The Young Lion

The morning sun is shining, and it is rare to have a sunny morning in London in winter.

Aldridge was standing on the sidelines of the training field in his club's winter sportswear, and he chatted casually with his colleagues in the coaching staff wearing a pair of warm gloves.

Soon, the players came to the training ground one by one on time. Aldridge was very grateful for the decision he made half a year ago, letting Southgate, Nedved, and Larsson serve as the team's three captains. These three are now the mainstay of Millwall. Their strength on the court is nothing to say. At the same time, their professional ethics are obvious to all. There are three players who set an example for the players. It didn't happen.

Have you had a good time the past few days?

Aldridge was becoming more and more bossy. When he asked, most of the young and mature players laughed and said nothing, while other younger and more cheerful players talked in a hurry.

Compared with other clubs who are still training, Millwall suddenly gave the players a holiday. Such a good thing makes them very happy.

The team needs to take a breather. It has been fighting non-stop since October, and the brakes need to be stepped on at an appropriate time.

The short vacation made the players feel happy, and when they returned to the training ground after relaxing physically and mentally, perhaps none of them remembered the previous three rounds of invincibility. Aldridge minimized the negative impact on morale.

Because Schneider was injured, just to be on the safe side, Aldridge let him recuperate for a month, and Beckham temporarily entered the main lineup.

Five days later, they headed north to South Yorkshire to challenge Sheffield United at the top of the League One table.

For Millwall's previous three rounds of victory, the outside world is paying attention to the result of this game. Whether Millwall can withstand the pressure and reverse the decline is likely to be a watershed for the league championship.

After all, if Middlesbrough wins, the gap between the two teams will be shortened to within two games, and after six rounds, the two teams competing for the championship will usher in the second round of the league.

In the case of widespread concern from the outside world, Aldridge led the team to an easy 2-0 victory in the away game, without bloodshed.

However, Middlesbrough failed to win Grimsby at home on the same day, which widened the gap between the two teams to 10 points.

Millwall won the ball and stopped the decline. If this momentum continues, the suspense of the League One championship is likely to end at the end of February. At the end of February, whether Middlesbrough can suppress Millwall’s momentum at the Lion’s Den Going on will determine the fate of the two teams.

After all, who is going to play the cruel play-offs to get promotion tickets? !

Returning to London in a happy mood, Aldrich had just returned home when the phone rang in the study.

It's done. I'll find someone who specializes in divorce lawsuits to take over the lawsuit. I'll help her rent a new apartment, pay the rent for three years, and hire a nanny. The salary will be paid automatically by my company. In addition, I will also give her Thirty thousand pounds.

Andrew's slightly tired voice came from the receiver.

Aldrich breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a light smile, How long has it been since you went to the gym? You probably haven't done any physical work, have you? Why do you seem so tired?

Well, it's tiring to run back and forth. Aldrich, I'm a little confused.

What's the meaning?

You understand what it means.

not understand.

Well, then why are you helping her? Even if you like mature women,

But she, with all due respect, I don't see any charm in her.

Aldrich couldn't help but sighed after a while, Andrew, you've changed.

What does it have to do with me?

Why can't you simply look at this matter? Maybe you are a supermodel and give a famous watch and bag fashion to please people. Letting women fall in love with you does not mean that I am too. Ms. Rowling has talents that we cannot envy. , she just encountered difficulties in life, that's all, I have nothing to help her, I just hope that she can cheer up, and don't be disturbed by the trivial things in life, and show the world her incomparable beauty without worry talent.

Andrew fell into silence, and sighed quietly after a long time: Aldrich, you are right, I have changed, it is a simple question, but I am an asshole, you don't hate me, do you?

Aldrich laughed and said, How could it be? Everyone has a different lifestyle. Besides, I can't guarantee that I will become an asshole in the future. Why should I criticize others with a high-minded eye. Let's talk about other things. .”

The two brothers talked about some career topics. In addition to holding the contracts of most of Millwall's players, Andrew's agent company is also trying to sign players from several Premier League clubs.

But on the whole, Andrew’s company is still modest, and it hasn’t caused much trouble in the agent industry. This industry needs fame, and it has a long sleeve in the transfer market and a wide network of players in business development. In fact, the core It is to generate income for the players.

As soon as he talked about football-related topics, Aldridge couldn't stop his mouth. Under his indoctrination, Andrew's idea of ​​signing players to Millwall has completely changed. Now his agent The company has just started, not to mention famous stars, even ordinary players may find it difficult to sign, but it doesn't matter, at this stage, he just needs to sweep away young players on a large scale, even if he can't sign, building a good relationship is also laying the foundation for the future, Broker contracts are not for a lifetime, and most of them are signed every three years. After the transfer of several stars can be operated, Andrew's company will start its brand.

The next day, Aldrich received a courier from Rowling in Edinburgh.

There was a thick copy of the manuscript and a letter in the courier.

Aldridge first opened the letter and read it. In the letter, Rowling expressed her gratitude to him. The manuscript was a copy of the work she was creating. Although it was not yet completed, I hoped that Aldrich could have a sneak peek. And give some comments on her works.

Aldrich unexpectedly discovered that the manuscript in his hand turned out to be the unfinished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

As for comments, Aldridge thinks he is not qualified. He is just a spectator. If Rowling is a football player, Aldridge is at best a fan cheering for him outside the field.

However, Aldrich was overjoyed to be able to read the original manuscript of Harry Potter, but he also knew the importance of the manuscript, so he never took the manuscript out of the study, and lay quietly in the study at night Listening to soothing light music on the sofa, I read with relish page by page.

In the past, he was half-baked at English, and he couldn't understand the original books in English. Even if he could understand, it was probably in the realm of incomprehensible words.

It's different now, at least he can understand everything described in the manuscript without hindrance, and he can naturally imagine that wonderful world in his mind.

Interestingly, Rowling is not unrelated to football. She is bored with football games, but the football flying in the sky gave her creativity. The Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter is actually the source football match.

After Aldrich finished reading the manuscript, he wrote a reply to Rowling. Since then, although the two rarely met, they always kept in touch through letters. This relationship continued until Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone officially The day of publication.

At the end of January 1995, Millwall ushered in a major game: the FA Cup.

Starting from the third round of the FA Cup, teams from the Premier League and League One joined the battle group, forming a knockout round of 64 teams fighting each other.

Millwall was extremely unlucky, and the draw directly drew the same city rivals Arsenal.

If there is anything to be thankful for, it is probably that the home game increases the ticket revenue. In addition, the opponent is Arsenal, and the broadcast revenue is also high.

There are many enemies of Millwall in history, including Liverpool, Manchester City, Leeds United, Gillingham, etc. in the original history, but half of the way these teams have enmity with Millwall and even forge grievances is because In a certain period of time, the intersection of the field, the other half is caused by the hot conflict between the fans of the two sides.

Premier League giants like Liverpool don't take Millwall seriously at all. It's more of Millwall's lack of strength and unilateral grudges.

The behind-the-scenes fueling of football hooligans played a key role in these non-derby feuds.

In general, because of Millwall's geographical location in London, there are three deadly enemies, West Ham United and Crystal Palace, as well as Charlton.

If expressed in terms of hate value, West Ham United is at full value, Crystal Palace is 80, and Charlton is 60.

Not all teams in London are fighting against Millwall, and the gap in strength also makes those strong teams look down on Millwall. The strong always dismiss the weak, just like Tottenham vs. Arsenal The hatred value is 100, but Arsenal is only 80 against Tottenham at best, and Millwall, Tottenham and Arsenal have the tendency to do nothing.

In addition to West Ham United, a mortal enemy that may last for generations, the second target of Millwall's hatred is not Crystal Palace, but Chelsea in West London.

This is probably also due to the fans. Chelsea is in West London. As West London has become very expensive in the past few decades, loyal fans of the traditional working class can only move away from West London, where prices and land prices are soaring, and move to relatively low consumption levels. In London, the east is poor and the west is rich, and the south is poor and the north is rich. Most Chelsea fans have come to the Millwall area. Therefore, the war between the fans has naturally risen to between the clubs, so there has been a strange The phenomenon.

The stronger Chelsea hates Millwall more than Millwall hates Chelsea!

It is conceivable that in the Millwall area famous for football hooligans, can Chelsea fans get a bargain here? Therefore, Chelsea hates Millwall even more, but Millwall just retaliates and hates the other side.

Located in the Greater London area, in a general sense, there is a derby relationship between all clubs, and between those teams without a history of hatred, there is only the simplest meaning of a city derby: who is the boss of this city !

Because of Millwall's strength, it is impossible to participate in Arsenal's King of London competition, so the atmosphere in the derby will not be very strong.

But Arsenal is a hated club, especially in London.

Because Arsenal used to move north from South London to North London, at Seven Sisters Street, they almost moved to Tottenham’s doorstep and competed with others for territory. This kind of behavior is disgusting to any team and fans, similar Manchester United, an outsider, cannot win the hearts of many local fans in Manchester. Manchester City's fan base is stronger than Manchester United's, and Arsenal's fans are more from the neighboring counties in the north. International diversity has become more open, and many neutral fans have become Manchester United or Arsenal fans in later history.

The FA Cup against Arsenal, at best, can create some sparks in London, but not too much enthusiasm, if it is Millwall against West Ham United or Chelsea, it will be lively.

Aldridge only faced the FA Cup with a normal heart, but unexpectedly, someone was restless and insisted on adding trouble to him.

On the morning of the race, the cover headline in The Times read:

George Graham: Arsenal will teach Millwall to respect football, and Aldridge is a cancer in English football!