In the winter in Nottingham, it is late in the morning, but there are already more pedestrians on the road, everyone is busy going to work, and those students who study abroad have to go to school. It's an old and young city, full of life at every turn, not like the old industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool.

Don yawned as he walked down the sidewalk. Young men ran past him in droves, in stark contrast to his listlessness.

Looking at those youthful and energetic backs, Don En could only complain in his heart about the terrible habitual surname left by his physical predecessor. Like that rigid schedule, he opened his eyes at half past six this morning, and then he couldn't sleep. He knew that it was Tony's morning run, but he just didn't want to go for a run early in the morning, and he hadn't done it since he passed the college entrance examination.

I looked at the ceiling in bed in a daze until seven o'clock, then got up and got some food casually, and then I was in a daze until seven forty, and finally I couldn't sit still anymore and decided to go to "work".

As a direct consequence of the lack of sleep, he yawns incessantly, and the winter morning is drizzling and the temperature is very low, and he is wrapped in a black coat and hunched his neck like an addict.

Twenty minutes later, when Donn stood at the gate of the training base, he was a little surprised. He looked at his watch and confirmed that it was three past eight. "Why is it so quiet? Isn't the New Year's holiday over yet? Don En was a little puzzled, the door of the training base was really deserted to the point of "the door is full of birds", when he came, he saw a few sparrows parked in front of the gate, and only when he heard his footsteps did he fly up violently.

Even more surprising than him was the doorman Ian; McDonald: "Tony, it's not yet time for training to start. ”

"Ah...... Oh. What time does training start? Don knew he was ignorant again. He can only blame the accident on the back of his head now.

"Nine o'clock in the morning." MacDonald looked at Donn sympathetically and said that of course he had a good reason to do so.

But Don didn't like to be seen as a psychopath, so he glared at the other party: "Very good, then I'm right to come to the training base in advance, right?" ”

"Uh, of course......" MacDonald opened the door.

Don walked in, this was his first time at the training base of a professional team, and he was a little excited. But a voice in the back spoiled his good mood: "Tony, your office turns left in front, and the third room of that white bungalow has a ...... with a huge floor-to-ceiling window"

Don turned around and thanked the enthusiastic old doorman angrily: "Thank you Ian, but I know how to go." ”

That's right, he knows. Tony; Donn's memories were still in his mind, and he was so familiar with this place that he didn't feel strange at all.

※※※

Entering his office and turning on the daylight, the dim room was suddenly occupied by bright lights, and this sharp change from dark to light made Don can't help but squint.

The first thing that catches your eye is a large dark red boss table. There was a computer, a pen holder, a phone, a few books, and nothing else. Behind the desk is a large swivel chair, which should be its place. It's just that the tables and chairs look a little shabby, and they have a sense of history.

Donn shrugged, as English football does, emphasizing their history.

He walked over, sat on the chair, and then turned back and forth, left and right, looking at the well-organized office and the empty training ground behind it, and he felt a feeling: cool!

Wowhaha! I didn't expect Lao Tzu to be the head coach of a professional team one day! The people who laugh at me in the teahouse bar all day long don't know what Donne's face would be if they knew that he was in the position of Nottingham Forest manager...... Don touched his chin and smiled.

Don suddenly retracted his smile and said in a deep voice in the direction of the gate, "Mr. President, I promise to bring you a glittering trophy at the end of the season. Yes, I promise ......"

Then he got up, turned to the training ground, pinched his chin, and frowned: "Hmm, I think that No. 7 doesn't seem to be in shape, should we throw him in the reserves?" ”

Immediately after, he suddenly raised his voice and waved his arms: "Stupid! Cut inside, don't blindly go to the bottom! Didn't you sleep at noon? Cut inside and shoot through the enemy's ribs...... Stick in it hard! Disrupt their defenses, tear their carefully organized defenses to shreds, and settle the battle surprisingly quickly! Idiot! ”

After yelling, he lowered his arms, feeling bored. Although he is a head coach, he is really a rookie. He didn't even know his team, it was his first day of training, and he was scared and uneasy. I don't know what my players will think of my new manager. Will they laugh at themselves? Will you look down on yourself? Will you despise yourself in your heart?

