Don hadn't replied to him yet, and Don knew that waiting wasn't the way to go. Now that the first-team coaching staff is not out of leave, he can't do anything alone.

He remembered the Forest youth team, which he hadn't been to in a long time. While every once in a while a report on the youth team is delivered to his desk, looking at the report data and going to the training ground to see a real person in person is not the same thing.

If Allen and Evan's new stadium plans are implemented, they really won't get much transfer money in the new season. If you want to compete for stars with other strong teams in the transfer market, without strong financial backing, you will seem a little lacking. Don thought of the "professor" Arsene Wenger, who tightened his belt in order to build the new Emirates Stadium. Arsenal can complement their squad with players from their strong youth system, so why can't Nottingham Forest? Nottingham Forest's youth level is one of the highest in England.

Maybe you can't get a second Bell and Wood yet, but it's always okay to have a couple of qualified rotation players, right?

With that in mind, Donn went straight to the academy north of Wilford.

Unlike the first team, the youth team has started to return to training. In addition, football summer camps for schools are in full swing. Before he could step inside, Don heard laughter and whistles coming from inside.

Wearing sunglasses, he quietly hid in the shade of a tree and quietly observed. He doesn't want to go straight to the academy director Ian yet. Greenwood, he decided to observe for himself first, and have a bottom in his mind.

There are a lot of people gathered outside the five regular pitches at the academy base, most of them parents of the children who play on the pitch, but also scouts from other clubs.

Just as Southampton couldn't stop Donn from poaching Bale, Nottingham Forest couldn't stop scouts from other teams from coming here to dig corners.

There's a lot of buzz in the academy and you don't see that during the season because more of the kids are scattered around the schools and other camps. The camps were not huge, with just over 50 children in each camp and were run by eight coaches, and they were not part of the Forest's youth regulars, where children who were usually interested in football could receive basic training. Then, for four days at the end of each month, Nottingham Forest will gather these children in Wilford for intensive training and competitions, select talented children from among them, sign apprenticeship contracts with them, and then officially enter the forest team.

It's summer and the kids from the various camps are back in Wilford for summer football camps under the guidance of their respective coaches. Play together and test the results of a year's training. If you do well, you will be noticed by professional scouts, or promoted to the regular Forest youth team, or ...... Seduced away by scouts from other teams.

The youngest of the children, who was six years old and the oldest eighteen, played in groups according to their age, and although it was noisy, everything was well organized. This is thanks to the role played by Nottingham Forest's decades-long management system.

Once Jenas, Michael. Dawson and Andy. Reid was the idol of these children, and now their target is George, who leads the team to a Champions League lift. Wood and Gareth. Bell, as well as Weiss. Mogan.

Don looks at the past in one age group, one age group.

For the time being, there is no child who can make his eyes shine.

He was a little disappointed, and he didn't know if it was because the level of youth training of the Forest team was really not as good as Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, or because he was used to seeing world-class stars, and he looked down on these children who were not yet mature?

Not everyone has George after all. Wood and Gareth. Bell's dazzling talent can be easily found in a large group of people.

After a spin, Don decided to go to Ian. Greenwood, see if he has any good seedlings to recommend.

※※※

Ian. Mason Greenwood is leading Forest's Under-18s in regular training, the people who are closest to professional football. Some of them could be promoted to the first team of the Forest team if they were lucky, while those who were unlucky had to find another way elsewhere or in the reserves.

Professional football is not as beautiful as people think, thinking that there are opportunities everywhere, and just kicking two feet is a big star.

In addition to having the necessary talent, you need even more luck to succeed.

George. Wood and Gareth. Bale is by far the best product of the Forest academy and their success has caught the attention of the big clubs, George. It's not the first time Wood has been linked to transfer rumours, Gareth. Bale has also been linked with a club that wants him.

Their success added to Ian. Greenwood's pressure.

Both of the above are Tony. In the position of Head of Youth, Donn found that Bell may have something to do with Greenwood, and the more dazzling George. Wood is a complete descendant of Donn.

