Godfather Of Champions

Even though the league was still going on, George Wood’s name kept appearing in the newspaper headlines. For a moment, the people did not care about who would eventually win the title, or which teams would be relegated in the end. George Wood’s injury took centerstage and there were all kinds of information and rumors coming out during this period.

There were some people who claimed that George Wood’s injury might have a permanent effect on him, and it might even cause him to retire prematurely.

Others said that it was nothing much and he would recover in a month at most. The one who said this even used himself as an example, citing a similar injury that he suffered previously, claiming that he could swim after ten days and run after two weeks.

Some experts thought that Wood would need three to six months to recover from his injury while other experts disagreed and declared that he only needed eight to ten weeks.

Today, the media doubted England’s chances to win the European Championship now that Wood was out of the competition. On the next day, the same media would publish a surprise announcement that George Wood might be able to recover before the European Championship.

The England fans felt as though they were riding a roller-coaster as they would never know whether they would be the recipient of good or bad news when they wake up the next day.

Nottingham Forest was already a forgotten team. Losing George Wood meant that they definitely lost the ability to reach next season’s UEFA Champions’ League. However, nobody was really concerned about their future now. Evan Doughty gave David Kerslake a verbal promise that he would not sack him rashly because of this season’s results. After all, nobody could have anticipated Wood’s injury…

Kerslake did not trust the verbal promise of the club’s chairman. Just think about how Flores was sacked last time. He announced that the club’s upper management were still fully behind the manager in front of others, but once their backs were turned, they made him the scapegoat and kicked him out. Kerslake was not a fool, and he was definitely not young and naïve anymore. He knew very clearly about the hidden rules in this industry and he was already ready to leave.

There was much discussion amongst the media and the English Football Association had to deal with the same question everyday——”How does George Wood’s injury look like exactly? How long will it take before he can return to the field?”

England’s preparations would obviously be adversely affected if this went on. Therefore, the Football Association asked for George Wood to accept one interview and express some optimistic emotions to pacify the public.

Wood agreed and during the interview with BBC channel, he mentioned that he was not feeling depressed because of the injury and he was cooperating fully with the treatment with an aim to return within two months.

When his interview was published, the speculations decreased significantly. The Football Association was very happy with Wood’s stand. Even though they did not think that Wood would really be able to return within two months. Yet, what they did not know was Wood was telling the truth.

Even though Twain had already promised Wood that he would put his name on the list to Spain if he could recover within two months, it would not be wise to put all his eggs in one basket and Twain was making other preparations at the same time. If George Wood’s recovery was not ideal and could not make it in the end, how should he adjust England’s tactics?

This was not as simple as just switching to a similar player. There were many players in England who could play in the center, but it was rare to find someone who could do it to the same effect Wood had.

Gerrard’s experience and abilities could have the same effect, but he was too old. It was not possible for him to be England’s core player at 35 years of age as injuries and fitness were factors that would trouble him.

Gareth Barry was also already 34 years old.

If it really came to that, Twain would have no choice but to give up on the tactic of having a core player, changing to a simpler tactic instead. The duties of the midfield would be more for stopping the opponents’ attacks instead of starting their own attacks.

He would use more young players, and not the older players like Gerrard and Barry. He would emphasize on the overall effort instead of depending on a certain player. The effect that a core player had cannot be replaced, but he could make eleven people share the load.

Twain was feeling very contradictory then. On one hand, he was hoping for Wood to recover in time for the European Championship so that they would have a chance of winning it. On the other hand, he did not want to destroy Wood’s professional career because of one European Championship.

Twain knew that he was not a saint and he was a tad selfish. He felt that this European Championship was his best chance to win it, who knew what would happen in a few years’ time? Yet, with the best chance of winning in front of him, he could not say that he did not care that Wood’s accident caused the chance to go up in smokes.

Why did things become like this? How could the juggernaut who would never fall just fall like this?

This was like dominoes, the fall of one tile brought upon a horrifying chain reaction. This was the first time Twain did not feel confident telling the public that his target was to win the competition.

