Chapter 42 Don't Underestimate...Football (Part 2)

Eighty-nine minutes. Forest's Andy Reid engineered what was perhaps their last threat of the second half. A beautiful one-two in front of the penalty area, David Johansen and Marlon Hellwood attracted the attention of almost all Grimsby players, Eugen Pope appeared in the penalty area unexpectedly from the back, and then he Received a through pass from Reed and faced the goalkeeper alone!

All the fans, all Nottingham Forest fans stood up, they were waiting for a miracle to happen!

Including Tang En, who was still like a puppet just now, also rushed down from the coach's bench, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate the goal.

But... Eugene Pope's shot just went wide.

"Woo-!" The huge sigh could not conceal the disappointment of the fans.

Tang En even directly threw the suit he was holding in his hand to the ground. He did not hide his inner anger and disappointment. Although this defeat was largely caused by himself. The only thought in his mind now is - I must let Pope practice shooting well after I go back!

The photographers on the sidelines became excited when they saw Tang En's impulsive performance. They were waiting for this moment. Their fingers quickly pressed the shutter again, capturing Tang En's ostentatious action into the camera.

"This is the best opportunity! But Eugen Pope wasted it! Listen to the sighs in the city stadium... The miracle didn't happen again, Coach Tony Twain's luck has come to an end!"

The moment Dunn dropped his clothes to the ground, the head coach of Grimsby next door jumped up. His team survived the catastrophe, and victory was imminent. I didn't expect to get three points in this game. Maybe this is the precious three points that decide whether they will stay in the first division or be relegated to the second division this season!

Pope, who missed the key goal, lay disappointed on the ground, covering his face with his hands, and he didn't even dare to look at the angry and disappointed eyes of the fans. For him, he lost a great opportunity to become the hero of the team and make all fans fall in love with him overnight. And such an opportunity will not appear in front of his defensive midfielder next time.

As Pope missed the almost inevitable goal, the Forest team suddenly lost their fighting spirit and confidence. In the next game, they appeared absent-minded on the court, as if looking forward to the early end of the game. Harewood spread his hands helplessly in the frontcourt, and no one passed the ball to him. Although he scored a goal in this game, he was unable to save the team's crisis.

Tang En picked up his clothes from the ground, then walked back to the coach's bench, and sat down.

"Des, do you know? Yesterday I just taught a boy who doesn't know how to know the heights of the sky and the earth, and warned him not to underestimate professional football, otherwise he will be punished. Now I have made the same mistake as him..." His voice was low , whispering in a low mood. "The responsibility for this game is entirely on me. I lost... I have nothing to say."

Des patted Tang En on the shoulder and comforted him: "Tony, it's good to win consecutively. But no one never experiences failure, so be careful." At this moment, he seemed like an old coach who had experienced many battles, while Tang En is just a player who has just been replaced and is deeply disappointed in his performance.

One minute later, the referee on duty blew the whistle to end the game. High expectations were placed before the game, and the unanimously optimistic Forest team lost 1:2 at home to Grimsby, who was last in the league. For outsiders who don't know Twain, this is not his first defeat in coaching Forest's first team, but for Twain himself, this is his first defeat - the FA Cup match against West Ham , He still insists that he won the game, but lost to the referee.

Hearing the whistle, Twain got up from his seat, and the players walked into the tunnel from beside him with their heads down. Walker comforted these people one by one. Their disaster was over, but his own...had just begun.

He glanced at the media surrounding the corridor. It's a tough "race" and he has to brace himself against the vitriol of the media. Those people are waiting to see his jokes.

After the game, the press conference hall of the City Stadium.

This was not the first time Tang En had come to this kind of place, and some of the reporters who interviewed him were already able to recognize him from the crowd. For example, he saw Pierce Bruce again.

Sitting next to Tang En was his opponent in this match, Grimsby's head coach, 37-year-old Paul Groves, who was three years older than himself. He led the team to win the game, he was in a good mood, and accepted questions from the reporters with a smile on his face. But the protagonist of this press conference is not him.

After answering a few very mundane questions, he was snubbed. Almost everyone's firepower was concentrated on Tony Twain's side.

"Coach Tony Twain, before the game, it was agreed that the game would be easily won, but it ended in failure. Do you have anything to say?" The local media in Nottingham were most dissatisfied with this game, so they asked sharp questions. Don't show affection. Don't look at Tang En who was still praising Tang En as the best coach before, as long as he loses the game, he will immediately turn his face and deny anyone.

Tang En glanced at the reporter who asked the question, and looked unfamiliar. But it should be the local Nottingham media, because the reporter's English accent has a strong Nottingham flavor. "I have nothing to say, a loss is a loss. Grimsby's manager did a good job and his team deserved to win."

This kind of perfunctory answer obviously did not satisfy the media, so someone stood up and asked: "But you and your players were full of confidence before the game, and there were people who guaranteed that the team would win consecutive victories when they were interviewed..."

