485 Returned Soul (1/2)
For a period, the results of Forest Team were very unstable. Ever since their painful victory against Reading FC, the team which had great hopes pinned on them prior to the beginning of the season, had gone through three matches without winning. In the eight rounds of the Premier League, they had had four wins, three losses, and one draw, totaling an accumulation of 13 points. They had already gone down to seventh place in the League rankings.
Only George Wood and Ashley Young were barred from matches. George Wood was barred for eight matches, while Young had been barred for one. The latter had already returned to playing. There was not much of a severe loss to the formation.
The true reason behind the unstable performance of the team was Tang En's suspension from three matches.
As the main manager of the team, he was also the soul of the team. Forest players were already used to having Tony Twain on the sidelines to direct them during their matches. Suddenly, the manager standing on the sidelines changed, and they were very unused to it.
People were mysterious creatures. When Tang En was at the sidelines, all the players were particularly enthused in matches. The moment Tang En got penalized and sent to the spectators' stand for a span of three matches, the players seemed unable to muster up any interest.
Everyone had gotten used to hearing Tang En's thunder-like roar of anger whenever they were dispirited. His scolding would jolt them awake from their muddling state. And today, though Dunn was a very capable manager—he already had convinced everyone to put aside their biases of his nationality with his abilities—there was still something he was lacking as a main manager.
Dunn himself knew it in his heart. He and Tang En were such different characters that it created a sort of contrast. The main manager that everyone acknowledged was someone like Tang En. It was useless for him to try anything else.
The experience of being interim manager for the three matches made him deeply aware of this. Although it could be said that Tang En had robbed him of his body and position, the team today was, through and through, Tang En's team. The team was in sync with his nature.
Dunn sighed in relief when the three matches came to an end. The Chinese media had high regards for him taking on the position of interim manager of the team. Initially, there were a continuous stream of reports showing immense pride and brimming with exaggerated praises. Dunn himself, however, was very lowkey. He did not seem realise Chinese football was rising to the level of Europe's top-tier League.
Now that there was not a single victory in the last three matches, the strength of reporting in the domestic media also weakened significantly, the enthusiasm abruptly abating. These people were at a complete loss as to what to tell the domestic readers. The person whom they had had praised to the sky was leading the team with such poor results.
England's media was not concerned with Dunn. The person they cared about was Tony Twain. After the match with Man City, Nottingham Evening Post very proudly published a huge title of, ”Be wary, that man is coming back!”
It was evident how much the Nottinghamians trusted Tang En.
※※※
Though their prospects in the Premier League were not bright, they were raking in victories on their path in the Champions League.
October 18th. The third round of the Champions League Group Stage. Nottingham won the away match against Bordeaux from France with a score of 1:0. Because of this, Nottingham Forest maintained a complete victory against all the other opponents in their group.
Experts were already sure that it would be no problem for Tang En's football team to advance from the Group Stage. All that was left was for the three teams to fight for the second advancement slot still available.
In fact, there were already people starting to guess about which teams Forest would be meeting after advancing from the Group Stage. Tony Twain had too many enemies in the European football scene. There would be a good show no matter who they met with. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan…
These would be massive wars akin to the level of Mars colliding with Earth.
※※※
But Tang En himself did not have the time to imagine the future alongside those people.
Their progress in the Champions League was smooth. The team was enthused whenever it came to the European battles. In this aspect, he did not need to worry too much. Now, he needed to put his energy into the domestic fights. They had already slipped to 7th in the Premier League, three positions from Tang En's goal of being in the top four in the Premier League. If this continued, the situation would only be disadvantageous for Nottingham Forest.
October 22nd. 9th round of the Premier League. They were challenging Everton in an away match, and going up against their old friend, Moyes.
The media was immensely interested in Tang En's return. Numerous reporters waited at the locker room of the away team with their cameras aimed inside. The players were currently changing in the room and preparing to leave for their warm-up. The main lead of the day, Tony Twain, had yet to arrive. He was probably stuck somewhere, held back by reporters.
Dunn walked over. He shook his head at the three layers of reporters surrounding the doors, and walked in.
Just as Dunn was about to enter, an outburst of noise came from the outside. He did not need to stretch his neck for a view to know who arrived.
Tang En saw the reporters surrounding the door and took the initiative to wave and greet them. He beamed. ”Everyone, it's been a while.”
Some of the reporters greeted him back.
”Thank you very much for your concern, but I hope you guys can make way…” He pointed to the door. It had been completely sealed off by the media.
”If you have any questions, you can ask after the match ends. My apologies, but I don't have much time.” The reporters opened a path for him, and he strode into the locker room, closing the doors.
The reporters who had yet to disperse heard a burst of laughter from within the locker room.
※※※
”Everyone. You've all missed me, haven't you? I've missed you too. Do you know why I'm only here now? I'll tell you. It's because I nearly walked up to the spectators' stand.”
The players burst into laughter.
”Fortunately, I was stopped by one of the field's staff on my way there. He asked me very strangely, 'Mr. Tony, have you been suspended again?'” Tang En mimicked the expression and tone of the other party remarkably.
The laughter grew even more uproarious.
”I have to thank the staff who boldly spoke up. And I'm sure at the same time, Everton's people would be hopping mad hearing about it, because they've lost a chance to beat us.”
Tang En grinned as he watched everyone laugh.
”I'm back, everyone. It's no big deal.”
Like a dose of tranquilizers, his words calmed the worry and anxiety in the players' hearts. It was obvious from how they could still laugh carefreely before the start of the match.
The mainstay of their team was back. There was truly nothing to be afraid of now. So what if it was an away match? No matter what, they had their Head to back them up.
”We've already gotten no wins for three straight rounds in the League matches, with two losses and one draw. I think the situation can't be any much worse, so there's no need to worry. Just let go and play well. Today, play exactly how you normally would. It's not at all important who our opponents are.”
Tang En's confident smile made the team feel as if it were true; it truly did not matter who their opponents were. The low morale from the past few matches rose instantly, returning to the maximum in a blink of an eye.
Dunn quietly watched by the side. With his personality, it was impossible for him to do something like using words to encourage the team.
※※※
Moyes greatly valued this match. Though his opponents were having a rough streak recently, he did not underestimate them. In fact, with Tony Twain's suspension lifted and his return to the team, Moyes was even more alert.
This match was going to be a tough fight; Nottingham Forest was difficult to deal with. He knew all that. But, of course, knowing it and doing it were two different things. The same went for doing it and achieving the desired effect.
On their home field, Moyes sent out their strongest formation to welcome the battle against a Nottingham Forest without George Wood. Since George Wood's suspension, Forest's starting defensive midfielder had consistently been the Chinese, Sun Jihai. It was also the breaking point that gave Arsenal the win. Moyes also hoped to find an opportunity to gain a victory from there; their main offense was set in the middle to launch a strong assault against Sun Jihai.