At the end of October, the cold wind is blowing, winter is getting closer and closer, but European football is filled with smoke and war.
The Millwall first team boarded a plane to Barcelona for the third round of the Champions League group stage.
They were sitting in the first class cabin. Aldrich sat alone by the window with a heavy face and looked at the scenery. He was a little upset.
In the middle of this month, players who had finished their FIFA match day national team tours returned to the team. As a result, Trezeguet was injured while playing for France and needed to recuperate for five weeks. Other international players also returned to the club exhausted.
There will be a World Cup next summer. Players who are recruited by the national team at this time will work very hard to get tickets for the World Cup if they have the chance. Some national players who are destined to miss the World Cup will also try their best for national honor or a glimmer of hope.
In particular, international players like Shevchenko, Nedvěd, and Larsson, who have long journeys to go to the national team, will be greatly affected.
The FIFA virus caused Millwall to lose points against weak teams in the past two league rounds.
They drew with Coventry away from home and defeated their arch-rival Crystal Palace in the London derby at home.
However, Manchester United has scored big scores in two consecutive rounds. In the games against Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United scored a total of 13 goals and only conceded one goal. Not only was it close to Millwall in terms of goal difference, but it was also
This directly opened up the points gap between the two teams by two points.
The league has only played 13 rounds, which seems inconsequential. In the same period of the League Cup, Millwall still continued its good luck, drawing Nottingham Forest, which was relegated last season, and easily defeated its opponent at home to advance to the quarterfinals.
What troubles Aldridge in his heart is the FIFA virus. Millwall only has about 1.5 squads that can play, and the players are young. Some people in the national team are striving to enter the 23-man roster, and some are not.
Competing for the main force, especially in the national teams of traditional powerful countries, this results in players spending a lot of money when they go to the national team to compete.
Before leaving for Barcelona, Aldridge had been holding a fire in his heart since yesterday.
He was despised, despised, and even made Aldrich feel that his dignity had been trampled on!
Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal’s game outlook comes from Spanish media reports.
Van Gaal's original words were: In view of the backwardness of English football, it is no big deal that Millwall becomes the Premier League champion. As a 21-year-old head coach, Hall has done a good job, but the European Champions Cup is a completely different stage. He must be very good now.
Proud, but after two games, he will know the gap between Millwall and Barcelona.
In a long report, Millwall was criticized as worthless by Van Gaal. He not only belittled Millwall's achievements, but also looked down on Aldridge, and even disdained Aldridge as an opponent. He felt that Millwall and Barcelona met.
, is an opportunity for Millwall to learn, and it is also an opportunity for Aldridge to learn from him.
As for Millwall defeating Barcelona to win the European Cup Winners' Cup half a year ago, Van Gaal said bluntly: The British defeated the British, Barcelona should have won, but no, Barcelona should have won the league, but did not. So Rob
Sen is gone, and a truly rich and powerful champion coach is here. Yes, I am talking about myself.
How arrogant does one have to be to say such a thing?
There are many madmen in the coaching world, and Mourinho, who will become famous in the future, is an example. But Aldrich feels that Van Gaal is a hundred times more arrogant than Mourinho!
When Mourinho took charge of Chelsea, to be fair, he was indeed a championship-level coach who "condescended" to coach a team of losers. It's true that he was a bit crazy.
But when Van Gaal went to Barcelona to take up his new job, he said bluntly at the press conference: I won more honors in six years at Ajax than Barcelona won in 100 years!
The Dutch coach, who is now considered a "football tyrant" by the media, aroused Aldridge's intense anger.
From this, he finally focused on Barcelona and Van Gaal.
Ten years later, fans who know Van Gaal will know that he looks down on English football and is outrageously arrogant. Even though Ferguson started several generations of the Red Devils dynasty and won the European Champions Cup twice, Van Gaal still despises Ferguson.
Achievements, I think no famous coach can compare with him. He pointed out that Ferguson's achievements were achieved in the Premier League, which proves nothing at all.
After the plane took off and looked at the beautiful view of the sea of clouds outside the window, Aldrich suddenly calmed down.
Is this fucking psychological warfare?
Van Gaal despised himself, angered himself, and made Millwall play offensive football even in away games.
Aldrich touched his chin and thought about it, and suddenly sighed: "I almost got fooled. Well, even if the other person is telling the truth, if I lose my mind, wouldn't I be advantageous to the other person?"
Just as he was talking to himself, someone suddenly approached him, stretched out his hand in a friendly manner, and said, "Mr. Hall, do you mind if I sit down next to you?"
Aldrich looked up and saw that the seat next to him was unoccupied. It didn't matter if he gave the other person a seat. Anyway, if there was a problem, it was the crew's problem.
He shook hands with the other person, assuming that the other person wanted to change seats.
If you are a celebrity, if someone recognizes you on the plane, there is nothing to make a fuss about.
"This is my business card. Let me introduce myself. My name is Smith Carter."
Aldrich took the other party's business card and looked down, then realized that the other party might be looking for him on purpose.
Executive at Standard Chartered Bank in the UK.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"Haha, I plan to go to Barcelona to watch a game at Millwall."
"Then you should go tomorrow."
"Nothing, I'm going to give myself a break and spend a day in Barcelona."
"Mr. Carter, if you have something to do, please explain your purpose directly. I don't like to kill time with tepid conversations."
Carter has a good appearance and is dressed elegantly in suits and leather shoes. He is about forty years old and looks very mature and charming.
