Chapter 168 Volume 2 The Sky of Nottingham The Curse of the South Dressing Room

When Nottingham Forest was training hard for their first League Cup championship in twelve years, there was a news that was definitely not good for them from the League Committee.

The League Committee announced the results of the distribution of the locker rooms of the two teams in the League Cup final.

According to the practice of "Southern teams use the south locker room, and northern teams use the north locker room", Middlesbrough, which is further north than Nottingham, obtained the right to use the north locker room, while Nottingham Forest could only accept it helplessly. Fate's arrangement - use the "cursed" Millennium Stadium south locker room.

As soon as this result came out, the local media in Nottingham were blown away. Most people lament the injustice of fate and emphasize fatalism. There are also a few people who believe that the practice of "Southern teams use the south locker room, and northern teams use the north locker room" is unreasonable, and should be abolished from now on, and the "bad habit" of drawing lots should be used instead.

The Middlesbrough side was happy. In addition to advocating that fate is beneficial to their team, the Middlesbrough media did not forget to continue to beat the opponent's confidence. They are opposed to canceling or changing this practice, because the city of Middlesbrough itself is very north of England, even further north than them. The only team that has the strength to reach the final of this cup is Newcastle. And Sunderland two teams.

The evidence they used to refute the Nottingham media looks very convincing-Chelsea and Arsenal reached the final before the 2002 FA Cup final. Although they were both teams in the southern city of London, Arsenal were in North London and Chelsea It's in west London, further south than Arsenal, so they have to use that south dressing room. You must know that before the Millennium Stadium replaced the rebuilt Wembley Stadium to hold the finals of various English competitions (including the FA Cup, Community Shield Cup, League Cup, and the play-off knockout rounds of leagues below the second division) in the first 18 months Here, all the teams that used the south locker room lost in the final without exception. The south dressing room at the Millennium Stadium is also believed to be a cursed dressing room. Naturally, Chelsea were not reconciled to losing this important game because of the "north-south fate", so they protested to the FA. The FA was forced to decide that the two sides would choose the locker room by coin toss. In the end, Chelsea still got the south locker room. In order to counter the "Southern Dressing Room Curse", Chelsea put on the "Lucky White Sox" all over that game. What was the result? They lost 0:2 to Arsenal in the final, and it was Parlor and Ljungberg who scored for Arsenal.

The Middlesbrough media used the example of Chelsea to tell the Nottingham media: In the face of a strong destiny, you should not be dying! Even if you draw lots by guessing coins, you will still draw the South dressing room, and you will still lose to Middlesbrough!

This is the result that has been arranged long ago!

As soon as the locker room incident came out, Tang En felt that there was something to be done—he could make good use of it. As for how to use it, it depends on the specific situation.

He had heard about the south locker room of the Millennium Stadium when he was a fan. It's really weird. In the 17 finals held there, the winning team used the north dressing room 14 times, while the south dressing room was only used three times, two of which were won by Arsenal. The other win was the insignificant League Two play-off, won by Stoke City using the south dressing room. But three victories still can't change the idea that "the south locker room at Millennium Stadium is ominous" in most people's minds, and there is a reason that can be used as proof.

Before the victories of Stoke City and Arsenal, the Millennium Stadium specially invited a Feng Shui master from China to advise them, and finally changed the arrangement of several facilities. A seven-foot mural of a phoenix, galloping horses and sun was painted to ward off the curse, and sure enough, Stoke City and Arsenal went on to win.

Just when people thought the curse would be completely broken by Arsenal, they lost to Manchester United in the Community Shield, so the curse of the South dressing room at the Millennium Stadium continued...

The impact of this curse on the team must not be ignored. People who play football are mostly superstitious, which is why there are many seemingly weird rules, such as women not being allowed to ride in the same car as the team. There are also some personal superstitions, so there are more, such as the right foot must step on the court before playing, some coaches must wear their own lucky tie... and so on.

Tang En was not a superstitious person, but considering the overall situation of the team, he had to be superstitious for a while.

At this time, if you tell those players, "The spells are deceiving! That's superstition and unscientific! Strength is the basis of winning." Absolutely no one will pay any attention to you.

There is one factor that is very beneficial to Twain - his love and obsession with Chinese culture is known to everyone in Nottingham, let alone the team. And the person who temporarily broke the curse in the south dressing room of the Millennium Stadium happened to be a Chinese Feng Shui master, and the whole of Britain knows this.

