Chapter 88: I Will Return Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Tang En was building up his youth team, Collymore and Doughty were not just standing around. Rebrov had cost Nottingham Forest two-thirds of their budget for this transfer season, but the fans were willing to believe that this expensive Ukrainian would become City Ground's new hero and lead the team back into the English Premier League.
Subsequently, Collymore made the controversial decision to sell Nottingham Forest's previous season top scorer, the league's silver boot, to West Ham United, which had been relegated from the English Premier League. Actually, what everyone was dissatisfied about, was not the sale of their main striker, but that Collymore sold him off at such a low price. West Ham United gave an asking price of £500,000, and he hurriedly sold Harewood away, as if the value of the player would depreciate after a few days.
Of course, there was also information saying that it was because Harewood once talked back to Collymore on the way back to the changing room after a certain training. The two started off as bickering, which eventually escalated to pushing and shoving… But who could confirm the authenticity of a story that took place in a corner away from the eyes of the media?
After that, Nottingham Forest had recruited Danny Sonner from Walsall by means of free transfer. For the 31-year-old midfielder, this was already his third team in three years.
At the end of July, Nottingham Forest also recruited Icelander defensive midfielder, Brynjar Gunnarsson, from Stoke City by means of free transfer. Aside from being a defensive midfielder, the tall and strong Icelander could also assume the position of a center back.
In the end, Nottingham Forest managed to best another club, Barnsley F.C., and recruited Australian player, Jacob Burns, for free from Leeds United, which was in a state of financial crisis.
With new people coming in, there would be people leaving as well. After Harewood departed from the team, the previous season's core center back and Dawson's partner, Jon-Olav Hjelde, was told by Collymore after his contract ended that there was no position for him in Collymore's plan for the new season. Left with no choice, the Norwegian could only choose to leave and decided to free transfer to distant Asia—Korea's K league team, Busan Icons. Another center back who Tang En really admired, Christian Edwards, was loaned out by Collymore to Oxford F.C., which was in the Third Division. When Tang En heard the news, he sighed. Edwards was already 26-year-old, and for him to play in that league, there was not much hope for him to improve.
The previous season's core defensive midfielder, Riccardo Scimeca, also chose to leave when his contract ended, and the club that had its eyes on him was Leicester. Jim Brennan also left by means of free transfer, and his next stop was Norwich City, another team in League One. Benjamin Gavanon, who was on loan from Marseille, returned to France when his contract ended.
The young defender, James Biggins, who had scored on his own goal during the playoffs and caused the team to lose, had been sold by Collymore at the cheap price of £50,000 to an English League Two team, Queens Park Rangers. This poor young man, his professional career had not yet begun, but it was already almost over.
Before the start of the English League One season, Collymore and Nottingham Forest's gains from the transfer market were as follows:
They spent £2,000,000 to purchase Rebrov from Tottenham, and this was one of the transactions that garnered the most attention. They recruited Danny Sonner by means of free transfer. In terms of selling players, Marlon Harewood had been sold to West Ham United at a price of £500,000, and James Biggins to English League Two team Queens Park Rangers at a price of £50,000. Hjelde, Scimeca, and Brennan left Nottingham Forest by means of free transfer.
There were not many changes in other aspects, and Nottingham Forest maintained their main lineup from the previous season, and even received some strong additions. As a result, the £3,000,000-budget for the transfer window was still left with £1,650,000.
Nottingham Forest's first team was also more or less confirmed for the season.
The two goalkeepers were 29-year-old Welsh Darren Ward and 21-year-old Irish Barry Roche. Ward's position in the starting lineup did not have any issues in either Tang En or Collymore's hands.
The back defensive line was led by the 20-year-old team captain, Michael Dawson, with 27-year-old Belgian left back Davy Oyen, 22-year-old center back Chris Doig, 21-year-old right back John Thompson, 27-year-old French right back Matthieu Louis-Jean, and 19-year-old Scottish left back Gregor Robertson.
The midfield included the newly joined Brynjar Gunnarsson, 20-year-old German player Eugen Bopp, Danny Sonner, 21-year-old Gareth Williams, 20-year-old Brian Cash, 20-year-old Andy Reid, as well as the 32-year-old Eoin Jess.
Strikers included 26-year-old David Johnson, 18-year-old Craig Westcarr, as well as 29-year-old Serhiy Rebrov.
When interviewed, Edward Doughty claimed that he was extremely pleased with Manager Collymore and his work, because Collymore had not squandered away the entire £3,000,000 budget. He said he had sufficiently considered the financial position of the club, which had just recovered from a financial crisis.
