900 Rather Forget About the Pas (1/2)

More than 80 reporters from different media sources crowded the big conference hall of the Crimson Stadium as they attended the press conference in the afternoon.

Evan Doughty and Allan Adams attended this press conference.

The reporters were still rather reserved at the start, asking questions about O'Neill's resignation, or asking about the identity of the next Nottingham Forest manager. However, after a few questions in, the reporters could hold back no longer and they started to stand up and ask about Tony Twain.

”Is the public letter from Tony Twain true?”

”Did you force a meritorious manager out just because you were unable to agree to his request of having absolute control over the club's transfer matters?”

”Would you agree that the club's biggest failure was not to extend Tony Twain's contract?”

”There was supposedly a big group of fans protesting outside the Wilford gates this morning, care to talk about it?”

”Mr Allan Adams, you said that the club will give the fans an explanation about Twain's resignation. Can you reveal a little bit about this explanation?”

...

The two of them were embattled by the questions that were coming in like a violent storm. They were obviously not adept at handling reporters and now they realized how dumb their decision to attend this press conference was——They could have just sent any media officer as their spokesperson.

At the end, they had no choice but to use their trump card——

”We're sorry, but today's press conference is held to give an official response to Martin O'Neill's resignation request. We'll not answer any question that is not related to this matter,” Allan Adams stood out to shield Evan from the questions, but how long could he last?

The reporters came up with an idea and changed the phrasing of the questions.

”Is the reason for Martin O'Neill's resignation the same as Tony Twain's reason to resign?”

”It is said that after the friendly match between Forest and England, O'Neill and Twain had another private talk after the press conference. Does it have anything to do with his resignation?”

”It is rumored that the Nottingham Forest team is not united, and Martin O'Neill did not have the trust of all the players. Does this have to do with the fact that Twain's influence is still strong within the team?”

”Does the club have any countermeasures in place after losing two managers in the span of two months?

...

The reporters were bent on forcing these two to say what they thought about Tony Twain.

Allan Adams had no choice but to keep beating around the bush and answering off topic. The reporters were not happy with his attitude and their questions became even more blistering.

”There's a rumor that you received a commission from Inter Milan in Lennon's transfer, is this true?”

”Nonsense!” Allan was finally angered, ”Rumors like these are equivalent to slander, I have the rights to sue!” He stood up and waved his hands in an agitated manner.

Evan Doughty, who was next to him, took one look at him and then gave the media officer a look.

The media officer stepped forward to ”rescue the emperor”, ”Everybody, this will be the end of today's press conference…”

Before he could finish, Allan and Evan had already turned around and left.

The reporters were not willing to let them go and they chased after them, asking questions until the two of them completely disappeared out of sight.

”Bastards…they're not cooperative at all!” The reporters complained as they did not get any news that were of value.

”Don't worry, didn't Allan say that the club will give the fans a satisfactory reply in four days' time? Let's wait and see,” The older counterparts laughed very happily, ”This is a wonderful summer. If only every summer is like this…”

※※※

When scenes of this press conference were shown on television, many Forest fans laughed happily at the flustered looks of Allan Adams and Evan Doughty.

At first, they might still be doubtful about it as they did not believe that the club's management would do something that self-destructive.

However, as the media reports pile up and more and more inside information was dug out, nobody had any other doubts that these two are the culprits behind the club forcing Tony Twain out.

They used the phrase ”forced out”. Even though Twain was the one who chose not to extend his contract, nobody thought that Twain was responsible for it after knowing the truth. If not for the fact that the club's management was unwilling to give up power and wanted to restrict Twain, it was impossible that Twain chose not to extend his contract. This was the result of 11 years of his hard work and there were countless fans who supported him, there was really no reason for him to leave.

So, the club's management forced Twain out, that was indubitable.

There was laughter coming from the Forest bar too.

The fragmented bar was slowly recovering. The people were no longer arguing about whether Twain treated them unfairly, on the other hand, they felt guilty for how they treated him. Football fans in England are like this, they dare to love as much as they dare to hate.

Bill was the only one who seemed conflicted still.

He had not been there much recently, and even if he did go, he would drink alone at a corner and not pay any mind to anyone who came forward to talk to him.

Today was the same. Nobody noticed him when he arrived as everyone was busy watching and laughing at the club's chairman and business executive on the television. He preferred it as well as he sat at a corner and made a hand signal asking for beer to Burns behind the bar table.

Burns asked a waiter to bring beer over to him while telling John, ”He's here again.”

John took one look at Bill, ”I see him.”

”Aren't you going to say something? You two are good friends you know.”

”He's still feeling very confused, I should leave him alone for now. Let's wait a few days… If he can think it through himself, there will be nothing to worry about, if he can't, then there's no use for anyone else to say anything. He's already almost 50 and he's still acting like a kid…” John rambled on.

Burns laughed when he heard the last time, ”To me, all football fans are like kids. You did a good job leading the guys at Wilford this morning… Did you think about the kind of response that you'll get? To be honest, I don't think the club will possibly openly admit that it was a mistake letting Twain go. At least not during this period of time anyway…”

John shook his head and said, ”I just want to make things difficult for them, let them know that there are still people in this world who dare to defy them. Even though that man is the club's chairman, us fans can still give him our middle finger! If they do not give us a satisfactory answer, then we'll show our displeasure towards the club with our actions in every home game. And…” He stopped for a while, ”…it's also to apologize to Tony. After all, we booed him mercilessly in the Crimson Stadium before. Those jeers must have hurt him. If… I'm saying if, Tony ever returns to the Crimson Stadium, I want to lead everyone to apologize to him.”

”I don't think there's much chance of that happening,” Burns dampened John's enthusiasm.

”I thought so…” John muttered softly after taking a sip of beer.

※※※

”Damn it! Those damned reporters!” Even though Allan Adams was the shield during the press conference, Evan Doughty was the one who was fuming in private.

Allan followed behind Evan without saying anything.