Midweek cup or league matches are played in the evening, as the fans have to work during the day.

By the time Aldridge arrived at Grimsby, it was already dark and the glittering Blundell Park stadium was filled with noise.

Aldridge felt the frenzy inside the stadium both outside the club.

This is not a good sign!

To be able to make the home team fans so enthusiastic, it is clear that the home team is doing well.

Aldridge didn't have a ticket, so naturally he couldn't enter the stadium directly from the entrance of the stadium, so he came to the entrance of the club and struggled with the goalkeeper for a long time.

"I'm the manager of Millwall, I'm late, now, I'm going in!"

"Sir, can you show me your identification?"

The doorman was a new young man who probably didn't usually watch the news and didn't know Aldrich.

"Hey, Jerry, let him in, he's the manager of Millwall, he's been here last season."

Some members of the club's staff recognised Aldridge but were not very welcoming, after all, Millwall beat Grimsby by three goals away from home in League One last season.

Aldridge was let go, and the staff member who spoke out to help said lightly: "Mr. Hall, I'm afraid Millwall won't be happy to go back today." ”

Aldridge didn't bother to pay attention to him, because he had been here last season, so he had some impressions, and he walked straight to the players' tunnel and looked directly at the stadium scoreboard at the exit.

2:0

In international practice, the home team is in front and the away team is in the back.

The clock showed the first half, 44:12, 44:13

What the hell?

Millwall two goals down?

Aldridge's eyes swept over the players on the field, counted them first, a total of 22 players, Grimsby did not play 12 people, Millwall did not attrition, and Millwall except for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Richards, they are also the main players, why are they lagging behind?

He looked towards the visiting team's dugout, Jenson was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed, frowning, looking not flustered, but helpless.

After the whistle blew at the end of the first half, Aldridge disappeared into place.

When the players from both teams came off the pitch, the Grimsby players looked very happy, while the Millwall players hung their heads as if they had lost their souls.

They always felt that something was wrong with the game today, that something was missing from the game.

When the players had already walked into the dressing room, Jenson walked behind the closest, thinking about how to adjust the midfield, the tactics? The tactics are no problem, Millwall is the main attack, Grimsby is counter-attacking, and for most of the first half, Millwall is suppressing the opponent, what happened? Only to let the team fall behind by two goals?

He wanted to replicate Aldridge's passionate motivation for the players, but he used it before the start of the game, and it didn't work well, and the players looked at him indifferently, more like the audience watching the actors.

Just as he was at a loss, he heard someone calling him.

"Jensen, Jensen!"

Jenson followed the prestige and was surprised to see Aldrich waving at him around the corner of the hallway, looking sneaky and like a thief.

Jenson walked briskly and said hurriedly, "Since you're here, hurry up and go into the locker room, the situation is not good now!" ”

Aldrich beckoned him to his eyes, the two walked around the corner, Aldrich took out a cigarette, the two lit one each, he spat out the smoke and asked softly, "Tell me about the first half." ”

"In the first half we had the advantage, Grimsby was determined to defend and counterattack, they first led through a corner, and then we got a penalty in the box, Larsson kicked the penalty on the post and bounced out, and then we kept suppressing the opponent, but the opponent broke through our defense through a counterattack, and now the League One team, many of them are imitating us last season, facing a strong team to defend with an iron heart, leaving one or two fast horses in front, and when counterattacking, they will make long passes and engage in individual combat."

"That's not learning from us, it's just a trend, our counterattack is to advance rapidly as a whole, not by individual ability."

"Heck, it's all about time, so don't comment on it on your own. Now what? Two goals behind. ”

Aldridge looked up at his watch, waited for a cigarette to finish, straightened his somewhat messy suit, and then walked calmly towards the locker room.

The atmosphere in the locker room was a little depressing, everyone didn't speak, they cleaned their jerseys and sneakers and sat in their seats with their eyes closed, no one seemed to care why Jenson didn't come into the locker room.

Today's captain on the pitch is Nedved, he rarely speaks in the dressing room, he is more on the pitch with practical actions to motivate his teammates, but in terms of words, he is much quieter, which is also why Aldridge will hand over the position of first captain to Southgate.

The door to the dressing room was pushed open, and the players were still hanging their heads.

"Hey, long time no see, I have personal matters to deal with in the past two days, so I am not in the team, for this, I apologize to everyone."

