Switch Mode

Godfather Of Champions Chapter 345

Chapter 345 - Heart-to-Heart Part 1

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Tony Twain’s team had a fantastic start in the new season. Champions League Qualifiers Round 1: Win! English Premier League Round 1: Win!

More than the results, what made Tang En happy were the conditions of the players. Naturally, there were also players for him to crack his head over, such as Anelka.

The better Anelka’s performance was, the worse Tang En’s headache became. This player, who was originally unincluded in his plans, was substituted twice in a row and scored each time. Such a performance made it incredibly hard to argue against letting him play as a starter.

But letting him play as a starter? Tang En was worried that Anelka would become overbearing.

Either way, it seemed problematic.

Tang En had a habit of speaking to Dunn over dinner whenever he was faced with a problem he could not resolve. Dunn might have a solution; or even if Dunn did not have one, Tang En might somehow be struck by inspiration and be able to find a solution as he spoke.

“Field him,” Dunn answered simply after hearing Tang En’s dilemma.

Tang En looked at Dunn and suddenly waved his hands. “Don’t tell me why. Let me guess. Hmm… His excellent condition is a given, anyone can tell. But, whether he would throw around his temper or not remains unknown… So, there’s no real reason not to let him be a starter.”

Dunn nodded.

“Then, if he acts like a big-shot… I’ll just deal with him when he does that.”

The matter was settled just like that.

Although Dunn was not a member of the First Team’s management, there were many times when he had the same effect as those who were. Tang En had always wanted an excuse to transfer Dunn to the First Team. Dunn working at Tang En’s side would be a great help to him. So, at that point, he spoke up. “Dunn, do you have any interest… in coming over to the First Team?”

He imagined that Dunn would agree to it without any hesitation, and he would then follow-up with an invitation.

Unexpectedly, Dunn shook his head. “No.”

“Why?” Tang En thought that was odd. He had thought Dunn would be eager to be promoted to the First Team.

“I have no plans to skip ranks in my promotion.”

Tang En rolled his eyes. That reason could only be thought up of by a person like Dunn. Although Dunn had gradually changed after living with him for a year, there were still some deeply ingrained aspects that could not be changed. Things like having to stick with his plans for work, and remaining alcohol-free despite living with an alcoholic.

“Your life… Is truly boring.” Tang En grumbled in annoyance.

“I have a question.” Dunn put down his knife and fork. “Why are you so interested in my life? From a year ago, until now…”

Tamg En laughed as he shrugged and shook his head. “Does the world no longer believe in the joy of helping, or in the good nature of humans? Uh… if I say it’s because I’ve taken over your body, taken over your position, taken over your house, taken over everything of yours, and that I feel some shame and hope to compensate you somehow… Would you believe that?”

Without waiting for Dunn to reply, Tang En chuckled again.

“In reality, it’s like this. I need a good helper, but I never managed to find a suitable candidate until I met you. I was suddenly inspired, and I felt that you were exactly the person I’d been searching for all along. The helper I needed. So, to make good use of you, I naturally have to help you solve all your problems first; that included your daily needs… and many other things. That way, you would then willingly serve me. How about that explanation?”

“Forget it. I think the first explanation was good enough.”

Tang En laughed out loud. He liked to see Dunn this way.

When his laughter abated, Tang En decided to speak to Dunn about some more serious matters.

“Dunn, don’t you want to find yourself a girlfriend or something? In terms of real age, you’re older than me, aren’t you?”

Dunn shook his head. “I’m not interested in women.”

Hearing this, Tang En was shocked, jumping exaggeratedly up from his chair.

Dunn looked up at Tang En’s performance with an expressionless face, and said, “Don’t start having weird thoughts. I’m a celibate.”

Tang En chuckled and sat down again. “That’s good, that’s good… I don’t have much interest in taboo love…”

“What about your other half?’ Dunn asked after seeing Tang En sit.

“Me?” This question came unexpectedly, stumping Tang En for a bit. He looked up at the ceiling as if seriously considering it. “I’m not a celibate, but about my other half… I don’t know.”

A figure flashed through his mind, but he shook his head.

Another person drifted into his thoughts. But this time, Tang En did not hastily shake his head. Instead, he stared at the ceiling, his eyes becoming unfocused.

Dunn watched Tang En enter a daze, and muttered, “Some people are fretting about where they could find one, but you’re fretting about which one to choose…” He shook his head.

※※※

After deciding to let Anelka be one of the starters for the next match, Tang En felt that it was time for him to have a discussion with Anelka.

