98 The Idiot Collymore Part 2 (2/2)

”Collymore, that incompetent idiot! I've been wanting to punch him!”

”The Forest team is now ranked sixth from the bottom! It must be rough for him to have all these good players and to produce such results!”

”He should just get lost and go back to being a stallion. The manager post does not suit him; his battlefield is in the bed!”

”Plus women's tits and between the legs.”

”Aha ha ha ha!”

The men spoke more and more crudely, stimulated by the alcohol. Tang En was not interested in discussing Collymore's usual comings and goings. He turned around to thank Brosnan. If he had not shown up that afternoon, he did not know how things would have turn out. Although he was not afraid to fight with Collymore, it was clearly not a good time to use violence to solve a problem.

”I think he's going to take his anger out on the newspaper that you're working for.”

Brosnan shrugged. ”Just as well. We've found the perfect pretext to criticize him without restraint, an excellent chance to only speak negatively of him and not say anything good. You have no idea how long the old guys at the newspaper have been itching to do this.” Brosnan had been hanging out with Twain and the others for a long time now. His tone had become a bit rough, and he was not so careful with his words. If it had been before, he would have said:

”Oh, it's actually nothing. We may have a reason to criticize him. Several old gentlemen in the newspaper had long hoped to do so.”

Tang En burst into laughter. ”Although I don't like the media very much, I have to admit that sometimes you guys are pretty amusing!”

Brosnan tried to justify it a little. ”Uh, sometimes we flatter the team and say things that go against our beliefs. We have no choice. We can't get better press seats if we don't have good relationships with the clubs.”

Tang En narrowed his eyes at him. ”So, did that mean all those praises I had received from you all earlier this year were just flattery?”

”Ah! No, no!” Brosnan hurriedly waved his hands. ”Those were our true words, Mr. Twain. You did a great job for the Forest first team during that half season! It's not an exaggeration, really!”

Tang En raised his glass, clinked it with Brosnan's and muttered, ”Anyway, it's still a mouth with two faces, whether it's good or bad, it all depends on what you say and write ...”

At this time Walker squeezed in. He had recently been depressed about the team's poor results. He rarely came there to drink and chat. So, Tang En was very glad to see him show up again. He raised his glass and shouted, ”Hey! Des! Long time no see! How have you been lately?”

Walker shook his head with a wry smile. ”The team is in the bottom six. I'm in the hot seat every home match. It's like I'm an egg in a frying pan. How do you think I am?”

Tang En chuckled, ”You must be missing me now, right?”

”That's right. I miss you, so I've come to see you.” Walker took the beer from Burns' hand and sat down. ”Tony, I heard there was an incident at the youth team game this afternoon?”

Burns smiled. ”Des, you heard right.”

Tang En nodded. ”It's a small matter. Collymore came to my territory and behaved atrociously. He tried to take liberties with Wood's mother.”

”Oh. I heard Collymore was beaten up by someone. Was it you?”

”No.” Tang En shook his head. ”It was that kid, Wood. I didn't manage to stop him. I blocked Collymore when he tried to fight back. What's wrong?” He saw from Walker's expression that something was up.

”Well, I heard he went to see Mr. Chairman.”

When he heard Walker said this, Tang En smiled instead. ”Is he a still child who hasn't grown up yet? When he's bullied, he only knows to cry and go home to find mummy for comfort. Don't worry about me, Des.”

”I certainly wouldn't worry about you, Tony. I'm worried about Wood. He was the one who hit Collymore,” said Walker with a frown.

The other three men sitting around the table were silent. Wood had just shown that he was suitable for professional football. Would he be forced to end his career because he hit someone?

Tang En took a big gulp of his drink, and then said, ”There's no need to be afraid. Worst comes to the worst, I'll help him shoulder the blame. If Doughty wants to get rid of me, I'll go somewhere else and coach.”

Burns pressed his arm and shook his head. ”Don't talk like this now. Maybe things won't be as bad as you think.”

Walker nodded. ”I've just come to warn you in hopes that you will be mentally prepared to deal with this. And everyone knows what kind of person Collymore is. You just tell the truth about what happened, and it should be okay. I don't think there's more than five people in the club who like that b*stard. When Collymore transferred back from Southend United to the Forest team, his relationship with his teammates was strained. I was not on the Forest at the time, but whenever I chatted with my former teammates, they almost all mentioned Collymore's name in their complaints.” Walker looked at his watch, then got up to say good-bye. ”I have to go back. Another thing, Tony. When you see Wood the next time, thank him for me.”

”Huh?” Tang En did not respond for a moment.

”He did it beautifully! Honestly, I've wanted to punch that jerk for so long.” Walker swung his fist and then turned around to leave the lively bar.

”Don't be surprised by Walker's words.” Burns looked at Brosnan with a smile and continued the topic. Walker had left the Forest before, but Burns had always been living in Nottingham. He knew and saw everything that happened with the Forest team. ”Des was right when he said that no one on the entire Forest team liked him. To the extent that no one would go up and celebrate with him after he had scored a goal.”

Tang En clicked his tongue. It was truly rare that a player's relationships with people could be broken down to that extent.

”In order to escape training, Collymore lied about his family, claiming that his poor grandmother would have a serious illness from time to time.” Burns continued, ”At that time, the Liverpool manager, Roy Evans, liked him so much that he brought him to Anfield with a record-breaking transfer fee of £8,500,000. Whenever Collymore had a problem, he would help him shoulder it. Whenever Collymore did something wrong, the old man would apologize to the fans at the training ground sidelines—even though almost all the mistakes had nothing to do with him.”

Tang En looked up at the ceiling and tried to imagine a gray-haired old man standing in front of a mob of angry fans, trying his best to placate them and appease their fury. He shook his head with his lips pursed. This manager had a hard job to do, which would drive him to an early grave!

”Evans preferred to shoulder the blame instead of Collymore. But what did he get in return? Collymore slept with his daughter.” Burns shrugged with open arms and did not go on.

Brosnan said, ”In other words, it sounds like Wood's punch this afternoon was not harsh enough. When I saw Collymore, he was like a fly buzzing around a coconut cream cake. It's not a bad idea to give him a heavy blow and let him sober up. Don't worry, Mr. Twain. If Collymore is going to be against you, the Evening Post won't let him go easily.”

After listening to everyone's opinions on Collymore, Tang En had reached a decision in his heart. ”I know what to do on Monday.” He drained his beer from glass to belly in one gulp.

Stan Collymore, you're a genius on the field but an idiot off it!