In a secluded community in East London, Dean Richards and his wife Samantha lived in one of the apartments. When he came to Millwall, the club community had not yet been built, and he did not choose the club later.
Free apartment, but saving money, hoping to move to a higher-end community with my wife in the future.
After dinner, Samantha was washing the dishes, and Richards was sitting on the sofa watching TV. He had been in a bad mood recently.
This year, he has had fewer and fewer opportunities to play in the team. Originally, the team had undergone significant rotation in recent months, and it was his turn to perform. However, he accidentally went to the doctor in the medical department because of a dizziness after training.
He couldn't even make the substitute list.
He now regrets extremely that those doctors advised him not to compete and wait for the medical report.
He was very dissatisfied, but it was just dizziness. Is this normal? It just meant that he was training too hard.
But no matter how hard other players train, their bodies will be extremely exhausted afterwards, but he felt dizzy. Two and a half months later, he had a physical reaction of vomiting again. Richards didn't think it was a big problem. This kind of thing happened on the court.
Not uncommon.
When Aldridge knocked on the door of his house with a calm expression, Richards was surprised. At this time, the head coach came to the door in person. He must be talking about some very important topics. The first thing he thought of was: I am going to be raped.
Sold!
After all, for the central defender position, his competitors are performing better and better. Helguera was the first choice as a substitute, and then Materazzi. Now he is reduced to competing with that boy Ferdinand.
Are your days at Millwall over?
Samantha poured water for Aldrich. Aldrich sat down and remained silent, looking at the ordinary small apartment. After a long time, he said softly: "Dean, can we talk in private?"
Richards thought pessimistically: They are really going to sell me away!
Samantha probably also thought of this, her mood suddenly became lost, and she walked back to the bedroom with a slightly worried expression.
Of course they don't want to leave, and Richards firmly believes that he will have a bright future if he stays at Millwall. As long as the coach gives him more opportunities, his performance on the court will surely reassure everyone, the coach, teammates, and fans!
Aldrich still didn't know how to speak, but Richards said in a deep voice: "Boss, are you going to sell me away? If it is true, you can tell me that I can bear it."
Aldrich smiled bitterly when he heard this: As a bystander, I can't bear it...
After another long silence, Aldrich handed him the medical report and whispered: "Dean. In the past few months, you have been feeling unwell after training. After examination, the doctor found that you had a strange disease.
And there is no treatment method yet. The doctor’s advice is that you temporarily stop training and competition, such as
If I can cure you as soon as possible, then you can return to the game in good health. If not, I have prepared a new contract for you. You can stay in the club and choose a clerical job, or change your job to become a coach. At the same time, I have prepared a new contract for you.
, the club will be responsible for your medical care throughout the entire process, so you don’t have to worry about the cost.”
Richards was stunned on the spot, and then he opened the medical report in his hand like crazy. There were many professional medical terms and examination data in it. He couldn't understand it at all, and neither could Aldrich, but in the final doctor's diagnosis, he used
The description of the article is very simple, that is, it is recommended to stop strenuous exercise. Because the symptoms he developed all occurred during or after strenuous exercise.
"I don't believe it! This is false! This is the conspiracy of those bastards! This is a persecution against me! They want to destroy me!"
Richards yelled out of control, and then tore the report in his hand into pieces.
He will be 23 years old in two and a half months, and is about to enter the golden age of players, and this stage is very important to him!
But the sudden blow made him lose his mind directly.
Aldrich stood up and hugged Richards, who was like a wild beast, and said sadly: "Dean, don't be like this, calm down, calm down."
Samantha heard the noise outside in the bedroom and rushed out immediately, only to see Richards with tears streaming down his face and crying like a child in Aldrich's arms.
"Boss, this is not true! This is not true! I am not sick, I can play football, I can play football!"
"Boss, this must be a misdiagnosis. I don't believe it. I'm going to a better hospital for confirmation. I will definitely be able to play football again..."
How hard will it be to not be able to play football?
That would simply make his life meaningless, and it would also cause this newly formed family to lose its most important source of income.
The beautiful life he and his wife longed for has reached another unpredictable turning point.
Aldrich didn't want to believe this was true, but it took Thompson three months to send the report to Aldrich. He had sought verification from many sources, communicated with famous professional doctors in the UK, and even flew in personally.
I went to the United States to find top experts through peer relationships and conducted pathological diagnosis together, but the final conclusion was that this was a rare and strange disease.
There are many types of diseases. Some have immediate effects. If you have a disease, go for a check-up and you can find the cause immediately. Some are chronic diseases. Richards's symptoms may seem trivial, and even ordinary players will not take it seriously. They will be over after a rest, but
This does not mean that the body is absolutely healthy. Perhaps the disease factors are just latent for a longer period of time, damaging the health bit by bit. When symptoms appear frequently, the disease may be too late to return.
Aldridge continued to comfort Richards, asking him to calm down and face this change with a positive attitude.
But his words seemed too pale and weak. As a bystander, he felt very painful in his heart, but he could not fully understand the pain of the other party. His words of comfort were actually of no help.
