Chapter 17 Going to London (Part 1)

Tuesday, January 7th was a busy day for Nottingham Forest acting head coach Tony Twain.

The physical condition of the players who returned to the training field after two days of vacation declined slightly. Tang En stood on the sidelines and watched for a while, his brows frowning at the performance of the players. Simply call a stop, then call the physical fitness coach Andy Stowell and the assistant coach, change the team's training plan today to physical recovery training, and do nothing else, just restore physical fitness.

Dunn knew very little about training. Basically, he left it to two assistant coaches, Des Walker and Ian Bowyer, to manage it. There was a goalkeeper coach for goalkeeper training, and a fitness coach for physical fitness training. The entire coaching team had a clear division of labor. Basically, he doesn't need to worry about anything. He just needs to review the training plan proposed by Walker.

This is also good, so as to save his half-baked coach from showing his feet.

After making these adjustments, the two doctors he "ordered" from Professor Constantine also came, and Dunn took them to the physiotherapy room and introduced them to the other two team doctors: the thirty-five-year-old Irishman Gary Fleming, fifty-eight-year-old John Haselden of England.

The two new doctors, both over fifty-five years old, had just retired from Nottingham University Royal Infirmary, and they were die-hard Forest fans. This reassured Tang En that the loyalty of foreign fans would not make them do anything harmful to the club.

"These two are Steve Devin and Roger Longlicky. They are your new colleagues. Gary, you can tell them about the team. I have to go back." Tang En referred the two doctors After a brief introduction, I shook hands with them respectively, wished them a happy work, and then turned and left.

Just back to the sidelines of the training ground, his cell phone rang again.

"I'm Dunn."

"Tony, I have a kid here looking for you, saying that you sent him." The voice of Ian Macdonald, the doorman, rang on the phone.

Tang En looked down at his watch. It was nine thirty, not one cent more, not one cent less. This kid is very punctual. "Yes, I asked him to come, you can bring him in."

Ten minutes later, Old Ian walked into the training ground with a tall young man, sent him to Tang En, and he turned back.

Tang En looked at George Wood standing in front of him. His face was much cleaner than yesterday, and his clothes were newly changed. Under his feet were a pair of Nike sneakers, which were a little worn out, but they were not so shabby that his toes were exposed.

"Have you had breakfast?" It was a very Chinese greeting, and Tang En still couldn't change some habits.

Wood was a little surprised, then he nodded: "I have eaten."

"How did you come here?" Tang En, who realized that he might have asked the wrong question, could only change the subject.

"By car, bus, and running."

Hearing what he said, Tang En looked at Wood carefully again. His complexion was rosy, and there were fine beads of sweat on his forehead, but it was not obvious, and he was panting slightly. He thought about the fact that this kid ran the road that took forty-five minutes to finish in fifteen minutes yesterday. He was completely different from his frail and petite mother. George Wood was about 1.8 meters tall and very strong. Maybe Sophia gave all her life essence to her son, so there is such a monster.

"Very well, come with me, we have to pass through here, the training grounds to the north are where you will stay."

Wood asked strangely: "Isn't it here? Isn't this a training base?"

"This is where the first team trains. What I'm taking you to is the training base for the youth team." Dunn led the way.

Unexpectedly, Wood stopped: "Youth team? If I don't go, I will be here, playing professional games, getting salary and bonuses."

Tang En looked back at him and said, "That's not acceptable. You've never played football before. This is an adult team game, and you can't get used to it yet..."

Wood stood still: "I must kick."

"Why?"

"They say you get paid more for first-team football."

If he had heard Wood say that yesterday afternoon, Tang En would have laughed happily. But after seeing what was going on in their home with his own eyes, he couldn't laugh. Looking at the stubborn Wood, Tang En suddenly thought of a solution.

"Okay, I can give you another chance. But if you want to be a member of the first team, I alone have no say. Have you seen them?" Tang En pointed at the members of the first team training on the training ground and coaches.

Wood nodded.

"You have to prove that you have the ability to play alongside them and convince those professional coaches who are demanding and let them allow you to join the first team."

"How to prove it?"

The fish is hooked. Tang En snickered in his heart, but said with a serious face: "It's very simple, play a match against them and let everyone judge your level."

Tang En has figured out Wood's temper. This kind of stubborn donkey who doesn't hit the south wall and doesn't look back, doesn't cry when he sees the Yellow River, and never dies when he doesn't see the Great Wall will make him suffer, otherwise he won't listen to what others say any words. A rookie who had never played football played against a professional player. Tang En knew exactly what the result would be. This is not YY novel, there is no such miracle. He just wants to make Wood suffer a little bit, improve his memory, and know that professional football is not as simple as he imagined.

Wood nodded: "Okay!"

So Tang En took him back and turned back, standing on the sidelines and yelling to stop the training. Then call Des Walker back.

"What's the matter? Tony?" Walker looked strangely at George Wood who was standing beside Dunn.

"Let everyone play a simple confrontation match. Then put him..." Tang En pointed at Wood, "Count it in. Lime." Tang En beckoned for a coach.

"Take him to the locker room to change." He pointed to Wood and said to Rhyme Okan who came running.

Watching Wood go, Walker asked, "Tony, who is he?"

