Chapter 495 Volume 4: Storm What's Going On?

The away loss to Fulham was considered unpopular by the media in Nottingham, but the media in other places, especially London, did not see it that way. They believe that the strength gap between Fulham and Nottingham Forest is not so big that if they win, they will be upset, but they also admit that Fulham's victory over Nottingham Forest was not expected before the game.

One day after Twain's team lost this game, Manchester United also defeated Watford 2:1 away. So far they are the only team that has won all three rounds of the league, so it is only natural that they will continue to sit on the top spot in the league.

After all, Tony Twain still hadn't tasted the first place in the league...

After losing this game, Forest's ranking dropped from second to fifth, with teams like Portsmouth and Aston Villa ahead of them. The only thing that Twain is gratified about is that they are still suppressing Chelsea.

For Tang, the only good thing this week is that the Chinese TV crew is finally gone, and his private life can return to normal. But since he had already moved out from Tang En, there was no reason for him to move back.

In fact, this is also quite good, everyone has their own private life, even those who live under the same roof are no exception. If Shania came to play with Tang En, even if the two of them didn't think there was anything wrong. Don himself would not be uncomfortable being a light bulb.

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Time has entered September, the fourth round of the league, Nottingham Forest beat Blackburn 2:1 at home, three wins and one loss, and ranked fourth with nine points, continuing to press Chelsea below.

It seemed that, apart from a small setback, everything was working fine.

Now that the group draw for the Champions League is out, it's time to focus on the Champions League.

Speaking of this lottery ceremony, Twain also attended. The situation is different from a year ago.

A year ago, Twain was still an unknown player in the European Champions Cup. When he came to participate in the draw ceremony, he sat alone in the corner. Only a few coaches from England came to say hello. Whether it was the media or the head coaches from other countries, they didn't care. This somewhat gloomy young man.

What about this time? As soon as he got out of the car, he was frantically photographed by the media who had been waiting for a long time, and the flashes were connected together, almost turning the night in the square inch in front of the hotel into day.

Following Tang En was AC Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti. Fatty An, who was used to seeing all kinds of big scenes, was also taken aback, thinking that something big had happened. When it became clear that the commotion was caused by Tang En in front, he curled his lips and walked around the other party.

Tang En looked sideways at Ancelotti, then waved to the media and walked in.

After entering the venue, his quiet rest has become a luxury. Coaches kept coming over to chat with him, those who knew him or not... would come over to have a chat. Twain also enjoyed the feeling of being a core figure among the coaches.

Of course, most of the people who came here were the head coaches of non-rich teams. The rich teams also have the reserve of the rich teams. For example, the head coaches of Italy's Milan duo did not intend to maintain friendship with Twain, especially Inter Milan's head coach Mancini, who was eliminated by Forest last season. I can't afford any favors.

Another person who disliked Twain anyway was Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard. Everyone still remembers the scene that happened after the Champions League final last season. Although on the surface, Tang En gave the silver medal to the ball boy, which did not give UEFA face, but in fact, as the champion who defeated the Forest team, Barcelona was also affected. implicated. Twain's expression can be seen by UEFA and Barcelona at the same time.

Rich Jack Calder unceremoniously criticized Dunn in an interview, saying that he "has never seen such an unmannered head coach." My opponent won, all I have is congratulations, and I will never do such a disgraceful thing"... It can be seen that he is full of resentment.

Of course, Rijkaard had reason to be angry. Twain's performance made people feel as if Barcelona's championship came unjustly. This is an insult to Barcelona, ​​not to mention Rijkaard is upset, the Barcelona club executives and ordinary fans are very upset with Twain - what are you? How dare you point fingers at us like this? If you lose, you lose, if you can't afford to lose, don't play!

Therefore, during the draw ceremony, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard and Nottingham Forest coach Tony Twain did not meet at all.

Originally, these were the highlights of this lottery ceremony, but unfortunately the two did not have any stories in the venue, which disappointed the media somewhat.

Before the lottery, there is another point to watch. As Tony Twain, the face of UEFA after the Champions League final, will his team be secretly "revenged" by UEFA in the new season? Of course, UEFA will not admit that there is "retaliation", but does anyone believe what they say? It is said that the draw is fair, fair and open. Why did Chelsea, led by Mourinho, who is regarded as a scourge by UEFA, meet Barcelona again and again?

Now, being regarded as a scourge by UEFA, there is one more untamable character - Tony Twain and his Nottingham Forest.

Johansson will definitely complain, why are there so many troublesome people in England?

But apart from the football environment in England that empowers the head coach, it is really unlikely that such a self-centered head coach will emerge elsewhere.

The media speculated that for this group draw, UEFA will definitely use some means secretly to put Nottingham Forest in the death group, so that none of their groups can qualify. After all, even if they won the second place last season, the Forest team is still not a seeded team. They are placed in the third-tier team, and the probability of encountering the death group is very high.

