Tang En's "loss of composure" at the AC Milan press conference — in the eyes of the media, Tang En's attitude of not being sarcastic when he opened his mouth was a "loss of composure" and a loss of composure — was actually just an outward manifestation of his recent good mood.
They eliminated AC Milan in the Champions League and advanced to the top eight. There was also a lot of good news in the domestic league tournament. In the 27th round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest already had the same number of points as the top-ranked Arsenal. It was only because they had fewer goals than Arsenal that they were temporarily in second place.
After the 28th round of the league tournament, Tang En's team jumped to first place. After Arsenal's two consecutive draws, they now only had 64 points and were overtaken by Manchester United, while the Forest team was at the top with 66 points.
Compared to the previous two seasons, Nottingham Forest had repeatedly rushed to the first place in the league this season. Although they did not maintain it from the beginning to the end, it was enough to fill the Forest fans with expectations. Because in the previous two seasons, Nottingham Forest did not even rush to the first place. This was really an increase in strength, and so did their confidence. A UEFA Champions League title gave the Forest team the confidence of a winner all at once.
Therefore, their performance this season also seemed reasonable. After all, Tang En had spent four years preparing for this day.
There were ten rounds left in the league tournament. As long as the Forest team could maintain this result, they could achieve the goal he set at the beginning of the season with another ten rounds.
How could he not be happy in the face of such a great situation?
Of course, he could not be happy for long. Tang En was still very clear about this point. He knew that as a manager, he faced far more troubles and worries than happy things …
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With the resumption of the Champions League and the interruption of the national team's match during the day, the Forest team would have to face a lot of matches in the final moments. At this time, they needed to deal with it carefully. One careless move and they could lose everything. The rotation system was the best way to use different lineup combinations to allow the players to rest, maintain their form, and avoid injuries.
Fortunately, the Forest team gave up the FA Cup at the beginning of January. Otherwise, they would have to play in another FA Cup from now on. Towards the end, the stronger the opponent, the stronger the will to fight, and the more intense the game would be. Regardless of whether their players would be injured or not, it was unnecessary to waste energy in such a game.
No matter what, Tang En, who had transmigrated from China, was not a true Englishman. He was far less interested in the FA Cup than he was in the Premier League and the Champions League. Perhaps the FA Cup still had its importance in the current English football scene, but in Tang En's heart, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup were on the same level: they were both used to train the players and nurture new players.
The Forest team's current rotation system was different from the rotation system in the first half of the season. In the first half of the season, it was to allow more players to play in the game, maintain their form, and at the same time appease the hearts of the team. Twain would often use a large rotation. But this situation changed after February.
The current rotation was not to satisfy the substitutes' desire to play, but to allow the main players to get better rest and avoid injuries. Therefore, the scope of the rotation was very small. Tang En was determined not to rotate some key positions, such as the defensive midfielder.
Poor Sidwell. Only when he came to the Forest team did he find that his future was not as wonderful as he had imagined. Being George Wood's substitute was not something a human could do. In the whole world, perhaps only the chair on the substitutes' bench could do it.
Unless Tang En did not want Wood to play, Sidwell did not have a chance to play. He had been eliminated early in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, and his opportunities to play were even more reduced. Now, with the competition schedule entering a more intensive period, he thought that his opportunities to play would increase. He did not expect Tang En to rotate the forwards, midfielders, defenders, and even the attacking midfielders, but not the defensive midfielders.
As the team's captain, George Wood was young, strong, and in a stable state. He was the core main force that could not be moved. What could he use to compete with this monster? Originally, when he was at Reading, he could occasionally be selected for the England team to show his face. Since he came to Nottingham Forest, the door to the national team had basically been closed to him. No manager would recruit a substitute player who had only a handful of opportunities to play in the club to join the national team. Moreover, the England midfield was bloated, and even George Wood had been abandoned by McClaren.
Among the young people, Lennon and Bendtner were treated the best. Because van Nistelrooy and Beckham were veterans, Tang En considered them more during the rotation in order to protect them. As their substitutes, Bendtner and Lennon often got plenty of playing time.
Similarly, the rotation system was also good news for the China player, Sun Jihai. Because he could play multiple positions, he could still occupy a place in the team even though his form had declined due to his age. In addition, Tang En liked Sun Jihai's professional attitude, so he did not have to worry about the future. At the very least, he could stay on the Forest team until his contract expired before considering where to go.
Sidwell's agent was already considering changing clubs for his player next season. Nottingham Forest's salary was not low, but he could not play in the game. For a professional player who was still in his prime, sitting on the bench and counting money was not a good pursuit.
After nearly a season on the bench in the Forest team, Sidwell himself had repositioned himself. He was not the kind of person who was suited to play in a powerhouse team. Maybe he would be in the future, but certainly not now. The most suitable place for him to play was a mid-to-lower tier team like Reading. In those teams, his salary might not be as high as that of a substitute in the Forest team, but he could get a steady chance to play and even become the core of the team, just like he had been in Reading for the previous two seasons.
Before he could play, he did not want to spend his career on the bench in a powerhouse team and be slowly forgotten.
Perhaps if he continued to stay on the Forest team, he would win many championship trophies, but what did those glittering silverware have to do with him as a substitute? He did not want such an honor.
He decided to have a showdown with Manager Tony Twain at the end of the season. Before that, his agent would help him privately contact the teams that were interested in him. They were not as famous as Nottingham Forest, but they would give him a stable position.
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Chimbonda was one of the people who shared Sidwell's worries.
