Chapter 102: One-Time Handshake Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“It sounds really exciting. In that case, I don’t have to worry about the club not being able to pay the wages of the players and don’t have to worry about the chairman telling me before the transfer window, ‘Tony, so sorry we are currently in a very poor financial state, so you can only scout for cheap players on the transfer market,’ right?” Tang En said as he tried to emulate Old Doughty’s tone.
“Of course not,” Edward laughed.
“That’s great. Don’t touch that £8,000,000. Wait for me to use it.” Tang En rubbed his hands, as excited as a young kid who had all gotten all of his desired presents during Christmas. The club had been poor for an entire year! He had been watching others feast on meat the whole time, and yet he could not even get a sip of the soup. Now, things were going to be different, and better!
“Oh, that’s right. How long will the contract between us be?” Tang En thought of the most crucial question. Collymore only signed a one-year contract with the club. If he was the same as well, then it would not be possible to fulfil and actualize everything he had envisioned previously. Managers are unlike players who can go to different teams every year. The manager is the core of the team, and a manager that wants to be successful must have a plan to build the team. He must also know how he wants the team to play, and buy or sell players according to the tactics that he has in mind. He also has to think about the construction of the youth team, the results of the reserve team, and how to improve on the weaknesses of the team, etc. All of these require time to complete, and although a temporary manager can perhaps obtain success in the short-term based on his own abilities, if the club does not offer him a long-term promise, the club can forget about any good performance from the team in the future. Tang En’s experience in the first half of the year was a live example of this.
In most cases, managers of English football teams were much more blessed than managers from other countries. That was because the chances of managers from English football teams being fired were the lowest. On top of that, there were many managers who even offered their meritorious service to the same club for 10, 20-plus years.
Of course, this was also partially related to the differences in football cultures between England and the European continent. In England, the managers mostly assumed the role of managing the team, and they held greater authority. On the other hand, in the equivalent role in European countries, the head coach, merely assumed the role of the coach. He would only be in charge of training the team and bringing them to matches, and did not hold much authority himself. They could even become the chairman’s scapegoat at any moment, or become implicated by the power struggle among the upper echelons of the club. They were also usually the loser who leaves should they engage in a quarrel with the players.
Tang En, of course, knew about those sorts of good traditions in English football. However, Nottingham Forest had already changed their managers eight times in the past eight years. This statistic was rather unfavorable to him.
“How many years do you want, Tony?” Doughty chuckled when Tang En asked.
“Erm…” Tang En wanted to say, “the longer, the better.” However, upon giving it serious thought, who knew what the future would be like? Under uncertain circumstances, one should never give an absolute promise and leave some leeway for himself. As such, he rolled his eyes before saying, “Let’s go with three years. It’s beneficial for both of us.”
Edward nodded his head.
“Oh right, I have a condition,” Tang En supplemented. “And this condition must be written in the contract.”
“What condition?”
“Edward, you are the chairman of the club, while I am the manager of the football team. You are in charge of operating the club, while I am in charge of training the team and bringing them for matches. I will definitely not make any comments regarding the operating state of the club, but you also must not interfere in any and all matters of the team. I will have full say over the purchase and sale of players, and also the continuation of players’ and coaches’ contracts. Your only role is to give me the money required. You must promise me this. You will not interfere in the matters of the team as the operator of the club. If you can’t do it, then I will not sign that contract,” Tang En said resolutely and decisively.
This was a matter of principle for him, and there was no room for negotiation. If a manager could not control his own team and was merely an obedient puppet and the loud-hailer of the chairman, then why did he continue to stay in this position?
Regardless of whether he was a football fan watching the matches, or he was a manager of the team, Tang En always disliked a chairman which interfered in the matters of the team. This was completely unrelated to how much the chairman knew about football. If the chairman always liked to flaunt his own knowledge about football, then why did he not come down from the VIP lounge and direct the match himself?
Since you chose to make me the manager of the team, you have to trust and respect my work. Otherwise, you might as well not approach me. That was Tang En’s train of thought.
As such, Tang En felt that many of the European football clubs’ chairmen could not be considered as good chairmen. Some of these included AC Milan’s Berlusconi, Inter Milan’s Moratti, Real Madrid’s current chairman, Florentino, as well as his future successor Calderon. In comparison, the chairmen of most English football clubs met the selection criteria of the “most outstanding club chairman” award in Tang En’s heart. Of course, the chairman who he felt was the closest to that title was Manchester United’s chairman—Edwards.
This Englishman, whose name sounded rather unfamiliar, never interfered with Ferguson’s actions, even if he threw a flying shoe in the changing room at the team captain and a top football star like Beckham. This person almost never appeared in front of the public. Even though he supported Manchester United for more than 20 years, with the team receiving countless glories and becoming the most profitable football club in the world, the fans widely believed that all of these were completely unrelated to Chairman Edwards. There were even many fans who hated this businessman who wanted to sell off the club at anytime.
