On the afternoon of the match between Millwall and Manchester United, fans entered the stadium early to prepare for the game. As the first home game of the new season, the fans released all the enthusiasm they had accumulated throughout the summer.
The small Lion's Den stadium underwent simple renovations in the summer. Although it is planned to move into a new stadium in two years, all Millwall games are now the focus. Although the stadium is small, it represents the image of Millwall.
Now the Lion's Cave Stadium is small and exquisite, and the top-grade turf looks green and eye-catching. The seats in the stadium's stands are mainly blue, and the seats in the main stand are printed with huge blue lion patterns based on the color of the seats, which is rich.
Visual beauty.
Today there is almost no red in the stands, and as far as the eye can see is a blue ocean. There are less than 2,000 Red Devils fans here today, and they are arranged in a remote corner.
Before the game started, fans sang songs newly composed after the Lions won the Champions League, and major fan organizations also held up banners and flags.
On this side of the main stand, the curtain covering the entire stand has a pattern of a big ear cup. On both sides of the big ear cup are half-length hand-drawn drawings of Millwall players. At the bottom is Aldridge's serious half-length.
Like, arms crossed across the chest with a determined look on his face.
In other stands, the flag of the Wild Lion was waved by the fans. Die-hard fans of all ages, men, women and children, held up homemade slogans to support the team. Today they all wore Millwall's home jersey for the new season, which at least allowed jersey sponsors
Business music blossomed, and Millwall's commercial value was quickly reflected before the start of the new season. In less than a month, jersey sales exceeded one million.
The seats at the top of the VIP seats. Arthur and Puskas are still looking back at the Champions League final three months ago.
Puskas reunited with his old friend Stefano in that game. The two were not only legends when they played, but also became good coaches after they retired. Puskas talked about that game from a coaching perspective
In the highlight part, he admitted frankly to Arthur. The team's technical and tactical style trained by Aldrich was eye-catching and set off a trend.
Arthur was happy after hearing this, but he was very humble. He thought Aldridge was lucky and finally won Real Madrid in a penalty shootout.
Sitting next to him, Yi Wen smiled to himself. Everyone who knew Arthur knew how much of a stinker he was. He talked about Aldrich every day, and what made him most proud was not his eldest son, who was worth more than one billion, but
This is Aldridge, the younger son who led the team to the top.
On the edge of the court, the team mascot, Leo, the little blue lion, playfully interacted with the audience. When Aldridge walked into the court, the fans on the sidelines stood up and applauded him, thanking him again for his contribution to the team.
contribution.
He not only made Millwall a pivotal part of the English football map, but also made the fans behind Millwall feel proud and proud. The glory of the team inspired the fans' inner pride. This is a football club.
In one of the original public meanings that it should carry, Millwall has achieved this. It can make these fans feel happy and proud while supporting the team.
Aldridge came earlier. He doesn't need to mobilize everyone in the locker room every game. Players are not horses. If you don't crack the whip, they won't run...
When there is enough time, if Aldridge is not sitting in the stands chatting with reporters or friends, then he will give fans autographs and take photos, and try his best to satisfy their requests.
Today he was smiling and signing autographs for the fans on the sidelines. Those fans would hand him jerseys, hats, souvenir books and other things for him to sign. At the same time, they would also say a few words of blessing to him or pat him on the head.
arms encouraging him.
"Boss, help me!"
Aldridge had just signed a fan's autograph when he suddenly raised his head and seemed to hear De Rossi's voice.
He turned his head and looked. He didn't see De Rossi, but he saw the mascot lion Leo tilting his head at the edge of the stands not far away. The ears on the little lion's head were covered by a young fan who was held in the arms of his father.
Hold on tightly.
A charming smile suddenly appeared on Aldrich's face.
Deserve it!
"Boss, I don't want to hurt him with force, so do me a favor!"
De Rossi's voice came from inside the lion's head, and Aldrich smiled at the smiling young couple: "Does this kid like him very much?"
The child's father said cheerfully: "He likes to catch things, and he won't let go after he catches them."
The child's mother said excitedly: "Mr. Hall, today is my son's birthday. He is two years old. We gave him a Millwall jersey and we hope you can sign it."
Aldrich readily agreed, took the pen from the young mother, walked to the child's father, thought for a moment and said to them: "Please wait a moment."
He turned and walked towards the tunnel. De Rossi called from behind him: "Hey, boss, you can help me!"
Aldrich quickly came back with a small football in his hand. He walked up to the couple, smiled and asked, "What's the name of this angel?"
The mother said excitedly: "Benson!"
Aldridge took a pen and wrote on the football: May Benson grow up healthy and happy! Aldridge.
He placed the football in front of little Benson and waved it for more than ten seconds. Little Benson was indeed attracted to his attention, and let go of the little lion Leo's ears. After De Rossi was rescued, he immediately took two steps back, for fear of falling into the "devil's claws" again.
.
"Mr. Hall, thank you very much."
"No, I want to thank you. Being able to see Benson here makes me feel happy."
Aldrich signed his name on little Benson's large children's jersey and waved goodbye to the couple.
Turning around and walking towards the coaching bench, Aldrich still had a smile on his face. He was not being pretentious. Being able to see a young couple happily bringing their children to the stadium to watch the game did make him feel strangely satisfied.
This was impossible to see three, four, or five years ago!
At that time, the stands at Millwall were not safe. Not to mention children, even teenagers might be in danger when watching the game, because there were often small disturbances in the stands.
