Although Joe Mattock was his substitute in the Nottingham Forest team, the little monkey was very envious of him. Because this substitute left back could be in close contact with the boss, listen to his teachings in the locker room, joke with him, and play under him.
For Gareth Bale, these were treatments he might never enjoy in the future.
In the Nottingham Forest team that Twain single-handedly built, there were many players who had a good relationship with Twain. But there were not many who had a good relationship beyond the boundaries of a normal manager and player. Gareth Bale was one of them. For him, the reason he could play professional football, win so many championship honors, and become a world-famous left back today, was all related to Tony Twain.
If the boss had not run to Southampton on a whim, he would not have met his father, and there would not have been a series of subsequent stories. For Bale, the boss was indebted to him. In China, there was a saying, "A scholar dies for his bosom friend." Although there was no such idiom in England, they understood this principle.
For a professional player, meeting a manager who understood and liked him was simply the greatest happiness of his career.
He was happy for 11 years.
When the Forest national footballers returned to the team, Bale was delighted to hear that Wood and the boss had made up. So, he pestered Wood all day long, asking him to talk about the England national team. In fact, it was mainly about the boss. When Wood did not tell him, he went to the others.
Bentley was annoyed by his pestering, so he used "national interest" as a shield.
"The next game is us against you, little monkey. Are you trying to find out our tactical secrets? "
"Who cares?" Bale said proudly, "What other secrets does England have from us Welsh people? I just want to know how the boss dealt with those reporters. "
"I didn't go to the press conference, how would I know? You go ask Gerrard! "
"You should have heard some rumors or something, right?"
"Oh, you're so annoying, little monkey! When I asked you to choose England, you refused and insisted on going to Wales. You can't even play in the UEFA European Championship … "
"None of your business!" Bale glared at Bentley fiercely, turned his head and walked away.
Bentley scratched the back of his head and looked at Bale's back as he walked away. He muttered to himself in confusion, "Did I say something wrong?"
Tony Twain had left, but the England national footballers still had a chance to reunite with him in the national team. As for himself?
Bale had never regretted his choice to represent Wales, but he very much hoped that Twain could coach Wales …
He really wanted to be like Pepe when he bumped into the boss on the field and give him a hug. But the game in a week's time was definitely out of the question. It was a match between nations, and he was representing Wales, not himself.
Therefore, although he liked the boss, he would do his best to help his team defeat England in this game.
He also wanted to participate in the World Championship …
※ ※ ※
England's away game against Wales was the third round of the UEFA European Championship qualifiers. It was also England's second game in the qualifiers.
Wales had never been a strong team. Even when Giggs was at his peak, they were unable to compete with the European powerhouses. So the Englishman did not take this neighbor seriously. They were all talking about the next game, the away game against Serbia on October 20th. That would be a tough battle.
Unlike the game against Macedonia, Twain did not avoid talking about this opponent. On the contrary, he mentioned a few Welsh players during the interview. Among them, he highlighted Wales' main left back, Gareth Bale.
"… I've coached Bale before, and it's a very good memory. I understand his characteristics, and I also understand Wales' characteristics. After all, a lot of them play in the Premier League, and I can observe them up close. This is different from Macedonia. Bale is a good player, and there's no doubt about that when he played under me. He did a great job in Wales, and the entire Wales offense and defense on the left side were handled by him alone. We'll find a way to keep an eye on him … "
Following that, Twain recalled a lot of the details of his time with Bale in the Forest team.
It looked like a very heartwarming scene, right?
But Bale's mind was very clear. He knew that the boss was playing psychological warfare again. What was he trying to do by bringing up the past? Wasn't he just hoping to mess up my mood?
Bale did not fall for this.
Before he reported to the Wales national team, he was interviewed by the reporters at the entrance of Wilford. The media wanted to hear how he would respond to his mentor's words.
"Although Flores is my current manager, the 11 years I've spent with Twain have been very enjoyable. But this will not be an obstacle for next week's game. I'll definitely do my best to win, because he taught us before — no matter what the situation is, we have to do our best to win. I'll use my actions to prove that I haven't forgotten this point. "
Bale spoke very seriously, and there was no joking expression on his face.
Bentley saw him being interviewed at the side and muttered, "Something's been wrong since that day … Did I agitate him?" Bale had not spoken to him since that incident.
"You idiot!" Mattock patted his head beside him. "Gareth's heart aches for not participating in the World Cup all this time, and you have to dig at his scar."
"I'm annoyed by his pestering …" Now that Bentley thought about it, he also felt that his words were a little harsh back then.
"I understand that you miss the boss, but …" Gago suddenly appeared behind them, giving the two a shock.
"But what?" Bentley continued to ask.
Gago frowned. "The little monkey is talking about how great the boss is in front of the media, and he won't forget the boss's teachings. What do you think Mr Flores will hear about this? "
The other two looked at each other, feeling that Bale's words were really inappropriate.
They looked over there, and Bale was still talking about his expectations for the game in front of the reporters.
※ ※ ※
In the last round of the league tournament before the international break, Gareth Bale sat on the substitutes' bench, and Joe Mattock replaced him in the starting lineup.
