The 06-07 season of the English Premier League has come to an end, and England has been disbanded and closed for holidays except for two teams. It was a good year for the European players, as there were no international tournaments and they were finally able to relax physically and mentally after a season's hard work.

Although the players of those two teams did not get the right to rest so early, it is believed that many people will envy them because they reached the final of their respective cup competitions.

Fresh from qualifying for next season's Champions League, Liverpool will have to continue their battle in the UEFA Cup next season, with the good news being that they have reached the final of this season's UEFA Cup against Spain's Sevilla.

The UEFA Cup final will be held on 17 May, just four days after the league ends.

At this stage, the media is covering the League Cup final, and Liverpool has become the most photographed team. For Rafael Benitez, his first season at Liverpool was one of astonishment, helping the Reds regain the UEFA Champions League title they had lost for many years. But then, whether in the league or in the cup, Liverpool seemed to have fallen into some kind of bottleneck all of a sudden, unable to achieve anything.

After being shut out of next season's Champions Cup for two seasons in a row, he desperately needs to prove his worth with a trophy. The UEFA Cup was his last straw. If this season is still empty-handed, it's hard to say whether Benitez will leave next season.

While all eyes were on Liverpool, Done led his side through closed training at the Wilford training base in Nottingham.

Most of the media in England hated Donn because he always engaged in "closed training". Before him, it was rare for a manager in English football to engage in such frequent closed training, which may have something to do with the fact that he used to be a Chinese fan and was too familiar with "closed training".

There are pros and cons to closed training, and now for him, the pros outweigh the cons. At the very least, his team can avoid being harassed by the pesky media.

The final is getting closer and closer, and he still has a lot to deal with......

※※※

Pepe has fully recovered and although he did not play, his performance in the team match convinced everyone that Pepe must be healthy and in good shape in Athens. The problems that had plagued the Forest's defence for a long time were resolved.

Ashley. Yang also returned from injury and had no problem traveling with the team to Athens.

Ahead of such an important tournament, Forest have resolved injury issues and it stands to reason that Donn should be happy. But in the past few days, his brows have always been locked, so that the players don't understand what is going on, and they are a little hesitant.

In fact, even a lot of the coaching staff didn't know what this was, except for Done, only the two assistant coaches, Krislak and Don, knew what was going on, oh, and the team doctors.

According to the practice of English football, the first person the team doctor needs to notify of a player's injury is not the injured player himself, but the head coach of the team, and then the head coach decides how to tell the players. If a team doctor goes directly past the manager and tells the injured player about the injury, then the team doctor basically can't get along in football - no club will want a team doctor who has close contact with the players behind the manager's back.

But now Fleming's problem isn't that he's bypassing Tony. Donn told the player about the injury, but the player approached him.

At this time, the team doctor can't just talk nonsense, at most he uses ambiguous words such as "you're recovering well" to dismiss it, and if he clearly tells the player how the injury is, he may be swept away by the club.

Nottingham Forest is now controlled by an American owner, and there are fewer and fewer such traditions and conventions, and Donn is not an authoritative manager on this point. But Fleming is also a veteran team doctor who has worked in this club for decades, and that tradition has long been ingrained in his bones and has become a professional habit.

Two days ago, the man who took the initiative to find the team's doctor Fleming was the team's substitute goalkeeper Paul. Gerrard.

He has recovered from surgery and started training a month ago, starting with a simple physical rehabilitation programme that did not involve specific goalkeeper training.

Twenty-five days later, he began to train as a specific goalkeeper. Here's the problem.

Paul. Gerald noticed that his reaction speed and anticipation, as well as his line of sight, were affected. He is a little unable to correctly locate the distance between the football and himself, and occasionally his eyes will have a brief astigmatism. This can be a fatal problem for a professional goalkeeper.

Worried, he approached Fleming, the team doctor, and asked him to give him another comprehensive physical examination, especially his brain. He suspected that these were the after-effects of that head injury. However, he did not say what he really was, he only said that he wanted to have a full understanding of his body after recovering from the injury.

This request aroused Fleming's vigilance, and he has been a team doctor for decades, so how could he not guess what the players were thinking?

