Coaching legend

The Blackburn players celebrated without hiding anything from the media. Although no media was seen that day, the carnival scene was still photographed by some reporters.

This set of photos caused an uproar the next day, with many media ridiculing George.

Those who criticized George included fans who were unhappy with him, as well as the media, reporters, football commentators, and many football celebrities.

"A victory made Coach Levy dizzy with joy. But it is also understandable that Blackburn won for the first time this season. We finally won a victory in the eleventh round, and it is reasonable to celebrate. But Coach Levy I seem to have forgotten that Blackburn is still the bottom team in the Premier League. What Coach Levy should do at this time is not to celebrate, but to think about how to get out of the predicament.”

This is quite polite.

In the program hosted by Mark Lawrenson on the BBC, he showed no face to George at all. "This is obviously inappropriate. As a head coach, George is completely unqualified. Drinking is common in English football, but a head coach celebrates with the players and then drinks together. Where is the team's discipline? What kind of fighting power can such a team have? It’s no wonder Blackburn’s current results are so poor!”

"Although many people are saying it, I would also like to remind Coach Levi. Your team is still the most popular team for relegation, and it is still ranked at the bottom of the Premier League. To celebrate like this after winning a game, it seems that Levi The coach doesn’t want to avoid relegation.”

As soon as George arrived at the club door the next day, he was blocked by a large group of reporters. George, who was originally in a good mood, curled his lips when he saw so many reporters.

Hearing the reporter's question, George smiled slightly. "The game is won, so what's the matter with me celebrating? Do you think our team has won three points and I still have to cry?" George scoffed at the reporter's question.

"You reporters, if you have time, pay attention to the Winter Olympics. I understand that you also need news, but if you even interfere with our gathering, you are really looking for trouble."

"But after hearing what you said, I might form a routine in the future. As long as I win the game, I will have a party to celebrate. I think this is good."

George's answer made many reporters dumbfounded.

Then the reporter asked about George leading the team to drink when there were only three days left in the next round. This is disrespectful to Southampton. Blackburn Rovers will face Southampton at home in the twelfth round of the Premier League.

George, who had been smiling all the time, looked at the reporter in surprise. "What, you said we don't respect our opponents. How could we not respect our opponents? Although Southampton is a little worse than us, I have never underestimated any opponent."

As soon as George's words came out, Southampton was in a state of confusion.

The Southampton chairman cursed George in the media. Then satirize George. "I think our strength may indeed be a little worse than Blackburn, but our points are higher than Blackburn. I think the biggest factor here may be the coach. Coach Levy should reflect on himself."

George immediately responded: "I have only been a head coach for three years, and I have already won the League Cup and FA Cup. I wonder how many trophies Southampton has in its century-old history?"

George is already a naked slap in the face of the Southampton club, because Southampton has only had one FA Cup championship in its century-old history.

In this way, Southampton Club and George were spitting at each other before the game started. The media was excited, and of course no one cared about George leading the team to celebrate together.

…………

On October 31, 1998, Blackburn faced Southampton at home.

Southampton is also a team with a century-old history, but the team's performance is almost mediocre. The only FA Cup title was won nearly thirty years ago.

Southampton currently ranks 18th in the Premier League and is also in the relegation zone. Only a few points higher than Blackburn and Nottingham Forest, it is also the most popular team for relegation this season. Speaking of which, Southampton is the worst in the Premier League, both offensively and defensively.

From the beginning of the league to now, Blackburn has played eleven rounds. Among these eleven league games, Blackburn have seven away games and four at home games. However, the home results were very mediocre, and they were even humiliated by Arsenal 0-8.

And Blackburn fans have never liked George. In George's first home game, they got a taste of what it means to be booed by the audience.

Although with Williams' support, the boos directed at George have weakened a lot. But there were still a lot of boos directed at George. Every time he plays at Ewood Park, George doesn't feel like he's at home at all.

In the twelfth round of the league, they will face Southampton soon. George was still a little nervous, not because he was afraid of his opponent Southampton. But it is very difficult for the fans at Ewood Park.

After the last quarrel with Blackburn fans, George was even investigated by the FA. In the end, George was not suspended because he didn't do anything too drastic. But George was still warned by the Football Association, and they hoped that George would not take drastic actions.

If you argue with your home fans, you will be banned. George is really going to go down in history.

When the players were warming up before the game, George entered Ewood Park anxiously. Although the results in the last two games have been good, George still heard some sporadic boos the moment he stepped into Ewood Park. This made George sigh helplessly.

"It seems that it will take some time for George to conquer the Blackburn fans." Even the commentator heard some sporadic boos on the court.

But George was used to it. Compared with the boos from the audience at the beginning, George didn't care at all about this little boo.

"Did you hear the boos just now?" The warm-up was over and everyone entered the locker room. George pointed outside the locker room and asked with a serious expression.

All the players below nodded silently. How could they feel embarrassed to be booed by the home fans?

Many of the people here are no longer young boys who have just started their careers. They are also players with four to five years, six or seven years. It is very common to be booed and provoked by other fans in away games. But being booed at home is indeed rare.

"I want to say that most of their boos were for me." George didn't hide it at all. Many former Blackburn players and Klose knew this clearly. The grievances between George and Blackburn could not be finished in three days and three nights.

The newly transferred players also know that George was once the head coach of Blackburn's rival team Burnley. You can also make guesses.

"But among their boos, they also include them for you. Your poor performance in the first eleven rounds of the league is also a major reason." George's tone changed. "But the fans are easy to handle. If your grades are not good, they will boo you. If your grades are good, they will naturally support you and support you."

"So don't worry about the boos from the fans, as long as our results are good. The boos will soon turn into applause."

"Do you want to hear applause or boos from the home fans?"

"Applause of course!"

George clapped his hands. "By the way, I also like applause. But applause is not given to you for no reason. My request to you is very simple. I just want to win this game. Only when you win can you hear the applause. Do you have the confidence to win? applause?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

…………

Since it is at home, George certainly cannot be conservative.

And after taking charge of Blackburn, George's style of play has changed to a tactic of controlling the ball in the midfield and pressing opponents. Coupled with the temptation of the first victory at home, Blackburn launched a fierce attack on Southampton from the beginning of the game.

Soon Southampton was suppressed by Blackburn and could only retreat.

However, Blackburn is not a team that is helpless in the face of intensive defense, even though it is intensive defense. But in terms of defense, the English team is still not as good as the Italian team. And Southampton's original strength is poor.

At the 23rd minute, Pires on the left made continuous breakthroughs with his skills. Finally, Southampton's defender had no choice but to pull Pires down. Free kick won from the left for Blackburn.

"Pires performed really well. Although his speed is not as fast as Arsenal's Overmars, his skills are better than Overmars." Seeing Pires' performance, even the on-site commentator was in admiration. "George's five and a half million pounds is a great deal."

"It's Miku's free kick... Blackburn's several high points have already reached Southampton's penalty area... Pass the ball, Hyypia!"

Miku's free kick was passed to the back point. Hyypia jumped high and shook his head hard to attack the goal. The ball was too close to the goal. The goalkeeper just made a move and failed to stop the ball from rolling into the goal.

"One to zero, the time is less than twenty-five minutes. Blackburn leads Southampton one to zero at home." The commentator of Sky TV simply explained.

But the commentator at Ewood Park was less calm. Because so far in the Premier League, Blackburn have not scored a goal at home. This is Blackburn's first goal at home this season.

The on-site commentator was at Ewood Park for a long time, commentating on several games, but did not see a single ball. So the commentator on the scene was very excited when he saw Hyypia's goal.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!" His cheers echoed throughout the stadium. "Sami Hyypia, this Finnish player from the Eredivisie, is already the backbone of Blackburn's defense. But he can not only defend, but also score goals."

If it were another home stadium, they would definitely be cheering along with this goal and the on-site commentator's commentary. However, the Ewood Park fans did not respond enthusiastically to the on-site commentators. Just like the boos before the game started, there was only a little applause.

George stepped forward, clapped his hands, and then made a pressing gesture. George would not be satisfied with a ball at all. George wanted more balls to offset the humiliation of 0-8.