Godfather Of Champions

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

During training the next afternoon, the team curiously asked some details about Albertini's farewell game. Even though they all played football, they were still very interested in those legendary star players.

Albertini answered everyone's steady stream of questions. Many of the active Forest players considered Baresi, van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Stoichkov, and the rest, legends.

He was happy to tell everyone the stories of these people, but made sure to do so during the breaks so that it did not affect the training.

Twain did not stop them. He felt that the stories of the legendary star players could inspire the young players.

After training, Albertini found Twain to thank him for his attendance the day before, and then he mentioned the text message.

"Thank you, chief, but I think I got a good farewell game. To be able to complete my contract with the Forest team is my biggest wish right now." Albertini was a realistic and direct person. He put forth his ideas in a straightforward manner.

Twain, who was used to Albertini's way of doing things, was not angry. He looked at Albertini with a grin. "You're satisfied? I'm not satisfied yet, Demetrio. How can my captain have such an innocuous farewell game? The best player in the world needs a special stage to take his last curtain call. An exhibition game? I don't think it suits you."

"But…"

"Yesterday's game was just for you to say goodbye to AC Milan. You don't mind me saying that, do you?"

Albertini shook his head. He felt the same way.

"You see, we are on the same page with this. Yesterday, you said goodbye to AC Milan, but it was not your goodbye to Nottingham Forest and the football field. So, it's necessary for the Nottingham Forest Football Club to prepare another farewell game for you. This is a ceremony for the Forest team to say goodbye to its captain. You can't refuse." Twain pointed to Albertini, who had just opened his mouth. "There has never been a team that does nothing when the captain retires."

Twain looked at the quiet Albertini and went on to say, "perhaps because you don't hold any other team in your heart besides AC Milan, Demetrio?"

This time Albertini hurriedly explained, "No, chief. That's not true. It's just that I think if it's only for me…"

"It's no big deal, Demetrio. Do you think we're going to search the world for people to come play an exhibition game where the outcome doesn't matter?"

Albertini agreed tacitly. Twain smiled.

"That kind of farewell game is not what I want to give you. Rest assured that the farewell game for you will never be troublesome or difficult. You don't worry about that. Just train and play well. As for your farewell game, when that day comes, everything will be ready. It will be the best stage for you."

Albertini had nothing to say. He looked at Twain's confident smile and nodded. "All right, I'll listen to you, chief."

Twain patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Go back, Demetrio. Let me worry about these kinds of things. You just enjoy the last half of this season."

After he walked Albertini out, Twain and Dunn talked about the matter on the way home together. Dunn was also interested in what kind of farewell game Twain was going to give Albertini. He did not expect Twain to be surprised when he asked the question.

"Don't you know, Dunn? I thought you knew."

Dunn thought about it and figured it out. "Now I know. But you're so confident. You have been giving presents everywhere. You're giving to Albertini, Beckham, Kenny Burns, the club chairman. Aren't you afraid of screwing up in the end?"

"I have confidence in my team." Twain stopped smiling and said seriously, "I think it's time to take the championship title."

※※※

On January 13th, the league tournament was rekindled after a one-week break. In the twenty-third round, Nottingham Forest ushered in Portsmouth. The opponent was not strong, and the Forest team won easily with a score of 3:0.

Manchester United was still very strong in the league. Because they won this game, the Forest team had a chance to return to the number two spot in the league. They currently only had one point less than Chelsea. Chelsea had fifty-one points; Nottingham Forest had fifty points.

It was fantastic news. A number of people at the club talked about which round they would catch up with Chelsea and pull the old enemy down from its spot.

However, Twain was calm about it. He felt that the good news was a trap for the team if it was not handled well. If the Forest team really aimed to catch up with Chelsea, it was likely to spend too much energy before the Champions League knockout stage. He needed to stabilize the pace of the team.

Therefore, after this round of the league, Twain held a special meeting with the coaching staff to reiterate the team's goal this season was the Champions League title. The league tournament was not in the plan, so there was no need to go all out for every game in order to surpass Chelsea. What were they supposed to do if a few important players were injured? The First Team currently only had that many players. Losing one player would be a disaster.

With the team's current strength, it was not possible to move full steam ahead in several competitions at the same time as vying for the title.

Even for a historic tournament like the FA Cup, he had put the reserves and youth team to play.

After he unified the views within the coaching unit, Twain highlighted it again among the players.

As the club had a good partnership with the Royal Hospital of Nottingham University, the team's injuries were under control and widespread injury seldom occurred. Still, the issue that Twain was worried about appeared in the next round of the league tournament.

Since he was injured from being shoveled in the game against the Reading team, the Brazilian defender — now a Portuguese and a member of the Portugal national team — Pepe started having minor injuries. He had to repeatedly stop playing.

