"Four rounds of the Premier League have ended. The next round will only be reignited on September 12th. Now, we can properly sum up the achievements of Tony Twain and his Scouts in the past four rounds of the Premier League … "Carl Spicer continued the promising job of" Tony Twain's Haters "on a football talk show that he hosted.
It was indeed "promising." As he had been mocking and ridiculing Twain in his column, his sharp words left a deep impression on people. As a result, Sky Television found him and asked him to host a talk show on the English Premier League Channel that specialized in commenting on football celebrities. It was called "Football Matters …" Each episode would invite one to a few guests to comment on the interesting things that had happened recently in English football. As long as it was not directly swearing or making personal threats, he could say whatever he wanted. Spicer relied on his glib tongue and quickly made the new show soar up the ratings rankings of Sky Television. It was slowly becoming the new ace show …
When the show first started, some people predicted that it was actually a show aimed at Tony Twain. Because no matter what it was, as long as it was related to Twain, it would attract everyone's attention. Who asked him to always have so many stories around him?
But with the opening of the new Premier League season, the show had been broadcast for four episodes. This was the first time that Tony Twain was brought up to talk about something.
"Two losses and two draws. Two points, second from the bottom! Great! " Spicer clapped his hands hard. "The Scouts have handed in a satisfactory and unsurprising answer sheet. What do you think, Andy? "
The guest invited for this episode was the retired former Manchester United legendary striker, Andy Cole. He was currently the player with the second highest number of goals in the history of the Premier League. At the same time, he was also from Nottingham. Nottingham Forest was his hometown team. Before he became a Manchester United striker, he was already a Forest fan. Since they were going to talk about Nottingham Forest, they naturally had to invite a celebrity guest related to the Forest team.
"Uh, you said it's not surprising, and I also think this result is not surprising … To be honest, I have a lot of respect for Manager Tony Twain. He is very capable. But the current team was too weak no matter how one looked at it. In the first four rounds of the league tournament, their opponents were not weak. They drew with Middlesbrough in the first round, lost to Chelsea at home in the second round, lost to Everton in the third round, and were forced into a draw by Everton at home in the fourth round … The lads performed very well on the pitch, but overall, they are not strong enough. "
Spicer laughed. "Yes, that's right! What did I say before the league started? Mr. Twain, if you want to rely on this current lineup to rank in the middle of the league, it may not be a problem. But if you want to win the league title again, or return to the Champions League, with these people? I really can't find a reason to be optimistic about them … Now I'm going to revise my statement. Just based on the current team of scouts, forget about being in the middle of the league, they should be thankful that they are still in the English Premier League at the end of the season! "
"The only good news is that his team has finally scored a goal after four rounds of the league tournament. In the game against Everton, Eastwood scored the team's first goal of the new season. This is really not easy! "
"This strengthens my confidence in not being optimistic about Nottingham Forest. Watching their game is like watching a swarm of headless flies, bumping around on the field. It's really unbearable to watch. "Spicer made a face, indicating that he really could not bear to watch. "The youngsters lack enough experience. George Wood's form is as stable as ever, but he can't bring stable form and experience to the team. How do I put this thing called experience? It's not something that can be brought out by the old players in the team. They still need to go through the baptism of games … At least before Christmas, we won't be able to see the Nottingham Forest that we were once so familiar with. "
"Does Tony Twain regret it? Who knows! "
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Does Tony Twain regret it?
How is that possible!
He did not have the time for that.
Of course, he knew that the team's recent results were not good, but it was within his expectations. How could a team made up of almost half of its young players, with many of its key players gone, and its tactics and playstyle changed? How could it achieve good results right from the start?
So, no matter how much the outside media criticized him and his team, he would not have the slightest doubt about his own choice. On the contrary, he hoped that the voices of such criticism would be louder and more frequent — he needed to use such things to stimulate the players.
It had just entered September, and the players in the team who had to play for the national team had all been transferred away. Even the youngsters had their own national youth team competitions. These two weeks were precious two weeks for Nottingham Forest. No matter what the reason was, it was not a good thing. They could use these two weeks to readjust, be it in terms of tactics or mentality …
In Twain's heart, the goal for this season was not to become a champion, but to return to the European arena next season, whether it was the UEFA Europa League or the Champions League … As long as they could return to Europe, the club's financial situation would improve, and the team would have a chance of returning to the top group.