Don is like a fresh graduate waiting for an interview with a leader, which is related to whether he can successfully find a job, which is a lifelong event!

He sat back down, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the training ground in distraction. He didn't know how long he could stay in this position, maybe a week, maybe two weeks? Or stay until the end of the season? That's a good ending. Can a rookie head coach with no experience and no knowledge facing a huge challenge succeed?

A knock on the door woke Donn, and he turned around, not knowing who would be looking for him at this time. He groomed, put on an expression that he thought was most appropriate, and then cleared his throat: "Please come in." ”

The door was pushed open, and a dozen people rushed in at once. The office, which was supposed to be spacious, immediately became crowded.

"What ...... you guys" Donn was confused, not understanding what was going on.

The young man who had been pulling Donn to persuade him to come back and direct the game that day stood up: "Tony, Chairman Dogetty thinks it is necessary to reintroduce you to your colleagues. ”

Donn thought of the old man at the gate of the training base yesterday and patted him lightly on the shoulder, "I'm not going to put pressure on you, Tony." ". This old man is very thoughtful, but this meeting is ...... Isn't it a bit too formal?

"Well, I thank you, Mr. President, for your kindness. But I don't really need to ......" Donn was observing the crowd's reaction as he said this, and he noticed that some of them had sneering expressions, which were fleeting but still caught in his eyes. "You guys go back to work, training is about to begin." He gestured to his watch.

The crowd hesitated and dispersed. But the young man was left behind.

Seeing the last man walk out of the office, Donn closed the door and said to the young man, "Des, I know you're doing it for my good." But you're going to make it hard for me to do that. ”

Des; Walker was a little curious: "Why? ”

"I'm the coach of the team, I'm the manager. In front of them and the players, I have to retain my authority and my dignity. To be honest, I hate it right now when people look at me with a psychotic look, sympathy, mockery...... Both. How am I going to lead the team if this continues? The players don't listen to a manager who has to be reminded of everything. ”

Des; Walker wasn't a fool, he understood what Donn meant. "I'm sorry, Tony, I didn't think about it that much......"

"I don't blame you for what I said. You're the only one I can trust right now, and they'......" Donn looked at the door, "they're all waiting to see my jokes." You're going to help me. ”

Des; Walker announced his retirement at the end of last season, and now at the age of 37, he is an assistant coach of the first team, all because of Toney; Donn's mentor Paul; Hart's promotion and development -- Hart suggested that he become an assistant coach after he retired. Walker is a very emotional person, Hart, who has a good understanding of him, has resigned, and Donn, whom Hart admires the most, has become the head coach, and he hopes that Donn can succeed, so that it can prove that Hart's vision is right. And to help Don is to help himself, he has just retired, he has no name in the coaching world, no experience, and following Don is a good way to gain experience. These days, it is not easy to find a job after retiring from the army.

Walker nodded: "No problem, what help do you need?" ”

Don pointed to his head: "I'm still a little weak here, sometimes it will suddenly short circuit, you are by my side, remind me in time, but pay a little attention to the method." ”

Walker said he knew, and then he asked, "So what ......is today's training plan?"

"You arrange."

Walker was a little stunned at this answer, but he quickly reacted. "Then let's go according to the usual plan."

"Well, that's it." Don laughed. "We'll be very cooperative."

Walker shrugged: "I always have the feeling that I'm cheating on someone. ”

"Ah, don't take that feeling to heart. Deception is sometimes a good thing, such as when you deceive someone for a good purpose. That's not 'deception,' that's 'white lies.'" When I'm training, I'm just watching from the sidelines, and I don't say anything unless it's absolutely necessary, you do everything. You go and get ready, it's almost nine o'clock, and they're coming. ”

Walker saw that Donn was very accurate in stating the start time of training, and believed that he had really recovered a little. So he nodded and went out with confidence.