"Well, I found a... a talented kid on the street. He expressed his urgent desire to become a professional player to me, so I took him to train. Before going to the youth team, let him experience the professional football in advance Atmosphere." Dunn chose to say something, but he didn't tell Walker the whole truth. After all, he didn't know if Wood would mind letting others know about his home.

"Oh, that's right. Des, put Wood in the group that doesn't wear the vest. Then tell those who wear the yellow vest that if they want to get a chance to start the next game, this match is an important assessment. Performance If it is not good, it will affect their appearance."

In the training games of the Forest team, not wearing a vest means the substitute group, while the main players wear yellow vests. Walker nodded to show that he understood, and he turned back to arrange for the players.

Soon, Wood also changed his clothes and returned to the sidelines. Tang En looked it over, and Wood, who was wearing the jersey, really looked like a player.

"Well, in terms of appearance, you are a professional player." Tang En nodded, "Go, you are on the same team as those who don't wear yellow vests. Des, you are the referee!"

Then, Tang En stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed and watched the game.

It can be clearly seen that Wood doesn't know how to play football and doesn't know how to cooperate with his teammates. The position assigned to him is a forward, but he only knows how to run with the ball. Wherever there is a ball, run there. Running to the front, someone passed the ball, and he turned around and ran back... Ten minutes passed without even touching the ball once.

Walker, who was the referee, kept looking back at Twain on the sidelines, but he couldn't see how talented this kid was.

To be honest, Tang En didn't notice it either, except...uh, except that he has better physical strength and faster speed. But his performance shows that he is more suitable as a track and field athlete, not a player. Feeling flustered by Walker's look, Dunn simply took out his sunglasses from his coat pocket and put them on, so that no one would notice even if he closed his eyes—he really felt that Wood's performance made him unbearable.

When Walker saw Tang En wearing sunglasses, he could roughly guess some of them. The next game was actually completely useless. This kid is a complete rookie in football.

The teammates on the first team with Wood also felt a little baffled, this kid can't play football at all, why should he train with them? No one passed the ball to him at all. Wood is still running with his head buried, wherever there is a ball, there is him.

Tang En watched for another ten minutes, and George didn't change at all for twenty minutes. He even guessed that the kid hadn't seen many football games and didn't know anything about football. Seeing him panting on the field, he probably didn't feel well. He beckoned for a substitution and replaced Wood.

With his head down, Wood came to Tang En panting heavily.

"George, how do you feel?" Dunn asked him.

Wood just panted, bowed his head and said nothing. Tang En knew that he already knew the power of professional football.

"It's just the level of training. If it's an official game... Do you think professional football is that simple? With your current level, you can't get a professional contract at all, not even the lowest-level contract. I know why you You have to train here, but being able to train in this kind of place also depends on your level. To put it bluntly, your performance just now was shit. Do you think you can get me to sign a professional contract with you just based on your performance just now? "

Wood still didn't speak, maybe he was still not convinced with his head down.

"Okay, come with me to the youth team and receive training. It's not like you don't have a chance. You can also get paid to be a member of the youth team."

Hearing what Tang En said, Wood raised his head, glared at him and asked, "Really?"

Tang En knew that only when "money" was mentioned, the poor boy would respond. "What am I lying to you for? I'm a career coach and I have a credit card, so my credit is guaranteed by the bank."

"How much?" Wood meant how much he could earn a month as a youth player.

Tang En thought about it, and signed a better youth contract for this kid. His family's situation is really difficult. "The weekly salary is 80 pounds. If you play a game, you will get 35 pounds per game. If you score, you will get 7 pounds per goal. If you have an assist, you will get 3 pounds per assist. This is the best youth contract. Those who are new to the team only have a weekly salary of fifty-five pounds. In addition, the club is responsible for the lunch at noon. You are a local, so you will not provide accommodation." Dunn did not lie, this is indeed the best in the forest youth team The youth contract was signed. Michael Dawson and Andy Reid performed well in the youth team, and they got this contract, but Dawson, as a defender, did not have a goal award or an assist award.

The two of them still have this contract because they have just been transferred from the youth team. But Twain is already thinking about offering them better first-team contracts. After all, if this kind of talent wants to stay in the team and let them play for the team with peace of mind, they must be rewarded generously.

Unexpectedly, after hearing what Tang En said, Wood's expression was a little hesitant. Tang En also saw it: "What's wrong?"

"Is this really the best?" Wood asked.

I dare say he thinks it's too low... Tang En nodded, then pointed to Dawson on the training ground and said, "See that tall guy? He was just promoted to the first team before New Year's Day, and he has always been the best in the youth team." contract. If you don't believe me, I can call him up and ask yourself. Need me?"

Wood shook his head, maybe he didn't think Tang En was lying.

"You work in a moving company, how much money can you get for a week?" Tang En asked.

Wood thought for a while: "Two hundred pounds."

Tang En behind the sunglasses rolled his eyes. This is indeed a lot more money than playing in the youth team. Dunn also understood that Wood had absolute reasons to hesitate.

"The remuneration of the youth team is indeed not high. But you have to know that even Rooney's salary in the youth team is only 80 pounds a week, just like you."

"Who is Rooney?" Wood looked confused.