Anelka’s goal made the two managers pound their fists on the sidelines. The difference was that Nottingham Forest’s manager slammed his fists in excitement and the Villarreal manager, Pellegrini, did so in frustration.
With fifteen minutes left in the game, Nottingham Forest led with two goals. This game was basically ready to announce its winner.
Villarreal had just adjusted its tactics and was ready to defend when the goal was scored. It was a heavy blow to their morale. Now, even if they wanted to climb back up with a goal, there was probably no chance of that.
Another person who was angry about conceding the goal was Riquelme. Although he seldom revealed his emotions on his face, anyone could see his frustration.
If the manager had insisted on attacking, perhaps they would have already equalized the score in the game before the Forest team chalked up the second goal. At that time, the situation on the field would have been different.
Now that all was said and done, they had to give up on offense and relinquish the power to win. That retribution came quite fast.
The game had already ended early.
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When the referee blew the final whistle, the Forest fans were jubilant over the score on the electronic scoreboard. 2:0! It was a splendid home victory.
This was the first UEFA Champions League victory in the City Ground stadium in twenty-four years, which laid a solid foundation for the Forest team to enter the Champions League.
At the post-match press conference, Pellegrini said that the Forest team had performed better than his own team. It was natural that they won the game.
The Chilean left with his team in a hurry. The Forest team stayed behind in the square outside the stadium to receive applause from all their fans. Twenty-seven thousand people gathered outside the City Ground stadium. They blocked the Forest team bus as they sang the Forest team song over and over.
We’ve got the whole world in our hands, we’ve got the whole world in our hands…
Judging by the sea of red outside the bus it looked as if the Forest team had won and brought home the Champions League trophy. But it was only a qualifier victory.
The people of Nottingham Forest had yearned for the Champions League for far too long. Many people might have forgotten that the team they supported was once a strong team in the Champions League, which had won twice consecutively. Now Twain made them feel that again.
They did not have to watch the other teams’ Champions League performances in front of the televisions. They could look forward to their own in the Champions League. They could talk about their team’s performance at the end of a Champions League game, go to the City Ground stadium to watch the Champions League game, and cheer for their team.
If they imagined further down the road, they could even follow the footsteps of their own team, set foot in Continental Europe, and go to the stadiums of those powerhouse clubs to strut about and show off.
Just a little farther. Maybe we can set foot in the UEFA Champions League final once again?
Who said that it was impossible? When Nottingham Forest was promoted to the Football League First Division from the Second Division, who could have thought Brian Clough would lead the Forest team to win the UEFA Champions League Championship a year later and defend their Champions League title the following year?
Things were achieved by people. Just two years ago, when the Forest team struggled in the bottom fourth of the English Football League, who would have thought they could win Villarreal at home in the UEFA Champions League qualifying match today?
David Kerslake was like a child, pressing his face to the window to look out at the red ocean with a happy smile on his face. This was the first time he had seen this sight since he had entered the Nottingham Forest Football Club.
“Pretty good, right? There will be more in the future.” Sitting next to him, Twain grinned.
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The next day, the Nottingham’s media was dominated by the game. All the newspapers, television stations, radio broadcasts, and everywhere on the streets talked about the game.
The popularity of Nicklas Bendtner, who had scored the goal, soared. Even Anelka received the fans’ support and acceptance. There was nothing the fans loved more than to score in what they thought was the most important game.
Needless to say, the fans still discussed the game enthusiastically. However, after a wonderful victory, the Forest players did not even get a half-day break. It was not because Manager Tony Twain was hardhearted, but because the Premier League’s new season had begun.
Out of the five major European leagues, the English Premier League was the earliest to kick off and the last to finish. There was no winter break in that most intensive competition. In Twain’s words, it was “savage and brutal. It’s double torture of the players’ body and mind. During the Christmas holiday period, it was a time for other people to go on family reunions or vacations. It was supposed to be an enjoyable time. For the Premier League players, they had to play twice or thrice a week as if they had to do back-to-back performances. In the cold of winter, the chances of injury also greatly increase.”