The atmosphere in the stadium is still hot now. From the time Aldridge entered the stadium to when he sat down, for more than ten minutes, the singing in the stands did not stop, and flags were waved one after another. Millwall's home court is indeed small. But
Walking in here is like walking into a different world, where you can appreciate the purest charm of watching football.
When Ferguson walked by the sidelines, Aldridge took the initiative to stand up and say hello.
Ferguson's face didn't look good.
In the past three years, the memories made by Manchester United at the Lion's Den have never been good.
In addition to the first year when Manchester United finally reversed Newcastle United and won the league championship, it was also thanks to Millwall's last-minute attack on Keegan's team. In that year, Manchester United failed to defeat Millwall in both home and away league rounds.
, and were eliminated by Millwall in the cup.
The cycle of cause and effect, just three and a half months ago. At this stadium, Manchester United was sniped by Millwall, allowing Arsenal to achieve a great comeback from being 10 points behind in the winter and finally win the cup at the end of the season!
But that's not why Ferguson was unhappy.
He made a point of talking to Aldrich on the sidelines for a while today.
"I thought you would be happy now."
Aldridge and Ferguson stood very close to each other, and their conversation was in a low voice, which was the kind of whispering in public.
Ferguson frowned and said: "I thought I would be happy, but I can only be happy if Millwall can sell it to a few people from Manchester United at a low price."
"What does it have to do with us? Don't involve me in your problem with Edwards. Besides, look at your offer, 3 million for Ruud van Nistelrooy, 4 million for Lampard... If I
Reveal these offers to Fleet Street and, haha, Manchester United will probably become a laughing stock."
Aldrich said bluntly.
The most irritating thing is that last year's purchase of Larsson was for 15 million pounds, but this year it became 12 million pounds. If Millwall doesn't reply, it is silently telling Manchester United: It's humiliating itself!
Ferguson asked softly: "Are you selling people in winter?"
"Not for sale! Millwall doesn't do business in winter."
"In the winter, Manchester United can offer a normal price, or a higher price."
"No, this is our principle. It doesn't matter how much we bid. Our season plan is complete. Unless there are major changes in the winter, we can solve it internally. At least I will not sign any players in the winter, nor do I plan to
Let go of any planned players in the winter."
Aldrich replied firmly.
Ferguson said he should be angry, but he couldn't get angry.
Does Manchester United have no money?
Are you kidding me? Edwards and his son, who were selling pork back then, made at least hundreds of millions of pounds through Manchester United. After calculating Manchester United's current stock price, they are estimated to make more than one billion pounds.
It's a pity that Ferguson and Edwards have a bad relationship. Edwards has always been the target of criticism from Manchester United fans, and Ferguson is the coordinator in the middle. However, Edwards is stingy, especially after spending huge sums of money to introduce Stam last season, Manchester United actually
In a single season, all four teams were defeated, and the process was also very shocking. At the end of the league, they had such a huge advantage, but they were snatched away from the championship by Arsenal at the last moment. Edwards criticized Ferguson quite a bit.
The transfer budget for Ferguson will be less, and the summer supplementary lineup will include Yorke.
Just looking at Manchester United's main 11-man lineup, there is not much to criticize. Maybe Erwin is indeed old, but with Giggs rushing in front of him, Erwin only needs to do a good job of defense.
But to compete for the league championship, just relying on 11 players is not enough, far from enough, especially when facing a powerful opponent like Millwall with a strong main force and strong substitutes.
Manchester United has been the focus of the whole UK recently because Manchester United is involved in transactions.
Edwards wanted to sell Manchester United to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and the deal between the two was about to be signed, so there was a huge uproar and fans fiercely opposed it. This was an important reason for Ferguson's unhappiness.
Such a turmoil will undoubtedly affect the team, but he does not object to Manchester United changing its boss. As long as his position as coach is guaranteed, and the new boss is willing to invest, Murdoch is strong. No matter what, he will not be able to compete with Edward, who has a background in selling pork. You are acting like a miser now.
Ferguson also doesn't want to have to fight with the board every season over the transfer budget.
"Can this deal go through? Do you have any special information channels?"
Ferguson asked in a low voice, looking closely into Aldrich's eyes.
The Hall family has a cooperative relationship with Murdoch. Sky Sports and Barnett have 20% of the shares. They invested tens of millions in shares back then, and now they are worth at least more than 500 million pounds.
Aldrich shook his head and said: "It is impossible for my family to get any news from Murdoch. Not to mention that we have no core interests in cooperation with each other. In fact, my eldest brother has fallen out with Murdoch since last year. The two of them No more speeches, representatives will be sent to shareholders’ meetings, and if communication is needed, it will be through an intermediary.”
Ferguson laughed dryly, but he didn't understand what those rich people thought. Sometimes they were just like children, they would never interact with each other if they had conflicts.
Aldrich finally added: "But you should be mentally prepared. I don't think this deal will go through."
"Why?"
The reason why Ferguson just said that there is money in winter is that he believes that Manchester United will get a new owner before winter comes. If the new owner comes, and he is a wealthy sponsor, he will not have to spend tens of millions to give to the team first. It's so pleasing to the fans.
Aldrich shrugged and said: "This matter has caused quite a stir and the public's opposition is too strong. This will directly affect the government's decision-making."
In voting politics, whether the government does something or not depends on whether it can win over the people.
Ferguson shook his head and said: "Manchester United can go public and issue shares, why can't they change their owners?"
"We'll see. Anyway, don't be too optimistic."
Aldrich shook hands with the opponent, turned around and walked back to the coaching bench. The game was about to begin.
