Chapter 170: Want To Make A Bet? Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Nottingham Forest winning the EFL Championships was a big deal in Nottingham. Even though their archenemy was still in the same city, the Nottingham Forest fans escorted the Nottingham Forest coach bus all the way from Cardiff back to Nottingham.
This was considered a very grand welcome ceremony. It had to be known that in the past, this scene had happened only when Nottingham Forest had won the UEFA Europa League; the fans had spontaneously assembled outside of Derby County's airport, and later drove their cars behind the team's coach bus.
Now, the weakened Nottingham Forest had long forgotten the feeling of attaining a championship title, and even the past glory of being the UEFA Europa League champions had been gradually forgotten. Right then, Tang En was making them relive that classic moment. How could the fans not go wild? Therefore, although it was the most lightweight championship title among the three English championship titles, the Nottinghamians still showed ample enthusiasm.
Championship titles! No matter what they are, we only want championship titles! The Nottinghamians have had enough not having any championship titles!
On that same afternoon, Pearce Bruce had published a passionate article on the extra edition of Nottingham Evening Post. In the article, this was what he wrote: "...Only championship titles could make us remember once again that we were once the king of Europe! We were once glorious! But the only difference is that the current us no longer needs to indulge ourselves in past glories. We have a new symbol of pride: Tony Twain and his Nottingham Forest!"
Almost all of the local Nottingham media (except for the ones which supported Derby County) reported Nottingham Forest's spectacular feat on their front pages. For Nottingham Forest, which had been on the brink of relegation during the first half of the match season, the fans could be said to have gotten on an exciting roller coaster ride. They had had their ups and downs, experiencing both agony and joy, the two extremes of the spectrum.
Because Nottingham Forest had clinched the first championship title in England this season, other media, not limited to Nottingham's local media, also gave significant coverage on their victory. Miss Barbara was so busy that she could not maintain that professional smile of hers. Nottingham Forest Football Club had received requests from a total of fifty-six different media companies within a span of two days, and there were a few overseas ones among them.
If these media companies were to line up for their interviews one by one, they might have to wait all the way until the current season ended. Moreover, if the time allocated for such celebratory activities was too long, it would severely affect the team's preparation. After Tang En discussed it with Allan Adams, they decided to hold a press conference instead to satisfy all the requests in one go.
The press conference had a very positive effect, and Nottingham Forest's image was improved. The young and capable manager and the American-styled boss were focal points, not to mention the legendary feats of Nottingham Forest this season. For a period of time in England, "The rising Nottingham Forest" became the conversation topic of many people during their free time.
Of course, not everything that Tang En and Evan heard was nice.
The football commentator who posted a review article on the ESPN official website, Mr. Jon Carter, was an example. In his post-match review, he complained about the unfairness of the match towards Middlesbrough. He felt that Nottingham Forest won the championships using a very ugly method. They had not shown any signs of initiative during the match, and played very conservative, slow-paced football. In spite of this, they actually won the championships. That was the blot of the EFL Cup finals. At the end, he ridiculed Nottingham Forest's ranking in League One:
"Can anyone imagine a team not in their home country's top league representing that country in the UEFA Europa League? If we let Nottingham Forest participate in the UEFA Europa League, how will the people from other countries see us? They will laugh at England for being unable to produce a more competent team! Don't believe me? Just wait and see!"
In addition, Mark Lawrenson, who was not optimistic about Tang En from the previous season, once again spoke about Nottingham Forest's prospects on the Match Of The Day program. He still did not think that the team would be able to be successfully promoted to the Premier League by the end of the season. The reason appeared to be ample and convincing: because Nottingham Forest spent too much effort in the EFL Cup, a smart manager would definitely give up the league. After all, they had already gotten the qualifications to participate in next season's UEFA Europa Cup. The UEFA had never said that a team belonging to the country's second division league could not participate in the Europa Cup.
Tang En had never heard of Jon Carter prior to this. He rarely appeared on the ESPN websites, and the traditional media did not have his name either. Tang En felt extremely displeased that he, the "Champion Manager," had been scolded by a nameless grunt. As a result, he asked Bruce Pearce, "Where did this bastard come from?"
Bruce told him the answer.
Jon Carter did not have much fame to speak of in the English Football commentary circle. This was perhaps also his first time commenting on actual football; the articles that he had been previously publishing on the ESPN webpage were about various football video games, such as what FIFA07 could do in order to surpass Pro Evolution Soccer, which game was more fun to play between the Championship Manager series and the Football Manager series, and other articles of the sort.
