Chapter 2 The Chief Sinner
"Only I can help Atletico Madrid avoid relegation and become the strongest team in Spain and even Europe in the next few years!"
When Yang Hao uttered these powerful words in the closed conference room, old Hill, who was sitting opposite him, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Although he is 67 years old, is very obese, and has just been prosecuted by the government on multiple charges, he is still very energetic and does not look depressed at all.
This is also normal.
He is a hero who has fought his way out of danger.
On the contrary, Xiao Xier is more like an indecisive rich second generation.
"You know, my son thinks highly of you. He talked to me a lot and even argued with me. This forced me to take some time out to sit here and listen to what you have to say."
Old Hill sat there with his big belly, his fat trembling with laughter, his eyes fixed on Yang Hao, full of aura.
"But if this is all you can say, then please go back."
As soon as Old Hill finished speaking, Little Hill beside him became restless.
On the other hand, 52-year-old Vice President Cerezo remained as steady as a rock, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
Yang Hao was not panicked, as he was well prepared.
"Have you asked about me?"
This is good news, proving that Hill has given it serious consideration.
"There's no need to ask deliberately. The conversations you had with Florentino during the attacking crowd couldn't be hidden. There were many people present at the time. I think Florentino was right. At least that was the first impression you gave me."
Old Hill replied rudely.
"Then did you know that I told him that his superstar strategy had a fatal problem?"
"His superstar strategy?"
Jesus Hill scoffed. "What kind of superstar strategy does he have? He's just following us and repeating what others have said."
The Atletico Madrid president is indeed qualified and confident to say such things.
The superstar strategy is not new in Spain.
Long before the restructuring of La Liga clubs, everyone was a membership-based club. If you wanted to run for the chairmanship of a membership-based club, you had to rely on votes, and the easiest way to get fans' votes was, of course, to promise to introduce superstars.
This is how all membership clubs have been run for a long time.
It can even be traced back to the Bernabeu era of Real Madrid, such as Di Stefano, Puskas, Kopa and so on.
Old Hill also used this method to get to the top. For example, he signed Portuguese superstar Paulo Futre for Atletico Madrid, or he signed Italian star Vieri for Atletico Madrid before that. They were all superstar strategies.
So, he is really qualified to ridicule Florentino like this.
"I think he's a radical, risk-taking upgrade of the superstar strategy of the past."
Here, Yang Hao gave Florentino a positive evaluation.
"Signing Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona?"
"No, it's about signing a superstar in a year and eventually having superstar players in every position on the team, including the coaching bench."
I have to say that this idea was really bold and tempting in 2000.
Old Hill also has to admit this.
"So, what's the problem with this strategy? Money?"
"No, I believe that as a master of playing with money, he must have thought about how to make money, but he ignored the time."
"time?"
Now not only Old Hill, but even Cerezo was attracted.
Florentino's candidacy is the most watched event in Madrid, Spain and even the entire European football world this season.
"Luis Figo was born in November 1972 and is now 27 years old. I believe that Florentino Perez dared to put him up for election, so he must have made preparations. The media has also reported that Florentino Perez had contact with Figo's agent, Jose Vega."
In that news, Atletico Madrid legend Paulo Futre was also involved.
"Suppose he signs Figo this year and another superstar next year. By then, Figo will be 28. What about the year after that, and the year after that? A superstar every year is really tempting, but how long can Figo maintain his peak form?"
Old Hill, Cerezo and others were suddenly speechless.
This is indeed a problem.
The football world today is completely different from the football world ten years from now.
These current superstars are basically older. After all, players can only enter the golden period of their career after the age of 25. If they play at their peak for two years and achieve the title of superstar, they will be around 27 years old.
It is extremely rare to find someone like Michael Owen, who became famous at the age of 19, scored goals at around 20, and became a superstar.
What Yang Hao said is absolutely right. There is a new superstar every year. At Figo's age, how many years can he maintain this form?
"Florentino doesn't want you to disrupt his plans." Old Hill said to Yang Hao.
"Yes." Yang Hao nodded with a smile.
Regardless of whether Florentino had thought about this before Yang Hao pointed it out, at this point in time, the superstar strategy was already set in motion and could not be changed. He had to go for it even if he had to bite the bullet.
Otherwise, which head will he use to challenge Sanz this summer?
This is why he refused to listen to what Yang Hao said and even directly expelled him from the Offensive Fan Club.
After understanding this, Old Hill laughed and began to carefully examine the young man in front of him.
Really very young.
Only 25 years old.
If this were a professional player, he would have just entered the golden period of his career.
As a result, he was applying for the head coach position, which required the most experience and qualifications.
"Tell me, I'm interested in hearing your analysis of Atletico Madrid."
Old Hill moved his butt to make himself more comfortable and said.
…
Atletico's problems are complex.
Yang Hao had studied this issue specifically when he was writing in his previous life. He mainly believed that it was the chairman Hill's misdeeds that led to his imprisonment, the club being heavily in debt, and the morale of the team being demoralized.
As famous coaches, Ranieri and Antic are powerless to do anything about it.
But after an in-depth conversation with Little Hill and learning more inside information, he had a deeper understanding.
