Although Tony Twain did not really take off his pants, he was examined thoroughly by the two supervisors. His entire body was searched to prove that he did not bring any communication equipment. The battery on his phone was also removed in front of him. While removing the battery, Twain's mind suddenly flashed. He thought he might as well get someone to buy him a knockoff phone in China. It could still be used even after removing the battery. It would definitely catch those foreigners who did not know anything off guard!
Twain was amused by his own idea.
The two supervisors next to him had dark expressions.
"It looks like you're in a good mood, Mr. Twain. Aren't you worried about the game at all?" One of them beat around the bush, trying to pick at Twain.
"I don't need to worry about the winner." Twain shrugged. "Are you done with the examination?"
"Yes, there's no problem. You can go to the stands." The two made a gesture. They would not follow Twain to the stands. Their seats were in the box. The Nottingham Forest Football Club treated them quite well.
Tang En turned around and left, not even saying "goodbye".
The two supervisors were still indignant about the treatment they received.
"Let's see if you're still so arrogant after the game!"
They said fiercely to Twain's back.
※ ※ ※
There were more and more fans in the stands. All kinds of singing and shouting rang out in the City Ground stadium.
Tony Twain walked up the stairs and walked to a grandstand.
"Hey, guys!" He greeted the fans standing in front with their backs facing him.
"Forest, Forest! Nottingham Forest!! " The group of people finished singing the last line and turned around. The fat leader laughed and said, "Look who's here, guys! You poor thing who's been sent to the stands — Tony! Welcome to the Robin Hood Stand! "
Fat John gave Tony Twain a passionate bear hug, so passionate that Tony Twain almost couldn't breathe.
After John finished hugging, the others came up one by one to hug him and welcome his arrival.
He had taken off his suit and was wearing a red Forest jersey with a scarf around his neck. He looked no different from an ordinary fan. It was not easy to find him among the fans.
"Tony, what's up with that stadium?" Skinny Bill pointed to the stadium below the stands.
Twain glanced at him and then laughed. Isaksson did a good job. From the visual effect, it was exactly the same as the number three training ground in Wilford.
"Are our turf maintenance workers sleeping? How can you compete in such a place? "
Someone in the crowd agreed.
Tang En chuckled. "It looks shocking, doesn't it? The match is going to be interesting! "
"Ah — you did it on purpose!" Bill reacted and pointed at Twain. "You're a bad guy!"
"Bastard! Bastard! Tony is a bad guy! " The fans next to them immediately followed and shouted slogans, just like they were cheering for the team in the game.
"I prepared a small gift for Barcelona. I hope they like it."
The group burst into laughter.
"But our people aren't used to this kind of venue either …" Someone still had doubts.
"Ha! What do you think we've been doing in a week of closed-door training? "This time, it was not Tang En's turn to dispel his doubts. John laughed first. He had already understood.
Tang En looked at the excited faces of a group of fans and stood on the side, smiling without saying a word. To be honest, it was a pity not to be able to stand on the sidelines and see Mr. Guardiola's expression when he saw the field …
When everyone had finished laughing, he asked, "The club didn't tell me the specific location. They only said to sit with you. So … where is my position? "
John pointed to the center. "The center! Between us. "
"Very good!"
※ ※ ※
Kerslake's loud voice rang out in the home team's locker room. "Warm up! Warm up! Fully warm up! Remember the conditions of the field for this game. You must warm up more seriously than any previous game! You can be tackled by your opponents on the field, but I don't want you to sprain your ankles while running! Think about what you've been doing for a week. How could something like that happen to you? "
Kerslake paced back and forth in the locker room, but everyone treated him as background music. Someone asked Dunn, "Where will the boss be during the game?"
"The North Stand," Dunn answered.
The north grandstand was also what Fat John called the "Robin Hood Grandstand". It was the area where Nottingham Forest's most hardcore and fanatical fans gathered. Every club's home ground would have such a grandstand. Some were in the north grandstand, while others were in the south grandstand. The City Ground's North Stand was next to the Trent River, just across the river from the home ground of their city rivals, Notts County, Meadow Lane.
"Over there, the boss must be like a fish in water."
"Hehe, that's right. He's Nottingham Forest's number one hardcore fan! "
Dunn had a feeling that the atmosphere, which had appeared a little anxious because of Kerslake's incessant chatter, had slowly eased up after knowing Tony's position. The manager was indeed the backbone of a team. No matter how well the assistant managers did, they could not steal the manager's spotlight …
※ ※ ※
The first team to come out to warm up was Barcelona. Tang En could tell from the volume of the boos in the stadium. So, he got up from his seat and stood up to look down.
