He met Mourinho at the SOHO Square outside the English Football Association building, at the "small dam" with a few English platanus trees planted there.
This time, he did not look around for high-rise buildings in the car. Although the last time he was here was two and a half years ago, that time left a very deep impression on him.
The lawyer representing the Forest team's appeal was Jack Landy, the lawyer who had defended Tang En the last time. When they met again, the tension from their first meeting was long gone. Landy smiled as he shook hands with Tang En and said, "I knew we'd meet again, Mr. Tang En."
Tang En squeezed his eyes and said, "I'm afraid you'll lose your job if I don't make a ruckus often."
The two men laughed as if there was no one else around them under everyone's gaze.
Mourinho stood next to them, expressionless, or perhaps it should be said that he had a symbolic straight face, his lips slightly pursed and his brows slightly furrowed. It gave people the feeling that he was unhappy to see Tang En acting so smug in front of him.
Beside him, Jorge Mendes coughed lightly to introduce Mourinho to Tang En.
When he heard the cough, the expression on Tang En's face changed quickly, as if he was adjusting. He put away the smile he used on Landy's lawyer and put on a straight face. Then he quickly changed his smile — more warm and kind, but no matter how one looked at it, it felt a little too warm and kind.
He turned to Mourinho and held out his hand. "I didn't expect us to meet on such an occasion, Mr. José Mourinho. No matter what, I'm still very grateful that you could attend this hearing on behalf of Pepe. "
Mourinho did not have any intention of holding out his hand. He continued to speak without expression, his voice sounding a little cold. "Don't misunderstand, Mr. Tang En. I just hate the English Football Association as much as you do. "
Such a response made everyone present feel a little awkward, and there was a moment of awkward silence. Tang En's hand was stretched out in mid-air, not knowing whether to take it or not.
But soon a smile appeared on Mourinho's face. He held Tang En's hand and said, "I also didn't expect to cooperate in this way, Mr. Tang En."
After a moment of awkward silence, the atmosphere returned to normal. Mendes was chatting happily with the Forest club chairman, Evan Doughty, while Evan introduced Jack Landy to Mendes. Although the lawyer was a little old-fashioned and stubborn at times, his professional skills were not to be questioned. If Mendez had any trouble in England, he could go to him.
Everyone seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally distancing themselves from Tang En and Mourinho, giving them space to talk alone.
It was already summer in June, and the branches and leaves of the plane trees above their heads were luxuriant. The mottled sunlight shone on their feet, and the light spots danced in the breeze.
Mourinho looked around before turning his gaze to his agent, Mendes. He did not look at Tang En, who was in front of him. "I have a good relationship with Jorge, so I agreed to help him with this."
Twain looked up at the fragmented sky above his head, which was divided by the leaves, and nodded. "Of course I know."
"But don't celebrate too early. No one knows if you can successfully get a work permit. I've never heard of a 'special genius clause' being approved for a center back. "Mourinho's tone was filled with obvious disdain.
Tang En retracted his gaze and looked at Mourinho. "Then I'll be the first."
Mourinho snorted and said nothing.
※ ※ ※
The hearing on Pepe's eligibility for a work permit was held in the Football Association's building. The room was the same as the one Tang En came to the last time. The only difference was that the secretary who received them was no longer the extremely flirtatious Faria Aram, who swayed her butt left and right as she walked. Instead, it was replaced by a capable male secretary. And the person in charge of the Football Association waiting for them in the meeting room was no longer Mark Palios. He and Miss Aram had both resigned in the "Zipper Door" scandal a year ago. As for the more disgusting things behind the scandal, there was no need to repeat them here.
The male secretary who led the way was a little surprised to see Mourinho and Tony Twain appear in front of him at the same time. He said casually, "I didn't expect Mr. Mourinho and Mr. Twain to appear here at the same time …"
Without waiting for the two managers to speak, Jack Landy's lawyer stepped forward. "Why, Mr. José Mourinho testifying for Forest's Pepe is not in line with the rules?"
Realizing his rudeness, the secretary hurriedly shook his head. "Oh, sorry, I was just a little surprised … This way please."
He turned to lead the way. Behind him, Tang En and Mourinho shook their heads at the same time. This damn lawyer! Count yourself lucky, secretary boy!