When Aldridge spoke, the players all looked up at him, all with incredible expressions, staring at him with staring straight into their eyes, and their dull eyes gradually glowing.

Aldridge ignored their expressions and crossed his arms and continued: "I was in the stands in the first half, I watched the game, you didn't perform badly, but I think maybe you are tired, after all, we just played Liverpool away four days ago, and we have to challenge the defending champion Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, so let's put it this way, I will give you a rest at the weekend, but it looks like you already want to finish the game early, it doesn't matter, I can understand, it's just a League Cup, don't take it to heart, if you lose, you lose." ”

The players stared at Aldridge in amazement, bewildered by his words.

The leader surrendered voluntarily?

And also to persuade them?

Aldridge shrugged: "I just went to the referee, I want him to be accommodating and let Millwall directly replace the 11 men on the field in the second half, of course, we don't have enough substitutes, it doesn't matter, plus the people of the coaching staff, it's enough." But the referee didn't agree, so I'm going to consider replacing three of you, did anyone take the initiative to ask for a second half break? ”

There was silence in the locker room.

The whole team became nervous.

Aldrich scratched his head in frustration, shook off a sentence and walked away.

"Well, since none of you have taken the initiative to apply, then I'll decide, I need time to think about it, and when I make a decision in the stands, Jenson will replace three of you, don't worry, it's not for anyone, I'm happy with your performance, it's just that the opponent is Grimsby, and you can't be interested, you can't get excited, right?"

Aldrich opened the door to the dressing room and walked out.

The players looked at each other and swallowed nervously, and everyone knew that Aldridge was already angry.

Now Millwall, even in the main squad, more than half of the players were unknown before, and Aldridge gave them opportunities, gave them high salaries, and now made them in the public eye in England, in their eyes, Aldridge is definitely an important role at the mentor level.

I don't know when, his praise or criticism directly affects the mood and mentality of the players.

It's just that he's not directing the game, and the players feel a very different feeling on the field.

Now that Aldridge is back and has appeared, the hearts of the players are completely steady.

In the second half, after the players had played, Aldridge appeared at the exit of the tunnel again, leaning against the wall of the passage, watching the game in a leisurely manner.

The camera caught his presence and immediately focused on him, and the commentators began to tease Aldrich.

What Aldridge didn't expect was that there were fans of him among the staff at Grimsby Stadium, and a slightly chubby young man walked up to him and said with a little excitement: "You're Mr. Hall, right?" Can you give me a signature? You're amazing, you're a manager before you are twenty years old, and you're doing so well, I've watched all the games Millwall have played against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, it's amazing, it's the best game I've ever seen, Millwall."

As soon as he spoke, Aldrich listened patiently to his admiration, and finally signed his name, took a picture, and asked him to help pour a glass of water, and for the hours from the time he got off the plane to the time he arrived, he did not eat a drop of water, and his mouth was dry.

As he drank his glass, there was a brief silence at Blundell Park.

Aldridge looked up over the pitch and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was holding the ball and running towards the centre circle, which he had just scored.

"Hey, Millwall is awesome, and sure enough, he scored."

The staff member, who was still with Aldridge, seemed more excited than Aldridge when he saw Millwall score.

It's not hard to understand that the people who work for a football club are not necessarily fans of that club, and Liverpool has been an Everton fan for more than two decades.

In the second half, Millwall's style of play remained the same, and the tactics were still the same as in the first half, but they were obviously more dominant, Grimsby retreated across the board, but the players' individual abilities were limited and they couldn't prevent Millwall's indiscriminate bombardment.

After just twenty minutes of play, Millwall equalised when Schneider's free-kick bounced off a defender and into the back of the net, a bit of luck, but luck is part of the strength.

Grimsby, who had almost all of them retreating to the half-court defense, suffered a heavy blow in the 87th minute of the game.

Stam scored with a header from a corner, and Millwall reversed Grimsby 3-2, no more, no less, just one more goal than the opponent.

Aldridge lied, he didn't make any substitutions.

After the game, Jensen looked thoughtfully at Aldridge, who had turned around and walked towards the locker room at the exit of the players' tunnel, and smiled bitterly in his heart: You always say that the soul of the team's fighting spirit is Nedved, but you are the real soul of this team!