After the Forest team decided to participate in the talent show, they selected a coach from the youth department to go to China. He did not go with the older age group. Nottingham Forest did not send a coach to the older age group where the entire video was broadcasted. This coach mainly worked with the young age group. The young age group would not participate in television broadcasts or commercial shows. It was purely for the sake of selecting good seedlings to be trained in the UK. In the end, there would be four lucky ones who would be sent to three clubs for two years of training. Everton had two, Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest had one each.
In China, advertising was in full swing, and auditions in six major cities, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Changsha and Chengdu, had already begun. In late September, fourteen winners from the six divisions would be selected to go to Changsha to participate in the final general training camp and prepare for the finals. Then in January next year, during the China Lunar New Year, the finals would be broadcast live on television. Two professional football coaches from the United Kingdom and one from China would choose the final two winners and lucky ones.
This talent show was different from any talent show held by Hunan TV in the past — there was no audience voting. This was also a request from the British side, because it was necessary to ensure the professionalism and authority of the talent show. If there was a vote by text message like before, who knew if someone would buy text messages at a high price just to promote a person they liked but was really not good enough. This unexpected situation must be nipped in the cradle. The audience had no right to participate at all other than to watch the show. The final selection of the champion and runner-up was absolutely based on the vision and evaluation of the football coach.
There were no behind-the-scenes deals, as the participants were all ordinary youths who loved football. They did not have any special backgrounds or identities. Football was a "sport for the masses" and also a "sport for the masses". These youths between the ages of 14 and 19 had signed up to fulfill their dreams of playing professional football.
This was not the same as the dream of an acting star. Being a professional football player was more about professionalism. If you were an acting star, you could be a star if you were not good at singing or dancing, but you were beautiful. Singing out of tune could be solved by the various advanced equipment in the recording studio and the selection of special types of songs. If you were bad at dancing, you would not dance. If you did not know how to act, you would perform as yourself. As long as you were good-looking, you could even be a "vase." Why were there two factions in the entertainment industry, the "idol faction" and the "real talent faction"?
Professional players were not good enough. Even with Beckham's level of looks, if he did not know how to play football, it would be useless. The football circle was indeed a vanity fair, but there was a prerequisite. You had to have the ability to enter professional football. First, you had to become a qualified professional player. Only then would you be qualified to pursue or look forward to the colorful world.
We can hypothesize about Beckham's career. If he did not have the ability to accurately kick free kicks, long passes, and crosses, he did not have the dedicated spirit and tireless stamina, and he did not have the long-range lob shot of 70 yards, even if he was handsome, would Victoria like him? Would those advertisers take a liking to him? Will there be a place for him in the England national team? Would he become the leader of the Three Lions Legion? Will he play as the main force in the world's top clubs, Manchester United and Real Madrid? Would an unruly manager like Capello change his mind about him and put him back into the main lineup from the substitutes' bench? No, none of that would happen. He might be discovered by an entertainment agent on the street after playing football in obscurity for a few years, and then change his career to the entertainment industry. From then on, there might be a second-rate star called "David Beckham" in the entertainment industry, but there would be no change in the world of football — there were countless people who chose to enter and exit every day, and there were many cases of talented stars falling prematurely.
Professional football, as Tang En said. It was a place that only looked at strength. It was a very practical and utilitarian place. You could not rely on anything other than your own strength. Did you have a big corporate sponsor behind you? Without strength, you could only play a few times on the field during garbage time and put your face on the official website to fool the sponsors. When Hidetoshi Nakata first landed in Serie A, there was also a Japanese company behind him, but they were really capable, so they established themselves in Italy and even won the Serie A title. Or were you the son of a country's leader, a prince? Without strength, you could only show your face in the newspapers when you first joined the team, and then sit alone in the stands to cheer for your teammates during the game. Think about the experience of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Muammar Gaddafi Jr., playing football in Perugia …
So, this world was very cruel. Here, you could not believe in anything other than your strength. Tears? Sensationalism? Call in your parents and friends to tell a story about your family's poverty and dreams of changing your situation to gain sympathy points? Kneel down and kowtow to thank God? Get the audience to vote by text message to decide the champion? Don't be ridiculous. During the game, you could cry for the enemy to see and see if they would agree to let you break through and score a goal on account of your crying. Or go to FIFA and tell them that in the future, the champion of any game would be decided by the fans' text message voting. You could see if FIFA would agree to do that.
Tang En was very clear about all this. So, regardless of whether the talent show could produce a truly eye-catching genius, at least there would not be a Mr. Nanguo who could make up the numbers and still have a small success. Because even if they could pass the stage of the television talent show, they would immediately be exposed when they came to England. If they were not strong enough, they would return to where they came from after a year. The face of the sponsors? I'm sorry, this is a professional football club, not a "day trip" company.
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"Alright, let's throw the Football Kid talent show to Java! It's not up to me to worry about that kind of thing. Business is business, and football is football. I don't care if the person I choose in the end is a genius or a loser. I won't give him any special treatment just because he's a China kid. When he comes, he'll be directly assigned to the youth team … "
Tang En chattered in front of Dunn.
Dunn looked at him and said nothing.
Tang En could tell what he wanted to say from his gaze. "Don't worry, I won't give him special treatment. I have a normal heart. I never thought that this kind of talent show could pick out real professional players. 'Do I care if you play football' or 'We're not the runner-up' are just boring fantasy novels on the internet in China. It's impossible for them to appear. The best player in the past in the Philips National University League, who went to Holland for a trial … Who's that? Where is he now? Singapore League! "Tang En said disdainfully.
