702 Eight Months!

On the flight back to Britain from Belarus, Twain recalled what happened at the Dinamo Stadium scene by scene. He was momentarily joyful but then he remembered his lingering anxieties and his heart beat faster.

By the time he'd brought on Žigić, he knew media outlets would have been sharpening their knives in England, ready to cut the defeated Nottingham Forest apart. If he had lost the game, the pressure from the club's senior management would've been the least of his worries. The Public opinion alone would've been enough to hang him.

Even though he'd won the game, the debate would not stop there. The Belarusian media shouted unjust treatment and lashed out at Nottingham Forest for its lack of sportsmanship. They said that they thought Britain revered the spirit of fair play but that Tony Twain had no concept of it at all. He'd stolen three points from Borisov in the game with an unfair advantage.

Some of the British media also derided that it was a pity Twain had fallen to the point where he had to resort to the strategy of robbing with force to ensure that they advanced out of the group stage.

Even with the victory, the pressure that followed him like a storm cloud did not subside. He was still in the middle of the maelstrom and was still unlikable. In addition to thinking about how to deal with the enemies on the pitch, he had to rack his brains on how to cope with the media.

The immense pressure exhausted him. Despite the loud noise on the plane, he fell asleep the moment he shut his eyes.

※※※

Twain was having trouble sleeping and he was in a bad mood every morning when he got up. The moment he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, the troubles which he'd temporarily forgotten would surface thick and fast, causing him to suddenly lose all interest in life. Every day there were worries on top of more worries. His brows were always knitted in frustration.

He forgot where he'd heard the phrase, "The mood of the day is decided by your mood when you wake up," but it was all too appropriate. He was always in a bad mood when he woke up and it never improved as the day went on.

He went to the Forest bar more frequently where he downed one drink after another with a cigarette in his hand. Everyone in the bar knew that Twain had been under a lot of pressure lately and that the team's results were daunting. Even playing against the weakest opponent in the Champions League group stage was a narrow escape.

Carl Spicer continued to attack Twain in his column to get back at him for the book signing prank, and after his relationship with Shania came to light, numerous rumors swirled around him.

As a football manager, he was already under more pressure than the average person, so the issues he faced off the pitch added weight to an already massive load. He could not find any other way to relieve his mental stress than drinking and smoking.

John and the others were unable to help however much they wanted to. No one could help Twain share this kind of pressure.

Well, there was one person.

The fans in the bar were talking and laughing with drinks in hand, discussing the latest news. Football was not the only topic, the fans who gathered here knew each other well and could talk about anything.

Twain sat alone in the corner, drinking, and smoking.

John leaned over and propped his bent elbows on the bar. He looked at Twain in the corner.  Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

"It's really hard to see Tony like this," he said. "Unfortunately, we can't help him. Can't play football and help him win good results; can't help him deal with the media, can't help him raise money to buy players in January..."

"It's hard behind the glitz..." Skinny Bill sighed.

As one of the best in a new generation of managers, Tony Twain had a high-profile and many admirers and followers. What people saw was nothing more than Twain's arrogance and domineering appearance plus his bright and dazzling achievements. Who could see the Tony Twain of the present moment?

Burns wiped the glasses and spoke softly.

"Bone weary from the day, he returns home to a dark and cold house. Even the smallest amount of pressure will slowly accumulate to become something bigger."

John looked back at him. Burns held up a glass and looked at it under the lights to see if there were any stains.

"A forty-year-old man, still single and doing such a high-stress job. How many football coaches have you heard who are single?" Burns asked John.

With a bang, Twain stood up and knocked over the glass placed on the table. He waved goodbye to Burns, John, and Bill as he walked out of the bar alone.

"Who can spend all his life in a bar?" Burns said as he watched Twain go.

※※※

Every day after work, Twain went to Burns' Forest Bar to get drunk and then stumbled home to sleep in a drunken haze. The next day, he would get up and frown as he thought for a while only to realize the new day held nothing that could make him feel better. The international financial situation was deteriorating every day and the club's finances could only shrink further. He was worried that the next day Evan would find him to say that the club could no longer afford to pay the big star players their high salaries. The players' exhausted stamina could not be fully recovered with a few days of sleep. There were always names on the injury list. One name would come off of it only to be replaced by a different one. This was Twain's life nearing the end of the year.

Although he could not think of any good news that would make him happy when he got up every morning, he still had to drum up his spirit and forcibly put on a pleasant face to go work in Wilford.

He had to supervise the training, develop a week's work plan, communicate with the physiotherapists and team doctors to know the recovery status of the injured players, communicate with the fitness coaches to keep up-to-date with the team's latest fitness, observe the players' condition during training, and occasionally pay some attention to the youth team and reserve players.

