Ruud van Nistelrooy had already left Nottingham to make the final preparations before the surgery in America. After this surgery, no one knew if he would be able to return to the court again. At that time, even if the 34-year-old van Nistelrooy came back, it would be a question if Nottingham Forest would still want him. After all, his salary was considered a first-line level in the club. When he recovered, the contract he signed with Nottingham Forest would almost expire.
Therefore, everyone had a lot on their minds when they went to America. Only Twain forced a smile and comforted him, "Come back alive and kicking. I'm still waiting for you!"
Van Nistelrooy's injury further aggravated the team's lack of a forward, and that was just one of the effects. The bigger impact was the heavy blow his injury had to the team's morale.
Now in the Wilford training base, the scene of constant laughter in the past was basically gone. As long as everyone in the locker room talked about injuries, they would all sigh and then say nothing. During training, everyone would rather not work so hard, but they had to ensure that they would not get hurt first … It could be said that it had reached the point where everyone felt insecure.
And in the face of all this, Twain had no solution at all. He could not berate everyone for working hard during training because that would lead to a decrease or even loss of his prestige in the team.
During the game, the players' fear of injury was even more obvious. Their opponents seemed to understand this very well. Any team that played against the Forest team would show their tough and fierce side in the game, using an almost rough defense to control the situation on the field.
And when the Nottingham Forest players faced such a defense, most of the time they could only choose to give up the football.
Only George Wood, as always, was not affected by any external factors. But he could not support a team alone. With low morale and physical exhaustion, the Forest team, who was in constant fear of injury, suffered two consecutive defeats in the league tournament.
On December 6th, Nottingham Forest lost 0: 2 to Arsenal in an away game. On December 13th, they lost 0: 1 to Blackburn Rovers at home. After two consecutive defeats in the league tournament, Nottingham Forest's ranking slipped from third to seventh. Aston Villa and Everton were both ranked above them, and Hull City was in eighth place with them. On December 16th, the entire Forest team set off for Japan, thousands of miles away, to participate in the World Club Cup. Due to the weariness of the journey and the fact that even Tang En was not interested in such a competition, Forest lost to South America's Copa Libertadores champion, Fluminense, in the finals and lost the FIFA Club World Cup title.
The only good news was that in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Nottingham Forest held the fort at home. Under the cheers of thirty thousand fans, they fought with their backs to the wall and defeated FC Kyiv Dynamo 4: 1 to clinch the last spot in the group stage. The Champions League title was secured, and the money was secured as well … There was money for the next season.
However, people did not let him off just because he had made it out of the Champions League in a sorry state. There were more and more scolding words in the media because these media had discovered that this time was different from the past. Tony Twain might not be able to make a comeback for a while. If they scolded him, they would not have to worry about being slapped in the face by him arrogantly after winning the game.
There were many who scolded him for only caring about the results and ignoring the players' health, which led to van Nistelrooy's disaster.
There were also people who scolded him for not being able to come up with a solution in the face of the team's predicament and for being incompetent.
There were also people who scolded him for usually having a war of words with the media, but not caring about the team's fitness development.
There were people who thought that there had never been a manager who would create so much news outside of the field. It was precisely because of these off-field matters that caused him to be distracted in training and directing the game. Such a manager could not be said to be bad, but at the very least, he could not be considered qualified.
"… If a player is too enthusiastic about off-field matters unrelated to his job and causes his condition to be low during the game, we can criticize him. The manager can put him on the substitutes' bench or in the stands to let him reflect on himself. Then, if a manager is too distracted and cannot devote himself to his job, what can we do to punish him? Tony Twain thinks he is the king of Nottingham Forest. I have no intention of arguing here whether he is or not, but if a country's king has a problem and makes a mistake, where does this country go? "
…
All kinds of criticism came at him. Every morning when he flipped open the newspaper, he would see at least two columns scolding him. Later on, he simply stopped reading the newspaper. Just like that, he got rid of his bad habit of reading the newspaper while eating.
Actually, he was not afraid of how the media scolded him. After all, it was not the first time he was scolded. At most, it was a concentrated scolding this time. In the past, he had been fighting his own battles.
What multiplied the pressure on him was the will of the club's higher-ups.
No matter how good his relationship with Evan was, he was still called to the office by Evan with a serious expression for an hour now that the team's results were not good.
Evan did not criticize him. He only said that the team was in a difficult situation and hoped that he could use victory to divert people's attention from the club's financial problems. At the same time, he changed the people's view of Forest. As long as they won, any problems would not be a problem. As long as they won, the opportunistic media would definitely change their tune and cheer for Forest.