Even club chairman Evan Dougherty reminded Dunn to be prepared for the worst.

"Didn't Alan go to open the joint?" Tang En had doubts.

"Public relations work is not that simple, you have to know that dealing with those people is not easy, very difficult." Evan nuzzled at the UEFA officials sitting on the table. "So, no matter how well Allen's work is done, you have to prepare for the worst."

Tang En stared at the group of officials who should be called "politicians" and nodded: "I understand."

The two stopped talking, each had their own concerns, and quietly watched how the hands of fate fiddled with the small ball in the box.

When the lottery result came out, everyone was shocked, including Dunn and Evan.

If it is said that Mourinho's Chelsea and arch-enemy Barcelona were nakedly grouped together again by UEFA this time - both in Group A, which caused a lot of noise in the venue, it would be the first good show of the day. Then what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations.

Nottingham Forest was assigned to an unbelievably weak group!

"Group C: PSV, Bordeaux, Nottingham Forest, Galatasaray."

Not to mention the media who paid attention to the lottery, even the coaches of the teams present did not expect this result.

Before each lottery, the head coach of each team must have his own little calculations, hoping to avoid strong enemies and encounter weak teams so as to qualify smoothly. Many people hope that the difficult Nottingham Forest will be assigned to the death group, and then fight against the strong teams. No matter which two teams qualify in the end, it will be a lose-lose situation.

Unexpectedly... UEFA not only did not secretly punish Nottingham Forest, but did Tony Twain a huge favor!

The strength of this group can almost be regarded as the weakest among the eight groups. If nothing else, Nottingham Forest will have no problem qualifying.

How did that happen? The same person who caused UEFA a headache, Mourinho has been secretly suppressed, and Tony Twain has taken advantage of it.

Everyone cast doubtful eyes on UEFA President Johansson on the stage, but no one could get the answer they wanted from that smiling fat face.

"It seems that Allen succeeded." Tang En said with a smile to Evan next to him.

Although he felt a little strange, Evan responded with a smile: "That's good. We don't need to spend too much energy in the group stage."

"I'll have to thank him when I go back."

"Don't cause trouble for him anymore, he will thank God." Evan smiled helplessly.

Tang En laughed loudly. No matter how the people next to him looked at him, they did not hide their pride and excitement at all.

"The draw ceremony for the group stage of the Champions League is over. I don't think anyone will disagree with the biggest winner in the draw - there is no doubt that it is the head coach of Nottingham Forest, Tony Twain. His team has drawn one It couldn’t be a better draw, and in Group C, which is generally considered to be the weakest, Nottingham Forest’s prospects for qualifying are bright.” Most of the subsequent sports news reported this way, and the accompanying picture was Tang En smiling brightly at the venue that scene.

The spring breeze is proud of the horseshoe disease, Mr. Tang En, please hold on to the reins...

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With a complete victory in the Champions League draw, Nottingham Forest seems to be proving to the world that they are indeed capable of competing for the Champions League this season. In the next first match of the Champions League group stage, Nottingham Forest beat Eindhoven, the strongest in the group, 1-0 away.

The game was not played beautifully, which was in line with Tang En's consistent principle of "only pursuing the necessary points, not the spectacle".

Eindhoven was depressed after losing. Judging from the scene, their chances were no less than that of the Forest team, but they just couldn't grasp them. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a goal with a total of three shots in the game.

Perhaps it was related to Twain's declaration before the season. Nottingham Forest did not need Twain's pre-match mobilization to play in the Champions League, and the players were particularly motivated.

There is no problem with the players' status, the team's physical fitness, and the coach's tactics. Twain is full of confidence in the prospect of the Champions Cup.

Having just had a good time in the Champions League, returning to the league, the promising Nottingham Forest will face this season's newly promoted Reading at home.

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Before the crossing, Twain knew almost nothing about Reading. After that famous game, Reading's name was engraved in his mind and he couldn't get rid of it.

Because he was a Chelsea fan for a while, Twain still has a good impression of the Chelsea team—of course, now that he is the head coach, the fans' thinking will be thrown into Java, and Chelsea is now his. opponent.

In that famous battle, the Reading team successively abolished two Chelsea goalkeepers. The main goalkeeper Petr Cech caused Reading player Hunter to hit his knee with a skull fracture within five minutes of the start, and he fell into a coma, which even made Mourinho worry about whether he could survive. Then with a minute to go, substitute Cudicini knocked Reading defender Sonko unconscious. In desperation, Mourinho can only use the captain Terry to put on the goalkeeper jersey and make a cameo goalkeeper.

The game caused an uproar in international football, and the violence on the English football field was once again recognized by the world.

Tang En, who was an ordinary Chinese fan at the time, also firmly remembered Reading and their blue horizontal stripe jersey that resembled prison uniforms.

