Godfather Of Champions

The press was still publishing numerous articles about Twain’s hearing days after it had happened. Everyone wanted to know what were the exact words he said to the UEFA officials during the hearing that actually compelled them to let him walk away scot-free when it was clear that UEFA wanted to drive Twain into his grave.

Twain did not utter a single word about what happened at the hearing to the press, not even to Pierce Brosnan, who had called Twain to ask for some ‘insider information’.

What happened at the hearing was destined to become a secret that no other person would ever know about. All people could hope for was that Twain would include some details about this hearing in his bibliography when he retires as a football manager.

The UEFA also made no further mention of the incident. It was as though the entire hearing had not happened.

The Catalan media was upset with how things had turned out, but what else could they possibly do besides to rant and moan in the papers and on TV?

They lost to Tony Twain both on and off the pitch. They needed some kind of way to vent their frustrations, and they could only achieve that through the various media platforms.

However, the Catalan media did not walk away from this ‘battle’ with Tony Twain empty-handed.

A few of the more level-headed reporters were able to point out that Nottingham Forest had actually paid a steep price for their actions despite successfully defeating Barcelona and evading punishment from UEFA.

In the first leg of the match against Barcelona, Tony Twain was served a four match ban for insulting the referee. He has only been banned for one match so far, and there were three more to go. What this meant was that Forest would have to play in the finals of the Champions League without the guidance of their manager, should they somehow manage to land themselves a place in the finals.

Tony Twain would certainly not be able to rely on the 27,000 Forest fans to be his mouthpiece then either.

Pepe was shown a red card in the first leg and was banned for two matches. He had served his ban for one match, and there was still one more match remaining.

George Wood was also shown a red card for his violent behavior in the second leg. Similarly, he also has to serve a two match ban, which would mean he will definitely miss out on both the semi-final matches.

Both Wood and Pepe are key players in the team. Their absence undoubtedly deals a heavy blow to Forest’s defense.

In addition, Lennon also picked up an injury after being tackled by Yaya Touré during the second leg. His injury was determined to be very severe in the post-match examinations, and he would have to miss out on all the remaining matches for the season.

Nottingham Forest was truly down on their luck to have two of their key players severely injured and unable to play for the remainder of the season.

The four aforementioned points made it very challenging for Forest to win their semi-finals match.

The two most fatal points out of them, according to the Barcelona media, were the bans on both Wood and Twain.

The ‘trick’ that Tony Twain used against Barcelona has already been exposed to the public, and he would not be able to use it a second time. Furthermore, there would be supervisors from the UEFA who would be sitting with him throughout the following matches to prevent him from making use of his fans as his mouthpiece to convey his instructions to the team.

Nonetheless, one cannot deny that his method of using his fans to communicate with his team is truly ingenious…

Forest’s opponent in the semi-finals would be Germany’s Bayern Munich. They were a tough team to beat. Football teams from Germany have always been tenacious and Twain’s psychological trick of trying to rile up the players during the match would not work against the Bayern Munich players.

Without Twain’s onsite guidance, Forest would only be half as strong as they usually are.

If we were to add George Wood’s absence to the equation as well…

Wood has always been Nottingham Forest’s protective screen in the midfield. The influence that he has on the team is huge. Most people might not be able to tell how big of an influence he has on the team when he is playing on the pitch, but the difference becomes significant and discernible once he is off the pitch.

Anyone who knows football knows how important a defensive midfielder is to any football team, especially to a defense-oriented one like Forest.

Without Wood on the team, Forest’s opponents would be able to threaten their defense directly. Tiago is clearly not well-suited to carry out Wood’s role. He could not measure up to Wood in terms of both abilities and stamina.

Wood’s absence from the team also serves as a crude reminder about an issue that has been largely ignored but has always existed.

The team has not been able to find a substitute for George Wood.

Now that Wood has been banned from playing for two matches, Forest has no other defensive midfielder like him that they can employ for the next game. Tiago is not a player who mainly operated in the midfield. Most of the time, he would move forward to join in the attack. He would play as a defensive midfielder occasionally, but even then, he would have Wood right beside him to support him. His inability to defend in the midfield would undoubtedly be magnified when Wood is not playing next to him.

Nottingham Forest’s happiness was bound to be short-lived.

When an article that brought up all the aforementioned points was published, it was mocked by Nottingham Forest fans as being nothing more than ‘Barcelona trying to console themselves over their loss’.

However, it was proven a while later that the article had hit the nail on the head…

“The match is over! Nottingham Forest has lost 0:2 to Bayern Munich in an away game. The final score is 1:3. Nottingham Forest is eliminated from the Champions League!”

The Allianz Arena erupted into cheers following three blows to the referee’s whistle.

Bayern Munich’s coaching staff and substitutes rushed onto the pitch in a frenzy, and they hugged the players on the pitch tightly.

