Translator:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
A subway train accelerated and departed from the platform. The loud blasting noises reverberated in the tunnels, becoming increasingly distant. The subway platform once again regained the silence it had previously.
It was the last carriage, and there weren’t too many people inside it. Before the Nottingham Forest players got on, there was only an elderly couple with a child. Upon getting on the train, the players were able to find a series of empty seats which were together. Walker made all of them sit together, just in case. Tang En stood on the aisle, grabbing on to the handrail.
He specifically chose a carriage which looked empty. Although the players were not wearing the red Nottingham Forest jerseys, and did not have any Nottingham Forest logos on, he was still worried… After all, there were football stars on the team like Rebrov, Michael Dawson, and Andy Reid, who appeared frequently in newspapers and on television. Nobody knew whether they would be recognized. They were currently on the turf of Millwall fans, and he did not want to create unnecessary trouble before the match.
That elderly couple kept glancing at them, as if they identified who they were. However, Tang En was not worried about the two old people and child. Even if they were hardcore Millwall fans, their fighting strength was simply too weak,
Millwall’s football hooligans were extremely famous throughout the whole of England and were regarded as one of the strongest and most brutal groups, along with the football hooligans of a few other teams. Although not all of Millwall’s fans were football hooligans, when faced with an enemy football team after drinking a tad too much… then even God could not guarantee their safety.
Millwall’s football hooligans would throw Molotov cocktails and tear gas at bars which fans of other teams frequented, in order to force them out of the place. After that, they would take advantage of the thick smoke and use sticks and chains to welcome those unsuspecting people who covered their heads and noses. Regardless of gender or age, anyone who supported enemy teams was a target of their assault.
Once you understood what kind of people the Millwall football hooligans were, you could understand why Tang En was being so careful.
Prior to this, Tang En had warned the players not say anything on the train, and to shut their eyes and pretend that they were asleep. As for those who were more easily identifiable… straighten their collars, or bury their heads, or block their faces with newspapers… In any case, no accidents were to happen.
But speaking of which… Could the number of accidents today be anymore? Tang En tilted his head and looked at Brosnan, who stood behind Tang En with his head lowered, as if he felt that his presence on the train made the team’s luck turn bad.
Tang En nudged him, and whispered softly,
What are you doing? You are not a woman… even though your character resembles one… Haha!
Tang En started laughing. Currently, there did not seem to be any danger, so he could be slightly at ease.
… Arriving at the next stop, New Den Stadium in 10 minutes. Arriving at the next stop, New Den Stadium in 10 minutes.
An electronic voice announcing the next train stop could be heard in the train carriage.
Tang En lowered his head and checked his watch. It was currently 2:39 p.m., and they would reach their stop at 2.49 p.m. He also did not know how far this train station was from the stadium. Even if the stadium were to be right outside of the train station, it would also take at least 10 minutes for the players to run to the changing room, change, and then come out. By then, it would be 2:59 p.m., leaving him no time to even plan any battle tactics.
Tang En looked at the players who were seated on the two sides of the carriage. Although they appeared to have heeded his instructions on the surface, Tang En was still able to tell that they were secretly surveying their surroundings. There were even a few players who were not as famous, looking around as if everything was completely fine. It was apparent that the players were still somewhat excited with regard to this special method of travelling to an away match. They did not need to wrack their heads over the tactics arrangements, or whether there was sufficient time. They didn’t have to worry, because all these problems were on the backs of the managerial team.
Being a player and being a manager were two completely different feelings.
Tang En decided to conduct his pre-match tactics preparation meeting in the train carriage. This was perhaps the most special meeting conducted in English football. Tang En coughed a few times, reminding the players that they did not need to keep up their pretense anymore.
While waiting for everyone to focus their attention on him, Tang En squatted down on the aisle of the train carriage. He lowered his voice, trying his best not to draw any attention to them.
I think everyone knows what kind of a situation we are in currently, so I shall get straight to the point. These two days, we mainly focused on defending and counterattacking during our trainings, so everyone also knows that…
He did not complete his sentence, because he saw that all the players’ attention was directed to somewhere behind him.
He turned his head around, and saw the scene which he did not wish to see the most. A group of people dressed up like football fans were standing at the connecting part of the carriage, a few of them even wearing a blue-white Millwall jerseys. That group of people used an extremely unfriendly gaze to look at Tang En, as well as the players which surrounded him.
Darn it!
