That was not a novelty. Since he began coaching the team, Twain had been using this rewards-and-penalties training model to train his players to be competitive. Even if it was a training game, no one was willing to lose. That was why his team was able to persist to the end of a tough game and beat their opponents.
The players were excited when they heard that they were going to play in the games. Their behavior attracted Keane’s attention. He paused in his training and stood on the sidelines to rest while he observed the other side of the field.
Manchester United also had such competitions, and he believed that Arsenal must have them too. He was not interested in the training itself. He was interested in the players’ performances during training.
Twain assigned the players for each team aloud. The grouping was not divided according to the main force or substitutes but distributed randomly among the main force and substitutes.
Because there were only twenty-three players, it was impossible to average eight players per team. One team would only have seven players, so one player needed to play for two teams.
This required a lot more stamina. Naturally, only one player could do it.
“George!” Twain waved the notebook in his hand. “You’re on two teams.”
Wood nodded.
When he saw George Wood, Keane quickly focused on him.
The media had dubbed the kid as “the second Keane.” It was impossible for him not to notice. After the first match between the two teams, he exchanged jerseys with Wood.
But in his opinion, George Wood was still too young to be the second version of him. He still had a long way to go. At best, George Wood was a good midfield soldier. I, Roy Keane, am not just a foot soldier who can only kick the ball out of bounds with force; not before, and definitely not now.
※※※
When the other team, watching the game on the sidelines, saw that Anelka did not intend to pass the ball to someone else as he faced Wood and instead wanted to rely on his speed to force a breakthrough, they started to hoot.
“Bypass him! Shake him off!”
“Don’t let him through, George! Stop him!”
Anelka zigzagged left and right, changing his speed and shifting constantly. George still firmly stuck to him. The French striker could not fully make use of his speed advantage in the small field, which frustrated him. When he wanted to forcibly break through, George Wood tackled his ball.
However, the ball that Wood had tackled did not fall under his foot. Instead, Sun Jihai received the ball as he plugged in from behind. The Chinese fullback passed the ball and Viduka headed the ball into the goal. Wood’s team was eliminated, but he had to stay on the field because he was on the next team.
Twain realized someone was next to him. He turned his head and looked. It was Roy Keane.
“What do you think? Do you want to go out there and play for a bit?”
Keane looked at him and then regarded George Wood. He nodded. “Good idea.”
Twain grinned and immediately waved his hand towards the field. “George! You’re off!”
Kerslake handed Keane a blue vest. Seeing Keane put on the vest, the other people burst into an excited catcall.
Wood came off the field and Twain patted him on the shoulder. “Stand here and watch.”
Then he turned to Keane and said, “Are you ready?”
Keane bent his knees for a moment and nodded.
“Go ahead then.”
Clad in the blue vest, Keane ran onto the field and the game started.
Perhaps because of Keane’s influence, the blue team mostly passed the ball to Keane, who organized the offense and controlled the pace of the game. Keane also did a great job, just as well as he did at Manchester United.
Whether it was his defense, the counterattack after intercepting the ball, or that he continued to press on after the opponent’s attack, Roy Keane performed very well. Even as a newcomer, he automatically took command of the team as soon as he played. Everyone obeyed his every command. No one questioned him.
Kerslake watched the scene from the sidelines and shook his head as he sighed. “Too bad he refused to come to the Forest team. He may be thirty-four years old, but he can still be the main force in any team.”
Twain smiled and stole a glance at George Wood beside him. He found that he was staring steadily at the field. Twain did not know who he was looking at, but he could guess that he was most likely watching Keane.
Why did he invite Keane to the Forest team to train and maintain his condition? It was all for Wood.
You have to understand my good intentions, George. You have to learn from him within this limited period of a dozen or so days.
Led by Keane, the blue team was in a deadlock with the Albertini-led yellow team on the field for ten minutes. Neither side scored a goal. The game extended into a penalty shootout.
In the end, Keane scored a goal but Wes Morgan missed his shot, so the blue team was eliminated.
“It’s your turn to play, George,” Twain said Wood.
Keane walked towards Twain after he left the field.
“How are you feeling, Roy?” asked Twain.
“Well…” Keane looked back at Wood as he ran past, turned back and said, “Ten minutes is too short.”
Twain chuckled and then asked, “What do you think of George Wood?”
“Apart from defense, he still has a lot to learn.”
“I think so too. He’ll learn.”
Both men stopped talking and intently watched the game on the field.
※※※
The news that Roy Keane was training at the Nottingham Forest training base soon became known to the media and then the whole of England through the media. Many people speculated that it was a sign that Keane wanted to sign a contract with Nottingham Forest.
After all, Nottingham Forest was the starting point in Keane’s career. After he terminated his contract with his previous club, Manchester United, returning to Nottingham Forest could be an option.
However, the Forest club soon came forward to clarify. “Keane did not sign any transfer agreement with the team. He is just using Wilford for his personal training, as agreed on with Manager Tony Twain.”
Soon after, Keane’s agent released the news that a number of domestic and foreign clubs were interested in Roy Keane and hoped to get the currently free midfielder.
“We’ve already turned down the invitations of Premier League football clubs such as Everton and Bolton Wanderers. Roy Keane would like to extend his thanks to those teams for their invitations, but he doesn’t want to be Manchester United’s rival on the field. So, he has rejected all invitations from teams in the English Premier League.”
Michael Kennedy made that statement on Keane’s behalf.
With the task of contacting the new teams handed over to his agent, Keane still arrived at Wilford training base every day to train. Occasionally, he would play small group games with the Forest players. But most of the time, he would carry out the Manchester United training regime on his own.
Other than that, he appeared to be no different from a member of the Forest team. They used the same locker room and eat in the same cafeteria. Twain did not avoid this outsider when he laid out the team’s tactics. Keane did not grimly turn away anyone who came and talked to him. Everyone could feel the air of natural-born leadership emanating from him. However, everyone realized that, except for Twain, Keane seldom actively talked to people first. He still deliberately maintained his distance from the team. Even if he was swept out of Manchester United, he did not forget that he was from Manchester United. Perhaps he thought it would be a kind of betrayal if he took the initiative to chat to the Forest players because the Forest team was a direct competitor of Manchester United.
Even though the Forest team was his starting point in England’s top league, the twelve years of his career with the Red Devils had been deeply rooted in his heart. Nothing could replace that position, not even the Irish national team.
Just after Keane’s personal training at Nottingham Forest’s training base was exposed by the media, Twain received a call from Manchester. He was familiar with the caller, Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson asked about Keane’s individual training over the phone. Apparently, he was still worried about the currently “homeless” Irishman, who had left the club.
Then Ferguson expressed his gratitude to Twain for his generosity.
Twain very much wanted to ask Ferguson what had transpired between Keane and Manchester United. He wanted to know what happened with him and Keane that would cause the Red Devils captain to suddenly end his contract with the club. However, he refrained from asking in the end. He knew that Ferguson must have had his reasons which could not be divulged. It was uncertain who was right and who was wrong with regards to Keane’s departure.
Some said that Ferguson no longer valued Keane, and that his search for a defensive midfielder was proof. Others said Ferguson preferred the Liverpool midfielder, Steven Gerrard, over Keane. But now Twain knew they were all talking nonsense.
※※※
On December 20th, Roy Keane left the Wilford training base. Accompanied by his agent, Michael Kennedy, they flew to Madrid, Spain. They were going to the Real Madrid club for a negotiation. Under the recommendation of his former teammate, David Beckham, Real Madrid had extended an invitation to Roy Keane.