The Godfather of Football

Humans are very complex and strange animals, even if they are social animals.

Once upon a time, humans believed in the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, which made humans at that time look very barbaric and violent, and even almost destroyed the entire earth with war.

After the two world wars and the end of the Cold War between the United States and Russia, all humans were reflecting on one thing. They all knew very well that if the game of humans on the earth continued to be played like this, if the chess game of humans continued in this barbaric and violent way, sooner or later, the earth would be destroyed.

It must not be aliens or natural disasters, but humans burying the earth with their own hands.

Perhaps everyone understands this truth, and even all mankind has such a consensus, but a very interesting thing is that after the end of World War II and the Cold War, everyone advocates peace, and all national leaders and politicians say that they want peace and abandon the jungle law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak.

But why is it that what is actually done is not the case?

Developed countries, led by the United States and Europe, which developed earlier, are the makers of the world's rules. For their own interests, they will do everything they can to set up a series of rules and regulations to ensure their interests, while restricting the development of other countries and regions. It is best to let all people in all countries outside the United States and Europe work for them and be exploited by them for their whole lives. This is the result they want.

But with the advent of the information age, more and more people are awakening, and more and more countries are rising. They will not be willing to accept these rules and terms set by developed countries. They are eager for development and progress, and they hope that one day the people of their own country can live the same life and enjoy the same welfare as developed countries.

This is an irreconcilable contradiction, and this contradiction has forced developed countries to return to the law of the jungle again and again, and return to the thinking logic of the Cold War in the past.

Not only developed countries, but also developing countries. If they want to develop and progress, they have to challenge developed countries and damage the interests of these developed countries. This is very dangerous, so they must find a sense of security from themselves. Only when they have enough sense of security will they consider the so-called world peace and stability.

So, the world has become what we see today, and the clouds of war and the Cold War still hang over the world.

The pattern of the Premier League is actually a small world. There are 20 teams, including giants, strong teams, mid- and lower-level teams, and weak teams fighting for relegation. They have formed a very interesting disparity, but each of them has the same goal, that is, the league ranking.

For newly promoted teams such as Reading, they will not consider the so-called salary cap issue, because that is not what they care about. They have only one goal, to stay in the Premier League, and the salary issue is something they have to worry about after staying in the Premier League.

But for teams such as Manchester City, Newcastle and West Ham United, and even for teams such as West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa, the salary cap has become the ceiling above their heads. It is a major obstacle that successful giants such as Manchester United and Chelsea have put on their heads, hindering their development and progress.

So, they have to resist and fight back!

Of course, there are also some teams that have another ostrich mentality, that is, when losing competitiveness and bankruptcy are placed in front of them, they will choose the former without hesitation. They would rather lose competitiveness than let the club go bankrupt.

But in fact, they have never seriously thought about another question, why must they choose between losing competitiveness and bankruptcy?

Ye Qiu and his Tottenham Hotspur actually proposed a new possibility for all Premier League teams and even all European professional teams, that is, you can have ambitions and even take some risks in order to achieve better results and higher rankings, but the premise is that you have to use the best and most excellent means to operate your team and open up potential markets.

Tottenham Hotspur is the healthiest team in the Premier League and even in Europe. The salary and income ratio is moderately maintained at around 45%. The team is increasing its commercial income every year and opening up new markets every year. These have enabled them to obtain financial income while improving the treatment of players.

Many people criticize Tottenham Hotspur, believing that they squeeze the value of stars, but why don't stars rise up to resist? Why don't Messi, Ribery and others consider leaving Tottenham? Are they fools? Or are they not greedy for money?

Wrong, because their income in Tottenham is at least not lower than that in other teams!

It should be said that commercial operation has always been the strength of the Premier League. Tottenham and Manchester United are both teams with excellent commercial development. Why do so many teams not understand the problem here?

In fact, this involves another problem, that is motivation.

What many people don't know is that the reason why the Premier League's broadcasting rights sales are a profit-sharing system is also what small and medium-sized teams strive for.

In the 1980s, the English League One teams were divided into two factions, the strong team and the weak team. The two factions were like two national political parties, attacking and excluding each other. Even on many key issues, they were clearly beneficial to the league, but because they were proposed by the other side, they all resolutely opposed it.

This situation became more obvious in 1988. David Dunn actively operated through solicitation and lobbying to sell the broadcasting rights of the English League One to Independent Television, thwarting Sky TV's efforts in the English League One. At that time, the spokespersons of the two TV stations fought to the death at the Chairman's Summit.

Later, a sponsor wanted to propose a title for the league, but including David Dunn and others, because the proposal was proposed by the opponent, they all resolutely opposed it, causing the struggle between the two factions to become completely fierce.

