Chapter 73: This is Eastwood! (Part 2)

In fact, the media's "massive" fight against an unknown player is mainly because Donne announced a "ban order" after the incident with Millwall, and no players or staff are allowed to accept interviews from the media. At the same time, the team's training has changed from open to closed. Not to mention reporters, even fans cannot find their favorite players to sign on the training ground.

The fans are very good at understanding, for the team's performance. But the media is different. If you don't let them interview, it means you won't give them the opportunity to create news and not make money. The competition among the English media is very fierce, and those journalists who run ahead may lose their jobs if they can't write reports. So the media hope that various clubs can cooperate.

But Tang En didn't understand the ones. He just thought the team needed a quiet atmosphere, adjusting his mentality, and preparing for the next series of important games. So he simply announced the team's closed training. Unexpectedly, he offended the media who originally liked him very much. Even his newly signed Freddy Eastwood was in trouble, and even his personal living habits became an excuse to question his ability.

Tang En read all these media articles. For a new player, facing such doubts is almost a catastrophe. Because he has not done anything, he has been completely denied. The psychological quality may be drowned directly in the saliva of the media.

But Don't worry, because he found that Eastwood did not show any influence in his training. Either the gypsy never reads sports newspapers, or he is very confident in himself. Don't prefer the latter, just based on his understanding of the gypsy these days.

To this end, he put the Gips on the team's roster to the Light Stadium, and if the time is right, he would consider letting Eastwood play.   Nothing is better than using practical actions to refute the ignorant media.

On January 6th, the morning before the game, there was a rare sunshine in the sky in Nottingham. This brought a good mood to Don Eun, who came to the training base in advance to wait for the players.

In the away game, the team will gather this morning, then take a group bus to Sunderland, go to the Light Stadium to train in the afternoon to prepare for the next day's league.

At the door, Tang En saw the familiar blue trailer, which was parked quietly inside the gate. Tang En looked over along the path outside the training ground and saw a man and a horse swaying towards him in the distance. The crisp sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the training base in the morning.

"Good morning. Freddy." When the other party approached, Tang En raised his hand to greet him.

"Good morning, sir." Freddy jumped off the horse and held the reins in his hand. It seemed that he was in a good mood.

“Are you still used to living here?”

"It's pretty good, it's very quiet and no one disturbs me. Serim and I love living here."

Tang En nodded: "That's good. If you have any difficulties in life, please give it to the club. Everything can be solved...uh. Except for building stables on the open space."

Eastwood smiled, patted the dark horse's neck and then combed it with its shiny horse's hair: "It's okay in the pet store. Serim and I looked for many places to find a place that was willing to take it in. No other home is that big."

"Well. You said you were a Forest team player, I think they would be more happy."

"Yes, sir. I said, otherwise the owner of that store would not want to."

Tang En laughed: "Freddy.  When you score the goal in the game, I think the boss will rush to sign another pet feeding contract with you."

The topic naturally shifted from trivial matters in life to competitions.

"Have you read the media's comments on you?" Tang En asked.

Eastwood nodded. “I’ve read it all, nothing new, and it’s all the words over and over again.” He shrugged again and said a little disdainfully, “There is no evidence that I can’t play well. Will I play this game, sir?”

Tang En shook his head and said honestly: "I don't know. It depends on the situation of the game. If we can't break the deadlock for too long, I might consider you playing. I only brought you a forward. If you want to make adjustments on the front line, you can only change it."

Seeing that Eastwood was not talking, he was just constantly touching his love foal. Donn asked: "Can you tell me why you like to warm up on horseback before the competition?"

"I don't know why... I have always liked horses. Maybe walking on horseback can calm me down. No more nervous. Actually, the same is true. I never nervous about the upcoming game." Eastwood said his answer. Donn believes that this is the secret to why he can keep scoring goals - a normal heart.

He doesn't care whether there are any reporters or questions in the media. He doesn't care how much money he can make every week, or whether his life in a station wagon is shabby, or what people look at him, whether it's expectations or disappointment, he never thinks about these things that have nothing to do with him.

Countless people care about how much they get at every moment, but they lose more. Eastwood, this simple gypsy man just wants to play football, so he got his first professional contract in his life.

Thinking of this, Don Eun said to him: "Freddy, you already know the rumors about me in the team, right?" Don Eun refers to the legend that "the head coach of the Forest team has the ability to predict", which ultimately came out of Burns' bar.

"Is that wizard rumor, sir?"

"It seems you already know, that's right! I have the ability to predict!"

"Is it more accurate than what we Gypsies calculate?" Eastwood asked with a smile.

"Of course! Freddy, you will score a lot of goals in the future, get trophys and medals that you hold with both hands, and then make a lot of money." Tang En pretended to be mysterious. "At that time, you can buy a piece of land, build a small manor, and build a stable, and ride a horse every day to have fun!"

Eastwood laughed: "Thank you for your advice. I will seriously consider it if I really made so much money..."

"No, it's not a suggestion, it's a prophecy, a prophecy. You will succeed, I never miss you!" After saying that, Tang En looked at the watch, and the time was almost over. "You go back to have breakfast, the time for the team gathering place is almost here."

