champion godfather

Chapter 585
July [-]st is the day when players and coaches return to the team after their holidays.

Tang returned to Nottingham with Tang Jing the day before. He said that he ran into Tang Jing at BJ Airport. Tang En didn't believe him. He blushed like a monkey's butt before giving up.

The Premier League started earlier than other leagues, and it kicked off in mid-August, so the training of Premier League teams started earlier than teams in other national leagues.

The training on the first day is only for physical recovery subjects. Considering that everyone has just spent a month of vacation and their skills are not good in all aspects, the training intensity of this day is not high.Physical fitness is not under Tang En's control. There is a dedicated physical fitness coach in charge, so he doesn't have to worry about it.

But he still wants to go to the team, because in addition to leading the training, there are other things that require him to come forward.

※ ※ ※

After a one-month vacation, the players seemed to have just woken up from a dream, bleary-eyed, yawning, and their spirits and bodies were not adjusted to the best state.

To Tang En's satisfaction, after a wonderful holiday, no one was absent until this day.In addition to Arteta and Ashley Young who have already announced their departure from the team, even Anelka, who had a conflict with Twain, drove to training. He is still negotiating his personal contract with Juventus, and the two sides have still to discuss some issues. there is controversy.

When these players, who were still unable to get themselves out of their mental state of vacation for a while, drove outside the Wilford training base, they were woken up by the media waiting here.

Saying "scared" may be a little underestimating their knowledge, but it is actually the case-these Nottingham Forest players have never seen so much media at the training base on the first day of pre-season training.

Not only the media, but also countless people who looked like fans. They held banners on both sides of the narrow alley and shouted slogans vigorously.

If you only watch the media, you may not know why it is so lively here.But look at the rabid fans and it's all clear.

Some of them were wearing red Manchester United jerseys, some were wearing white Real Madrid jerseys, and the one thing they all had in common was that they were all holding a poster of a person.

Franck Ribery, who came by car, parked his car in the parking lot inside the training base, and whistled to several teammates who arrived at the same time: "How was your holiday?"

"Fortunately, I went to Hawaii." Eastwood, who was about to be tanned black, pointed to the floral shirt on his body.He also came here by car. Now that he has become famous, he no longer lives in the caravan at the training base. He bought a small farm outside and lives there with his wife and children.Of course, he still warms up every morning on home game days by riding horses on his own farm, but no one can think of him as obstructing traffic.

Ribery pointed to the gate of the training base, from where crowds of media and fans could be seen.

"It's so lively, isn't it? It seems that a big person is coming today."

"Don't you know who is coming?" Eastwood was a little surprised.

"Tsk, it's boring to talk about it." Franck Ribery gave Eastwood a supercilious look.

The two of them were not in a hurry to go to the locker room, so they chatted in the direction of the gate by the parking lot. As more and more cars stopped beside them, more and more people chatted beside them.This formed a strange phenomenon-the players of the Forest team did not have a cash locker room to change clothes and go to the training ground, but greeted and chatted with each other in the parking lot.

The holidays feel like they haven't even passed.

Wood didn't come by car. His home is a long way from the training base. During the training, he always ran here. He happened to do the most basic warm-up here.Everyone is familiar with this strange man.

Albertini has retired, and now he is the official captain of the team. He decided to enter the role as soon as possible-when Albertini was there, he only needed to be the captain on the field, and he basically didn’t care about it when he was off the field. The trivial things were done by the real captain Albertini.Now it's a completely different experience.

Wood stood outside the crowd, hesitated for a while, coughed a few times, and cleared his throat.

His unusual behavior aroused some people's ideas.

"Hey, George, do you have a cold?" Van Nistelrooy asked with concern.As soon as he spoke, the Dutch people who were chatting with him turned their heads to look at him. As soon as the three took the lead, the others also turned their attention to Wood.

"Ah, uh... no, I don't have a cold." Wood was a little embarrassed, "What are you talking about?"

