Godfather Of Champions

After Nottingham Forest showed a challenge to the top players, it seemed that Liverpool would not be able to hold on first.

On February 12, in the twenty-seventh round of the league, the Forest team won an away game against Southampton, while Liverpool lost to Birmingham in the away game. When the UEFA Champions League knockout is about to begin, the Liverpool people seem to be a little absent-minded.

The Forest team surpassed Liverpool by three points, ranking fifth with 46 points!

This is an amazing result. What makes Dunn the happiest is not to overtake Liverpool, but the point gap with Everton-two points, one game can solve everything. Everton lost to Chelsea 0:1 at home in this round of the league.

In this way, the top six league rankings and points are Chelsea 68 points, Manchester United 59 points, Arsenal 57 points, Everton 48 points, Nottingham Forest 46 points, Liverpool 43 points.

After this round of the league, the Forest team will start preparing for the UEFA Cup, so this can be regarded as the end of a stage. The Nottingham media sang praises for Dunn and his team. Everyone agrees that the young head coach Tony Dunn contributed to this achievement. The newly promoted Forest team ranked in the top five after halfway through the league, ranking above Liverpool. This is something most Forest team fans could not even think of before the season.

"... This young Forest team reminds people of O'Reilly's Leeds United, young and aggressive, they are not afraid of anything. To be honest, I really like the team coached by Tony Dunn. They Bring a new breath to the current Premier League, remember what we said after the end of last season, Mark?" Lineker praised the Forest team in the "Today's Tournament" program, "I said this The Premier League season will be very good. As it turns out, I was right."

The Premier League this season is indeed different from previous years. Mourinho’s strong intervention, the weakness of traditional strong teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United, the rise of Everton, and the return of Nottingham Forest have made the Premier League in recent years extremely chaotic. But it is also particularly attractive-because there are more suspense, no longer like the previous few seasons, from before the season everyone knows that the league championship is just a toy for Manchester United and Arsenal to compete with each other, Chelsea? Maybe it can cause some trouble, but it won't be a big deal. I don't even dare to think that Everton can be ranked fourth in the league, and I hope to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Before the season, everyone was saying that Nottingham Forest’s goal this season is to relegation, and now I’m afraid no one has mentioned this topic anymore.

But Dunn knew very well in his heart that the Forest Team's current results have a lot to do with them catching up with a good time. If it is the first few seasons, or waiting for a season, when the new structure of the Premier League is basically formed, it will be difficult for the Forest team to get a foothold. This season is Mourinho’s first season at Stamford Bridge. His arrival has brought a great impact on the ball belts like Arsenal and Manchester United. Arsenal has experienced a fantastic and wonderful season, just like Climbing to the top, now it's time for them to descend. And the weakness of Manchester United seems to have a lot to do with Ferguson’s aging. After that FA Cup, when Dunn and Ferguson were drinking together, Ferguson mentioned vaguely that he wanted to leave Manchester United after the end of the season. I also jokingly asked Dunn if he wanted to come to Manchester United to coach, but Dunn declined with the same joking tone.

If it weren't for the chaos of the Premier League this season, with Dunn's experience, there would be no way to lead the Forest team to this point. Lineker said that the Forest team has disrupted the inherent pattern of the Premier League and made the Premier League look good this season, with suspense repeatedly. But in fact, Dunn, who knows this history, understands that it is not the appearance of the Forest team that broke the original pattern of the Premier League. This pattern was about to be broken. Without the Forest team, Mourinho's Chelsea would exist. His appearance only added to the chaos of the Premier League which was already messy... Then he fished in troubled waters and took advantage of the fire.

The forest team, who finished fifth in the league, had high morale and played well in the following UEFA Cup games.

In the UEFA Cup semi-finals, Nottingham Forest's opponent is not too strong Austrian team Graz AK (Grazer_AK). In the first round, the Forest team played away, and the strength of the Forest team was higher than the opponent, but Graz AK played at home, which was a favorable factor that could not be ignored. In the end, the two sides battled 2:2. Dunn was very satisfied with this result. Two goals in away games meant that most of them had reached the UEFA Cup Final 16.

Back at home, the Forest team defeated the Graz AK 2:0 amidst the cheering of the fans and successfully advanced to the round of 16.

So far, Dunn’s European goal set for the Forest team before the season is basically completed. The Forest team not only entered the knockout stage, but also reached the top sixteen, as a team that has been away from the European arena for eight years. Said that such results are enough to announce their return.

The question that Dunn needs to consider now is-do you want to continue?

He decided to ask Tang's opinion.

