Chapter 974: No one votes?
After Scudmore announced the start of the vote, the atmosphere in the conference hall became very tense.
Even Yang Huan, who seemed calm as he sat in his seat, with his fingers interlocked, and glanced at everyone in front of the round table with ease, was actually quite nervous.
This is a war without gunpowder.
Just like on the football field, each side relies on its own strength to compete against each other, this war tests the overall strength of a team more.
It's not just about having good grades, speaking loudly and making a lot of money, it also depends on connections, relationships and diplomacy.
Southampton has done a lot of work before, reaching an alliance of interests with upstarts such as Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and has basically reached an agreement with teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
It can be said that among the mid- and upper-level teams, there are basically no ones who oppose this reform.
Although Yang Huan only spoke a few words to Abramovich, he could see that if the Russian did not want to go against the money, he would agree.
As for the mid- and lower-level teams, the reform will certainly weaken some of their profits, but in general, the new contracts will still bring them considerable income growth. Coupled with the overall development momentum of the Premier League, as long as they manage it properly, they can build a lineup close to the level of Napoli, Roma, Valencia, Dortmund, and Schalke 04.
Therefore, what Yang Huan said is absolutely correct. The current problem of the Premier League is not that the weak teams are too weak.
The real bottleneck limiting the further development of the Premier League is that the strong teams are not strong enough!
After Scudmore announced the start of the voting, Ron Gourlay immediately raised his hand at Yang Huan's instruction.
Also raising their hands were Tottenham's Daniel Levy, Manchester United's Ed Woodward, Arsenal's Ivan Gazidis, Liverpool's Ian Ayre, Manchester City's Mubarak and Everton owner Bill Kenwright.
It is not surprising that these seven clubs raised their hands first, because they are the beneficiaries of this reform.
But it is no use having only seven clubs support.
But is there no one voting?
After a slight hesitation, I saw representatives from Swansea, Stoke City, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion also raised their hands one after another, and the number of supported teams suddenly increased to eleven.
Soon, newly promoted Watford also raised their hand.
Yang Huan glanced at Gino Pozzo, the representative of Watford who was sitting not far away. The latter happened to look over here. Yang Huan nodded and smiled as a thank you.
The Pozzo family now owns several teams including Udinese, Watford and Granada. Yang Huan also has a good cooperative relationship with them, so he considered loaning the Saints youth training to Watford before.
We even sold it to them at a low price this summer.
Do you really think Yang Huan is a fool?
After all, those youth players are just semi-finished products. They may not be able to play well if they stay in the Southampton team. It would be better for them to go to Watford to train and level up. If they really play well, Southampton can buy them back if they need them.
The Pozzo family has a different positioning from Yang Huan. Their goal is to obtain the greatest benefits with the least investment.
Therefore, their teams are destined to take the middle route.
Whether it is Granada in La Liga or Watford in the Premier League, they are both positioned in the middle.
Southampton, Inter Milan, Hamburg and Atletico Madrid are all positioned at the top and are even competing for the championship.
Therefore, there is no conflict of interest between Yang Huan and the Pozzo family. On the contrary, they have great potential for cooperation.
Of course, just for the sake of this cooperative relationship, the Pozzo family will not give up the benefits they have obtained.
Ultimately, Gino Pozzo raised his hand in agreement because he supported Yang Huan's point of view.
Richard Scudmore was standing on the stage. When he saw Gino Pozzo raise his hand, he immediately nodded and shouted, "OK, Mr. Pozzo supports it. Now there are twelve votes in total."
After hearing this, Yang Huan couldn't help but look at Chelsea who was sitting opposite him. Abramovich seemed to have been staring at him. When he found that Yang Huan was looking at him, he smiled slightly, as if to say, beg me, if you beg me, I will vote in favor.
When Yang Huan saw the appearance of the Russian, he almost fainted.
Nimei, do you think you can threaten me, your Master Huan, by doing this?
Thinking of this, Yang Huan spread his hands and made a face, as if to say, I don't care, if you have the ability, don't vote!
If you don’t want to vote, then don’t vote. Who’s afraid of who?
Abramovich glared at him unceremoniously.
"Is there anyone else?" Scudmore glanced at the entire audience and reminded.
It looked like if no one else voted, he would start counting the results.
Now there are twenty teams, twelve votes in favor, and no one abstentions, which means that the reform proposal will not pass.
Abramovich looked at Yang Huan again, but found that Young Master Huan didn't even look at him. He felt so depressed.
Can you let me make my presence felt?
"Boss, what should we do?" Granovsky asked with concern.
Judging from this season, such reforms will do Chelsea no good, only harm.
But the question is, it’s impossible for Chelsea to always sink into the middle and lower reaches, right?
It will eventually make its way to the front row, and then the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages.
It can be said that any ambitious team will not refuse such reforms.
Abramovich took another deep look at Yang Huan opposite him, but was still ignored. He felt very depressed.
He really had an urge to vote against it.
