Godfather Of Champions

Evan Doughty’s “satisfactory answer” was to get Twain back and bring everything back to what it was. Everyone could ignore what happened during the past two months and Nottingham Forest could continue to dominate in England and Europe.

But Twain refused to cooperate with him. Naturally, this meant that this answer would no longer be that satisfactory…

Evan and Allan did not sit idly by in the days following Twain’s refusal. They contacted managers everywhere and it did not matter if they were out of a job or already managing a team, they were all on their list. The two of them had to find a new manager for the team as the team’s transfer activities and pre-season preparations were all in a standstill state. If this situation went on, Nottingham Forest’s glorious plans for the new season would be all for naught.

Hiddink insisted on taking on a dual role as the Netherlands national team manager too, otherwise there was no room for discussion.

McClaren was not interested in being the manager of this team.

Scolari was not willing to manage in England again.

Ancelotti did not want to manage a club that his rival once managed as he did not want people to keep discussing about the rivalry he had with Tony Twain. Besides, people would introduce him as the successor to Tony Twain, that would be a massive humiliation.

Schuster was doing very well in Spain and he did not want to manage in England.

…

They even went looking for a manager in South America, Luxemburgo, Bielsa… Beggars cannot be choosers. They did not care if their targets’ playing style would suit their team, as long as he was a manager, they approached him and asked, “Are you willing to manage the best team in Europe?”

Even though they kept offering an olive branch to everyone, nobody was willing to take it. All the news reports in recent days might have damaged the reputation of the club and many of the managers had to take one thing into consideration when they received the invitation. How long would they be able to last in a club where the management kept interfering with the club’s affairs?

The only appeal they had then was money. Evan had no choice but to increase their offer, hoping to attract a manager of a certain caliber.

Eventually, they finally managed to decide on a manager before the agreed day with the fans.

Ex-Valencia manager, Quique Sánchez Flores accepted the offer from Nottingham Forest and signed a three-year contract, officially becoming the manager of the team.

But the people were not interested in news like this. They were more interested in the manner that the club was going to give the furious fans a “satisfactory answer”.

Media from all over England attended the press conference announcing Flores’ appointment, however, they were not here for the new manager, but they were here to ask about that “answer” instead.

That was a very awkward situation for Flores. He was the second person after Martin O’Neill to have a taste of Tony Twain’s influence. This opening to his managerial life in Nottingham Forest was not a sweet memory.

There were only a few reporters who came all the way from his home country, Spain, who asked Flores a few questions, ensuring that he was not totally humiliated. The rest of the reporters from England directed all their questions at Evan Doughty who attended the press conference with Flores.

At the same time, a group of policemen surrounded another group of people outside the Crimson Stadium. The group that was surrounded were the radical fans of Nottingham Forest and they were standing outside the entrance of the stadium with posters that ridiculed Evan Doughty and Allan Adams as well as slogans insulting them. They were protesting against the club under the searing sun.

The reporters were still squeezed in the media hall, asking…or rather, “bombarding” Evan Doughty with questions.

Doughty could not take it much longer and in the end, he could only say, “My answer is for the fans, not for you reporters.” If not for the fact that he had to stay with Flores to the end of the press conference, he really wanted to just leave then. At that moment, he also realized how annoying the media could be and why Tony loved to go against them. This was something that he did not realize when the media was still praising him.

This press conference was a torment to Flores. However, it was a good thing that he was not very fluent in English as it meant that he did not understand some of the more sarcastic and mean questions. Otherwise, he would most definitely be angered if he knew that the English reporters were questioning his ability to control the stars in the Nottingham Forest changing room and he might even just leave there and then——If he did it, he would have much more experience than Evan. After all, he was famous for being a “manager with an attitude” in Spain.

Due to the troubles caused by the reporters and the fans, this press conference ended very hastily.

Evan Doughty and Flores both left the Crimson Stadium with many things on their minds.

When Evan was driving his car out of the carpark, he saw the protesting fans under the “protection” of the police.

The slogan on the signs that they were holding read, “Go back Americans! Return Tony to us!!”

If these people knew that he had indeed offered Tony the job but got rejected, what would they think about that? At that moment, Evan felt that he loved Forest more than Tony did.

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Allan had hoped to sign a star player for the team before giving an answer to the fans but they were out of time.

On the next day, Nottingham Forest published a public letter that was handwritten by Evan Doughty on their official website.

In the letter, the club chairman did not admit that it was a mistake letting Twain go, nor did he give any explanations about O’Neill’s resignation. He merely told the fans who loved Forest that 11 years was an epoch, it was time for a new dynasty.

“… As the chairman of the club, I’m very thankful for everything that Tony Twain had done for the team and the club. I also miss the days when we were colleagues, but we must move forward, ten years per cycle. It might be time for us to start anew. I’m still very thankful to Tony for winning us the treble in his final season, that was the greatest parting gift. Perhaps, this gift made us lose our judgement, to continue the glory or to mold a new age of glory? I pick the latter.”

“I hope that you’ll continue to support the team. Many managers come and go in the history of the club. When Brian Clough left, weren’t there also people who said that nobody could do better? After him, we welcomed Tony Twain. It’s the same cycle now, why can’t there be a third person?”

“I hope that today will be the beginning of another glorious cycle…”

“That’s bullshit! Tony cannot be surpassed! For real this time!” In the Forest bar, the fans who had a few drinks too many were discussing about the answer that Evan Doughty gave the fans as the chairman of the club, “I bet he must have had too much to drink when he wrote this. He’s brain must be muddled; does he even know what he’s saying?”