Franck Ribery pointed at the door with a smile: "Talk about the big guy who came today."

Wood knew who they were talking about. In fact, he was not interested in participating in such a topic. If he had turned around and returned to the locker room before, he changed his clothes and went to the training ground to start warming up.But not now, he is the captain, he is the captain both on and off the pitch, is there such a misfit captain?

Wood still remembers what Albertini said when he hugged him before he left. "It's up to you next."

This is a kind of entrustment, Wood is not stupid, he understands it very well.

He moved a few steps, but instead of retreating, he squeezed into the crowd.

"You... would you like him to come?" He asked a question that made everyone laugh after thinking about it for a long time.

"George, if you were a reporter, I bet you would get a lot of rejection if you asked me that." Van Nistelrooy laughed. "We're going to interpret this issue as sowing discord in the locker room."

"I can't say whether I like him or not. I used to know about him through the media, but I basically don't believe what the media says, whether it's good or bad. Now I have the opportunity to get in touch with him personally, and I will decide whether I like getting along with him or not." Got it." Pepe's words got the nod of approval from most people.

I guess this is the attitude of the Forest team towards this new teammate... If the media knows, what will they think?

Then everyone got together in groups of three or four to chat, some were chatting about the players who were about to join, some were chatting with their friends about their holidays, and a few were chatting about the two teammates who had gone away. Teta and Ashley Young.

Just a few words of emotion that they won the championship together more than a month ago, now they will become opponents.But other than that, he didn't express his indignation at the departure of the two. They are professional players, and there are many things about splitting and reuniting, so it's no big deal.If you are friends, you are friends everywhere, and you can make an appointment to have a meal together with just a phone call.

Anelka was the last to arrive, and instead of joining the chatting ranks of his teammates, he went straight to the dressing room.Also no one kept him, let him stay and chat.Everyone knows that this French striker is a man who is determined to leave. Since he is not here, the people here must do something to keep him.

※ ※ ※

Tang En and Tang were at the training base on foot, so they arrived later than the players.

Seeing the media and enthusiastic fan groups along the way, Tang En and Tang were also slightly surprised.

"Look, look. The king of popularity is different. Nottingham Forest has been so lively on the first day of pre-season training for so many years?" Tang En pointed to the fans on both sides and said to Tang. , he also waved to those infatuated fans.

If all the people gathered here were die-hard fans of Nottingham Forest, then Tang En's wave would definitely receive a tsunami-like response, which could greatly satisfy Tang En's vanity.But this time, there was no response to his wave.

These people just held up the posters and looked at the end of the alley - that was the direction the players were driving - completely treating Tang En and Tang as nothing.

"Okay..." Under Tang's silent gaze, Tang En was a little embarrassed. "At least it proves one thing-they are not Nottingham Forest fans... But it's okay!" Then he raised his voice again and grinned. "They will be soon."

When Tang En and Tang walked to the gate of the training base, they found that the iron gate that had been open before was now closed.

The security guard in the house saw the head coach and assistant coach, and quickly came out to open the door.

"What's going on here?" Tang En asked strangely.

"Uh..." The young security guard hesitated for a moment, pointing to the noisy crowd outside the gate and said, "Those reporters and fans were too enthusiastic, I was afraid they would rush in, so I closed the gate..."

Tang En turned his head to look at those people. Among them were some sports reporters he knew, and there were also completely unfamiliar faces.The reporters he knew saw Tang En turn around and waved to him.

But Tang En kept a straight face and didn't make any response, they were all making fun of themselves.

The young security guard thought that the stern-faced head coach would teach him a lesson, so he was scared to stand aside and walk away, or stay.

Unexpectedly, when he turned around, Tang En patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "You did a good job."

After the two walked in, Tang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "It seems that he has already grasped the essence of your closed training."

In front of the media, Tang En crouched on the ground with a very disrespectful smile.

"Please... please, Don. Can you have a preview before you tell a joke next time?"

※ ※ ※

After Tang En finally stood up, the two continued to walk in, and they saw the team members gathered in the parking lot.

