Twain stood in front of the door that he had not returned to for ten days. It was drizzling, but he did not bring an umbrella. It was not that he wanted to act cool, but he did not bring an umbrella at all. Who would bring an umbrella with them when they went to Brazil?
He had been in Brazil for ten days and had just returned today.
Ten days flew by. Good times were always short. He and Shania spent a pleasant vacation in Brazil, during which they met Shania's parents again. Shania's mother was happy and satisfied with her daughter's current achievements. Although she still treated her like a child, she was no longer as strict as before. Shania's father, on the other hand, remained silent most of the time. However, he would privately chat with Twain, thanking him for taking care of Shania and asking him to continue taking care of her. As parents, they knew that Shania had moved out of her aunt's house in Newcastle and moved into Twain's apartment.
However, they did not object to it.
Twain was still a little uneasy when he went to meet them, afraid that they would suspect him of doing something improper to their daughter. Now, it seemed that Brazilians were open-minded by nature, or they were all very at ease with Twain.
Later, when the two of them were sunbathing at the beach, Twain jokingly asked Shania, "Do I look so harmless to humans and animals?"
Shania smiled innocently. "Because Daddy and Mommy know Uncle Tony is a good person."
Twain felt a deep sense of defeat.
However, he soon felt relieved.
The scenery in Brazil was beautiful, and the people in Brazil were even more beautiful. His eyes were almost too busy to keep up. The beach was full of Brazilian beauties in bikinis with explosive figures. He believed that Shania's parents were so at ease because Brazilians were naturally open-minded.
In the ten days in Brazil, other than playing with Shania, Twain also took the time to understand the talented players in Brazilian football. He found a genius — Pato. Unfortunately, when he wanted to contact Pato's agent, he was told that Pato had already been booked by a few of Europe's big clubs. Although Nottingham Forest was a team that had just won the European Championship, it was not easy for them to intervene.
Moreover, the agent also told Twain that among the few big clubs, AC Milan was the most aggressive in their pursuit of Pato. Pato himself also had the intention to play in Milan.
Left with no choice, Tang En could only watch helplessly as his opponent in the Champions League finals pulled back a goal in the transfer market.
Tang En had secretly done the Pato thing behind Shania's back. He had previously promised Shania that he would never look for players when he came to Brazil. In the end, he still couldn't help but act secretly without Shania's knowledge.
Since there were no results, Tang En stopped thinking about it and turned to play with Shania in peace.
※ ※ ※
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Shania remained in Brazil to accompany her parents, while Tang En returned to England to prepare various plans for the new season.
The door next door was tightly shut, and Dunn was not in England. At this time, he was in China with his parents.
Tang En realized that Dunn's love for that family came from the bottom of his heart. If not for his special job, he would have loved to go home every day. How could Dunn return to the team ahead of schedule? It was not easy to get a break once a year.
The players were still relaxing in various resorts. At this time, Tang En was the only one who returned early. As a manager, he had gained enough praise and glory in front of the people, and now he had to shoulder the same amount of responsibility. Others could rest, but he could not.
After putting his luggage in the house, Tang En took out an umbrella. He wanted to make a trip to Burns' bar to pick up the kitten he had been fostering there.
He did not like such small animals, but Shania loved them to death. He had no choice but to follow her orders.
※ ※ ※
Burns was casually chatting with the customers in the bar. It had just opened for business, so there were not many people.
The glass door was pushed open. Tang En stood at the door and kept his umbrella.
"Hey, Tony. How's Brazil?" Burns recognized him and raised his hand to greet him. His voice also made the other customers in the bar look at the door.
"The weather is much better than here." Tang En shook off the water droplets on his umbrella.
"Who asked you about the weather? I'm asking if the beauties there dazzled you?" Burns' words made the group of people in the bar laugh.
Tang En also laughed. "You already have a child. Are you still so hung up on hot beauties, Kenny?"
"I'm helping you care about your marriage." Burns was not to be outdone. "You're almost 40. Don't always use prostitutes to satisfy your physical needs."
The two men's bickering filled the bar with joyful laughter.
Tang En walked straight to the bar counter and waved his hand at Burns. "There will be when it's time. Give me a glass of wine, with ice."
When Burns went to pour the wine, Tang En turned to the drunkards who had just laughed at him and said, "I see that you all have a lot of free time."
A drunkard stood up with a grin. "You're right, Tony. If the league doesn't start, we'll feel uncomfortable all over. Other than drinking, I can't think of anything else that can attract my interest. "
Tang En nodded. He agreed with what he said. He had also been a fan before. He knew how difficult it was to be a fan every summer when the European league ended and there was no world championship.