Then, to prevent the team from losing the psychological battle before the game, Twain will play tricks this time!

So when interviewed by the reporter, Twain seemed to have full confidence in the game, and he was not worried about the "curse" in the South locker room. Not only that, he also seemingly unintentionally talked about the fact that the Millennium Stadium invited a feng shui master to break the curse. . Pierce Bruce cleverly guessed Tang En's subtext, so Bruce wrote in the "Nottingham Evening Post" the next day:

"...Coach Tang En mentioned asking a Feng Shui master to break the curse, and we all know that he likes Chinese culture very much. It is said that his Chinese teacher brought him a mysterious gift after returning from China. He never I haven't mentioned it to anyone else. So what kind of a 'mystery gift' is it?"

What exactly is the "mystery gift"? In fact, there is nothing mysterious about it, it’s just a set of Hanfu, because Tang En told Yang Yan that he likes traditional Chinese culture very much. I really want to see what a white-skinned foreigner with a tall nose bridge looks like in Hanfu. But because of the nature of Tang En's work, he had to wear suits and shirts almost all year round, so the Hanfu was hung in the closet.

Fortunately, the set of Hanfu that Yang Yan bought for Tang En is not those fancy and colorful costumes, otherwise Tang En would really not be able to use it as a Taoist robe...Although foreigners don't understand anyway, but this is an actor's prop How about being a little more professional.

As for another very important tool, he had to ask Yang Yan for help. Ask her to help you look in Manchester's Chinatown to see if there is a compass for sale. He thought that some traditional things in places like Chinatown are better preserved than those in mainland China, and things like compass should be easy to find.

Yang Yan asked him what he wanted that thing for, and Tang En told her his plan, and Yang Yan on the other end of the phone smiled happily: "Mr. Tang En, I'm waiting to see your great dance performance on TV! "

They can already communicate directly in Chinese now, Yang Yan is not afraid that Tang En will not understand what "Jiao Dashen" means.

"Can playing tricks help you win?" Yang Yan then asked.

"Well, that's a hard question to answer. But you can think of it as a team mental adjustment job..."

"From what you've said, football coaching seems like fun!"

"Hehe, the locker room of the team is more interesting. But I'm sorry, I can't tell you these stories." Tang En is right. The locker room is a very mysterious place to outsiders. There are many people inside every day. Interesting and fun stories happened. Players and coaches regard this place as their own private place, and no one is allowed to explore. There are many unspoken rules in football, "No one in the team is allowed to disclose everything that happened in the locker room" is one of them. Twain is the head coach, so he can't violate this rule, otherwise he will soon lose the trust of the players and the respect of his colleagues. A head coach who can't control the team is no different than a waste.

Two days after the phone call with Yang Yan, just before Tang En was about to lead the team to Cardiff, he received a courier package from Manchester, which was exactly the compass he needed.

Engraved with Chinese characters and gossip symbols, it looks very mysterious to foreigners.

With this thing, Tang En is confident that he can bluff everyone. It is estimated that the media in England will have another sensation. Thinking of this, he is secretly delighted that the prank is about to succeed.

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Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is home to the Millennium Stadium, where the League Cup final is played. Not too far from Nottingham, Middlesbrough team to come here to play, they have to take a plane, and the Forest team only needs to drive all the way in the team bus.

On the bus, the players were in low spirits. Obviously they were frightened by the "curse of the South locker room". Many people think that this is an unlucky omen, indicating that the team will lose. The team is a whole. If one person thinks this way, it may affect two people, two people will affect four people, four people will affect eight people, eight people will affect sixteen people... and so on. No matter how you say "those are groundless nonsense", in fact, I will ask myself in my heart "is the curse real? Will we really lose because of using the South locker room?"

This is what the so-called "three people become a tiger". This is the same as the "Koreaphobia" in Chinese football. It turned out that there were only victories between each other, and it was okay to lose consecutively. The team themselves feel that they are naturally afraid of Korea, even if they are a team composed of players from the age group after 1989, they were not born when the "Korean phobia" first started, and they are also "Korea-phobic".

Tang En knew that people's words were scary. Look at these players who were silent in the car. When did you go to an away game before and everyone talked and laughed?

This mental state can't win the game. Before the game, my team has already lost in terms of morale and desire to win. How will I play the next game?

