812 Well Done

Everyone at the stadium was cheering as the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

Twain stealthily left the stands as soon as the whistle went off.

UEFA might have barred him access to the locker room and the pitch prior to the start of the match, but they did not ban him from getting into contact with his players after it had ended.

He was finally able to bask in the joy of their victory over Barcelona after having been banished to the stands for over 90 minutes.

If possible, Twain hoped that he would be able to shake hands with Guardiola. He wanted to enjoy the treatment that a victor deserved.

Mitchell, who had been sitting on the bench after being taken off the pitch, tossed the towel that was draped around his neck onto the floor. He then bolted onto the pitch to give his teammates a hug.

As he made his way around the field to hug his teammates, he realized that a crowd of reporters was constantly on his tail, and that they would surround him no matter where he went.

"Heh. Aaron, you are famous now." Akinfeev patted Mitchell on the head before leaving him behind.

Mitchell was left to deal with a horde of reporters coming for him alone. He did not know what he should do.

"Mitchell, can you answer a few questions for me?"

"Can you share what was on your mind when you scored that last goal?"

"Is it a challenge for you to play as a forward now, when you had been playing as a center back previously?"

"This is the very first time that you are representing Forest in the Champions League, and you were able to score two goals in this match. Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"Ah… Uh…" Mitchell was at a loss for words. It took him a while to gather his thoughts and answer the reporters' questions, one by one.

As a newcomer who just made his debut as a professional footballer for Forest, Mitchell was still inexperienced when it came to dealing with reporters. He did not know how to rebuff some of them and so answered all the questions that were thrown at him.

If this went on, I'll be stuck here answering questions all day long, he thought.

Right at that moment, a voice rang out from the side of the crowd, "How long do you plan on asking him questions? My player can't even return to the locker room to bathe and change his clothes. If he catches a cold because of this, don't even think about interviewing any of my players again in the future."

Mitchell and the reporters turned their heads toward the source of the voice. They saw Tony Twain standing to the side with a dark face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time for interviews is over."

The moment the reporters saw the fiendish Twain appear before them, they knew that their time had come to an end. They would not be able to get any more 'ground-breaking' scoops from Mitchell now that Twain was here.

The crowd of reporters dispersed at once.

Soon, only Twain and Mitchell were left on the scene.

At the sight of Twain's dark face, Mitchell instantly remembered the warning that the Boss had given him at the start of the match:

"If you dare flaunt your technique during the game, I'll take you off the pitch right then and there, even if it's only the start of the match."

He might not have shown off his techniques at the start of the match, but he still had flaunted them towards the end. He knew that he had gone against the boss's wishes.

He did not know what kind of reproach would be thrown him. The happiness that he had felt from scoring two goals had suddenly flown off to somewhere far away.

"B-Boss…"

"You forgot everything that I told you, right?" Instead of praising Mitchell for scoring a brilliant goal in the match, Twain seemed to be intent on scolding him instead.

"I… I did it instinctively…"

Twain watched as Mitchell said nothing for a while. He then patted Mitchell on the shoulder before walking away.

Dunn noticed Twain's figure on the pitch from the corner of his eye as he was giving an interview to the reporters. He saw him discuss something with Mitchell.

Dunn immediately recalled the words that Twain had said to Mitchell prior to the start of the match. He was worried that Twain would go over and reprimand Mitchell for his actions. He thus shoved the reporters out of the way and approached the duo with the intention of speaking up for Mitchell. He was going to pin all the blame on himself, saying something like, 'I was the one who asked him to do that'.

Before he could reach them, however, Twain turned around and was already walking toward him.

"Tony."

"Hey, Dunn. Congratulations. You did very well in the match." Twain's previously dark face brightened up. He smiled exuberantly at Dunn and looked like a completely different person than the one who had stood before Mitchell earlier.

"Ah… Thanks. Well, Tony… I saw you and Mitchell…" Dunn's focus was still on Mitchell. He had found him to be a very gifted player, and he was worried that Twain would destroy his confidence by chewing him out.

