Chapter 25 The Legend of Ageless

"It seems that the media is interested in your style and popularity." David Chris Lack, Donn's assistant coach, is flipping through the newspapers. Recently, he likes to read articles about Donn in these newspapers, because the spicy articles that reporters make their best jokes always make him laugh and have a happy day.

"No one mentioned the results when talking about you." After reading all the newspapers, Chris Lack folded the newspapers and put them aside. Looking at Donn opposite him.

Tony Donn is re-examining the desk in front of him.

It was exactly the same as when he came to this club fifteen years ago, and it had never changed. The dark red solid wood desk exuded an older atmosphere from the inside to the outside.

He placed his hands on the table and gently stroked them back and forth. Feeling every tiny bulge and scratch on the table.

The table is now empty, and there is nothing else except an LCD computer monitor. Freddy Eastwood has taken away all his personal belongings, and the information reports are neatly coded in the bookcase next to it.

"Isn't that good? This way we won't be under such pressure." Tang En lowered his head and rubbed the table, answering.

"I thought you would be furious because you were despised by the media."

"I'm not a brainless person, David. This kind of suspicion about grades is useless, you have to beat them with grades." Finally, after touching every inch of the table, Tang En sat down on the chair.

"They love to hype my personal style, that's right. I wish no one cares about the team in Nottingham Forest now. Talk about the team, David."

Hearing Donn say this, Chris Lack also put away the smile on his face. A thick notebook spread out on his knees.

"There are twenty-six people in the first team now. Goalkeepers Vincenzo Fiorillo, Mark Howard (mark_howwww.piaotian.com_shawww.piaotian.comsen), Jan Wadenhen (jan_vertonghen), Joe Mattock (joe_mattock), Nicolas nicolas nkoulou, Jack Cook (jack_cork), Needum _onuoha, Carl Dickinson. The midfielder is George Wood (george_www.piaotian.coman). do_gago), Stephen Ireland, Chris Cohen, Alex_teixeira, Georginio_wijnaldum, Kieran Gibbs. Forwards Aaron Mitchell, Gabriel Abbonlahor, Mario Balotelli, Matt Derbyshire, Stephen Fletcher.

When Chris Lack was reading this list, Don't frown always frowned. Although he knew all these names and could match the names with his face, these names now make him feel strange. This sense of strangeness is caused by his lack of knowledge about these players.

Tang En's so-called understanding is definitely not as simple as knowing what they are called, where they play, and how they have recently recorded their performance. His understanding is all-round, and he even needs to know what players like to eat and what they like to do before the game...

"Actually, most of these players have good strength..." Chris Lak added after reading. "Goalist Fiorilo is Italy's substitute national goal. He was called 'Buffon Jr.' when he debuted. Yen Kuru is Cameroon's main defender Sacco is the main central defender of France, and Jorgensen is also a regular visitor of the Denmark national team. Vodenhen is a main player of Belgium and can play in multiple positions in the backcourt. Anoha was also under your command.

Playing in national team competitions. Gibbs is an excellent player trained by Arsenal and has been selected by you in England. Ireland is the main midfielder of the Irish national team. Although Teixeira has not been selected for the Brazilian national team, his strength is obvious to all. Vienadum is the main player of the Dutch national team. Derby Sher has also played under your hands, and Fletcher is the main shooter of the Scottish team... But they are so bad together."

Tang En laughed: "The football match is not something that can be won by eleven Maradona together. Some of these people may not be suitable for Nottingham Forest, while others lack fighting spirit. Some people just want to leave, and some are old and have frequent injuries. How can such a team achieve good results?"

After hearing what Don said, Chris Lack also felt that the team had no future.

"Let's talk about your observation results. David."

"Uh...I think there is no problem with the main lineup of Freddy's roster. This is the strongest lineup that the Forest can produce. I think the reason for the team's poor performance is not the players, but the skills and tactics..."

After listening to Chris Lack's analysis patiently, Donn pondered for a while before shook his head and said, "Technology and tactics are certainly one reason, but the root of the problem lies with the players. No matter how well the tactics are arranged, if the players do not implement them, there is no way. But this problem cannot be urgent... Let's talk about tactics. McCaulist's approach to let Wood play the front midfielder is not advisable, and it is not feasible to let the two sides lean towards the middle. To be honest, I think the team has forgotten what the tradition of the Forest team is. "

Tang En talked freely, as if he had not just taken over the team, but had been teaching in the team for a long time.

