The showdown between football clubs and the sport's governing body has always been a formidable battle of wills. Clubs will act primarily in their own best interests whilst those running the game must surely look towards the greater good of the sport. UEFA contend with the biggest clubs in the game - multi-million pound businesses that must deliver the maximum return for their shareholders and who tend not to appreciate regulation. That's true of almost every industry from manufacturing to finance and yet Michel Platini is trying to bring sweeping changes into football and, so far, clubs appear ready to at least consider his radical proposals. It helps that Platini is a football man and clubs undoubtedly appreciate that he's one of them. The Frenchman is backed by a formidable team of legal advisors, just as showman Florentino Perez pays others to follow up on his grand plans and proclamations, and yet the fact that Platini is such an effective figurehead is key to the modernisation of the European club game.
The biggest stories in recent months have both involved Chelsea. First the club were awarded a gargantuan compensation package that could force Adrian Mutu out of football. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Mutu's actions, it's surely impossible to attach any liability to the player for potential successes that the blues have missed? Contrast that with Chelsea's transfer ban for inappropriately signing French teenager Gael Kakuta from RC Lens. The age at which players can sign professional contracts differs from country to country and despite the basic similarities that European Union employment law has introduced, English clubs have cherry-picked the best continental prospects for years. A mere 3 of the 20 Premiership sides do not employ at least one continental-born youngster and one of those was newly-promoted Burnley. UEFA these days appear more than willing to act in what they consider to be the best interests of the sport and with the dissolution of the G14 group of elite clubs, the immediate threat of a backlash must surely be minimal. Arsene Wenger may talk of a European league being no more than a decade away but Platini's UEFA seem willing to act in a fashion that Lennart Johansson's regime rarely did. With such a head of steam, it's easy to see Platini's vision for European football firmly taking hold and it's important to consider exactly what that could mean for Rangers.
The main points of Platini's vision focus on protecting clubs who develop their own youngsters, introducing a bias in favour of “home grown” players, and forcing clubs to live within their means. He's previously described the big spending, big debt culture of English clubs as “cheating” and to some extent he's right. Clubs like Arsenal have used debt to finance a new, modern stadium that will undoubtedly add to the long term success of the business and yet Manchester United are so debt-laden they'll never trade their way back into the black. The cornerstone of the Perez philosophy at Real is that signature players generate their own revenue through sponsorship and shirt sales and are therefore considered relatively cheap (and thus it's signings like Xabi Alonso that are truly expensive) but that's no real justification for the kind of expenditure that would service the debt of some smaller nations. We've suffered our own problems, are once more crippled by financial restrictions, and we're often told that we buy success at a domestic level because we operate so far above the competition.
So from a business side, Platini's call for clubs to become self-sufficient must surely be welcomed. New chairman Alastair Johnston has already stated that he wants to see Rangers finances divorced from those of the Murray business empire. Whilst once we could rely on the protection of group finances, Johnston's Rangers vision sees us very much standing alone. Platini has set a 3-year timescale in place for his plan, although as yet we've seen no details of what the financial criteria will be or how it'll be enforced beyond the suggestion of an independent panel. Rangers supporters have been frustrated by our lack of spending in recent transfer windows but if Platini has his way then perhaps there will be more of the same to come?
From a player point of view, we must also surely pay attention to the man at UEFA's top table. The biggest clubs in Europe have been placing equal importance on youth development and first team football for almost 10 years. Barcelona signed Messi at 13 and lost both Pique and Fabregas to England. Manchester United have chased the cream of the crop from the youth ranks of France and Italy with young Macheda the first of a potentially very productive line of players. Rangers won't be immune from the impact of these changes and unless UEFA's proposed ban on the transfer of under 18s comes into force, our best youngsters will increasingly attract the attention of top clubs. Darren Fletcher had the chance to sign for Rangers but saw his future down south. How many other will follow the same route because other clubs take youth development more seriously?
The other consequence of Platini's focus on youth is the introduction of quotas for home grown players. Teams will be forced to develop their own players because slots for players from outwith their training programmes will be restricted. With the freedom of employees to move throughout Europe, we won't see a return to the three foreigner rule. We will, however, see a dramatic change in the structure of the transfer market. Clubs will pay top dollar for the best of the best – for those players who can make the difference between success and failure. They'll also pay top dollar for the best prospects who'll be developed in their youth teams before qualifying as “home grown”. What that will do to the market for well-established stars is anybody's guess but looking at the Rangers squad right now, the only first team regular who'd qualify as a home grown player is Allan McGregor. Stevie Smith has hardly been a regular, injury having stunted his progress, and the likes of Whittaker, Thomson, Miller, Boyd and Naismith would fail to qualify as products of Rangers FC. Add into the mix our expensive imports – Lafferty, Edu, Mendes and Davis – and its clear to see that the current Gers squad would find it difficult to even compete should the SPL follow our English neighbour's intentions to place restrictions on squads. If the quota system ever comes into force then we can expect to sell our very best players but the market for our more modest pros will disappear. Its possible that the future for Rangers will not see our finances boosted by regular player sales and the saving grace examples of Cuellar and Hutton, without whom our debt would be even higher, may no longer be an option.
