748 I feel really satisfied!

Twain was immensely relieved after confirming that Ibišević's mentality was OK, but Matías Fernández's problem was not as simple. He faced a language barrier, so he needed a club-hired translator to communicate the coach's will to him at any given time in training. When it came to the game, he was basically guessing hand gestures. He currently spent two nights a week learning English. Progress was slow because of time constraints. Twain feared that Fernandez might not learn enough in time.

Ibišević's poor form became popular in the media, which aided him to block a lot of media slurs. Had Ibišević been in good shape and scored a goal, it would have been the Chilean's turn to be the hapless man.

Twain decided not to care about Fernandez for the time being, believing in the former South American footballer's IQ. Even if he was not proficient in the language and unaccustomed to the living habits of the land, there would always be a common language on the football field. The state of recovery, though slow, was certain.

※※※

On Aug. 27, the third round of the league, Nottingham Forest continued its away tour with an away challenge against Manovic, who had promoted. It was a weak team. In the first two rounds of the league, they suffered two consecutive defeats. Their opponents were only considered middle standards of the Premier League.

Playing an opponent like this did not require the full strength of Nottingham Forest, so Twain's big rotation was not surprising. After George Wood's second-round league debut, he continued to show in the game. The rest of the roster was changed. No matter how much rotation there was, on the day before the game, Forest announced the starting list. Ibišević's name was still on the list.

Now, Carl Spicer had something to say. "Twain is bent on fighting us. Even a fool can see what state Ibišević is in, so why should he take a starting position? van Nistelrooy, Eastwood, Abonrahho, Zikic, which of these are no better than this Bosnian refugee? Is Bosnia Persia? Ha ha!"

His last words gave him a minor problem. Nottingham Forest formally protested against Carl Spicer's insult of their players on the show to Sky TV. Carl Spicer also went on the news programs of other channels.

A good reporter ran to ask Ibišević what he thought of the new nickname "Bosnian refugee." Ibišević refused to answer the question. He was not happy about it.

Twain said, "Some people do not speak through the brain but through the hole under their buttocks. I'm used to it. But, him insulting my players like that, I would make him swallow his words."

It was Ibišević's teammates who expressed outrage. Eastwood jumped out for his forward buddy. "Ibi has the strength. As a new player, he needs some time to adapt, which is normal. I don't think identity has anything to do with performance on the football field. I'm a Romani, and I believe Mr. Carl Spicer must be looking down on us wandering around. I would like to ask, who was the third man on last season's scorer's list?"

Bosnians in Britain allegedly sent a protest letter to Sky TV, demanding Carl Spicer to formally apologize to Bosnians on TV and in newspapers.

This thing was not big nor small. Bosnia was a small country that had no standing, especially not in Britain where the Bosnian population was so small. They basically had no social status. No matter how loudly they shouted, their voices were no louder than the crickets chirping at night.

If it turned into a case of racism, Carl Spicer could lose his job. Spicer could afford to t be unafraid of Twain. His scolding of Twain was like scolding family, which was just an internal conflict. If the other party did not care, he could be unscrupulous. If it spread online too far, he could lose his job, forcing him to think twice before scolding others.

Before the game, the media was buzzing about it. Through this, the true nature of the media was made apparent. When Carl Spicer scolded Tony Twain, they followed suit. When Bosnians were outraged about Carl Spicer being racist, they fanned the flames. They took no sides and sought only to profit.

Twain was happy with the snob, Carl Spicer, helping him before the game. He was trying to further agitate Ibišević with the matter. The frustrations and discontent he had accumulated in his heart would all break out. It would be like a volcanic eruption. The world would be cleansed.

In the dressing room on game day, Twain was fervently inciting the players' emotions, mainly Ibišević's.

"Look what that idiot said," he said. "Today, he called Ibišević a Bosnian refugee. Tomorrow, he might call any one of you out the moment you make a mistake in the game. If this weren't a modern civilization, I wouldn't hesitate to fire two shots into his head! But, we have our own way of revenge: win the game against Norwich, and win it beautifully!"

Twain pulled Ibišević aside and said, "Hey, Ibi. I don't want to put pressure on you, but you see, that's life." He spread his hands out. "Pressure came looking for you. I think you have to prove yourself in this game. Remember what I said? I don't like to slap myself. Now there is a chance to slap someone else right in front of you. See if you are able to grasp it."

Ibišević nodded with a somber look on his face. "I understand, sir."

"If there is a penalty, you can be the penalty shooter," Twain said.

Ibišević replied, "I'm not a penalty shooter, sir. I want to score goals during the game time."

Twain reached out and asked, "Have you thought of your celebration moves?"

Ibišević slapped him on the hand and replied, "I think so."

"I'll be waiting to see."

※※※

Norwich was truly unable to compete with Nottingham Forest at all, even on their home court. The moment the game started, Nottingham Forest officially took over the sovereignty of the Carrow Road stadium from them.

