After Nottingham Forest showed a challenge to the big names above them, it looked like Liverpool were going to be unable to hold out in the first place.

On February 12, in the 27th round of the league, Forest won away to Southampton, while Liverpool lost away to Birmingham. As the knockout rounds of the European Champions League were about to kick off, the Liverpudlians seemed to be a little distracted.

Forest overtook Liverpool by three points and finished fifth with 46 points!

It's a remarkable achievement, and it's not the Liverpool win that makes Donn happiest, it's the points gap with Everton – two points, one game can solve everything. Everton lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea in this round of the league.

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

After this round of league games, Forest will start preparing for the UEFA Cup, so this is the end of the phase. The Nottingham media sang the praises of Donn and his team. Everyone agrees that this can be achieved, and the young head coach Tony? Don is indispensable. Halfway through the league, the promoted Forest team finished in the top five, above Liverpool, which most Forest fans could not have imagined before the season.

“…… This young Forest team is reminiscent of O'Reilly's Leeds United, young, driven and not afraid of anything. Honestly, I like Tony a lot? Coach Donn's team, they've brought a breath of fresh air to the Premier League right now, remember what we said at the end of last season, Mark? Lineker praised the Forest team on "Today's Match", "I said the Premier League this season is going to be very good. As it turned out, I was right. ”

This season's Premier League is indeed different from previous years, Mourinho's strong involvement, the weakness of traditional powerhouses such as Liverpool and Manchester United, the rise of Everton, and the return of Nottingham Forest have made the Premier League in recent years particularly chaotic, but also particularly attractive - because there is more suspense, no longer like in previous seasons, from before the season everyone knew that the league title was just a toy for Manchester United and Arsenal to compete with each other, Chelsea? It may cause some trouble, but it won't make a big deal. I can't even think that Everton can finish fourth in the league and have a good chance of qualifying for next season's Champions Cup.

Before the season, everyone said that Nottingham Forest were aiming for relegation this season, and now I am afraid that no one is talking about it anymore.

However, Donn knows very well in his heart that the current results of the Forest team have a lot to do with them catching up with a good time. If it is a few previous seasons, or a season, when the new pattern of the Premier League is basically formed, it will be difficult for Forest to get involved. This season is Mourinho's first season at Stamford Bridge, and his arrival has had a big impact on the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, who have had a fantastic season and are like climbing to the top, and now it's time for them to go down. And Manchester United's weakness seems to have a lot to do with Ferguson's gradual aging - after that FA Cup, when Don and Ferguson were drinking together, Ferguson vaguely mentioned that he wanted to leave Manchester United at the end of the season, and asked Donn in a joking tone if he wanted to come to Manchester United to coach, but Donn politely declined in the same joking tone.

If it weren't for the chaos of the Premier League this season, Donn's experience would not have led the Forest team to this point. Lineker said Forest had upset the Premier League's landscape and made this season's Premier League look good and suspenseful. But in fact, Done, who knows this history, understands that it is not the emergence of the Forest team that has broken the original pattern of the Premier League, this pattern is supposed to be broken, and without the Forest team, there would be Mourinho's Chelsea. His presence is nothing more than adding to the chaos of the already chaotic Premier League...... Then he fished in troubled waters and took advantage of the fire to rob.

Forest, who finished fifth in the league, were in high spirits and performed well in the upcoming UEFA Cup fixtures.

In the League Cup quarter-finals, Nottingham Forest's opponent was the Austrian team Graz AK (grazer_ak), who were not too strong. In the first leg, the Forest team played away, and the Forest team was a head above the opponent in terms of strength, but Graz AK played at home, which was a favorable factor that could not be ignored, and the two sides ended up in a 2:2 draw. Donn couldn't be happier with the result, with two goals on the road means they've made it to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

The Forest team, which returned to the home stadium, beat Graz AK 2:0 with the cheers of the fans and successfully advanced to the round of 16.

At this point, Donn's pre-season European goals for the Forest have all but been completed, and the Forest not only made it to the knockout stages, but also reached the round of 16, which is enough to announce their return for a team that has been away from the European competition for eight years.

The question that Donn needs to think about now is - is he going to continue?

He decided to ask Don for his opinion.

