The day after the Christmas dinner, the Sun's investigation came in, and the reporter named Cooper was fired.

Patrick came across this on Twitter after training, and he sent a message to Christine, adding a comment, "This bastard deserves it." ”

When Lu Ling saw this message, the coaching staff had just broken up, and she replied, "It's fair, isn't it?"

Nicholas looked at the assistant staring at the phone and smiled a little silly, and asked what was going on.

Lu Ling then told him the news, and the corners of his mouth moved.

Interestingly, after this news came out, many fans took to Twitter to cry out for Mr. Cooper. Cooper has never responded, and his Twitter has not been updated since that day's press conference.

******

On matchday day, Nicholas announced his starting XI before the squad packed up for Bristol in the morning. Patrick-Amber didn't hear his name, he pouted and didn't react in any way, but he frowned when his name wasn't on the bench list either.

He looked up at the manager and tried to see something in his gaze.

The Spaniard gave him a faint look and did not give him any information. The assistant teacher next to him seemed to have known the news for a long time, and Patrick was angry for a moment, and Christine didn't tell him in advance!

The night before, in the office, when Nicholas told Lu Ling about this idea, Lu Ling was also surprised.

She knew he was resting for the Christmas-New Year fixtures, which would be followed by an FA Cup third round away to Manchester United. None of them were easy.

But she hesitated and asked, "Although I also think that Pat should be given a proper rest, wouldn't you feel sorry if he lost three points for this?"

After the Christmas dinner, there was no change in their relationship, as if the slightly ambiguous dance had not happened.

Of course, on another level, no one in the club gossiped about that dance. Maybe it's an insignificant thing, Lu Ling feels like crazy, so he feels ambiguous.

"Do you know how many kids have been early because they had too many games? Look at Wilshire now. I'm not going to put the saving of the team on Patrick Amber alone, and I hope you don't. Coupled with the fact that his style of play is too prone to injury, it needs to be treated with caution. The manager stared at the tactical board and said with his back to her.

I don't know if it's her delusion, but she always feels that Nicholas is a little bit gritted his teeth when he said these words, as if he ...... It's the pain of my own skin.

"What about Zixiang, you didn't let him rest. She then asked.

The Spaniard turned his face to her slightly and smiled, "This kid is a monster body...... he turned back to the tactical board, "However, the left-back position, if you want to reach the top, you need such a body." You should be aware of Evra's important role in the last years of Lord Ferdin's reign. I remember, there were a few seasons when he was almost full attendance. I hope that one day, Zixiang can do the same. Of course, after two games, he also has to rest. ”

She was amazed at his familiarity with the English environment, which many foreign managers find difficult to realise is different from the continental game, such as the winter break, which is still absent in the English league.

She was convinced, but should she tell Sù Pat in advance? As a friend, she should have said a word, but as a teaching assistant, obviously she shouldn't have revealed her starters to anyone in advance.

In the end, she chose the position of a teaching assistant.

Now, in the locker room, the boy looked at her with obvious displeasure in his eyes. She could only pretend to be indifferent. After all, she didn't do anything wrong.

Patrick watched as the other players boarded the bus while he stayed in London. He knew they were taking his turn, but he didn't need it at all.

Before Lu Ling could get into the car, Patrick stopped her.

"You should have sued me in advance, Christine. The boy said in a calm voice, his blue eyes staring at the woman motionlessly, as if trying to make her admit her mistake.

Lu Ling looked at the bus, except for the team doctor, almost everyone else went up.

She didn't look at him either, and hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Pat. If the manager hadn't told you in advance, I don't think I have the right to say that. Rest well, maybe you'll be back in the starting line-up for the next game. With that, she walked briskly to the bus.

Before getting on the bus, she looked back again, and Pat was still standing there, looking this way, his brow furrowed.

What a child's temper, she thought.

******

Bristol is a coastal city with temperatures about the same as London's, but with stronger winds.

Bristol City, as last season's League One champion, is not a strong team in the Championship this season. This is one of the important reasons why Nicholas is willing to rotate Trek. QPR deserved three points.

However, at the Aston Gat Stadium, they were shut.

The score of 0:0 remained for the whole game, and after the game entered stoppage time, a series of mistakes in the backfield directly led to Bristol City's stunner goal.

In fact, it can't be said that QPR played badly, let alone that this loss was because Patrick Amber didn't play. A team, even the current strongest Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, does not dare to guarantee that there will be no decline in a season.

Of course, in addition to the bad luck, it may also have something to do with the fact that the players have been a little lazy lately.

Nicholas stood near the touchline at the Aston Gat Stadium and tasted the bitter fruit of defeat for the first time since taking charge. The Spaniard's face was pale, and he could only watch the referee blow the whistle, and the score on the scoreboard was fixed at 1:0.

