Allan's Christmas present for Twain was a large package. Twain did not even think about the collaboration with Sports Interactive. Surprisingly, had Allan clinched the deal. This not only brought a new sponsor for the club, but it made him a spokesperson for the game as well.

Obviously, the collaboration with SI would need to wait until Christmas was over, when there would be more things to do. This would include the press conference for the announcement, the cover, the production of the new cover, packaging of the game, the shoot of the print, advertising for the game publicity, and so on.

The English Premier League was different from the other European tournaments in that there was no winter break. Although the English national manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, had proposed a winter break a few years ago, the English Football Association did not adopt it. Not only was there no winter break, but the schedule for the Premier League was at its the most intensive directly before and after Christmas. The Forest team would be playing two consecutive games on the 26th and 28th. Such arrangements were common every year during that period.

The Forest team's Christmas party was over, and the calendar had turned to the new year. In a blink of an eye, 2005 had arrived. Tang En had been here for two years, which was not too long. But it was not short either. The current Twain and who he had been in January 3, 2003 were completely different. At that time, he had been pretending to be a manager; now, he had gradually developed into a qualified manager.

At first, he had not known anything. He had just relied on his past gaming experience in the Football Manager Game, watching all kinds of football-related news reports, and his own imagination to pretend he was a football manager. Due to good luck and coupled with a little talent, he was not dismissed halfway and ended up destitute.

Now, he no longer thought of himself as an impostor. He had faith in in his ability and believed that he could lead the Forest team towards success.

※※※

On January 1, before the Forest team played against Bolton Wanderers in a home game, the Forest team introduced the first player of the winter transfer period. The goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar came to report, and Twain attended the press conference with him. Naturally, before meeting the press, as the manager of the team, Tony Twain had an exchange with Edwin van der Sar in his office.

Van der Sar was brought by his agent. At the door of his office, Twain saw the Dutchman, who had come from London and who looked exactly as Tang En had guessed; tall, quiet and steady.

"Welcome to Sherwood Forest in Nottingham, and welcome to the Red Robber Gang. I'm the boss of this gang of robbers; you can call me chief, you can also call me boss or Tony, or whatever else you like." Twain's self-introduction was refreshing for Edwin van der Sar. He had been to many teams in his career, but he had never seen any football manager introduce their team and welcome newcomers in such a manner.

The Dutchman did not react because he was a little surprised. Next to them, the assistant manager, David Kerslake, laughed. "This is his style. You'll get used to it."

Van der Sar came forward to shake Twain's hand. "Hello, boss." The Dutchman was not used to calling a man who was only a year older than himself "Boss."

"I'm very glad you chose the Forest team, Edwin. I'm sure you didn't come here with the idea of retirement, did you?" Twain came straight to the point after shaking hands with Van der Sar.

Van der Sar nodded, "Of course not. If I wanted to retire, I could just have gone to Ajax."

When he heard Edwin's answer, Twain nodded and pointed out the door. "Yes, I agree. We all know why you made this choice. There's lots of media outside now. Did you just see? The car park is full."

Van der Sar nodded in confirmation.

"Many of them people questioned this transfer. They said that the Forest team would only spend money to pay for old guys who no one wanted, or that Edwin van der Sar is preparing for his retirement… that kind of stuff. They seemed to take their talk very seriously. We just need to prove that they're wrong in the future. I'm an ambitious manager. What about you, Edwin?"

Van der Sar smiled. "Me too, boss."

"Very good, then we're going to work well together! I'll take you to meet your teammates in a while. The press conference is very short, and we won't arrange to meet with the fans this time. After the press conference, you can go to the locker room and familiarize yourself with everyone. Then... do you need to go back to the hotel for a rest?"

Van der Sar shook his head. "No, I can start training right away." He believed that this was Twain's tiny test for new players. He had to impress the new manager, so he showed that he was making effort.

As expected, Twain was satisfied with Van der Sar 's answer. He clapped his hands and said, "In that case, let's go to the press conference first. If we let that group of reporters wait, who knows what they will write in the newspaper?"

