Godfather Of Champions

Tony Twain did not attend the post-match press conference, but it did not prevent the Italian reporters from mocking him. From the way they gloated, it was as if Nottingham Forest had been knocked out. But the attacks did not work on Twain because he never cared about what was said every day in the Italian media, and he could not read Italian either.

Still, he was not in a good mood. If there were a swarm of flies always clamoring in his ears, he would be irritated. Although he never understood what the flies were buzzing about, they had an away challenge against AC Milan in the second round. Twain already imagined once he set foot on the Italian soil, he would face bombardment from the Italian media.

Some things could not be avoided. He had used physical discomfort as an excuse to dodge them. What about next time?

There was only one way to stop this tragedy from happening: beat AC Milan and dump the tragedy on the Italians.

Although they did not achieve the desired result in the Champions League, Nottingham Forest had a winning streak in the domestic league. On February 23rd, they won against Derby County at home with a score of 3:0. They also had a small victory of 1:0 over Manchester City in the away game on March 1st and put Eriksson’s team back to where it belonged.

Manchester City’s boss, the former Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin, was currently tied up in a domestic lawsuit. He could not focus on his team’s competition record.

※※※

It was under such circumstances that the Nottingham Forest Football Club welcomed several visitors from the Far East.

The winners of the Football Kid talent show had arrived in Nottingham Forest to begin their year-long training career.

The younger age group had two kids and the older age group had one. Allan Adams brought all three with him.

They were accompanied by several staff members from Hunan Television. They wanted to do a series of reports on the daily lives and training of the teenagers in the UK, which would be shown in China as a way to continue interest in the talent show.

Twain had no objection to it. Anyway, the three would train on the youth team, so the youth team would be the one harassed by the media. It was too quiet over there; some popularity was a good thing as long as they did not come to the First Team and get in the way of his work. The only displeasure was that Dunn would be pulled in to do several interviews.

“They’ll be at Wilford at about two forty-five P.M., and then you’ll meet with them and say a few words.” With a notebook in hand, Dunn gave Twain a rundown of the list of work arrangements Twain had.

It was not usually what happened, but today was special. The club was afraid that Twain would have a hiccup, so they specifically set a timetable for him. Dunn was familiar with it because it was how he used to live.

“What am I supposed to say?” Twain turned his gaze away from the computer screen and looked up at Dunn, who sat on the couch across from him. He was playing Minesweeper as a way to pass the time. The latest Football Manager game was also downloaded on the computer, but he would be engrossed in the game if he started playing and would not hear what other people said.

The training ground outside the window behind him was empty. It was not time to train yet.

“Up to you,” Dunn replied.

“It’s not written down?” Twain replied sarcastically. He disliked this type of scheduling, which made him feel like a prisoner.

“No, you’re free to say what you want, even if you want to badmouth the club, or scare the kids. But…” Dunn looked at him. “You’ll have to bear the consequences.”

“I’m not that stupid,” Twain mumbled to himself. “I know I’m supposed to say something nice like ‘welcome to the glorious Nottingham Forest.’”

Dunn nodded and continued to read.

“The Chinese media will film the meeting, and then there will be a short interview for about five minutes… with you,” He added.

Twain found it strange. “Isn’t it an interview with you?”

“You are the person in charge here.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s it.” Dunn closed the notebook and handed it to Twain. “Do you want to read it again?”

Twain took it and put it on the table. “There’s no need. I’m only meeting a few talent show winners. It’s not like I’m meeting the Queen. Everything is so formal.”

Dunn smiled. “So have you thought of what you want to say when you see them?”

“There’s no need. I’ll just say a few casual things like… It’s a nice day today, great weather…” Twain spread his arms.

“Aren’t you looking forward to meet Chen Jian? He’s thrilled to meet you. He’s a fan of yours.”

“Ah, he’s…” Twain leaned against the back of the chair and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t want him to have any unrealistic fantasies.”

While the two men chatted, Miss Barbara Lucy knocked on the door and came in.

“Mr. Dunn.” She greeted Dunn first, and Dunn returned her greeting.

Then she looked at Twain. “Mr. Twain, they’re here.”

Twain cocked his head. He did vaguely hear some noise coming from the direction of the gate. He frowned and asked, “are there many people?”

“Fifteen reporters from China, four local Nottingham reporters, as well as a BBC television interview team, and the three contestants.” Barbara Lucy reported.

“Thank you, Miss Lucy.” Twain nodded his thanks and stood up. “Let’s go, Dunn.”

※※※

When the three kids came to the gate of the Wilford training base, there were already many people milling around. Other than several reporters, most of the people came to watch the team train and look for star players to ask for autographs. It was rare to encounter such a occasion, so they wanted to come and take a look.

