Godfather Of Champions

The only light source in the dim video screening room came from the big screen in front. The drawn heavy curtains made the room appeared to be night. The German language that sounded in the room was completely incomprehensible to Twain, but it did not matter. He could understand what the commentators were jabbering about by filling the gaps in his mind. The key was that he could repeatedly hear a word popping up among the German spoken:

“Ibišević!”

Every time the commentators, full of enthusiasm, called out the person’s name, the birth of a goal would be shown on the screen.

Sometimes the commentators did not shout in this way. They yelled out, “Super Ibi!”

But no matter what the tall player on the screen was called, he always scored goals.

He shot hard, he jumped for the header, he leaned on the opposing defender and then turned to shoot…

“Even though while watching the best of the highlights, any player will look like an awesome player like Pelé and Maradona. But at the very least we can know what the other party’s strengths are and he’s very good at scoring goals.” Once they finished watching the video, the screen faded to black, and the room was dark, Twain opened his mouth to speak in the dark, “Also I want to ask, isn’t anyone sitting next to the switch?”

“There are only three of us here, Tony. Dunn and I are next to you.” Kerslake’s voice sounded in the dark, “In addition, the data indicates that his assists are also very good.”

“All right, I’ll go…” Twain had just gotten up and knocked down the chair next to him. He gave an ouch, and then scolded, “Damn chair!”

Dunn thoughtfully took out his cell phone to illuminate for Twain, but the light was too weak.

Twain did not grope about. He directly kicked over everything blocking in front of himself. Amid the crashing objects, he went to where the switch was and turned on the lights in the room. All three men squinted their eyes when the bright white light came on.

The room was in a mess. Several chairs laid scattered about in the room.

Twain then picked them up to put them upright again.

“Back to the topic just now. What do you think of this man?”

Dunn did not say a word while Kerslake shook his head and said, “We’re looking at a video of him a season ago. His performance that season was amazing. But Tony, Bundesliga regularly produces ‘ordinary strikers’ who only hit the big time for one season. Look at his performance last season, it was as if he was a different player in the video. I don’t think highly of him.”

Twain did not make any comments yet. He just turned to Dunn.

“It’s a risk, Tony.” Dunn’s words were simple, but he did not explicitly object. To tell the truth, he also could not make up his mind.

Twain nodded and said, “I can understand your concerns. He scored thirty-seven goals in the 08-09 season and almost broke Gerd Müller’s record of forty goals in a single season. It was absolutely a miraculous performance. Based on the performance of that season alone, we can’t even buy him with thirty million. But in the 09-10 season, his performance was completely incomprehensible to people. He only scored ten goals in the season… It was a far cry from previous season’s performance.”

“Since you know all these, why did we still have to watch his video?” Kerslake asked.

“Because I don’t think the man’s success was accidental. Instead, his strange performance last season was accidental.” Twain said with a chuckle, “I like his background story and his character. I think his success is definitely not down to luck. There are many reasons why he played poorly last season—Firstly, the tactics that Rangnick devised for Hoffenheim had been studied by the Bundesliga teams. Hoffenheim was not a newly promoted team, but a participating team the Champions League. Obviously, no one looked down on them; Secondly, as the Bundesliga’s best goalscorer and Europe’s best striker for the 08-09 season, Ibišević was the focus of his opponents’ marking, which somewhat limited his play; Thirdly, competing in multiple tournaments had left Hoffenheim’s team exhausted and in poor form. This affected Ibišević’s goalscoring; Fourthly, there were injuries. He suffered an injury last season and had not been able to get back into his form after a two-month break. It’s a little strange, but understandable. A player’s form is not something we can fully grasp. So, I don’t think his decline in goals last season has anything to do with his individual ability… You want to hear why I’m optimistic about him?”

Kerslake nodded.

