Godfather Of Champions

Some media used “Tony going home” as a caption for this match.

Twain’s home was indeed still at Nottingham. He had really not been home much recently because he was staying in a hotel in London, busy with the national team.

Shania was not there so there was no need to return to that empty home.

Going home…

Twain muttered under his breath. He knew very clearly that the Nottingham now might not be willing to be his home now.

When Twain arrived in Nottingham in the bus with his team, he was bombarded by the media from all sides. For the past few days, he would either hide in his hotel to fiddle with the name list or hide in the Colney training base where the media could not reach him. However, now that he was in Nottingham, he had nowhere to hide. The media was determined to get some exclusive news out of him.

The team was to stay in a hotel in Nottingham to prepare for the match the next day. The bus had just stopped when the reporters who had been waiting outside the doors rushed over and totally cluttered the pathway from the bus door to the hotel door.

When Twain jumped out of the bus, the microphones at the end of the poles all extended to above Twain over the heads of everyone and the video cameras and cameras all pointed towards him while the security guards and police on the grounds all looked like they were facing one of their fiercest enemies.

The other players almost could not help themselves but to whistle when they saw this scene.

A group of people gathered to whisper among themselves again.

“I thought these people were here to interview us… This set up is even more impressive than the main force of an army.”

“Stop dreaming, they are all here for the boss.”

“He is the focus of the media now indeed.”

“Did the boss say anything stupid this time?”

“He didn’t say anything.”

“He attracted so many reporters even by saying nothing?!”

“Idiot, this is Nottingham. He’s back to his home ground.”

The scene was bumbling and loud, and Twain did not hear the whispers of the players. He was busy handling the reporters.

“Mr Twain, Mr Twain! How does it feel to be back in Nottingham?”

“It feels good,” Twain replied with no expression on his face, and everyone could tell that he was not taking the question seriously at all.

“Can you explain the reason why you decided not to extend your contract with Nottingham Forest Football Club last time?” This would forever be the question that the reporters were most interested in. Even though there were many rumours but they were all not proven. The reporters still wanted to hear the real answer from the man himself.

“There is nothing to discuss about this,” Twain refused to answer. The reason why he did not want to talk about the conflicts between him and the club was because he did not want to sour the relationship between them totally, after all, he had been there for 11 years. Some things should be left a secret forever.

“There are some people who say there were some conflicts between you and the management of the club…”

“There is nothing of that sort,” Twain lied without so much as a stumble.

“Then, could it be because…”

“I’m sorry, I refuse to answer any question regarding Nottingham Forest,” Twain had a very strong look on his face. It was time to let these reporters know when to back off.

“But Mr Twain, your team will be playing Nottingham Forest. This question is related to Nottingham Forest too. If you don’t answer it…” A reporter picked on the flaw in the logic behind what Twain just said smilingly.

“What I meant was I won’t be answering any question,” Twain gave that man a look and entered the hotel lobby under the protection of both the security and the police.

The reporter who was still teasing Twain earlier was left stunned on the spot with a stiff expression on his face.

“Wow——” A player whistled, “That’s so cool!”

Carl Spicer could not stop laughing at this scene in the crowd. He turned to look at the camera and said laughingly, “Tony Twain is really back.” He felt utterly relieved in his heart. That arrogant Twain was back. He did not have to worry that Twain would become a toothless tiger under the restrictions of the Football Association after two months of dormancy. That would be no fun at all.

※※※

Twain’s return to Nottingham became the news headlines that day and the photo of him squeezing past the surrounding reporters into the hotel appeared on the papers and on the internet. Dressed in a black suit and a pair of sunglasses, he really looked like a godfather from the mafia.

Burns held the newspaper and lost himself in the picture of Twain on it.

How does it feel to be back home?

He really wanted to ask Twain that, but he did not think that Twain would be back at his bar. After becoming England’s manager, he was closely watched by the media every single moment of the day and he would have no time to chat with his friends anymore. Besides, he might not be able to find anyone to talk to even if he came.

“He still looks so cool,” Fat John came over to take a look at the photograph.

Bill and the gang was nowhere to be seen, probably discussing about the production of another slogan.

“But he offended the media. When he left Forest, there were not many of them who would speak for him,” Burns replied.

“Heh heh,” John laughed, “If Tony cared about what the others thought, he would not be Tony anymore.”

“Not necessarily,” Burns shook his head, “He will definitely be affected by the crimson stadium tomorrow.”

What Burns said was what John was thinking about. The smile disappeared on his face and he stayed silent. He merely lifted his beer mug and chugged his beer.

※※※

Tang announced that the day after training would be a rare day off for the players to rest up properly. He did not give a reason and the players did not think much about it other than feeling that it was strange. A day off was a good thing and they welcomed it.

Tang kept the tickets for the match properly and did not explain anything.

Such a match would normally be not worth watching, but he was interested in Twain and he wanted to see for himself what troubles would Twain come up with there.

※※※

Even though this was a friendly match, Twain called for a tactics meeting at night.

As the team had only a day to train together, it was basically impossible that they could have rehearsed for any tactics so Twain did not arrange for any complicated tactics. They would be using the basic 442 and attack from the flanks. These tactics were the most basic and simplest ones and no matter any player would be able to cooperate and work together because they had been training like this since young.

Twain reiterated what this match meant to the players in the meeting, hinting to them that there would be a good result for them if they worked hard.

