Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Forest players were very surprised to see Franck Ribéry in the locker room.
“Hey, Franck, are you able to get changed for training?” Eastwood asked in puzzlement.
Ribéry lifted up the crutches in his hands. “Of course not.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Just feeling bored, so I came to see everybody.”
Everyone made an “oh” sound and went on their business. Only Eastwood stayed with Ribéry and occasionally said a few words. After yesterday’s clash, nobody’s mood was too good, and the atmosphere in the locker room was even heavier.
Was Twain’s lecture was not effective?
The players gradually came together, but the locker room did not become livelier due to the arrival of more people. On the contrary, the more people came, the quieter everyone became. It appeared as if everyone did not want to let the others see their thoughts.
Ribéry frowned. He did not want the atmosphere to continue. He loved the team because it had given him a new chance at life. He did not want the happy team to sink further. He had to do something about it.
He coughed twice and tapped the ground with his crutches to make a noise to catch the others’ attention.
“Guys, do you want to have some fun?” he asked with a laugh.
※※※
Dunn stood at the door of his residence and waited for Twain to come out before going to the training base.
The door was closed, and he knew that Shania and Twain had to be inside, saying their goodbyes. Perhaps Shania was still putting a coat on Twain, just like a real wife would. He had always found the relationship between the two quite interesting, extremely interesting…
“I’m off.” The door was opened, and Twain’s voice rang out.
“Well, goodbye, Uncle Tony.” The voice of the young girl, Shania, followed. “Come back for lunch at noon!”
Twain’s figure appeared at the door.
When Twain walked up to him, Dunn asked, “how does it feel to have someone waiting for you to go home for a meal?”
Twain raised his eyebrows. “Do you really want to come join in for the meal?”
Dunn hurriedly waved his hands. “I’ll eat my lunch in the club cafeteria…”
The pair walked together to the Wilford training base. Twain frowned again as he thought about the team’s current situation. He knew that a fight within the team showed that there was a crack in of the team, and that there was no healing such a crack. It would always be there. Nottingham Forest was no longer an impenetrable fortress, inside or out. What made Twain worried was how to deal with all sorts of matters after a fight.
The people that were not involved in the fight would inevitably have the same ideas as Chimbonda and Bendtner, but they lacked a reasonable excuse to vent. Then they were reprimanded together by him. Would that make the team’s oppressive atmosphere become more depressing? There would be a lot of reporters for the first fifteen minutes at the start of the morning’s training to shoot footage and interview people. Would the media make a fuss if they saw some bad signs? Would the team’s performance be affected as a result?
The questions hovered in Twain’s mind, completely obliterating his happy mood.
They soon finished the twenty-minute walk and Twain saw a lot of media outlets at the training base. They came, like yesterday, to interview and film, hoping to obtain some “inside material.” Fortunately, yesterday’s conflict took place at the end of the training when all the reporters had left. Otherwise, there would be more reporters coming than in the past. That would cause a bigger headache…
It was still all right.
“Good morning, Mr. Twain!” Pierce Brosnan waved hello to Twain, but Twain walked right past as if he had not seen him.
Dunn helped cover his ass. “Good morning, Mr. Brosnan.”
“Mr. Twain… doesn’t seem like he’s in a good mood?” Ever the careful observer, Brosnan asked.
Dunn smiled. “He’s not fully awake yet.”
This excuse was terrible. It was 9:30 A.M. and he was not awake yet. Twain rarely slept in.
Brosnan was keenly aware that something was going on, but he looked at the reporters from the other media outlets around him and said nothing.
There were other well-acquainted reporters who greeted Twain. He similarly ignored them and just walked in. Everyone was used to seeing that kind of recalcitrant character from Twain, so they did not find it strange. After all, the Forest team had suffered consecutive losses, so he would be under a lot of pressure as a manager. It was understandable that his mood was worse.
Dunn followed behind him and the two men approached the manager’s office, where they saw Kerslake already waiting.
“Tony, any adjustments required for today’s training plan?”
Twain shook his head and leaned over to turn on the computer. “The plan was set a few days ago and does not need to be adjusted. Why would you ask such a stupid question, David?”
“Uh… I just think, with the mood inside the team not being very good these days…” Kerslake stammered.
“That’s a psychological problem. You just take care of the training, I’ll resolve the psychological problems of the players.”
