The next afternoon, Tang En and Kerslake met the pudgy man and his son, Gareth Bale, at the Forest team's youth training camp.
"I was really worried you wouldn't come." Tang En was very happy to see the father and son.
"Why wouldn't we come? Of course we'll come. I'm very confident in my son's ability. He's a genius! "The pudgy man shouted as he shook hands with Tang En and Kerslake.
"Yes. But we still have to do a little test. " Kerslake was professional. Before meeting the father and son, Tang En had told him about it. He was worried that it might be another wild bull that Tang En had picked up on a whim from the streets and did not know how to play football.
The father seemed a little unhappy with Kerslake's cold attitude. "What? Are you looking down on my son's ability? "
Tang En hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Manager Kerslake is serious and responsible. You can only be more at ease if your son is trained under him. All right, all right, let's go … "
The content of the test was very ordinary. It was to complete some technical actions according to the coach's requirements and then accept a simple experience. If everything passed, they could sign the contract on the spot.
The test went on for half an hour. Tang En tried hard to keep his face expressionless, or rather, to maintain a faint smile. To be honest, he was a little disappointed to see Bale's performance. Kerslake did not say anything. Perhaps he did not have much hope in the first place.
This was completely different from the Bale that Tang En remembered.
Unlike ordinary FM players, although he did start to understand this Welsh kid from the game, in order to get a more direct impression, he had specially searched for videos of this kid playing football on famous foreign video websites. The one that left the deepest impression on Tang En was Bale's precise left foot free kick.
The angle was tricky, the force was great, the speed was fast, and the distance was long. These were all the characteristics of Bale's free kicks. The first goal he scored for Southampton and the Welsh national team was a direct free kick.
During the test, Tang En had specifically asked Bale to shoot free kicks. Bale's reaction at the time was a little confused, and he had no desire to show off his unique skills. Seeing this, Tang En felt a little strange. His subsequent performance in the test made Tang En even more puzzled. Why did the left back in his memory, who was adept at free kicks, seem like he had never kicked a free kick before?
If not for the kid's outstanding left leg technique, Tang En might have thought that he had found the wrong person. Come to think of it, to find two people with the same name, surname, same city, same year, same month, same day … this was really difficult.
Fifteen minutes later, the medical report was also sent to Tang En. Holding the report and the previous test report, Tang En asked the Bell father and son to wait outside for a moment. Then, he walked into the office with Kerslake and the team doctor, Flemish.
The door was ajar, and the three of them gathered together to discuss the outcome.
Kerslake asked Tang En, "Tony, what do you think?"
Twain shook his head. "I want to hear your opinions first."
"I think he can be signed, but I'm not sure if he can become an outstanding player." Kerslake voiced out his inner concerns. "This kid has average abilities in all aspects, and his physical fitness isn't too bad either. He barely meets the requirements of a player."
Flemish nodded in agreement with Kerslake. "It's neither good nor bad."
"In that case, the decision lies with me …" Tang En walked to the door and observed the situation outside through the ajar crack.
Gareth Bell was indeed that person. His looks, age, place of origin, habitual use of his feet … But why was the situation so different? Could it be that because of his arrival, ripples had really appeared in this world, pushing the things he was familiar with away from their original positions?
The short, fat man seemed to be comforting Bell, who was in low spirits. Children were sensitive, and perhaps he already knew that he did not perform well in this test. On the other hand, his carefree father was patting the child's head and encouraging him. Tang En could not hear what he said, but he could imagine what the content was — "My son must be a genius! Believe in your dad! When has dad ever lied to you? "
Another pair of father and son …
Looking at them, for some reason, Tang En thought of another pair of father and son. Michael should have started a new life with his wife in America. Perhaps they would never have the chance to meet again …
Tang En turned around and said to Kerslake and Flemish, "Sign him. I believe he won't let us down."
Kerslake nodded. "Okay, I'll go get the apprentice contract."