Do not mistake Twain as incapable or suspect that the other England players are trash.

Under his guidance, George Wood’s position in the England team was equivalent to Zidane’s position in the France team in the past. France might seem to be full of superstars and winning the World Cup and European Championship at will, but once Zidane was out injured, even Henry, Wiltord and Trezeguet were not able to lead France to a single victory The three golden boot winners even drew a blank together and did not score a single goal. Eventually, they would be eliminated in the group stage.

When everybody thought that France just needed Henry when Zidane was already 34 years old, Zidane was still the one who led France to the final of the World Cup in Germany. Even though he cost France the World Cup by getting sent off after headbutting Materazzi, France would not even had had the chance to win the World Cup without him.

George Wood had a totally different playing style to Zidane, but their status and effect to the team was the same.

Zidane was irreplaceable. So was George Wood.

※※※

Twain kept in contact with Doctor Wallace, who was in charge of Wood’s treatment, by phone. They would basically get on a phone call every three days and Wallace would report the latest development of the treatment to Twain. It was not looking good and Wallace was worried that Wood’s injury would not be completely healed before the opening of the European Championship.

Twain could do nothing but wait now, as much as it annoyed him.

There were many England fans who had the same feeling as him. The media was reporting that Wood was recovering smoothly for a while, then they reported that the injury got worse and they were not optimistic that he could recover in time. The fans did not know who to believe anymore.

The 2015-2016 English Premier League season ended amidst such a chaotic atmosphere. Without George Wood, Nottingham Forest lost the backbone to their team and their performance in the final few rounds were unstable, eventually losing out on a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions’ League and could only play in the Europa League.

This would not have been a bad result for the fans of most teams as they could still compete in Europe after all. However, to the fans of Nottingham Forest who were already used to winning, this was an utter failure.

Since they failed, someone had to take responsibility for it.

On the next day after the league ended, Nottingham Forest officially announced that they would be terminating the contract with David Kerslake, the club would like to thank Kerslake for his contribution for the second half of the season and they wished him good luck.

This might look like an amicable break, but there was an unmistakeable sense of coldness in the standard letter of thanks.

Nobody showed any concern about Kerslake’s plans as they were all engrossed in George Wood’s injury issue.

It was 12th May, one month away from the opening day of the European Championship and not even one month since George Wood’s injury.

When Wood appeared in front of the media in his slippers and clutches, the England fans were still worried that he would not be able to make it for the European Championship which would start on 10th June. That was the news of him leaving the hospital to go home.

Doctor Wallace appeared and declared that they would do everything in their power to help Wood make the flight to Spain, however, he could not make any promises.

“I cannot guarantee that he will be able to return to the field next month, and I cannot guarantee that he will be able to make it for the European Championship this time. I hope you’ll not give us any undue pressure in our work.”

Even though the other leagues in Europe were not finished yet, the focus of the English were no longer on them.

There were no team from the English Premier League who made it to the UEFA Champions’ League final this season, so there was no interest in the Champions’ League final held on 20th May. Twain was very happy about this. The Champions’ League final was on 20th May and the European Championship was going to start on 10th June. The gap between the two was too short and if his players were to play in the Champions’ League final, they would not be able to be at the best condition in terms of fitness or teamwork and that was not what Twain wanted. However, he would gladly watch the players of the other countries fight it out during the Champions’ League final so that he could benefit from it.

But the moment he thought about George Wood’s injury, he lost all interest in that…

※※※

Twain was seated in George Wood’s home, facing Wood.

Sophia was preparing tea for the two of them in the kitchen. The fragrance of the tea and cookies came out from the kitchen and Twain could not help but sniffed at it. Shania would not make afternoon tea for him as she did not have the habit of drinking afternoon tea herself…

“You look like you’re doing well?” Twain said as he looked at Wood.

“I’ve always been like this.”

Twain laughed. Wood seemed pretty relaxed whereas he was under immense pressure. He did not dare to switch on his phone recently as there would definitely be countless phone calls asking him for the latest news. He would also hide and go everywhere secretively in fear of being recognized as he really did not know how he should answer the media’s questions regarding Wood.