"That lad… Did well. He has what it takes to become a football star in the future." Twain turned around to look at Mitchell, who continued to stand rooted at the spot where they had just had their conversation.

"Huh?" Dunn was surprised to hear Twain say the words that he did.

"What's with that response?"

"I thought that you would admonish him for going against your wishes…"

Twain laughed. "A player who is able to break free of the restrictions imposed on him at the start of the match, and performs to the best of his abilities in a way that no one else can, is a player who will turn out to be a superstar in the future. If not for that 'eureka moment' of his towards the end of the match, I think I would still be sitting in the stands now, and the match would have gone into extra time. So, why should I scold him?"

"But, earlier, I saw that you had a frightening look…"

"I just don't want him to get ahead of himself." Twain smiled slyly. "You can be the one to heap compliments on him. I'll be in charge of playing the devil."

"Oh, you…!" Dunn did not know what to say to Twain.

Twain left with a grin on his face. He still needed to find Guardiola for a handshake, after all.

Dunn clearly saw through Twain's scheme, and told him, "Don't bother. He left the moment the match ended. I was the one who shook his hand."

"Huh?" Dunn's words burst Twain's bubble.

"But… if you really want to get your handshake… you can go to the press conference."

Twain thought about it for a moment. The UEFA probably wouldn't care about what he did now that the match had ended.

He nodded. "All right. I'd go to the press conference. I reckon there'll be many questions for me from the media."

"Are you ready to handle all those questions?"

Twain waved his hands dismissively. "One has to act based on the situation! Plus, I'm not scared of those reporters. In fact, you should pray for them instead."

Dunn smiled and shook his head. He then left Twain behind and walked straight to Mitchell, patting him on the back.

"Ah, Assistant Manager Dunn!" Mitchell instantly felt better once he saw Dunn.

"Well done, Aaron. But these words are not from me." Dunn secretly pointed at the person behind him.

Mitchell looked in the direction that Dunn pointed and saw Twain.

"The boss?"

"He doesn't want you to get ahead of yourself. You still have a long way to go."

Twain and Dunn had certainly allocated their roles quite well. Twain was responsible for being imposing in front of the team, whereas Dunn was responsible for helping him come off as much more friendly and approachable than he might appear around players. Doing so allowed Tony Twain to maintain a 'perfect' image before the players. He was imposing like a father should be, and also kind like a mother would be…

Mitchell finally understood that his boss had his best interests at heart. In truth, he had actually felt a little upset with the way Twain looked at him earlier. He was, after all, the person who enabled the team to win the match! He had not deserved to be treated that way by Twain.

He nodded his head forcefully. "I understand now, Assistant Manager Dunn. Thank you."

"If you really want to thank someone, thank him." Dunn smiled at him before turning around and walking away.

When Twain made his way past the mixed zone, numerous reporters chanted his name. However, he did not stop in his tracks. He only pointed at the front and said, "I'll see all of you at the press conference later. Ask your questions then."

Hearing his words, there were a few reporters who decided to give up on their interviews with the players. They left the mixed zone and headed over to the venue for the post-match conference.

Twain had only sat in the conference room for a short while before the reporters began to stream in and take their seats, one after another.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of Guardiola, but he did not show up for quite some time.

Twain was not angry that Guardiola was late. There was not a hint of anger in his face. Rather, he wore a smile the whole time as he waited at his seat. He even made eye-contact and gestured whenever he spotted a reporter whom he knew.

The reporters soon got annoyed with how long they had to wait for Guardiola. Just as they began to whisper among themselves, Guardiola finally showed up in the conference room. He clearly looked displeased, especially after seeing Tony Twain on the stage instead of Dunn or Kerslake.

What made him most enraged was the fact that the man in front of him was smiling!

Does he not know what he did to my team? Guardiola thought. He actually has the audacity to smile?

Guardiola felt like turning around and walking straight out the door after seeing the smile on Twain's face. However, he decided against it when he thought about the poise he had to display before the reporters. Additionally, he could not become someone like Tony Twain, who had no manners.