"You care so much about this matter and always talk about it. How can you say you have a normal heart?" Dunn expressed a different opinion. "To really have a normal heart is not to talk about this matter at all."
Tang En froze for a moment. He felt that what Dunn said made a lot of sense, so he made a throwing motion. "Okay, let's completely and completely forget about this matter. Let's discuss the opponent for the next round of the league tournament — that Reading … "
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Nottingham Forest had already achieved five consecutive victories at the start of the league tournament. It was the best start in their history, and everyone was looking forward to Tang En continuing to break this winning record. Having won the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, Nottingham Forest had been in excellent form recently. It was also a good time to break a new record.
However, Forest had once again disappointed everyone. In the away game, Forest and Reading tied at 2: 2.
With the passing of Paul Gerrard and Sidwell's transfer, the main reason was that as time passed, the hatred between the two teams was clearly not as serious as last season.
Although Coppell and Tang En still had a personal grudge, the game itself was close to normal.
The Reading team and the Forest team engaged in a fierce battle at home. Coppell did have some skill. Although he allowed the Forest team to score two goals, Reading also scored two goals for the Forest team.
In the end, the six-game winning streak that everyone was looking forward to came to an abrupt end. Nottingham Forest remained at the top with six games, five wins, one draw, and 16 points. The team ranked second in the league quietly changed. Arsenal, with one game less, was ranked second with four wins, one draw, and 13 points. Third was Manchester City, with four wins, two losses, and 12 points. Following them were Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea. The three teams all had 11 points.
The unluckiest was Chelsea. From the second place at the start of the league tournament to the current sixth place, their results had slipped too quickly. Now, rumors of a rift between Mourinho and Abramovich were flying everywhere. It looked like the team's results had also been affected by the discord between the general and manager.
Tang En did not think it was a rumor. He believed it was the truth. Because, with Mourinho's character, it would be strange if he could work peacefully with Abramovich for the past few years without any conflict. The basis of their previous cooperation was results. When the results were good, it was naturally good between the two of them. When there was a decline in the results, any hidden conflict could be exposed. Wasn't that the case now? Abramovich forcibly bought Shevchenko a season ago despite Mourinho's objections. This summer, he complained that Mourinho was empty-handed after last season. He did not win the Premier League title, the FA Cup title, and the Champions League title that he promised him was stopped at the semi-finals. There was only the EFL Cup title that was of little value.
Would such results satisfy Abramovich?
No.
Therefore, Mourinho did not even have a penny in transfer fees this summer. It was rumored that Abramovich had already laid his cards on the table with Mourinho — because the results of your team are not good, we have to tighten the purse strings this season to maintain a balance of payments.
Of course, to the outside world, Mourinho said, "Some people think that Chelsea's league titles in the past few seasons were bought with money, which is not convincing. Then, before the start of this season, I'm happy to see Arsenal and Manchester United plunder in the transfer market. "
Tang En did not know when Mourinho would leave Chelsea, even though it seemed that the temperamental manager's position was as stable as Mount Tai and he enjoyed absolute authority in the Chelsea team. But that was because everyone had inadvertently ignored the team's real overlord — Abramovich. Based on Tang En's understanding of the Russian tycoon, he was a very stubborn person who advocated a "strongman" style. Once he decided on something, even ten horses could not pull him back. He would do it swiftly and decisively, never giving others a chance to turn the tables. Think about Shevchenko. Before the Ukrainian nuclear warhead came to London, few people would believe that Chelsea really wanted to buy Shevchenko. Even if Mourinho objected, it could not change Abramovich's determination. So, Shevchenko announced that he would join Chelsea before the World Cup, and Abramovich got his dream striker.
It was also from this time that the rift between Mourinho and Abramovich grew wider and wider …
There would come a day when it would be irreconcilable.
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The draw with Reading did not put Tang En in a bad mood. He also did not have the mood to compete with Reading. To Nottingham Forest, Reading was nothing more than an ant under their feet. Have you ever seen a man compete with an ant for a long time? The reason why the game was a draw was also related to Tang En hiding some of the main players. His goal had long been set on the away game against Porto in the Champions League group stage.
Porto was where Mourinho started and was a former European champion. Although it was not as good as it used to be, it still had some prestige. Nottingham Forest had played against Portugal's Sporting Lisbon and Benfica. This time, it was Porto's turn.
Tang En could not underestimate this opponent, and the facts proved that his careful preparation was very useful.
Nottingham Forest, who sent their strongest lineup to Portugal, encountered very tenacious resistance at Porto's Dragon Stadium. After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, neither side scored a goal, and the game was tied at 0: 0. It was reasonable to say that getting a point in an away game was a good result. But Tang En once again carried forward his annoying "fine tradition." He said with a straight face in the post-match press conference, "We should have left with three points. I'm very dissatisfied with this result."
It was not the first time for Tang En to be so arrogant in someone else's territory. The Portuguese media had long seen the shamelessness of the English manager, so they did not make too much of a fuss. Now the media knew that the best way to deal with Tang En was not to quarrel with him, but to ignore him.
Nottingham Forest returned to Nottingham with a point, and Tang En had to start preparing for the league tournament without stopping.
It was also carefully prepared, but this time it was to welcome his old friend.
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