Godfather Of Champions

Dunn saw Evan Doughty show up at the cafe’s entrance right on time, exactly to the minute of their appointment. Evan Doughty did not bring anyone and nobody near him looked like a reporter. Dunn breathed a little easier.

Evan Doughty stopped at the door and looked around. Dunn did not raise his hand to indicate his seated position. Doughty soon found him. He walked straight up to Dunn and sat down on the opposite side.

The waiter came up and politely asked him what he would like to drink.

It was not a famous coffee shop. Such an ordinary café was common and nondescript. That was why Evan Doughty picked such a place. He casually ordered a regular cup of coffee. He was not here today for a coffee, but to discuss the future of Nottingham Forest with the Chinese man in front of him.

There was probably no precedent of hiring a Chinese man as a manager in European football. The Chinese football standard was very low. How could a good manager be produced in that kind of environment?

If Dunn knew what Evan Doughty thought, he must have felt like crying and laughing. He was a true-blue Englishman, while the much-admired Tony Twain was, in fact, a hundred percent Chinese. He did not know how Mr. Evan Doughty would feel if he knew the truth.

Was it important whether he was Chinese or British?

As long as he had the ability, what difference did it make?

The meeting between the two men officially began when the waiter served the coffee.

“I really did not expect the Chinese lad of back then would reach such an achievement today,” Evan Doughty said as he looked across at Dunn. He was not pretending. In fact, when Twain introduced Dunn to him at the time, he really did not think that the Chinese kid without even a coaching certificate would be here today, sitting face to face with him and possibly facing the future of coaching Nottingham Forest.

“Frankly speaking, Dunn, Although Tony approves of your succession, I still have some doubts. You know…”

“I know. I lack certain experience in coaching top teams,” Dunn took the lead in the discussion. He was not angry because it was true. Having worked in the football world for more than a decade, seven years as a manager, he was already well aware of the only truth in that world: results represented strength, and strength represented everything. He did not have any results worth commendation, so he would naturally be looked down upon.

“Ha, it’s good that you know,” Evan Doughty laughed drily. “Tony thinks very highly of you, and I think he has his own reasons. Let’s not talk nonsense. Can I hear your plans for the team’s future? If you were to coach the Forest team, which direction would you take it?”

Dunn had been thinking about this question since Twain came to him about taking over the position as the Forest team’s manager.

Now he already had a basic answer.

“I think Nottingham Forest needs to be knocked down and rebuilt.”

Dunn’s first words shocked Evan Doughty. He had thought that the foundation Twain left behind would only require minor alterations and adjustments, and it would be fine. It would maintain stability and the results would naturally improve. He did not expect the first notion that this Chinese man came up with was to overturn everything completely.

“Why? Don’t tell me that the foundation Tony has left for you is not good enough.”

Dunn smiled and said, “He did not leave me anything.” Seeing that Evan Doughty was puzzled, Dunn asked, “Other than signing Chen Jian during the winter transfer period, did he propose to you any other players to purchase?”

Evan thought about it carefully. Indeed, he did not. Tony did not mention which players he was going to buy, except Chen Jian. It was reasonable to say that the strength of the team was not optimal, and the winter period was a great opportunity to bolster it. However, Twain was unlike his usual self and did not make any moves in the transfer market. The media had been watching Nottingham Forest throughout January, but the team bade its time with the transfers.

Evan was surprised at the time but did not think of the real reason behind it. He only realized now that Dunn reminded him. So what was the reason for this?

“And isn’t he always switching the players within the team?” When he saw Evan’s expression, Dunn knew he had hit the mark, so he followed up with another question.

Evan looked up and glanced at Dunn. The Chinese man had guessed it again. If Tony had not revealed his reasons to him in advance, maybe he and Twain really thought alike…

To knock the team down and rebuild it?

But was it really necessary to get to this point?

At the thought of knocking down everything that was built before, Evan Doughty felt some heartache.

In fact, Twain did not reveal his ideas to Dunn because he did not want to interfere with Dunn’s intentions. However, from the things that Twain had done, Dunn had deduced what Twain was doing, which was to pave the way for him to take over.

He was really a meddlesome guy…

“Now this team still has remnants of Tony Twain’s direction, but Tony and I have completely different styles of managing. His team may not be suitable for me. Mr. Doughty, do you know why, no matter how many managers you had changed in the last four seasons, you couldn’t get the team back to its former standards?”

“Changing the managers too often?” Evan Doughty comprehended it this way: the managers changed too frequently, so the tactical thinking was not unified. As a result, the players were at a loss and their loyalty to the manager was reduced. Hence, the results were naturally poor.

Dunn shook his head and said, “The root cause was that the managers you changed later were not Tony Twain. Tony had coached the Forest Team for 11 years. Starting from the youth team to the First Team, he had long imprinted on the team that it was useless to change people. The players simply could not accept anything from anyone but him. However, if I took over the team, the situation would be different. Tony can’t come back and stoke the fire again. If you want the team to have long-term development, you have to start over. It was why Tony had been cleaning up the old players without buying new ones during the winter transfer window.”

Hearing Dunn’s rhetoric, Evan Doughty was surprised. He did not expect Twain to think so far ahead. At the same time, he had to view the Chinese man’s abilities in a new light.

“Tony has always wanted the team to get rid of the dependence on him and to be able to shake off his imprint. He has been thinking about it since the time he had a heart attack. However, he never could do as he wished. Just before he retired for good was his last chance.”

