Godfather Of Champions

“Just forget about the league title. Don’t think it’s going to be enough to get that.” On the training ground, Twain lectured the team.

After winning the league title, he sensed that there had been some laxity on the team. It had to do with the league title, which had made people feel that their mission had been completed and that however they played from then on, they had one championship title in hand and could have a good holiday.

Twain did not think so. Even though winning the league title was worthy of celebration, it was no reason to relax in preparing for the Champions League.

“The league title was delightful, but there are more lovely treats waiting for us: the Champions League title. Don’t you want to have a taste of defending the title?” Twain waved his arms as he painted a wonderful picture of the future for everyone. “Don’t relax! It’s hard to stir yourselves up after you relax. Now there are people out there who say that since Nottingham Forest has the league title, the best result is for Chelsea to win the Champions League title. It’s all bullshit! Why is it the best result to cede a championship title to another team? Are we here to fulfill another team’s wishes after we made it to the finals after much difficulty? Since we have advanced into the final, we must win the championship. Getting the first runner-up title would be a failure!”

At the end of the lecture, Twain handed over the command of training to Dunn and Kerslake, and went back to his office. Allan Adams was already waiting. They were going to discuss plans to go to the Far East to make money in the summer.

Twain was aware of the impact on the team of using valuable training time to fly halfway around the world to play commercial competitions. He had seen a number of precedents, but he had to obey the club’s arrangements.

In the first few seasons when he needed to buy players, the club’s finances always tried to satisfy him as much as possible. Now the team had achieved results, he naturally had to repay the club’s finances. Furthermore, the club was financially tight after the construction of the new stadium and needed to obtain money from somewhere to temporarily ease the situation. Going to Asia to play commercial competitions was the quickest way to see results.

Consequently, he could not refuse.

“We have been in touch with them and launched the campaign in four countries: China, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia.” Allan did not even say hello when he saw Twain. He got straight to the point.

“Four countries?”

Allan nodded. “Five regions in four countries, including Hong Kong. Just treat the five games as the pre-season friendlies. He smiled at Twain, knowing that he and Twain were at odds.

Twain thought about it. There were five games before the season. The players would perhaps be physically unable to play more games after the long flight.

“What other activities are there besides the games?” Twain knew that for the team to travel all the way to Asia, it was impossible to return with just five games. Allan would not be that considerate.

“Well, there are three commercial events and a charity dinner, which requires everyone to attend. Beckham also has a number of specific activities arranged… You know, he’s the most popular person.”

“Sounds like a hectic summer.” Twain shrugged.

After they finished discussing Allan’s work, Allan casually asked Twain, “Tony, the Champions League game on the twenty-first…”

“You want to ask how confident the team is of winning?” Twain guessed.

Allan nodded.

“It’s more effective to promote with the Double title, isn’t it?”

Allan smiled. “You’re a smart man, Tony.”

“Ha, even if it’s not for publicity, I must get this championship title in my hands!” Twain clenched his fists. “So you can rest assured that when I said I want the Double, it means the Double.”

Allan glanced at the team training outside. He got up and held out his hand out to Twain. “Then Evan and I wait for your good news, Tony.”

After they shook hands, Allan said goodbye, and Twain went out to the training ground to continue supervising.

※※※

After the league tournament ended, the English media could focus hype on the Champions League final. Unlike the year before, this year was an English “civil war” which gave the English press a lot more to speculate on.

For the two managers, the media were determined to start a pre-match battle.

The Sun posted large photographs of the two men with a caption between the two photographs:

Grant? Who’s that?

When Grant had just taken over as the Chelsea manager, Tony Twain had said that to show his contempt. His remark held some sway because everyone thought that Grant was incapable of leading Chelsea, especially since his predecessor was so idiosyncratic that it left a lasting mark on the team.

Even Twain did not expect Grant to manage to lead Chelsea and stagger all the way into the Champions League final. It was the first time in Chelsea’s history that they had reached the Champions League final, knowing that even a powerful manager like Mourinho did not finish the initiative. The final had not been played yet, but Grant had already made history for the club.

