While rumors of Ribéry's transfer were flying around, Forest played a more important league game. Their opponent was Arsenal, a direct competitor for the league title. Tang En would not allow the team to make any mistakes, but the result was not what he wanted.
The game ended in a 0: 0 draw. Tang En was a little unhappy to be forced into a draw by Arsenal on their home ground, but he had no other choice. The competition wasn't something that he could win just because he wanted to. It wasn't a competition where the stronger one would win. Sometimes, luck was the most important factor. Currently, Forest and Arsenal were equal in strength and luck. They could only fight to a draw.
A draw was not a good result for either team. Tang En hoped to win, and so did Wenger. The season was coming to an end. The top three teams all had hopes of winning the league title. Who would give up here?
The draw was great news for Ferguson's Manchester United.
Taking advantage of Forest's draw, Manchester United, who had won this round of the league tournament, rose to first place in the league. They had the same points as Forest, but had the advantage in goal difference.
In March, after the Champions League, the most important thing was still the domestic league tournament. There were a total of 38 rounds in the English Premier League. There were nine rounds left, and the top three were still very close.
Currently, first place Manchester United had 67 points, second place Nottingham Forest had 67 points, and Arsenal had 65 points. No one knew who would become the league champion until the final round.
For the audience, this was where the fun of football lay. But for the coaches of these three teams, it was not an easy job.
Moreover, these three teams had all reached the Champions League top eight. The other English team in the top eight was Chelsea, led by Grant.
Faced with a situation where both the league tournament and the Champions League were hopeful, Tang En did not want to choose to give up the league tournament like he did a year ago. After he communicated with the coaching staff and team doctors, he felt that the team's current situation could cope with two tournaments. They were currently second in the league tournament and had the same points as Manchester United. Although they would face Real Madrid in the Champions League, Forest might not lose. It would be a pity to give up on either side in such a situation.
So, on the Monday morning after the league match against Arsenal, Tang En stated the team's real goal for the season at the regular coaching staff meeting.
"Two championships, I want them both."
The coaches of the coaching staff were not surprised by this, as if it was a matter of course.
Actually, that was not wrong. With Tang En's character of pursuing victory and championship titles, now that the team's strength had risen to a new level, he indeed had no reason to give up on any of the championships.
The players had the ability and the coach had the ideas, so it was settled.
※ ※ ※
March 16th, Round 30 of the League Tournament, home ground. Nottingham Forest beat Bolton Wanderers 1: 0 with a lineup consisting of half of the main force and half of the substitutes. They continued to keep pace with Manchester United in the table. On the other hand, the unlucky Arsenal was forced to a draw by Middlesbrough and was four points behind the other two teams.
Just as the media began to speculate about who would become the league champion between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, the Forest team unexpectedly lost in the 31st round of the league tournament.
On March 22nd, Nottingham Forest challenged Blackburn Rovers in an away game. Although the opponent was only ranked in the middle of the table, and in the first half of last year's league tournament, the Forest Team had swept Blackburn Rovers 5: 3 at home, Tang En still did not dare to let his guard down this time. He sent out the strongest lineup he could.
However, even though he took it seriously, his players did not necessarily take this opponent seriously. In the game, Nottingham Forest appeared to underestimate their opponent and entered the game slowly.
As a result, the opponent scored a goal in the opening 13 minutes.
Then the Forest Team launched a counterattack and equalized the score not long after the start of the second half. The Forest fans thought it should be time for the Forest star players to perform next, but they did not expect to see Blackburn Rovers explode.
They scored two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game, completely killing the Forest Team's dream of a comeback victory.
