Early morning.

Newcastle United dressing room.

Michael Owen, as usual, arrived half an hour early, and he leaned back against the wardrobe to organize his backpack and take out the clothes one by one and fold them.

The door was pushed open.

Steven Taylor walked in, he glanced up at the locker room and greeted Owen with a smile, "Michael, you're so early. ”

"Good morning!"

Owen turned his head and replied.

"Good morning!"

The two said hello to each other, and went about their own things, no one paid attention to anyone, but occasionally glanced at each other, Owen's face was confident, and he said secretly in his heart, "I'm sorry, Steven." ”

"There is no absolute fairness in this world!"

The other side.

Taylor was thinking the same thing, and his expression was equally relaxed, because in his opinion...... Owen was as pure as a virgin.

This refers to private life.

Owen is a very good man, his wife is a childhood friend of his childhood sweetheart, and there is almost no emotional gossip about him on the news, which means that his private life is very healthy, and his family should be considered happy, right?

But......

"He determined his relationship early, how can he understand the happiness of being single?"

Taylor then looked forward to joining the 'Lucky Pair'.

Taylor doesn't believe in anything 'increased luck', Zhen Shaolong, Milner, Barton, Enzobia and others, play well because of strength, not luck, and before there is no lucky combination, Zhen Shaolong also maintains high efficiency, Milner, Enzobia, Barton are also the main force in the midfield.

Smith......

This combination is almost ineffective for him, because he is only a full-back, and no matter how many assists he has come forward, there is no small gap between him and the midfield.

Taylor thought he just thought the combination was fun, and besides, he had the same idea as Enzobia, "I'm going to be the focus too!" Joining is sure to increase exposure! ”

"In addition, I want to improve my position in the team!"

The latter is also important.

Since the start of the new season, Newcastle United has changed a lot, many players have left, many are new arrivals, and even the owners of the club have changed, so it can be said that there has been a big change inside and out.

Taylor observed closely and found that Zhen Shaolong was the most authoritative.

This is followed by Patton and Smith.

The reason why Zhen Shaolong has authority is very simple, he is the best player in the team, and some teammates have conflicts with him, no matter who is right and who is wrong, the club will definitely favor him.

Of course.

Zhen Shaolong's temper is also good, and his personality is also a person who can be a friend, and he will not take the initiative to contradict others, but there must be authority to show influence.

Barton and Smith are two 'violent maniacs', and English football can be said to be 'famous', among which Barton can be described as 'notorious'.

They are all new to the team, and no teammates dare to provoke them.

Zhen Shaolong, Barton, Smith together, naturally become the most authoritative combination in the dressing room, Taylor's status has not been high in the past, he is Newcastle United academy training, but the age is really a little young, everyone in the team can be said to be 'seniors', naturally there is no right to speak.

Now he sees an opportunity for change!

As long as you can follow Zhen Shaolong and a few people in the future, the team will be at the 'first echelon' level, and there will definitely be more weight in speaking.

Reference can be made to Enzobia in this regard.

N'Zogbia has always been the 'transparent man' of the locker room, but after joining the group, his words have become weighty, as if he has become noticed in a leap, and Taylor hopes to achieve a similar effect.

————

As time passed, the dressing room quickly became much more lively.

Zhen Shaolong and the others have arrived.

Those who came in advance waited in the locker room, waiting for the last Smith to arrive, and under the expectant eyes of Owen and Taylor, Zhen Shaolong immediately organized a voting activity, "In this way, everyone says the name of support, and it is good to simply count it." ”

"First...... Joey! ”

"Steven!"

"Steven's one vote!" Zhen Shaolong gestured a finger and asked Smith, "What about you?" Alan. ”

Smith glanced at Owen and hesitated, "I abstain." Yes, I can't decide, Steven and Michael, both good teammates of mine. ”

Owen was shocked, a little bad premonition.

"Okay. Next up is Charles. ”

"I support Steven." Enzobia whispered, glancing apologetically at Owen.

"James?"

Without hesitation, Milner said, "I support Steven!" ”

Four votes.

Two voted for Taylor, two abstained.

The results are clear.

Owen finally couldn't help but burst out, angrily confronting Milner, "James! Didn't you say you would support me yesterday! ”

Milner craned his neck, but still plucked up the courage to explain, "But riding is not attractive, I prefer to ride - women." ”

"Steven promised to introduce me to local beauties, either school girls or single white-collar workers. You know, we don't usually have access to these women......"

It's a bit of a sad thing.

A professional player who has made a name for himself is a real public figure, as if he has been detached from the public, and there may be reporters to follow him when he goes out, so it is difficult to meet ordinary women of the same age.

Taylor is different.

Growing up in Newcastle, Taylor is a native and naturally has plenty of channels.

Milner couldn't resist the temptation.

Owen retreats!

Between riding a horse and riding a woman, Milner decisively chose the latter, and Owen asked himself that he would choose the latter.

Then Owen looked at Smith depressedly, Smith said, "Steven invited us to the Christmas bachelorette party, there will be a lot of beauties, not celebrities, models, just ordinary beauties, by the way, there will also be female cheerleaders organized by fans, I don't know which one is better, so I can only abstain." ”

"Okay!"