“Psychological quality.” Twain retracted three of his fingers he had extended just now, leaving only one. “Why did I say his success was not accidental? Look at his experience for the lower level leagues and as a substitute, those are valuable assets for a striker. He has a good mindset and has never given up on his efforts to be a good striker. This is very important. Bayern Munich’s leading striker, Luca Toni did not do well in Fiorentina before he became famous, but he eventually broke out. I believe Ibišević can be the second Luca Toni. He just needs a bigger stage, and Hoffenheim is no longer suitable for him. The boss there would never have more money than the UAE royal family. They spent so much money and yet Manchester City did not win a single title, nor did Hoffenheim. I think Nottingham Forest is an entirely new stage suitable for him to play to his full potential.”

“Also, thanks to his poor performance last season, we shouldn’t have to spend too much money on him now. Moreover, as a Bosnian who had lived in the United States, he also speaks fluent English. To play in England without any linguistic problems, it will help him fit into the team better and faster. The striker is the one who needs to adapt to the style of the team as quickly as possible. It is beneficial for him and for us.”

Kerslake looked at Twain and said, “So in actual fact, you’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?”

“Don’t say that, David.” Twain laughed, “I always listen to both your opinions.”

“Since you’ve said what you’re supposed to say, what other opinions can we have? Isn’t that right, Dunn?” Kerslake turned to ask Dunn, who sat next to him.

“Tony believes that a player’s psychological quality can determine his achievements.” Dunn answered, “I reserve my opinions on it. But as an assistant manager, I support the manager.”

“That’s it!” Twain gave a clap and exclaimed, “Tomorrow, let our guy sound out Hoffenheim!”

※※※

Including the transient population, the small village of Hoffenheim only had three thousand and three hundred people and belonged to the German city of Sinsheim in Baden-Württemberg. But in fact, Sinsheim was not considered a big city. Albeit labeled as a city, it was most like a “town.” The train that passed through the Sinsheim station was a single track, which made it a veritable small station.

But such a humble little place caused a whirlwind in Bundesliga and European football in the 2008-09 season. They did well and ended up the runner-up in the league tournament as a newly promoted team as well as their first ever appearance in Bundesliga. The team’s top striker, Vedad Ibišević became Bundesliga’s top striker that season and was awarded the European Golden Shoe.

It was truly a crazy season. At the end of the season, all of the Hoffenheim players had attracted looting by teams in Germany and Europe.

But the owner of the club and European software giant, SAP, Dietmar Hopp was ambitious and had money. So, not only did he not sell a single player, he also signed a number of well-known players to supplement the team’s strength and got ready to play in the new season in the Europe arena.

Unfortunately, a football was round…

The team’s results in competing in two tournaments in the new season went down the tubes.

The Golden Boot, Ibišević, who did well last season, also appeared to lose his goalscoring ability overnight. He scored only ten goals in the league tournament and scored only three goals in the UEFA Champions League, which was a far cry from what people expected of him.

Even the team’s manager, Rangnick, was baffled by his sudden breakout and dormancy once again. “Why was he able to score thirty-seven goals in one season and only ten goals in another season? It’s the same thing when he scored five goals in a single season in 2. Bundesliga. I don’t understand.”

He was not the only one. Ibišević himself could not understand. He believed he had made great progress as compared to his previous self. At least after a successful Bundesliga season, his confidence was greatly reinforced and strengthened. He definitely did not take a step back in his skills. So, what made him suddenly lose his state?

Perhaps this would become a famous unsolved mystery in German football…

※※※

It was only a slightly more than ten-minute drive from Sinsheim to Hoffenheim, and the distance between the two places were actually short enough.

After Vedad Ibišević drove his cherished car into Hoffenheim, he would often be greeted by the oncoming Hoffenheim villagers. It was a quiet little village… even if the people here had their first ever foray into the Champions League last season.

But Ibišević was not in the mood to greet the fans who liked him one by one. He had his own troubles.

Just before driving to Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion, he received a call from his agent’s firm, Stars & Friends International Holding.

The agency’s person asked him over the phone if he was interested in playing for another club.

