Godfather Of Champions

The conflict within the team soon came to an end. The players struggled to pull the two men apart and then separated them far apart. The coaches were also involved. George Wood shouldered his responsibility as the team captain and clung fast to Chimbonda, who was struggling fiercely. He yelled at him in a low voice. As to what he had yelled, no one knew. The scene was so chaotic that no one else could hear him.

The two men who were pulled apart glared at each other. Neither of them wanted to let the matter go. The teammates who pulled them apart were also afraid to loosen their grip, for fear that once they let go, the two men would pounce on each other and get into a scuffle again.

The clamor gradually subsided, and there was a moment where the training ground was exceptionally quiet. Only a few men could be heard gasping for breath. Perhaps it was due to the situation that made everyone feel embarrassed that they did not know what to say.

Previously, when the atmosphere within the Forest team was good, there was almost no quarrels, not to mention an exchange of blows. They made jokes when it was time to have fun, but this time, there was real anger.

Tony Twain, who had been coldly watching the show from the side, finally stepped forward.

He appeared in front of the crowd, still wearing his sunglasses.

When they saw him come forward, the scene became so quiet that even the gasps for breath could not be heard. Any fool would be aware that the boss was angry.

If Twain had waved his arms exaggeratedly and spewed ugly-sounding obscenities, it would not actually mean that he was angry. It was mostly because he needed to act the part. When he was really angry, he generally appeared to be very calm. He would not have a red face, with spittle flying, and would not make a variety of entertaining and exaggerated movements.

Twain stood in front of everyone with no expression. He still wore his sunglasses, so no one could see the look in his eyes.

Twain stood in front of the crowd and did not speak immediately. He looked at Bendtner, who was held back by someone, and then at Chimbonda, whom George Wood had pulled into a tight grip. Next, he looked the other people who were at a loss.

“Looks like you’re not hurt, Nick.” Twain finally spoke, and no one could detect even a slightest hint of anger in his tone. That was precisely what made everyone afraid: the calm before the storm. “I thought you broke your leg when I saw you roll so painfully on the ground. If it had been on the field during a game, the bastard who shoved you over would surely get a red card. It looks like I worry too much. You’re angry enough to hit someone, and you still packed quite a punch.”

Bendtner’s breath began to level. After his impulsive move, his reason returned to his mind. He felt that he overdid it a little, but in order not to show weakness in front of the enemy, his expression remained fierce.

Then Twain turned to look at Chimbonda. “I said before that this kind of matchup was cultivate your competitiveness, but there’s a caveat. This is a match within the team and your opponents are not some sinister enemy, but your own teammates. I would appreciate it if you could seriously consider this before you make a move with your feet, Pascal.”

As if he had not heard what Twain had said, Chimbonda still glared daggers at Bendtner, who had fought him and gotten away with it.

Twain nodded to Fleming, the leader of the team doctors next to him. “Take Nick away for a checkup.” Fleming nodded and pulled Bendtner away.

The Danish boy wanted to take the opportunity to give himself a way out, so he did not resist and obediently followed.

“I’ve noticed the abnormal mood on the team recently, and I know the cause of it. So I’ve been mulling over the problem these days.” Twain took off his sunglasses and looked at the men in front of him. “We only lost two games, tied one game, and did not win two rounds so far. Such small ups and downs are nothing at all for a mature professional team. There is no team in the world that will win every game and never lose. Arsenal is a very good team with forty-nine unbeaten games. But were they not defeated in their fiftieth game as well? So, I wonder why are we so vulnerable when faced with failure? Like a top student, who has never failed an exam, weeps after getting eighty percent on an exam. This is so embarrassing.” He spread his hands.

Twain did not scold with the word “f**king”, nor did he bellow to vent his anger like a storm. He reasoned with his players, but it made him looked even more frightening.

“Perhaps should I deliberately let our team lose ten games so that you can learn from the lessons and experience on how to face failure? And the occasional unhappiness in life?”

Twain paused.

“Think about the season when we had just returned to the English Premier League and think again about the season when we lost the Champions League final… Was there a more painful failure in life than that? We did not break from that kind of failure, and we made a comeback after a season to win the Champions League title. But why can’t you withstand failure after you got the title? So, I’ve been thinking about what is causing everyone’s mental tolerance to become so fragile and what has caused this incident to happen today. I’ve been thinking about it for days and I think it’s a mindset shift. Winning the championship title has made us proud and arrogant. I think pride is a good thing and that young people should be proud and arrogant. Otherwise we can’t be arrogant in our old age even if we want to. The crux of the matter is you can’t become arrogant just because you won the championship title, but you should naturally be arrogant. Even if I lose the game, I’m still arrogant. I do not want to shake hands with people who want to give me sympathy.” Twain smiled, but no one smiled along with his banal joke.

“Some people out there have said that Nottingham Forest is a team that ‘can’t afford to lose.’ What does this ‘can’t afford to lose’ mean, guys? It was not that we would be dejected and thrown to disarray just because we lost the game. It means that we don’t accept losing the game and want to win it back! It means what we lose in one game, we are going to win it back in the next! I like this label. I’m a person who just can’t afford to lose! Failure will only make me crazier, like a mad dog which wants to bite every man it sees and not to become a stupid pig that has been neutered!” At last his voice got louder, and his emotions exploded. “What’s the point of venting your anger at your teammates and causing internal strife? That’s what a man without balls would do. You’re upset, you want to prove your ability, you want to strive for a better treatment, so don’t mistake the target of your performance. Cast this fire in your heart to your opponents and enemies! Not to one of your own!” Twain roared.

