What needed to be bought was bought, and what needed to be sold was sold. After all these things were done, Tang En's work was finally a little easier. The rest of the training was mainly handled by the entire coaching staff. He did not have to do everything himself.
When he was free, he would notice some things that he had not noticed before.
For example:
"Strange. The pre-season preparations are in full swing, and the media from all over the world have gathered in Nottingham. Why haven't I seen your secret lover?" Tang En voiced his doubts in a joking tone with Dunn.
Dunn did not refute this. He was not that kind of person. He just said lightly, "She resigned from the newspaper office. It's impossible for her to come."
Tang En was a little surprised. "I thought that was her trick. She always likes to do that."
"It's for real this time," Dunn said lightly. Dunn said casually, "Do you know what the consequences would be if the words you said appeared in any of China's regular media outlets word for word?"
Tang En nodded. "No matter what, I'm an authentic Chinese."
"In order to publish it smoothly and not cause trouble for her father, she chose to resign and published it alone. The consequences … you've seen them for yourself. "
"I didn't just see it. I experienced it myself," Tang En muttered.
In fact, Tang Jing had done that with the intention of dragging him down with her. However, both of them knew very well that the impact and impact that Tang En had received were completely negligible. As an "Englishman", he could speak his mind freely without having to worry about any consequences, because he did not live in that circle and relied on that circle to survive.
Tang Jing had only done so in the hope that Tang En could help her share the huge pressure at the time. He succeeded in doing so. During the press conference and the Chinese media, almost no one paid attention to the instigator, Tang Jing. Then it was the World Cup. Now that the World Cup was over, it was time to settle accounts.
Tang Jing was completely different from Tang En. Although she had resigned, it would probably be difficult for her to continue in that line of work. Her "ban" was expected.
He touched his nose. "Hey, I suddenly miss her. Hey, don't misunderstand. I just feel that it's too quiet without such a noisy woman around me."
Dunn did not respond to him. He quietly finished his work and walked away.
Tang En made a face at him from behind.
As for Tang Jing's matter, he really didn't expect her to resign. No matter what, this woman had to put on a tough stance in order to make a name for herself in the men's world. Now that he thought about it, he felt that it was a pity …
※ ※ ※
With less than half a month until the start of the new season, Tang En had already announced the end of Nottingham Forest's transfer operations for this season.
"I'm satisfied with every pound I've spent this summer. I think these four players are worth it. They meet my requirements and I personally decided to buy them. I believe in everything they have here. Before the start of the season, I asked the club for a transfer fee and I'm happy to have them met. After spending the money, I had nothing else to ask for. Now, I just had to wait for the new season to start. I can guarantee that Nottingham Forest will still be a force to be reckoned with in the new season. Of course, since the media always describes me as a scoundrel who goes back on his word, you can choose not to believe my words. Just wait and see. "
In his column, he wrote. His arrogance could no longer be hidden — he didn't want to hide anything.
The whole world knew what Tony Twain wanted.
※ ※ ※
Ever since he made the bet with Tang En at the press conference, Carl Spicer had always been talking about it. Now, the whole of England knew that he and Tony Twain had a gambling game with their own hair as the wager.
Spicer was full of confidence. He thought that Ibišević was not capable and might not be able to adapt to the English Premier League and Nottingham Forest's style.
Twenty goals in a season was not a goal that could be achieved easily.
Tony Twain was the exact opposite of him. After confirming the bet, he never mentioned it again. But he could see that his bet with Spicer and the words he said to Ibišević afterward had an effect.
Ibišević was working hard to integrate into the new environment. He was not at all like the quiet Bundesliga players that everyone thought he was. On the contrary, he was very lively.
He would joke around with his British teammates in fluent American English. He could also chat in French with the Frenchmen in the team, Chimbonda, Nkoulou, and the Belgian Kompany. At the same time, he could use fluent German to chat with Şahin, who used to play for Borussia Dortmund, lived in Germany for many years, and had German citizenship. In addition, Bosnia and Serbia were once part of the former Yugoslav Federation, so he could still communicate with Žigić in his native language.
In addition, he was indeed a language genius. Not long after he came to the team, he could use his not very proficient Portuguese to greet several teammates from Brazil and Portugal.
After there were no problems with the language, he integrated into the team very quickly. The happiest thing about coming to Nottingham Forest was that no one here would be interested in his terrible statistics from last season and would not embarrass him like the reporters.
Tony Twain trusted him and had the intention of turning him into the main force during training. He used his good performance in the warm-up games as repayment. He scored two goals in three warm-up games and had a selfless assist.
But no matter how good his performance in the warm-up games was, it did not mean anything. If he wanted to change the view of the harsh English media, he had to score in an official game, a lot of goals.
Žigić was a lesson for him. Although the big man was highly regarded by Twain and could always play a huge role when the team needed to attack and defend the team, he was always called a "substandard" by the media because of his low number of goals.
The only criterion to measure whether a striker was qualified was the number of goals he scored. Žigić had 11 assists last season. As long as he played, the Forest team's aerial dominance in the front field would not be lost, but he only scored nine goals, which naturally could not satisfy the picky media. There were also the media who cried injustice for Žigić, thinking that Twain had used the big man wrongly. But as long as the big man did not raise any objections, Twain would continue to use him.
Ibišević was desperately trying to integrate into the team. He knew that no position needed more support from his teammates than a striker. Moreover, he was not the kind of striker who could dribble the ball across half of the field and then bypass the opponent's goalkeeper to bring the football into the empty goal.
Bentley's integration into the team was the fastest. First of all, he was an Englishman. There were no problems with food, weather, or language. Second, he was a player that Twain had brought in according to the team's tactical needs. Such a player often did not have any adaptation period in terms of tactics. Twain understood Bentley's characteristics. Since he decided to buy him, he must be someone who met the team's tactical needs.
