289 Wood and Eastwood Part 1 (1/2)

When Tang En's unusual reaction to Forest's loss against Middlesbrough was publicized by the media, the first person to react was Moyes.

He searched for Forest's schedule in the UEFA Europa League and looked through it. It dawned upon him quickly.

Clearly, the Championships for the UEFA Europa were more alluring.

After realizing this, Moyes did not relax. Instead, he tightened up on training the team. He intended to make full use of this period to widen the gap of the scores between the two teams, to a point where Tony Twain could not catch up even if he wanted to.

Since the end of February, after Everton's loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup, they were left with only the Premier League as their aim this season. While Forest team still had to deal with dual line-ups for matches, Everton had more than enough time to recuperate and welcome the final round of league matches in their prime condition.

Moyes, who had been staring blankly at Forest's match schedule, shook his head and sighed. He had not expected the young man he had seen at the League Managers' reception to become such an incredible character. Back then, he had seemed so uncertain about the future. Moyes recalled how he had acted in a seemingly generous way, offering Tony a place to coach an EFL team, as if trying to give him a job. It was funny now…

During the same dinner, he had even said he was looking forward to a match against Tony Twain. Moyes believed that that day was not far off. It would be in the 31st round of the League matches, on April 3. Nottingham Forest would be playing on their home ground against Everton. If they were still unable to ditch Forest by that time, the match would very likely become the decisive factor in the final positioning of the two teams.

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When it came to Sporting Club de Portugal, Tang En was not at all unfamiliar with them. Of course, what he was familiar with was the name of the team, and not all the members it consisted of.

The reason why Tang En was not worried about them was that he knew that Sporting CP was no longer the same as they had been. Within Portugal, they were on the decline: FC Porto had already overtaken them in the number of times they had won the domestic championship; and they had only won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once, 40 years ago.

The Sporting CP now no longer shone with the same brilliance as they once had. Currently, they were ranked fourth in the domestic league. There were also no big-name football stars on their team. They seemed just like any ordinary Portuguese football team.

The dream of attaining the highest honor in Europe made Tang En's blood boil with passion and fearlessness.

He did not think that the current Sporting CP could be any threat to him. Within Portugal, the teams that could possibly do that included only FC Porto, the team left behind by Mourinho, and Benfica. But, if Tang En had known half as much about the UEFA Europa as he did the Champions League, he would have known that Sporting CP was the runner-up for the season.

According to the match schedule by UEFA Europa, they were to play in round 16. The first match between Nottingham and Sporting CP was set to be in Nottingham, with the Forest team first playing as the home team and later as the away team.

This match arrangement was the only thing Tang En was truly worried about. In such a two-legged tie, the away team had an advantage in scoring. Tang En felt very little assurance with Forest team playing the away match in the second leg. He preferred to deal with the worst-case scenario first. If they played the away match first, they would have some chance of recovery in the second match on their home grounds. But if their first match was on their home ground, they would not have that option.

Just as he was about to delve wholeheartedly into the preparation against Sporting CP, he became annoyed with another matter. Ever since the media had found out about the ”story” between George Wood and Eastwood, they began making a fuss about the relationship between the two; were they friends or foes?

During their usual training, observant individuals would realize that the optimistic Eastwood was always smiling towards everyone on the team. He was always friendly and amicable, except to Wood. Facing Wood, his expression was somewhat cold.

After this discovery by the media, who blew the matter up, the results were completely different. For most reporters, one of the most exciting things to do was to dig around for conflicts within the locker room. Compared to an unchanging report of only Forest's match results, such gossip could attract greater attention from the audience.