Godfather Of Champions

In fact, the game could not be said to be exciting, not one bit at all. McAllister was the new manager who had only recently joined the football team this summer, and he was not a manager of standards. The new tactics designed for the Forest team were still in the trial period and he was not to be blamed for that. Evan Doughty had not given him the lineup he had wanted to put together, so his tactical training had not been able to develop properly.

Speaking of Nottingham Forest’s new manager, Gary McAllister, Twain and he had quite a connection. When Twain first became a manager and coached Nottingham Forest, it was in January 2003. At the time, the Forest team was just knocked out of the FA Cup by West Ham United and Twain was suspended after he talked a lot of nonsense in the post-match press conference, criticizing the referee and the Football Association. During the next League One game (the now English Football League Championship), the Forest team’s away game was against Coventry City. At the time, the Coventry City manager was this very man.

At that time, Twain was still a true-blue rookie, and was also penalized to stay in the grandstand. McAllister, on the other hand, was no better. He had to play two roles – both as a manager and as a player on the pitch. The game eventually ended with a goal resulting from a free kick from McAllister, with Coventry City forcing a tie at home with Nottingham Forest. The first and only match between the two men was a draw.

Later, Twain did not care about this opponent with whom he had the single affinity. McAllister, who had drifted along years in the lower leagues and also briefly coached Premier League teams, had never accomplished much results. His best result was to lead the Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club back to the Premier League last season and then he was poached by Evan Doughty to the Forest team.

After more than a decade of training, his coaching level was much better than when he first encountered Twain. But it was not enough to manage Nottingham Forest…

Nottingham Forest did not have a mature set of tactics and was more dependent on the individual players during the games rather than the entire team. The offensive starting point was launched wherever they thought and completely without rules. Even if they had a high ball possession rate, it did not make people feel at ease. Instead, it was Everton, the visiting team, which had a couple of attacks that threatened the Forest team’s goal. Moyes, who had run Everton for two decades, was remarkable. If it had not been for Everton’s poor financial resources, he could have achieved a lot more…

Twain shook his head and found himself distracted again. Why was he still thinking of tactics? It looked like he had not completely shook off the identity of a manager. Ah it was an occupational hazard, ah an occupational hazard.

※※※

If anyone were to mock the American, Evan Doughty for his ignorance of football, he would definitely find it unacceptable. Even though he did not comprehend professionally to the level of a manager, he could also tell that the game currently in progress was boring.

His team did not gain the upper hand at all. Instead, it was worried about the other side’s counterattack. It was the result of what McAllister had trained for over a month…

“Like a sheet of loose sand…” Evan Doughty snorted as he sat on the podium.

Allan Adams sat next to him in silence.

In the front left side of both of them, it was the Robin Hood Grandstand, where most die-hard Forest fans congregated. Right above there were lots slogans criticizing and insulting Evan Doughty and Allan Adams as usual.

“Go back to America and eat sh*t!”

“This team does not belong to the two of you. It’s our team!”

“F**K YOU! Evan Doughty & Allan Adams!”

“You two gay guys! Go home and f**k each other!”

…

Of course, the most popular slogan went something like this: “Give me back Tony!””We want Tony!!””No one can replace Tony Twain!”

Although four years had passed and Nottingham Forest had replaced countless managers, the fans here still count not forget Tony Twain. So much so that every time a manager was replaced, it would only make them miss the former boss and now the England national team manager.

The game had progressed to the 11th minute. The fixed program at the Crimson Stadium began. The home fans rose from their seats one by one and then faced the direction of the podium. Without any command and advance rehearsals, they began to sing the chorus with great tacit understanding:

“Tony Twain won the championship for us, but he left. Evan Doughty will only sell people for money, which he keeps. Evan’s a stupid c**t! A stupid c**t! Oh, yes! If you agree, just stamp your feet with me!”

With a series of rumbling sounds, the stamping of the feet traveled throughout the stadium. The Crimson Stadium seemed to shake like it was a minor earthquake.

