Godfather Of Champions

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

Nottingham Forest was quiet this summer. There were no news about them that was exciting enough for the media to spread. The China Media discovered that Tony Twain really liked closed trainings. Twain's "closed training" was not the same as China's version. It was just the media that he barred from recording the team training. In the whole world, only the official Nottingham Forest's website had pictures of the training. Even theNottingham Evening Post who had the rights to enter the field to film was stripped of its privilege after offending Twain with its article by Brosnan.

Nobody knew how Nottingham Forest's conducted their pre-season training. They also did not know the potential of Nottingham Forest in this new season. Would these brats really be useful? Did Tony Twain still have power over this soccer team? Would the club continue to sell or buy players? There was no information at all. Twain even aggressively cancelled the routine press conference on every Wednesday afternoon because there was just nothing to talk about!

The newest information that the media could obtain about this club was from the warm-up match open to outside viewing. However, Twain mixed up the number and sequence of the players in the roster and, after the first half, brought in a massive number of reserves to play. With this, the match results were of no value to the spectators.

Everything Twain did was to reduce pressure placed on the new players on the team, creating a less tense environment for them. But the media did not view it this way, they all think that Twain was trying to go against them as per usual. If Twain wanted to treat the media like this, then he could forget about them having anything good to say!

Although Twain did not reveal any message to the media, this did not prevent the media from fabricating any messages. Hence, articles criticizing Tony Twain, and questioning the current state of Nottingham Forest's new season were piling up.

The English Media had to acknowledge this much: they could look down on Twain all they wanted, but they had no choice but to rely on talking bad about Twain for the audience to pay attention to them.

Regarding Twain's methods to have a younger soccer team, doubts originating from the Carl Spicer's press conference, had not stopped. Following the incoming new season, these voices became louder.

Some experts predict the results of the new seasons had Nottingham Forest as the "middle of the league", and this was being respectful as well. Some immediately clamoured that even avoiding relegation this season would be a miracle for the team.

Just because Twain allowed the team closed training did not mean he was ignorant to what was happening outside the stadium. He knew what the outside world was commenting about him and his team, but he did not want to argue with the media. This was the first time he did not comment any hopes on his own column regarding the new season — all of these was just to avoid creating stress on the many youths on his team.

There was a great difference between the current team as compared to the previous. Twain also understood this point, he could no longer use the same attitude he used on the previous team, some times his managing methods needed change and adjustment.

He did not want to create too much pressure for these people, but this did not mean that zero pressure would be given. He just needed a suitable time to tell his players what being in the professional league meant. He actually needed to thank the media who had been constantly thinking of adding troubles on him, because they helped Twain to complete the outside environment of Nottingham Forest.

Frankly speaking, Tony Twain was a sly, innately disgusting person who liked to go against the norm. Hence, the team he led would be contaminated by such atmosphere. If the outside world was not as optimal, then Twain would gladly grab the collars of those people, and slap them with his might. The slapping sounds would be music to his ears.

※※※

In the final moments before the start of the new season, the team was doing its final preparations for the new season. Twain and Dunn recreate the new tactics and attacking methods. They could no longer rely on counter attacking as their only method of winning, Twain insisted on having an organizational midfield, because he viewed that the battlefield was a problem he could never avoid.

Van der Vaart's departure dealt a heavy blow to Nottingham Forest's new tactics. Şahin was still unable to replace van der Vaart's position and potential immediately so the team needed to readapt to the new playstyle after changing its core.

In the warmup match, Twain rotated Şahin and Bostock to try out this position, while occasionally allowing George Wood and Tiago to be the ones in the organizational attack. After observing for a few matches, Tiago was eliminated first. Maybe Tiago used to excel in the midfield in the attack last time, but after many years of sharpening, he became the second-rate version of George Wood. But George Wood was performing phenomenally.

Bostock was still a little young. Şahin displayed great potential to be utilized but the warm up match and actual competition had a huge difference. Twain had seen his fair share of players performing brilliantly in warm-up matches only to underperform in the actual matches.Şahin still needed to be reevaluated in the actual competition to truly determine his capabilities. With the mindset of not placing all hopes on one person, Twain decided to focus on the new role by Wood in the attack.

In the new season, George Wood, other than continuing his job as the defensive midfielder, needed to bear several offensive duties as well. Because by then, Nottingham Forest initiated almost all its attacks from this position. — Starting the attack from the back would be from him as he was in charge of passing the ball forward. Upon being pressurized by the opposing forwards, he was required to open up space by running to support his full backs via receiving the ball and controlling it, waiting for his other teammates to support. While his forwards were restricted, he was required to run forward to alleviate the pressure via receiving and passing the ball.

The defensive midfielder is the most important position in modern soccer, it is the central position in the team. If Wood were able to perform a little better, he could become Nottingham Forest's Fàbregas, Gerald, and then Twain could loosen down a lot more. By that time, he could even try using the more offensive 4-3-3.

Aside from that, Wood did not slack during shooting practice for even a day. Now his shooting was a lot better than it used to be. At the very least, only half his shoots from 10 feet outside the penalty area would be off its mark.

A defensive midfielder who excelled in defending was very capable in his running, and also able to pass in an organizational attack, while when all else fails is able to send a screamer into the opposing goal mouth. Just the thought of such a player would scare most people.

※※※

The newly married Shania had no reason to slack off. The whole world was facing an economic crisis so she also needed to work hard to earn money. But she was no longer a single who could feed herself easily. After getting married, there was suddenly a lot more things on her plates. Aside from making money, there was a very crucial matter, and that was the love between her and Uncle Tony.

