Chapter 128: The Media’s Pet Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
While the English media were busy with the fans' rioting incident and the two clubs' war of words, Tang En was eating poor-tasting Indian dishes at an Indian restaurant with Doughty and Allan Adams, who were using forks and spoons to illustrate their blueprints for their future.
Actually, before Tang En met Allan Adams in person, his only impression of this person was that impressive stock acquisition plan which had kept everyone in the dark, including himself and Edward's father. As such, before they met, Tang En had always imagined Allan to be a potbellied fatty with a flushed red face and to have a pair of eyes which glimmered with a cunning light.
After seeing him, Tang En discovered that Allan actually had a baby face! He had a head full of curly golden hair, and the area below his eyes was full of freckles. From his looks, he only appeared to be in his twenties. However, when Doughty introduced him, he mentioned that Allan Adams was already 45 years old!
It was really unbelievable. One only had to imagine what a 45-year-old doll looked like, and he could more or less experience the shock experienced by Tang En. Luckily, Allan had already gotten used to being looked at this way whenever he met someone for the first time, so he was not bothered by Tang En's impoliteness. He was very friendly and took the initiative to shake hands with Tony. "Mr. Tony Twain, nice to meet you. You may call me Allan."
"Ah, nice to meet you. Allan, you may call me Tony." Tang En abruptly snapped out of it and extended his hands in reciprocation.
Edward was very pleased with the first meeting between these two and signaled for everyone to take a seat first before they continued chatting. "This is a very authentic Indian restaurant. What would you both like to order?"
What replied to him were two extremely loud sneezes. Tang En turned around and sneezed twice consecutively. As a result, he drew much attention from the other customers in the restaurant. "Ah… I hate curry. I am sensitive to it. Why do you guys like to eat Indian cuisine?" Tang En rubbed his nose and said in a slightly awkward manner.
Doughty, who was seated opposite Tang En, chuckled as he saw that Tang En embarrass himself, while Allan passed him a tissue.
"Thank you, Allan. Next time, I'll treat you guys to some Chinese cuisine. It's much better than this! China has a few thousand years' worth of food culture, and definitely nothing like Indian cuisine, which looks like... Erm, that kind of weird-tasting curry which could rival…" He had originally wanted to say "looks like a turd", but quickly recalled that they were in a high-class restaurant. It was not a place like the school lunchroom, where he could crack any kind of joke with his friends in the past.
"Alright, Tony, I know what you're trying to say… We also know that you are obsessed with Chinese culture." Doughty waved his hand in a bid to interrupt Tang En's sentence. Then, he touched his chin and said jokingly, "But if you really intend to treat, I would have to consider getting more people…"
"As long as you don't call the entire team over…" Tang En scratched his head.
"Oh! That's a really great idea!" He turned his head and looked at Allan who was seated beside him, and the two of them burst out laughing.
"Please spare me, the Chinese cuisine here is extremely expensive…" Tang En raised both of his hands high up in the air to make a surrendering gesture.
"But really, Tony. If you are able to get the team to return to the Premier League by the end of this season, I'll personally treat the entire team to a Chinese meal. How about that?" Doughty smiled as he looked at Twain.
"From being ranked fourth from the bottom, to being promoted to the Premier League within half a season's time.. This is really very challenging." Tony frowned.
"If it wasn't challenging, I wouldn't have gotten you, Tony." Edward's words made Tang En feel good inside. That's right, he liked the feeling of being trusted by others.
As such, his frown gradually grew lax. "You're right, Edward. I love challenges. Moreover… my plan does not stop at this goal." Tang En emptied his right hand and raised his thumb and began counting. "Qualifying for the Premier League, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League next season, first or second place in the EFL Cup… I want all of them."
Looking at the three fingers raised by Tang En, then looking at his confident expression, both Edward and Allan were dumbfounded. They looked at each other before Edward shook his head at Tang En. "Tony, you are crazier than I expected."
Tang En liked the expressions on those two faces, and he began laughing loudly. This once again drew looks of displeasure from the customers who were seated around them.
Seeing Twain's smug smile, Allan also nodded his head and said, "Indeed, much crazier than our plan."
Hearing Allan say this, Tang En stifled his laughter and asked, "Speaking of which, what exactly are your plans?"
Doughty looked at Allan, and Allan coughed once before unravelling the puzzle for him. "Tony, you know about the G14 right?
