Volume 6 Crimson Chapter 104 Psychological Warfare

A narrow 1-0 away win over Juventus avenged the defeat to them that year, while also consolidating their position at the top of the group. But there was much more to this victory – whether it was a win over Celtic or a win over Atletico Madrid, the media had nothing special about Nottingham Forest's victory. Only after the victory over Juventus, many media outlets made big headlines:

"The Red Forest is back to Europe!"

It stands to reason that Nottingham Forest have been back for a long time, and they will be considered back when they confirmed their participation in next season's Champions League in the final round of last season. But the media now mean something else – the once-dominant Nottingham Forest team that once dominated Europe has really returned.

Beating a team like Juventus showed everyone that Nottingham Forest are not going to go around Europe and go home this season, they have the ambition to make a name for themselves in Europe. Beating seeded Juventus is just the starting point, not the end.

So it's no wonder Tony. Don was rarely humble, and he was not believed once. It's almost like the story of "The Wolf Comes". When your arrogant image has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of others, no matter what you do, they will first think that you must have ulterior motives.

In fact, Donn is really low-key, and he doesn't want to put too much pressure on this team. Times have changed, and so has the team in his hands. There are a lot of newcomers and youngsters in this team, and he's not sure if these people are still as hungry for a challenge as he is and have a lot of fun with it. Coupled with the fact that the team is not strong enough this year, Donn didn't say anything we were going to win at the beginning of the season.

Rebuilding the team is a process that takes time and cannot be rushed. He knew this very well.

In fact, it is a very happy thing to be a player for Nottingham Forest - not to mention winning the title, there is no pressure.

Ibisevic doesn't score, there's Toney. Donn shares that pressure with him. Mathias. Fernandez has been unable to integrate into the team for a long time, and there is Toney. Don tried to create an opportunity for him in the dark. Kic scored fewer goals? It didn't matter, Tony told him that as long as he contributed to the team, he wouldn't be unhappy even if he didn't score. How dare the media question a Forest player? Before the players could make any sense, Tony's big mouth was already spraying at the blinding media.

Follow the boss and don't worry about anything. For those players who have been with Donn for several years, Nottingham Forest is the head, and the head is Nottingham Forest.

In fact, Donn doesn't really want his players to think this way, because it would cause his players to have to "Tony." Donn dependence". While Done has never considered leaving Nottingham Forest to mingle elsewhere, that doesn't mean there are no surprises. Like his heart......

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Having won away at Juventus, Nottingham Forest will continue to face Juventus on their home side.

After three rounds of the group stage, Juventus won one win, drew one and lost one, accumulating four points and ranking second in the group. Atletico Madrid draw two and lose one, accumulating two points. Celtic were the weakest team in the group, with two losses and one draw, and they finished bottom with just one point.

However, no one dares to say that Celtic have no hope of qualifying. In this group, except for Nottingham Forest, who are far ahead with nine points, the other three teams are likely to rise to the top and also may lose.

If Juventus are to establish themselves in qualifying, they would do well to beat Forest at the City Stadium.

Is Don the kind of person who is kind?

He once again set up a thick formation at the City Stadium, sealing Juventus out of the gates with layers of defence. The game was very ugly and there were no bright spots, and neither side played as well as it could have been. In the end, Nottingham Forest relied on a goal suspected of offside to beat Juventus 1-0 again.

After the game, the English media commented: "...... Claudio Ranieri's side didn't even see what the City Stadium was like, and they went home – Toney. Don Embu was heavily guarded, so Juventus could only circle around the perimeter, but could not enter the core area......"

The Torino media were frustrated by Juventus' two 1-0 defeats: "...... Juventus were beaten in the way they excelled...... Nottingham Forest have two 'Italian wins'. ”

Nottingham Forest, who have won all four games and have 12 points, have already confirmed their place in the group. Donn decided to take the pressure off his team and rotate all of his remaining two group games. Joe. Mattok will have the opportunity to play in the first Champions Cup match of his career.

In the league, Nottingham Forest's results are clearly not as consistent as they were two seasons ago, with ups and downs. They can beat Aston Villa 4-0 at home or lose 3-0 at Arsenal away.

Nottingham Forest, who have been in the throes of blood exchange, have not fully recovered after all.

After playing the Champions Cup group stage with Juventus at home, the Premier League has also played 12 rounds, Nottingham Forest has 7 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses, accumulating 24 points and temporarily ranking fourth in the league. And it is only four points behind Arsenal, who are first in the league.

This result can already satisfy Donn.

November has entered the second half of the month, and it will not be long before the intensive Christmas schedule is approaching. Donne's plan is to stay in the top four throughout that time while widening the gap to fifth-placed Chelsea.

In fact, the impact of the financial crisis on Nottingham Forest was far less than the impact on Chelsea......

Abramovich's assets have shrunk by nearly eighty percent in the financial crisis. Not only did he not invest a penny in the team during that time, but he also laid off fifteen scouts to save money. At the same time, there are rumours that he intends to sell Chelsea for the symbolic euro of his surname.

Although in the end he came forward to refute the rumors that there was absolutely no such thing, and Chelsea was still in his name. But Chelsea's decline in strength is a real reality.

Rijkaard is a very bad manager. He didn't come to Chelsea at all. Manchester City will be the Premier League club that has invested the most in the transfer market this summer, and Chelsea will be the least expensive.

Abramovich's demand that Rijkaard play in the Premier League with his current squad and at least a trophy is somewhat difficult. Not to mention that Rijkaard did not get the player he wanted the most, and the big man in the team, Malouda, also transferred to Juventus.

