The media was full of news about Tang En's return to victory. No one was tired of it. Whether it was those who liked him or those who hated him, there was no way to deny it — he could not be ignored.
Putting all the praises that humans had invented since the beginning of writing on Tang En was something that the media reporters loved to do these days. Now that Tang En was popular, saying good things about him could attract more readers and viewers.
There was another matter that complemented it. In December, the British royal family issued an announcement announcing the list of people who would receive the Queen's honours on the first of January next year. Tony Twain's name was impressively on the list.
Britain had two days of honours every year. One was on the first of January every year, and the other was on the Queen's birthday. In order to recognize people who had made outstanding contributions to the United Kingdom in various fields such as culture, sports, economics, and so on, the Order of Knighthood was awarded. Many people in the football world had been honoured before. It was not a big deal.
But around Tang En, there had always been controversy about whether he should accept the award. In fact, after Tang En led Nottingham Forest to win the Treble, there had been a suggestion that Tony Twain should be honored to recognize his outstanding contributions. After all, the Scottish old man, Ferguson, had been awarded the Order of Knighthood by the Queen after he led Manchester United to win the Treble. As the most successful manager in England, how could Tang En not be honored?
But this suggestion was opposed by many at the time. The reason for the opposition was absurd — the opponents believed that the Treble was not enough for Tang En to be awarded the Order of Knighthood. In fact, this was simply an excuse. Ferguson was also awarded the Order of Knighthood after he led the team to win the Treble. Why was it not enough for Tang En? In fact, the real reason was not that Tang En's achievements were not enough for the award, but out of dislike for his character and foul mouth. Many people thought that if the Order of Knighthood was awarded to such a blabbermouth, it would be detrimental to the country's image …
This sounded inexplicable, but it was supported by many at the time. Even the Minister of Sport at the time and the Prime Minister himself. From this, it could be seen how bad Tony Twain's popularity in this country was.
Fortunately, Tang En himself was not interested in the award. He never sang the national anthem when he led the national team. What was an award? So the debate about whether he was qualified to accept the title of "Sir" continued, but he turned a deaf ear. Being awarded the Order of Knighthood and the title of Sir did not make him earn more money, nor did it make him recover from his heart disease overnight. That kind of false reputation did not matter if he had it or not.
Later on, he led the England team to win the first UEFA European Championship in the country's history, and the award was brought up again by the media. The supporters believed that a champion who had made history was worthy of Tang En being honored, right? No, the objectors did not say that his achievements were too low this time. Instead, they directly said that Tang En's words and actions did not conform to the code of conduct of a British knight. Didn't Tony Twain look down on authority? In that case, we naturally don't need to give him the medal of authority …
The opposition was still strong, and Tang En himself did not fight for it, so the matter fell through again.
But Tang En's supporters were not satisfied. They even formed a group to appeal for Twain's conferment, called the "Knights of Twain". They appeared in front of the public from time to time, waving flags and shouting for Twain to be conferred the honor.
It was not until the 2018 World Cup that things finally took a turn for the better.
"If a person leads the club to win almost all the championships that a club team can win, and then leads the national team to win the highest honor at the national level, and he still can't be awarded the Order of Knighthood by the Queen, then it must be a big scandal for the British Empire!" The person who said this was not a media outlet, but a member of the British Parliament.
This sentence opened the prelude to the third appeal for Tang En's conferment.
Three UEFA Champions League trophies, three English Premier League trophies, one EFL Cup, one FA Cup, two Community Shield winners' plates, two UEFA Super Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup, one UEFA European Championship, one FIFA Confederations Cup, and one FIFA World Cup.
The Nottingham Evening Post had even specially published a special edition to publish photos of all the honors that Tony Twain had received, and then questioned those who objected, "If these honors and contributions are not enough for Tony Twain to be conferred the title of Sir, then how many people in Britain do you think are qualified to be conferred the title?"
The Times also published an editorial pointing out that in today's British society, the value of the knighthood was getting lower and lower. It originally only had the use of honor as an incentive, but with the large number of enfeoffments every year, even the most basic use was getting rarer and rarer. There were even people who could receive the Order of Knighthood after donating a large sum of money to the government. Such people receiving the title or the Order of Knighthood would only lower the prestige of the British Royal Family, and in the end, they would be penniless. And in such a context, some people who had truly made outstanding contributions to the government and the country could not be conferred the title of a knighthood because of one reason or another. It was a great irony and sorrow.
Although the editorial did not mention Tang En's name throughout, even a fool could see that they were on Tang En's side. Because this year, when it came to outstanding contributions, Tang En definitely could not escape. After he led the team to win the World Cup in Australia, not only did it greatly boost the confidence of the British people, but it also greatly improved Britain's reputation, and even stimulated Britain's economic development. It was indeed baffling that such an achievement was even subject to controversy even when it was conferred.
There were even people who wrote to the Queen, begging her to confer the honor on Tang En.
