Chapter 181: The English Premier League’s Footsteps Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Des." Walker waved at Walker, signalling for him to come forward. "Shall you say a few words?"
Walker did not decline, and walked forward. As the assistant manager, he was the main executor of Tang En's plans during the daily trainings. All the plans devised by the coaching staff were executed by him. The other coaches were in charge of their respective training plans, and Walker was the person in command of all these people. Most of the time, he was fully in charge of all matters related to the team's trainings. Most of the time, Tang En would take his hands off the training-related matters once he confirmed the training plans.
"I…" Walker cleared his throat and continued, "I am very happy that I am able to bid farewell to everyone under this kind of situation. Very happy that in our last match, we won our opponents. You all made me see that moment, which I very much wanted to see once again. What I want to say is… no matter where I am, what I'm doing, I will never forget the second half of the 03-04 season for the rest of my life. As the manager that was able to lead all of you, I… feel proud from the bottom of my heart! You guys are the best players I have met, and the same can be said for the staff from the coaching team. You guys are the best colleagues I've ever met, and I thank all of you for the help and support you have rendered me all these years! Thank you!"
Another wave of claps and whistling exploded on site.
"Additionally! I would like to add on that…. Tony, is the best manager amongst all those that I've ever worked with! I'm not lying!"
This kind of raw, genius praise was accepted by Tang En happily. The players also showed their agreement with Walker's comment by whistling excitedly.
"Of course we know that Des doesn't lie…" As he walked up, Tang En smiled and said, "Just like him, I would like to thank all of you, lads. To be honest, the manager is a role that just moves his mouth outside the field. If not for your spectacular performance, we would also not be able to get this kind of results. Frankly speaking, the difficulties of some trainings would have made me raise my hand and surrender a long time if I were in your shoes. But you guys persisted, and what was your reward?"
"Champions! Victory!" Everyone answered in unison. This had already become a kind of mentality Tang En had infused into the players: He, Tony Twain, existed for the sake of pursuing victory and championship titles, and his team would also work hard towards this goal.
"Looks like you guys haven't got carried away from the victory." Tang En clapped his hands and continued, "That's right. We attained the qualifications to be promoted directly to the Premier League, and you guys will have an additional two weeks of holidays. Look, what a beautiful thing. I'm very happy that you guys didn't give up at any point in time, and didn't give up on this idea. I also feel extremely proud for being able to coach all of you, for winning the EFL Cup championship title and for our promotion to the Premier League! You guys are not one of the best! You guys are the best! Of course, me too…"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone started laughing.
"That's all the nonsense that I'm going to say. We've worked hard for one entire season, so just enjoy this holiday to the fullest. Wish all of you an enjoyable one! Dismissed!"
When Tang En passed down the order to dismiss, the players did not turn around and leave immediately. Instead, they lined up to hug Walker, who was about to leave the team.
At that moment, this assistant manager who was extremely strict during trainings fully experienced the players' respect for him.
Tang En quietly stood at the side as he witnessed everything, unable to hide the smile on his face.
After waiting for everything to end, when everyone that should have left was gone, Walker looked at and said to Tang En, who was still standing beside him, "Tony, you said you wanted to give me the best farewell, and you did it. Thank you…"
Tang En shook his head and replied, "No, 'we' did it. You think I could have achieved this on my own?"
Walker smiled, but did not answer his question.
"Actually, I really want you to stay. You've help me with a lot, a lot of things….Still remember the first match I directed here?"
Walker nodded his head.
"I asked Fleming who you were, and I made you direct the match on behalf of me… Thinking back now, it is really hilarious." Tang En started laughing and continued, "In the blink of an eye, one and a half years have passed since then. Time really flies. The only people left from those drinking sessions are Kenny and me."
"Tony, the times I've spent with you were my best times at Nottingham Forest. I spent the last year of my professional career here, hoping that I could do something for the relegated Nottingham Forest. Now, I'm very happy, because I've finally accomplished it. I think…when I go over to Hereford and tell Ian about what happened in the second half of this season, he will definitely be extremely envious of me."
Walker laughed, and Tang En laughed foolishly as well. He did not know what more he could say at this moment.
"Very sorry Tony, I can't go with you to the Premier League. But I think you need an assistant better than me. After all, it's a completely different world there compared to the League One. My abilities are still not up to par with requests on a higher level than this.
"No, Des, you are great! I mean it…"
"Goodbye, Tony. And I wish you good luck." Walker waved his hand and interrupted Tang En's sentence, before turning around and leaving the training field which was only left with the two of them.
"….I wish you good luck too, Des." Tang En murmured as he watched Walker's back.
The wind blowing from the northern Sherwood Forest stirred up the fragrance of the training field's green grace and the smell of the soil. That, was the smell of the start of summer. The forest in the distant made swishing noises, but it returned back to a state of quietness very soon. Tang En turned around to look at the empty training grounds. The silhouette of Walker shouting and scolding loudly on the training grounds in the past was fading away slowly. Wilford, which had been bustling for the past ten months, had finally quietened down. One month later, this place would once again become bustling once again. The days of sweating it out for the victory of every match on this training grounds repeated time and again, and it had gone on for many years. Each year, some people would leave while some new people would join. And Des Walker's figure would cease to appear here from this year's summer onwards.
One season had passed, and another season was slowly approaching.
When the sounds of the wind stopped, the branches stopped swaying. Tang En listened attentively, and he could even hear the footsteps of the new season. It sounded increasingly heavier, as it inched nearer towards them from afar.
One year later, he finally did not pass by and miss those footsteps narrowly again.
※※※
Those who should have left had done so, and those going on a vacation… had already left after rallying their friends. Tang En walked home alone, and took the opportunity to seriously consider how he was going to spend this holiday.
During last year's holiday, because they lost their matches, Tang En had been uninterested in entertainment for a long period of time. It was not easy for his mood to finally improve slightly, before he ended up meeting a troublesome young girl during the last few days of his holiday. This caused his hard-to-come-by holiday to become very fragmented. Now that he had finally gotten a holiday that nobody would interrupt, what was he going to do?
Learn from Crouch and search for passionate Spanish girls on the Iberian Peninsula beaches, and experience a romantic one-night stand in a foreign land?
It seemed like a pretty good idea…but he definitely could not be seen by Crouch.
With his head lowered, Tang En walked and when he reached his house, he finally snapped out of his own fantasy world as he whipped out his keys and prepared to open the door. It was at this moment, that he suddenly heard a voice from behind that sounded familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. "Uncle Tony."
This voice appeared to be from the distant Brazil, but it did not sound too distinct after travelling from a distant place…. It pierced through Tang En's body, causing his hand which was holding on to the keys to stop right in front of the keyhole. It was only after he was stunned for a while, before he suddenly turned around.
He looked at that girl with a ponytail standing under the bright sunlight, wearing a T-shirt and jeans while carrying a large sports bag and smiling at him very happily. It was Jude Shania Jordana.