When the squad returns to Wilford from London's Heathrow Airport, they will be disbanded on the spot and given a half-day break to resume training tomorrow morning. But Donn and the two assistant coaches don't have much to offer. He dragged the two of them straight to the training base, which was responsible for handling the regular maintenance of the training ground.

The head in charge of this department is Thompson. Isaksen, an elderly man who spent his life maintaining the turf at Wilford, continues to serve the club with sixteen men. The team of 17 people is responsible for the maintenance of a total of eight training grounds at the North and South Wilford training grounds, including field leveling, turf maintenance and some special requests from the coaching staff.

Don came to them this time for a "special request".

"Thompson, what's the worst training ground in the first team training base?" Tang En's straightforward question made the old man stunned for a moment and didn't react.

South Wilford is the training ground for the first team, with a total of four standard training grounds, each the size of the City Stadium. The best of these are the No.1 and No.2, where the Forest's first team and reserve squad often practice and play intra-squad games. Even the turf is exactly the same as that used in the city stadium and is the best maintained.

When Don saw Thompson's embarrassed face, he smiled and said, "Don't think about it, old man. I'm not here to ask the teacher, just tell me that the training ground is in the worst condition. ”

"Uh...... Number three. Isaksen replied.

"How bad is it?"

"Venue...... We haven't had time to level it yet, and the turf isn't growing as well as it could be. Usually the team never uses that field, so we don't ...... much" He still thought that Don En was here to ask for the guilt, and hurriedly explained to his team.

Don patted him on the shoulder, "Take us to see." ”

So the old man led the way in front of him nervously, followed by three coaches, who looked like escorting prisoners......

Training ground No. 3 is in the most remote corner of the training base, surrounded by dense woods, basically not visible from the outside, this training ground is actually the first training ground used by Nottingham Forest after the training base was moved from the city stadium here, and later due to the completion of the other three more well-equipped and more convenient training grounds, this place has been gradually forgotten. The three training grounds of the first team are basically enough, and the fourth one is idle here, and no one cares about it.

Don knew about it, but today he wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.

Hidden deep in the forest, the No. 3 training ground revealed an air of barrenness and ruin, from which Don could even ask about the taste of the eighties of the last century.

"I was already at the club when it was first opened...... "Isaksen couldn't help but sigh when he saw the training ground." It was lively back then. It was gradually phased out, and the club's poor financial situation at the end of the last century did not have the extra money to maintain so many training grounds at the same time, so it was completely abandoned......"

The group walked around in person. Donn found that it was similar to what Isaacson had said, that the training ground was no different from the wasteland because of its conservation and management. Although it is not overgrown with weeds and infested with hares, it is still very different from the other three grassy training grounds.

"The ground is uneven...... Oh, be careful! Chris pulled a clasp to Don next to him, and he tilted his body as he walked.

Don took a breath and seemed to hit his foot. "Nothing......"

"The grass is not good, it's too hard, and it's easy to get scratched when training here." Isaacsen added, glancing at Don apologetically. As site maintenance workers, every site is their area of responsibility, so they feel guilty if someone gets hurt.

After carefully walking a lap, Tang En stood on the sidelines and looked around again, and then snapped his fingers: "Very good." ”

"Good?" Isakson didn't understand what Mr. Manager meant by that.

"Level up the pitch a little bit. Attention, Thompson, I mean a little flattening, slightly. Do you know? ”

Isaacsen looked at Don and shook his head in confusion. He couldn't understand that.

"Hmm...... That is to say, on the premise of maintaining the original appearance and style, so that this training ground will not have to walk with stumbling. ”

"Keeping it as it was? What does that mean? "David. Chris Rac also thought it was strange, and he asked Isaacsen next to him.

"I need to keep this kind of pitch that is a bit undulating, the grass is rough, and the ball is unevenly placed on it." Donn explained.

"Why?" Isakson and Chris Rac asked questions almost simultaneously. Only Don suddenly showed a thoughtful look next to him, which made Chrislak want to choke his neck when he saw it - "Say what you know!" Tang Dynasty! ”

Don shook his head: "I just think maybe Tony has some bad ideas again......"

Don laughed, "This is the idea I came up with on the plane. I won't be able to direct the next game and the UEFA guys won't even let me in the dressing room. Playing a team like Barcelona, I think it's a loss for us. I had to make up for this loss from somewhere else. You've all looked at the quality of the pitch at the Camp Nou, right? ”

"Of course, than this piece under our feet...... Well, the training ground is so much better. It's a five-star stadium. Chris Rac was about to say "this rotten vegetable field under your feet", but suddenly it occurred to him that Isakson was close by, which was too unfair for an old employee.

"Ha, you're right, David. Their turf is of good quality. This is also normal, after all, a team that always likes to keep the football under their feet rather than overhead is very demanding on the field. We are going to use all means and methods to create problems for them, and in addition to tactical and psychological, I think of the field. A bad pitch can greatly limit their play. ”

"But, Tony. That would also limit our play. "Chris Rac has questions.

"So I'm going to do it today, and from tomorrow until the end of the game against Barcelona, we're going to have to train on this training ground, for example, to get our players used to play on this kind of pitch as quickly as possible, and to avoid injuries as much as possible. Then on the day of the game, I would ask the City Stadium to be like this. He gestured to his feet.

Hearing Don say this, Chrislak swallowed. He thought that Tang had just broken his feet when he was just walking slowly on it, if he ran and sprinted with all his strength on this kind of field......

As Don puts it, it's really not a "good idea."

After explaining to Chrislak, Donn turned to Isaacsen, who was already stunned, and asked, "You only have half a day, can you do it?" ”

"Ah, uh...... If it's just 'a little' leveling, I don't think it's a problem, Mr. Donne. ”

"Then please, Thompson. So that our people don't get hurt easily here. If we end up winning against Barcelona, I'll give you a good bottle of wine! ”

※※※

On the way out of training ground No. 3. Chris Rac objected to Donn's approach, and he really didn't see the need for it.

'I don't think there's that big of a gap between us and Barcelona and we need to borrow abnormal means to guarantee the win, Toney.'

"Actually, David. The gap between us and them is indeed so big. Do you think we'll be able to win comfortably back at home? Pepe can't play, Barnes and Fernandez are suspended for accumulating yellow cards, and I'm just sitting in the stands and wishing you all the best. And who are they missing? No one is missing. Now that I think about it, we were so polite in the first round......" Donn said, touching his chin and smacking his lips.

"Limiting their play with a bad pitch and frequent fouls, disrupting their rhythm and messing up the game as much as possible. At last...... For a week, we were asked to only practice long passes, and I had to change the strikers. ”

Seeing Donn's expression, Chris Rac had already guessed who he was going to replace, so he was even more surprised: "Are you serious, Tony?" The kid has only made three league appearances and hasn't scored a goal. You let him appear in such an important game, aren't you afraid of ruining him! ”

"He's not as bad as you say, David. I have a sense of proportion. Don shrugged. The only regret is that he is not strong enough...... It would be nice if he said that Kicic and Ibrahimovic were combined......"

"You're just dreaming, you!" Chris Rac threw out a sentence angrily.

※※※

The next day Donne arrived at Wilford early in the morning, ahead of most of the staff and players, as well as all the media reporters. He ran straight to training ground three.

The morning mist was still shrouded in this small wood, and the No. 3 training ground loomed in the white mist, and that scene reminded Don of the Journey to the West that he had watched since he was a child, and the white mist scene in the heavenly court was almost like this.

Because it came too early, there was no one. Don walked a lap and trotted again, then nodded with great satisfaction and said "Well done".

Isaacsen is a veteran worker who has worked here for decades, not to mention the technology. Exactly what Donn's obscene requirements were.

It is necessary to ensure that the unevenness of the field and the uneven quality of the turf are uneven, and to ensure that your own people will not be easily injured when training on it. There is a risk, but it is not something that the turf worker can control. It's up to the coaching staff to think about those things.

Stepping on the still uneven field, Don laughed alone.

※※※

The players arrived at Wilford for training as usual, with reporters hugging outside the pitch for fifteen minutes of public filming. Of course, more reporters are here to interview Tony. Don's, they also want to hear the latest developments in the war of words between the two teams.

But what they saw disappointed them.

Tony. Donn was never in front of everyone, and the only coach on the training ground was Chrislak.