It was precisely because of these people's efforts that Tang En's name appeared on the list of recipients, and it was said that the Queen had personally approved it.
But Tang En had no intention of appreciating it …
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As early as the first time his proposal to confer the honor was rejected, Tang En knew that many people in the country's upper echelons did not like him. However, he had never liked this country either. As a traditional mainland China person who "lived" in the British body, he was not interested in such things as conferring the honor, nor did he think of enthusiastically fighting for this right for himself.
The second rejection of the honor further strengthened Tang En's disdain for the royal family, as well as his contempt for the so-called Lord of Honor. In the last century, perhaps this Lord of Honor was still a little attractive, but now, it had become a place where any Tom, Dick, or Harry could be conferred the honor. So, what was the need for him to be thick-skinned and get close to it? Tang En had never been a person who liked to join in on the fun.
This third time … His supporters finally pushed him onto the list of recipients, but he was uninterested in this farce.
"Do I have to call you Uncle Sir from now on?" Shania teased her husband as she held the list published in the newspaper.
Tang En shrugged and gave her an unexpected answer. "You won't have such a chance, my dear."
"Huh?" Shania did not understand what her husband meant.
"I intend to refuse the honor."
"Ah …" Shania opened her mouth in surprise.
"This isn't something very surprising, is it?" Tang En was amused by Shania's reaction. "In history, more than 300 people have rejected the Queen's conferment. I'm just one of them."
"I just don't know why." Shania pouted.
"If I had been awarded the Knight's Medal the first time I was conferred, maybe I would have been happy to accept it in front of the Queen and treat it as an honor like a championship trophy. But now my mentality is different. Now this medal is not an honor to me, but a charity. I don't want it. "Tang En pointed at the list in Shania's hand and said disdainfully.
Shania looked at Tang En's expression and laughed. She was not British, so naturally, she would not look at this issue from the perspective of Britain's national honor. Anyway, it was just a "Knight" title. Since her husband said he did not want it, then so be it.
"It's a medal for you anyway. Do as you please." Shania threw away the newspaper and came up to hook her arms around Tang En's neck. Her eyes looked at him affectionately, and then she pressed her body against Tang En's chest and gently rubbed against it. "My dear, I want …"
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When Pierce Brosnan received the so-called "open letter" email from Tang En, he was shocked. Then, he immediately called Tang En.
"Tony, what do you think?"
"Hmm?" Tang En did not seem to be fully awake and made a questioning sound through his nose.
"I'm talking about the rejection of the medal … What do you think?" Brosnan held the "open letter" that he had just printed out in his hand. As he spoke, it shook and made a crashing sound.
"What do I think? I'm not interested in this kind of commonplace medal of a knight. It's that simple, Pierce. " Tang En turned over and got up from the bed. He turned his head to look at his wife who was still sleeping soundly on the bed. He covered her with the blanket and walked out in his pajamas.
The morning in December was very cold. When he walked out to the balcony, the cold wind blowing in his face made Tang En lose all his sleepiness.
"Commonplace? Tony … Don't you know the significance of the medal? "Brosnan felt that it must be because Tang En was still sleepy and was talking nonsense.
"It might have been meaningful 20 years ago, Pierce. But now, it really doesn't make sense. If the owner of a fast-food chain can be awarded the medal of a knight, I think in a few years, I'm afraid that even newborn babies can be booked, right? There are 2,000 spots every year. How many people in Britain do you think have not been awarded this thing? Besides … I'm very grateful for all the efforts you've been putting in to get me awarded the medal. But I don't want this kind of honor that smacks of charity. I'm not someone who can't live without the medal of a knight and the title of a knight. I've won so many championships, do you think I care about a mere knighthood? "
"Uh …" Brosnan was speechless by Tang En's rhetorical question. He knew that Tang En was an arrogant and unruly person. This did not change as he grew older, but he did not expect Tang En's arrogance to be used on the British royal family …
"Don't you think it's a pity, Tony …" Brosnan still asked unwillingly.
"What's there to pity? At most, I'll be called 'Sir Tang.' I don't think those who didn't respect me before will respect me just because I changed my title. I also don't think those who liked me before will not like me because I didn't become a knight. I'm still me. I'm Tony Twain. " Tang En gazed into the distance to the east. The sun was rising slowly, its rays reflecting the eastern sky and horizon red. The white mist rose and rolled in the forest, like a fairyland.
At this point, what else could Brosnan say? Tang En was right. He was him. He was Tony Twain, so no one could change the decision he made. Even if he wanted to go against the whole world, all one could do was choose to stand with him or go against him.
"You're going to make the royal family feel very embarrassed …" Brosnan muttered.
"That's the result I want, haha!" Tang En laughed loudly with one hand on his hip. "Some people did everything possible not to let me become a knight, and now they see this as charity and enlistment. I want to tell them: to hell with your self-righteous pride! "
Putting down the phone, Brosnan looked at the open letter in his hand and sighed. He remembered something from the past.