"To be fair … Nottingham Forest has no reason to win this game at all." After the game ended, the television commentator said, "Apart from the equalizing goal, I can't find the slightest point at all. The Forest Team's players seemed to have completely woken up. John said the Forest Team entered the game slowly, but I think they did not enter the game at all … Maybe they underestimated their opponent. Who knows? In any case, they lost. This time, Manchester United is in the lead in the fight for the league title. "
From the sidelines when he heard the whistle for the end of the game, Tang En's expression became quite ugly. At a crucial moment in the fight for the league title, they lost to an opponent they should not lose to. After the team tied with Arsenal, Tang En only comforted his players that they were unlucky and did not fly into a rage. But right now, he really wanted to rush into the locker room and scold everyone.
In his plan, the game against a strong team was to strive to win, and a draw was the minimum requirement. But against a mid-to-lower level team that was not as strong as them, especially a mid-level team that had no desires, the Forest Team's goal was nothing but to win. The name "Blackburn Rovers" was listed in Tang En's "victory list." These three points were within the plan.
Who knew … in the end, they would lose the game!
The three points in hand were gone, and the advantage of equal points with Manchester United was also gone. After the Forest Team lost to Blackburn Rovers, they fell to second place, and the points gap with Manchester United became three points.
This three-point gap should not be underestimated. In the final sprint of the league tournament, any difference of one point could lead to an irreparable defeat, so no one wanted to make a mistake at this time. Making a mistake at this time meant that a season's efforts were wasted.
And yet …
In the visiting team's locker room at Ewood Park, the atmosphere was a little depressing because of the loss. Tony Twain was outside attending the post-match press conference, while Kerslake was comforting the somewhat dejected players.
Everyone knew what losing this game meant — they had handed the initiative in the fight for the league title to Manchester United …
The locker room door was pushed open with a whoosh. Everyone looked up to see a black-faced Tang En.
Someone heard the sound of saliva being swallowed.
"At the press conference just now, all the reporters asked me only one question: 'Will the loss have any adverse impact on the team's championship title?'" Tang En said to his players as he closed the door. His voice was very low, but the Forest Team's players generally thought it was nothing more than the low dark clouds in the sky before a storm.
"Guess what I answered? 'You're asking a question you already know the answer to.' "Tang En shrugged. "Actually, I'd like to say something worse, but I don't want to cause any more trouble. At this juncture … I f * * king sent the strongest lineup, not to let you go up and underestimate the enemy!" He still could not help but swear. "I'm very disappointed in your performance! No fighting spirit at all! I thought you'd be a little better after equalizing the score. I didn't expect you to be impotent immediately! What are you thinking? We don't have the Champions League or the FA Cup during this period of time. There's only this damn league! Blackburn Rovers! You can't even win against such an opponent! How can you hope to compete with Manchester United and Arsenal for the championship title?! You actually lost to Blackburn Rovers! "
Tang En scolded everyone, including the captain, George Wood. The reason Tang En scolded him was that Wood had too little support for the team's offense. He was not resolute enough when it was time to go up and seemed to care too much about defense.
No one could escape the misfortune of being scolded by Tang En, except for those who could not come to the away game.
"Think about it! Bastards! "
After scolding them, Tang En slammed the door and left. He left a room full of people staring at each other. The atmosphere was very awkward.
Speaking of which, the people in the Forest team were not used to being scolded so mercilessly by their own manager. Because the team's results in the past two years had been very good, Tang En rarely expressed his dissatisfaction with the team's internal affairs. On one hand, he wanted to maintain a good atmosphere. On the other hand, it was because the players' performance gave him no reason to scold them. So, the old people forgot that Tang En's big mouth would sometimes be aimed at his own people. The newcomers, on the other hand, did not have the chance to experience such things at all.
No one liked to be scolded, whether it was a nameless player or a long-established star player. Tang En's merciless scolding made some people feel a little embarrassed. But Tony Twain was the team's manager after all. They could only remain silent and bury their dissatisfaction in their hearts.
Bendtner kicked his shoes in dissatisfaction. The crisp sound of the studs hitting the ground broke the awkward silence in the changing room.
Only then did Kerslake clap his hands and force a smile. "Alright, guys, don't take it to heart. Whether it's this defeat or something else, pack your things and get ready to get on the bus."
