Godfather Of Champions

For the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar remained the core player, with Barry Roche and Paul Gerrard. There were no changes there. So long as Edwin van der Sar remained uninjured, the other two would not have many opportunities to be fielded. However, Tang En might consider fielding Barry Roche for the EFL and English FA Cup. Darren Ward, who had lost his core position because of Edwin van der Sar's arrival, was sold to an EFL Team, Norwich City, for a price of 1.5 million pounds.

For the fullbacks, Davy Oyen had already been sold by Tang En to the EFL Team, Crystal Palace, for a price of one million pounds. In the previous season, Oyen barely had any opportunities to represent the team. His abilities were also no longer on par with the team's expectations. Selling him in exchange for funds was the best way to go about things.

Sun Jihai's arrival nudged John Thompson from the position of the first reserve for right back to second reserve. Although Tang En was not willing to sell him for cash, Thompson himself had requested a transfer from Tang En. With the team's development taking off as rapidly as a rocket, Thompson knew that it no longer had a position for him; and it probably would not in the future either. He might as well capitalize on whatever fame he had accrued from the previous few seasons and leave Forest while there were still other teams interested in him. For him, that might be the better path to take.

Tang En had originally intended to loan out Thompson for the short-term or leave him on the reserve team so he could continue playing matches and maintaining his condition. However, Thompson had his own plans. Tang En was very fond of the guy. After all, in the earlier period when Tang En had had it the toughest, Forest's main right back had been Thompson. For the Forest Team to have successfully broken into the English Premier League, his contributions were indisputable.

Tang En still retained a sort of Chinese mentality. He thought of a player like Thompson as one of the founding members of the team. So long they had some ability, Tang En wanted them to stay. He would rather have the team take care of them. They had once gone through trials and tribulations together; now, he wanted everyone to be able to experience great wealth and fortune together.

But Thompson did not give Tang En that chance. He was very resolute in his departure. Before leaving, he asked Tang En if Forest still had a place for him. Tang En was unable to lie, so he could only sigh and let him go.

Clint Hill would also be loaned out to Reading F.C. At the same time, Forest Team had established an agreement with them: Reading F.C. had priority to sign on Clint Hill. At the end of the loan period, Reading F.C. only needed to fork out another 1.5 million pounds if they wished to acquire him from Forest. To a team at the EFL level, Clint Hill was considerably strong. However, to Tang En's Nottingham Forest, his position was a little awkward. Originally, he was a center back purchased by Tang En as a quick aid for the team. After the team gained Pique, Pepe, and Upson, it no longer had a place for him. While Wes Morgan's abilities were slightly inferior, he was a player groomed by Forest themselves. No matter what, Tang En would not be letting him go. As a result, the only person who could leave was Clint Hill.

For the midfield, Brynjar Gunnarsson was retained by Tang En. He promised to give him more time on the field and expressed his importance as a player on the team… As a football manager, he needed some degree of talent in lying. Fortunately, Tang En had had no lack of practice since he was a kid. He had already reached the stage of being able to lie without blushing or unevenness in his breath and could maintain a stable heartbeat.

The other defensive midfielder, Eugen Bopp, was no longer able to keep up with the needs of the team; Tang En added him to the list of players to be purged. It had to be acknowledged that while some people were geniuses, there were also others who were mediocre. It was not that Eugen Bopp did not put enough effort into training, but that he simply did not achieve growth to assure Tang En. In comparison to Wood's tremendous improvement, Bopp's growth was much too small… Bopp's future direction was a little more cumbersome. Due to the issue of his abilities, there was no Premier League team nor any England team who wanted him. The final team, a League One Club, Rotherham United, was very interested in him, but could not afford the transfer fee of 500 thousand pounds. In the end, Tang En had no choice but to loan Eugen Bopp out to Rotherham United. After the season ended and the contract between Eugen Bopp and Forest Team comes to its end, Rotherham United would be able to sign him on for free, if Forest did not have the intention of renewing the contract and they were still interested. Even though Tang En was unwilling to lose the 500 thousand pounds, he had little choice in the matter.

For forwards, only David Johnson was unincluded in Tang En's plans. He was loaned out to Sheffield United.

Other than letting go of the players who were not in Tang En's plans, he had to turn down numerous transfer requests for the other players. For example, Chelsea and Liverpool's offer to buy Franck Ribery for 15 million, Real Zaragoza FC's loan request for Pique, Aston Villa's offer of eight million for Ashley Young, Birmingham City's loan request for Nicklas Bendtner, and Tottenham Hotspur's offer to purchase Aaron Lennon at a price of five million.

The players who had caught the attention of those teams made up Forest's framework. Tang En was not about to sell off the entire team for just a little money.

In the previous season, although Aaron Lennon had spent most of his time training with the First Team, he was competing in the Youth Team instead. There, he had become bosom buddies with Gareth Bale. This season, like Gareth Bale, he was officially transferred to the First Team by Tang En. With the Forest Team playing in multiple leagues, their right wing needed him and Ashley Young to take turns.

Tang En regarded Lennon highly. He seemingly did not have an iota of doubt about his potential and capabilities. In fact, he believed that Ashley Young may be forced to become Lennon's substitute after half a season.

On August first, Forest submitted their team's complete player list to the League Committee of the EPL. At the same time, Tang En informed Evan and Allan that he was not planning to take any further action in the transfer market; Nottingham Forest's transfers would stop here.

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar (1), Barry Roche (12), Paul Gerrard (25).

Fullbacks: Leighton Baines (22), Gareth Bale (2), Pascal Chimbonda (3), Sun Jihai (21), Gerard Pique (24), Matthew Upson (33), Pepe (6), and Wes Morgan (5).

Midfielders: George Wood (13), Demetrio Albertini (4), Brynjar Gunnarsson (8), Kris Commons (20), Ashley Young (18), Aaron Lennon (17), Franck Ribery (7), and Mikel Arteta (14).

Forwards: Freddy Eastwood (11), Nicklas Bendtner (9), Mark Viduka (10), and Nicolas Anelka (39).

Tang En felt immense satisfaction looking at the list. From the quality of the players, they could certainly compete in the UEFA tournaments; and from the numbers, he did not have to worry about unhappiness among the players from not being fielded frequently enough. A matured team with the strength to compete should have at least two strong players in each position. The current Forest had satisfied that requirement.

With the name list confirmed, this was a crucial period for Tony Twain to lead the team in their final preparations. But at that point, he received some bad news.