Godfather Of Champions

In public, December 12th was perhaps a memorable day Tony Twain because it was the day he returned to the Forest manager’s position and led the team continuously for a full decade. But Tony Twain had two identities. So, in actual fact, January 1st was the day that left a more indelible mark on him.

It was eleven years since his transmigration on January 1st, 2014…Perhaps this day could not be considered as an “anniversary?”

Regardless of the outcome, a thing like transmigration was not worthy of remembrance. Because it meant that he had obtained a lot of things, nevertheless he had also lost some things forever. The gains might not feel precious, but the losses were irretrievable.

Therefore, on January 1st, Twain was still busy working and preparing for the FA Cup in three days’ time. It was the first FA Cup game of the premier league teams this season.

In Twain’s mind, he had won almost all of the titles he could get, but he had one regret—as England’s oldest and most important tournament, his record as a championship manager was blank in terms of the FA Cup. It was out of step with his current status.

Hence, he made himself a fresh New Year’s wish on January 1st. One of them was that, regardless of the results of the other tournaments this season, he must win the FA Cup!

The other was—I want to have a baby in the new year.

Having been married to Shania for four and a half years, the most important thing they must do was to “make a baby” whenever they had the chance to be together. Although once they were pregnant, it would certainly affect Shania’s career. Shania herself did not care about this kind of thing. However, in the last year, Shania rarely mentioned “baby” and focused on her work.

In fact, Twain knew that Shania’s desire for a child had not really diminished. She just did not want to put the pressure on herself …if his wife were to be infertile. In most cases, the responsibility laid with the man. On more than one occasion, Twain had the impulse to go to the hospital to for a checkup himself. But he balked when it came down to it. It was better for him to still have the delusion that everything was fine. The problem must not lie with him. It must be that he just had a little bad luck. It’s not as if I’ve never missed the mark. During the military training in high school, I did not hit any of the rounds during target practice in the shooting range. The guys next to me shot ten rounds and scored 101 points—I did score ten points with one shot but it hit the target next to mine…..

At times, Twain also wanted to call Dunn, who lived in the same city, and use an indirect approach to ask if he had any of these conditions before or a family genetic history. But in the end, those thoughts were just in his head. He could only delude himself now, “The problem must not lie with me, it must be just some bad luck…”

If he won the FA Cup as he wished, he wondered if his wish of having a baby would come true…

Twain did something today that would look strange to outsiders. He found a piece of paper and wrote on it: “I want a baby, it can be a boy or a girl, as long as he/she is healthy. Regardless of which higher being is listening, please help if you see this request!”

Then he folded the note carefully and put it in a small glass bottle. He buried it under a tree in his garden. When he was burying it, he even muttered the words, “I plant a seed in the spring and come autumn, I’ll have a child …”

Fortunately, Shania was not around. Otherwise she would be infuriated by Twain’s actions—since you had time to “plant a child”, it would have been better to “sow your seeds” in me.

He must have been really desperate to try anything…

Twain only thought having a baby occasionally. He would not be able to bear it if he thought about it every day. The matter could not be rushed. Having a baby and winning a championship title were two completely different things. Once winning the championship title was set as a goal, then the whole team could just work towards the goal. The matter of having a baby would not necessarily be effective just because they worked hard. Countless couples hit the mark accidentally because they did not wear a condom on the day while those husbands and wives, eager to have children, might not necessarily produce results after years of putting in the effort…

The opponent of Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup first round was the English Football League Championship team, Leeds United. The original “youth guards” team was not as good as before. Currently in a financial mess and its results were also up and down, it was almost relegated back to League One in last season’s EFL Championship. In the eyes of outsiders, it was their misfortune to have encountered Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup. But in fact, it was one of the opponents that Leeds United most wanted to meet—the match was held at Leeds United’s home ground and the ticket revenue would go to Leeds United. Nottingham Forest was now a team with star players. Just Tony Twain alone was attractive enough to lure people in, not to mention the famous star players. They were guaranteed to sell tickets. For Bates, who was not a wealthy man, every pound mattered. He would never refused money.