To this, Flores' explanation was "the team's normal rotation". But it was going to be a two-week break in the league tournament, what was he going to rotate at this time? Rotate for the national team? Since when did the manager of the club become so considerate of the work of the national team's manager? The media were not fools. It would be fine if Forest won the game, but if they lost, the reporters had prepared a truckload of questions to bombard Flores, a foreigner who had yet to learn to speak English.
Perhaps only Flores himself, and the Nottingham Forest players, understood why the main left back, who had been playing consistently, was suddenly on the substitutes' bench.
Sometimes, a little tough tactics were needed to eliminate Tony Twain's influence.
Bale sat on the substitutes' bench in silence, and the television cameras swept over him a few times. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.
Perhaps after this game, the news of him having a conflict with the manager would spread like wildfire. Who asked him to openly express his love and nostalgia for the previous manager in an interview? Wasn't it obvious that he was not giving face to the current manager?
When Bale was spacing out on the substitutes' bench, his team was being led by Arsenal by 2: 0 at the Emirates Stadium.
After all, Joe Mattock was not as good as Bale in terms of individual ability, and Arsenal made him their main target. Out of the two goals, one came directly from this side, and the other came indirectly.
Tony Twain and Des Walker were watching the game from the VIP box at the Emirates Stadium. They wanted to observe the performance of the two China players. Also, he wanted to see Bale's performance, and see if he was affected by his previous comments. Unexpectedly, Flores did not give him face, and Bale did not even go up.
"What an idiot." Twain complained unhappily, "He still did this in a game like this against Arsenal, he's practically digging his own grave."
"Didn't you say that you don't care what happens to Nottingham Forest a long time ago?" Walker teased.
"I'm worried that Flores's actions will cause my national players to lose all their form. He can make a move on Bale today, but who knows if he will make a move on Wood, Bentley, Mitchell and the others in the future? "
Walker also felt that Twain was right, and he did not say a word.
George Wood relied on a long shot to score a goal near the end of the game, but it was only a goal to save face for Forest. This game, Arsenal easily won against Nottingham Forest at home with 3: 1, and this was also the second consecutive loss under Flores' management.
"Bentley's performance was not good either … It's a far cry from Walcott's …" After the game, Twain stood up and said to Walker next to him, "If nothing goes wrong, Bentley will not be starting in the game against Wales."
"Mattock is still lacking in terms of ability, his name should not be in the squad list this time."
He commented on the performances of the players on the watch list one by one.
"Wilshere is great, maybe I should consider giving him a chance?"
"There are only four players in the midfield, how are you going to arrange them?" Walker asked.
"Gerrard will be the substitute," Twain replied nonchalantly.
"Aren't you afraid that the Liverpool media will tear you apart?" Walker laughed.
"I'm only responsible for the team, the media? Who cares what they think? "Twain turned around and walked out. "Moreover, Gerrard's performance in this round of the league tournament was very average, I think it's reasonable to give Wilshere, who performed better, the starter. Moreover, Wood's performance in this game was also very outstanding, if we were to grade him after the game, he should be the highest scorer in the entire Nottingham Forest. "
"George is our core now, his position and effect is like Gerrard to England a few years ago." Twain said to Walker, "A midfielder who can attack and defend, has a stable form, and is rarely injured. If I don't use him as the core, then there must be something wrong with my brain. "
He walked out, and Walker followed closely behind.
At the bottom of the stands, Flores was shaking hands with Wenger, the smile on his face was very forced. The reporters surrounded him and took pictures non-stop, there were even some who did not wait for the press conference and threw out a question, "Mr. Flores, can you explain why Gareth Bale wasn't sent up? He didn't have any injuries before this, and his form is very stable … "
Flores pretended not to hear it and walked straight to the tunnel.
※ ※ ※
The next day, news of Gareth Bale and Flores not getting along appeared on the newspapers and the internet. The accompanying picture was a picture of Flores anxiously directing the game on the sidelines, and Bale sitting behind him on the substitutes' bench in a daze.
However, the reporters did not get any further information, they could not interview Bale. That was because Bale had left Wilford and returned to Cardiff. He had been living in Nottingham, but in reality, Cardiff was his home.
As the current top star of the Wales national team, he had become the most eye-catching player in Wales ever since Eastwood retired prematurely due to injury. He was blocked by the reporters at the entrance of his home, hoping that he would respond to the recent rumors in the media.
Only a fool would say that he had a conflict with the manager, unless he had made up his mind to leave.
Bale denied that he had any conflict with Flores. As for why he did not get even a minute of playing time in the match against Arsenal, he had this to say, "… There's nothing wrong with my form and body. I'll prove it in the national team's match. But Flores said he wanted to rotate, so I accepted his suggestion. That's it. I don't think things are as complicated as you think. "
None of the reporters believed his words. They were waiting to collect new evidence, they must expose the discord in the Nottingham Forest locker room!
The Wales manager, John Toshack stood up to support his main player, "I don't know why he was the only one who was rotated, but I'm very happy that Bale got a precious chance to rest. This is good news for us when we face England. I think Bale is the best left back in the world, this time we're going to Spain for the UEFA European Championship. England? They know us very well, and we know them very well. I already have a strategy to contain their 'German duo' in the midfield … "
Toshack was full of confidence, and Gareth Bale was also full of fighting spirit, he had to prove in front of his mentor that he still remembered his teachings.
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