At the end of October, the cold wind is bleak, and the pace of winter is getting closer and closer, but European football is full of gunsmoke and war.

The Millwall first team boarded a plane to Barcelona for the third round of the Champions League group stage.

They sat in the first-class cabin, and Aldrich sat alone by the window looking at the scenery with a sinking face, and he was a little distraught.

In the middle of the month, the players returned from their FIFA break-day trip to the club, only to see Trezeguet needing five weeks to recuperate from an injury sustained while playing for France, with the rest of the international returning to club exhausted.

There will be the World Cup next summer, and the players who have been called up by the national team at this time will work very hard as long as they have the opportunity to get tickets to the World Cup, and some international players who are destined to miss the World Cup will also do their best for national honor or a glimmer of hope.

In particular, Shevchenko, Nedved, Larsson, and other international players who travel far away to go back and forth to the national team are very affected.

The FIFA virus has caused Millwall to lose points against underdogs in the last two league rounds.

A draw away from Coventry City and a home win over bitter rivals Crystal Palace in the London derby.

Manchester United, on the other hand, scored a total of 13 goals and conceded only one goal against Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday, which not only brought Millwall closer on goal difference, but also directly opened up the gap between the two teams by two points.

The league has only played 13 rounds, which seems irrelevant, and in the League Cup at the same time, Millwall still continued their good fortune, drawing Nottingham Forest, who were relegated last season, and easily defeated their opponents at home to advance to the quarter-finals.

What bothers Aldrich is the FIFA virus, and Millwall can only play with nearly 1.5 teams. Plus the players are young. There are people in the national team who are fighting for a place in the 23-man squad. Some people are the main competitors, especially in the national teams of traditional powers, which leads to a lot of consumption when players go to the national team to play.

Before leaving for Barcelona, Aldridge had been holding back a fire in his heart since yesterday.

Despised and despised, it even made Aldrich feel that his dignity had been trampled on!

Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal published his outlook from Spanish media reports.

Van Gaal's exact words were: Given the backwardness of English football, it is not a big deal for Millwall to be the Premier League champions, and Hall as the 21-year-old manager. He's done a good job, but the Champions League is a very different stage and he must be proud now, but after two games, he'll know the difference between Millwall and Barcelona.

In the long report, Millwall was criticized by Louis van Gaal as worthless, not only belittling Millwall's achievements, but also looking down on Aldridge, and even disdaining Aldridge as an opponent, he felt that Millwall and Barcelona met. It was Millwall's chance to learn, and Aldridge's chance to learn from him.

As for Millwall, they beat Barcelona to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup six months ago. Van Gaal said bluntly: The British beat the British, Barcelona should have won, but no, Barcelona should have won the league, and no, so Robson is gone, and the real champion coach at the level of the giant is here, yes, I'm talking about myself.

How arrogant does this have to be to say such a thing?

There are many fanatics in the coaching world, and the future famous Mourinho is a model, but Aldridge feels that Van Gaal is a hundred times more arrogant than Mourinho!

Mourinho is in charge of Chelsea, and in all fairness, he is indeed a championship-level coach who "deigns" to coach the dick team, and he is right.

But Van Gaal went to Barcelona to take up his new position, and at the press conference he said bluntly: I have won more honours in six years at Ajax than Barcelona in 100 years!

The Dutch coach, who is now described as a "football tyrant" in the media, has ignited Aldridge's anger.

As a result, he finally turned his attention to Barcelona and Louis van Gaal.

Ten years later, fans who know Van Gaal know that he looks down on English football, and he is arrogant and conceited, even if Ferguson opened up several generations of Red Devils dynasty and won the European Champions Cup twice, Van Gaal still despises Ferguson's achievements, thinking that no coach can compare with him, and the words directly point out that Ferguson's achievements are obtained in the Premier League, which does not prove anything at all.

After the plane took off, looking at the beautiful sea of clouds outside the window, Aldrich suddenly calmed down.

Could this be psychological warfare?

Louis van Gaal despised himself and provoked himself to make Millwall play attacking football even when they were away from home.

Aldrich touched his chin and thought about it, and suddenly sighed: "I almost fell for it, uh, even if what the other party said was from my heart, but if I lost my mind, wouldn't it be cheaper for the other party?" ”

Just as he was talking to himself, someone suddenly approached, held out his hand to him in a friendly manner, and said, "Mr. Hall, do you mind if I sit down next to you?" ”

Aldrich looked up, there was no one in the seat next to him, and it didn't matter if he sat on the other side, anyway, if there was a problem, it was the problem of the crew.

He shook hands with the other party, only when the other party wanted to change seats.

It's a celebrity and someone recognizes you on a plane, so there's nothing to fuss about.

"Here's my business card, introduce myself, my name is Smith Carter."

Aldrich took the other party's business card and looked down, only to realize that the other party might be looking for him on purpose.

An executive at Standard Chartered Bank in the UK.

"Uh, what's the matter?"

"Hehe, I'm going to Barcelona to watch the game, it's Millwall's game."

"Then you should go back tomorrow."

"It's nothing, I'll give myself a day off and spend a day in Barcelona."

"Mr. Carter, if you have something to do, please explain your purpose directly, I don't like to kill time with salty and non-salty conversations."

Carter looks like a talent, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and looks very mature and attractive at about forty years old.

He made a special trip to check Millwall's itinerary today, and deliberately went to Barcelona with Millwall, but fortunately, Millwall did not charter a flight. Do so. It is nothing more than a manifestation of their sincerity. It also made Aldrich unable to refuse his door-to-door contact.

