Godfather Of Champions

Actually, a promise was made between Nottingham Forest and the Football Association about half a year ago. To celebrate the completion of Nottingham Forest’s new stadium, the club invited the England national team to play in a friendly match against Forest.

Twain was aware that such a friendly match had been planned by the club, but he had forgotten all about it now that he has a change of identity.

The friendly match against the England national team is nothing more than one of the many celebrations that had been planned. The club also intends to hold a parade to showcase the various jerseys that had been worn by Forest players over the past century. They were also going to have an exhibition to display all their past accolades, a reunion of their ex-players and staff members, and many more. It was going to be a grand celebration.

Twain was supposed to be one of the focal points during the celebrations, but now that he has left Forest, he no longer had any role to play in the celebrations, even though half of the accolades that Nottingham Forest earned over the years had come under his guidance.

Twain was not in the least excited about returning to Nottingham. He did not know how the Nottingham Forest fans would view his departure.

The reason why he did not go public with the truth behind his departure was because he did not want to burn his bridges and make his relationship with Evan turn sour. It was not like he left Forest due to a personal feud with Evan. He left Forest simply because of a mismatch of ideals.

Another reason was because it was just a resignation. There was no need to blow things out of proportion.

Unfortunately, the fans would not be able to see things from his perspective. In their minds, Tony Twain is the ambassador of Nottingham Forest. Now that this ambassador has left, their entire world has come crashing down on them. Twain is well aware that there would be people who would not forgive him for his actions.

All he could do was to manage a wry smile.

Why was such a match planned? Destiny must be playing with him.

※※※

“A match against the England team?” John looked at Bill.

The new season was approaching and Burns’ Forest bar was starting to get lively once again. There was an increasing number of people who visited the bar to have a drink and chat. Business appeared to be booming.

“Have you forgotten about it?” Bill looked excitedly at his friend of many years. “To celebrate the completion of the new stadium, our team would be playing in a match against the England national team.”

“That’s interesting.” John was being evasive with his response.

“It’s not just interesting. It’s very interesting!” Bill waved his fists in the air. “I have to get back at Twain for what he did!”

“You are still complaining about that?” John thought Bill was being a fool. That was something that had happened over a month ago, and here he was still harping over it.

“Tony must have had his reasons.”

“Who cares about his reasons?” Bill shouted in a shrill voice that sounded a little like that of a hysterical woman’s. “F*ck! He betrayed us all!”

Bill’s comments were met with assent from some people around them.

John opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but he eventually decided to leave them alone. He lifted his wine glass and walked towards the bar counter. He then placed his glass before Kenny Burns.

“One more glass, Kenny.”

Burns wordlessly refilled his glass to the brim.

“They have forgotten about all the glory that Tony brought to this city, even though it has barely been a month since then.” John muttered under his breath.

“There are people who like him, and they would also be people who hate him. These are words that would always hold true now and into the future.” Burns’ smiled in a way that a philosopher would.

“I don’t really feel like watching that match now. I can’t bear to watch those people who used to stand up for him in the past chastise him now. I think Tony would definitely be heartbroken to see that too.” John was in low spirits.

“And that’s all the more reason for you to go watch the match in person.” Burns spurred him on. “You have to let him know that there are people who understand him.”

Fat John coughed once. “Actually, I was even more furious than Bill when I first came to learn that he was leaving. Bill was the one who gave me advice. How did things become like this?”

“Maybe they are so mad because of the ‘indifference’ that Tony has displayed towards Nottingham Forest?” Burns said as he continued to wipe the wine glasses that he would not stop wiping for another 100 years.

John froze for a moment, and then he remembered. Tony had not brought up the name ‘Nottingham Forest’ ever since he resigned. It was as though he had never coached the team in his 11 years as a manager. Perhaps it was this ‘indifference’ that angered Bill and the other fans.

However, John knew very well that Tony wasn’t being indifferent. He was just feeling complicated. Nottingham Forest is a team that he managed for 11 years, how could he possibly forget about it? But, he couldn’t possibly keep mentioning the team after he left, because it would bring immense pressure onto the new manager, and that would not help the team as they embark on their new journey. He was trying to weaken the influence that he had over the team. He was the one who groomed most of the players in the Forest team. The moment he says something to the press, the players would definitely put his words first, even if he is no longer in Wilford. How could Martin O’Neill possibly manage the team properly if the players would rather listen to Tony than him?

Sadly, not everyone understood that.

He turned around to look at the people who were discussing about the words that they would put on the banners to mock Twain. Another doubt began forming in his mind as he did. It was a doubt that he has always had in him for many days, and it was a doubt to which he had no answer for.

Why did Tony choose to leave if he knew this was going to happen? What exactly is it that you can’t solve and had to choose to leave instead? Many things have happened during the past 11 years. You also made it through your heart disease. Why can’t you make it past your 12th year in charge of Forest?

