Godfather Of Champions

“Abramovich arrives in Nottingham and will be watching the game live”

That was the latest report from the Nottingham Evening Post about the game between Forest and Chelsea. Like the arrival of Mourinho’s team in Nottingham, this piece of news was placed in the sports section. The other half of the section belonged to Tony Twain, and the pair stood together to occupy half of the edition.

The editor’s intention was obvious. Readers did not have to look at the text to know the meaning behind the news. These three men were the real focus of this game.

“This game is very important for Mourinho. Moreover, now that Abramovich has suddenly come to Nottingham to watch the game, we have to wonder if the outcome of this game will affect Mourinho’s position? There are so many rumors about Mourinho’s impending dismissal. Even though Mourinho always refuted it, everyone seemed to have agreed on this fact — if Mourinho loses this game…”

Twain threw the newspaper away.

He saw Mourinho push the door open and hurriedly walk in. He still had his thick coat on. Apparently, he just walked off the training ground.

His team was on the field, doing their adaptive training in the stadium, and he came for the pre-match press conference.

Twain got up and held out his hand to Mourinho. It was just for show. He did not remember if the two of them had really shaken hands before a press conference.

He did not expect Mourinho to extend his hand, but he kept a straight face and did not make any polite conversation. Knowing that he had been in trouble lately, Twain did not make any sarcastic remarks. The two managers just had to do their part — to lead their respective teams to win the game. As for the fate of the others, they just had to wait until the game was over.

The two men did not have any conversation and went straight to the press conference.

When the reporters gathered in the press hall saw the two protagonists enter, they raised the cameras in their hands at them and pressed the shutters.

The two men sat on the stage and waited for the reporters to capture enough pictures before they began to answer questions.

Although it was the Forest team’s home ground, Mourinho received a lot of attention because there were many rumors about him. For more than three seasons at Chelsea, Mourinho had branded Chelsea with his personal mark. Almost everyone was used to the connection of “Mourinho is Chelsea, and Chelsea is Mourinho.” It was hard to imagine what Chelsea would look like without him.

His predecessors — Gullit, Vialli, Ranieri and others — did not give people such deep impressions. Besides the better media, perhaps the most important reason was that Mourinho’s personality was really extremely strong and unique.

No one cared about the game against Nottingham Forest. Everyone was concerned about the conflict between Mourinho and Abramovich, the conflict with certain players, and the conflict with Grant.

“Mr. Mourinho, may I ask what it means for Abramovich to come to Nottingham to watch the game.”

“Chelsea is his team. Isn’t it normal for Mr. Chairman to want to watch the game live?”

“There are rumors that…”

“I’m not interested in responding to rumors.”

“So Chelsea has not done very well this season. Is this…”

“Every team has its ups and downs. Even Arsenal, with its forty-nine unbeaten streak, has lost. AC Milan, with its fifty-eight unbeaten games, has lost, too. Why is Chelsea not allowed to lose?” Mourinho replied with an unpleasant expression on his face.

“About the recent news that you’re leaving…”

“I said I have no interest in answering the rumors.”

The press conference came to an impasse. Twain made an exception not to hit him while he was down and coolly watched Mourinho’s duel of words with the pack of reporters. After a moment, he suddenly stood up and got hold of a microphone. “I’m sorry, I think I’m in the wrong place. Gentlemen, please continue.”

With that, he turned to step off the stage and walked right out the door.

Nobody expected Twain, who had been silent, to explode and were all stunned. Only Mourinho glanced at Twain and got up. “With this reminder from Mr. Twain, I also realized that I’m in the wrong place. Sorry to disturb you. Goodbye.”

With that, he followed Twain. The reporters were still stunned.

Twain heard footsteps coming from behind and looked back to see Mourinho. He suddenly laughed.

“You’re alone on your own stage. How can you leave just like that?”

“If you want it, I don’t mind giving it to you.” Mourinho pointed at the open door behind him with a straight face.

