Dunn had not given him a reply, and Tang En knew that waiting was not the way to go. Now that the First Team coaching staff had not returned from their vacation, he could not do anything alone.
He remembered that he had not been to the Forest youth team for a long time. Although there would be reports on the youth team sent to his desk every once in a while, looking at the data in the report was not the same as going to the training ground to see the person in person.
If Allan and Evan's new stadium plan was implemented, then he would not get much transfer money in the new season. If he wanted to compete with other strong teams and tycoons in the transfer market for star players, he would appear to be lacking in confidence without a strong financial backing. Tang En thought of "Professor" Wenger, who had tightened his belt for the sake of the new Emirates Stadium. Arsenal could use their strong youth training system to supplement the team's lineup. Why couldn't Nottingham Forest do the same? The level of Nottingham Forest's youth training was also one of the best in England.
Maybe they could not produce a second Bale or Wood, but they could produce a few qualified rotation players, right?
Tang En went straight to the youth training base in the north of Wilford with this thought in mind.
Unlike the First Team, the youth team had already resumed training. In addition, the football summer camp for schools was in full swing. Before he walked in, Tang En could hear the sounds of laughter and whistles coming from inside.
Wearing sunglasses, he quietly hid in the shade of a tree and observed quietly. He did not want to meet the youth training director, Ian Greenwood, yet. He decided to observe for himself first to have a grasp of the situation.
There were many people outside the five regular fields of the youth training base. Most of them were the parents of the children playing on the field, and some were scouts from other clubs.
Just as Southampton could not stop Tang En from poaching Bale, Nottingham Forest could not stop the scouts from other teams from coming here to poach their players.
The youth training base was very lively. You would not see such a scene during the season because more children were scattered in various schools or training camps in other places. Those training camps were not big. There were only more than 50 children in each camp, under the charge of eight coaches. These training camps did not belong to the Forest team's regular youth team. Children who were interested in football could receive basic training there. Then, at the end of every month, Nottingham Forest would gather these children in Wilford for intensive training and competition. They would select talented children from among them and sign apprenticeship contracts with them. Only then would they be considered to have officially entered the Forest team's door.
It was now summer, and the children from each training camp returned to Wilford under the leadership of their respective coaches to participate in the football summer camp. They played together to test the results of a year of training. If he performed well, he might catch the eye of the professional scouts, or be promoted to the regular Forest youth team, or … be lured away by the scouts of other teams with their glib tongues.
The youngest of these children was six years old, and the oldest was eighteen. They were divided into groups according to their age. Although it was noisy, everything was in order. This was thanks to the effect of Nottingham Forest's decades of management system.
Jenas, Michael Dawson, and Andy Reid were these children's idols. Now, their goals were George Wood and Gareth Bale, who had led the team to lift the Champions League, and Wes Morgan.
Tang En looked at each age group.
For the time being, he did not find a child who could make his eyes light up.
He was a little disappointed. He did not know if it was because the Forest team's youth training standards could not compare to Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, or because he was used to seeing world-class star players and was not interested in these immature children.
After all, not everyone had the dazzling talent of George Wood and Gareth Bale, who could be easily found in a large group.
After looking around, Tang En decided to look for Ian Greenwood to see if he had any good seedlings to recommend.
※ ※ ※
Ian Greenwood was leading the Forest U18 team in daily training. These people were the closest to professional football. Some of them could be promoted to the Forest team's first team if they were lucky. Those who were unlucky could only go elsewhere to find a way out, or hang around in the reserve team.
Professional football was not as beautiful as people thought, where opportunities were everywhere and you could become a big star player with just a few kicks.
In addition to having the indispensable talent, success also required a lot of luck.
George Wood and Gareth Bale were the best products of the Forest youth training system so far. Their success had attracted the attention of the big powerhouses. It was not the first time George Wood had been linked with transfer rumors. Gareth Bale was also rumored to have many clubs wanting to get him.
Their success increased the pressure on Ian Greenwood.
The two of them were discovered and groomed by Tony Twain when he was the youth director. Bale might have some relationship with Greenwood, but the more dazzling George Wood was completely Tang En's direct disciple.