He made a special trip to check Millwall's itinerary today and went to Barcelona with Millwall. Fortunately, Millwall did not charter a plane. This was nothing more than a demonstration of his sincerity and also made Aldrich unable to refuse his door-to-door contact.
Carter then went straight to the point and told Aldrich his purpose.
Actually I want to cooperate with Millwall.
Next summer, two important sponsorship contracts with Millwall will expire.
The first is jersey sponsorship. The club is already in the process of renewing the contract with Puma. Furthermore, this kind of sponsorship is limited to a few international first-tier brands, the most famous of which are Adidas and Nike.
The second is the advertisement on the chest of the jersey. There has been no movement from Barclays. It seems that they do not plan to renew the contract in the summer.
Carter represented Standard Chartered Bank to obtain sponsorship for the new jersey chest advertising and became Millwall's partner.
"From the information we have received, Barclays has no intention of renewing the contract with Millwall. They want a more influential publicity platform, such as the naming rights of the Premier League."
Aldrich listened most of the time and did not make a comment. Adam should have been responsible for this kind of thing, and he made it clear to Adam. However, if someone came to see him, he couldn't ruin the other person's interest.
If he really told the other party to go find Adam, he would be suspected of putting on airs.
"Can you show me the introduction of Standard Chartered Bank?"
Aldrich felt that there was nothing to do on the flight anyway. Why not just talk about it.
Carter came prepared and explained their company's situation to Aldrich.
Although Standard Chartered Bank is headquartered in London and is a British bank, its banking business is global. On the contrary, it has very few customers in the UK.
Therefore, when they chose Millwall, the most important factor to consider was the publicity influence outside the UK.
"I think you should go find Manchester United."
Aldrich looked through the introduction documents of Standard Chartered Bank and said casually.
"To be honest, Edwards' asking price is too high. We prefer to have a long-term partner. Moreover, we are not sure about Manchester United's prospects."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Carter looked slightly surprised, then smiled and said: "Don't you know? It should be no secret in the English football circle. Martin Edwards wants to sell Manchester United, and the Football Association is blocking it, but they can't do anything, so it's already
Start contacting the government to suppress it.”
Aldrich was stunned for two seconds and then shook his head and said: "I haven't heard of it, because I don't care about the club's political struggles, and I have no interest in equity transactions in other clubs."
"Haha, with your status, of course you don't have to care about this."
Standard Chartered's uncertainty over Manchester United's prospects is well founded.
If Aldridge remembers correctly, it should have been during this period that media tycoon Murdoch was planning to acquire Manchester United, and he would officially take action next year, with the purchase price exceeding 600 million pounds!
However, the British government intervened to block the acquisition, causing the Edwards family to miss the opportunity to sell Manchester United for the highest price.
In fact, this kind of deal seems ridiculous to foreign fans. If the club changes its owner, the government can still control it? One buy and one sell, if the old man is innocent, why should he control it?
But after all, Manchester United is a symbol of British football, and people's ideas have not changed. The football industry is not as "capitalistic" as it will be ten years ago.
It is no exaggeration to say that if the Hall family were not local to London, even if they were a non-London family in the UK, the acquisition of Millwall would not be accepted by the fans and even set off a huge opposition movement.
This is not about whether outsiders can revitalize the team, but a question of ownership.
This old idea is deeply ingrained that the club belongs to the community and the fans, not the club owners!
Manchester United's commercialization is deeply resented by fans because they have blatantly turned the football club into a money-making tool. Edwards became the first salaried chairman in the history of football and turned a public welfare position into the role of a wage earner. Not only did he
In this way, the FA regulations indicate that the club is a non-profit organization, but Manchester United still distributes annual dividends with great fanfare.
In the history of the development of commercial football, Manchester United is the leader, the first to take advantage of the situation, and the most controversial.
However, when the club became a joint-stock enterprise, neither the Football Association nor the government had any control over it.
The Edwards family learned a lesson after the Murdoch takeover was cut in half, and waited several years before secretly completing the equity transaction to sell Manchester United. By the time the FA and the British government reacted, all the transactions had been completed, and it was difficult to recover.
Aldridge closed the document in his hand and said calmly: "Can you explain the reason for Standard Chartered Bank's cooperation? You want to sponsor Millwall, but I think you will have competitors. I don't want to raise the price, I just want to know
, why do you defeat your competitors?”
Carter spoke freely and said confidently: "I am a person who believes in far-sighted ideas. I strongly want to promote this cooperation because we want to be Millwall's long-term partners and I firmly believe that Millwall will bring us good results."
market effect.”
“What’s the reason for faith?”
"First, Millwall has a strong financial background. The Hall family is still looting countries in Southeast Asia. The results of this financial war can no longer be reversed. The Hall family conservatively estimates that they already have more than one billion pounds in assets.
Although you are not involved in any of this, I believe that as the owner of Millwall, you will not lack financial support. Judging from the hard work you have devoted to this team, you will not watch the team decline and will continue to
Maintaining the competitiveness of the team may not guarantee that it will become the Premier League champion every year, but from
After you lead the team to the European stage, I think Millwall will stay on this stage for a long time to come. Second, Millwall is now a potential stock. The sooner you start, the greater the benefits. Second
Third, Millwall’s own publicity efforts. In the process of researching Millwall, I found that you are trying your best to use the emerging Internet to create publicity influence. Almost every football-related website has your advertisements. In other words,
By becoming the sponsor of Millwall's chest advertising, our bank itself has been promoted through the Internet."
Aldrich turned to stare at Carter, suddenly smiled, and said something that confused Carter.
"It turns out that in your eyes, you are a bole and Millwall is a thousand-mile horse."
