<strong>Chapter 1025: After Achieving the Goal in Advance</strong>
Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“The match has ended! 3:0! Nottingham Forest has won!”
The camera was not on the yers when thementator shouted the aforementioned words, and it was not on Balotelli who scored a brace in the match either. Instead, the camera cut to the tactical area and zoomed in on Nottingham Forest’s manager, Tony Twain.
Twain had only just stood up when the cameras focused on him, and his assistant manager, Kerke, patted him on the shoulder. Thereafter, Twain turned around and walked towards where the Wolves manager, n Pardew, to shake his hand. The handshake was customary after every football match to show respect to the opponent.
Pardew was not resentful or upset after losing to Twain at home because his team had already been relegated. He told Twain that he did not want him to retire during their handshake.
Twain did not say anything and only smiled in response.
Twain had heard many suchments over the past few weeks. Some of thosements were sincere, and some of them were made out of courtesy. Twain did not care which kind they were. He was going to bid farewell to this sport after onest match, and he did not care about what others thought at all. He was not going to get in other people’s faces over their actions or words any longer.
Twain walked away from Pardew and returned to his team shortly after.
The first thing he saw when he walked back was Kerke’s smiling face. “Thetest news! Tony! Manchester City has lost!”
Twain smiled when he saw how ecstatic Kerke was. Manchester City’s loss meant that Nottingham Forest had been guaranteed a spot in next season’s Europa League, and they would not need to go all out against Manchester United in the next match.
“I don’t care if we y terribly in the next match, Tony. I don’t even care if we lose! Haha!” Kerke yelled excitedly amidst the cacophony in the stadium.
“That can’t happen, David,” Twain shook his head. “I cannot end my managerial career with a loss.”
David Kerke knew that the man before him was stillpetitive. He did not say anything and only smiled in response.
The news of Manchester City’s loss quickly spread throughout the entire Forest team, and it was even broadcasted within the Molineux Stadium, which served as the home grounds for the Wolves team. It was the Wolves’ way of congratting Forest. Only a relegated side like them would be in the mood to congratte their opponent.
The Forest yers hugged each other excitedly after hearing the news. Manchester City’s loss meant that their efforts for the past half a season were not for naught.
While everyone else was celebrating the good news, Forest’s assistant manager, Freddy Eastwood, was concerned.
“I’m worried that our yers would lose their fight in thest match if this goes on,” he said to Twain.
His words made sense. Forest’s ultimate goal for this half a season was to qualify for the Europa League, and everyone has been fighting to achieve this goal all this time. However, now that the goal had been achieved, the team would surely lose their drive and perform poorly in theirst Premier League match.
One just had to look at the Wolves team and how they performed in the match that just ended. They were the perfect ‘role model’. Their yers were devoid of motivation for the entire match since they knew they had been relegated and there was nothing to fight for. They tried to put up a semnce of a fight before Forest scored the first goal, but their morale waspletely gone the moment Balotelli scored a free-kick, and they surrendered on the spot.
However, Forest’s opponent for thest match was not an unmotivated team like Wolves. They were up against Manchester United, who was ranked at the top of the table.
Twain did not share Eastwood’s concern. He could not possibly let his yers walk on a tightrope all the time after all. It was not beneficial to put his team under immense and constant pressure. If the yers lost their fight for thest match, then so be it. There were other ways of winning a match besides putting pressure on the yers to perform.
In addition, qualifying for the Europa League by defeating Manchester United was never the goal of the team from the start either. The yers have trained a lot over the past two weeks, but they have never once trained with that goal in mind. Hence, there was no need to be worried about the yers’ motivation levels going into the match because they did not intend to rely on the yers’ fight and determination to win.
However, the situation described by Eastwood could still happen. The yers could end up performing poorly because of theirck of motivation. Thus, one of the jobs that Twain and his coaching team had to do over the next week would be to prevent that situation from urring.
“Don’t worry, Eastwood. It does not matter what sort of problem we run into. There’d always be a solution to it,” Twain patted Eastwood on the shoulder. “Bask in the joy of our victory for now. Don’t fret.”
Eastwood nced at Twain. “I will believe in those words since you are the person saying them.” He was referring to Twain’s statement of ‘It does not matter what sort of problem we run into. There’d always be a solution to it.’”But what happens once you are gone?”