Alastair Johnston talks of Rangers becoming self-sufficient and living within our means. Michel Platini talks of protecting clubs who develop the best prospects and of levelling the playing field for the haves and have-nots. What Rangers need is a long term vision that combines the two: one of Murray's money-spinning schemes was called “Ready for the Future” and it's important that Alastair Johnston, or whoever eventually settles into the big chair for the long haul, makes sure Rangers are ready for Michel Platini's future. The positives may be a return to a squad consisting primarily of players with a real affinity for the Rangers institution and the ability to be more competitive against the biggest European clubs who will also be bound by similar ties. The costs however may be the big name signings and the money that player sales can generate. Its a very fine tightrope that could reap rewards that we can currently only dream of but the risks should we get it wrong are daunting.
The biggest stories in recent months have both involved Chelsea. First the club were awarded a gargantuan compensation package that could force Adrian Mutu out of football. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Mutu's actions, it's surely impossible to attach any liability to the player for potential successes that the blues have missed? Contrast that with Chelsea's transfer ban for inappropriately signing French teenager Gael Kakuta from RC Lens. The age at which players can sign professional contracts differs from country to country and despite the basic similarities that European Union employment law has introduced, English clubs have cherry-picked the best continental prospects for years. A mere 3 of the 20 Premiership sides do not employ at least one continental-born youngster and one of those was newly-promoted Burnley. UEFA these days appear more than willing to act in what they consider to be the best interests of the sport and with the dissolution of the G14 group of elite clubs, the immediate threat of a backlash must surely be minimal. Arsene Wenger may talk of a European league being no more than a decade away but Platini's UEFA seem willing to act in a fashion that Lennart Johansson's regime rarely did. With such a head of steam, it's easy to see Platini's vision for European football firmly taking hold and it's important to consider exactly what that could mean for Rangers.
The main points of Platini's vision focus on protecting clubs who develop their own youngsters, introducing a bias in favour of “home grown” players, and forcing clubs to live within their means. He's previously described the big spending, big debt culture of English clubs as “cheating” and to some extent he's right. Clubs like Arsenal have used debt to finance a new, modern stadium that will undoubtedly add to the long term success of the business and yet Manchester United are so debt-laden they'll never trade their way back into the black. The cornerstone of the Perez philosophy at Real is that signature players generate their own revenue through sponsorship and shirt sales and are therefore considered relatively cheap (and thus it's signings like Xabi Alonso that are truly expensive) but that's no real justification for the kind of expenditure that would service the debt of some smaller nations. We've suffered our own problems, are once more crippled by financial restrictions, and we're often told that we buy success at a domestic level because we operate so far above the competition.
So from a business side, Platini's call for clubs to become self-sufficient must surely be welcomed. New chairman Alastair Johnston has already stated that he wants to see Rangers finances divorced from those of the Murray business empire. Whilst once we could rely on the protection of group finances, Johnston's Rangers vision sees us very much standing alone. Platini has set a 3-year timescale in place for his plan, although as yet we've seen no details of what the financial criteria will be or how it'll be enforced beyond the suggestion of an independent panel. Rangers supporters have been frustrated by our lack of spending in recent transfer windows but if Platini has his way then perhaps there will be more of the same to come?
From a player point of view, we must also surely pay attention to the man at UEFA's top table. The biggest clubs in Europe have been placing equal importance on youth development and first team football for almost 10 years. Barcelona signed Messi at 13 and lost both Pique and Fabregas to England. Manchester United have chased the cream of the crop from the youth ranks of France and Italy with young Macheda the first of a potentially very productive line of players. Rangers won't be immune from the impact of these changes and unless UEFA's proposed ban on the transfer of under 18s comes into force, our best youngsters will increasingly attract the attention of top clubs. Darren Fletcher had the chance to sign for Rangers but saw his future down south. How many other will follow the same route because other clubs take youth development more seriously?
The other consequence of Platini's focus on youth is the introduction of quotas for home grown players. Teams will be forced to develop their own players because slots for players from outwith their training programmes will be restricted. With the freedom of employees to move throughout Europe, we won't see a return to the three foreigner rule. We will, however, see a dramatic change in the structure of the transfer market. Clubs will pay top dollar for the best of the best – for those players who can make the difference between success and failure. They'll also pay top dollar for the best prospects who'll be developed in their youth teams before qualifying as “home grown”. What that will do to the market for well-established stars is anybody's guess but looking at the Rangers squad right now, the only first team regular who'd qualify as a home grown player is Allan McGregor. Stevie Smith has hardly been a regular, injury having stunted his progress, and the likes of Whittaker, Thomson, Miller, Boyd and Naismith would fail to qualify as products of Rangers FC. Add into the mix our expensive imports – Lafferty, Edu, Mendes and Davis – and its clear to see that the current Gers squad would find it difficult to even compete should the SPL follow our English neighbour's intentions to place restrictions on squads. If the quota system ever comes into force then we can expect to sell our very best players but the market for our more modest pros will disappear. Its possible that the future for Rangers will not see our finances boosted by regular player sales and the saving grace examples of Cuellar and Hutton, without whom our debt would be even higher, may no longer be an option.
Alastair Johnston talks of Rangers becoming self-sufficient and living within our means. Michel Platini talks of protecting clubs who develop the best prospects and of levelling the playing field for the haves and have-nots. What Rangers need is a long term vision that combines the two: one of Murray's money-spinning schemes was called “Ready for the Future” and it's important that Alastair Johnston, or whoever eventually settles into the big chair for the long haul, makes sure Rangers are ready for Michel Platini's future. The positives may be a return to a squad consisting primarily of players with a real affinity for the Rangers institution and the ability to be more competitive against the biggest European clubs who will also be bound by similar ties. The costs however may be the big name signings and the money that player sales can generate. Its a very fine tightrope that could reap rewards that we can currently only dream of but the risks should we get it wrong are daunting.
