Chapter 242: The Unstable Forest Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With October coming, there were more national team matches and the schedule for the English Premier League seemed somewhat messy. On October 3, Forest team would host a match against Bolton Wanderers F.C. After a 13-day rest, on October 16, they would challenge Norwich City in an away match. Thereafter, the schedule would suddenly tighten up with the first group stage match of the UEFA Europa League on the 21, an away match with Crystal Palace on the 24, and a challenge up north against Newcastle on the 30.
The draw for the UEFA Europa League group stage had also just been announced. Nottingham Forest was placed in Group E with AS Egaleo Aigaleo Athens from Greece, Lazio from Italy, Villarreal from Spain, and Partizan Belgrade from Serbia and Montenegro.
Taking into consideration the congestion of matches in the latter half, Tang En decided to focus on training up their physical reserves in the earlier part of the month. Now that the team's basic strategy had been formed and the players had gotten used to each other, Tang En did not need to worry about much.
On October 3, Nottingham Forest would host a match against Bolton Wanderers F.C. To Tang En, that opponent was not a stranger at all; they had met in the previous season of the EFL Cup. That time, Tang En's team had kicked Bolton Wanderers F.C. out of the final match. This time, it was only within reason that Forest, who was on their home ground and boosted greatly in their ability, would win.
And with a score of 2:1, Forest took two straight wins.
The league proceeded to its eighth round. With their results of three wins, four draws, and one loss, the newly-promoted Nottingham Forest accumulated 13 points to rank sixth in the League! This was astonishing for a team that had just been promoted. Even if the league was only beginning and the final results were hard to predict, it was astounding enough for Forest to be able to break into the top six.
Looking at the results Forest team had had and going back to flip through the article written by Tony on Nottingham Evening Post titled "Read the headline," some people began to think that the young man's arrogance was perhaps not unfounded.
As a result, not only did the media praise Tony, they praised Forest team to the skies as well.
Thirteen days later, the well-prepared Forest team unexpectedly failed to take down Norwich City, whose abilities were weaker than Forest's despite being on home ground. They came to a draw of 0:0. After the match ended, neither manager had the intention of making nice with a handshake. While the home team manager groused about not getting a victory on their home ground or accumulating more points for the team, Tang En was extremely annoyed that they fought such an opponent to only a draw.
If you had not harbored too much hope for the current Forest team, it would surely give you a great surprise, making you want to shower them with praise. But when you did so, you would quickly begin to regret it because their performance would then infuriate you to boiling point.
Take this match as an example. Norwich City's abilities were inferior to Nottingham Forest's; yet their performance in the field was completely reversed, with Forest's players being listless and showing an apparent lack of interest in the match. They could not seem to get in gear and into match conditions. No matter what Tang En did during halftime, it was to no avail.
By the time it got to the final portion of the second half, Tang En simply sat in his manager's seat with crossed legs and watched the match mutely.
Under such conditions, it was only Forest's luck that they did not lose a ball.
But there was no time now for Tang En to work on that. Four days later, the team would be flying to Greece and fighting their first match on the UEFA Europa League group stage.
They had to win the match. In the group, the weakest was the team from Greece. If Nottingham Forest wanted to advance, they had to get the full six points from both home and away matches and create some maneuvering space for themselves in the latter part of the competition.
Tang En's brows started to tighten as he looked around the plane at the players who were filled with yearning for the UEFA Europa League.
Would being overly optimistic about their future bring about terrible consequences? It seemed that his arrogance had already started affecting the young players.
As the manager of the team, he could not always tout the strength of their opponents merely to gain their attention. That would affect the team's confidence and make the players feel as if the manager himself had little confidence in attaining a victory.
Tang En sat at his seat and dug out the match schedule. After scrutinizing the arrangements for the next stretch, he decided to wait and observe.
They would win what they could for the matches. What came after could be considered later. Thinking too much right now would only cause hesitation, and they would not be able to move forward. They were a newly-promoted team; they did not have the right to plan which opponents they could lose to and which they could not. To them, their mission was simple: to do their best to get points. Before they tired out and were completely analyzed by their opponents, they had to accumulate enough points to safely touch base. During the second half of the League, they could then afford to put in more effort in charting the next season instead of having to labor at keeping their position.
