Chapter 237: Crippled

The Millwall Club has been very busy all summer.
The official TV station went online, the promotion of the official website, the expansion of the youth training base was completed, new sponsorship contracts were signed, strategic partnerships were established with some well-known British companies, and club recruitment was added.
As the CEO of the club, Adam was too dizzy to turn around. Although the management team also expanded in size, too much work prevented him from stopping for a day.
As soon as Aldridge came back, Adam immediately rushed to the door.
He questioned Aldridge: "Boss, are our signings over?"
Aldridge happened to be looking for him, but the other party took the initiative to come to the door, and the heart was happy. When asked by him, he shrugged and said, "It's over."
Adam snapped his head and said anxiously: "But your transfer fee budget, there are 10 million pounds left! Let's buy another well-known star, which is very effective for enhancing the club's influence and attracting outside attention."
At the sports level, Adam didn't understand and didn't need to understand, so he said it straightforwardly.
After thinking about it, Aldridge shook his head and said: "No, there is no need to spend money to spend money. Although buying famous stars will increase the influence of the team, but in the long run, the harm is more than the advantage. I want to Let the young players see the hope of the main competition, and do not want to spend more time rebuilding the locker room order."
Buying a star sounds very simple. Buy when you have money.
But Aldrich doesn't think so, especially for the stars, the higher the transfer fee, the more the subconscious positioning that gives the stars the importance of their identity, and Aldridge can't commit to gambling.
Adam sighed and sat down, no longer forced.
I just think that this boss is over-thinking. Although Millwall has a strong overall strength and also has a champion, it is like their tactical philosophy to promote the team.
The whole team looks very strong, but look at each player individually, but don’t think they have big names, Larson and Nedved are barely half, and the defensive players will not say, in this era, defensive players can become big The stars are just a handful.
Aldridge took out a document and handed it to Adam, saying, "Look at this."
Adam took over the document and opened his eyes. This is an introduction document for UNICEF. The institution is headquartered in London. The background is an independent non-profit charity under the BAA Group.
Adam faced his thoughts. The BAA Group is the Hall family industry. It was established by Barnett. It has already gained a lot of popularity in the UK and Europe.
Adam's head turned quickly. He said: "Does the boss want to donate money to this children's charity fund in the name of the team? Give the club a positive publicity effect?"
Aldridge blinked and smiled: "It is not. If you donate money directly, the publicity effect is temporary. I want to organize a youth football charity cup competition under the age of 15 with the sponsorship of the Millwall Club. The background of the participating teams No limit, amateur team or school team can be, but the players must not be over 15 years old, the champion team can get a prize of 50,000 pounds, and in the name of the champion team, donate 500,000 pounds to the Children's Charity Foundation. Counting the cost of organizing the event, the cost should be around one million pounds. I hope this event will be held once a year. I said hello to the FA. They said that this is not a professional football event. As long as there is no trouble, we can Determine the charter yourself."
When Adam heard the words, his eyes lit up. Although the cost was a little high, in terms of club image promotion and local influence, it was definitely a lot of benefits.
Especially attractive to participating teams. The champion has a prize of 50,000 pounds and can do good deeds in the name of the team. This is a fame and fortune.
The most effective way to promote a positive image of a team is to do good deeds.
Players affiliated with Andrew’s agency will follow Andrew’s advice and visit orphans or injured fans at the end of the season or during the season. At the same time, the agency has established a personal Internet site for them, although Internet technology has not yet developed to Twitter. The book is so advanced, and there are not many portals with community interaction. However, Barnett has acquired a website similar to a personal blog in the United States, and has entered the publicity stage, so Andrew also opened a personal website for the players and has a job. The staff helps them maintain, uploading some photos from time to time, and occasionally writing short articles like "diaries", which will attract the attention of many fans.
There are no clubs in the Premier League or even all European football clubs that are better than Millwall’s, and their official website has been vigorously promoted since its launch, and now has nearly 100,000 registered members It has also opened up souvenir sales channels for online mail order. After replacing larger server equipment, at least the cost of website operation can be self-sufficient from online sales.
Coupled with the summer official TV launch, the review of the Aldridge coaching team’s history over the past three years has been launched. The official website provides introductory videos, sales of videotapes and CD-ROMs showing a hot trend in the past month. Those Millwall New fans, who want to understand Millwall’s past history, are very interested in the official retrospective program, and they can also cherish it when they buy it.
"Boss, the people over Puma proposed to launch a new jersey for the new season. Do you no longer consider it?"
Adam's first priority was to make money for the club. At the end of last season, Aldridge directly rejected it. Now he still wants to fight for it. From his standpoint, he supports Puma's proposal.
