Godfather Of Champions

While Twain and Shania indulged in their sensual activities every night in Los Angeles, Allan’s negotiations with Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited were in their final stages. After a year of repeated negotiations, the two sides had basically reached an agreement. Cheung Kong Holdings Limited obtained the development and management rights to the land around Clifton’s new Nottingham Forest stadium at the lowest price, while Nottingham Forest did not have to pay out of its own pocket for the development and other miscellaneous expenses of the new stadium. After thirty years of Chinese operation, the right to operate these areas would be gradually returned to the Nottingham Forest Football Club.

The previous deadline proposed by Cheung Kong Holdings Limited was fifty years, which Allan considered too greedy and unreasonable. The negotiations between the two sides were deadlocked. After a period of cold war, Allan took the initiative to call on them again with a thick skin, hoping to reopen the negotiations. Only the Chinese appeared to be rich during the world financial crisis…

The world economic environment was gradually improving, and the Clifton area development plan had restarted. It also added a lot of jobs in the Nottingham area. The Nottingham city council had given the greatest support for the project.

One must know that Nottingham was not a very safe city. Its crime rate had been ranked one of the highest in the United Kingdom all year round. The financial crisis had added many unemployed people and they became a destabilizing factor in this society. Since the Nottingham Forest Football Club and Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited could finally reach an agreement to provide nearly ten thousand jobs in the area, it was indeed a good thing that allowed the mayor to breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, he would support it.

Eventually, the day before Twain decided to return to Nottingham, the representatives of both parties formally signed a contract in Hong Kong. The next day, the first batch of staff from Cheung Kong Holdings Limited set out for Britain and began their overseas expansion plans.

The entire Clifton development was expected to take eight years to get the preliminary plans to take shape. Just the stadium alone was estimated to be under construction for two to three years. Nottingham Forest would officially move to the new stadium for the 2014-2015 season if all went well.

In order to show its sincerity for the cooperation, the Nottingham Forest Football Club originally intended to give the naming rights of the new stadium to Cheung Kong Holdings Limited, which invested in the construction of the project. It was to be called the “Cheung Kong Holdings Limited Stadium.”

But Victor Li, now the chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings Limited’s board of directors, rejected the name. He had given the new stadium a name that would please the locals as well as in keeping with the Chinese background of the investors.

The Red Stadium.

Red was naturally the main color of Nottingham Forest, while red was also the traditional Chinese representative color.

When the Arsenal club’s new stadium was named the “Emirates Stadium”, many fans protested the name which was unrelated to Arsenal, except that the voices of the fans clearly could not stand up to the Sheikhs’ oil money. But Victor Li was much smarter, and the name was cleverly pleasing. Whether they were Nottingham people or Chinese, they would love it.

Judging from the new stadium renderings given by Cheung Kong Holdings Limited, the main color of the stadium would also be the same as the Nottingham Forest jersey, a slightly darker red—crimson. Carrying on with the rectangular style of most of English pitches, it could accommodate sixty thousand spectators to watch the game at the same time. The sixty thousand seats would have backs. At the same time, in keeping with the expansion space, it could be expanded to a capacity of up to sixty-eight thousand people. There would be a luxury box above the stands on both east and west sides. This time it was a really authentic stand-alone box and not the small, shabby “box” in the City Ground stadium that looked like a corridor. It was estimated that there would be two hundred and twenty luxury boxes that could accommodate more than four hundred and forty VIPs to watch the game.

The north grandstand would still be home to the home team’s most hardcore fan pool, and the name “Robin Hood” would be engraved above the grandstand to inspire the team and the fans to fight ceaselessly like the brave Robin Hood.

The stadium had a retractable roof, so that even the worst weather conditions would not affect the game held in the stadium. Good geothermal and drainage systems ensured that the site condition was always at its best. This time, there would never be another repeat of the predicament in the Nottingham Forest’s home game against Barcelona in last season’s Champions League quarterfinal.