After Samantha learned the whole story, tears immediately came to her eyes. Aldrich sat with the young couple all night.
The next day, Aldrich notified Richards' family and arranged a new medical examination for Richards. No matter what, it made him clearly aware of his physical condition, which is always more convincing than other people's accounts.
On this afternoon, Aldridge, who had not slept all night, had bloodshot eyes, and he was directing the team's Premier League game from the sidelines with a sad look on his face.
They were away to challenge Coventry, a team aiming to avoid relegation. The team's state seemed to be affected by Aldridge's lethargy. In the first half, Coventry scored a goal, and in the second half, they created a point during the bombardment.
The ball was played, and Larson made a free throw to help the team get a draw.
In the game that was played at the same time, Manchester United defeated Everton with two goals at home and won the victory, narrowing the points gap between the two teams to 11 points.
There are still seven rounds left in the league. And after two rounds, Millwall will have a direct confrontation with Manchester United. Ferguson is unwilling to give up and revisits the possibility of winning the championship, believing that Millwall will not be able to withstand the leader in the final stage of the league.
pressure, or perhaps because he relaxed mentally and was overtaken. After all, in the last few rounds, in addition to the direct confrontation with Manchester United, there were also two contests with the London rivals.
Aldridge responded impatiently to the calls for reversal from Manchester United: "Does Manchester United think they can win the championship? Then continue to fantasize."
Millwall players are also aware of Aldridge's unusual form.
In the next week, the atmosphere in Millwall's training ground was a bit depressing. Everyone wanted to know where Richards had gone and why Aldridge had a gloomy look on his face.
At Wembley in the middle of the week, Aldridge sent substitute players to face Norway's Bran. Because he had a four-goal advantage in the first round, Bran also began to face up to Millwall's strength, so this second-leg game was a bit dull.
, Millwall only won by one goal and got a ticket to the semi-finals.
Before the league starts at the weekend, the draw results for the European Cup Winners' Cup are out, and Millwall will finally meet a powerful opponent in the European arena.
Defending champion: Paris Saint-Germain.
Aldrich didn't react much to this, since he would touch anyone anyway. If you want to win the championship, you must be fearless of all opponents.
They will host League Cup champions Leicester City at home this weekend.
Martin O'Neill led the newly promoted Leicester City to a very good record. He took over the team last year and led the team to the Premier League successfully within half a year. He also scored enough relegation points early in his Premier League debut and also helped the club win the League Cup.
The young coach who studied under Brian Clough became an instant success.
The day before the clash with Leicester City, Aldridge summoned all the players on the training ground, and Richards stood beside him in a suit.
The whole team looked at Richards curiously.
Why are you wearing a suit?
After everyone arrived, Aldrich stretched out his hand to signal, and Richards took a step forward. Facing all his teammates, he tried his best to keep his tone calm.
"Sorry, everyone, I can't play football with you."
"Why? Do you want to transfer?"
Matra asked bluntly. He and Richards used to be regular substitute partners. The relationship between the two in the team has always been very good.
After all, Richards couldn't control his emotions. Tears flashed in his eyes and he choked and shook his head: "No, I, I have a strange disease and I can't play football anymore, but I will stay here and the boss will teach me to be a football player."
Coach, this is good. When I can join the first-team coaching staff, you will have to listen to me, hehe, hehehe..."
At the end of his speech, he forced a smile, but two lines of tears dripped down his chin and fell onto the turf.
All the players looked shocked.
Materazzi stepped out from the crowd and hugged Richards tightly. Richards finally lost control and cried loudly, and all his teammates surrounded him.
Aldrich turned his back and closed his eyes, trying not to let tears well up in his eyes.
The next morning, Millwall held a press conference, and Aldridge announced that Dean Richards would temporarily bid farewell to the green field due to physical reasons.
He did not bluntly say that Richards will retire, but if his strange disease cannot be cured within two to three years, then Richards will have no chance to stand on the stage of the top arena again.
As soon as the news was released, it immediately caused shock in the English football world.
Although Dean Richards is a substitute at Millwall, his performance has attracted the attention of insiders because he is young. The media even predicted that as long as he can get stable opportunities to play and continue to improve at Millwall, then
Four or five years later, when Adams' generation of outstanding defenders enters the twilight years of their careers, Richards will be an important candidate for England's new generation of defense.
However, no one thought that this rising central defender, who had high hopes, would end his career at the age of less than 23. Although Aldridge used the words "temporary farewell" in the press conference,
The outside world unanimously believes that Richards can no longer become a top player.
In the following period, the inside story of Richards leaving the field due to "physical reasons" was gradually revealed. While the outside world lamented the jealousy of talents, they also praised Millwall's humane management because it was reasonable.
Chaz's strange illness is just a sign. No one can guarantee that football will affect his health, but Millwall does not risk the players' health.
Richards has been a coach at the club since then, starting from the youth team. Two and a half years later, the cause of his illness was finally discovered and he recovered after eight months of treatment in the United States, but he could only play in the youth team.
After recovering, he announced that he would leave the pitch forever and has been working as a coach at Millwall.