Van der Sar found that Twain was different from every other manager he had ever met. He was humorous and young; barely older than himself.

After that, Twain introduced Kerslake to the Dutchman, and then took him to the press conference.

Although it was the new year, there was still a lot of media because it involved the transfer of the most famous player in the English football for this winter transfer period so far. The 34-year-old Dutchman chose Nottingham Forest over Manchester united, which would be news in itself in any case.

Indeed, as Twain had said, most of the media's questions were focused on van der Sar's decision to change clubs at the age of thirty-four.

Edwin's response was in line with Twain's expectations. He appeared to say some nice things on the surface, but it was really just fluff. He did not give to the reporters who liked nothing better than to tamper with others' speech and take advantage of others.

Twain sat there smiling the entire time. He had solved his most troublesome problem. There was nothing else he had to be worried about.

On the forward line was the stable partnership of Mark Viduka and Eastwood. Even though Bendtner and Crouch could only be substitutes for both of them, everyone had enough ability to appear in the starting lineup in Twain's eyes.

Not to mention their strength in the midfield, with George Wood on the rise and the veteran, Albertini, still robust. There was also Ribéry, Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon...Maybe the weaker players there were Kris Commons and Brynjar Gunnarsson.

On the defensive line was the veteran, Hierro. Even though his number of appearances had slowly diminished, his experience was still the team's most valuable asset. Piqué was gradually developing into the main center back, and Twain had abided by the promise he had made to him when he first signed the contract with him and given him chances to play. Piqué quickly seized those opportunities and gradually showed his strength.

Now, the goalkeeper position had enlisted a strong player too. Edwin van der Sar might have been thirty-four years old, but his condition was still very good. Twain did not have to worry about goalkeeper problems again within two or three years.

After the press conference had ended, Twain led van der Sar to the locker room, and the players who had been training came in one after another. Along the way, Twain gave van der Sar an introduction about the team and the players. "As a whole, everyone gets along well. Have you heard any negative news about the Forest team's locker room?" He saw van der Sar hesitate a little, and knew what he was thinking. "That was just a story the press made up. You'll see for yourself. I promise, you'll like the team before long."

Before they even got to the door of the locker room, the two men heard loud laughter coming from inside.

Twain smiled at Edwin, then pushed open the door and appeared in front of everyone.

"Guys, let me introduce you to your new teammate, Edwin van der Sar." Twain beckoned to signal for van der Sar to come up and greet his teammates.

"Hi, everyone." van der Sar greeted his new teammates openly. As team captain, Albertini was the first stand up and welcome him. He smiled and said, "I didn't expect us to become teammates, Edwin."

Edwin van der Sar had played for Serie A's Juventus for some time, and had often played against Albertini from AC Milan. Although it was rumored that Juventus and AC Milan had a sacred alliance in Italian football, there was no alliance or friendship between the two teams in the fight for championships.

Van der Sar was very happy to be able to meet an "old friend" here. Even if they had not been before, they were now.

Obviously, Albertini should not just step up and assume the responsibility of assimilating new players into the team. Accordingly, when everyone came up to say hello to van der Sar, he quietly left the room.

The mood was congenial, except for Ward, who would be replaced. He politely came up to shake hands with van der Sar before retreating into a corner.

As for the depressed Darren Ward, Twain had other plans. During the winter break, he would find out if there was any football club which would be interested in him.

※※※

Twain did not receive any offers from interested clubs for Darren Ward, but he received a great deal of inquiries about quotes for George Wood.

In the 21st round of the English Premier League, which ended on January 2, Nottingham Forest obtained a small victory of 1:0 over Portsmouth on their home turf. Wood's state of play was still stable, which was always the case, but the goal he had scored against Manchester United changed all that, and he had attracted more attention.

It was ironic that no one had praised a defensive player who had done his job seriously, but had just nitpicked him a lot. But when he scored a goal, he immediately received praise from everywhere, which almost put him on a pedestal. Defensive players had to rely on goals to prove their ability because most people believed that football was most exciting when goals were scored.