Eighty-nine minutes. Forest's Andy Reid planned what was perhaps their last threatening attack of the second half. A beautiful one-two in front of the penalty area. David Johnson and Marlon Hailwood attracted the attention of almost all the Grimsby players. Eugen Bopp unexpectedly appeared in the penalty area from the back. He received Reid's straight pass and faced the goalkeeper alone!
All the fans in the stadium, all the Nottingham Forest fans, stood up. They were waiting for a miracle!
Even Tang En, who had been like a puppet just now, rushed down from the manager's seat, hoping to take the opportunity to celebrate the goal.
But … Eugen Bopp's powerful shot went wide of the goal.
"Woo!" The loud sighs could not hide the fans' disappointment.
Tang En directly threw the suit jacket in his hands to the ground. He did not hide the anger and disappointment in his heart. Even though this loss was largely caused by his own hands. The only thought in his mind was: I must get Bopp to practice shooting properly when I get back!
The photographers on the sidelines became excited when they saw Tang En's impulsive performance. They had been waiting for this moment. Their fingers quickly pressed the shutter again, capturing Tang En's flamboyant action in the camera.
"This is the best chance! But Eugen Bopp wasted it! Listen to the sighs in the City Ground … The miracle did not happen again. Manager Tony Twain's good luck is over! "
The moment Tang En threw his suit jacket to the ground, the Grimsby manager next door suddenly jumped up. His team had survived this disaster and victory was close at hand. He did not expect to get three points in this game. Perhaps these three precious points would decide whether they would stay in Division One or be relegated to Division Two this season!
Bopp, who had missed the crucial shot, lay on the ground in disappointment. He covered his face with his hands. He did not even dare to look at the fans' angry and disappointed gazes. To him, he had lost a great opportunity to become the team's hero and make all the fans fall in love with him overnight. And such an opportunity would not appear again in front of a defensive midfielder like him.
As Bopp's shot, which was almost certain to score, missed, Forest lost their fighting spirit and confidence. For the rest of the game, they appeared distracted on the field, as if hoping for the game to end quickly. Hailwood spread his hands helplessly in the front field. No one passed the ball to him. Although he scored a goal in this game, he was unable to save the team from a crisis.
Tang En picked up his clothes from the ground, then walked back to the technical area and sat down.
"Des, did you know? Yesterday, I just taught a lesson to an arrogant kid here, warning him not to underestimate professional football, or he would be punished. But now, I've made the same mistake as him … "His voice was low as he murmured in low spirits. "The responsibility for this match is entirely on me. I lost … I have nothing to say."
Des patted Tony on the shoulder and comforted him, "Tony, it's good to have consecutive victories. But no one has never experienced failure. Take it easy. " At that moment, he was like an old coach who had been through hundreds of battles, while Tang En was just a player who had just been replaced and was deeply disappointed with his own performance.
A minute later, the referee on duty blew the final whistle. Before the game, Forest, which had been pinned on by many people, lost 1: 2 to the league's last place team, Grimsby Town. To outsiders who did not know Tang En well, this was not his first defeat as the manager of Forest's First Team. But to Tang En himself, this was his first defeat — in the FA Cup match against West Ham United. Until now, he had insisted that he had won the match, only to lose to the referee.
Hearing the whistle, Tang En got up from his seat. The players lowered their heads and walked past him into the players' tunnel. Walker was comforting them one by one. Their disaster had ended, but his … had just begun.
He glanced at the media surrounding the tunnel. This was a tough "match." He had to brace himself to deal with the sarcastic media. Those people were waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
After the match, in the press conference hall of the City Ground stadium.
It was not Tang En's first time coming to such a place. Some of the reporters who interviewed him could already recognize them from the crowd. For example, he saw Pierce Brosnan again.
Sitting beside Tang En was his opponent for this match, Grimsby Town's manager, 37-year-old Paul Groves, who was three years older than him. He had led the team to victory and was in a good mood, accepting the reporters' questions with a smile on his face. But the main character of this press conference was not him.
After answering a few very ordinary questions, he was given the cold shoulder. Almost everyone's firepower was focused on Tang En's side.
"Manager Tang En, before the match, everyone thought it would be an easy win, but it ended in a loss. Do you have anything to say?" The local Nottingham media were the most dissatisfied with this match, so the questions they asked were sharp and merciless. Don't be fooled by the fact that they had praised Tang En for being the best manager. Once they lost, they immediately turned hostile.