※※※

“Some say that the reason behind Tony’s resignation was due to his conflict with Allan Adams. But, I must say this, haven’t the two of them always been at loggerheads with each other? Didn’t they manage to get by just fine for so many years? Why did he choose to resign now? Don’t tell me those men in suits have never thought about how the fans would feel?”

“What would happen to Nottingham Forest now that he has washed his hands clean of us? Is he going to be happy watching as our performance dip?”

“I know he must have had his reasons, but I don’t think it’s a big enough reason to justify his resignation. He has a lot more influence and power in this club than what other managers would get at other clubs.”

“If he really wanted to leave, he could have chosen to leave after this season is over. Why must he leave when we have just achieved the Treble? I really can’t describe my feelings then. It was just like being tickled by a person, then getting slapped twice by that same person a while later…”

Up till now, there are still fans who continue to leave comments expressing their views towards Twain’s departure on the article that had been published on Nottingham Forest’s official website, which wrote about Tony Twain’s decision to not further his managerial contract with the club.

Most of the comments written on the article were comments that would make Twain upset.

This is perhaps a scene that Nottingham Forest Football Club wishes to see the most. They quickly held a press conference to announce that they had failed to sign a new contract with Twain, and their actions highlighted how forthcoming they were with the whole situation. Naturally, the public would then think that the blame for the whole incident is on Twain, since he has been evasive about the situation the whole time, whereas Nottingham Forest was just like an innocent girl who was lamenting about what she had gone through.

Twain has never had a good image before the masses, and not many people liked him either. In the past, people defended him because they were all on the same side, but now that they were on different sides, it was only natural that he would get a lot more criticisms and animosity from others.

Neither Evan nor Allan wanted to be blamed for the departure of their most successful manager. Obviously, the only way they could avoid being blamed was to point the finger at the man who has never had a good reputation and image in his life thus far.

He was the one who wanted to leave. We gave him the best contract a manager can get in the whole of England, but he did not want it and was hell-bent on leaving.

To the ordinary people, Twain’s decision to leave Forest is hard to comprehend. However, when has Tony Twain been ‘ordinary’? The way he saw things was bound to be different from the ordinary people. If one were to judge him based on how an ordinary person would see and do things, then the only conclusion that one would get is that he is a ‘lunatic’. This is also why Twain is known as a ‘madman’ and a ‘manager with a personality’ before the masses. He was destined to be someone who most people would never come to understand.

※※※

Nottingham Forest has five pre-season friendly matches planned for the summer. The match against the England national team was to be held in the middle of these five matches, and it would be the very first match played at Forest’s new stadium.

The match was supposed to be just a ‘show’. The England national team would certainly not practise several days for such a match, and many of the players on the national team were also players who had been brought together at the last minute as well. The national team could not even get most of the players who played at the World Cup previously to turn up for the friendly.

Such a match bore no value to Forest in their preparations for the new season.

But, the match garnered massive attention when Nottingham Forest changed its manager, and when their ex-manager Tony Twain became the new manager of the England national team.

Numerous media outlets would be coming down to Clifton, southwest of Nottingham, to report on the match.

Evan Doughty must be brimming with smiles right now, because Nottingham Forest’s new stadium has just been given free publicity thanks to Tony Twain, and it looks like the publicity would be much better in terms of effect and influence as compared to those promotional events that he had planned earlier.

Martin O’Neill, the new manager of Nottingham Forest, has his own thoughts regarding the friendly match against the England national team. His team had not performed well in the two friendly matches that they played in so far, with one loss and one draw. They have yet to win, and the media was already starting to question O’Neill’s abilities as a manager. He desperately longed to attain a victory and reduce the pressure that is on his shoulders.

The England national team would not be playing their best players. This is the chance to boost his team’s confidence.

There was one other reason that prompted O’Neill to feel like he definitely had to win the friendly match against the England national team.

The current manager of the England national team is Tony Twain, and this match would be the very first, and possibly the last face-off between Forest’s current and ex managers.

O’Neill needed to attain a victory so as to make the people forget about the name Tony Twain.

It has been close to a month since O’Neill took over as the new manager of Forest, and he has come to understand how big of an influence Tony Twain has over the entire team. Defeating Twain would be a good way to tell the media and the players that he is their new boss.

“It’s just some useless match, but the head is being so serious with his preparations…” Some of the players were distracted as O’Neill conveyed his tactics to the team.

“It’s always good to treat everything seriously.”

“But you’d get nervous when you get serious.”

The players began whispering among themselves.

“If our boss was here, I think most of the players who would be playing in the match would be from the youth team. He’d tell them to play however they liked because it didn’t matter anyway.”

Someone instantly raised his finger to his lips to signal the speaker to shut up.

The word ‘boss’ was one that nobody wanted to bring up. They refer to Martin O’Neill as their ‘head’ and not their ‘boss’. In Nottingham Forest, only special managers can be referred to as the ‘boss’, and Tony Twain was a special manager.

