Godfather Of Champions

Chapter 675: The Imposing Manner of The Strong

Van Nistelrooy was also harassed. As he was surrounded by many reporters running after him, he repeatedly voiced his stance. “I’m not leaving Nottingham Forest. I’m very happy with everything here, and I want to play here until I retire if possible.”

The owner refused to sell and the player refused to come. What else was there to talk about?

The Manchester City club subsequently announced that they were no longer interested in van Nistelrooy.

Twain was able to take delight in fighting Manchester City after clarifying another matter — van der Vaart was fine.

In the first round of the league tournament, van der Vaart left the game with an injury in the opening ten minutes. Twain was very worried. After the game ended, the results of the hospital examination allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. He would recover after a two-week rest since he did not injure any muscles or bones. Twain originally thought he needed at least four months to recover.

If that had not happened, Twain might not be in the mood to play with Manchester City. He would have rejected the offer.

The media and spectators in England would not have enjoyed such a good show the past two days.

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A lot of interesting things happened. The English fans found that as long as Tony Twain was around, they would never feel that time was slow. Everyone relished watching him shooting off his big mouth at the post-match press conference, and the head-on clash with Manchester City and the United Arab Emirates consortium behind it.

Just before the dust settled on those stories, the second round of the Premier League began.

In the second round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest continued their away trip and headed to Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, where they would meet a new rival, Hull City.

The 104-year-old team was competing in England’s top tier football League for the first time. Before, they were more famous for their rugby. The team’s home stadium, KCOM Stadium, was both a football pitch and an international rugby stadium.

Since Twain was banned by the English Football Association for one match, he was only allowed to watch the game from the stands, the command handed over to his two assistant managers, who would be in charge of the on-field adjustments. The Football Association was also aware that Tony Twain was not someone who would just sit quietly, so they sent security to flank Twain. They would sit beside him during the game to prevent him from using advanced communication tools to contact the coaches.

When Twain gave the team the specific tactics in the locker room, he was delighted to see the two black-clad men waiting at the door. “It’s been a long time, you two.”

The two people had overseen him during the time he was banned from the English Football League Championship.

They were familiar as well. The two smiled. “We often see you, Mr. Twain.”

Although they were no strangers, they were not friends who would chat together, so Twain did not talk nonsense and just pointed to the grandstand to say, “let’s go.”

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In the stands, Twain was a lot more honest than their first encounter. He did not get any devious ideas and did not ask to change seats. He did not have any intention of contacting below. He was like an ordinary fan as he held a cup of beer and sat in the stands to watch the game. If the Forest team did well, he would clap and cheer like any other Forest fans. If Hull City had the upper hand, he would scold and boo as well.

As the two men watched his behavior, they did not know whether to cry or laugh.

Were there any managers who were like him?

Twain’s thinking was very simple. Since he obviously could not direct the game in the stands, he would watch the game like a fan. The experience was invaluable to him.

Hull City was a newly promoted team and they were considered to be the top promoted favorite of the season. It took only five years for the team to move from the lowest level in the English professional league to the top. They ranked third in England. They could not be underestimated.

In the first round of the league tournament, Hull City won 2:1 against Fulham, and the entire city was jubilant. They were equally in high spirits for this game. If they did not handle them carefully, the UEFA Champions League winner and last season’s Double Winner would suffer a defeat.

Hull City’s manager was Phil Brown. Twain was a little unfamiliar with Hull City, but he was not unfamiliar with Brown. The man, who was once Allardyce’s assistant manager, had spent seven years at Bolton Wanderers, from which his tactical preferences were evident.

The Bolton Wanderers achieved success in the Premier League by relying on strength to compete, which Brown was well-versed in. According to the team’s new player George Boateng, the team began a lot of physical training before the season and would be pitting strength against the Premier League strong teams. And Boateng happened to be such a player. The team captain, Ashbee was even more loved by the fans for being aggressive on the pitch. In addition, the game’s starting center-back, Turner was more than 1.90 meters tall, and Gardner, on loan, was equally strong.

Judging from the lineup, it was clear what tactics Hull City would use in this game:high balls and aerial shots in English traditional football and physical confrontational style of competition.

The natural enemy of a technical team was such a team. Remember the “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon that was brilliant for a while in the 1980s? The European champion, Liverpool had to bow before them at home.

Sadly for them, Nottingham Forest was not Liverpool, and they had never based their pride on their skills. In terms of strength, fighting spirit, and drive, Nottingham Forest would not lose to this newly promoted team.

Before the game, to counter the characteristics of the opponent, Twain’s arranged tactics in the midfield to meet force with force, and then rely on incisive attacks from the sides to gain the key.

And, like most newly promoted teams, Hull City’s focus in the summer transfer window had been on their offense rather than defense. Not because their defense was strong enough, but because their offense was worse. Consequently, most of the people brought in during the transfer window were attacking players. As for their defense, they still played the old set of coordination from the English Football League Championship.

Generally speaking, in the manager’s opinion, offense could be adjusted at will, but the defense had to be steady. Unless they had to, they would rather trust old players who already understand than new players who might be capable.

Twain seized on that and gave up the defensive counterattack routine. Nottingham Forest launched a full-scale attack at the start of the away game, putting a lot of pressure on Hull City both on the sides and in the middle.

He did not believe that an English Football League Championship level of defense could withstand the attacking line of a Champions League level team.

The facts were as he thought. Hull City wanted to compete against the Forest team at home, using physical strength but lost four minutes later. Van Nistelrooy, who was in the spotlight because of the clash between Manchester City and Forest, was onside and successfully scored the opening goal. The KCOM Stadium was silent. The physically strong defenders were still a little tender when they came up against the experienced striker.