The Forest team has frequently changed head coaches in recent years. It has been less than four and a half seasons since seven head coaches. The direct consequence of doing this is that the tactical thinking is chaotic, the players are at a loss, and in the end they are simply discomfort. In the game, they still play according to their own habits and style, which is also the reason why the team's performance is getting worse and worse.

Of course Tang En knew this. If he wanted the team to return to the peak, it would be absolutely impossible to rely on more than half a season alone. Since he had decided to let Tang inherit his career, what he had to do now is just a transition. He could not determine the development route of Nottingham Forest in his office in the next ten years. That is not what he should do. His work is actually very simple - no matter what method is used to help the team recover its combat effectiveness in a short period of time. This ensures that he can stay in the Premier League next season, just as he told Tang: "A bigger stage."

And this is exactly what Tang En is best at.

Isn’t it just to lead the team to win? I have been doing this for fifteen years.

"No front midfielder is set; restore the side offense; two forwards cannot stand in parallel. One front and one back are staggered, the two forwards must actively retreat and connect the midfield; stabilize the defense... Our recent work must start from defense. In order to stop the team's declining performance and restore the low morale, not concealing the ball and not losing the ball are the first factors."

Chris Lack nodded and agreed with Donn's opinion. After losing continuously, what should be considered is not whether the attack power is strong, but whether his own defense is stable. Defense is the basis of victory, and defense is also the source of offense. Not to focus on defense but to ask the team to strengthen the offense. It is an act of putting the cart before the horse.

"The staff arrangements are above..." He asked a very critical question. Can Tang En still be seen by players who were able to play in the team in the past? If the starting lineup is to be adjusted, it will inevitably touch the interests of some people. How can the atmosphere in the team's locker room be guaranteed?

"Look at the training status." Don Eun replied simply. Then he thought that Chris Lack was actually worried about the locker room, so he asked, "Isn't George the leader in the locker room?"

"The local players are obeyed by him, foreign players... In fact, the locker room is mainly divided into several factions." Speaking of this, Chris Lack was a little embarrassed. This kind of thing was never before in Tang En's coaching period, and it was absolutely impossible to happen.

"Local Gang and Foreign Gang?" Tang En was not surprised by this. He didn't feel embarrassed when talking about it - it didn't happen under his rule anyway.

Chris Lack nodded, unwilling to say more.

Tang En grinned, not knowing whether it was laughing or expressing helplessness.

"Interesting." He muttered, pinching his chin.

Then he sat in the chair without saying a word for a while. After about ten minutes, when Chris Lack was a little bored, he raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and then stood up.

"Let's go, David. I think the players should have arrived, right?"

"The boss is coming back!" In the locker room, Joe Matok excitedly announced the news that was definitely not news. "I can't believe that I can wait for this day!"

But not many people were interested in his topic. On the one hand, the news that Tang En is coming back was more than two weeks ago. The discussion craze has long passed. On the other hand, naturally, the players in the locker room all have their own thoughts.

What Chris Lark said is true. In the current locker room, there are indeed invisible gangs. English players are hugging each other. Other non-English local players gather in small groups. At the same time, the old players on the Forest team have a harmonious relationship, while those who have joined the Earth after Donn have a gap with these old players.

Thiago Silva, the 33-year-old Brazilian central defender, is the leader in the foreign legion. Because of his age and qualifications, he joined the team the summer when Donn had just left the Forest. He also played a warm-up match for Forest and Donndi England. He has always disagreed with the legendary head coach. On the one hand, he was influenced by the media, and on the other hand... He felt that he was very stupid about a head coach who abandoned his team. He really couldn't understand why those old players were still so obsessed with.

Another person who is not interested in the news of Don Eun's return is relatively lonely. He has no group or gang, and he is fighting against the entire team alone. He is Mario Balotelli, the "Super Mario" who yells to leave every summer but never leaves, and his salary is getting higher and higher.

His personality and temper made him have no friends in the team. Fiorillo, who is also an Italian goalkeeper, looked down on Balotelli's arrogant temper and behavior. He believed that he should be the real core of the team. Not George Wood, but the coaches always couldn't clearly recognize this fact, so the team's performance was so poor. If Tony Don still couldn't recognize his role and value, believing that his return would be just another tragedy.

