champion godfather

Chapter 7 A Drama in the Dressing Room
Des Walker was the last to enter the locker room. He had to ensure that all players went in ahead of him, and no one was left behind.But he was still taken aback when he walked into the locker room - Tony Twain was not here.The atmosphere in the locker room was chaotic, moaning, complaining to each other, and some people were even discussing how to leave this "hell forest" during the winter transfer period.Consecutive defeats and turbulent economic conditions have left the team distracted.No matter how you look at it, you can't connect the people here with professional players. If it were Forest fans who came to the door to see this scene, they would definitely be disappointed. I don't know how angry they will be?
Ian Bowyer sat in the corner like an outsider.There was an unknown fire in Walker's heart.The team performed so poorly, and even made very inappropriate remarks, but he, a veteran assistant coach, stood by and watched.Even if he didn't want Twain to become the acting head coach, he still had to put aside those personal grievances when he was working, right?Is it good for your own future if the team loses?

Just when he was about to go up to have a showdown with Bowyer, he heard a rush of footsteps coming from the corridor behind, and judging from the sound, there must be more than one person hurrying along...

He turned his head around strangely, and then saw the scene that made him open his mouth but couldn't close it.

A group of Forest team scarves around their necks and Forest team red jersey fans are rushing to the door of the locker room!Walker didn't count, but he glanced at it and saw that this group of people had already blocked the passage outside the locker room.

This...how is this going to happen?Who allowed them in?The locker room is an absolutely private place, and no one can set foot in it without permission... Security, where is the security? !

Just as he was about to open his mouth to stop this group of fans who seemed agitated, he was already pushed aside, and then he watched a large group of at least ten fans pour into the small locker room...

Just now he was worried about what the fans would think when they saw the atmosphere in the locker room, and now it has come true.

He was shut out and couldn't see what was going on inside.But he could hear that the changing room of the street tavern, which was so noisy just now, suddenly became quiet.

The awkward silence was broken by a deliberate footstep.Walker saw Twain walking slowly from the direction where the fans came from just now, looking at him, he seemed to be walking leisurely.No longer caring about worrying about what happened in the locker room, he quickly walked up to him, pulled Tang En aside, and asked him in a low voice, "Tony, those fans..."

"Well, I let them come in for a visit."

"You?!" Walker's eyes widened.

Tang En was very satisfied with the assistant's reaction, "Well, after I left the stadium, I stopped by the store in front of me to buy a pack of cigarettes. Then I heard them talking about the first half of the game, saying that they really wanted to give the group a salary. The bastards who didn't work got pumped up, so I let 'em come."

"Tony! Are you crazy? Do you know where this is? The locker room! Mr. Chairman won't break into the forbidden area without saying hello! Your head...your head is really..." Walker was really angry.

Tang En smiled: "Don't worry, Des. Come watch a good show with me here." He stopped Walker and prevented him from rushing into the locker room.Then the two heard a surprised voice from the direction of the locker room.

"You... who are you? How did you get in?" Old Bowyer's voice was trembling with some panic in his surprise.

You can't laugh at Bowyer's lack of mental quality. Anyone who sees a group of angry fans rushing into the locker room can't keep calm.After a short, abnormal silence, there was an outburst.

Leading a very fat and tall fan, he tore off the red scarf of the Forest team around his neck, and then slammed it on the face of forward Jack Lester, who performed very poorly in the first half.

"We worked hard to cheer you on in the stands, and you will repay us like this!" He roared loudly, shaking the audience. "We pay for tickets, ask you for autographs, admire you, support you... treat you as the heroes of this city. No matter how bad your grades are, we don't complain. But look at you now! How are you professional? Player? Who told you to leave just now? You can leave now! The Forest team doesn’t need such rubbish!”

"Let me tell you, we will continue to watch in the second half. We want to see how you bastards are humiliated by the people of East London! Anyway, it is not our face! Bah!" Spatted hard, the fat man turned and squeezed out In the locker room, other fans also tore off the scarves around their necks and threw them on the ground, then turned and walked out.