Tang En didn't know whether the influence of his time travel would be brought to this game. After all, after crossing, his team played against Reading many times, and he still has personal grievances with the head coach. It is almost impossible to finish tomorrow's game peacefully. He knows Koppel, that person will not let go of any chance to avenge himself. If he can beat the Forest team at the Forest team's home court, it will be perfect for Koppel.

It was because of such considerations that Tang En had this worry. According to his memory, the game between Reading and Chelsea happened this season, so will the risk be passed on to the Forest team now? After all, Reading and Chelsea have no grievances. Will Petr Cech and Cudicini get away with it?

Dunn is not clear about these things now, only one thing he understands: that is, Reading's rough style of play has not changed in any way because of his crossing. When they played against each other in the First Division, Dunn had already fully understood Reading. style of. Now after being promoted to the Super League, in order to survive in this cruel league, their style has intensified.

The league has only played four rounds, and the newly promoted Reading has already given people a full understanding of what the football they play is like-some players have received red cards in the four rounds of the league.

Tang En is very worried about this. Now his team is no longer the one in the first division who is not afraid of anything when he takes off his shoes, rolls up his sleeves and dares to fight any opponent to death, regardless of tomorrow's small team. The stupid Redding can afford it, they have nothing to fear, and they have nothing to lose. To fight on multiple fronts, Nottingham Forest, which only has 23 players in the first team, can't afford it...

Injuring a person means losing a powerful combat power.

During the training the day before this match, Tang En kept frowning tightly, making everyone think that he was not satisfied with the training situation.

In fact, he was worried about what Reading would do in this game. If he hadn't known about Reading's game against Chelsea in advance, he might not have thought about these things that hadn't happened yet. Now that I know it is different, there is always a faint worry in my heart.

But he can't tell others, even the closest Tang, he can't say that he knew those things in advance, so I hope everyone pay attention to their own safety.

For the sake of safety, let everyone give up their positive attitude towards the game? Twain couldn't say such a thing, because it would make the players and coaches feel very strange-why Twain, who never gave up, was suddenly afraid of a newly promoted horse?

After thinking about it for nearly a day, Tang En figured it out. It's not a good habit to worry about things that haven't happened here, but it's not right to do nothing and wait for something bad to happen.

So when announcing tomorrow's starting roster, Eastwood, who was in good shape, lost the selection.

Eastwood's leg had been operated on three times, and Twain was unwilling to let him perform the fourth operation. This is the protection of Eastwood, but do the players appreciate it?

After Eastwood learned that he didn't have to come with the team for tomorrow's game, he just shrugged his shoulders, and his face didn't look bad.

This made Tang En feel relieved in his heart. But come down or talk to Eastwood, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Anelka.

"Freddy, after the training is over, you stay here for a while. Everyone else, dismiss!"

The teammates looked at Twain and Eastwood suspiciously, and left the training field. After the coaching staff had gone, only Twain and Eastwood were left.

"Do you think it's strange why I didn't select you in the big list?" Tang En asked with a smile, trying to calm down the atmosphere.

"It's really strange. But I think the boss must have your consideration in making such an arrangement." Eastwood's considerate answer moved Tang En very much.

"Well, I did think about it... You know Reading is a rough team, I don't want you to take that risk."

"this one?"

"this one."

Eastwood looked at Tang En and was silent for a while: "If others find out about this, they will think I am a deserter, right?"

Tang En secretly screamed in his heart. He forgot that Eastwood was a man with a lot of pride.

"Things are not that simple...Freddy." Tang En quickly explained, "No one will think you are a deserter. It is also a normal tactic to protect important players before important games."

"Important game?"

"In the sixth round of the league, we will challenge Arsenal away," Tang En said.

This is indeed a very convincing reason, Eastwood was silent for a while, then nodded: "I see, boss."

Tang En's nervous expression was finally relieved. He laughed and patted Eastwood on the shoulder: "Do you remember what I said to you? I want to be a legendary coach, and you want to be a legendary shooter. Our legendary talent It’s just the beginning, I don’t want you to take risks in such a game. An opponent like Reading is not worthy of us using the strongest lineup to deal with... Ha ha!"

Eastwood also laughed. For an opponent like Reading, of course he also knows that they have played against Nottingham Forest many times in the First Division. The loser must be Reading himself.

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appendix:

2006-07 season Champions Cup grouping situation:

Group A: Barcelona, ​​Chelsea, Werder Bremen, Sofia Lewski;

Group B: Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Sparta Mostco;

Group C: PSV, Bordeaux, Nottingham Forest, Galatasaray;

Group D: Roma, Valencia, Shakhtar Donetsk, Olympiakos;

Group E: Real Madrid, Lyon, Steaua Bucharest, Dynamo Kiev;

Group F: Manchester United, Celtic, Benfica, Copenhagen;

Group G: Arsenal, Porto, CSKA Moscow, Hamburg;

Group H: AC Milan, Lille, AEK Athens, Anderlecht.

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Sorry, I overslept today and posted late.