The leader of the English local gang and the old player gang is naturally George Wood, but Wood will not do this kind of thing that divides his locker room, so in fact he is just a spiritual leader, like a totem that is erected up by someone. He is dissatisfied with Silva and Balotelli. The players spontaneously gather around this totem and fight against them in the name of Wood.

This is the current situation of the Forests' locker room. How can one have combat effectiveness if such a locker room is not united at all? David Chris Lack said that the team's problem lies in tactics, not in the players. But Done was right, the root cause lies in those players...

"Stop calling." Wood appeared behind the excited Matok, "If you don't change your clothes quickly, you will be late. The boss doesn't like others being late."

Although he said this to Joe Matok, his eyes were looking at everyone in the locker room.

He turned his back to Hittiago Silva and Balotelli without any indication.

Matok honestly shrank his neck to change his training clothes.

There was still a buzz in the locker room, but they didn't stop. The old players and local players in England knew how strong Tang En's concept of time was - he once waited for someone on the training ground with a stopwatch, and asked the late people to run a lap every ten seconds by word of mouth by the players. Everyone has long known it.

"Do you want to prepare a stopwatch?" Chris Lack asked on the training ground. There was no player on the training ground at this time, but it was still early to start the training.

"Do you have it now?" Tang En asked.

Chris Lark took out his hand from his pocket and shines the ground in his hand for Donn to show it, which was a black stopwatch.

Tang En grinned and said, "You really know me.  Let's start pinching it when the time comes."

Other coaches also came to the training ground and greeted Don and Chris Lak. Some of them were the old men who helped him when he coached, and some of them dug up land from other clubs. They had a good relationship with Chris Lak, and they were newcomers to Don.

In the coach, I saw Freddy Eastwood Donn, who was re-becoming an assistant coach, and went up to say hello to him: "Now you are free. Freddy?"

"Of course, I feel good now, boss!" Eastwood said to Donn with a smile. "I no longer have to wake up in the morning and think about what tactics the team should use to defeat Manchester United. "

Done smiled. People like Eastwood are suitable for being an assistant coach and don’t have much ambitions. This is also good, so you can be an assistant coach with peace of mind. Eastwood, who is familiar with the team and is well-known among the good fans of the players, will be a competent and excellent assistant coach...

The coaches also saw that the new head coaches came so early and came to the training ground early. So this kind of scene was formed: the coaches all came. Waiting for the players on the court.

When Matok was the first to run to the court from the locker room. When he saw this situation, he hurriedly thought it was dangerous. If he was late, then the unlucky one would definitely be himself... Joe Matok knew his boss's temper. Although he had a good and harmonious relationship with him, if he violated his regulations, no matter how good the relationship was, he would be unlucky.

Since I was not late, there was no need to be afraid of the boss. Matok smiled and greeted Tang En: "Good morning, boss."

"Good morning, boy. Where are the others?" Tang En asked.

"Everyone is behind, you'll come out soon..." Matok looked back at the direction of the locker room behind him, and wasn't sure if those teammates would really come out soon. But he hoped that Silva and Balotelli would be five or six minutes late...

His wishful thinking was not achieved. Before the prescribed gathering time arrived, all the players were dressed neatly on the training ground.

Tang En looked at the group of his soldiers and his men and felt very sorry. “You are so lucky, guys.” He shook his head. “How I hope you can be in the locker room until 10:10, from 9:30 to 10:1, forty-five minutes, every ten seconds. My math is not very good, you can calculate how many laps you want to run. Maybe the whole morning of training sessions had to be spent, but I don’t care. But it’s a pity..." He sighed heavily.

"You lucky bastards, but don't rush to breathe a sigh of relief." He pointed to the players who were just about to breathe a sigh of relief. "From now and until the end of the season, we have six months to spend together, and I will have the chance to grab your little braids."

After saying that, Donne paused. He glanced at all the players present. He could see a lot of things from the eyes of those people. Some people looked at him excitedly and were full of expectations for the future; some people kept their heads down and didn't know what they were thinking; some people moved their eyes away when they collided with him and were unwilling to contact him more; of course, some people looked at him rebelliously, as if they were deliberately reminding Donne of his existence.

After glanced around, Tang En spoke again: "I am a retired person, look at the white hair on my head." He pointed to his temples and said. "But if any of you think I am old, come and try it!"

Among the players, some of them had their eyes lit up.
Chapter completed!