Chapter 223: Victory Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Following China's convention of dividing the English Premier League into factions, Tony Twain and Stuart Pearce would both belong in the same trench. This was because the two were Brian Clough's students and successors; thus, they were from "Clough's faction."
Stuart Pearce was known as a tough guy within English football. He even received a nickname, "Crazy," for his tough style and character. The moniker followed him almost through his entire career. England's media once described him as a person with a "heart of Oak," Oak being famed for its toughness.
Why was it necessary to discuss Pearce during a match with Man City?
Although Man City's manager was still Kevin Keegan at the time, Tang En knew that Keegan would step down with his assistant manager taking over after the current year. That would be Stuart Pearce, who Keegan thought highly of. It was not just Tang En who took notice of Pearce; the Nottingham media was also very interested in him.
That was because Pearce used to be, and still was, a god in the heart of Nottingham Forest's fans. In his 12 years with Forest, he was fielded 522 times and scored 88 goals. As a Left Back, those were terrifying statistics.
The current Forest team under Tony Twain did not yet have a player who wielded the same influence and status with Forest's fans. That could only be attained with time and loyalty. When Forest team had fallen into First Division in 1992, Keane and other members had left the team. Stuart Pearce alone had chosen to stay. At that time, Manchester United and other big teams were keen on poaching him, but he turned down their invitations. Instead, after a season, the legend of a Captain had led the Forest team to fight their way back into the Premier League. His story was comparable to Gabriel Batistuta's experience in Fiorentina; however, Pearce was not as internationally well-known as Batistuta was.
Tang En had once met with Pearce at Burns' bar. It was in the earlier half of the year, at the dinner commemorating Forest's clinch of the European Champion Clubs' Cup 25 years previous. The two had only chatted briefly when they met, but Tang En had a rough grasp of what Pearce was like as a person. Even during a casual chat whilst drinking, Pearce's gaze was steady, with very few moments of uncertainty. When he spoke to someone, he looked straight at the person without drifting to look at the ceiling or his toes. Although they had not interacted much, Tang En had a positive impression of him. It was probably because of his sincere attitude.
This was not Pearce's first match back in City Ground since his departure from Forest. When he had still been a player on Man City, his team had dropped into First Division (now the EFL), and he played with the away team in City Ground against Nottingham Forest, who had also fallen. Before the start of the match, Pearce had stood at the sidelines and bowed to the fans of Forest in the spectators' stand. Despite his merciless defense against Forest's players, he still received the most applause from the fans of the home team.
Four years had passed. Pearce was once again stepping onto the turf of City Ground. But this time, he had changed out his football jersey for a suit.
The match had not yet begun, and players from both teams were taking pictures on the sidelines. Tang En stood in the technical area and watched the media, who were all gathered at the manager's seat of the away team. Their focus was on a sole person; not manager Kevin Keegan, but Stuart Pearce, who was sitting beside him.
The Forest fans in the spectators' stand held a large poster saying, "Welcome home, Crazy!"
As an opponent, this was the best welcome one could receive. Nothing could be better.
Tang En's attention was completely captured by the scene. He did not know if he would be working for Forest for his entire life. Maybe not. Who could know about their future? But if he did leave the team and return once again as an opponent, would he see a poster like that one, "Welcome home, Tony?"
This did not look like a blood-thirsty league match, but rather someone's commemoration match upon their return.
Bursts of cheers sounded from the spectators' stand for Pearce. Faced with such passionate fans from Forest, Pearce had no choice but to walk out from Man City's technical area to the foot of the stands where the fans were most concentrated. He bowed and waved to them, receiving even louder cheers and applause.
Even Fat John and Skinny Bill, who were Tang En's supporters, stood right at the front of the crowd, applauding Pearce with tears in their eyes. Looking at him reminded them of the old times; when they, together with Michael, were full of excitement for football. When they had drank with a vengeance, and when they were all still very young. Back then, they had had no duties as husbands and had not needed to worry about football hooligans hurting their own children.
