There was a very reasonable idiom in China: strike a balance between work and rest. Now that he was under so much pressure, he should indeed rest. Otherwise, he might be the one collapsing instead of the team — the thought of the last minute at Portman Road made his heart skip a beat. If Eastwood had not kicked that free kick in, Forest could have given up on their dream of fighting for second place in the Premier League.
Alright, going to Burns' bar to relax and chat with John and the others was not a bad idea. For now, he put aside the worries of promotion.
Tang En did not expect to see Fat John and the others at the Forest bar the next night, but another group of people.
A group of middle-aged men about the same age as Burns. Tang En did not recognize them at all. These people clustered around an old man in the middle of the crowd. The old man holding a glass of wine and speaking to the others was the focus of the entire place. He was the legendary manager of Nottingham Forest — Brian Clough.
Tang En did not expect to see the boss here. He froze at the door. Until Burns walked towards him.
"This is …" The puzzled Tang En had just opened his mouth when he was interrupted by Burns with a smile.
"A simple dinner to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Nottingham Forest winning the UEFA Champions League. Other than you, everyone here has participated in the 79 UEFA Champions League final. "Kenny Burns led Tang En in. Clough, who was standing in the middle of the room and speaking, saw them.
He raised the glass of wine in his hand to Tang En. "Look who's here? How does it feel to win a championship? "
His words turned the attention of the others to Tang En, who had just entered the room. After they saw who it was, they all laughed.
"Mr. Tang En, you've been in the news for the past two months!"
"Boss, I think you guys are very similar!"
Clough did not comment on such words, while Tang En was a little embarrassed. Other than Burns and Clough, he did not know any of these people, but they seemed to be very familiar with him. The glass of wine that Burns handed him was enough for him.
He took the glass and thanked Burns. Then he answered Clough's first question. "It feels great, boss."
As he said that, the others laughed again, and then discussed the interesting things that happened before the EFL Cup final. "When I saw all the members of Forest coming down from the bus in front of the television, I could hardly believe my eyes!"
"Me too, Peter. Mr. Tony Tang En's appearance left a deep impression! "
"Haha!"
Tang En knew that they were talking about his outfit. Later on, when he rewatched the broadcast, he also felt that he looked funny at that time. He did not want to experience something like that again …
"Even though you look like a clown, but … it's very effective, isn't it?" Clough drank a mouthful of wine, then looked at Tang En and said.
Twain nodded. Although the people standing in front of him were all people who had lifted the UEFA Champions League with their own hands, Twain, who had won the EFL Cup, had the confidence to speak to them as equals. "The team was not in good shape at the time. I could only use that method to help them build confidence. Afterwards, I looked very funny myself, but … as long as we won the championship in the end, being a clown is not a big deal. "
The topic seemed to be developing in the direction of a conversation between the two of them. Seeing this, the others also tactfully left one after another, holding their wine glasses and chatting casually with each other.
Only Clough and Tang En were left at the table in the middle of the room. Clough gestured for him to sit down, and the two of them sat facing each other.
"To be able to see the Forest team's red jersey again in the EFL Cup final … that feels really good," the old man said slowly. The old man said slowly, "Do you know when was the last time we made it to the EFL Cup final?"
"Twelve years ago, boss," Twain answered without hesitation.
Clough nodded slowly. "Wembley has been rebuilt. That's really a long time …" He cast his gaze towards the door of the bar, as if recalling the time when he was still the Forest team's manager.
Twelve years ago, in 1992, the last season before the English Premier League was established, in Brian Clough's last year as Nottingham Forest's manager, the Forest team made it to the 91-92 EFL Cup final. That was the last glimmer of glory for the once popular Nottingham Forest team. They lost to Manchester United and saved Manager Alex Ferguson, who was in a crisis of confidence. The Scot later established his own Manchester United dynasty and was even conferred a noble by the Queen of England. As for Brian Clough and his legendary Forest team, they slowly withdrew from the stage of history.
The boss was two years younger than Bobby Robson, who was still coaching at Newcastle, and only seven years older than Ferguson. At his age, he could have continued to direct the game from the technical area, instead of sitting at home drinking all day and then being forced to have a liver transplant.
