Godfather Of Champions

The game between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona ended but the story was far from over.

A day later, the Barcelona Football Club filed a complaint with the UEFA about the quality of the turf at the City Ground stadium. At the same time, Nottingham Forest submitted a complaint document which they had worked on for a week about the issue with the referee in the first leg.

In any case, the battle between the two sides would continue on to a higher level.

Barcelona protested against Nottingham Forest’s use of a method which lacked sportsmanship to help them win the game. They had brazenly changed the turf at the last minute. Mourinho used to sprinkle sand on the turf at Stamford Bridge when he was at Chelsea to deal with Barcelona. But generally, people simply could not see the sand spilled on the pitch. Only the people who personally played on the field would know how uncomfortable it was and could not find the reason why for a moment. Tony Twain’s ploy was too blatant. Was he afraid that he did not leave enough evidence?

The English media taunted Barcelona for being a sore loser. “They had already lost the game and yet they still talked about the terrible pitch condition and Nottingham Forest resorting to tricks. Did they still want the UEFA to award them the victory?”

The Catalan media hit back, “We just want to preserve the spirit of sportsmanship in professional football! A sacred football match must not be tarnished by the conduct of such a vile character!”

When the Barcelona players and coaches were interviewed after the game, they all blamed their loss on the City Ground stadium’s poor pitch. It appeared as long as the pitch was fine, it was as they would have definitely won. In fact, they just wanted to draw attention to the quality of the turf on the City Ground stadium.

The Nottingham Forest Football Club remained unmoved. They alleged that the UEFA had agreed for them to change the turf. The quality of the turf was really a little worse for wear, but there was no other choice due to the club’s financial constraints … But they had learned their lesson this time and promised that this would never happen again. If they did not believe it, the UEFA officials and the Catalan media were welcomed to inspect and provide pointers for the first leg of the semifinal match…

The UEFA was also forced to suffer in silence this time. In fact, anyone with a normal IQ could see what Tony Twain was up to. He stated that the financial constraints had caused the quality of the turf to be so poor. Did it mean that it had to be really bad? Nottingham Forest was also an English Premier League club. How could they not have two sets of standard turf? It was pure nonsense! He deliberately did not take it out, just so that they could pit against Barcelona. This point was already everyone’s common understanding. Even if the Nottingham Forest fans were interviewed, nine out of ten would think so, and the one person who did not think so was lying.

But the UEFA really could not punish Nottingham Forest, because the Nottingham Forest Football Club’s change of turf was agreed upon and approved by them. They would have to take on the responsibility first in order to punish the Forest team. That way everyone would find themselves in an awkward situation and it would not look good on them. And more importantly, Tony Twain did this in full compliance with the procedure. No fault could be found.

Barcelona’s complaint made them looked like a sore loser.

Platini privately supported the Catalan side. His and the other top brass’ relationship with Barcelona was really good. But he must handle the matter impartially, or he would lose his prestige and undermine the UEFA’s reputation. The result of the impartial handling of the matter was that Nottingham Forest was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Finally, the UEFA issued a public statement saying that it would inspect the quality of all fields that would host the Champions League games in the future, and that any clubs which did not pass the review would be penalized. The “home ground would be banned.”

“… We believe that as the highest level of tournament between the European clubs, the venues that host the matches should also be of the appropriate standard. This should never be in doubt. For example, we have asked that the venue for the Champions League final must be able to accommodate at least sixty thousand people, which is a mandatory requirement. Any stadium that does not meet the requirement will not be considered. Of course, we can’t use the number of seats as a criterion for venues that are not for the finals, but the quality of the turf is still necessary… Yes. We don’t want to see the scene from the City Ground stadium last week to happen again. I admit that the official launch of the rule has something to do with the game between Barcelona and Nottingham Forest. It was an unusual game… No, we will not impose any punishment on the Nottingham Forest Football Club. They were within the limits of the regulation…”

Following this remark, the press spokesman said it rather helplessly. This was tantamount to a euphemistic expression of the UEFA’s attitude that Nottingham Forest had found a loophole with the UEFA. Since we can’t punish them now, it does not mean that we can’t punish them in the in the future. Anyway, we have taken note of this, and one day we will settle the score.

After the new rule was established, the Catalan media was still unwilling to forgive and complained that Barcelona would have made it to the top four if it had been introduced a week earlier.

The English media taunted them and said, “If Barcelona had learned of Tony Twain’s move earlier, they wouldn’t have to complain like that.”

Guardiola was expressionless during an interview. It was clear that losing the game in such a wretched way still left him brooding a week later. “The UEFA did the right thing, albeit a little late. I just hope that Barcelona’s defeat can be a source of power to drive progress in the Champions League—what the viewers and fans in front of the television as well as the spectators who go the stadiums to watch the highest level of European competition definitely do not want to watch that kind of game.”