It looked like he was seriously preparing for this match. Watching him like this made the players who were still sceptical about Twain’s thoughts previously think about it seriously——The match tomorrow was really a great opportunity…

“They will never guess that we will be treating this game seriously,” Twain thought for awhile and confirmed what he just said, “This is just a normal game. Even though the media is all over it, their focus are not on the game. I hope you’ll grab this opportunity.”

He looked at the players. How many of these players would really trust him and follow him, he would know after this match.

Of course, he did not expect everyone to do their best against Nottingham Forest. He was not that popular amongst the national team players yet, and the players were not puppets on string. However, the ones he needed were only those who would listen to him and had the will to work hard. As for those who were unwilling to do so… So sorry, but the doors of the national team are forever closed to you guys.

This warmup match was a good chance for him to give the players a warning, asserting dominance did not necessarily have to be through a victory.

※※※

At the same time, over on the other side, Martin O’Neill was discussing the tactics to be used against the England team with David Kerslake.

“What do you think England will do for tomorrow’s game, David?” O’Neill asked.

Kerslake knew Twain well. To guess what Twain would do, one just had to ask him.

Kerslake was silent for a while before saying, “The public believes that the focus of this game was not the game itself, but outside it. We’re going to use this game to test out some formations for the team and the form of the new players after they joined us while England’s side was filled with players on the border, therefore they would be weak. However, my thinking was totally opposite to theirs.”

O’Neill was interested, and he indicated for him to continue.

“Tony Twain is not one to do things logically. This is his first match since taking charge of the team and it is very important. If he wants his job to be easier for him in future, he cannot take this match lightly. I think he’ll ask his team to do his best,” he paused for a while, as if to think if what he was going to say was right.

“And…their target will be to defeat us,” he decided to tell him the conclusion in the end.

“O’Neill did not refute this conclusion that seemed so unlikely it might as well be a fairy tale, instead, he nodded in approval, “That’s just what I thought too. Tony needs this victory more than us, even if it’s just an unimportant friendly match. The media is still focused on him and he’ll be under a lot of pressure. He needs to prove his capabilities with a victory even if it’s a match like this.”

O’Neill was glad that Twain was under this kind of pressure too as he did not feel like the only fool in the world now.

“Even though they will do their best, we don’t have the need to do so too. Twain doesn’t need to worry that his players would be injured but we do. That’s why we should still go with our original plan——inspect our team.”

Kerslake agreed with O’Neill’s arrangement. Twain needed a victory and he needed it badly. He would use whatever means necessary for it and Nottingham Forest did not need to join him in the madness. Examining his players’ form was one thing, avoiding injuries was just as important.

Deep inside, he did not think that it was a bad thing for Forest to lose to England. Forest was not hoping to change anything with this friendly match so this result would ensure their safety and give Twain what he wanted, a win-win situation.

However, what O’Neill said later destroyed his fantasy.

“Even so, I don’t think that his England C team can defeat my Nottingham Forest.”

Kerslake turned to look at his manager. After so many days, this was his first time hearing O’Neill say “my Nottingham Forest”.

If he was facing some other opponent, O’Neill would never have said something like that. It looked like facing the previous manager of his team invoked a sense of crisis within this man. It was as if he was a lion trying to protect his territory and he was unwilling to retreat even for a little bit against the provocation of the previous leader of the pack. Was it instinct or responsibility? Kerslake did not know.

Twain did not want to lose this match so that he could establish his position in the England team whereas Martin O’Neill did not want to lose to Twain’s England team because he was not happy about living in Tony Twain’s shadows. The former for survival, the latter for glory.

These two had a good relationship privately but they would not hold back because of that.

He was suddenly looking forward to the match tomorrow.

What would the City Ground look like tomorrow?

※※※

This match was scheduled to be played in the afternoon. The temperature of Nottingham at the end of July was very hot and even though the kick-off timing of the match was at four-thirty in the afternoon where the temperature was a little lower, it was still very hot.

Despite the heat and the glaring sun, the passionate fans were not dissuaded from watching the match. The special meaning behind this game attracted almost all the Nottingham Forest fans to watch it and at the same time, the broadcasting vans of the media surrounded the whole City Ground, obstructing traffic.

Pepe saw this inside the bus and muttered, “Looks like we’re in time for the UEFA Champion’s League final… This is crazy.”

“They are all here for boss, aren’t they?” Bale got close to the window and looked at the fans below.

“Would they welcome him or boo him?” Gago chimed in, but everyone fell silent after he said that.

“Er…” Gago felt a little awkward, “Okay, take it as though I said nothing.”

He vocalized the concerns of everyone.

“Don’t think too much about it, prepare for the match,” Wood said from the side. He might be trying to ask Gago not to think too much but everyone felt that the atmosphere had become colder…

※※※

When the England bus arrived at the stadium, most of the fans had already entered. However, Twain still attracted everyone’s attention when he alighted. The media rushed over and he heard some scattered jeers.

He was not a fool, he knew who those boos were directed to. He could only act as though he did not hear it and walked quickly into the tunnel.

There were still reporters following behind him, asking, “Mr Twain, Mr Twain! How does it feel to be back home?”

This time, Twain did not even bother to give a fake reply. He acted like he did not hear it and entered the tunnel, leaving the reporter behind.

Back home?

This trip back home was not an easy one…