If the Forest team had not lost to Manchester United, what would have happened? Would the Forest team have taken the opportunity to regain their glory? Would Ferguson have been dismissed in dejection? Beckham, Giggs, Scholes … What would be the respective fates of Manchester United's 92s?
There was no point in thinking about this question now.
Twain, who came back to his senses, found Clough looking at him.
"I heard from Burns that you've been under a lot of pressure recently."
"Well … Yes, boss. In the last round of the league tournament, I thought I was going to have a heart attack at the last moment. "
Clough's mouth twitched into a smile. "It's not that easy to be a manager, kid. I've been the Forest team's manager for 18 years. What haven't I experienced? We've been undefeated for 42 matches and entered the Champions League finals for three years in a row. But I … "He pointed at the people who were chatting freely. "I never let them know what I'm thinking, especially the bad ones. Do you still remember the first time we met, kid? "
Twain nodded. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Burns, Walker and Bowyer brought him to Derby County to have afternoon tea at the old manager's house.
"What did you ask me then?"
Such a conversation made Twain feel as though he often had conversations with his own players. It was just that their roles had changed. He was not the manager, but a player under Brian Clough. He thought about it and then replied, "You asked me what I thought a manager did."
"How did you answer?"
"Leading the team to victory …"
Clough took a sip of wine and then continued as Twain remembered, "Wrong, kid. That's just part of the job. Now, I think you understand what I mean? "
Twain nodded. "I understand it very well, boss."
"Wrong again. How long have you been in this position? You haven't even warmed your butt, and you've already made it very clear. What do you understand? "
Faced with such a rhetorical question, Twain did not know how to answer.
"You still have a long way to go, kid …" Clough slowly stood up and looked down at Twain. Then, he held his wine glass and went to chat with his old subordinates.
Following that, the dinner returned to the theme of the event. Everyone talked endlessly about Forest's past glory. Twain sat at the side and listened without saying a word. At the same time, he fantasized in his heart — one day, would he be able to sit here with his old subordinates and reminisce about the days when they were crowned kings in Europe? How many years later would that be?
The dinner was simple and private. It was not open to the media, and they were not even informed. At ten o 'clock in the evening, it ended. At the entrance of the bar, everyone was busy saying their goodbyes.
At this time, Twain became the busiest person again. Everyone would specially come over to say goodbye to him and then say a word or two of encouragement. After all, everyone had once played for Forest. They still had this bit of affection. Finally, it was Brian Clough's turn. He sat in the car and opened the window to look at Twain. Twain knew he had something to say and hurriedly leaned over to stand outside the window.
The old man looked at Twain and tilted his head to think for a moment before shrugging. "I almost forgot something … Congratulations, kid." He then rolled up the window again and knocked on the back of the driver's seat.
The white Ford slowly drove away from Twain. The others also drove off to say goodbye. The entrance of the bar, which had been very lively earlier, suddenly became deserted. Twain stood by the side of the road. Burns walked over to him and said, "Not used to it? Listening to us talk about the past? "
Twain turned to look at the kind-hearted Burns. "It's alright … In the past, I often encountered such things." He was referring to himself in China. When he attended a class reunion, everyone was happily talking about their recent experiences. Only he seemed to be an outsider and had no interest in those topics.
"Well, actually … Boss asked me to call you here. Originally, we only invited teammates who played in the '79 Champions League final. Before you came, he was chatting with me about the EFL Cup final. He said your tactics in that game reminded him of the first time Forest won the Champions League — we also relied on an impenetrable defense to win. Oh, there's one more thing. Although Boss didn't say it, I think … if this season ends and Forest really returns to the Premier League, he'll be very happy. "Burns looked into the distant night sky.
Twain smiled. "Thank you, Kenny."
"Don't thank me. Thank Boss. All of us old fellows have seen the past fading in your Forest team, so everyone has high hopes for you … How about it? Now that I've said this, does the pressure in your heart increase? "Burns laughed.
"Kenny, if I don't succeed, I'll come here and drink all your wine."
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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