Guardiola must be in tears at this moment…

There was also a wide tunnel for both home and visiting teams to enter the stadium at the same time, as well as spacious, bright, clean and tidy modern locker rooms. The City Ground stadium’s locker rooms with the obvious 1980s-style were practically like public toilets…

There were also four huge LCD television displays in four sides of the grandstand, which could display the latest melees, scores, goal replays in real time and so on.

Up to a dozen gateways and links to the stadium’s all-encompassing transport network ensured that sixty thousand people could leave within ten minutes after the end of the game. Even under exceptional circumstances, the busy and tense flow could still be orderly and calm.

Once the project was finished, such a stadium would be completely designed and built in accordance with the standard set by the UEFA for five-star stadiums,. The UEFA would officially award it the honorary title of “a five-star stadium” after the inspection.

At that time, the Nottingham Forest Football Club could formally apply to host the finals of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

With a brilliant history and results as well as a brand new five-star stadium, Nottingham Forest were making big strides towards the goal of being “a powerhouse club.”

Twain spent two wonderful weeks in Los Angeles with Shania and reluctantly bade farewell to the Los Angeles sunshine and his beautiful wife to return to Nottingham. Work in the new was about to start.

When the team regrouped, Twain first explained to the players the reason Dunn left. There was no contradiction, as some media had reported. Then he set out to rearrange the work and take over the job that Dunn had left behind.

When Dunn was still with the team, Twain simply did not have to worry about the daily training and miscellaneous matters. Dunn was someone who had a deep tacit understanding with Twain. Dunn knew what to do without Twain having to open his mouth and he did well.

It was indeed Twain’s greatest fortune to have such an assistant.

Unfortunately, the fortune was gone now. He had to do everything personally. Fortunately, he had been in the team for a long time. He was able to handle these things when he was familiarized with them.

He was certainly more tired than before, but Twain also slowly realized how correct Dunn’s words were at the time. He did improve …

He used to make little headway before but when his reliance on Dunn was taken away, he found that he could actually do a lot more.

First of all, he had to determine the new season’s lineup and matters like signings and transfers.

In the 07-08 season, the Forest team signed a contract with the Mexican young player, Martín Galván. He had finally reached the age of eighteen and could play abroad. He ended his career at Cruz Azul, packed up his bags and came to the unfamiliar England with his family. Living in the apartment provided by the club for their family, he still had to adapt from scratch with regards to the language, diet, weather and football style. For him, everything about Nottingham Forest was fresh and an impact on the past.

Twain did not expect him to come and be able to play for the team in the games. He still had to learn to adapt in the youth team and reserves for a while. It also made it easier for the Forest team’s coaching staff to closely observe him. It was not that he would be famous and could do what he wanted in coming to England. No, on the contrary, if he did not perform well and was slow in adapting to Nottingham Forest’s football, he would be likely to be sold again by Twain. Twain had a lot of affection for the old players, but he did not invest too much emotion in those young players. It was a cruel line of work. Nobody knew if they could make it.

Another person returning to the team was Adriano Moke, who was on loan at Blackburn Rovers and played outstandingly this season. He had twenty-three appearances in the league tournament, scored two goals and assisted five times. He had five appearances in the EFL Cup with one goal and six assists. In total, he had three goals and eleven assists. As a winger, he gave satisfactory results. After Moke’s loan period, Blackburn Rovers wanted to continue the loan, but Twain refused. On the one hand, putting Moke on loan was to give him the opportunity to train. On the other hand, it was in hopes that this talented player’s overly ambitious nature could worn down, so that he could keep his feet on the ground. In this way, it could help with his development.

Judging from the situation over the past few seasons, he had clearly met Twain’s expectation. Moke’s arrogant and opinionated character was much moderated. He was more pragmatic and down-to-earth. So, Twain thought it was time to reward him by getting into the First Team and bringing him back to the First Team. It was also convenient for Twain to observe his performance up close which would be conducive to his growth. After all, Moke was a Forest player. If everything went as planned, he would play for the Forest team in the future. Wandering around outside in other teams all the time would not help him develop a sense of belonging to his team and familiarize with the team’s style of play.

