Translator:Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor:Nyoi-Bo Studio

George Wood had been running away. He had good conditions at the club as long as he did not want to see Twain, Twain would not be able to see him. But now he had no way to escape. He was already in the national team and Twain was his manager and he was Twains player. How was he supposed to escape? Just like today, he could at most circle around the training ground which was one to one same size as a stadium.

But the time had come in the end.

Up your grandfather for running! Gasping for breath, the tired Twain put his hands on his knees for a while and his ragged breathing finally evened out. The first sentence out of his mouth was a curse word.

Wood could not understand the phrase, but he knew that every time a moment like this happened, Twain would definitely speak in Mandarin. He moved slightly closer by taking a couple of steps and asked, What did you say?

Ah ha, youre finally ready to talk to me. I was just cursing at you But dont worry, it has nothing to do with your mother. It has to do with your grandfather. Hey, have you met your grandfather? Twain responded with gasping breath.

I dont know who my grandfather is.

Well, forget about your fucking grandfather. I ask you, why did you run just now?

Twains hands left his knees, but his back was still slightly hunched. He was still tired. His mind must have been so muddled that he came up with the idea to race against George Wood.

Wood chewed his lips a few times before he said, I dont know

You dont know why you were running! When Twain heard the answer, he was furious and said, It almost killed me I will say this to you, George. If I had a cardiac arrest, you will have to take full responsibility for it! Although he was very angry, Twain was secretly sniggering. At least Wood had unknowingly started talking to him. Twain had a lot of confidence in his gift of gab, as long as Wood was willing to talk to him. Then any problem could be resolved.

Wood moved closer forward by another two more steps. It was far away for him to hear what Twain was saying properly.

Twain still felt tired. He had not exercised so vigorous for an extremely long time like just now. His heart in the chest was beating wildly, making him feel exhausted. He simply laid down and did not look at Wood. Im the England teams manager and youre the England captain. We need to work together. Can you please dont make the situation akin to an encounter with your fathers murderer?

Unexpectedly Woods answer almost made Twain choke on his words. He said, My fathers murderer? Ill be very glad if anyone could kill him.

You Twain knew he had used the wrong analogy. Very well, dont hold a grudge against me, George. Ill apologize to you. Will it help if I say sorry to you?

Why are you apologizing to me?

Twain suddenly turned his body to sit up and looked up at Wood, who was standing in front of him. Must you really make me spell it out for you? He gritted his teeth in reply.

Wood did not answer but looked at him quietly.

He stared at Twain like this for a while before Twain gave in and bowed his head as he muttered, Im really sorry that I did not say goodbye before I left, George. I Well, I dont know how to put it to you. But I hope you will believe me that I was also compelled by circumstances to leave.

Ive coached for eleven years at the Forest team. If I could, I had wanted to coach there always and even watch you retire. Listen to me, you can play at least till youre forty years old. You still have twelve more years. But thats the reality its becoming increasingly impossible to coach a team for more than two decades. The current English Premier League is no longer like before. The power of a manager is gradually weakening I miss the English football world of the last century Ha, why am I telling you about this? Twain laughed, Anyway, I just want you to know Im sorry. He looked up at Wood.

Wood, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly asked a question, Will you still come back to the Forest team?

I wont go back for at least the next two years. Twain replied frankly.

In that case, what are we going to do? Wood continued to ask.

Twain smiled wryly. The question was rather childish.

Youre not kids anymore, George. You guys have the freedom to choose which path to take. Why are you asking me?

Wood thought Twains words were reasonable. But he did not want to admit it.

Will you leave the Forest team, George? Twain asked.

In fact, he felt conflicted inside all along. He wished to see Evan and Allan be taught a lesson, but at the same time, he also did not want the team to broken up and scattered.

Im not going to. Wood replied.

Why not?

I dont want to leave.

His answer was very idealistic. It would be pointless to investigate the reason. Twain just smiled and said, Im going to say something quite selfish, George. I dont want things at the club to affect your form. I dont want to see how you were at the World Cup in Brazil again.

With. Without you, I was a little uncomfortable Wood suddenly became embarrassed. He scrunched up his face and stammered.

Twain looked at Wood in the twilight. The expression on his face was no longer visible. Only his profile was still very clear. The outlines of his face were as hard as forged in steel.

Hows your mother, George? Twain suddenly changed the subject.

Wood paused for a moment before reacting.