Tony Twain was a forbidden name that could not be brought up in Nottingham Forest right now. Nobody forced the players to not bring up his name, but it was an unspoken rule that all the players abided by.

O’Neill heard whispers coming from the players. He lifted his head to look at them.

The whispers vanished instantly.

O’Neill did not try to figure out where the whispers were coming from. Instead, he continued explaining his tactics to the team.

The players kept quiet for a moment before they leaned towards each other and began whispering among themselves once again.

“Hey, how do you think the fans would treat the boss when he returns? I’ve been hearing that a lot of people resent him…”

“Don’t you resent him?”

“Me? Hmm… At the start, I did resent him a little, but I’ve thought it through now… The players can transfer to another club, so why can’t the manager?”

“That does not sound convincing.”

“Shut up.”

“To me… Honestly, I don’t know what the boss is thinking. I think I’d feel a mixture of emotions when I see him. I still can’t get used to the head yet. I don’t feel at ease when there’s no one in the locker room to yell at us.”

“I don’t care what you guys think. I actually miss the boss quite a bit, so I’m very happy to be able to see him again. Maybe I’d hug him too.” The player who said these words was Pepe.

“Do you all think the boss has a chance of coming back to manage us?” Bale asked a question, and all the whispers disappeared in an instant.

Some of the players pretended not to hear him, while others looked at Bale curiously.

Bale shrugged. “All right. Pretend I never asked.”

Wood was the only player who did not join in the discussion when his teammates were whispering among themselves. He stared at O’Neill the whole time. It was as though he was focused on listening to the tactics that O’Neill was explaining to them.

But, in truth, Wood’s mind was in a complete disarray. He tried his best not to listen to the words being exchanged by his team mates, but they still managed to find their way into his ears, and the memories within him of that man were brought up forcefully.

That man sent him home and also encouraged him to attend school. That man was even more childish than he was. When that man met his mother for the very first time, he suddenly felt like there would come a day where he would lose his mother, and that ignited a sense of danger within him. When he had lost all hope in himself, the man opened up a new door for him by leaving him a note and asking him to go find him. When he encountered the very first failure of his life and was intent on giving up, that man grabbed him by the collar and told him not to give up and not to admit defeat, if not he was destined to be a delinquent for the rest of his life…

If someone were to write an autobiography for George Wood, then two-third of the book would mention that man’s name. That man was just his manager, but in his heart, that man was just like a father to him. Wood has never been able to experience fatherly love his entire life, but he managed to experience bits of it through his time with Tony Twain.

He did not know why that man chose to leave the club, because that man was someone who did not allow others to get close to his innermost thoughts.

Wood wanted to stay at the club. He wanted to prove to that man that his decision to leave was wrong. Or, perhaps, he was protecting something at the club.

Wood’s thoughts were all over the place. He did not even hear what the manager was saying earlier, but it did not matter, since his role would always be the same. All he had to do was to stop the opposition from attacking and to build a barrier in the midfield so as to protect his team mates. When the situation calls for it, he would join in the offense as well.

The role that O’Neill assigned to Wood was not any different from how Twain would play Wood. This cannot be seen as a lack of thought from O’Neill. Rather, it was that Twain had shown the world how best to make use of Wood’s abilities, and there was no need to change anything about Wood’s game.

If a manager really wanted to change Wood’s game, he could get Wood to focus solely on offense and get him to give up on defense entirely. However, the truth was that there would not be a single manager in the world who would ever do that, because it is a massive waste to not make use of Wood’s defensive capabilities, and wastage is utterly shameful.

O’Neill felt a little relieved after seeing Wood listen to his words earnestly. At the very least, the team’s captain was behaving positively. As long as the captain stands with him, the locker room would not be in a complete disarray.

In truth, George Wood was the player whom O’Neill was most concerned about when he first joined as Forest’s new manager. Everyone knows the relationship between Wood and Twain. There were even some media outlets who described their relationship as that of a father and son’s. O’Neill was worried that Wood would transfer to another club after Twain’s departure. If that were to happen, the future for the team would be bleak.

Fortunately, Wood did not leave the club. He even signed a new contract with them.

O’Neill did not care about whether the other players wanted to stay or leave as long as Wood had stayed.

O’Neill decided to talk about something else after he finished explaining his tactics to the team.

“I hope we can attain victory in this match.”

Silence ensued when he finished his words. The players finally locked their eyes on him.

Their gazes conveyed a multitude of meanings behind them, and O’Neill returned their gazes. “I know this is an insignificant exhibition game. But, I hope you guys can understand one thing. It doesn’t matter what kind of game you play in. You have to prepare for it with the intention to win. You guys are a champion team. You guys are a team who pursue victory. That’s all you need to remember.”

The players averted their gazes away from O’Neill.

In their minds, there was one thought:

Why does he speak like the boss…