Moke’s return would not cause the midfield to be crowded. Lennon could play on both left and right wings and Fernández could also sometimes play as the defensive midfielder in the middle. Considering that the Forest team would definitely compete in multiple tournaments next season, the staffing of the midfield was actually reasonable. Only John Bostock needed to remain on loan because he was currently unable to occupy a spot in the Nottingham Forest midfield with his current ability.

There was no change in the rear defensive line. Gareth Bale was back in the team after his recovered from his injury. The competition for the left back position was fiercer than ever, but the strength was also greatly enhanced. Other than that, Twain had no plans to bring in full back in the summer. The past few seasons had proved that Nottingham Forest’s defensive system was perfect, and he did not need to bring in any new players to disrupt the already tight and coordinated defense. Although Pepe and the others still received a number of transfer applications, Twain refused them all without exception.

The stability of the rear defensive line overpowered everything. He would break it up without any special circumstances.

In the forward line, Van Nistelrooy, who already retired at the end of last season, left Nottingham and returned to his hometown In the Netherlands to enjoy his days without professional football. He was living a comfortable and idyllic life.

Nicolás Millán and Victor Moses continued to be on loan. Although Moses was already twenty years old, the competition in the Forest team’s forward line was too fierce. He would not even get to play if he did not go on loan. Looking at the current Forest team’s strikers—“Romani Rooney”, Freddy Eastwood, who was Twain’s favorite in the club and would always save the team at crucial moments; “Super Ibi” Ibišević, who was in excellent form, scored twenty-seven goals in the Premier League last season and won the Premier League Golden Boot; in addition, the talented giant, the second Ibrahimović, Aaron Mitchell, who broke out of the blue in the second leg against Barcelona; Although Gabriel Agbonlahor often played as the right back, he was still considered a striker and moved with a surprisingly fast speed that could serve him as the most lethal dagger during a counterattack. Adding to the number were Nicolás Millán that might appear in the future and Victor Moses which made up six strikers. If Twain was going to stick to his 4-5-1 formation for most of the season, then it was rather ferocity and cruel to compete for the six strikers to vie for a spot on the field.

Twain had been looking for ways to reduce that number, including not bringing in new strikers from the transfer market and allowing some strikers to try to play more positions. Agbonlahor himself could play multiple positions, which was obviously the best. And Nicolás Millán could also play in the wing and should have a place when he returned to the team. Eastwood was no longer a pure striker after a number of injuries. His passes and awareness could help connect the team’s strikers and midfielders. He was more like a False 9. Sometimes he could even take Şahin’s position, but then he was not tested for his playmaker skills. The work would be left to Wood and Tiago behind him. Although his shooting skills and awareness were still there, he was further away from the penalty area. He was still not the best candidate for the “1” in the 4-5-1 formation.

Ibišević, who was in his peak playing years, was the striker Twain would need to rely on in the coming years. Mitchell, on the other hand, was young. Despite his great talent, he needed to accumulate experience, step by step. Twain did not want spoil things through excessive enthusiasm. At times he had to deliberately put the kid on the bench. Fortunately, Mitchell’s personality was completely different from Bendtner’s. He listened to Twain, who did not have to worry about being too harsh and pushing him away.

While Evan had promised Twain that he would have more funds invested in the transfer market this summer, Twain had no plans to be extravagant. He did not like those stingy owners who never want to give a little more money for the team to put into the transfer market like Grant. Similarly, Twain also did not like those owners who liked to throw money around to sign a bunch of players he did not need and stuff them in the team.

The change mainly happened in the midfield.

In the 4-5-1 formation, the two midfielders at the back were very important. In Nottingham Forest’s current squad, George Wood and Tiago mainly played the positions. He did not have to worry about Wood as there was basically no big problem. The key here was Tiago.

The Portuguese midfielder had just celebrated his thirtieth birthday. Although his competitive form was still in its golden age, it was an indisputable fact that his competitive curve was about to decline. As he got older, problems would arise. Twain could not wait until the problem emerged to find a solution. He must plan ahead.

In any case, the position required at least three players to facilitate the rotation. There were a few good midfielders who played in the middle in the football world these days, such as Mascherano, Veloso, Lassana Diarra… But none of the three players could come. One was the Reds, Liverpool’s absolute main force, someone whom AC Milan could not even take away from Anfield. The second was the new darling of San Siro. The third was “the second Makelele” whom Real Madrid had been lacking for years.

