Chapter 1032 Volume 8: Another Derby
In fact, the city of Nottingham has always had two professional teams...
If it weren't for this FA Cup, I'm afraid many people would ignore this point, right?
Many cities are proud of having "high-level city derbies", because it shows that their football atmosphere is very strong and the standard is very high. This is almost never possible in the city of Nottingham. Because Nottingham Forest and Notts County are not on the same level.
Nottingham Forest have won five European Cups, while Notts County have yet to play in the Premier League.
Based on the status gap caused by the huge strength gap between the two teams, there is basically a formal derby battle between Nottingham Forest and Notts County.
Thanks to the FA Cup, this opportunity has come.
The Notts County fans are most thankful for the FA Cup because their chance has come. They've always wanted to teach that arrogant neighbor a lesson, but they just haven't had the chance. Naturally, Nottingham Forest would not warm up to an opponent like Notts County in the pre-season warm-up match - they are smart, and they are afraid that one or two main players will be injured, which will affect the entire season...
Notts County didn't really have the confidence to challenge Nottingham Forest before. They could only swear and curse, calling Nottingham Forest a running dog of foreign capital, and they were no longer considered an England team.
Today, things are different. The arrival of Tang has greatly increased the strength of Notts County, and they can also stabilize in the middle of the English Championship. This also made them mentally active, wanting to prove their strength in front of their old enemies. The so-called "feeling warm and thinking about **"...well, it actually means the same thing. As strength has risen to a higher level, the spiritual realm has also risen to a higher level, and I dare to think about things that I didn't even dare to think about before.
So when the arrangement for the third round of the FA Cup came out a month ago, Nottingham City was boiling. At least half of the people are eagerly waiting for the arrival of this game. Ordinary people... In fact, Nottingham Forest is not very interested in this kind of intra-city derby.
Perhaps you can use this sentence to summarize the current situation of the two teams-"Notts County only sees Nottingham Forest, but Nottingham Forest sees the whole world".
Therefore, in the face of the rare "same city derby", Nottingham Forest's training plan is not unusual, just like any ordinary FA Cup match they faced before. Most of the players are not talking about their opponents in the FA Cup, but the league.
Only Chen Jian thought it was interesting. He experienced a city derby at Espanyol, and then bid farewell to that city. Unexpectedly, as soon as a new team and a new city came, they would encounter another city derby.
Both the end and the beginning fall on "Derby", which is interesting, interesting indeed.
※ ※ ※
"Actually, this derby is quite interesting..." Until the day before the game, someone finally remembered that they were going to play a same-city derby tomorrow.
"The current head coach of Notts County used to be our assistant coach." Gareth Bell told a group of new players about the past, and everyone was quite fascinated. Now in the team, there are really few players who have experienced the era of "Chinese assistant coaches".
"Speaking of which, I didn't expect him to be the head coach one day, and he was also our city rival..." Bell pinched his chin and smacked his lips. "And speaking of it, it has something to do with Chen Jian..." His words drew everyone's attention to Chen Jian.
"Ah?" Chen Jian found that everyone was looking at him. He didn't know what to say for a while. He had only been in the team for three days, and he hadn't gotten to know him well yet. Suddenly, he didn't know how to speak when facing so many people. .
"They are all Chinese, of course it has something to do with it." Some of the players said that they were not surprised.
"It is said that there are more than one billion people in China. Does it matter if you are everyone?" Bell said disdainfully, pointing to Chen Jian and said, "Chen Jian came out of the youth training team of our forest at the beginning, but here Do you know how he came to the forest team before?"
Few people will know this kind of thing. How many people care about the past of a Chinese player? The local media did not report much.
"A commercial draft." Bell looked at Chen Jian and said with a smile, "He won the third place, and then the assistant coach Tang gave him a Forest team jersey, and he came like this!"
"Oh—" a group of people suddenly realized and were satisfied at the same time. This story sounds really interesting and quite legendary.
Chen Jian was a little surprised. He didn't expect that someone in the team knew about his past, but he never talked about it. It was not a sensational news to come to the Forest team to participate in a one-year trial training. Few people in the first team should care about such trivial matters. Later, he came to the youth team to train again, which was normal. Although he became a member of the first team in terms of contract, he never showed his face in the first team. He did not wear the Forest team jersey to represent the first team. A game, even if it's just an insignificant commercial game.
He felt that in Nottingham Forest, except for Coach Twain, no one would remember him as a passing visitor.
I really didn't expect that now, the No. 2 captain of Nottingham Forest—Gareth Bale, actually remembered his past!
He suddenly remembered what Tang En had said to him.
It was after he had just attended the press conference of joining the team. The reporters had all left. Tang En brought Chen Jian to the Crimson Stadium to step on the turf. It was another "welcome ceremony".
"Chen Jian, do you know the legend about Nottingham's past?"
Chen Jian was stunned for a moment, then realized: "You mean the legend of Robin Hood?"
Tang En nodded, stopped and looked at Chen Jian who was following behind. "Although the name Nottingham Forest has nothing to do with Robin Hood, the team emblem does. That thing that looks like a mushroom is actually an oak tree." Dunn pointed to the Nottingham Forest team emblem on the stands of the stadium. "And the oak tree is the place where Robin Hood and his brothers gathered together. Sounds a bit like your Chinese "Water Margin", right?"
Chen Jian was a little surprised: "You even know "Water Margin", boss?"
"Not only do I know, I've seen it many times." Tang En really wanted to answer him like this.
"How could I not know the four great Chinese classics?" Tang En did not continue on this topic, but said, "The oak tree represents the friendship between Robin Hood and his brothers, and also represents the unyielding. The legend of the Forest team Captain Stuart Pierce is known as having the 'heart of the oak'."
