Chapter 287: Of Course We Will Win Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Since this was such an important match, it had been chosen to be broadcasted live to the entire country. Looking at the score, the commentator John Motson shook his head. “Tony Twain promoted the use of younger players, and this has benefited him many times. It has allowed Nottingham Forest to become more impactful and much better in terms of stamina, and gave it a much stronger fighting spirit. In return, he got his first championship trophy in his managerial career. However, he’s paying the price for it now. At the most crucial moments, young players lack the experience to handle these kinds of situations. There is too much fluctuation in their mentalities. They’re just not stable enough.”
What he said was completely true. The youngsters were too emotional. Simply receiving a small praise could make them happy for a long time. On the contrary, the moment they were chided, they dared not make a sound.
As for the team’s performance in the first half, Tang En was furious. From being arrogant, to overtly belittling their opponents, to getting tied up and becoming so nervous that they were at a loss for what to do… If they ended up losing the match because of that, Tang En might start banging his head against a wall.
In the Nottingham Forest changing room, it was evident that the players were also aware of their poor performance. When they returned to the changing room, they did not even dare to sigh loudly, and they sat down with their heads lowered.
A wave of footsteps could be heard from outside the door. That was the loud laughing sounds of their opponents, the excited West Bromwich players, who were passing by the Nottingham Forest changing room on the way to their own.
This noise worsened the feelings of the Nottingham Forest players. Whenever they recalled their performance during the first-half, they would feel ashamed of themselves. Before the match, they had felt that they were a great team, and that it was only natural for them to be promoted directly to the Premier League. What had happened?
Footsteps could be heard from afar, and they persisted until they stopped in front of the door.
There was no need for them to raise their heads to see who the approaching person was.
Tang En entered the room with a look of fury on his face. Seeing the silent players with their heads hung low, the fury in his chest did not lessen. After seeing the team’s performance in the first-half, if Tang could resist scolding them, then he would have had an extremely good temper, a temper so good that it was beyond reason.
His hoarse voice resounded throughout the changing room, slowly and quietly. But everyone in the room could clearly feel his anger.
“Who remembers what we said before this? Do you need me to repeat myself? League One is not where we should be! Our goal is the Premier League! We need to face teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle! And teams from Europe! Not these lousy teams that are fooling around in League One! We set our sights much further and much higher! We are the team that will be participating in the UEFA Europa League next season! And now… now you all are about to lose to a League One team!” It was as though Tang En already completely considered his Nottingham Forest a Premier League team. “You guys are actually losing to West Bromwich! Hm? West Bromwich? Those idiots only managed to rank higher than us and flaunt in front of us because of dumb luck! You guys are actually about to lose to them?”
After he had finished shouting, Tang En slammed the changing room’s left, slamming the door behind him. There was no need for him to deploy any tactics. The tactics for this match had been planned for an entire week prior to this; the problem did not lie with tactics.
The room door slammed shut with a “bam.” The changing room regained its state of silence. Tang En’s actions clearly showed how angry he was at that moment.
Tang En, who had walked out of the changing room, headed straight for the field and back to the technical area. The rain was still going on, but it was much lighter than it had been for the first-half.
Am I going to fail at the most crucial moment again? What’s the difference between falling in front of the finish line and falling at the start line? For unsuccessful people, no matter how well you perform, you will still fail to succeed in the end. When you touch your chest and say “I did my best”, are you really content? You really think that you can have a clear conscience? Do you really not feel shortness of breath or the slightest tinge of tightness in your chest? Why can’t we be the ones making our opponents say “I did my best”? Why do we have to be the ones to say that?
Tang En sat in the technical area alone as he looked at that empty football field and the sparsely seated fans on the stands. One and a half years. He had been here for one and a half years. Thinking back, he could still vividly remember the many things he had experienced and the many people he had met over the past year and a half.
Since it was still raining, the majority of the fans in the stands had gone somewhere else to seek shelter from the rain. Those who were still defending their posts were the truly die-hard, fanatical Nottingham Forest fans. These people did not make up a large portion of the fan base, but their voices were the loudest. The songs sang to cheer up the team in the first half had mostly come from them.
Those people were assembled at the City Ground Stadium’s north stands, which were near Trent River. They wore red Nottingham Forest jerseys, held Forest scarves in their hands, and continually sang and clapped with rhythm during halftime. They were not currently rooting for the team, because the players had all returned to the changing room already. They were probably only entertaining themselves.
Amidst the group of people, Tang En saw fatso John and skinny Bill’s figures. He squinted to look carefully. It was definitely them. Their movements were very familiar, and they seemed to be the leaders of that group of people. This discovery diverted Tang En’s attention. Tang En stood up and walked over, intending to ask John why they were still in the rain, instead of enjoying a glass of beer in the Stadium’s restaurant.
Right when Tang En reached the North stands after walking through the rain, the fans discovered him too. They stopped their singing as they looked at the manager of the team. This was a man that had earned their respect through his actions.
“John! Bill! Why are you guys still here?” Tang En shouted from below. “It’s half-time, why are you still singing?”
“Practicing, Tony! We’re practicing!” John replied in a hoarse voice. These fans’ throats were damaged the quickest, because they would sing and shout throughout the entire 90 minutes without any rest. As a result, lozenges were their standard equipment.
“Practicing? This is not a singing competition! Are you guys intending to compete with West Bromwich’s people to see who sings better?”
“They can’t hold a candle to us,” Bill said in disdain. “We’re practicing how we should destroy those West Bromwich bastards! On the stands!” His words got the support of everyone else, and a wave of boorish laughter sounds could be heard from the North stands.
Tang En could not hold it in either, and laughed. These fans, who always knew when to love and when to hate, were really very adorable.
Fatso suddenly thought of a question and asked, “Tony, it’s half-time. What are you doing out here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the changing room?”
Tang En shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’ve said everything that I needed to, so I’m out here to take a walk.”
“Tony! What plans do you have after we get to Premier League?” This was probably what the fans were most concerned about.
“Who are you going to buy? Need my services as a football scout? My services are free; you don’t have to spend a single cent to get a world-class football scout! The only remuneration I require would be to let the players sign an autograph for me every day.”
“Enough of that, Steve. Stop bringing up those people from your games, I’m annoyed just from hearing about it!” John said as he picked at his ear, and the people around him started laughing.
“Actually, I think that that Rooney from Everton is really good! He will become a football superstar, Tony. Let’s buy him!”
“No, I like AC Milan’s Kaka! We should buy him!”
“Why not Beckham? Weren’t the papers talking about the possibility of him returning to England?”
The fans tried to give Tang En various ideas, despite the fact that the players they were recommending weren’t reliable. Tang En smiled and said, “Hey, hey, we’re still behind. It’s not confirmed that we can go to the Premier League.”
“No!” This time, all the fans stopped their heated debate and answered Tang En in unison. “We can definitely win! Those scoundrels from West Bromwich can’t stop us! Tony, are you hesitating? You don’t believe we can win?”
A few hundred pairs of eyes stared at him. From this, Tang En felt that they placed a lot of anticipation and trust in him. Michael….Weren’t you also like them in the past, watching my team and I from the stands? Gavin, what about you?
They looked at Tang En, but none of them dared to make a sound.
“Are you all waiting for my reply? That question is just too stupid,” Tang En said, shaking his head.
Before he managed to finish his sentence, the Nottingham Forest fans on the North stands said together on his behalf, “Of course we will win!”