"Bullshit!" Tang En suddenly swears, and everyone in the audience is stunned. "Whoever said that, go to whom. I have never said on any occasion that we can win easily and win six consecutive victories. Are you an idiot?" Dunn stood up and leaned over and asked, "The game I haven't played yet, how can I know the result, how can I say something like winning streak? Do you understand football?"

The reporter didn't expect Tang En to suddenly lose his temper. He stood there in a daze for a while, not knowing what to say or what to do. Tang En sat back down again, changed his sitting position, raised his legs and said, "Okay, next one."

Pierce Bruce followed Robson to interview Twain. Although he embarrassed himself twice, he still viewed this person in front of him fairly and objectively from the perspective of a journalist, with advantages and disadvantages. As for the swearing at the press conference, he thought it was the reason why coach Twain was under too much pressure after the loss. Having interviewed him and thinking he understood his motives better than anyone else, Bruce decided to reverse the embarrassing situation in front of him. So he stood up.

"Ah!" Tang En did not wait for Bruce to speak, and spoke first, "James Bond has something to say."

There was finally some laughter at the scene, and the embarrassment just now was wiped away.

Bruce didn't mind the nickname Twain gave himself. He smiled and asked, "Coach Twain, what impact will the loss of this game have on the team's promotion plan?"

This question is quite satisfactory, but Tang En likes this kind of question now, he doesn't need to get angry and strangle the reporter. "There will definitely be an impact, but whether it is good or bad is uncertain. Just like the game does not know what the final score is, the season is not over yet, and we don't know what specific impact this defeat will have."

Tang En was tired of this kind of media siege. In fact, he didn't know what tricky questions he would be asked if he continued. He's not good at dealing with group-fighting media, so he kicks the football to the next winner.

"Guys, I think you've made a mistake. Grimsby won this game, not my Nottingham Forest. The winner should be the protagonist, right? So... if you have any questions, ask Grove Mr. Si! I'm sorry, I have to go." After speaking, he ignored everyone's surprised eyes, turned and walked off the stage, and left the scene quickly.

Bruce stood where he was, looked at the back of Tang En who was fleeing in a hurry, smiled wryly and shook his head.

Back in the locker room, Tang En found that all the teams were there, but none left. Looking at the dejected players, Tang En smiled. His mood suddenly improved.

Think about what it was like at half-time in the loss to West Ham two months ago. You can see why Tang En is happy. Teams and players who feel bad after losing a game have a future. On the contrary, if they are still smiling as if nothing happened after losing a game, Tang En will probably pick up a chair and smash the locker room cabinet at this time.

"Okay, guys. Don't be so depressed. We only lost one game. It's not that we lost the whole season. When we lose this season, you can cry again." Dunn clapped his hands, indicating that he was back.

Michael Dawson stood up as the captain, and he wanted to apologize to the bishop who trusted him for this defeat. But just as he opened his mouth, Tang En stopped him with a gesture.

"I'm totally responsible for the loss of this game, you have no problems, you did a good job. That's all I have to say. Now go out and drive back to the hotel, take a hot shower, change into clean clothes, do what you want to do. Seeing that no one moved, Tang En sighed, "Okay, no one is allowed to leave the hotel tonight, everyone goes to bed at ten o'clock on time, and there will be no holiday tomorrow. The team will practice in closed training for a week until the next game... oh no , until you win the ball."

"Oh, no!" The players finally reacted, they didn't expect this kind of punishment.

Tang En chuckled: "Since you guys don't want to do this, then get up and get in the car!"

A group of players quickly jumped up from their seats and rushed out of the locker room. When Dawson passed by Tang En, he wanted to apologize to the head coach, but Tang En slapped him and pushed him out. "Put your apologies away, Michael. Have a good vacation and come back to practice games."

Soon, there were only three people left in the locker room.

Tony Twain, Des Walker and Ian Bowyer.

"Tony, I think you seem to be in a better mood?" Walker was very concerned about his partner. "Did something happen at the press conference?"

Bowyer shook his head: "When he just stepped through the door, I think he didn't look very well. Are you because of the team?"

Tang En nodded: "It's just a loss. I don't care about recording things like this. The point is that I have seen good signs from these players. This defeat was just an accident. We have not deviated from the track. The team is still heading towards the Super League Driving at high speed on the road. Let’s go, don’t think about the past game, let’s go to Burns’ bar to drink and relax at night.”

Locking the door, the three walked side by side to the bus outside the stadium.

After five consecutive victories, the Forest team suffered a loss. But for Tang En himself, that was just another starting point for another five consecutive victories.

Some people only feel sorry for themselves in the face of failure, or hang their heads down, as if the end of the world is coming. And some people can find what he needs in the face of failure. So what awaits the former will be one after another, more failures, while what welcomes the latter is new victories.