How Lendoiro ended the yo-yo years
http://football.guardian.co.uk/championsleague/story/0,13885,1194572,00.html
咱們家主席，一直以來都是一個很偉大的中盤商...
How Lendoiro ended the yo-yo years
One man's drive has transformed Deportivo, says Guillem Balague
Sunday April 18, 2004
The Observer
Augusto Cesar Lendoiro has never lacked ambition. He realised very
early that he was not good enough to be a footballer, so he created
his own club, Ural, of which he became president. He was 15.
That was the start of a career that, more than four decades later,
is still moving upwards. He has worked as a waiter in London, he made
his name in roller hockey, and now, as president of Deportivo, Lendoiro
is one of the toughest leaders of a football club anywhere in Europe.
He failed when he tried his hand at politics, but has been an unqualified
success in football.
'Here we come Barcelona! Here we come Real Madrid!' Lendoiro screamed
from the La Coruna town hall balcony in 1991 when Depor celebrated their
arrival in the Spanish first division. That was a remarkable achievement
in itself, given that only three years earlier a near-bankrupt Depor had
been a the wrong end of the second division.
In the 13 years following his appearance on the balcony, Lendoiro, 59,
has seen Depor hold their place among the aristocracy of Spanish football,
with one league title (it should have been two), two cups and, this year,
a place in the last four of the Champions League.
Depor's budget has risen in that time from ￡1.2million a year to ￡50m.
They once struggled to attract bigger crowds than the local roller hockey
team; now they have 30,000 season-ticket holders and 20,000 shareholders.
Their squad includes many valuable young players, on long contracts and
with high buy-out clauses, and the club are well set for the next three
or four years. Lendoiro's position is even more secure.
Before his arrival, Depor were a typical 'yo-yo' team, never settled in
either the first or second division. They have spent 35 years at the top
and 37 in the segunda division . They were the nursing home of promising
youngsters such as Luis Suarez, the only Spanish Golden Ball winner as
Europe's top scorer, and Amancio, who starred for Real Madrid.
In 1987, Depor were about to go bankrupt, which would have meant
relegation to the third division. They needed a new leader and Lendoiro
was the perfect candidate.
On his return from London to his Galician home, Lendoiro was a great
success as sporting director of Liceo, the local roller hockey team that
he made the best in the world. That success made him an admired personality
and politics seduced him. Three times he stood as mayor of La Coruna for
the right-wing party PP; three times he lost. Football offered him the
opportunity to refocus his ambition and Depor appeared at the right time.
Within three years, he took Depor to the first division. After three more
he almost made them champions. Centre-back Djukic famously missed a penalty
nobody wanted to take in the last second of the last match of the season,
to hand the title to Barcelona.
After consolidating the club, Lendoiro dedicated his life full time to
their future. At the season- ticket holders' assembly in 1999, the
supporters voted almost unanimously to give him wages equivalent to one
per cent of the annual budget - a first in Spain. He is earning about
￡500,000 now.
He had a clear idea of what he wanted from Depor:
to break the Barcelona-Madrid axis of domination.
Against tradition, he kept the new great Galician star, Fran, bought Bebeto
and Mauro Silva - he has never had a sporting director; ring him directly
if you are selling a player - and won ever-increasing support from the
city's population of 250,000.
Generally, Spanish football directors are mature men who have suddenly
become rich, or bored millionaires in search of a fix of fame. Lendoiro
is different. He studied law at university, is not especially wealthy
(by his peers' standards), was always involved in sports and even coached
a youth team. He knows football.
Lendoiro was laughed at when, in the summer of 1997, he signed Rivaldo
and said the Brazilian was better than his compatriot Giovanni, who had
just landed at Barcelona. Three years later, Rivaldo was considered the
best player in the world and Giovanni moved to the Greek league.
Even when he got things wrong, he was clever to correct them quickly.
After missing the title in the last match of the season, he created a
squad in 1998 featuring 30 foreigners. Soon he realised that was a mistake,
and when Depor beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford in October 2001,
nine of the 11 who started were Spaniards. Lendoiro never forgot that the
best clubs have the best players and after Bebeto he bought Rivaldo,
Djalminha, Makaay, Diego Tristan and Valeron. Depor have also spent
shrewdly on their infrastructure and have a new sporting city with 10
pitches, a clinic, a shop and a restaurant by the sea.
Lendoiro is also an innovator. He was first to suggest the idea of
individual television rights, pushed long ago for a global calendar and
the right for clubs to be compensated for players on national duty. He
even took Uefa to civil court after the Riazor stadium was closed for a
match. A visionary, a rebel... and the toughest negotiator.
Ask Bayern Munich, who thought they had Makaay for €17.75m (￡11.9m).
The Depor president suddenly demanded one more million that had to be
paid by the player.
'I will teach a lesson to that senor ,' said Bayern's Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,
who threatened to file a complaint against him. But there were no grounds
for a formal hearing so the Germans had to content themselves with keeping
Depor out of the powerful G14 group of clubs. Victory in the Champions
League would change that.
In another shrewd deal, Lendoiro made ￡5m from Silvain Wiltord without
fielding him once. He was signed from Rennes for ￡1.5m, immediately sold
to Bordeaux for ￡3.6m with a percentage of any future sale. When he was
sold to Arsenal, Depor cashed in.
Lendoiro believes in Galician superstitions, which is why he always
carries around his long, dark-blue coat, even in the summer. His failure
in politics made him divide the world between friends and enemies. He has
never criticised a player or a coach, but lays into any journalists who he
feels are against him. That black-and-white vision of the world has made
him suspicious of those who are not close to him, which is why the club,
run as a family, have only six administrative employees, the same number
they had in the second division.
The press officer acts also as travel agent, the director of communications
doubles up as stadium tour guide, and so on.
Lendoiro still works harder than any of them. He is last to leave the
club offices in the Pontevedra square, which he locks with the keys he
then takes home. The following morning, he is first to arrive.
--
如果人生最壞只是死亡，
生活怎會有面對不了的困難？
--
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