Chapter 49: The Real Legend Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“The term ‘legendary figure’ has been overused, but he was the real ‘legend’.”
— Arsène Wenger, Arsenal Manager
Driving down the A52 highway was a 2001 red Ford Focus with four men inside. Among these men, three were extremely happy and one of them was grumbling non-stop.
“Kenny, I have a question for you. Is your bar not open for business today?”
Burns shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I’m the boss, not the bartender. I don’t have to stay there all the time.”
Tang En rolled his eyes and then turned his head around to look at Walker, who was seated beside Burns. “And Walker, why are you here?”
Walker smiled foolishly and did not answer him. Burns and he were in the back seat. They were so excited, as if they were groupies who were on their way to attend their idol’s concert.
Looking at these two guys’ foolish expressions, Tang En turned his head around and complained. “This is unfair. The people Boss wanted to invite were me and Bowyer, so why are the two of you tagging along?”
“Don’t be so petty, Tony. I’m sure boss would like to see us pay him a visit.”
“That’s right, the more the merrier.”
Tang En did not know what he to say. Sighing, he said to Bowyer who was driving, “Let’s play some music.”
Bowyer pressed the play button on the car radio, but the music that came out made Tang En jump in fright. It really was a jump, and Tang En’s head would have definitely hit the ceiling of the car, if not for his safety belt.
That was because what came out of the radio was a group of fans shouting and screaming, just like what he heard during the matches.
“This is music?”
The two in the back seats burst into laughter, and Tang En remained silent after listening to them. He discovered that he had a very obvious “generation gap” with these three people. The three of them appeared to get along with each other very well, and they knew many things which Tang En did not know. For example, “Boss” and this “music.”
After the fans’ screaming ended, music finally started to play, and he was momentarily stunned when he heard the first sentence. It was the song that he often heard playing at the matches, Nottingham Forest’s song “We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands.”
“This isn’t the fans.” Tang En said in bewilderment.
Bowyer shook his head. “What you’re listening to right now was sung by us.”
“And me.” Burns added from behind.
“This was recorded in a recording room in the past, by the entire Nottingham Forest team.” Walker continued to give a slightly more detailed introduction to Tang En. “At first, it was a television program that invited them—at that time I still wasn’t at Forest—to sing this song on the program. After that, it was made into a record and released.”
“The sales were pretty decent, too,” Bowyer said proudly. After that, he hummed the tune of the song and became increasingly louder. Then, Burns and Walker also joined in the choir.
Filled with the men’s proud singing, the car drove past the road sign which displayed “Derby.”
Brian Clough. To Tang En, who had time-travelled over from China, this name was very unfamiliar. However, to the entire English football world, it was the most extraordinary name. Even though he had long since retired, he still possessed a substantial amount of influence in that circle. He could reprimand the players and managers whom he did not take a liking to, and even a big-shot like Sir Alex Ferguson would not dare to talk back, should he be scolded by him. To describe it with a commonly used line in movies, it would be—I may no longer be in Jiang Hu, but tales of me still live on.
Ever since he stepped foot into the football world, the name had appeared countless times, along with all sorts of miracles. When he was still a player, he set the record for the fastest player to score 200 goals. He represented Middlesbrough and Sunderland in 296 matches, and scored 267 goals. Between the two, he scored 204 goals in the 222 matches that he played for Middlesbrough, and 63 in the 74 matches he played for Sunderland. This was an extremely terrifying scoring rate. However, his career as a player was extremely short-lived. He retired at the mere age of 29 due to an injury, and consequently walked the path of being a manager.
What really made his name renowned throughout the world and caused him to become a generation’s “godfather of football”, was precisely the manager position.
Derby County, which had just lost to Tang En, was currently ranked 21st in the league and faced with financial crisis. However, despite the miserable situation they were currently in, they had also had their glorious days. Their most glorious days were called “Brian Clough’s Generation.” Just from hearing the name, one knew who that team’s manager was at that time.
During the 1966-67 season, Clough became the team’s manager. He used two years to transform the team, from struggling in the Second Division (equivalent to the current League One), to becoming the Second Division champions. After that, they also became the First Division champions in the 1971-72 season. One season later, his team managed to reach the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League, but unfortunately lost to Juventus, which was said to have bribed the referee.
After that, he left the team and transferred over to Nottingham Forest. He created an entirely new “Forest Dynasty”, which dominated English and European football. In addition, Derby County, because of the sturdy foundation left behind by Clough, managed to once again become the Division One champions for the 1974-75 season. However, they relinquished the championship title in the following year, when they lost to the Spanish overlords, Real Madrid.
As for Clough’s accomplishments after he became Nottingham Forest’s manager, there was not much need for any further illustration of them. Anyone who had some knowledge of the English and European football world during the seventies and eighties era, would know that the main color for that period was red. That was because both the teams that dominated European football wore red jerseys. One of them was Liverpool, while the other one was Clough’s Nottingham Forest.