Watching a large group of people pass by him, Tang En was still interested in saying hello to them. "Nice job, guys."

It's a pity that no one paid attention to him, everyone hurriedly walked away with their heads down, and left the passage without saying a word.

Des Walker bowed his head too.He has just retired from the player position, and sometimes he can't separate the two completely different identities of assistant coach and player.Just now the fans angrily accused the players of not doing their best, and he felt as if he was also blaming himself as a coach for not taking responsibility.When he was a player, he had a good relationship with Forest fans. Even when he scored an own goal in the FA Cup final and caused the team to lose to Tottenham Hotspur, no fans blamed him.Now he felt as if those fans were pointing their noses and scolding him: "You are not worthy to lead the Forest team! You are not worthy to receive our respect!"

Just when he was blaming himself, Dunn patted him on the back suddenly: "Des, come with me." To be honest, Walker had lost the ability to think concretely at this time, and he just followed Tang En into a place mechanically. The dead locker room.What he saw next was still fresh in his memory when he was very, very old.

Tang En strode into the locker room, stood at the door and glanced at the crowd, then stopped his gaze on the scarf on the ground.It seemed that those fans were really angry, he shrugged in his heart.

Hearing the footsteps stop abruptly, everyone looked up and looked at the acting head coach who had returned from missing. No one could see the expression on his face because there was nothing there.But they knew that these fans must have been deliberately put in by him.No one can enter the locker room without the permission of the head coach.Now what is the coach going to say?
Many people still remember the last League One game, they fell behind by two goals before halftime.During the intermission, the head coach said something, but there was no way for everyone to remember it.Because his voice was too low to suppress the singing, booing and booing from outside.Anyway, everyone saw him scratching around on the tactical board, but they had no clue.In this way, they finally lost a 0:3, the same score as today's first half.

Tang En didn't open his mouth to speak. He lowered his head and picked up the team scarf abandoned by the fans, dusted off the dust, and handed it all to Walker standing behind him.Then he looked up at the team.

"Jack Leicester, Marlon Halewood, Matthew Louis-Jean." He spoke slowly, calling out the names of the players who performed poorly in the first half, "Gareth Williams, Eugen Pope, Andy Reed, Darren Ward. Now I have a very serious question for you...did you all go out with a group of whores last night?"

Everyone didn't expect their head coach to ask such a question, they all stared at him with their mouths wide open, not knowing how to answer.

"Answer me, yes, or no?!" Tang En suddenly raised his voice and shouted, everyone in the locker room was frightened by him.No one dared to speak out to answer.

"It's the first time I hate the makers of football rules so much. If it was stipulated that eleven players could be replaced in an official game, I would replace all of you now!" Dunn waved his arms excitedly, unlike the previous gloomy The Tony Twain is a different person. "Your performance is shit... Wrong, not shit, ten pieces of shit! Those fans are the ones I asked them to come, because they said they wanted to cheer you up, work hard in the second half, and still have a chance, behind three A ball is no big deal...but!"

Dunn paused, then sighed, "But you let them down. Excited, what kind of team did they see? I was wrong again, you can still be called a 'team' 'Really? You are one, two, three, four... fourteen pieces of shit!" Tang En compared one with his left hand and four with his right. "Let me tell you, if I wasn't the coach of this team, I would really like to do this to you now..." He retracted his left hand, and retracted three of the four fingers of his right hand, leaving only one middle finger standing upright rise. "There are [-] middle fingers like this on the stands outside!"

None of the players expected that Coach Tony Twain would yell at him when he opened his mouth. His words were vicious, clear, and emotional, completely subverting the impression of this person in their hearts.Dumbfounded by Tang En's scolding, they sat blankly in their seats, not knowing what to say.

On the way to the locker room, Evan Dougherty was still trying to persuade his father to give up the idea of ​​taking him to meet the team. "During such a precious halftime break, Manager Twain must be very busy. The team and he probably don't have time to meet with us. I think it's better to forget it."