When playing the underdogs, Nottingham Forest usually used their control of the midfield and layer-by-layer tactics, relying on a strong force to crush their opponents a little bit. At the same time, they would not let the back line add on the pressure, giving the other side the chance to counterattack.

In this game, Twain changed tactics. He did not let the team play possession but instead play the style they used against a strong team. In the away game against Norwich, they had played a quick counterattack, which was a sure-win secret.

It was a little weird just looking at the starting roster. The starting forwards were Eastwood and Ibišević, neither of whom was a speed forward. How could they stage a counterattack? Nottingham Forest would soon reveal the answer.

George Wood's direct long pass in midfield sent the ball to Ibišević's feet, who had his back to the goal. He passed the ball to Eastwood, who was next to him. Eastwood kept firing straight, but the ball kept missing the goal mouth by a bit, which stunned Norwich's home fans.

Neither Bostock nor Shahin made their debuts in the game. Instead, it was George Wood and Thiago, the dual-back configuration that made Forest's midfield defense much thicker and attacking approach more concise. This was a tactic for weak teams to use against strong teams. It was not expected for Twain to use it to deal with a weak team like Norwich.

After several attacks, Nottingham Forest was doing the same thing, launching direct attacks from the backfield. The two sides quickly plugged in. The forwards' area was not confined to the penalty area but almost the entire half.

These attacks proved that Wood's initial kick was not a temporal flair but a tactic carefully orchestrated by the manager.

"I can't understand," the TV narrator muttered.

Of course he could not understand, but it was a change that Twain made specifically to take care of Ibišević. He made some adjustments based on Nottingham Forest's original defensive counterattacking tactics in order to get Ibišević to find a feel at Hoffenheim. He used quick and simple tactics with forwards running in a huge area to intercept and receive so that Ibišević could receive the ball more. But, the first goal was not scored by Ibišević.

In the 29th minute of the first half, Cogen broke through on the right side and passed the ball. It was intercepted by Norwich's full back. Landing on the foot of Thiago outside the penalty area, he got his feet on the ball. The ball flew into Eastwood's butt and the net. The Norwich goalkeeper had no means against this goal. He dived toward the initial direction of the ball, but he had no idea there would be a Romani butt in the middle of its flight.

The TV caption registered the goal as Thiago's at first. After replaying it, the goal scorer's name changed to Freddy Eastwood. This was his third goal of the season. Nottingham Forest had scored three league goals in the new season, all by the Romani.

The narrator did not forget about Ibišević as he cheered for Eastwood. "It looks like Nottingham Forest's goals are all given to Eastwood all the time this season. Maybe Tony Twain should bet with Carl Spicer on Eastwood instead. If that's the case, Spicer would definitely be afraid to take the offer."

Ibišević smiled as he celebrated Eastwood's goal. No one knew what he was thinking or how he felt about it.

※※※

Ibišević tried to calm his restless heart. He was no stranger to the current situation. He just needed to calm down and think. Throughout his career, he had dealt with several doubts from others.

At Paris Saint-Germain, it was rumored that he got into the French club through a "countryman" relationship of then-head coach Halilhodžić. On the team and among the fans, there were rumors that he had an unusual relationship with Halilhodžić.

No matter how he trained during that time, people would look at him differently. He suddenly realized that although Halilhodžić appreciated him and personally brought him from the United States to France, he could not stay under the man if he wanted to have a future. Even if he did well in the training session, people would think Halilhodžić was playing favorites. If he did not do well, him and Halilhodžić would both be in trouble.

He played only two games under Halilhodžić before he was out. In the eyes of outsiders, his good days were over. He only made four appearances for Paris Saint-Germain all season and scored no goals.

From the head coach to the ordinary training ground staff, it was believed that Bosnia-Herzegovina's Khalilozic decided to introduce the Bosnia-Herzegovina so he could benefit from some other sources. This kind of young man basically did not have a future, so it was better to let go of him earlier.

Ibišević was no fool. He knew what the club people thought of him, so he offered to go out on loan to play the game. In the 05-06 season, he was loaned to the French-B where he felt freedom for the first time. No one would think he had been offered the job because of his relationship with the manager, and he could make the most of his abilities. He made 33 appearances and scored 10 goals there.

As a 21-year-old player, he had already attracted attention. But, a big team like Paris Saint-Germain was not interested in a 21-year old player who only achieved that much.

He went to the Bundesliga team Aachen. It wasn't a successful season. He made 24 appearances, scored six goals, and wore the No.9 jersey, which symbolized the main center.

The doubt ringing in his ears did not dissipate. People always said that he was too nervous during games as a striker, which cost him a lot of scoring opportunities. In the face of the goalmouth, he seemed completely confused and did not know which direction he should kick the ball. He did not even have the confidence to shoot the goal, so how could such a striker succeed?