Many of the home fans did not leave the stadium in a hurry, still singing in the stands, and a few fans jumped shoulder to shoulder, all dressed as Santa Claus, and the festive atmosphere was so strong.

Nicholas turned and shook hands with the Bristol City boss before hurried back to the dressing room. The assistant coach was behind him, also with a straight face.

The camera swept back and forth to them, and the narrator made a joke, "I wish them a Merry Christmas in advance, and good luck on Boxing Day!" After he finished speaking, the guests laughed several times.

There's nothing more fucked up than losing before Christmas.

QPR's captain Nedham Onuoha looked at the manager, who was not much older than him, and had no idea what he was thinking. The locker room was so quiet that no one dared to make a sound.

The assistant coach stood behind him, holding an iPad, as if watching the count. George, the first-team coach, stood next to the assistant coach and pointed to the screen from time to time. They never made a sound.

When this person is unhappy, he is judged by two people when he is happy. His gaze sent shivers down the spine of all the players.

Finally, the Spaniard clapped his hands, but his brow did not loosen in the slightest, "I think you all know what to do." I'm going to give you two days off to get used up and come back and I'm going to see a team that wants to win every game. ”

He walked in as he spoke, and everyone knew that he was going to attend the post-match press conference, and captain Nedham had no reason to do so

Some sympathy awaits his journalists.

********

The afternoon training session on Christmas Day was mainly focused on the tactical training for tomorrow's away game against Ipswich Town, one was the attacking group on the left side and the other was the practice of set-pieces. The players were very focused and Nicholas's words in the dressing room that day made a big difference.

That laid-back festive atmosphere faded in this team.

Patrick and Yu Zixiang once again performed a seamless match in the training session. They hit the wall twice on the left side of the penalty area, passing five of their team's defenders, leaving their teammates helpless.

James Barton, who played as a cameo at centre-back, crossed his waist and was a little deflated.

When he sat on the bench and watched these two boys tease his team's defenders on the field, although he was dissatisfied with being robbed of the start by Yu Zixiang, his overall heart was still happy. But being humiliated by two children under the age of twenty is another feeling. James clearly understands why so many Championship defenders want to give them a look.

On the field, Yu Zixiang plucked the ball with a beautiful heel and gave it to Patrick in front of the goal, and Patrick flew away.

"Pat's kick ......," Lu Ling said on the sidelines.

"It's still far from the top scorers. Nicholas said as he walked towards the middle of the court.

He said something to the players, and very quickly, the practice changed again.

Nicholas personally placed the ball about 25 meters from the goal, on the right side of the penalty area, and it looked like this was to ask a few players to practice free kicks.

He pointed to Trek, and the meaning couldn't be clearer.

Patrick gave the Spaniard a cold glance and walked over to the ball.

He took a few more steps back.

Running, power-up, using the inside of the left foot, that is the most comfortable position for him to eat the ball, but the strength of this foot is not well controlled, and it is higher than the crossbar.

He was a little annoyed and asked his teammate next to him to kick another ball. Then, he repeated what he had just done, this time even higher.

His teammate kicked the ball again, and as he bent down to put it down, he glanced at the manager not far away. The man looked normal, without criticism or guidance.

Patrick had a hunch that he would need to shoot many, many feet before he could be satisfied. And this is not an overnight thing.

Yu Zixiang felt that something was wrong with Pat, so he walked over and asked, "Are you angry with the head coach, or the assistant coach?" He knew that Pat was a little blamed for Christine for not informing him in advance, so he was unprepared. In fact, Yu Zixiang also thinks that there is something, Christine should really say it, but if she doesn't say it, she won't say it.

“Both.” With that, he hit the outer post with a kick.

"Hey, Pat, I said, Patrick! You're not like that. ”

"Which?" the boy didn't even tilt his head.

"O stingy man. Yu Zixiang said, "Look at Ian, he has never started, and when we are in the limelight on the court, he has never ......."

"That's different. ”

Yu Zixiang didn't speak again, Pat's face was very tight, and the persuasion of others was afraid that it would not work. He returned to his training position, still worried about his buddy.

This time, Patrick took a closer look at the goal, and at that time, Christine said that before shooting, you must think about where to shoot, and then try to remember the sense of space between yourself and the goal, so that you can feel it even if you don't look up when playing.

He closed his eyes, then opened them, took a deep breath, ran and arced again.

The goal went in.

Christine clapped him and shouted, "Pat, that's an awesome kick!"

Nicholas turned his head to look at his assistant and whispered something, and Christine smiled softly and looked back at Patrick.

Patrick was still expressionless, and instead of looking at the two coaches on the sidelines, he began to practice free-kicks over and over again.

After the training session, Patrick did not go to the locker room with Yu Zixiang and Ian, but stopped the assistant coach who was walking side by side with the head coach.

"Christine, I have something to tell you. ”