Chapter 188: The Assistant Manager Candidate Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With regards to Tang En’s invitation, the real Tony Twain did not give an answer on the spot, because he did not know what to choose. He currently had a stable and well-paid job, and as long as he continued to work hard, it would not be a problem for him to become the regional manager, and even the general manager, in the future. Thus, he valued his second life. God gave him a perfect family, which was also his biggest concern.
He thought that his future would continue in this way, according to plan. But, when he met the other him, he listened to him talked about Nottingham Forest’s recent developments. When he asked him, “Do you want to return to Nottingham Forest?”, he admitted that he was indecisive, as to what to do.
Now, there was a chance for him to return to the old days. No, not return, exactly, because he knew very well that he could not be the manager, if he went back. He would be going there with a new identity, and not in the capacity of the authentic Tony Twain.
Did he not love football? Of course, he loved it, whether it was before, or now. The perfect combination of passion and work, this was the former life of Tony Twain. Now that he could return, he had to admit that he was somewhat tempted.
Tang En did not ask the other man to give an answer immediately. When they were bidding farewell to each other, after their meal together, he said to his imitation, “Give it some consideration. Anyway, I will still be staying in China for a few days. This is my phone number in China, and as for the the number in UK… you already know it. When you have an idea about what you want to do, please call me immediately.”
Tang En was trying to frame his words well, when he said those things. He did not know if the other man would follow him to England. He always felt that he had robbed another person’s body, status, glory and money. Now, it was very thick-skinned of him to ask the man for help.
The next day, Tang En took Shania on a sightseeing tour, all the way to the south. They toured Qingcheng Mountain, Mount Emei, and Leshan. And, when they passed through his hometown, he made an excuse to bring Shania to go eat the most traditional bean curd, so that he could sneak a glimpse of his biological parents. Looking at their busy figures on the embankment, he was assured and relieved that both his parents were healthy and in good spirits.
As for calling on them to pay a visit, he’d better forget about it. With Shania always at his side, Tang En did not want her to feel confused.
Furthermore, he would only bring about complications, if he called on them. Besides, that imitated Tang En must be doing better than him, as they did not think their son had any problems. After all, who would have thought that the soul of one’s son would transmigrate, possess another body, and then swap with the other person? As long as his parents felt that their “son” treated them well, then Tang En would not have any objections.
From his hometown, Tang En and Shania went on a tour of Shangri-La in Yunnan Province. This was an amazing journey that made Shania exclaim in admiration repeatedly. When they boarded a flight back to Britain from Hong Kong, she was still recollecting everything that she had seen in Shangri-La. She had never been as happy as she had been during this period.
Shania was very happy, and naturally, Tang En felt happy too. But, he still had one regret: until he had left China, that other Tang En did not call him, and he did not respond to his invitation.
Could it be that he had already decided to stay in China? Does everything in Britain have nothing to do with him? Had he completely accepted his new identity?
In this case, I’m going to have a headache finding a suitable assistant manager. Well, maybe David Kerslake from the youth team would be a good choice. But, if he gets transferred to the First Team, who’s going to manage the youth team?
The Forest team’s youth training system was a great success, and Tang En did not want to touch the youth training department, at least until a suitable candidate could be found. That was the foundation on which the Forest team could continue to develop.
Assistant managers were easily well-known, just like the players and managers. Hence, it was difficult to appoint an assistant manager. It was common to find someone from one’s own coaching team.
However, Tang En had very high requirements for his assistant manager. The person needed to know what he was good at, and what he was not good at. Then, he needed to know what the manager was good at, and what the manager was not good at. He must also know how to coordinate with the manager for his work, assist in managing the coaching team, manage the players, and, in addition, it would be better if he was familiar with the team.
So, yes, it was as if he must like Superman!
Was he being too exacting? Tang En did not believe this was the case. What did “excellent” mean? If he could not do it, he could not be considered as being outstanding. At the most, he was considered as simply being eligible. After believing and understanding Tony Twain’s past, and looking at his room filled with all kinds of books and notes, Tang En thought that man was perfectly capable of meeting his requirements.
