Chapter 211: The Fateful Matchup
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The tied game with Aston Villa on their home ground made the Forest players find that the number of reporters at the sidelines had suddenly increased during their usual training. Everyone knew the local media, which made them think that most of the unfamiliar faces were from London.
"We just tied a game. Why is the media so excited?" Eastwood asked with confusion as he pointed to the cameras behind the mesh wire fence during an interval in the team training.
"Because they've realized that we're destined to be the champions of this season!" Twain affirmed with a nod.
Eastwood turned his head in astonishment to look at Twain. "Boss, you aren't kidding, are you?"
Twain seriously shook his head, "No, of course I'm joking."
Someone was chuckling next to him.
Next to them, David Kerslake explained, "They are paying close attention to us, not because of us, but because of our opponents in next round. Arsenal."
Recently, the media had been hyping up the fateful entanglement between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. It was like a melodramatic primetime soap opera, and there were only a handful of people who did not know about it. Only people like Eastwood, who did not care about anything except playing football well, were surprised to see so many reporters gathering in Wilford.
Standing outside the training grounds with the other reporters, Pierce Brosnan could not help but lament the fateful arrangement: the opponent that Arsenal was facing while looking to break the record was the team that had created the record. When Brian Clough had led the team to create the record, it was thought that no one could hope to break it for a long time. And now the record was in danger of being broken while he was still alive.
The North London media, with the exception of those in support of Tottenham Hotspur, were unanimously in support of Arsenal and optimistic that Arsenal would break the 25-year record on the Forest team's home grounds. After all, Arsenal was strong and in good shape, and the Forest team still had not adapted to the rhythm of the Premier League. Their score of one point from a concession and a draw in the first two rounds of the tournament was unconvincing in the face of the mighty Arsenal.
At the end of training, the players walked from the training ground to the locker room, and along the way, the reporters came up to them to ask questions related to the record and Arsenal. Most of them asked, "What do you think of Arsenal's strength? How likely are they to break the record?" Some players were able to politely answer the questions, even though they had little to do with them.
However, they occasionally met a bad-tempered player who was unresponsive to the reporters, like George Wood. He looked coldly at the reporters putting their microphones in front of his lips, and just as the reporters became full of anticipation, he turned his gaze away and left the group of reporters without a word.
Afterwards, there were more and more Forest players like him who treated the reporters that way. At first, everyone was interested in the attention, as it still felt fresh. After all, they were so far away from the record that happened 25 years ago that Arsenal breaking it wouldn't be too bad.
But if the people around them constantly asked questions like "How's Arsenal," and "How's Henry," and the like, they would feel that they were being derided.
At the Forest team's regular press conference, about 95% of the reporters asked questions about the next game, and 80% of those requested that Twain talk about his view on Arsenal looking to tie the record.
Tang En himself did not dislike Arsenal or Wenger; after all, he had a tiny bit of friendship with Arsène Wenger. But he detested the media, which was just playing up the news. He did not want to play nice with the media.
So, when all the reporters had finished asking their questions, Twain tugged his ears in front of the cameras and asked, "I keep thinking I'm mishearing you, so I checked my ears to make they're working okay. But apparently, my ears weren't the problem. So then I thought to myself, maybe my brain's out of order. Maybe I just couldn't understand your questions properly. But that can't be right, because it's impossible for my brain to go wrong. So finally there's only one conclusion I could arrive at: you must be the problem."
He had said so many misleading things that the reporters were completely baffled; they did not understand what he had said or what he wanted to express.
Looking at the bewildered reporters, Twain sighed. "Sure enough, I have to be blunt so that you can understand. Ladies and gentlemen, you have come to the wrong place. If you're interested in Arsenal, go to North London. This is Wilford, not London Colney. Still, I'm sure that you won't be able to ask any questions that aren't about Arsenal, so today's press conference is over. Until the game is over, my team and I will not be accepting any types of interviews."
After that, Twain got up and left the conference hall, leaving the room full of stunned reporters, looking at each other in dismay.
Twain firmly walked away, and Ms. Barbara Lucy from the Forest club stayed behind to clean up the mess for him. "Ladies and gentlemen, today's press conference is over. Please kindly make your way back."
After she was done, she quickly walked out to catch up with Twain, who was marching back to the office.
