A 1: 0 win over Juventus in the away game, avenging their loss to them years ago and solidifying their first place in the group. But this victory had a greater significance — whether it was against Celtic or Atlético Madrid, the media did not have any special comments about Nottingham Forest's victories. Only after the victory over Juventus did many media outlets print out large headlines:
"Red Forest returns to Europe!"
Logically speaking, Nottingham Forest had long returned. They were considered to have returned when they confirmed their participation in next season's Champions League in the last round of last season. But the media now said this with a different meaning — the once invincible Nottingham Forest team that dominated Europe had truly returned.
Defeating a strong team like Juventus proved to everyone that Nottingham Forest was not just going to Europe for a tour and then go home. They had great ambitions and intended to establish a name in Europe. Defeating a seeded team, Juventus, was just the starting point, definitely not the end.
So it was no wonder that Tony Twain's rare humility was not believed. It was like the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." When your arrogant image was deeply imprinted in others' hearts, no matter what you did, they would first associate you with ulterior motives.
In fact, Twain really kept a low profile. He did not want to put too much pressure on this team. Times had changed, and so had the team in his hands. There were many new and young people in this team. He was not sure if these people were like him, thirsting for a challenge and never getting tired of it. In addition, this year's team was not strong to that extent, so Twain did not say at the beginning of the season that they were going to win the championship.
Rebuilding a team was a process that required time, and they could not be impatient. He was very clear about this principle.
In fact, being a Nottingham Forest player was a very happy thing — not only could they win the championship, but there was also no pressure.
Ibišević did not score, and Tony Twain shared the pressure with him. Matías Fernández was slow to integrate into the team. Tony Twain was trying to think of ways to create opportunities for him in the dark. Žigić scored less goals? No matter, Tony told him that as long as he contributed to the team, he would not be unhappy even if he did not score. The media dared to question a Forest player? Without waiting for the players to say anything, Toni's big mouth was already full of firepower towards the ignorant media.
He didn't have to worry about anything as long as he followed the boss. For the players who had followed Tang En for many years, Nottingham Forest was the boss, and the boss was Nottingham Forest.
In fact, Tang En did not really want his players to have such thoughts, because it would cause his players to have "Tony Twain Dependence Syndrome." Although Tang En had never considered leaving Nottingham Forest to mingle in other places, it did not mean that there would not be any accidents. For example, his heart …
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After winning against Juventus in the away game, Nottingham Forest would continue to face the challenge of Juventus at home.
After three rounds in the group stage, Juventus had one win, one draw, and one loss. They had accumulated four points and were ranked second in the group. Atletico Madrid drew two and lost one, accumulating two points. The Celtics were the weakest team in the group. They had two losses and one draw. They only had one point and were in last place.
However, no one dared to say that the Celtics had no hope of advancing. In this group, other than Nottingham Forest, who was far ahead with nine points, the other three teams could either advance or fail.
If Juventus wanted to establish their chances of advancing, it would be best to win against the Forest team at the City Ground stadium.
Was Tang En that kind of kind-hearted person?
He once again set up a strong formation at the City Ground stadium, using layers of defense to seal Juventus outside the door. The game was played very unsightly and without highlights. Both sides did not perform as well as expected. In the end, Nottingham Forest relied on a suspected offside goal to once again defeat Juventus 1: 0.
After the game, the English media commented, "… Ranieri's team did not even see what the City Ground stadium looked like before they returned home. Tony Twain set up a heavy defense, leaving Juventus only able to circle around the periphery but unable to enter the core area …"
The Turin media felt helpless about Juventus' two 0: 1 defeats. "… Juventus was defeated in the way they are good at … Nottingham Forest has obtained two 'Italian-style victories.'"
Nottingham Forest, who had won all four games and obtained 12 points, had already confirmed their place in the group stage. Tang En decided to reduce the pressure on the team and rotated everyone in the remaining two group stage games. Joe Mattock would have the opportunity to participate in the first Champions League game of his career.
In the league tournament, Nottingham Forest's results were clearly not as stable as they were two seasons ago, fluctuating. They could beat Aston Villa by 4: 0 at home or lose to Arsenal by 0: 3 in the away game.
Nottingham Forest had not fully recovered after experiencing the pain of replacing their blood.
After playing the home Champions League group stage game against Juventus, the English Premier League had also gone through 12 rounds. Nottingham Forest had seven wins, three draws, and two losses, accumulating 24 points and temporarily occupying fourth place in the league. Moreover, they were only four points behind the league's top team, Arsenal.
This result was already enough to satisfy Tang En.
It was already late November, and it wouldn't be long before the intensive Christmas schedule arrived. Tang En's plan was to always bite into the top four during this period, while widening the gap between them and fifth-placed Chelsea.
In fact, the impact of the financial crisis on Nottingham Forest was far less than on Chelsea.
Abramovich's assets had shrunk by nearly 80% in the financial crisis. During that time, not only did he not invest a single cent into the team, but he also laid off 15 scouts to save money. At the same time, there were many rumors in the streets that he intended to sell Chelsea for a symbolic one euro.
In the end, he stood up to refute the rumors and said that there was absolutely no such thing, and that Chelsea was still under his name. But the decline in Chelsea's strength was indeed an indisputable reality.
Rijkaard was a very unlucky manager. He did not come at a good time to take over Chelsea. This summer, the English Premier League club that invested the most in the transfer market was Manchester City, and the one that invested the least was Chelsea.
Abramovich's request for Rijkaard to compete in the English Premier League with his current team and to at least win a championship trophy was somewhat difficult. Not only did Rijkaard not get the player he wanted the most, but his key player, Malouda, also transferred to Juventus.
Rijkaard never said he wanted to give up the league tournament. As for the current ranking, he only said that there was more than half of the league tournament left, and no one would know which team would become the champion until the end.
But in his heart, he already had the faint intention of giving up the league tournament and focusing on the domestic cup and UEFA Europa League.
Seeing how miserable he was now, even Tony Twain was not in the mood to fight a war of words with him. He really could not muster up the energy to bully an unlucky man.
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In terms of the competition schedule, although the period between Christmas and January was packed with matches, Nottingham Forest was quite lucky. But Nottingham Forest's luck was pretty good. They would not meet any other teams in the top five except for themselves. For Twain, the most difficult games to play were before Christmas. They were two consecutive rounds against strong opponents, and they were both away games. They first played Manchester United in the sixteenth round of the league tournament and then Liverpool in the seventeenth round.
From the twelfth round to the sixteenth round, Nottingham Forest achieved two wins and a draw in three games. There was a small change in the ranking — they squeezed out Liverpool and rose to third place. They were only two points behind Manchester United, who was second in the league tournament. If they could beat Manchester United in the sixteenth round of the game, they would become second in the league tournament and close in on Arsenal.
Twain liked this kind of game where he played against his direct competitors face-to-face. It was the fastest way to see results.
He was not afraid to play Manchester United, even if it was an away game.
There was still a week before the game. He had just finished playing against Middlesbrough in the league tournament. In the post-match press conference, he took the initiative to talk about Manchester United.
He tactfully indicated that it was time for Ferguson to retire. "Yes, I have a good relationship with him. So I said this out of consideration for his health. How old is he? In a few months, he'll be 70. I'm worried about his heart … You know, I also have heart disease. I know this very well … "
Throughout the conversation, he showed his concern for the old manager, Ferguson. It looked like the relationship between the two men was really as "good" as he said.
But people who slightly understood the nature of the two men would not take Twain's concern seriously — he was just taking the initiative to provoke a psychological war with Ferguson …
Ferguson also actively responded to the challenge. "I do think it's time for me to consider retirement, but that will have to be after I've won a championship trophy. What? You're asking me who is the most suitable manager to be my successor? Well … I believe that Tony Twain will not be any worse than me. "
He used the pretext to beat them at their own game and used the method of "recommending Twain to be the Manchester United manager" to disrupt the Forest team's morale. The media had been hyping up the topic of Ferguson's successor for decades. Everyone had been on the list — the current Portugal national team manager, Queiroz, the former Manchester United captain, Roy Keane, who was currently idle at home, Moyes, who was doing very well at Everton, and even the current Inter Milan manager, the madman Mourinho. Of course, how could this list not include the young, promising, and equally outstanding Tony Twain, who was the best local manager in England in the past decade?
And, in fact, Twain had always been the most popular candidate. In terms of results, among the other competitors, only Mourinho could compete with him. But to say who had the most hope of coming to Old Trafford, it was not based on results — more often than not, it depended on the candidate's chances of leaving their current job.
Queiroz and Moyes had done very well in their own positions. Mourinho himself had also expressed that he was not interested in going to Manchester United to be the manager. Roy Keane was too inexperienced. Only Tony Twain was the most suitable — because almost everyone felt that it was impossible for him to really work at Nottingham Forest for 20 years. A big fish cannot be bred in a small pond. According to the Chinese saying, "A golden unicorn is not a fish in a pond." Tony Twain's current annual salary was the lowest among the managers of the top five teams. It was hard to guarantee that he would not be dissatisfied with the current treatment. When the time came, as long as Manchester United tempted him with a high salary, Twain might abandon Nottingham Forest and pursue a higher stage …
After all, in the eyes of most people, Nottingham Forest was still not considered a powerhouse. Naturally, it was not as attractive as the veteran powerhouse Manchester United. Being the manager of Manchester United was the dream of countless people. When she issued such an invitation to a manager, how many people in this world could refuse?
Another reason why most people were optimistic about Twain taking over Ferguson's position was that although Twain had a good personal relationship with the two giants of English football, Ferguson and Wenger, in terms of character and coaching style, he was closer to Ferguson than Wenger. If Twain were to be in charge of Manchester United, there would not be any problems in terms of the continuity of the style and the manager's adaptability to the team. Ferguson did not have to worry that after his retirement, Manchester United, who were used to his style, would reject the new manager. A smooth transition of the manager would contribute to the stability of the team's results.
No matter how one looked at it, Tony Twain was Manchester United's future Son of Heaven …
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Ferguson's words brought the "cliché" topic of his successor back to the table. The media also followed suit and hyped up the topic, making it look rather lively. Although there was still the last Champions League group stage match between the two teams, not many people cared — Nottingham Forest and Manchester United had long been confirmed to advance.
Twain thought this was Ferguson's psychological warfare tactic. He would not be stupid enough to express any opinion on it, because no matter what he said on this issue, the media would seize on it and hype it up. The deeper he fell into the psychological battle, the unlucky one would be himself in the end. The smart thing to do was to provoke the other party's emotions and then withdraw. It would make the other party uncomfortable, excited, dissatisfied, and empty, completely not in the mood to prepare for the game. Therefore, he did not make any reply to Ferguson's words. He only focused on preparing for the Champions League group stage and the crucial battle against Manchester United.
In the Champions League away game against Celtic in Scotland, Twain made a large rotation to give the players ample time to rest before the intense competition schedule. Twain did not make any demands on the result of the game. The first thing he had to ensure was that no one was injured in the game — Atletico Madrid and Celtic were competing for the UEFA Europa League ticket. At the Calderón Stadium, Atletico Madrid would not let Juventus off. At the same time, at Celtic Park, the Scots would not agree to Nottingham Forest's request to retreat unscathed.
Just as he was about to leave for Glasgow, he received a call from the Manchester United Football Club.
— My successor? I believe that if Tony Twain did it, he would not be any worse than me.
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