The Nottingham Forest team left Istanbul, and the war of words between the English and Turkish media had just begun. The Beşiktaş fans partying all night outside the Forest team's hotel was revealed by Twain to the English media after the game. These off-field gimmicks had always been popular with the media.
The English media accused the Turkish fans of being uncultured and that this method of disturbing the opponent's players' rest was too underhanded. Of course, there were also English media that criticized Beşiktaş 'home discipline for being too poor. There were always debris thrown from the stands during the game, and the police did not take any substantial action to stop this unsportsmanlike spirit.
These were all irrefutable facts. The Beşiktaş fans partied all night under the hotel and made noise to disturb the Forest team, which was also evidenced by the photos provided by the Forest team.
It looked like the Turkish media could only bear the infamy.
But they quickly found a weapon to fight back.
There were live photos of Twain walking out of the technical area to direct the game. He picked up a red cell phone from the ground and threw it back into the technical area, presumably taking it for himself in the end.
Coupled with the controversial red card that sent Sağlam to the stands during the game, the Turkish media accused Tony Twain of being a thief, pointing out that not only did Twain steal a cell phone, but he also stole the victory that should have belonged to Beşiktaş from İNönü Stadium.
Following the media's heated speculation, the cell phone that Twain picked up during the game became one of the focuses of attention.
After the media zoomed in on the scene several times, they found that it was a red Apple iPhone. Apple took the opportunity to do a free advertisement.
The media ran to interview Twain and asked if he really "stole" the fashionable cell phone. Twain shook his head in denial. "No, I'm just keeping it for the time being. I've already spoken to the owner of the phone on the phone and promised to return it to her when she comes to England to watch the away game. "
The interviewing reporter noticed that Twain used "she" instead of "He," and he followed up with a gossipy question. "A beautiful woman?"
Twain was taken aback by the question and then looked at the other person as if he was an alien. "Mr. Reporter, you can tell what the other person looks like just from the voice on the phone, but I can't."
The reporter also realized that his question was too idiotic. However, Tang En did not say that it did not matter whether she was a beauty or not. His sharp senses told him that this was a gimmick that could be hyped up.
The story behind this mobile phone was indeed more interesting than a football match.
On the night that the game ended, Nottingham Forest did not spend the night in the hotel. Instead, they chose to take the night flight back to England. That was because Tang En had switched off his phone on the field. He did not turn it on even when he was on the plane. It was only when the plane arrived in London that he remembered to turn it on.
As soon as he turned on his phone, he received a call.
Tang En hesitated on whether to answer the call. After all, it was not his phone. After the match ended, he was busy celebrating his victory and had forgotten about it. He did not expect to bring it directly to England.
Just as Tang En was hesitating, the phone stopped ringing. It looked like the other party had gotten impatient and hung up. However, before Twain could heave a sigh of relief, the damned bell rang again.
This time, a somewhat annoyed Twain picked up the phone. "Hello …"
"Give me back my phone!" A woman's voice came from the other side, and her English was a little broken.
Tang En was amused by her words. "Shouldn't you be more polite and use honorifics when you have a request? This lady here. "
"Have you ever seen someone use honorifics for a thief, sir?" The woman retorted without showing any weakness. Although her English was not fluent, the emotion expressed was very clear — anger.
"Hey, my dear lady, if this is your phone, then you personally threw it to me. How can you say I stole it?"
"I …" The woman was speechless.
She had indeed thrown it herself. She had wanted to hit Tang En, but she did not expect it to miss. What she did not expect was that Tang En would actually bend over to pick up the phone and throw it back into the technical area, keeping it for himself!
She had thrown the phone because the atmosphere of the scene had gotten to her head. She wanted to teach the opposing coach a lesson and warn him. The people around her were throwing coins and lighters. She did not smoke, so naturally, she did not have a lighter. She had never carried coins with her. The only thing she could throw was the iPhone that she had just bought not long ago. So, in a moment of excitement …
After the match, when she calmed down, she regretted her actions back then. She did not feel the pinch even if she had thrown other things, but this phone was bought with great difficulty. The iPhone had not yet officially launched in Turkey. Naturally, she had to put in a lot more effort to buy it.
She thought of calling her own phone and negotiating to get it back. She did not expect her phone to be turned off countless times. The more she called, the angrier she got. When Tang En finally picked up the phone, she naturally would not speak nicely to the other party.