Chen Jian didn't understand what Tang En wanted to say to him. The topic got further and further away. It was Robin Hood, the team emblem, the oak tree, and the current England head coach...
"What I want to tell you is this - Nottingham Forest is like the bandits who gather under the oak tree. The people here are pure. Good is good and bad is bad. If you want to integrate into the team as soon as possible, get them. If you can admit and accept it, superficial skills don’t work, speak with strength. If you can show the strength to make them nod, then you are considered a member of the Green Forest Bandit Group. After that, you can fight against them Drinking in a bowl, and eating a large piece of meat, ha!"
Tang En laughed.
Hearing such a strange team culture, Chen Jian was a little taken aback. He stood in the huge crimson stadium, and the surrounding stands were empty. The afternoon sun slanted in and could only shine on the east stand. The green field was already shrouded in the shadow of the stands and the ceiling.
The Nottingham Forest team logo was on the roof of the stand directly in front of him, the sun was shining on it, and the metal edge shone golden in the sun.
"... Nottingham Forest is a team of robbers, you know what I'm saying? They will do anything to win, steal and rob is the way they work. Such a team can win the European Cup for the fifth time , is really the tragedy of modern football..."
These are the words of a well-known Chinese football commentator on his blog after Tang En led the team to complete the triple crown. Chen Jian saw it by accident when he was surfing the Internet.
Thinking about it now, that person obviously hated the Forest team. He should be a Real Madrid fan, but he was right.
Nottingham Forest is a dark den where a group of robbers gather...
When Chen Jian came to his senses, Bell and his teammates were talking about Notts County again. In fact, they basically didn't know much about this opponent, even though Tang En showed them several times in the tactics class. Second Notts County game video, but who cares about a weak opponent?
So everyone's topics are focused on "Oh, I heard their No. 10 is not bad", "They were selected for the England Under-21 youth team", "The No. 18 seems to be okay, but... a bit thinner ""But it's at the level of the middle reaches of the British Championship." "Their wingers seem to be able to use..." "What does the boss mean?"
When it came to head coach Twain, everyone shut up.
After a while, Bell, the oldest among them, frowned and said, "I always feel that the boss doesn't pay attention to this game..."
Chen Jian wanted to laugh when he heard it. I don't think you pay much attention to it.
"To be honest, I think if we still want to participate in European competitions next season, it is the most appropriate way to win the FA Cup to participate in the European League." Bell continued to analyze. "But I always feel that the boss will take the initiative to give up the FA Cup and focus on the league. But it is too difficult to reach the top six in the league..."
Chen Jian has studied the situation of the forest team, after all, he is also a member of the forest team... I have to admit that what the second vice-captain said makes sense. Although the cup matches are very accidental, a team like Nottingham Forest is suitable for the big cup matches, and there may be a way out if they specialize in the FA Cup. The league is too long, who knows if something will go wrong in the future?
"What are you still dawdling about?"
When a group of people were wondering about the future of the team, Captain No. 1 George Wood pushed open the door of the locker room and walked in: "If you don't go out again, all late penalty laps!"
Booming, suddenly the locker room was like a thousand horses galloping, and a group of people ran away from Chen Jian in the blink of an eye.
"This..." Chen Jian really didn't expect his teammates to be so agile and quick.
Wood turned to leave, but found that there was another person in the locker room. When he found out that it was Chen Jian, he stopped and looked at the other person.
Chen Jian realized that he had lost his composure, and hurriedly lowered his head and ran out of the locker room from Wood's side.
This captain is really majestic, just looking at it makes him dare not look up... When he ran out, Chen Jian still thought so.
It’s okay, okay, he can’t see the news on that doggy website in China...
※ ※ ※
Bell guessed right, Twain really wanted to give up the FA Cup. But he will never give up in the first round.
The Premier League teams will not start the FA Cup journey until after the New Year. For them, this is the first round, which is actually the third round of the FA Cup.
Not only did Tang En not give up, on the contrary, he also attached great importance to this game, otherwise he would not have continuously shown the players the videos of the Notts County game. It's a pity...he attaches great importance to it, but his players may not attach as much importance to this weak opponent as he does.
Players naturally have their reasons for not paying attention to this game. Because this opponent is too weak, according to the thinking of the forest team players, they can defeat it with only 50% of their strength. What about the derby? It's not like they haven't beaten Notts County in a derby either. Of course, that was a long, long time ago. Those who participated in that game at that time, now only Wood is left in the whole team. Even Bell was still in the youth team and the reserve team at that time. What about exercising?
However, this period of history can always be found out. Recently, the local media in Nottingham have been reporting on this city derby 14 years later. The derby 14 years ago was the closest to today, how could it not be mentioned repeatedly by the media?
With such a "historical record" ahead, the players of Nottingham Forest certainly take the victory for granted, and it must be effortless to defeat their opponents.
If it were an ordinary head coach, he would probably have the same thoughts as his players. But Tang En's reason for attaching importance to this game is very special, and he can't tell others.
He has always wanted to be an opponent with Tang, to see how far Tang has grown over the years. In addition, he believes that Tang must know that this game is the best opportunity for him to show his strength in front of Nottingham Forest fans and Evan Dalgetty, and he will not let it go.
Notts County will definitely go all out. This game is not comparable to the one fourteen years ago.
If I'm not careful, I might... This time it shouldn't be "capsizing the boat in the gutter". Today's Nottingham Forest is definitely not a big sailing ship, and today's Notts County is certainly not a stinky ditch...