Godfather Of Champions

　”Okay, no matter what, Tony Twain has left the footballing world. It’s time for us to stop focusing on him,” On BBC’s “Match of the Day”, the three guests said this when discussing about the important events that happened in the footballing world. They unanimously agreed that Twain’s retirement would be the second biggest event in England sports this year. The first was naturally England’s triumph in the World Cup.

This also represented the media’s attitude. After hogging the limelight for more than a month, with the start of the new season on the horizons, a retired manager would not be able to attract more attention anymore, even if he was a top manager. Besides, if Twain was to not manage any teams anymore, there would be no point in making a big hoo-ha out of his retirement. Outside of football, Tony Twain was nothing and the media did not have to entertain him anymore.

Twain was happy about it. Naturally, Shania had to work, and Twain was able to take care of the child at home without worries. The good thing was that Theresa spent the most difficult times of taking care of a child inside the orphanage and it was not difficult for a man like Twain to take care of her now. Twain had no experience being a father, but he kept a saying in mind, let the child be happy.

A man who was almost fifty acting like an overaged child in front of his kid, spending the whole day playing with Theresa, doing everything he could to make her happy. For now, his whole life revolved around Theresa. Football? He had already thrown that out of his mind.

Furthermore, in order to let Theresa get used to life in this foreign country, he would bring her out for walks often, or take her to Burns bar. Of course, beer was forbidden. He even allocated the area around Theresa as a “non-smoking zone”, and he forbade the fans from smoking there. Now that he was no longer busy with work, he could finally have more time to chat with his old pals in the bar. Everyone was more than happy for him to come daily and they could not care less about being unable to smoke. Theresa was very popular too. Even though she was adopted, the people did not care about it at all. If her father did not care, why should an outsider mind something like that?

This was the happy life that Twain led after retirement.

※※※

“Who do you think have the greatest chances of being champion in the new season?” Lineker asked the guests in the show.

“Liverpool,” Alan Hansen replied without hesitation.

“What’s the reason?”

“Do we need a reason for that? I’m a fan of theirs… Fine, I was just joking. I wish that Liverpool can become champion, but if we analyze it properly, I think Arsenal or Manchester United have the best odds of being champion…”

Lineker switched his attention to the other guest, Mark Lawrenson.

“Ahem,” Lawrenson cleared his throat and replied, “I think Chelsea has a good chance…”

“Then, the teams that will be able to qualify for the next UEFA Champions’ League?”

The two of them had the same answer for this question, “Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.”

Lineker suddenly popped up with a follow-up question, “No Nottingham Forest?”

Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson shook their heads in unison, “No.”

Lawrenson added, “It’ll be difficult for them to even qualify for the Europa League.”

The Europa League was previously known as the UEFA Cup. Following a change in format, the full name was then called “UEFA Europa League”. After the change, the Europa League made some adjustments to the competition format and the qualification process. Previously, the champions of the cup competitions for the various countries would be allowed to participate in the UEFA Cup. If the champions of the cup competitions could participate in the Champions’ League, the runners-up would take their place in the UEFA Cup. This was no longer a viable method now. For the medium to small clubs that wished to enter a European competition, the barrier to entry had become higher.

And Nottingham Forest had already failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions’ League for two seasons in a row, having to settle for a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

To many clubs, participating in the Europa League was a result that deserved praise. However, Nottingham Forest had been achieving very impressive results in the highest European competition just a few years back. Now that they had to settle for the Europa League, it gave people a feeling that they had “fallen”. After all, the influence and profits of Europa League could not be compared with that of the Champions’ League.

And there was something else that had affected Nottingham Forest’s performance. It was no longer a rumor but already a fact——Evan Doughty had always wanted to sell Nottingham Forest. How could a club chairman who had no intention to continue managing the club bring it forward? Up till now, Nottingham Forest had been changing managers so often that the media had already started to mock Nottingham Forest by saying the doors to their manager’s office was a “rotating door”.