In fact, there were thousands of players like him playing football. They were unknown, mixed in the lower leagues and the end team. They could not score much in a season. They could only move from one place to another to try their luck, only to end up transferring to a league and a team that was worse. At the end of the day, at the age of 35 or 36, they would simply find a low-level league team and retire. They would then go to the community to coach the youth football team or find other jobs irrelevant to football to support themselves and their family. They may have had talent and ability, but they all lacked opportunity and luck.

For him, he was lucky after the end of the 06-07 season because German FN Hoffenheim found him then. Everyone knew what happened afterward.

Now, he was in the dark red Nottingham Forest jersey and stood on the pitch in the English Premier League. It was the most prominent team he had ever played for but little else has changed. He was still being questioned.

Some in the media said, "This kid is a wallflower, I dare bet that he would drop immediately, just like Mintál. Best not let him get his hopes up!"

Even if he scored 37 goals in a season at Hoffenheim, he would still be questioned. The only change in England was that someone was finally making a public bet on him.

"I bet he can't score 20 goals a season!" Carl Spicer, after watching Ibišević's performance in recent games, said with pride, "In fact, I should have said that he couldn't score 10 goals in a season."

Ibišević wanted to enjoy a genuine cheer, one without any distractions. He wanted them to shout "Super Ibi" without whispering, "Hopefully he can do this next season or even the next game."

He could only try and calm himself down and remember how he played in the 08-09 season.

Think about how I faced the goalmouth last time, facing those goalkeepers and defenders, and how I shot the ball through their gaps and into the goalmouths!

It is no big deal. There is nothing to be nervous about. I am still me, Vedad Ibišević, a boy from Bosnia. Do not expect too much from me, but do not look down on me either!

Score a lifetime worth of goals in a season? Do not make jokes like that! I am only 26 years old, I still have a long life ahead of me! I still have a lot of goals I have not scored!

※※※

Ibišević heard the announcer and looked up to observe the situation.

"George Wood controls the tempo in midfield and now looks more and more like an organized midfielder with Nottingham Forest's five attacks originating from his feet. His long passing has come a long way compared to previous seasons."

In an instant, George Wood passed the ball to Bentley. Instead of carrying the ball forward by the baseless, Bentley passed it directly at an angle of 45 degrees. On Norwich's organized back line, Ibišević suddenly appeared, leaping high to hit a strong header toward the goal.

"The header is too straight! Does he observe the goalkeeper's position before he starts his jump?" The narrator could always find Ibišević's mistakes.

The football was hit out by the goalkeeper with both hands. This time, the football fell at Eastwood's feet. Everyone in Norwich got nervous. They could see that the Romani was in the right form in the game and at the top of the arc of the penalty area, which was literally his area. Once he lifted his left leg, the soccer was on an arc toward the goalmouth.

Everyone focused their defensive attention on the Romani but ignored the Ibišević, who was next to them. Eastwood got into position to shoot but instead passed the ball forward.

Ibišević, who had just ran back from the goalmouth, immediately turned around and did not even turn his head to look at the flag referee by the side. He only cared about the ball under his foot. At the same time, he took a glimpse at the opposing goalkeeper.

Offside? Kick this ball in first! Whistle? I didn't hear it!

Ibišević turned around and instead of taking the ball forward, he went straight for a ground shot. The football jumped on the turf, evaded the hand of Norwich goalkeeper Ward, and went straight to the post at the far end of the goal. It jumped up again in front of the door line and hit the door post.

Instead of getting up right away, Ibišević was half-kneeling, maintaining his shooting stance. Like the goalkeeper, Ward, he was staring at the football. Two people saw it hit the door post and jump the third, sloshing and falling within the door line.

In this moment, Ibišević's pupil dilated out of excitement while his Norwich defenders raised their hands concurrently. Was it offside?

The TV narrator cried out, "Offside!"

As soon as he looked at the side of the sideline, the line referee was running toward the center line with the flag, but the main referee was raising his hands flat and pointing toward the center. This was the gesture indicating a valid goal.

A handful of Nottingham Forest fans started to cheer. A voice began to ring among them, "Super Ibi!"

The narrator sounded a little unnatural, perhaps reluctant to admit his mistake to save face for himself, as he conversationally said, "Norwich's players ran to the sideline. They were obviously a little bit controversial about the loss. Anyway, Nottingham Forest's players are already cheering! 2:0! They led by two goals away from home, and it was only the first half! Vedad Ibišević finally scored even if it was a controversial one."

Ibišević jumped from the ground with uncertainty. Ignoring his teammates, who wanted to hug him, he ran straight to the corner flag. Facing the camera, he raised his right hand high, swung it sharply, and drew a circle. He was working so intensely he almost hit Eastwood, who was running toward him to hug him from behind.

Afterward, he did not stop and ran toward the head coach seats to hug Tony Twain. His teammates, who had been chasing him for half a soccer field, finally came over and hugged.

In the chaos, Twain loudly asked, "Ibi, what was the meaning of that action?"

Ibišević who was surrounded by his teammates, chuckled happily. "It is like what you said, sir. Slapping someone else is indeed very satisfying! Ha! I am feeling really satisfied!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.