The media also took photographs of Collymore personally demonstrating on the training field, during which he appeared to be all smiles, evidence that his mood was rather good. Perhaps he really was preparing to start fresh.
Of course, there usually was only one indication to assess how well the manager was doing—the results of the team. If he could save money when buying players, then he could go and be an accountant. And if he could only personally demonstrate moves, he could continue to be a football player. Even though the current Collymore looked very good now, it did not mean that it would stay the same in the future.
Brosnan looked at the new manager of Nottingham Forest in the picture and went into a daze for a while before throwing it aside. After that, he created a new folder on his laptop, and set the settings of the folder to private. He then named the folder as such—Countdown to the End of Collymore's Class.
On August 9th , the 03-04 English League One season officially began. One day later, Collymore's Nottingham Forest welcomed on their home ground their first opponents for the season, the "Black Cats" of Sunderland.
To Collymore, this was his first big test, and the previous warm-up matches had only been small-scale.
The results of the match left Collymore and all of the supporters of Nottingham Forest extremely satisfied.
After only 19 minutes into the match, the "highest-bid player" Rebrov, who had just transferred over to Nottingham Forest over the summer, had scored his first goal for the team, causing the entire City Ground Stadium to erupt in jubilation.
When Tang En, who was seated in the crowd, saw the Ukrainian and his teammates hugging each other, he knew that the future had been irreversibly altered, and that these kinds of changes were occurring at the center of Nottingham Forest and would gradually expand. It was like a rock that had been thrown into a peaceful lake, and the ripples, as a result, pushed the fallen leaves on the surface, scaring away the shoal of fish beneath the water. After the ripples on the water have disappeared, the lake and whatever was beneath it would cease to be what it used to be.
In Tang En's memory, Rebrov had indeed come to England's League One before, but that was one year later to West Ham United. After playing for only one season, he returned to the Ukrainian team, Kyiv Dynamo.
Tang En knew that these changes were definitely a result of him coming there, because they were all things that were related to him. He had no power to change the situation, and he could only hope that the changes were not too big, or rather, he hoped that those memories of his would still prove to be useful when he needed them.
At the 41st minute, French right back Matthieu Louis-Jean, who had been thrown into the reserve team by Tang En the previous season and yet heavily utilized by Collymore this season, scored his first goal in Nottingham Forest.
Seeing this scene, Tang En kept shaking his head. The player that he did not regard highly had just scored a goal under someone else. Would that not make the media think that Collymore replacing him was the correct choice?
In the second half, neither team scored any goals, and it ended with a score of 2:0. Collymore and his team had a good start to the season.
When the crowd was dispersing, the fans beside Tang En were excitedly discussing the future that the new manager was able to bring them. Tang En, however, was not interested in the subject at all. He squeezed out of the crowd with his head down and left City Ground Stadium without even thinking about looking back.
Three days later, Collymore's team won Port Vale in the first round of the EFL Cup. Although they successfully advanced, this match was extremely tough for them. Collymore did not expect Nottingham Forest, a team in the English League One, to be forced to a 0:0 score by a League Two team after 120 minutes, only claiming victory from a penalty shootout. It was no wonder that after the match, the media grudgingly said that Nottingham Forest only advanced because of their good luck.
Although the second match was not won that convincingly, Collymore still received praises and recognition for the two consecutive wins, and he became Nottingham Forest's new figurehead. The fans and the media were still looking forward to the kinds of results he could bring to the team.
In the newspapers, the media used flattering terms which had been used to praise Twain in the past, simply replacing Twain's name with Collymore. However, if there was anyone who thought that Twain hated to be compared to Collymore, and that he hated all the news reports regarding Collymore, then he would be sorely wrong. Tang En had long made up his mind to watch every single Nottingham Forest home match from then on. In addition, he would also pay special attention to all of the news regarding Nottingham Forest and Collymore, even if they were regarding the board of directors or management. He was making preparations for the day he would return to that position.
It was just like what Tang En had said to Professor Constantine, after being selected as the best coach for February. I, Tang En, am just the kind of person that has belonged there from the day I was born. Born to become a manager, born to pursue victory. The current dormancy is merely to pave way for the explosion in the future… Doughty is absolutely right. I am still not stable and mature as a person, or else I wouldn't have lost to that old man Warnock in Sheffield.
But just you wait. When I reappear before everyone, I assure all of you that you will see a completely different Tony Twain.