“They have not achieved anything, and they have become stars.” Twain shrugged, slightly displeased.

Dunn laughed but did not comment.

Miss Barbara Lucy commented from her own perspective. “Isn’t that exactly what Mr. Adams would like to see? Do you want to go up there?” she asked.

Twain shook his head and stood still. “No, we’ll just watch from here. No one has discovered us yet.”

The three of them observed quietly from an inconspicuous corner.

Allan Adams was being interviewed by the BBC television station and the person interviewing him was a young female reporter. With a gentle smile on his baby face, he looked affable, his usual expression. Any rivals who dealt with him for the first time would underestimate him due to his appearance and expression and only realized that they lost at the end.

Allan said that he liked to smile, not so that he could make himself happy, but because when he smiled, he could squint to hide the shrewdness that was incongruent with his baby face. It was cunning.

Other people scrambled to show their shrewdness and display great anger at others for belittling them, but Allan Adams had already comprehended the idea that “great intelligence may appear to be stupidity.”

Twain removed his gaze from Allan. The man’s mind was filled with various currency symbols was nothing to look at. He noticed the three young Chinese teenagers standing beside Allan. They stood side by side at the Nottingham Forest Football Club’s engraved team emblem outside the gate of the training base and made a peace sign, letting the excited reporters take pictures.

Seeing the scene, he pursed his lips. They were not here for a vacation. Did they need to take a group photo? Were they going to turn around and write “a certain someone was here”?

“Mr. Twain, are you ready?” Miss Barbara Lucy urged.

Twain nodded. “Well, let’s go up.” He shook his head a little and walked out himself first.

The appearance of Tony Twain and the assistant manager, Dunn, led to a minor commotion at the scene — not from the media, but from the three young players. Their excited faces showed that they were all thrilled to be able to see the legendary manager.

The smile, which Allan Adams liked to see, appeared on Twain’s face. He greeted the three kids with enthusiasm and kindness. “Hello. How do you do? Our guests from the Far East.” He spoke in Mandarin.

Although everyone knew that Twain could speak fluent Mandarin, it was enough to make the three kids happy for a while to hear him personally speak to them.

Seeing the looks on the kids’ faces, how could Twain not know what they were happy about?

Do you think that since there is a manager who can speak Mandarin, the communication should be easier, and you can take advantage of it? If you really think so, it would be a big mistake, boys! This is the UK, where the official language is not Mandarin.

If there were not so many reporters around, Twain would surely blurt out his thoughts. But if he really did say it, the brightening expression on Allan Adams’ face would definitely darken in an instant…

He did not want to put Allan in a spot in front of so many people.

Therefore, the kind smile on his face deepened. He continued in English, with Dunn responsible for translating his words into Mandarin.

“I’m glad you’re here, boys. Dunn and I have waited a long time.” Indeed, he had waited until he was bored enough to play Minesweeper on the office computer. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” He opened his arms and made a welcoming gesture.

“There’s no practice in China that entertains guests outside the door, so please come in.” The line of people was allowed into the training base. The next step was to take them to the training ground. Here, Twain would convey his well wishes to the three kids and accept another interview. His task would be done. There would be someone in charge of taking the kids to visit the training facilities. The First Team manager did not need to do it himself.

With regards to the future prospects, the two contestants in the younger age group deserved everyone’s attention. After all, they were young and had room for development. Moreover, their selection process was more professional. There was none of the stunts designed to satisfy television viewers. But since the younger age group did not engage in any live television broadcast, they were less popular than the older group. Consequently, the third runner up in the older age group, Chen Jian, was still the focus of media attention.

He stood in front of Twain and looked nervously at the manager with a reputation for bad temper.

“Don’t be nervous, I won’t do anything to you.” Twain discerned the mood of the teenager, and he smiled. Yes, you are not my soldier, so I will not do anything to you. If you want me to be fierce with you, I have to see that you’re qualified.

Without waiting for Dunn’s translation, Chen Jian nodded. Apparently he understood.

Twain was a little interested in that. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”

“A little, just a little.” Chen Jian was not very proficient and replied with a strong Chinese accent. For Chen Jian, it was considered good to understand a little. Because of his English education, his reading and writing abilities were strong, but listening and speaking abilities were weak. Chen Jian’s English tutoring during the general training camp helped with Twain’s Nottingham country accent.

Twain recalled that he was a college student and nodded with sudden realization. He glanced at the reporters. What are they expecting? Do you want to hear me say something nice to satisfy the audience? Ah, so sorry. I’m just going to talk about something practical.

“Well, listen, lad. I’m going to say a few nice words just for show. You didn’t come all the way here to England just to listen to some white lies, right?”