"...I think the team now has the strength to go further in the UEFA Cup, but I'm not sure if it will continue to move forward..." During dinner, Dunn raised his own question at the table.

After listening to Dun En's question quietly, Tang asked, "How far is it to go further?"

"Uh, I don't know... Maybe it's a further eight-finals, maybe a four-finals..."

"If it's not a champion, what's the difference between the semifinals and the sixteen?" Tang's words made Dunn speechless.

Yes, I want to go further, for what? What is the goal after going further? Isn't it the purpose of taking one step more to win?

"If you are not sure about winning the championship, I suggest giving up the UEFA Cup. If you..."

Dunn interrupted Tang's analysis, "I decided to give it a try. No matter what the result is, it's always correct to try."

"Abandon the league?"

"No...it's not a give up, just temporarily transfer the work center...you know, it's a strategic adjustment..." Dunn himself was a little reluctant to say, did he never think about giving up the league in his heart?

The glory of the UEFA Cup champion is too tempting. Dunn didn't dare to think about it half a season ago, but that doesn't mean he still doesn't dare to think about it now. If I can lead the team to win the UEFA Cup, I will also have the European champion in hand...

Thinking of this, Dunn couldn't help himself.

This is his dream...Compared with this, there is no difference between the top four and the top six in the league. Even if he can't get the top six in the league and the European qualification for next season, he is willing.

"It was so decided. The UEFA Cup championship is the goal of the Forest team this season." Dunn decided at the dinner table the direction of the Forest team's efforts for the next half of the season, although he looked a little rash with a knife and fork in his hand. ...

Hearing Dun En's words, Tang Wei who was sitting opposite opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he still didn't say anything.

※※※

In the training session on the second day, Dunn told the coaching staff that he decided to temporarily abandon the league and focus on the UEFA Cup. He did not get unanimous support, and Chris Lak was very worried about this. He has never expected a UEFA Cup title. For him, the domestic league is the fundamental and the most important thing.

Originally, the forest team had a very good momentum in the league. They have surpassed Liverpool and are only two points away from Everton. As long as they continue to pressure Everton, they can replace them as the fourth in the league. Then, as long as you keep this ranking, wait until At the end of the season, they will be able to participate in the UEFA Champions League qualifying game next season.

Taking advantage of the time after the training was over, Chris Lak blocked him in Dunn’s office, intending to ask why he suddenly became so interested in UEFA Cup champions overnight?

"Tony..." The voice reached Dun En's ears before people entered the door. He looked up and saw Chris Lak walking in hastily and smiled.

"I know what you are asking me to ask, sit down, David." Dunn pointed to the chair.

Chris Lak was also welcome, and sat down and asked: "Tony, I don't understand why you are suddenly so interested in UEFA Cup champions."

Dunn sat in the corner of the table casually and said with a smile, "Isn't every coach interested in pursuing a championship?"

This is good, but Chris Lak didn’t mean to follow that. He tried to persuade Dunn from another angle: "Tony, we are in a very good league situation now. Why should we give up the league to pursue that is so difficult? UEFA Cup champion? Do you know who our opponents will be in the next UEFA Cup?"

"Sporting Lisbon." Dunn said lightly, as if he didn't take his opponent at heart. "Don't worry, now they don't have Figo or Cristiano Ronaldo."

"Of course, Sporting Lisbon is not as strong as before, but they still have the strength... to eliminate us."

"But it's not that we have no chance to beat them. David, I know what you are worried about. But shouldn't football be like this? We always have to take some risks, don't we? No victory must belong to us, sometimes we need to bet One hand, always follow the set plan, that's boring." Dunn shrugged, then looked up at the clear sky outside. "I miss the moment when we won the League Cup last season. I'm very excited... very excited."

"But...isn't it also exciting to get tickets to the Champions League next season?"

"Compared with the champion and the European champion, it is still a little worse." Dunn said to Chris Lak with a smile, as if he was not angry at the assistant coach's insistence on this matter.

Hearing Dunn's words, Chris Lac was stunned for a while, and then he muttered: "Well... maybe it is because you have such ambitions that you can lead this team. If you make up your mind, then I will help you."

"Thank you, David." Dunn's gratitude is sincere. He is really lucky to not encounter the power struggle scandals in those rich teams. Although the strength of the small club is not good, it also has the advantages of the small club. At least the people here are very simple, they all love this team deeply, and they wholeheartedly consider this team, and there is nothing bad about it.

For example, this is for David Chris Lak, who had studied with him as a coach under Paul Hart, and now works as an assistant to him without complaining at all.