"Mr. Twain?" She called in an inquiring tone.
Twain stopped and turned around to look at Evan's private secretary. "What can I do for you, Miss Lucy?"
"Um… I'd like to remind you that Sky TV has one more interview with you tomorrow morning."
"To ask me questions about Arsenal while we sit in the café at the Wilford training base?"
"I don't know, but I think… yes." Lucy nodded.
"Very well, you can help me reject it. If we've already agreed to the interview, let David deal with those pesky reporters while I train the team."
Lucy nodded and left. Just as Twain entered his office, he received a call from Evan Doughty. "Tony, I hear that you're make things hard for the media all over the UK."
"You're very well-informed, Evan."
"Don't forget, I have friends in the media too." Evan laughed. "They called and complained to me that the Forest manager refused to play ball with them."
"I really wanted to oblige, but they were all about Arsenal. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't work with them." Twain shrugged.
"Come on, Tony. You don't have to do this in front of me. You felt uneasy, didn't you?"
"Well… If someone was singing your direct competitor's praises in front of you, wanted you to say nice things about your competitor, and on top of that, would be dissatisfied if you didn't say anything nice… Well, I think you would be unhappy too, Evan."
"With regards to that… You're quite right, Tony. Do your job well, and just let those who look down on us suffer!"
Having just finished his conversation with the club chairman, Twain received another call from Pierce Brosnan. "Tony, did you really mean what you said at the press conference just now?"
Brosnan was still standing in the Wilford training base parking lot while the other reporters complained as they left about Tony Twain acting all high-and-mighty. He was the only one still reluctant to leave. He hoped to use his personal connection to obtain the rights to an exclusive interview.
"Of course it's true," Twain said, his tone serious.
"That's…"
"All right, Mr. Reporter." Twain always called Brosnan "Mr. Reporter." He did not want Brosnan to think that they had a close relationship. "There are some things that I think it's more appropriate for me to say personally than for you to say on my behalf. So I'll be updating my personal column in the Evening Post soon."
"But…" Brosnan still wanted to have his name on a report that would attract public attention.
"Mr. Reporter, would you dare to call your colleagues 'sons of b**ches' in an article that you wrote?"
"How could that be? Why would I-"
"That's right, but I dare to." Twain guffawed and hung up the phone.
※※※
The next day, in the Nottingham Evening Post, Twain's column published a statement about his refusal to do an interview. In the article, Twain rebuked the media for being disrespectful towards others, and said that they had no professional ethics. At this point, he used the term "sons of b**ches" to describe the media for the first time. Of course, despite the use of foul language, his tone was not intense; it was still in his trademark style. Sarcasm and swearing coexisted, interspersed with irony and all sorts of bizarre metaphors.
Twain refused to mess around with the media. Trying to pry any information from him was just wishful thinking. The first to hit a snag had been the Sky TV reporter. Twain used the excuse of having to lead the team's training, and, in order to reject the television network with the exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League, said that he could not be distracted before an impending big game.
The media had to dig deep for gossip. They tried every possible way of locating Forest players from twenty-five years ago, but there were only a handful of people to be found. Needless to say, most of the focus was on the Forest team's past manager, Brian Clough.
More than twenty reporters gathered at Clough's doorstep in the distant Derby in a single day. They all wanted to hear the record-maker's views on the team that was fast overtaking him.
Clough was much more experienced in dealing with the media than Twain was. He extolled Arsenal in the interview, claimed he was an admirer of Arsène Wenger, that Arsenal was his favorite team, and that his favorite striker was Thierry Henry. He said that he believed that Arsenal played the art of football, and that it put them ahead in the decade-long Premier League. Therefore, if his own record were to be in a tie with, or even broken by, such an outstanding and remarkable team, he had nothing to complain about. Finally, he encouraged Arsenal to go beyond the Forest team of that time.
He may have delighted the Arsenal fans with his words, but then the recalcitrant old man added, "Just like what Manager Tony Twain said: records are made to be broken. After all, we set the record, no one can deny the existence of that record. For me, forty-two undefeated games are even more exciting than becoming the Champions League champion. Arsenal is just a younger generation challenging us."
This remark was not made until the end, but it was enough to illustrate the old man's pride. Unfortunately, not everyone noticed.