Shes fine I think. Wood spoke uncertainly. Twain knew Sophias health must be getting worse each day. In fact, his mothers vitality had been very tenacious. From when he first met her eleven years ago, he had already thought she could leave Wood at any time. He did not expect her to endure for so long.

Say hello to her for me when you get home. Im busier than before now that the league tournament has started. Im traveling all over England. I have very little chance to go back to Nottingham. Im sorry that I cant pay her a visit.

She knows youre busy.

How was this like a conversation between the manager and the new team captain? It was clearly two old friends talking about their ordinary daily lives together.

Hows the little monkey?

Very good.

What about the others? I know that my sudden departure must have had a bad effect on them

Everyones good after they read your open letter.

Twain smiled with some pride. The players he had personally developed were still on his side. To have this little bit of support after eleven years, he could not be considered a failure.

Hows the new manager?

Hes okay. Hes a little bit like you. But Wood suddenly changed tack and said, Now that the results are good, everything is good. If

As to the future, youll worry it when it happens. Twain interrupted his speculation.

He got up from the ground and patted his behind. Having sat down for a long time, his buttocks were wet. He had to change his pants when he got back.

I did not ask you what you thought when I just appointed you as the captain. What did you think?

Finally, he arrived at the main topic. Twain looked at the sky. The conversation should be over.

Wood shook his head and replied, A little surprised, but I have no other idea.

Well Twain mused for a moment, but youd better be mentally prepared. Once the results are announced, its bound to cause a lot of talk. Youre going to be under a lot of pressure

I know. Woods answer was simple, but Twain heard the determination in his voice.

Twain laughed and said, Dont give them a chance. In addition, you need to be more active in the team. Dont be an invisible person whos silent all the time. You can act like this in the past but not in the future. There is no invisible team captain here. You have to make everyone understand your existence. The better you perform; the more freedom I have to do what I want to do.

Wood nodded.

Okay, better hurry up to take a shower in the locker room and change your clothes. The evening breeze here is really chilly. Twain stepped forward to pat Wood on the shoulder. This time Wood did not turn around and run away.

Wood listened to him and left.

While Twain continued to stand in the training ground amid the twilight.

It seemed that the misunderstanding between himself and Wood had dissipated. It was a big load off his mind. As long as Wood was still on his side, he had nothing to worry about.

The next day, the new team captain and the media met. As to what those blabbering media wanted to say, he did not care.

In fact, the media already knew the matter about the national team captain armbands change of ownership.

What was the English medias job? With their eyes and ears opened all the time, they were keenly observant and alert. They were lying in wait in the vicinity of the national team training base, so that they could scout out new information anytime and anywhere. The announcement of a new team captain of the national team was not insignificant news. How could they not know?

The Liverpool media cried out against the injustice toward Gerrard. Christopher Beesley, a columnist for the , took the lead to open fire.

I cant understand at all how Mr. Tony Twain made such a decision based on what kind of judgment? Stevens influence in the England national team cannot be ignored. As the spiritual leader of the Reds, he deserves to continue as the captain in the new national team. But what do we have here? The spiritual leader of the Reds is not even the vice-captain! Is this a provocation against Liverpool by Tony Twain? I dont know why Steven would accept such an arrangement. If I were him, I would just quit the national team in protest!

The pro-Chelsea media were also a little resentful, because Terry from their team had gone from being the captain to the vice-captain. But their anger could not be compared to the anger of the Liverpool crowd by a mile.

That evening, there was a big discussion on Liverpools local television and radio stations about Englands new captain. For them, Liverpool had not been awarded the honor for many years and Gerrard was the only ensign they could be proud of. Now the flag flying high over England had also been removed by Twain. When they further recalled how much pain Twain had brought to the club over the years the new hatred simply mingled together with the old hate and it was absolutely irreconcilable to them!

Gerrard is the spiritual symbol of English football! He deserves his place in the national team!

I dont hate George Wood, but compared to Gerrard, hes a little immature!

This is a blatant show of nepotism by Tony Twain. Im not optimistic about the prospects of the national team!

His brain must have been misfired for him to make such a decision!

For a while, the listeners called in to the radio station in succession to express their opinions.

The guests on the television program also backed Gerrard as the team captain one by one and opposed to Twain making the England national team to be like Nottingham Forest.

The Liverpool fans even planned to attack Twain in the stands, chanting slogans loudly and putting up signs during the England teams first game. They called it a war to safeguard Gerrard.

