Chapter 9 Business Wizards
“This is the political center of British football!”
When Yang Cheng stood in front of the 6-story office building in SOHO Square in central London, his heart was full of sighs. .
He has heard too many stories about this office building.
One of the most talked about by fans should be what happened in the first half of 2004. The CEO of the Football Association Palios, the England national team coach Eriksson, and the Football Association The love triangle of General Secretary Faria Alam.
This zipper door that shocked the world killed Palios and almost cost Eriksson his job.
At the same time, it also brought disrepute to the FA.
In his previous life, Yang Cheng once heard a term mentioned by employees of the Football Association.
FlirtersAnonymous.
The abbreviation of the Football Association of England happens to be FA.
Because of this, he remembered another name, Adam Crozier.
In private, Yang Cheng heard many people mention this young Scotsman, and different people had very different evaluations of him.
But almost everyone thinks that he is a wizard in the business world!
In 1990, at the age of 26, Crozier officially became the managing director of the British advertising giant Saatchi Group. At the age of 30, he became one of the two co-CEOs.
At the age of 36, Adam Crozier chose to leave the Golden Age and join the Football Association as CEO.
He is the youngest CEO in the history of the FA!
As soon as he took office, Adam Crozier did something big that shocked the entire UK.
He announced that he would move the FA headquarters from remote Lancaster to central London, where land is at a premium.
In the past, the FA has always given people the impression of a decadent image controlled by a bunch of bald old men.
In order to change this stereotype, Adam Crozier, in addition to moving the headquarters, spent 2 years reducing the average age of FA employees from 51 to 32 years old.
Among the 250 employees, the proportion of female employees has increased from less than 10% to 60% now.
In addition, Adam Crozier began a very radical reform of the Football Association.
Including spending a lot of money to hire the famous coach Eriksson; reforming the FA Executive Committee and reducing the number to 12 people; establishing a training and qualification system for English coaches; introducing the club financial evaluation implemented by the German Football Association. Mechanism...
In just 2 years, Adam Crozier completely overturned the ancient Football Association.
Under Crozier's management, the FA's revenue soared from the original 20 million pounds to 120 million pounds, which was like riding a rocket.
But soon, he hit the iron plate.
With the support of FA chairman Geoff Thompson, Adam Crozier is ambitious to bring the organizational and financial management of the Premier League into the hands of the FA.
In a stone's throw, the Football Association plans to sign a £5 million contract with sponsors for the England international's image rights.
Once successful, all the money will be divided among the national players, and the FA will only charge necessary operating expenses.
Of course the Premier League and club bosses won’t do it.
If the FA takes this initiative, will the player's image rights remain the club's private property in the future?
So, in retaliation, led by former Chelsea chairman Bates, and with the acquiescence of Manchester United, Arsenal and other wealthy teams, the Premier League proposed to establish a Professional Game Management Committee within the FA to deprive the FA of its control over the Premier League. and cup management rights.
The two sides were in a quarrel.
Finally at the end of 2002, chairman Geoff Thompson switched sides and Adam Crozier, who was stabbed in the back, stepped down.
In July 2003, Palios succeeded Crozier and became the CEO of the FA.
Since then, Crozier's two-year, magnificent reform of English football ended in failure.
But whether it is the relocation of the FA headquarters, the reform of internal office management, or the increase in revenue, or even the coach training system, it has brought about earth-shaking changes to English football.
Yang Cheng had never met Adam Crozier in his previous life.
Because after leaving the FA, he never returned to football.
But he has long admired this "hero" who has been criticized publicly but praised privately by countless people.
Many people even jokingly said that if Crozier had not reformed and vigorously introduced female employees, there would have been no subsequent love triangle, let alone the nickname "Anonymous Flirter".
After leaving the Football Association, Adam Crozier went directly to the Royal Mail to turn this old enterprise into a profit.
In Yang Cheng's previous life, he served as CEO of independent television stations, BT television stations and other companies, and achieved amazing results in each of them, confirming the outside world's evaluation of him.
Management Wizard!
……
When Yang Cheng walked into the FA office, Dinamo Zagreb CEO Damir Vrbanovic was already waiting.
With him, in addition to the young player Luka Modric who flew from Croatia, there was another famous world-class legendary superstar.
Boban.
When Yang Cheng came in, he saw Modric standing next to his idol with a solemn expression.
On the contrary, it was the famous Croatian midfielder who was chatting and laughing with FA Chairman Geoff Thompson, CEO Palios, and England national team coach Eriksson.
This is the influence of legendary celebrities!
"Sorry, something has delayed me."
Yang Cheng smiled and apologized as soon as he entered the door.
Whether it is Boban, Thompson or Palios, they are all a little surprised by Yang Cheng's youth.
Under Vrbanovich's introduction, they all maintained their outward demeanor and did not look down upon him.
But soon, Eriksen's words surprised everyone present.
“I made a special trip this time. In addition to my old friend Zvonimir, I also want to see who dares to come to our national team to poach us.”
