The hottest August of the year is behind us, and into September, the weather in Nottingham is getting cooler. Sometimes when he wakes up early in the morning, Don has to put a coat over his T-shirt.

Yang Yan ended her summer vacation and returned to Nottingham from China. During the two-month vacation, she first went to Italy with friends, and then returned to her hometown after the epidemic in China was eased and the travel ban was lifted.

Poor Donn can't go back if he wants to, he's leading the team to play.

After Yang Yan returned to Nottingham, she made a greeting call to Don and told him that he had brought a Chinese gift to Coach Don, who loved Chinese culture. This should have been something that made Tang En very happy, and he expressed his gratitude to Yang Yan.

However, he is not as looking forward to Yang Yan's appearance as he used to be. I haven't seen Yang Yan for more than two months, I haven't heard her voice, and I don't have any thoughts about her at all. In the past, the biggest hope of leading the team to victory every week was Yang Yan's Chinese class.

Later, after the start of the school year, Yang Yan offered to reduce the twice-weekly Chinese class to once a week, because she would be busier than before in the new semester, and she thought that Tang En's Chinese level was already very high - "I am afraid that the level of some Chinese is higher", and there was no need to waste time on this.

Don doesn't have any more time to devote to learning now, because he doesn't really need to study at all. So when Yang Yan made this request, he simply agreed, and added that if Yang Yan was inconvenient to come that day, just call and explain.

Due to schedule changes, most teams have postponed the sixth round of fixtures, including Nottingham Forest, to the end of October. Collymore could finally breathe a sigh of relief. But the media did not intend to let him go, and they kept an eye on him every day to see what more excuses Mr. Collymore could find.

If he says the team doesn't work together, that's fine. Now give the team a two-week adjustment period, 12 days is enough time for you to grind in the team, right? Gareth. No matter how stupid Taylor is, he should have a bit of a tacit understanding with the team, right? If you can't win the game by then, we'll see what else you have to say.

Don now recharges himself every night in addition to studying the former Tony. Outside of those notes that Donn left him, he spent time in Burns' pub to talk about the current state of football and the recent difficulties that Forest have been facing. If anyone wants him to return to the City Stadium, he never shirks.

Since knowing that Donn's frequented Burns' Forest Bar, Pierce. Bruce almost made it a second home, too.

Donn doesn't really want people in the media to be too close to him, and he hates the media very much. So several times he saw Bruce in the bar, and he tried to get Bruce away.

"Hey, are you going to kick me away today?" Bruce stood in front of Donn's seat, looking at him with his hands in his pockets.

Don was eating when he saw Bruce, who put the spoon aside. "Damn, I don't have an appetite to see your face. Why are you still here, you should be working overtime in the office to compile those sensational news...... What about Kenny? He looked up and around.

"Don't look at it, I'm a customer who pays to spend here, and he has no right to drive me away, and neither do you." Bruce took two beers from the messenger, one for himself and one next to Donn's plate. Then he pulled out his chair and sat down.

"Can you bribe me with a beer......" Before Donn could speak, Bruce pushed the beer in front of him.

"If you want more, that's fine."

Looking at Bruce's smiling face, Don sighed, "Well, if you want to come to me, whatever you want." But I warn you: you're not a journalist here, and I don't want to see anything we talk about in the newspapers. Don used this to test Bruce closer to his purpose.

If he's going to get some scoop out of here, get him out of here.

Bruce nodded: "Of course, I'm just a regular Forest fan after work. ”

"Good, good." Donn pushed the glass back to Bruce. "I thought about it, Mr. Bruce. If one day I suddenly want to write a biography, I will definitely look for you. ”

"If there is such a day, it will be my pleasure." Bruce laughed. "Also, can I ask you a question? Mr. Donn. ”

"Huh?"

"Are you ready to go back to City Stadium?" Bruce picked up his glass.

The glasses of the two men touched lightly.

"What do I need to prepare? I don't need to prepare anything...... But it's not now, it's not right now. ”

※※※ Yes, now is indeed not the best time for Donn to return to City Stadium, and God doesn't seem to have abandoned Stan yet. Collymore.

Forest have been rested for 12 days in the seventh round of the league when they host Sheffield United, who eliminated them in the play-offs last season. It's a very important game for Forest fans and they can't afford to lose.

Collymore and the Forest players are clearly well aware of what this game will mean for them. So it was a matter of course that they won this game at home.

Gareth, who was pinned on by Collymore. Taylor finally broke out, scoring two goals in the 30 and 56 minutes of the match to level the score at 2:1.

Seventy-first minute, Andy. Reid is the icing on the cake. In the end, Nottingham Forest won the game amid the roar of the fans.

