Ritzdale's exclamation was awkward to the ears of his assistant, and it was simply a diseaseless moan.

Nonsense.

Without good players, the club is worthless.

If Manchester United didn't have top players such as 92 Banga Schmeichel, Keane and Stam, what would Manchester United do to make a good record? And what do you make money with?

"Ahem, Millwall ranked seventh from the bottom of the Premier League in terms of operating income in the summer of '96, and a year later, in the summer of '97, they ranked sixth in the Premier League, and half a month ago, they were second only to Manchester United and eighteenth in Europe. If you include the income from the sale of players, there is no doubt that they are the most profitable team in Europe in terms of annual profits. ”

Ritzdale listened and thought that Millwall's income was mainly supported by excellent results, the European Cup Winners' Cup + league title made them the sixth highest-paid team in the league, and the third place in the league + the Champions League won their income, making them second only to Manchester United.

"The assessment predicts that if Millwall can maintain their results over the past two years, they will be the highest-grossing club in the Premier League and indeed Europe in 2001."

What is 2001?

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

Ritzdale pouted noncommittally: "Maintain the results of the last two years? An average of one league title and one Champions League every two years? Plus the FA Cup and League Cup? What are you kidding, is the Champions League so easy to win? They had a lot of luck when they won the title last season, knocking out Juventus at the last moment. Winning Real Madrid is a penalty, again? Let's see if they can beat Juventus. ”

The assistant said: "Actually, as long as Millwall can keep getting into the Champions League every season and getting to the knockout rounds. They will be in the top 10 in Europe in terms of operating income when they move into the new stadium, and it would not be surprising if they could win a few more titles and become the richest club in Europe. On their return from Tokyo, Millwall's club chief executive, Adam Jane, made a remark that I wonder if you've heard. ”

Ritzdale was not interested, shook his head and said: "I haven't heard of it, it's nothing more than Millwall winning another championship trophy." ”

"Nope. Having nothing to do with the Toyota Cup, Adam Jane claims that Millwall already has more than 10 million fans in Asia. ”

"Millwall has 100 million fans in Asia. So what? ”

Ritzdale scoffed at this.

The broadcast of the Premier League is sold as a package, and the Champions League is the same, and the number of fans does affect the Premier League's broadcast share, but the Premier League has its own way of evaluating. It's not Millwall's unilateral claim that there are as many as you want.

There are so many fans in Asia. How much can the club's operating income be increased?

Will 1% of them buy genuine jerseys?

Will I buy a season pass?

In terms of income, the benefits that foreign fans bring to the club are inconspicuous.

Ritzdale's point of view, his assistant disagreed, patiently explaining to him: "Adam Jane's words are not for the club's owner, Hall, nor for the fans, he is just telling the sponsors in a tactful way: Millwall's influence in Asia!" Although there is a possibility of exaggerating the facts, the effect is certainly good. ”

Ritzdale reacted at this time, it turned out that this was a marketing strategy of "encircling Wei to save Zhao".

Millwall has a greater number of fans abroad. It doesn't directly bring a huge amount of revenue to their club, but it allows sponsors to pay more for sponsorship. On this trip to Tokyo, Millwall not only brought home a Toyota Cup trophy, but also signed five new sponsorship contracts, all sponsored by Asian companies, which is an important way for international influence to generate commercial income.

The most important thing is that Millwall has been able to rise rapidly over the years, from a worthless club to a wealthy club in Europe, and the most important thing is two things, one is the record, and the other is commercial development, specifically to grab the fan market, all the commercial income of the football club is paid by the fans directly or in a different direction, in other words, the team earns the money of the fans." ”

Ritzdale looked at the pitch without saying a word, and as the second half was about to begin, he was thinking about how to make Yorkshire's white roses bloom!

"You say, if we were to lure Millwall's players with a lot of money, would we be able to get there?"

Ritzdale also wants to build Leeds United into a strong team that can make money, and he thinks in his heart that it is just a little bit, a little bit!

Leeds United ranked sixth in the league last season, although they are temporarily fifth this season, but the gap with the top four has been widened, in the context of the Champions League next season will be expanded, he naturally hopes that the team can share the tempting delicious cake, originally at the beginning of the season he was very disappointed, because he wanted to poach Martin O'Neill failed, but O'Reilly surprised him.