The arrogant and wilful Frenchman had played under numerous managers, several of which were world-class. Tang En did not presume to think he could do better than those people and manage to keep control over Anelka, but he had to at least try. What kind of manager would he be if he did not even make an attempt?

Two days before the match, on the day Forest was supposed to head to Bolton Wanderers F.C., they conducted a final team training. Kerslake arranged for a 20-minute warm-up match within the team. Usually, such matches would confirm the selection of the starting line-up and finalize the player list; Tang En could not possibly bring the entire team to the away field. He would only bring the 16 on the player list.

According to the norm, players who received the yellow vest during the pre-match grouping were 80 to 90 percent likely to be included in the starting line-up for the official match.

Kerslake held a list as he called out players. Those who were called stepped out and took the yellow vests being handed out by a manager at the side. Thereafter, they stood to one side.

Edwin van der Sar, Pepe, Piqué, Leighton Baines, Chimbonda, George Wood, Arteta, and Ribéry… Those were in the starting line-up of the previous match; there were no changes here.

But when they got to the final segment of calling for the forwards, the first name to be listed turned out to be Nicklas Bendtner.

Following that, Kerslake repeated “Nicklas,” but it sounded somewhat like “Nicolas.” Anelka was uncertain, but he then heard the Assistant Manager read out the full name. “Nicolas Anelka.”

Several players on the team turned to look at the Frenchman who stood in the back. In their hearts, they were hardly surprised. After seeing how the French forward had scored goals in both his substitutions, one match after the other, they knew it was unavoidable to have him playing as a starter.

Such a performance could not be ignored by the manager. He himself had said that there was no distinct separation between the main players and substitutes on the team. Their performance would decide if they played as a starter or reserve. If Anelka, with such a fantastic condition, could not play as a starter, how else would Tang En prove that his words about using a rotational system weren’t a lie?

Anelka kept the surprise from showing on his face. He strode forward, passing his teammates, and took the yellow vest from the manager’s hands.

It was his first time putting on the yellow vest since his arrival at Forest.

“Alright!” Kerslake blew hard on the whistle. “Get into positions!”

The warm-up match was beginning.

Tang En stood quietly at the sidelines, observing. Anelka was extremely active in the match; he continuously requested passes from his teammates and showed enthusiasm in his movements. The lad had yet to stir up any trouble since his entry into the team two weeks ago. It surprised Tang En…

Could he have misunderstood Anelka?

Before this, Tang En’s understanding of Anelka was only slightly better than that of a normal fan. Most of it came from rumors that stemmed from the media. But who could guarantee if the media themselves hadn’t added some personal spice to it? After all, they had been rather unhappy with Anelka and his two agent brothers.

In that case, what kind of person was Anelka, really?

Just from the interactions of the past two weeks, Tang En felt that Anelka was someone with a very introverted character. It was not just the usual introversion; he was extremely introverted, to the point he was somewhat shut-off. Other than being a little more open when he was with his two brothers, he was otherwise quiet and did not like to talk.

Eastwood was the perfect counter-example. The Romani could become familiar with everyone on the first day of his entrance. Anelka, on the other hand, had been on the team for two weeks but kept only to a hi-and-bye relationship with most of his teammates.

Anelka’s introverted character could also be viewed from another perspective. Despite being an infamous player who had a bad reputation among the media, there were hardly any scandals regarding his private life. The news about him was always about the differences between him and his manager. When it had something to do with the club, it was usually a squabble about the transfer fee or his salary. Or, it was about some opposition against the French Football Federation. There was essentially no gossip and only a scarce handful of scandals.

It was because his life was much too simple. There were also very few social events he would attend. After training every day, he would drive back to the hotel on his own and go out with his brothers for a meal. Then, he would look for some entertainment in bars and clubs before returning to rest.

That was a very common sort of night life for an adult. Tang En would do the same, so he did not think there was anything inappropriate about it.

A person with that sort of character would generally not be proactive in speaking about their thoughts. But once they exploded, it would be no small matter; a classic introvert with still waters that ran deep.

To build a relationship with such a person… What a headache. It was enough having someone like George Wood. Now there was the addition of Anelka!