He swallowed the animosity that he held towards Tony Twain and took a seat.

"Since both managers are here, we shall commence the press conference right now," the press officer said with a forced smile on his face. He could tell that there was tension between the two managers.

Guardiola, as the manager of the away team for the match, spoke first. "There's nothing I want to say. We lost. However, everyone saw the reason why we lost. I'm proud of the performance that my team gave."

It was Twain's turn next.

All the reporters were keen to hear what sort of "brilliant" comments he would make this time around. They were certain he would not have anything good to say.

"I'm happy that we won," Twain said with a grin. "It proves that we are stronger than Barcelona, and that we are more qualified to progress into the semi-finals. I am very pleased with my team's performance today. They were able to dominate every aspect of the game without my guidance. It was the kind of match that I had hoped to see."

The reporters were upset with the comments that the two managers had made so far. There was no element of hostility in their words.

The reporters all thought, Nobody's here to watch the two of you get along with each other!

When it was time for the reporters to ask questions, one of them instantly threw a sharp question at Twain: "Mr. Tony Twain. In our interviews with them, the Barcelona players mentioned numerous times how the terrible pitch affected their performance in the match. What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you think that it is inappropriate for you to suddenly announce that you are going to change the turf just a few days before the match?"

The reporter who asked this question was from Catalonia. He looked hell-bent on getting a comment from Twain regarding the state of the pitch.

Twain replied slowly, "There was nothing inappropriate about what we did. We provided a report to the UEFA prior to the match, and they sanctioned our actions. Thus, there are no problems whatsoever. Are you questioning UEFA's decision?"

"No. I just find it odd that you would only change the turf a few days before the match was due to kick off."

"That's because this is the time when we usually change our turf. We played in an away game before this match, and that delayed our plans to change it. If not, we would have finished changing it earlier."

Twain pushed all the blame onto the Premier League's match schedule. He had no intention of shouldering any responsibility for the poor state of the turf.

"You say that you changed the turf. But your stadium looks as though you did not even lay a turf over it." The reporter was still relentless in questioning Twain about the terrain.

"We are a small club, and we have had tight finances recently. We cannot afford to buy a better turf, so we had to settle for something that isn't as good." Twain threw out his hands before him and looked helpless, as though he was the victim in this situation. "We couldn't possibly let Barcelona play on mud. So, we still put the turf down, even though it was low-quality. But, we did know that others would make fun of us for our poor pitch, which is why the club is considering purchasing two sets of high-quality turf fields. I promise that such a situation will not happen again in the future!"

Twain was serious about what he said. After all, such a situation could never happen a second time. It was a scheme that he could only use once.

He would not have thought about altering the pitch if their team had not been in such a dire situation after the first leg of the competition.

His words rendered any other reporter who still wanted to question him about the turf speechless.

Guardiola was upset with how things had turned out, but he knew that there wasn't much that he could say or do. "I believe that the UEFA should look into establishing a standard that all pitches have to follow in the future to ensure the quality of the fields that we play on…"

Twain concurred with Guardiola's proposition shamelessly. "I completely agree with Mr. Guardiola's opinion. The UEFA should indeed come up with measures to standardize the quality of the pitches that we use. We should never have to let players play on rotten pitches in the Champions League ever again."

The Catalan reporters all wished they could run up onto the stage and slap Twain across the face. They had encountered many shameless people in their lives, but they had never seen anyone as shameless as Twain!

Guardiola was so enraged by Twain's words that his whole body shuddered.

He was not good with verbal confrontations. He did not know what to say to Twain, and he also sensed that he was someone with whom he could never reason.

There were a few reporters who felt that they were not going to be able to get any interesting scoop from the managers if they continued to probe them about the turf. Therefore, they decided to shift the focus onto the players who got injured in the match.

"Messi has sprained his knee. I do not know the extent of his injury right now. As for how he picked up the injury, isn't that very obvious? It's impossible not to get injured while playing on such a terrible pitch!" Guardiola became agitated as he said those words.