Kerslake nodded. “You’re right, Tony. But I think you have to normalize your own mental state, first.” With that, he handed a mirror over.
The reflection of Twain in the mirror had a straight face, which was the same as yesterday and the day before. Twain stared at himself in the mirror.
“Tony, we all think you’re a well-deserved core of this team. So if you can’t be normal, then the team won’t be able to get back to normal,” Kerslake said.
Twain took the mirror from his hand. “Thank you for the mirror, David.”
“In that case, I’ll go get busy with my tasks then.” Kerslake took his leave.
Dunn looked at Twain, looked at the door, and then got up. “I’ll also go get busy.”
Twain did not ask him to stay and nodded.
After he turned on the computer, he pulled up the documents for the day’s training program. Twain quickly scanned through to get a general overview. Then, he browsed through the sports news and did not find any reports about yesterday’s fighting. It seemed that no one had leaked the news, which he was relieved about.
Having done that, he got up to go to the training ground and start the morning’s work.
※※※
The reporters, who had gathered around the gate, flocked in to set up their camera equipment outside the training ground. Then a sharp-eyed reporter discovered a problem—the Nottingham Forest team had already started training, so why were Chimbonda and Bendtner nowhere to be seen?
Someone relayed this discovery to the people around them and the group of reporters soon discussed the topic. Tony Twain had always been strict. If they were late… they would have been very late, wouldn’t they? Chimbonda and Bendtner were not the main core players of the team right now. If they dared to be this late for training, could it be they did not want to continue to play under Twain?
Furthermore, what was even more bizarre was that Twain, who had strict requirements of the team’s discipline, did not appear to be unhappy about this. It was as if he did not care that the two players were late. There were only a few players in the Forest First Team. Those few faces were very familiar, so he had no reason to overlook the two players.
This is too weird. Perhaps something happened that we didn’t know about?
That was when Kerslake came over to inform the media that their filming time was over.
The group of reporters packed up their equipment and dispersed. No matter how many questions they had, it was not the time to ask now. Anyway, there would be a regular press conference after the afternoon training. The team’s manager, Tony Twain would attend along with a player. The player might be the team captain, George Wood, possibly the vice-captain, Edwin van der Sar, perhaps the most popular Beckham, or it could be any ordinary player. They would answer the questions raised by the reporters about some of the things that had happened to the team recently. According to the different personalities of the players, some would satisfy the reporters once they opened their mouths, the others would be more careful and unwilling to talk more, and others would have an attitude and refuse to cooperate, which greatly dissatisfied the reporters.
Now the reporters had their own plans in mind. They would take advantage of the half-days’ time to figure out where the missing Chimbonda and Bendtner went, and then wait until the afternoon press conference to launch a bombardment on Tony Twain.
※※※
After the reporters left, the training ground got a lot quieter. There was no other sound apart from the players’ own shouts and the coaches’ whistle.
Twain still wore his sunglasses and watched at the side. Specific coaches were in charge of the specific training subjects and the two assistant managers were responsible for the coordination. He basically had nothing much to do.
The team’s training was no different than usual, and Twain’s focus was on the players’ moods. He wanted to see how deeply yesterday’s incident had affected the team. The players did not have much expression on their faces. They all seemed to be focused on the training. It was not time for a break yet, so he could not see how everyone’s mood was.
He looked down at his watch. They had been training for half an hour.
“David!” he shouted.
Kerslake looked back at him.
“Let them rest and take a break.” Twain said, and pointed to the players on the field.
Kerslake nodded, and blew his whistle before he announced, “let’s break for fifteen minutes!”
The players were panting as they walked off the field. They slowly gathered to rest in a corner, which was no different than usual. The players always got together, and so did the coaches. They did not bother each other. The players had their own topics of interest, and the coaches chatted about matters concerning the coaches.
Twain observed for a moment and felt it was exactly the same as usual. As a manager, it was not convenient for him to walk over and listen in on what they were talking about. As a result, he gave up the idea to continue to observe and planned to chat with everyone to soften the mood. David Kerslake was right. He should not always keep a straight face and look distant.
He had to be likeable in order to have harmony.
※※※
“Hey, he turned around… This is our chance!” Eastwood said to the people around him as he looked at Twain, turning around.
“Is… this going to be okay? Are we really going to do this?” Van Nistelrooy frowned. “The boss has been in a bad mood lately. What if he is going to be angry?”
