When Roy Keane appeared again in the Nottingham Forest training base in Wilford to train alone, the newspapers reported that he had missed his appointment with Real Madrid.
The reports said that he had even pa.s.sed his medical examinations and that when both parties were ready to sign the contract, Roy Keane had suddenly chosen to reject the transfer and leave Madrid.
No one knew why he had left. Some people speculated that it was due to the contract period. There were also some who speculated that Roy Keane felt tired of the many factions in the Real Madrid locker room. Some people also thought it was for familial reasons.
Twain, perhaps currently the closest person to Keane, did not ask him the reason. It was a relatively private matter which was inconvenient for him to inquire about. He was not an intrusive reporter.
The players were also surprised at Keane"s return. However, all of them restrained their inner curiosity. No one asked about the story behind his missed appointment with Real Madrid.
Michael Kennedy had been gone for days. He became busier after his return from Madrid. He flew to places all the time, searching for the right team for Keane. With such an agent, it was no wonder that he could accompany Keane on his journey to become a world-cla.s.s superstar from being a n.o.body. His actions had changed some of Twain"s prejudices towards agents.
During this period, Twain did not become idle just to focus on Keane. His team played three rounds in the league tournament. On the 11th, they challenged Manchester United in an away game and the teams tied at 1:1 for the match. When the two managers had a drink together after the game, Ferguson specially thanked Twain for providing his training base at no cost for Keane to use.
On the 14th, the Forest team went away to play a make-up match in the third round of the league tournament. Their opponent was West Ham United. The outcome of the game was that Twain"s team defeated "The Hammers" by 3:1.
On the 17th, Nottingham Forest scored a ma.s.sive victory of 4:0 over Charlton at home. After seventeen rounds of compet.i.tion, they had acc.u.mulated thirty-nine points and ranked second in the league. They had a four-point gap from Chelsea, who was in first place.
And Wigan Athletic, the biggest dark horse for the first half of the season, seemed to shed the image of a dark horse. They encountered a succession of strong teams before Christmas and lost repeatedly. They slipped from third to sixth place in the league. Manchester United and Liverpool were catching up with thirty-seven points and thirty-one points, being in third and fourth place respectively. a.r.s.enal was not doing very well. Being one game short, they only had twenty-six points and were ranked eighth.
Keane was present when Twain laid out specific tactics a few days before the games, excluding the match against Manchester United. He deliberately avoided the pre-match tactical training for the game with Manchester United. On that day, he gave himself a day off and went shopping in the city center.
A draw was the best outcome for Roy Keane, who was training at the Forest team"s Wilford training base.
Two days after his return from Madrid, Twain returned to his office to pack up and prepare to go home at the end of a day"s training.
Someone knocked at the door.
"Come in."
Twain was not surprised to see Keane enter through the door.
"I"ve come to say goodbye to you."
"Are you going home for Christmas?"
"Yes, in a way. But I"m not coming back after."
Twain was somewhat surprised. He looked up at the Irishman.
"The Celtics are very interested in me and they sent me an offer."
"The team from the Scottish Premiers.h.i.+p?"
Keane nodded his head. "That"s the team I"ve loved since I was a kid. I want to spend the last days of my career there."
Hearing Keane say that, Twain was quiet for a while. Perhaps it was because he had still kept a tiny bit of hope in his heart that Keane would decide to stay after spending some time with him. He was a little disappointed.
"Well, I wish you all the best, Roy."
Keane cleared his throat. "I know it"s no use talking about it now, but I want to tell you this before I leave: I was going to approach you first to discuss a contract with Forest if the Celtic team hadn"t intervened."
Twain looked at Keane.
"I admit that I became fond of this team from our interactions over these past few days. I"ve told you this. I actually didn"t have any feelings for the Forest team. Nottingham Forest was only special for me because of Manager Clough."
"When I came here, Clough"s team was already in decline. I could feel the end coming. The locker room was filled with complaints. Everyone wanted to leave the club and find another way. I was the same. I thought that I could attract the notice of bigger clubs with my performance on the Forest team. It turned out that I was right. I went to Manchester United later."
"After Clough left Forest, Nottingham Forest was no different to me from the hundreds of other professional teams in England. Well… now I"ve changed my mind. I like the current Nottingham Forest team. It"s completely different from what I had in mind. Totally different."
Keane shook his head.
"I heard a lot of comments about you in Nottingham. It"s really a pity that I didn"t hear anything bad." The Irishman laughed and said, "Michael and I had a serious discussion. We talked about what would happen if I played for you. Our conclusion was so good that I almost chose you. Unfortunately, the Celtics came in at the last second. When the team that I"ve loved and supported since I was young wanted me to play for them, I couldn"t refuse. It has nothing to do with money or honor. I just like the team. I want to be able to put on that jersey before the end of my career. Only then will I feel that my career as a footballer is complete and have no regrets."
At that point, Twain sighed. "I understand. What else can I say? I can only say, I wish you all the best, Roy."
Keane saw Twain"s expression and smiled. "Well, thank you, Mr. Twain. Before, I said I wanted to be a manager after I hung up my boots because I was influenced by two managers. Now I"m going to change that. I"ve been influenced by three managers. But I"m not going to say the name of the third person, I don"t want him to be too pleased with himself."
Twain came up and extended his hand. "Hopefully someday, we"ll meet on the sidelines of a game again. Better be careful. I won"t show any mercy."
Keane also put his hand out. "I"ve never been kind to my rivals."
The two men tightly clasped hands.
※※※
Michael Kennedy, Roy Keane"s agent, waited for Keane to come out of the building in the parking lot.
"We"ll fly to Glasgow tomorrow and talk to them..."
Keane vetoed the plan. "We"ll wait another day before we tell them."
Kennedy was a little puzzled. "Is there anything else left to do here?"
Keane looked back at the training ground in the twilight, "I forgot one thing. I"ll have to come again tomorrow." Then he opened the car door and went in.
"Let"s go, Michael."