The group of people began to pack their bags quietly.
Kerslake whispered a few words to Dunn and also turned to leave the changing room. He wanted to find Tony Twain. Some words had to be kept in their hearts and had to be said.
※ ※ ※
Kerslake found Tang En sitting on the bus.
"Tony."
Tang En raised his head to look at him. The anger on his face had yet to dissipate.
"I think we need to have a good talk."
"About what?"
"About the mess you left behind after your scolding just now."
"Are you saying that I shouldn't criticize them?"
"No, that's not what I mean." Kerslake saw that Tang En's face was getting darker and knew that he was still very angry. "I just feel that … the players already know that the problem lies with them. I believe that they will definitely slaughter their opponents in the next match. But your scolding has messed everything up … Uh, I mean, you did not arouse their competitive spirit. Instead, you might have scolded them … "
"What?" Tang En glanced sideways at Kerslake and asked.
"Tony, once a crack appears, it's impossible to recover. I don't want any discordant notes to appear in the changing room … "
"You're worried that I'll scold some people as our enemies?"
Tang En asked. Kerslake did not answer, but his performance had clearly told him the answer.
Tang En did not refute his point of view. He frowned and was silent for a while.
"Alright, I'll apologize to them. But it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I can't bring myself to do it now. "
Kerslake laughed when he heard Tang En say that. "I knew you were a smart man, Tony."
"Don't flatter me. I'm in a bad mood right now." Tang En said in a bad mood.
"Find some time to relax." As the season neared its end and the goal of the "Double" was officially raised, Kerslake knew that the pressure on Tang En's head was increasing day by day. He was afraid of losing after winning, regretted not winning after a draw, and lost … there was no need to even mention it. In the end, until the season ended, this kind of pressure would always be with him.
"Take care of your body, Tony." He thought of how after the home game against AC Milan tied, Tang En, who was about to attend the press conference, found him and said with a bitter expression that he was not feeling well and asked him to do it for him. When he first heard the news, Kerslake was really shocked. Being a manager was a very stressful profession. Continuing in this position was actually quite damaging to one's health.
He still remembered when Liverpool's former manager, Gerard Houllier, suddenly fainted while directing the game against Leeds United in 2001. At that time, he was rushed to the hospital and was diagnosed with a heart attack. He only survived after 11 hours of surgery. After that, Houllier recuperated for five months before returning to his job as Liverpool's manager.
The managers of the English Premier League were probably the group of football managers who were under the most pressure in the world. Whether they were at the top or last place, everyone was under pressure. No one was much more relaxed than the other.
Kerslake was worried that the recent series of events would increase the psychological pressure on Tang En and bring harm to his health, so he had to remind Tang En to maintain a normal state of mind at such times.
"You're the manager of the team. If something happens to you, forget about losing this game, it'll be very easy to lose the whole season."
Tang En was not someone who did not know what was good for him. In the face of Kerslake's kindness, he could not get angry.
"Thank you, David." He could only express his gratitude. However, he felt that there was nothing wrong with his body. The psychological pressure was indeed a little too much, but which manager did not have some psychological pressure? If he could not even withstand this little bit of pressure, he might as well resign.
"Then … I'll go back and have a look. Those boys are taking so long to change their clothes …" Kerslake got off the bus and returned to the locker room to urge the players to come out.
Tang En sat alone in the empty bus, recalling every word he had just said in the locker room. Now that he had calmed down a little, he realized that some of his words were indeed more vicious. It seemed that he should apologize, but it had to wait until tomorrow.
He wanted this group of boys to fully feel his anger. Otherwise, if he always played with them and joked around with them, did these people really think that he would condone whatever they did? They can joke with me, but they can't lose a game, and even more can't lose a game that they should not lose.
I'm the head of this team. Ace player? Superstar? They all have to listen to me.
There was a burst of footsteps outside the bus, and the Nottingham Forest players came out one after another. He straightened his face again and did not greet them. The players also silently got on the bus in turn.
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