At the beginning of the season, the British media characterized Millwall as a 'team that is sure of relegation', and they analyzed a lot of content and came to the conclusion that "there will be no suspense in the new season, and Millwall has already locked a relegation place before the first round of the league has started." ”

When Millwall won three games in a row, the media's narrative changed, but they were still not very optimistic about Millwall, only thinking that they had played well by chance.

Since then, Zhang Yang has been emphasizing relegation.

Zhang Yang is reluctant to argue with the media, and it is useless for the professional football world to say that the sky is falling, and the real results can explain everything.

For example, now Zhang Yang emphasized, "Millwall has only just completed the relegation goal, and can work for a bigger goal." ”

The media doesn't see it that way.

With Millwall's results, there was enough chance to compete for the title, and they automatically put Millwall in the title contenders.

That's why results are everything.

Media reporters still hope to hear the speech about the 'championship competition' from Zhang Yang's mouth, so that they can have a subject to report.

Zhang Yang didn't do that, he just 'flickered', set a goal of 'European competition quota', and said in a very low-key and harmless way, "We don't actually have the idea of winning the championship." ”

The next day, when the whole team gathered again, Zhang Yang's face changed, his expression became very serious, and he looked at everyone's words and eyes carefully, and then said solemnly, "I said a long time ago, our goal will not be relegation!" ”

Quite a few players laughed.

Now it makes no sense to talk about Millwall's relegation, with the current accumulation of relegation, the top four in the league can be guaranteed.

Zhang Yang continued, "I believe that everyone should be very relaxed. But I must also remind you that this is not the time to relax. We are top of the league table, one more point than Chelsea, but our goal is not just to get better in the table, but to stay first until the end! ”

Most of the players were prepared, but after hearing these words, their hearts were still a little shaken.

This is the first time Zhang Yang has set a goal!

Win the championship!

Many players also said privately that the team's hopes of winning the championship are great, but Zhang Yang has never said it publicly, and they have always been uncertain.

Now you can be sure!

The flamboyant goal turned out to be to win the championship, or rather, Millwall's league goal turned out to be to win the championship --

It's also amazing!

Many players have reflected on the performance from the beginning of the season to the present, as well as the current league form of the team, and they found that the team has a chance, and there is still a lot of chance, just like many media said, so far this season, only Chelsea and Millwall are eligible to compete for the league title.

But when Zhang Yang said it, they still felt shocked.

This thing is amazing in itself!

O Millwall!

Millwall were mid-table in the Championship last season and want to be promoted to the Premier League, which seemed very far away, but now, a year later, they are at the top of the Premier League and are still aiming to win the Premier League.

The players were shocked and thrilled because they were sure of one thing: they had the opportunity to win the league championship medal with the team.

That's a Premier League title!

As long as they can win the Premier League championship medal, it is enough to make the vast majority of players feel the glory of a lifetime, especially some veterans who are almost impossible to achieve anything more, and their faces are even more red with excitement.

At an age when you are about to retire, you can still get a Premier League championship medal, which is definitely the best retirement gift.

Everybody's looking forward to it!

————

Millwall head into February's tournament with a fighting spirit.

When the time came to the beginning of February, Millwall's injury situation improved, Braniff and Smitchell returned one after another, making the main lineup look much better, especially Smitchell, his return is very important, and in the case of Jody Morris's injury, Smitchell must pick up the burden of the core.

In addition, Sean Davis's tactical adaptation has been doing well.

Sean Davis' improvement was noticeable, and at the beginning, he followed the whole team through tactical training and was a little unsure of how to run.

Now it's much better.

For half a month, Sean Davis has been adapting to the 433 formation, and the team is training this lineup, and Davis can only adapt to it.

In terms of tactical training progress, Sean Davis is definitely much worse than his teammates, but if he only uses the 433 formation, his performance in it is not bad, but the tacit understanding of the team, some can't catch up with others.

In the first game of February, Zhang Yang also put Sean Davis in the squad.

This is the twenty-fifth round of the Premier League.

Millwall sat at home to face the visiting Birmingham, the results of the two teams were 1-2, Millwall beat Birmingham away, many players still remember that difficult game, but after coming to Neil Stadium, the situation has changed too much, Birmingham thought they could shake Millwall, but really in the game, the only thing they experienced was the gap between the two teams.

Millwall used a 433 formation.

The advantage of this formation is that it is both offensive and defensive, the midfielder drives the whole team to attack and defend, and when attacking, it can be easily pressed on the whole line, and the three backs also ensure the defensive intensity.

From the first minute of the game, Millwall dominated the field, and three goals in both halves did not allow Birmingham to see a chance to win.

Three to zero!

Millwall comfortably won their first win in February, and as the saying goes, 'a good start is half the battle', and an easy win in the first game is a good sign.

Millwall next up for the FA Cup.

The FA Cup is now in the round of 16, and the flamboyant attitude is still 'not prepared', allowing the team to play freely on the field, winning if they can, and it doesn't matter if they lose.

Millwall's opponent is Bolton.

Bolton Wanderers were not a tough opponent, but the biggest impact of the game was the 'long journey', from London to Manchester, it took at least two hours or more, Millwall the whole team set off at half past one in the afternoon, and entered the Reebok Stadium at five o'clock, and the game started forty minutes later, so there was not much time to prepare.

Millwall played with exhaustion.

Zhang Yang has some hopes to lose the game, the FA Cup round of 16 is not important, it is completely acceptable to fall here, losing the FA Cup is equivalent to losing the baggage, they can concentrate on the league.

Bolton will be hoping to win.