In contrast, Forest’s players stood rooted to the ground with their heads hung low on the other side of the pitch.

The camera immediately zoomed in on a particular corner at the stands, and Tony Twain’s emotionless face showed up on the screen. He was surrounded by a crowd of crestfallen Nottingham Forest fans.

Twain was not able to make use of the home advantage to create trouble for their opponents this time round. His good luck appeared to have reached its end.

The match had only barely started for five minutes when Forest found themselves down by one goal. The accident messed up all of the team’s plan, and the match slowly slipped away from Twain’s control. There was nothing he could do at the stands.

The cheers from the Bayern Munich fans were all he could hear when the match ended.

Twain lowered his head. He then turned around and followed after a group of fans as they all made their way away from the stands.

“Tony Twain has finally lowered his arrogant head!” The commentator said as he watched Twain’s actions.

Thereafter, he went on to tease, “Nottingham Forest has eliminated both Inter Milan and Barcelona consecutively, and those two teams happen to be the champions of the Champions League for the past two seasons. The British media hailed Nottingham Forest as the ‘Champions Killer’ ever since. However, this very name that they were given might have led to their downfall, because Bayern Munich has never clinched a Champions League trophy in years… The magical Forest appears to have lost their drive against a non-champion Bayern Munich team. This has led to their elimination from the competition…”

The commentator’s explanation as to why Forest lost seemed to carry some truth in it.

Twain could only force a smile after hearing the commentator’s words after the match.

It does seem like everything was meant to be.

The commentator’s words helped to cast an interesting sidelight on the match.

Twain entered the locker room after the match had ended. He did not criticize the team, and neither did he give the players a dressing-down. All he did was to express regret at the team’s elimination from the competition. Following that, he commended their performance. He told the players that they have all tried their best, and that they should not have any regrets in their hearts over the result. All they could do was look forward to trying to claim the Champions League trophy again next year.

Twain even joked towards the end of his speech to his players. “Actually, this all works out just fine. We have embarrassed UEFA too many times now. Lads, think about it. If we were to really make our way into the finals and become champions… It would mean that a team whose manager is sitting at the stands has actually managed to lift the trophy. How embarrassing would that be for UEFA? We can’t make things too difficult for them.”

Everyone in the locker room burst out laughing at his words. The despondence within their hearts slowly started to vanish after they laughed.

Twain relaxed after seeing that everyone had gotten into a better mood after his words.

There was no use for them to keep dwelling on the fact that they have been eliminated from the Champions League. It was all in the past now.

What he needed to do was to get his team back on track quickly so that they can continue their fight in the Premier League. Ensuring a top four finish and clinching qualification for Champions League next season were the most important things to Nottingham Forest this season.

“All right, lads! Head on home!”

Twain clapped his hands and ended the debrief. The players all stood to their feet one after another and began packing their belongings.

Twain was quickly located and surrounded by the sharp reporters after he exited the locker room.

Countless microphones came at him and were all directed at his mouth. Some of them nearly hit his lips. Twain could not help but lean backwards to avoid ‘kissing’ the microphones.

“Hey! Hey! Bring the microphones away from my lips!”

“Mr. Twain. Is there anything you’d like to say regarding your team’s elimination?”

“There’s nothing for me to say about that. All football teams win and lose games. I hope that Bayern Munich would become the final champions of this competition. That’s all I have to say…”

“Mr. Twain! Would you agree that your ban has a huge influence on your team? Your fiery temper has directly led to your team’s elimination from the competition…”

“Nonsense! My team is collectively strong. We won’t become weaker just because we lose a certain team member. And you say I have a fiery temper? I am not to blame for the incident from before. UEFA has also agreed to it.”

Ever since the hearing, Twain would always bring out UEFA’s name to shut the reporters up every time they try to get him to talk about his ‘feud’ with Barcelona.

This move of his is indeed shameless, but no one can stop him from doing it.

“I’m just protecting my rights.”

UEFA’s name was certainly an effective weapon. Several reporters shut their mouths right there and then.

“All right, please give way. Don’t block the door.” Twain reached out both his hands and tried to shove his way out of the crowd.

“Mr. Twain, I have one other question…”

“Keep your question to yourself! Someday you might get your answer.”

“Mr. Twain! Mr. Twain!”

Twain disregarded the reporters”reluctance’ to let him go. He shoved a way out for himself and rushed away.

The manager of Bayern Munich, Jürgen Klinsmann, chanced upon the scene where Twain looked a little worn out as he was being surrounded by the reporters.

He laughed. “A man who has been banished to the stands remains a cynosure. As expected of a famous manager.”

Nottingham Forest loss in the semi-finals did not come as a surprise to most. After all, Bayern Munich was the leader of Bundesliga. They are consistently ranked first on the ranking table.