He had been in constant telephone communication with Doctor Wallace and on a whole, there were more bad news than good news. Doctor Wallace mentioned not just once that it was getting harder and harder for Wood to recover before 9th June.

“Hey, George…” Twain asked, “Have you considered that if… I mean if, if you really can’t participate in the European Championship, what will you do?”

Wood’s reply would always be faster than what Twain expected, “No.”

Twain rubbed his temple as he thought that what Wood was doing was easy. He just had to keep walking on the same path until it went dark…

“Um, George. How much do you understand about your recovery from this injury?” Twain was worried that Wood might naively believe that he would recover faster from his injuries because he had a good constitution.

“Not too good,” He did not expect Wood to be so clear about it, “Wallace told me before that even if I recovered before 10th June, it will hurt a lot when I run or kick a ball.”

“Since you know about it…”

“It’s just pain,” it looks like Wood would insist on playing through the pain.

Twain had no answers to it.

Wood could sense the intention for Twain’s visit, and he asked, “Are you here to tell me you’re not planning to keep your promise?”

“Um…” Twain was in an awkward situation as he was really going to do that.

However, when he saw Wood’s face, he could not bring himself to say it.

Sophia saved Twain when she walked out with tea and cookies. They stopped discussing about injuries and football, instead, they chatted freely and talked about the menial stuff happening in life.

Sophia would be very happy every time Twain visited them, and her cheeks would flush in excitement as she became more talkative than usual.

Twain could already face Sophia’s passion freely now.

After having tea together, Twain decided to take his leave. Before he left, he called Wood as he wanted to talk to him alone again.

Wood walked with Twain to the door while holding his clutches.

Twain looked down and thought for awhile before looking up at Wood and said, “George, nobody knows what will happen in the future. I hope that you’ll be able to understand no matter what decision I make in the end…”

Wood nodded, “I’ll go to Spain.”

Twain felt a headache coming, “I hope so too, but not everything will be just as we wish. I hope you’ll be able to have a longer professional career. You’re only 30, for other players, they will start to decline once they hit 30, but you’re different, I believe that you’re still on your way to your peak.”

Twain patted Wood on the head as he seemed to have made a decision then.

Wood did not answer him. Twain then said goodbye to Sophia who was standing behind him and left.

After Twain left in his car, Sophia hugged her son from behind and rested her chin on Wood’s broad shoulders, “George, are you really going to Spain?”

“Yes, mother.”

“But your leg…”

“It’s fine, mother. It will heal, it will definitely heal,” Wood patted Sophia’s arm around his waist as he consoled her.

※※※

Twain still got stopped by the media outside his doorsteps eventually. They requested for Twain to talk about the issue with George Wood. If it was confirmed that Wood would not be able to play in the European Championship because of his injury, what solution did Twain have? Everyone knew that George Wood was the core of the England team now.

Twain refused to answer these questions as he sheepishly drove the car into his own yard.

Shania could not help but whistle after seeing the massive number of media personnel when she came out to welcome him.

“You went to George’s place?”

Twain nodded and said, “I needed to confirm something as I have to announce the name list for the training camp in two days.”

“Then, what’s the result of your confirmation?”

“There’s no result.”

“Huh?” Shania looked up at her husband. He was frowning and he seemed to be very vexed.

“I’ve already made up my mind before I went there, yet after I was there, I realized I’ve not decided on anything at all. It was a wasted trip.”

Shania held on to Twain’s arm and walked back inside with him. The door closed and the prying eyes of the media were shut out behind them.

“Just write George’s name on the list first then. It’ll be just nice if he recovers but if he doesn’t, you can change it…”

Twain pulled Shania’s ear and said, “Do you think it’s that casual? This name list cannot be changed after it’s confirmed.”

Shania rolled her eyes as she felt a little bit awkward saying something wrong due to her lack of knowledge about football. However, it was okay as she had a way to remedy it.

Twain was thinking of continuing to tease his young wife but he found his mouth blocked by her warm and red lips.

“Mm…”