Don let out a sigh of relief when he saw Walker gently close the office door. Deception is really not good, it's okay to be exposed by others, he is worried that one day he will be dizzy and confess, and it will be embarrassing.

Tony's impression of everyone; Don was the same old-fashioned medieval man he used to be, and he didn't want to change himself in order to conform to other people's impressions. He Tang En is a little short-tempered, a little stubborn, and uneducated. He hopes that through his own efforts, he will tell them that this is the real Donne, as for the former Tony; Dawn...... Well, just let him disappear with that sideline. I don't have the leisure to care about where he goes, and I don't feel guilty about it, you know, Lao Tzu has also lost a lot of things! Holy damn it!

He looked outside and saw that the rain had stopped. There are already turf maintenance personnel on the training ground, which was empty just now, checking the condition of today's turf.

A new day of training begins.

※※※

The players were training on the training pitch according to the usual schedule, but their minds were on the sidelines of head coach Tony; Donn. There are always people who keep glancing this way while training.

It's not just the players who are so abnormal, but even the coaches who are busy on the sidelines can't contain their curiosity.

Their head coach Donn's current appearance will be strange to anyone who looks at it, and will take a few more looks.

Tang En was wearing a pair of sunglasses, black clothes, black pants and black leather shoes, black from head to toe. Standing on the sidelines, with no smile on his face, he looked particularly gloomy. Against the hazy sky, everyone passing by him seemed to feel a gust of wind.

Even Walker didn't expect Donn to appear on the sidelines of the training pitch in this way. In the past, Don was a coach in a smart tracksuit, with a whistle around his neck, and sneakers running laps with the players. Now it's more like the president of the club. Expect him to come down and demonstrate the action or something, don't think about it.

In fact, this is exactly what Donn hopes to achieve. What he feared was that someone on the coaching staff would ask him to go off the pitch and do things like that, and he wouldn't do it at all. I have watched football for so many years, and playing football is called a stink. Just dress up like this and clearly tell some people with ulterior motives -- Lao Tzu will not end up today. In addition, wearing sunglasses can also make others unable to see his eyes, so naturally I don't know what he is thinking.

Walker took good care of him, was much louder than usual in training, and tried to call out the players' names as much as possible. Compared to him, another assistant coach, Ian; Ian'Bowyer was not so aggressive. He was one of the people who had a sneering expression in Donn's office just now. According to Walker, Bowyer was a veteran of the team, playing for many years before retiring and becoming a coach. The seniority is very old.

As soon as Walker said this, Donn understood. It was Paul this time; Hart was dismissed, and the old man Bowyer thought that the club would make him the head coach, but he didn't expect Paul; Hart recommended his cronies, much to the old man's jealousy.

It's human nature, and Don understands this. But it doesn't mean that he has to give in, Tang Enke has never conceded defeat in front of anyone.

Bowyer is not happy, and he is not happy.

If two days ago, someone had tried to abdicate himself, he would have been glad to be relieved. But now it's different, now that I'm here and I'm the acting head coach of a team, I have to do something and leave something behind. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. Anyway, he used to watch the game in his heart, and if he was the head coach and made any arrangements, he also played a lot of football manager games.

Now he's standing on the sidelines, ostensibly looking like a stake, but he's actually trying to match Walker's name with the players on the field.

The black man with pigtails and a hairstyle that resembles Rijkaard is David the striker who injured himself on the sidelines that day; Johnson. Look at his performances on the training ground...... It's fast, and the explosiveness is good. At present, we can only get such an intuitive impression, and the specific needs to be observed in depth, through the competition......

The little guy who just kicked a nice cross was Andy; Andrey'Reid, an outstanding youth player who was nurtured by Donn himself, was promoted to the first team with him just before the New Year. Donn gave the kid a few more looks, and as far as he can remember, he remembered that the man had later appeared at Tottenham. I didn't expect it to be transferred from Forest, and his ability can be seen from this transfer, will players without strength be favored by old Premier League teams?