With that contrast in performance, the Sun’s intention in bringing the remark to the surface again was clear — to provoke a new round of war of words between the managers and to mock and anger Twain, so that he would come out and publish another shocking article.

A headline was not enough. The Sun also listed the feuds and game record between the two teams in recent years. Tony Twain’s team had the upper hand, but it further stirred the Chelsea fans’ hatred of Nottingham Forest. After the media’s exaggeration of Tony Twain’s smugness and arrogant manner of despising everyone, it became more deeply rooted. The media were keen for the Chelsea fans to think that Twain felt that they did not need to play in the final because his team would win.

Supporters of both teams had not been idle, showing up one by one to give their views on the game.

John Motson wrote in his column on the BBC, claiming to be bullish on Nottingham Forest defending its title. Although it was difficult to defend the title, Tony Twain and his team were used to creating miracles. Furthermore, the match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United had shown the team’s resilience, so he believed the final victory belonged to Tony Twain and Nottingham Forest.

Far away in Portugal, Mourinho remained concerned about the team he once coached. He was still dismissive of Grant, but, emotionally, he supported Chelsea’s bid to win. His reasons were quite his style — this is the team I left behind, I laid the foundation for the team for three years, and now Grant doesn’t have to do anything. He just needed to follow my routine and reap the rewards. But I’m still proud of the performance of the Chelsea lads. What? Ever since Tony Twain came to power, Chelsea had not been able to win against Nottingham Forest? That’s not a problem. This embarrassing record will officially be gone in Moscow on the night of May 21st…

In such intense battle atmosphere, Grant also eventually did not hold back. In an interview with Sky TV, he spoke about his personal feud with Twain. In fact, it could be considered an outpouring of grievances plus a counter-offensive. First he complained that he had never been acknowledged. Even if he had led the team to the Champions League final, the media still talked about whether he would leave again after the end of the season.

“Mr. Abramovich has just signed a new three-year contract with me. We are now hopeful of winning the Champions League title, which Mourinho’s Chelsea had never even made it to the Champions League final. I do not admit that the failure of the league tournament was due to me. There were too many liabilities from the first half of the season. I have been compensating for this ever since I took over this team. I think it is very good to be able to get to this point. I don’t understand why you’re still talking about my successor…”

Then he talked about that famous “who is that” incident. “Tony Twain is an extremely peculiar manager. He’s always so casual in judging others. I think we are long used to it. But I’m glad I now have the opportunity to prove ‘who I am’ in front of him.” These words held a great grievance. Apparently, the anger provoked by Twain had been increasingly accumulated in Grant’s heart, waiting for the right moment to explode.

This right timing was the Champions League final. What better revenge was there for Grant to feel great than to defeat the insufferably arrogant Tony Twain and his team in the Champions League final and then to pick up the trophy?

After Grant spoke, Tony Twain also jumped out to take on the challenge. He wrote in his column:

“I am glad that Mr. Grant finally understood his situation. He said he was happy to have the opportunity now to prove ‘who he is’ in front of me, stating that he himself understood that he needed to prove to me and that he did not know who he was until he had received my acknowledgement.”

These remarks caused the supporters of Nottingham Forest to burst into laughter, but almost made Grant fly into a rage. Obviously, he just thought about how to beat Twain, but unwittingly fell into Twain’s trap with words.

So, he fought back in the media again, but Twain did not take up a challenge this time. He said, “I loathe this behavior of attracting attention using one’s words before the game, so I’m not going to quarrel with Mr. Grant in the press. The title trophy does not belong to who can spit more saliva. I will not be involved in this kind of meaningless hype. I am sorry.”

These words choked Grant until he was dumbfounded. He had never seen such a shameless person… He had been happy to engage in a war of words with him before and now that he had gotten what he wanted, he immediately did an about-turn and back-pedaled. This excuse he used was high-sounding, but it was incongruent with his image!