He wanted to see the wonderful expressions on the Barcelona players' faces when they looked at the field. It was a little bit of his bad taste …
The Barcelona players ran out of the tunnel and then stopped unanimously the moment they set foot on the field. Then, they looked at the field in front of them with puzzled faces. Some people even wanted to turn around and go back.
"What are they thinking? I bet they must be thinking — it's strange, did we run to the wrong field?! "Sitting in the corner of the stands, an old man in his fifties and an old man in his sixties were convulsing with laughter. "It was clearly not like this when we adapted to the field yesterday! Hahahaha — "
Glen Shelvey slapped Thompson Isaksson's thigh and almost fell to the ground. Isaksson was also overjoyed to admire the masterpiece they had worked hard all night.
Guardiola and the members of the coaching staff followed the players out, but found that they were all standing on the sidelines and did not warm up on the field.
Guardiola's assistant, his assistant manager in Barcelona's second team, Vilanova, found it strange. He asked, "What are you doing? Why aren't you warming up? "
"Manager, this field …" Puyol, as the captain, stood up to negotiate with the coaches on behalf of the team.
"What's wrong with the field?"
"It doesn't feel the same as yesterday …" Professional players were very sensitive to the field. Although the training field yesterday was also terrible, it was still not as good as today's.
Guardiola did not listen to them continue. Instead, he personally walked onto the field to step on it. He had the right to speak only after experiencing it firsthand.
After only a few steps, his brows furrowed.
"Despicable!" He scolded in a low voice.
"He Sepp, what's wrong?" The second assistant manager, Eusebio (the assistant of the former manager, Rijkaard, not the famous Portuguese player, "Black Panther" Eusebio), noticed his strangeness and stepped forward to ask.
"They changed the turf and the field has been specially treated." Guardiola looked up at the home team's technical area and found that there was no one there. Only then did he remember that Tony Twain was suspended for this game. If he wanted to find him, he should look for him in the stands.
Eusebio was a little surprised. "There's such a thing? Wasn't it normal when we came to adapt to the field yesterday? "
"Maybe they changed it after we finished warming up and left … It was an overnight one."
Eusebio was shocked by Tony Twain's shamelessness. "How can he do this!"
Just then, Nottingham Forest also came out to warm up. Eusebio immediately saw Dunn, who was always inseparable from Twain. He rushed up to him and asked, "Mr. Manager, would you like to explain what's going on with your field?"
Dunn looked confused. "Catalan? Spanish? Please speak English. "
When Eusebio saw Dunn's reaction, he realized that he did not speak the world's common language in a moment of excitement. He had to readjust his emotions and angrily pointed to the different colors of the turf on the field again. He questioned in English, "Such a terrible turf. Our players step on it and it's uneven. How is this a field for a football game? Don't you have anything to say? "
Dunn suddenly realized. "Oh, the City Ground stadium has recently been maintaining the turf that was previously used, so it has been replaced …"
"Just replaced with this patch of turf?" Eusebio was furious when he heard Dunn say so.
"It's a small club with tight finances. We don't have a good spare turf. I'm really sorry." Dunn bowed slightly. His attitude was so low that Barcelona's people could not get angry even if they wanted to.
In fact, what he said was the response Twain had prepared for him to face Barcelona's questioning. Twain expected that the situation of the turf being too different from before to after would definitely attract some people's attention, so he prepared the corresponding response in advance. Naturally, it would be foolproof when the time came.
Moreover, the Nottingham Forest Football Club did inform the UEFA a few days in advance that they wanted to maintain the turf. Changing the turf was a very normal thing, so the UEFA did not take it seriously. They nodded and agreed. "You guys change it!"
In the end, it was replaced with a piece of the strongest stadium in history that stunned Barcelona and the UEFA did not expect.
Even the two UEFA supervisors, who were used to seeing the world, were stunned for a long time when they saw the stadium. They thought they were on the other side of the river at Medic Alley. A Premier League club that had been fighting in the Champions League for a long time and had just won two Champions League titles and one Premier League title a few years ago could actually be so bad. It really … left people speechless.
Eusebio wanted to say something but was held back by Guardiola.
"We were tricked by them. There's nothing to say. This ground can't be changed back. Since they insist that they are maintaining the turf, it shows that they have taken everything into consideration. "
Eusebio was very upset. "We can report to the UEFA …"
Dunn suddenly pricked up his ears. "The UEFA?"
