Godfather Of Champions

Twain stood outside the gates of the Wilford training base. Ian MacDonald noticed that he had stood outside for several minutes, but had not come in.

"Tony?"

Twain turned to look at the old guard. "Evan\'s not here yet?"

MacDonald shrugged and shook his head. "It is only eight o\'clock, he won\'t be here this early. He\'s been coming in at nine o\'clock for the past week or so."

Twain nodded and walked towards the guard\'s room. "Do you mind if I sit here a while?"

MacDonald opened the door. "No, I don\'t mind at all. Sometimes it\'s pretty boring to sit here alone. It will be nice to have someone to accompany me and chat with."

Twain stood at the door and looked at the small guard room with a chair, a table, several spread-open newspapers, an antique-looking radio, a water glass, and a kettle. The room could not sit two people at all; there weren\'t even enough chairs.

He simply leaned against the door frame.

MacDonald looked at Twain. "Tony, you know about... the matter?"

"Which matter?" Twain was a little distracted. He leaned against the door frame, but his gaze was on the small white building inside the gate.

MacDonald glanced back at the newspaper that was on the table. It was no wonder Twain had responded this way.

Ex-Forest manager was suspected of kidnapping an underage girl!

Manager Tony Twain was going to face charges!

Collymore talks about the new season: I\'m back to lead the Forest team out of this quagmire!

Polls: 46% of the Forest team fans support Collymore coaching the team, 42% are against and 2% do not care.

Both of those major events were headaches for Twain.

Just as MacDonald was hesitating whether to repeat his question, Twain spoke first instead. "Ian, do you like Collymore?"

MacDonald did not expect this question, and did not know how to answer. Twain could clearly see that he was in a predicament. So, he gave him a smile and said, "It\'s okay, Ian, tell me what you really think."

"Umm… How I should say it? I think most of Forest\'s fans will love that guy, even though his behavior outside of the field was embarrassing… It\'s complicated." MacDonald had finally given his opinion of Collymore. "We have complicated feelings about that guy."

"Love and hate?" Twain asked.

MacDonald nodded. "Yes, we miss the glory days when he played for the Forest team, but at the same time we don\'t like the scandals he made outside the field."

"Well, in that case, do you think he can lead the Forest team back to the Premier League?"

MacDonald pondered Twain\'s question for a long time. Looking at the old guard\'s awkwardness, Twain knew he did not need an answer.

He picked up the newspaper on the table and looked at the three poll figures. As if talking to himself, he said, "Well, I\'m happy that at least 42% of people support me. Bye, Ian."

Twain went through the gate and walked to his office—If it still belonged to him.

When he heard Twain\'s tone, MacDonald suddenly felt a trace of unease. "Tony! You will stay on for the Forest team, won\'t you?"

Twain looked back at the white-haired old guard and smiled. "Maybe. No one can predict the future, Ian. You know me… the man who never makes plans for the future. So…"

MacDonald nodded. "I understand. Good luck, Tony."

"Thank you. And good luck to you too, Ian."

After leaving MacDonald, Twain turned and continued ahead. Just then, he heard the roar of the engine coming from behind, and the clatter of iron gate opening. Without turning his head, he knew who was coming.

A familiar dark red Audi A6 parked beside him. Evan Doughty got out of the car and walked around it towards Twain. "Good morning, Tony."

"Good morning, Mr. Chairman," Twain replied.

"Oh, come off it! We don\'t have to be so formal!" Evan used the tone of two old friends reuniting, and patted Twain\'s shoulder. "I know you have something you want to say to me, and it just happens that I\'m looking for you too. Let\'s walk and talk." He tapped the car window to tell the driver to take the car to the parking lot first.

He and Twain then walked to the training ground.

"It was really hard to find you. Was Spain fun? I heard there are a lot of amazing nude beaches!"

"The trip was okay."

The two men did not head to the office for a serious sit-down discussion. Instead, they stood at the sidelines of the training ground and watched the turf maintenance workers preparing for the first training two days later, while appearing to have a casual chat.

"Tony, I know what you\'re here to talk to me about."