With these two people in front, people had high expectations for the Forest youth team. They were looking forward to the youth team having a blowout and continuously producing excellent players. But in reality, it was not going to be easy.
Everyone hoped to have "Busby's children" and "Ferguson's class 92" appear in their hands. But such a large-scale concentration of geniuses at an age group required too many combined factors.
There were a few good seedlings among the U18 team that Greenwood was currently leading. If it had been the Forest team four years ago, they would have been directly promoted to the first team and could play as the main force. But now …
To be honest, the Forest youth team's training standards could not keep up with the Forest first team's development speed. It was not that the youth team's standards had declined, but the first team's rise was too fast.
Tang En's request for the club to increase the investment in the youth training base was definitely not a spur of the moment decision. He was also well aware of the contradiction between the two. It was impossible to let the first team slow down and wait for the youth team to catch up. The only way was to move forward and raise the level of the youth team to a very high level. Just like Abramovich's Chelsea, where they threw money to build the most modern youth training camp, bought the best equipment, took a high salary to poach the best youth team coaches, and then took the money to hire the best youth team in the football world. They used the money to poach outstanding young geniuses from all over the world. When these things were pieced together, Chelsea's standard leaped into the top four, keeping pace with the established youth teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Ian Greenwood still did not know that the club did not intend to increase the investment in the youth team immediately. If he knew, how would he feel?
From afar, the players saw the first team manager, Tony Twain, walk into the training ground. They were happy to greet the legendary manager who had walked out of the youth team.
The sound startled Greenwood. He turned his head and saw Tang En. He threw the whistle to his assistant and quickly walked up.
"Tony, you're a rare guest," he joked.
When Tang En was the manager of this training base, he was Tang En's assistant coach. Later, when Tang En left, Tang En's assistant manager, Kerslake, was promoted to the youth team manager, and he became Kerslake's assistant manager. Later, Dunn became the manager here with his outstanding professional knowledge and coaching skills, and he became Dunn's assistant. In the end, Dunn only stayed here for a short season before Tang En dropped him into the first team and directly became his assistant manager. Ian Greenwood, who had been a daughter-in-law for many years, could finally become the head of youth training.
"I'm here to see the results of your work." As an old superior, Tang En did not speak with much politeness.
"I thought the first team only bought players from outside." Since it was an old relationship, Greenwood was not so polite when he spoke.
Tang En smiled crookedly. "How can there be such a good thing? If you have money, they might not come. If they are willing to come, you don't have to. "
Greenwood looked at Tang En's expression and suddenly thought of a possibility. He asked tentatively, "Hey, Tony. Don't tell me you're out of money and want to come here to find some cheap goods? "
"Hey!" Tang En glared at him. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by cheap goods? They are the hope of our team's future! "Tang En said righteously as he pointed at the youngsters who were training harder and more seriously. "But … money has been a little tight recently."
Greenwood laughed.
"It's so lively outside. Didn't you notice anything good?" He pointed into the distance. The U18 training was at the northernmost part of the base, which was also the innermost part. It was much quieter here than outside.
Tang En shook his head. "There are too many people. I didn't notice anything for a while. But aren't your people there too? Didn't they tell you anything interesting? "
"We'll find out in a few days."
"Well … Alright, let's get straight to the point. Do you have anyone here that can be recommended to the first team? "Tang En asked.
"So it's like this …" Greenwood glanced at Tang En, the corner of his mouth curving slightly. "You have to find them yourself, Tony."
Again with this trick!
Paul Hart's traditional game had become a part of the Forest coaches' repertoire.
Tang En glared at Greenwood, then stood at the side of the field and observed carefully.
His line of sight was first attracted by a tall man. It was not that the tall man's play was outstanding. People were used to placing their first glance on those with outstanding figures, regardless of gender. For example, this young man was too tall. It was hard to not believe that one could not see him.
He whistled and said to Greenwood beside him, "This kid is at least six feet three inches, right?"
Greenwood knew who he was referring to. He shook his head. "No, six feet seven inches."
Tang En was shocked by the number.
Six feet three inches was about 1.94 meters, while six feet seven inches was more than two meters.