“Winning the treble, the double, winning three UEFA Champions League trophies, the only manager who won back-to-back Champions League after the revamp, 12 trophies in 11 years. Winning at least one trophy every year has become a culture and there is even someone who became the host of a television show by insulting him with his writing… To be honest, a manager like this is hard to be surpassed,” Pierce Brosnan wrote this reply to Evan Doughty’s public letter in his column.

“Logically speaking, what Evan Doughty said was not wrong. The footballing world is more and more materialistic nowadays. Managers who can last more than ten years in the same team are rare, so it was normal for Tony to leave. To the Nottingham Forest fans, it might be time to forget about Tony Twain… However, I think that Mr Doughty is wrong about something——Even though Forest welcomed the Tony Twain era after the Clough era, but Flores, who has never managed outside Spain, is definitely not that third person,” Lineker had this to say during BBC’s special regarding the series of events happening to Nottingham Forest.

Carl Spicer, the person that became the host of a television show by insulting Twain with his writing according to Pierce Brosnan, might be the only one who openly supported Evan Doughty’s letter in his show, “This is why I think it’s not very good for a manager to be too charismatic——Not just a manager, a player too. When a person’s influence and existence surpass the club and the team, many things will change. Why so? They’ll change a lot of things that are generally very common… For example, it should be a normal thing for Nottingham Forest to have a change in dynasty, it happens to every team. However, due to Tony Twain’s existence, an usually common move became a traitorous act of forcing out the meritorious… I’m kidding! Even the club chairman can be replaced, why can’t we replace the manager?” Since Twain was also the manager of England, he did not care if he was not the manager of Nottingham Forest.

The media had mixed reactions to this public letter. The fans, however, would not accept it.

Changing of dynasties, the third glorious age, all these were excuses in the eyes of the clever fans, lousy excuses to hide the mistakes they made in their jobs.

It would be strange if they were to be satisfied with an answer like this.

What should they do if they were not satisfied?

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“The protests of the fans against the Nottingham Forest management seems to have reached a climax, normal protests can no longer express the disappointment and anger they felt towards the club. Just today, the club chairman Evan Doughty received a ‘death threat’ in his office…”

The reporter was standing in front of the Wilford gate in the screen and there were many other reporters around him. What was more striking than the reporters were the five police cars with their red and blue siren lights on and the policemen guarding the grounds as though they were facing an enemy.

“The police believes that this was the doing of a radical Nottingham Forest fan…”

The police officer coming out from Wilford was showing the media the evidence of the “death threat” inside the plastic bag——A white envelope and a single bullet.

The crowd in the bar who were watching the television had mixed reactions to it. Some people cheered that radical fan and thought that he spoke for all of them. Some were against it as they believed that no matter how much they hated Evan Doughty, they should not resort to “death threats”.

Fat John did not participate in the discussion. He was concerned about something else.

He searched amongst the crowd for a while before asking Burns at the side, “Have you seen Bill recently, Kenny?”

Burns thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head, “I haven’t seen him here in two days.”

John did not say anything. He closed his mouth and his expression indicated that he was worried.

Burns looked at the television screen and knew what John was worried about. He consoled him, “Don’t imagine things. Bill isn’t that kind of person, honestly, he’s the most timid one amongst all of you…”

“I have a feeling that Bill’s not normal these days, I hope what you’re saying is right…”

Skinny Bill entered with a white envelope in his hands just when he was saying that.

When Fatty saw that envelope, he stared at Bill all the way until he reached his side and passed the letter to Burns.

“Kenny, I’m not educated, help me see whether there are any problems with this letter. Also, get me a beer, I’m so thirsty…”

John was still staring at him with an expression that seemed to suggest that Bill was not holding a letter but a gun instead.

Burns opened the envelope and shook what was inside out——It was neither a bullet nor a knife. It was a piece of folded paper.

Opening it, Burns took one look at it then looked at Bill in surprise, “A confession letter?”

“I feel that I should apologize to Tony, that’s why I wrote this… But you know that I did not receive much education and I’ve already forgotten those things that I learnt in school. I only managed to write so little after two days…” Bill pointed to the piece of paper in Burns’ hands sheepishly, “I don’t think that Tony will ever have the chance to come here anymore and the odds of us meeting is too small. So, I think I should just write a letter to him… If you have the way to do so, please give it to him.”

Burns did not say anything and started reading the letter.

John pushed a mug of golden beer to Bill from the side.

There were droplets of water on the thick glass of the mug and there were white foam overflowing from the side of the opening, very tempting.

“It’s iced, it’s good,” John laughed heartily with Bill.

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A few days later, the case of the “death threat” was solved. The police were able to identify the culprit very easily from the fingerprint on the bullet. It was indeed a radical Nottingham Forest fan who did not have any prior experience, otherwise, he would not have left his fingerprints all over the bullet and the envelope. He was unhappy with the club’s management for forcing Tony Twain out as well as selling Pepe, that was why he sent this letter to teach Evan Doughty a “lesson”.

When he was arrested, the media was following him to interview him. This culprit had no feelings of remorse at all as he shouted towards the camera, “Away with the Americans! We want Tony! We want Tony! Nottingham Forest will be destroyed by this idiot, destroyed…”

He was still in the midst of shouting when the police pushed him into the police car. With the door closed, he was still shouting wildly at the camera, although nobody could hear him anymore.

Even though it was just a false alarm, Evan Doughty was very nervous. He sent his wife and kids to America and firmly condemned this kind of behavior when interviewed.

He was the King of the club and nobody could threaten his rule. He had complete power there. The fans who only knew how to protest on the streets were unimportant to him. However, this event taught him one thing——Even the smallest man can make the King feel fear.

Do not underestimate the fans. Indeed, they might not be able to threaten his position as the chairman of the club no matter how they protest as long as he did not resign, but they could ensure that he could not have a good night’s sleep…