Such a request must certainly be approved by the head coach before it can be carried out. Fleming told Gerald that he had to talk to the boss before he could answer him.

The next thing that happened was that Fleming went to Donne, and Don, and Chris Rac were present, so they were the only four people who knew about it.

Donn frowned as he listened to Fleming's recount of the incident, and he had a very bad premonition.

As far as he knew, in his world, Cech had been hit by a member of the Reading team and had a dented and broken head, leaving him unconscious, threatening the safety of the statement at one point. Unexpectedly, just three months later, he was back on the pitch, wearing a "tank helmet" to protect his head, guarding the door for Chelsea, and still being one of the top three goalkeepers in the world.

This incident made Don pair what happened to Paul. Gerrard maintains a certain optimism about what is happening, and he thinks that since Cech can recover in three months, then we should be conservative and let Gerrard recover in eight months, there will be no problem, right?

He is not a professional doctor, and he does not know a lot about the medical knowledge of the head. He just looked at Cech's actual experience and thought Gerrard wouldn't be a big deal.

"I'm not much of a craniologist either." Fleming said to Donn, "But I don't think a full physical examination is necessary, it is Paul who needs to be examined." Gerald's head. And it's not just fractures, it's the nerves in the head. I doubt ......"

Donn, who had been listening to Fleming in silence, interrupted him with a wave of his hand, he had already made up his mind. "Tomorrow you take Paul to the Royal College of Medicine of the University of Nottingham, and I will be waiting for you there with Professor Constantine."

Konstantin is well-known in the medical community throughout the UK as an expert in brain nerves. Fleming, as a doctor, also knew this. Since it was Professor Konstantin who came out, he had nothing to worry about.

He nodded.

※※※

The next day, Paul. Gerrard and Fleming arrived at the hospital together to meet with manager Toney. Donn and Professors Konstantin.

After seeing these two people, Gerald had a bad feeling, he felt that things were not simple, otherwise why would the boss be here? Shouldn't he have led the team on the sidelines? The Champions League final is approaching, and he has no reason or time to run for a substitute goalkeeper to do a medical examination.

When Donn saw Gerald, he smiled and held out his hand to him, "Good morning, Paul. You seem to be in good spirits. Next, he introduced Gerald to the old man next to him.

"This is Professor Konstantin, the most famous brain specialist in the country."

Konstantin smiled at Gerald and shook his hand. "Hello, Paul. Tony has told me everything about you, and I need to do some simple check-ups. ”

After hearing this, Gerald thought to himself that the bad feeling he had just felt had finally become a reality.

He shook hands with Professor Konstantin with some hesitation, and smiled very reluctantly.

Don didn't speak, but he saw everything in his eyes.

Konstantin also noticed Paul. Gerard's heart was uneasy, and he smiled and patted Gerard on the shoulder: "Don't worry, young man, it's just a simple check-up. He winked at Gerald, then led him for a brain exam.

Fleming and Donn did not follow, they were afraid that a group of people would follow, which would cause a greater psychological burden on Gerald.

Fleming, who followed Konstantin, was like a helpless child, terrified of the unpredictable future.

He glanced back at Don and Fleming, and Donn gave him a smile. He didn't let go of his smile until he was far away.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have rented Akinfeev back...... So we relied on Van der Sar alone for a season. Sitting on a bench in the hospital hallway, Donn pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, intending to light a cigarette for himself.

"Who knows before this happens?" Fleming pointed to the no-smoking sign on the wall.

Don looked up and put the cigarette and lighter back.

There was silence in the empty hallway, and no one spoke until Konstantin led Paul. Gerald returned to them.

"Okay." Professor Konstantin nodded to Donn. Then he turned to Gerrard and said: "The results of the inspection will not be available until tomorrow, and we will inform the club directly at that time." ”

Gerrard didn't object, Donn stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "Go back and get some rest, Paul, you don't have to train today." ”

Will Paul. After Gerald and Fleming were taken out of the hospital, Don turned back.

"I knew you had something to say to me." Konstantin was not surprised by Donn's return gun.

"I want to know the results of the examination." Don asked straight to the point.