Moreover, Forest was in a very bad situation going into the match. Several of their players had either been banned from playing or were injured. The fact that they were able to progress into the semi-finals was in itself a feat.

Some Forest fans even regarded the two matches against Barcelona to be just like the finals of the Champions League. They did not desire for anything else this season, as long as they defeated Barcelona…

However, such a desire would certainly be scoffed at by the Barcelona fans. They would deride Nottingham Forest for not setting their sights higher.

No matter what the Barcelona fans might think however, it was still a fact that Forest won Barcelona. As the victors, Forest has every right to ‘not set their sights higher’…

Nottingham Forest’s loss in the Champions League was not good news to their rivals in the Premier League.

It did not matter how much those rivals despised Twain. This was one of the few times that none of them would be able to say words like ‘I hope Forest gets eliminated’.

Forest’s elimination from the Champions League would signify that Twain’s ‘pack of wolves’ would now put all their focus on the Premier League.

Currently, Forest was ranked fourth on the ranking table. If they were to put in all their time and effort into achieving results in the Premier League, it would certainly not be a problem for them to climb up to second place. Only a few points separated the second placed team from the fifth placed team after all…

Every single one of Forest’s rivals wanted Nottingham Forest to progress as far as they could in the Champions League.

There was one exception however, and that was Manchester United’s manager, Ferguson.

His team had made its way into the finals once again. His wish would definitely be for Nottingham Forest to make its way into the finals, so that they would then be able to lose against Manchester United. The arrogant and obstinate Tony Twain would thereafter bow his head before Ferguson the master, and announce his transfer over to Manchester United as Ferguson’s successor. Twain would then go on to lead the Red Devils to glory in both England and Europe…

That would mark a perfect end to his managerial career.

Thus, after Manchester United’s qualification into the finals, Ferguson said, “I think it’s a pity. If I could choose my opponent, I would rather meet Tony Twain in the finals. Of course, it’s on the premise that he’s not seated at the stands…”

His words led to unhappiness in Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga giant felt that Ferguson had insulted them with his words.

Ferguson immediately came out and explained himself shortly after, “My words are not targeted at Bayern Munich. They are a big and prestigious club, and I do think that it’s great that I can meet them in the finals. I will treat every single opponent with respect… I just hope to be able to choose my opponent in the very last game of my managerial career….”

It did not matter how Ferguson tried to mince his words. It still sounded like he was looking down on Bayern Munich.

There were some media outlets that said that Ferguson was getting more and more muddled with age, and that all he was doing was just adding fuel to the fire.

But, what if the ‘old fox’ Ferguson had only said those words as part of his psychological trick against Klinsmann?

Twain did not involve himself in the entire issue. He was perhaps one of the few people who understood what Ferguson was up to. Ferguson had definitely said those words as part of his psychological battle against Bayern Munich.

It looks like the old man is very confident that he would clinch his last Champions League trophy of his managerial career…

His response to Ferguson’s comments was, “I might go down to the stadium to watch the match. However, it’s not because I care about the results. All I care about right now is the Premier League. We’d definitely challenge for the title again next season.”

Ultimately, Nottingham Forest finished the season by coming in at third place, and they successfully qualified for Champions League next season.

Wenger’s Arsenal successfully overtook Manchester United on the ranking table due to how the latter had put in more time and effort into playing the Champions League instead, and they were crowned champions of the Premier League.

It might be a pity for Ferguson to not be able to achieve the Double, but the final result was an embodiment of Ferguson and Wenger’s long-standing battle over the past decade.

Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s ‘godfather’ who had announced his retirement as a football manager after the end of the season, led his Red Devils team to a 2:1 victory over the King of Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, at Arena AufSchalke, which serves as a stadium for Schalke 04. He was the one who had the last laugh in this clash between two giants.

Ferguson also fulfilled his promise from years ago:

I would retire after clinching one more Champions League trophy.

He lifted the trophy that signified the highest possible honor for all European football clubs in one of the best stadiums throughout the whole of Europe. However, the expression on his face did not look like one that belonged to that of a professional manager’s. It looked more like one that belonged to an elder who should be enjoying his old age. There was no passion upon his countenance, only a look of relief that everything was over and that he was finally able to remove the burden weighing on his shoulders.

In that very moment, it seemed as though he had aged by another 10 years. Even the red hue on his cheeks seemed to have faded.

Tony Twain watched from the stands at Arena AufSchalke as Ferguson lifted the trophy before him. He suddenly felt like Ferguson was very far away from him at this very instant. They might only be separated by a short distance since one was at the stands and the other was on the pitch, but Twain felt like the distance between them was like the size of Europe.

He joined the other spectators in the stadium who had all stood up to applaud Ferguson for having reached the end of his managerial journey. The happiness in his heart was intertwined with a twinge of loneliness.

From this day onwards, I will face one less fierce competitor.

But, likewise, I will also face one less good competitor…

Farewell, Ferguson.