For the media staff, what could hurt them more than being completely ignored?
The Sun was now facing such an embarrassment. The inside story of "George Wood and the Godfather turned against each other" that they had painstakingly infiltrated into the enemy's ranks was published on the front page, but it was drowned out by a wave of doubts about the new England captain.
Except for the local media in Nottingham, almost all the other media thought that Terry and Gerrard were more qualified than Wood to be the captain. Especially the Liverpool media, they were about to curse Twain to have no descendants.
As for the conflict between Wood and Twain?
Stop joking, The Sun! That bastard Twain had already appointed his own son to be the captain of England, what conflict could there be? You published this kind of irresponsible news yourself, do you think others are as stupid as you?
At the press conference, The Sun's reporters raised their hands desperately, wanting to ask questions. Of course, they were asking questions about the conflict between Twain and Wood. But no one gave them such a chance. Everyone who was called stood up and asked, "Mr. Twain, you chose Wood and not Gerrard, are you suspected of nepotism?"
Or:
"Mr. Twain. Terry and Gerrard are more popular than Wood to be the captain, how did you balance the relationship between them? "
The scene was noisy, and the names "Terry", "Gerrard", and "Wood" were endless.
Gerrard sat next to Twain, his face expressionless. The Liverpool media were questioning Twain for him, but he felt very awkward. And those guys who shouted "If I were Gerrard, I would quit the national team in protest" in the newspaper were simply adding to his troubles.
After so many years together, how could those reporters not know what kind of person Gerrard was?
He secretly glanced at the person next to him.
Twain was "arguing with the group."
"Do you want me to call Terry and Wood over and have a group meeting with them? You can ask them personally what they think of this choice. "Twain said with an unfriendly expression.
The reporters were silent.
"I can tell you clearly, before deciding who will be the captain, I talked to them. This change of captain was agreed upon by both Stephen and John. If you have any questions, you can ask Steven. "Tang En pointed at Gerrard.
Gerald knew that it was time for him to appear, so he leaned in front of the microphone and said, "Yes, the boss has talked to each of us. He told us his plan, and we told him our thoughts."
The reporters didn't think so. "Yes, you told him what you thought, but he continued to do what he wanted to do. Right? "
Gerrard's face darkened. "I respect the boss's opinion. I think George deserves the captain's armband. He has always been an excellent captain and has done a good job at Nottingham Forest. He is the only one who can lead the team without using words. "
As a player of the national team, he naturally could not speak ill of the national team or his teammates. This was the same everywhere. The most trustworthy person would always be the person who fought alongside you on the field. Therefore, even if Wood took his captain's armband, he had no objection. On the other hand, he really felt that there was nothing wrong with Wood being the captain …
Tang En brought Gerrard to this press conference for this purpose. He knew that Gerrard admired Wood very much and was also a person who saw the big picture, so he did not have to worry that this person would undermine him in front of the reporters. It was obviously more convincing to let a person who had lost the captain's armband say good things about him and Wood here than to blow their own trumpet here.
Gerrard seemed to be on Tang En's side. The reporters looked at each other and did not know what to say for a moment.
Especially the Liverpool reporters, they were deeply disappointed. At the same time, another guess sprouted in their hearts — had Tony Twain become so strong? There were no dissenting voices in the national team? If it was said that Gerrard or Terry did not have any thoughts about this arrangement, they would not believe it even if they were beaten to death.
A high-pressure terror policy? Not letting the players who did not obey his management play?
This was more shocking than the ownership of the captain's armband …
The reporters at the scene did not know what questions to ask for the time being. The reporter from The Sun finally seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and stood up to ask, "Have you seen today's latest issue of The Sun, Mr. Tang En?" He did not forget to promote his own newspaper.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Reporter. I never read those third-rate tabloids." Tang En's answer made the scene burst into laughter. Amidst the laughter, the reporter from The Sun was very embarrassed. Tang En did not feel sorry for this, because he really did hate The Sun. This newspaper had said many bad things about him.
"That's a pity, Mr. Tang En …" Tang En was not friendly, so the reporter naturally did not hold back. "Today's latest issue of The Sun revealed the inside story of your disagreement with George Wood. Do you have anything to say?"
"Everyone knows." Tang En spread his hands and faced the crowd, his eyes not looking at the reporter. "Third-rate tabloids like to make up some lies and then publish it openly to attract attention. Right in front of you is a living example. "
Laughter sounded again.
"My relationship with George is very good, Mr. Reporter. How much better was it? You see … "He pointed to the reporters below the stage." All these reporters have joined forces to prove one thing: I treat Wood as good as my own son. Do you know what nepotism means, Mr. Reporter? "
The laughter stopped abruptly. Because those smart reporters realized that Tang En had scolded both sides.