Zhen Shaolong glanced at Milner and Smith with disdain, and concluded, "This is a victory that belongs to ordinary people, and it is great!" ”

Then he patted Owen on the shoulder and comforted, "Although Steven invited me too, I still decided to vote for you!" ”

Owen rolled his eyes, depressed to the extreme.

After the voting was over and Zhen Shaolong announced that Taylor had become the 'first substitute in the group', Owen was very unwilling to think anything, and he gave away a thousand pounds and a lot of phone calls for nothing.

No way!

Owen immediately walked over to Taylor, took a deep breath and asked, "By the way, when and where is your party taking place?" Can I participate? ”

"Absolutely." Taylor asked, confused, "But I'm organizing a bachelorette party, and only single players attend. ”

"You mean to say Alain is single?"

"He doesn't have a regular girlfriend."

"I want to participate too."

"But everyone knows, you're not single?"

"It's okay, I'll say that day I'm going to a party with Zhen, and Louise has a crush on Zhen, and she thinks we should be friends. She'll definitely agree. ”

“…… All right. ”

Taylor agreed.

Owen went to the training ground satisfied, and thought about it on the way, and I don't know why, I felt that Taylor's last look was strange.

————

Two days later.

Newcastle United travel to London to take on Fulham.

It was the last game before Christmas, and Sam Allardyce encouraged his team by saying, "If you win, you have an extra day off!" ”

This is useful.

There is no winter break in the Premier League, and the competition is more intensive after Christmas, and Newcastle United's schedule is not tight, from Christmas to early January, in less than ten days, there are three games to play, and there will certainly be no holidays at that time.

It's also quite tempting to have an extra day off at Christmas.

Everyone wants to spend Christmas with their families, and they don't want Christmas to be in a hurry to train and be very active in the competition.

Because the interval between the last game was too short and the weather became colder and colder, Allardyce considered Zhen Shaolong's physical recovery, coupled with the intensive schedule to prepare for Christmas, Zhen Shaolong only rested on the bench, starting Owen and Viduka.

Barton and N'Zogbia were also substitutes, with Geremi coming in for Barton, and Damion Duff, who had just returned from injury, led the attack on the left flank.

Barton was a little better, just a normal rotation.

Enzobia was a little worried.

Damion Duff is a former Chelsea star who was once dubbed the 'perfect wing' alongside Arjen Robben and is a huge challenge for him when he returns.

In this game, Damion Duff was still in the recovery period, did not show too good form, and the active right side was still Milner, who led the right attack, played the ball to a threatening position again and again, and also helped Newcastle United score the first goal.

The second goal was completed by Viduka, who picked up a cross from the middle of the box and Viduka scored with a header.

Newcastle United didn't score after that.

Fulham defended well, Newcastle United had the advantage of the situation, but it was up to luck and play to find the back of the net.

In the second half, Fulham used a counter-attack to catch up with a goal, but ultimately lost the game at home.

1 to 2.

Newcastle won their last game after Christmas.

It was a very ordinary victory and a very crucial one, as Arsenal lost away to Middlesbrough in the same game and failed to pick up points.

Newcastle United surpassed Arsenal on points and returned to top of the league table.

After the round, almost all the media reports revolved around Newcastle United's return to the top of the league.

In the opening stage, Newcastle United took advantage of consecutive wins and big scores to occupy the top of the league table, and then, as predicted by the media, their results gradually deteriorated, and they were overtaken by Arsenal without winning two or three games.

The media predicted that Newcastle United would be further and further down the table, but they did not expect to be able to return to the top of the table.

Newcastle United's first place also gave them the 'half-way title', and the Guardian happily expressed its support, saying, "Newcastle United deserve to be the half-way champion, they have the craziest goalscorer, and Zhen Shaolong has scored 27 league goals for the game!" ”

"They also have the best assister, Joey Barton, and the twelve assists statistic is pretty spectacular."

"Newcastle United scored 50 goals in the first half of the season, an average of 2.7 goals per game, and are the most attacking team."

The Guardian has a statistic that does not say that Newcastle United have conceded 23 goals, which is also a bit of a pitiful statistic, with an average of nearly three goals conceded in a single game, and it can only rank in the middle of the league.

The rest of the media immediately talked about the 'half-way summary', with Newcastle United topping the league and certainly the best performers, but the other teams also deserve praise.

For example, Arsenal, Manchester United.

Arsenal and Manchester United have been consistent, winning the vast majority of games, and the reason why they finished second and third was because they lost head-to-head with Newcastle United.

The performance of the players is also the focus of the half-time summary, "British Football News" selected the best team in the half, Zhen Shaolong, Milner are in the lineup, it is a pity that Barton did not appear on the list, and there is a related analysis of the list, "Barton has a lot of assists, but most of his assists are just Zhen Shaolong's good performance, not how subtle his assists are." ”

Barton looked at the report with a little sadness.

When the media was boiling to make a summary, one of the most important news was suddenly revealed, and it immediately became the focus of public opinion.

"Zhen Shaolong signed with Adidas and got a sky-high endorsement contract."