“Evan is a stupid c**t!!”

When Twain heard such revealing lyrics filled with profanity, he really had a feeling of not knowing whether to cry and laugh. Actually, his dissatisfaction with Evan Doughty and Allan Adams, had long disappeared in these four years. They only had a difference of ideas. The so-called going on their separate ways could not be considered as a personal grievance. So, it was not necessary to hang onto the entanglement. But for the fans, it was absolutely unforgivable that Evan Doughty and Allan Adams had joined forces to drive Twain away.

Such a distinct tremor, how could the two people sitting on the podium not feel it? Moreover, the exact meaning was no secret after such lyrics had been sung over and over again. Every time he heard such a song, Evan Doughty’s face looked rather ugly – to be called “a stupid c**t by tens of thousands of people in person and still remained nonchalant, the face of that person must be thicker than the earth’s crust. But Evan Doughty could not cultivate to that state. But at present, Doughty did not behave as usual. He was not angry, or it could be said that on the face of it, one could not discern if he was angry. He sat in his seat, looking at the pitch below, as if he lost in his thoughts.

The song lasted for a minute before it stopped. The fans sat back in their seats and returned to watching the game mode.

It was a pity that the team’s performance still did not improve.

Allen had little interest in the game, which had no sense of beauty and no hope of winning. He began to turn his head around and chat with the two guests sitting next to him. These two people were the Arabs from the Middle East, with their striking white robes and headscarves. Their presence here suggested that the club appeared to be in contact with a consortium from the Middle East.

In fact, most of the guests sitting on the podium were not interested in the game. They just took advantage of the football game as an opportunity to socialize. For example, they would talk to each other about their gains in the stock market and futures market, chat about how their franchises were opening new stores, spoke about the investment projects they were bullish on to attract people around them to invest and so on…

It was like a social dance being moved to the stands on the football stadium.

Evan Doughty turned his attention around and found the buzzing discussions behind him. The subjects they were talking about had nothing to do with football. These noises sounded like countless flies swarming around his ears which irritated, but he could not stand up and scold them, telling them to all “SHUT UP.” These people were sponsors who could not be offended lightly…

When he could not find anyone to talk to, Evan turned his gaze to the field again. The score was still 0:0. However, Everton had taken the initiative and Nottingham Forest could only come under attack. The Forest team was indeed in contact with a consortium from the United Arab Emirates. With the invitation to them this time to watch the Forest team’s first game of the new season, the club hoped the team could use its outstanding results to boost their value in front of the wealthy Arabs.

It just so happened that the performance of the team was so bad…

McAllister was just a stopgap solution and a transition manager. If the Forest team was to make a comeback, they needed to find a manager with standards and a prestige enough to control the locker room. It was just that such a manager was far and in between in the current football world. Where were they going to find him?

Evan Doughty’s eyes wandered around and his gaze settled on the banners in the Robin Hood grandstand.

“No one can replace Tony Twain!!”

※※※

Twain wanted to yawn, but he held back. The game was too boring, but Theresa was very interested in everything and looking everywhere. She could not keep still in his arms and he did not have to worry about having nothing to do …

Everton’s players had the ball on the pitch and the fans around him were booing to put pressure on the Everton players. The middle fingers were commonplace. He regretted bringing his daughter, because Theresa had already asked him thrice what the “upright middle fingers” meant …

In order to distract her, Twain could only do everything possible to let his daughter pay attention to the football game itself. And the way to coax her was to say, “Quickly look, your brother Wood is playing football!”, “Look! Your brother Wood has fallen!””(Actually, he was shoveling the ball) “Quickly, look at your brother Wood…”

At long last, it made his young daughter slightly more interested in the game.

But her brother Wood did not touch the ball. The man who had the ball on the pitch was now an Everton player.

The Belgian midfielder, Marouane Fellaini currently had control of the ball. He was a tall defensive midfielder and Everton’s mainstay as well as the main midfielder for the Belgian national team. As his position was further back, the Forest team did not have anyone rushing up to tackle. Fellaini controlled the ball with ease and eventually passed the ball to James Vaughn who withdrew to provide support.

