Godfather Of Champions

Chapter 740: World Cup in South Africa

Twain’s fight with the reporters in the hotel did not cause his holidays to return to him. Instead, it only caused his holidays to leave him further behind.

News about how he berated the Chinese Football Association and got into a ‘duel of words’ with the reporters during the press conference surfaced on numerous media platforms. No matter where he walked, he would always run into reporters or football fans. Some of them were friendly towards him while others longed for him to die.

It is said that the Chinese Football Association was so enraged by Tony Twain’s comments that they specially phoned Nottingham Forest Football Club to protest. However, Nottingham Forest Football Club’s reply to them was, “Mr. Tony Twain does not represent our football club when he is out on holiday. The comments he makes during his personal time have nothing to do with our football club.”

And that was how they dismissed the Chinese Football Association’s fury.

However, the Chinese Football Association still had other ways to express their discontent. They made it clear that they would not allow Nottingham Forest to play any matches in China in the future. Essentially, they blacklisted the entire Nottingham Forest team.

What a display of might!

If they could, they also wanted to ban Tony Twain from entry into China.

Of course, their actions only caused the netizens and the media to bombard them with admonitions.

In Chinese, there is a term that is used to express humility in which the speaker downgrades himself or herself by claiming that he or she is ‘presenting something unpleasant’ to the other person. However, what the Chinese Football Association is doing at the moment was not to ‘present’ something unpleasant, but rather, they are ‘showing off’ their unpleasantries. They are making all their imperfections known to the public, as though they are bragging about it. It is as if they think the world is as stupid as them.

The Chinese media in China has been unusually busy during this period of time. Some were busy scolding the Chinese Football Association, some were applauding Twain for his words, some just wanted to be at loggerheads with both parties involved, and some were just trying to hype up the whole incident. There were all kinds of people making an appearance.

All the reports left the Chinese football fans stimulated, as though they had taken stimulants. It was one adrenaline rush after another.

As for Twain, he left after stirring up numerous disturbances and dumping a massive grenade into an originally calm lake.

He definitely could not continue to enjoy his holidays in China any longer. All he could do was to make his way over to Hong Kong and attend a press conference about a business endorsement there. Similarly, Shania had to shoot an advertisement for a makeup brand that she had signed a contract with earlier, and she also needed to attend a press conference for a product launch in Hong Kong.

The organisers of the event had also prepared a small dinner party to entertain both Twain and Shania.

There were less of those annoying and trivial issues that would bother Twain in Hong Kong. Things might be getting out of control in China, but all those things had nothing to do with Twain while he was in Hong Kong.

He stayed in Hong Kong for a couple of days, before flying back to England with Shania.

He certainly did not forget to bring back a present for Evan and Allan from China. However, the present was not something tangible. It was a request for a business collaboration.

During his short stay in Hong Kong, Twain met Li Ka-shing’s elder son, Victor Li, who was the CEO of Cheung Kong Holdings Limited.

It was just supposed to be a simple dinner party, but Victor Li clearly came prepared.

He mentioned how he was very interested in the real estate development plan that had been put aside by Nottingham Forest during his chat with Twain.

He did not say much, but the intelligent Twain already knew what the man was getting at.

The British real estate market has taken a huge blow as a result of the economic crisis that has been going on for two years. Property and land prices have gone on a steep decline and have almost hit rock bottom.

However, to a successful businessman, it is precisely during times like this that an opportunity to make a fortune arises. Since the British real estate market is currently experiencing winter, doesn’t that mean that spring is not too far away?

If not for the arrival of the economic crisis, Nottingham Forest would have been able to complete their development plans in Clifton without a hitch. And, given how the British real estate market has prospered over the past few years, the football club would have been able to generate a profit and suffer no losses.

However, if that were to happen, then it would be very difficult for the Li family, who mainly did business in Hong Kong, to participate in the British real estate development market.

To Victor Li’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited, the economic crisis has provided them with a golden opportunity to expand their business overseas.

Clifton was just a part of a brick wall that Victor Li had to tear down in order to bring his business into England.

However, Twain did not care about what these businessmen had on their minds. He was just going to relay the news to Allan Adams and Evan Doughty. Everything else was up to Allan.

If this business collaboration was possible however, it would be good news for him as well, because he would no longer have to worry about not having the funds to buy players. He could also stop selling star players in his team to generate the funds needed to fill the bottomless pit caused by the club’s constant financial troubles…

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Evan was very interested in the ‘gift’ that Twain had brought back from China. It would certainly greatly reduce the club’s financial burdens if they are able to convince the Hong Kong firm to invest in their development plans.

He did not think about having all of the profits to himself at a time like this when the economy was not doing well. The cake was too big for him to finish alone.

Allan was optimistic towards the news that Twain had brought back, but also exercised caution. He had approached Victor Li in the past for a business collaboration as well. Back then, Victor Li had considered his proposition for a while, but still ended up refusing his proposal. Why did he change his mind in just a year?

