champion godfather

Chapter 895

When Tony Twain stood on the podium awkwardly in a soaked suit, the person waiting in front of him for the award was none other than Michel Platini, President of UEFA.

The number one figure in UEFA looked at Tang En with a smile as he brushed his wet hair away from his eyes, without urging him.

Twain had just been doused from head to toe by the players with the water they usually drink. That happened after they carried him around the field for a week.Tang En was caught off guard and was very embarrassed.He had to be thankful that those boys didn't pour champagne on him, otherwise he would be sticky all over his body now, and he would definitely be miserable to death.

Platini kept looking at Tang En and smiling like this, as if he was watching something very interesting.After Tang En finally smoothed out the messy hair on his forehead, he offered his hand: "Congratulations, Mr. Tang En."

Tang En replied: "Thank you, Mr. Chairman."

If Tang En had pledged allegiance to UEFA back then, at this moment, the smile on Platini's face would have been even bigger. He would have patted Tang En's face affectionately, and then used the French kiss on the face, saying : "Congratulations, dear Tony."

But now to present an award to a team from the Premier League, Platini couldn't laugh in his heart anyway.Five years ago, the Premier League teams represented by Nottingham Forest and Manchester United occupied the majority of the Champions League semi-finals, which made UEFA very unhappy.So they tried every means to curb the influence of the Premier League team in the Champions League, including secretly manipulating the draw results and assigning referees.Later, Tony Twain suffered a heart attack, Nottingham Forest declined, and the Premier League whirlwind finally weakened a little bit.It's a pity that Ferguson still broke through layers of siege and won the championship in the last Champions League final before retiring.The strength of the Premier League cannot be curbed even by UEFA's deliberate efforts.

Now it's even worse.Tony Twain came back with Nottingham Forest and once again won the championship trophy, making all European teams become spectators.If this continues, the European Champions Cup will simply be renamed the "UEFA Cup" in the future.

This is definitely not the future UEFA wants to see.They said that "a certain country's league monopolizes the Champions League semi-finals, which is not good for the development of football." In fact, their real thinking is "After a certain country's league monopolizes the Champions League semi-finals, it is bound to make fans of other leagues dislike it." The loss of interest in the subsequent games will affect the ratings, and then directly affect the TV broadcast revenue. In the final analysis, it is just one word—money.”

UEFA is not a charity organization, and there is no government financial allocation behind it. They have to be responsible for their own profits and losses. Naturally, they do what they do with the money.

If every year, three Premier League teams and any other league team enter the semi-finals, no matter how hardcore fans are, there will be a day of aesthetic fatigue.What should I do if I am tired of aesthetics?Don’t watch it, so TV broadcasters cut their share, advertisers reduce their investment, and finally the money is getting less and less.

Platini raised the gold medal in his hands. At this moment, Tang En should bow and let Platini hang the gold medal around his neck.But he didn't.He hasn't done that in a long time either.He is not used to bowing in front of others, even to accept a gold medal.He has always accepted the opponent's medal with his hands.

Platini looked helplessly at this rebellious master, and handed him the gold medal in his hand.

Tang En saw the unhappiness in Platini's eyes, although it disappeared soon.He knew what Platini was upset about, but he didn't care.

After receiving the gold medal, Tang En put it in the pocket of his suit jacket without paying attention to it.Real Madrid fans must have seen blood spurt at this scene - the highest honor they dreamed of should be treated like this by a rude and uneducated English bumpkin.

Tony Twain put the gold medal in his pocket, shook hands with some officials behind Platini, walked to the side of the stage, and waited for George Wood to take the stage with everyone.

This is the highlight of any awards ceremony—the distribution of trophies.

When George Wood walked onto the stage, his teammates standing on the other side were gesturing and whistling to him.All of them were as excited as if they had seen a beautiful girl—the big ear cup at this moment was in their eyes, the graceful arc, the bright shell reflecting the light was indeed a beautiful girl in a sexy pose that seduced them .

Wood bent down to let Platini hang the gold medal around his neck, and then walked with the UEFA president to the stage where the Champions Cup was placed.

"Champion! Champion! Champion!" The players of the Forest team shouted in unison. They didn't care what UEFA thought about their winning the championship, they only knew that the championship was theirs!

Platini was attracted by the sudden shouts behind him, and he looked back at the group of players with an approving smile on his face.Tang En watched from the side, thinking in his heart that the cultivation of a high official is really good...

Platini held up the trophy and handed it to Wood.

"Congratulations, George. You are European champions!"

Wood took the trophy unceremoniously and held it high.The teammates behind roared and raised their glasses together: "Champion—Long live!!"

At the same time, countless red confetti sprayed out from behind the podium, and more red and white ribbons poured down from the roof of the Bernabéu Stadium. In the den of the enemy, Nottingham Forest is crowned King of Europe.