Tang En and Tang looked at each other, and they could see doubts in each other's eyes.

This is a scene they have never seen before.

Is there a fight?
Tang En walked over quickly, only to realize that it was a false alarm.Franck Ribery waved and greeted him from a long distance: "Boss, long time no see!" With a bright smile on his face, where is this a fight?

"Hey, what are you doing standing here if you're not changing in the locker room?" Tang En asked standing in front of the crowd, and everyone stopped chatting.

"We all want to see with our own eyes the wonderful scene outside when he comes here." Ribery pointed to the crowd behind him and then to the gate.

Tang En tilted his head and found George Wood standing in the crowd. He smiled inwardly.

"Then why don't you just go to the gate and have a look. What can you see here?"

"This is not possible. We used to be happy with the media. Let's not do it." Ribery shook his head like a rattle.

"You also let the media see you here. Don't think that those reporters can't see it? Well, there's nothing to see, so go back and change your clothes. I don't want him to look like the Queen came to inspect." Tang En blasted the group of people back to the locker room like a chicken.

Seeing Wood leave in the crowd, Tang En turned his head and smiled at Tang: "What a group of interesting boys, they are not people who have never seen big stars, they are all big stars."

"I just think it's fun to gather here." Tang nodded.

The group of people left, and now it was Tang En and Tang's turn to stand outside the parking lot and wait.

Assistant coach Chris Lack waited for a long time on the training ground and saw only one Anelka, he felt very strange, usually Anelka is not so active.He looked at his watch, only to realize that it wasn't Anelka who came early, but the others didn't come at all!
Leaving Anelka behind, Chris Lark headed to the locker room.There was no one in the locker room. He exited and saw a large group of players rushing towards him at the exit.

"Did you all come here as a big bus? So tidy?" Chris Lak was not as good at talking as Tang En, and he frowned and asked.

"Sorry, sorry, sir. We chatted outside for a while..." Since it was Ribery who originally had the idea of ​​standing outside and waiting, now he must also bear the anger from the coach.Fair and reasonable.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and change clothes, and wait for me on the training ground, you all know the penalty for being late!" Chris Lak waved impatiently.

As soon as the "punishment for being late" was heard, a large group of people rushed to the locker room.This is not a joke, even if they are the European champions, it is still a special tradition of the Forest team to be penalized for running laps late.

Ribery ran at the front, but was stopped by Chris Lakla: "Where are Tony and Don?"

"They're outside..." Franck Ribery hurriedly pointed to the exit, and jumped out of Chris Lak's hands, nimbly as if jumping a loach.

Chris Lak didn't have time to take care of these boys, he went upstream and walked towards the exit.

Assistant coach Chris Lack kept walking and walking, and finally found two Tang En and Tang who were chatting together in the parking lot.

"What are you doing here?" Chris Lak's loud voice startled a group of birds in the tree.

"Ah, David, come here." Tang En turned his head to see the person coming, and waved to him.

"What are you here for? You just arrived? Why didn't you go to the training ground? All the other coaches have arrived."

Tang En patted his forehead. It seemed that those players were not the only ones who hadn't started working yet.He pushed Tang: "I forgot about this matter. I can do the introduction of new players by myself. You can go, Tang."

Tang obediently followed Chris Lak, and Tang En no longer waited in the parking lot. He walked back to his office and began to make preparations.

Arshavin and Akinfeev didn't come to the team today because they don't come.The Forest team will go to Russia for pre-season training in four days.They will join the team directly in Moscow.

As for why he chose Russia for the training camp, Tang En said something that all his opponents felt owed when answering the reporter's question: "Get used to the venue in advance for this season's Champions Cup final and do warm-up." The European champion in the 07-08 season The cup final was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

In fact, the real reason was that the Forest team was invited to participate in the Russian Railway Cup. As the new European champions, Twain's desk was filled with invitations for various pre-season warm-up matches. In the end, Twain chose this event.The reason is very simple. Twain pays more attention to the quality of the warm-up match than to where to play. It doesn't matter if it is the distant Moscow, Russia.The participating teams in the Railway Cup are full of experts. Apart from the weaker host team Lokomotiv Moscow, the other two participating teams are Real Madrid, which has invited a gold medal coach to work hard and take a pragmatic approach, and... just lost in the final. To AC Milan of Nottingham Forest.

