244 Newcastle and Shania Part 1 (1/2)
Chapter 244: Newcastle and Shania Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Based on the results of the last ten years, Newcastle United was a strong team in the world of English football. This began when Kevin Keegan took the helm at St. James's Park. Tang En felt that the most brilliant years of Keegan's coaching career were at Newcastle, not later for the English national team.
Putting aside their decade in the Premier League, Newcastle United was still undeniably a traditional strong team in England. Although they had only won four league titles in the early part of last century, they had been six-time champions in the highest ranked FA Cup. Even in the early days of the Premier League, the FA Cup was still the most important tournament in the minds of the English people; that is, until the FA Cup gradually lost its status due to the influence of the Premier league and the UEFA Champions League.
What made Newcastle United unable to compare with Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool was that they had not left their mark in the English football history and had not continuously ruled the English football world. Consequently, they could only be considered a second-rate team, not one of the powerhouses.
Nottingham Forest was not a powerhouse club, but they had an advantage over Newcastle United: they had won the UEFA Champions League title.
Nonetheless, it was meaningless to bring up past successes. Newcastle United was still considered a second-tier team; compared to them, even though Nottingham Forest was ranked higher, the media still considered them inferior in strength to The Magpies.
What did Twain think of that evaluation?
”Newcastle United is a robust team, and Graeme Souness is an excellent senior...” He said this in an interview with The Northern Echo outside of the Newcastle airport; since when did Tony Twain use the term ”senior” to address his opponents?
He had never used it on Arsène Wenger, and he had not used it on Ferguson either. He did not even address the Chief as ”senior”. Souness was certainly a senior, but his achievements were far less than those of the the three men above. Did saying that mean that Twain was going to admit defeat in this away match?
”An away game is always harder than a home game, and it's harder to play at the St. James' Park Stadium. So, if you ask me what the outcome of this game will be... I'm sorry, but I can't comment.” Squeezing out of the crowd of reporters, Twain quickly got on the bus. Once the bus door closed behind him, it departed for the airport, leaving behind reporters with nothing to report.
As the bus drove into the city, the roof of St. James' Park stadium loomed over the banks of River Tyne; it would suddenly emerge from behind the buildings in the city and disappear again. Because this stadium was in the city center of Newcastle on the Tyne and it would be very congested on the day of the game, the Forest team stayed in a hotel in the vicinity of the stadium, which was only a ten-minute drive away if the traffic was smooth.
Newcastle had been England's golden football city for a long time because, compared to the other prosperous ”derby” cities in England, Newcastle upon Tyne only had one team in its big city: Newcastle United. In a city of only 280,000 people, during every home game, the St James' Park Stadium would seat 50,000 people.
The roar from a 50,000-person packed grandstand was a scene that the Forest team had never experienced before. The biggest venue that they had played in before then was the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but that was considered neutral ground. The St. James' Park stadium could be ranked second in terms of having the most explosive atmosphere in an English Premier League stadium.
Which stadium was ranked at the top? That stadium was not as big; it could even be said to be small. It accommodated less than 10,000 people, but was the most terrifying stadium for opponents because it was the home ground of ”The Crazy Gang,” Wimbledon FC.
Since their promotion to the Premier League, the Forest team had played in a lot of away games; still, Tang En believed that St James' Park was the best place to test the team's mettle.
Needless to say, everyone wanted to encounter an easy opponent; but this was essentially impossible. Nottingham Forest had played a total of ten rounds this season, and had fought against strong teams like Arsenal and Chelsea. In addition to that, their strongest opponent might have been Everton. They had achieved an unbeaten record of one win and two draws. But taking into account that the matches with Arsenal and Chelsea were on home ground, the Forest team had had a huge advantage.
Newcastle United was not weaker than Everton, and the Forest team was playing in an away game this time. The competition schedule was intensive and fierce. It was no wonder that the Newcastle local newspaper, The Northern Echo, had an optimistic analysis of the game and thought that Souness' team would obtain the three points effortlessly.
Nottingham's local media's view was quite the opposite of Newcastle's. The Nottingham Evening Post believed that the Forest team was currently in its best state. Having won consecutively, the Forest team would at the very least score one point at St James' Park.
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After the team had checked into the hotel where they were staying and had had a simple lunch and a break, Twain asked Kerslake to gather the team and go to St James' Park to train and familiarize themselves with the venue.
Since they were only training to prepare themselves before the match, there were not many reporters following them, and the media did not have the permission to enter the stadium for interviews. They could only be stationed outside to shoot the scene of the Forest team's bus going into the stadium. However, after the adaptability training was over, the league would arrange a pre-match press conference where both managers would be present to answer some of the media's questions and concerns.