Translator:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Before the start of the game, the constant singing voices which could usually be heard in the City Ground stadium were not present. There was absolute silence in the stands. The players from both teams stood on the edge of the center circle, lined up in a row, and lowered their heads to observe a moment of silence in tribute to the recently deceased Brian Clough.
Twain stood in front of the technical area and watched silently.
Pierce Brosnan had told him yesterday that Clough’s mental state had declined since he had resigned from the Forest team’s manager position. His feelings for the team were something that the average person could not even imagine. For eighteen years, his brilliance was closely tied to the name of Nottingham Forest, like Ferguson with Manchester United and Wenger with Arsenal. But the birth of the English Premier League completely shattered the beliefs that Clough insisted on. Even if the Forest team was not relegated in the first season, it still would not be able to escape the fate of falling to pieces. Why? Because the Forest team had no money; no matter how many championships they won, they still had no money. The way the team had operated at that time was completely different to the way it was operating now.
The thing that Clough was most proud of was crushed by the brutality of commercial football. He believed that there was only one boss on the team, and that it was him. No matter how famous of a star player arrived in the Forest team, he would still be subordinate to him. Clough was the king of the Forest team. He had the final say in everything, and the club’s board of directors and club chairmen had no right to dictate or criticize his conduct. He could have punched Roy Keane and knocked him to the ground due to poor performance in the locker room, or strung up a goalkeeper to beat him because he was angry, or locked a gay player, Justin Fashanu, in the locker room and berated him… And of course, to protect his players, he had punched fans who had rushed onto the field to celebrate a victory with the team, and even sent two fans to the hospital.
Such ways were almost extinct in football now. Commercial football increasingly emphasized the value of star players, and what was known as a
manager
in England was gradually transitioning to a
coach.
A growing number of Premier League clubs were starting to put the heads of marketing in charge of the club’s operations, while the managers were responsible for coaching the team and directing the games; even the buying and selling of players had changed from the managers
making the decisions
to
offering advice.
The club did not need a maverick manager. Clough was unique, because in today’s football, it was almost impossible for someone to emulate him. Even the
madman,
Mourinho, could not do it.
Clough, who felt like he could not keep up with the times, finally chose to retire, even though he was only fifty-eight years old, an age which was not considered old for a manager.
After retirement, Clough was soon suspected of receiving a kickback for Sheringham’s transfer, and was under investigation. After being tormented and worn-out from the investigations, his reputation was damaged. The final investigation results showed conclusive evidence that Clough had indeed received a kickback. However, the Football Association did not take any further action, and the matter was left unsettled. Perhaps they had considered that the old manager’s health was steadily deteriorating and chose to keep it quiet as a result.
Later, it came out that that soon after his liver transplant surgery, Clough was diagnosed with stomach cancer, but he refused to go to the hospital to undergo surgery until he was bedridden. His grandson was pleading with his grandfather by his bedside; only then did he promise to go to the hospital for treatment.
He firmly believed that no star player should outrank the manager; he insisted that he was the only one who could decide on anything in the club. However, all his beliefs were shattered by the current reality of football. The glories of the past that he had achieved were turned to dust, and the 58-year-old was forced to retire. He turned to alcohol to kill time and numb himself… It was too hard for him to live like that,
Brosnan said with a sigh while in the car back to Nottingham.
This made Tang En think of another person, who was also talented, egotistical, defiant, and highly controversial: the former United States Army Four-star General George S. Patton. Patton died not long after the end of the Second World War. He did not sink into oblivion during the days of peace, but rather retained his perfect image, and was worshipped by countless people in later generations. And what about the Chief?
One day, after all the glory that I have pursued and achieved has become the distant past, will I be like the Chief?
Tang En, who was lost in thought, suddenly shivered and felt a chill down his neck. He touched his neck and it was wet.
It was raining.
Damn, why was I so silly to think of such a philosophical question?
Tang En shook his head, collected his thoughts, and turned his gaze towards the field.
The moment of silence had just ended, and there was shouting again from the stands in the City Ground. But this time they did not shout the name of a popular player on the Forest team, but the name of the legendary king of the Forest team, Brian Clough. In the drizzle, it was unclear whether the water marks on the fans’ faces were from tears or rain.
There was a saying that Tang En had not said out loud, but for the past day, with everything that he saw, heard, and thought about, he had been saying it to himself in his mind countless times:
The Chief’s era in Nottingham Forest has completely come to an end.