Godfather Of Champions

Godfather Of Champions

冠军教父
Score 8.3
Status: Completed Type: Author: , Released: 2007 Native Language: Chinese
This is a story about the pursuit of victory. — “I subscribe only to the theory of victory. I only pursue victory. As long as I am able to obtain victory, I don’t care if it’s total football or counterattack. What is the ultimate goal of professional soccer? In my opinion, it is victory, and the pinnacle of victory is to become the champions. I am a manager. If I don’t wish to lose my job or be forgotten by the people, there’s only one path for me to take, and that is to lead the team in obtaining victories, in obtaining championship titles!” The main character was not well-liked by people. — “⋯We conducted a survey which had been deemed by Manager Tony Twain as extremely meaningless. In a random street survey conducted, ninety-three percent of those surveyed chose the option ‘I hate Tony Twain’, while only seven percent chose the option ‘This person is rather decent, I like him’. It is worth noting that nobody chose the option ‘Who is Tony Twain? I don’t know him’. Mark, do you know why Manager Twain felt that our survey was very meaningless?” Parker, a reporter from laughed loudly and said when he was being interviewed by BBC. But there were also people who were madly in love with him. — When Tony Twain was forced to talk about the survey conducted by during an interview, his reply was : “I am happy, because Nottingham Forest’s fans make up seven percent of England’s population.” And he did not seem to care about how the others saw him. — “What are you all trying to make me say? Admit that I am not popular, and everywhere I go will be filled with jeers and middle fingers. You all think I will be afraid? Wrong! Because I am able to bring victory to my team and its supporters. I don’t care how many people hate me and can’t wait to kill me, and I also won’t change myself to accommodate the mood of these losers. You want to improve your mood? Very simple, come and defeat me.” His love story had garnered widespread attention. — “Our reporters took these pictures at Manager Tony Twain’s doorsteps. It clearly shows that Shania entered his house at 8.34pm and she did not leave the house throughout the night at all. But Manager Tony Twain firmly denies, and insists that that was merely the newest-model inflatable doll which he had ordered. He was the number one star of the team. — “⋯ Became the spokesperson of world-wide famous clothing brands, shot advertisements, frequented the fashion industry’s award ceremonies, endorsed electronic games, has a supermodel girlfriend. His earnings from advertisements exceed his club salary by seventeen times, owns a special column in various print medias, publishing his autobiography (in progress), and is even said that he is planning to shoot an inspirational film based off his own person experiences! Who can tell me which part of his life experiences is worthy of being called ‘inspirational’? Hold on⋯. Are you all thinking that I’m referring to David Beckham? You’re sorely mistaken! I’m talking about Manager Tony Twain⋯.” He was very knowledgeable about Chinese soccer. — “⋯ I’ve heard about it, that Bora gifted four books to his manager Mr. Zhu before your country’s national team’s warm up match. After which, the team lost 1:3 to a nameless American team from Major League Soccer. The new excuse that Mr. Zhu gave for losing the match, was that Bora gifted “books” (‘books’ and ‘lose’ are homophones in the Chinese language). Here, I recommend that you guys find out what that one specific book is. Which book? Of course the one that caused you all to score a goal. After that, tell me the title of the book. Before every match, I will gift ten copies of that same book to you. In that case, won’t you all be able to get a triumphant 10:0 win over your opponents every time?” An excerpt taken from Tony Twain’s special column in a certain famous Chinese sports newspaper. He was loved and hated by the press. — “He has a special column in at least four renowned print media, and he is able to get a considerable amount of remuneration just by scolding people or writing a few hundred words of nonsense weekly. While we have to contemplate hard about our drafts for three days before our boss is pleased with it. In an article inside his special column, he scolded and called all of the media ‘son of a bitch’, announcing that he hated the media the most. But every time he publishes an article, we flock towards him like flies which had spotted butter. Why? Because the readers like to read his news and see him scold people. I dare to bet with you, and Manager Tony Twain knows clearly in his heart as well, that even though he says that he hates us, he knows that the present him cannot do without us. Similarly, we also cannot do without him. Is this ultimately considered a good or a bad thing?” Bruce Pearce, a reporter from said with a face of helplessness when talking about Tony Twain. But no matter the case, his players were his most loyal believers. — Gareth Bale, “No no, we never had any pressure when playing on our home grounds. Because the pressure is all on the manager. As long as we see him standing by the side of the field, all of us will feel that we will be able to win that match. Even the football hooligans are like meek lambs in front of him!” (After saying this, he began to laugh out loudly) The reply from George Wood, the team captain of Nottingham Forest, was the most straightforward. “We follow him because he can bring us victory.” The legendary experience of Tony Twain, the richest, most successful, most controversial manager with the most unique personality! Debuting this summer. Thank you for reading.

Comment

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset