The Young Lion

Ridsdale's exclamation sounded awkward to the assistant's ears, and it was simply moaning out of nowhere.

Nonsense.

Without good players, the club is definitely worthless.

If Manchester United did not have top players like Schmeichel, Keane, and Stam in Banga 92, what would Manchester United do to achieve a good record? What else do you use to make money?

Ahem, in the summer of 1996, Millwall's operating income ranked seventh from the bottom in the Premier League. One year later, in the summer of 1997, they ranked sixth in the Premier League. According to the operating income statistics half a month ago, they Second only to Manchester United, it ranks 18th in Europe. If you count their income from selling players, there is no doubt that they are the most profitable team in Europe for the year.”

Ridsdale listened and thought, Millwall’s income is mainly supported by excellent records. The European Cup Winners’ Cup + League Championship made them the sixth highest-paid team in the league. Let their income be second only to Manchester United.

It is predicted in the evaluation report that if Millwall can maintain the performance of the past two years, then in 2001, they will become the club with the highest operating income in the Premier League and even in Europe.

Why 2001?

Because Millwall will move to the new stadium in 2000, the operating income will rise again by leaps and bounds.

Ridsdale curled his lips noncommittally and said: Maintain the record of the past two years? On average, win a league title and a Champions League every two years? Plus the FA Cup and League Cup? What are you kidding, the Champions League is so easy to win Is it? They won the championship last season because of a lot of luck. Eliminating Juventus relied on a last-minute lore, and winning Real Madrid was a penalty. Do it again? Let’s see if they can still beat Juventus.”

The assistant said: In fact, as long as Millwall can maintain their ability to enter the Champions League and enter the knockout rounds every season, their operating income will be stably ranked among the top ten in Europe after moving to the new stadium. A couple of trophies. It’s not surprising to be the richest club in Europe. When they came back from Tokyo, Millwall’s chief executive Adam Jane made a statement, I don’t know if you’ve heard it.”

Ridsdale was not interested, shook his head and said, I haven't heard of it, it's just that Millwall won another championship trophy.

No, it has nothing to do with the Toyota Cup. Adam Jane claims that Millwall has more than 10 million fans in Asia.

Even if Millwall has 100 million fans in Asia, so what?

Ridsdale scoffed.

The broadcast of the Premier League is packaged and sold, and the same is true for the Champions League. The number of fans will indeed affect the broadcast share of the Premier League. However, the Premier League has its own evaluation method, which is not unilaterally claimed by Millwall.

No matter how many fans there are in Asia, how much can the club's operating income increase?

Will 1% of them buy genuine jerseys?

Will you buy season tickets?

In terms of the most intuitive income, the benefits brought by foreign fans to the club are not impressive.

Ridsdale's view, his aides beg to differ. Patiently explained to him: Adam Jane didn't say what he said to the club owner Hall, nor did he say it to the fans. He just used a tactful way to tell the sponsors: Millwall is Asian influence! There is a possibility of exaggeration, but the effect is certainly good.”

It was only then that Ridsdale realized that this was a marketing strategy of encircling Wei and saving Zhao.

The greater the number of Millwall fans abroad, it does not intuitively bring huge income to their club. But it can make the sponsors pay more sponsorship fees. This trip to Tokyo, Millwall not only brought back a Toyota Cup trophy, but also signed 5 new sponsorship contracts. The sponsors are all Asian companies. It is an important way for international influence to bring commercial income.

In the end, the assistant concluded: Millwall has been able to rise rapidly over the years, from a worthless club to a rich club in Europe. The most important thing is two points. One is record, and the other is. The fan market and all commercial income of football clubs are directly or indirectly paid by the fans, in other words, all the money the team earns is from the fans.”

Ridsdale watched the pitch without saying a word. The second half was about to start, but he was thinking about how to make the white roses of Yorkshire bloom!

You said, if we lure Millwall players with a lot of money, is it possible to achieve our goal?

Ridsdale also wants to build Leeds United into a strong team that can make money. He thinks in his heart that it is only a little bit, just a little bit!

Leeds United ranked sixth in the league last season. Although it is temporarily ranked fifth this season, the gap with the top four has been widened. Under the background of the expansion of the Champions League next season, he naturally hopes that the team can share the temptation. At the beginning of the season, he was very disappointed because he failed to recruit Martin O'Neill, but O'Reilly gave him a surprise.

His assistant shook his head and said: The main players of the first team will definitely not come to Elland Road. There is hope for the substitute players, but they have to be bought, not to mention how much the transfer fee will be extorted. More than 1.5 times the salary.

Ridsdale said lightly: If Leeds United can enter the Champions League all year round and hope to compete for the league championship, this price is worth it. Didn't Millwall spend a huge amount of money to rebuild the team in the summer of 1994? I remember that the whole of England was laughing at Hall at that time. He spent the combined transfer fee of the top three teams in the Premier League at that time, and gave a salary higher than the sum of Manchester United's first team. The outside world thought that within two years, Millwall Definitely going bankrupt, but two years later, Millwall is worth more than ten times as much.