Rijkaard never said he was going to give up the league, he just said that there was more than half of the league left in the current standings, and no one knew which team would be the champions until the end.

But he already has a vague intention to give up the league and focus on the domestic cup and the League Cup.

Look at the miserable way he's messing up now, even Tony. Don didn't even have the heart to fight him with a war of words—he just couldn't afford to bully an unlucky guy.

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In terms of schedule, although the Christmas period and January, there are many competitions. But Nottingham Forest's luck is not bad, and the top five players will not run into any other than themselves. For Donne, the tough games came before Christmas, with two consecutive rounds of strong opponents, both away – Manchester United in the 16th round of the league and Liverpool in the 17th round of the league.

Between the twelfth and sixteenth rounds, Nottingham Forest won two and drew one of the three games, with a slight change in the standings - they squeezed out Liverpool and moved up to third. They are only two points behind second-placed Manchester United. If they can beat Manchester United away in the round of 16, they will be second in the league and straight ahead of Arsenal.

Donn likes this kind of face-to-face competition against his direct rivals, and it's the quickest way to get results.

He's not afraid to play Manchester United, even away from home.

With a week to go and just after a league game against Middlesbrough, he took the initiative to talk about Manchester United in his post-match press conference.

He tactfully said it was time for Ferguson to retire: "Yes, I have a good relationship with him. That's why I say this out of concern for his health. How old is he? In a few months, he will be seventy years old. I'm worried about his heart...... You know, I'm also a person with heart disease, and I know that......"

Throughout the conversation, he showed his concern for the old coach Ferguson. It seems that the relationship between the two is really "good" as he said.

But those who know the two men well will not take Donn's concern seriously - he is just taking the initiative to provoke psychological warfare with Ferguson......

Ferguson was also responsive: "I do think I'm old enough to think about retiring, but that was after I won a trophy. What the? You ask me who is the best coach to be my successor? Well...... I believe in Tony. If Don comes to do it, he will definitely not be worse than me. ”

He used the topic to play, and used the method of "recommending Donn as the manager of Manchester United" to interfere with the morale of the Forest team. The media has been talking about Ferguson's successor for decades, and everyone has been on this list – current Portugal national team manager Queiroz and former Manchester United captain Roy who is currently at home. Keane, David Moyes, who did a good job at Everton, and even the current Inter Milan manager, the madman Jose Mourinho. Of course, this list is not missing the best homegrown coach in England in the last decade, the young and promising Tony, who is also prominent. What about Donn?

And, in fact, Donn has always been the favourite candidate. In terms of results, only Mourinho can compete with several other competitors. But it's not about grades when it comes to who is most likely to come to Old Trafford – more often than not, it's about how likely the candidate is to leave his or her current job.

Queiroz and David Moyes are doing well in their positions, and Mourinho himself has expressed his lack of interest in going to Manchester United as manager, Roy. Keane is too tender. Only Tony. Don is the most suitable - because almost everyone thinks that he can't really work in the Nottingham Forest for twenty years, and there are no big fish in a small pond, according to the Chinese, that is, "Jinlin is a thing in the pond". Tony. Donne's current annual salary is the lowest in public among the coaches of the big five, and there is no guarantee that he will not be dissatisfied with the current treatment. At that time, as long as Manchester United is tempted by a high salary, maybe Don will leave Nottingham Forest and pursue a higher stage......

After all, in the eyes of the vast majority of people, Nottingham Forest is not a giant, and her attraction is naturally not as good as that of the old giants Manchester United. Being the manager of Manchester United is something that countless people dream of, and when she makes such an invitation to a manager, how many people in the world can refuse?

Another reason why most people are optimistic about Don taking over Ferguson's place is that although Don has good personal relationships with the two giants of English football, Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, he is closer to Ferguson than Wenger in terms of surname and coaching style. If Don En were to take charge of Manchester United, there would be no problem in terms of the continuity of the style and the manager's adaptation to the team. Ferguson doesn't have to worry about repulsion from the new manager after his retirement. A smooth transition from head coach change contributes to the stability of the team's results.

Tony, in every sense of the word. Done is the future of Manchester United......

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Ferguson's remarks brought the "cliché" topic of his heir back to the table, and the media followed the hype, which seemed quite lively. Although there is still the final Champions League group game between the two teams, not many people care anymore - Nottingham Forest and Manchester United have already confirmed their places.

Donn thinks this is Ferguson's psychological warfare tactic, so he won't be stupid enough to say anything about it, because no matter what you say, this kind of problem will be caught by the media and hyped up, and you will fall deeper and deeper into the psychological war, and in the end it will be you who is unlucky. The smart way is to provoke the other party's emotions and then withdraw from it, making the other party uncomfortable, not excited, wanting to be dissatisfied, empty in heart, and completely unprepared for the game...... Therefore, he did not reply to Ferguson's words, but only prepared for the Champions League group stage and the crucial game against Manchester United.

In the Champions League away to Scotland against Celtic, Donn rotated heavily to give his players plenty of rest ahead of the packed schedule. Don doesn't make any demands on the result of this game, and the first thing he has to make sure is that no one is injured in this game - Atletico Madrid are battling Celtic for a place in the UEFA Cup. At the Calderón Stadium, Atletico Madrid will not let Juventus go. At the same time, at Celtic Park, the Scots will not accede to Nottingham Forest's request to leave the stadium in one fell swoop.

Just as he was about to leave for Glasgow, he received a call from Manchester United.

- My successor? I believe in Tony. If Don comes to do it, he will definitely not be worse than me.

He thought it was Ferguson's psychological warfare and a joke, but apparently the other side didn't think so......

(To be continued)