"Even if I threw it down, it was not because I wanted to throw it away! It was just … just because of a moment of excitement … So, you took it without my permission. That's theft! "The woman paused for a moment before she finally thought of an excuse.
However, Tang En laughed even more happily. Because he realized that the person on the other end of the phone had no fighting spirit at all. If he had been serious, he would have lost instead. So, he said in a teasing tone, "Hey, lady, you wanted to hit my head with this thing back then. Do you know the consequences of being hit in the head by such a big thing? "
There was silence again. This time, the silence was a little long. It was so long that Tang En thought the phone signal had malfunctioned.
"All right …" The woman said reluctantly, "I apologize for my impulsive and reckless behavior back then, Mr. Tang … Can you return my phone to me now?"
"Ah, although your apology is not very sincere … It's not important. I can accept it. It's just that, lady, I don't think I can return your phone to you right now, "Tang En said with a grin.
"Why? I've already apologized. What else do you want? "The person who had apologized in a low voice was immediately chased away by the scream.
Tang En held the phone further away from his ear. The boos and roars of the 20,000 crazy Turkish fans at İNönü Stadium did not deafen him, but this time it was really fatal.
"Well … Because I'm in England, lady."
As soon as he said that, there was silence for the third time. After a while, the woman said, "You can send it to me by express delivery."
Tang En shook his head like a rattle drum. "No way. Your apology just now is too insincere. I can return your phone, but I don't want to be fooled. I like sincerity, and your apology isn't sincere enough. "
"You just said it was acceptable …" The woman protested.
"I've changed my mind again." Tang En looked like a rascal. "I need a sincere enough apology before I'll consider returning your phone to you."
Seeing that the other side was silent, Tang En said, "Well, doesn't Beşiktaş still have an away game? It's on November 6th. Since you're a Beşiktaş fan, you'll come to watch the away game, right? "
Tang En waited for a moment, but there was still no sound from the other side. It really made him wonder if there was no one on the other end of the line.
"When you come to Nottingham, call this phone. We'll meet before the game. You apologize in person, and I'll give you the phone. I promise there won't be any media. What do you think of this idea? " As for why he did not choose to meet after the game, Tang En was afraid that there would be changes after Beşiktaş lost. It would not be appropriate for the two to meet. Then, even if the Forest team won by eight goals against Beşiktaş, he would only have to cheer and celebrate his team's victory. He did not have to worry about whether it would be awkward for him to meet a Beşiktaş fan.
"All right." A voice finally came from the other end of the line, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "Anyway, I'll definitely come to cheer for the team. But I hope you keep your promise, Mr. Tang En."
Tang En nodded. "A man keeps his word. If he doesn't, he's not a man."
The woman was so weak that Tang En could not bring up the interest in continuing to fight with her. If it were someone else, as long as they insisted that Tang En deliver the goods to Turkey, Tang En would be at his wit's end. If he did not, it would really be illegal possession of someone else's property.
After settling the phone issue, Tang En did not worry about the matter anymore. Anyway, he would meet her when she called and return the phone at the same time. There were still two weeks before the start of the second round of the Champions League group stage. Tang En was afraid that the phone would run out of battery in the middle, so he just turned it off and left it at home.
※ ※ ※
Due to the unexpected appearance of the phone, everyone's attention on the Forest team's game shifted from the game itself to the gossip outside the field. Not many people cared about the outcome of the game — except for the Forest fans themselves.
Only the Nottingham Evening Post, written by Pierce Brosnan, wrote a review praising Tang En's team for smoothly overcoming the crisis of consecutive losses and fighting with the team's players, responding to all the bored people who were waiting to see the Forest team make a fool of themselves with an away victory. Taking into account the feverish atmosphere of the opponent's home ground, these three points were even more difficult to obtain. It also proved the Forest team's strength from another angle.
In the end, Tang En's team did not give Brosnan any face and lost again in the league tournament.
The Forest team, which returned to England, carried out a full rotation in the league tournament. The continuous campaign made many people feel tired, and their condition was not very stable. In the end, the Forest team lost to Liverpool 0: 1 in the away game in this strong rivalry. The Liverpudlians finally vented the resentment in their hearts. Tang En was also a little unhappy, but he had no choice. The team fought continuously against strong teams and did not have the slightest chance to breathe. He had to use rotation to sacrifice immediate benefits to ensure the long-term benefits in the future. This was an outcome he had mentally prepared himself for before he went to Liverpool.
