Ajax managed quite an impressive run last season similar to that of Monaco 16/17 not to long ago and in this post I hope to explore how I believe the perfect balance between business decisions and footballing decisions.
In my opinion no two owners have had such an impact over there clubs as, Roman Abramovic and Fiorentino Perez. Both have perhaps through a propensity to inject capital more freely than others, boost their respective clubs.. Real has seen some of its most successful periods in history under Mr Perez and his philosophy or Galacticos projects making Madrid a hub for the best football players in the world. Filling his teams with balon d’or winners and possible winners has proven a successful strategy.
Equally under Mr Abromovic Chelsea turned from a top half to mid table team, to real title contenders. This can be attributed to free flowing capital, but both owner have shown a propensity to be heavily involved with the clubs.
Frank Lampard is now Chelsea’s 13th manager in 15 years paying testament to the high expectations the owner has for his club.
Real Madrid have also had a high turnover rate with 15 different manager over the same time frame. This approach although heavy handed has proven quite fruitful for both clubs and has seen these clubs deliver trophies.
I would however be remiss if I didn’t also say this has the draw back of clubs lacking an identity or recognizable style with such frequent changes in management. Approaches of Mancherster United in the past with Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm for such a long period is worth note. Also with the time that Diego Simeone has been at Athletic he has been able to establish a particular bar and of football at the club.
I would also bring to the reader’s attention the Basque club Athletic Bilbao through ownership and culture have retained, culture and identity through nurturing talent from their academy and at most the region. This has to an extent meant they have remained a relatively mid table club. However they do have a clear identity.
Liverpool has in contrast had only 5 managers since 2004. This stability and more patient approach has tended to pay dividends for them in the past. Again recently with the Champions league victory this despite two finals defeats in the two previous campaigns. Enough to have seen Klopp dismissed at Chelsea or Real. At this means plaudits are needed for the Fenaway group, for an awesome recruiting job on Klopp.
My favorite organisation, is Ajax Amsterdam with Marc Overmars as sporting director and Edwin van der Sar as C. E.O this executive body is the ideal mix for any football ensuring day to day running of the football club and issue like transfer policy are in the hands of former players held in high esteem. This may be a real driving force in the champions league run of last season. If the club can replecate such achievements for a prolonged period they will deserve plaudits.
The board is full of individuals with strong sporting backgrounds like Leo van Wijk who trained with Johan Cryuff and has been C. E. O of Dutch Airline KLM.. Another board member they can boast of is former player and coach at all levels of Dutch football Danny Blind.. Having Such a seasoned and experienced board well poised to monetise the club but still maintain a focused football oriented approach at heart..
The last approach can clearly be seen as that of Arsenal and Ac Milan that are mainly run as business. Milan is currently owned by the Elliot management group a hedgefund whos main purpose is to increase the value of the football club as much as possible to ensure that when they eventually do sell they make a lucrative return on there £300 million acquisition. This with Paolo Maldini as sporting director and Boban as an executive as well reinforces the idea of having former players in executive roles. It will be intresting to see how this setup will perform given Milan is a club with inherently high expectations!!
Arsenal has taken on their former player Edu Gaspar as a sporting director and this should be a step in the right direction. for a club who’s owners who have for the longest time exceeded expectations whilst maintaining a very desciplined wage structure. This combined with a very restrictive transfer policy and one of the most expensive ticket prices have left me of the view the club was a conduit for ownerships profit.
The tv money as additional factor meaning Arsenal’s share price should continue to increase. In September 2004 an Arsenal share cost £1500 today a share in the club will set you back £30000.
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