That kind of game he referred was certainly the second leg match between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona. The football flew back and forth in the air from start to finish. There was no beauty to speak of. The big-name star players did not play normally, which disappointed those people who wanted to enjoy their wonderful performances. It had zero technical highlights and the tactics used were subpar. A typical game whereby “the results are important than everything else” was really boring.

But there were four goals in a game like this. And there were two goals that had made it to the top ten best goals in the Champions League this season. In this respect, the game was better than a lot of those thrilling to watch games but with dull results…

On the other side of the sea, Tony Twain was surrounded by a crowd of reporters at the training ground, wanting him to talk about the new UEFA rules.

Twain smiled and agreed with the UEFA’s new rule, “It’s a good thing, of course it’s a good thing. In particular, I agree with the spokesman’s statement that ‘as the highest level of tournament between the European clubs, the venues that host the games should be of the appropriate standard.’ Well-said!” Twain’s smile could easily be interpreted that he was fawning on the UEFA. “I don’t think the fans themselves want to see a game on a vegetable field. That would be damaging to football!” Looking at his righteously indignant face, it was as if the turf on the City Ground’s stadium had nothing to do with him.

“So, I give two thumbs-up to the UEFA rule.” At this point, he even raised his hands. “The rule guarantees the quality of the Champions League tournament and it’s a good thing for our players too—because no one will worry about getting injured playing on a bad pitch. This is a very humane rigid rule. Nottingham Forest will certainly give its full support and cooperation!”

Guardiola was said to have torn the newspaper in half after he read Twain’s comments. Well, reportedly anyway…

The other matter was more complicated.

A week after that game, the UEFA finally dealt with the issue of the turf with a new rule. Following which, they were going to deal with Tony Twain. They had no grounds in the “vegetable field” incident. But now they believed there must be enough reasons to deal with the unruly Tony Twain.

You dare to accuse our appointed referee of accepting a bribe from Barcelona! What evidence do you have? There’s no evidence. You’re making a false accusation!

Originally with UEFA’s bureaucratic style of handling things, a hearing would have to wait until six months later.

But this time, contrary to the norm, the UEFA acted swiftly and decisively. Tony Twain was notified to attend the hearing in Nyon, Switzerland as soon as the “vegetable field” incident was dealt with.

Before going to Switzerland, Twain called Pierce Brosnan and Lineker. He was willing to accept their interview, to be recorded by BBC 5. The interview would be aired on BBC 5 and published in the <Nottingham Evening Post>.

Obviously, Twain also realized that this was a huge pitfall in his coaching career. Someone wanted to mess with him, but he would not be dragged down.

So, he needed to give his all and package himself as a Robin Hood figure up against the official authorities. He needed to win more support from the people and make use of the media. This kind of thing could be done easily.

The interview naturally revolved around a series of recent focal points about Tony Twain and unfolded from there.

Lineker was the one who did the interview while Brosnan made notes at the side.

Lineker asked a lot of questions, which Twain explained them one by one. In the television footage, he tossed aside his usual arrogant and ego centric manner and looked placid with a smile on his face as he cordially accepted the interview. Sometimes he even displayed his characteristic sense of humor, but his antagonistic way against the reporters could not be seen. It was rare to see this in previous interviews—he seemed to have a natural enmity against reporters.

He did not shy away from those sensitive issues. Instead, he opened up to Lineker.

He said the word “counting the money-gate” incident was a term invented by the Catalan media. He never said that the referee had accepted a bribe from Barcelona. He did not hint at it in other ways. His gesture was obviously… a snapping of his fingers.

Lineker asked why he would snap his fingers in that situation. One must know if his action were to be interpreted as a snapping of the fingers”, then its appearance was indeed abrupt and inexplicable.

“It may be abrupt to the outside world, but I don’t find it strange. It’s like when a player was sent off inexplicably by the referee, he used clapping to express his anger. I did not choose to clap. I chose to snap my fingers and that meant—well done, referee! Can you understand? It was actually a kind of irony. But the Barcelona fans in the stadium preferred to interpret it as ‘counting money.’ I don’t know why. Maybe they’re naturally cynical?” He laughed.

The Nottingham Forest fans would think that this was Twain’s humor. But the Barcelona fans were lucky enough to watch the interview, they would definitely not going to think so…

“I repeat, I had never said in any way on any occasion that I thought the referee on duty at that game had been bribed by Barcelona. I know the Catalan media vilification of me is not a short-term thing. Of course, they would love to see me make a fool of myself. Whereas the twisting of right and wrong or fabrications in the world are a common occurrence for the media. So now, do you know where the nonsense come from? If the Catalan media is unhappy with my comments, I am willing to take responsibility. I will cite all the media comments after that game. I have collected them.” Twain laughed again at this point.

