Chapter 73: This is Eastwood! (Part 1)

The meeting between Eastwood and George Wood was on the training ground on this day. Since the teammates all saw the style of new teammates at the gate, they were not so strange to each other. Those who could play would joke about Eastwood. The gypsy always had a very flattering smile on their faces and didn't care about those jokes.

Only when he saw George Wood who was silent, the smile on his face disappeared. He did not say hello to Wood, shake hands or do some other friendly actions, Wood was the same. But don't think that Wood was just like the other party because of a grudge, but he usually had this expression when he saw strangers. He had long forgotten what the player who had his legs cut off after a rash foul, and what his name was.

When Tang En saw this scene next to him, he did not "kindly" reminding George that his new teammate had been tackled by him. The players' personal grudges need to be resolved at the right time.

Now... let's do it first.

Eastwood is naturally extroverted, optimistic and cheerful, which can be seen from his ability to continue playing football after breaking his legs and keeping a smile. Don't worry about his integration into the team at all.

But...will he be allowed to play in the FA Cup?

Nottingham Forest's opponent in the third round of the FA Cup is West Bromwich (west_bromwich) who is also in the first league. Currently, West Bromwich is ranked second in the league, ranking second forty-seven points after 26 rounds, and is five points away from Norwich, the first in the league. But the gap with the teams below is very close, from sixth to second in the league but not five points. There is a very good news for Donne's goal in the season to advance to the Super League, which is only two points from eighteenth to fourteenth in the league, and only three points from twelfth to nineth in the league. The points gap between the mid-level teams is not big. Three teams have 33 points, two teams have 35 points, and two teams have 36 points.

As long as the Forest team wins a few key games and does not make any big mistakes in the league, they can steadily improve their rankings and return to the No. 1 Group. When the rankings are within ten, they can officially sprint towards the upgrade qualification.

Nottingham Forest now has 31 points, ranking 18th in the league.

It is precisely because of such close points that Tang En dared to say that he would return to such a "big talk" after the end of this season. This is not an incredible miracle. People who think it is a miracle just lack sufficient understanding and analysis of the situation.

For Don En, January and February are the most critical. If the team loses the chain at this time, basically you have to rely on "miracle" if you want to chase it later.

Done must win two consecutive League Cup finals at the end of January.

After thinking about this, Don Eun decided to give up the FA Cup. He hoped that West Bromwich would go further and further on the FA Cup road. If possible, please go directly to the finals... In this way, we can disperse the energy of this second-ranked team and let the Forest team pull it off... Then West Bromwich, who reached the FA Cup final, please create a "proud record" of the second-level league team to the League Cup! As for the quota of the English Premier League, let our Forest team "reluctantly" replace you!

Tone told the coaching staff that the training arrangements were mainly aimed at the next opponent in the Nottingham Forest League, Sunderland. This is a away game. Sunderland ranks fourth in the league.

For Don En, this falls into the category of "a game that you must win no matter what means you use." This category includes all the teams currently ranked ahead of Nottingham Forest.

In the away game, Tang En still insists on the strategy of defending. Sunderland performed very well at home, with seven wins, five draws and one loss, which can be regarded as a home dragon. It is indeed difficult to challenge such an opponent. The only thing Tang En can use is that the team's defense line is very bad, and they conced the most goals in the top six - 38 goals. You should know that Blatford, the second-last, conceded thirty-nine goals...

So the coaching staff followed the league training plan, Rebrov was in the midfield, and Gareth Taylor was at the forefront. The two spent the team's biggest investment this season, and no coach would rashly put them on the bench without using it. Donne drove Taylor to the reserve team for two games. It was already personalized enough. If you meet a good-looking head coach like Ranieri, no one dared to offend him, the team was in chaos. For this reason, Chelsea's performance this season made the new boss Abramovich unable to stand it anymore.

The topic is far from the bottom of the question.

The person whom Donn focused on the training was the new arrival Freddy Eastwood. After two days of training, all members of the coaching staff were completely relieved of the player who had broken his legs, and he had no problems with his ability.

Even Walker had to admire Tang En's eyes again. He really didn't know that this person who had never played in any first team and was abandoned by his old club because of his broken leg. Then he ran to play in the amateur league. How did Tang En find out about him...

Of course, Tang En couldn't tell him that he had seen his football video three years later in 2007, and he used him in a football manager game. He simply did not explain anything. He allowed his colleagues to look at him with admiration. This is actually very good, and it helps to continue to establish his status and authority.

You can't show everything, even if he is your best working partner and friend. Especially for the head coach who needs personal charm, there must be some mysterious feeling that everyone can't understand. Just like Brian Crowf, Peter Hilton, the main player of Nottingham Forest, who won the European Champions League twice in England, said this: "The coaches of Shankley, Ramsey and Stern are all great. They have aura and magic, but Crowf also has a mysterious x-factor."

Therefore, it turns out that maintaining a proper sense of mystery and inaccessibility in front of others will help to enhance one's reputation and prestige in the team.

On January 3, City Stadium. The Forests faced West Bromwich in the third round of the FA Cup. Before this game, Donn let Eastwood appear in the middle of the stadium and met the fans in the Forests jersey. The fans were a little cold to the strange guy, and there was no such welcome scene as cheers from the City Stadium.

The meeting ceremony itself was also very simple. Eastwood went up and waved his hand, stood on the sidelines with a Nottingham Forest scarf, and asked the reporters to take photos. In less than five minutes, he got off the court. Then he took off his jersey and sat in the stands neatly dressed to watch the game - he was not even on the roster.

In this game, Forest lost 1:2 to West Bromwich at home and was eliminated from the FA Cup. The fans were a little disappointed, but they still gave the team applause after the game. After all, the team has reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, so don't be too greedy.

However, Eastwood, who appeared before the game, quickly became the focus of media attention. It was very simple, because some media discovered that Eastwood had just broken his leg and had been playing football in amateur teams, and had no experience in participating in the first teams of professional teams at all.

Although the deal only cost the club 100,000 pounds. But the media who like to make noises still exaggerate it. Many media questioned Don En's view of others, and also questioned Eastwood's ability.

There are also media who don’t know how the dramatic scene caused by Eastwood just arrived at the Forest team that day. They exaggerated what happened that day, and mocked Eastwood as much as possible. Finally, they asserted in the report: "A living in a caravan. He brought the horse into the training base to report, as if he was living a primitive life. After breaking his legs, he could only play football in an amateur team, and usually helped his father sell used cars... Tony Donnn's forward sharp knife? The hope of Nottingham Forest? This world must be crazy!"

In fact, Bruce was also a little worried about the ability of this newcomer. But out of trust in Donn, he did not publish any articles in the newspaper that were unfavorable to Eastwood. He just cautiously expressed his unoptimism about Eastwood's prospects and was very careful in using words. But other media couldn't control so much. The Forest team and Millwall did not fight, and they were a little unwilling to accept it. This was a good opportunity for them to seize, how could they let it go easily?

"...I have met professional players who work as painters, and I have also met professional players who work as a piping site. I have also met professional players who work in restaurants... But I have never seen professional players who live in a station wagon and live a homeless life!"

"As far as we know, when Freddy Eastwood played for the West Ham youth team, he was seriously violated by Nottingham Forest players in a youth league and broke his leg. Did Mr. Tony Donn sign such a player who had never proved his ability out of repaying his debts? Hello, Mr. Donn, are you planning to change to become a philanthropist?"

"Charlton Club almost became the club that Freddy Eastwood played for. At that time, Eastwood hoped to go to the south London team to try out. But after the club knew that he had broken his legs, he refused him without hesitation."
Chapter completed!