He discovered a fact that made him feel hopeless — the Forest team's manager, Mr. Tony Twain, and the Arsenal manager, Mr. Wenger, were somewhat similar. If two players were compared, Player B's ability was stronger than Player A, but Player A was younger than Player B, then they would not hesitate to choose Player A over Player B.
This reality made him feel a little uncomfortable. Chimbonda was no longer young. He had just turned 29 on the 21st of last month. His contract would expire next summer, and he would be 30 years old then.
For those managers with pedophilia, 30 years old was enough for them to find a better successor. For example, the Brazilian Rafinha, who was now the main force in the team.
In Chimbonda's view, Rafinha, the full-back from Brazil, was really bad at defense. If the team needed to defend, he also needed the right midfielder and defensive midfielder to come over many times to help.
But in Tony Twain's eyes, Rafinha was young enough, had good stamina, could run, and could run back to assist. These were Chimbonda's declining abilities as he aged.
During his two most glorious years in the Forest team, he was once selected for the French national team. But he soon became a passer-by. Sagna, who was at Arsenal, became the main force of the French national team. He was also younger than Chimbonda.
Young … Young, I hate being young!
The fight with Bendtner in training had caused his position in the team to plummet, and he was even ranked behind the Chinese Sun Jihai. He knew that Manager Twain did not like him. On the one hand, it was because he was getting old, and on the other hand, it was because he was the initiator of the first in-team fight after Twain took over the Forest team.
Twain was very concerned about the unity and stability within the team. This was what he was most proud of. He mentioned it countless times in front of the media, slightly proudly telling those people that this was the fundamental reason why the Forest team could continue to improve and win. So, he joked with the team members and carefully maintained the atmosphere in the locker room, not allowing anyone to destroy it.
Chimbonda was very clear about this, because he was considered the second batch of players to follow this man. The first batch was the people who had followed Twain when the Forest team was still in the second division, such as George Wood and Leighton Baines. He had followed Tony Twain for a long time. He knew the manager's character and hobbies, and he also knew what he hated.
For example, he very much hated anything that destroyed the unity within the team. He was really unlucky to have forgotten about this in the spur of the moment. Did his future in the Forest team vanish with that one punch he threw out?
Should he find another way out after the end of this season, or continue to stay until the expiration of his contract and see the team's attitude toward him before deciding his future?
Chimbonda had a lot on his mind recently.
In fact, in general, looking back on his time in the Forest team over the past few years, it was still very good. The atmosphere within the team was harmonious, and there were no factional disputes like some powerhouse clubs. The team's results were also good, and everyone's salaries and bonuses were still satisfactory. No matter where they went, they enjoyed the various benefits that glory brought.
If possible, he did not want to leave the club. Becoming a UEFA Champions League champion was something he had never thought about when he played in France. It was Nottingham Forest that gave him all this. He hoped to continue to play here for a few more years, preferably until he retired. Anyway, I don't have any extravagant hopes. Join the French national team and win the world championship? Stop joking. To be able to play in a club team that could still win glory and play until he retired was the highest ideal of a professional player.
Chimbonda was a very realistic person. He did not have any unrealistic fantasies.
This was also the difference between him and Sidwell's troubles.
He was already twenty-nine years old and getting older. The requirements for a full back's physical fitness were higher than that of a center back, and physical strength and speed were inversely proportional to the growth of age. At this time, ambitious people would still not admit defeat and hope to challenge for higher achievements, while the more realistic people would start to think about life after retirement. In the last period of their professional careers, making money would be their first task. A stable and good income was what they wanted most. As for sitting on the bench or playing as the main force, it was all the same.
Sidwell was still twenty-five years old. He would not be twenty-six years old until the end of the year. His physical fitness and competitive level could still be maintained at a relatively high level for the next few years. This period was known as the "golden age" or the "prime playing years." Sitting on the bench was not the professional life that this kind of person wanted.
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A team gathered players from all over the world with different personalities and different ideals. There was bound to be undercurrents under the seemingly calm surface. In fact, everyone would have different troubles that belonged only to themselves.
Of course, it was not that they denied Tony Twain's control over the team. He was still the undisputed king of this team. He was the highest official of this team. Everyone listened to him.
However, even the most powerful manager could not control the hearts of everyone under him.
Chimbonda and Sidwell had their own troubles, and the other people in the team who did not say might also have their own troubles, big or small.
For example, there had been a new worry recently.
The target was Ribéry, and Tony Twain had suffered along with it.
"… According to our Spanish counterparts, the La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid is brewing a plan to persuade Nottingham Forest's core player, Franck Ribéry. It is said that the Real Madrid club president, Ramon Calderón, is very interested in Franck Ribéry, who recently won the Ballon d 'Or. Of course, the Real Madrid club has officially clarified the rumors. They denied that the club manager, Mijatović, was in private contact with Ribéry's agent … "
The latest transfer rumors that broke out in the sports news on the television station were reprinted by the major print media within two days. Having won the Ballon d 'Or of the Year award and the "World's Best Football Player" award from Britain's World Football Magazine, Franck Ribéry had now become a celebrity in the football world. Any news about him was enough for the sports media to hype it up. What's more, such news was linked to the best club of the twentieth century, Real Madrid. The club that was never quiet, the club that liked to poach all kinds of "gentlemen", the club that had just received a huge injection of television broadcasting funds and commercial sponsorship funds …
At the same time, they were also Nottingham Forest's opponents in the Champions League quarterfinals.
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