Godfather Of Champions

The new season had just started. Nottingham Forest played three league games, winning two and drawing in one, so it was not that bad. Although they replaced two head coaches, the foundation Tony Twain left behind was very sturdy so even after experiencing a huge change in the summer, the team was still maintaining its high standards.

After seeing how the Nottingham Forest was faring, the media also changed their mindset towards Nottingham Forest. Previously they were not optimistic about Nottingham Forest since they had experienced a whole typhoon with tremendous amounts of internal and external issues. Experts had analysed that Nottingham Forest’s goal this season was to qualify for next season’s European fixture, not even for the Champions League or the Confederations Cup, or even to try to defend their championships.

Now they believe that Nottingham Forest would remain a strong contender for the title as long as Flores could stabilize the team.

Nottingham Forest did well and the happiest man was Evan Doughty. As the league progressed, the slurs he received were disappearing. Although there were still fans displaying banners in the audience stands which scolded him every game, that was only a limited few and he chose to ignore those.

He began to visualize the scene of the team successfully winning the championships by the end of the season. By then everyone would have completely forgotten Tony Twain, and would start praising him being the most successful chairperson in the club’s history, being able to match up to Real Madrid’s Bernabeu.

The 30-year-old Ibišević had been sold to Serie A newcomer Sejana, with Nottingham Forest reaping a fee of 20 million pounds from the deal. It must be said that that Alan Adams was an expert in negotiating. The 30-year-old Ibišević was blown up by Alan as a huge character playing in the golden years of the strikers, being efficient and stable in scoring, and even had a number of cup-winning experience which was very essential as the triple crown team’s main striker, and only selling at 20 million pounds, it would be really profitable for you!

Just like that, Nottingham Forest sent away the last player who would leave the team this summer. Aaron Mitchell was thoroughly focused upon as he became the team’s leading scorer. Although everyone had predicted Gareth Bale, George Wood, Fernando Gago, Akinfeev would transfer, however there was no transfer news for them. Still, the media believed that this was only temporary due to the disagreement in financial terms which hindered them from leaving and this did not mean that they would not leave by summer next year. As long as the results of Nottingham Forest were not satisfactory this season, then it was only certain that those people would leave eventually.

Nottingham Forest had only bought four men this summer and had not actually done much of the purge. That was thanks to the two-time head coach Martin O’Neill and Flores being aware and persistent – under such circumstances, there was nothing more effective than keeping the squad formation stable.

Thiago Silva, Michael Dawson and Mario Balotelli, as well as a Belgian attacking forward, Eden Hazard.

The scale of the transfers was not great, and this was also amongst the issues that they were entangled with being “who was actually responsible behind the current state of the team”. No one was responsible for the team’s preparations for the new season, and no one had a practical plan to be implemented. Even for Flores who had taken over when the new season was almost going to start. Arranging an actual formation with the cards he had was enough of a headache so he did not even bother to think about things like transfers.

Nottingham Forest was in fourth place after the three rounds. They were about to leave for Monaco for the European Super Cup. As winners of last season’s European Champions Cup, they will compete with last season’s Confederations Cup winners, Alkmaar of the Netherlands, for the king of Europe.

Before that, through one of the major news in the England team, Tony Twain had announced his second roster for the country team.

Not far off from the media’s predictions, the vast majority of the 25-person list were old faces.

Not many of the fringe figures in the first friendly were on the list. It was the first official game Twain led the England team to play so he was even more cautious than most people thought.

In the previous draw, England were placed in Group 3 which was also called Group C. The other six teams in their group were the Nordic powerhouses Denmark, Wales, Ireland, Serbia, Macedonia and Armenia. To be honest this group was not the strongest group in terms of potential, and perhaps only Denmark and Serbia could pose a threat to England. But in Twain’s mind, the more foreign teams were the more dangerous ones. This was the same as playing against a club – you would make more mistakes when playing against a team whom you had never played against before.

Against a rival like Macedonia, Twain admitted he did not know anything about them. So, during this period of time, the days in which he did go to the Premier League to watch the games, he would be working with his coaching staff desperately to gather information about Macedonia, then analyze tactics and study countermeasures against them.

It was England’s first game in this European Championship qualifier and Twain really cared about this. He wanted the team to win the opener so that the games that came after would be easier to play. Another factor that was not as superstitious was that Macedonia was not a strong team, so if England was not able to win Macedonia on home ground they would then lose a chance to get points.