“I do not want to see anything like this happen again in the future. A man who dares to cause internal strife is a coward. Pascal, you go to the reserves team and calm down for a week. In a moment, Nick will also go report to the reserves team. I hope the two of you will learn how to get along with people in the reserves.” Twain finally unveiled his decision for the punishment from the conflict. It was not a surprise to have the two players go to the reserves.

Chimbonda silently accepted the punishment. In fact, it did not matter if he did not accept because his own will was insignificant in Wilford, where the only master, the king, and the one true God was Tony Twain alone. His word was the managerial law that ruled every code of conduct. If he said one plus one equaled one, then it would be one plus one equaled one. No one was allowed to raise his hand to say, “Boss, you’re wrong. It’s equal to two.”

“Finally, the last thing I want to see in the newspapers tomorrow is any word about this incident. There wasn’t a single media outlet around at the scene, so if any media outlet discloses the news, you’d know what that means.” Twain made his threat with a cold face. He did not just issue a verbal warning. Recalling what happened with Anelka, who was against him, and Ashley Young who had provoked him with a lie… Unless they wanted to leave the Forest team, they had to listen to him as long as they played for him.

“Today’s training…” He looked around at the surrounding coaches and Kerslake shook his head at him, “ends here. You’re dismissed. Just go home! Go back and think about what I said today, and I hope it will help you in your life for the future.”

※※※

On his way home, Dunn spoke to Twain. “I thought you were going to fly into a terrible rage when you walked up there.”

“I was going to, but I forced myself to calm down first and reason with them. Managing people is a specialized skill. Simple and rough methods are not appropriate, and I’m managing a group of self-acknowledged big-name stars.” Twain snorted.

“Well, I have a question. Were you really thinking about that question these few days? Rather than worrying about the successive losses and widespread injuries?”

Twain glanced at Dunn. “You are spending too much time together with Tang Jing and have learned some of her bad habits. Of course I’ve been thinking about this profound philosophy of life. What do you think I was doing?”

Dunn knew that Twain would not tell the truth, but he did not probe further. Twain was an eccentric character. He might turn around and forget his previous words. If he seriously went head to head with him on this, he would be out of luck and be the one to suffer for it.

After a spell, Twain broke the silence. “Come over to my place and have dinner this evening. Shania has prepared a delicious meal…”

Dunn’s face changed and replied, “No, I have something else going on…”

Twain suddenly pulled him back. “Come on, come on! Shania has been very busy. She finally managed to come back and was very excited to cook a meal for us. Do you want to disappoint her?”

Dunn thought. It’s clear that she specially prepared the meal for you to eat. When was there ever an “us”? You just do not want to suffer alone, so you’re just dragging me along to share your fate, right? But as a person who was not good at rejecting people, he just nodded. “All right…”

Twain smiled happily. “That’s my good brother! We stick together through thick and thin and share each other’s good fortune!”

Actually, you didn’t have to complete the second half of your sentence… Dunn thought again.

In the evening, the two men, Dunn and Twain smiled mirthlessly as they finished their dinner under Shania’s smiling gaze. Twain saw Shania’s face fill with bright smiles and could not help but praise her. “It was delicious, like I haven’t had enough…”

Before he could finish speaking, he knew something was wrong. But it was too late to change his tune.

“That’s great!” Shania clapped. “Uncle Tony, since you like it so much… now that I’m not so busy during this time and have a lot of time to stay in Nottingham, I’ll cook for you every day!”

Twain really had the urge to slap himself. I shouldn’t have said it, look what happened… now I have to pay for it.

Dunn hurriedly got up when he heard Shania. “I… I have something else, so I’ll go back first… Thank you, Shania, for your hospitality…” When he finished, he quickly slipped away.

Twain stood up and wanted to chase after him, but when he turned his head to see Shania looking at himself with a smile, he pointed to the dining table. “I’ll help you… Uh, clear these away.”

“No need for that.” Shania smiled and shook her head, “I’ll do it myself. You will get indigestion if you exert yourself after dinner.”

Twain thought that whether or not he exerted himself, he would not be able to digest the meal. “That’s for strenuous exercise. There is an old Chinese saying: Walk a hundred paces after a meal and you’ll live to ninety-nine. Moving around more after dinner will aid digestion instead.”

Shania widened her eyes in apparent disbelief. Twain did not wait for her to agree and took the plates from the young girl’s hands. He carried them into the kitchen, put them in the sink, and began to wash the dishes.

After Shania had wiped the table, she stood beside him to give him a hand. In reality, there was nothing to help out with. Twain handled it alone. She stood here just to watch.

“There’s nothing to be busy with here, Shania. You can go to watch TV,” Twain said to the young girl standing behind him as he worked.

“What’s good to watch on TV?” Shania giggled and did not move, “When I’m out there and free at night, I just watch TV in the hotel. I’m sick of watching it.”

Twain found it strange that a well-known model like Shania could possibly stay in the hotel to watch the television at night. “Don’t you have parties to go to?”

“Yes, quite a few. But I don’t like them.”

Twain glanced back at her. “So what do you like?”

“This is pretty nice.”

The two met gazes, and Twain turned back to wash the dishes.

He realized something.

He lied when Dunn asked him if he was really thinking about those issues. He was not really thinking about the complicated philosophy of life. He was in a bad mood and feeling anxious. But now all those negative feelings had suddenly vanished. He felt that he was in a pretty good mood, and he even wanted to whistle and sing.

Why was that?

Shania stood behind him and gently hummed a song.

Yes, why is that?