However, Tang En liked him because he never interfered in the affairs of the team. But why was Tang En’s evaluation of him only at “the chairman closest to that title”? That was because this businessman chairman was too stingy. If he were more generous, then he would be perfect.
Ferguson had even mentioned before, “Conversations with Edwards are always very joyous, until you ask him for money.”
Tang En believed that Doughty must have also made Manchester United his goal, and Edwards his role model, when he promised his father to take over a club that he did not love. It had to be known that Edwards had earned more than £100,000,000 from Manchester United over the years.
Tang En hoped that Doughty could have the same attitude that Edwards had toward the team, and at the same time be more generous than Edwards. Hopefully, this would not be a lunatic’s ravings.
Edward considered for a while before nodding his head. “Alright, I agree.”
Hearing Doughty’s reply, Tang En smiled. “That’s great! You know what, Edward? I actually don’t care if you really like football, or how you look at the team. I also don’t care if you wish to make money out of this club. As long as you give me sufficient freedom, I assure you that you will get everything that you want.”
Doughty extended his hand. “Look, Tony. I’ve said before that we can coordinate very well!”
“You’re right, Edward.” Tang En smiled and nodded his head vigorously.
Both of them shook hands.
After they finished discussing, Doughty mysteriously told Tang En that he hoped Tang En would not leak this news out beforehand. Tang En did not ask for the reason and agreed to it. After which, Doughty then left with peace of mind.
However, when Tang En, who was finished with the day’s training, returned back home, the first thing that he did was not to change his clothes and go to the bar and chat with those people there. Instead, he sat in front of his computer and opened the Google webpage. After which, he keyed in the keywords “Nottingham Forest”, and began his investigation work.
He wanted to verify a suspicion that he had in his mind right from the start.
When he knew that Collymore’s contract was only one year, and he had his suspicions about it already. If it was like what Edward had said during the press conference for signing the new manager, that Collymore was “Nottingham Forest’s hope from the outside”, then why did he only sign a one-year contract with Collymore—a duration of one year was really considered short for a manager.
At that time, Tang En convinced himself that the reason was that Collymore was a newbie, and that the continuation of his contract would rely heavily on the results of the team under him. This reason seemed impeccable at first glance, but Doughty’s confidence during their conversation made Tang En think about some other stuff.
The whole of England knew what kind of a person Collymore was. His personality and his temper were known by everyone. In this day and age of advanced technology, famous people had no privacy to speak of. Then why did Edward do the incomprehensible move of changing managers? Although Tang En’s defeat in the playoffs could be used as an excuse, it should not necessarily have resulted in that. At least many people like Burns knew that if he had let Tang En continue, returning to the Premier League the next season would definitely not have been an issue for the team.
And now? On one hand, the team’s ranking had fallen to sixth from the bottom, only three points away from entering the relegation zone. Faced with the reporters’ accusations, Collymore only knew how to remain silent or shout as a response, completely unable to produce any good solutions. On the other hand, he still had the leisure to dress up like a poor playboy and flirt with the mother of a young player!
The board of directors could actually tolerate such an incompetent coach and let him remain in his position?
All these abnormal situations made Tang En think that he should shift the angle of his focus and thinking, from within the field to outside the field.
Looking at the very dense search results, Tang En directly skipped past all of the websites which were related to Nottingham Forest’s history and its latest performance. After going through over 13 pages, his eyes finally stopped and became fixated on a short message.
“…. As a result of the team’s poor performance, Nottingham Football Club’s stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange have been on a steady decline. As of yesterday, they have already dropped to 21 pennies per unit of stock. According to the analysis of experts, if the team’s results do not see an improvement soon, then even if the new chairman Edward Doughty appears to be a rich American, the stock prices which had gone up slightly because of his arrival, will continue to fall.” Although they had just announced that the club had already gotten out of the financial crisis and repaid all of its debts, this kind of situation was still unpreventable.
“…A noteworthy a piece of news for reference: Leeds United, which had been suffering from a financial crisis as a result of their poor results and entrance into the relegation zone, the price of their per unit stock has already fallen to 2.6 pennies! This is the lowest price ever since their entrance into the market…”
This was a piece of news briefly describing the performance of the various clubs recently in the stock market, and had been published four days ago.
Teams which had their stock prices fall as a result of poor performance, were not limited to Nottingham Forest. There was still the pitiful “White Rose” Leeds United.
Tang En re-read this piece of news a few times, before finally stopping at the portion which mentioned “if the team’s results do not see an improvement soon, then even if the new chairman Edward Doughty appears to be a rich American, the stock prices which had gone up slightly because of his arrival, will continue to fall.”
Just as expected!
Tang En leaned against his chair and stared intently at the computer screen. Biting his lips, he fell into a deep slumber.