The opponent for the game was not strong. Twain deployed half of the First Team and half of the youth team. The result was a 3:0 easy win over Leeds United.

Adriano Moke was named the best player on the spot after the game. He contributed a goal and two assists. The Forest team’s three goals were all connected with him. His sharp breakthroughs on the flank and dazzling skills made it impossible for the opponent to defend effectively and also the spectators cheered in delight.

Although Lennon’s departure made Twain a little unhappy, Moke lived up to expectations and grew up very quickly. It seemed that the years of wandering outside had helped him a lot. Twain believed the saying that trials and tribulations made people grow, so he deliberately made Moke’s career not so smooth sailing. Now it looked like the efforts had paid off and it was time to reap the rewards … He just hoped that Lennon had a good time at AC Milan.

The FA Cup was the first game the Forest team played in the new year. Twain placed a lot of importance on the opener. The score of 3:0, complete victory, and the other team’s failure to score a goal seemed to bode well for the new year.

The following month also confirmed his hunch. The former enmity between Eastwood and George Wood had been dispelled and the team’s atmosphere returned to its happy harmonious state. The morale was high, and everyone was united.

Nottingham Forest had a proud record of four consecutive victories in the league tournament in the four games played in January. Twain was then named manager of the month, and Nottingham Forest was named the team of the month while George Wood was named the best player of the month. The Forest team was also back in the top tier of the league table to place fourth.

As the time went into February, another important tournament began. The UEFA Champions League resumed with Nottingham Forest as one of the top sixteen teams. It would face Eindhoven in the round of 16. The opponent was the weakest opponent the Forest team had faced in the first round of the Champions League knockout stages in recent years.

Did it look like the UEFA was giving preferential treatment?

Eindhoven played first at home. They held on tenaciously for a draw against Nottingham Forest at home and managed to keep the Forest Team from scoring. The failure of Aaron Mitchell, Ibišević and the other strikers, who dominated at the Premier League, to break Eindhoven’s goal, made Twain angry. He roared for five minutes at the group of players in the locker room and admonished everyone for five minutes till they dared not raise their heads.

At the end, he even said viciously, “You’d better pray that it’s not going to be another draw at our home ground, especially a tie with goals scored!”

This frustrating game of 0:0 made many people gleeful. Tony Twain was too arrogant in European football. Everyone wanted to see him fall. To be forced into a draw in the away game against the “weak” Eindhoven and not score the most important away goal, the Dutch people and media had issued optimistic predictions that Eindhoven’s elimination of the Forest team to advance to the top eight was not impossible. The football world had a lot of upsets and surprises. The powerful teams might not necessarily deserve to win. Didn’t Nottingham Forest start as the dark horse in the beginning? Not to mention, strictly speaking, Eindhoven was a powerhouse and not a dark horse.

“Our goal: The top eight!”

Before Eindhoven set off for Nottingham, the local media in the Netherlands posted such a striking headline.

Twain responded in Nottingham, “Their goal is only top eight? Good-for-nothing…”

Even though he talked tough, he could not be sloppy with the behind-the-scenes preparation. Twain gave up the previous league game for this match, in which his team finally stopped its winning streak. Those people, who were anti-Twain, would certainly see this as “Nottingham Forest recently has a poor run. After the defeat in the Champions League, they also stopped their winning streak in the league tournament. It looks like they’re not doing very well in in the recent days…”

Twain ignored it. They would only find out if the recent situation was bad or not after they tried.

Before the game, Twain instilled a belief in his players that they must win.

“If you’re eliminated by Eindhoven at your home ground, you can imagine for yourselves what the consequences will be.”

This remark was more effective than to yell at them thousand times over that “we will win, because the other side is shit!”

An unseen fear was the true fear.