It was precisely because of this that Tang En was under so much pressure. Evan was a club chairman who worked in the office all day and did not care about the team. He did not know how difficult it was to win under the current circumstances. As a manager, he could not be clearer about it.
But Evan was his immediate superior after all. What he said was also very true. No one would wish for their team to lose. There was no way to reduce the pressure on them.
What should he do? He could only bite the bullet and grit his teeth.
Tang En readily agreed. They would definitely win the next match. They had to win. The situation would definitely improve. The difficulties now were only temporary.
But who would be their opponent in the next match?
December 20th, Matchday 18 of the Premier League. Nottingham Forest would be challenging Manchester United in an away game.
※ ※ ※
Although they had a drinking and horse-racing friendship, hoping that Ferguson would let Tang En off was tantamount to a fool's talk. The arrogant and domineering Nottingham Forest had run amok in the Premier League for two seasons. Now that they had a chance to beat them while they were down, how could Ferguson let it go? Even if Ferguson was soft-hearted, the Manchester United players and fans would not agree to it.
Think about it. Who was it that snatched the Premier League trophy from their hands in the last round of last season?
Now that Nottingham Forest was in such dire straits, Tang En could barely even gather a starting eleven. Manchester United was not a philanthropist. They would help them get through this difficult time.
Before the match, there was even a rumor that if Tang En lost again, he might very well be dismissed.
As a result, during the match, a banner appeared in the stands at Old Trafford — "Send Tony Twain off with victory. Go to hell, Nottingham Forest!"
The entire stands at Old Trafford were filled with this kind of hostility. They could not wait to rush down and dismember Tang En. Tang En sat in the manager's seat. Behind him came a steady stream of insults. These Englishmen were creative and thought of all kinds of ways to scold him. He would not feel lonely for 90 minutes.
Van Nistelrooy was injured and left the team. Van der Vaart was injured for a month. Pepe was injured for half a month. Beckham was injured for a week. Eastwood was injured for two weeks. Petrov was injured for 10 days. Tiago was injured for a week. Sun Jihai was injured for a month.
Who else was on the field now?
Such a team wanted to win against Manchester United in an away game?
If Ferguson knew about Tang En's promise to Evan before the match, he would definitely fly into a rage and say that Tony Twain had underestimated him and his team.
But Tang En could only smile bitterly. He also knew how difficult it was to win against Manchester United in an away game. But he had no other way out. If he softened his stance at this time, it would be a greater blow to the team's morale.
As the match progressed, Tang En stood on the sidelines, gesticulating and very agitated. The Sky TV commentator teased, "Tony Twain probably can't wait to go on the field himself to help the team win."
The team was in a slump as a whole. The individual players who had performed well in the past could not be seen. The Turkish genius Şahin, who replaced van der Vaart in the starting lineup, quickly lost his way under Manchester United's midfield. Rafinha was almost disoriented by Cristiano Ronaldo's sudden attacks. Ayala was obviously getting old. Kompany could not withstand Rooney and Tevez's continuous bombardment alone. George Wood ran with all his might. He could not attend to the east and could not attend to the west. Ribéry was alone. He was pressed to the side by Manchester United and could not even head towards the middle. Žigić was isolated and helpless in the front field. Without the support of the midfield, he was nothing. Lennon was still looking for a breakthrough. But his way of playing was too simple and could easily be seen through by the opponent.
Tang En looked up at the sky. There was nothing he could do.
The previous few seasons had been smooth sailing. There were occasional injuries, but it did not affect the overall situation. Perhaps it was God's blessing?
But this season, all kinds of bad luck came together. With such a high density and frequent injuries, it was as if they had discussed to find him together.
God, you're playing me to death!
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Tang En gave up on continuing to stand on the sidelines and direct the match. He turned around and slowly walked back, then slowly sat down.
His face was stupefied.
The score on the field was 3: 1. The home team was in front, and the away team was behind.
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Nottingham Forest's ranking continued to slide after three consecutive defeats. This time, it even fell out of the 11th place!
In such a chaotic time, Real Madrid once again came in to stir things up. They publicly announced their interest in Forest's Ribéry, hoping to buy him during the winter break.
This was not a joke by the Spanish media, nor was it a problem with the brains of the Real Madrid higher-ups — they still wanted to spend a lot of money to buy a player who had participated in the Champions League. The reason was actually very simple.
