Godfather Of Champions

Pierce Brosnan spent an entire night and stayed up late to finish the news report, "The Dangerous Encounter of Tony Twain and Nottingham Forest in the London Underground." He wrote it in the style of a novel and wrote it with relish. He hoped that the readers would read it with relish, too. That was truly a rare experience.

But when he presented the manuscript to the editor-in-charge, the editor told him that the manuscript could not be released.

"Why?" Brosnan was a little annoyed. Why was the manuscript which was an all-night effort, not allowed to be released? He did not include any content that was not allowed to be published, and Britain was a democratic country with freedom of the press. Furthermore, Millwall had unjustly accused the Nottingham Forest fans of causing the riot. He needed to inform the readers through an accurate account of this news report who the dangerous people were and who the thugs were!

"Ah, don\'t get me wrong, Pierce," the editor-in-charge smiled and said to him. "I mean I can\'t release it now. We have just received a press conference notice. Mr. President wants you to attend, and then come back and write a report."

Brosnan, still unwilling to back down, asked, "What does this have to do with this report?"

"Well, I think... this story, put together with the report from the press conference, will be more appealing." The editor-in-charge was not miffed, he just smiled and said, "Do you know what that press conference is about?"

Brosnan shook his head.

"It was called by The Nottingham Forest football club in response to Millwall\'s nonsense about which side had caused the fans to riot."

Brosnan\'s eyes widened.

"So, you will go, Pierce. Your friend, Tony Twain will be at the press conference, and I think wherever he\'s at, there will be no shortage of news elements and dramatic scenes."

The editor-in-charge had just finished speaking when Brosnan turned and rushed out of the office.

※※※

When Brosnan breathlessly ran into the press conference, he found that inside was already a full house and all the seats were definitely gone. He could only stand at the door and squeeze among the TV station cameras in the back row.

The number of media which attended this press conference exceeded Brosnan\'s anticipation. Just counting the television networks, there were already five of them, two Nottingham local television stations, and the other three were Sky TV, BBC, and an independent station.

As far as the print and online media were concerned, there were so many more that it was impossible to recognize them one by one.

It looked like everyone was very concerned about this fan riot in the stands. Violence in the world of football seemed to have kept far away from the leagues, but in fact it had never disappeared. It lurked insidiously outside of everyone\'s awareness and revived at the first opportunity. Brosnan thought of Gavin, who had died in innocence... A few days ago, he had gone to Gavin\'s grave and found two bouquets of flowers in front of his tombstone. Neither of the cards had been inscribed with the names of the senders. But Brosnan guessed that one of the bouquet must have been sent by Twain. With him being more frequently in contact with Twain during this more than half a year\'s time, he found that underneath the man\'s irascible appearance that always seemed to be wearing a hanging sign that said, "Strangers keep out", he was in fact a rather sentimental person. It was just that he was not too good at expressing the feelings from the depths of his heart.

How else could the Forest team defeat Millwall by 7:1 in an away match in the midst of adversity? Brosnan thought about this question during and after the game. If the Millwall fans did not use Gavin\'s name to provoke and mock the Forest team, perhaps Nottingham Forest would have lost this tough match. But they did deliberately do this. It was tantamount to stabbing a knife into Twain\'s heart, and it was not just stabbing. It was adding salt to the wound after the stabbing.

Tony Twain was a football coach, not a killer. He could not have abandoned the match, jumped to the stands and gotten into a fight with the fans. But the fury inside him had to have a place for him to vent, and so the poor Millwall team became a victim of their fans\' momentary gratification. Brosnan could even imagine how Twain had behaved during the halftime interval. He must have been brandishing his clenched fists and roaring in the small room to let all the players understand that all those who infuriated him, annoyed him, provoked him, mocked him, and repeatedly challenged his bottom line, would not have a good ending.

Just like what he had said at the post-match press conference, "When (those fans) sing once, we\'ll score a goal! Sing once, score a goal! Until they dare not open their mouths again!"

To be honest, Brosnan had no doubt that the Forest team could really do this. Because he knew that was Tony Twain\'s Forest team. At that time, he was very excited in the stands every time the Forest team scored a goal, as if he were a fervent Forest fan sitting in the press box. After the tumultuous first half, any Forest fan would be as excited as he was, right? Looking at those Millwall fans who gradually became silent, all the despondence inside them was completely swept away! It was more exhilarating than an orgasm!