Pearce walked from the technical area for the away team towards the home team manager's seat, all the while waving to greet his fans. Just like them, this place held his most precious memories. His eyes filled with tears; he had not expected to receive such a welcome on his return. It was a rare moment of tenderness before the match.
After he finished greeting his fans, Pearce turned and saw Tang En beside him. He walked over and reached out a hand. Since the two of them were acquaintances, Tang En did not reject the offer. They shook hands without a word. After, Pearce returned to Man City's technical area and sat next to Keegan. Tang En noticed Keegan turning to say something to Pearce, but he was too far to hear anything.
The interaction between Pearce and his fans was a small interlude before the beginning of the match. Once the match officially kicked off, Forest's fans were not going to give their applause to Man City simply because Pearce retired there. Just like Tony Twain, Forest's fans knew who to love and who to hate.
In China, Man City's fame as a team was not at all inferior to that of historically powerful teams in the Premier League. Even though not many of the fans from China understood the team's history or current status, many were familiar with its name because Chinese player Sun Ji Hai was playing for them.
It was also because of Sun Ji Hai that Tang En had had some understanding of the team. Of course, he understood even more now that he was here; not merely out of interest, but because he needed to better understand future opponents.
As usual, one had to look at the manager to understand a team. By Tang En's measure, Kevin Keegan was not a successful manager. Perhaps fans of Newcastle and those who liked Keegan would disagree with such an appraisal, but Tang En was insistent. What was a "successful manager?" Could a manager who was unable to lead a team to glory be considered successful?
Other than the manager, whose name he was familiar with, Tang En also knew a few of Man City's players, such as season starter Forward Robbie Fowler; Right Midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips; Full Back Danny Mills, who was part of England's main force in 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan; Trevor Sinclair, who was also England's national player in the 2002 FIFA and who was notorious for his involvement in the rape case with 8 Premier League players; England's national Goalkeeper David James; Steve McManaman, who had played for Liverpool and Real Madrid; and Forward Nicolas Anelka, who played for France and other renowned powerhouses. Just hearing those names was enough to frighten off most people.
And of course, there was also Chinese player Sun Ji Hai, whom Tang En was most familiar with. He was also part of the starting line-up for Man City.
Since the beginning of the season, Man City had only gotten one win, one draw, and two losses. For Man City, who owned the aforementioned big names, ranking 10th was not something that could be cheerfully accepted. According to rumours, the club was already primed for action with plans to get Strachan, ex-manager of Southampton, to take over for Keegan. From Tang En's understanding, Keegan would turn in his resignation in only in April of the second year. However, he could not deny that a victory over Man City would turn out to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
In the previous season, Man City's weak defensive line caused them lots of misery. Because of that experience, Keegan put in a dedicated effort to change the defensive line, with Dunne and Distin as key players. However, the performance of the two was unstable, and fluctuated between good and bad. Defensively, Sun Ji Hai also performed comparatively worse than he did in offense. On top of it all, their main midfielder, Barton, got injured and could not participate in matches. Altogether, it seemed like anything that could go wrong was.
Tang En carried out a detailed analysis of Man City – the team's defense remained its greatest loophole. On the other hand, their offense capabilities did not have to be explained. Anelka himself had already scored three goals in the four rounds, while Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was once considered a futureless player on Nottingham Forest's Youth Team, had a tight hold on a main position in the team as Right Midfielder. He was currently being eyed by several well-known teams. In addition was "God" Robbie Fowler, with his extensive experience, and McManaman, who had been partnering Fowler since Liverpool. That attack formation, just in terms of their reputation, would completely crush Forest.
After their ferocious battle in the round with Arsenal, Tang En believed that the Premier League teams would start paying more attention to Forest. Unfortunately, that also meant that Keegan was unlikely to take Forest lightly on their home ground or somehow underestimate them. Tang En's tactic for the match involved clamping down on Anelka and Fowler during defense and using attacks from Forest's wings to suppress Wright-Phillips and McManaman. Scoring would be a crucial factor in the match. Since Keegan was so attentive to Man City's weak defensive line, Tang En intended to help him further firm up his dedication of working on the defensive line.