He also listened to the latest reports from the football scouts from around the world and searched for talent within the database of players specially crafted by Sports Interactive for the Forest team, hoping unearth one or two unknown wonder kids and young bosses. He continued to deal with the media's various tricky questions at the regular press conferences, studied the next opponent's latest intelligence, and worked with Dunn to develop a detailed campaign.

Since the pressure was too enormous to be solved, he simply worked harder and kept busy to make himself temporarily forget about it.

This was the "stress reduction" approach that Twain used to face the pressure.

It could be said that this method was effective at work. He was frantically busy and had no time to consider the amount of stress he was under. It was only at the end of the day when work had ended that the feeling would surge up like a tide coming ashore, increasingly stronger than before.

When he returned home after the bar and saw the dark painted colossus of a house from the outside, he had the urge to turn around and leave. It was cold outside. It was just as cold at home.

Standing in the dark doorway, he broke out in a cold sweat as a gust of icy wind blew at him.

※※※

On November 29th, in the fifteenth round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest defeated West Bromwich Albion at home by 3:1. In the other games played at the same time, Chelsea and Arsenal tied at 2:2 while Liverpool easily beat West Ham United by 2:0. Manchester United and Manchester City shook hands on a 1:1 draw at the Manchester Derby. Liverpool overtook Chelsea to take the top spot in the league table with thirty-eight points, followed by Chelsea with thirty-six points, and Nottingham Forest in third place with thirty points. Manchester United was in fourth place with twenty-eight points and Arsenal was in fifth place with twenty-seven points.

Nottingham Forest had finally pulled ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea's winning streak was held back by Arsenal. At thirty-six points, they only had a six point difference with the Forest team, once again giving Nottingham a glimmer of hope to catch up and overtake.

In the game against West Bromwich Albion, the Forest team also put in a spirited performance rarely seen in recent games and easily won against the opponent at 3:1.

It was reasonable to say that these were all good things, but neither Tony Twain nor the media thought that was the case. Van Nistelrooy was replaced by Žigić after he was injured and fell to the ground in the 70th minute of the game against West Bromwich Albion. According to a preliminary diagnosis after the game, he needed to take a break for two months.

The figure made Twain's already knitted brows crease even more.

Van Nistelrooy knew what troubled the boss. In an interview, he even smiled and said that he was fine in an attempt to lessen the pressure on Twain.

"It's only for eight weeks. I'll just have a good rest for two months and I'll be back!" he said.

When he flew to the United States for further examination, a staggering piece of bad news came out. The previous estimation of two months of recuperation did not account for surgery.

The team doctors did not think that there was any need for surgery, insisting that he just needed to recuperate. Of course, that was from the club's point of view. After all, the team doctors knew the Forest team was currently short of players. Beckham and Eastwood had been injured and Pepe's injury had been further aggravated in the game against Borisov. He had to sit in the stands completely, and Sun Jihai was also injured for a month.

Under the circumstances, they did not consider the surgical treatment option at all.

The doctor in the United States had no such concerns. Richard Steadman, the famous doctor who'd diagnosed van Nistelrooy, bluntly pointed out that the Dutchman should have surgery right away.

Eight months!!

The Sun printed the big and somewhat shocking headline.

Eight months was the estimated time for van Nistelrooy to recover from the surgery. Eight to nine months.

When the news came from America to Nottingham, Twain could hardly believe his ears. He thought the other side had mistaken "eight months" for "eight weeks."

※※※

"At least eight to nine months and that's only the time it will take for recovery from the surgery. It'll be a year before he's able to play again."

Tony Twain's most loyal opponent, Carl Spicer, he broke the news in an interview and pushed Twain further into the heart of the struggle.

"The players normally have at least a month to undergo muscle training to regain their forms during the initial stages of recovery from a serious injury. Any intense exercise during the one month can cause the newly healed injury to flare up again. Van Nistelrooy's injured knee injury probably flared up from a collision. The most classic example is Ronaldo. Can any of you count the number of times his knee has been injured?"

Carl Spicer basked in the attention.

"No, no. I won't say the kind of foolish things like van Nistelrooy will say goodbye to the season. I'm just saying that he will have a ninety-five percent chance of completely retiring! Is this exaggeration? No, I'm not doing that. Well, I'll pray for the Dutchman's successful surgery and perfect recovery from the injury. Then he will be able to start a simple muscle strength training, and then gradually strengthen to participate in training with the whole team. And he can slowly begin to compete again. There will be no twists and turns during that period."

On the television football program, he wrote and drew on the board. He spoke frankly with assurance about van Nistelrooy's serious injury.

"Remember, there will be no problem during this time. He will recover well, and he hasn't had a relapse in his right knee. Then he will be thirty-four years old." Spicer spread his hands and turned to the host. "Do you know what thirty-four years of age means for a striker? In a fast-paced and fierce competition like the Premier League, what can a thirty-four-year-old striker, who has just suffered a serious knee injury, do? Will Nottingham Forest renew van Nistelrooy's contract? I don't believe Evan Doughty will be a philanthropist under such a terrible financial climate. That's why I said he had a ninety-five percent chance of retiring! Well, I made myself clear about the unfortunate Dutchman. Now let us see who's the cause of all this and who was responsible for van Nistelrooy's tragic fate!"

