When the sun rose in the east on a new day, Bale opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep. When he saw his surroundings clearly, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He was indeed in the team's dormitory, and not in some brothel in Amsterdam's red-light district.
Throughout the night, he had a recurring dream that his stroll in Amsterdam's red-light district had been discovered by the boss. The boss did not lose his temper, but to Bale, seeing his disappointed expression was tantamount to a nightmare of the sky falling down.
He dreamed that he was kicked out of the training base in Volendam. He packed his luggage alone and took the plane back to England. Then, he was surrounded by countless media at the airport. They all harbored malicious intentions, laughing at his misfortune and asking him all kinds of embarrassing questions.
He was surrounded by mocking laughter. He could not move or breathe … until he woke up.
Bale turned over and sat up. His back was wet with sweat. The sound of flushing came from the bathroom. Lennon was already up.
He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to make himself more awake.
Lennon walked out from the bathroom at the back. "Go wash your face, little monkey."
"Allen." Bale turned to look at his good friend. "We … Nothing will happen to us, right?"
Lennon froze for a moment, then smiled and shrugged. "What could happen? Didn't we come back on time yesterday? No one noticed us over there. Everything was perfect! "He made a" V "shape gesture." Go wash up and then go out for breakfast. If you don't go soon, there will be a problem. "
Hearing that, Bale got up from the bed and ran to the bathroom.
※ ※ ※
Tang En stretched lazily on the bed before climbing out of it. The weather in the Netherlands was much better than in England. It was a wonderful enjoyment to wake up to the sounds of birds and smell the fragrance of flowers in such a place.
Sleep was the most important activity in a person's life. Only with enough sleep could one be energetic for a day's work and study.
The manager enjoyed the privilege of not having to share a room with anyone. Tang En lived alone in a dormitory.
Just as he finished washing up and walked out of the bathroom, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The person who pushed the door open surprised Tang En. He had thought it would be Dunn or Kerslake. He did not expect it to be the reporter, Pierce Brosnan, who also lived in the training base.
"Good morning, Mr. Reporter. Do we have to start the interview so early? But I'm not dressed yet. "Tang En opened his hands. He was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs and his upper body was bare.
Brosnan's expression did not look too good. He shook his head and said, "Tony, I think there's something I have to tell you..." Then he handed the newspapers in his hand to Tony.
"I just got a call from my friend this morning, telling me what happened last night. Although I'm not surprised, what's worse is that other media outlets don't think so … "
Tang En lowered his head to look at the newspapers in his hands. There were Dutch and English versions. The common feature was that they all had four photos prominently displayed on the sports page. The main characters in the photos were three familiar faces: Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon, and Gareth Bale.
The picture wasn't clear. It was a little blurry, and the angle wasn't very good either. It could be seen that it was taken secretly. And the background of these three faces was … a lively street under the neon lights.
"We're just going shopping together. What's there to be surprised about?" He was puzzled and wanted to return the newspaper. "I allow them to move around freely every night. Haven't the players been playing around in town these days?"
Brosnan did not take it. Instead, he pointed to the photos in the newspapers and said, "These photos weren't taken in Volendam. They were taken in Amsterdam."
Hearing the name, Tang En was a little surprised. He lowered his head to look at the photos carefully, trying to find some clues from them.
"They were taken in Amsterdam's red-light district," Brosnan continued. Bruce continued, "A few English reporters who went there to have some fun happened to meet the three men on the street …"
Tang En looked up at Brosnan, who was still explaining to him, as if he could not believe everything he had heard.
※ ※ ※
The Forest team's three meals a day were taken care of by their own nutritionists and chefs. The entire team, from the coaches to the players, ate together without any exceptions.
During breakfast, everyone gathered together to eat and chat. Ashley Young, Bale, and Lennon sat together in an inconspicuous corner, discussing in whispers the excitement of the previous night.
Bale did not appear to be focused. He was looking around.
"Hey, little monkey, what are you looking at?" Ashley Young waved his hand in front of Bale's eyes but did not attract his attention.
"The boss isn't here," Bale said as he looked around. "Assistant Dunn and assistant Kerslake aren't here either …"
At the end of his sentence, his voice became softer, tinged with fear.
Hearing Bale's words, Lennon and Ashley Young hurriedly looked up and searched the crowd. Indeed, they did not see the three coaches.
Usually, everyone ate together, including the manager and assistant coaches. Why were they not here this morning?
The three of them looked at each other and saw a hint of panic on each other's faces.