While the club's players went off to play for the national team, Twain spent their first birthday after their marriage with Shania.
In the garden behind the house, they held a small party and invited some of their colleagues who worked in the club. After a simple dinner, they dispersed. During the dinner, they chatted about the current situation of the team and how to solve it. Rather than calling it a birthday party, it was more like a work meal. Middle-aged people's parties were not like those of the young players, who still had to call a prostitute over after eating and drinking.
After sending off their colleagues, Twain stood at the entrance of the courtyard with his arms around Shania and sighed.
"Not happy on your birthday? Is it because of the team's recent results? "Shania looked at him.
"How could something like that make me sigh?" Twain turned his head to look at Shania, who was snuggling beside him. "I'm just lamenting that I've aged another year … Did you know, Shania? When I was your age, my wish every day was to grow up quickly, to be independent, and to become an 'adult.' Now I regret it … The days that I spent with you have been cut short by 22 years for no reason. "
Shania hugged Uncle Tony tightly and did not say anything.
"You don't have to celebrate my birthday anymore, Shania. Just treat me as … forever 40 years old. "
If possible, he really wanted to say "just treat me as forever 18 years old" or "forever 20 years old." But now, he could only say "forever 40 years old." How helpless.
"Then you're not allowed to celebrate my birthday either. Just treat me as forever 18 years old!"
Twain smiled. "Alright, alright. We'll both live forever and remain young." Hugging Shania, he walked back to the house and was about to begin their new round of "making a human."
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After celebrating Twain's birthday, Shania once again flew to Los Angeles in the United States. Tom Cruise was generous enough to leave a role for Shania in the new movie he produced. The role this time was more important than the previous one, which was just a flower vase. There were many lines, and she even had another scene with the main character.
Shania rubbed her palms together, ready to go all out in the movie. At this time, the "making a human" naturally had to be delayed.
The team's players also returned one after another. Two days before the start of the league tournament, everyone had returned to the team. Whether it was Rafinha, who was far away in Brazil, or Sun Jihai, who had returned to China to compete, they all returned on time. After a simple day of practice, Nottingham Forest set off for London, ready to challenge Tottenham Hotspur, who played at White Hart Lane. They still had to continue their away trip in London on the 15th. This time, their opponent was Fulham.
The media was generally not optimistic about Nottingham Forest's trip to London. Other than the level of the team's performance in the first four rounds of the league tournament, there were naturally two matches a week after the national team competition. Taking into account the team's physical distribution and the ups and downs of the players' conditions, the Forest team was thought to be fraught with grim possibilities for these two matches.
On the way to London, the television in the bus played the entertainment program that Twain had meticulously prepared for the players — a video of Carl Spicer mocking Nottingham Forest's "boy scouts" on television.
"What can a bunch of kids who haven't even stopped drinking milk do? Haha! There's nothing they can do! Look at their performance in the game. If I were Tony Twain, I'd definitely tell them to scram home. Some of them don't even have the standards to establish themselves in Nottingham Forest. Did Tony Twain take any kickbacks to buy these people? "
"… Yes, but I think you're still too kind, Andy. If I were Tony Twain, I'd scold them even more. They're practically useless … I believe that Tony Twain would agree with me. "
"That's the situation — Tony Twain is counting on a bunch of boy scouts to conquer Europe. I'm going to choose this as one of the ten funniest things of the year. It might even have a shot at the championship. You can imagine this scene and you'll know how funny it is — Adolf Hitler roaring at a bunch of babies with pacifiers: 'You're going to flatten France, then stand by the English Channel, take out that thing in your pants, and pee on those British! Let the whole of Europe tremble and beg for mercy under our iron hooves! '"
Carl Spicer could not help but laugh as he slapped the table at the end.
There was silence in the bus, only the laughter coming from the television.
At first, everyone did not take it seriously and went about their own business. Later, they realized that things were not so simple. So, one by one, they opened their eyes, took off their headphones, and shifted their gaze away from their phone screens or PSP screens.