One of the reasons why he failed to sell the club was because of poor results, which dropped their market value and therefore, nobody was interested in them. Nottingham is not a big city like Manchester, Liverpool or London after all. A small place is destined to have limited potential for growth. Therefore, the possibility of attracting a foreign investment group was very low. Another reason was because of price negotiation. There would be an occasional buyer, but Evan Doughty would always say that the price they offered was too low for him to accept. And so, this situation was stuck for two whole years. Every year, during preseason, during the January break and after the season ended, there would be news that said Doughty wanted to sell the club, but it was never fulfilled. The fans were disgusted by his lack of loyalty. Initially, they were furious at his behaviors, but now, they merely treated it as a joke and Evan Doughty became a clown in their eyes. The Robin Hood Grandstand of the Crimson Stadium would always have banners scolding Evan Doughty. It had already become a familiar sight here and during live broadcasts of the games, there would always be a close-up of that.

The good thing was they would always qualify for a European competition every year. The Champions’ League a few years back and the Europa League for the last couple of years. This meant they were still not in a stage where they could not make ends meet. However, the results for these competitions were no longer satisfactory. The frequent change of managers meant that people started to fear for their future, and they could not agree on a tactic to use. A new manager would bring with him a new tactic which would be abandoned mid-season when he was sacked, and everyone would have to start from scratch again…

Rinse and repeat, if they could still get good results after that, it could only mean that the English Premier League had no good teams left.

Once a team loses the ability and motivation to fight for the title, the team will inevitably find it hard to keep its players.

Michael Dawson, the center-back that Evan thought was good business, had been plagued with injuries ever since he joined the club, and he retired at the age of 34 due to injury. David Bentley had left Nottingham Forest for Blackburn and his transfer fee netted Nottingham Forest a cool 12 million pounds. Adriano Moke did not leave the club willingly, but he had no say over it. Both his agent and the club chairman wanted him gone because he could command a transfer fee of 18 million pounds. The agent could get a cut of the fee and he eventually left for Arsenal…

For the fans of Nottingham Forest, the four seasons after Twain left were the darkest times of the club. Ignoring the fact that the team won nothing, they had to witness the heroes of their times leave the club every summer. It was as if they had returned to the start of the century when Nottingham Forest was still languishing in the lower divisions.

At that time, they missed Brian Clough, saying that, “If Clough was still here, he’ll never let things become so bad.” Who did they miss now? Tony Twain of course. Too bad Twain had already retired.

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“The target for the club in the new season is to qualify for the Champions’ League? Ha! Be more realistic, mister chairman!” The fans from the surrounding areas were discussing about the future of the club in Burns’ bar. There was a tone of mockery in their words when they mentioned the club chairman, Evan Doughty.

“It’ll be not bad if we can qualify for the Europa League!”

“Even though it’s good to have lofty aspirations… It doesn’t apply to Doughty. Even if the results of the team become better, it’ll only increase his chips for selling the club…”

Twain ignored the serious discussion going on at the other side of the bar. He took his daughter, Theresa, with him to sit at one side and was trying to entertain her as she was starting to get bored.

“Theresa, do you want to hear a joke from Daddy?”

Theresa nodded her head.

“It was a very hot day and there are two bananas walking on the road. Suddenly, the banana walking in front said, ‘It’s so hot, I’m going to take off my clothes.’ And he took his clothes off after that. Then the banana behind fell! Ha ha ha ha!” Twain burst into laughter himself, holding his stomach, after telling Theresa the joke, “Isn’t it funny?”

Opposite him, Theresa pulled at the ends of her mouth, trying very hard to laugh. However, she could not complete such a difficult task after several attempts and she said to Twain in a sad tone, “Daddy, I can’t laugh…”

This time, it was Kenny Burns’ turn to burst into laughter.

Twain felt very awkward, “Okay then… I know that this joke is a little difficult for you to understand…” He scratched his head and turned to look at the bar owner who suddenly appeared. He changed the topic in a hurry, “Why are you not wiping the glasses?”