The mood between the two men returned to normal.

“Forget it, I’m afraid the reporters were left speechless and will leave.” Twain smirked.

Mourinho did not comment. Instead, he said, “goodbye, Mr. Twain.” He had to go to the stadium to oversee the team’s training. There was no time to gossip with Twain.

Seeing Mourinho was about to turn and leave, Twain suddenly cried, “hey, Mr. Mourinho.”

“What’s the matter, Mr. Twain?” Mourinho turned around to look at him.

“Can we grab a drink together after the game?”

Mourinho did not expect Twain to say such a thing. He froze, and then smiled, “I must be hearing things. But no, I’m not going to drink with the enemy, even after the game… If I win, I might say yes.”

Twain shook his head. “That’s not going to work. If you win, I’ll refuse. But you’re not going to win.”

Mourinho did not say anything else and turned to walk away.

Twain stood at the door and watched for a moment. As he was about to walk away, he heard the sound of footsteps and looked back to see the reporters from the press conference run out and he hurriedly waved. “I said I walked in the wrong place, so I do not accept any interviews!”

A group of people stopped three meters from of him.

“We have the right to ask questions!” someone in the crowd shouted.

“I also have the right to refuse to answer.” Twain shrugged. “Goodbye, folks.”

Twain walked after Mourinho.

※※※

Twain and Mourinho’s refusals to cooperate at the press conference upset many media outlets, because they had no news to attract attention the day before the game.

Instead, they pushed a story on how the two men left the venue and slammed both for being ungracious. However, that kind of news was common for Twain and Mourinho, so their supporters would not take it seriously. They would take it even less seriously.

Shania studied the newspapers for a long time before she looked up at Twain. “So does it mean if he can’t win this game, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance of him being fired?”

Twain shrugged. “Possibly. That’s another team’s matter, so nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. It’s no use no matter how many rumors there are.”

“In other words, will he be able to stay at Chelsea if he wins?”

This time Twain shook his head firmly. “Impossible. I’m not saying he can’t win. It’s just that even if Chelsea wins against Nottingham Forest, he won’t be at Chelsea for long.”

“You just said the rumors outside aren’t credible.”

“It’s not about the rumors. I’m just analyzing it based on his and Abramovich’s personalities… Those two are unlikely to work together for a long time.”

“Because they’re both temperamental?”

Twain nodded. “Both are very strong and want to succeed. No one will give in, refuse to suffer, refuse to lose… That’s how things will develop. Shania, have you ever heard of the Chinese idiom ‘two tigers cannot live on the same mountain?'”

“Never heard of it. What does it mean?”

“A mountain cannot have two tigers. The tiger is the king of beasts, the leader. There can’t be two leaders at the same time, or else no one will listen to anyone. There would be chaos. That’s the situation with Chelsea right now. Abramovich and Mourinho are two tigers and both want to be the boss. Mourinho believes that he is not getting enough power and trust, while Abramovich believes that Mourinho’s presence has threatened his authority in the club. That’s the way it turned out.” He spread his hands.

She turned her eyes and suddenly smiled. “But in my opinion, Uncle Tony is also a big old tiger! Whoo-hoo, it’s a terrible sight when you flare up!”

“Hey!” Twain curled his fingers to look like claws, and roared. “How am I scary?”

“Just like that!” Shania pointed at Twain. She huddled on the couch and curled up as she shook and looked at Twain with wide eyes.

As he looked at her lovable appearance, knowing that she was pretending, Twain’s heart suddenly beat faster. He stood stock-still with his hands on his hip.

Shania found Twain suddenly in a daze, and she reached out to wave her hand in front of Twain’s eyes. “Uncle Tony?”

“Ah? Ah…” Twain snapped back to reality, feeling a little strange. He sat down on the couch and did not look at Shania. He just stared at the television.

“What’s the matter with you, Uncle Tony?” Shania leaned on Twain’s shoulder.