With these two people in front, people's expectations for the Forest youth team are very high, and they are looking forward to a blowout of the youth team and a continuous production of excellent players. But it's not that easy......

Everyone wants to have "Busby's children" and "Ferguson's class of ninety-two" in their hands, but such a large concentration of genius in one age group requires too many comprehensive factors.

Now there are a few good seedlings in the Under-18s that Greenwood is leading, and if it were the Forest team from four years ago, they would have been promoted directly to the first team and could play in the main team, but now......

To be honest, the training level of the forest youth team has not kept up with the development speed of the forest first team, not that the level of the youth team has declined, but that the first team has risen too fast......

Donne's request for the club to increase investment in the youth training base is definitely not a temporary surname, and he is also well aware of the contradiction between them. It's impossible to slow down the first team and wait for the youth team to catch up, the only way to do that is to go up front and take the youth team to a very high level. It's like Chelsea where Roman Abramovich lived, spending money to build the most modern academy, buying the best equipment, getting a high salary to go around digging the best youth team coaches, and then using the money to hire the best youth team football, and using the money to dig up the outstanding young talents from all over the world, these things are put together, so that Chelsea's level of inquiries jumped into the top four, and Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and other old youth powerhouses.

Ian. Mason Greenwood didn't know that the club wasn't planning to invest more in the youth team anytime soon, so how would he feel if he did?

There are players in the distance who see the first-team manager Toney. Donn walked into the training ground, and they were delighted to greet the legendary coach who had come out of the youth team.

The sound alarmed Greenwood, who turned his head to see Donn, threw the whistle to his assistant, and walked briskly up.

"Tony, you're a rarity." He joked.

When Don was the director of this training base, he was Donn's coach. Later, Donn's assistant coach Chris Rac was promoted to youth team director, and he became Krislak's assistant coach. Later, Tang became the director of the place with his excellent professional knowledge and coaching skills, and he became Don's assistant. In the end, Don only stayed here for a short season before he dropped into the first team and went straight to his assistant coach. And the daughter-in-law of many years has become a mother-in-law, Ian. Mason Greenwood can finally become an academy director.

"I'll take a look at your work." As an old superior, Don En didn't speak so politely.

"I thought the first team was only buying people from outside." Since it was an old relationship, Greenwood was not so polite when he spoke.

Don crooked his lips and smiled: "How can there be such a good thing?" If you have money, people may not come, and you don't have to be willing to come. ”

Greenwood looked at Donn's face and suddenly thought of a possibility, and he asked tentatively, "Hey, Tony." You don't have any money, so you want to come to me for a bargain, right? ”

"Hey!" Don glared at him, "What are you talking about?" What is a bargain! They are the hope for the future of our team! Don pointed to the young people who were training harder and more seriously, and said with a sense of awe. But...... Money has been a bit tight lately. ”

Greenwood laughed.

"It's so lively outside, you didn't find anything good?" The training of 18 is at the northernmost and innermost part of the base, which is much quieter than outside.

Tang En shook his head: "There are too many people, and I haven't noticed it for a while." But aren't your people there too, and they didn't tell anything interesting? ”

"We'll find out in a few days."

"Hmm...... Okay, let's get straight to it. Do you have anything here that you could recommend for the first team? Don asked.

"That's right......" Greenwood glanced at Donn, a curl on his lips, "You'll have to find it yourself, Tony." ”

Here we go again!

Paul. Hart's traditional mini-game has become a repertoire among Forest coaches.

Donn glared at Greenwood, then stood on the sidelines to take a closer look.

His eyes were first drawn to a tall man. It's not about how well this tall guy kicks, it's always the habit of putting the first glance on people who are in good shape, both men and women...... For example, this young man, he is so tall that you don't believe him if you want to see it.

He whistled and said to Greenwood next to him, "This kid has to be six feet three, right?" ”

Greenwood knew who he was referring to, and he shook his head, "No, six feet seven inches." ”

Don was taken aback by the number.

Six feet three inches is about 1.94 meters, and 6 feet 7 inches is more than two meters.