Burns placed a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice in front of Theresa, “Theresa, this is my treat to you.”

“Thank you, Uncle Kenny,” Theresa’s English was improving by leaps and bounds. A child’s learning capability would always surprise an adult. Now, she can already understand some English and she can also converse in basic English.

Burns took this opportunity to sit next to Twain, “They all wish that you’ll return…” He pointed at the fans at the other end who were still in a heated discussion, “But, they don’t dare to tell you directly.”

“Twain looked at Theresa drinking her juice opposite him, “I’m retired.”

“Jordan retired three times and he came back three times too,” Burns laughed.

Twain looked at him, but he did not sense any unusual expression from him. It was as if it was just a passing remark.

Burns collected the empty glasses on the table before walking slowly back behind the bar table. Twain looked at his back view behind him. This man used to be a famous thug in the English footballing world. He used to be someone that all his opponents feared. Legends said that if he took part in a competition somewhere, the hospitals nearby would set up a new “Burns” wing. Before the 1980 Champions’ League final, he used a set of dentures to threaten the Ballon d’Or winner then, Kevin Keegan, causing him to play badly in the final. During the game, Keegan did not see much of the ball and Hamburger SV lost that match, allowing Nottingham Forest to retain their trophy. After he retired, he managed a bar here. His ability to make the leaders of the football hooligans listen to him definitely had something to do with his notorious reputation. But now, he had a head of white hair and his back was also slightly bent. No matter how one looked at him, he did not look like the butchering thug that everyone was afraid of.

This man later became a middle-aged uncle, wiping glasses daily behind a bar table. Now, he had already become an ordinary old man wiping glasses daily behind a bar table.

Twain turned back to look at his daughter, and he realized that his daughter was also looking at him, saying sheepishly, “Daddy, I can’t finish it…”

Twain reached out to pat her on her head, “It’s okay if you can’t finish it. It’s time to go back, Theresa.”

With that, he left his seat and held Theresa’s hand.

Theresa jumped down and held her daddy’s hand as the two of them walked out.

“Goodbye pals,” Twain waved at the fans who were still involved in a heated discussion.

When they realized that he was leaving, they stopped their discussion and looked at him, as if they had something to say, but nobody said anything. In the end, only Fat John shouted as Twain was about to walk out of the door, “Are you coming tomorrow, Tony?”

Twain turned back to look at him, “I can’t say for sure. I can’t be coming over here everyday. If I bring Theresa here everyday, I’m afraid she might turn bad. Ha ha!”

Twain did not stay to chat as he laughed and pushed open the door to leave.

Tony Twain had never thought that he was old. However, in the eyes of these people, Twain walking out slowly with his daughter in tow probably could be considered as an old man now.

He was not even fifty years old yet and his body was not considered old yet. However, his heart was already old. That nuclear-powered heart of a champion that never stopped beating had slowed down and was slowly becoming quiet. Now that he had won all the trophies that he should have won, what was left to excite him? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He had no reason to come back with a body that had a heart condition to satisfy the desires of the audience.

Maybe this was what he had always wanted. He had already planned long ago that he would leave in glory after winning the world cup. His glorious image would not be smeared, and people did not have to talk about the “the end of a hero”.

However, to the audience, what was the point of watching a show if the most eye-catching leading character had left the stage? During the final concerts of the biggest stars, they would always be asked back for an encore by their fans, sing a few more songs, leave, and then called back for another encore, again and again to show their popularity.

Too bad they could not shout in front of Twain, “Come back Tony! Sing another song for us!”

“I hope that Tony can have a happy and healthy life, especially now that he has a daughter. By why do I prefer that guy who would be so animated on the sidelines, spitting at the fourth official?”

Skinny Bill muttered.

“I like that too…” Someone else muttered next to him.

Bill took a look and found that it was John. They looked at each other before laughing together.

“Why would he return? Forest is in a mess, come back here to smear his reputation as the Godfather of Champions? It’s better if he doesn’t come back…”

Both of them shook their heads at the same time.