“…… I think the team has the quality to go further in the UEFA Cup now, but I'm not sure if we have to keep going......" Donn asked his question at the table over dinner.

After listening quietly to Don's question, Tang asked rhetorically, "How far is it to go further?" ”

"Uh, I don't know...... Maybe it's the quarterfinals one step further, maybe it's the semifinals......"

"If it's not the champion, then what's the difference between the Final Four and the Round of 16?" Don's words left Don speechless.

yes, I want to go further, for what? What are your goals after going further? Isn't it the end of the day to take an extra step to win?

"If you're not sure about winning the title, I'd suggest you give up the UEFA Cup. If you ......"

Don interrupted Don's analysis, "I decided to give it a try. Regardless of the outcome, it's always a good idea to give it a try. ”

"Abandon the league?"

"No...... It's not like giving up, it's just a temporary shift in the center of work...... You know, it's the strategic adjustment......" Donn himself said a little reluctantly, did he think so much about giving up the league in his heart?

The glory of winning the League Cup is so tempting that Donn didn't dare to think about it half a season ago, but it doesn't mean that 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 championship in my hands...... The thought of this made Don unable to help himself.

That's what he's dreaming of...... Compared to this, it makes no difference whether the top four or the top six in the league make a difference, and even if he can't get the top six in the league and can't qualify for Europe next season, he is willing.

"So it was decided, the UEFA Cup title is Forest's goal this season." At the dinner table, Donn decided what the Forest would be working on for the rest of the season, even though he looked a little rash with a knife and fork in hand...... Hearing Don say this, Don, who was sitting opposite, opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

At the next day's training session, Donn told the coaching staff that he had decided to give up the league for the time being and focus on the League Cup. He didn't get unanimous support, and Chris Rac was worried about it. He has never had the luxury of winning the UEFA Cup, for him the domestic league is the fundamental, the most important thing.

Forest have a very good league momentum, having already overtaken Liverpool and only two points away from Everton, as long as they continue to put pressure on Everton, they can replace them as fourth in the league, and then they only need to hold on to this position and wait until the end of the season to be able to qualify for next season's European Champions League.

Taking advantage of the time after training, Chris Rac blocked him in Donn's office, intending to ask why he had suddenly become so interested in the UEFA Cup title overnight.

"Tony......" Before the man could enter the door, the voice reached Donn's ears. He looked up and smiled at Chrislac, who had hurried in.

"I know what you're asking me for, sit down, David." Donn gestured to his chair.

Chris Rac was not polite either, sat down and asked, "Tony, I don't understand why you are suddenly so interested in the UEFA Cup winners." ”

Donn sat casually in the corner of the table and said with a smile, "Isn't the pursuit of championships something that every coach should be interested in?" ”

That's a good point, but Chris Rac didn't mean to follow this meaning, he persuaded Donn from another angle: "Tony, we are in a good league situation right now, why should we give up the league to pursue that difficult UEFA Cup title?" Do you know who our opponents are in the next round of the UEFA Cup? ”

"Sporting Lisbon." Don said lightly, as if he didn't have his opponent in mind. "Don't worry, now they don't have Figo, and they don't have Cristiano? Ronaldo. ”

"Of course, Sporting Lisbon is not as strong as it used to be, but they still have quality...... Knock us out. ”

"But it's not like we don't have a chance to beat them. David, I know what you're worried about. But isn't that what football should be? We always have to take some risks, don't we? No victory is ours, and sometimes we need to gamble and always follow the plan that is set, and that's not fun. Donn shrugged, then looked up at the clear sky outside. I've been nostalgic lately when we won the Carabao Cup last season and I'm very excited...... Very excited. ”

"But...... Isn't it also exciting to get a ticket to next season's Champions Cup? ”

"Compared to the championship, compared to the European championship, it's still a little bit worse." Donn smiled at Chrislak, as if he wasn't angry that the assistant coach was insisting on a different opinion on the matter.

Hearing Donn say this, Chris Rac was stunned for a moment, then he muttered, "Okay...... Maybe it's because you have such ambition that you can lead this team. If you make up your mind, then I'll help you. ”

"Thank you, David." Donn's words of gratitude are sincere, he is really lucky not to encounter the power struggle scandal in those big teams. Although the strength of the small club is not good, there are also the benefits of a small club, at least the people here are very simple, they all love this team, they all think about this team wholeheartedly, and there is nothing bad about it.