Aldridge didn't change his mind and said lightly: "Forget it, the jersey sponsor hasn't changed, the chest advertising sponsor hasn't changed, our team logo hasn't changed, why do we need a new jersey? By the way, the fools know that we are making money by changing our ways, and we have a bad reputation. If Puma is dissatisfied, they blame why they did not specify the terms of a new jersey every season in the contract. Next summer The sponsorship of jerseys and chest ads will expire. I don’t want to continue to follow up on this matter. It’s up to you to take over. Adam, I don’t ask you to be a business wizard. The requirements for you are also very simple: The money you should earn, don’t earn less for a penny, you can earn more, it’s your skill, I will be happy, but if the club is dissatisfied with the fans just to make money, when the sky is angry, the club will not stand against the fans. Position."
After Aldridge's words made Adam look serious and nodded heavily, he got up and said goodbye.
The money earned by football clubs naturally comes from the fan market, fans watch games, fans buy tickets, fans buy jerseys, fans buy souvenirs, and through the focus on the football club, which in turn gives the football club a commercial influence, advertising value and The influence of the fan market is linked.
It's all based on fan loyalty. Maybe it's not just a fan, it's a family, it's generations.
The boss of Manchester United, whether it is Edwards or Glazer in the future, has been scolded by Manchester United fans. The root cause is the excessive commercialization of Manchester United. He hopes that even the air of Old Trafford will be charged. The price rises again and again, leaving Old Trafford's stands without even half of the local fans in the future.
Millwall also needs to make money, but Aldridge feels that there should be a bottom line, because his identity is very special, in addition to being the head coach, or the boss, if Millwall becomes Manchester United, fans can scold Edwards and like Ferguson , But what about Aldridge? It really becomes love and hate, and such emotions will split the fan group and cause many unnecessary contradictions and disputes.
From the establishment of the Premier League to the summer of 1997, the tickets of all teams have risen, and some have even doubled or tripled. Millwall’s tickets have also risen over the same period, but Millwall’s ticket prices have The top ten of all the clubs in the Premier League are open, the fundamental reason is that the stadium is small and the conditions are poor.
And this is also acceptable to fans. They understand that the club needs to improve its competitiveness. Naturally, it must not lag behind other teams in terms of income, and the ticket increase rate is not large. In addition to being located in London, it is the London Premier League team. The median fare is only higher than Wimbledon, next season may be a bit higher than their other rival Enemy Crystal Palace, but these allow fans to accept and mock the other neighbors: we spend less than you, But it is a more exciting game than you have seen, a championship game!
Because of this, Aldridge is unanimously supported by fans, and the Hall family is also admired here.
The day before the season training, Aldridge took four players to hold a press conference.
Duff, Van der Med, Good Johnson, Klose.
Two of them, Van der Med and Klose, Aldridge originally planned to let them go to the youth team to integrate into the team first, but considering that this is a chance for a new aid appearance, so they also brought them both.
Goodjohnson underwent a medical examination at the club. At first, Millwall’s medical department really could not diagnose the strange injury of his ankle, and then took him to a partner expert for an examination before discovering, His ankle suffered from a kind of tendonitis that was difficult to diagnose. When he found the cause, he could take the right medicine. He recovered well, mainly because he was in a good state of mind and full of hope for his future.
It's just that his body has delayed training because of injuries in the past six months. It may take some time to recover to the level where he can play.
The four players appeared in the press conference with their new jerseys. Because they are not big names, their popularity in the Premier League is zero, so the procedure of showing the ball skills to the fans is eliminated.
The reporters at the meeting had little interest in these four players. Fleet Street thought Millwall's summer signing was terrible!
Digging up VanderMead from Ajax may be a commendable good deal. After all, Ajax produces it and the quality is guaranteed.
Duff, who spent two million pounds as the summer club’s signing champion, performed well in the World Youth Championship, but has only recorded seven games in the Premier League. He is far away from standing firmly.
Klose was a complete unknown, and when Fleet Street asked about his background, he suddenly became speechless to Aldridge.
Before playing for the German amateur club, this tall man is also 19 years old. Is Millwall planning to open a waste recycling station?
The most criticized is the signing of Good Johnson.
Was Millwall shameless about the player who was actively terminated by PSV?
You are the Premier League champions, can you not be as disgraceful as picking up the junk outside!
I also learned that the reason for the termination was that Good Johnson was plagued by injuries. Fleet Street made a summary for Millwall's summer transfer.
"Disabled, scrapped, less, weak!"
GoodJohnson: Disabled.
Klose: Obsolete.
Duff: Less.
Van der Mede: Weak.
Against this background, Aldridge, who has always been a red star on Fleet Street, was stunned by reporters.
No one wants to ask about these four players.
What if I ask?
Is it published in the newspaper?
Who the looks!
The scene was silent.
Aldridge's face became a little awkward.