None of the 26-man roster signed by Twain was from a non-Premier League team.

Arsenal had two players in the squad who both came from midfield —Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere.

Aston Villa also had two players selected— goalkeeper Stuart Taylor and right-back Glen Johnson.

Blackburn had only one person, the veteran goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Chelsea had three players, the middle full back John Terry, the midfielder Joe Cole and the midfielder James Milner.

Manchester City had three, the midfielder Gareth Barry, center-back Curtis Davies, and full back Steven Taylor.

Manchester United had three as well, center-back Rio Ferdinand, forward striker Wayne Rooney, midfielder Michael Carrick.

Two from Liverpool, the midfielder Steven Gerrard and Nigel Reo-Coker.

One person from Middlebrough, midfield winger Stewart Twaining.

A lone person from Leeds United, Fabian Delph, a professional midfielder.

Three from Everton, full back being Joleon Lescott, left back Leighton Baines and striker James Vaughan.

Next up is Nottingham Forest, which had the largest number of national teams players, with five of them selected. Left back Joe Mattock, midfielder David Bentley, center striker Aaron Mitchell, Gabriel Agbonlahor, as well as their team captain, the defensive midfielder George Wood.

※※※

“Tony Twain had fulfilled what he said at his inaugural press conference, ‘If the Nottingham Forest players are doing well, why not just choose them?’ Looking at such a big roster we once again realize the fact that Tony Twain had only coached in Nottingham Forest before becoming the head coach of the England team. He was most familiar with this team…”

This was how the media commented on the huge roster list.

In terms of quality selection, the only ones with a strong “Tony Twain’s style” was the five Nottingham Forest players.

“The Nottingham Forest players were not been affected by that chaotic summer and would take on important responsibilities in the New England team. ”

“Tony Twain’s cronyism is likely to provoke discontent from other clubs.”

“What do they mean by being discontented?” Twain swore by habit as he threw the newspapers which was talking bad about him. “The head coaches would be more than happy if I don’t take their players. Did you see Benitez’s look on his face when you saw me calling up Gerrard, who had just returned from injury? He looked like I snatched his wife from him. ”

Walker was laughing at the side.

It was the twenty-ninth of August that day. Registered soccer players had one by one flown in from all over the world to London for the games. Everyone else had arrived except for the five players from Nottingham Forest who would only be reporting for this after their matches at the UEFA Super Cup.

Twain and Walker were waiting in front of the television for the match to start.

Being in a different position, Twain realised that his mindset and attitude had taken a turn for the better. In the past, under such circumstances, he would have hated that the national team recruited new players before major matches. This is because that would influence the thinking of the players who would constantly worry about getting hurt during their matches that would deem them incompetent when the time for the real game came. As for the coach of the Club, if his players had that kind of attitude, it could possibly cost his chance at the championship, hence he tries his best to avoid such situations.

However, the times have changed. Nowadays, he aligned his thinking with his players and prioritised their well-being. He constantly fretted over the players injuring themselves during trainings and competitions at the Club or that they had exhausted their fighting spirit during training such that they have little to none left when they begin their training with the national team.

Nonetheless this change in attitude did not mean that Nottingham Forest was giving up on the championship title. For Nottingham Forest, defeat was unthinkable.

Since Alkmaar was not a formidable team, it should be effortless for Nottingham Forest to emerge victorious in that match. For Twaine, who acknowledged that victory clearly belonged with Nottingham Forest, he simply hoped that Flores would leave him with some dignity by swapping the main players of the team during the match.

The television started the streaming of the match with the name lists of the players on both teams.

On Nottingham Forest’s end, there was Akinfeev as goalkeeper, Michael Dawson and Thiago Silva as the center backs, Gareth Bell as left back and Rafinha as right back. As for the midfielders, they were George Wood, Fernando Gago, Matthias Fernandez and David Bentley while the strikers were Aaron Mitchell and Agbonlahor.

Besides Joe Matok who was missing from the starting lineup, everyone else was present.

Twain’s only wish then was for none of them to get injured or to encounter any physical problems that would hinder their performance.