Carter then got straight to the point and told Aldrich what he was coming for.

In fact, I wanted to work with Millwall.

Two of Millwall's major sponsorship contracts will expire next summer.

The first is the sponsorship of jerseys, the renewal of the contract with Puma is already underway by the club, and this kind of sponsorship is nothing more than a few international first-line brands in the industry, the most famous are Adidas and Nike.

The second is the advertisement on the chest of the jersey, and there has been no movement from the Barek Bank side, and it seems that it does not plan to renew the contract in the summer.

Carter represented Standard Chartered Bank in the fight for a new shirt chest advertising sponsorship. Become a partner in Millwall.

'From what we've got, Barlake Bank has no intention of renewing Millwall's contract, they want a more impactful publicity platform, for example, the naming rights of the Premier League.

Aldridge listened most of the time and didn't say anything, this kind of thing should have been in charge of Adam, and he made it clear to Adam, but someone came to the door to find him. He can't ruin the other party's interest.

If you really say that you let the other party go to Adam, you will be suspected of putting up a fight.

"Can you show me an introduction to Standard Chartered Bank?"

Aldrich felt that the flight was idle anyway. Let's talk about it.

Carter came prepared to explain to Aldrich about their company.

Although Standard Chartered is headquartered in London and is a UK bank, its banking operations are global, with very few customers in the UK.

So, they chose Millwall, the most important factor to consider was the impact of propaganda outside the UK.

"I think you should go to Manchester United."

Aldrich looked at the Standard Chartered Bank introduction document and said nonchalantly.

'Let's be honest, Edwards is asking too much, we would prefer a long-term partnership and we can't be sure of United's future.

"Huh? What do you mean? ”

Carter's expression was slightly surprised, and then he smiled: "Don't you still know the way?" It should be no secret in English football circles, Martin Edwards wants to sell Manchester United, the FA is blocking it, but they can't do anything, so they have begun to contact the government to suppress it. ”

Aldridge was stunned for two seconds before shaking his head and said, "I haven't heard of it, because I don't care about the club's political struggles, and I'm not interested in other clubs' equity deals." ”

"Hehe, with your identity, of course you don't care about this."

Standard Chartered is well-founded in its uncertainty about Manchester United's prospects.

If Aldridge remembers correctly, it should be during this period that media tycoon Murdoch is brewing a takeover of Manchester United, and it will be officially launched next year, with a purchase price of more than 600 million pounds!

However, the British government intervened to block the acquisition, allowing the Edwards family to miss the time to sell Manchester United for the highest price.

In fact, this kind of transaction seems to be ridiculous to foreign fans, the club changes owners, and the government can control it? One buys and one sells, Tong Su is not bullied, why care?

But Manchester United is a symbol of English football after all, and people's concepts have not changed, and the football industry is not as "capitalist" as it was ten years later.

It is no exaggeration to say that if the Hall family is not native to London, even if it is a non-London family in the United Kingdom, the acquisition of Millwall will be rejected by the fans, and even set off a huge opposition movement.

It's not about whether outsiders can revitalize the team, it's a matter of ownership.

The old notion that a club belongs to the community, to the fans, is ingrained, not the owner's!

Manchester United's commercialisation is disgusting to fans because they have blatantly turned the football club into a money-making tool, Edwards became the first salaried chairman in the history of football, turning a public welfare position into the role of a part-time worker, and not only that, the FA regulations indicate the non-profit nature of the club, but Manchester United still make annual dividends with great fanfare.

In the development of commercial football, Manchester United is the leader, the first to eat crabs, and the most controversial.

However, when the club became a joint-stock enterprise, both the FA and the government had no restrain on it.

The Edwards family learned their way after the Murdoch takeover, and after a few years of secretly completing a stake deal to sell Manchester United, by the time the FA and the English government reacted, all the deals were done.

Aldrich closed the document in his hand and said lightly: "Can you explain the reason for the cooperation of Standard Chartered Bank?" You want to sponsor Millwall, but I think you're going to have competitors, I'm not trying to sit on the ground, I'm just trying to find out, why do you beat the competitors? ”

Carter spoke freely and confidently: "I am a person who believes in vision, and I strongly want to facilitate this cooperation, because we want to be a long-term partner of Millwall, and I firmly believe that Millwall will bring us a good market effect." ”

"What about the grounds of faith?"

"First, Millwall has a strong financial background. The Hall family is still looting countries in Southeast Asia, the outcome of this financial war can no longer be reversed, and the Hall family conservatively estimates that it has more than a billion pounds in assets, although you are not involved in these, but I believe that as the owner of Millwall, you will not lack financial support, with the hard work you pour into this team, you will not watch the team decline, will always maintain the competitiveness of the team, maybe there is no guarantee to become the Premier League champion every year, but since you led the team to the European stage, I think Millwall will stay on this stage for a long time to come. Second, Millwall is now a potential stock, and the sooner you start, the bigger the gains. Thirdly, Millwall's own publicity, in the course of my research on Millwall, I found that you are trying your best to create a propaganda impact on the new Internet, and almost every website about football has your advertisement, in other words, to become Millwall's chest advertising sponsor, and our bank itself has propaganda through the Internet. ”

Aldridge turned his head to stare at Carter, suddenly smiled, and said something that confused Carter.

"It turns out that in your eyes, you are Bole, and Millwall is a maxima." (To be continued......)