Vaughan and his partner on the forward line, the Polish player, Robert Lewandowski, did a two-versus-one pass to shake off George Wood who came up to defend. After he received the ball again, he did not give the Forest center back a chance to pounce over. He suddenly fired a long shot around the top of the penalty arc!

The football stuck to the turf and rolled past the hands of the goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey to cross the goal line…

“A gorgeous long shot! James Vaughn! Everton leads Nottingham Forest 1:0 in the away game!”

The blue-clad fans in the opposite stands jumped and cheered loudly while the Nottingham Forest side fell into silence. Many of the fans around Twain held their heads in their hands and watched helplessly as the Everton players dashed around in celebration on the pitch.

In fact, they were more or less used to facing such scenes for the past four years, so they did not boo the team for the goal concede. They just chose to be silent.

This type of silence was more numbness in Twain’s eyes. In the past, the Forest fans would overwhelm the goal-scoring side with thunderous hissing as soon as the team conceded the goal. How can you not be booed when you score a goal in our home game? Dream on!

After a while, there were boos coming in the other direction at last. It was coming from the most aggressive group of fans. It was just that it was not known if they were not booing Everton, or Nottingham Forest.

※※※

The goal scored on the pitch distracted from the lively discussions of the guests on the podium, with a group of people turning their attention back to the pitch. When they discovered that it was Everton that scored the goal, they soon returned to their respective topics.

“I know a project that is guaranteed to make a lot of money…”

“Even Cambodia is almost hollowed out. Where else in the world has it not been developed? Antarctica? Ha…”

“I’m going to fly back to New York next weekend, where I have some business to take care of…”

“Ms. Nancy, you are so beautiful…”

“No, we don’t have any problems at the moment. There are no operational difficulties. I guarantee this is a deal that benefits both parties…”

Only Evan Doughty stared blankly at the Everton players celebrating on the pitch and felt distraught. Even he, who did not know much about football, could feel the team’s morale drop.

※※※

The game went on and the Forest fans in the stands were a little frustrated. This period of time belonged to the Everton fans, who sang and cheered on Everton in the stands, while the Forest fans could not summon up the energy to go head to head against them.

The broadcast of each game could not always be aimed at the field. The footage would often insert some other scenes such as give the technical area some close-ups, or when some interesting slogan was found in the grandstand, the camera footage would also give it some extra attention. When there were some famous people in the stands, they would also be given close-ups.

The live footage of the game spanned across the stands. It first aimed at the few banners. Then it suddenly changed and cut into a scene in the grandstand.

The close-ups footage of live television was usually visible on the big screens of the stadium, so when the live matches were televised, one could often see some of the fans appearing on the televisions and waving excitedly to the cameras while looking at the big screen on the other side.

This was nothing new. But the Forest fans were not in the mood to give a show. Their team was falling behind. Whomever could still laugh for the camera, must not be a hardcore Forest fan.

This close-up was not to let the fans in that area act for the camera. They obviously had another reason. The camera angle zoomed closer and closer till it was fixed on a certain someone.

“Ah ha! Let’s see who this is!” The game’s commentator laughed when he saw the man. “Wearing a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap, he looks like a spy…”

There was no doubt that the person who was betrayed by the live television cameras was Tony Twain, who did not care at first, because his mind was on the field. It was not until the looks in people’s eyes around him were different, that he realized something was not right because everyone was not watching the game. Instead, they turned their gazes to him.

Without waiting for him to react to what was going on, a voice suddenly sounded on the live broadcast, “Let us welcome—”

An earth-shattering chorus of voices rang out in the stands, “Tony Twain!!!”

The sound startled Twain, who stood up reflexively. As a result, the cheers became even louder.

“Tony! Tony! Tony!!”

Only then Twain reacted. He knew that he had been exposed, so he simply lent Theresa’s hand to say hello to everyone.

Truthfully speaking, he was feeling a little smug to have received such an applause after having left here for four years.

