Tang En stood on Wilford's number two training ground. In front of him was the dense forest, and below his feet were the mottled shadows of the forest. The day's training had ended, and the players had basically all left. However, there was still one person on the training ground who was doing extra training.
Tang En stood on the sidelines and looked at the man who was doing extra training.
He was not unfamiliar with the scene.
Under the afterglow of the setting sun and the dark red sky, Wilford was fragmented by the shadows of the forest in the west. The entire training ground was very quiet. Other than the muffled sound of the football being kicked, the sound of the football hitting the goalpost, the net, the barbed wire wall, and the occasional bird chirping, there was no other sound. It was quite a contrast to the extremely noisy scene during the day.
When he was still young, he had watched the man in front of him do extra training countless times here. At that time, the man in front of him was just a child.
In a flash, more than a decade had passed. He was about to retire, and the man in front of him had become the flag of the team. More than a decade ago, on the same ground, at the same time, did Tony Twain think so much about what would happen in the future?
While Tang En was distracted, the man on the field was already walking towards him, drenched in sweat.
"What are you looking at?" he asked.
"Admiring the scenery," Tang En replied. He continued to look at Wilford, which was shrouded in dusk. "Don't you think everything in front of you looks like an oil painting? I'm reminded of the time when you kicked the football into the river at the youth team training ground. It was also dusk then, and the sky was dark. The football was not found in the end. Ha! "As he spoke, he laughed. "There are not many days left before I can admire this painting."
George Wood turned around and followed Tang En's gaze. "Hasn't it been like this for 16 years?" He was used to it because he would stay behind almost every day to give himself extra training. "Stay if you haven't seen enough."
Tang En shook his head. "Distance makes the heart grow fonder. If I came down, I wouldn't think all this was beautiful. I would only take it for granted. I've been in Wilford for 12 years, and only recently did I think it was really beautiful. In the past, I came in a hurry and left in a hurry. "
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Tang En continued to admire the beautiful scenery in front of him. In fact, the scenery in Wilford was definitely not beautiful, but in a different state of mind, seeing such a dusk would definitely make one feel emotional.
Tang En felt that the dusk was beautiful. Was it because his coaching career had progressed to the twilight? The sun that had once radiated boundless light and heat in the sky was now setting in the west.
"Go take a shower and change your clothes. Don't catch a cold," Tang En said to Wood beside him, breaking the silence.
Wood had no objections. He nodded and turned to leave.
By the time he was done, he found that Tang En was still on the training ground. He wanted to go up to say goodbye and leave, but he did not expect to be pulled back by Twain.
"When are you going to retire? Have you thought about it, George? "
Wood froze for a moment, then shook his head. I didn't plan this. But it won't be forty. "
Hearing him say this, Tang En laughed silently.
When he said that he was forty, he did not expect Wood to take it seriously.
"I won't advise you to really play until you're forty. I'm sure you know better than me about this. But when you retire, you must invite me. I have to see with my own eyes what the greatest captain in Nottingham Forest Football Club's history looks like when he retires. "
Wood was silent for a moment, as if he had thought of something. After a while, he said, "I probably can't compare to you."
"What's so interesting about a manager's retirement?" Tang En shrugged. "After the game the day after tomorrow, I'll just hold a press conference and be done with it."
Wood actually did not know what a manager's retirement looked like because he had never experienced it. According to common sense, he should have retired earlier than the manager, because a manager working for twenty years was considered little, and it was not easy for a player to play for twenty years.
There was a period of silence between the two of them.
Tang En did not want to speak, while Wood had something on his mind.
After a while, when the red clouds in the west had dimmed significantly, Wood opened his mouth to say, "I feel that you're a little different from before …"
"Before? A little different? "Tang En did not understand Wood's words that did not make sense.
"I feel that your temper has become a lot better compared to before. Is it because of your age?"
"Ha!" Tang En laughed out loud. "Is it because you see that I don't start a war of words anymore? You don't scold people to their faces anymore? "
In this game against Manchester United, Tang En and Mourinho's performance could be said to be very restrained. Other than the two of them "greeting" each other once at the beginning, there was no other news. There was no active provocation, nor was there any so-called psychological warfare. This made the media feel very bored.
Wood did not say anything, but it was a tacit agreement.
"After so many years of quarreling, I'm tired of it." Tang En waved his hands.
"But I don't know why …" Wood hesitated, as if he did not know how to say it. Finally, he said it. "I prefer the previous you … I think it's very strong. Everyone likes it. " The "everyone" he was talking about was not all the Forest players, but specifically the few "old guys" left in the team, such as Gareth Bale, Joe Mattock, Agbonlahor, Mitchell, and so on. They were the group of players who had followed Tang En to conquer the world before he resigned the last time.
Tang En turned his head to look at Wood. He did not know what to say, and could only reach out his hand to touch Wood's head.
