Chapter 99 The League that Decides the Championship

Derby County won the League Cup, and the team celebrated late in Cardiff, but the next morning, everyone got up early to pack up and flew back to Nottingham East Midlands Airport that morning. The team returned to Great Derbyshire by bus.

At East Midlands Airport, many Derby County fans came to greet them.

Although this is the home of Nottingham Forest fans, the distance between Nottingham and Derby County is only a few dozen kilometers. Throughout the East Midlands, the fans of the two teams are also repeated in many areas. There are still a lot of fans who came to the airport to greet the entire Derby County team, but Derby County only stayed at the airport for a while and then took the bus to leave. After all, this is not a place to celebrate.

Only by returning to the town of Great Derbyshire is the real return to one's own territory.

The League Cup is a relatively light weight among the championships in English football, far less than the top league champions and the FA Cup champions, but it is still a lot higher than the lower league champions, and it is only worse than the two mentioned above. champion. Some mid-level teams in the top leagues are also very eager for this championship, especially if this championship was won in a game with Chelsea, the gold content is even higher.

For the Derby County club, the League Cup is also of extraordinary significance.

Derby County has never won the League Cup in the history of the club, and this championship is equivalent to writing a new honor in the history of Derby County, so Derby County and the fans are very excited.

The Great Derbyshire town celebrated wildly on this day.

This makes people think of the FA Cup championship that was celebrated in May last year, and the atmosphere of celebration now is not less than the FA Cup championship at that time. This is also related to history. After all, Derby County has won it twice. FA Cup and League Cup. It's really the first time.

The first time is often very important and has a special meaning!

That's true for women, and it's true for a team's honor.

Derby County fans actually don't have much ambition. Now the team's results are enough to satisfy them. They think that Derby County can compete with Chelsea for the championship in the league. How many titles will be won this season.

But the reality is much more optimistic than imagined, this is already the second championship this season.

First up is the Community Shield. Then there is the League Cup. The two small champions have already satisfied Derby County fans, so the atmosphere in the big Derby County town seems to be celebrating the league championship, but in fact, it is just a League Cup championship.

At least, after returning, Wansheng was no longer excited.

It's exciting when you win a title, and after that it's nothing, thinking about it now, it's just a League Cup, England's second-best cup. What's the count? He wants to be excited, at least excited for the Premier League title and the UEFA Cup. In comparison, the League Cup is nothing!

Other people's ideas are very different from Wansheng.

Great Derbyshire is a big town in the East Midlands, but it's just a 'town'. No matter how big it is, it can't beat Century City. It's really not easy for a team in such a small place to get an honor. , so the Derby County fans are all very excited.

When the team bus pulled into the Derbyshire town, many fans followed behind the bus.

The three streets of the main block were already crowded with fans. After the bus drove in, it was almost difficult, and the speed of the car was not as fast as slow walking, but the bus was definitely not driving here, but to show the fans the championship trophy.

The center of the roof of the bus was lifted, and Wansheng took Morris, Ivan Crewe, Alfred and other players to stand on the second floor, constantly raising the trophy to thank the fans.

This work will take a long time.

According to the arrangement of the club, the bus will go through the streets for two to three hours. Judging by the enthusiasm of the fans, the parade must take longer.

At the beginning, Wansheng himself raised the trophy and waved to the surrounding fans in high spirits. The fans also applauded and cheered as he thought, but Wansheng couldn't stand it any longer. He quickly gave the job to Morris, who held on for less than ten minutes. It was handed over to other teammates.

Derby County went from top to bottom, and Ferdinand and others who did not play in the final went up, and then completed the parade.

Wan Sheng didn't participate in the street parade last May. Now that he is personally involved in scoring goals, he is very pleased with his decision last year. Sure enough, he made the right choice last year, but unfortunately he made a mistake in his judgment today. I laughed it off. After all, we won the championship. Other teams have no chance to do so. I am afraid that Chelsea, the loser, is now reflecting on the reasons for the loss. odd and pressure from lower-level fans.

Mourinho's situation is definitely much worse than Wansheng.

......

The team bus finally arrived at the center of the town, where the mayor of Great Derby and a group of town officials were already waiting there.

After a brief chat, the town government-government officials met with the entire Derby County team. At the same time, the mayor also found Wansheng to chat for a while. This time completely belongs to the players and fans, and the Derby County club’s arrangements are also in progress. In the interaction between some players and fans, lucky fans can ask questions to any player, just like a reporter's on-site interview. Of course, try to say what you want to know.

Finally, the influential people in the fans will discuss and speak one by one.

The first turn is Wansheng.

In the more than two and a half years in Derby County, Wan Sheng has been recognized by the vast majority of fans. When he took the stage, the fans consciously quieted down and waited for his speech.

What Wansheng said made the fans excited. He pointed to his feet and said, "In more than two months, I can be sure that the team will celebrate the championship!"

Hearing this sentence, the fans in the audience were even more excited.

Then Wansheng said some words of encouragement, and then the players went up to say a few words, even the 'shy big boy' Leto Ziegler came on stage, Ziegler said a few words nervously, Nothing new. But the fans still applauded enthusiastically.

In the end, the mayor of Greater Derby County went up and talked a few more words, nothing more than congratulations to the Derby County club for bringing the League Cup championship, and later he talked about some celebrations encouraged by the town government and so on.

The mayor's speech was familiar to Wan Sheng, and he couldn't help but think of the speeches of domestic leaders. He talked and talked about it in the last article, but there was not much substance at all.

Without listening to a few words, Wansheng was a little lost.

But soon he felt someone shaking his body, and Wan Sheng came to his senses, seeing that it was Diamares. Diamares pointed to the front and said, "Wan Sheng, hurry up!"

Others followed suit.