※※※

The assistant coaches have no objections, and the coaching staff basically has a unified mindset. At present, the immediate task of the Forest team is to defeat the Portuguese powerhouse Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, and then launch their low-key impact to the UEFA Cup championship throne. The media do not know Dunn’s plan to win the UEFA Cup. Naturally, no one hyped up this topic.

Just ended the game with Graz AK team, two days later the Forest team ushered in the 28th round of the league opponent Blackburn at home. In this game, Dunn adopted a rotation system because of the continuous battle. The appearance of a large number of substitute players did not overly weaken the strength of the Forest team. Instead, the hungry players worked hard to gain a better impression in front of the coach. The tired Forest team was forced to a 2:2 draw by the opponent at home.

For this score, everyone's reaction is-"normal". After playing so many games in a row, it is the league and the European war, it is already very good to not lose. No one thinks that the Forest team has shifted their focus. Even Moyes is still feeling a headache for the aggressive Forest team, and has not noticed that his main rival has not paid attention to the league.

Time enters March, and there are more than two months before the end of the league. The Forest team ranks fifth and the sixth ranked Liverpool has one game less, still 43 points, and Moyes’ Everton is trying to get rid of With the entanglement of the Forest team behind them and their desperate efforts, 51 points have been accumulated after the 28th round of the league. It seems that the points gap between them and the Forest team has been widened to four points, but Moyes can't rest assured because he also knows the situation of his team. Without Gravesen, the winter break was not successful. Introducing Arteta and looking at the wonderful performance of the Spaniard after coming off the bench in the twenty-sixth round of the league, Moyes felt sorry-if he himself was more determined at the beginning, it would be nice, if he made a direct purchase instead of a loan If he did, maybe he had already negotiated personal treatment with Arteta before Dun En intervened. Arteta is not the person who picked the team. He couldn't wait to absorb the guidelines and get rid of the quagmire of Real Sociedad. No matter which team came to him, he would probably nod in agreement.

Everton of Moyes is gritted his teeth, hoping to widen the points gap with the Forest team when the Forest team is now fighting in two lines and the schedule is dense, so that there will be more room for maneuver in the future.

In the 29th round of the league, on March 5th, Nottingham Forest challenged Middlesbrough away.

This time, the Forest team still sent out the same lineup as a league game.

After losing to the forest in the League Cup final, and losing to the forest in the first half of the league, McLaren finally caught the opportunity for revenge this time. Middlesbrough occupies the right time and place, 2:0 defeated Nottingham Forest where half of the main force played and half of the main force rested.

The media finally noticed something was wrong. The UEFA Cup match will have to wait until six days later. Now it is not a double match in a week. There is really no reason for the Forest team to rotate in this match. Even worse, when the game was lost, Tony Dunn's performance turned out to be exceptionally calm in the face of the triumphant McLaren!

This is incredible. Since the League Cup final, the media have known that Dunn and McLaren dislike each other. In the first half of the league, after the Forest team defeated Middlesbrough 2:1 at home, Dunn was very happy at the press conference. It was beyond words, while McLaren was always sullen and disappointed. Put it on the face for everyone to see.

Now when McLaren and Tony Dunn changed their roles in the first half of the season, instead of being overcast on Dunn’s face, it was calm...

This is not in line with Dunn's character. In the past, after he lost to McLaren, who was most despised, he might have read the book and summed up after the game, and then got up and left the conference in advance. Now he sits there like no one listens to McLaren complimenting how outstanding Middlesbrough performed, how to suppress the offense of the Forest team, how to defend against a strong center like Viduca, how to make Albertini into a defensive quagmire. Get out...

He didn't refute at all, waiting for McLaren to finish saying these things. He only slowly said that he was satisfied with the team's performance, because "young players who don't get too many opportunities to play in peacetime have got enough chances to play, which is extremely important for their growth."

Did he use the league as a place to train new players? Is he confused? How can the league be put in this position? To train a newcomer, he should be in the League Cup or the FA Cup, not the league!

Is this person arrogant or ignorant?

Even if he was sitting beside him, McLaren, who was originally very happy, had to squint at Dun En, thinking in his heart that he must be deliberately hitting his face to fill up the fat, wanting to **** himself off. But... I'm sorry, Mr. Tony Dunn, I am not a kid who hasn't had his foreskin cut.

Dunn stood up, took the initiative to reach out to McLaren, smiled and said, "Good luck, Mr. McLaren."

"Good luck to you too, Mr. Dunn." McLaren replied with a similar smile.

I'm sorry, but I didn't feel well, but I got up in the afternoon. (To be continued, if you want to know the future, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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