"Hey, will they be okay?" Lennon looked at Ashley Young.
Ashley Young did not know how to answer him. He only murmured, as if to comfort Lennon and convince himself, "Maybe they have something else to do …"
Just as the three of them were feeling uneasy, Tang En finally appeared at the entrance of the restaurant with his two assistant coaches.
Tang En first stood at the entrance and scanned the team. Then, he brought his men to find an empty table to sit down and start eating.
He did not say anything as he scanned the audience. His face was expressionless, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Ashley Young and the other two could only lower their heads and eat hurriedly, hoping to leave this place that made them uncomfortable.
Just as they finished their meal in two or three bites and were about to get up and leave, Tang En spoke.
"Young, Lennon, Bale."
The three of them shuddered.
"Come to my room in thirty minutes. I have some things I want to discuss with you …" Tang En said casually with his head down. At the same time, he used his fork to fiddle with the ham on the plate. Then, he cut down with the knife. The metal and porcelain plate made a crisp sound as it collided.
After Bale heard the sound, he abruptly shrank his neck. It was as if he could already see the things in his dream gradually becoming reality …
The players were a little puzzled by the boss's sudden call for the three of them to go to his room. They looked in bewilderment at the three teammates standing in the middle of the restaurant, not knowing what had happened.
"You can go now." Tang En waved his hand. He was still holding a knife in his hand, which gleamed under the morning sun.
After the three of them left, the restaurant was quickly filled with discussions. Everyone was guessing what mistake the three men had made. From the boss's voice, it sounded like he was not in a good mood.
Tang En ignored the sounds of everyone's guesses. He did not say a word as he tackled the ham and fried eggs on the plate. It was just that when he chewed, his movements were slightly large …
※ ※ ※
Thirty minutes later, the three players appeared in Tang En's room with sullen faces.
At that time, Tang En was watching television. The television was on, and his eyes were fixed on the screen. It was just that the speakers were speaking in Dutch, which he could not understand at all. What's more, it was playing an extremely boring television direct sales advertisement …
Hearing the three men push the door open and enter, Tang En waited for them to stand by the bed for a while before turning his head to look at them.
"Why do you have such an expression? Didn't you guys have fun last night? "He held the television remote control in his hand and played with it repeatedly.
When the three men heard that, it was as if they had been struck by lightning. They knew last night's incident had been exposed. Before they came, they had lied to hide it. Now, it seemed that the words they had prepared were completely useless.
"You must be wondering how I found out, right?" Tang En threw the newspaper over. "You didn't pay after you had fun, so people came knocking on your door."
Of course, this was sarcasm. The three men looked down and saw that a photo of them playing in the red-light district had actually appeared in the newspaper. They understood everything … They must have been secretly photographed by a reporter.
Now that they had been caught red-handed, any rebuttal was useless.
The three of them were completely silent. Bale was silent because he was afraid, while Ashley Young and Lennon did not know what to say.
"Why aren't you talking, men? Oh, should I first congratulate you for becoming men last night? You will go from childish to mature, from mature to even more mature … It's f * cking ripe! " He burst out with vulgarities without warning, scaring the three men who had lowered their heads. The calm before the storm finally passed, and raindrops the size of beans came crashing down from the strong wind.
"No, I didn't …" Bale opened his mouth to defend himself, trembling.
"You didn't? Gareth Bale, you're amazing. How does a woman's body feel? And you, Aaron Lennon! " Tang En looked at Bale's roommate. "I hope your speed with women isn't as f * cking fast as you are on the field!"
Bale dared not speak again after being scolded. He could only lower his head and bear it in silence.
Lennon's expression was also very awkward.
After scolding the two younger ones, Tang En turned his gaze to Ashley Young. However, his tone softened. "Young, I know … those two boys would never think of going to that kind of place, right?"
Ashley Young knew what the Boss meant by that. He nodded. "It was my idea, Boss. It has nothing to do with them. I dragged them there by force. "
Tang En moved his face closer and stared at Ashley Young carefully.
"You're quite responsible …" He retracted his gaze and turned to the other two boys. "But don't think you can earn any impression points with me with this. The three of you … I'm not against you finding women to relieve your boredom, but not now! Do you know why I'm so angry? It's not because those son of a b * tch media caught you. I'm not f * cking afraid of them. If they want to stir up trouble and hype things up, let them! "
He waved his hands forcefully. He really did not care.
