Godfather Of Champions

Pepe’s statement sent shockwaves throughout Nottingham and the whole of England. No one expected the man known as Nottingham Forest’s most loyal warrior to request for a transfer on his own accord, especially after how the football club had stood behind him when he was given a match ban by UEFA.

However, those familiar with the relationship that Pepe share with Twain would understand the rationale behind Pepe’s decision. The person whom Pepe is loyal to is Tony Twain and not Evan Doughty. Now that Twain has left Forest, there was no reason for Pepe to stay any longer.

To Pepe, a football club that is unable to keep an illustrious manager is a sign of troubles within the club, and he has no need to continue working for such a club.

It is only natural for him to choose to leave.

But, the Nottingham Forest fans did not think the same way as he did.

They viewed his actions as another act of betrayal following Tony Twain’s departure.

For the next few days, Pepe saw numerous banners that had been put up around the training grounds when he went for practice.

“Get lost! Go to Real Madrid, you traitor!”

“Who was it that gave you everything that you have right now? It’s Nottingham Forest!!”

Those were some of the words printed on the banners that were held up by the fans, and they were extremely eye-catching.

Some of the players in the team found his decision incomprehensible as well.

Of course, the person who was the most upset with his decision was the man who sat at the top, Evan Doughty.

Pepe’s action of announcing his intent to leave the club before the press is akin to slapping Doughty on the face in public.

Doughty called O’Neill over to his office. On the surface, it looked like he was keen to hear what the manager had to say, but in truth, he had already made up his mind on the matter, and O’Neill was just there to hear his decision.

“Real Madrid, Milan and Manchester United… Those clubs have all put in a bid for Pepe.” Doughty sat on his office chair and seemed to exude an air of arrogance as he spoke. “I’d have never considered selling Pepe in the past, but things are different now, Martin.”

The Doughty now was different from the Doughty whom Twain first met back then. He has become one of the most successful chairpersons of a football club in the whole of England right now. The publicity surrounding him increased massively following Twain’s departure as a manager, and now the whole world knows that he is the person who leads Nottingham Forest.

In the past week, during the period of time where the club had just begun to make use of its new stadium, Doughty made appearances on five different television programs and accepted interviews from three different magazines. Photos of him smiling were displayed all over the various media platforms. He was touted as the leader that led Nottingham Forest to glory, and he was also regarded as the key figure in leading Nottingham Forest to greater glory in the future. Doughty repeatedly exhibited his ambition to achieve greater success by speaking about his philosophy towards football as well as his methods in building a good football team before the media.

“I hope that Nottingham Forest can truly become a powerful, world-class team in the next five years. We have plans to build a new training grounds following the opening of our new stadium. Our current training grounds at Wilford is too old and small. We have plans to use our current training grounds as the site for the Nottingham Forest Football Academy…”

Those were the words that Doughty said before the press. The feasibility of his plans remains a question, but those plans have certainly shocked numerous people. Wilford is a training grounds that was first built and used in the early 1990s, and it has barely been 20 years since then. For Doughty to call a training grounds that has barely been around for long as ‘old’ definitely highlighted his character and ambition.

Evan Doughty is now a successful chairperson who regularly attends luxurious dinners and meetings with the upper-class people. He is no longer able to get chummy with the manager like he did in the past as a novice chairperson. He had to maintain a distance between himself and the people who work beneath him.

A second Tony Twain would never work for him ever again.

O’Neill was slightly horrified by Doughty’s words. “We cannot sell Pepe. He’s the most important element of the team’s defense…”

Doughty shook his head. He did not mind that the manager was protesting against his decision. “Right now, it’s not that about whether or not we want to sell him. The player is the one who came out saying he wants to leave. Nothing good will come out of keeping him at the club against his wishes. Besides, let me remind you that Pepe is already 31 years old this year. If we don’t sell a center-back at his age right now, we probably won’t be able to fetch a good price for him in the future.”

He sounded as though he was talking about oil prices or gold futures.

O’Neill did not back down because of Doughty’s words. The players that the club sold previously were all substitutes and players who were not so important to the team, which is why he did not particularly care about those sales. However, the club has already sold two of the team’s center-backs. If they were to sell Pepe as well, where would he be able to find another suitable center-back to replace him? If the team’s defense is unstable, how would he be able to maintain their results this year? The task that has been given to him by Evan Doughty himself is to maintain top four position and to ensure qualification into next year’s Champions League.

“I can speak to him again. I believe he is just influenced by Tony Twain’s decision to resign. He just can’t come to terms with it just yet. He’s just throwing a temper…”

“A 31-year-old kid throwing a temper?” Evan’s sneer cut O’Neill short.

O’Neill did not mind that the chairperson was mocking him. He continued to voice his opinions. “Pepe is the core of our defense. If he leaves, then the entire defense needs to be built from scratch once again. Now’s not the time for us to do that, Mr. Chairperson. The team is unstable after a change of managers, and it will only lose cohesion if we continue to sell players repeatedly… The new season is about to start soon. I think it’d be better if we can maintain stability in the team.”