Nottingham Forest was on its own. It was not Tony Twain’s Nottingham Forest anymore.

Dunn always remembered this.

At the thought of Twain, and of himself as well, Dunn was suddenly full of confidence in himself. A wave of pride surged in his heart.

He told Evan, “Mr. Doughty, do you want the team to be called ‘a strong traditional Premier League team’ in a few years’ time? Do you want to see the team play in the Champions League every season? I can’t guarantee you that we can lift the Champions Trophy a few years from now. I can’t guarantee that I can become like Tony Twain and win 12 trophies in 11 years either. If you just want to win, I can’t promise anything. However, I can lay a solid foundation for your team. The foundation would pave the way for Nottingham Forest to become a powerhouse team. Mr. Doughty, do you like to ride in a roller coaster or keep your feet on the ground as you move forward?”

Doughty thought that he had come here to test Dunn, but now Dunn was testing him.

However, he had to face the issues that the man had raised up because these questions were on his mind.

Tony Twain had led the team to win 12 championships in 11 years. In this way, the team was still being described as an upstart. In the past, he was unwilling to accept that once Tony Twain retired, Nottingham Forest might not be successful. As it turned out, when Tony Twain left, Nottingham Forest really could not play well.

What was the reason that caused it? Why was Manchester United able to stay in the top four of the Premier League even when Ferguson left, while Nottingham Forest was in decline?

It really seemed like a roller coaster ride, from the peak to the bottom in an instant.

Did he just want the next championship title or the long-term future?

“Don’t powerhouses need to win the championship titles as well?” He asked, still wary.

“A powerhouse team needs the championship titles. But just winning championship titles does not make a team into a powerhouse,” Dunn explained to him. “Chelsea won many titles in the Mourinho era. However, had anyone admitted that they were champions? Now that you already have many championship trophies, it’s time to satisfy another condition.”

Evan Doughty did not ask Dunn what the condition was, because it was sitting opposite him.

“I want to keep my feet on the ground and move forward,” Evan finally answered Dunn’s previous question. He also answered the question in his own heart.

Dunn laughed.

From 1996 to 2019, he went around in a big circle and came back to the starting point.

※※※

Twain knew about Dunn’s contract with the club from the first moments because it was Dunn who called to inform him.

On the phone, Dunn thanked Twain.

“Thank you, Tony.”

“You’re making me embarrassed by saying that, Dunn,” Twain was embarrassed himself and added, “The position should have been yours from the start. I’m just giving it back to you.”

“Based on what I had done before, I could stay in that position for maybe half a season. If it were not for you, I wouldn’t have grown like that. Therefore, I want to thank you, not just because I am going to coach Nottingham Forest again. If I hadn’t met you, I might have just paddled through the rest of my life.”

Twain and Dunn both remembered their souls and bodies from before January 1, 2003.

There was a brief silence on the phone.

It was not an awkward silence. Both men seemed to be caught up in their own memories, enjoying the silence, which was left undisturbed.

Me and him, he and I, had it not been for that “accident”, we should have lived our lives separately. What would it be like? No one knew for sure. In short, they had both undergone irreversible changes, and no one could say whether those changes were good or bad for either of them.

Those notes pasted on the fridge, the “must win!!!” note, the familiar face holding a book in the streets of Chengdu waiting to cross the road, the brother in the old home who could not sleep. In the past, those images would mingle together and would not be able to be separated from one another.

“I have nothing to say, Dunn, except wish you good luck. However, you have to be careful. If you do badly, I will not hold back and will abuse you in the media.”

Dunn’s light laughter rang out on the other end of the line.

“I hope I won’t give you the chance.”

After ending the call, Twain was still holding his cell phone.

It had been 16 years. He finally returned the team to Dunn. The last sense of his guilt was gone. Earth to earth, dust to dust. Anyway, a proper ending was a good thing.

What would happen to Nottingham Forest next was beyond his control. He just wanted everything to be okay and hoped that Dunn would succeed. He hoped that he did not misjudge him.

He gave the team 12 years as the captain. Before people could get tired of him, it was better to leave as a dashing legendary figure in the football world.

※※※

Dunn put his cell phone aside and looked again at the stack of papers on the table. This was the contract he had just signed with the Forest club today and it would automatically take effect after the end of the English Football League Championship season.

Nottingham Forest would inform the Notts County club. They must pay compensation to Notts County. Dunn was not worried about Notts County not letting go of him. They could not even keep those players with potential, so naturally, they could not keep him. It was the same logic.

It was just that the Notts County fans might be angry for a while.

Since he joined the Nottingham Forest club in 1996, he had worked his way up from doing odd jobs. He had now truly become the manager of Nottingham Forest. He suddenly developed a dreamlike sensation. Was he really going to coach the team?

He had coached the team briefly once in 2003. However, at the time, the team performed badly, and he was a rookie. Today, he had yet to achieve results that would make people proud while Nottingham Forest had already swept through Europe led by his other self to establish an undeniable presence. Was he capable to lead such a team back on the road again?

Thinking of this question, Dunn smiled bitterly. It was immature to worry about it at this moment. No matter whether he was capable or not, he had already signed the contract. He could not get off the bus, whether he did well or badly.

He closed the contract and put it in the pullout drawer. Then he got up and stretched his back.

Becoming Twain’s successor? It was a challenging job. He did not know how people and history would evaluate him in this role in a few years’ time.

Would he and Tony be like Paisley and Shankly?

Only time would tell…