Tang En glanced at the reporter who asked the question. He was unfamiliar, but he should be from Nottingham's local media because the reporter's English accent had a strong Nottingham accent. "I have nothing to say. A loss is a loss. Grimsby Town's manager did a good job. His team deserved to win. "
This kind of perfunctory answer clearly did not satisfy the media, so someone stood up and asked, "But before the match, you and your players were full of confidence. There was even someone who promised that the team would win consecutively during the interview …"
"Bullsh * t!" Tang En suddenly burst out with vulgarities. The entire audience was stunned. "Go find the person who said that. I've never said on any occasion that we could win easily and achieve six consecutive victories. Are you an idiot? " Tang En stood up and leaned over to ask, "The match hasn't been played yet. How would I know what the result would be? How could I say something like a winning streak? Do you understand football? "
The reporter did not expect Tang En to suddenly get angry. He stood rooted to the ground for a while, not knowing what to say or what to do. Tang En sat back down and changed his sitting position. He crossed his legs and said, "Okay, next."
Pierce Brosnan had followed Robson to interview Tang En. Although he embarrassed himself twice, he still looked at the person in front of him fairly and objectively from the perspective of a journalist. He had his strengths and weaknesses. As for the vulgarities at the press conference, he thought it was because Manager Tang was too stressed after losing the match. Having interviewed him before, Brosnan thought he understood his motives better than anyone else. He decided to reverse the awkward situation in front of him. So he stood up.
"Ah!" Tang En did not wait for Brosnan to speak. He spoke first. "James Bond has something to say."
There was finally some laughter at the scene. The awkwardness just now was wiped away just like that.
Brosnan did not mind the nickname Tang En gave him. He smiled and asked, "May I ask, Manager Tang, how will the loss of this match affect the team's promotion plans?"
The question was standard, but Tang En liked it now. He did not need to be angry and fight to the death with the reporter. "There will definitely be an impact, but it's hard to say whether it's good or bad. Just like how we don't know what the final score of a match will be before it starts, the season is not over yet. We also don't know what impact this loss will have. "
Tang En was tired of being surrounded by the media. In reality, he did not know what other tricky questions he would be asked if he continued. He was not good at dealing with the media that fought as a group. So, he kicked the football to the feet of the winner beside him.
"Everyone, I think you've got something wrong. The winner of this match is Grimsby, not my Nottingham Forest. The winner should be the main character, right? So … if you have any questions, ask Mr. Groves! I'm sorry, I have to go. "With that, he ignored everyone's surprised gazes and turned to walk off the stage, quickly leaving the scene.
Brosnan stood where he was and watched Tang En's hurried back. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Returning to the locker room, Tang En found that the entire team was there. Not a single one had left. Looking at the dejected players, Tang En smiled. His mood suddenly improved.
He thought about what it was like two months ago during halftime of the loss to West Ham United. He knew why Tang En was happy. A team and player that were in a bad mood after losing a match would have a bright future. On the contrary, if they were still smiling after losing as if nothing had happened, Tang En reckoned that he would have picked up a chair and smashed the locker in the locker room.
"Alright, guys. Don't be so depressed. We only lost one match. We didn't lose the entire season. Wait until we lose this season, then you can come cry. "Tang En clapped his hands, indicating that he had returned.
As the captain, Michael Dawson stood up. He wanted to apologize to the bishop who had trusted him for this defeat. But just as he opened his mouth, Tang En stopped him with a hand gesture.
"The responsibility for this match's defeat is all on me. There's nothing wrong with you guys. You guys did well. That's all I have to say. Now go out and take a car back to the hotel. Take a hot shower, change into clean clothes, and do whatever you want. " Realizing that no one moved, Tang En sighed. "Alright then. No one is allowed to leave the hotel tonight. Everyone goes to bed at 10 o 'clock sharp. There will be no holiday tomorrow. The team will train in isolation for a week until the next match … Oh, no, until you guys win."
"Oh, no!" The players finally reacted. They did not expect this kind of punishment.
Tang En chuckled. "Since you guys don't want this, then hurry up and get in the car!"
A group of players hurriedly jumped out of their seats and rushed out of the locker room. Dawson wanted to apologize to the manager as he passed by, but Tang En gave him a slap. "Put away your apologies, Michael. Have a good holiday, then come back to train for the match. "
Very soon, there were only three people left in the locker room.
Tony Twain, Des Walker, and Ian Bowyer.
"Tony, you seem to be in a better mood?" Walker was very concerned about his partner. "Did something happen at the press conference?"
Bowyer shook his head. "When he first stepped through the door, I saw that he didn't look too good. You're doing it because of the team, right? "
Tang En nodded. "It's just a loss. I don't care about things like records. The key is that I see good signs in these players. This defeat was just an accident. We haven't deviated from the track. The team is still speeding along the road to the Premier League. Let's go. Don't think about the past matches. Let's go drink at Burns' bar tonight and relax. "
After locking the door, the three of them walked side by side to the bus outside the stadium.
After five consecutive wins, Forest suffered a defeat. But for Tang En himself, it was just the starting point for another five consecutive wins.
Some people would only blame themselves in the face of defeat, or hang their heads in dejection and fear as if the end of the world had come. On the other hand, some people were able to find what they needed from failure. So, what awaited the former was one match after another and more defeats, while what welcomed the latter was a new victory.
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