Collymore was proud of the winner, and in interviews he kept mentioning two of Taylor's goals – both of which were headers.

Of course, it was not without its problems, and although Rebrov provided one assist, his goal tally as a regular striker has stagnated since the first round of the league. What's the use of a striker who can't score a goal despite having a lot of assists?

On September 17, in the eighth round of the league, Nottingham Forest challenged Burnley away, and this time won more simply, 3:0.

David. Johansen, Andy. Reid, Gareth. Taylor scored one goal each, won two games in a row, and scored in two consecutive rounds, and the happy Collymore excitedly announced that the team was on a day off...... Then he disappeared on the night of the game, the hotel room was empty, and who knew that he would find that beautiful woman to spend ** with.

The two-game winning streak allowed Collymore to go out with the beautiful women**, and it also made him feel a lot less pressure. As a manager, it's normal to win and lose...... So it's always easy for him to forget about the situation he's facing. Done commented that Collymore is a typical "drunk today, drunk today, and more sad tomorrow", he never seems to plan the future of the team, and when the pressure is relieved when he wins, he goes to pick up girls, and when he loses, he blames this and that.

He wanted Evan. Dogotti doesn't look like a fool, and even Americans who don't understand football should know exactly what this level of coach can bring to the Forest team. But why hasn't there been any movement at the club's top management for a long time? Donn started paying attention to all the news about Forest's finances and the club's board.

Anyway, his current job is as if he was on vacation compared to his previous first-team manager, and he has a lot of time to study things that he never touched on.

Speaking of Donn's own work...... Nottingham's youth team are second in Group 4, just two points behind first-placed Aston Villa, who won the 2002 FA Youth Cup.

Forest also made it to the third round of the FA Youth Cup. The young players love Donn's coaching style because it gives them wins, and isn't it just about winning? If you win, you can be looked at by more people, you can have a better future, even if you are not looked at by the first team, you can have a good mood, right?

Donn never lets his players "enjoy football" when they are in a game, unless the team is already leading by more than four goals and there are less than ten minutes left in the game. He also never told the young players "what a wonderful sport football is", he usually said "what a wonderful thing it is to win".

The youth team has George on the bench for every game. Wood's name, but he still hasn't gotten even a minute of playing time. To be honest, Donn's approach made the other youth team players quite puzzled, everyone could see that the coach was very concerned about this Wood, and he had to take him to the second field for more practice after training every day, but why didn't he play a game? The performance of this kid in training is also not bad, and he often makes Chris Rac praise loudly.

Even Chris Rac would sometimes suggest to Donn when no one was around to let Wood go up and play, to which Donn's answer was "Wait".

So I waited for another two months...... ※※※ When Don finally changed out of the black suit and red crewneck short-sleeved T-shirt and put on a long-sleeved shirt under the suit, even then he could still feel the chill of the morning, late autumn in Nottingham came.

The rainy season in the UK is also coming...... Ah, wrong, the UK has a rainy season all year round. It's the cold rainy season.

Don stood on the sidelines and craned his neck to watch the youth team practice, he simply put up the collar of his suit, and the rain still poured into his neck. Chris Lak, who personally coached the players on the field, looked worse than him, and his Umbro tracksuit was reflected in the rain.

Tomorrow is the third round of the FA Youth Cup, where Forest will take on their opponents, Arsenal, a Premier League powerhouse with a world reputation for training young players.

Arsenal's senior squad is a strong team, and their youth squad is no less weak. In addition to a manager like Arsene Wenger, who attaches great importance to youth football, they also have a modern youth training base and the best youth coaches, as well as the ability to vigorously develop young players with great potential from all over the world.

Don is not afraid of Arsenal, but he has to take this team seriously. Because there is a very special person in the Arsenal youth team today.

The exercises carried out in the rain were mainly aimed at the defense of the surname. George. Wood is clearly a key figure in training and he is being "taken care of" by the coaching staff. Eighteen-year-old Rose. Ross'Gardner is a midfielder who came from Newcastle in the summer and is now the main midfielder and playmaker of the youth team. Eighteen-year-old James. James 'Beaumont is Gardner's partner in midfield, with average technique and an all-round midfielder.

The coaching staff asked the two of them to take turns going up to organize the offense, while Donn asked Wood to defend the two guys, and whoever came up he would go up and mark whoever was sticking to him. If two people come together, he has to stay in position, don't let the other person easily break through his defense, don't expect to be around to help him, he has to do all this alone.