So far this season, Bolton are ninth in the league and their results are not bad, but it is not easy to compete for a place in Europe, with only three places from ninth to sixth, but it will be very difficult to take a step forward.

Then the FA Cup is an opportunity.

According to the FA Cup format, the champion team can directly qualify for European competitions, but most of the time, the championship will be a contest between the top clubs in the Premier League, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and other teams, who don't care about European places at all because they are highly ranked in the league.

When this happens, the FA Cup European quota will be automatically lowered, and the runner-up will also qualify for the European competition, in other words, if you want to get the European competition, you don't need to win the FA Cup, as long as you enter the final, you will have a chance, Millwall has won the FA Cup runner-up, and recently won the European competition.

It is understandable why Bolton attach importance to the FA Cup.

Bolton Wanderers boss Alex Aledes is also hoping his side can beat Millwall and get close to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, leaving them just two days away from reaching the final, and as long as they can make it to the final, they will basically get a place in Europe.

Two games to get a place in the European competition is obviously much more efficient than the league.

Alledyce wants Millwall not to 'take too much' on the FA Cup, and he doesn't think Millwall will put 100 per cent into it because for Millwall the league is more important and the FA Cup is distracted and doesn't help the league in any way.

As for honors?

Compared to the fight for the league title, the FA Cup honours are nothing at all.

The same goes for competitions.

Millwall only sent a semi-main line-up, and Zhang Yang told the media, "The injury problem in the team is serious, and I am also responsible for the health of the players, and the players who should be rested must be rested!" ”

But the game also proved that even if it was only a semi-main lineup, with the support of strong fighting spirit, Millwall's performance was still very good, not only playing an equal match with Bolton on the field, but also scoring first.

The goal came in the 37th minute, when Konchesky's diagonal cross down the middle was met by Livermore's direct volley, and the ball crossed twenty-five meters and appeared in the Bolton goal.

Zhang Yang secretly praised Livermore's shot.

As the league slowly unfolded, Livermore gained more experience, improved with his teammates, and greatly increased the threat of a shot on goal, relying on his ability to help the team win many games.

After Livermore's goal, Bolton were reluctant to concede the ball and continued to strengthen their attack, but until the end of the game, they failed to score a single goal.

At the end of the game, Millwall beat Bolton Wanderers away to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

After the game, Zhang Yang sighed helplessly, "Next, we have to be serious!" ”

The FA Cup is not on the agenda.

The English FA Cup is meaningless for Millwall, the so-called 'European competition places', as long as they finish in the top six of the league, the championship honor is very attractive, but no matter how much history there is, after all, it is only a cup competition.

Zhang Yang can understand the paranoia of England fans about the English FA Cup, they regard the FA Cup as a 'tradition', a long history of football, and the pride of English football.

No matter how proud the history and tradition are, it does not have much practical significance.

Too little money!

The influence is too small!

Two practical problems are the reasons for giving up the FA Cup, but after playing Bolton, it is different, when Millwall enters the quarterfinals, it is very close to the championship, and it is a pity to choose to give up.

Well, you can only fight for it!

"On the basis of not affecting the league, try your best to participate in the follow-up games!"

Zhang Yang can only think so.

————

That night, a big event happened: Gregory officially sold all his shares in the club to the Saudis.

It's too much of an impact.

Previously, the Saudis bought Grigh's shares, plus Grigory's shares, and the total stake held was at least 42 percent.

This value is the most conservative estimate.

If you think about it, the Saudis will definitely buy more than 51 percent of the shares when they start buying Millwall FC.

When the amount of shares held exceeds 51 percent, it will have control of the club, which cannot be said to be absolute control, but it is generally about the same, after the other party buys Gligory's shares, the shares held should have exceeded 51 percent.

Zhang Yang learned the news from Ebenezer's mouth.

Ebenezer also holds a stake in the club, but only by three percentage points, and has been in control of it without the option of selling, while he is also thinking about his future.

Ebenezer is the CEO of the club, and the club was bought by foreign capital, so it is definitely impossible for him to be the CEO, and whether to stay in the club or not, he has to negotiate with the other party, and the situation is certainly not very good.

"I don't know what the new boss will be, but you should probably think about the future." Zhang Yang suggested that he actually wanted to work with Ebenezer and that the two were already familiar with each other, but Ebenezer was the CEO of the club and the new owner would never let him stay at the helm of the team.

Ebenezer wanted to stay.

Having worked at Millwall for so long, he has a deep affection for the club.

Leaving now? He couldn't make a decision.

Zhang Yang can understand his feelings, but he does not continue to persuade that when the club is acquired, even whether he can keep his job becomes a problem.

Unlike Ebenezer, Zhang Yang is not too worried.

With the results achieved by leading Millwall, it will be easy for him to find a new club if he leaves, and the salary package will be greatly improved.

That's what results bring.

Not to mention that the new owner asked him to leave, even if the new owner wants to keep him, he also needs to consider whether it will be a good choice to stay, after all, after changing the owner, no one knows what the situation is, if the other party continues to meddle in the team, his head coach rights will be weakened, and leading the team will encounter various problems, which is absolutely unacceptable.

The British press soon got the news.

When Glick's shares were bought, people in the 'circle' really knew, because Glick was just a small person, and the media didn't care about him at all.

Grigory's shares were acquired, he was the president of Millwall FC, and there were many media reporters who paid attention to him, and at the same time, Millwall's shares had changed dramatically, and it was impossible to hide it anymore, and there were relevant media reports immediately.

"Big news: Millwall has been acquired by a Saudi consortium!"

"Millwall has a new owner!"

"The Saudis became the largest shareholder in Millwall! Millwall is about to usher in a big change at the top! ”

“……”