638 About Professional Ethics (2/2)
What he said was true, and made a lot of sense, but in the ears of Beckham's supporters, it did not sound good. No wonder there were still people who thought Ferguson and Beckham were enemies.
So what about Beckham?
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”Mr. Twain. The press hopes that Beckham will be able to attend today's press conference,” Miss Barbara Lucy reminded Twain that as head of public relations, she agreed that it would be good to have Beckham present, but Twain had given her George Wood's name and himself.
”Why?” Twain pretended to be amazed.
”Mr. Twain, you know the reason...” Miss Lucy smiled. She did not buy Twain's antics.
”Yes. But no way.” Twain rejected the request. ”To let David be pulled in for the questioning? I don't want those flies to affect the state of my main players before an important game.”
The matter was up to Twain, and Barbara Lucy had no power except to make suggestions. Since Twain disagreed, there was nothing to be done. She nodded and left.
Back on the training ground, Twain took a moment to observe Beckham. Nothing odd could be seen, but was that really the case? Twain did not think so. Beckham's heart had to be in turmoil.
He had been at Real Madrid for four years and never returned to Old Trafford as an opponent to rival Manchester United. Therefore, today's experience would be his first.
Beckham had some injuries before the home game against Manchester United in the first half of the season, so Twain took him off the squad list to avoid that kind of awkwardness. Now Beckham was in good shape. He had no reason to rule him out.
Although the two men had taken the situation into account when they signed the contract, it had not been imminent. Twain suggested the clause that Beckham did not need to compete against Manchester United to be written in the contract, which Beckham refused. It went against his professional ethics, but it did not mean that he would be happy to return to Old Trafford as an enemy.
In between breaks during training, the players gathered around to chat and joke, but Beckham walked up to Twain alone.
”Can I have a quick word with you?” he said.
Twain nodded, not at all surprised that Beckham had come to him.
The two men found a slightly quieter corner. Everyone else stole glances from the corner of their eyes because they all knew who the real person of interest was in this game.
”Can you take me with you to this afternoon's press conference?” Beckham got right to the point. His request surprised Twain.
”You know what? I just turned down Miss Barbara Lucy's request to arrange for you to appear at the press conference.”
Beckham nodded, not surprised that Twain had done so. However, he insisted on his decision. ”I know what you think, Tony. But I still want to go.”
”Being repeatedly asked stupid questions by a swarm of flies like: 'what do you think of the return to Old Trafford and becoming an enemy of your old club?'”
”If I don't answer, I'm afraid there will be more rumors.”
”Do you really want to go?” Twain looked at Beckham.
”I really want to go.” Beckham met Twain's gaze.
”Fine, you'll go with me and George.” Since Beckham wanted to, there was no need for him to stop him, but he added, ”if the situation gets out of hand later, I'm going to step in.”
Beckham smiled at him.
※※※
The media at the press conference had learned that Beckham would not attend the press conference and had planned to leave once Twain arrived to embarrass him. But they saw Twain with George Wood and... David Beckham appear in front of everyone.
”I know the leading character today is not me.” Tony Twain said as he viewed the excited faces below. He sat down and stopped talking. The media was allowed to aim at Beckham.
Most of the questions were nothing new. It was just as Twain said to Beckham in the morning. No one cared about how the questions were asked, they only cared about how the man was going to answer the questions.
But so far, Beckham had answers that took into consideration both the Forest fans' feelings and majority of the Manchester United fans. He was not as hard pressed as Twain had imagined. He was a big star player and had faced all sorts of tricky questions before.
Someone threw out the question ”will you take the initiative to apply to shun the game?” to which Beckham smiled. ”I don't have any physical problems. If the manager needs me, then I'll go on. If he doesn't need me, I can accept being a substitute.”
He shifted the anger of the diehard Manchester United fans, at Twain's behest. Before he came, Twain repeatedly cautioned Beckham that he could push anything to him as a manager when he ran into any tricky problems.
As a result, Twain came forward. ”Any questions about the squad list and the starting lineup cannot be made public before the game.” His remark silenced all the reporters who had just turned to ask him.
If they were allowed, the reporters would have loved to hiss at Tony Twain in return. Instead of continuing to entangle with Twain, they turned back to ask Beckham all sorts of questions about facing his old club.
”Have you thought about what kind of treatment you will get for returning to Old Trafford, David?”
”I don't know.” Beckham shook his head. ”I'm just a little apprehensive.”
”Do you still bear any grudge towards Ferguson now?”
”He's a manager I have a lot of respect for.” Beckham did not want to dwell on the topic.
”How does he compare with Tony Twain?” The reporters did not want to let him go.
Beckham wanted to open his mouth, but Twain took over the question. ”This question is obviously for me. We each have our strengths.”
Evaluating old and new managers was a dangerous thing for players, who would become sinners no matter what they said. Consequently, Twain did not let Beckham speak.
As if it were a signal, the media's questions became increasingly specific and demanding.
”If you score a goal against Manchester United, will you celebrate?”
”I don't know... I'm not trying to avoid the question. It's complicated, and I do not know how I'll be until it happens, so I can only say 'I don't know.'”
”If you help Nottingham Forest beat Manchester United and snatch the league title from Manchester United, will you celebrate it? Do you think the Manchester United fans will accept it?”
”I don't know...”
Twain stood up. ”All right. Remember your professions, you are reporters, not police officers from Scotland Yard. This is the end of today's press conference!”
”We haven't finished asking...”
”By the time you're done asking questions, the lands of Great Britain and the continental Europe will have been connected as one.” Twain ridiculed. He just did not like to see a reporters lay siege to and ceaselessly interrogate his players like they were prisoners. He turned around to take his men away.
The reporters stood up from their seats one after another, ignoring the rule to only ask questions when pointed to. They raised their hands in a scramble to ask the questions that they had not had time to ask.
”David! I still have a question...”
”David, David... Rumor has it that returning to Old Trafford can affect your form. If you do play, will it shake the hearts of the Forest team? Will it lead to a more serious... Uh.”
The question stopped the three people in their tracks, and they turned around to look at the person who asked the question.
Tony Twain said, ”David Beckham is now wearing the Nottingham Forest red jersey.”
George Wood said, ”Shake the hearts of our team? We're not idiots.”
David Beckham replied, ”I'm a professional player.”
The trio turned to leave the venue and allowed the reporters to shout behind them, without a backwards glance.