In contrast, Evan did not find it odd that Victor Li had a change of heart. A year ago the property and land prices had not reached rock bottom. It is only natural for him to wait until the prices hit rock bottom before making a move since it would lower the overall costs for him. He is a businessman after all. He needs to be a little crafty.

As Twain was having a headache over which players he should buy and sell for the new season, Allan Adams flew over to Hong Kong personally to discuss the details about their potential business collaboration.

None of them would have known that this business deal would take a year before an agreement would finally be reached. Both parties only signed a contract in September of 2011.

The new football stadium finally welcomed the arrival of the ‘God of Wealth’ from the East. The construction works that had been stalled for three years could finally resume once again.

Of course, these information are just ‘postscripts’ right now, and will be discussed at a later time.

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Half of June had already passed by when Dunn returned to Nottingham by himself. To both Twain and Dunn however, the summer for 2010 had only just started.

Travelling to China and helping the club earn a chance to work with the Li family this summer were trifles to Twain.

The main event for this summer was definitely not his squabble with the Chinese media. It was going to take place in South Africa.

The World Cup had commenced.

Numerous highly sought-after football stars have all emerged from the previous World Cup competitions. The World Cup was the perfect chance for all managers to scrutinize the conditions and performances of their own players as well as potential players.

After hearing that Cheung Kong Holdings Limited was interested in working with the club in the development of Clifton, Evan Doughty set aside 50 million pounds as Twain’s summer transfer budget from the company’s finances.

With that money in hand, Twain dragged Dunn along with him and they boarded the plane to the capital of South Africa: Johannesburg.

The treasure hunt starts again!

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“I was still worried that we would see nothing but sceneries of falling snow when we alight from the plane. It seems like I know too little about the world.”

The host South Africa was situated in the Southern Hemisphere. It was currently winter in South Africa, unlike other countries in the Northern Hemisphere that were already experiencing midsummer.

It might be winter here in South Africa, but the weather was not ‘wintry’. The average temperature at Johannesburg, which was one of the several venues for the World Cup, was 18 degree Celsius. Such a temperature was very suitable for outdoor sports.

The main reason behind Twain’s trip to South Africa was none other than to take on the role as a guest commentator for the World Cup on BBC5. He has already established his own unique style of commenting on the matches following his commentaries during the World Cup in Germany and the Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland. There are numerous people who like listening to his commentaries.

He also has his own fan site online. His fans would collect and post the various comments he made on air in the past on the net. They would also post his writings, videos and recordings; basically anything they can find, for others to browse and download, so as to spread his influence.

In China, he also has his own fan base, and those fans of his call all these materials that have been posted on the net as ‘Tony Twain’s Quotations’.

There were even Chinese netizens who suggested that the China Central Television should hire Twain as a commentator after he chastised the Chinese Football Association. He was very fluent in Chinese after all.

Of course, those were nothing more than the netizens’ wishful thinking. They never came true.

However, what it all demonstrated was that even if there came a day where Twain does not want to be a football manager anymore, he would still be able to find a job as a pundit with the reputation that he has right now.

On the other hand, Dunn was going to join Kerslake and the other scouts who have all arrived in Johannesburg much earlier than them in their work of observing the players who were participating in the World Cup, so as to provide Twain with the first-hand information with regards to what sort of players he should go for during the transfer window. They would also scrutinize the players who are already on Twain’s transfer wish list and make sure that those players are truly eligible to be a player for Forest.

Additionally, as the assistant manager, Dunn also has to constantly meet up with the football agents who have turned up at the World Cup. Some of those agents approached him to recommend their players to Nottingham Forest since they are a team who has made their return to the European stage, while others required Dunn to take the initiative and approach them himself instead.

After parting ways at the airport, Twain followed the BBC staff over to the hotel which he would be staying at, while Dunn got in contact with the scouts who were scattered all over the city and began doing his work as well.

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The World Cup in South Africa was not spared from the impact of the global economic crisis, but the South African government hope to use the World Cup as an opportunity to boost their country’s economy. Hence, much effort was put into making the World Cup a lively one.

Twain did not care about that, however. Besides providing live commentaries and writing articles for the four British and one Chinese media outlets that had signed a contract with him, he was going to allocate all his remaining time and energy into his search for a few interesting players amongst all the players who were participating in the World Cup.

The commentators who were in charge of providing commentary for the England match were able to provide a more in-depth analysis due to their familiarity with the players.

Twain has also started focusing on the homegrown British players a lot more since two seasons ago, due to the imminent implementation of a rule that will enforce a fixed ratio of homegrown players to foreign players in all football clubs.

This rule proposed by Sepp Blatter that will restrict the number of foreign players in all football clubs across the world will be enforced in the 2010-11 season. The rule was to be carried out slowly over three stages.

Firstly, all clubs have to comply with a ‘4+7’ rule. Every club is allowed to have four homegrown players and seven foreign players in their starting line-up of 11 players.