Chen Jian nodded. “No… Sir.”

“Very well, then let’s talk about something practical. You’re going to be here… No, there,” he pointed to the north, “for a year-long training. It’s not a show-business training. It’s a real English football club youth team training, and there are millions of kids in England doing exactly the same training as you. If you can pass this training, that means you have the ability to play professional football. If you can’t get through, then…” Twain clapped, and Dunn’s translation was “that’s it, the end.”

Chen Jian nodded hard. He came with the dream of having a chance to play professional football. If the training was just for show, he might as well not go. Now that he was there, he wanted to receive the most formal training.

“I hope you are mentally prepared for this because the training will be very difficult. There’s still time to change your mind.”

Chen Jian shook his head. “I won’t give up, sir.”

“Good, once you decide to join in, you’re not allowed to give up voluntarily unless you’re eliminated by us. You have to stick to this path. Do you understand me, Chen Jian?” Twain said seriously.

“I understand, sir.” Chen Jian answered equally seriously.

Dunn thought it was a little strange when he translated the words. Why did Twain repeatedly stress that the training was tough? As far as he knew, the youth team training was not as tough as the First Team. Was he bluffing?

“Well, good luck to you.” You do need some good luck… Twain completed the remark in his mind. Then he turned to speak to the other two kids. The expression on his face softened a lot.

After completing his task, Twain was pulled by the reporters for an interview. Everyone’s concerns were consistent — would the Chinese teenagers really have a chance to become full members of the Forest team after a year. Because one of the publicity stunts for The Football Kid was that if the young players performed extremely well during the one-year training period, there was a chance to become a full member.

Twain began to shake his head before he finished hearing to the question. He immediately poured cold water on everyone. “If it were so simple to become a professional footballer, then the clubs across the UK should give up their youth training plans and change to organizing drafts with the media. I just hope they can learn something during this year and gain some experience. These lessons should help them in their future life path. Maybe…” Seeing the clear disappointment on these people’s faces, Twain thought about it and added, “I mean, maybe, after a year of training here, they can be professional footballers in other parts of the world. I know China has a professional league too. But here it is…”

He shook his head again.

“Well, thank you very much for your attention, but I have to head back and prepare for the team’s afternoon training now. I’m sorry.” He waved his hand at the reporters and refused to answer any more questions. He squeezed his way out and left everything here to Dunn.

Was there anyone here who was better suited to be a tour guide to this group of “curious babies” from China than Dunn, a Chinese assistant manager?

※※※

Accompanied by the media, Dunn took them on a tour of the Forest team’s various training facilities. And then Miss Barbara Lucy came forward to tell those reporters that it was the end of the filming because the First Team training was about to start. Manager Twain did not want so many media outlets roaming around the base while the team was in training — Barbara Lucy changed the story so as not to upset the media. She just wanted everyone to be supportive and cooperative. Today’s interview would end there.

After the reporters reluctantly dispersed, they also captured some images of the First Team star players who drove to the training base to get ready to start training along the way.

Dunn took the three kids to the youth team training base in the north side. There were no more noisy and annoying reporters around, and there was no Allan Adams or Barbara Lucy. It was just the four of them. Even the translator was not there because Dunn could translate.

When the boys went through the training base to head to the north side, they inevitably encountered some First Team players, whose names and faces they were familiar with. Whenever they saw one, they were surprised. Only Chen Jian’s behavior was a little more mature because he was the oldest among the three boys.

“Wow! It’s van Nistelrooy!”

“Ribéry! Ribéry!”

“Pepe! That’s awesome!”

Fortunately, they did not see Beckham, otherwise they would have rushed over to ask for his autograph.

Chen Jian did not speak this whole time and also did not look around. He just kept his head down and followed Dunn towards the youth training base.

As they walked out of the First Team training base, the two young boys were still hotly discussing the star players they had just seen. Chen Jian looked up at Dunn, who was walking in front of him.

“Dunn… Coach.”

“What’s the matter, Chen Jian?” Dunn turned his head around but did not stop his footsteps.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Well, does Manager Twain not… not like me?”

Dunn was momentarily stumped by the question. Apparently this kid was frightened by Twain’s serious attitude and straight face. He remembered what Twain thought of that talent show and his obstinate character, so he just smiled. “No, he’s just like that with everyone. He’s a strict manager.”

“But I’ve read some reports that he treats his players well…”

“Are you his player now?” Dunn asked.

This time it was Chen Jian’s turn to be stunned.

He was a clever person and figured it out. The smile came back to his face. “I see, Coach Dunn.”

Dunn patted him gently on the shoulder. “Train well and don’t think about anything else.”