This time, they're still kings of kings -- the Triple Crown.

"...we are champions, my friends! We are champions, victorious..."

Amidst the sound of music, confetti sprinkled all over the sky, Tang En looked up at this scene.Those streamers and confetti floating in the air glowed under the floodlights of the stadium, as if they were fragments of memory, and each piece had a face and a memory. It's been 11 years, and it's been so long since I've come this far.Some people's names and faces have gradually blurred in his memory, while others are still clear.Is that the end?

Looking at the confetti flying in the night sky, thinking about it, Tang En felt a little reluctant to part.

※ ※ ※

The reporters who participated in the press conference were impatient, and Tang En arrived late.He had changed into a suit, his hair was dried, and he looked more stylish than when he accepted the award.What's more, he suddenly shook out a red cape on the stage, and then did a bullfighting action.

"Spanish journalists here, what do you think of what I have learned? Give me some applause!" He smiled and said to the people below, looking very proud. "We just killed a giant bull." He made a stabbing motion.

He smiled and looked at the Spanish reporters whose faces had changed.From the press conference before the game, he began to look forward to today's meeting.Glad he got the last laugh, and the red cape for the bullfight was not in vain.

The faces of the Spanish reporters below were suddenly overcast, and no one gave him a round of applause.

This is a blatant provocation, and this action is also doomed to the tone of this press conference - you provoke, we find fault.

Michelle left after accepting the interview in front of him, and the bloody storm that will happen here naturally has nothing to do with him.Tang Enqun sat down on the chair after mocking the Spaniard, nodded to the host, and the host signaled that the reporters could ask questions.

All the reporters raised their hands, and Tang En didn't look carefully at which ones were the Spanish reporters who had sneered at him just now, and which ones were the English reporters who might be biased towards him, so he just clicked on one.The person who stood up was a reporter from Spain's "Marca" newspaper. He was a middle-aged bald man who was talking through gritted teeth. He was obviously greatly stimulated by Twain's "performance" before: "First of all, congratulations on leading your team to win the triple championship. Wang. Secondly, I want to ask about Pepe's red card. He may face a very serious punishment. Do you have anything to say, Mr. Dunn?"

Pepe's vile violent foul in the game will definitely become the focus of many media attention after the game.The Spaniards will use this as an excuse to attack Twain, overthrowing Nottingham Forest's achievements point-to-point.But now, they wanted to ruin Tang En's good mood just now at the press conference.

Tang En raised his eyebrows and put away his smile: "I support Pepe. It was understandable to be impulsive at that time. After all, Real Madrid relied on that penalty kick to tie the score at the last moment. This is really a coincidence. If it were changed to Me, I will be angry too." As expected, Tang En chose to protect the calf.And he also covertly scolded UEFA.

"Do you support beating people?" Marca reporter asked.

"Under the circumstances at that time, even if he hit someone, I could understand it." Tang En replied blankly. "If it were me..." Dunn paused, a bright smile suddenly appeared on his face. "...Maybe he will fight too."

The reporter of Marca looked a little unhappy, and he sat down angrily.He was probably thinking about how to speak ill of Tang En in the newspaper.

The second one to be pointed out was still a Spanish reporter, but this time it was replaced by the "Aspen" newspaper.The spearhead was still directed at Tony Twain, but the reason was changed to tactics. "Nottingham Forest violated Real Madrid players many times throughout the game. There were 120 fouls in [-] minutes. Is this not normal?"

"It's a normal tactical arrangement." Tang En took the responsibility on himself, "I asked them to do it. You saw it too, Mr. Reporter." Tang En took out the gold medal from his pocket, and a golden light flashed under the light The reporter shook his head and closed his eyes slightly. "we are the champion."

"Is there any reason to win such a championship?" The reporter was very upset by Tang En's frivolous behavior. What he said was beyond the scope of the reporter's question, and he lost his mind.

Tang En spread his hands with an innocent face: "Why is there no reason to take it? We don't steal or grab, we don't rely on referees or UEFA, we don't have an exaggerated home court advantage, and we don't have last-minute penalty kicks. There is still one person missing. Under such circumstances, we still won the championship. If we have no reason to win the championship, then respected Mr. Aspen reporter, tell me, is there anyone in the world who has more teams than us? The reason is... this?" Tang En shook the reporter's eyes with the gold medal again, he was trying to anger the other party.

"Okay, next one." Tang En ignored the red-faced Spaniard biting his lower lip, and nodded his head to another person.

The one who stood up this time was finally the reporter from England, but in a sense, he was still Tang En's "enemy" - the reporter from the Sun newspaper.