Eastwood did not know that Dunn was going to take over Forest as the next manager. However, even if he knew, he would most likely doubt Dunn’s abilities as Twain’s sessor.
There was probably no one else in the world who would believe in Dunn’s abilities besides Twain.
“I’m not the only qualified manager in Ennd,” Twain answered Eastwood.
He did not expect Eastwood to shake his head solemnly and say, “There is only one Tony Twain in this world.”
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“We have qualified for next season’s Europa League once again. Comparing this result with the results that our team achieved half a season ago would only make us miss Tony Twain even more,” Pierce Brosnan wrote in the Nottingham Evening Post.
“We often use the words ‘he possesses the ability to change the oue of the match’ when we want to describe an outstanding yer, and I would like to dedicate those same words to Tony Twain. He is a man who deserves those words. You might ask, what is the difference between the Nottingham Forest team now and the Nottingham Forest team from six months ago? The current Nottingham Forest team has a new yer, Chen Jian, as well as Twain as its manager. Chen Jian was introduced into the team by Twain, and Twain is the man who brought victories to Forest and also led them to sixth ce. Frankly, we all knew the truth since a long time ago – Tony Twain is a man who can bring victories and trophies to his team. He is a man who is capable of changing the oue of a match all by himself.”
The number of events thatmemorated Twain increased in number after the match against Wolves ended. No one could bear to see Twain leave the team, and there were more and more voices that called for him to stay at the club. However, everyone knew that they would not be able to change his mind.
The tickets to the home game against Manchester United were already sold out. However, many people were still looking for tickets online. They all hoped to be able to get the chance to send off Twain at the Crimson Stadium.
The Nottingham Forest fans were proud of the fact that they had an outstanding manager like Twain. There were clever vendors who offered fans and tourists the opportunity to ‘take photos’ with Tony Twain by cing a life-sized portrait of Twain outside the Crimson Stadium. Their business was overwhelmingly good, and numerous people wanted to take a photo with ‘Tony Twain’. They even had customers who had traveled over from farawaynds, and those people stood out with their exotic looks.
The match garnered not just the attention of the local press, but of the press from all over the world as well. The Premier League Management Committee made the decision to broadcast the match live across the world. The Premier League was currently being broadcasted to 256 countries, and there were more than one billion viewers globally. Their decision effectively meant that one billion football fans from around the world would have the chance to witness thest match of Tony Twain’s managerial career. It was certainly a high-profile ‘farewell ceremony’ for a football manager.
Numerous countries began publicizing the match before its kick-off. They advertised it as a unique match that was like no other.
“The farewell match for the most sessful football manager in Ennd’s history!”
“The feud between two of the most prominent football managers: Tony Twain and José Mourinho!”
“Which team will lift the Premier League trophy in the end?”
A few things made the match a must-watch. Firstly, it was thest one before Twain’s retirement. Secondly, Twain and Mourinho have been rivals for over ten years, and it would be interesting to see how a match between them would unfold. Thirdly, the match would determine who would end up as the champions of this season’s Premier League. Manchester United might be ranked top of the table at the moment, but they were only ahead second-ce Arsenal by a single point. If Manchester United lost to Twain’s Forest and Arsenal won against Fulham, then Arsenal would overtake Manchester United and be the champions of the Premier League.
That was an oue that neither Mourinho nor the Manchester United fans wished to see happen.
The press in Nottingham focused solely on matters rted to Tony Twain. The press in Manchester, on the other hand, focused on whether Mourinho’s team would be able to retain its Premier League title. Surprisingly, they did not have high hopes about Manchester United’s chances of bing champions – they believed that Nottingham Forest would not go easy on them, because neither their fans nor their yers would wish to send off their legendary manager with a loss.
The people who believed that the Forest yers would lose their motivation and fight after qualifying for the Europa League in advance were foolish. The match against Forest was undoubtedly going to be a tough challenge for Manchester United.
Mourinho thought the same way as well. He had a solemn expression on his face during his interview, and he did not think that his team could rx despite being in the first ce at the moment. When asked about the match, Mourinho said, “…I don’t like predicting the oue of any football match. However, I think my team can defeat Nottingham Forest…”
His words sounded forced. They were more like words that had been said to boost his team’s morale than an expression of his confidence.
Then again, perhaps Mourinho was trying to let his opponents be arrogant by deliberately showing weakness. Who could tell what was really on his mind?