Messi was a player that he really liked and on whom he relied. How could he not be indignant now that he was injured—and badly, from the looks of it?

"He had sprained his ankle without any physical contact from any other player on the pitch!"

When it was Twain's turn to respond, the very first thing that he said was, "My players have not gotten injured while playing on the pitch. Lennon was only injured because Yaya Touré's fouled him. I think that foul by Touré was truly very malicious. I don't know why he actually wanted to protest the referee's decision. If I were him, I'd most likely have run off the pitch before the referee even showed the red card. Every experienced footballer knows how dangerous a tackle from behind is!"

Twain was equally enraged as he spoke about Lennon's injury.

"As for my opinion on Wood's red card incident—I have to say that I fully support the actions that he took then!" Twain might have been upset with Wood's impetuousness earlier, when he was in the stands, but, right now, he had to show support for his player in front of the press. "He had only acted out of concern for his teammate. I understand him completely."

Guardiola could not hold in his emotions in any longer. He scoffed, "So, to you, it's reasonable to hit another player?"

"And are you saying that it's reasonable to tackle another player's ankle from behind?" Twain did not even turn his head to look at Guardiola as he spoke. "Would Wood have been so rash, if not for Touré's tackle?"

"If the referee had not failed to penalize Wood's foul on Krkić, would my players have acted the way that they did?"

Twain laughed coldly. "That's the job of the referee. I'm not able to make a comment on that. If your players felt so upset about that, why don't they tackle the referee from behind? Do they think highly of themselves after venting their anger on Lennon? Who doesn't know how to do a tackle? Touré's action was completely devoid of sportsmanship!"

Twain was just like a thief accusing someone else of thievery.

Guardiola realized that he could not triumph over Twain in an argument. Nottingham Forest was the team that displayed poor sportsmanship first, but Tony Twain made it sound as though Forest was the victim, and that Barcelona was the team without sporting character…

There were many reporters who were also upset with Twain's comments. The Catalan reporters started booing to show their displeasure and to protest against Twain.

Twain definitely did not give up on his chance to make things difficult for the Catalan reporters now that he was the victor of the match. The Catalan press has constantly criticized Twain for those two matches. This was payback.

He pointed at the Catalan reporters who were booing him. "I wonder who it was who said that their style of football is a kind of art, and that the football that Nottingham Forest played was 'ugly' because it was 'defensive' and 'conservative' football? Look at the score, and look at how the match progressed. We dominated the game and trounced Barcelona throughout. Our possession was at 68% at one point in the match. Whether in shots or passes made, Nottingham Forest was the team with the better stats for the match. Let's not forget Aaron Mitchell's last goal. He went past four players! He went past every single player on Barcelona's defensive line! Do any of you dare to call his goal 'ugly'?"

Twain's words were powerful, and they resonated through the conference room. Forest's performance for the match could certainly be regarded as perfect. This not only added weight to his words, it also gave him the confidence to confront the Catalan reporters.

As Twain had expected, none of the Catalan reporters stood up to rebuke his words. The team that they supported had lost completely in the prior match. The Barcelona player who ranked the highest in the post-match ratings was Piqué. He received a score of 7 for how he played in the game. However, his performance was definitely not one that could be seen as a form of art.

Additionally, what humiliated the Catalan media most was the fact that Piqué, who was the man-of-the-match for the Barcelona team, had been groomed by Nottingham Forest. The style of football that he played bore the "Nottingham Forest mark," and he was also a player who still maintained a good relationship with many of the current Forest players. It would not be inaccurate to call him a Nottingham Forest player, even.

Twain threw the criticisms and mockeries that he received from the Catalan media back at them. When he was done losing his temper, he stood up and left the room with a dark look on his face.

Twain's departure made things awkward for Guardiola. He should have been the one to walk away from the press conference and make things difficult for Tony Twain, but now Twain was the one who had made things harder for him…

Guardiola sat unmoving in his seat for a moment. Eventually, he got to his feet with a displeased look on his face and left the room without saying a word.

A grudge between two managers had been born.