The reporters of the Sun newspaper were trained to be well versed in the way of journalists. A few words of congratulations to Tang En and then asking some innocuous questions were not their purpose.If you want to play, play the best, don't be afraid of being hated, if you don't attract people's hate, you are mediocre.To be a reporter, one has to have the awareness to remain unfazed even after being reviled by tens of thousands of people.

"Mr. Tang En, I heard that your contract will expire on June [-]th, but you haven't renewed your contract with the club until now. Is there any...hidden secret?"

This authentic paparazzi from England really made an extraordinary move, and everyone was shocked immediately.Not many people knew about the news that Tang En and the club did not renew their contract. It could be said that even the Forest players didn't know about it.Unexpectedly, the people from the Sun newspaper actually found out.

Tang En had to look at the man in front of him with admiration.

"It's really unworthy of you not to go to Scotland Yard, Mr. Reporter." By saying this, Tang En admitted that the news from the Sun News reporter was true.The discussion below became louder, and the host had to come out to maintain order.

But this reporter must embarrass Tang En: "So you have admitted that this happened. Then may I ask you what is the reason why you choose not to renew the contract?"

Twain was already prepared and used an excuse to deal with Evan and Allen: "Before the Champions Cup, I don't want to be disturbed by those contract terms and annual salary."

"That is to say, the contract will be renewed after the Champions Cup? Ah, Mr. Tang En, you have to understand the feelings of those who care about you and the Forest team fans. They must hope that as the club's meritorious coach, they can renew their contract with the team. , to continue the glory..."

These words sounded high-sounding, but Tang En knew that the bastard had no good intentions.

"You will know when the time comes, Mr. Reporter." Of course Tang En was not a good person, he responded.That concludes this Q&A.

Perhaps because of the bad mood of the three people who found fault in a row, Dunn didn't order casually this time, but ordered Pierce Bruce.

Bruce obviously didn't know that Tang En hadn't renewed his contract with the club yet, so it seemed that Tang En was really tight-lipped.When he stood up, his eyes were a little wandering, and he must still be thinking about what happened just now.The questions asked are also very general, not newsworthy, nothing more than the team's tactical arrangements, praise the performance of certain players, talk about the feelings of the Triple Crown...

Tang En answered each other fluently. The two of them seemed to have rehearsed a long time ago, and the question and answer proceeded very quickly.The other reporters below were all serious about taking shorthand notes, but they all shook their heads at the same time—it seemed that the good show was over.

After answering these questions, Bruce suddenly woke up, and he still wanted to ask. "Tony, did you really renew the contract after the Champions League?"

Tang En was taken aback by Bruce's obvious question, and his expression turned ugly for a moment, but this expression only appeared on his face for less than a second, and he changed back to a smile.

"You'll know when the time comes, Mr. Bruce."

When Piers Bruce heard Tang En's last name, sweat broke out on his forehead.He understood that the King of Nottingham Forest was angry.But this strengthened his doubts about Tang En not renewing his contract with the club in advance.

A year ago, the media were hyping up the news that Twain and the club had renewed their contract. At that time, the Forest Club had already offered Twain a new five-year contract. The annual salary was more than double what he was getting now. He is not only among the top coaches in England in terms of record, but also in terms of income.Originally, everyone talked smoothly, and Twain was ready to sign the new contract, but he did not expect that Allen forcibly intervened to sell Lennon.Without saying a word, Tang En immediately suspended the contract renewal negotiations, and told Evan, let's talk about this matter after a year.

At that time, Tang En did a terrible job, and the two sides had an unpleasant quarrel.There were even rumors that Twain was going to leave that summer to coach Manchester United.Although Tang En did not leave in the end, which surprised those who thought he should just leave, the rumors about the conflict between him and the club were rampant for a long time.It directly affected the team's summer preparations, the team's hearts fluctuated, and the transfer also tended to stagnate.As a result, the Forest team started the new season slower than several other competitors, otherwise they would not have chased Arsenal at the last moment of the season and won the championship in a thrilling manner.

Bruce knew that Tang En and Allen were at odds, but he never expected that he would not renew his contract with the club until now...

After this finals, I believe Evan Dalgety will be impatient to come up with a new contract. At that time, where will Twain go?

The reporter of the Nottingham Evening Post frowned, and he suddenly had an ominous premonition.

At this time, the man in his eyes had already got up to leave, and the host hurriedly announced that the press conference was over.The reporters wanted to ask questions, but Tang En walked out without looking back.

This post-match press conference, which was supposed to be a joyful and joyful post-match press conference, did not have any festive atmosphere at all...

Pierce Bruce looked around and had this thought in his mind.

※ ※ ※

Tang En didn't go back to the locker room, but went straight to the bus parked outside the stadium, where his team was waiting for him.

Tang En stepped into the car and waved his hands: "Go back and celebrate, guys! The season is over, don't think about anything, play to your heart's content! Let go and play!"