It was a sensitive moment. A week before the game, the English media seized on the close relationship between Barcelona and the UEFA and repeatedly hyped it up. They wanted to prove that the UEFA was shady and that Barcelona's home victory was given by the UEFA. Anyway, it was not a matter of a day or two that the UEFA was unhappy with the English football scene. And the English media did not even give face to their own people. How could they give face to the UEFA? Therefore, "the UEFA" had almost become a taboo word at this time. As long as Barcelona mentioned the UEFA, it would cause others to associate it …
Eusebio turned back to him and said angrily, "I thought you don't understand Catalan!"
Dunn just put on a fake Asian smile and said nothing.
Eusebio was completely helpless against such a group of shameless people. He could only walk away with Guardiola and avoid Dunn.
"It's no use complaining to the UEFA. The game is about to start. Will the UEFA reschedule the game because of a small matter like the turf? And it's not like the stadium can't be played … We can only ask our own players to be careful. But after the game, we will report the situation of the City Ground stadium to the fourth official. "Guardiola looked helpless. He had been thinking about what tactics Tony Twain would come up with when he returned to the home ground and could not direct the game. He did not expect Tony Twain to not play by the rules and play such a hand.
To make a fuss on the field, the planning was meticulous and there were no omissions. It was really "unscrupulous for victory" …
But on such a lousy field, if my team can't play, can your team play?
Just when he thought the game might not be as bad as people thought, Guardiola suddenly remembered that Nottingham Forest had been training in isolation for a week before the game. They even did not hesitate to offend the local media to cancel the regular press conference, so no one knew what they were practicing …
Maybe, could it be … they were training on a training ground with conditions similar to this?
When Guardiola suddenly came to his senses, he realized that his back was drenched in sweat. Cold sweat.
This Tony Twain!
He unconsciously clenched his fists.
※ ※ ※
While the assistant manager was arguing with Dunn, the Barcelona players next to him gathered around and whispered. There was also someone who went to ask Piqué, because he was the only one who had played with Tony Twain in front of everyone.
Piqué could only say honestly, "He's that kind of person … In order to achieve his goals, he will use any means …"
"Wow, then doesn't it feel terrible to play under him?" Someone exclaimed.
Piqué listened to their evaluation of Tony Twain and muttered with a wry smile, "It's alright …"
Then he looked at the empty Nottingham Forest technical area. He could imagine how the Nottingham Forest players felt — it must be great!
Because when he was still at Nottingham Forest, every time the boss made such a move against the enemy, it would always resonate with everyone.
"We have to do everything that makes the opponent uncomfortable. That will be profitable for us."
This was what the boss once said, and it was a little embarrassing to be recalled at this moment in this kind of situation. Because he had become the "opponent" in that sentence.
※ ※ ※
"Warm up!" Vilanova shouted from the sidelines, urging the players to warm up. "But be careful, don't get hurt. This field is very bad, don't get hurt!"
With his shout, all the Barcelona players who were warming up on the field became timid. Because no one wanted to drop out of the game because of a warm-up injury before the start of the game, especially those star players who had been placed in the starting list …
On the contrary, when the Nottingham Forest players stepped onto the pitch, there was a look of surprise on their faces.
They felt it was very familiar, too familiar … because this field felt exactly the same as the number three training ground!
"Did they move number three here?" Akinfeev even bent down and took off his gloves to touch the turf to experience the real feeling.
"After training there for a week, it suddenly feels very familiar … Hey, look at the Barcelona players, haha!" Pepe suddenly pointed to the opposite side and laughed.
Everyone followed his finger and looked over, and they all laughed. The Barcelona players seemed to be warming up in a minefield. One by one, they stood on their tiptoes as if they wanted to fly so that they would not have to suffer on this terrible field.
"Look at them, I think we're going to win this game!" Lennon shouted excitedly next to him.
George Wood poured cold water on him, "Don't underestimate the enemy."
"All right, guys! Chat time is over! "Kerslake's loud voice chased them from the locker room to the field, and a group of people ran up one after another. As if to deliberately provoke Barcelona, unlike the restrained movements of their opponents, their steps were powerful, their bodies agile and flexible, and they were full of fighting spirit. They walked on the uneven field as if they were walking on flat ground.
This was the result of them practicing twice a day for a week and paying the price of three injuries.
This was the real home ground — no one in the world could adapt to the current turf of the City Ground stadium except them.
Philosophers liked to say: there are no two identical leaves in the world.
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