“What are you afraid of? Usually the boss always berates us. Don’t you want to take this opportunity to get back at him!” Eastwood needled his other teammates. “If the boss gets angry, just blame Franck. He said it himself. Anyway, he came up with the idea. The boss will not bicker with a guy who has a broken leg, will he?”
Everyone stroked their chins and looked up at the sky, lost in thought.
Finally, someone punched the palm of his hand. “F**k it!” It was Petrov who spoke. “Shall we put in more ice?” Not only did he agree to do it, he added to it.
The suggestion got a lot of people excited. Eastwood, however, shivered, “Hey… Wouldn’t it be too much…”
The group turned around and glared at him. “Don’t you want to take the opportunity to have a bit of revenge!”
Eastwood raised both hands as he gave in.
Everyone looked at George Wood, who had been sitting quietly on the side, and said nothing, but every pair of eyes made their intentions clear.
Wood looked at the crowd. “I’m in charge of carrying him up.”
Everyone laughed.
“It’s a deal. But we have to find someone the boss trusts the most and least likely to set him up to lure him out.” Eastwood bobbed his head. When he finished speaking, everyone unknowingly set their sights on Beckham at the same time.
Beckham raised his hands. “Okay, I know what I have to do. But I still think it’s very risky to pick now to play a trick on the boss…”
However, Eastwood looked excited. “We don’t do anything without risk. How boring would that be. Isn’t it, guys!”
Everyone was in favor of what he said. Therefore, Beckham, carrying everyone’s expectations on his back, got up and patted his butt before he walked towards Twain.
※※※
He had just turned to get ready to walk towards the coaches when he heard someone call him. “Boss, boss!”
It was Beckham.
“Ah, David… even though I said to address me this way, it still sounds awkward every time I hear you call me that…” Twain turned to him and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Well… Uh.” Beckham glanced back at his teammates, but everyone seemed to not see him and were just focused on taking their break.
Twain followed the direction of his gaze but did not see anything strange.
“What’s the matter, David?”
“Uh… Someone’s looking for you.” Beckham made up a random excuse.
“Who?” Twain thought it was strange that the person did not come straight to him.
“Franck.” Ribéry’s name flashed through Beckham’s mind, and it popped out of his mouth. Anyway, it was his scheme, so he would use him as an excuse. “It’s not easy for him to walk around so he wants you to go out and see him. He’s in the parking lot.”
This reason seemed sufficient.
Twain nodded. “All right, I’ll go now.”
Beckham got the job done and he watched Twain walk out of the training ground before he returned to the other players. He found that George Wood and Eastwood were gone.
“David, Freddy said that when you got back, we’d all go and watch the show together.”
The group shot glances at the coaches who were resting.
※※※
Twain walked out of the training ground. The huge training base did not have many people in it and most of the training ground was empty. The reporters were not there, which made it looked desolate. He went through the training ground and the office building alone to the parking lot close to the indoor training hall.
The parking lot was also quiet and filled with the cars of the players and employees. Twain saw Ribéry’s red Citroen and smiled. The kid was injured, and he still did not want to stay put at home. He was always messing around the training base. He might be in the most normal among everyone.
But…
Doesn’t he have something for me? Where is he?
Twain stood in front of Ribéry’s car. He leaned over to look inside and did not find anyone in the car. He stood up and looked around. There was still no one around. The whole parking lot was full of cars. It was not an empty lot but there was no one around.
If Ribéry wanted to play hide-and-seek with him, the place was quite appropriate. But why would he play such a childish game with him?
The parking lot was right next to the indoor training hall, and Ribéry’s car was parked by the wall. Twain stood next to the red Citroen and raised his eyes to look around. “Franck!” he yelled, hoping that Ribéry would be able to hear.
“I’m here, boss!” His hope came true, and the sound came from above his head… above his head?
Twain looked up in astonishment.
The indoor gymnasium had a terrace the second floor, which was used to stack some junk. Twain looked up and saw the familiar scarred face, which was laughing happily.
“Whoosh.”
A bucket of cold water fell from the sky, and completely drenched Twain while he was caught off guard.
“Crash.”
Twain dumbly stood still on the spot for several seconds before he reacted. Then he looked up to see a particularly exaggerated smile on Ribéry’s scarred face. He was about to get angry, and suddenly he saw George Wood, who poked his head out to look down…
