That crazy night had become a thing of the past, but the craze set off by Tony Twain was far from subsiding. Due to the live broadcast, Tony Twain's entrance dressed as a king was seen by the whole country. Whether they liked him or hated him, they were all very surprised by him doing so.
Even an arrogant manager like Mourinho did not accept the worship of tens of thousands of people in public as if it was a matter of course. Draped in a king's cloak, wearing a crown, and holding a scepter in his hand … Looking at his expression, it was as if he should enjoy all of this.
After all, Britain was still a traditional country. Some people could not stand the deviance in the football circle, but this time, Tony Twain was even more exaggerated.
Calling himself a king? Who does he think he is?
Some media outlets began to bombard such an arrogant act, and then more and more people joined the army of criticism —
"Tony Twain might as well declare independence."
"He wants to ascend the throne after winning the UEFA Champions League twice? That's too unpromising. "
"If a clown like him can be considered a king, then what about Ferguson, Paisley, Shankly, and Busby? God? "
"Nottingham Forest has collectively been infected with the 'Tony Twain Virus.' It's fine if he's crazy alone, but now the whole club and all the Nottingham Forest fans are crazy with him. It's really incomprehensible. "
"Look at that disgusting face of his. He can't really think he's a king, can he? Don't joke around. He's just a clown in our eyes! "
"God, who will save this stupid wretch!"
"There must be something wrong with this world …"
※ ※ ※
"It's so lively." In the BBC office building, John Motson held a large pile of newspapers and magazines to Tony Twain as a greeting gift. He pointed to the headlines that scolded Twain, and the smile on his face was clearly "gloating."
Twain grinned. "A bunch of poor wretches who haven't seen the world …"
"Your column is silent, Tony. I don't think it's your style. "Motson threw the newspapers aside and chatted with Twain.
Now that BBC-5 was preparing to go to Switzerland and Austria to cover the UEFA European Championship, the floor was bustling. Motson happened to be free at the moment, so he joked with Twain about the "King's Gate" that everyone had been talking about recently.
"What do I have to say? It was just an exaggerated way of expressing one's feelings, but these idiots took it seriously. "
"Everything will be fine as long as you explain yourself …"
"No way." Tang En shook his head. "I'm not going to compromise with that bunch of idiotic media. They want to listen to my soft words, but I won't. I'm driving them crazy! "
When Motson saw Tang En's vivid expression, he threw his head back and laughed.
After laughing, he wiped his tears and said, "You're really a news-making machine. Everywhere you go, there's news … No, you're basically 'news'!"
"Am I to take that as a compliment? John. "Twain blinked.
"You're really thick-skinned, Tony."
"Facing the ridicule and ridicule of the media all day long, you really can't survive if you're thin-skinned." When John Motson said that, Tang En was very happy. His skin was really thick …
Motson nodded and agreed with Tang En's explanation. "But to be honest … When I first saw this king's plan, I was a little surprised. I thought to myself that if I was pushed to the front, dressed like this and faced with a tidal wave of scolding, it would really be a little hard to deal with … "
"I didn't think that much. At that time, everyone was very happy. Thinking about this problem is too much of a downer. "
"Hey, your character … is really too complicated." Motson smiled and shook his head.
Tang En felt it was too boring to talk with Motson about this topic that had already been hyped up by the media. He asked, "Is there anything for me to do?"
"Here? Nothing. I'm flying to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow to prepare to cover the opening ceremony in four days. "Motson told Tang En the plan.
Tang En nodded. "Then I'll go back to the hotel first."
"Okay." Motson walked Tang En to the elevator before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. There's something I want to tell you. It's a very interesting thing. "
Tang En made a listening gesture.
"Carl Spicer, a reporter from the Daily Telegraph."
Tang En was a little familiar with the name. He seemed to be a senior reporter and often saw his name in the newspaper. But what did this man have to do with him?
"He's decided to do a very rigorous social survey in the form of questionnaires plus street interviews. He's also going to interview a lot of famous and unknown media people, critics, players in the football circle, coaches and club chairmen. It's a huge plan. The question of the survey is … "Looking at Tang En, Motson laughed." 'What do you think of Tony Twain as a person?' Haha! "
At this point, he could not hold back his laughter.
Tang En did not laugh. He just shrugged. "Spending taxpayers' money just to find out if I'm popular?"
"Spicer thinks it's a very interesting social phenomenon — a successful football manager with a bad reputation in the public media, completely not getting the recognition that matches his results."
"He's complaining on my behalf?"
"No, just curious why it's like this."
With a "ding," the elevator door opened in front of the two men.
"Curiosity can kill the cat …" Tang En muttered as he stepped into the elevator. Motson waved at him from outside. "Don't forget your flight tomorrow. You can go straight to the airport."
"I won't forget. If I don't get killed by this curiosity tonight …"
"Hahahaha …"
※ ※ ※
When Tang En returned to the entrance of the hotel he was temporarily staying at, he was caught by two media outlets.
"You've been waiting here all afternoon because you heard that I'm staying here?" Tang En asked the two people in front of him.
He had kept a low profile when he came to London. There was no need to go around announcing where he was staying. For reporters to come knocking on his door like this, it was really … annoying.
It was a man and a woman from two different media companies. According to their self-introductions, they had been waiting there for the entire afternoon to ask Tony Twain a few questions. They wanted to hear Tony Twain's reaction to what the media had been saying recently.
