Lyon and French domination
To find yet another example of success in sports management that led to great glory, we have to go to the then not-so-football-fanatic city of Lyon in France. When a local accountant, Jean-Michel Aulas took over the club in 1987, the club was nearly non-existent. The people of the city were almost unaware of the presence of a local football club. And the fact that the club struggled in the second division didn’t help either. Since then, under Aulas, the club has only been on a way up.
Aulas developed the club from the grassroots level gradually to the top. In his first season as president, under new manager Raymond Domenech, the club went unbeaten on their way to win promotion. With the help of former France and Lyon striker Bernard Lacombe who is widely credited with having the ‘Best pair of eyes in France’, Aulas bought players on the cheap and sold them on a high. Players who were going to help the team in the short term and who would contribute to the financial situation of the club in the longer term.
Following this strategy, they had managed to bring a team together by 2002 that was going to dominate French football for the next 7 years. They won 7 consecutive league titles with players who didn’t cost them tens of millions. Players who they had scouted.
No manager brought about this revelation. They had 4 managers in those 7 years. Somewhat inconsistent but their philosophy was same all the time and hence the success followed.
They bought good players on the cheap. They made the team better. Eventually, the team got better. They got sporting success which contributed to financial growth. Then they sold their top players, helping the club get better financially. And they replaced the old players with new players who were just as good. The perfect thing.
Though Leicester and Forest and Sevilla have done very well in the market to accomplish great things, I don’t think the achievement of Lyon is in any way less comparable. The level of consistency that they managed to create while selling top talents like Michael Essien, Karim Benzema and others is second to none.
Porto, the pioneers
Porto in Portugal have been another example of great on-field as well as off-field success. Porto have been the top destination of South-American football talent in the 21st century. Starting from the likes of James Rodriguez, Falcao, Hulk, Joao Moutinho and Danilo in more recent times, Porto have sold all their best players and still maintain a level of consistency that is praiseworthy. Between 2001 and 2011, the club has accounted for a total of £850 million of sales which has provided them with £342 million in profits. That is a considerable sum of money.
While many of their counterparts in old times like Ajax, Milan and Celtic have dropped low in their performance in recent years, Porto have been excellent all the way winning the Champions League in 2004 as a insignia of their glory. This was possible not because of a era-defining manager or a one-in-a-generation player. This was possible because of a policy that has proved true time and again in the script of footballing history.
Atletico Madrid, the edifice of continued success
In more recent times, another example of top level football management has been shown from Atletico Madrid. Away from the glitterati of Real Madrid, Atletico under the leadership of Diego Simeone has been a step ahead of their title rivals in the transfer market. Their level of consistency has been praiseworthy too. Having won the Spanish Liga in 2014, they are now in the Champions League final for the second time in three years.
Just like the striker scenario at Sevilla, Atletico have been, over the years, gifted with some of the best strikers in the world. Starting from the days when Fernando Torres broke into the scene to Sergio Aguero to Diego Forlan to Falcao to the infamous Diego Costa, Atleti have always had one of the best strikers in the world leading their attack in recent years. More recently, Antoine Griezmann has come into the spotlight and taken responsibility as Los Colchoneros’ go-to man in difficult situations.
Out of all the clubs that have achieved unexpected success in recent times, Atletico have been up there the longest time yet. On Saturday, when they take up Real Madrid in Lisbon in the Champions League final, the worst result that they can get is that they would have qualified for the Champions League final twice in three years. That is enough to be a symbol of their success.
Smartness over extravagance – the recipe for success!
Starting from Nottingham to Lyon to Seville to Madrid, it has often been proved time and again that proper sports management can and will get you more rewards in the longer term than buying a player and asking him to change everything. Yes, Nottingham weren’t able to maintain their position after Clough and yes, Lyon are struggling to win the league right now. But the reason for their struggle is that they tried to think like the big boys once they themselves became big. But the problem was, they weren’t equipped to be big. They needed to be small. They just needed to think big.
As Jaime Carragher wrote in his autobiography, “Having money is no guarantee of success. The key is spending it on the right players.”
It doesn’t matter if you have a million dollars if you don’t know how to spend your cent.