Since Reed was mentioned, the other person couldn't help but mention it, and Donn turned his gaze to the backcourt. In the group of people who were doing heading practice, there was a tall man who immediately caught Donn's attention. Very energetic short blond hair, childish face, clear eyebrows, but very general-style. Even the defensive training of the coaching staff is arranged with him at the core. This is Michael, the centre-back known as Nottingham's hope for the future; Michael Dawson, and Andy; Reid followed their mentor from the youth team to the first team. The game the day before yesterday was his first game in League One, but unfortunately the team was defeated and his performance was not very good. But that didn't affect his mood, and he still had an optimistic smile on his face.

Dawson was promoted to the Nottingham first team with Reid, and two years later, he also left Nottingham with Reid to move to Tottenham Hotspur. Donn watched a few games later at Tottenham Hotspur and the lad did well, with Ledley; Kim has a tacit understanding at the back, and he dares to command the entire backline at a young age. He has also been the main defender of England's youth team and has a possibility of making it to the national team, but that was in 2007. Today, Dawson is just a young man, full of hope and longing for the future.

As soon as he thought that this person would be cultivated by himself, a sense of accomplishment rose in Tang En's heart-no matter which "Don En" he took, it was all his credit now.

He carefully watched the team's training, remembering not only the names and appearances of these players, as well as their respective technical characteristics, but also the team's training methods and styles. He can't ask too many people, otherwise it will expose the fact that he is actually a rookie, and even worse, he may be sent to the hospital as an amnesiac patient......

According to the results of his observations, the strength of the Nottingham Forest team must not be said to be weak, many players have very outstanding characteristics, and such a team has the strength to rush to the top in the second division of England. But halfway through the league, Nottingham Forest finished in 10th place, in mid-table. For a team that was looking to compete for the First Division title before the season, this is a bad result. To make matters worse was the club's financial situation, with most of the proceeds from the transfer fee being used to pay off debts after the sale of Jenas to Newcastle, which was left to then-manager Paul; Hart's transfer fee is very small, and Hart himself is no longer confident that he will lead the team to achieve the president's goal. In the first half of the season, the team won 10 games, drew 8 and lost 9 in 27 league games.

Although I haven't seen Paul; Hart led the team to play, but Donn believes in this man's ability, and a coach who can bring out so many good players should not be doubted. Even if some people were sold, such as stars like Jenas, the strength of the team did not drop to such a point. The quality of the team's players is not a problem, so what is wrong with this result now?

Donn noticed that the players were still watching him, and while Walker was the coach leading their training, everyone's attention seemed to be on him as an outsider. He saw in those eyes something that was familiar for the past two days that could not be more familiar, and he didn't like the feeling of being seen as a monster.

So his voice suddenly sounded on the training ground.

"Hey! Are you visiting the zoo?! Where do you look? Focus on training! Look what I do! ”

He's really a zoo animal, and everyone is looking at the angry head coach. The coach, who originally thought it was a wooden stake, suddenly yelled, and everyone would be surprised. But what surprised them even more was Tony, who was introverted, never shouted loudly, and always spoke in an orderly manner; Don would have said such a strong emotion.

Perhaps, their Tony; Coach Don is very different from before.

※※※

Because tomorrow is the competition, the training intensity on this day is not very large, and the training of this intensity is only carried out in the middle of the week, and if it is not a double game a week. After the morning of practice, Walker sent the players home. The staff, like the players, left one after another after training, Des; Walker followed Donn back to his office.

"After watching the morning training, what do you think?" Without waiting for Donn's signal, Walker sat down in a chair as he entered, and asked casually. He found that this Don seemed to be getting along better than the previous Don, because he was no longer taciturn, laughing and yelling, which was a good feeling.

Of course, Don couldn't tell the truth about the many doubts in his heart. Because he is not an outsider who has watched the team train for the first time and knows nothing about the Forest team before, but a coach who has really come out of the team, he should know everything here. Even if the brain is hit, it shouldn't be forgotten to be so clean. "Aside from the lack of concentration, it's not bad."