※※※

The sudden cheers also jolted the players on the pitch. Mitchell, who should have caught the pass, let the ball go out of bounds when he heard the cheers, but he was not booed by the fans. Instead, the fans were shouting “Tony! Tony!”

He looked up and easily found the focal point of the cheering. A man was standing there in the upper level of the grandstand. It was as if a king was there to receive the deference from the people.

Not only he, many players were also looking up.. But the people who would be dumbstruck when they saw the man were not many. After all, the Forest team’s old players were almost gone.

Mitchell was still distracted when Wood came up and yelled at him, “What are you doing?! Why are you not defending?”

“Look there, George! It’s the boss! It’s the boss!” Mitchell pointed to the stands and shouted excitedly instead.

Wood did not even turn his head. He just stared at Mitchell and yelled, “Are you going to let him see you sleepwalking on the field?”

His remark was like a wake-up call to the sleepwalker. Mitchell ran to participate in the defense. This time it was Wood’s turn to look back at the stands.

※※※

The cheers continued and Evan Doughty was initially startled by the cheers. Then he saw Tony Twain’s figure on the television screen. It greatly surprised him – they had not been in touch for a long time. He did not expect Twain to come to the stadium to watch the game. He thought Twain must have hated him.

Behind him, the social symposium was interrupted by the cheers of the fans who welcomed Twain. One by one, they asked around in a startling inquiry, looking for the cause of the cheering.

“What happened?”

“What are they shouting?”

“Tony? Which Tony? Tony Twain? He’s back?”

Allan also stopped his conversation with the Arabs and turned his gaze toward the big screen. He did see Twain and his daughter.

Four years have passed, and he even has a child…

※※※

More than 40,000 Forest fans in the stands had their hands outstretched as they bent over to worship and paid tribute to His Majesty, even though the Majesty had been away for four years. As the banner had indicated, no one here could replace Tony Twain.

Twain waved to his subjects and sat down again. After such a display, he could no longer watch the game.

The cheering lasted a while before it faded away.

But the homage to the king was not over yet. At this moment, someone came up next to him and said, “Hey, I did not think the guy sitting next to me is Tony Twain. Give me an autograph, Tony!”

“I want a picture!”

“Your daughter is so beautiful!”

…

For a time, he was surrounded by enthusiastic fans, and Twain had to deal with them, one by one. After satisfying everyone’s requests for autographs, photographs, handshakes, hugs, etc., he was able to sit down and watch the game again…

When the surrounding voices finally returned to normal decibel range, Theresa came next to Twain’s ear and spoke into his ear, “Daddy, which ‘Tony’ are they shouting for?”

Twain laughed this time and said, “They’re shouting for your daddy!”

“Is Daddy a big star?”

“Yes, a big star!” Twain answered with great pride and confidently. “Daddy is the king here.” He looked down at the pitch below and muttered the last remark, “I once was…”

※※※

Perhaps because Twain came personally to watch the game. Nottingham Forest’s morale was boosted dramatically. In the ensuing game, they gradually took the initiative and the score was finally equalized by Mitchell before the end of the first half.

The goalscorer, Mitchell, ran to the area below the stands where Twain was and gave a salute to the top. Everyone knew what he meant with this celebration.

In the second half, Nottingham Forest continued with the efforts and went on to score another goal. In the end, they overtook and beat the visiting team, Everton by 2:1 to secure their arduous first victory of the season.

But after the game, people did not concern themselves with the Forest team’s victory, but Tony Twain’s “return” to the Crimson Stadium. In the post-match press conference, the media repeatedly asked McAllister questions about what he thought of Twain coming to watch the game. McAllister replied with an unfriendly expression, “I’m sorry, I’m not interested in an ordinary spectator.”

But the media did not “let him go.” After the game, in order to attract more eyeballs, some of the media outlets even used the headline –”A return to Nottingham Forest after four years, His Majesty helped the team reverse the game!”

It was made to look like Twain had led the team to victory. Poor McAllister…