“It’s the complete opposite, Mr. O’Neill.” Evan was starting to get irritated by the manager who keeps going against him. He stopped referring to O’Neill as ‘Martin’ and had instead changed to the address of ‘Mr. O’Neill’ that would make people feel like they were distant.

“I know exactly who Pepe listens to, and it’s not you. Keeping someone like him in the locker room would be the biggest threat to the stability of the team.”

Evan was right. He might not have stepped foot into the locker room before, but there were some things that he understood without even having to step foot into the locker room. Pepe was certainly not very pleased with the new manager, despite the latter being an accomplished manager just like Twain. There was only one person whom he would willingly serve in the whole wide world. It did not matter how brilliant the other managers were. Those managers would never replace the position that Twain has in his heart.

O’Neill kept silent for a moment, but continued to struggle. “I still think things would change for the better if I were to speak to him face-to-face once…”

Evan Doughty laughed. “It doesn’t matter how many times you speak to him, Pepe is hell-bent on leaving. You should just listen to me, Mr. O’Neill. Give up on him. We’d go and find another top-class center-back for you right now. There’s still time. You still have time to bring the team together. We can’t afford to drag this out for too long. It’d be too late once the season starts.”

“I still want to speak to him once. I’m the manager of this team. It’s my responsibility.” O’Neill stood up and left without saying another word.

Behind him, Evan Doughty smiled in disdain.

※※※

The outcome of O’Neill’s talk with Pepe was just as Evan Doughty had expected. Martin O’Neill was left feeling exhausted at the end of it all.

No matter how O’Neill tried to persuade Pepe, Pepe was just unwilling to remain in the team.

Pepe was forthcoming with his thoughts during their talk. He told O’Neill that he was not upset with him as a manager and that he was just utterly disappointed with the club right now. Tony Twain’s Nottingham Forest used to be a team brimming with warmth, but now that warmth has vanished without a trace. He did not like playing football in such an environment. His decision has nothing to do with the higher salary offered by other clubs. He has the right to choose to play football in a place that he enjoyed playing in. In the past, he enjoyed playing football in Forest, but he no longer enjoy it now, and that was all there was to it.

The player does not want to stay, and the club’s chairperson insists on selling. Martin O’Neill was sandwiched between both parties and there was little that he could do. He felt like the entire season he spent at Manchester United was not as exhausting as the two months that he spent at Nottingham Forest thus far.

In the end, O’Neill was left with no other choice but to nod his head and agree to Pepe’s departure.

It was just one day. Only one day had passed since he agreed to sell Pepe and news about a completed deal were published in Milan, Italy.

AC Milan spent 30 million pounds to buy the 31 year-old world-class center-back Pepe from Nottingham Forest. This deal was officially confirmed by both clubs shortly after.

O’Neill realized one thing after seeing the news. It did not matter if he agreed to Pepe’s sale or not. Pepe was bound to be sold from the start. Allan Adams, who is nowhere to be seen right now, must have already flown over to Milan some time back to finish all the required paperwork for Pepe’s transfer. It was only a matter of time before Pepe was sold, and even if O’Neill threatened to resign as a manager before Evan Doughty, the outcome would not change.

The higher-ups in the club had finished all that was needed for Pepe’s transfer by the time he met Doughty. He was the only one who did not know what was going on. O’Neill felt like Pepe must have known the outcome of their talk from the start as well. He was just like a fool trying to convince Pepe to stay behind in Forest…

※※※

Pepe’s departure was not well-received among the fans. However, none of the fans went over to Birmingham Airport to throw rotten eggs at him, and that alone was considered a blessing.

The media, on the other hand, saw something interesting that they could write about regarding the whole situation…

Martin O’Neill sounded deflated when he spoke in an interview, “Pepe is a talented center-back. His departure means I have to come up with a new plan to rebuild Forest…”

Clearly, Pepe’s transfer to another club was not something that the manager desired. That could only mean that the management had forcefully stepped in and sold Pepe against the manager’s wishes.

It seemed like the once impregnable Nottingham Forest warship was starting to crumble from the inside. This was something that caught the media’s attention.

The media then began to publish numerous articles about Pepe’s transfer, and the coverage led to growing unease within the Nottingham Forest players. No one knew who was the next one to be forcefully sold to another club.

After escaping the vortex that is Nottingham Forest, Pepe made an appearance at a press conference in Milan, where he held up AC Milan’s red and black striped jersey before the press. However, the smile he had on his face was not as bright as before. He looked like a kid who had run away from home and was reminiscing about the happy times that he spent with his family during the wee hours of the night.

The memories of those happy times would probably flood him when AC Milan faces off with Nottingham Forest in a Champions League match in the coming months. Of course, he might not reminisce about anything either.

A professional footballer has to learn to get used to separations, be it from their previous club or their previous team mates.

“I… Hope that I can… Help AC Milan clinch a Champions League trophy…” Pepe stuttered as he tried to speak in poor Italian.