What a coincidence!

※ ※ ※

Dunn didn't wait too long in his office, about 10 minutes later he received a call from the guard.

"Sir, he's here!" The young guard's voice was agitated. Through the phone line, Tang En could still hear the commotion outside, and the woman's screams one after another.

After all, you are a young man, you can't hold your breath.

Tang En simply answered and hung up the phone. He didn't get up and go out, but went to the gate to greet him.He didn't want everyone to think that this person was special, so he even asked Evan and Allen not to leave his office to join in the fun.

Tang En turned the chair half a circle, looking at the training field outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the players were doing lap training—or punishment.Because the whole team was late, they were penalized for laps.

However, since the training subjects in the past few days are all about physical recovery, it is no problem to say that this is training.

As for how to introduce this much-anticipated new teammate to them, Dunn already had a plan in mind.

Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door behind him.

Tang En stood up, turned around and looked at the door: "Please come in."

The man who was full of thousands of favors came in with an apologetic face: "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry... I'm not very familiar with Nottingham's traffic, I almost lost my way..." Beside him was his manager, Simon Rich. Le, a well-dressed, smart-looking middle-aged man.

"You have to drive here by yourself. If you call the club to pick you up, that's fine, David." Dunn said to Beckham in front of him, and then he simply shook hands with Fuller's agent, and said No in-depth conversation.Because of the series of things involved in the contract negotiation, he had gotten to know the agent half a year ago, and he didn't need to greet him enthusiastically. In his office, the agent was not the main character.

"Huh, living in Spain for four years, I thought it was all the same in England... what shall I call you, from now on?"

"Privately—Tony. In front of his teammates, let's be—the boss, so kind." Dunn walked around the table and stepped forward. "Come on, I'll take you to get to know them." He pointed to the French windows behind him.

Beckham cast his gaze over, then nodded, and walked out with Tang En.Fuller continued to follow behind the two without saying a word, deliberately keeping a certain distance, allowing Beckham and Twain to communicate freely without worrying about the embarrassment of having a third party present.

※ ※ ※

"This place can't compare to Real Madrid's Valdebabas Sports City, but all kinds of facilities are complete and have everything you need." Along the way, Dunn introduced the situation of Wilford Training Base to Beckham.

Naturally, Beckham was very good at being a man and complimented him a lot. In such a training base, he became a European champion. The head coach Twain is amazing...

When the players of the Forest team finally finished their laps and were panting and resting on the sidelines, someone with sharp eyes saw three people walking in from the outside, one of them was the familiar leader Tony Tang Well, the other middle-aged man didn't have much impression and was automatically ignored.Everyone's attention was quickly focused on one person - David Beckham who was walking beside Tang En and chatting happily with him.

He was no longer dressed in casual clothes. Tang En took him to the locker room at the training base and designated a locker for him to use. After changing into his training clothes, he went straight here.

The players resting on the sidelines did not stand up and line up. Those who should sit and rest continued to sit, those who should lie down and rest continued to lie down, and those who should stand and chat just turned around and stopped chatting to look at their new teammates.

Tang En was very satisfied with the performance of the players. It seemed that there were no blind fans under his command.

Only Wood deliberately stepped out of the crowd and stood at the front, which was to show his identity.He learned from Albertini. In the past, when the Forest team had new teammates, Tang En brought them and Albertini took over.

Beckham knows Wood. He still remembers the cute boy who comforted him when he was substituted in the World Cup against Portugal and cried on the sidelines.He smiled friendly at Wood.

Seeing that everyone was focusing on him, Tang En pointed to Beckham next to him.