"But you can watch the Copa América … or the Asian Cup?"
Everyone laughed. "Don't joke, Tony! The season that just passed was too f * cking exciting. Other than waiting for Forest's new season to start, I'm not interested in any other competitions! "
"Ha, how does it feel to be a champion?" Tang En asked happily.
"It's f * cking great!" Someone said, mimicking Tang En's emphasis in an interview after the game.
Burns smiled as he watched them fooling around. Then, he placed the wine glass in Tang En's hand. Along with the wine glass was an envelope.
"Michael sent it to you," he said.
Hearing him say that, Tang En stopped fooling around with the drunkards. He turned around and opened the envelope.
It was a short letter.
In the letter, Michael Bernard thanked Tang En for helping him realize his dream of 27 years, allowing him to no longer have any regrets.
"… I'm very glad that I made up my mind to come to Greece to watch the game and put it into action, even if I offended my wife. Because I saw the game and scene that I wanted to see the most. My son and I became the European champion. Is there any more perfect ending than this?
My unfulfilled wish of 27 years has been realized. I have nothing more to ask for … I'm no longer the easily excited, hot-blooded young man from back then. Tony, I know you still have a long way to go. No manager quits after only four years in the job. But my story ends here. This story is perfect. The beginning and the ending are perfect. Of course, there are some twists and turns in the middle … But which story is not twists and turns?
I love my wife very much. Maybe you won't believe me when I say this, because I've made her sad time and time again. But what I say is true? Having lost my son, my last wish in football has been fulfilled. Fiona is all I care about. My next goal in life is to let her live a good life and make her happy.
Forgive me for not being able to drink and watch the game with you in the future. I hope you understand, Tony.
There are things in life that are more important than football.
Finally, I wish you and Forest the best of luck. I'll continue to pay attention to you. John and Bill are more hardcore fans than I am. Don't let them down.
Your dearest friend, Michael Bernard.
June 1, 2007. "
Tang En folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip. Then, he asked, "Have you read this letter, Kenny?"
Burns shook his head. "It's written for you, Tony."
"Hmm …"
"But I can roughly guess what's written on it."
"Hmm?"
"After the finals, Michael did not return to America directly. He followed John and Bill back to Nottingham. He watched the live broadcast of the celebration that night at my place before leaving the next day. We talked about a lot of things … I've known him longer than you and him, and I've known you, Tony. "
Tang En nodded to indicate that he understood.
"He must have told you that there are things in life that are more important than football, right?"
"Yes, he did."
"He told me the same thing at the time."
Tang En did not utter a word, and Burns did not continue speaking.
Following that, Tang En downed the wine in his glass and took the cat that Burns passed to him. He tucked it under his armpit, looking as if he was holding a book. He waved to the regulars, opened his umbrella again, and walked out into the rain.
Of course, he would understand Michael, even if he did not write the letter.
In fact, after reading the letter, what he thought in his heart was that if Gavin did not die, Michael would not have said "there are things in life that are more important than football," because he would not know what was "more important than football." To Michael, his son was more important than football, and so was his wife.
People always had to wait until they lost something to understand that what they had just lost was the most important thing.
Tang En hoped that Michael would never understand what was "more important than football," because that would mean that he would not lose the most important thing. Gavin would not die, and he would not be forced to go to America, and he would not say silly things like giving up on football.
But … Tang En moved his umbrella away and let the drizzle hit his face.
I can travel through time and space, but I can't change time itself. The past can only be the past.
Tang En, who was busy thinking about these issues, did not notice that his arm holding the cat had tightened a little, and the cat under his armpit began to cry out in pain.
The sound interrupted Tang En's thoughts, and he said angrily, "Stop crying!"
The cat did not understand human words, and it continued to cry.
"Cry again! Cry again, and I'll eat you! "Tang En clamped his arm angrily.
The cat cried even more happily.
※ ※ ※
There was no Shania, no Dunn, no game recordings, no tactical research, no daily training, and no home and away games. To Tang En, the days were boring. He was used to putting himself in such a busy situation. Suddenly, there was nothing around him, which made him very uncomfortable.
There was only the annoying cat jumping up and down in the house, appearing on top of the fridge one moment, jumping behind the television the next, sneaking onto the bed to curl up and sleep the next.
Tang En kicked the lazy cat off his bed, and then sat up naked.