Twain was interested in the Argentine midfielder, Gago, who had unhappy at Real Madrid.

With the presence of van der Vaart and Ribéry, as well as Diarra, Gago’s space for survival at Real Madrid was getting smaller and smaller. Originally when he was playing in Club Atlético River Plate, he played with confidence and ease and was famous for his sense of the big picture in the game. But at Real Madrid, in order to fight for a chance to play, he had to change his style of play and became a midfielder like Gattuso. Although he was hard-working and not bad…the situation changed when Lassana Diarra came.

In terms of the defense abilities such as interception, tackling, marking, he was not as good as Diarra. In his ability to pass the ball and organize the offense with long shots to attack, he was not as good as van der Vaart and Ribéry. He appeared to be a little mediocre. His defensive ability was stronger than van der Vaart’s. His offensive ability seemed to be slightly better than Diarra’s. But he did not have one ability that had the prominent advantage, leaving him on the bench at in the star-studded Real Madrid.

He worked very hard the pitch, but he had played as a foot soldier for so many years and seemed to forget how to attack. He often made mistakes when passing the ball forward on the pitch. And as a defensive midfielder, once he made an error in his pass, the other side could directly counterattack and cause a mess in Real Madrid’s rear defensive line.

Although he occasionally had some flashes of brilliance, it was too insignificant compared to his teammates around him…

Gago’s chances for appearances at Real Madrid had been woeful these two seasons, while his Argentine teammate, Higuaín did very well instead.

Although he did not do so well, Twain saw what he needed—in his team he did not need Gago to be a foot soldier and tirelessly run around to tackle and foul in the midfield as he did at Real Madrid. George Wood could handle such tasks. What he needed was Gago’s special features such as his strong sense of the big picture in the game, excellent passes and creativity. In addition, Gago had good endurance and a serious attitude, which Twain quite liked. He liked dedicated players, even if they were not geniuses.

Based on these circumstances, Twain found Gago’s agent.

One side wanted the player and the other side wanted to leave. Both sides hit it off. Next, it was the Forest club’s offer to Real Madrid.

Real Madrid also believed that Gago’s role in the current team was not obvious. Rather than keeping him, it was better to sell him. After all, he was already twenty-five years old, and in any case could not be counted as a “young promising player.” There was basically no hope to count on if he had not succeed at twenty-five. Playing for a powerhouse club was prestigious but the demands of a powerhouse club was much higher and more stringent.

Negotiations between the two sides went well, with Nottingham Forest’s offer of ten million pounds accepted by Real Madrid. Although it cost them sixteen and a half million pounds to buy him at the time, Real Madrid always did the same thing—to buy a player at a high price and then sell him at a low price or give him away for free. Anyway, the super wealthy Real Madrid did not care about the small amounts of money. Moreover, Nottingham Forest had sold a lot of players to Real Madrid, and the relationship between the top brass of the two teams appeared to be good.

In this way, Fernando Gago, the Argentine midfielder, who played four and a half seasons at Real Madrid and was once known as “the second Redondo”, put on Nottingham Forest’s number 16 red jersey.

He hoped to usher in a new chapter in his career in England. And Tony Twain hoped that under his own hands, Gago could restore his elegant style of playing like “the second Redondo” and inject a limitless momentum into the team’s offense.

But Gago did not seem to be adapting to the style of the new team. Whether in training or friendly games, he always played according to what he did at Real Madrid by participating too much in the midfield defense and contribute little to the offense.

Due to this, Twain specifically found him and talked to him about it.

In fact, the conversation was very simple and less than a minute. Twain only made a remark, and everything suddenly became clear at once for Gago.

At the time, Twain said, “You only need to care about passing the ball forward, don’t be afraid of mistakes. Don’t worry about errors in passing and dribbling. George is around you, isn’t he? Trust him and just boldly attack with confidence!”

A few years later, when Gago recalled his career, he still thought that Tony Twain’s words gave him the greatest help and encouragement.