He saw the host's mouth open and hurriedly stopped him with a gesture, so that he could continue. "That's right, I'm referring to Tony Twain!"

"From the beginning of the new season, van Nistelrooy has been injured and not in good shape. He plays in a few games and takes a break during the first half of the league tournament. At the start of the season, van Nistelrooy had already announced his retirement from the Netherlands' national team and focused on playing for the Forest team. Twain was overjoyed by this. After he drove Bendtner away, van Nistelrooy was the only center forward he could rely on. The Serbian simply couldn't adapt to the Premier League football. The team's performance was not good and the entire team's condition was up and down. Coupled with the impact of the financial crisis, Tony Twain knew he had to obtain good results. Under immense pressure, he can only continue to rely on van Nistelrooy..."

Carl Spicer leaned calmly against the back of the chair with a mysterious smile on his face.

"I have inside information that just before the game against West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest's team doctor warned Twain that it was best not to let van Nistelrooy play or he would risk an injury. But Twain still brought the Dutchman on and did not heed the team doctor's warning for the sake of his manager position. And what did everyone see in the end? A manager who only cares for his position regardless of his players' health. Some people may say that he rules with an iron fist, but I scoff at this!"

※※※

While Carl Spicer's talk show was on the television, Twain was drinking his troubles away in Burns' bar. Van Nistelrooy's serious injury was indeed a heavy blow to Twain. Žigić was still slowly adjusting to the Premier League, Eastwood was constantly suffering from minor injuries and Arshavin was more of a winger than a scoring center forward. The only one who could be trusted was the dedicated van Nistelrooy. As a result, he'd become injured and it was going to take eight months to heal. He had no idea how to score for the rest of the season.

To drown his troubles, Twain went to the bar to drink. He was surrounded by John and Bill, who were both trying to comfort him. It was then that he saw Carl Spicer looking smug on television while jabbering about the scoop.

Twain's body swayed as he stood up, holding a thick beer glass in his hand. He was about to smash the television. Fortunately, John and Bill acted quickly. One of them held him and the other man reached to take the glass but the beer spilled and drenched Twain.

"That bastard!" Twain punched and swore.

"Why do you care what that idiot does, Tony? Drink up, let's drink!" John signaled to Burns to continue serving, but Twain did not keep drinking.

He sat in the chair in a daze and looked back on what had happened before the game. Carl Spicer was right about one thing, Fleming had warned him that van Nistelrooy's body was close to collapse and could not be used like this again. Twain had decided to rotate and rest van Nistelrooy to give Žigić, who had not adapted to the Premier League yet, a chance to start in the game. Anyway, West Bromwich Albion was just a newly promoted team. Even if Beckham, Eastwood, Pepe and van der Vaart were injured, they could always cope.

But van Nistelrooy had looked for him and insisted on playing. He was aware of the team's current predicament and knew that the boss had no one available. Twain thought about it for a long time before he nodded and agreed. He just did not think that what he feared would come into fruition. Van Nistelrooy had gotten hurt in the game and was seriously injured for eight months!

It was really unfortunate. He was out of luck.

※※※

The next day, a lot of reporters were at the gates of Wilford. They wanted to confirm that what Carl Spicer had said on television last night was true.

Twain's hoarse voice sounded soft in front of these reporters. The troubles, which came one after another these days, gave him a sense of powerlessness and he could not act tough even if he wanted to.

"Don't make wild guesses..." He said and waved his hands. "I decided to let Ruud play, and I'm not going to shirk my responsibility for it. I feel sorry and shocked that the team has lost such an important striker, but my team will persevere. We are ranked third and in good condition. An injury is a normal occurrence. I don't see what you call a crisis. That's it, goodbye everyone."

With that, he turned and walked inside.

A group of reporters rushed forward and shouted to him.

"Mr. Tony Twain! I have one more question!"

"Mr. Twain, I heard you forced van Nistelrooy to play injured with the use of local injections?"

Twain turned and glared at those reporters. "I am in a bad mood, don't bother me! If you're curious, go ask Carl Spicer. Didn't he claim to have inside information? Let him give you all the inside information he knows!"

Only after he'd marched away from the reporters did Twain stop to look up at the gloomy sky.

At least eight months…

When van Nistelrooy returned from the recovery of his injury, who knew what the situation would be like by then…

Will the global economic crisis be over? Will we have any money? Can I wave my checkbook to buy people all over the world? What will happen to the team? Can we win the UEFA Champions League title for the third time in a row? Can we still defend the Premier League title? What kind of breakthrough can we make in the FA Cup?

What's going to happen to Nottingham Forest and me after a year?