded. "We still remember the scene in the match against Wimbledon. The tenacious Forest team scored the winning goal in the 90th minute of the match. That was the starting point of their five-game winning streak. Now, can Tony Twain's Forest team still create a miracle? "
In front of the television, Kenny Burns shook his head. There were too many differences between that match and this one. In that match, other than the time when Wimbledon scored two goals, Forest had performed very well. They had basically controlled the pace of the match. But in this match? After Forest scored in the 13th minute, the pace of the match fell into the opponent's hands bit by bit. Forest could not perform the fast passing and cutting that they had displayed in the previous five matches. What was the result? In a one-sided pursuit of speed, the players frequently threw high balls, and the success rate was abysmally low.
Burns looked at the match with the eyes of a former professional player, and he had already sentenced Forest to death in advance. But what puzzled him was that if he could see the problem, Tang En would definitely be able to see it as well.
Why did he not make any adjustments when the team only had long passes, and instead allowed the situation of the match to continue to deteriorate?
The bar was dead silent. The fans all raised their heads to watch the match. In the last few minutes of the match, everyone hoped for a miracle.
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