No one wanted to be scolded in the locker room for more than five minutes and no one wanted to be jeered at after a loss to Eindhoven. Even more so, no one wanted to lose a game or a championship title. This Nottingham Forest team was one with a tradition of victory and championship titles. They had long been used to winning and glories. Losing? They hated failures.

Eindhoven’s manager, Huub Stevens was still clear-headed. He was not stirred by the media. He still sent the defensive counterattacking lineup used at home. He expected Twain to be eager to attack because he wanted to advance to the next level, so he only needed a defensive counterattack to unexpectedly score one goal and it would meet his target. He had that kind of confidence because his team had managed to hold on for ninety minutes at home.

As expected, Twain did display the aggressive offensive at his home ground. With Mitchell, Ibišević, Bentley, Fernández and Şahin, Twain’s 4-4-2 formation only had one defensive midfielder. Gago and Tiago did not play in this game. Wood led the midfield alone to play against Eindhoven’s counterattack.

Stevens smirked when he saw the starting lineup. But his smirk was wiped off within ten minutes.

Nottingham Forest already had two shots that hit the goalpost. The Eindhoven defenders, who had excelled in the first leg, simply could not withstand the attacks from the Nottingham Forest attacking players.

Amid the home fans’ non-stop singing, Nottingham Forest finally cracked open Eindhoven’s goal in the 27th minute. The goalscorer was Ibišević, who scored with a powerful header that knocked aside the Swedish goalkeeper, Isaksson.

It was like a moment of carelessness had led to a calamity. Following which, Eindhoven feel like a house of cards and was destroyed by Nottingham Forest’s surge of offensive.

In fact, the lineup was the same as the first leg but Nottingham Forest, which was unwilling to lose to Eindhoven, broke out with unexpected energy like a nuclear bomb exploded, and buried them with shock waves. No one in the opposing team survived …

In the 40th minute, Mitchell’s header yielded a goal. 2:0! The Forest team’s high aerial bombing tactics were quite successful in this game. Eindhoven’s defenders were at a loss between facing Ibišević, who stood at 1.88-meter-tall, and Mitchell, who was 2.02 meters tall.

Stevens was restless and anxious on the sidelines. Two goals behind, it was not easy to play this game… Eindhoven needed two goals… But looking at the Forest team’s momentum, if they rushed to attack, they could still score goals. However, what was the point if they had to concede a lot of goals?

The Forest team continued their ferocious offensive from the first half and did not intend for Eindhoven to catch a breath. It appeared that Twain was obviously provoked by the comments of those outside media. He was certain to let everyone see whether this tiger’s ass of his could be touched.

In the 51st minute, Nottingham Forest scored again. This time the goal was scored by Bale, who relied on a direct free kick to score.

The goal completely crushed Eindhoven’s fighting spirit.

It looked like the tiger’s ass really could not be touched…

Eindhoven then lost the initiative completely on the pitch. They tried to counterattack, only to give the Forest team more chances to fight back.

In the final moments, the Forest team entered the penalty area with a set piece and the defender’s header error gave the ball to Mitchell, who unceremoniously grabbed the gift, extended his leg and kicked the ball into the goal to seal the win at 4:0.

“Look at the performance of the Eindhoven players. Perhaps there’s only one thing in their minds right now, and that’s to get out of this noisy stadium as soon as possible!”

Despite the big score, the Forest fans in the stands at the City Ground stadium did not let go of the Eindhoven players. A burst of hissing waited for them whenever the visiting players took the ball. They could not catch a break unless the football was on the Forest team’s side.

When the referee considerately ended at the three-minute injury stoppage time at one and a half minute, the entire Eindhoven team was relieved. After such a game, perhaps their disgust at Tony Twain and his team was even greater…

In the post-match interview, Twain was very cool. He did not waste his breath. When someone asked what he thought of the victory in the game, he just said, “I’m sorry to disappoint some people!”

Who were the “some people?” Those people with the guilty conscience would know.