※※※

Although Twain was full of contempt and disdain for Grant in the war of words, he was not stupid enough to believe that Grant was such a vulnerable opponent. Mourinho’s words were not reliable enough. To be able to bring a team that had undergone major personnel changes in the middle of the season into the Champions League final, they had to not have just relied on the team left behind by the predecessor to do so.

Twain fully inherited the glorious tradition of the older generation of revolutionaries. The way he would treat the enemy first was to strategically despise him, and then do not underestimate him tactically. He had said disdainfully, “Who is Grant?” In fact, since discovering that Grant’s team improving in the Champions League, he had been paying attention to this opponent. He did not know if Grant’s team would be able to reach the Champions League final, so he just treated him as an opponent they might encounter in the future. It had come in handy now.

Nottingham Forest’s coaching unit had been gathering all the latest information about Chelsea, such as Ashley Cole was hurt in training, Lampard’s mother had passed away and so on. As long as there was information that could affect the game, it would be sorted out and put on Twain’s desk.

Although he had dealt with Chelsea many times and both teams were no stranger to each other, Twain believed the game on the evening of 21st had to not be the same as any previous game. Chelsea, which broke into the Champions League final for the first time, was bound to be hungry like a pack of wolves. Without their Manager Grant’s motivation, they would also be full of fighting spirit.

This time it was a tough opponent and it was not going to be an easy game. The psychological warfare had been played. Ultimately, it depended on how the two teams performed on the field to see which team the title belonged to.

Trading insults with each other really would not determine which team would take the title.

During training, Nottingham Forest focused on stepping up the tactical drills for penetration in the middle. Nottingham Forest established itself from the two flanks. While the wings were still strong, this had been thoroughly studied by their rivals and Chelsea would be on guard. Therefore, when they focused on defending against the two flanks, the Forest team would unexpectedly strike in the middle. He believed that it would produce a wonderful effect.

In addition, a set piece was always a wonderful move to break a deadlock and had to be practiced. At the same time, Twain decided to let the team practice the penalty shots, taking into account the various situations that might arise. Although he did not want the game to develop to that far, it was always good to be well prepared. In case the game was really dragged into a penalty shootout, it was better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.

As the day of the game approached, the various wars of words outside became increasingly fierce. The surroundings of the two teams’ training bases were filled with reporters from all over the world. But the two managers had ceased fire… The two men stopped all direct war of words and also avoided discussing this personal feud during the interviews with the reporters. They just talked about the team’s current training situation, players’ conditions, the prospects for the final… and these conventional subjects of no real value.

Compared to the previous fiery matchup between the managers, the players were much calmer when they talked about this game. It was just a final match.

In an interview with the reporters, Beckham admitted that he did not expect his first season with the Forest team to be so wonderful. Not to mention that they had won the league title, now there was a hope to win the Champions League title. He thought it was fantastic as he had never thought he would have a chance to stand on top of Europe again when he decided to transfer to Nottingham Forest. This also showed that his decision was correct and wise.

The media naturally lauded his accomplishments again.

In preparation for the Champions League final, Twain found that he suddenly developed a habit in a short period of time — he began to pay attention to the celebrity tabloids like Kerslake. From those papers, he could always find news about Shania. Compared to Shania when she first went to live in Los Angeles, Shania was currently much more active and frequently attended parties as well as commercial events.

Most of the time, that Hollywood playboy, Colin Farrell would definitely follow her around. They seemed to have a close relationship.

Whenever he saw news about Shania, Twain sensed that there was something was brewing deep in his heart that worried him. He was afraid that one day it would suddenly break out of his control and he could not tell what the consequences would be when that happened.

This sentiment had a growing impact on Twain as the Champions League final approached, so much so that when things were quiet for him, he would inevitably think about it. Twain felt that something was wrong with him, something extremely wrong. Going on like this was detrimental for while he prepared the team for battle and even for the final match. He had to think of a way to fix it…

He looked at the phone in his hand.