Tang En turned around and cursed. After that, he told the players in a soft voice,
All of you, get back to your seats. Nobody is allowed to say anything, and nobody is to make any noise. Leave everything to me.
After that, he stood up and looked at those ill-intentioned bunch of people.
The group of people had already rushed into this carriage, while the old couple rushed along the child and escaped from behind the Millwall fans, running to another carriage. All that was left was them. With the door located in the middle of the carriage as the boundary, they were in the left half of the carriage, while Tang En’s team was on the right half.
Nobody said anything, and only the loud noises from the tunnel could be heard. The body of the train shook slightly, and Tang En stood in the middle of the carriage. He faced those
ill-intentioned
fans, with his players behind him. They had just sworn on the train that, he would not let anyone do harm to the people around him, and the time to fulfil his promise was now.
You want to do harm to my players? You have to get past me first!
Tang En and the other party stared silently at each other. The air seemed to be frozen, causing the atmosphere to become extremely pressurizing.
※※※
John Motson was in charge of commentating for one quarter of the matches for the EFL Cup. He was originally not supposed to be commentating this match, but after knowing that Tony Twain had immediately gotten a victory upon returning to lead the team, he suddenly could not hold back the curiosity in him. As such, he decided to apply to commentate this match, which was bound to lose in terms of viewership as compared to another quarterfinals match. In the eyes of this old commentator, a match between two League One teams was much more attractive than a match between Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough.
In the Stadium, the home team Millwall were already doing their warm-ups, but there was still no sign of Nottingham Forest.
The manager seats and reserve seats were completely empty. It was said that aside from a few coaches who came early to place the equipment, no one else was present. Even the Nottingham Forest coach bus was not here yet.
Motson sat on the commentator’s seat and put on his headphones, silencing the loud noises which came from the viewing platform in all directions. Millwall’s fans were singing and shouting non-stop, appearing to be extremely optimistic.
It is currently less than 15 minutes to the start of the match, and Nottingham Forest is still not here yet… What exactly is Tony Twain and his team doing?
※※※
Aside from the loud noises from outside the train, there were also a lot of heavy breathing noises coming from within the carriage. Tang En hoped that this group of people were merely normal Millwall fans. However, after seeing their expressions and eyes, he understood that this time, he was extremely unlucky to have met a bunch of fans which were not ordinary.
Even though this group of people did not say anything, Tang En was able to get the following information from the looks on their faces:
Get rid of the bunch of Nottingham Forest bstards in front of us and our team will be able to win without even playing, successfully advancing into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup!
Tang En believed that under the effects of alcohol, it was really something that they would do.
Now what? He did not have the confidence to beat over 10 people in a fight. Regardless of the situation, the players were not allowed to fight with fans, or else what awaited them would be a long term ban on matches. Just like Cantona who did a flying kick on a Crystal Palace fan. Even though the other party insulted his family, he had still been banned for eight months.
But… did that mean a manager could fight with the fans? Tang En had not really thought about this question before.
Walker, who was behind Tang En, whipped out his phone and wanted to called the police. However, he saw the signal on the screen of his phone and softly cursed. They were currently underground, and the signal was not as good compared to if they were on ground level.
Even if they wanted to call the subway police over, it was most likely not possible as well. That was because the team was in the last train carriage, and the only way out was from behind the Millwall fans.
Brosnan whispered to Tang En from behind,
Mr. Twain, hang on till we get off the train. Before I get on the train, I already phoned my colleagues. I believe they will have already called the police along with them.
Thank you so much, Brosnan. In order to express my thanks, I allow you to record everything that you see from now on, and publish it on the newspaper.
Tang En stared at the fans, while saying this to Brosnan who was behind him.
Do you have a digital camera with you?
No, Mr. Twain.
Use your phone instead then.
The fans opposite them got a scare upon seeing the short man behind Tang En whip out his phone and aim at them.
What the heck are you trying to do?
They shouted and were about to rush forward, but were stopped by Tang En.
Let’s not be agitated, gentlemen.
Tang En now knew that these people did not drink much actually, and that things weren’t extremely terrible yet.
As you can see, this short mister over here is a news reporter.
Tang En said as he pointed to Brosnan, who was behind him.
A reporter!
The effect of this term on the group of people, was one that Tang En had hoped to see.
What kind of people did the football hooligans hate the most and were most afraid of? Aside from the police, it would be the media. That was because, even when these people wrecked havoc, they did not wish for reporters to take pictures of their faces and appear in the headlines the next day. This would mean that they would lose the opportunity to watch matches.