Walker then noticed that Donn didn't have the notebook he usually carried with him. "Don't you remember something? Where's your notebook? He asked, gesturing to Donn's hands.

Don pointed to his head and replied, "I remember it here." He didn't lie about this, Don had a good memory since he was a child, so although he never liked his teachers, his grades were very good.

Walker shook his head and smiled, "It seems that the change is really big, I have to wonder if the person standing in front of me now is Tony; Don is gone. ”

Don felt that this was an opportunity for others to gradually accept him, but he couldn't show it very bluntly, and needed to be tactful. He pretended to be surprised and said, "Huh? There were some things I couldn't explain, but it just happened. Isn't that bad? Then I'll change it back......"

"No, no." Walker quickly interrupted him, "That's good, this is good, it's the best." You're a lot easier to get along with now than you were before. ”

Don snickered in his heart, this was the result he wanted. He needs someone to introduce the new him to others, and no one compares to Dees, who has been with the team for more than a decade; Walker is more suitable.

Seeing Walker away, Don began rummaging through the cabinets in his office. Walker mentions the "notebook", and he decides to find out and take a look, maybe it will help him.

In the third drawer of his desk, he finally found the somewhat worn notebook. It's only a little smaller than the tactical board, but it's thick, the black leather jacket has been worn out around the edges, the edges are yellowed and hairy, and the bronzing word "notebook" on the cover is mottled by too much friction.

Donn cautiously flipped through the thick notebook, fearing that a page would fall out of it, or that the antique-looking notebook would break from it.

"It's really medieval." Don sighed slightly mockingly. Nowadays, in the era of computer networks, there are still people who hold paper notebooks to record things, and it is not enough to hold a laptop? It's convenient and chic, and it can also be used to put sisters. Think about going to a place like Starbucks, ordering a cup of coffee, sitting alone by the window, opening your laptop, ignoring the hustle and bustle around you, your fingers jumping nimbly on the keyboard, and the thick fragrance of the coffee......

Don shook his head, interrupting the incomprehensible fantasy. He has never been to Starbucks, and migrant workers like him who are struggling to make ends meet do not have the financial strength or the leisure to go to a café, but to go to the kind of bar where you can watch football or the teahouses that bloom everywhere in Chengdu.

Turning the cover open, there is a neatly written sentence on the title page, which is still legible even though the color of the ink has faded:

Football is not about life and death, football is higher than life and death.

Seeing this, the disdainful smile on Don's face slowly disappeared.

As a fan, he certainly knows what it is and the weight of it. Only fans can appreciate the meaning of this sentence. Football is no longer just a sport or a game played on the streets, but a religion and belief, which dissolves in the life, life and blood of football fans......

In the past, Tony would write this sentence on the title page, which shows that he admires this sentence, and it is not too much to say that it is his football motto. I really didn't expect that the "medieval ancients" who were wooden in appearance and taciturn would like such famous sayings with strong feelings and even some irrationality.

Maybe the real him is not as gloomy as people think, maybe there is a fire in his heart that will never be extinguished.

He roughly flipped through his notebook, which was much more messy compared to the rigid and stubborn timetable on the refrigerator door at home. If you don't mark the time, you don't know the order of them, and some of them are even written directly in the margins, and the handwriting is mostly scribbled and messy, and it can be seen that some things must be remembered at any time, so they will be everywhere and stitches.

The first article was written on March 21, 1998, and the last article was dated December 31, 2002. Turn another page, and this thick notebook comes to an end. On December 31, 2002, a lot of things were written in the place, all about the next opponent, Walshaal, and his own countermeasures. He calculated many possibilities and countermeasures, but he didn't calculate that he would be possessed by another Donn.

Don sighed. He wasn't going to write anything more down in this notebook. One is because there is not enough space, and the other is because he is unwilling to destroy this person's hard work and add more to it. Holding the notebook in his hand, Donn felt its weight.

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ps, the new book is uploaded, and please help to promote it more! Thank you!

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