Eastwood said goodbye to Donne. He turned over and clamped his legs and left amid the neighing sound.

Behind Tang En, the Red Forest Bus had already parked at the entrance of the club base.

Sunderland, Light Stadium.  There is a large screen between the two full stands, which clearly display the participating parties, the game time, and the current score:

Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest, 77 minutes, 0:0.

There were crowds of people in the stadium. Although the home team has not been able to start the game, Sunderland fans are still singing loudly to cheer for the team. Donn has also seen many such scenes at the city stadium and has long stopped lamenting "the quality of English fans".

At this moment, Freddy Eastwood, wearing the No. 23 jersey, was standing on the sidelines, waiting for the dead ball time.

He will replace defensive midfielders Eugen Pope and Gareth Taylor as double arrows, and Don plans to make a fatal blow.

Freddy Eastwood, who was only twenty years old, experienced ups and downs in his life this year. He was born in the West Ham United youth training camp and his future was ruined due to a fracture. He was unemployed at home and even had to go and sell used cars for his father. It seemed like this was the case in his life. He had a few more children with his wife, then lived in a caravan, and lived a traditional gypsy life. But he still returned to the court, but it was just that there was no stand or amateur game broadcast on TV. He hoped to prove that he could still play football, although the dream of becoming a professional player seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him.

Until one day more than a month ago, a man came to him and asked him: "Freddy, do you still want to play professional football?" The fire of his dreams burned again.

This man was the only one who believed he could still play professional football, so he joined the team coached by this man, and now he has the first game to represent the team, although it is less than fifteen minutes before the end of the game.

A minute ago, the man called himself in front of him and asked him to take off his warm-up vest. He was ready to play. There was no extra word. He only told himself: "Essentially, there is no difference between professional games and amateur games...so you can shoot more after receiving the ball. Whether you are outside the penalty area or in the goal area."

He chewed the gum with a relaxed look on his face. The booed and sang by the Sunderland fans in the stands could not scare himself, and the fourth-ranked team in the First Division could not scare himself. Because, in essence, there is no difference between amateur games and professional games, they are all played on the same scale. The goal will not be a big lap just because it is amateur, and football will not be heavier because it is a professional game.

"Nottingham Forest made adjustments, and they replaced the defensive midfielder Eugen Pope with forward Freddy Eastwood, who had just been introduced from the amateur league. "John Motson explained this substitution programmatically, and did not see any difference. "Coach Donn hopes to strengthen the offense, he does not want to return to Nottingham empty-handed. But this substitution has nothing worth looking forward to. A forward who has broken his legs and only played in the amateur league... Although I don't think Coach Donn is a philanthropist, this young man really can't make people have too many expectations." He shook his head and said.

Finally, the Forest team got a frontcourt out-of-bounds ball, and the fourth official raised the sign to prompt the substitution again.

Pope ran down with gasps, and then returned to the bench after high-fives with Eastwood.

On the live broadcast, a male voice was reporting the visiting team's substitution. A booed sounded in the home team's stands. Not every visiting team player would enjoy such "treatment". Obviously, the score of 0:0 not only made the Sunderland players on the court become impatient, but also made the "Black Cats" fans in the stands in a bad mood.

"Get back to your country caravan, Gypsy!"

"We will kick your leg off again!"

"Amateur league kid, this is not the place you should come!!"

Eastwood heard nothing, and ran to the sideline, ready to pick up the throws from his teammates.

The Forest's serve deliberately delayed the game, which caused dissatisfaction among Sunderland fans, and the booing in the mainland of the Light Stadium went to a higher level. Freddy Eastwood received the booing from his teammates in this deafening booing that was enough to cause a heart attack.

He calmly received the ball and turned around, and no one came up to defend him. Yes, who would care about this amateur player who made his first appearance and had a broken leg? He dribbled the ball into the middle, but no one came up to press him.

Tang En's words rang in his ears again: "...After receiving the ball, it's multiple shots, whether outside the penalty area or inside the goal area."

So he knocked the football forward slightly, supported his left foot and leaned back slightly, and swung the right leg that had been kicked off... His body seemed to have a tense bow, and after letting go, he suddenly burst out with huge energy!

Far - Shoot!

The football flew towards the goal like a shell out of the barrel. The goalkeeper Sunderland jumped high, but only rushed to the wind brought by the football passing by. Behind him, the net was slammed!

"Eastwooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!" Motson shouted suddenly, "A genius strike! What a beautiful goal! A long shot of thirty meters!"

The huge booing of the Light Stadium disappeared without a trace at this moment, and everyone was frightened by the shot! Those mouths that kept spitting dirty words were wide open, forgetting how to close them.

After scoring the goal, Eastwood rushed to the sidelines excitedly, kneeling on the turf and gliding on the turf. Behind him, the players of the Forest team were rushing towards him!

Looking at Eastwood, who was pressed by his teammates on the sidelines, Walker shouted excitedly in Donn's ear: "Tony! You're right! He surprised all of us! He surprised everyone in Sunderland!"

Donn was not as excited as Walker. He just stood in front of the coach's seat and applauded. Because he had known for a long time that Eastwood could do it, he could score goals, and he could score more goals.
Chapter completed!