Coincidentally, in the twenty-fourth round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest's opponent happened to be Reading again, but it was an away game for the Forest team this time.

The English Football Association took this game seriously and sent a number of game inspectors to the scene to closely monitor several "dangerous figures"— like George Wood and Stephen Hunt.

Because of the threat of heavy penalties, both teams' players were a lot more scrupulous. The Football Association was able to manage the players, but they could not control the fans. With the Forest team visiting, they were nearly inundated with Reading's boos and swearing. No matter which Forest player had the ball, the sprawling boos would greet them. Even Manager Tony Twain was not immune either. Every time he walked out of the technical area to the sidelines, he would be booed and abused by the stands behind the visiting coaches' seats.

Twain remained unmoved and stood proudly amidst the frenzy of boos. He looked as cool as a cucumber. Even the game commentator had repeatedly mentioned Twain's good composure.

But only the people in the Forest team's technical area knew what was going on: Twain carried an iPod with him and wore earbuds to listen to music by Rammstein. He turned the volume all the way up. He could not hear the abuses from the outside at all. Of course, he could not hear anything he himself said, either. He could only shout. However, in this environment, if he did not shout, no one else could hear what he said.

As a result, Kerslake wanted to laugh every time he saw Twain posing with a serious face on the sidelines while he listened to the abuse coming from behind the technical area.

Twain was able to shove the earbuds inside his ears and listen to the noisiest music. The players on the field did not have that. Hence, the Forest players did not play very well under the enormous pressure in the away game.

Pepe had to be replaced early in the second half because he twisted his knee when he turned too fast while facing the opposing striker one-on-one.

Twain did not take it to heart. After all, Pepe had been having minor injuries. He replaced Pepe with Kompany and continued to stand on the sidelines as a target for the Reading fans, to help lessen the pressure on the players.

During the halftime interval, Twain thundered at the team, telling them that if they could not take down Reading in this away game, then they had let down Paul Gerrard, who was still recuperating at home. They would also cause everyone in Nottingham Forest to be ridiculed by the Reading people. Therefore, no matter how much pressure they were under right now, they had to win this game.

Propped up by such thinking, Nottingham Forest eventually defeated Reading by 2:1 amid the endless boos.

But on the way back to Nottingham, Twain received bad news.

The team doctor, Fleming told Twain very clearly that Pepe needed at least three months of rest. If he did not want to it to become an irreparable injury and for it to flare up repeatedly in the future, he required surgery immediately.

Twain's face, which beamed with joy due to the victory, suddenly darkened.

Pepe was currently an important defender and he was adept in his partnership with Pique. Pepe was also especially matured and experienced beyond his actual age. His one-on-one ability had made a number of Premier League forwards suffer. His excellent breakout ability and accurate judgement of ball placement allowed him to take the lead repeatedly in the contest for headers. With his good speed, he was nearly perfect as a center back. Twain had said in front of the media more than once that Pepe was qualified to become a world-class center back in every aspect. All he needed now was to accumulate his competition experience and one or two worthy championship titles.

He did not expect Pepe to become "breakable" after a fight with Reading. This time, it was a complete break.

As the manager, how could Twain not be furious?

"Damn Reading," He swore under his breath, "Is there no other way other than surgery?" Twain asked Fleming again.

"If he does not have the operation, he may take longer to recover, and will often relapse in the future. He probably won't be able to play for more than ten games in a season."

"All right, surgery it is then. I need him back by May."

"If all goes well — If the operation and post-surgery rehabilitation go smoothly, I think there should be no problem."

After he ended his discussion with Fleming, Twain sat alone in his seat and thought about how to make use of the winter transfer period to bolster the defender positions in the team.

There were not that many good center backs they could buy at this time. Twain searched his mind carefully for a long while before he eventually identified a candidate: the unhappy Argentinian veteran, Roberto Ayala, who was currently in Valencia.

Although he was almost thirty-four years old, his ability was still beyond a doubt as an experienced center back. During the past season, he had been banished because of a conflict with the Valencia captain, Amedeo Carboni. Ayala had long wanted to leave Valencia for a change in environment.

At this juncture, it would not be an issue whether it was a transfer or a loan.

Twain decided that once he returned to Nottingham, he would let the club get in touch with the Valencia club. If the price was suitable, they could directly buy him. If the price could not be settled, they could loan him for half a season. Ayala basically could not play much over at Valencia anyway.

With the Forest team's current influence, Ayala would not reject this opportunity.

The only regret was Ayala could not represent the Forest team in the UEFA Champions League because he had already played for Valencia in the Champions League this season.

It looked like the Champions League could only still be shored up by the young men.

Speaking of the Champions League, Twain was about to go to the drawing ceremony. He had been looking forward to this draw very much.