"Evan, do you really know Stan Collymore?" Twain asked. He wanted to know why his successor was not Terry Venables, Stuart Pearce, or anyone but Stan Collymore.

Other than his beautiful goals, he was infamous for his continuous string of scandals. This was a man who was called "a complete dog" by the British media.

When he was still a footballer, Collymore had started off in Crystal Palace and, because he was unable to adapt to professional football, had gone to the Southern League\'s semi-professional team, Southend United.

It was there that he had quickly become the top striker, and attracted the attention of the then Premier League team, Nottingham Forest.

It was in this Premier League football club that Collymore had become a real star player. Because of his outstanding performance, he transferred to The Reds in Liverpool for a high price of 8.5 million pounds, and then became a stunning superstar player at Anfield Stadium\'s Kop.

He and Fowler, his attacking partner, swept across England, where they were naturally chosen for the English national team.

However, the brilliant striker was ruined by his unbridled lifestyle.

Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman were Liverpool\'s famous playboys. Whenever they got together, no elaborate introduction was required; one could imagine that the key words to describe them were "raunchy, beautiful women, and sex."

In 2001, Collymore transferred to Real Oviedo, which was still in La Liga. However, three months before the end of the contract, he suddenly announcement his retirement, which was a huge blow to the team. After that, the team was relegated to La Liga 2, and dropped down three levels within two years, reduced to the fourth division of the Spanish league.

And Collymore continued his controversial and raunchy lifestyle outside the field.

After retiring, Collymore quickly found a job as a guest football commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live, but did not settle down.

After his ex-girlfriend, Ulrika Jonsson, who was the English national team\'s manager Eriksson\'s rumored girlfriend at that time, published an autobiography describing him as "a beast" and "a monster." Collymore, severely damaged by it, threatened to release a compromising videotape of Ulrika for sale!

Collymore\'s lawyers used a lot of vivid phrases to describe the kind of impact that this videotape would have. Furthermore, he said that his employer wanted to release the tape to the world, and he had the digital copyright, film adaptation rights, and so on. As long as someone had the money, everything was up for discussion. There was absolutely no concern about copyright or likeness infringements.

It scared Ulrika to tears.

What happened next was even more outrageous.

Collymore was exposed by two reporters at The Sun for his participation at sex-in-the-car parties; simply put, he hooked up with gorgeous women in England\'s famous woodland parking lot in Staffordshire, and then had sexual relations with them in or outside of the car. The woodland parking lot was known to everyone in British celebrity circles, because the car park was among the best car parks in England, and it was also a hunting ground for some celebrities. Cory was obsessed with this lifestyle, even though four miles away from the parking lot, his childhood sweetheart and wife, Estelle Williams, was waiting for him to come home every night.

Later, he even declared that this was the future lifestyle of England. This angered the British public and for a time, and he became the subject of everyone\'s contempt.

Under an enormous amount of pressure, Collymore was forced to resign from BBC 5 station, publicly apologized in the media, cried for public forgiveness, and pledged to be a new person.

And then...

"And then you gave him a chance to be a new man again, Evan." Twain said with a hint of irony.

"I know about everything you just said, Tony. You and my dad both thought I knew nothing about football in this country but I\'m actually quite aware. Allan Adams recommended Collymore to me and I have seriously reviewed his resume. I don\'t think we can negate a person\'s future because of his past. There are many examples of retired players becoming good managers: Kevin Keegan, Stuart Pearce… not to mention, and the legendary figure of this team that you all admired the most, Brian Clough, was also a player who directly became a manager."

Twain quietly looked at Evan Doughty and did not express any opinions on his unconvincing examples and excuses.

"And...Tony, you may not know this yourself, but personally I\'ve always treated you as a friend. You have a straightforward personality, and I like that very much." Evan Doughty looked at Twain.

"What am I supposed to say? That I\'m overwhelmed and flattered by your favor?" Twain shrugged his shoulders. He did not appreciate the sentiment, "Since you think of me as a friend, then you would rather trust a person who is dodgy in his personal affairs than trust in a friend?"