Retirement was nothing to him. It was just that he was a little reluctant to leave the players he had watched grow up. These few days, the players had been using every opportunity to get in touch with him. Of course, he knew what they were thinking. Everyone was also reluctant to leave him.
But how could all good things come to an end?
Tang En did not want to continue this somewhat sad topic, so he asked a question that he was particularly interested in. "How are things between you and Miss Vivian?"
"Nothing much." Wood's answer was obviously evasive.
Tang En guessed something, but he did not say it out loud. He continued to change the topic.
"George, do you have any plans for tonight?"
"No," Wood replied.
"Well then, come home with me tonight."
Wood glanced at Tang En.
"Shania went to Paris today. With one less person at home, there's less liveliness. Theresa will also be very happy to invite you over. "
Shania had left England this morning to fly to Paris to prepare for her final runway show. She also had to attend a thank-you banquet. However, there were not as many social engagements as before. Perhaps it was because they knew that she was going to retire from the modeling and entertainment world, and thought that she was no longer a valuable celebrity, so there were fewer people who deliberately tried to curry favor with her.
This was actually quite good. Shania liked it very much. As for those social engagements, she herself did not enjoy them. Most of the time, it was just because of work needs and invitations from friends that she could not decline. Otherwise, she would not be cooped up at home when she was resting, instead of going around to put on a show. Although she and Victoria Beckham, Beckham's wife, were good friends, she and Victoria were two completely different people.
Shania's departure made Tang En feel even more lonely, and it also made Theresa miss her very much. Shania had originally wanted to bring Theresa with her to Barry, but Theresa had to go to school, so she had to stay at home and let the nannies take care of her.
Tang En was not worried about the children. The nannies were very, very good, and they would not feed the children sleeping pills just to coax them to sleep.
However, it was inevitable that they would feel lonely.
That was why he once again invited Wood to be a guest at home tonight, even though Wood was a man of few words, not good with words, and did not know how to tease children. But for some reason, Theresa liked to be with her big brother Wood. As long as she saw Wood, she would become very happy.
Tang En did not see which part of Wood looked familiar, so he completely did not understand why Theresa liked the murderous George Wood so much.
If not for the age difference between the two of them, Tang En would really worry about whether his daughter would fall in love with George in the future … Uh, it was a long story.
Now that Tang En mentioned Theresa, Wood had no reason to refuse. He nodded and accepted Tang En's invitation.
"Do you want to invite Miss Vivian as well?" Tang En suddenly asked.
"She's working overtime …" Wood realized that he had let the cat out of the bag.
Tang En laughed heartily.
Amidst the laughter, he turned around and patted Wood's shoulder, indicating that they should leave.
Wood did not leave immediately. Instead, he turned around and looked at Tang En walking in front. He noticed that the man's back was a little hunched. Maybe it was because he was laughing?
The last ray of the setting sun was swallowed by the horizon, and the quiet Wilford was shrouded in the night. A gust of wind blew, and the forest behind them rustled, rustling their hair and clothes. Wood could not help but turn his head to look at the pitch-black forest, while Tang En walked out without looking back.
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Theresa, who had been waiting for her father to "get off work" for a long time, saw Wood follow her father into the house, and the frown on her face smoothed out.
With Wood accompanying her, Teresa spent the first night happily after her mother's departure. When Theresa went to bed, it was already eleven o 'clock. Tang En wanted Wood to stay at home, since there were many guest rooms anyway. But Wood would not agree no matter what, and insisted on returning to his own home.
Tang En had no choice but to send Wood out.
At the entrance of the courtyard, while waiting for the bus. Tang En thanked Wood as a father, and told Wood that he was allowed to be fifteen minutes late for the next day's training.
But George Wood was still the first to arrive for the next day's training.
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The day in Wilford began with a misty early morning. The night's moisture began to evaporate under the sunlight, and layers of white mist rose from the dense forest, blown by the breeze to every corner of Wilford, and even above the Trent River.
At this time, Wilford was still very quiet. Only the staff arrived early, ready to start the day's work.
Tony Twain was as early as they were. He did not enter the office, but went straight to the training ground, greedily breathing in the fresh morning air.
The staff were busy at the side, greeting Tang En when they saw him, and did not stop what they were doing. Twain, on the other hand, strolled alone between the training grounds. Stepping on the wet grass, his trousers and leather shoes were all wet in a short while.
He was completely unaware that he was in high spirits.
After strolling around the First Team's training ground, he went to the reserve team and youth team's training ground. He only returned to the office to rest after he had visited every place where he worked in the past. The players were also arriving one after another, ready to start the day's training.
It was the Forest team's last day of training before the game, and also the last training session of Tony Twain's coaching career.
When Tang En entered his office to rest, countless media had gathered outside the Wilford training ground. They were all here to witness Tony Twain's "last lesson." Although they only had fifteen minutes of public filming time, it did not stop their enthusiasm.