The reporters were as surprised as the players. They came out to prepare for training after changing into training clothes in the locker room, only to find that there was nothing but assistant coach David. Chris Lack, none of the other coaches are missing.

When everyone was ready, Chrislak spoke: "Guys, today we will change places to train. ”

"Huh?" Everyone's reaction was to think it was strange.

"Go to Training Ground Three." Chrislak pointed in a direction, and when everyone looked along, all they could see was a dense forest.

"Where is that?" The vast majority of the players don't know exactly where they are, because they've never trained in that place. Some people even think that South Wilford only has three training grounds: No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4.

"Don't ask, just come with me." Chrislak turned and walked towards the jungle.

"However, the reporters ......" one player also looked back at a group of media outside the barbed wire.

"Leave them alone." Chris Rac didn't look back.

The reporters gathered outside the stadium were surprised to see the team suddenly walking en masse into the depths of the training ground, just when they didn't know what was happening. The press officer appeared in front of everyone with a smile.

"I'm sorry that Mr. Don suddenly informed the team that training was going to be closed."

It's not the first time they've been in such a situation, but the reporters are complaining.

"How can a manager treat the media like this?"

"Was he scared out of his mind by Barcelona? Away from the bottom of the league against Norwich City, do you still have to train behind closed doors? ”

"Actually, I don't think he wants to be surrounded by us and ask questions about that action......"

Pierce. Bruce shook his head in the crowd, he couldn't figure out Tony either. What exactly is Don going to do.

A group of reporters dispersed unwillingly amid complaints.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest's players are staring at their 'new training ground'.

Don grinned in front of them, like Mr. Demon trying to tempt them to jump into the lava hell.

"This is the new training ground that you will be using for the next week. It looks great, doesn't it? ”

Eastwood whispered in the crowd, "I'm afraid this is the worst training ground I've ever seen......," and he had a say, and he must have been taken by someone because he was the only one of the players who had ever played in an amateur league.

"It looks a lot like a vegetable patch on a farm, but it's actually a vegetable patch."

When Don said this, the look on his face made people want to smoke him.

The grass in the training field the size of a regular football field is full of shades of color, and patches are everywhere, and in some places there is not even turf, and the color of the soil is exposed. It's as if the top of the head has been pushed indiscriminately by a shaved fader, and it's miserable.

"Be careful, it's not as flat as it seems...... So today's warm-up is longer than usual. Don't be lazy, or don't complain after spraining your ankle that I didn't warn you beforehand. With that, he motioned for Chris Rac to step forward and continue.

Chris Rac stepped up with today's training schedule in hand.

"Guys, our training mission today is ......" he thought it was a little funny when he said this, but he still had to keep his face up and continue to pretend," ...... It's to get used to this venue! ”

One of the players laughed. Chrislak immediately snapped his eyes: "This is not a joke! We are pressed for time, and you only have one day to get used to being in this ...... The feeling of kicking a ball in the vegetable field! If someone gets hurt here the next day, they won't have my sympathy! He pointed to the other side, where the team of doctors, led by "Bearded Mario" Fleming, was on standby on the sidelines. Everyone looked at them with a serious look on their faces. It was a look that they would not be unfamiliar with, and whenever a player was seriously injured during a game, Fleming and his colleagues would look at the injured area with that look, and then turn to make a substitution gesture to Donn.

Seeing this formation, the laughter in the team gradually quieted down until it disappeared. They realized that the boss was not joking with them on a whim, but for real, and it was a very serious matter.

Seeing that all the players realized the importance of this matter, Chrislak raised his voice: "Warm up!" Warm up well! Move every part of your body, every joint for me! Even if the ankle is twisted to 90 degrees, it will not hurt easily! Then use your body to give me the feeling of running here with every step in mind! Where it is deep, where it is shallow, where there are pits, where there are bags, where the football lands, there will be irregular movements...... Don't memorize them in your heart or in your head, remember them physically! If someone gets hurt, it's your body that doesn't remember! Finally, I ask you to keep your mouth shut about this week's workout! ”

His voice was muffled by the dense forest, so that no one could hear him. Nor will the reporters get anything about Nottinghamson's week-long training session.

To welcome distinguished guests from afar, Tony. Don took the trouble of spending a week preparing a meeting gift for them.

Hope they like it.

(To be continued)