His assistant nodded. On this point, he couldn't refute Ridsdale. To make the white rose of Leeds United bloom, it is not enough to have young coach O'Reilly and a few outstanding players trained by the youth training. They must introduce high-level players, so that the record can be improved immediately and qualitatively.

In the second half of the game, Millwall's offense was simple and rough, since the players couldn't keep up physically. Pushing straight up and down will not give you a speed advantage, and the back row will not be able to retreat when the attack turns to defense. Then play the simplest offense.

But Leeds United is really united today, just like their young coach David O'Reilly. With a sturdy spirit, there is really a bit of the shadow of Millwall back then.

Aldridge dispatched troops to adjust his tactics in the second half, but Millwall's offense was nothing but thunder and rain. The situation of only blooming but no results made him need to hide deeper offensive points, like Lampard's attacking, Leeds United's The defense has been wary of him.

in the last twenty minutes. Aldridge let Southgate also insert an assist. This adjustment is the same as letting Elguera step forward to attack when playing Real Madrid, and the effect is good.

Southgate went all the way in. Due to the inertia of Leeds United's marking, Southgate's sudden attack caught them by surprise. There were flaws in the tight defense. De's through ball, a kick shot!

The ball flew directly into the stands.

Aldridge looked at this unbearable shot, and felt only a little regret in his heart, but he didn't complain about Southgate. Originally, he was a defender, but he just went to the opponent's penalty area and made a clearance...

After the shot, Southgate touched the back of his thigh, and his expression suddenly became a little painful. He saw that Leeds United was going to kick off the goal kick quickly. When he came up, there was no defense behind. So he sat down, and the referee had to stop the game when he saw this.

There were boos at Elland Road, thinking Southgate was unkind.

You fucking rushed up to complete a clear shot, we were going to fight back, and you started cheating and hindering our excellent fighter, what a fuck!

Southgate is not a fake injury, but a real injury!

After checking, the team doctor gave Aldridge a substitution signal. After Southgate sat down, Aldridge asked Ferdinand to warm up, and got the confirmation from the team doctor. Aldridge handed over the exchange list helplessly.

The price of a Toyota Cup is a bit high.

Seeing that the comeback of Larson and Pirlo is coming soon, the captain is injured again.

After Southgate left the field, Millwall's situation was a little passive. The fact that the opponent hit the new Ferdinand, forced Millwall to return to the defense deeper in the midfield. When Millwall was about to switch from defense to offense, it advanced slowly.

At the end of the ninety-minute game, the score was still 1:0, and Millwall lost to Elland Road.

The fans of Leeds United were as happy as Chinese New Year. Aldridge went straight to shake hands with O'Reilly, and the other party also walked towards him. Aldridge didn't want to talk too much, but the other party was very enthusiastic. They talked to him a few words, O'Reilly Derich just listened, nodded and left the court.

At the post-match press conference, the reporters on Fleet Street looked serious. After Aldridge arrived, someone asked: What is the reason why Millwall lost this game? Did you underestimate the enemy?

Aldrich shook his head, underestimating the enemy? Certainly not.

Leeds United played better today. They deserved the victory. My players are too tired. We haven't recovered from the fatigue of the trip to Japan and back. I believe the performance of the players will improve in the next game. If If not, then we have to adjust our season goals, maybe we should really consider competing for the UEFA Cup next season to complete the Club Honors Grand Slam.

As soon as his words fell, the atmosphere of the scene suddenly changed, from serious and dull to relaxed.

As Millwall has come over the past few years, the reporters who have been following the report for a long time are also a few years older, and Aldridge in their eyes is also slowly changing, growing, and maturing.

His mentality like now is a good manifestation.

Losing a game doesn't feel like the end of the world is coming. Find the reason, solve the problem, don't complicate things, and don't put more pressure on the players and make them nervous because of the loss.

There is no team that does not lose on the football field, but to become a winning general, you must learn to face defeat more calmly.

After the game, Fleet Street sent praises when they commented on the games of the two teams.

He praised the strength of the Leeds United youth army, and also praised Aldrich's demeanor of not being surprised.

Then four days later, when Millwall's substitutes lost to Martin O'Neill's Leicester City in the Carling Cup quarter-finals, the tone of Fleet Street changed completely...

Two consecutive losses in the League Cup, which is very rare for Millwall.

Before the arrival of the Christmas Express, Millwall's state was obviously not ideal. Aldrich hoped to give the main players more rest time to adjust his state in preparation for the Christmas Express. He was not disappointed at all when he was eliminated from the League Cup. Even training is the main focus, and the substitute players are not in good condition. It is reasonable to be eliminated by O'Neal's team, but the fact that Tony abused Mills made him look a little ugly. ()