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Eastwood’s concerns never came true. The yers did not appear to have lost their motivation or fight for the uing match when he observed them during their daily training sessions. In contrast, they seemed to be brimming with fighting spirit. None of the yers wanted to miss out on ying in such an important match due to their poor performances during training.
Eastwood could not help butment at how great an influence his boss had, and he became even more worried about who would be able to control the yers after Twain left…
Twain did not seem to be in the least bothered about all the news that was being published about him at the moment or with how some of the people around him were in a state of worry. He did what he has always done over the past decade. He left the training sessions in the hands of his coaching staff while he stood by and twiddled his thumbs.
He was just like an old man nearing retirement who would turn up at work every day just to make himself a cup of tea and take a walk.
Twain did not take walks and neither did he make himself tea at work. His work only consisted of standing by the side of the pitch at the moment. There was nothing else for him to do now, as he had already finished all that he had to do in preparation for the match against Manchester United. He was busying up with the tactics for the match a few days ago, but now that he had finished everything, he was free. All that was left to do was to get the yers to practice his tactics, and he did not need to be involved in it. He would only get busy on the day of the match.
The only thing he had to do now was stand by the side of the pitch with his sunsses on and watch his yers train.
However, he has been watching yers train for the past 16 years, and he has grown a little sick of it. Thus, he would allow himself to get distracted from time to time nowadays and would not pay attention to their entire training session.
Twain could no longer quite remember who the yers in the team were when he first took over as the manager. Back then, he did not know how he should train a football team, and he had very little knowledge about his yers. He certainly did not expect that he would go on to be one of the most sessful managers in the country at that time.
What would people think if they knew that the real identity of such a sessful football manager was actually that of a Chinese football fan who did not know much about professional football?
This was definitely a secret he would need to take to his grave.
A few random thoughts suddenly struck Twain. What if there were other transmigrators or time travelers like him in this world? What if one of those geniuses who contributed greatly to mankind actually came from the future?
Those were certainly interesting thoughts. Maybe Wenger was actually a transmigrator or time traveler who had managed to hide his true identity really well? That would exin why he was skilled in spotting talented youth yers.
Twain became lost in thoughts thereafter. When he finally snapped out of his reverie, he realized that the training session was almost over.
The team’s assistant managers, Kerke and Eastwood, gathered the yers before them. They were all going to listen to the manager say a few words before they left.
In truth, Twain rarely spoke at the end of the team’s training sessions, and it was not mandatory to listen. However, as Twain’s departure from the team drew nearer, the yers began demanding for Twain to speak to them more. Hence, Twain would always say a few words – be itments about their training or any other matter, at the end of the training session these days.
The yers ‘just liked listening to the boss’ voice’, as Gareth Bale put it.
Everyone wanted to listen to Twain speak, and today was no exception.
Twain saw Eastwood wave at him and he walked over.
“Honestly, I’ve already said all that I should say, and I can’t think of anything else now,” Twain shrugged. However, he knew that he had to say something.
“We’ll be ying in ourst Premier League match of this season in three days’ time. After seeing how our training sessions have gone over the past few days, I think we are definitely ready for the match. Frankly, I never believed that any of you would lose your motivation and fight after we achieved the goal in advance. So, tell me. Did any of you lose your motivation for the next match?”
Twain asked this as he looked at the yers around him.
“That will never happen, boss!” Gareth Bale was the first to answer, and his teammates nodded their heads in agreement. “We know we still have to bring you victory for thest match!”
Twain smiled happily. He then pped his hands once and said, “Then isn’t the training session over? What else can I say? You are all dismissed!”
The looks of distress on the yers’ faces caused Twain to smile even more happily.
The day where he no longer had to rake his brains and think about what to say to satisfy his yers has finallye. When he was younger, he liked to use impassioned speeches to motivate his yers. He felt that speaking in that manner made him look good. However, now that he was old, he did not like to do things in such an eye-catching way anymore. He preferred to use silence and actions to show his strength now.
After all, actions spoke louder than words. A more effective way of hurting one’s opponents would be to roll up one’s sleeves and fight them rather than spending the whole day scolding them.
Twain might have gotten on with age, but his ws were still sharp and he was still a threat. All doubters were wee to the Crimson Stadium on the 10th of May, and they would be able to see for themselves if he has truly lost his edge.