"Just to meet and say hello. We'll leave after we're done. It won't take more than half a minute." Nigel continued to insist on his own opinion.Evan shrugged, shaking his head slightly behind his father.

Just when the two reached the fork in the locker room, a group of people rushed out from the corner, startling them.Evan hurriedly stretched out his hand to grab his father, he was afraid of bumping into this group of people.My old father can't stand any troubles.

"What's going on here?" Nigel realized that the group of people passing by him came from the direction of the locker room. He looked there strangely and said to himself.

Passing through the group of people, the two came to the door of the locker room.Nigel looked back at his son, saw his tie was loose, and told him to tie it: "Evan, remember. The locker room is a sacred place, and we have to maintain our image."

Seeing that his son was still obedient, he nodded in satisfaction, then turned around to knock on the door.As soon as he put his hand on the door, he heard Tony Twain's roar coming from inside.

"Twenty-seven thousand middle fingers! As lush as Sherwood Forest!"

After a short rest, I took the opportunity to observe the expressions of the players.Dunn continued: "I know that some people in this team want to leave. For some people, the Forest team is just a big cash machine. No matter how well they perform, their monthly salary is still paid. But I Mind you idiots, no club pays for shit and if you continue to act like shit, you don't expect anyone to pay for it! I won't stop you from leaving, I I will not retain those who are not here. But you must understand that your future is not with me, it depends on your own performance! Who do you think you are playing for? Fans? Club president? Or I don’t know When will the acting head coach be dismissed? Idiots, you are playing for yourself!!"

Many people looked at Tang En with different expressions, including surprise, excitement, and thinking.Tang En knew that this psychological attack was successful. At this time, it is useless to talk about team honors with those who are determined to leave.Let's just talk about what they care about most-the future of each person.Guaranteed to point directly to the heart, so that those who are still absent-minded must pay attention to what he has to say.

As for the other people...

Dunn took out a folded scarf from Walker, shook it out, and held it up in front of everyone.

"What does a scarf with the badge and name of your favorite team mean to fans? If someone doesn't understand, I can call the group back and explain to you. You think they are because of God. Is it only around the neck when it's cold? Des."

Walker heard Tang En calling him, and quickly stood up.

"Look at the scarf on your hand, does it look familiar?"

After being reminded by Tang En, he realized that the scarves in his hands were different in style, size, pattern, and color, and they were not the same scarf.

"Des, what year is the one I have?" Tang En asked without looking back.

Walker looked at it carefully for a while, and then replied with certainty: "The 91-92 season."

"Very good." Then Dunn pulled out one by one from Walker's hand and asked, and Walker answered one by one, which was completely correct.This surprised Ian Bowyer next to him. Even an old team player and coach like him couldn't accurately report the year when each scarf style was launched.

"The last one." Tang En picked up the last narrow scarf. Compared with the others, this scarf was very old, the color was dull and faded, and there were traces of fraying on the edges.This time, he didn't hear the sound for a long time, and he looked back at Walker strangely, only to find that Walker's eyes staring at the scarf were a little strange.

"Des?"

"I'm sorry... this, this is the 79-80 season model, the one that appeared at the Bernabeu when the Forest team defended the European Champions Cup!" Des Walker said emotionally.This scarf reminded him of the former glory of the Forest team.Although he is a Londoner, although he joined the team in 1983, the most glorious period of the Forest team, he played for the Forest team twice for a total of 12 years and played 320 games for the Forest team. Became a complete Forest fan, a Nottingham native.

Hearing Walker report the origin of this tattered scarf, many people in the locker room took a breath.The European Champions Cup, many people here are honors that they dare not even think about, but the ball emblem on their chests has been in close contact with the Big Ears Cup twice. Although this club is now in decline, it has been twice in a row before. Recipient of the highest honor in European clubs.