"Your new teammate, professional player David Beckham." He specially emphasized the word "professional player".

This is the way he thought of introducing it. He didn't say it was the famous star, nor did he say it was the darling in the eyes of advertisers.He doesn't care what achievements or status you have outside, once you enter Wilford, his territory is all his players, professional players.

After speaking, he turned his head to observe Beckham's reaction.Beckham did not show the slightest dissatisfaction, he greeted everyone with a smile: "Hi, guys, I am very happy that we can play football together in the future."

In fact, he was very grateful to Tang En for introducing him in this way.Why did he come to Forest?Isn't it just to prove to the world that his real identity is a player, not an advertising model or actor or something...

Everyone on the training ground gathered here, players and coaches surrounded Beckham.

Chris Lack introduced all the coaches of the Forest team's coaching staff to Beckham to help him get to know the working team and who to ask if he had any questions.

Next...

"George." Dunn reminded Wood, who was hesitant standing beside him.

Wood finally stood up, and he said to Beckham in as normal a tone as possible: "Let me introduce you... my teammates." It turned out to be a bit indifferent.

Fortunately, Beckham and Wood spent a summer with the England national team. He knew this man's character and temper, and he didn't care about it. He happily let Wood take him to know the players of the Forest team one by one.

Everyone was very enthusiastic and did not show any unhappiness.

After the stage of getting to know each other was over, Tang En spoke.

"Break time is over, guys, get back to the training ground."

The players got up and walked to the training ground.

Beckham also wanted to follow, but Tang En stopped him: "Wait, David."

"Huh? What's the matter, boss?" Beckham quickly entered the role that he was Dun En's subordinate.

"Hmm..." Dunn scratched his head. He had been thinking about what he was going to say next since he introduced the coach to Beckham.He was a little worried, but he had to say it because it was team discipline.In terms of discipline, Twain is very important, and he cannot be ignored just because the person who offended was Beckham, otherwise he will have no prestige in the team.

He looked up at the players standing not far away who hadn't left. Obviously, these people knew about it and were waiting to watch the show.A group of cunning brats!
"That's right, David. The Forest team has a tradition that started after I became the team's head coach. That is, all players who are late for training will be punished for running laps." Tang En saw Looking into Beckham's eyes, making his eyes appear sincere. "Did you see them panting from exhaustion just now?" He pointed to the players who were watching the show over there. "They were just fined for running laps and rested here. They were late collectively in order to wait for you in the parking lot."

He was telling the truth, the only survivor was Anelka, who was indifferent to Beckham and was determined to leave.

Beckham turned his head to look at those players, and then looked at Dunn.

"You're also late, so... you have to run laps, eight laps." After Tang En finished speaking, he looked at Beckham quietly.

This remark dissatisfied the agent Fuller who stood aside. His player was the famous David Beckham. Besides, being late was not intentional, and they didn't know about it beforehand... He thought Tang En had done a good job. Somewhat excessive.what is this?Give my players a kick off?
As soon as he took a step forward, he saw Beckham winking at him.

"No problem, boss." Beckham shrugged, "I also had this rule when I played in Real Madrid, but we don't penalize laps."

"Then what's the penalty?" Chris Lark, who was interested in the inside story of the giants, asked first.

"A free kick." Beckham blinked and smiled slyly.

A group of people laughed loudly, and the awkward atmosphere just now was relieved all of a sudden.

Amidst the laughter, Beckham turned and ran laps.His manager waited for Beckham to run away, and walked up to Tang En, intending to question him.

Dunn spoke first: "I know what you're going to ask me, Mr. Fuller. But I hope you understand that David is still a professional player, and he wants people to think so. I'm just being a head coach. What should a professional player do? It’s just something to do. Do you hope that the negative news of ‘David Beckham is playing big and special’ will appear in the media the next day?”

