Godfather Of Champions

For Forest, which was not a powerhouse club yet, to be able to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals was considered a great achievement. Several days after that game, the Nottingham local media was still full of various reports and news articles about the team’s advancement to the quarter-finals. Many posts about the Champions League also appeared in the fan forum on the Nottingham Forest club website. Everyone was in high spirits. Many people looked forward to the start of the next round of the Champions League. Even though Nottingham Forest’s opponent was the Serie A powerhouse team, Inter Milan, they were not afraid at all.

However, for the team to advance to the quarter-finals, perhaps the biggest beneficiary could be Twain himself.

By now, Tony Twain was no longer a stranger to the English people. The fact that his Nottingham Forest team could be ranked second in the league was not just luck. In England, Twain was already a rather famous manager and was even called a “genius manager” on more than one occasion. Some people already called him “the celebrated manager.”

But no matter how popular he was in England, he was not widely recognized in Europe.

In the European football world, managers like him—people who were a success in their home country, and then became tired and feeble when it came to the European tournament—were a dime a dozen. He was not unusual. After all, the domestic leagues and European tournaments were completely different in style.

Many teams could make a splash in the domestic league, but they ran out of firepower when they came to the European tournament.

However, to be able to get into the Champions League quarter-finals clearly explained Twain’s level. He was different from the coaches who were “experts in domestic competitions and laymen in international tournaments.” A Champions League game certainly did not prove anything. A flash-in-the-pan manager was not unheard of.

Would Tony Twain be a flash in the pan?

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Twain’s cell phone had been ringing nonstop recently; it rang anytime and anywhere. He eventually turned his phone to vibrate. There was always this or that media outlet that wanted to interview him. He knew it was because of his team’s performance. This was his first time leading the team to play in the Champions League, and being able to advance to the quarter-finals in one stretch was unexpected for many people.

The vast majority of the media that wanted to interview him was outside of the United Kingdom.

What did that mean? It meant that he had begun to make a name for himself in Continental Europe.

That was a good thing; Twain was not terrified of fame. On the contrary, he could not wait to become famous. If not, why had he decided to forsake all the other choices to go on this path?

However, he still had to choose to accept the media. He knew that the more successful he became, the more reserved he had to be so as to help maintain his worth. He must keep his practice of accepting as few media interviews as possible to ensure that the outside world thought of him as inaccessible and proud. The harder he was to get to, the more everyone wanted him. The fewer media interviews he accepted, the more he would be able to keep the media focused on him.

He still remembered sitting in “The Chief” Brian Clough’s car and what the old man had said to him: “Learn to make use of the media.” He was doing that now.

On that day, just after a day of training, Twain received a strange call. He had become accustomed to it.

It was the UEFA official who had called him this time.

Twain was a little surprised when the other side introduced herself over the phone.

“Don’t be nervous, Mr. Twain. This isn’t the UEFA disciplinary committee.” The female voice on the phone laughed happily.

“Um…”

“We’re from the Champions League Magazine agency under the UEFA, responsible for promoting the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and other UEFA tournaments. Nottingham Forest is the biggest dark horse in the Champions League, and you’re the youngest manager leading a team to advance to the quarter-finals. We think you’re a worthy subject. There will be a lot of people interested in your experience and your team, so…”

Twain recalled when he had gone to the ceremony for the quarter-finals draw; he had had a conversation with someone from the UEFA Champions League Magazine about his interview, but…

“I remembered the person who interviewed me being a guy…”

The female voice over the phone laughed again, “Can’t we just substitute the person, Mr. Twain?”

He did not understand why, but every time the woman laughed he a little awkward. He cleared his throat. “Of course… Well, of course, you can. But be careful, madam, you have only two substitutions left.”

A tinkle of silvery laughter rang out again on the other end.

“You’re very funny, Mr. Twain. In that case, let’s talk about the exact interview time, okay?”

“Of course. I think… you can do it anytime.”

“Well, that’s just it, Mr. Twain. This is not a simple interview. It’s not the kind where I use a microphone to ask you questions and you sit on the couch to answer them. It’s not going to be like that. We want to give our viewers comprehensive coverage on your team and yourself.”

“Comprehensive coverage?” Twain listened to the pleasant voice from the other end and made a cheeky association. “Including my… personal life?”

The woman laughed again. “Stop that, Mr. Twain!”

This voice sent shivers down Twain’s spine. She sounds so flirtatious…

“Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t even asked for your name yet.” Twain sat back at his desk and put his feet up on the table. He was steadying himself for a “chat” with this madam or young lady with a nice voice.

“Clarice. Clarice Gloria.”

“Mrs. Gloria…”

“I’m not that old yet, Mr. Twain.”

Twain seemed to be able to see the pleasant-sounding Clarice Gloria winking at him. He raised his eyebrows. “All right, Miss Gloria. Let’s talk about business. You know, I don’t have too much time for interviews.”

“Yes, we all know that you never accept media interviews easily.”

“Yes. So I hope you can draft a good schedule for the interview and shoot and then fax it to me. We’ll agree on the time together and I’ll let the team work with you. But I also hope your work won’t interfere with our normal training and competitions.”

“Of course. That’s not a problem. In that case, we’ll fax you the timetable tomorrow.”

“Very well. If there’s nothing else, I think I’m going to get off work.”

“OK, I’ll be in touch tomorrow. It’s a pleasure chatting with you. Goodbye, Mr. Twain.”

“Goodbye, Miss Gloria.”

Twain hung up but did not rush to leave. Instead, he kept both his feet on the table.

Her voice sounded really nice. But a nice-sounding woman might not be pretty in person. In fact, Twain had seen quite a few people who sounded nice but were plain-looking in person, both in China and Britain.