Twain didn't expect that he was so lucky. Among the scarves thrown down by the fans, there was such an old antique. I don't know which over-excited fan threw it. Will he feel regretful when he calms down?In the eyes of ordinary people, this scarf is no different from a broken rag, but in the hearts of die-hard Forest fans, it is priceless!

He couldn't help but carefully looked at the scarf in his hand, as if he could see history from this worn-out scarf.The cheers above the Bernabéu stadium are endless, and the sparkling silver trophy is illuminated by the fireworks. That is the dream of many people...

He stabilized his mind.Then look at the players again, the situation is different from before.

Michael Dawson is an authentic Nottingham Forester, and he knows all about the past glory of the Forest team.When I saw this scarf, I couldn't help myself with excitement.He stood up abruptly: "Boss, boss..."

"What are you doing?" Dunn didn't understand what he was going to do.

"Can, can I touch that scarf?" Dawson stretched out his finger to the scarf in Tang En's hand.

Tang En handed over the scarf, and Dawson took it with both hands solemnly, then pulled it away and held it above his head, as if he was holding the European Champions Cup.The bright white light shot down through the scarf and shone on his eyes, but he didn't look away from the scarf, and said to himself with a trembling voice: "I came to the city with my father when I was four years old. Watching football in the stadium, just learn how they pull up their scarves and shout 'Forest!' 'Forest!' Dreaming that I can play for the Forest team when I grow up, and win for thousands of people like my father in the stands. Contest."

The locker room was quiet, everyone's eyes were on the scarf in Dawson's hand, and even the two people outside the door were listening.

"When I was a child, if I asked my father to tell me stories, he would always tell the story of the Forest team winning two European Champions Cups and 42 consecutive unbeaten games, but I would never tire of hearing them. Whenever I talked about those two championships Cup final, he would imitate the commentator on the radio and shout: 'Trevor Francis!' 'John Robertson!' 'Forest is the champions, the European champions!'" Dawson sighed, "This A scarf is older than my age. But when I finally got into the forest youth team as I wished when I was ten years old, the forest team was relegated..."

Dawson's narration seemed to make Des Walker a little emotional.He did not experience the sad moment of the Forest team's relegation, but he experienced the last glory of the Forest team. He still remembers his scenes in the city stadium. He even remembers that because he scored an own goal, coach Clough The dream of winning the FA Cup came to naught when he faced the godfather coach Brian Clough and cried into tears.

He and Stuart Pierce formed the England national team level defense, impenetrable.At that time their team was full of talented players, Franz Carr, Neil Webber, Ian Bowyer, Nigel Clough, John Robertson, Steve Stone, Teddy Sheringham, Roy Keane... They are fearless together, even Liverpool, which has won five European Champions Cups, will feel trembling in front of them.

Also touched was a man with white hair hiding in a corner.

"...I don't know how long the Forest team stayed in the first division, I didn't count. Every year before the new season starts, they say we should not stay in the first division, we should go to the Super League. But at the end of the season we are still in the first division. Many people lost confidence and left because of one reason or another. I also know that after this season, some people will definitely leave, and then we will wait for a new batch of teammates to start a new season. Our Teammates have changed one after another, and the coach has changed. The only thing that remains unchanged is that we are still in the first division. I really want to play in the Super League. I think as long as we are given a chance, we can also prove that we can play Super League!" Having said this, Dawson's tone became more serious, and his emotions became a little agitated. "I can't wait for next season or something like that, I just want to prove that we can play in the Premier League too! Isn't West Ham a super team? Playing against them can also be counted as playing in the Premier League. Right? Let’s just think so! Beating them proves that our strength is indeed qualified for the Super League! I beg everyone, help me once and let me play a Super League game!"

Looking at the light radiating from this 19-year-old boy's face, Tang En suddenly felt how correct his idea of ​​making him the captain was.Is there anyone more suitable than him?There is no need to talk about the preparations that I have to do later, this kid has done a lot better than me, a crappy actor.