Secondly, during the 2011-12 season, all clubs have to comply with a ‘5+6’ rule. The number of foreign players allowed in the starting line-up would be reduced to six, while the number of homegrown players would be increased to five. The number of homegrown players would still be slightly lesser than the number of foreign players.

Thirdly, during the 2012-13 season, all clubs have to comply with the ‘6+5′ rule. The number of homegrown players in the starting line-up will be higher than that of the foreign players’.

This rule is meant to combat how numerous football clubs are becoming increasingly ‘international teams’. It is a rule that hopes to provide more opportunities for the homegrown players and thereby boost the standards of football in the various countries.

However, the moment this rule was proposed, it was met with fierce protests from the European Union. The European Union believed that this rule by FIFA was an impediment to the free movement of talent from one country to another, and saw it as a rule that contravened human rights.

Up till now, both parties have yet to see eye to eye, and neither side has relented. The European Union might not have agreed to the implementation of the rule, but the ‘6+5’ rule looks set to be implemented in the new season.

The Premier League will be the league that is the most deeply affected by the implementation of the rule. The Premier League’s unique system of giving out work permits to foreign players has led to several Premier League teams possessing a relatively high number of foreign players in their teams.

A foreign player playing in the Premier League only needs to pass the Home Office’s audit to obtain a work permit. It did not matter what the player’s nationality was. All foreign players are allowed to play in the Premier League without restrictions. This system is very different from La Liga, whereby every football team is only allowed to have three non-European Union players, and it allows the Premier League to gather top players from many countries.

To obtain a work permit, a foreign player is required to appear in at least 75 per cent of his national team’s competitive ‘A-ranked’ matches in a year, and his national team also needs to be ranked within the top 68 teams on the FIFA World Rankings.

The implementation of such a system has ensured the quantity and quality of the foreign players who play in the Premier League. This is how the Premier League became one of the most successful leagues in the world. It also explains how the Premier League is able to replace Serie A, which was once reputed as a ‘mini World Cup’ in the early 90s, as the top league in Europe.

However, there was also a dire consequence that arose as a result of the implementation of such a system. The standard of football was high in the Premier League, but conversely, the standard of football of the England national team was beyond terrible…

One contributing factor to the terrible standard of football was how the British media would only brag about how talented their youths were. Another contributing factor was how the various big football clubs were unwilling to give their homegrown youth players more playing time. They would rather spend money bringing in established foreign talents. Doing so deprives the youth players of the opportunities to gain experience, and ultimately leads to their downfall. The youth players all become ‘Fang Zhong-Yong’ in the story of ‘The Pity of Zhong-Yong’ [1].

The FIFA’s regulations left Wenger feeling extremely annoyed and helpless, but all he could do was to accept the rules. Unlike Wenger, Twain was not as worried about the implementation of the new rules. He had already started gathering talented homegrown players and youths two years ago, and has been waiting for the day where the rule would be implemented all along.

It was not hard for him to comply with the ‘4+7’ rule based on how his team is set up currently. However, considering how the rule mainly restricts the 11 players who are going to play on the pitch, he still needs to continue scouting homegrown British players.

For this season, Twain was definitely going to go after Tottenham Hotspur’s right winger David Bentley. Ever since Beckham’s departure from the team, Forest has lacked attacking options going down the right, and relying on Lennon alone was not viable. Thus, he has his eyes set on the player who shares the same name as the world-renowned luxury car brand ‘Bentley’.

Beckham’s departure from the England’s national team has also led to a fierce competition for the right-winger position. Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott are both players who have been called the ‘successors’ of David Beckham, but it was David Bentley from Tottenham Hotspur who came out on top and became the starting right winger for Capello’s England national team.

Like Capello, Twain also thought highly of this midfielder who could play on the flanks. He was a player who could pass, shoot and break through the defense. Twain decided to pay the most attention to Bentley’s performance during this World Cup.

There was also another player who Twain wanted to focus on as well. However, he was paying attention to that player not because he wants to bring him into the team, because he is already a member of the Nottingham Forest team.

George Wood is a player that Twain personally picked up from the slum. The attention that Twain has placed on George Wood all this while has already surpassed the kind of attention that a manager is expected to place on his players.

George Wood was not able to receive a single minute of game time during the World Cup in Germany. From 2006 to 2010 however, George Wood underwent a drastic transformation. He was the captain during both seasons when his team won the Champions League. He would also be present in the midfield positions for the Professional Footballers’ Association Premier League Team of the Year every season. His performance has garnered attention from teams all over the world. Twain would find heaps of faxes hoping to buy George Wood on his desk every summer. Players of the Football Manager game also splash the cash in the game to buy the solid midfielder for their teams.

Will George Wood, who has had a fantastic footballing career in his club so far, be able to gain his first experience playing for his national team at such a big tournament during the summer of 2010?

Twain intends to wait and see how everything transpires.