In 1991, a group led by Ken Bates, former chairman of Chelsea, also used the alliance of mid- and lower-level teams to defeat the alliance led by David Dunn's Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and other teams, and helped Sky TV win the broadcasting rights of the Premier League. The reason was simple. Sky TV offered a higher price and was willing to take care of the interests of the mid- and lower-level teams.

This formed the current sharing model of the Premier League broadcasting rights, in which Ken Bates played an important role.

Sky TV also wanted to acquire Manchester United in 1998 because it had not been able to get strong support from the giants, but the transfer was eventually aborted due to the fans' strong resistance and the interference of the British government. But it must be clear that Edwards and others in the Manchester United management agreed at the time, so that Edwards later left Manchester United and was replaced by Peter Kenyon.

By the way, in the late 1990s, when Britain was going to renovate Wembley Stadium, David Dunn of Arsenal once wanted to adopt the model of Tottenham Hotspur buying Stratford Stadium and buy Wembley Stadium. At that time, the two sides basically reached a consensus, but Ken Bates and his friends went crazy and caused trouble for Arsenal. In the end, the plan to take over Wembley Stadium was aborted, and Arsenal was forced to undertake the construction of the new stadium by themselves.

The reason why Ye Qiu has adopted a low-key strategy and pursued a strategy of making money through harmony in the past few years is also related to this case that year. After all, Arsenal failed at that time, and if Tottenham Hotspur offended too many people, it would easily lead to the failure of the acquisition of Stratford Stadium.

Relatively speaking, in the league or in the transfer of players, the loss of the team is just a small matter, but a stadium located in the city center, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, is the core interest of Tottenham Hotspur.

From the history of the Premier League over the past 20 years, although Ken Bates's struggle with the mid- and lower-level teams was also for their own interests, it laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Premier League. At the same time, it also brought another kind of trouble, that is, motivation.

All the mid- and lower-level teams do not have the pressure and motivation of European competitions, no big-name stars and salary pressure, but they can get tens of millions of pounds of income from the Premier League every year, plus the support of the Premier League's excellent game attendance, these two incomes are enough for them to live a comfortable life in the Premier League, so they lack a kind of motivation to continue to expand the market.

Just like Aston Villa, Everton and other teams, even Tottenham Hotspur, Tottenham Hotspur used to get the fourth and fifth place in the league and performed well continuously, but they only had four sponsors. Aston Villa did not even find a sponsor for the chest advertisement, and Everton also lived on the share given by the Premier League.

This lack of motivation for development is ubiquitous in the Premier League, which has resulted in almost all teams being very dependent on broadcasting rights and match-day income, with very little commercial income. Anyway, with the Premier League as their big pot, what is there to be afraid of?

As time goes by, the Premier League's broadcasting rights income is getting higher and higher, and these teams are becoming less and less motivated, and the pressure on players' salaries is also getting higher and higher, resulting in their increasing debt ratio, which has led to the current situation in the Premier League.

Prosperous times, that is what the fans outside see, but within the Premier League, especially in the eyes of some people with vision, the Premier League has reached a critical juncture where it will surely decline if it does not reform.

So Ye Qiu proposed to take advantage of this opportunity of selling broadcasting rights to implement the pace of Premier League reform. The first thing to do is to limit the development of Premier League salaries, but at the same time as limiting salaries, it also relaxes restrictions on mid- and lower-level teams and adds some influencing factors, such as being able to use the team's newly increased commercial income for salary expenditures without restriction, which is to encourage mid- and lower-level teams to actively carry out commercial operations.

However, the biggest problem is debt, because teams including Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham United, Manchester City, Manchester United, and even Everton have serious debts, and another key point of Ye Qiu's proposal is to limit debt, which immediately made him strongly opposed by teams including Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc.

Regarding Ye Qiu's proposal, a vote was held on the same day, and the result was that a total of eight teams including Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham United, Everton and Liverpool opposed it, which also made Ye Qiu's proposal suffer a Waterloo as soon as it was proposed.

Among them, Chelsea was the most resolute in their opposition. Although Abramovich didn't say much, he was the first to stand up and object with a very determined attitude. This also surprised many people because they were all guessing whether this was a private matter. What about grudges? Or is Abramovich considering his own interests?

Ye Qiu had already been mentally prepared for such a situation. He smiled and was not too disgusted with the result.

Today's draft is just a hasty draft without consultation and discussion. The biggest problem is debt. If debt is only considered, I am afraid that only a few teams in the Premier League can meet the requirements, but this is definitely It's impossible, so to link liabilities with the team's finances, you need to give detailed and convincing data.

And reducing debt is not something that can be done in one day. It will take several years, so a timetable must be given.