AC Milan’s manager, Marco van Basten, was elated about Pepe’s transfer, because AC Milan had finally welcomed a qualified center-back into their feeble defense, and he could start thinking about how he was going to lead his team to dominate the whole of Europe.

“We now have the most talented center-back on this planet in our team!” The manager was so excited that he immediately commended Pepe as being the best in the world.

Conversely, his words also meant that Nottingham Forest had lost the best center-back in the world…

※※※

Pepe’s transfer was not like any other transfer. His sale sparked interest from other clubs towards Nottingham Forest’s other talented players.

If the club is willing to sell the core player of its defense, then will they sell Gareth Bale? What about Aaron Mitchell, or perhaps even George Wood?

Is there a player that Nottingham Forest would not sell?

All the football clubs throughout Europe went into a frenzy. In the eyes of the astute or perhaps even the not-so-astute football managers, Nottingham Forest was just like a big supermarket that had numerous items of excellent quality up for sale at reasonable prices. Things looked promising for Nottingham Forest after they won the Treble and moved into a brand new stadium, but clearly those things did not cause Forest to refuse to sell its players.

The players whom Tony Twain spent 11 years to groom all had their own respective values. The starting players were sought after by big clubs in Europe, whereas the substitutes were well thought of by mid-table clubs. If Evan Doughty sold all the players, he would easily rake in a profit of at least 500 million pounds.

George Wood alone was worth at least 60 million pounds. If he was an attacking player, he might be able to fetch a price of 90 million pounds.

The fact that he just signed a contract with the club did not cause his suitors to look away.

Signing a new contract with the club is nothing more than an attempt to mask his selling price! Don’t worry, we have the money!

“George Wood is the best midfielder in the world. He’s better than Gerrard.” Mourinho was being friendly towards Wood. His words also attacked his bitter rival Liverpool.

He wished that the steely midfielder from Forest would join Manchester United and help the team go against other strong teams.

Besides Wood, Mourinho also expressed an interest in Forest’s goalkeeper. “I hope that the team can bring in a world-class goalkeeper. A good goalkeeper is the key to becoming champions. Akinfeev is brilliant and I’ve always been keeping an eye on him. He has received a lot of experience and training during his time at Nottingham Forest, but I think it’s time for him to consider switching to another club…”

“Mitchell is the second Ibrahimović. He should come over to a big club like Inter Milan to play football.” Zola, the new head coach of Inter Milan, also expressed goodwill towards the player known as the ‘Little Giant of Forest’.

“Ribéry is brilliant, but he has gotten on with age. Perhaps this is the best time for Míchel González to rectify the mistake that Real Madrid made previously.” Diario AS published an article discussing Real Madrid’s failed attempt at bringing Pepe over to the club, and how they had switched targets and is focusing on Gago now.

“Barcelona’s tradition is to attack. We need a left back who is good at moving forward to attack. Bale fits what we need. That’s all there is to it.” Guardiola said those words when asked about the players he would buy in the summer.

“Agbonlahor is very quick. The past few years that he spent in Forest has nurtured him into an even better player. His shooting abilities have improved significantly. He’s the type of player that we need…” Manchester City was also keen on joining the battle for Forest’s players.

“Şahin is an immensely gifted player. If Bayern Munich wishes to prove that it is still a strong and powerful club in Europe, then he is the kind of player that they need to get.” According to the German media, Bayern Munich was getting closer to sealing a deal for the Germany-born Turkish footballer.

Other players such as Chris Cohen, Adriano Moke, Nicolás Millán, Joe Mattock and Rafinha also received invitations from other clubs as well. The whole of Europe interpreted Pepe’s sale as a message sent out by Nottingham Forest:

Our supermarket is always open for business. As long as you have the money, all players are up for sale. We hope you have a pleasant shopping experience here.

A wave of bids for its players assaulted Nottingham Forest Football Club. Martin O’Neill went to bed each night fearing that he would wake up the next morning and see that all his starting players had been sold by Allan Adams. He had no doubt that Allan Adams was capable of doing something like that, because the latter was a man who only had money in sight. He might have only known Adams for two months, but he was already starting to despise the businessman.

Right as O’Neill was being agonized by all the news of other clubs wanting to buy his players, he received a phone call from Pierce Brosnan.

“Mr. O’Neill, I am Pierce Brosnan from Nottingham Evening Post. You promised me last week that you’d let me interview you tomorrow. Do you remember?” Brosnan knew that O’Neill was going through a rough time lately, and he was worried that O’Neill would reject giving him an interview.

It was only then that O’Neill remembered that he did promise Brosnan to give him an interview. If he had not promised him earlier, he definitely would have rejected the interview since he has not been in a good mood recently.

Then again…

O’Neill suddenly felt an urge to rant to someone the moment he thought about all the things that had happened to him these couple of days. He did not care if the listener was the press or his own wife and children. He just felt like ranting to someone.

There were some words that he needed to get off his chest, and as for what would happen after he said those words, he did not particularly care.

“Yes, I’ve not forgotten about it, Mr. Brosnan. Come over to my office tomorrow at 10:30 in the morning. I’d be waiting for you there.”