Wan Sheng didn't know why, when he heard the mayor say enthusiastically, "...Because of this, the town government decided to award Mr. Wan Sheng the 'Honorary Citizen' medal..."

Then Wan Sheng was pushed up, and took a small medal and something similar to a certificate from the mayor.

It was only after the celebration was over that Wan Sheng found out that this thing was the "Honorary Citizen" medal issued by the town government, which was specially awarded to outsiders who contributed to the town of Great Derbyshire. With this certificate, the Greater Derbyshire Town will enjoy the same treatment as the citizens of the Greater Derbyshire Town, and these treatments are mainly related to welfare policies. For a football coach like Wan Sheng, it's completely meaningless, but it's just a symbolic honor, just like Ferguson's 'Sir' title, it doesn't really mean much, it's just a symbolic honor, of course. , this so-called 'honorary citizen'. It is not at the same level as the 'title' of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth.

......

Derby County's celebrations lasted all day, the team and fans enjoyed the process, the only regret is that the club's top management did not participate in it, I think Gee Smith and Wilcox have already begun to hand over power, and Now the Derby County club is in a vacuum period for the handover of power. The biggest talk of the entire club is Wansheng, because the new chairman will not take office until April.

before that. Gee Smith, who has not yet unloaded his burden, has been busy transferring the club and has no time to manage.

As for the media, since last night, the media began to intensively report on the final.

The main focus of this final is the competition between Chelsea and Derby County. The two teams are the biggest rivals in the league and the most likely to win the championship. The intersection of the competition between the two teams is mainly in the league, so this League Cup final can be regarded as an extension of the league competition.

Many media reported this before the game, perhaps because of the League Cup championship. For both teams, it was like a chicken rib. It was really just an honor.

Now, the media supporting Chelsea don't mention it anymore, because Chelsea lost the game, so they start talking about Wansheng's 'arrogance', talking about what Wansheng said after the game, and have a series of attacks.

However, most of the media do not support Chelsea, and even many are hostile to Chelsea, especially Manchester United, Liverpool and other supporters, they are very hostile to Chelsea, when they saw Chelsea lose to Derby County, they began to fall into trouble, Schadenfreude at Chelsea's loss.

There are also some neutral media and supporting Derby County. Only these media are really analyzing the game. They praised Derby County's play style and the correct substitution adjustments made by Wansheng in the game, and analyzed them accordingly. Chelsea and Derby County compete in the league.

Based on the analysis of this game, Derby County is not weaker than Chelsea at all, so they concluded that the two teams in the league must be fighting each other, and it is really hard to say who will die.

This is very different from the opinion of the media supporting Chelsea.

The media who support Chelsea believe that Derby County's good results are only temporary. This view has been maintained for more than half a season. Until now, many media hold similar views. Although Derby County's points have never been pulled down, these The media like to talk about things like 'bench depth' and 'inheritance'.

Perhaps it is also because Chelsea is fighting with Derby County for their heritage. They can't talk about their heritage with Manchester United, Liverpool and other teams, because in football history, the latter two teams have better results than Chelsea. Many, with this natural deep foundation.

Of course, what these media say can't affect the Derby County club, because the League Cup title already belongs to Derby County, and as for the league title, it's not something they say can belong to Chelsea.

Derby County are back on track after a series of championship celebrations.

After the match against Chelsea, Wansheng generously gave the team three days off after a one-week game break. After that, the whole team returned to the field for training, and the atmosphere in the team became serious again.

The whole team knew what they were up against.

"In three days, you should have enough rest!" Wan Sheng stood in front of all the players and said solemnly, "Next, we have to cheer up! Because a crucial game is coming!"

Wan Sheng didn't talk much about the schedule, but everyone knew what he was talking about.

In March, Derby County has three league games and two legs of the UEFA Cup. The opponent in the UEFA Cup is Alkmaar, a powerhouse in the Eredivisie, and the three opponents in the league are Birmingham, Chelsea and Charlton. .

Birmingham and Charlton have nothing to say, the 'vital league' is talking about the league with Chelsea.

This league is on the 16th of the month, and the most troublesome thing is that the game is sandwiched between the two-leg UEFA Cup game with Alkmaar.

The only thing fortunate is that the first round with Alkmaar is at home, but the schedule of the home and the guest is not good for Derby County. Considering the league with Chelsea, the home and the guest still let Wansheng shout. In one breath, even so, he has to face a difficult choice - the league, or the UEFA Cup?

Alkmaar is not well-known, but it is by no means a good team to deal with, especially in the second round of the away game, which is only two days away from the league with Chelsea. Time off to fly to the Netherlands.

Such a schedule is extremely difficult, and Wansheng also faces difficult choices.

However, the difficulty of the schedule does not mean that one has to give up a game. After all, a round of the league with Chelsea can not determine the title of the championship, and even if it does not play all the main players, Derby County may not necessarily lose to Alkmaar.

The media commented that Derby County should give up the UEFA Cup and focus on the league, but Wansheng did not want to give up. His goal is to win three titles. If the UEFA Cup is abandoned, in case the league competition fails,' Isn't the honor mission impossible to complete?

So in both competitions, the team has to fight for it.

But facing two opponents in a short period of time must have a problem of focus. Comparatively speaking, the game with Chelsea must be more important, because this is the first time the team has the opportunity to surpass Chelsea in the standings. A victory at Stamford Bridge will also improve the morale of the entire team.

It can be said that by winning this game, Wansheng will lead the team to win the league championship, at least 80%, or even more!

The same goes for Chelsea.

If Chelsea beat Derby County, they would be able to get rid of the three points and win in the head-to-head confrontation, which would obviously boost Chelsea's morale, and it would be very difficult for Derby County to compete for the championship.

How to do it, Wansheng already has a concept.

......

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