He looked at the big man again, he was taller than everyone on the field, two meters should not be an exaggeration.

"How old is he?"

"Seventeen."

"Hmm......" Donn stopped talking, and continued to observe.

The giant, who plays as a centre-back on the pitch, is doing header practice and his height gives him an advantage in the air. Generally speaking, players with this height usually don't bounce very well because their body structure dictates that they don't jump very high. But the man in front of him is very good at bouncing.

After doing the heading practice, he followed his teammates to do a switchback run.

It's not slow.

Don was a little interested in this air giant who was not slow and had excellent bouncing. "What's his name?" he asked. ”

"Aaron. Mitchel (aaron_mitchell). He is now the heart of the team's defence, and he has great physicality, but his shortcomings are also obvious – he has terrible tackling skills and his header is not good for his height. ”

Don nodded. "Train for two years, see the results, and if you can, go out on loan and work out. His body is his talent, his technique...... Let's take our time. ”

The two of them let the big giant go and went on to search for the next target.

The assistant coach of the youth team saw the first team manager come and he knew what Donn was here for.

He didn't ask Academy director Ian. Greenwood, on his own initiative, changed the training plan and let the players on the field play in teams.

Since Donn became the head of youth training, one of the principles set for the Academy's academy is that "everything is based on actual games", each team has their own characteristics and traditions, and now the tradition of the Forest team is "results first, games first". So in the youth team, the training is also required of the young people according to the standards of the game. If a young man is so good at juggling the ball that he can win a lot of applause, Donn will dismiss it. Because you won't be given the opportunity to play this alone on the field in the game, he requires that the training must be combined with the ball, and the training without the ball is worthless in his opinion, that is, everyone has to run with the ball in the running circle. From the youth team over 17 years old to the senior team, they all adhere to this training principle, focusing on ball, game, and confrontation.

Donn is very happy with this temporary change, he can have a more intuitive understanding of the comprehensive ability of these players - technical, mental, physical, athletic. Whether it is an advantage or a disadvantage, it will be exposed in the confrontation match, and there is nowhere to escape.

Once the game starts, a man quickly catches Donn's attention, and his eyes are always on the man.

At a young age, he wore the number 10 shirt of the Forest youth team.

He broke through on the right side of the pitch and was unstoppable, and sometimes he would switch to the middle and shoot from a distance, but obviously he preferred to play on the wing, because there were too many defenders in the middle of the pitch to make it difficult for him to break through, and it was different on the wing.

He's got a great technique, he's good at passing people, and he's fast.

The defender often had to flank him with two or three men, and if it was one-on-one, he would be ruthlessly passed.

※※※

"Hey, Ade! You're too cunning too! The defender who was defending the number 10 complained at close range, "You don't have to be so unsympathetic even though the first-team manager is on the sidelines, right?" ”

The No. 10 laughed: "James, if you can stop me, wouldn't you be able to impress the manager even more?" ”

The other party was stunned for a moment when he heard this, "You said it well...... Yes! ”

Just when he was stunned, No. 10 drilled past him like a loach, and a beautiful man-ball was divided!

"You cunning liar, Adriano!"

※※※

"That number 10, what's it called?" Donn pointed out the number 10 player on the field with his mouth.

"Mock, Adriano. Mock (adriano_moke). He's the best in the team, and while he still looks a little immature, he's improving quickly. ”

Don nodded. This kid is really good at his skills, and he is also very courageous, and he knows that he is watching from the sidelines, so he is very active.

However, alas...... He is used to being a right midfielder. And at the moment the first team already has Ashley in this position. Yang and Aaron. Lennon, wait until July, there will be another Beckham, overcrowded, and there may not be a place for this kid in the next few years.

Don thought for a moment and asked, "Can he play other positions?" ”

"It's okay in the middle of the midfield, but ...... He prefers to play on the right flank, and his left foot can be described as miserable compared to his right-footed skills. With the right midfielder and central midfielder, he couldn't adapt to other positions. ”

Don shook his head slightly. It's really not good, just sell it when it's cultivated, on the one hand, to make some money for the club, and on the other hand, ...... so as not to delay this kid.