He sized up the big man again. He was taller than everyone on the field. Two meters was not an exaggeration.
"How old is he?"
"Seventeen."
"Hmm …" Tang En did not say anything and continued to observe.
The giant played as a center back on the field. He was doing header practice. His height gave him an advantage in the air. Generally speaking, players with such a height usually did not have a good jump, because their body structure determined that they could not jump too high. However, the man in front of him had an outstanding jump.
After finishing his header practice, he followed his teammates to do a shuttle run.
His speed was not slow either.
Tang En had some interest in this giant in the air who was not slow and had an outstanding jump. He asked, "What's his name?"
"Aaron Mitchell. He's now the core of the team's defense. His physical qualities are excellent, but his shortcomings are also very obvious. His tackling skills are terrible, and headers are not considered good for his height. "
Tang En nodded. "Train for two years and see the results. If it's possible, let's loan him out to train. His body is his talent. As for his skills … we'll take it slow. "
The two of them let go of the big giant and went to search for their next target.
When the youth team's assistant manager saw the First Team manager come, he knew what Tang En was here for.
Without consulting the youth training director, Ian Greenwood, he made the decision to change the training plan on his own and let the players on the field split up to compete.
Ever since Tang En became the youth training director, he had set a principle for the Forest team's youth training base: "Everything is based on actual competition as the standard." Every team had their own characteristics and traditions. Currently, the Forest team's tradition was "Results first, competition first." Therefore, in the youth team, training was also required of the youngsters according to competition standards. If a youngster's fancy flips were very good and could win a lot of cheers, Tang En would also be dismissive of it. Because the competition would not give you a chance to play on the field alone. He demanded that the training must be integrated with the ball. Training that did not integrate with the ball was worthless in his eyes. It was just running laps. Everyone had to run with the ball. From the youth team above the age of 17 all the way to the adult team, such training principles were adhered to. With the ball, competition, and confrontation were the main focus.
Tang En was very happy with this temporary change. He could more intuitively understand the comprehensive abilities of these players — techniques, psychological qualities, physical qualities, and competitive state. Regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, they would all be exposed in the competition. There was nowhere to hide.
After the game began, one person quickly attracted Tang En's attention. His gaze followed this person the entire time.
At a young age, he wore the number 10 jersey of the Forest youth team.
He dribbled the ball to break through from the right side of the field. No one could stop him. Sometimes he would switch to the middle for a long shot, but it was clear that he preferred to move around on the sidelines because there were too many defenders in the middle, making it difficult for him to break through. It was different on the sidelines.
His technique was excellent, he liked to overtake people, and he was fast.
The defending side often needed to use two or three players to attack him. If it was a one-on-one, he would mercilessly overtake them.
※ ※ ※
"Hey, Adde! You're too cunning! " The defender who was defending the number 10 complained when he got close. "Although the First Team manager is on the sidelines, you don't have to be so heartless, do you?"
The number 10 laughed. "James, if you can stop me, won't you leave a deeper impression on the manager?"
The other side froze for a moment when he heard this. "You're right … Ah!"
Just as he was in a daze, No. 10 slipped past him like a loach, and a beautiful separation of the ball and the human!
"You sly liar, Adriano!"
※ ※ ※
"That number 10, what's his name?" Tang En pointed at the number 10 player on the field with his mouth.
"Moke, Adriano Moke. He's the most technically outstanding player in this team. Although he still looks a little immature, he's improving very quickly. "
Tang En nodded. This kid's technique was indeed outstanding, and he was also very courageous. He knew that he was watching from the side, so he was particularly active.
But, unfortunately … his usual position was the right midfielder. Currently, the First Team already had Ashley Young and Aaron Lennon in that position. When July came, there would be another Beckham. The team would be overcrowded, and there might not be a place for this kid for the next few years.
Tang En thought about it and asked again, "Can he play in other positions?"
"He's fine in the middle of the midfield, but … he prefers to play on the right flank. And compared to his skills with his right foot, his left foot can be described as terrible. Other than the right midfielder and the center midfielder, he can't adapt to other positions. "
Tang En shook his head lightly. If it really did not work, he would just sell him after he was groomed. On one hand, he could earn some money for the club, and on the other hand … it would not delay the kid.
