633 Change in Dominion (2/2)
Twain began to replace his players according to his plan to allow the important players to rest and avoid injuries. He brought on the keener rotating players to continue to destroy Tottenham Hotspur.
The players were full of fighting spirit, but because Twain changed the core players, the offense seemed a little chaotic and lacked coordination. George Wood took over the task of organizing the attack after van der Vaart left the field. He shone a few times, but it was just a blip. For a long-time defensive midfielder, he still lacked his own tactical ideas. His offensive organization was very casual and undisciplined.
The Forest team did not score again in the second half, but the Tottenham Hotspur managed to score a face-saving goal in the final minutes. Without any impact on the outcome of the game, the Forest team easily won a home win.
In another game held at the same time, Liverpool won 2:0 against Fulham and accumulated 72 points to catch up with Arsenal and shake off Chelsea. Although they had no hope of winning the title, given the predicament that Liverpool was only able to play in the UEFA Europa League in previous seasons, the current fourth place in the league was enough to solidify Benítez's position.
Benítez was known as the ”King of Cups” as Liverpool's recent nearly twenty years of performance had proved they were better at playing the cup competitions. The rapport between the team and the manager was quite high. No wonder Benítez helped Liverpool regain the Champions League the first season he arrived at Liverpool to establish his place at Anfield in one fell swoop.
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At the end of the game, Twain gave plenty of compliments to the team. Like his previous admonishment due to a loss, he was equally exuberant when he praised people. His forte was making his actions, words, and tone extremely exaggerated, making everyone who listened very happy. The only difference was the degree of strength in their pleasure.
After he said goodbye to the players, Twain and Dunn, as well as Kerslake, remained in the locker room of the stadium. They were going to watch the live broadcast of the game that was about to start — Manchester United in an away challenge against Blackburn Rovers.
Rushing back to the hotel or their own homes to watch would cause them to miss part of it, so they watched it in the locker room. There was a television set in the locker room and moreover, it was their club's stadium. It proper that they, as the team manager and assistant managers, were there to watch the TV.
When the game began, the crowd at the City Ground stadium gradually dispersed and the lights went out one by one, the hustle and bustle disappeared as the fans left, calm was restored in the stadium. The victory already belonged to other people's topic of idle conversation. For the three in the locker room, it was the past, and now they were more concerned about another team's win or lose.
One hundred and fifteen minutes later, the locker room door was knocked open.
Before anyone came out, Twain's excited voice could be heard. ”I'll buy you guys drinks! Haha, that was so awesome!”
The sound from the television mingled with his laughter. ”... The game is over... Ferguson's face looks so ugly that his players are going to suffer again... to be forced into a draw in the away game by what was seen as the non-threatening Blackburn Rovers. Manchester United moved to the second place just as Nottingham Forest had already defeated Tottenham Hotspur!... Eighty-two and eighty-one, it's still a one-point difference, but the order of the first and second places has changed... At this moment, I'm afraid the happiest person in the world is Tony Twain...”
The song sung by the home fans at the Ewood Park stadium from the television set was the best contrast to the commentary.
Kerslake smiled from ear to ear. Although he was not as blunt as Twain, he was just as happy. No one actually expected Manchester United to suffer a setback at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. The draw was an unexpected gift for the Forest team. The coaching unit had thought that as long as they kept winning, the final outcome should be in the final round of the league, when Nottingham Forest challenged Manchester United in an away game.
Unexpectedly, Manchester United could not carry the pressure of being the front-runner and ran into a big problem with Blackburn Rovers, which was least likely to go wrong. A draw was enough to make Ferguson furious.
When the three watched the live game on the television, the television station repeatedly showed a close-up of Ferguson growling on the sidelines. Twain laughed every time.
Though not as exaggerated as the two men, Dunn still had a smile on his face.
After working hard for a season and biting hard at Manchester United, no matter what kind of opponent and situation they faced at the final stages, their efforts were not given in vain. Finally, the bellwether, Manchester United, has stumbled and our team will complete our reversal! As long as we win the remaining three rounds, the league title will be in our hands!
The opponents for the next two rounds of league tournament, Reading and Aston Villa, were not strong teams. Provided that the Forest team worked in unison and carefully dealt with them, the six points would not be an issue. Then it was going to be a tough away challenge in the final round against Manchester United. It would be explosive, but Dunn was confident of winning. Nottingham Forest was born for victory and championship. The stronger the opponent, the more dangerous situation was, the more amazing the energy they exploded with.
It really was a game worth celebrating.
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Half an hour later, in Kenny Burns' Forest Bar, plenty of excited fans who found it hard to sleep gathered after they watched the game between Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers. Tony Twain and his two aides were among them.
Twain climbed up the table with a full glass and stood where everyone's eyes looked upward. A group of fans below him also raised their glasses in anticipation.
Kerslake also held up a glass, and Dunn had a glass of soda in his hand — he still did not drink, and Twain did not try to persuade him.
Smiling from ear to ear, Twain lifted his glass, and whooped as the people below looked up at him.
”Guys, this toast is... for Blackburn Rovers! Cheers!”
”To Blackburn Rovers, cheers!” The people, whose faces were filled with smiles like him, cried in unison. These were the same people who cursed at Blackburn Rovers, who defeated Nottingham Forest, a month ago.
The clinking of the glasses could be heard and and golden beer showered the entire room.
In the last Premier League game of the day, the Manchester United team was unexpectedly forced into an away draw by ”the end of season's giant killer” Blackburn Rovers and handed over their top spot, which they had held since the league's 29th round on March 9th, to Nottingham Forest, led by Tony Twain.
With just three rounds left before the end of the league tournament, the throne of the English Premier League changed owners.
Nottingham Forest was three rounds away from the second top-flight trophy title in their club's history.