Chapter 241: Read the Headline Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
During the halftime break, the players heard a roar that had not been heard for a long time. Twain, who was furious at the team's performance, screamed at them with his neck all flushed red. "When the score was at 3:1, you must be thinking to yourselves, 'What's there to be afraid of? We're still ahead by two goals!' When it was 3:2, were you still saying to yourselves, 'What are we afraid of? We're still ahead by one goal!' If we are neck-and-neck with them at 3:3 in the second half, what are you going to do? Am I mistaken or are you mistaken? This is the UEFA Europa League qualifier, not some f**king warm-up match! So, you'd better get your heads on straight, and be serious! If we lose to this team, then when we return, each one of you prepare a rope and be ready to hang yourselves!"
His words were a bit harsh, but what else could he do to make the group of heartless little bastards feel the crisis they were in? They had just defeated Chelsea, and they were already so elated that they had forgotten themselves. Where was their dignity as a powerful team?
The Forest team of the second half was very different from that of the first half. When looking at both teams' strength, Nottingham Forest was certainly stronger than Ostrava. Even factoring in the home ground advantage, the Forest team had no reason to take a tumble here.
The home team, Ostrava, seemed to have hopes of entering the UEFA Europa League after they had turned their total score around to 2:3. At the start of the second half, they launched a series of attacks on Forest's goal. However, this time, their offense could not breach the Forest team's penalty area as easily. Wood and Albertini erected an impenetrable wall in front of the center backs, especially Wood. His and Albertini's positions were not exactly parallel, but slightly misaligned. Albertini was slightly ahead, and Wood was more towards the rear. From this position, one could see their division of work on the field.
Albertini not only had to attack, he also had to organize the team's offense. Wood only needed to intercept his opponent's attacks behind Albertini. For George Wood, who was improving rapidly, this was not difficult to accomplish.
The Czechs soon discovered that the English team, which they had easily breached in the first half, was completely different. Their offense was totally ineffective, and their defense was in jeopardy at the same time.
At the 68th minute, Nicklas Bendtner, who was in the starting lineup for this game because he had scored a goal in the game with Chelsea, scored his second goal of the season. This time, it was not a header, but a vigorous volley after he had single-handedly broken through the opposing defenders.
The Forest team drew the total score to 4:2, but this clearly did not satisfy Twain, who continued to yell at the players on the field to score more and more goals.
Soon after replacing Eastwood, Crouch fulfilled Twain's demands. He utilized an unconventional header to widen the gap to 5:2, with two goals in the away match. Leading with a total score of 5:2, the Forest team had fully locked in their spot for the UEFA Europa League with twenty minutes left in the game.
Subsequently, Ostrava lost its fighting spirit, and Twain began to make back-to-back substitutions, allowing players who rarely had opportunities to appear in matches to familiarize themselves with the feeling of being in a tournament.
Aaron Lennon replaced Ashley Young, and Ribéry was replaced by Kris Commons next.
By the end of the game, the score of 2:2 had not changed, and Nottingham Forest had successfully won their entry to the UEFA Europa League.
However, Twain did not senselessly rush to the field to celebrate their victory. To him, getting into the UEFA Europa League was just the first step in a long journey. If he were to be beside himself with joy now, how was he supposed to tell his players to stay calm?
Therefore, when the game was over, he just turned and walked towards the home team's head coach to shake hands with him.
"Congratulations to you and your team. The team that performed better has won entry into the UEFA Europa League." Despite losing the game, the head coach of the other team still politely congratulated Twain.
"Thank you very much. Honestly, your team performed very well; we just had better luck this time." Twain said some polite words that he did not even believe, and a modest smile was plastered on his face. But after bidding farewell to the other man, he turned around and watched the players who were still exchanging jerseys with their opponents. He pumped his fists in front of his chest.
The UEFA Europa League! Although it was not as high profile as the UEFA Champions League, it was still a European tournament with many opportunities to encounter powerful European teams. Playing against these strong opponents was what Tang En was looking forward to the most.
Champion?
I'm not giddy yet. What is the goal of Nottingham Forest in Europe this season? To create a stir among those European powers!
Europe, here we come.
This time, it's real.
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The news that the Forest team had successfully broken into the UEFA Europa League was a matter of some interest to the English media, since this was an old football team returning to the public eye. But most media outlets were cautious about Nottingham Forest's prospects in the UEFA Europa League. They thought that the Forest team, which had been absent from the UEFA Europa League for a long time, would not be able to keep up their momentum. They even earnestly brought up the painful memory of the '95-96 season, in which the Forest team had lost to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Europa League quarter finals with a total score of 7:2, to support their views on the Forest team.
With regard to those suspicions, Twain chose to fight back in his column, but he did not write a lengthy rebuttal to make his case point-by-point. The latest issue of Twain's column attracted a lot of attention both because of his headline and his main body text.
The headline was: The UEFA Europa League is just the first step towards the UEFA Champions League title.
The full text of the article was only three words: Read the Headline.
The contract between Twain and the Evening Post stipulated that his fees were based on word count, so Twain would not receive a single cent for this article. However, it doubled the sales volume of the Evening Post, and all the readers fixated on its arrogance. They could almost imagine Twain saying those words with a condescending expression.
The next day, even Gary Lineker mentioned this matter in his online column and considered Twain's simple "Read the Headline" was the most ideal comeback, and that it was perfectly succinct.
Everyone was talking about Twain and the article. He might be the first manager to lead a newly promoted team and still proclaim to take the UEFA Champions League title.
Mourinho was arrogant because he had won the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Champions League, and the Portuguese league, which had led Porto to achieve a treble in a single season. He had the qualifications to be outrageous.
And Twain? What did he have to show other than a measly EFL Cup title? It was an eye-opener to see how a man with nothing could be so conceited.
More and more people were becoming interested in the Premier League's youngest manager.
When the Forest team was training the next day, there were more journalists around the training base than ever before, which surprised the club chairman, Evan Doughty, as drove up to the base.
While parking his car in the parking lot, he saw Twain, who was approaching after getting rid of the reporters pestering him, and quickly stopped him. "Tony, what's going on here?" he said, pointing to the gate.
Twain smiled and said, "Evan, don't you ever read the papers?"
"Of course, I do but what does this have to do with... Oh! I know!" Evan Doughty cracked up in laughter. "Is is because of 'Read the Headline'? That was good, I loved it!"
"Did you think I deliberately did that to refute the press?" asked Twain.
Evan shrugged. "I don't know about that."
"Evan, remember that time when we were planning the future with Allan in that Indian restaurant?" Twain glanced at the clear sky.
Evan nodded with a smile. "Of course I remember. How could I forget?"
"It's getting closer and closer," said Twain with certainty.