The goal that was scored so early in the game completely interrupted Phil Brown’s deployment and upset the mood of Hull City players.

They beat Fulham in the first round and thought they could make a good start in the Premier League, so they arrogantly wanted to defeat Nottingham Forest at home — Manager Brown’s reason was that the strong Nottingham Forest team would underestimate a newly promoted team.

But he did not know that Twain paid more attention to a newly promoted team. It was related to his own experience, and he never let go of a great opportunity to earn points and gain on the goal difference from a newly promoted team.

The poor Hull City rushed to organize a counterattack, but when they faced the two defensive lines led by George Wood, they could not gain an upper hand physically and they lacked skills and experience. Their circumstances immediately declined.

Eight minutes after the last goal, Nottingham Forest scored another goal. The goal was scored by Eastwood, whose sudden long shot at the top of the penalty area arc was perfectly aligned with his style. The football ball arced straight into the far corner of the goal. And it was 2:0!

The Forest team slowed down its pace a little after the two-goal lead. Hull City gradually strengthened and began to try to fight back.

The two sides were entangled on the pitch. Hull City had two excellent chances, but one was timely pounced on by van der Sar while Pepe lifted the siege for the other when he went head to head with the opposing striker.

Nottingham Forest also had a sure-shot chance. Ribéry’s shot bounced off the post and Lennon, who followed up, tried to make up for it but it was kicked away by the opposing captain, Ashbee.

As van der Vaart could not play due to his injury, Twain put Beckham in the middle to partner with George Wood. The focus is on the sides with the middle as support. Because Beckham had some defensive ability, George Wood was instructed to plug in and actively participate in the offense to try to put more pressure on the opponent.

After scoring two goals in the first half, neither side scored again. The score was 2:0, with Nottingham Forest in the lead.

During halftime, Twain got up and smiled at the two men. “Did the FA say not to let me go into the locker room at halftime?”

The two men looked at each other, and one of them said alertly, “you can’t go into the home team’s locker room.”

Twain laughed happily. “I’m not that stupid.”

Then he turned his head around and walked down.

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At halftime, Twain instructed the team not to be satisfied with the two-goal lead. He found the Forest team a little too relaxed in the second part of the first half and Hull City’s threatening shots against the goal happened during that period. If he were on the sidelines to direct the game, he would have roared to call them to attention using his loud voice.

“It’s right to adjust your rhythm, but you can’t relax all the way. If we face Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, or Liverpool, I can’t say if we will still have the two-goal advantage. In the second half, if there’s a chance to score, don’t let it go. Remember you’ll be judged if you waste an opportunity!”

“What is the judgement?” someone on the team asked.

“It’s punishment.” Twain answered his question with a grim expression.

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The Forest team picked up its pace in the second half. Hull City, who had wanted to use the time to counterattack, was pressed within its own half of the pitch. They were so pathetic that they could not even make a shot.

In the 62nd and 67th minutes, van Nistelrooy completed his first hat-trick of the season. Nottingham Forest’s top scorer scored two goals within five minutes to turn the score into 4:0.

Hull City, nicknamed the “Tigers,” completely lost their fighting spirit.

Facing the Nottingham Forest team, whose strength surpassed theirs in more ways than one and treated the game more seriously, Phil Brown could only stand helplessly on the sidelines, unable to turn around a hopeless situation — he did not think that Tony Twain’s hunger for victory was so ravenous that he would not even let go of a newly promoted team… That was incorrect. No one wanted to lose. But the competitive attitude, which still relentlessly pursued goals despite the two-goal lead, gave Brown the chills on the sidelines. Nottingham Forest was now four goals ahead, but Brown saw that they had no intention of giving up and still relentlessly sought every chance to score a goal.

Brown felt as if a boulder was pressing down on him, making him breathless.

Was this the true face of Nottingham Forest, the miraculous team that swept through Europe in the last three seasons…

The obsessive pursuit of goals, victories, championship titles had created this invincible steely force.

He routinely glanced at the away team’s technical area, wanting to get a closer look at the manager, who had a great deal of rumors around him. However, looking at the empty seat in the technical area, he froze momentarily before reacting — Tony Twain was banned again.

What an elusive opponent…

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In the 88th minute, everyone thought the game would end with this score, but Nottingham Forest scored again as Hull City struggled in the final moments to score a goal to save face.

It was Beckham with his iconic free kick. Hull City’s contributor to its promotion and last season’s English Football League Championship’s top goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, stood in place and did not move when the football spun into the goal.

Nottingham Forest swept Hull City by 5:0 to win two games in a row in the new season!

Nottingham Forest decisively won 5-0 in the away game.

After the last round of the league tournament ended, some columnists still criticized Nottingham Forest’s performance and thought the start of their league tournament would be very difficult. Twain’s team gave them a hard slap in the face with their actions in this round of the league tournament.

After the game, Phil Brown lamented that it was the gap in ability — “We did our best, but unfortunately Nottingham Forest did its best.”

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Two rounds later, Nottingham Forest was at the top of the league with two straight wins. They relied on their advantage in the goal difference to surpass Chelsea and Liverpool, which had also had two straight wins.

What interested Twain was Chelsea’s performance after the arrival of its new manager, Scolari. It looked like despite Mourinho’s departure, Chelsea would continue to be his best rival.

The day after they returned to Nottingham Forest, Twain received a fax. As the Double Winner last season, it was normal for the players on the team to receive interest from the other teams. He had received countless similar faxes this summer.

But it was different.

This fax was from the Manchester City Football Club.

They were not going to keep pestering van Nistelrooy.

This time, they changed their target.

That player was… Nicklas Bendtner.