Tang En pushed the door open, and the three of them walked out of the office. The short, fat man looked up at Tang En. "What are you guys mumbling about in there? Do we need to hold a round table meeting to sign my son? I'm telling you, my son is a genius! If you don't want him, you'll regret it sooner or later! "
You're right, fat man. Southampton would regret it in a few years … if they still remembered that their youth team once had such a figure.
"Mr. Bell, before that, I want to tell you and your son a story. Are you interested?"
The father and son looked at Tang En in confusion. They did not know why Tang En wanted to do this. Was it not just a matter of time? What was the point of telling a story? To keep them in suspense?
The father shook his head in disagreement, but the son nodded.
"Ah! I'll listen to you, son. "The fat man immediately changed his mind.
Tang En looked at the interesting father and son and laughed. The short, fat man glared at him. "What are you laughing at? What story do you want to tell?"
"Well, it's like this … Shaun Wright-Phillips. Have you heard of this name?"
The two men nodded, and Bell's father added, "The shorty from Manchester City."
"That's right. He did a good job at Manchester City. But did you know that he was actually groomed by our Forest team? "
The father and son shook their heads.
"Although his home is in London, he commutes to Nottingham every week for training. But the Forest team's youth director at the time, Paul Hart, told him one day that he thought it would be too far for him to train here from home, which was not good for his growth, so he hoped he would change to another club … You know what that means, right? "
Bell's father nodded. "Simply put, the shorty was driven away."
"That's right. Coach Hart thought that Shaun Wright-Phillips was too weak to adapt to professional football, so he found an excuse to drive him away. He did not expect the kid to go to Manchester, which is further away from London than Nottingham. So far, he has represented Manchester City in a season and a half in the English Premier League and a season in League One, 85 games. Hart once told me … "In fact, Tang En did not know whether Hart had said this to his past self, but it did not stop him from weaving it into the story. "Even if he brought out a star player like Jenas, letting go of Shaun Wright-Phillips would still be his biggest regret. I've said so much just to tell you … the mistake that Coach Hart made will not be repeated by me, Tang En. "
He glanced at Walker who had returned with the contract, so he reached out and patted Gareth Bell's shoulder. "Do well here, kid. You'll succeed. "
Bale nodded vigorously. Even compared to normal people, he didn't talk much. Maybe his talkative father had finished all his words.
After signing the contract in Tang En's office, Tang En reached out and shook hands with Bell. "Very well, you belong to me now. Say goodbye to your father." Then he waved at Bell's father and said in a childish voice, "Goodbye, Daddy! I won't miss you! "
Everyone in the room laughed. Bell, who had been tense due to nervousness, finally smiled. Tang En quickly took out his phone and took a picture of the moment. Then, while everyone was still confused, he handed the phone to Bell to let him see his smile. "What do you think?"
Bell did not speak. His father leaned over and pursed his lips. "It's too blurry and shaky."
"But you can tell he's smiling, can't you?" Tang En took a sip of water. Kerslake and Flemish suddenly realized. Indeed, they had not seen the child smile since they saw the father and son today.
"Gareth, do you want me to give you a few pieces of advice?"
Bell nodded.
"First of all, I want you to switch to left-back from today. As for the reason, I'll explain it to you in detail later." After the test, Tang En discovered that Gareth Bell was not playing as a left-back, but as a left midfielder. But in Tang En's eyes, letting the child play as a left midfielder was equivalent to wasting half of the corridor on the left. He hoped to nurture Bell into a figure like Robert Carlos at Real Madrid — at his peak, the entire left side of the field would be his.
Bell hesitated for a moment but nodded in acceptance.
"Secondly, I want you to try practicing free kicks. I think you have the talent in this area."
Kerslake looked at Tang En who said this. When the kid was doing the free kick test just now, he was at the side, but he did not see any talent at all. He did not understand why Tang En was so insistent on letting Bell play free kicks.
Bell agreed as well.
"Lastly." Tang En used both hands to pull up the corners of his mouth, forming an arc with both ends raised. "I want you to be more like this, smiling and confident."
As for this point, Bell did not immediately nod in agreement. He lowered his head and looked at his toes, then said in a low voice, "They laugh at me for looking like a monkey …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