His understanding of reality football and his severely outdated arguments were perhaps all based on information that he had gotten from playing football-related games, and he published these arguments soon after basing them on these assumptions.
Tang En may have been a loyal player of various football games, but that did not mean that he would feel any sense of familiarity with a stranger whom he had never even seen. Now that Tang En had garnered quite a bit of fame, he suddenly felt like venting all of his pent-up frustration towards the media on that pitiful Carter. So he wrote a "China style" open letter, which English people were new to and did not have much of an understanding of. It was a satire that was filled with cold humor and exaggeration, and Tang En let Bruce publish it in the Nottingham Evening Post. This was Tang En's one-time retaliation towards that guy, who knew nothing but still spouted nonsense, spitting on anything that did not conform to his own thinking. He gave Mr. Carter the nickname "spouter."
Jon Carter, after being mocked by Tang En, was naturally unwilling to be humiliated that way. So, he retaliated by publishing another article on ESPN. But Tang En was in no hurry to reply; if he did, it would seem as though he was urgently looking forward to bickering with him. He waited for a few days before throwing another short article that was a few hundred words long on the Evening Post, continuing to mock and ridicule Mr. "spouter," who claimed that Nottingham Forest was playing football that was behind the world football scene by an entire century.
The real reason behind the two men's battle of words in the media was pretty lame. Tang En had said himself that the debate between offensive football that was nice to watch and utilitarian football that could bring championship titles "had already been debated non-stop for half a century," and there was no need to continue discussing it. But Tang En's replies were full of rhetoric and humor, which was quite a treat for readers. Hence, this became another focal point of the English Football scene for a period of time.
People who played football generally tended to be less well-educated, and there were even many people who were unable to speak fluent, standard English. So a manager like Tang En, who could write an article in such a sharp-tongued manner, and at the same time utilize various rhetorical devices, received the support of many people.
For instance, England's Plain English Campaign announced that the people in the English Football scene could learn from Tony Twain, because his analogies were often used aptly, and left a deep impression on readers. This was because they were always complaining that the Football scene had many people who could not speak in a comprehensive manner: "The 'philosophy' of the people in the Football scene has always brought a great amount of obstruction to our goal to advocate proper English. They are too used to speaking before they think."
Amidst the commotion between both parties' bickering, the president of Nottingham Evening Post saw an opportunity that he could make use of. So, he borrowed Bruce Pearce's voice to extend their invitation to Tang En, offering him a special column in their newspapers. There was no fixed format, no fixed word count, no fixed time. Whenever Tang En wanted to express his personal opinion on certain things or a certain person, he could publish an article in his own special column. The company would pay him a fee according to the word count, and should the contract expire, both parties could continue to renew the contract if they felt that they could continue the partnership.
Tang En thought that this was a great idea; he had been earnestly hoping for a platform through which he could express his views. Holding a press conference for every small thing was very inefficient.
After coming to terms with the contract, they immediately signed the agreement. This would be the first time in Tang En's life that he would have a special column belonging to him, and he could even get draft fees from it.
After receiving the support of Nottingham Evening Post, Tony Twain went all-out in the argument, and Jon Carter lost very quickly. Therefore, this battle of words, which had a very lame reason and only served to one-sidedly showcase Tang En's proficiency at mocking, officially came to an end. Just like on the field, Tang En won his battle in the media.
Jon Carter was not a prominent figure, and his words held little influence. As for his other critic, Mark Lawrenson, Tang En had to use another method to deal with him. He did not criticize Mark Lawrenson's opinion towards his football team, but he spoke to Mark Lawrenson very clearly in his article:
"…Just like how many people once said that it was impossible for Nottingham Forest to obtain the EFL Cup championship title, and just like how many people asserted with certainty that Nottingham Forest was bound to be relegated a few months ago, now there are people jumping out to say that it's impossible for Nottingham Forest to be promoted. I usually ignore these kinds of comments, but I don't want my players to think that my silence is affirming these groundless statements. Therefore, I am very serious and sincere in inviting Mr. Mark Lawrenson to make a bet with me: I bet that my team will appear in the English Premier League matches in the next season. If I win…do you still remember what Mr. Lawrenson said in the previous season? I am very willing to see him shave his beard. And if I lose, I will shave my entire head!"