Therefore, today's announcement of failure does not explain anything, because at the initiative of Southampton's chairman Mathieu Le Tissier, a week later, the 20 Premier League teams will again arrange for representatives to come here for the second time. During the talks, each representative will be able to come up with a more detailed reform plan.

And a week is also time left for all parties to communicate and contact. After all, there are actually different differences among the eight opposing teams, such as Manchester City and Newcastle. The bosses behind these two teams are It is actually not difficult to win their consent for a typical owner who loses money and makes noise, because they are more unwilling to see the decline of the Premier League than anyone else.

As for debt, this is a technical issue, and it depends on whether the boss behind the scenes is willing to invest.

If every Premier League boss is Moratti, then how come Premier League teams are so in debt?

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"Judging from the situation, Manchester United and Chelsea are the ones with the strongest opposition. How ironic!" Peter Kenyon and Ye Qiu returned to the private room and mocked the two rival teams with a sneer.

They are advanced members of the party who want to limit their salary, but they do not want to limit their liabilities. What is the logic behind this?

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether they agree or not. We only need to get two-thirds of the votes, which is the approval of fourteen teams. And from the current point of view, eleven teams support and one abstains." , eight teams are against it, so we only need to win the support of three more teams to get it done!”

Ye Qiu is very open-minded about this. How many people support and how many people oppose it doesn't mean much to him, because he knows very well that Tottenham Hotspur's path is the right one. As for what other people do, , no matter what he thinks, he can't interfere more.

There is a saying that goes well, if you make it your own fault, you will not survive. If other teams are really so short-sighted, they deserve to have problems.

For Tottenham Hotspur, even if the Premier League declines to the level of Serie A or Bundesliga in the future, Tottenham Hotspur will be able to ensure that they will always stand by relying on their new stadium and their huge sponsor system. Among the top giants in Europe, because they have good enough and healthy finances.

"Find an opportunity to talk to them, Peter, I'll leave this matter to you!" Ye Qiu smiled and put this burden on Peter Kenyon's shoulders, because he still had many things to do next. "Oh, by the way, draft a framework agreement as soon as possible. The core content is basically what I just said. You don't have to rush, but you must work out a timetable."

With a timetable, those teams that are heavily in debt will quickly find a solution, otherwise, they will still adopt the procrastination strategy.

"Okay!" Peter Kenyon knew very well that if this vote went well, he would basically be able to become one of the two vice-chairmen of the Football Association in October, which was the position he had dreamed of back then.

As the CEO of Tottenham Hotspur and the vice-chairman of the Football Association, Peter Kenyon's power in the Premier League will exceed that of the once brilliant Edwards and David Dunn, and this also means that the Premier League will Announcing the official entry into the Tottenham Hotspur era, both on the pitch and in power and influence.

"Do it well!" Ye Qiu smiled and patted Peter Kenyon on the shoulder. Ye Qiu knew very well what the bald man from Manchester was thinking. He never felt that he had lost to Edwards and David Dunn. Now was an opportunity. .

"In my opinion, there is not much controversy about the salary limit issue. The only troublesome thing is the debt limit. Try to contact Manchester City, Newcastle and other teams, and you should gain something!"

Ye Qiu's words made Peter Kenyon nod his head in agreement. This was also his idea.

The reason is also very simple. Neither Manchester City's Abu Dhabi consortium nor Newcastle's Qatar consortium are from the Glazer family. The latter hopes to make money through Manchester United, but neither the Abu Dhabi consortium nor the Qatar consortium wants to take advantage of the team. To make money, it is almost impossible to convince the Glazer family, but it is still very possible to convince these two major consortiums.

In fact, there was another point that neither Ye Qiu nor Peter Kenyon mentioned, and that was their selfishness.

Tottenham Hotspur is currently the healthiest team with no debt and is profitable every year. Especially with the entry into the new stadium in 2013 and the implementation of the new broadcast rights contract, Tottenham Hotspur's profit will reach 1 A whole new level of awesomeness.

Once the Premier League implements salary and debt restrictions, teams including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham United will inevitably enter the adjustment stage, while Tottenham Hotspur will usher in a high-speed development stage at this time. As one grows while the other declines, it is conceivable that Tottenham Hotspur will completely dominate the entire Premier League.

According to Ye Qiu's preliminary estimate, if the entire salary and debt restrictions are implemented, no team will be able to challenge Tottenham Hotspur's dominance in the Premier League in the next five years, and even in the next ten years, Tottenham Hotspur will still stand at the top of the Premier League.

This is also the best coaching environment that Ye Qiu has created for his successor after retirement.

Of course, this policy itself is indeed of great benefit to the long-term development of the Premier League, so even if other teams know this, they have no way to stop it, because this is the general trend.

Who made them not have the vision of Ye Qiu?