Chapter 54: A Win-Win FA Cup (Part I)
Evan? Doggerty didn't lie to Donne, and the next day, all the pro-Forest media in Nottingham reported on the contract extension, and the Nottingham Evening Post, which has the best relationship with the Forest team, even used the meaty words "decide on a future contract extension" to give Wood the name of the renewing Forest.
Even a few days ago when Forest brought in Mikel? Mikel Arteta's time was not as positive as it was this time. It seems that Evan has really put in a lot of effort.
George? Wood in agent Billy? At the behest of Woods, he was interviewed by the media for the first time. Don glanced at the report and knew that Wood's answers must have been prepared by Woods. However, the meaning of the words is similar, but it seems to be more flexible in expression.
Don believes Evan? With such a high-profile promotion of Wood's contract extension, Dogetty must be ready to continue to bleed, and in the next half season, there will definitely be other players in the Forest team who ask the club to change their contracts.
George? Wood won a better-paying contract for himself with his outstanding performances, so didn't the other players do well? Layton? Barnes, Ashley? Young, Freddie? Eastwood, Pete? Crouch...... These people probably need better contracts to encourage their contribution to the team.
Tang En thought about it, instead of waiting for the other party's agent to come to the door and wasting time by talking one by one, it was better to choose a suitable reality and open a new contract in a unified manner, which saved time and boosted morale.
Not now, of course, as Forest are about to host Manchester United in a key FA Cup fourth-round fixture.
With Manchester United at home to Nottingham Forest in the league, Forest fans have many great hopes for this game, such as the victory over Manchester United...... Ferguson did not mention to the media the last three points in the league, and even vaguely prevaricated when asked by the media. However, before the game, he consciously or unconsciously recalled the good moments when United were here - "Six years ago, my team and I had very good memories here, and I am still thrilled when I think about it. Gunnar? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ole_gunnar_solskjaer) would agree with me. ”
Six years ago, Ferguson said it was February 6, 1999. That season was Manchester United's best season – the treble. On 6 February, Manchester United travelled to the Nottingham City Stadium in the league to take on a then-declining Forest side, a game that was the best game for super-substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of this season's Champions League final, and was a perfect interpretation of his title as a super-sub.
The Reds slaughtered on the road as they thrashed Nottingham Forest 8-1, with late substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring a Premier League record with four goals in 20 minutes.
For Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was truly a wonderful moment to remember and relish. But Ferguson shouldn't have mentioned it in front of Nottingham Forest fans.
That kind of game and score is a veritable nightmare for Forest fans, and it is the last thing they want to talk about, especially Manchester United.
Now the Nottingham media mocked Ferguson with the 2-2 match more than a month ago, but they didn't expect the feedback they received as "self-deprecating". Ferguson said lightly that he enjoyed the game six years ago, as if he slapped you in the face, and then said with a happy look on his face that it felt great.
This is a great disgrace.
This is Ferguson's most common psychological tactic - to provoke the opponent and make the opponent lose his calm judgment in tactical arrangement. Regardless of the Forest and Tony now? Donn was outraged, Nottingham Forest's fans and media were outraged.
Don didn't have any feelings about the feud between the two teams, he was still in China in 1999, he didn't know much about the Premier League at that time, and he didn't care about the results of a declining team, Nottingham Forest, and the 1:8 game was only heard from other sources later, and Ferguson's provocation was of little use to him.
But his players don't think so. Although none of them experienced that heavy defeat either, as players, none of them wanted to be looked down upon.
What does Ferguson mean by that? The Forest players thought Ferguson's subtext was: "If I could have beaten that Nottingham Forest team 8-1 six years ago, I can beat your Forest team six years later!" ”
They felt deeply insulted.
Although Albertini and Hierro remained calm, their aura of calmness did not affect many of them at all among the large group of fanatics.
Donn has thought about it carefully, and Ferguson's pre-match remarks have angered his players, so should he deliberately avoid this anger during the game, or should he take the opportunity to boost the morale of his players and bring out their potential?
There are two outcomes of anger, one is that the angry party is torn to pieces by this emotion, and the other is that the angry party is torn to shreds by anger.
Donn has to choose between the two, he can't choose the mean, the mean doesn't use on the football field.
He looked at the number of people in the squad who shared both of these sentiments and found that the vast majority of those who were angry at Ferguson's statement felt they were not treated with the respect they deserved, while the number of people who thought the Forest should treat the game as if it were an ordinary FA Cup game was pitiful. So Don decided to add fuel to the fire.
In the final minutes before taking to the pitch, he managed to convince his players that Ferguson was an odious old Scottish man, and made them hate United from the bottom of their hearts. Even he thought so, and he was pleased with his agitation.
As a result, when the players actually came on the field, Donn, who sat in the coach's box and calmed down, found that he seemed to have gone a little too far.
Amid the shrill boos of the home fans, even the Forest team was affected, and the anger in their hearts was amplified countless times by the boos, far beyond the warning line that Donn had expected.
There is only a thin line between the loss of reason in anger and the motivation of anger, and the current Forest team clearly shows signs of losing their minds...... Angry Forest came out on top and they got off to an unexpectedly good start. Just seven minutes into the game, Nottingham Forest opened the door for United through Viduka – yes, it did, Franck Ribery's cross was met by Rio Ferdinand, who had the upper hand in the confrontation with Rio Ferdinand and smashed Ribery's pass into the Carroll goal.
American goalkeeper Tim? Howard has completely lost the trust of Alex Ferguson, and it was Carroll who was the goalkeeper for United in this game, but it was clear that his performance could not please Ferguson either.
Before the game, Ferguson talked about 8:1, and the meaning was very clear, on the one hand, to anger the opponent, and on the other hand, to motivate his own players. If Manchester United loses this game at the end, it will definitely be Ferguson himself who will lose face, so he will definitely try to find a way to win this game.
(To be continued)