"Who's that idiot?" Someone finally called out.
"Carl Spicer! He's always targeting the boss and us. Did the boss make a cuckold out of him? "Someone explained in a low voice.
"What kind of bullshit is he talking about?"
Although Carl Spicer was talking about the Forest youngsters, they were all from the same team. When a teammate was scolded, the others felt the same way. Moreover, this Forest team was indeed very young.
"Someone like this can also go on television to host a show? I'm getting more and more confident in my living arrangements after retirement, "Eastwood muttered as he rubbed his chin.
"It's still too early to think about retirement, Freddy." Twain stood up and leaned against the back of the seat as he spoke to Eastwood, who was sitting at the back.
"This is the latest episode of 'Football Matters.' I was worried that some of you didn't watch it, so I recorded it and played it on the road for you. Do you want to know why I did that? Guys. Because it's pretty much all over the place right now. I think you must have heard it, but you just don't want to care about it. But … "He raised his voice and stood in the aisle in the middle of the bus, giving his speech to the players. "It's not our style to ignore it. Do you know why I didn't write an article in my own column to fight back against those voices that questioned us? Because football is not won through words. If we want to fight back against those idiotic comments, the best way is definitely not to use foul language during an interview, but to win! To use victory to slap their faces! Until we slap their faces to the point that even their old mothers can't recognize them! "
"I've never said to you that I'm angry that we only have two points and are second from the bottom. That's because I don't want to give you too much pressure. But right now, I have to let you know how I really feel. That is, I'm really f * cking angry! "He waved his fists forcefully. It was indeed a little like what Carl Spicer said, a madman, a warmonger, Adolf Hitler.
"Let me tell you, being young and inexperienced is definitely not an excuse for you. I don't want anyone to use the media's words as a reason for failure. There's only one reason for failure, and that is that you didn't do well enough! I'll give you a month to adapt to this damn new season. I think you should be done adapting and ready to win. Are you ready? "
"That's right, boss! We're ready! "The people in the car followed suit and roared.
"Yes, you have to be ready. If you're not ready, I'll ask him to get off the car and run back to Nottingham! I need madmen who believe that Nottingham Forest will win no matter what, and not cowards who think we might lose! You have to remember, this game is definitely not against Tottenham Hotspur, but against those media who look down on us, who ridicule us for being child scouts, who say that you haven't been weaned yet! "
"Use victory to prove to them … who is the one who hasn't been weaned yet!"
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"I don't think Nottingham Forest is as weak as the media has described. My team is ready for it. I believe Tony Twain must be ready too. I'll shake hands with him before the game and congratulate him on overcoming his heart disease and returning to the pitch. But during the game, he better forget my wishes just now. This will be a very intense game … "
Redknapp said so during the interview before the game.
This was indeed an intense game.
Twain deployed two defensive midfielders in the game. George Wood and Tiago formed a wall in front of the center backs, using their tireless running and intercepting ability to stifle Tottenham's offense in the midfield. Then they used their characteristic of being able to pass the ball to launch an attack, and immediately launched an attack after intercepting the ball. This caught Tottenham off guard.
Şahin sat on the substitutes' bench and watched his teammates launch attacks from the backfield again and again, using long passes to threaten the opponent's defensive line.
Petrov and Lennon restrained the opponent's defensive forces on the flanks, forcing Tottenham's defensive line to stretch horizontally, revealing many gaps. If Tottenham's defenders retreated to the middle, then the direction of the attack would shift to the flanks. All these changes were completely controlled by the two defensive midfielders.
Agbonlahor's speed allowed him to carry out a surprise attack on Tottenham's defensive line in the middle after receiving the pass from the field captain. Žigić, who had the height, the header and the body, was responsible for receiving and covering. His presence ensured that Forest's long passes would not be easily ended by the opponent. Once the midfielders or forwards took the ball in the front field and controlled the situation, Forest would start to press forward. The two full backs, Gareth Bale and Rafinha, took out their best flank assists to put pressure on Tottenham from the flanks.