With a "Cling clang" sound, the spoon in Tang En's hand slipped out of his hands and fell onto the ground. This caused him to be able to attract the attention of the surrounding customers for the third time, as well as the restaurant waiter's "special treatment." An Indian waiter with black skin and dressed in red walked up to Tang En. He had originally planned to remind the customer to take note of his own actions, so as to not affect the other customers' meal.
However, before he could open his mouth, Tang En bent over and picked up the spoon before stuffing it into the waiter's hands. "That's great, I was just about to call for you. Can you get me another? This one dropped on the floor. Thanks!"
The young waiter took the spoon back somewhat perplexedly, while Doughty and Allan were trying their best to suppress their desire to burst into laughter. They bit their lips tightly and tried to hold it in until their faces turned red. They let out a "ho ho" laughter, as though it came from the depths of their throats.
Tang En knew that he had been set up by the two of them. "I feel that your plan is the truly 'crazy' one."
Allan lightly shook his spoon and said, "No no, Tony. When G14 was first established, that organization seemed extremely hard to enter. But it's different now. The clubs only needed the following three conditions in order to apply for it: To have had a long glorious history, a strong financial foundation, and to possess a rather high position in the home country's league. Then, as long as you have some good connections, there won't be much problem. Nottingham Forest has a long and glorious history, as we are one of the five oldest football clubs in the world. In addition, we have won two consecutive UEFA Champions League Championships. Even Chelsea cannot compare to these kinds of results."
Tang En nodded his head to express his agreement. Although Chelsea was wealthy, why was it that many people still referred to them as "upstarts"? That was because, compared to their current wealth, their historical results were extremely poor in comparison. Till now, there are only a few teams in the entire Europe that could successfully defend the UEFA Champions League championship title—Real Madrid, Benfica, Inter Milan, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, as well as Nottingham Forest.
"I really didn't expect you to know this much about football, Allan." When Tang En was agreeing with Allan's opinion, he also felt shocked that Allan was somewhat knowledgeable on the topic of football.
Allan shook his head and said, "Tony, you know I'm an American, but I am currently working for the Nottingham Forest Club. Therefore, I naturally have to understand the situation of my work environment. This is my own work ethic. Edward wouldn't hire some idiot who knows nothing about football to help him, right? If that was the case, then he would be an idiot."
Tang En could hear Allan's displeasure from this and apologized to him. "So sorry Allan, I was just slightly… Erm, slightly shocked." The waiter who came to deliver the new spoon arrived at the right time, helping him out with his predicament.
Allan shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's alright. As an American, it is not uncommon to be asked this kind of questions in this country: 'God! An American knows about football?' I'm used to it. Let us continue, where were we?"
"G14, long glorious history," Doughty reminded him, before taking the opportunity to call the waiter over and order some Indian dishes while Allan was explaining the plan to Tang En.
"That's right. Nottingham Forest already has a glorious history, so we definitely fulfil that criteria," Allan continued. "And from the current looks of it, a strong economic foundation appears to be as far from us, as we are currently from New Delhi. But this is precisely my job."
Tang En interjected, "You are in charge of making money."
"As well as PR. A good connection requires outstanding PR work. And this kind of PR is not only targeted at the important figures of the European football scene. Our PR is well-rounded. But it is very troublesome to go into the specific details of this. In any case, this is also within my job scope, and you can just leave it to me. As for you, Tony," Allan looked at Twain and said, "You are the key to this plan. Obtaining a strong financial power, a healthy club finances, a good worldwide reputation, and the qualifications to negotiate on equal ground with the important figures… All of these require us to fulfill criteria beforehand—use the outstanding performance of the team as a foundation. You are very right, Tony. A team who is not playing in England's top league cannot possibly get the support of top-tier sponsors, and can't possibly receive even greater market share. A team that cannot obtain glory can never have the chance to talk to those powerhouses on equal ground. Wanting to enter G14, wanting to earn more money… they are just wishful thinking." Allan threw down his spoon and leaned against the seat after shrugging his shoulders. He had finished what he had wanted to say.
The three of them fell into a period of momentary silence.
Tang En was deeply attracted to this grand plan. Wasn't this the goal which he had been yearning for? An even broader stage, an even high glory, matches after matches of consecutive victory, and cheers! Even louder cheers! Trophies! Even more trophies! Make Nottingham Forest once again return to the top of the world!
Tang En cleared his throat, because his throat had become parched from the stimulation brought about by the fascinating future.
"This…is really… a plan so crazy… it can't get any crazier…" He said intermittently.