"Uh……"

"Of course I won't chew my tongue with the media, but you can't guarantee that none of these people will dislike everything that David Beckham has gained..." He murmured, "You have to be clear, Mr. Fuller , I am helping David Beckham. If David is a smart person, he can also understand... And obviously he is a smart person, he does a good job, people can't find any faults, and By the way, you have won the support and trust of your teammates. What else do you have to worry about, Mr. Fuller?"

Simon Fuller was speechless after what he said, and he had to admit that Tang En's actions made sense.

※ ※ ※

Beckham ran laps around the perimeter of the training ground and Eastwood followed, pretending to run with him, before approaching him.

"David?"

"Ah, you are... Freddie Eastwood?" Beckham's memory is very good. Wood only needs to report everyone's name once, and he can quickly match the name and face in his mind.

"Just call me Freddie." Eastwood blinked. "They also call me Gypsy Kid, but I'm never mad!"

Beckham smiled.

"Are you free tonight, David?"

"Hmm... yes." Beckham thought for a while, and there was really nothing else he needed to be busy with, and... even if he was busy, he would push it away. He was very smart and already knew what the signal was.

"That's good." Eastwood snapped his fingers. "Everyone has prepared a welcome party for you, drink and drink together, chat and have a good time."

"for me?"

"Just like the penalty lap, this is also our tradition." Eastwood smiled happily, "Any new player will come in...Of course, that new player must be recognized by all of us."

This is the truth, such a welcome party must have been prepared long ago.However, it is usually at the last moment before the summer transfer market closes for the pre-season training camp. At that time, the Forest team generally will not introduce new players. After getting along for a period of time and getting familiar with each other, they will consider holding this welcome party.If the newcomers were not welcome, they would not be invited—fortunately, Anelka was the only one who hadn't been invited in all these years, and he wasn't very popular when he first arrived.

"Boss...are they going?" Beckham glanced at Tang En who was talking to his manager.

"No, the coaches and staff won't be there. We don't invite them, they won't be allowed to go. This is our players' party. Find some leaders to spoil the fun?"

Beckham nodded: "Okay! I am very happy to be invited to participate. Does this mean that I have been... accepted? Like a green forest hero?"

"Yes! We are all together now!"

Both laughed.

Chris Rucker's loud voice sounded in the distance: "Freddie Eastwood! What are you doing? The training is over here, over here!" He waved his arms vigorously, looking menacing.

Eastwood is not afraid of him, he responded in a sharp voice: "Ah! I remembered that I was lazy and skipped a lap during the penalty run just now, and now I make up for it! I can't let David perform alone, I Also a professional player!"

Everyone on the training field and off the field laughed, even Chris Rack, who had a ferocious face just now, couldn't help but grinned, and muttered: "This little bastard!"

Looking at the group of laughing players, Beckham remembered that on the way to the Forest team's training base, his agent Simon Fuller asked him if he knew what was going on in the Forest team.He was able to shake his head and say he didn't know. He really didn't know much about the inside of this team. His impression of this team came from his good friend Tony Twain.And before he officially became a member of the forest team, Tang En never told him the story of the team.He can only use his four years of experience in Real Madrid to envision his life in Nottingham for the next two years. After all, it is the closest period of life to him today.

Now he feels... this must be a completely different feeling from being with Real Madrid.

※ ※ ※

Tang En is still talking with Fuller, he wants to let this agent understand his thoughts, and ensure that there will be no misunderstanding.After all, the person that this agent can influence is not only David Beckham, but also Beckham's wife, the unstable factor Victoria Beckham.Because he used to be the manager of the "Spice Girls" group, and he had a very good personal relationship with Victoria.

"Mr. Fuller, I know you have just returned from Spain. But this is not Real Madrid, which has a strong aristocratic atmosphere. This is Nottingham, the Sherwood Forest where the hero Robin Hood was born." Dunn grinned at the agent. , showing a mouthful of big white teeth. "If you have strength, if you are honest with others, you will get sincere support. If you eat a lot of meat and drink in a big bowl, you will never be treated badly."

(End of this chapter)