Following their ascent into the league, the problems plaguing the team were many: the players' attitudes, their physical fitness, health or injuries, personnel issues, and scouts' recruitment assessments. Additionally, the player data/statistics system that Allan had gotten the old American to build for them still could not meet Tang En's expectations after he had used it for the recent months. He decided to give up entirely on using the program from that company but had no inkling of which other company he could approach to write the new program. Naturally, those things fell to him to consider. After all, he knew more than Allan about such professional matters. But at that point, he could not afford to care about those things. The team's first season with the English Premier League was his first too. Everything had to be slowly figured out.
His head started to ache just from thinking about those cumbersome matters. After all, reality was no game. Here in the real world, although some things could be neglected, anything could come back with terrifying consequences.
Tang En laid his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
He really needed every bit of opportunity to properly rest. A few days ago, when he was video-calling Shania online, the girl had made a big fuss about how Uncle Tony was pale-faced, must not be physically or mentally well, and so on. Tang En told her that it must be the lighting effect that came with the camera that caused the target being filmed to appear pale. But he knew the truth; ever since he had taken on his position as Forest's manager, stress had been a constant companion and would continue to be, unless he left his post and quit being a manager.
Speaking of which, star players like Beckham buy insurance for their bodies. Why don't managers insure their hearts?
Thinking about such nonsensical matters, Tang En gradually fell asleep.
※※※
Nottingham Forest's performance completely fulfilled the expectations Tang En had had in his heart. They did not make any targeted arrangements just because this was their first official opponent in the UEFA Europa League; there were no special changes to their tactics. However, Forest team's performance was a world of difference from their performance in the previous match. Just a match before, they had almost lost to Norwich City on Forest's home ground. But today, they won 3:1 for their first group match in the UEFA Europa League in a location even more alien to them: Greece.
Tang En stood outside the technical area for the away team in Dimotiko Stadium. He looked at the field with both hands in his pockets. There were still five minutes before the match ended, but Forest team had already cemented their victory.
This match was completely different from the match with Norwich City. The entire Forest team was extremely energetic that day; their movements, passing and receiving, efficiency at offense, and accuracy in shots were more than a mere level above their performance from a few days ago.
Maybe it was because the UEFA Europa League excited them.
But there was no way to always keep them excited. A crest could not possibly be maintained; if it could, it would not be called a crest.
Tang En scratched his head and turned to see David's beaming face. With such results, the assistant coach had nothing to complain about. For a team that had been struggling to keep their position in the First Division just a year ago, it was a rather huge leap for them to attain victory in the UEFA Europa League just a year later.
"Congratulations, Tony. We won again."
"What is there to celebrate about this?" Tony waved his hands. "Wait until we get a bigger victory, like…"
He got stuck there and did not know how to continue. UEFA Europa League Champions? It seemed a little too difficult… or how about to beat Lazio in the group matches? That sounded a bit too small-minded.
"Such as being champions in the UEFA Champions League?" Kerslake was surprisingly bolder than Tang En and directly stated his final goal.
Tang En looked questioningly at his assistant coach, who had more confidence than he did. Could this all be because of his "Read the headline" column article?
"Ah… Of course. If we could take that championship, it wouldn't even matter how we celebrated it. But we still have a long way to go."
He turned his head back to look at the main team, who looked listless.
There was no real thrill in beating such an opponent.
It still took defeating a manager like Mourinho for the thrill to come in like a high tide, wild and stormy.
※※※
After Forest had brought three points back to the UK, there was no time for Tang En or his players to breathe. Without returning to Nottingham, immediately after disembarking the plane from Heathrow Airport in London, they had to travel to Crystal Palace in southern London to prepare for the league match in two days.
After much consideration of factors such as the exhausting travel, battling an away match, and that the next league match would be another away challenge against Newcastle—a difficult team to deal with—Tang En decided to field more substitute players in the current match to allow the main players an opportunity to rest.
However, the result of the match was again beyond Tang En's expectations.