Switch Mode

Godfather Of Champions Chapter 351

Chapter 351 - The Champions League Grouping Part 1

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

As the timing of the second leg of the Champions League qualifying match with Villarreal had clashed with the third round of the English Premier League, Nottingham Forest’s third round in the Premier League was postponed to December 14. The Forest team was now ranked within the first group with a score of six points from two victories.

With their qualification in the Champions League, the Forest team now seemed to come across as a strong team.

Just as everyone was beginning to feel that way, the Forest team lost to Fulham by 0:1 in the away game two days later on August 27th.

The outcome was a surprise to everyone. After the game, the media used the word “upset” to describe the game. Before the game, no one had thought that Forest would lose. The betting companies gave favorable odds and were all optimistic about the Forest team. They did not expect the Forest team to lose in the away game to Fulham, which was in the lower middle rankings.

The Forest players were very active and gave all that they had. However, Fulham’s tight defensive formation was very effective. The Forest team inevitably became impatient after seventy-five minutes of not scoring.

Twain knew what had happened.

Having qualified for the Champions League tournament, his bunch of boys was overly excited. They were energetic on the field but did not channel their energy into the right places. He watched them repeatedly run half distances to intercept the ball, make mistakes during passing, intercept the ball again, and then make mistakes again during passing. It was no surprise that the game was lost in the end.

Twain did not lose his temper over it. He thought that it was still a good result. Sometimes it was necessary to lose a game. It was better to concede at this point than to lose at a crucial moment. He did not want his team to be unbeaten for thirty-eight consecutive rounds to win the championship and then to take a dive in the next season. He did not care about such records. Nothing was more important to him than the end result. If a loss was more beneficial for an ultimate win, he was happy to lose.

That was the case now. If the team had won in succession, he could not be sure if it would produce any adverse thinking within the team, but it would certainly be detrimental to the team’s continued progress. Although it was not intentional, it was just the thing to lose to a weak team in the fourth round of the league. It would help to make the excitable boys understand reality and calm down. Otherwise, they might suffer a heavier blow down the road.

Therefore, at the post-match press conference, Twain said, “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to lose a game occasionally.”

Some people thought he was stubborn and refused to admit the failure. However, whether it was the case or not, Twain would show them eventually.

※※※

Twain did not follow the team back to Nottingham. Together with Evan Doughty, he flew directly to Zurich, Switzerland from London to take part in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony for the new season at UEFA headquarters.

He had participated in the UEFA Europa League draw ceremony before. However, the draw ceremony for the Champions League was on a different level. It could be seen as a gathering of the most powerful managers in Europe, and one which was packed full of firepower too.

The draw had not started yet. Those who went early to the draw location and managers who knew each other would gather together to chat. Twain was still a newcomer to European football. He did not know any managers there. Even though he came early, nobody talked to him. So he and Evan sat quietly as spectators on the side.

Fabio Capello was not so serious as he was on the side of the technical area. At this moment, he smiled and chatted with others. He looked distinguished with his glasses on.

Frank Rijkaard was flushed with success in the last two seasons. His team’s popularity had soared in European football. His popularity had also risen rapidly in coaching circles. There were a lot of people chatting with him. Twain roughly counted that there were always five people around him.

Ferguson had a lofty status in England. It was the same in European football. As the creator of the Manchester United era, he had a stellar reputation in coaching circles. Naturally, one would never find the Frenchman, Arsène Wenger, within ten feet of him.

The Arsenal manager was not there yet.

“I thought you would go up there and look for a topic to cut into the conversation.” Evan pointed to the small group of managers.

Twain snorted. “I’m not interested.” His team was one of the thirty-two participating teams. He had come to participate in the draw ceremony, not to attend a tea party.

Evan laughed. “But I’m really happy that my team can be here for this. It was still just a plan two years ago.”

“In two years, these people will come to talk to us on their own initiative.” Twain pointed to the crowd in the hall.

Twain was not the only one who appeared unsociable. The media outside the door suddenly fired up with a lot of camera flashes, accompanied by screaming female voices from onlooking fans.

Such scenes were rare in coaches’ gatherings. Most of the supporters were calmer. They just asked for autographs or took pictures. There were never any screams because most managers did not have anything that women would scream for.

That type of behavior was reserved for superstar players’ appearances.

Some of the managers in the conversations were attracted by the commotion at the door. Even Evan got up and looked over. Twain snorted while he sat. “Don’t look. Such a grand entrance can only be José Mourinho.”

He continued to gaze steadily ahead as if everything that happened at the door had nothing to do with him.

Evan sat down. “It’s interesting that a manager is more popular and well-received than his players.”

The person who entered was indeed a casually-dressed Mourinho. He gave no indication that he had noticed his welcome as he walked in with a blank expression. He slightly swept his gaze across the hall and paid no mind to the people who looked at him. He found an empty seat and went straight to it.

But…

Coincidentally, the vacant seat he found was next to Twain. Mourinho only realized it when he walked over. He was momentarily taken aback.

It was problematic for both of them to turn a blind eye to each other at such a close distance.

Mourinho smiled. “Mr. Twain, we meet again so soon.”

“Hello.” Twain had to stand up to greet him.

“Oh, I forgot to congratulate you on breaking into the Champions League.” Mourinho extended his hand.

“Thank you.” Twain also reached out with his hand. The two men briefly shook hands.

“Mr. Twain, I’m suddenly very interested. You did say we would meet again in the Champions League, didn’t you?” Twain had thought that they would not speak again after they each took their seats at the end of their brief exchange. He had not expected another question from Mourinho.

“You mean at the group stage?” Twain pretended to be confused.

“No, that was too unlikely. Teams from the same league have little chance of being in the same group.”

“Then I don’t think we’ll have a chance to meet.”

Mourinho shrugged. “What a pity. It could be interesting.” Then he pulled his chair and sat down.

The inexplicable start of their conversation came to an inexplicable end.

Twain looked at Mourinho who sat beside him, not doing anything. No one took the initiative to come up to talk to the young manager who had been in the limelight for the last two years.

He recalled some of the comments and articles he had read before about Mourinho. The reports might have been biased, but the Portuguese man’s relations with people did not seem good.

When he first came to England, he had almost offended all the managers in the English football circle. Maybe some people stayed away due to their jealousy of Mourinho’s current accomplishments. Whatever the reason was, Mourinho and Twain currently had something in common. There was a lively crowd in front of them, but it was deserted around them.

Arsène Wenger and the AC Milan manager, Carlo Ancelotti, only came at the last minute. As soon as they entered the hall one after another, Wenger was delighted to see Twain and came over to say hello. However, he completely ignored Mourinho next to him. The two men’s discord was so deep that it was definitely not just a rumor.

After the two men arrived, the draw was about to begin. The UEFA officials told the managers to enter the venue. After they were seated, the media began to focus on the new season’s Champions League group draw after the announcement, with their camera lenses all lined up.

At the same time, the supporters of those teams all over the world looked forward to the results of the draw. After all, this likely concerned the fates of the teams they supported this season.

Tang En had not done such a thing when he was a fan because he did not have a fixed team that he would support. But he had been surrounded by a lot of such people who would go through all kinds of emotions with their favorite teams.

As it was just a Champions League draw ceremony, there was no elaborate cultural performance. After the introduction of the thirty-two teams, they entered the most crucial step, which was the draw.

Tang En already could not remember the UEFA Champions League grouping for the 05-06 season in the world he had used to be in. Anyway, he believed that it would not be exactly the same as he remembered. Villarreal had been replaced by Nottingham Forest. It would be impossible for it to stay the same now.

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
3000


0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset