Godfather Of Champions

Chapter 155: New Forest Part 2

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Advancing into the EFL Cup finals was undoubtedly a joyous occasion. When it was combined with the postponing of the team's next match, Tang En felt extremely generous and decided to give the team a two-day holiday so that they could thoroughly relax. Before they went on their holidays, Tang En specifically told the overjoyed players this: once they assembled again, they would no longer have the chance to relax like this. If they wanted to relax again, they could, but only after clinching the EFL Cup championship title.

George Wood's condition remained great during trainings. Tang En felt that the kid was born to be a football player, because his psychological qualities were so much better than others of his age. There was no need to worry that his condition would be affected by external matters.

After three highly successful matches, Wood had already completely replaced Eugen Bopp, becoming Gunnarsson's defensive partner in the midfield. Gunnarsson was also fond of cooperating with his quiet but reassuring teammate. Gunnarson once "complained" after a training warm-up match by saying, "God! This is too crazy! Seeing George's non-stop running, I find myself unable to stop either!"

This was precisely the effect that Tang En had hoped for. The kid was able to spur his teammates into working hard together with him. This was something that even the previous captain, Michael Dawson, had been unable to accomplish.

What made him even happier was that Freddy Eastwood's attitude towards George seemed to be gradually improving. It was no longer as it had been, when they had given off confrontational vibes whenever they met. The two of them could be said to be the team's pillars in the future, and their ability to work together would ensure that the team could continue advancing forward.

Things were gradually changing.

The club chairman's personal secretary and receptionist, Miss Barbara Lucy, discovered that the number of reporters visiting and interviewing the team had increased significantly compared to the past. Among them, there were even some that came from other countries. They were all there hoping to interview the club's manager, Tony Twain.

So, Evan suggested to Tang En that they should just host a small-scale, impromptu press conference after training. This could be used as a platform to inform the press of the team's situation, as well as let a few players show their faces and increase their fame. It was a good way to better Nottingham Forest's reputation, and Tang En did not oppose it.

The club had become different in many ways compared to the past. Allan Adams had adopted some successful traditions from American NBA clubs' operations, such as expanding the outreach and reception department that specialized in welcoming visitors and reporters, as well as handling various interview requests. In the past, Nottingham Forest Football Club only had two staff members in that department, and they utilized a traditional working style that was quite inefficient. Due to Nottingham Forest's poor results in the past, the club had not paid much attention to these "image branding efforts".

Evan and Allan, however, valued all of these highly. The entire office was equipped with computers, and IT professionals were hired to design the company's internal network. They adopted the modern office, which had a full set of digitized office work procedures. Doing so would greatly raise their efficiency. Take, for instance, something that Bruce Pearce, a reporter from Nottingham Evening Post, felt strongly about. Before Evan had become the chairman of Nottingham Forest, whenever Nottingham Evening Post wanted to interview a certain player from the team, it would usually take at least three days before the request sent to Club would be approved. At that time, if Tang En himself hadn't phoned the Evening Post for the picture, giving the Evening Post the opportunity to request an interview from him directly, it would probably have taken an even longer time. After all, almost nobody was in charge of these things. In contrast, one could now receive a reply in the afternoon of the same day on which they sent the request, whether it was through fax, telephone, or through sending an E-mail to the E-mail address provided on the club's official webpage. Moreover, these interview requests would typically be approved; of course, this was partially because Nottingham Evening Post was currently on rather close terms with Nottingham Forest.

Another example was that the outreach and reception department now had four people who specialized in handling various pieces of fan mail sent in from all over the world. The four of them had to open and read each and every letter, before replying to each of them and sending them various souvenirs from the club in a bid to promote the new Nottingham Forest. Each and every letter had to be responded to; not a single fan could be left out. This was the work requirement that Allan gave them. If they failed to fulfill it, their salary would be deducted.

If these people discovered any mail that was slightly more special, they would have to hand it over to the department's supervisor; he would then decide on the appropriate course of action and inform Allan at his discretion. If there was a need for the team to cooperate, Allan would then directly approach Tang En and discuss the matter with him. Of course, this was rare.

After establishing his absolute position as leader of the club, Evan Doughty started to carry out reforms to the club's structure in a bold and decisive fashion. Under him, he split the club into two big departments: the Sports competition department, and Business marketing department. Just from their names, it was clear which department was in charge of what.

Aside from holding the title of team manager, Tang En also assumed another position: manager of the Sports competition department. Now, he could be considered a true "manager." All the players in the club, from the first team to the under-twelve youth teams, were all under his control. He had complete authority over the teams' matters. The buying and selling of players was decided by him, and he just needed to ask Allan for the money after the transfer contract was finalized.

On the other hand, Allan Adams was the manager of the Business marketing department. He was specifically in charge of the club's management and market development matters. These ranged from things as small as the set price for the match tickets and development of merchandise, to important issues such as the club's long term investments, image promotion, commercial tour matches, selection of sponsors, and signing of contracts with them. His mission was to do everything he could to help Evan earn money, and to have sufficient capital to give to Tang En when he needed money to buy players. Of course, Tang En also had his responsibilities, and that was to cooperate with Allan if he needed the team's participation in his business plan. For instance, Tang En had to cooperate with the Asian tour matches and the team's attendance of certain sponsorship events.

As for how to not let these commercial events affect the team's performance, this was something that required discussion between the two of them. Their positions in the club were beneath only that of the club chairman, Evan Doughty. They wielded similar amounts of power, and that was also the reason why Evan arranged things the way he did—he did not want either one of them to have greater power over the other, or to make decisions beyond their intended job scope. Currently, Nottingham Forest could be considered as having many issues to address, and it therefore require everyone to work together. However, Evan had been able to more or less relax after that lunch appointment; Tony and Allan had gotten along with each other rather well.

There were many football clubs in England that had, because of their long and rich history, become gradually eliminated from the world as a result of their lack of flexibility and rigidity in handling matters. A very good example would be those football teams which had their glorious days during the early stages of modern English football. By now, they had either become down and out, or had already dissipated into dust. Evan Doughty hoped that through his efforts, some positive changes could be brought to Nottingham Forest Football Club, even though his aim was not to save English Football or Nottingham Forest Football Club, but simply to earn more money for himself.

Did he love Nottingham Forest? Yes, as long as it could earn him more money.

Evan Doughty's club was gradually steering towards the right track, while Tony Twain's Nottingham Forest team was also taking large steps in the right direction. It seemed like their futures were bright.