Pierce Brosnan saw Carl Spicer in the crowd. He did not have a good impression of this guy who had been persistently defaming Tang En. Since he ran into him, he naturally had to go up and mock him.
"Hey, Carl." He greeted warmly, as if the two men had been good friends for many years.
Spicer certainly knew who Brosnan was, so he knew that Brosnan did not take the initiative to greet him to reminisce.
"Yo, isn't this Mr. Pierce Brosnan, Twain's personal reporter?" Spicer responded sarcastically.
This nickname was used specifically to mock Brosnan in the reporters' circle. It was definitely not a compliment.
Brosnan did not get angry. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Looks like you're in a good mood, Carl. Is it because you're finally saying goodbye to the person you hate the most? "
Spicer did not even think about it and nodded. "Of course." He never denied his dislike for Tang En in public. This was much better than those hypocrites who praised Tang En on the surface but cursed him behind his back.
Seeing that Spicer had taken the bait, Brosnan smiled even more proudly. "I'm thinking … Once Tony retires, where are you going to find someone to scold to maintain the ratings of your show?"
The expression on Carl Spicer's face instantly froze. He was not a fool. He immediately realized that he had fallen into Brosnan's trap. It was just that he could not answer such a question. Because he had indeed relied on scolding Tang En to become famous and eventually become a television show host. And once Tang En retired, who would he find to scold? Scolding people was also an art. It did not mean that casually picking a random person on the street and scolding them would be able to attract such a large audience.
Looking at the English football scene, and even the world's football scene, people like Tony Twain, who was widely controversial and had received many honors at the same time, were really rare.
Perhaps Mourinho could barely be considered one? But scolding a foreigner would not attract much attention in England. Mourinho's influence in England was still far from Tony Twain's.
Although Spicer really, really hated the arrogant Tony Twain who made him suffer a lot and made a fool of himself, he also had to admit a very embarrassing and infuriating fact — once he left the arrogant Tony Twain who made him suffer a lot and made a fool of himself, he would not be able to play anymore!
This was no secret. Everyone in the circle knew that Carl Spicer rose to his position by scolding Tang En. Some people were very disdainful of him, even those who also hated Tang En.
Seeing Spicer's current state, many people even laughed out loud. Watching others make a fool of themselves was a common hobby of people all over the world, and the British "gentlemen" were no exception.
After Brosnan pointed out Spicer's biggest embarrassment, he no longer paid attention to the man and turned around to pay attention to the team's training.
Spicer was also thick-skinned — after fighting with Tang En for so many years, if he was not thick-skinned enough, he would have long been killed by Tang En's scolding. After the previous embarrassment, he still acted like nothing had happened, standing there and continuing to direct his men to film Tony Twain's scenes.
His program did not care about the Forest team's training situation. In his scenes, there was always only Tony Twain alone. This also proved how accurate Pierce Brosnan's previous words were from another perspective.
Carl Spicer only had Tony Twain in his eyes, but Tony Twain had the entire world in his eyes.
※ ※ ※
Tony Twain, who had the whole world in him, finally appeared in front of the reporters' cameras.
Today, Tony Twain wore a casual shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. It was different from what he wore when he directed the game on the sidelines. Compared to those managers who were used to wearing sports shirts to lead the team's training, he did not look like a proper manager no matter how one looked at him. But no one was surprised by this, because Tony Twain had been like this for the past 16 years. Everyone was long used to it.
Tang En appeared in front of everyone wearing sunglasses, causing a commotion. The fan groups on the east side loudly cheered Tang En's name until Tang En waved at them, and the cheers gradually died down.
Similarly, no reporters were surprised by this scene. They had long become accustomed to Tang En's influence.
They only instructed the camera reporters to make the best use of their time to film.
"This is Tony Twain's last training session! Don't film anything else, just keep an eye on him! "
Tang En did not care how others filmed him. He was long used to it, even though the scene this morning was a little big …
But he was worthy of such attention.
That was the good thing about Tang En. He was not pretentious. What was meant to be his would be his. He was never modest.
The training basically had nothing to do with him. He stared for a while and found that the players' performance was normal. They did not change because of the gathered reporters. But he could not tell if it was normal or not. Everyone was running laps to warm up.
Tang En watched for a while before turning his attention elsewhere. There were many fans on the east side, more than usual. These fans were all determined to ask Tang En for autographs and photos after the game.
Tang En's gaze searched blindly in the crowd, but he suddenly stopped.
He stared hard at a person in the crowd with a strange expression. It was a mixture of excitement and surprise.
Guess who he saw that made him lose his composure?
In the crowd, Fat John, Skinny Bill, and the rest of their brothers surrounded a man.
That person was Michael Bernard, whom Tang En had previously met in Los Angeles!
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