If he were only remembered because of his results, then Clough would be no different from most managers. However, in actual fact, he was the most special manager, among all the managers in the entire history of English football. His charisma could rival that of Liverpool’s most noble Captain, Bill Shankly.
Regarding all that, Tang En completely agreed. It was evident from a glance at the three men’s expressions beside him. He felt that this was very similar to his past schooling experience. A good teacher would always make his students miss him, even after they graduated, and they always treated him with a respectful attitude. On the contrary, a useless teacher would only make his students curse and mock him, even after they graduated.
Clough was precisely that kind of teacher who was exceptionally outstanding.
Just getting the Best Manager of the month for February award was enough to make Tang En extremely happy for a very long time. However, when he stood before Clough, he was like an ant that stood before a tall mountain. He was merely a small dust particle under Clough’s feet.
And today, he was about to meet the most charismatic manager throughout the history of English football. Seeing the increasingly crowded streets, he suddenly felt an exceptional feeling rise from the bottom of his heart—I am not merely having afternoon tea with an old man who has retired from the position of a manager. Instead, I am paying my respects to the emperor who had created the Forest Dynasty.
After his retirement, the old manager’s house was no longer in downtown Derby. He had bought a small estate which somewhat resembled a farm, at the North-Western outskirts of Derby. He was living in solitude outside of town, and there was only a narrow and difficult-to-walk path that connected his place to the bustling town.
The car was so bumpy on this road that Tang En got motion sickness from it. He did not expect that such a noble manager would actually live in this sort of place. Looking at the muddy road beneath the car wheels, it was highly possible that the road would become even harder to pass over when it rained.
“We’re here,” Bowyer suddenly said. Tang En discovered that there was a red brick house in front of him, which stood out amongst the low-standing forest. It appeared to be no different from the usual brick houses he saw in the country. This place was so inconspicuous that Tang En was slightly disappointed.
They had just gotten out of the car, and they were already able to hear a series of dog barking sounds. Then Tang En saw a golden shepherd dog rushing out from the courtyard, directly lunging at him.
“Wa!” Tang En used his hands to block his face, as he shouted. He was really afraid of dogs.
However, this shepherd dog only rested its paws on his shoulders and extended its tongue, puffing as it tried to lick his face.
Seeing Tang En’s agitated state, the three others started laughing. “Hey! Tony, it just wants to get intimate with you,” Walker said, laughing.
At that moment, an aged, yet slightly sharp and loud voice could be heard from the courtyard.
“Looks like Sam really likes you, kid.”
Hearing this voice and turning from Tang En who was being “intimate” with the dog, the other three stopped laughing and stood respectfully.
An old man slowly sauntered out from the courtyard. He looked at the three guys standing at the side, before mumbling to himself, “Oh my, I only prepared two guests’ worth of tea sets. Walker, what brand of juice do you like?”
Upon hearing this, Walker was stunned. “Boss, I’m of age…”
The two others lowered their heads and tried their best to hold in their laughter, but they ultimately could not contain it and let it out.
The old man did not care about Walker’s protests, and instead turned his head and looked at Burns. “It’s been so many years, and you still haven’t become a tad more handsome, Kenny.”
Burns awkwardly smiled. “Boss, you know it… I don’t like to do plastic surgery.” When Burns was still a player, it had once been publicly announced by his own manager that Kenny Burns was the ugliest player that he had ever signed.
Upon hearing his reply, the old man laughed. Then, he looked at Tang En, who was still being “intimate” with the dog, and sighed. “Who would have thought that you would also like Sam so much.” He whistled, and the huge dog immediately let go of the pitiful Tang En and ran back to its owner.
Only after Tang En vigorously wiped off the saliva on his face, did he manage to see the old man standing before him.
His looks were frail. His eye bags were swollen, and his eyelids drooped, making him seem as if he were not fully awake yet. Was this the legendary manager, Brian Clough, who shook the European football scene in the past? Tang En felt that reality was indeed very distant from dreams.
“Are you very disappointed?” Clough’s words gave Tang En a fright. This old man was spot on.
“Oh, are you intending to reassess me now?” Clough continued.
Tang En shrugged his shoulders and said, “Evaluating others is the job of the Human Resource Department.” Faced with this sharp-eyed old man, it was the first time that Tang En felt at a loss for what he should say. It appeared that his premonition on the way here was right.
“You’re wrong, kid. What do you think the manager does?”
“Brings victory to the team.”
“That is only one part of the job scope.” Clough waved his hands. “Come on in. I think the cookies should be done by now. Let us chat while drinking tea. I really liked that show you put on during the FA Cup halftime.”
Bowyer purposely lagged behind and waited for Tang En to pass by him before, whispering to him, “The boss really likes you, but his character is just like that. Don’t take it to heart.”
Tang En nodded his head. “I like this kind of character.”
Bowyer smiled. “We like it, too.”