"When the results are out, I'll call you tomorrow......"

"Come on, Professor, don't use that trick on Gerald against me." Don walked over and sat down, "If you don't tell me the truth today, I won't leave." ”

Konstantin smiled bitterly and shook his head, he really couldn't deal with such a scoundrel.

"In fact, the results of the examination really didn't come out." Konstantin got up from his seat, walked up to Donn, and handed him a glass of water. "But I can talk about my personal feelings. Here he is......" he said, pointing to his head, "...... Not so optimistic. ”

"Isn't eight months of recovery enough?" Don muttered.

"No, it doesn't matter how long it is, Tony." Konstantin corrected, "I don't think even if you give him two years of recovery, it's not enough." ”

Don raised his head and looked at Konstantin standing in front of him, a little surprised: "What do you mean ......"

'I don't think he's fit to be a professional goalkeeper anymore.'

These words were like a thunderbolt on the top of Don's head, and he was stunned for a moment. Tilting his head, "What did you say, Professor?" ”

"He suffered a severe blow to the head, and although he had recovered from surgery, he was ...... I don't think there's a problem with living an ordinary life, but professional football, which is fiercely contested, is no longer for him. "This time Konstantin spoke in more detail.

"Not everyone can recover their careers after such ......a serious injury," Konstantin said with a "I'm sorry" expression.

Don jerked himself up from his seat, startling him.

He looked at Konstantin, and the look made the professor feel uncomfortable. But soon, he lowered his head, and when he raised his head again, there was no more uncomfortable thing in his eyes, and he said to Konstantin: "But the results of the examination are not out after all, are they, Professor?" ”

Stunned for a moment, Konstantin nodded: "Yes, the result did not come out." What I just said is just a judgment based on my personal experience, maybe it's not that bad? He shrugged his shoulders and pretended to smile lightly.

Don grinned at him as well. This person is a well-known figure in the national medical community, and he has been engaged in clinical research for so many years, and his experience is a kind of wealth in itself. He said that the judgment made based on personal experience is actually inseparable......

"Well, then, I'll be waiting for your call tomorrow, Professor." Don waved his hand and left Konstantin's office.

In the car back to the training base, Don sat in the back seat and didn't speak, and Randy, the dead plane in the front row, couldn't ask. He knew that Tony must have encountered some problems, this person was always not afraid of heaven and earth, and in fact, he had a lot of troubles in his heart. Others don't know, but he, who is almost Donne's "personal driver", knows very well.

Donn was thinking about a football fantasy he had read before he crossed over, and it was a well-known one on the Internet. The protagonist in it is miraculously cured by an obscure Chinese medicine practitioner after an injury that can destroy his entire career, and his abilities are taken to the next level, as if it were not an injury, but a tonic. This is an online Italian silver, and it is normal for any plot to appear, and Don En doesn't think it's so bad. But in his opinion, it is also the protagonist who loses, and if he were someone else, he might have let the author arrange to be a tragic character - think of the poor high school classmate of the protagonist.

At that time, he looked at everything that happened to the protagonist as the Italian silver plot. Now the cruel reality is bloody in front of me.

Paul. Gerrard can't continue his career, how big of a blow is that for a professional footballer?

That's right, Donn admits that Paul is not capable enough to be the main goalkeeper, his surname is ordinary, not very noticeable, and the media does not pay attention to it, and he seems to be born a supporting role. But in Donne's eyes, this is also one of his players. In his world, there are no supporting protagonists, everyone is the same, they all play for him and receive his training.

You're not the main character, Paul. Gerrard...... If you are the protagonist, fate will show you the light of miracles and make you rise again from the dark abyss of hell. No matter how absurd and incredible this fate may seem, as long as you are the protagonist.

He sighed softly.

When Eastwood was injured and wanted to give up, he ran to the hospital and told him that fate is a net, and different paths are entangled and intertwined, depending on how you choose. Eastwood's optimistic gypsy chose to keep going. And this time, he couldn't even say it to Paul again. Gerald listened, because fate didn't even give this supporting character a chance to choose. Maybe for Paul. For Gerald, fate is a path that goes straight up and down without any forks in the road. He has never been given a glorious moment, and he finally followed the right coach, and there was hope to touch the championship trophy, but because of this damn serious injury, he had to face the problem of retiring or dying on the pitch one day.

Is this an option?

That's damn good!

※※※

The next day, Professor Konstantin made the call directly to Donn's cell phone while he was leading the team in training, Paul. Steven Gerrard is also on the training pitch, training individually with a goalkeeper coach.

"Bad news." Konstantin didn't say the "bad news" directly, probably taking into account Donn's feelings. He knows that this guy cares about his players and takes care of them very, very well as if they were his own.

Don was in a better mood than Konstantin had imagined, perhaps because he had figured out something on the way back to the training base yesterday. Hearing Konstantin say this, he didn't show a "sinking heart", he just waited in silence for the professor to finish speaking.

"As a doctor, I suggested that he be retired."

His sunglasses-clad eyes were staring at Paul. Gerald, the owner of the eyes, still didn't speak.

There was silence on both ends of the phone for a while.

"There's no other way?" Don asked.

"I'm not kidding with human lives, Tony." Konstantin's tone was extremely serious, and only then could Don connect him with the identity of the doctor who was engaged in research. "It was really lucky that he didn't die that time. I'm by no means alarmist. In 1931, the Celtics were twenty-two years old goalkeeper John. Thompson was also hit with a fractured skull while saving the ball at the feet of Rangers striker Angel English in the famous Glasgow derby. He died in hospital five hours later. Thankfully, Paul survived, but now if he returns to the court, he has a brain injury that could be life-threatening. He will be in danger of what is medically known as 'Second Effects Syndrome', and his brain will be damaged if the injury is hit hard again. It was fatal enough, even though the impact might not have been violent. And ......"

After a pause, he continued, "I asked him some questions yesterday about whether there were any problems other than blurred vision, headaches, and slow reactions. He told me that he had recently had intermittent amnesia. So I'm going to correct what I said to you yesterday, it's not that his normal life will not be affected, but that he has been affected. Only now the symptoms are mild and can be controlled if treatment is maintained. But once in the fierce professional competition...... God knows what will happen. You know, English football is the most confrontational league. ”

This Donn certainly knows that injuries are all too common for those who play in the English league. But hitting your head is definitely not a normal thing like eating.

"So...... There is only one way to retire? Don asked.

"Yes, Tony."

Konstantin replied simply and without hesitation, and in this way pronounced the death sentence of a professional athlete.

"Thank you, Professor, I owe you a favor again."

"Don't say that, Tony. I'm also a Forest fan and I don't want any Forest players to leave. But at the same time I am also a doctor, and I have to take responsibility for my patients. ”

"I know, I understand. Goodbye, Professor. Now I'm going to have a headache how to say ...... to Paul"

Hanging up the phone, Donn watched the training on the sidelines for a while. He found Paul. Gerrard quickly finished training and headed off the field.

The goalkeeper coach noticed that Donn was looking this way, and he was in Paul. Gerald pointed to his temple behind his back, then shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.

Paul had to stop training early because of a headache. It seems that the situation is getting worse and worse.

Some players noticed that Gerrard had left the training ground early, and they whispered and talked about it. Everyone was very happy when Paul first announced his return to the team, because the leader said that when he went to Athens, he didn't want anyone to be left behind, and he wanted everyone to be a lot of people. Seeing that Paul, who was the most injured, was able to return to the team, everyone felt that they were ready for the final and that the championship must be theirs.

Now it seems that the problem is not as simple as they thought.

Chris Lak let out a loud whistle to remind you that they were still training and that it was not time to drink water and chat.

Don stood on the sidelines for a while, waiting for Paul's figure to disappear completely, presumably taking a shower and changing clothes in the dressing room at this time, before he quietly turned around and left the training ground.

He wanted to go to the locker room to talk to Paul and spread out the cards, which was cruel but better than risking Paul's life.

Football is just football after all, and it cannot and should not be higher than life and death.

He met Paul outside the locker room door. Gerald's, the latter had just taken a shower and changed his clothes and went out.

"Are you going back, Paul?" Don asked, startling the other party.

"Why are you here, chief?" After seeing the comer, Paul was a little embarrassed.

"Why can't I come?" Don said with a grin, trying not to let the other party guess his intentions from his face. "Are you going home, Paul?" He asked again.

Paul. Gerard didn't immediately answer "yes" or "no", he was silent for a moment before he hesitated and said, "No, I want to go to you, boss." ”

"Looking for me?" The surprise on Donn's face wasn't faked.

"Hmm." Gerald nodded, "I've thought about it for a long time, and I've asked my wife's opinion...... She didn't approve of me continuing to play. ”

Gerald said this very lightly, or deliberately made his tone sound light, and Don was not at all relaxed in his heart. What he had always wanted to say to Gerald, now he let the other party say it first......

Should he breathe a sigh of relief, or does he feel more congested?

"That'...... What's your opinion? ”

"I think I should listen to my wife." Gerard smiled at Donn, "I'm afraid of dying too, I'm afraid I'm going to die in the ring for not knowing when." Even though I've always been a substitute goalkeeper and didn't play much, I did play sometimes. ”

Looking at his smile, Don felt a little sad, he wanted to smile and comfort the other party, but he couldn't.

"So...... I decided to retire at the end of the season. ”

Don didn't have much to say about it, he could only look at Paul. Gerrard.

After saying this, Gerald let out a sigh of relief, clapped his hands, and said, "Look, chief. A lot of people say it's hard to make a retirement decision, but don't I say it now? Actually, it was nothing, my body didn't allow me to continue playing, so I retired. It's as simple as that. ”

Don grinned, "yes, it's easy. After saying this, he didn't know what to say.

After saying what he was going to say, Gerrard was obviously much more relaxed, and he smiled and asked Done, "Boss, do you think there is any work in the club that I can do?" You can build turf. ”

Speaking of this, Donn's mind reactivated, and he winked at Gerrard: "Very seriously, I want you to stay in the team as a goalkeeper coach. ”

Gerald was stunned for a moment, not realizing that Donn was not joking with himself.

"I need someone to help me, and you're the right fit, Paul. What do you think? ”

"I ...... I'll have to go back and ask my wife. Gerald said hesitantly.

Don En laughed: "You man who is afraid of his wife! ”

He was in a much better mood.

Retirement is nothing, it's just the end of one journey, and the beginning of another. You can't be a player, you can be a coach, and if you really love football so much, it doesn't matter what you do. Retire? That's just a conventional saying.

※※※

Saying goodbye to Steven Gerrard, Donn returned to the training ground to find the players resting and the coaches getting together for a drink and a chat.

Seeing him return, Don quietly walked up.

"Done?"

Don nodded.

"How?"

"I didn't say much, it was all him...... He himself asked me to retire and he looked like he was up to it. Don said with a wandering look in his eyes, he was looking around, and not many people noticed his conversation with Don. Before the Champions Cup final, he didn't want to poke the news out. "I didn't persuade him, and I didn't know how. However, I propose that he can be the goalkeeper coach of the team after he retires, whether it is in the youth team or the senior team. What do you think? ”

Don nodded: "It's a good idea." ”

"Poor man......," Donn sighed. To Andy (Andy. Beasley, Forest's head of the goalkeeper coaching staff, said, "Just let him do simple training these days, I'm worried about what will go wrong in training......"

"You're still going to take him to Athens?" Don asked.

Don turned his head to look at him, "How about otherwise?" He was Van der Sar's back-up goalkeeper and our number two goalkeeper. It was because of the injury, and now that he's back from injury, why don't we take him to Athens? ”

"No, I didn't mean that." Don shook his head.

Don turned to look at Don and said to him word by word: "Don, I know that he is just a substitute goalkeeper, even if he retires, it will have no effect on our strength, he is not the protagonist, not the core player, not the kind of great man who would not turn without the earth." But he's a Nottingham Forest player, a player for me. I don't lose everyone who really follows me. He didn't have many brilliant moments in his career, so I wanted to give him one last moment before he retired...... At the very least, I want him to lift the trophy in a game jersey instead of sitting in the stands in a suit. ”

(To be continued)