"My relationship with Wood is so good that it has aroused public anger in the whole country. How can we not get along? I'm right, right? Third-rate tabloids like to make up lies to attract attention. "
After saying that, Tang En looked at the reporter from The Sun smugly. The reporter's face was red and white. He glanced at another group of reporters. They had been besieging Tang En, but now they had become Tang En's accomplices. This fact was simply too depressing. The expressions on their faces were as awkward as they could be. Some of them were laughing just now, but now they were looking at Tang En with their mouths agape. That was an expression that could only be seen in comical dramas.
Seeing this scene, Gerrard suddenly wanted to laugh. He had never experienced such a press conference before. It was really too interesting.
As an English professional player, he knew how difficult it was to deal with the English media. He did not expect his boss to play with those difficult reporters at the press conference like it was a game.
Tang En began to prepare to leave. He stood up and said to the group of stunned reporters, "It looks like everyone has gotten a satisfactory answer. There are no new questions to ask me. That's all for today."
Seeing that he was leaving, Gerrard also stood up and followed him.
The reporters only reacted at this time. Some of them wanted to ask other questions, but found that other than the "new captain candidate," they could not think of any other questions. The match against Macedonia? What was there to worry about when playing such a weak team on their home ground?
Just like that, the group of people watched Tang En and Gerrard walk away in front of their eyes. Then they reacted. They did not get any interesting results in half an hour. They just bickered with Tang En here for half a day!
"F * ck! We were tricked again! "The veteran reporters scolded.
※ ※ ※
"Haha!" On the way back, Tang En laughed proudly in front of Gerrard. "Don't look at me like that, Steven. It's a good way to relieve stress. You can try. "
Gerrard shook his head. "I don't dare. I've been like this for more than a decade."
Tang En nodded. "That's true. In front of the media and the public, you've always been an honest person. If not for this, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to get away so easily from this press conference. "Saying this, Tang En stopped and faced Gerrard." Thank you, Steven. "
Gerrard did not expect Tang En to speak to him with such an attitude, and even thank him. He was stunned and forgot to respond.
Tang En saw through his thoughts and laughed. "What's wrong? It doesn't match the image that the media promotes? "
"No. Uh, sorry. Actually, in Liverpool's locker room, there are a lot of rumors about you, Boss. "
Tang En's interest was piqued. He raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Tell me about it. "
But Gerrard rejected him. "Sorry, Boss. Our voices in the locker room are not allowed to be heard outside. "
Only then did Tang En realize that he had asked a very stupid question. He hurriedly apologized. "Ah, I forgot. It's okay. We won't allow it either. Well, no matter what, we've settled these matters. Now it's time to think about how to deal with Makedon. Do you know Macedonia well, Steven? "
Gerrard thought for a moment and then shook his head in confusion. "Not really."
"Well, there's nothing to worry about. We play our own football. If we can't even beat a team like Macedonia, how can we talk about the UEFA Champions League? " The way Tang En kept mentioning the word "champion," it was as if he was not talking about "champion," but something very ordinary.
But such a person saying such things with such an attitude did not surprise Gerrard at all. There were a lot of legends about the man in front of him, but one thing was definitely not wrong. Tony Twain's name was Champions.
Think about how many championships he had led the Forest team, which had sunk to the second level of the league, to win? Just the club's highest honor, the UEFA Champions League, had won three. This was a figure who was on par with the former legendary manager of Liverpool, Paisley. Although the total number of championships he had won was not as many as Ferguson, he was only 45 years old. No one doubted that when he reached Ferguson's age, the number of championships he had would be less than the old Scot.
※ ※ ※
Since Gerrard had stood up and said that he did not mind George Wood being the captain, he did not mind that he was not even the vice-captain. Then what position did Liverpool's local media have to continue making a fuss?
Only Carl Spicer still attacked Tang En's decision in his program. "… He wants to turn the England national team into the second Nottingham Forest, but I bet it won't be long before he realizes how stupid he is. It's said that he can scold people as he pleases in the Forest team's locker room as long as he is in a bad mood. If it was 30 years ago, he would probably be able to hit them directly. But in the national team's locker room, can he do that? The Forest team's players have been with him for 11 years. Most of them know what kind of temper their boss has. But do the national team's players, who were put together at the last minute, know? But other than scolding people, what else can he do? He doesn't know anything … The Football Association has signed a two-year contract with him. I think Tang En will be dismissed in less than a year! The reason is simple. If George Wood can be appointed as the team's captain, then there will be a large number of Forest players in the starting lineup. If it were not for Akinfeev and Bale not being able to play for England, Tang En would definitely want to put them in the starting lineup for England, right? "
Tang En treated Spicer's words as "the bark of a loser" and ignored them. He knew very well that in the football circle, no matter how much you scold, in the end, it all came down to results. The reason why he could be so arrogant and scold people the moment he opened his mouth was because his results were good. This logic was very simple, but it was a pity that not everyone understood it. They only saw Tang En's arrogance and started to hate him. They did not see why he had the right to be arrogant, while so many other managers could not even be arrogant once.
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