Godfather Of Champions

Chapter 42: Don’t Underestimate… Football Part 2

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At the 89th minute, Forest teamʼs Andy Reid brought about what might have been their last attack in the second half. A beautiful two-on-one passing coordination in front of the penalty area. While David Johnson and Marlon Harewood attracted the attention of almost all Grimsby Town players, Eugen Bopp unexpectedly popped in and emerged in the penalty box. Then he received Reidʼs straight pass and faced the goalkeeper alone!

All the Nottingham Forest fans stood up and waited for the miracle to unfold!

This included Tang En, who stood motionless. He too had rushed from the technical area, hoping to celebrate a goal.

But, Eugen Boppʼs power shot went out of the goal.

”Oh—!” The fans made one huge sigh of disappointment.

Tang En threw his jacket to the ground. He did not hide his inner frustration and disappointment at all, even though the failure of the match was largely caused by him. The only thing he could think was—When I get back, Iʼm going to make Bopp practice his shooting!

The photojournalists on the sidelines saw Twainʼs impulsive display and got excited. They had been waiting for this moment. Their fingers quickly pressed on the shutters again to capture Twainʼs impetuous reaction.

”This was their best chance! But Eugen Bopp wasted it! Hear the sighs in City Ground... the miracle did not happen again; Manager Tony Twainʼs luck has run out!”

In that instant, when Tang En had just thrown his jacket to the ground, the Grimsby Town manager jumped up. His team had survived the raid, and victory was close at hand. He did not expect to gain three points for this match. Perhaps these would be the precious three points that would determine whether they ended up staying in League One, or if they would be relegated to League Two this season.

Bopp, who missed the crucial ball, laid down on the ground in disappointment with both hands covering his face. He dared not even look at the fansʼ angry and disappointed faces. For him, he lost a great opportunity to be a team hero and to have all the fans fall in love with him overnight. And the opportunity would not appear for a defensive midfielder like him the next time.

In the wake of Bopp missing the goal with his power shot, the Forest team also lost their confidence and will to fight. For the rest of the match, they seemed to be distracted, as if they longed for the match to end early. Harewood spread his arms helplessly in the opponentʼs field with no one to pass the ball to him. Although he had scored a goal in this match, he was unable to save his team.

Tang En picked up his jacket from the ground, walked back to the technical area, and sat down.

”Des, you know what? Yesterday I was just here to teach a snotty kid, to warn him not to underestimate professional football, otherwise he would be punished. Now Iʼve made the same mistake as him,” he muttered gloomily in a low voice. ”Iʼm entirely to blame for this match, Iʼve lost... I have nothing to say to that.”

Des patted Twainʼs shoulder to comfort him. ”Tony, itʼs good to win successively, no doubt about that. But no one has ever not experienced failure. Cheer up a little.” At that moment, he was like a veteran coach, and Tang En was just a player being brought off and deeply disappointed in his performance.

A minute later, the referee blew the full-time whistle. The Forest team, which everyone had high hopes for before this match, lost 1:2 to the leagueʼs bottom ranked Grimsby Town on their home ground. To others who did not understand Twain, this was not the first match defeat of the Forest First Team under his coaching. But to Tang En himself, this was his first defeat. He still insisted he had won the FA Cup match with West Ham and only lost to the referee.

Hearing the whistle, Tang En got up from his seat. The players passed beside him and walked into the playersʼ corridor with their heads lowered. Walker comforted them one by one. Their disaster was over, but his own... had only just begun.

He looked at the media crowded on both sides of the corridor. This was a tough game, and he had to keep his spirits up to deal with the harsh media. Those people were waiting to mock him.

After the match, Teng En went in the City Ground press conference room.

It was not Tang Enʼs first time there. He recognized some of the reporters interviewing him from the crowd. For example, he saw Pierce Brosnan again.