The only thing that worried Twain was the "World Cup Syndrome." Bentley had performed well since his transfer to the Forest team, but Twain thought he was just continuing his performance in South Africa this summer. The better his performance in the warm-up games, the more Twain worried about his form after the league tournament officially started.
Nkoulou, the fourth player that the team had brought in this summer, performed well. He would face competition from Rafinha and Chimbonda for the right back position. Although Chimbonda was old, he was experienced and had a solid defense. As long as he was not asked to plug in to assist, his defense on the right side was still very reassuring. Rafinha's strength was to plug in to attack from the back on the flanks. In Twain's tactics that required the flanks to fly together, full backs who could assist had always been highly valued by him. There was Rafinha on the right and Gareth Bale on the left.
The young Nkoulou would probably have to start as a substitute. Twain had already promised him that as long as he persevered and integrated into the team, the Cameroonian youngster would have a wonderful future.
Fernández was now the slowest to integrate among the four players who had transferred to the team this summer. As a South American player, the language barrier and the different styles of Spanish football and English football were considered good. What made him suffer the most was the British weather and food.
Most of the time, the sky would be gloomy like it was during today's training, and then it would start to rain. He finally understood why the British always opened their conversations with the weather. There was also the terrible food. He could never get used to the food here.
These two factors affected his performance on the training ground and in the warm-up games. He was still living in a hotel room and had yet to find a suitable house. How could such a life allow him to put all his thoughts on football? It was a pity that his compatriot, Nicolás Millán, had been loaned out. Otherwise, he could help his senior in Colo-Colo adapt to life in England. As the only Chilean in the team, Fernández was a little lonely …
The fans would probably have to wait for a while to see Fernández, who had once won the South American Footballer of the Year.
※ ※ ※
Regardless of whether these people integrated well into the team, time was also passing day by day, and the start of the new season was getting closer.
Before the start of the new season, Nottingham Forest, who had been fourth in the league last season, also had a life-and-death battle to deal with even though they did not have the FA Community Shield.
That was the Champions League qualifying round.
As they only finished fourth in the league, Nottingham Forest was not eligible to enter the main competition directly. They had to play in the Champions League qualifying round first and pass the test to enter the official top 32 of the Champions League.
Nottingham Forest's qualifying opponent had been determined. It was Red Star Belgrade from Serbia.
Only by eliminating Red Star Belgrade in two games, home and away, could Tony Twain be qualified to say that his team had truly returned to Europe.
On August 11th, the Champions League qualifying round began in full swing.
Nottingham Forest faced Red Star at home.
Although it was only a qualifying round, the City Ground Stadium, which could accommodate up to 30,000 people, was full. As a rare team in the history of English football that won fewer league titles than the Champions League title, the Forest fans seemed to have a tradition of thinking that the Champions League was the most important title. This tradition was quite similar to that of Real Madrid. In the league and Champions League games, both sides would coincidentally choose the Champions League.
But the reason Real Madrid made this choice was probably because the league title was too common for them. And the Nottingham Forest fans made this choice only because they thought that compared to the league, the Champions League had the tradition of winning the title …
The City Ground Stadium was not big, but the fanatical fans caused a lot of trouble for the Red Star Team here.
The Forest fans, who had been stifled for a year, found an outlet to vent their emotions. They vented out the depression that had accumulated for a year. They sang and shouted non-stop in the stands. From the beginning of the game to the end, they did not stop at all.
The Red Star Team was very unaccustomed to such an away atmosphere, while Tony Twain's team was like a fish in water here.
Just nine minutes into the game, Eastwood, who was in the starting lineup, helped the team open the scoring with a long arc shot from outside the penalty area.
Then, in the 32nd minute, Žigić's header sent the City Ground into a frenzy.
The first half of the game was completely under Nottingham Forest's control. The Red Star Team had no power to fight back.
In the second half, Twain began to give the new players who joined the team in the summer a chance to play.
In the 55th minute, he replaced Chris Cohen with Matías Fernández. Fernández won a round of applause from the fans with a beautiful pass as soon as he came on.
But this was one of the few times he shone in the game.
Then, in the 69th minute, Twain replaced Lennon with Bentley.
Less than four minutes after Bentley came on, he used a pass from the flank to accurately send the football to the feet of Şahin, who plugged in from the back.
The talented Turkish midfielder faced the Red Star Team's goalkeeper and very calmly pushed the ball to the top corner. The football flew into the Red Star Team's goal for the third time.
This goal completely extinguished the Red Star Team's players' hopes of winning.
Then, amidst the thunderous singing of the home fans, Gareth Bale used a direct free kick to lock in the score at 4: 0!
Nottingham Forest's home ground was a complete victory. After the game, the English media reported that Tony Twain had already set foot in Europe.
"It's just like the landing battle 66 years ago. Tony Twain's team successfully landed, and their target is Berlin (this season's UEFA Champions League final will be held in Berlin)! "
※ ※ ※
Appendix:
2010-2011 Nottingham Forest First Team squad list (26 players):
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (1), Dale Roberts (12), Shaun Redmond (25).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (22), Gareth Bale (2), Pascal Chimbonda (3), Jonathan Woodgate (5), Vincent Kompany (4), Pepe (6), Wes Morgan (30), Rafinha (14), Joe Mattock (33), Nicolas Nkoulou (21).
Midfielders: George Wood (13), John Bostock (23), Aaron Lennon (17), Tiago Mendes (31), Nuri Şahin (15), Chris Cohen (20), David Bentley (7), Matías Fernández (8).
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