“But those are considered evidence, and I’ll only show them to the UEFA. They’ll know who started this whole thing and it’s not me anyway.” Twain shrugged.

The interview eventually received a good response after it was broadcast on the television. Brosnan’s article was reprinted by several newspapers. Twain’s purpose was achieved. At least now a lot of the media and public were on his side.

After he had done his preparations, Twain left for Nyon alone. Before he left, his wife, Shania, specially called him from the United States to support and comfort him.

All these gave Twain the confidence to tackle the pitfall.

At the same time, the club also did something. They presented the UEFA with a video of the last ten minutes of the first leg match between Nottingham Forest and Barcelona as evidence to support Twain and show that this was not a shot in the dark. His team had indeed been treated unfairly in the away game. If the UEFA was unwilling to admit that the penalty shot had issues, they did not mind appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Anyway, since you’re going to mess with our manager, we’ll fight you to the end!

Twain’s leading the team into the top four spots also appeared to have improved his relationship with the club’s top brass. Evan decided to step forward to show support for Twain while Allan was also being ordered to lobby the UEFA’s top echelon.

The Forest team’s final place in the Champions League had a direct impact on their televised bonuses at the end of the season. Twain was a manager who could lead the team to victory and naturally it would bring a lot of money to the club. Only a fool would not protect such a cash cow…

Meanwhile, a lot of people in the circle had come out to express their support for Twain’s view. Mourinho, who always did not get along with Twain, also seemed to have seen glimpses of himself in Twain, also came forward and said that the Catalan media’s hype about “counting money” was pointless. As a former Barcelona translator and assistant coach, his words held sway.

Ferguson also said he had not heard Twain complain that Barcelona had bribed the referee. Because “he’s not that kind of person.”

Wenger said that although Tony had a sharp tongue, he would never talk about uncertain things.

Benítez’s relationship with Twain was not good either, but this time he chose to stand on the opposite side of his country. He thought that since he and Twain had many encounters before, he was familiar with Twain’s temper. If he said that he did not say it, then he must not have said it.

This time the Premier League managers were on Twain’s side. Perhaps the UEFA’s attitude towards the Premier League had angered them. The English Premier League had long been an organization that fell outside the grey area on the edge of the UEFA’s jurisdiction. The Premier League gave the biggest headaches the UEFA in terms of people and incidents.

They naturally took it that the UEFA’s beef with Twain was actually them making an example of Twain to warn them. It was obviously necessary to unite. After all, the interests of the Premier League were their own interests. These problems were in fact about “interests” at the heart of the matter.

Led by John and Bill, the Nottingham Forest fans also gathered at the City Ground stadium to show solidarity with Twain at the time of the hearing. They contacted a number of media outlets to come for interviews and do coverage to continue to expand the impact.

“We’re fighting a battle to defend our own kingdom!” John said resolutely in front of a lot of media and cameras.

All of these were totally down to put pressure on the UEFA.

No one knew the details of the hearing, but one thing was clear to everyone.

The moment Twain got out of the car and greeted the reporters outside the UEFA headquarters with a smile, an observant person could see that his smile was somewhat stiff. The Ray-Ban sunglasses that he wore—he was now the brand’s British spokesperson—still could not hide his worries.

Despite all the preparations he did, he was still a little nervous.

But after two hours, when he came out of the headquarters building, he took off his sunglasses and gave a breezy smile. There was no hidden meaning behind his smile. He smiled naturally from the bottom of his heart.

Every reporter present was familiar with Twain and certainly knew what Twain’s behavior meant.

The Catalan reporters groaned in pain on the spot, “This bastard got away with it!”

The reporters from Nottingham and England cheered Twain who happily waved to them. Twain willfully enjoyed the cheers usually reserved to welcome a hero’s return.

Following which, a UEFA press spokesman reappeared in front of the press to announce the final verdict of the case, “While we think that Tony Twain’s remarks toward the referee was a little extreme after the game, there was no evidence that he had suspected the referee’s and Barcelona’s professional ethics. He gave a reasonable explanation of his actions at the hearing, of which we had accepted. Finally, we want to remind Tony Twain to pay attention to his words and deeds…”

Brosnan asked about the referee and his handling of the penalty.

The UEFA spokesman stalled for a long while before he replied, “That offside ball was a miscalculation …for which we’re sorry.”

Up until now, Tony Twain and Nottingham Forest had won big.

The next day the Catalan media largely adopted the same headline, which roughly translated into Mandarin words as—

A scoundrel realized his ambition.

Indeed, in their eyes, Twain, a despicable scoundrel had managed to escape twice. Just look at his brilliant smile in front of the UEFA’s Nyon headquarters. He’s a typical scoundrel that got away!

A hardcore Barcelona fan tweeted a similar message at a popular Barcelona fan forum in China:

“It’s truly the case of the good die young (Barcelona was knocked out) and the evil lives a thousand years…”