He raised his arm and said loudly: "Now I have a way to save the situation in the second half. But I need people who really want to play and want to play to implement this plan. I don't need sleepwalkers who haven't woken up, and think The cowards we have already lost. What I need are fighters, fighters who can abandon everything for victory at the critical moment! Which of you is willing to be such a person? Stand up!"

Crash, everyone in the locker room stood up at the same time.

Tang En smiled: "Very good, soldiers."

Two people listening outside the door.Nigel Dougherty whispered his son's name: "Evan."

"I am here, Father."

"You're right, this is really not the right time for us to go in and say hello to them. Let's go, I will find another time to arrange for you to meet those soldiers." After speaking, he turned around and walked back slowly.

Evan looked back at the door of the locker room, and followed his father closely.

In the locker room at this very moment, Tang En was trying to tell the players the tactics for the second half in the last minute.He didn't have time for self-effacement or small talk, with less than five minutes left in the intermission.This is what Walker reminded him to know.At this moment, he naturally didn't have the time to lament that his fate just took a big turn out of thin air. Four days ago, he was an ordinary Chinese man who was unknown and dawdling. Four days later, he could be in the dressing room of a professional team. Seeing such a good show in the room, I even explained tactics to a group of professional players.

On the tactical board, he quickly sketched the West Ham line-up, which he himself observed from the first half of the game.

"The core of the West Ham United team is their captain Joe Cole. They have a number of high-level players. The team seems to be playing beautifully, but there is a big hidden danger. We won 3:0 in the first half, and we are a first-tier team, one level lower than them. For West Ham, the most important thing at this time The game is no longer the third round of the FA Cup with us. It is the third round of the No.20 Premier League game where they play Newcastle at home. Do you understand what I mean?" Dunn raised his head and asked, listening to himself The players in the team slowly worked hard, and it is not good to instill too many things in one breath.

The players may still be confused, but the two assistant coaches understand it in their hearts.

Although the season is only halfway through, West Ham United's relegation situation is already very serious.Qualifications to stay in the Premier League are far more important than an FA Cup.In the case of a three-goal lead, the opponent will definitely have reservations, whether it is tactics or player performance, and in addition...they will definitely underestimate the enemy.In contrast, what advantage does the Forest team have?Although the team's recent performance has been unsatisfactory, there is no worry of relegation. They can devote all their energy to this second half, fully committed and absent-minded. This result is much worse...

Sure enough, Tang En's next words confirmed their speculation.

"West Ham United will definitely not be able to maintain the concentration and excellent state of the first half in the next 45 minutes. We will take advantage of this and catch them by surprise! In addition, West Ham's cooperation with delicate feet Coordination is the main thing, we don't play skills with them. I ask each of you... Attention, everyone, from the striker to the goalkeeper, must faithfully implement my next tactic - make the kicking action more rough , move bigger. If Joe Cole gets the ball, go up close to press, and move harder! I don’t care about your fouls, as long as it’s not in our own penalty area, it’s up to you, if you can get one or two of their people down It’s even more perfect! Remember, you must be fierce and ruthless! This is not a football game, this is war! You should go all out to grab those balls that both sides have half the chance! Don’t worry that you will get hurt because of this, the other party will definitely give up This kind of ball is our chance! If we want to reverse the situation on the court, we must make more use of this kind of body collision. When the opponent is afraid, it is the time for us to turn defeat into victory!"

"Let me tell you about the relationship between West Ham and us. They are those aristocrats who are high above, feasting all day long, eating and drinking, and what are we? We are the Robin Hood who overthrew these aristocratic lords! We have nothing , we don't have to worry about losing anything. On the contrary, they are the ones who should be afraid of losing. This is Nottingham, surrounded by the dense Sherwood Forest, this is the place we know best, our territory! In the forest, the thieves Never come back empty handed. Get one point back and we're two points away from them. Two points back and one point away...four points and we win!!"

Tang En clenched his fist and slammed it hard on the tactical board.

(End of this chapter)