It was daybreak outside.
A new day had arrived. The team had not returned to normal work, and most people were on vacation. He took the time to go to the training base yesterday afternoon, and found that there was no one there except for the security guards at the gate. Tang En took out a bunch of videotapes and documents from his office and went home.
After washing up, he had a simple breakfast. Tang En returned to his room, threw the cat sleeping on the computer keyboard down, and turned on the computer. He was going to find the latest news about the summer transfers online.
The information in the newspapers was limited, and the internet was the fastest and most complete.
He did not know how other managers did it. Anyway, as a fan who had been on the internet for a long time, he still relied on the internet for all sorts of information even now, even with a different identity.
Tang En had a rough idea about Forest Team's adjustments for next season. As a manager, there was no need for him to make large-scale adjustments to the team's lineup during the period when the team had just won the Champions League title. Such a thing would only happen to a team facing a difficult situation, like Real Madrid a year ago.
Therefore, Forest Team would not make any big moves in the transfer market this year. Beckham's addition was enough to keep the media hyped for a long time. Tang En did not want to let the media take advantage of it and give them another topic to hype.
Anelka had to leave. There was no doubt about that, even if no team had made an offer to Anelka. No matter how much money it was, Tang En had to get rid of this forward who dared to go against him. Feelings? I only talk to the players I like.
If Anelka left, the front line would need to be supplemented with a fast and skillful forward. Tang En already had a suitable candidate for this position.
Although Albertini had bid farewell to the midfield, Tang En did not plan to make any major adjustments. He might go back to the youth team to see if there were any good seedlings that could be brought up and nurtured. Perhaps he could find some cheap and suitable substitutes from the middle and lower tier teams. Wood could already hold his own. What's more, they still had the jack of all trades, Sun Jihai.
The two flanks were filled with strong players. There was no need to supplement any newcomers. In this position, what he needed to consider now was not what newcomers to buy, but how to reasonably arrange for the opportunities for these people to play.
Beckham's arrival would certainly intensify the competition on the right side of the midfield.
The rear defensive line … The right back needed to be supplemented. Chimbonda could no longer handle the entire season alone. The center back lineup was perfect and did not need any adjustments. As for the left back … he would observe in the transfer market.
As Tang En calculated, he browsed the news online.
There was news online that the Argentine left back, Heinze, had already shed all pretense of cordiality with Manchester United. Even if he were to sue FIFA, he would leave Manchester United for Liverpool. But Ferguson firmly disagreed. His reason could be guessed with his eyes closed. "We don't have the tradition of selling players to arch-rivals."
He had wanted to call Ferguson and ask him how much he could sell Heinze for. But he put his phone down after picking it up because he remembered that the Forest team could now be considered Manchester United's direct competitor. Although they did not win the league title this season, who could believe that Tony Twain, a guy who thirsted for victory and the championship, would not shatter Manchester United's dream of defending the title next season?
Forget it. Tang En put his phone down. Sir Alex was probably regretting selling van Nistelrooy to him. To still ask him for the player, wasn't this treating Manchester United as the Forest team's logistics base?
To be honest, Tang En believed that Leighton Baines could not keep up with the challenges the team was facing now. He could play in the domestic league, but he was still inexperienced in the European arena. Tang En wanted to add an experienced veteran to the left back position. Although he valued Gareth Bale, the problem of his lack of experience was not something that could be solved overnight.
Aimlessly browsing the British and China sports websites online, a person's name suddenly emerged in his mind.
Why not buy him?
"The great Italian left back" — Fabio Grosso.
I heard that he did not have a good time at Inter Milan? Tang En's memory of Grosso's performance at the World Cup was still fresh. Putting aside Huang Jianxiang's crazy performance, the left back was indeed of standard. Tang En decided to contact the Inter Milan club.
He wrote down the players he planned to buy on a piece of paper and sent it down. Then he typed it on the computer and sent an e-mail to Dunn in China, telling him about his planned candidates and asking for his opinion. They kept in touch through this fastest and cheapest method. Originally, Tang En wanted to directly use QQ to leave a message, but Dunn said that it was too informal to discuss work. "Have you ever seen a professional manager who uses QQ to work?" Tang En pursed his lips. If others did not use it, could he not use it? What kind of logic was that?
Although that was what he said, Tang En still respected Dunn's request and sent it to him via e-mail.
After doing all this, Tang En leaned back in his chair and stretched.
A shrill cat's cry came from behind him. He felt a furry thing struggling desperately between his waist and the back of the chair.
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