He received a lot of such calls last summer. Manchester United, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Barcelona… the European powerhouses practically came everywhere for one purpose—to take him away from the small village of Hoffenheim.

At that time, he only had one year left on his contract with the club, but he refused them all and opted to renew his contract with the club until 2013. He achieved success in Hoffenheim and had a good time. He could not think of a reason to leave. Just because Hoffenheim is a small place? But I love life in the quiet countryside. Sinsheim sells everything I need, and I don’t think big cities have any advantages over Sinsheim.

But a year later, it was not known if he would have regretted the choice he made at that time.

He did not see what he wanted to see in the new season. His form and the team’s form slipped and Hoffenheim’s great plans had not gone down well. Hopp’s ambitions had suffered setbacks. He was also labeled as the “brightest shooting star in the history of the Bundesliga.”

The powerhouse teams that were once interested in him, had all withdrew without exception. As the number of football scouts dwindled in the stands at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, everyone shook their heads and sighed that he was just another Mintál—“scored a lifetime’s worth of goals in one season.”

The biggest problem was not that he scored fewer goals, but that he did not know why it became that way.

There was nothing wrong with his body before the injury. The team doctors smacked their lips and proclaimed that he was as strong as an ox before the start of the season.

In the middle of the season, there were reports in the German press that Ibišević was in a state of flux—he wanted to be paid and treated according as the team’s number one while the off-field scandals also interfered with his normal training. He sneered at those things. Only he knew the state of his mind in the world. He had never relaxed the demands on himself because of his successes last season. Because the wandering years of playing in Europe’s lower leagues had taught him one thing: there was no pie in the sky in the world. A euro’s worth of success would cost him eleven million euros’ worth of efforts.

Maybe the injuries could explain some things? But it was not the type of injury that could threaten his career and not something that a professional player was immune from while playing. If an injury would completely sink him, then he was not fit to be a professional player. Ibišević did not think of himself as that kind of person.

After he recovered and returned from the injury, he still gave himself half an hour of shooting after training every day and had no complaints about Manager Rangnick’s arrangements. But he and Rangnick were caught up in an inexplicable crisis—at the end of the season, he was no longer the “Super Ibi” that made the Bundesliga strong teams trembled with fear. More often than not, he was just wandering between the wasted opportunities and the search for chances. The team lost the qualification to play in the UEFA Europa League. At one point during the season, Rangnick was also rumored to be fired early by Hopp.

Another summer came, and the transfer market was in full swing. Ibišević, whom the entire Europe went crazy for last summer, was suddenly at the “bottom of the heap.” There were still teams interested in him, but they were all the second-tier teams. It would have been better to stay in Hoffenheim and looked for a chance to prove himself again than to go to those teams.

But a completely different name was mentioned in the call from the agency today—Nottingham Forest.

He knew the team. The history from last century’s late 1970s and early 1980s was too far away for him but the red team that won the UEFA Champions League titles for two years in a row in 2007 and 2008 to become the first team to defend the Champions League title since the reform, was world famous and without parallel for a moment. During that time, Hoffenheim was still working hard to be promoted to Bundesliga from the 3. Liga and 2. Bundesliga tournaments. The club’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rotthaus, always used Tony Twain’s team to inspire the young blue-and-white team—“One day, we will be like the Nottingham Forest team! This is by no means an impossible dream!”

They almost succeeded…

Later with Manager Tony Twain’s sudden heart attack, the team, known to create miracles, suddenly lost its miraculous halo and, at one point, even lost the chance to play in the European competition. It was not until they squeezed out Chelsea in that thrilling final stage of last season that they were able to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

He thought the team’s experience was very similar to his at that time, but he did not think he’d receive an offer from Nottingham Forest.

He told the agency that he had to think it over. Now he was not confident enough to say, “I just want to finish my current contract with the club.”

Maybe a change of place can bring about new changes? There was such a voice in the deepest part of him.