"George. Wood! Chris Lak whistled and paused his training and strode through the mud to Wood, who was standing panting in the rain. You're out of place again! Location, location! How many times do you want me to say to you? Defending isn't an idiot who sees the opponent dribbling and you rush up to tackle it! Look at your front and back, left and right, and get stuck in position, forcing the opponent to only move sideways or pass back. Look at what you just ...... It's been Gardinar again! ”

Chris Lak's roar was clearly audible in the rain, sending the raindrops flying around him, and Wood kept his head down and didn't speak, while the other players took the opportunity to take a breath. Training sessions have been interrupted many times, and Wood's defence always likes to grab the first point and then get easily past the opposition. He's not bad if he's left alone to mark, once he gets in a position to defend...... Here's the problem.

Donn stood on the sidelines and watched Chris Rac teach Wood a lesson. He is well aware of Wood's current flaws, and this kid is good at man-to-man defense because of his perverted physical ability, which can bridge the gap in experience, awareness, and skill in one-on-one. Positional defence, on the other hand, requires more experience and awareness, which are what Wood lacks the most right now.

Tomorrow's game...... Can you count on him?

See players sprinting back and forth, tackles, tumbling on rain-soaked pitches...... Dig up piece after piece of dirt and turf. Standing next to Donne, Mr. Andrew, who was in charge of the maintenance of the turf at the training base, wrinkled his brows together in distress.

"Mr. Donn...... Can't you just go to the second side of the field to train? This site we have just leveled and trimmed, and now it ...... Look at it, it's all a swamp! He complained. I'm going to play on this field tomorrow! ”

Don turned his head to look at the forty-something turf worker and comforted him. "Don't worry, Mr. Andrew, I did it on purpose. At the end of the training session, you just need to cover the turf that you have turned up, and you don't have to put a lot of effort into leveling it. ”

"It's ......," Mr. Andrew was a little puzzled.

"By the way, if it doesn't rain tomorrow, you should water this field more than an hour before the game starts."

Hearing Donn say that, Andrew knew what was going on. He excitedly asked, "How much more water, Mr. Donne?" ”

Don looked at Andrew, who suddenly came to his senses, and grinned brightly: "If I say let you drown this place...... All right? ”

Andrew laughed along, "Mr. Donne, you're so bad! Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I don't make sure that the Arsenal kids feel comfortable playing here. ”

Because tomorrow was the game, today's training was over quickly, and by the end of the day, Wood's understanding of defensive positioning had not progressed. Chris Rac sighed at Donn, shook his head, and went back to the shower to change.

The players ran back to the locker room with their heads down, only Wood was still standing on the pitch in a daze. His performance today was really bad on this muddy field. But that's okay, just know your shortcomings. Donn never worries that Wood will lose his motivation because he plays for different reasons than the other kids on the team. He has a tough body, but also tough nerves.

Donn stepped forward and patted Wood in a daze.

"Go back and change your clothes, beware of catching a cold."

Wood looked up at Donne, hesitated, and then asked, "Will I still be on the roster tomorrow?" ”

"Of course." Donn nodded, "Go back, if you catch a cold, I'll have to remove you from the list." ”

Wood ran back to the locker room. Looking at his back, Don was also worried about Chrisrak's worries.

※※※ The sky outside has darkened, and because of the cloudy and rainy weather, it is not yet half past five, and it is as dark as night. The rain crackled against the glass windows and the ground. From time to time, people ran under the window, their feet in the puddle, and the sound of crackling went from far to near, and from near to far. Because of the weather, the streets outside were much more deserted, and there was no loud noise from children gathered together, and there was no shouting or scolding from men and women.

Although it was cold outside, the humble kitchen and dining room was extra warm because of the warm fire, orange lights, and fragrant black tea.

That's what home feels like.

Although the family of two who live here don't have much money, they are much warmer than Donn's empty and deserted house.

George who took a hot bath. Wood tosses all the clothes he got dirty from training and the rain-soaked clothes on his way back into the washing machine, then pours the water from the bucket into it, scoops a spoonful of laundry detergent, closes the lid and turns the switch. After doing this, he went back to the kitchen to help his mother wash the dishes. Sophia sat at the table chopping potatoes and preparing for dinner, even though it was still early.

"George."

"Huh?" Wood took the cleaned milk pot out of the water, dried it and set it aside, then picked up the tray and put it in the water.

"Mom, if I'm not mistaken, you have a game tomorrow, right?" Sophia asked casually as she cut the potatoes into chunks with her head down.

Wood hummed again. Even in his own home, he doesn't talk much.

"Are you on Mr. Donn's list again?"

"In."

"Will it be played this time?"

Wood stopped what he was doing, stared at the tap water bubbling out of the faucet for a moment, then shook his head, "I don't think so." ”

"Why?"