Real Madrid and Nottingham Forest encountered the same problem — injuries and serious disorganization of the players. The departure of Robinho in the summer weakened Real Madrid's already weak flank offense. Robben left the field with another serious injury in the last round of the league tournament. It was expected that he would need two to three months to recover this time! In this way, Real Madrid had no flank talent at all … Drenthe was too inexperienced to be used. Schuster made it clear that the Dutchman was not in his plans.
As a result, Real Madrid had to replenish their flank players during the winter break. Cristiano Ronaldo still wanted to leave Manchester United, but he would not accept the winter transfer arrangements. If he wanted to leave, it would be next summer. After searching around, there was only one suitable candidate who could immediately deal with the team's matches, and his strength had long been proven. There was no need to take risks — Franck Ribéry.
As Nottingham Forest was in deep financial crisis, it was believed that the Nottingham Forest Football Club would not be tough enough to refuse this time. After all, they were also in urgent need of money to improve their financial situation, and Ribéry's 130,000 pounds weekly salary was a heavy burden for the club.
After a comprehensive analysis of various situations, Real Madrid once again made a move on Ribéry. They quoted a transfer fee of 50 million euros to the Forest team.
Reporters flocked to Tang En, hoping to get the latest information on the transfer deal. Tang En shook his head and said he knew nothing about it. Ribéry was satisfied with the current situation and would continue to stay here.
But Allan admitted in an interview that the club had indeed received an offer from Real Madrid. As for how they would deal with it, he did not give an answer.
But the media analyzed that in this economic winter, Nottingham Forest would almost certainly not be able to withstand Real Madrid's attack in euros.
Tang En certainly understood this. Everything he said to the media was a lie. In private, Ribéry's agent, Bruno Heiderscheid, called again, hoping that Tony Twain would nod and let him go.
"It can alleviate your economic crisis, lower your salary standards, and at the same time let Franck get what he wants. It's good for everyone. I don't think it's a bad deal. "
What he said was reasonable, but Tang En's face was cold and he did not nod.
※ ※ ※
The pressure of the team's results, the pressure of the players' different thoughts, the pressure of the media, the pressure of the higher-ups, the pressure of the economy …
Tang En felt that as long as he looked up, he would see a shadow, even if the weather was sunny.
He felt that this winter had been particularly difficult.
What made it more difficult for him was not that the pressure was hanging over his head, but that he could not think of a way to solve the pressure. There was no money to buy players, no time for the team to rest and adjust, no strength could be replenished, and the results could not improve, unless he hoped for a miracle. If the results could not improve, the pressure would continue to exist, and it would accumulate. When the day came that the weight could no longer bear it, it would suddenly collapse. At that time, no matter how much the Sun Wukong jumped, he could only be pressed under the Five Fingers Mountain, unable to rise for 500 years …
No matter how tortuous the road was, as long as the future was bright, he could let the whole team muster up their energy and grit their teeth to endure it. The current situation was that the road was very tortuous, and the future could not be seen at all. If this went on, even if they were lucky enough to break into the Champions League knockout stage, they would probably be eliminated soon.
The problem of comprehensive expansion was not only reflected in the club's economic construction, but also in the team's multi-faceted battles. He had to give up one or two targets and do his best to hold on to a position.
The problem was — to ensure the final ranking in the league, or to create the great cause of three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles in one go?
If the league ranking could not guarantee the qualification to participate in next season's UEFA Champions League, then next season could only depend on others to celebrate the new year. Three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles was indeed very attractive …
Tang En thought for a long time and decided to focus on the UEFA Cup and try his best to ensure a top four place in the league.
He felt that no matter how difficult the situation was now, there would always be a day when luck would turn around, right? This period of time was difficult, but who knew if luck would come after this winter? Misfortune and fortune depended on each other, and fortune lurked within misfortune. Tang En felt that ensuring a fourth place in the league was not a big problem for the current Forest team.
Once the goal was set, it was actually still one thing to implement — results.
The team's results. Christmas was coming soon, and Nottingham Forest was ranked 11th in the league. It was a world of difference from what he had initially said about trying not to pull too far away from the league's first place.
They still had to win …
Tang En wanted to pull his hair out at the thought of this.
How could winning be so easy?
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Special Announcement: The plot has reached a critical moment. So, starting tomorrow, for five days, I will be releasing two chapters a day. It can be considered a small outburst. It's really two chapters. It's definitely not something that's broken down into parts to fool everyone. Everyone has monthly votes, so smash them ~ ~ ~ ~! A small preview. It was time to draw out the first line of Tang En and Shania's matter.
The two chapters were still the same old habit, with an update at 10 in the morning and another update at 6: 30 in the evening.
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