※※※
Is Chelsea considered a strong team?
If Tang En were to answer that question, he might not hesitate to say yes. Because he knew how many championship trophies Chelsea, the best team in history, would win in the future.
Would the commander of Chelsea, Mourinho be considered a successful coach?
According to Tang En’s own standards, Mourinho was considered a successful coach because he had won six championships at Chelsea.
But those were
future
matters. The current situation was that Mourinho had just arrived in London with the aura of a European champion. He had led a mercenary squad to play for six rounds of the Premier League, and had four wins, two draws, and not a single defeat. No one knew what was going to happen in the future. Even Tang En was also not sure now if Mourinho’s team would win the league title this season, in light of his participation.
Before this game, Chelsea only had a two-point difference from the league’s top ranked team, Arsenal, which was playing against Manchester City in an away game while Chelsea was playing Nottingham Forest. In Mourinho’s eyes, getting three points from this game was in the bag.
Not many people in English football knew José Mourinho at that time, but Tang En knew him well because he had a few more years of memories.
He understood Mourinho was and his coaching style. Playing opposite this man made him feel more comfortable than facing the other managers in the English Premier League, because he was familiar with him.
If Mourinho knew that Tang En had had read his autobiography no less than three times, he would be surprised; after all, his autobiography, José Mourinho – Made in Portugal, had only been available in Portugal for one month, and there was no official English translated version yet. Of course, what Tang En had read was translated online in the future. Due to his fascination with that unique manager, he had read it so many times that he could recite certain parts.
Mourinho had never been a coach who pursued beautiful football and the art of football. His idol was the tactical master, Capello, and he insisted on the 1:0 doctrine.
Chelsea, who was fighting the Forest team now, was one such team.
Mourinho’s emphasis on the entire team with a particular importance on individual physical fitness, speed, and strength was the new concept he had instilled in Chelsea. He paid attention to efficiency, he pursued victory, and he did not care what method he used to overcome his opponents. From that point of view, Tang En was very similar to him.
For this game, Chelsea had deployed their strongest lineup, and they immediately started in offense mode for the match. Mourinho evidently did not care about the newly promoted Nottingham Forest.
Tang En believed that Mourinho would have watched the video of the game between his team and Arsenal before this game, and determined that the Forest team was a defensive team. After all, any newly promoted team would always be defensive when facing a strong team, with hopes to retain one meager point. Of course, the Forest team’s victory over Manchester City was their only win in the league this season; so Mourinho might have a look at it, but he would not take it to heart at all, because he also looked down on Manchester City and the incompetence of Kevin Keegan. That game was regarded as an isolated case, with no reference value.
Chelsea was indeed more powerful than Nottingham Forest.
The goalkeeper, Petr Čech, had already been the main goalkeeper for the Czech Republic national team at a very young age, and played brilliantly in Portugal this summer. The right back was Paulo Ferreira, the best right back in Europe last season, whom Mourinho brought from the UEFA Cup Final champion, Porto. The left-back was the England national footballer, Wayne Bridge. The center backs were captain John Terry and the Portugal national footballer, Ricardo Carvalho, who was also brought by Mourinho from Porto to London. In the midfield, Mourinho, who valued defense, would certainly not give up Claude Makelele, the French veteran was like a wall in the midfield. Partnering with Makelele was Chelsea’s iron man, Frank Lampard. Due to his injury, Arjen Robben did not even make the list, so the starting left midfielder was Joe Cole, whom Tang En was very familiar with. The right midfielder was the speedy Irishman, Damien Duff. On the front line, in charge of breaking through the stockade, were the two newcomers who had joined the team this season: Mateja Kežman, the Serbia and Montenegro striker who was impressive and unrivaled in the Dutch league and who had therefore come to seek new challenges in the English Premier League, and the Premier League player with the highest transfer bid this summer, the Ivory Coast striker, Didier Drogba, whom Abramovich had spent twenty-four million pounds on.
And the Forest team had made some changes to their original lineup.
Crouch replaced Viduka as the starting forward to partner with Freddy Eastwood. There was no change in the midfield, with Ribéry and Ashley Young on the left and right respectively. George Wood and Albertini were guarding the middle. On the defense line, the center back combination was tweaked a little, and the older Hierro with less physical endurance was replaced by Piqué.