The whole thing still revolves around old Hill.
It is well known throughout the world that Hill's rise to wealth is not glorious. His first pot of gold was a shoddy project that resulted in the deaths of 58 people. It happened in the chaotic years of 1968 when Spain was still under the rule of dictator Franco.
That was Hill Sr.'s first time in prison.
After being released from prison, Hill Sr. did not become more restrained, but became even more resolute and expanded his real estate business.
When the real estate business reached a certain level, old Hill was no longer satisfied with the business world.
In 1987, he took over Atletico Madrid with the ambition to turn this Madrid team into a top team that could not lose to its city rivals Real Madrid.
In 1991, the famous old Hill sought to enter politics from football and founded the independent liberal group Hill Party. He was very popular in southern Spain and the islands near North Africa, and was elected mayor of Marbella.
For a while, Hill and Atletico Madrid were unstoppable.
But trouble also followed.
In 1992, due to debt problems, the Spanish Football Association forced La Liga teams to restructure. Except for a few teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, all other teams changed from a membership system to a shareholding system.
During the restructuring process of Atletico Madrid, it was reported that Hill and Vice Chairman Cerezo falsified the accounts and illegally privatized Atletico Madrid, turning it into private property.
This kind of thing is common in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, and many club managements do this.
But this has also become the core weapon for political opponents to attack Hill.
The direct reason why Hill was imprisoned this time was that during his tenure as mayor of Marbella, he privately used government funds to sponsor Atletico Madrid's jersey chest advertisements, with a total sponsorship fee of 30 million euros.
When Atletico Madrid won the double championship, the sponsor of the chest advertisement was Marbella.
Coincidentally, it is also the mayoral election time in Marbella.
It’s hard to say whether there is any connection behind this.
In European football, examples like Hill are not uncommon.
For example, Berlusconi of AC Milan, the Moratti family behind Inter Milan, and Florentino who is now preparing to run for the presidency of Real Madrid, there are actually various schemes behind this.
For them, the football club is more of a platform.
As for whether sponsoring Atletico Madrid in the name of the city of Marbella is a violation of regulations, this is a more sensitive issue.
It seems that one of the important weapons that the old Hill father and son and Cerezo used to fight back against the trusteeship group was that in the 30th round of this season, Atletico Madrid challenged Numancia away. The trusteeship group, without the consent of the board of directors, arbitrarily spent 140,000 euros of the club and mobilized a thousand fans to watch the away game.
In the 31st round of the league, in the home game against Athletic Bilbao, without the approval of the board of directors, the tickets were bought one get one free, which made the fans who bought season tickets extremely dissatisfied.
The most important thing is that both games were lost.
In their anger, the fans directly pointed the finger at the government and the trusteeship group.
In the past few years, Hill has been willing to invest a lot in player transfers. He has been willing to spend money to bring in stars such as Paul Futre, Vieri, Simeone, Hasselbaink, etc. as long as they are players he likes.
In terms of head coaches, world-class coaches such as Sacchi, Antić, and Ranieri have also coached Atletico Madrid in a cursory manner.
This makes him very popular among Atletico Madrid fans.
At the critical moment, it was this advantage that allowed him to take over Atletico Madrid again.
But the reason why Atletico Madrid has reached where it is today is all thanks to Hill, and the disaster is also due to Hill.
He was in charge of Atletico Madrid for 13 years, changed 23 head coaches and 5 acting head coaches, and bought 145 players.
This has led to Atletico Madrid never having any stability in the past few years. It lacks a complete set of team building ideas. Which famous coach to hire and which star to sign are basically decided by Hill based on his personal preferences.
He wanted to be on par with Real Madrid and Barcelona and play offensive football, but he ignored the fact that Atletico Madrid simply did not have such background and foundation.
Many people praised Atletico Madrid for winning the double in the 95/96 season, but few noticed that in the 94/95 season, Atletico Madrid was only ranked 14th in La Liga, just one step away from the relegation zone.
After winning the double in the 96/97 season, Atletico Madrid fell to fifth place in the league.
In the 97/98 season, Atletico Madrid ranked 7th in the league and the double-crown coach Antić was dismissed.
Last season, under the coaching of the famous Italian coach Sacchi, the team almost fell into the relegation zone. It was Antic who came to the rescue in March, which helped the team barely avoid relegation.
After avoiding relegation, Antic was fired and Ranieri, the excellent tinkerer who coached well in Valencia, took over.
Unexpectedly, Atletico Madrid fell directly into the relegation zone this season, and Antić once again came to the rescue.
Judging from the strength on paper, Atletico Madrid has never lost and has no shortage of stars, even world-class stars.
But on the field, Atletico's performance is like a roller coaster, it's all about the heartbeat.
In recent years, the Bed Sheet Army has been a black hole for famous coaches and stars.
And all these problems are undoubtedly directed at old Hill.
"If Atletico Madrid is relegated this season, you will be the number one culprit!" Yang Hao said bluntly.
"Asshole!"
Old Hill was furious and slammed the desk with all his might. He stood up suddenly and glared at Yang Hao.
It looked like it wanted to eat someone.