His assistant shook his head and said: "The main team of the first team will definitely not come to Elland Road, and there is hope for the substitutes, but they must be bought, not to mention how much the transfer fee will be extorted, at least 1.5 times the treatment of the player in Millwall." ”

Ritzdale said lightly: "If Leeds can qualify for the Champions League all year round and have a chance of competing for the league title, it will be worth the price, didn't Millwall spend a huge amount of money to rebuild the team in the summer of '94? I remember the whole of England laughing at Hall, he spent the transfer fee of the top three teams in the Premier League combined, and offered a higher salary than the sum of the first team of Manchester United, and the outside world thought that within two years, Millwall would definitely go bankrupt, but after two years, Millwall's value has more than increased tenfold. ”

His assistant nodded, at this point, he could not argue with Ritzdale, in order for Leeds United to bloom this white rose, it is simply not enough to have young coach O'Reilly and a few excellent players cultivated by the academy, they must bring in high-level players, so that the results can be immediately and qualitatively improved.

In the second half, Millwall's attack was simple and rough. Since the players' physical fitness can't keep up, they can't play the speed advantage when they push straight up and down, and they can't withdraw when they switch from offense to defense. Then play the simplest offense.

But Leeds United are really united today, like their young coach David O'Reilly, with a fierce spirit, there is really a bit of Millwall's shadow back then.

Aldridge deployed his men in the second half to adjust his tactics, but Millwall's attack was dry and rainy, and the situation only blossomed and did not bear fruit, so he needed to hide deeper attacking points, like Frank Lampard to insert the attack. Leeds United's defence has been on his toes.

In the last 20 minutes, Aldridge brought Gareth Southgate into the assist, the same adjustment as when he played Real Madrid, with Elgra coming forward to attack. The results are good.

Southgate plugged in all the way, and due to Leeds United's inertia, Southgate's sudden attack caught them off guard, and there were flaws in the tight defence. As a result, Southgate made it all the way into the box and received a through ball from Nedved. Kick and shoot!

The ball flew straight into the stands.

Aldridge looked at this unbearable shot, and only had a faint regret in his heart, but he didn't complain about Southgate, who was originally a defender, but he just went to the opponent's penalty area to complete a clearance

After the shot, Southgate touched the back of his thigh and his expression suddenly became a little painful, and he saw that Leeds United were about to kick off the goal, and he struck it. There was a shortage of defenders in the back, so he sat down. Seeing this, the referee had no choice but to stop the game.

Elland Road was booed at Southgate's actions.

You're fucking rushing up and making a clearance shot, we're going to fight back, and you're starting to cheat and delay our great fighter, fuck it!

Southgate wasn't a fraud, he was really hurt!

After the team doctor checked and gave Aldridge a substitution gesture, after Southgate sat down, Aldridge asked Ferdinand to warm up, and after getting the team doctor's confirmation, Aldridge reluctantly handed over the list of substitutes.

The price of a Toyota Cup is a bit big.

Seeing that the comebacks of Larsson and Pirlo are imminent, now the captain is injured again.

After Southgate went off, Millwall's situation was a bit passive, and the opponent slammed the new Rio Ferdinand, forcing Millwall to defend deeper in the midfield, and when Millwall wanted to switch from defense to attack, they were slow to advance.

At the end of the 90-minute game, the score was still 1-0 and Millwall lost to Elland Road.

Leeds United fans were as happy as the New Year, Aldridge went straight to shake hands with O'Reilly, and the other party also took the initiative to walk towards him, Aldridge didn't want to talk more, but the other party was very enthusiastic, and talked to him a few words, Aldridge only listened, nodded and left the stadium.

At the post-match press conference, the reporters on Fleet Street had serious expressions, and after Aldridge's arrival, someone asked: "What was the reason Millwall lost this game?" Is it underestimated? ”

Aldrich shook his head, underestimate the enemy? Definitely not.

'Leeds were better today, they deserved to win, my players are so tired, we haven't recovered from the journey back and forth to Japan, I'm sure the players will be better in the next game. If not, then we will have to adjust our goals for the season, and perhaps we should really think about competing for the UEFA Cup next season to complete the club slam of honour. ”

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

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

Like now, his mentality is a very good embodiment.

Losing a game is like the end of the world, find the cause, solve the problem, don't complicate things, and don't put more pressure on the players to get nervous because of the loss.

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

After the game, Fleet Street commented on the game between the two teams.

praised the strength of Leeds United's youth army, and praised Aldridge's unfazed demeanor.

Four days later, when Millwall's bench lost to Martin O'Neill's Leicester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Fleet Street's tone changed completely

Two consecutive League and Cup defeats, a rare occurrence for Millwall.

Before the Christmas Express, Millwall's state was obviously not ideal, Aldridge wanted to give the main team more rest time to adjust the state, in preparation for the Christmas Express, the League Cup was eliminated, he was not lost at all, the stage was mainly practice, the substitute players were not in good shape, and it was reasonable to be eliminated by O'Neal's team, but Tony abused Mills and made him a little ugly. (To be continued......)