However, the English media did not take advantage of the loss in this game, wantonly ridiculing and attacking their hated Tony Twain. It was not that they suddenly became kind, but there was something far bigger than Tang En's bad luck at hand — during this period, most of the English mainstream media were hyping up the mess of the England team's UEFA European Championship qualifiers.
The English football scene was very lively during this period, except for the "scandal" of Nottingham Forest's players fighting. In the UEFA European Championship qualifiers on October 17, England lost to Russia 1: 2 in the away game. McClaren's team had been forced to a dead end. Whether they could finally advance or not, their fate was no longer in their own hands, but depended on the mood of others. Before this game, there was also the "scandal" of Ashley Young having an affair with someone online. Coupled with the big background of the away game loss, public opinion was in an uproar. When their own team was facing a battle of life and death, the players on the team were having an affair with a woman online before the game … It was really unacceptable.
Fortunately, Ashley Young was no longer in the Forest team, otherwise the outside of the Wilford training base would be overcrowded again …
But compared to the teammates fighting and the affair, the fact that the England team was facing a predicament of not being able to advance was really the biggest scandal.
McClaren faced tremendous pressure during this period of time. Perhaps Ashley Young, the disappointing kid, could share some of the English people's anger with him. But in the end, it was all because of his incompetence as a manager that caused all of this.
In the team's crisis in the first half of the year, he finally remembered Beckham, who had performed well at Real Madrid, and recalled him to the team. After Beckham helped England get through the difficult times with three assists in two games, he was abandoned by McClaren again.
Although McClaren called Beckham into the team for the game against Russia to go with them to Moscow, he did not give him enough time. He only sent him on in the last eight minutes. At that time, England was already behind and the team was like a plate of loose sand. Beckham was of no use at all. Beckham was not a god. He could only watch the team lose this battle of life and death. Then he returned to the club and was injured in training. He could only be a guest for several consecutive games.
This made Tang En very angry. His point of view was that he had no problem with you using my players to play for the country because my players also wanted to play for the country. But you f * * king brought my players thousands of miles away to Moscow and only gave them eight minutes to save the team. Not to mention that you are too demanding, my players flew for more than 10 hours to go back and forth between two places for these eight minutes. They were exhausted from the journey and were injured when they came back from training. This is obviously caused by fatigue. Who do I look for to reason with in such a situation? If you don't trust my players and don't want to use them, then you might as well not bring them. You can still let Beckham rest. You brought him for a few days and only let him play for eight minutes. What do you take my players for?
Tang En bombarded McClaren with this issue in the media at the time, but McClaren wisely chose to remain silent. He had just lost a key game. It was inappropriate to say anything at this time. He could only let time handle everything. To the outside world, he said he was concentrating on preparing for the last real battle of life and death and did not want to be disturbed by the media.
Tang En said, "Prepare my * ss. The Football Association might as well start preparing for the issue of choosing a successor."
In fact, despite Tang En's fierce words in the media and his emotional bombardment that McClaren had buried the England team, he was actually secretly delighted. Because McClaren's poor performance proved that his previous tireless crusade was correct and had foresight. It was definitely not as simple as a personal grudge. This time, no one would say that Tang En was too hateful, chasing after a person relentlessly and not letting go. Because the whole country was condemning McClaren in both word and writing.
As for whether the England team was really buried, Tang En was not interested. He had no feelings for this country at all, and his feelings for this country's football were not much better. If the England team was buried, then so be it. Anyway, if McClaren led the team and got lucky to enter the finals, it would only be more embarrassing.
Tang En could not care less about the fate of the England team, but the England players in his team were bound to be affected.
George Wood was also brought to Moscow, but he was even more pitiful than Beckham. The midfield meat grinder, who was always quiet and unlikeable in the national team, did not even get a second of playing time. Gerrard and Lampard crowded the middle of the England midfield, and there was no chance for George Wood to play.
The reason why George Wood had no chance in the England team was widely believed to be not as comprehensive as Lampard and Gerrard. Wood, who did not know anything but defense, was not as competitive as the two Germans.
Tang En was dismissive of this view, but he was not the England team manager now. There was nothing he could do but scold McClaren in the media.
If England could not even make it out of the qualifiers in the end, Tang En would only regret that Beckham could not participate in the last international competition of his career, and that more people in the world would not know him and George Wood.
The national team had little to do with him. Scolding McClaren in the media could only be a pastime at the end of the day. The results of the club team were his lifeblood. If the England team does not qualify for the next round, the English players in his team will be able to enjoy a relaxing holiday next summer.
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