Gavin was dead, Michael was gone, and as for himself … his future was uncertain. Where was his final resting place? He raised his head and looked around, then at the distant blue sky. He had been here for half a year. Even though his body and instincts had accepted this fact, his heart still could not admit that he was British.
Tang En saw an epitaph engraved on Gavin's tombstone: "Some are dead and some are living."
There seemed to be something engraved at the bottom of the tombstone that was blocked by the flowers. He knelt down on one knee and pulled open the bouquet of flowers. He found a line of very small black words. If he did not pay attention, he would basically ignore it as a decorative pattern at the bottom of the tombstone. It read:
Here lies the most beloved son of Michael Bernard and Fiona Bernard, Nottingham Forest's most loyal fan, and George Wood's eternal supporter — Gavin Bernard.
Tang En was hit by the words. He used his hand to support the tombstone to prevent himself from falling. He stared at the small line of words. The smooth and bright marble tombstone seemed to reflect a father and son walking out of the stadium. They wore the Forest team's red scarves around their necks. The father loudly sang a song to cheer for the team. Then they clapped their hands together and shouted, "Forest! Forest! "The rough male voice mixed with the young child's voice and gradually faded away …
Evan Doughty was in his office discussing plans for the new season with the new manager, Stan Collymore, when he received a call from Tang En.
"Tony, I'm so glad you called me." He did not have the slightest intention of hiding anything in front of Collymore.
"Evan, I've decided to stay in the team. But I won't be an assistant manager for that Collymore. "Tang En's voice came from the phone. It was vague and unclear. Evan looked at Collymore sitting opposite him. He did not seem to have heard anything.
"I'll return to the youth team, but I hope you can promise me two things. One, my youth team has nothing to do with Collymore's First Team. He has no right to interfere with any of my work. Two, if one day you want to change managers, please remember to call me first. When you've considered and accepted, please give me a reply … "
"Wait … There's no problem with that, Tony! I can promise you now. "As if afraid that Tang En would change his mind, Evan hurriedly said.
"Thank you. I'll hang up now. Goodbye, Evan. "
"Goodbye, Tony."
Tang En placed his phone into his pocket, then took out the pieces of paper with the phone number and the club's name written on them. He tilted his head to look at them, then crumpled them all into a ball and threw them into the rubbish bin by the roadside.
Ian Bowyer had left the team to become the manager of Herford. But Twain still remembered clearly what he said:
"Only you can lead Forest, Tony."
Yes, only I can lead this team to victory. Collymore was just a passerby in the forest.
Stan Collymore, I'll watch from the youth team and see how long you can play.
The trouble of the charges that Tang En might face was also eliminated. Shania's family did not hire a lawyer to warn Twain, and Twain did not receive any court summons. The media later confirmed that the fat aunt had only said those words in a moment of anger. Lawyer Jack Landy advised Tang En to sue the media that had added fuel to the fire, created rumors, and exaggerated the story. Tang En seriously considered it for a long time and decided not to sue for the time being. Having experienced a huge change in his life, he urgently needed to prove himself at work and get everything back on the right track.
However, the tabloids had left a very deep impression on Tang En. He would remember their names, and in the future … find trouble with them one by one. Tang En was a very vengeful person.
Having determined the direction he was heading in, Tang En poured all his enthusiasm into his work. To him, it was basically equivalent to him returning to the starting point. After finally understanding the Forest First Team, he returned to the youth team. Now, he had to understand the youth team from the beginning again. Fortunately, Kerslake would help him integrate into the team as soon as possible, so Tang En did not have to worry too much about this.
Instead, he had to be clear about his goal in the youth team — what kind of results to achieve, to prove to Evan Doughty that he was the most suitable manager for Forest, and not anyone else.
The First Team had already resumed training. Most of the players were a little surprised to see their new manager. They probably did not understand why Tony Twain, who had performed so well in the second half of last season, would be replaced by the inexperienced Stan Collymore by the new chairman.
But this was football. Who could explain the story behind it?
Evan had inherited his old man Nigel Doughty's shares in the club. Although he was the chairman, he did not have absolute power in the club. Many matters in the club needed to be discussed and decided by the board of directors. This was something that Evan and his financial advisor, Allan Adams, hated. They wanted to transform Nottingham Forest into a modern enterprise, like the Edwards family's Manchester United. But the board of directors was wary of the two Americans, who always got in the way.
Evan had already invested 500,000 pounds into the club to pay off the debt to the bank. After the team officially began summer training, he announced that the transfer budget for this season was about 3 million pounds.
After Tang En heard the news, he could only sigh that the pervert had better luck than him. If he had given him that much money half a year ago, he could guarantee that Forest would be preparing for the English Premier League by now, and he would not have been dismissed because he did not lead the team to promotion.
This was really fate!
The Forest youth team players gathered two days later than the First Team. What made Tang En feel a little gratified was that when he appeared next to the youth team's training ground and was introduced by David Kerslake as the new manager of the youth team, the lads were all very happy. No one had any objections. Tang En was clear that his performance in the First Team had laid a solid foundation for him now and in the future. He had already demonstrated his ability. Now, he did not need to show his might in the youth team anymore. This bunch of lads would all submit to him. He only needed to think about how to lead the team to good results.
Tang En was actually not too clear about how he should manage the youth team. He might as well bring over what he had done in the First Team. As long as they achieved good results, David Kerslake would take care of the rest. He believed that nothing would go wrong. Originally, the youth team was supposed to nurture players for the First Team and provide reserve players. But Tang En did not want to put his life on the line for Collymore. He could not wait for the pervert to be dismissed because of his poor results. Want to get someone from his hands? No way!
After representing Forest's First Team for a short period of time in the final stages of last season, Wes Morgan returned to the youth team in the new season and continued to be his captain. With him here to cooperate with Tang En, he believed that everything would go smoothly.
As for George Wood, part of the reason why Tang En agreed to stay was that he did not want to see the kid's professional career come to a premature end. He knew very well that there was no one else other than himself who could control the kid. If he were to leave, it would be even harder to predict Wood's fate. He firmly believed that George Wood possessed outstanding talent. Coupled with the attitude that he had seen with his own eyes, as long as he met a good manager, there would be another such a character in the English football scene in a few years — a meat grinder in the midfield with a fierce defense.
Tang En freed Wood from individual training and allowed him to train with the team. He believed that with him on the sidelines, the kid would also know to hold back. Playing as a defensive midfielder, other than individual skills, the most important thing was teamwork and outstanding awareness. These were all things that could only be accumulated through training and matches with the team.
While Tang En was struggling again in the youth team, Collymore was not idle either. He frequently attended various press conferences, banquets, and banquets. To him, the days of living under the spotlight again were wonderful. The feeling was simply too wonderful for words.
He threw many of the team's matters to Des Walker to handle. On the first day of the First Team's training, he obediently stayed on the sidelines. The next day, he was nowhere to be seen. According to his explanation, he was looking for players from all over to come to Nottingham to supplement the team's strength with the goal of rushing to the Super League this season.
Maybe so …
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