eversince 76
Well-Known Member
Mate, I'm not being condescending. I'm not saying I necessarily think it's a bad idea to start a club in South America. I'm saying our CEO has said it in his book. And I've outlined the reasons he gave why he thought it was a bad idea.
Feel free to read it if you don't believe me. It's called Goal; another way of winning by Ferran Sorriano, it's actually a really good book on management as well as football.
I'm not going to get in to a socio-economic debate with you about the risks and rewards of opening a business in South America. But what I will say is this; South America has a long established football culture. It is just as ingrained in the culture as it is in Europe, in some cases even more so.
If for example a new franchise team opened up tomorrow called Manchester Santos, how much support do you think it would generate? Or if the owners of Santos bought City and rebranded them as Manchester Santos, how happy do you think City fans would be to engage with that? What makes you think it would be any different if we did the same in South America?
The people care passionately about their clubs, it's part of their identity and culture, the same way City is to you and I. I think you're being a touch naive, and maybe even disrespectful to South Americans if you think they're going to ditch their traditional team to come and support a City franchise team because it's got a round badge and blue shirts.
I'm sure there are lots of opportunities to be had in South America, perhaps an academy or a link up with a club. But a new franchise team? Not for me. I agree with Ferran and the reasons he outlines in his book, if you want to call someone condescending, say it to him.
Exactly this. And another sign we have people at the helm with a brighter perspective when it comes to running a footballclub in the present. Footballclubs have been run by owners in a very conservative way, bit like the game itself. I tend to believe, without claiming to be an expert, that CFG will bring innovation to football. Much needed innovation.