172 A Timely Loss Part 1 (1/2)

Chapter 172: A Timely Loss Part 1

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On March 13, during the 36th round of league matches, Nottingham Forest beat Crystal Palace on their home turf. The match was not won easily, and there were situations in which some Nottingham Forest players were unable to run during the match. The physical fitness coach told Tang En not to worry about it, and that it was a very normal reaction to the increased workload in physical fitness training. Once this phase passed, he said, all would be well.

Tang En was not actually worried about the problem, as long as they won their matches.

Nottingham Forest, who had won three consecutive matches, saw their rankings soar. They went from seventeenth place to fourteenth, and were only eight points away from Wigan Athletic, who was ranked sixth. Moreover, they had two less matches than WIgan Athletic. This meant that, even if Wigan Athletic won all of their remaining matches, as long as Nottingham Forest won their next two rescheduled matches, they would only be two points away from them—a matter of only one match.

Therefore, for the remaining matches, Tang En said that no matter how the team played during matches or what methods they used, as long as they won the match, it would be considered a good game. In order for them, the pursuers chasing from behind, to make their opponents feel pressure, Nottingham Forest could not be too particular about how they achieved their victories.

For the next few matches, Nottingham Forest played rather unsteadily, but Tang En did not care, because they continued to win.

On March 18, Nottingham Forest beat Burnley FC on their home grounds with a score of 1:0. After that match, Burnley's manager was extremely displeased with the decision of the referee presiding over the match; he felt that the referee had blown the whistle on a goal that was perfectly fine. The referee had even sent one of their players off the field. Nottingham Forest had only managed to win by one goal, despite having the advantage in numbers. It was therefore no wonder that Burnley's manager wanted to complain.

But what could he have done about it? It was just his luck that his team was playing on away grounds.

On March 20, under their tightly-packed match schedule, Nottingham Forest beat Derby County by a large margin of 4:2 in their away match. Eastwood's performance was exceptional, getting a hat-trick and becoming the person who had contributed the most to the team's victory. During his commentary, John Motson said, ”…Most of the time, Twain relies on the football team as a whole to play. However, even when the entire team is in poor condition, he always has a way of obtaining victory, such as a referee's wrong judgement, or a certain player's sudden exceptional performance.”

On March 24, there was a rescheduled match. That day, Nottingham Forest would get back their lost time; because of the EFL Cup matches, the 33rd round of the league had been postponed until now. Nottingham Forest faced off against Bradford on their home grounds. In the end, Nottingham Forest won with a score of 2:1. Nottingham Forest, with one less match than the others, was ranked eighth with a total of fifty-nine points. In front of them were Westham United, with a total of sixty points, and Wigan Athletic, which had sixty-one points. Both Westham United and Wigan Athletics had played one more match than Nottingham Forest.

There was only a difference of three points between the league's eighth-ranked team and sixth-ranked team. Tang En's unremitting chase had finally been rewarded. As long as they beat Crewe Alexandra F.C. in their next match, and one of the teams ranked sixth or seventh lost, they would be replaced by Nottingham Forest.

Prior to this, in order to sustain a favorable situation for the team, Tang En had gone to great lengths and used all of the methods that he could come up with to encourage the team. He knew that they could not afford to lose. As soon as they lost a match, then a season, no, half a season's worth of effort would have gone down the drain. So this was definitely not a time when they could afford to be discouraged.

And once they were only three points away from moving into sixth place in the league, the team finally did not need his encouragement. Everyone could already see that they were very close to obtaining their goal. They knew that if they continued winning like this, they would be able to appear in the English Premier League next season, not the unpopular League One in which they currently played. They were not only fighting for the club, they were also fighting for their own sakes.

On the March 27 was the 39th round of the League, at City Ground Stadium. As soon as match started, the Nottingham Forest fans began singing and cheering the team on, not resting for a single moment. This intimidating home ground atmosphere made their opponents, Crewe Alexandra, shudder, naturally scaring them. Crewe Alexandra, which had a rather low rank in the league, did not even have the willpower to resist before they surrendered. Nottingham Forest won against Crewe Alexandra with a score of 2:0. At the same time, another match took place that also delighted Nottingham Forest's fans; Wigan Athletic was unable to handle the pressure that Nottingham Forest had put on them, and lost in their away match against Watford with a score of 0:1.

After thirty-nine rounds of matches in the league, amidst a storm of counterattacks brewed in Nottingham, Wigan Athletic was the first team that could not withstand it and failed to stand their ground.

By this time, the tempestuousness of Nottingham Forest had already attracted the attentions of higher-ranked teams. Which team would be the second to be pulled down by Nottingham Forest?

After the 39th round matches was completed, Westham United had defeated Gillingham in their home match, and was ranked fifth with a total of sixty-three points. Nottingham Forest, who now had sixty-two points, replaced Wigan Athletic, who also had sixty-two points, obtaining the last seat of the first group. They were now sixth in the league! This was a very attractive ranking, as it meant that, as long as Nottingham Forest maintained their ranking until the end of the season, they would be eligible for the play-offs.

At this point, Tang En had to think again. For the rest of the matches, should the team set its sights on maintaining their rank? Or should it ride the momentum, try to win as much as it could, and rise as high in rankings as possible?

Tang En was stuck in quite a difficult spot.

There was also another problem that had been bothering him for a while: although consecutive wins were worth being happy about, there was a hidden danger behind them: exceptional results would inadvertently exert an invisible psychological pressure on the players. Before every match, all they could think was that they ”definitely couldn't lose.” While having these thoughts for one or two matches could help them perform to the best of their ability, having these thoughts before every single match could give the team a mental breakdown.

”Victory” was a team's belief, and also their curse. Coming up with an appropriate way to deal with this problem was making Tang En's head hurt.