Then Donn and Greenwood watched on the sidelines for a long time, observing some of the players and then asking Greenwood about the specific situation of those players before making a judgment.

The end result is...... He didn't find a player who could be dropped directly into the first team, but he did see some good seedlings in it, and if they were cultivated well, with a little luck, they could be the rotation players in Forest's first team in the future, and maybe the main team in the middle of the Premier League.

He felt that this was the reality, how could there be so many geniuses in the world who shocked the world to let him get it? If you have no money and no power, what can you do with Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea to compete for geniuses?

Due to Arsene Wenger's Arsenal academy fame, many young talents would rather go to Arsenal to be trained by their professors than to go to other teams. But how did they know that Arsenal's youth team is full of talented people from all over the world, if not particularly top-notch, where will it be their turn? Everyone wants to be the next Sesk. Cesc Fabregas, is it that easy? At the beginning, Special Olympics. Theo Walcott caused a sensation in England and Europe when he joined Arsenal, but now? Cesc Fabregas is the heart of Arsenal's midfield, with Theo Walcott left to be a substitute. In Done's opinion, this kid is good for nothing but speed, he can't play football with his brain at all, and he only knows how to rely on his own speed.

He decided to look a little further and let scouts move around and go to other clubs' youth teams to poach the talents who were not yet famous, perhaps with some unexpected gains.

Don came empty-handed, and returned empty-handed. After watching the match, he chatted with the coaches of the youth team for a while and left. The lack of a begger to talk to them alone was much to the disappointment of the North Wilford children. Everyone knows that the first-team manager rarely comes here once a year, and finally has a chance to perform in front of him, but no one wins the bid.

It's so frustrating.

Don clapped his hands and left, Greenwood was about to have a headache, and he was also responsible for calming the wounded hearts of these children, so that they could re-establish their goals and continue to train hard.

※※※

This group of children didn't know that Donn still had a few promising players in his heart, but they were still too young...... Far water can't quench the thirst of the near.

In the afternoon, Donn went around the reserves, and this time he picked in a substitute goalkeeper.

Paul. Steven Gerrard is retired, Van der Sar is old, but he is still in form, and if there are no accidents, he can still play at a high level for a year. But who knows what the future holds? In the event of a slight injury, or a sudden slump in form, Akinfeev will have to step up, and it is best for a team's first team to ensure that there are three goalkeepers so that there is no one on goal.

Don has met many times when he is playing games, he used to always find trouble with the substitute goalkeeper: the high ability is unwilling to be a substitute, and the low ability of him as a head coach is not good. The result is always two goalkeepers playing, and if the main goalkeeper and the substitute goalkeeper are injured, the result is that he has to use any one person as the goalkeeper...... Fortunately, it's a game, if it's reality, he's embarrassed.

Last season, he had a headache about where to buy a backup goalkeeper, and in the end it was Don who cleared the siege and said Paul. Steven Gerrard was a good substitute. The good substitute continued to miss the entire season after suffering a broken skull in a crash against Reading in October.

Then Forest have been playing the rest of the game with two goalkeepers, one is the main goalkeeper and the other is the young goalkeeper who is returning to the first team in the reserve squad this time - Dier, who is only 20 years old. Roberts (dale_roberts).

A year ago he was a young goalkeeper in the Under-19s team, but Paul. Steven Gerrard's injury gave him the opportunity to experience true professional football in the first team, and he has grown fairly quickly during the year, and several appearances in cup competitions have also recognised his ability from the coaching staff, so he will replace the retired Paul in the new season. Steven Gerrard, who became the team's number three goalkeeper.

This is the first new player for the Forest team this season, and it is not technically "new...... He was dropped into the first team last season and now he's just coming back.

Forest's recruitment hasn't officially started yet, but Donn is ready to get started.

The list is basically determined, and it is just a matter of contacting the other party's agent.

The new season is about to begin, the holidays for players and coaches are coming to an end, and the boredom of doing nothing is finally over......

(To be continued)