"Do you remember what I told you when we came here? What did I say? I told you not to go there, right? Do you remember? Did you forget, or did you completely disregard what I, the manager, said? "
There was no way to answer this question.
"We … We didn't forget, Boss. It's not that … it's not that we didn't take it seriously …" Ashley Young stammered. "It's just …"
"It's just that desire won over reason, right?"
"Yes, yes …" Ashley Young nodded hurriedly.
"So, you really did it?"
Ashley Young suddenly realized that he might have been tricked. He hurriedly shook his head again. "No! We just went there to take a look, and then came back! We definitely didn't do that … No! " What a joke. If he said he really did it, he did not know how scary the Boss' expression would be. He absolutely could not say that. "We're just curious. There's never been a place like that where it's openly displayed … So, we wanted to go and take a look. That's how it is, Boss."
Twain quietly listened to Ashley Young's explanation and then looked at Bale and Lennon. "Did you guys do it?"
The two men shook their heads. "No …"
Twain stared at Bale for a long time before he turned around and walked back to the sofa. He sat down and crossed his legs.
"You really didn't do it?"
This time, the three of them answered in unison, "We really didn't do it!"
After a moment of silence, Twain sighed. "I'm very disappointed in you guys … You're professional footballers. You have to rely on this to earn money, rely on this to live. Your bodies are the only thing you can rely on and trust, but you don't know how to cherish them. I don't want to give examples of how many talented footballers in this world have been ruined by their indiscreet private lives since the advent of modern football. You guys should know this better than I do, because your bodies are your own! If one day you lose your form and are pushed down by others, it's no loss to me. I can just find another batch of good footballers. But what about you guys? You go to the lower leagues and spend all day reminiscing about your … f * cking glorious days?! I'll say it again: Who do you think you're playing football for? Because of my request? For the club and the team? For the fans? You're f * cking playing football for yourselves, for your future lives! This is work. You have to take it seriously. This is not a f * cking street game! "
Twain took a breather and looked at the three men who had their heads lowered and did not say a word.
"This is no longer a question of whether you did it or not. This is a question of your attitude towards professional football. Professional football is fair. It will not mistreat anyone who works hard and plays football seriously. It will also not give special preferential treatment to any bastard who wants to cheat and play tricks! I hope you remember this and think about it seriously … What kind of path do you want to take?
The first few years of your professional career are limitless. You have money, glory, and beautiful women. You don't have to worry about food and drink. You can have whatever you want and be admired by thousands. Then you quickly fall and go to the lower leagues to seek opportunities. Is this the path you want to take? "
The three men shook their heads at the same time.
"You're still young. You still have a long road ahead of you. I hope you're on your own … "Twain waved his hand, indicating that they could go." Oh, right. Go back to training as usual. After training, do a self-reflection in front of the whole team and admit your mistakes. I won't fine you, but you don't have to think about participating in the invitational tournament. "
The three men nodded and left the room. This punishment was merciful enough for the three of them. At the very least, Twain did not send them to the reserve team to reflect on their mistakes in a fit of anger.
Seeing the door close, Twain rubbed his temples.
What Dunn was most worried about had happened. However, Dunn was worried about the overall impact of this matter on the club and the team. What Twain was worried about was the impact this matter would have on the future of the three people involved. He did not want the person he fancied to become the next Whiteside (a famous and talented star player for Manchester United and Ireland in the 1980s, who retired at the age of 26 because of alcoholism and frequent injuries) or George Best (if not for alcoholism and women, he could have become another King of Football). After commercialization fully invaded football, many talented players were ruined. There were as many as the stars in the sky.
Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, and Ashley Young were all the best of the young people he had personally selected. He hoped that these people could still be healthy and play high-level football for the team for more than a decade, and not be sold off prematurely. After all, he had watched these young people grow up step by step with his own eyes. To a certain extent, they were like children he had personally raised. Who would be willing to sell their own children?
Had Ferguson not felt a pang when he sold Whiteside and MacGruff?
How did Wenger feel when he decided to give up on Pennant?
"Tony." Unknowingly, Dunn opened the door and came in.
"Huh?" Tang En came back to his senses and looked up at the assistant manager standing in front of him.
"There are a lot of reporters outside the training ground. More than usual."
Twain snorted. "The sharks that smelled blood are finally here?"
"You see …"
"Tell them that after training, the club will specially hold an impromptu press conference. If they have any questions, ask them at that time. For now, no interviews will be accepted from anyone! " (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. QIDIAN. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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