677 The Imposing Manner of The Strong (1/2)

Van Nistelrooy was also harassed. As he was surrounded by many reporters running after him, he repeatedly voiced his stance. ”I'm not leaving Nottingham Forest. I'm very happy with everything here, and I want to play here until I retire if possible.”

The owner refused to sell and the player refused to come. What else was there to talk about?

The Manchester City club subsequently announced that they were no longer interested in van Nistelrooy.

Twain was able to take delight in fighting Manchester City after clarifying another matter — van der Vaart was fine.

In the first round of the league tournament, van der Vaart left the game with an injury in the opening ten minutes. Twain was very worried. After the game ended, the results of the hospital examination allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. He would recover after a two-week rest since he did not injure any muscles or bones. Twain originally thought he needed at least four months to recover.

If that had not happened, Twain might not be in the mood to play with Manchester City. He would have rejected the offer.

The media and spectators in England would not have enjoyed such a good show the past two days.

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A lot of interesting things happened. The English fans found that as long as Tony Twain was around, they would never feel that time was slow. Everyone relished watching him shooting off his big mouth at the post-match press conference, and the head-on clash with Manchester City and the United Arab Emirates consortium behind it.

Just before the dust settled on those stories, the second round of the Premier League began.

In the second round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest continued their away trip and headed to Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, where they would meet a new rival, Hull City.

The 104-year-old team was competing in England's top tier football League for the first time. Before, they were more famous for their rugby. The team's home stadium, KCOM Stadium, was both a football pitch and an international rugby stadium.

Since Twain was banned by the English Football Association for one match, he was only allowed to watch the game from the stands, the command handed over to his two assistant managers, who would be in charge of the on-field adjustments. The Football Association was also aware that Tony Twain was not someone who would just sit quietly, so they sent security to flank Twain. They would sit beside him during the game to prevent him from using advanced communication tools to contact the coaches.

When Twain gave the team the specific tactics in the locker room, he was delighted to see the two black-clad men waiting at the door. ”It's been a long time, you two.”

The two people had overseen him during the time he was banned from the English Football League Championship.

They were familiar as well. The two smiled. ”We often see you, Mr. Twain.”

Although they were no strangers, they were not friends who would chat together, so Twain did not talk nonsense and just pointed to the grandstand to say, ”let's go.”

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In the stands, Twain was a lot more honest than their first encounter. He did not get any devious ideas and did not ask to change seats. He did not have any intention of contacting below. He was like an ordinary fan as he held a cup of beer and sat in the stands to watch the game. If the Forest team did well, he would clap and cheer like any other Forest fans. If Hull City had the upper hand, he would scold and boo as well.

As the two men watched his behavior, they did not know whether to cry or laugh.

Were there any managers who were like him?

Twain's thinking was very simple. Since he obviously could not direct the game in the stands, he would watch the game like a fan. The experience was invaluable to him.

Hull City was a newly promoted team and they were considered to be the top promoted favorite of the season. It took only five years for the team to move from the lowest level in the English professional league to the top. They ranked third in England. They could not be underestimated.

In the first round of the league tournament, Hull City won 2:1 against Fulham, and the entire city was jubilant. They were equally in high spirits for this game. If they did not handle them carefully, the UEFA Champions League winner and last season's Double Winner would suffer a defeat.

Hull City's manager was Phil Brown. Twain was a little unfamiliar with Hull City, but he was not unfamiliar with Brown. The man, who was once Allardyce's assistant manager, had spent seven years at Bolton Wanderers, from which his tactical preferences were evident.

The Bolton Wanderers achieved success in the Premier League by relying on strength to compete, which Brown was well-versed in. According to the team's new player George Boateng, the team began a lot of physical training before the season and would be pitting strength against the Premier League strong teams. And Boateng happened to be such a player. The team captain, Ashbee was even more loved by the fans for being aggressive on the pitch. In addition, the game's starting center-back, Turner was more than 1.90 meters tall, and Gardner, on loan, was equally strong.

Judging from the lineup, it was clear what tactics Hull City would use in this game:high balls and aerial shots in English traditional football and physical confrontational style of competition.

The natural enemy of a technical team was such a team. Remember the ”Crazy Gang” Wimbledon that was brilliant for a while in the 1980s? The European champion, Liverpool had to bow before them at home.

Sadly for them, Nottingham Forest was not Liverpool, and they had never based their pride on their skills. In terms of strength, fighting spirit, and drive, Nottingham Forest would not lose to this newly promoted team.

Before the game, to counter the characteristics of the opponent, Twain's arranged tactics in the midfield to meet force with force, and then rely on incisive attacks from the sides to gain the key.

And, like most newly promoted teams, Hull City's focus in the summer transfer window had been on their offense rather than defense. Not because their defense was strong enough, but because their offense was worse. Consequently, most of the people brought in during the transfer window were attacking players. As for their defense, they still played the old set of coordination from the English Football League Championship.

Generally speaking, in the manager's opinion, offense could be adjusted at will, but the defense had to be steady. Unless they had to, they would rather trust old players who already understand than new players who might be capable.

Twain seized on that and gave up the defensive counterattack routine. Nottingham Forest launched a full-scale attack at the start of the away game, putting a lot of pressure on Hull City both on the sides and in the middle.

He did not believe that an English Football League Championship level of defense could withstand the attacking line of a Champions League level team.

The facts were as he thought. Hull City wanted to compete against the Forest team at home, using physical strength but lost four minutes later. Van Nistelrooy, who was in the spotlight because of the clash between Manchester City and Forest, was onside and successfully scored the opening goal. The KCOM Stadium was silent. The physically strong defenders were still a little tender when they came up against the experienced striker.

The goal that was scored so early in the game completely interrupted Phil Brown's deployment and upset the mood of Hull City players.

They beat Fulham in the first round and thought they could make a good start in the Premier League, so they arrogantly wanted to defeat Nottingham Forest at home — Manager Brown's reason was that the strong Nottingham Forest team would underestimate a newly promoted team.

But he did not know that Twain paid more attention to a newly promoted team. It was related to his own experience, and he never let go of a great opportunity to earn points and gain on the goal difference from a newly promoted team.

The poor Hull City rushed to organize a counterattack, but when they faced the two defensive lines led by George Wood, they could not gain an upper hand physically and they lacked skills and experience. Their circumstances immediately declined.

Eight minutes after the last goal, Nottingham Forest scored another goal. The goal was scored by Eastwood, whose sudden long shot at the top of the penalty area arc was perfectly aligned with his style. The football ball arced straight into the far corner of the goal. And it was 2:0!