Twain could feel her body heat penetrating through his clothes and he could smell her fragrance. He suddenly felt distracted and agitated. He stood up. “Er, I feel a little dizzy. Maybe I’m too tired, so I’m going to rest. There’s still a game tomorrow…”

He walked toward the stairs. Halfway there, he stopped to look back at Shania, who was still gazing at him from the couch.

“You should rest early as well. Don’t stay up too late to watch TV.”

Shania looked at him and did not say yes.

“Good night, Shania.” Twain waved to her.

“Good night, Uncle Tony…” Shania waved the Totoro pillow in her hands.

When Twain went upstairs, followed by the sound of the closing door, Shania looked at the Totoro pillow in her hands and sighed.

“Good night, Totoro.” She waved the Totoro’s arm and imitated the Totoro. “Good night, Jor.”

She put down her pillow, got up to switch off the television, and walked up the stairs.

※※※

Just like London, the pitter patter of the rain came down on the usually sunny Nottingham on the day of the game with no sign of stopping. The temperature plummeted three degrees from early morning to the afternoon.

A football match was dependent on the weather. However, a sharp drop in temperature could increase the chance of the players getting hurt. Consequently, in the last warm-up before the game, Mourinho asked the team to increase the intensity of the warm-up to thoroughly fire up the bodies.

Chelsea’s assistant manager and Mourinho’s most trusted, Steve Clarke, directed and oversaw the team’s warm-up from the sidelines. Their manager stayed in the locker room; not out of habit, but because someone had looked for him.

“José, I need a beautiful victory, especially when it comes to facing this opponent.” Mr. Abramovich, the owner of the club and its chairman, appeared in his casual clothes in a place he should not have been.

“Yes, as you wish, Mr. Chairman.” Mourinho replied a little too politely.

“I don’t think what I’m saying is clear. I want a beautiful victory, José.”

“But this is an away game on the home ground of Nottingham Forest. It’s not going to be easy for us to play well, Mr. Chairman.” Mourinho retorted unceremoniously.

Abramovich’s face was a ugly to look at. “This is my team and I hope it can win beautifully!”

Mourinho made a “please” gesture. “The players will be back in a moment. Why don’t you come explain tactics to them and sit in the technical area to direct the game, Mr. Chairman?”

That was greatly disrespectful to the club chairman and unacceptable to the one in a high position. His authority had been met with a very serious provocation.

Abramovich did not get angry there. He left with a dark face. After he walked out of the locker room, he dialed Mourinho’s close friend and agent, Mendes.

Mourinho, who sat in the locker room, frowned but was not angry. He was just thinking hard about his future prospects.

※※※

Fifteen minutes later, as the starting players of the two teams stepped out of the tunnel and set foot on the field, thunderous cheers erupted in the stands of the City Ground stadium, which jolted the rain.

The two men, Mourinho and Twain appeared at the exit at the same time. The television footage immediately cut to a shot of both of them, giving up the broadcast of the players’ entrance. Mourinho pursed his mouth slightly, without the slightest smile. With a smile on his face, Twain looked very confident. Although Mourinho was a world-renowned manager, and Chelsea had many world-renowned star players, Twain and the Forest team had a psychological advantage against the team.

“Tony Twain and José Mourinho!” the television commentator exclaimed. “This is the seventh encounter in the league tournament for these two most idiosyncratic young managers in the English Premier League. Previously, Mourinho had never defeated Tony Twain. For the proud Portuguese, this is undoubtedly an embarrassment. Not just in the league tournament, but in last season’s Champions League semi-final as well. Nottingham Forest, led by Tony Twain, kept Chelsea out of Athens. Mourinho has every reason to settle the score with Tony Twain, not to mention his recent bad situation…”

Mourinho and Twain did not shake hands or talk before the game. They immediately parted ways once they were out of the tunnel, one to the left and the other to the right.

The misty drizzle was still falling.

Nottingham’s cold and rainy night was likely to be José Mourinho’s last ninety minutes at Chelsea.