He was answered by a group of people cheering wildly.After a season of hard work, I gritted my teeth and persisted until this moment, why?Isn't that what the boss said!

Before, the leader always waved his whip and shouted: "Run! Keep running! Don't relax!" Now they finally reached the finish line, and they were the first to cross the line.You don't need to worry about anything, just go to the ground, so you can take a breather.

The carriage suddenly became lively, some people were discussing where to go during the holiday, some people were busy calling their families and girlfriends, and some people simply fell asleep on their chairs.

Tang En didn't care how they were making a fuss, he sat down next to Chris Lak, and let out a soft breath.

"It's finally over, David."

"Yeah." Chris Lark replied with a smile, "I have to take a good rest for a while!"

"Me too." Tang En nodded.

"You really need to rest for a while. Don't worry your wife too much, you have been working so hard during this time."

Tang En hummed, then adjusted the back of the seat, leaned back on it, and closed his eyes: "I'll sleep for a while, wake me up when it's time, David."

The luxury bus slowly drove out of the Bernabéu Stadium, which was turning off the lights, and headed for the hotel where they were staying.Everyone was still making noise in the carriage, but Tang En, who was leaning next to Chris Lak, was already snoring slightly.

This uproar has nothing to do with him.

※ ※ ※

When Tang En was woken up, the car was parked in front of the hotel. The players had all got out of the car, and there were only him, Chris Lack, and the driver in the car.

"Ah? Well, it's here?" Tang En wiped his face, sat up from the seat, but forgot to adjust the angle of the backrest, and lay back down again with his waist softening. The feeling of weightlessness startled him, and the expression on his face After a change, it returned to normal after leaning against the back of the chair.

Seeing his embarrassment, Chris Lack laughed: "You look like this, how can you still have the demeanor of a European champion coach?"

"Didn't wake up...yawn—" Tang En yawned and stretched before sitting up again.I moved my neck and shoulders, which were a little sore from keeping a sleeping position. "I had a dream."

He looked at his old partner who had been with him for ten years.The lights in the carriage had been turned off, but his eyes were shining in the darkness, as if reflecting the lights of the hotel entrance outside.

"Is it a sweet dream?" Chris Lak asked following Dun En's words.

"Sweet dream." Tang En nodded with certainty, got up and left his seat. "A rare dream." He stepped out of the car.

There are still many reporters and die-hard Forest fans waiting at the entrance of the hotel.Seeing Tang En walking down, there was a commotion, which made the security guards and police officers in charge of maintaining order feel as if they were facing an enemy.

Fat John and his party were also inside, and when they saw Tang En, they yelled loudly: "Tony! Hey, Tony!"

Tang En heard the shouts and waved to them.

"Thank you, Tony! Thank you!" The group seemed to have had a lot of alcohol and looked hyper.He kept shouting "thank you" to Tang En, apparently thanking him for allowing the Forest team to win the Triple Crown, which they had never won even in Clough's era.

Skinny Bill drank the most, his forehead was red all the way to the base of his neck, and when he saw Tang En, he wanted to break through the barrier between the security guards and the police, but the man who drank too much had no energy, his feet were unstable, and he was pushed back by the police.During the pushing and shoving, he still yelled indistinctly: "Tony... hiccup! Tony, next year... next year will win... three championships, champions... hiccup!"

Tang En waved to him: "Sure."

Then walked into the hotel lobby.The security guards and the police were relieved and retreated to the door, using the advantage of the location to keep those crazy fans and reporters out.

The players did not wait for the boss, but dispersed in twos and threes. They had their own ways of entertainment, which had nothing to do with the head coach.Tang En didn't want to join in the fun either, so he and Chris Rack went straight into the elevator and went up to the floor where his room was located.

As soon as they got out of the elevator, the two saw Evan Dalgety and Alan Adams standing outside.

Evan greeted Chris Rack with a smile, and then turned to Tang En: "Tony, we have been waiting for you for a long time."

Although Chris Rack is usually careless, he is not a fool. He knows that Mr. Chairman must have something to do with Tang En.So he made an excuse and left first.

Chris Rack left wisely, while Dunn continued to stand in the elevator.

Evan looked at him and smiled again: "If you don't come out, you have to go back to the first floor."

Tang En touched his nose, bowed his head and walked out.He wished he could go back to the first floor.Although that idea has been circling in my heart for a whole year, when I really want to say it, I still feel complicated and hesitate.

Tonight is the night of the champions and, for more than half the crowd, sleepless nights in Nottingham.

Players who have worked hard all season will have a night of fun and indulgence.It's party night.

As for the reporters rushing back from the stadium and hotel, this night is destined to be a busy one.

But now, for the three people standing at the elevator entrance, it was... showdown night.

(End of this chapter)