What Twain said was right. What was the best kind of manager who would win the hearts of the fans? Victory! A manager who could bring victory! Judging from these two matches and after experiencing the failure of the team\'s promotion, Tony Twain had become more mature after his experience in the youth team—of course, he was more mature as compared to before. He must have seriously considered his current situation and future. After he was clear about his forward direction, he no longer hesitated and just steadily moved forward step by step with both feet firmly on the ground.

While Brosnan was in deep contemplation, the din at the press conference gradually waned, and finally disappeared completely. Tony Twain and Edward Doughty, the two leading figures at the Nottingham Forest Football Club, went up to the stage. The chairman sat down, and the manager stood in front of his seat, looking at the microphones, recorder pens, tape recorders and even the cell phones on the table. He did not count them because they were too many to count.

However, he still saw a few familiar logos.

"Sky TV, BBC, ITV, The Sun..." Tang En casually listed the logos he knew, as if talking to himself. "That\'s good, all the influential media are here."

Then he looked at the reporters sitting in front of him, "I want to ask, are there any Millwall media, such as from their official website, or a reporter who has a close working relationship with that club?"

The reporters looked left and right, front and back. No one raised their hands or stood up, and no one uttered a reply.

Tang En shook his head, "That\'s a shame. Never mind, it will be the same talking to you. I believe that blind Chairman Paphitis\' ears are still functioning. If he can\'t read the newspapers, he can still always listen to the television and radio, can\'t he?"

His first remark caused a commotion among the reporters below. This was plainly a personal attack…

So, someone raised his hand.

"You, sir, do you have a questions?" said Tang En as he pointed to him.

"Um, Mr. Twain, I hope you know the impact of what you\'ve just said and how will affect you ..." a balding reporter of a small stature wearing a beige suit stood up.

"Oh, why didn\'t you raise your hand when I asked just now if there was any media related to the Millwall club?" Twain frowned.

"I have no relationship with the Millwall club, I\'m just reminding you, Mr. Twain. I am..."

Tang En waved his hand and interrupted the reporter, "I don\'t care which media company you\'re from. I know what you\'re going to say... only that blind Mr. Paphitis will be very angry, and the consequences will be very serious. Right?" He glared at the reporter aggressively. "Then I would like to respectfully ask you, Mr. Reporter... How do you think I felt when his club\'s fans in the stands made lyrics about a young dead Forest fan, insulting my team and provoking my fans? How do you think I should feel?!"

Twain suddenly raised his voice, and that poor little reporter\'s body even gave an uncontrollable shudder under his sudden outburst.

"He said he did not see his team challenging the Forest fans in the stands, and he said he didn\'t hear the song that the fans were singing? Ah, I\'m sorry, I just said he was blind, actually, he is not only blind, but deaf as well! If he intends to say that he doesn\'t understand the meaning of those lyrics that the fans sang, then I\'d be honored to announce that Mr. Paphitis has a problem with his head! \'Brain-disabled\'! Have you heard of this term? No? Very well, the Encyclopedia Britannica should include this word. I invented it, and then wrote in the entry note: The brain has a disability, for example: Please refer to the distinguished chairman of the Millwall club, Mr. Theo Paphitis!" Tang En took on the reprimanding tone which he used on his players to scold the Millwall club chairman. The poor reporter must have been seen as Theo Paphitis by Tang En.

"His fans used songs to insult my fans, it was so loud that it could be heard clearly in the broadcast. There was half a minute of TV footage focused on that section of the stands that hadn\'t changed, and he said he didn\'t see it and didn\'t hear it! I mean, is there any logical reason why I can\'t state that he\'s blind and deaf? Did I slander him? Am I talking nonsense? What is he angry about? What gives him the right to be angry? If he still intends to pretend that he\'s muddled, then I\'ll tell him now, his fans use the most despicable and shameless means to mock my team, I\'m motherf**king angrier than he is! The consequences are even more f**king serious!"

Twain slammed his fist on the table and angrily growled. The press conference was silent. Maybe everyone was frightened by the emotion he showed.

For some of them, before their arrival, they thought it was just the Nottingham Forest Club issuing a claim to the Millwall Club, an official procedural statement. No one had expected to see such a good show. How could this be the official statement? This was just someone scolding at the top of his lungs. He wouldn\'t be the first manager to swear at a press conference, right?