※※※

Back in Nottingham, Twain looked up the information and found that things were not quite the same as he'd imagined, but the problem was small.

The contract between Ayala and Valencia was due by the end of the season. A year ago, Ayala had put forth his desire to the club to renew his contract with Valencia and end his career with the club. But after the World Cup, the announcement he had waited for turned out to be that Valencia did not intend to renew his contract with the thirty-three-year-old, which greatly disappointed him and led to a contradiction with Carboni.

Currently, there were not many teams interested in Ayala. After all, there was the issue with his age. His agent had been in contact with Villarreal last June. Valencia rejected the deal at the time. They did not want Ayala to remain in Spain, but rather wanted him to move abroad to develop. Every Spanish club that coveted Ayala would make Valencia unhappy.

This was not good news for Ayala, but truly great news for Tony Twain.

A foreign football club? Nottingham Forest is one!

Now, after the new year, Valencia was finally unable to continue to obstruct. Ayala's agent was in contact with Real Zaragoza, hoping to let Ayala join this team on a transfer. If nothing unexpected happened, it was believed that Ayala would belong to that club.

But now, the unexpected was happening.

After he obtained Ayala's agent, Gustavo Moscardi's cell phone number, Twain could not wait to dial the number. Firstly, he needed to know the player's views on moving to an English team. If he had no objections, he would talk to Valencia right away. Of course, it was not about a transfer. It would be a loan. Twain did not want to spend millions of pounds on a transfer fee for a player who was about to be free.

This conversation with Moscardi was confidential and the Valencia Club could not find out about it. Otherwise, matters would become tricky.

Over the phone he fully expressed to Moscardi Nottingham Forest's need for Ayala and his personal admiration of the former Argentina national team captain, hoping that Moscardi could convey the invitation of a transfer to Ayala.

The matter progressed as expected. Valencia did not want Ayala to stay in Spain, and several major domestic teams also had little interest in the old and frail Ayala. Left without an alternative, the clubs that Moscardi chose were not strong enough. If he had not been compelled by circumstances and run out of options, why would he be willing to go to Real Zaragoza, a lower tier team that could not even reach the UEFA Europa League?

Under such circumstances, there was a team which was not only foreign, but also strong that expressed admiration for Ayala. What was there to hesitate over?

Moscardi flew to Nottingham the next day to start discussions with the Nottingham Forest Football Club about Ayala's individual contract.

Ayala wanted to end his career at the last football club, so Moscardi gave the Forest team the condition that he had to sign a three-year contract, for which his annual salary requirement could be appropriately lowered.

After three years, Ayala would be thirty-seven years old, and that was the age of retirement. Although Allan Adams did not agree to pay an extra year of salary for a thirty-six-year-old, Twain still said yes right away. Twain was the general manager of the athletics tournament department. Allan could be unhappy, but he could not do anything about it.

The length of the contract was the biggest problem. Once it was taken care of, everything else was simple.

After his individual contract was negotiated, the Forest team began to make a request to Valencia to loan Ayala.

Valencia was happy as long as it was not a domestic club that came for Ayala. The Forest team's loan request quickly received a positive response. Valencia agreed to loan Ayala to the Forest team, but they were required to pay fifty percent of the salary.

That certainly could not work. Allan negotiated with Valencia and eventually managed to persuade them to lower the contribution to twenty percent.

Twain also knew that the Forest team's current defensive line was too young, and problems would definitely surface in the long run. After Hierro, he needed an experienced veteran to hold the ground while imparting his valuable experience to the young defenders. Ayala suited his requirements very well: he was older, experienced, still skilled, and unable to play a full English Premier League season because of his age and decline in his stamina — the English Premier League was widely known for its intensive competition — the young players could be given more opportunities to play, and then a few years later when he retired, the young players he once taught would have grown up. It was a perfect transition.

Whether it was Hierro, Albertini, van Nistelrooy, Beckham, or Ayala, Twain took these factors fully into account when he bought them. The Forest team had nothing when he took over. What were those young players to do without those veterans who were qualified and instrumental? He could only rely on his own memory that was ahead of time to buy these veterans in succession and help the young players in the team as if it were a relay race.

When Hierro retired, there was still Albertini. After Albertini, there would be van Nistelrooy, Beckham, and now they had Ayala as well.

Being able to fully "squeeze out" their residual value was the little tail hidden behind Twain.

Three days later, Nottingham Forest's official website announced that Ayala would be on loan to the Forest Team for half a season. Not a word in the press release mentioned that they were going to buy the Argentinian defender.

Once he settled Ayala on loan plus the free transfer, Twain took Dunn Nyon to Switzerland to take part in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 of the draw.

What opponent would be waiting in the scenic Switzerland?