I've always been a believer that at the core of a club there needs to be an identity of what we are and what we are trying to achieve that drives every decision that we make. I've read a couple of things recently that make me believe it even more. I found Diego Simeone's comments after the Liverpool match to be very insightful. He didn't talk about tactics, he talked about emotion and commitment. He mentioned that his team are from a working class area and represent all of those hard working people. He said that they won because they "had soul". They have tapped into the strength of their surroundings and buy players who fit that philosophy. Then I read a superb interview with Craig Bellamy in the Athletic. Bellamy is now under 21's coach at Anderlecht. The club is going through a hard time at the moment and are in serious debt, but they have a great academy. He talked about how they understand that they are a selling club (he thinks everyone except 5 or 6 clubs in the world is) and embrace it. He discusses that his role is not to win games (though obviously he wants to) but to get players ready for the first team and eventually to be sold for a profit. He likes old school manners, making them eat together without wearing hats and no mobile phones. When they've finished a game, he makes them clean up the dressing room before they leave. These are not pampered millionaires, they are working class players, often immigrants who learn that they have to work to get to where they want to be. The club knows that they can lose players without professional contracts for little compensation so they create a pathway for these players to the first team so that they're more likely to stay until they're 20 or 21 for their development. If at that age, they're ready to move beyond Anderlecht, the club makes the best deal they can and pushes the next youngster through. They pay for accommodation at a local boarding school where several of their young players stay together so that they continue their education. Like Ajax, they bring back former players who understand the club in any capacity that they can. Not just as coaches or managers but former players run their foundations and one even organises the schooling. Everyone at the club understands their culture and is pulling in the same direction. Former players still stay invested - Romelu Lukaku sends a message to every player who breaks through from the academy to the first team and congratulates them. I have to be honest, this is the kind of thing I'd dream of at Sunderland. I don't really care about being in the premier league, I care far more about having a club that has an identity I can get behind. We could be this club. The one that gives hard working, working class people something to be proud of. The one that bucks the trend and teaches youngsters values rather than treating them like heires to the throne. The one that gives them an opportunity to succeed and makes the best deal for everyone when they're ready to move on beyond. The one that bit only focuses on making them good academics, but also schooling them on our own history so who we are is embedded in them. The goal of our club should be so far beyond what league we're in next season.
This kind of approach is precisely what we need. Unfortunately, I don't think English fans are patient enough for something like this to bed in. Everyone wants instant success.
I agree, unfortunately. The "holy grail" of the premier league is too lucrative and everyone is trying to get there as quickly as possible. But there is evidence all over Europe that having an identity can make you successful and sustainable. There are several models that all focus around value - Ajax, Anderlecht, Benfica etc. primarily develop their own talent. The likes of AZ Alkmaar have this vision and have their first generation of stars flying at the moment. Then there are the likes of Dortmund, Leipzig, Salzburg etc. who mix their own talent with buying young players. Finally, Atalanta are showing that you can build purely on buying value that fits their system. They finished 4th a few years ago and had their whole squad decimated. They then rebuilt, buying players who were both undervalued and had the characteristics that fit their philosophy and now they find themselves in the quarter finals of the champions League. I would argue that Leicester also fit this model. But outside of Leicester, I don't see this happening much in English football. The only clubs (outside of the big 6) who I see with any type of philosophy are Sheff Utd, Wolves and Brentford. It's no coincidence to me that they're all overachieving.
Totally agree with you. I've been watching those clubs with interest too. Atalanta are particularly interesting at the moment. I've felt for a while that there is scope in the English game for someone to start doing things a little differently, and not just in the way that Leicester are doing things. Closer community engagement (see St Pauli) and clearer local identity (see Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao) could be key things that a club like Sunderland could tap in to. Standing out from the dull grey mass of well supported but underachieving clubs in this country should be one of the main priorities of the board of this club.
Really interesting thread this. Can I ask, because I don't know,of the clubs you mention who are developing in this way, is their ownership and management stable and long term?
You can say with a fair amount of certainty that the German clubs' ownership is stable due to the 50+1 rule they have there. Leipzig is slightly questionable perhaps, as they have to managed to circumvent these rules to some extent. Similarly, Ajax is a club in it's own right so 73% of it is owned by its members. Like Barcelona and like the German clubs. I'm not certain about Anderlecht or Benfica. They don't have this club ownership model in Italy- Antonio Percassi (I think that's his name) owns the majority of Atalanta and has done since 2010 I believe, so he seems to be in it for the long term.
I'd argue that we're in a better position to tap into those kind of things than most clubs in the country. We're from a region that does have values, that is very local and people from the whole surrounding area identify with the club. We have a huge fan base, a tradition and history already there. We don't need to build it from scratch, we just need to emphasise it and channel it.
Anderlecht had the same family as owners from 1971 until 2 years ago. They then chose the bid of the person they thought was the right man to take it forward. The Portuguese clubs have something similar to the German ones I believe. Some investment and major ownership but a lot of members and percentage of fan ownership as well. The managers are not as important because they have Sporting directors and such that run the club and direct the strategy with managers being more of a coach than having any other involvement.
So it appears as though the owner appoints a team of executives who buy into the overall strategy and long term objectives,ensuring stability and cohesion in the way the club is being run. I would love this for us,but it's something I don't think we've ever had,certainly not in modern times.
Yes, though it is often that the executives are people who understand the club and have worked there before. You could argue that we've had variations of this in the past and present without an objective. Quinn being chairman, Ball still at the club, Donald bringing in the 2 directors who are both fans etc. But the people we bring in would have to embody the identity we want to create.
I'm not entirely clear on this point, but, as I understand it, the German clubs and the Dutch clubs that are run in the same way have some kind of written constitution. I think this is required because they are true clubs (not like our euphemistically-named football businesses), with members etc, and run amateur teams, kids teams, and have other events. I would imagine that issues such as the ethos and identity of the clubs are enshrined in those documents.
This article from the BBC shows just how important the members' ownership is to football fans in Germany. Its difficult to know if a model like this would work in the UK, as far as I know it's not been tried, but it seems to me that it would solve the problem of unpopular owners. Anyway, here's why the Hoffenheim owner isn't very popular: BBC News - Dietmar Hopp: Bundesliga protests focus on Hoffenheim owner, but is it all about him? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51800444