After that, Tang En and Greenwood watched for a long time on the sidelines. He observed some players and then found Greenwood to ask about the specific situations of those players before making a judgment.
The final result was … he did not find a player who could be directly dropped to the First Team, but he saw some good seedlings. If groomed well and with some luck, these people had the ability to become future rotation players in the Forest First Team. They might even become the main force in other mid-tier Premier League teams.
He felt that this was the reality. How could there be so many world-shocking geniuses in the world that he could scoop up? He had no money and no power. How could he compete with Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea for young geniuses?
Because the reputation of Wenger's Arsenal youth training was too great, many young geniuses would rather go to Arsenal to be groomed by the professors than to come to other teams. But how could they know that Arsenal's youth team gathered geniuses from all over the world? If they were not particularly outstanding, how could they have a chance to shine? Everyone wanted to become the next Cesc Fàbregas. Was it that easy? When Theo Walcott first joined Arsenal, he caused a sensation in England and even in Europe. Now? Fàbregas was the core of Arsenal's midfield, and Walcott could only be a substitute. In Tang En's view, there was nothing good about the kid other than his speed. He did not know how to use his brain to play football and only knew how to rely on his speed to play.
He decided to look further and let the scouts move around. He went to the youth teams of other clubs to poach those geniuses who had yet to make a name for themselves. Perhaps there would be some unexpected gains.
Tang En came empty-handed and returned empty-handed. After watching the match, he chatted with the youth team coaches for a while and left. He did not call one of the coaches to speak to him alone, much to the disappointment of the children in North Wilford. Everyone knew that it was rare for the First Team manager to come here once a year. They finally had a chance to perform in front of him, but in the end, no one was selected.
It was too depressing.
Tang En clapped his hands and left. Greenwood was going to have a headache. He still had to be responsible for comforting the injured hearts of this group of children, letting them set a new goal and continue to train hard.
※ ※ ※
This group of children did not know that Tang En still had a few promising players in mind, but they were still too young. Distant water could not quench the present thirst.
In the afternoon, Tang En went for a spin around the reserve team. This time, he picked a substitute goalkeeper.
Paul Gerrard had retired and Edwin van der Sar was old, but his form was still there. If there were no accidents, he could still play at a high level for another year. But who could say for sure what would happen in the future? In case of an injury, or a sudden downturn in form, Akinfeev would have to take over. It was best for a team's First Team to ensure that there were three goalkeepers. Only then would there not be an awkward situation like no one guarding the goal.
Tang En had encountered this many times when he was playing the game. In the past, he always found it troublesome to find a substitute goalkeeper. Those with high ability were unwilling to be substitutes, and those with low ability were looked down upon by him as a manager. In the end, it was always two goalkeepers playing in the game. If both the main goalkeeper and the substitute goalkeeper were injured, the result was that he had no choice but to use anyone as the goalkeeper. Fortunately, it was a game. If it were in reality, he would have lost a lot of face.
Last season, he had been having a headache about where to buy a substitute goalkeeper. In the end, it was Dunn who helped him out by saying that Paul Gerrard was a good substitute. This good substitute sustained a fractured skull in the match against Reading in October and continued to miss the entire season.
After that, the Forest team used two goalkeepers to play the rest of the game. One was the main goalkeeper, and the other was the young goalkeeper who was returning to the First Team from the reserve team this time. He was only 20 years old, Dale Roberts.
A year ago, he was still an inexperienced goalkeeper in the U19 youth team. But Paul Gerrard's injury gave him a chance to come to the First Team and experience true professional football. He had grown considerably in this year, and his few appearances in the cup competitions had also made the coaching staff acknowledge his ability. So, in the new season, he would replace the retired Paul Gerrard and become the team's third goalkeeper.
This was the first new member of the Forest team in the new season. Strictly speaking, he was not considered "new." He had been temporarily dropped into the First Team last season. Now, he was just back.
The Forest team's recruitment work had not officially begun, but Tang En was already about to start.
The name list was basically confirmed. It was just a matter of contacting the player's agent.
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