Landy turned around and smiled at the two of them. Mourinho raised his head and looked at the ceiling, while Tang En seemed more interested in the photos in the corridor.
According to the rules, when it came to a player's work permit appeal, the panel of judges had to be made up of the English Football Association, British government officials, members of the Professional Footballers' Association, and three experts. Their opinions would determine whether a player could receive a work permit with special treatment.
Clearly, the appearance of Mourinho and Tang En at the same time was also unexpected to the judges.
It looked like everyone knew about the disagreement between Tang En and Mourinho.
The entire appeal process was very procedural. The members of the judges had seen Pepe's personal information in advance, including written information and photo information. The members of the judges from different departments would have different opinions on Pepe's abilities. The main reason for letting Tang En and Mourinho come was to deal with their questions.
First of all, Mourinho's identity as "the mentor who discovered Pepe" proved that Pepe indeed possessed outstanding ability and limitless potential. The weight of his words was obviously more important than the information.
Tang En sat to one side and watched Mourinho stand in the middle of the room. He answered question after question in accordance with Mourinho's wishes. He felt that putting aside their competitive relationship, Mourinho was still considered a good person …
When it was Tang En's turn to go up, the question mainly focused on Pepe's position.
"Mr. Tang En, it's very obvious that Pepe is a center back …"
Tang En forced a smile on his face, but in reality, he was gritting his teeth as he asked, "Yes, is there a problem?"
"What I'm more interested in is using this precious' special talent 'slot for a center back. Is Forest not planning to bring in a striker this summer? Eastwood's injury has not recovered yet, right? "
Tang En looked at the other members of the judges and asked, "May I ask, is this a question that must be answered in accordance with the procedure?"
Someone from the judges stood up and said, "Don't misunderstand, Mr. Tang En. It's just a little bit of curiosity from the few of us. " The person who stood up to say this was one of the three experts. He had long retired and was now a television worker, Gary Lineker. He had agreed to be part of the judges for this hearing because this was Nottingham Forest's appeal and Tony Twain was bound to come.
Tang En glanced at Lineker. He was not the one who raised the question, but he reckoned that he must have played a part in coming up with this idea.
"When people talk about geniuses, the first thing they think of are strikers, side midfielders, attacking midfielders … Are there no geniuses among defensive players?" Tang En spat out the words that he had been suppressing in his heart for a long time. "Does anyone think that Rio Ferdinand is not a genius? Does anyone think that George Wood is not a genius? If we can apply for 'special talent' for offensive players, why can't I apply for 'special talent' for a center back who has great potential and is indeed a genius? Pepe's ability has been described in detail in the information. I believe that all of you have not forgotten Mr. Mourinho's statement just now. I don't want to prove whether Pepe is a genius or not. I just want to ask: Mr. Lineker, what do you think is considered a genius? "
After he finished speaking, the three members of the panel of judges gathered together and whispered to each other. Other than the three of them, no one else in the venue asked Tang En a question. Tang En waited quietly.
After about five minutes, there were more and more judges participating in the discussion. The Football Association official had no choice but to stand up and announce that the hearing was over. The judges still needed to continue their discussion on Pepe's issue. Two days later, they would inform the Nottingham Forest Football Club if Pepe was qualified to get a work permit.
"That's it?" Coming out of the Football Association's building, Tang En shrugged and asked Lawyer Randy, "The Football Association is always like this. When everything is clear, do they still need to spend another two days to conclude the discussion?"
Randy shook his head doubtfully. "No, this is the first time I've seen it. Perhaps, Mr. Tang, your players have caused disunity within the organization. "
"That means … on the issue of whether Pepe can get a work permit, our situation now is no different from a day ago?" Tang En asked again.
Randy nodded. Before he could say anything, Mourinho, who was beside him, smiled and interrupted, "Mr. Tang, this first one is not easy. I'm sorry, there are matters at the club. I have to go first. "
With that, without waiting for Tang En to react, he bowed slightly to the others and left first. He did not even shake Tang En's hand. It did not look like the two of them had played a match together with the Football Association. Instead, it looked like they had just finished another match.
Mendes smiled and shrugged at Tang En.
Tang En admitted that he was unlucky …
Mourinho left so resolutely that he did not give him a chance to retaliate.
It looked like he could only wait until the new season started to take his revenge.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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