Redknapp also had a countermeasure. He saw the characteristics of Twain playing on the flanks. Whenever Bale and Rafinha pressed forward, Tottenham would firmly place the direction of the attack on Forest's two flanks — the striker, Darren Bent, who stayed in the front, would not be in the middle, but would be pulled to the flanks to receive the ball, and then break through Forest's defensive line from the flanks, creating a threat to the goal guarded by Akinfeev. In addition, Modrić and Dos Santos would also follow in time to be responsible for receiving or covering Darren Bent.
Both sides' offense and defense were very fast, but in general, it was Tottenham who could not slow down because of Forest's fast pace. Bale, Rafinha, Petrov, Lennon, Agbonlahor, these were all fast players. Every time Forest launched an attack, the midfield did not pass the ball back and forth, but directly passed the ball. That was a competition of speed between these players and the football. If Tottenham did not want their defensive line to collapse, they could only follow and rush.
As time went on, Tottenham's physical fitness greatly declined, and their speed could not keep up with Nottingham Forest. The exhausted defensive line was pulled apart by Forest, and the cracks were getting bigger and bigger …
At the end of the first half, Žigić received Agbonlahor's pass from the flank and headed the ball into the goal under Ledley King's defense. He smashed the football into the goal guarded by the England national goalkeeper, Robinson.
The aerial overlord showed his prowess for the first time in the new season, and Ledley King was as thin as a bamboo pole in front of him!
In the second half, Tottenham used a set piece opportunity to get a goal back through Darren Bent.
But the game had completely entered Nottingham Forest's rhythm. Twain made full use of the many young players in the team, who had good stamina and speed, to drag Tottenham into a fast-paced offensive and defensive battle. The television commentator said more than once, "It was only a matter of time before Nottingham Forest scored again."
In the 21st minute of the second half, Nottingham Forest ushered in their second goal.
Tiago had a head-on physical confrontation with Modrić near the midfield. The two fell to the ground almost at the same time, but it was actually Modrić who had fouled when he intercepted the ball and hooked Tiago. But George Wood rushed out from the side and snatched the ball that had gone out of control. The referee, who had intended to blow the whistle to stop the game, immediately raised his hands and pointed to the front — the offense was advantageous, the game continued!
Wood did not dribble the ball too much. He saw Agbonlahor cruising diagonally in front of him and decisively pushed a straight pass.
Agbonlahor used his speed to shake off the defenders in an instant and inserted diagonally behind the Tottenham defenders. He was not offside! Next, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area, faced the attacking Robinson, and shot diagonally into the net.
"The speed at which Agbonlahor dribbled the ball to break through is simply breathtaking … The speed at which George Wood rushed up from five meters away to snatch the ball was also unexpected by the Tottenham players … This goal, and even this game, really fully illustrates the 'speed' that Tony Twain has always been talking about." The commentator sighed at the lightning-fast goal — from the time Modrić's dribbling was intercepted to Agbonlahor's goal, the entire process was only 15 seconds.
Agbonlahor, who had scored the goal, ran back to hug the team captain, George Wood, who had assisted him. He appeared very excited because this was the first official goal he had scored since joining Nottingham Forest.
Twain, who saw this scene off the field, rubbed his chin and pondered. George Wood was becoming more and more like Albertini's shadow back then … The timing, strength, accuracy of this pass, as well as his prediction of Agbonlahor's route were all impeccable. If he could maintain this kind of performance and not occasionally have a flash of brilliance, then he would not have to worry about the choice of the team's core playmaker …
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The game finally ended with Nottingham Forest defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2: 1 in an away game. Twain's team welcomed their first victory of the new season. On the other hand, Carl Spicer stubbornly said on his show that the result of a game could not prove anything. It was normal for young people to occasionally perform well. The league tournament was a long season of 38 rounds. Who knew how long this young team could last?
So, he continued to maintain his stance of not being optimistic about Nottingham Forest. Criticism at any time.
Twain did not respond to Spicer's criticism in any way, but he knew that the entire Nottingham Forest team was stifled with anger because of this person's clamor. He knew very well that as long as he continued to win game after game, all the way until the end of the season, this dear Mr. Spicer would definitely return the sh * t he had excreted to his face.
He very much looked forward to the arrival of that day. When that time came, he did not mind using the most vicious and merciless words to mock his dear Mr. Spicer.
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