iNM Magazine Volume 7 | August 2015
Music and Sports
and keep them on board,” he adds..
When it comes to the successful creation of a football
team, Mr. Houllier eschews the classic business maxim
that achievement is 80% effort and 20% talent and points
to a 95/5 ratio — 95% being effort and the 5% talent.
Just like any other business, a football club has a business
model and a business strategy.
e aim of all football clubs is to increase their revenue
and profitability by expanding their high growth business
that leverages the global community and marketing
infrastructure. e key elements of the strategy being:
Ÿ Expanding portfolio of global and regional sponsors
Ÿ Enhancing the reach and distribution of broadcasting
rights
Ÿ Further developing retail, merchandising, apparel
and product licensing business
Ÿ Exploiting new media and mobile opportunities
Ÿ Diversify revenue and improve margins.
e business models of all football clubs are more or less
the same. Manchester United Football Club focusses on
managing and operating as a single reporting segmentthe management of a professional football team. ey
review their revenue through three key sectors:
commercial, broadcasting and match-day.
Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the most legendary managers of
all time, who managed Manchester United, had a clear
vision. He delineated, what we call are, exceptional
leadership and management skills. It is because of this
that people call him the greatest manager in the history of
football.
Ÿ
Focus on building the foundation: From the
moment he got to Manchester United, he thought of
only one thing: building a football club. He wanted to
build right from the bottom. at was in order to
create fluency and a continuity of supply to the first
team. With this approach, the players all grow up
together, producing a bond that, in turn, created a
spirit.
Ÿ
Dare to rebuild your team: He identified three
levels of players: 30 and older, those roughly 23 to 30,
and the younger ones coming in. e idea was that the
younger players were developing and would meet the
standards that the older ones had set. Although he
was always trying to disprove it, he believed that the
cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four to five
years, and then some change is needed. So he tried to
visualize the team three or four years ahead and made
decisions accordingly. Because he was at United for
such a long time, he could afford to plan ahead—no
one expected him to go anywhere. Analysing player
transfer data reveals Ferguson to be a uniquely
effective “portfolio
manager” of talent. He was
strategic, rational, and systematic.
Ÿ
Set high standards & hold everyone to them:
Everything Sir Alex did was about maintaining the
standards he had set as a football club—this applied to
all his team building and all his team preparation,
motivational talks, and tactical talks. For example, he
never allowed a bad training session. He believed what
we see in training manifests itself on the game field. So
every training session was about quality. He didn't
allow a lack of focus. It was about intensity,
concentration, speed—a high level of performance.
at, he hoped, made the players improve with each
session. He had to lift players' expectations. He said
that to them all the time: “If you give in once, you'll give
in twice.”
Ÿ
Don't, ever lose control: Before Sir Alex came to
United, he told himself he wasn't going to allow
anyone to be stronger than he was. “Your personality
has to be bigger than theirs. at is vital. ere are
occasions when you have to ask yourself whether
certain players are affecting the dressing-room
atmosphere, the performance of the team, and your
control of the players and staff. If they are, you have to
cut the cord” he said. e long-term view of the club is
more important than any individual, and the manager
has to be the most important one in the club. You have
to achieve a position of comprehensive control. It's
important to have confidence in yourself to make a
Before retiring in May 2013 he spent 26 ͕