This i suspect is Enic's profit maximisation strategy:
- ride on the drama and hope of qualifying for top four and participating in the champions league
- hence invest sufficiently at the right times - especially when outside of top four
- do not invest to win things - its too risky
- don't settle for a consistent system of play to add drama, PR and fan engagement on social media
- invest in other business - property and entertainment - plough profits back (not to football) to grow club assets which also grows owner equity grows
Its an excellent business strategy for anyone else taking over a football club. Might be a great case study for business school too on leveraging on untapped value of non-traditional businesses.
How about, try to build a club/brand via good business (not committing to a never ending loss), actually get close to success (when they bought us Europe wasn't even a thought far less some grand plan to "ride on CL drama"), along the way get roosterblocked by the government at every opportunity (constant delays in planning permissions while giving West Ham and City free stadiums) and watch the league allow Chelsea, City and Saudi Sportswashing Machine make the league completely broken while still having the traditional economic powerhouses of United and Pool to compete with.
To measure ENIC, the only objective view is "who has done better" in the same time period
United, Pool, Arsenal were the original benefactors of PL & CL money and already leagues ahead when ENIC bought in
- Arsenal regardless of their possible success this season are a shadow of the Wenger era, failed to capitalize on their stadium and have been worse than us for lets say 6 out of last 7 years
- United, 2nd biggest club in the world, complete misery decade, shadow of the SAF era side, look to be on the up after wasting billions, still unlikely to win anything regularly in short term
- Pool, went into a bad run, got it sorted under Klopp (with a little luck, debt being wiped with owner change, capitalizing on Coutinho sale), probably the success story of non-cheaters, owners looking to leave now
- Notable mention here for Leeds as they were part of the top sides at initial ENIC buy in (we know how that went)
Cheaters
Chelsea & City have dominated the English game in two very different ways
- Chelsea just threw money at it, chopped and changed the minute momentum faltered, constant buying the way out of bad decisions (managers or players)
- City, much more measured approach and much more successful ultimately
- Saudi Sportswashing Machine, just joined the party, but their sheer available funds and the history of the other two show the likely outcome (they were also above us for a bit in the early ENIC years, didn't capitalize)
Investors
- Everton, >£500M in, nothing more needs to be said (this was a club that had spent a decade plus above us?)
- Leicester, investments in beyond their income, brief burst of success (really only success story of this group), have faded back to mean
- West Ham, Villa (was one we were competing with), Wolves, all some version of the same brick story, spending, a brief season or two of best of rest, back to mean
Again, I struggle to find any one that has done better, laying a success for future competitiveness that isn't just unlimited money model.
My summary, ENIC has actually done very well leveraging a sustainable model, problem is, that model doesn't work, probably can't work and no one has shown it otherwise. So if we want to compete with any regularity, we do need to change owners but I put that on the league, not ENIC and we will likely have to accept the type of owners with be unpalatable morally/ethically, and with 3 cheaters and 2nd biggest club in the world already in the mix, it's still going to be hard.