On August 10th, Nottingham Forest won the match against Villarreal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League qualifying match, starting off well in the 05 to 06 season. Everyone, from the top echelons of the club down to the players and the regular fans, could approach the initial round of the Premier League three days later with a relaxed and happy mood.
The 05-06 season’s English Premier League fully began. Last season’s Premier League champion, Chelsea challenged the newly promoted team, Sunderland in an away match. In a home game, Nottingham Forest would face another newly promoted team, Wigan Athletic F.C., nicknamed by the media “the second Nottingham Forest.”
This nickname was given by the media to Wigan Athletic during the English Football League Championship because the team’s style and certain other characteristics were very similar to the Forest team. For example, their focus on pressing hard throughout the entire game, rapid breakthroughs in both flanks, relentless strength, as well as a plain, hard-working style of play made people see hints of Nottingham Forest in the year where they were successfully promoted to the English Football League Championship in half a season.
After Tang En realized that, he did not know whether to cry or laugh. He certainly knew how impressive Wigan Athletic’s first Premier League season was. If the media knew about the future, they would surely be complacent about the nickname they had given in advance. In fact, Wigan Athletic’s first Premier League season would be just as impressive as the Forest team’s last season, except that their final ranking was not as high.
From this standpoint, it was not wrong to call them the “second Nottingham Forest.”
What made Tang En feel the irony was that he had become a role model for others.
In an interview before the game, Wigan Athletic acted in a very low-key way. Their manager, Paul Jewell, simply admitted that for his team to be able to rise to the Premier League, he had learned a lot from Tony Twain. Twain’s Forest team gave him a lot of inspiration.
That was making “the second Nottingham Forest” name come to fruition.
Finally, Jewell also said, “…We certainly still remember the newly promoted Nottingham Forest’s outstanding performance in the Premier League last season. They were impressive, and I think Manager Tony Twain is an excellent English coach. No, I’m not laying it on thick. Wigan Athletic’s target this season is to defend our ranking, but I still hope the team will be called ‘the second Nottingham Forest’ when the league is over. But this time, it won’t be for our style of play, but our results.”
When Tang En heard those words, he felt somewhat amazed. His transmigration had unexpectedly made him another manager’s role model.
He wanted to laugh, not because he felt smug, but because he felt absurd. But he could not laugh because he took no pleasure from the matter.
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The era of Sky Television’s monopoly on the Premier League broadcasts was coming to an end. The European Commission had recently mandated Sky Television to allocate a portion of their monopolized Premier League broadcasting rights to BBC public service television channel and other television stations. This season’s Premier League would act as a trial period for the purchase of the new broadcasting rights. BBC and other independent television stations had been given a portion of the Premier League’s broadcasting rights.
While this would cost most of the small clubs to suffer some financial losses, it was nice for the Forest fans to have the return of the commentator, John Motson, who had been consistently supportive of the Forest team.
The Nottingham Forest’s game against Wigan Athletic would be BBC’s first Premier League live broadcast. As expected, the commentary would be covered by their ace commentator duo, John Motson, and Alan Hansen.
Twenty minutes into the game, Motson did not say a few nice words to the Forest team even though he had not covered a game in a long time.
“Now, I really want to replay the words that Manager Paul Jewell had said in the interview before the game.” Motson’s style was such that he could be generous and extravagant with his praise, but he could also be unbearably sharp and unkind in his criticisms. “The Forest fans must be starting to wonder now, what was Jewell’s motive for saying those words? I think it’s most likely to confuse the Forest team. Does Manager Twain feel angry?”
Next to him, Alan Hansen interjected and asked, “Why would he feel angry?”
“Because he’s been played!” Motson burst into laughter. He knew Twain, so he said that. Twain must have a feeling of being deceived. Based on Twain’s character, it was impossible for him not to be angry.
At that moment, Tony Twain was indeed fuming as he sat in the technical area. However, it was not because of Jewell, but due to his team’s poor performance.
The contrast was too great!
Three days ago, on the same field, the Forest team had efficiently defeated Villarreal. The scene after the victory still remained in the memories of the Forest players and fans.
And three days later, in this game, the Forest team was now powerless as they went up against Wigan Athletic’s tight defensive formation and rapid counterattacks.
Twain shook his head from time to time as he watched the messy situation on the field.