Who knew how far they had developed here in an afternoon. The two looked very close. They did not belong to the same media outlet, yet they behaved like this. It filled Tang En with fantasies.
"Yes, we have a lot of questions, Mr. Tony Twain …" The male reporter could not wait to open his mouth and ask, but Tang En stopped him with a hand gesture.
"I deeply admire your professionalism, but my time is also time. So, no matter how many questions you have, I can't answer them one by one, Mr. Reporter." He stood in front of the hotel's elevator and pressed the button, waiting for the elevator, which was currently on the 18th floor, to come down. "See that? I have time before I get to the first floor. "He pointed to the display above the elevator and smiled.
The man and woman looked at each other, a little embarrassed. It was not easy to stop Tony Twain. How could they not try to ask more questions and get more information out of him?
"Ask the important ones." Tang En thought of a way for them. There were already people in the hall looking over. Tang En did not want to stand there and be watched like a monkey.
This time, the female reporter stood up and coughed. "What do you think of Grant throwing the silver medal at the award ceremony, Mr. Twain?"
"That's his freedom. I can't control it. The medal was given to him, and he can do whatever he wants. No one has the right to criticize him. "This time, Tang En stood on Grant's side.
"That …" Tang En's tone made the reporters feel very unfriendly. They could only choose their words carefully. "As for 'King's Gate' …"
That was the media's shorthand for Tang En's appearance as a king. Just like his initial "rape scandal," Tang En felt that these reporters had not improved in the past few years. Their naming standards were still so poor. He knew what the reporters wanted to ask, so he answered first, "I have nothing to say. It's my freedom to wear what I like to attend the celebration party. No one can control it. I also don't need to hold a press conference to explain myself because I wore something that very few people wear. Would you go around explaining things to people just because you wore a pair of Hello Kitty underwear today? " Tang En stared at the male reporter and asked. The man could not help but glance down at his lower body.
"Queen's lead singer, Mercury, did the same thing after the London concert. Why didn't there be any uproar? You guys are making a fuss out of nothing, and you're even asking me what's going on? How would I know what's going on? "Tang En got angry at the mention of it.
That's not how a public figure should be. You can't just wear clothes and people will talk behind your back … Go and stay where you are!
"Ah!" The female reporter saw that the number above had jumped to four and exclaimed. She hurriedly threw out another question. "Carl Spicer intends to do a survey on whether you are popular or not. He intends to compile the results into a book and publish it. He said if it is successfully published, he will send you a copy with his autograph. What do you think … "
Ding! The elevator door opened beside Tang En. The passengers inside were a little surprised to see two reporters holding recording pens and a small notebook in their hands. But when they saw clearly who the interviewee was, they all understood.
There was nothing for them to do here. Being with Tony Twain meant trouble. It was better to stay away from him. One by one, they quickly walked away from the side.
Tang En already had one leg in the elevator. He turned around and said to the two reporters with a straight face, "I feel very bored."
With that, he flashed into the elevator, and the door closed between him and the reporters.
Staying in the empty elevator, Tang En let out a small sigh of relief. But he still did not dare to completely relax. He knew that there were surveillance cameras in the elevator. Now that he was a national celebrity, he did not rule out the possibility that someone would secretly record him in the elevator to make money. A true celebrity did not have any space for himself. He was under the surveillance of the media in all aspects. Such a life was really tiring.
He leaned against the wall weakly, wanting to rest. But it only took him a second to react. He left the wall and stood in the elevator with his back straight. He did not want anyone to see his powerless side. He could not even take a second's breather.
Looking up at the camera on the ceiling of the elevator, surrounded by cold steel walls, Tang En felt like a cat locked in a sealed cage. The oxygen was getting lesser and lesser. Perhaps one day, before he died of old age, he would first suffocate to death.
That would be ridiculous. The king of Nottingham Forest was actually a cat that had suffocated to death? Tang En grinned at the camera.
※ ※ ※
The next day, Tang En flew to Switzerland with Motson and the other BBC-5 staff. His best partner in the Forest team, Dunn, had already been there for almost a week.
For the UEFA European Championship, Nottingham Forest had sent out all their scouts. Half of them were responsible for tracking the performance of the current Forest players in the national team, ensuring that they had a grasp of their conditions in order to prepare for the new season. The other half were to observe players who did not belong to the Forest team but had the potential to perform well. They were all within the scope of observation.
The people in charge of all this work were Dunn and Kerslake. Dunn led the group of scouts to observe the new players, while Kerslake led a team to follow the Forest players. The two had a clear division of labor. Finally, all the intelligence would be gathered and sorted out and handed over to Tony Twain. He would make the decision on who could be bought and who to continue observing.
After the UEFA European Championship, these scouts still could not rest. They had to go to China and continue to observe the Olympic games. They wanted to discover younger and more talented players with more potential. This time, their target was mainly countries outside of Europe.
When the time came, all the intelligence on the players would be stored in the international player database specially created by SI for the Forest team. It could be easily pulled out when needed. Tang En's ambition was great. From now on, he would slowly gather young talents from all over the world. That way, five, ten, fifteen, twenty years later, Nottingham Forest would have the capital to stand firm in this cruel world: an outstanding team that had a certain level of loyalty to the team. This way, Nottingham Forest's glory would definitely not be a shooting star in two seasons, nor would it be a comet that only shines brilliantly once every few decades. Instead, it would be a star like the sun — forever there, forever shining and heating up, lasting for five billion years.
For everyone in Nottingham Forest, busyness would be the only theme this summer. Everyone was busy.
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