"Maybe I'm not playing well enough."

"What is the best thing to do?" Mom asked again.

Wood continued to shake his head, "I don't know. Don thought it was okay. ”

"George, you're going to call him sir." Sophia corrects her son's impolite behavior.

Wood reluctantly said, "Mr. Donne." ”

Sophia smiled: "I want to ...... I'm going to watch you play tomorrow. ”

With a "bang", the plate in Wood's hand slipped into the water. He turned to look at his mother in surprise. "Your Body ......"

"Just walk, don't think too badly of your mother, George." Mom Sophia said to Wood with a smile, but her son didn't budge, he frowned and didn't nod.

In this way, the mother looked at her son with a smile, and the son looked at his mother with a gloomy face, and the water was roaring behind him. Sophia pointed to the pool behind her son and reminded, "It's overflowing, George." ”

Wood turned around and turned off the faucet, continuing to wash his dishes.

"George, do you like to play football?" Sophia changed the subject.

Wood shook his head.

"Do you not like it, or do you not know?"

"I don't know."

"Have you ever had fun playing football?"

"I ...... Didn't think about it. ”

"It's not going to go on like this." Sophia put down the potatoes and knife in her hand, then got up and went to her bedroom. She then took out a mirror from inside, walked behind Wood, and slowly placed the mirror in front of him.

Wood looked at himself in the mirror, wondering what his mother was doing this.

"Look, George." Mom's whisper rang out behind Wood's ears, "Why do you keep frowning?" Has anyone upset you? ”

"No, Mom." Wood shook his head.

"Smile more, George. Don't you think you're going to be handsome when you smile? ”

In the mirror, Wood grins, revealing two rows of white, neat teeth.

"Little Lion George." Mom grabbed Wood's long, shiny black hair, which was scattered over his head like a lion's mane.

Sophia, who had finished making out with her son, returned to the table. "What do you think of Mr. Donne?" She asked seemingly casually, but it focused Wood's attention. "Optimistic and cheerful, I seem to be full of energy every day. George, you should be like him. Mom didn't notice the change in Wood's expression, and she lowered her head and concentrated on cutting the potatoes.

"I decided. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'm going to watch your game. ”

*※※Don was eating dinner at the Forest Bar while looking up at the weather show on TV.

“…… Nottingham will have light to moderate rain tomorrow during the day and night, and temperatures will be ......"

“yeah！” Don clenched his fists, it was the weather he hoped for the most.

Burns, who was next to him, put down the newspaper and said to him, "You value tomorrow's game, Tony." ”

"Of course, if we win, we'll be in the fourth round." Don bowed his head and grilled the rice.

"What's the odds of winning?" Bruce, who was sitting across from him, asked.

Don shook his head: "It's hard to say, Arsenal are very strong, they have a few great little guys in the team. Especially that Spaniard......"

"You mean that Fabregas? But he was only sixteen years old. Bruce shrugged.

"Mr. Reporter, for some people, age is not an issue that affects their performance. We are used to calling these kinds of people 'geniuses'. Don pushed the plate, took a sip of beer and rinsed his mouth, and finished dinner.

The impact of Donn's crossing is more and more in front of him, but fortunately it does not affect some important events, such as Francesk. Fabregas's transfer. Just after October 1, the young midfielder of Barcelona's B team moved to London Premier League side Arsenal. Arsene Wenger can't wait until the transfer window opens in January to get the Under-16 Junior Player of the Year, although he is yet to offer Cesc Fabregas a place in the first team.

"Oh, don't worry, Tony!" Fat John said loudly to Donn with his wine glass, "We're all going to be going to cheer your team on when the time comes, and hopefully it won't freak out the Arsenal boys!" ”

His words were echoed by others, all of whom said they would go to the youth team game.

Donn gratefully raised his glass to him, "But John, only stand tickets." ”

The game is held in the training base, and tickets are not sold at all, so you can come and see it whenever you want, just stand outside the barbed wire fence on the sidelines. Compared to the plastic seating stands at the City Stadium, this is, of course, a "standing ticket".

"It's okay, just let us squat and watch the game......"

Bill, who was skinny, interrupted John, "Wrong, fatty. We can crouch down and watch the game, you can't. If you can really squat, be prepared to sew your own pants! Aha! ”

The people in the bar laughed.

John scratched his head embarrassedly, "Whatever, just squat and stand." Tony...... though. There are so many of us going to watch the game, don't let us lose! ”

"Fatty, when have I ever let you down?" In the midst of laughter, Donn replied loudly, "Of course we will win!" ”

(To be continued)