Sweden The person said this with a smile, a relaxed, and even a bit funny tone. "What's going on?" Geoff Thompson asked quickly.
The England national team is what he is most concerned about.
"Brian Kidd told me that a third-tier league team recently contacted him and offered him an annual salary of 300,000 pounds, trying to persuade him to coach." Eriksen looked at Yang Cheng, Laughed.
“300,000 pounds?” Palios was very surprised.
His annual salary is only 450,000 pounds.
Yang Cheng, a third-level club, offered Brian Kidd an annual salary of 300,000 pounds?
This is much higher than the treatment in the national team.
Modric was just a young man, listening on the sidelines, feeling shocked, happy, and worried at the same time.
He was delighted because he had heard of Brian Kidd, England's biggest assistant coach, Ferguson's assistant for many years, and the founder of Manchester United's Class of '92.
If he hadn't fallen out with Ferguson back then, he would have had the aura of being the hero of Manchester United's Triple Crown above his head.
This is enough to prove that the promise Yang Cheng made to him before is turning into reality.
Worry is a source of worry for Yang Cheng.
After all, it is no joke to poach the national team if it angers the Chairman and CEO of the Football Association.
Not to mention Modric, even Boban and Vrbanovic couldn't help but look at Yang Cheng.
Although Erikson was joking, did he really have no grudge in his heart?
Yang Cheng was not surprised or nervous. Instead, he glanced around the crowd and was particularly satisfied with Modric's concern.
This proves that Modric begins to identify with the Bayswater Chinese.
"Ha, Sven, you are exaggerating."
Yang Cheng did not face the pressure of the world's top coaches at all, and seemed particularly calm.
“Brian is one of the best coaches in Europe. Under the cultivation of the Football Association and Manchester United, he went to Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and other European countries and giants many times to learn and gain experience. , whether it is training players or understanding British football, he is the best.”
Brian Kidd is a direct descendant of Manchester United, from player to coach.
But now, Yang Cheng mentioned the FA, which also benefited Thompson and Palios a lot.
"To be honest, I would have never dared to think about it, but now that he has resigned from Elland Road, I would like to invite him to our Bayswater Chinese team to give guidance on our work, act as a consultant, and help us improve our training and Technical and tactical level. "
In December 1998, on the eve of Manchester United's Triple Crown and the most difficult moment for the team, Brian Kidd left Ferguson.
In addition to the fact that Blackburn, also a Premier League team, invited him to coach alone, his conflict with Ferguson also intensified.
But after one year of coaching at Blackburn, in November 1999, Brian Kidd announced his resignation.
This also made him clearly realize that he was not suitable to be a head coach at all.
So, in January 2000, he accepted the invitation of Leeds United head coach O'Reilly as an assistant coach.
With O'Reilly and Brian Kidd joining hands, Leeds United reached the peak of club history and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
But at the end of last year, O'Reilly was dismissed from Leeds United, which was in deep financial crisis.
In January this year, Eriksson’s assistant McLaren went solo. After coaching Middlesbrough, Brian Kidd came to England under the recommendation of Beckham and other Class of 92 Team.
Throughout the first half of the year, he worked both for the national team and Leeds United.
This is also very common in European football.
After all, in the absence of major competitions, the national team has very few competition tasks.
So, the salary of coaches is very low, and many of them are part-time.
Of course, a certain country is an exception.
"Sven, actually you don't have to worry. Even if Brian comes to work for our team, it will still be based on the national team. We will definitely do our best to cooperate with your work."
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Yang Cheng's statement made Eriksen unable to find anything wrong.
Afterwards, Yang Cheng praised Geoff Thompson and Palios a few times, which made the two FA bosses quite uncomfortable.
This made Yang Cheng believe that even if Brian Kidd did accept the invitation from the Bayswater Chinese, there would not be any conflicts.
As for Eriksen...
Well, does anyone really believe that this guy is not coaching England for a sky-high annual salary?
As the conversation gradually deepened, Boban and others gained some new understanding of Yang Cheng.
Despite his young age, Yang Cheng can handle it with ease, whether he is talking about professional matters on the football field or gossip outside the football field, and he always has witty remarks and quotations, which makes people feel like spring breeze.
Vrbanovic, who felt Yang Cheng’s ability for the second time, had the deepest experience of this.
Whether it was Thompson and Palios, or Boban and Vrbanovich, they all found that Yang Cheng seemed not to care about the upcoming hearing at all.
This is the first time the British Home Office has held a hearing for a football player.
In other words, if he passes the hearing and gets a labor certificate, Luka Modric will become the first professional player in history to land in the Premier League through the [Special Genius Clause].
Every time I think about this, not to mention Boban and Vrbanovic, even the Football Association is quite cautious.
On the other hand, Yang Cheng always looked confident.
This also made everyone around him think more highly of him.
Woo hoo hoo, the number of tickets has dropped a lot these days, I beg you all! ! Thank you! !
(End of this chapter)