※※※

This UEFA Super Cup eventually ended in the victory of Nottingham Forest. For the match with Alkmaar, Nottingham Forest had swiftly taken control of the midfield soon after the initial taunts by Alkmaar. With firm and unparalleled control over the midfield by George Wood and Gago, Nottingham Forest began their counterattack on Alkmaar.

Their skillful gameplay had proven them worthy of the title of Triple Crown from the last season.

Continuous attacks by Nottingham Forest had threatened Alkmaar’s goal post. The aggressive strategy that Nottingham Forest cleverly used against Alkmaar paid off at the thirty-seventh minute mark.

Mitchell proficiently headed the ball passed to him by Agbonlahor and managed to get the ball into their opponent’s goal post.

Upon seeing the goal by Nottingham Forest, Walker felt extremely delighted. He was glad to see that both of the players were in good condition from their stellar performance.

“They are capable of being the super striker duo in the national team. Agbonlahor and Mitchell show reasonable chemistry with each other…” he suggested.

However, Twain shook his head, “Managing the national team is no simple task, Des. Just look at me. I had only recruited some players from Nottingham Forest and in no time, the media had picked it up and started their criticisms. If I take the risk of putting Rooney, who is perfectly fit, on the reserved team, I would be inviting trouble for myself with the Manchester reporters. I have to strike a balance among the parties. I definitely wouldn’t want for my team to to form cliques like “Team Forest”, “Team Manchester”, “Team Liverpool”, “Team Chelsea”, “Team Gunners”… all of these unpleasant cliques.”

Walker rolled his eyes at Twain, “In that case, why did you tell the reporters that you would use them on your team if they performed outstandingly?”

“That was only one way of appeasing the reporters. Besides, that was also to convey a message to the players that I only acknowledge their performance and not their person in themselves. Simply a way to manage the team. In reality, I wouldn’t be as rigid. There are many ambivalent situations that don’t allow for simple solutions. Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s continue watching the match…”

After Nottingham Forest had taken the lead, Alkmaar attempted to counterattack only to find themselves leaving much room for their opponents to use against them. Nottingham Forest seized the opportunity once again and more or less guaranteed their victory by the time the first half came to an end.

The rest of the match seemed meaningless to watch. Flores had respected Twain enough to replace Bentley and Mitchell, both English national players, into the second half of the match. As the captain, George Wood had faithfully played till the end. Twain had nothing to complain about that. Wood was a beast and the warrior of the future. With his physical fitness, Wood could easily play the entirety of the match.

※※※

When Nottingham Forest lost the Community Shield, everyone was concerned that a team like that would not be able to last in the new season and would lose every game that came their way. It was then that Flores led the team to championship at the Super Cup. That was great news for the team which assured the players and inspired the fighting spirit in them.

Evan Doughty was smiling brightly on the podium. This was probably the happiest he had been in the past three months. George Wood raised the Super Cup trophy high up in the air as he was embraced by all his teammates surrounding him. Everyone reached their hands for the trophy.

The commentator excitedly announced, “Nottingham Forest has successfully clinched the championship! They are the King of Kings in Europe this year! After experiencing a hell of a summer, they had regained their footing. This is also Flores’ first win with the team he has coached. It seems like Flores is confident in leading the team in continuing the legacy of Tony Twain! Perhaps it won’t be long before he can successfully replace the place of Tony Twain in the hearts of the fans…”

Walker stole a glance at Twain at the side.

Twain’s expression remained unchanged. He realised Twain was looking at him and stared at Twain, “Stop looking. Be prepared to face the biggest problem.”

“The biggest problem?” Walker froze. He had not heard of such a thing, what problems could there be? Did something go wrong? Was it something to do with Nottingham Forest? Don’t those players belong to Twain? How could there be a problem?”

Twain did not explain. He continued to stare at the television screen. In fact, he had only just been triggered as well. Observing George Wood’s face, Twain suddenly remembered — the second time he had gone to Crimson Stadium, he was cheered on by the fans and was respectfully greeted by the players yet Twain did not have anything to say about it. He was in front of the team and was the first to march out from the underpass yet he did not even lift his head.

Twain was unsure of Wood’s intentions or how he thought of himself.

How was he going to face George when they are both in the national team?

This was probably the biggest problem… (To be continued, if you want to know how the plot continues, please log into www.qidian.com where there would be more chapters, support the author, support legal reading!).