Godfather Of Champions

Crouch lowered his head with a smile and replied, “Very good, chief.”

Twain nodded. “You’ve seized this opportunity. I hope it will be the same for you in the future. Go on back, don’t catch a cold.”

Wood was the last Forest player to appear in front of Twain. Twain looked at the quiet kid and cleared his throat. “Peter Crouch lifted his jersey to celebrate the goal. Did you guys know about that before the game?”

Wood nodded his head.

“Whose idea was it?”

“His own.”

“Why didn’t you tell me in advance?”

“Crouch said… He didn’t know if he could score a goal. He was afraid…if he told you and didn’t score a goal, it would be for nothing.”

Twain smiled. “Why didn’t you celebrate with them?”

Twain could see clearly what the camera did not capture.

Wood hesitated for a moment and said, “I couldn’t squeeze in.”

Twain suddenly threw his head back and laughed. He was not faking it. He was really amused by Wood and laughed until tears came. Wood was not annoyed by his amusement. He stood there, waiting for him to finish laughing.

There were not many people on the field at the time. The reporters all flocked into the mixed zone to interview the players. Twain and Wood stood on the sidelines without attracting much attention.

The laughter finally stopped and Twain wiped his eyes, smiled, and said, “Oh, George. What am I going to do with you? Can you find a more probable excuse next time, please?”

Wood grimaced.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Twain stepped forward and held Wood’s shoulder, “Don’t worry. I won’t force you to do things you don’t want to do or say what you don’t want to say. I just want you to understand.”

Wood shut his lips tightly and nodded.

“Okay, go on, get back to the locker room and change your clothes. Look at you. You’re wet, sticky and uncomfortable. Go on, let’s go.”

Twain turned Wood’s body around to directly face the players’ tunnel and gave him a push forward.

Watching Wood disappear into the glare of the tunnel, Twain gently shook his head and turned to walk in another direction. There was a door that led directly to the site of the press conference.

※※※

The 31st round of the league was over. Both the Forest team and Liverpool won. After Everton lost to the Forest team, there was no change in the rankings, but the gap between Everton and its two pursuers was now only one point.

Over the next three days, Liverpool would finally make up for the one game that they had missed. For this game, Twain sat in front of the television to watch the entire match. When he saw Liverpool equalize with Newcastle before the end of the game, he was so delighted that he jumped off the couch.

“I said they would fall behind! Definitely will fall behind! One hundred percent chance! Only a fool would give up the UEFA Champions League and compete with us for the league rankings. Go and win the UEFA Champions League. The distant championship cup is calling, hurry up and make a miracle, Liverpool boys! You belong to the European arena! This season, you will definitely win the Champions League! Just leave the qualification for next season’s Champions League to us. Thank you!” He stood in the middle of the room as if he was alone and howled in Mandarin. He was not acting like a professional team manager at all. He was as happy as a little boy.

Dunn sat on the couch and watched the animated Twain. He turned his head and smiled.

He was aware that Twain had been under a lot of pressure lately because they lived together under one roof. Although Twain had not told him, he could see it. As a coach, his observation skills were quite sharp.

This sort of pressure could not be told to others, and Dunn never asked.

But it was not good to bottle it up. It was great that he could vent through such lighthearted means.

After howling, Twain turned to look Dunn with his head lowered and pumped his fist. “I love Souness! I love Newcastle! I’ll go easy on him at the press conference next time!”

Dunn raised his head and tried to hide his amusement. “You’re that happy?”

“Of course! The sooner Liverpool quits, the less pressure Forest will have.” Twain said seriously, “I was worried that I would be crushed under the pressure before they reached the end. Now that Liverpool is out, I think that this will be a big boost to the players’ confidence. You can’t always tell them how hard or dark the road ahead is. We have to give them hope from time to time. Now there’s a ready-made one.” Twain pointed to the television.

On the screen, the Liverpool players listlessly exchanged jerseys with the Newcastle players. Gerrard was topless, with an unknown player’s Newcastle jersey on his shoulder. Perhaps it was Shearer’s. He looked frustrated as he stood on the corner of the field, staring distractedly at the others.

“With the equalizer in this game, the Liverpool players are well aware that they have slowly pulled out of the top four in the league,” said the commentator. “With forty-eight points in thirty-one games, two points away from the fifth-ranked Nottingham Forest, three points away from the fourth-ranked Everton… Manager Benítez should put all his efforts into the Champions League semi-final.”

Dunn now understood but he still said, “In fact, now it’s easy for the Forest team to stay within the top six in the league.”

Twain shook his head and interrupted. “I no longer want to play in the UEFA Europa League. I would rather not have this trophy in my trophy room than play the UEFA Europa League again. People always have to aim high, don’t they?”

“You’re right, Tony.” Dunn nodded.

The television broadcast continued to the post-match press conference. When Benítez was interviewed, in less-than-perfect English, the Spaniard said, “I have not thought about next season’s plan; that’s for after the end of this season. Now I think we should get a trophy in this competition first.”

“Are you referring to the UEFA Champions League?” asked the reporter.

“What else is there?” Benítez smiled.

The two men were caught up in this interview. Dunn pointed to the television and asked, “Do you think one day… you will too?”

Twain looked at Benítez and then at Dunn. Then he nodded. “In order to win the UEFA Europa League, I went a little crazy and gave up the Premier League. For the Champions League title, I don’t mind going a little crazy again. But…” Suddenly he burst into laughter, and it was a wicked laugh. “why can’t we grasp with both hands and make sure both hands hold tight?”