But in the end, his reason prevailed, so he simply closed his eyes and nodded to Granovskia.
Granovskia saw it and immediately raised his hand high, as if he was afraid that Scudmore didn't see it, and shouted, "We support Chelsea too!"
Abramovich slapped his forehead hard and said, "Oh my god, please don't be so frustrated, okay?"
"Okay, Chelsea also supports it, thirteen votes!"
Almost everyone in the audience held their breath. There were only a few seconds left. Would anyone else raise their hand?
Is there anything else?
Yang Huan was also moved by the atmosphere at the scene and took a tour around.
But just when Richard Scudmore was about to announce the result, he saw the representative of Leicester City, the son of owner Vicha Lacristhorne, Vicha Jr., also raised his hand high.
At this moment, everyone in the audience was a little surprised.
Do you want to support Leicester City too?
Yang Huan couldn't help but take a deep look at Old Vicha who was sitting next to Little Vicha. This Thai man was not simple either.
Little Vica is the vice chairman of Leicester City. He is a bit similar to Hamad, a lazy guy. The real decision maker is his father who does not live in the UK on weekdays.
This tycoon who announced that he would invest 180 million pounds when promoted to the Premier League and who would just get on a helicopter and leave the stadium if he lost the game, seems to be quite ambitious.
“Tell the scouts to pay more attention to gathering intelligence on Leicester City. We need to pay attention to this team!”
If Yang Huan remembered correctly, Leicester City changed its coach this summer. The new coach is Tinker Ranieri, a veteran in integrating the team. This team should not perform too badly in the new season.
Ron Gourlay nodded immediately, "Understood!"
"Okay, fourteen votes!" There was a hint of excitement in Scudmore's tone.
In other words, the voting no longer needs to continue and the reform plan has been passed.
Perhaps the other clubs had already been shaken by what Yang Huan said, and when they saw Leicester City also raised their hands, they knew that they had 14 votes anyway, so they followed suit and raised their hands as a favor.
Eventually, even Michael Ashley raised his hand.
In other words, twenty votes, all passed!
"Yes!"
Yang Huan was half lying on the soft office chair, but his hands under the round table were clenched into fists.
The reform plan was finally passed!
It was obvious that no one present was stupid, and they all knew that this was an opportunity to make a small profit with a big investment.
Next, the Premier League must speed up its overseas development and further develop overseas markets. Only in this way can the Premier League be developed into the top league in European football.
It should be said that since the implementation of the Bosman Act, European football has inevitably entered the stage of integration.
But since it is integrated, it is inevitable that there will be a level division. For example, the G14 organization previously constructed by teams such as Manchester United and Real Madrid are the teams standing at the top of the pyramid of European football.
Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimps, this group of wealthy teams are the hunters at the top of the food chain.
However, with the decline of second-tier league teams such as Ajax and Porto, and the massive influx of capital, the power of European football is being redivided.
Over the past few years, this sign has become increasingly clear and obvious.
That is, teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the like are already superior to other teams and even have the power to take and take away players from other teams.
In the eyes of these teams, money is not important at all. What is important is talent.
It seems that other teams have become star processing factories for these teams.
However, with the massive influx of capital, teams such as Manchester City, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain have emerged in recent years and have gradually begun to compete with teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. They have the financial resources to compete with them for talent and resources and are qualified to challenge them.
But everyone knows that relying on this group of wealthy bosses and local fans and stadiums is not a long-term solution.
Therefore, if the Premier League teams do not want to continue to be trampled under the feet of teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich and become the prey of these hunters at the top of the food chain, they can only actively develop overseas markets and strengthen themselves.
Only with the support of a huge overseas market can the Premier League have the strength to challenge Real Madrid and Barcelona.
At the same time, the Premier League needs one, or even multiple, flags to get to the top of the food chain and challenge other European giants.
Just imagine, if the top teams in the Premier League are able to compete with the likes of Real Madrid, and the mid-level teams in the Premier League are at the level of the top teams in other leagues, and the bottom teams are on par with the mid-level teams in other leagues, then the Premier League will successfully trample on other leagues.
By that time, the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga will all be the most ideal training bases for Premier League stars.
As for the Premier League, there will be an opportunity to gather the best stars in the world and make money from all over the world.
Therefore, this group of bigwigs in the Premier League will support the reform.
This is a huge opportunity for all teams. If successful, the Premier League will become the most successful and valuable sporting event in the world, and the teams in their hands will become a hundred times more valuable.
This is also a positive signal for those teams that are also ambitious.
That is, the time has come to redivide the power in the Premier League, and whoever rushes forward will be the king.
This is also an opportunity for Southampton.
This is the opportunity that Yang Huan has been eagerly longing for!
If they seize the opportunity, the Saints will rise to the top of European football from now on!
Of course, the challenges are not small.
It is entirely foreseeable that Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and even Liverpool, should start gearing up for a big fight.
Yang Huan was actually a little excited about this.
After holding back for so long, it’s time to let European football see the amazing purchasing power of the Premier League!