If possible, she would rush back home to Nottingham after her work, then fall in love back on bed with Uncle Tony, relishing in the world only the two of them shared. They would make love without stopping, sometimes going two or three rounds, going at it again after changing positions. Aside from their sexual desire from their love of each other, this was also because they wanted to have a child soon.

Tony Twain was about to turn 41. For a man, having children at this time was considered late. Also, considering the dormant dangers in Twain's body, having children sooner would make them feel more secure. Since their wedding two months ago, they had been making love everyday, other than the days where Shania was out working, and yet there was no reaction from Shania's body.

"Alright…, you can't rush these things." After another time of lingering, Twain lied on the bed, holding Shania by his side, and said to himself. It seemed like he was comforting Shania and himself at the same time.

"Also, frankly speaking, Shania, I feel like getting pregnant this early won't be good for your career."

Shania crawled onto Twain's naked chest, carefully searching for the position of his cardiac pacemaker. "Are you worried my figure would change after giving birth, Uncle Tony?"

"No, that isn't it…"

"Frankly speaking, Uncle Tony, if I really lose my figure after giving birth and become an ugly woman who is obese and dull, would you still love me?" Shania suddenly raised her head to look at Twain.

Twain flipped and looked at the ceiling. He was thinking how that woman would look like.

"Ah! You hesitated, you're wavering!" Shania sat up from the bed, raising her voice while pointing at Twain.

"Nonsense! I am seriously thinking about it! If I gave you a reply easily, then you should really worry!" Twain pulled Shania over to lean onto his chest. "Listen to the sound from here!"

Shania seriously listened to it for a while. She was worried Tony's heart disease would act up again. "It sounds normal…"

"This means I'm not guilty! You shouldn't think that being fat will turn you ugly. Some women become cuter after gaining weight!" Twain stared at Shania and sternly said. "Besides, I won't allow you to think about what I would think if something ridiculous should happen to you."

"For example?"

"Like how I don't go thinking about what would happen to you if I di—" Shania covered Twain's mouth with her own.

After a long kiss, Shania straddled Twain's waist, staring at him while saying, "If you dare to say 'dead' again, see how I would handle you, Uncle Tony! Ah…"

Shania suddenly felt something poking her butt. She did not turn because she knew what it was without looking.She squinted at Twain who was on the bed and screamed surprisingly. "Wow! Are you really 40 years old, Uncle Tony?"

Twain was not embarrassed at all, he pointed at his left chest. "I have a nuclear powered heart with a long lasting power and a stronger effect. I have five batteries to last after one goes down, then I can battle with you for another 300 rounds without panting!"

"You are lying! Are you a machine,uncle?" Shania puffed out her cheeks, pouting in disbelief at his lies, but she started gyrating.

Twain could feel his thing being grinded by Shania's soft and round butt, being a little indecent. He looked at Shania's beautiful face; she looked spellbound. Her vibrant eyes were glossed over and her wet lips were slightly parted. The dim, yellow light by the bedside cast a glow over her lips and it made them look like delicate cherries.

"Then… want to try?" Twain naughtily placed his hands onto her slim waist, they then started a new round of "human production exercise" with the guy on top of the woman.

The last moments before the season then passed by like this…

※※※

The week before the start of the new season, on new Wembley stadium, the previous league champion Manchester United and FA cup champions Liverpool reenacted their last encounter in the previous season. However, this was a more direct challenge. In the last round the last season, Liverpool could not perform as they usually did against Totterham due to the overwhelming pressure of needing to remain in the league. As such, it was Totterham that performed outstandingly.

In the end, Liverpool drew against Totterham on their home court, allowing Totterham to avoid relegation. However, Liverpool lost their league championships. On the other field, Manchester United completely dominated Hull City with a three goal lead, snatching back the league championships and continuing the legacy of Mr Ferguson.

With this backstory, the Community Shield Cup was very exciting and intense. Liverpool was trying their hardest to find Manchester United for revenge and they finally got their chance.克里斯蒂亚诺.罗纳尔多 wait what ?????

In their 90 minute contest, the head referee issued a total of 6 yellow cards and 1 red card, Manchester United not only lost to Liverpool, and lost the Community Shield Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo, who had just had knee surgery, suffered from another violation by his opponent, re-opening his injury on his knee and forcing him to leave the field. And the player who fouled him was Liverpool's midfielder Mascherano Zebel who was directly given a red card to leave the stadium.

The match results did not do justice to how exciting the match seemed, 1:0 with Liverpool winning.

After the match, pictures showing Ferguson raging on Benítez was on the headlines of several newspapers. When he was interviewed, he angrily called Liverpool, regardless of coaches or players, being a bunch of bandits, saying that a player like Mascherano who had no sportsmanship should be sent to the gallows. His comments blew up in the English media. He was also then fined by England for a hundred thousand pounds.

Benítez and Liverpool were not the best people either. Benítez thought that Ferguson lacked the basic respect towards others, and he felt sorry for Ronaldo but he did not think that Mascherano should be accepting such denouncement from the Manchester United media. Who allowed his innocent player to face such tremendous pressure? Those people who wanted to send Mascherano into the gallows should be sent to the gallows instead.Hence, Benítez was fined fifty thousand pounds by the England Football Association.

Mascherano was then suspended for four matches after that game. During his interviews, he had already answered that he had called Ronaldo to claim that it was an accident caused by exaggerated defending. He also claimed that Ronaldo had accepted his apology.But because of this injury, Christiano Ronaldo missed almost two months' worth of the new season, hence whether he really accepted his apology was really questionable.

The English Premier League from 2009 till 2010 then opened with such a chaotic background. And Tony Twain, with his team, was outside of such chaos for the first time.

※※※