Chapter 83: To Stay Or To Go? Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gavin was dead, Michael was gone, and as for himself... his future was uncertain. Where would he end up? He looked around and gazed at the blue sky again. He had arrived there half a year ago. Although his body and instincts had accepted this fact, he still could not accept that he was British in his heart.
Tang En saw an epitaph inscribed on Gavin's tombstone: "Some are dead, and some are living."
Covered by the flowers which were placed there, the bottom section of the tombstone seemed to have something else inscribed on it. He knelt on one knee to move the flowers aside and found a line of small words in black. If he had not paid close attention, he would have basically overlooked it and treated it as part of the pattern on the tombstone. The inscription read:
Here rests the most beloved son of Michael Bernard and Fiona Bernard, the most loyal fan of Nottingham Forest, and George Wood's eternal supporter, Gavin Bernard.
Tang En was struck by this inscription. He had to use his hand to support himself on the tombstone so as not to fall. Staring at the fine line of words on the glossy marble headstone, it was as if it reflected the father and son pair strolling out of the stadium, wearing the Forest team red scarves around their necks. The father was singing loudly to cheer the team on, and then they clapped together and shouted, 'Forest! Forest!", the gruff man's voice mingling with that of the young boy's, as they gradually walked away.
Edward Doughty was in his office talking to the new manager, Stan Collymore, about the new season when he received a call from Twain.
"Tony, I'm so glad you called me." He had no intention of being evasive in front of Collymore.
"Edward, I've decided to stay on the team. But I'm not going to be an assistant manager to Collymore." Twain's voice came out of the phone and sounded vaguely unclear. Edward looked at Collymore sitting opposite him. He did not seem to hear anything.
"I will return to the youth team, but I hope you can agree to my two conditions: First, my youth team will have nothing to do with Collymore's First Team. He will have no right to interfere in any of my work. Second, if you do decide to change the manager one day, please remember to call me first. After you have thought these over, please call me back."
"Wait... There's no problem, Tony! I can agree to this now," Edward hurriedly replied as if he were afraid that Twain would change his mind.
"Thank you. Then I'll leave you to it. Bye, Edward."
"Bye, Tony."
Tang En put his cell phone in his pocket and pulled out the few pieces of paper with the phone numbers and club names on them. He looked at them, crumpled them up, and threw them into a roadside trash can.
Ian Bowyer had already left the team to manage Hereford United. But Tang En still clearly remembered what he said. "Only you can lead the Forest team, Tony."
That's right, only I can lead this team to victory. Collymore is nothing but a passing traveler in this Forest.
Stan Collymore, I'll remain in the youth team and watch how long you can stay.
The trouble with the allegations that Twain might face had also been cleared. Shania's family did not appoint a lawyer to send a warning notification to Twain, nor did he receive any subpoena from the court. The media later also confirmed that the plump auntie had said those things to Twain in a moment of anger. The lawyer, Jack Landy, had advised Twain to sue the media, which had added fuel to the fire and created the trouble by starting the rumors and exaggerating the incident. Tang En carefully considered it for a long time and decided not to sue them for now. His life had undergone major changes. He now urgently needed to prove himself again at work so that everything could get on the right track again.
But with this incident, those tabloids left a deep impression on him. He would remember their names and then in the future... deal with them one by one. One must know, Tang En was someone who would bear grudges.
Once he had determined his way forward, Tang En threw himself fervently into work. For him, he was basically back to the starting point. After he finally got to know the Forest First Team with great difficulty, he returned to the youth team. Now he must start to get to know this youth team from the beginning. Fortunately, Kerslake would help him assimilate with the team as soon as possible. Tang En did not need to worry on that point.
Instead, he had to be clear about his objective for the youth team—a result he could give to Edward Doughty to prove that he was the best manager for the Forest team and not anyone else.
The First Team had resumed training, and most of the players were surprised when they saw their new manager. They probably did not understand why Tony Twain, who had performed so well in the second half of the last season, was replaced by the new chairman with the inexperienced Stan Collymore.
But this was football. Who could clearly explain what happened behind the scenes?
Edward inherited his old man's, Nigel Doughty's, shares in the club. Although he was the chairman, he did not have absolute power within the club. A lot of matters required the board of directors to convene and decide. This was what Edward and his financial advisor, Allan Adams, detested. They wanted to transform Nottingham Forest into a modern enterprise, like the Edwards family's Manchester United. But the board was very wary of the two Americans and was always a hindrance.
Edward had already invested £500,000 into the club to repay the debts owed to the bank. After the team officially started the summer training, he announced again that the transfer budget for this season was about £3,000,000.
After hearing this piece of news, Tang En could only sigh that the lecher had better luck than him. If he had been given so much money six months ago, he could have guaranteed that the Forest team would now be readying for the Premier League matches, and he would not have been dismissed for the team not being promoted.
Ah, this is really life!
The Forest youth team assembled two days after the First Team, and what slightly gratified Tang En was that the lads were delighted when he appeared at the youth training ground and was introduced by David Kerslake as the new head of the youth team. No one had any objections. Tang En knew that his performance with the First Team had laid a solid foundation for both now and in the future. He had already demonstrated his ability, and now he did not need to establish any kind of authority with the youth team. This group of boys would listen to him. He only needed to consider how to lead the team to play with good results.
Tang En was not quite sure how to coach the youth team, so he simply transferred the same style that he had adopted for the First Team. He just needed to achieve good results. All else would be taken care of by David Kerslake, and everything would be fine. Normally, the youth team would be grooming players to be substitutes for the First Team. But Tang En did not want to pour in his utmost effort for Collymore. He earnestly wished that the lecherous maniac would be fired soon due to bad performance. If he wanted a player from his team, the answer would be, "No way!"
Wes Morgan, who had briefly played a few matches for the Forest First Team during the end phase of last season, had returned to the youth team and continued to be the team captain. With him there together with Tang En, he believed that everything would go smoothly.
As for George Wood, Tang En had agreed to stay, partly because he did not want to see this kid's career come to a premature end. He knew very well that except for him, no one could manage the kid. If he had left, then it would be harder to predict Wood's fate. He firmly believed that George Wood had a great talent. In addition, he had seen this kid's attitude toward football. As long as he had a good coach, there would be another star player in the English football world in the next few years—a ferocious defensive midfielder machine.
Tang En released Wood from his solo training and allowed him to train with the team. He believed with him on the sidelines, the kid would exercise restraint. In addition to his personal skills, the most important part of being a defensive midfielder was teamwork and an excellent awareness. And all these required him to train with the team so that he could accumulate the experience.
When Tang En began to strive again in the youth team, Collymore was not idle. His frequent attendance at various press conferences, cocktail receptions, and dinner parties was a marvelous time for him. That feeling of living again under the spotlight was too wonderful for words.
He threw a lot of the team's matters to Desmond Walker to deal with. He had dutifully stayed on the sidelines the entire first day that the First Team had begun training. But the next day, he was nowhere to be seen. According to him, he was on the hunt to recruit players for Nottingham to add on to the team's strengths for their Premier League promotion goal for that season.
It might be so…