He originally thought that he could not find this person again, so he did not take it to heart. But, when he saw the vanished Tony Twain in his body, appear before his eyes, he could not suppress the surge of thoughts in his mind.
We have both inexplicably swapped bodies, but still retained our memories. If we work together, what would it be like? I know your past, and you also understand mine. I am now in your position, and you are in my position. I am you, and you are me. Is this not the highest level of cooperation, with rapport?!
But, it was now useless to say all these things. That real Tony Twain did not reply to him, and he did not know what the other man thought. Also, it was not Tang En’s habit to put all his eggs into one basket.
Since this man did not give him an answer, he would be busy when he returned to the United Kingdom. If he could not find an assistant manager in time, he would do all the work himself, first. Then, he would slowly make his plans.
After all, the UEFA European Championship was about to begin. He would have to go to Portugal to watch the entire tournament, and pick the right players for the Forest team…
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Once they returned to England, Shania reluctantly bade farewell to Twain. It looked like, although she did not like her auntie, she was still a little afraid of her. Why did she come to England, if she did not like to be with her auntie?
Tang En shrugged his shoulders, and could not figure it out. Hence, he did not give it any further thought.
After sending off Shania, Tang En’s work had already begun, even though the team was still on vacation. He specially made a call to Evan Doughty, who was in the United States with his wife and daughter.
In fact, there was nothing specific to discuss. He just told Evan some of his plans before the season, to coordinate with the club. He needed to go to Portugal in June, to watch the tournament and personally inspect all kinds of players, an expense that was definitely not going to be from his own pockets!
In addition, there were some personnel matters to attend to, such as Twain hoping that the club would increase the number of football scouts. Old Moore had completely retired, so now the club only had two football scouts, which was obviously not enough.
Apparently, the football scout database system, which he had proposed at that time, was nearing completion. This required more football scouts to continuously add detailed information on players to the database. In summary, as the new team in the Premier League for the next season, Nottingham Forest had a lot of things to prepare.
Evan’s answer was that Twain could decide on his own any matters that had to do with the team. If he needed football scouts, he could issue the recruitment notice, and notify the club during the signing of the contract.
All of the expenses of going to Portugal to watch the tournament, would be covered by the club, including the buying and selling of players. But, after deciding which players to buy, he must make sure to draft a list for both Evan and Allan. They had to know where the club’s money was being spent, and if it was worth the expense. Needless to say, Twain understood.
Ultimately, Evan honored his original promise to not interfere with all matters of the team, and Twain had the final say in the team. Indeed, after witnessing Evan’s sincerity, Tang En felt the heaviest weight lift from his heart. But, he also knew what it was that enabled him to have all of these things: results.
If he had led the team on a losing streak, and lost the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, then losing the EFL Cup would also mean losing the League Championship. At that point, regardless of whether he was promoted from within the club, or how much the Chairman liked him in private, there would have been only one ending waiting for him: dismissal.
Every transfer market before the season, the boss of the football club always wanted to see results, especially after spending a lot of money. Playing well was not the result the club owner wanted to see. Otherwise, he might as well spend a few dozen pounds on an Arsenal home game ticket. No, the real result that he wanted to see was his team’s achievements: the champion’s glory, and the vast benefits it brought along with it.
If you take the money, you have to work for it. It was the same everywhere.
Tang En was well aware of this hard truth. Therefore, after carefully studying the UEFA European Championship’s tournament schedule, he began to prepare the itinerary, and the list of players that required focus and special attention.
It was more difficult without an assistant manager. Originally, he wanted to pull in Old Moore, who had been a football scout all of his life. However, he was getting on in years, and his vigor was not like before. It was still manageable for him to travel around Nottingham, but to let him fly across the sea to Portugal, seemed a bit too taxing.
With only one person, Tang En’s time and energy were limited, so he must plan his itinerary well for the trip …
