Translator:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
When everyone had stopped laughing, Twain looked at them and said seriously,
Even though we didn’t beat Arsenal in the end, I think you could all see it… the defending champion was pathetic when we pressed on them hard. If I say the Forest team isn’t afraid of any opponents, I wouldn’t be lying, would I?
No!
The players replied loudly.
With better luck, we can beat them. The same is true for the other opponents. Although the Forest team is a newly promoted team, we are on the same starting line as them. Does anyone have any doubts about our future because of the draw?
Everyone shook their head at the same time.
Excellent. Neither have I.
Twain firmly nodded and clapped his palms together,
Go out and warm up; let us do some recovery training!
When Twain opened the door to leave, he was startled. There were a lot of fans outside the training ground. The number was many times more than usual, but they did not make a racket. They only cheered when they saw that Twain and the players were coming out.
In general, the first day of training after a game was completely open to public, because this was basically for their recovery training. There was no need to keep anything confidential from the media. However, this was the first time that Twain had seen so many fans gathered on the sidelines of the Forest training ground.
Without having to guess, Twain knew the reason why they were here. He looked back at the still surprised players and said,
This morning’s training is canceled, guys, go and sign some autographs for them. Don’t refuse their requests.
He pointed to the lovely, enthusiastic fans.
In the corner, the BBC Five station reporter smiled at the camera and said,
From this scene, you would think that Twain’s team was the one who created a new record.
※※※
Arsenal’s setting of a new unbeaten record was a big deal, but for Tang En, the whole matter had ceased to be of any concern to him.
He no longer cared whether Arsenal continued its unbeaten record to forty-nine games before it was ended by Manchester United, just as he remembered.
There was not much time left for him to care about others. On the 28th, Nottingham Forest would be challenging Manager David Moyes’s Everton team in an away match in Goodison Park stadium.
Tang En recalled how he had met and spoke to Moyes at that coaching association reception. At that time, they were both young managers, but not only was Moyes young, he was also promising. Twain, meanwhile, was nothing but an unknown manager who had just lost his job.
Things were not the same now. Twain’s team had become the champion of last season’s EFL Cup and reached the European tournament, and he had led his team to being promoted to the Premier League. Although he had only led the team for half a season, he had been rated as the best manager in League One at the end of last season. He was also young and equally promising.
This was a contest between the two young men. After last season’s award, Moyes specifically had specifically given Twain a call to congratulate him. He might have been the person whom Twain had the closest relationship with in the Premier League, but there was no room for friendship in a football game.
Everton had already begun three rounds of matches. They had not competed in one round, had one win and one defeat, and were ranked 13th. The game they had not competed in was with Manchester United. The game was postponed to August 30 after their fourth round. Even though Moyes had put all his energy into preparing for the Manchester United game, Tang En did not think that his team would be able to get the three points on Everton’s home ground.
During the match against Forest, Everton’s Duncan Ferguson scored two goals alone and was the hero of his team. Two goals on the Forest side were completed by two different players. The first goal of the team was scored by the striker, Viduka. In the last match against Arsenal, he wasted a chance for a single-handed clear shot, but in this match, marked closely by the opponent, he had scored a beautiful header instead. The second goal of the team was scored by the veteran, Hierro. The Forest team was awarded a penalty kick, and Hierro was the team’s first choice for the penalty. He easily scored a goal and equalized the score at 2:2.
That score was maintained till the end, and it was a tied game again.
The result of the game was 2:2.
If they had just looked at this result, it seemed to be a satisfactory achievement to tie the match with Everton on their home ground. But it was a little upsetting when they thought about the fact that the Forest team had tied their games for three consecutive rounds. They were clearly very close to a victory, but were unable to successfully break through. Generally, for a newly promoted team, which was only four rounds into the season, to obtain three points and only concede one game was considered pretty good. But for Tang En, a draw was useless. He needed a victory. And he strongly believed that once the first victory came, more victories would follow on its heels.
The problem was… when would the first victory come?
In the post-match press conference, while facing the reporters’ questions, Twain continued to express his confidence in and support for the players, as always. He praised the team’s performance and unreservedly proclaimed that he was very satisfied with their present achievement. As a newly promoted team, he was grateful to have only lost one game.
The media had been hoodwinked. They commented in their own articles:
Tony Twain is very pleased with his team’s performance!
The Forest team still has a long way to go, but they are doing very well!
Nottingham Forest’s goal this season should be to remain in the Premier League!
The English Premier League and EFL Championship are totally different leagues, and Manager Tony Twain feels tremendous amount of pressure!
And so on.
Such commentaries were amusing to Tang En when he read them. However, he was happy that it was this way. Why? Because it would confuse his next round of opponents.
Due to the match period for the national team, there was a break of twelve days after the end of the fourth round in August. On September 11, the battle fever of the Premier League would be reignited.
Tang En knew exactly what his team needed right now.
Victory.
He needed a victory to strengthen the players’ confidence and morale, and he also needed a victory to lessen his pressure. Otherwise, he could talk it up all he wanted, but if they did not win in succession, the players would start to get ideas. His current team was newly formed. And what had brought the players together? Of course, it was not love for this team. It was because when Twain was recruiting them, he had promised them victory and glory. If every game was a draw… Even if they were to be like Arsenal, to have a record of forty-four unbeaten games in a row—and all were tied games—what was the point?
He told the players that he had an ambitious goal. What he was seeking was victory, and if they were with him, there would be opportunities for glory. Well, now was the time to do something to prove it.
In the fifth round of the league, Nottingham Forest was up against Manchester City on their home turf. This team was not an target that could be easily pushed over by Twain. However, he and the Forest team obviously could not delay any longer.