Unlike the resentment at Stamford Bridge and Liverpools wrath, the Nottingham side was full of joy. The Nottingham Forest fans had called in succession to the local radio station hotline to congratulate George Wood on becoming the captain of the new national team.

There were even fans who openly stated, I knew Tony would favor us more! Because he started from here! They did not seem to be concerned that Twain would be pushed to the heart of the struggle with the media, because they had a lot of experience with these kinds of matter. Tony would not Tony if he could not even settle on a new captain.

George deserves to be the team captain. He has been the captain of the Forest team for eight years, and his achievements at the Forest team for the last eight years speak for themselves! As the team captain of the most successful team in English football in recent years, it would be the biggest joke if he was not qualified to be the team captain of the England national team!

Ignore whatever the Liverpool people say. Gerrard is good, but he is too old. Can he maintain his form till the UEFA European Championship? Hell be thirty-six years old in two years time!

I even think its a little late for George to become the captain at twenty-eight years old!

In the later period of Capellos era, George Wood was already the teams mainstay core. Its only to be expected for him to be the team captain.

George Woods personal website had also become a battleground. The Liverpool fans went the site to abuse him and Tony, while the Nottingham Forest fans went online to defend their team captain. A fierce battle broke out on the sites messaging forum, finally culminating in the website server being down to end the fight.

Within one night, the new team captains replacement set off a storm in England. Come tomorrow when most newspapers were published, nobody knew what kind of storm this would become

Billy Woox gave Wood a call. He simply informed him what was going on outside and asked him to get ready.

At the start of the next days training, Twain found that the number of reporters gathered outside was about twice as high as yesterday. He quickly thought about it and he knew what the reason was.

Its like a frenzy of sharks behind a slave ship. One tiny drop of blood can lead to a frenzied scramble among them. Twain gave these reporters the most vivid evaluation. Maybe we dont have to officially announce the change in the team captain. They all already know about it.

It was true. While everyone was eating breakfast, the hot off the press newspapers had already published the news of George Wood becoming Englands new captain in prominent placements. Admonitions and doubts about Twain already appeared in the Liverpool media. The Liverpool media regarded this as a blatant show of nepotism by Twain and a symbol of injustice. This type of behavior must be rectified.

There were even people who suggested that Gerrard should quit the national team in protest like Beesley.

A lot of media rushed forward one after another to ask questions about the choice of team captain when they saw Twain come out.

Before they could open their mouths, Twain shouted, There will be a regular press conference in the afternoon. You can ask all your question at that time. Its now time for training. Im sorry, I have to ask you all to leave here!

The security guards heard his shouts and coordinated with him to drive the reporters away.

Just one question, Mr. Twain!

I wont even answer half a question!

About the candidate for the team captain

You can ask again in the afternoon.

Do you admit that it is nepotism on your part

You only have fifteen minutes of free time to film. I have no problem with it if youre going to waste all your time to have a glib repartee with me. But you cant say that Im blocking the freedom of the press later.

With the ruckus going on outside the pitch, the attention of the players who were warming up on the pitch were drawn to it.

What are they arguing about?

What else can they argue about? Its about the new captain Someone gave Wood and Gerrard a look when he said this.

Wood was doing his warm-up exercise very seriously and did not notice what was happening off the field at all. Of course, there were those who suspected in their minds that Wood had seen it but deliberately pretended not to see it.

Gerrard just glanced over there and took his eyes off to focus on the warm-up. He had always kept a down-to-earth image. However, he did not expect that at the age of thirty-four years old, he had become a leading character in the national team crisis.

During a break in the training, Twain went to look for Gerrard and hoped that he would attend the afternoon press conference together with him. Initially, he was going to bring the new captain to the press conference to introduce the team captain to the media. But now it looked like it was not necessary to do so.

Apparently, this was to deal with the reporters. Gerrard nodded and agreed. He was not the kind of player who liked to be confrontational with the manager. When the team needed him, he would contribute in strength.

Have you read all the news reports? Twain asked.

Gerrard shook his head and replied, I havent read any of them yet, boss.

Well You can take time out at noon to have a look.

I dont think its necessary, boss. I know what theyre talking about.

Thats good Go back to training then.

Twain dismissed Gerrard and stood on the sidelines to continue watching the training. However, in his mind, he was wondering what to do with those sharks during the afternoon press conference.