For example, what about Paul who was with him in the first place? David, who studied to be a coach under Hart and now works as an assistant to him without the slightest complaint? Chris Lack.

※※※ The assistant coaches have no objections, and the coaching staff is basically unified. Forest's immediate priority is to beat Portuguese powerhouse Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, and then launch their low-key assault on the UEFA Cup title – Donn's plans to win the UEFA Cup are unknown to the media, so naturally no one is hyping up the topic.

Fresh off the match against AK Gratz, Forest host Blackburn Rovers in the round of 28 two days later. In this game, because of the continuous campaign, Don adopted a rotation system, and the appearance of a large number of substitutes did not weaken the strength of the Forest team too much, and those hungry players instead worked hard to get a better impression in front of the manager, although the tired Forest team was forced to draw 2-2 at home.

Everyone's reaction to this score was "normal". After playing so many games in a row, in the league and in Europe, it's good not to lose. No one felt that the Forest had shifted their focus, and even David Moyes was still struggling with the aggressive Forest, not realizing that his main rivals were not taking the league to heart.

Time into March, more than two months before the end of the league, the Forest team ranked fifth, ranked sixth Liverpool has one less game, still 43 points, and Moyes's Everton in order to get rid of the entanglement of the Forest team behind him, desperate efforts, 28 rounds of league games have accumulated 51 points. It looks like the gap between them and Forest has widened to four points, but Moyes just can't be completely reassured, because he is also well aware of the situation of his team, without Graveson, and without Arteta during the winter break, Moyes feels sorry for the Spaniard's wonderful performance after coming off the bench in the 26th round of the league - if only he had been more resolute in the first place, if he had made a direct offer instead of a loan, maybe before Donn intervened. He has already negotiated a personal deal with Arteta. Arteta is not a team picker, he couldn't wait to absorb the outline to get rid of the Real Sociedad quagmire at that time, no matter which team came to him, it is estimated that he would nod his head and agree.

David Moyes' Everton are gritting their teeth, hoping to widen the gap between the points gap between the Forest team and the Forest team when they are now playing on two fronts and the schedule is intensive, so that there will be more room for manoeuvre in the future.

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

This time, Forest fielded the same line-up as they did in the league game.

Having lost to Forest in the Carabao Cup final and Forest in the first half of the league, McClaren finally got his chance to get revenge this time. Middlesbrough had the right time and place, winning 2-0 against Nottingham Forest, who were half of the main team resting.

The media finally sensed something was wrong, the UEFA Cup game was six days away, and now that it wasn't a two-game week, and there was really no reason for the Forest to rotate in this game. What's even more wrong, when the game is lost, facing the smug McLaren, Tony? Done's performance turned out to be extraordinarily calm!

It's incredible, since that Carabao Cup final, the media know that Donn and McLaren don't like each other. After Forest's 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough in the first half of the league, Donn was very happy at the press conference, which was simply beyond words, while McClaren kept a gloomy face and also put a look of disappointment on his face for everyone to see.

Now when McLaren and Tony in the first half of the season? After Don En's roles were reversed, instead of being cloudy, Don En's face was calm...... This is not in line with Donn's surname, and after losing to McLaren, who he despises the most, he may have read the post-game summary according to the script, and then got up and left the press conference early. Now he sat there and listened to McClaren praise Middlesbrough for how well he had played, how he had suppressed Forest's attack, how he had defended a powerful centre-forward like Viduka, and how he had kept Albertini in a defensive quagmire...... He didn't refute at all, waiting for McLaren to finish saying that. He was quick to say that he was happy with the team's performance, because "the young players and the players who don't usually get a lot of playing are getting enough games, which is very important for their development".

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

Is this man arrogant or ignorant?

Even McLaren, who was sitting next to him and was originally very happy, had to squint and glance at Don, thinking that he must be deliberately slapping his swollen face and becoming fat, trying to anger himself. But...... I'm sorry, Tony? Mr. Donn, I'm not an uncircumcised child.

Donn stood up, reached out to McLaren, smiled and said, "Good luck, Mr. McLaren." ”

"Good luck, Mr. Donne." McLaren replied with a smile in the same way.

(To be continued)