Tang En noticed it, and the remark made him feel a lot better. He knew the Chief was still helping him, but the way the old Englishman expressed his feelings was more steeped in the English tradition. He would always like to convey his feelings in an unspoken and understated manner.
I support you, Tony, he seemed to be saying. But don't expect to publicly hear a good word from me.
Perhaps one day, when you reach the stage that I was at in my peak, I will grudgingly say, "It will do, it's just like when I was young."
That will be the best compliment I'll give you, kid!
※※※
Arsène Wenger had little affection for the English press. But still, unlike Twain's gruff handling of the media, he would always try to be cautious and rarely appeared alone in front of the media. This was because when he first arrived in England, the British paparazzi had claimed that the Frenchman was gay.
Now that Arsenal was close to breaking the record, he had to appear in front of the television cameras more often than usual, or in the sports edition of the newspapers.
Whenever Nottingham Forest was mentioned, he would express his obligatory respect for the team. When Clough said he was his idol, Wenger also spoke with excitement and proclaimed that he was a Nottingham Forest fan too. He had liked to watch Clough's team play when he was young. The years when the Forest team had swept across Europe were still unforgettable to him. Just thinking about it still stirred his heart.
But who knew which remarks were true and which ones were fake?
When the topic of the imminent game came up, Wenger put aside his admiration for Nottingham Forest. Although he gave recognition to Tony Twain's achievements in the summer's transfer market, he stated with much confidence that his team was ready to create a new record.
"The best way to pay tribute to the record holder is to beat them and create a new record." After this declaration of victory that thrilled the media, Wenger walked back to his office building. He already understood how to deal with the media, but evidently his opponent was still ignorant.
A smile emerged on the Frenchman's face as he thought of the contentious relationship between Twain and the press.
A 35-year-old manager? So young…
※※※
"Welcome to Nottingham! The historic city of central England. Here lies the lush Sherwood Forest and the world-renowned bandit who robbed the rich to help the poor, Robin Hood! There is also a notable team here: Nottingham Forest!" The cameraman coordinated with the Sky TV Reporter's words at this point, and cut to the City Ground Stadium behind the reporter, zooming in to provide a close-up shot of Nottingham Forest's logo. The red color was particularly eye-catching in the sun.
"Yes, Brian Clough created the Forest empire, and left a record for future generations to look up to—an unbeaten record in England's top league: forty-two games! Until today… twenty-five years later, this record may be rewritten. And we can't help but rue the mysterious twist of fate: For the team to succeed in breaking the record, they must defeat the creator of the record!"
As soon as he had yelled this out, he saw two groups of people, both wearing red jerseys. But when the two separate groups of fans walked past him, the Arsenal fans were singing songs that supported Arsenal, and the Nottingham Forest fans were singing new songs that they had made up for Tony Twain.
The camera closely followed these two groups of people and seemed to get a glimpse of the match that was happening in a while.
The stands were almost full, and the news media was huddled outside of the stadium. Everyone was looking forward to the performances of the two opponents, who were brought together by destiny in this fateful showdown.
Arsenal and Nottingham Forest were deeply connected, because two of the founding members of Arsenal were Nottingham Forest players. When Arsenal was first established, they did not even have their own kits. Those two founders went to the Forest club to borrow a bunch of jerseys and footballs, which was considered to have helped build up their team.
However, the developments of the two teams could be said to be polar opposites. Arsenal relied on Herbert Chapman in the 1930s to create their dynasty, and embarked on the road to riches. And what about Nottingham Forest? It had never been considered a rich and powerful club. It was considered an old-style strong team at most, but only became a household name during Clough's era. Finances, influence, strength… no matter which aspect was compared, the Forest team looked like a poor country relative to Arsenal, even though it was this poor relative that had helped Arsenal when it was in its infancy.
Next to Arsenal, perhaps the only ways that the Forest people retained their self-respect were their two shiny silver Champions League trophies and their record of 42 consecutive undefeated games in the England's top leagues.
But now, the Champions League trophy was a thing of the future, and it was uncertain when it would happen again. But the 42-game record had been tied by Arsenal, and furthermore, the day of the record being broken was publicized by the media as if it were today.
The glory of the past was gradually drifting away, and now the Forest team was starting again from the beginning.