It's not going to work, but he's prepared for it.

The driver of the bus was concentrating on driving, and suddenly found that there was an extra person beside him, so he turned his head to look. It turned out to be the team's head coach, Mr. Tony Twain, holding a CD in his hand and playing it in the car DVD player. Taking a quick glance, he only saw what seemed to be "85'LIVE_AID" written on the cover of the disc.

Putting the CD into the player, Tang En operated again. Then he stood at the front door of the car with the remote control in hand, looked at the preoccupied players who bowed their heads in silence, or turned their heads to look out the window, and pressed the play button.

Suddenly, there was a huge buzzing sound from the car stereo, cheers, applause, boos... mixed together without warning, everyone in the car was startled.

Then the noise faded away, and a drum beat with a familiar rhythm sounded. The team members in the car raised their heads in surprise.

This is a clip of Queen singing in a charity concert held in London's Hyde Park in 1985 to help Africa and draw public attention to the most needy areas. It was selected by music critics as the greatest rock and roll in history. live show. The singing voice with the drumbeat is the famous "We_Will_Rock_You". This is a classic rhythm, a rhythm that can make people uncontrollably excited. Tang En noticed that there were already players in the carriage beating the beat.

"We_Will_Rock_You" is very short, followed by the more familiar "We Are the Champions", which is different from the ones recorded in the studio. This live version is more passionate, with the voice of Freddie Mercury (lead singer of the Queen Band) More explosive.

Then amidst the singing, Tang En spoke.

"I'm going to add a new rule in the team - in the future we will play this song on the team bus before we go to the Millennium Stadium and Wembley Stadium. Look at your surprised faces... you think we can only play in this life. Did you go this time?" He smiled, "It's just a start after the League Cup final, and there are more finals waiting for us, and more championship trophies waiting for us. So I think there's a need for a tradition like that. Well, guys, don't frown all the time. I know what you're worried about, but I don't think you need to worry about it at all."

"At the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, a team using the south dressing room can't win. The spell has been around for a while. It's not invulnerable and I say you all should know about Arsenal and Stoke Team? They won the game and they used the South locker room."

"But, boss." The honest Huth raised his hand, "That's because I invited that... that... that..." before the game..."

He "that" for a long time, just can't say the following words. As a result, everyone was grinned by his "that".

Tang En originally tilted his head to listen, but seeing that the German couldn't hold back the word, he had to say for him: "Feng Shui master. They hired a Chinese Feng Shui master to temporarily break the curse of the South locker room."

Huth nodded vigorously, indicating that he meant it. Others in the car followed suit.

Tang En spread his hands, and pulled out something from behind like a magic trick: "Does anyone know what this is?"

It was the compass in his hand.

No one would know what this was. Everyone looked at the compass in Tang En's hand and shook their heads.

"I think, I found a Chinese teacher, studied with her, and got good grades, you should all know it?"

Everyone nods.

"Very good, Feng Shui is also a part of traditional Chinese culture, so I happen to be able to do it too." Tang En brazenly put the hat of "fine Feng Shui" on his head. In fact, let alone now, even when he was in China, he knew very little about Feng Shui. "This is the compass. In China, it is used to survey Feng Shui and expel those unlucky curses."

Hearing what Tang En said, the expressions in the players' eyes changed. Many people looked at their head coach in surprise, and seemed to be a little puzzled.

Tang En had a confident smile on his face: "What? Will I lie to you?" He found that he was really suitable for "pretending"...Why didn't he discover this talent before? "Did I ever lose when I said we'd win?"

"No!" The players replied in unison, this is the thing they are most proud of. Since Tony Twain accepted the team halfway through the season, Nottingham Forest has not tasted a single defeat in the league.

"That's it? Don't worry, on the day of the game, I will definitely be able to resolve the curse in the south locker room of the Millennium Stadium! So, you don't have to worry about any curses at all. And I think... maybe, after the finals are over Now, it's time for the media to start hyping up the 'Curse of the North Locker Room' again!"

Everyone, including the bus driver who was concentrating on driving, burst out laughing.

"That's right, that's right! This is Nottingham Forest!"

The music in the stereo is still going on, and the voice of the lead singer of the greatest band in the history of British rock is still full of passion.

"We are the champions! My friends! We are the champions! For we are victorious! We are the champions! We are—kings of the world!"

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