Before Tang En, Nottingham Forest had a similarly controversial manager, Brian Clough. Although he led the Forest team to win two Champions League titles and was a remarkable achievement, he was also not conferred a noble by the royal family. There were rumors that Clough himself had rejected the royal family's invitation to be conferred, while others said that the government could not stand the sight of the rebellious old man at the time. But no matter what, when Clough passed away and people proposed to confer him a medal again, it was dropped because the rules of conferment did not allow the knighthood and honorary title to be conferred to a dead person. Just like that, Clough missed out on the highest honor among the British commoners.
And 15 years later, Tony Twain, who was also the manager of Nottingham Forest, also rejected the royal family's conferment. Was it fate?
Thinking further back, nearly a thousand years ago, an arrogant and unruly bandit who despised authority appeared on this land. He led his companions to go against the nobles of the time, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. He roared through the mountains and forests, and he was very free.
Perhaps this place was specially made to produce such people …
Whether it was Robin Hood, Clough, or the current Tang En, they were all "bandit" who did not submit to discipline, dared to challenge authority, and advocated freedom.
No matter what the outside world thought of them, the lush Sherwood Forest would forever pass on their legendary stories. They were the heroes here.
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A day later, the open letter, written by Tang En himself, was sent to the Nottingham Evening Post and immediately caused a sensation.
In the letter, Tang En thanked the British royal family and those friends who had campaigned for him to be conferred a medal, but he made it clear that he would reject the award. As for the reason for his rejection, he did not mention that the value and authority of the honorary title was getting lower and lower, even though it was something that even children knew. His reason was much more explosive than that.
"… I know that there are many people who do not wish for me to be conferred a medal. They think that I am not worthy, and I do not wish to express my opinion on this. I just want to say that I have never wanted to receive any knighthood from the start. Have any of you seen me speak up for myself in any of the arguments? No, because I do not want it at all. Those who oppose me, are you disappointed now? Of course, I want to thank those friends who have campaigned for me, but I do not want to go against my own truest thoughts. I do not want to be called 'Sir Tang En', and I do not want to sacrifice myself to make myself look like a beggar who is being given alms to satisfy others. I am me. I am Tony Twain. Compared to a small knighthood, I have a better reward — 15 years as a manager and 16 championship trophies. I do not need to rely on the honorary title to show my value and glory. In front of these people, everyone will agree that I am the best football manager in England … No, in the whole of England and even the world.
Based on these reasons, I reject the award. "
Although there had been many people who had rejected the award from the British royal family for various reasons, it was the first time that someone as arrogant as Tang En had been. His declaration in this letter was so powerful that it had a huge impact on the whole of England.
People once again saw his wild and unrestrained nature.
The Sun then commented:
"… After his comeback, he did not open his mouth to fight back in the face of the doubts from the media. After losing the first match, he didn't slap those who mocked him. All of this made us think that the 50-year-old Tony Twain was old, that he had lost his sharpest teeth and claws, and was as docile as a cat.
But we were wrong. He just had not met an opponent worthy of him personally taking action.
Now, the British royal family, this opponent is famous enough and qualified enough to be his opponent. So we met the familiar Tony Twain again, the guy who habitually goes against the world. "
"Geniuses are always different from ordinary people." That's what Lineker said when he was discussing this matter with Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson on television. "I admit that the appeal of the honorary title to the public is decreasing year by year, but there are still many people who hope to get such an award every year. The quota of 2000 people still seems a little insufficient. Under such circumstances, Twain's decision to give up the honor is incomprehensible. But he can't be understood with ordinary thinking. After this incident, the most relevant comments I heard were 'why', 'why did he reject it', 'why did he write such an arrogant open letter', 'why did he reject it in such a high-profile' … a lot of 'why's. In my opinion, asking Twain 'why' is very stupid. He never needs a reason to do things. If he must find a reason, then I can only say that he is in a bad mood, or too good a mood … "
The Nottingham Evening Post even gave Twain the title of "Uncrowned King." "Although I personally feel regretful that I can't call Twain 'Sir Twain,' it's just like what Twain said: 15 years of coaching, 16 important competition championship trophies, Twain no longer needs to use a Knight's Medal to recognize the glory he has achieved. He is fully deserving of the title of 'Uncrowned King!'
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PS: Although it was a pity that Twain did not become a Knight. But for someone like Twain, it would not be right if he accepted the award honestly. An extraordinary person would naturally have extraordinary actions and temperament. The most unique and successful manager in England's history had used his actions to tell those ordinary people a truth:
I am me, I am Tony Twain.
He does not need anyone's acknowledgment or any form of proof, because he has already proven himself long ago.
Ordinary people still cling to that kind of empty reputation, but he has already crossed the huge mountain of empty reputation. This is the temperament that a king who has experienced wind and rain at the rainbow should have. I'm very happy that the character of Tony Twain is becoming more and more developed and real under my pen.
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