下个赛季要8月份才开始，也许这显得非常遥远，但足球世界运转得很快并且很残酷。如果莱斯特城想要再次挑战英国的博彩公司，他们就需要快速做出一系列重要的决定。

2015-16英超赛季开始时，博彩公司开出的美国摇滚巨星艾尔维斯·普莱斯利（猫王）依然活着的赔率是1000比1。同一时间，博彩公司对莱斯特城英超夺冠开出的赔率是5000比1。

猫王仍无处可寻，但莱斯特城已经前去度暑，为他们史上首次进军欧冠联赛养精蓄锐，而一名在赛季初下注莱斯特城的球迷此时已将25万英镑（约合237万2700元人民币）收入囊中。

关于某些球员将离开莱斯特城的传言已是沸沸扬扬，有报道称尤文图斯和巴塞罗那已经分别出价欲将恩戈洛·坎特和里亚德·马赫雷斯招入麾下。有些媒体评论员甚至预测莱斯特城主帅克劳迪奥·拉涅利也将弃旧图新，博彩公司更是为莱斯特城下个赛季降级英冠开出了赌注。

与此同时，仍有很多人在继续研究莱斯特城夺冠的秘诀。除了1995年布莱克本（当时资源配置充裕）获得过冠军外，英超从成立之日起就由几大豪门主宰。但是此次莱斯特城的夺冠壮举，给了许多欲效仿其成功经验的俱乐部以希望。

莱斯特城的一个显著特点是团队的力量远大于个体的简单加总。这部分归功于拉涅利，他总是能打造出以激情、个性和斗志为根基的内聚力强大的队伍。的确，拉涅利经常在新闻发布会上强调他的队员是多么的上进。

公开表示自己对球员的信心向来是拉涅利执教的风格。但他也很谦虚，夺冠次日被媒体问及球队是如何获得成功时，他回答道：“我也不清楚我们是如何做到的，但球员和球迷是至关重要的。”

也许这就是莱斯特城问鼎英超的原因之一：拉涅利让球员、球队和俱乐部成为关注的焦点，而非自己。这和英国足球盛行的“教练崇拜”大相径庭。拿何塞·穆里尼奥来说，他永远高于球队。不过，圣诞节之前这个葡萄牙人就已经状态失常，祸不单行，最终被扫地出门。

▲ 拉涅利把一群渴望重生的球员召集到了一起。

莱斯特城这支球队是主教练形象的映射。丹尼尔·德林沃特和丹尼·辛普森是曼联的弃儿；杰米·瓦尔迪一度辗转于低级联盟谋生；马克·阿尔布莱顿和罗伯特·胡特曾是走下坡路俱乐部里的失败球员；坎特和马赫雷斯不久前还是法甲的无名小辈。

拉涅利把一群寻找希望、渴望重生的球员召集到一起，他和莱斯特城所给予的信心彻底激发了这些球员的潜能，将他们打造成了世界巨星。不同于这个赛季的切尔西，曼城和曼联，莱斯特城向我们证明冠军不一定是花重金买来的，也可以是打造和拼搏出来的。

杰米·瓦尔迪已经化身为莱斯特城崛起的象征，他从斯多克布里奇公园钢铁队的业余球员一跃成为英格兰队的正式队员。多亏了莱斯特城球探的火眼金睛，不然瓦尔迪也许永远也不会踏上英超的赛场。

莱斯特城的球探系统不仅仅依靠其渗透的深度和广度，它寻找目标球员的方式也是独树一帜。除了观察那些技巧熟练的球员，俱乐部的球探们会特别留意那些与俱乐部勤奋和团结精神相契合的球员。也就是说莱斯特城招募球员不单单凭借数据，也参考球员的为人。这种探星方式取得了巨大的成功，目前阿森纳已经挖走了莱斯特城两名最重要的球探。

差不多一年之前，莱斯特城还是英超的垫底俱乐部，随时有降级的危险。但在另类前主帅尼格尔·皮尔森姗姗来迟的整顿之下，莱斯特城幸运地与降级英冠擦肩而过。俱乐部老板对皮尔森的耐心和信心是莱斯特城这个赛季崛起的重要因素，也代表了他们的领导风格。

英超许多球队对于新的主帅是欲求难满，最著名的当属切尔西、阿斯顿维拉以及沃特福德。相比之下，莱斯特城的泰国老板似乎更为冷静和深思熟虑，他们在莱斯特城培养了一种团结和睦的文化氛围，突出强调耐心以及战略性思考。

从2010年掌权至今，皇权国际集团从来没有乱开教练和胡乱花钱招募名实不符的球员。他们搬迁到了一座新的球场，稳步改善了球场的竞技环境，这给经常将球队拖入混乱境地的俱乐部提供了改善的标准。

莱斯特城此后何去何从是一个非常有趣的话题。有人认为他们不会从英超降级，莱斯特城的球迷更是希望球队不要再遭受此前的窘迫与尴尬。不过，将成功延续下去是非常有挑战性的，克劳迪奥·拉涅利和他的球探们承受的压力很大，他们需要引进更多的有天赋的球员来融入这个已经扎根的球队文化氛围中。

如何将球场上的成功转化为经济上的成功，也是值得莱斯特城深思的。

俱乐部当下面临的是决定球衣赞助商的问题。目前莱斯特城的球衣上印制的是球队老板皇权集团的标志，球衣带来的年收益只有100万英镑（约合952万8100元人民币）。球队老板也许觉得保持这样的安排没什么不妥，但曼联和切尔西的球衣赞助合同能为他们带来超过7000万英镑（约合6亿6690万元人民币）的年收益。与他们相比，莱斯特城的确需要考虑是否应该选择一个能给他们带来更大收益的国际赞助商。

俱乐部老板也需要对全新的经营状况做出战略性的反应，这取决于对莱斯特城这个赛季所取得的成功的可持续性的精确估计。下个赛季要8月份才开始，也许这显得非常遥远，但足球世界运转得很快并且很残酷。如果莱斯特城想要再次挑战英国的博彩公司，他们就需要快速做出一系列重要的决定。

英文原文：

At the start of the 2015/16 Premier Leaguefootball season, the bookmaker’s odds of American rock star Elvis Presley beingfound alive were 1000-1. A the same time, the bookmakers odds for LeicesterCity winning the Premier League were 5000-1.

Elvis Presley has yet to be found,Leicester are heading-off for a summer break prior to playing their first evergames in the UEFA Champions League, and one Leicester-based gambler is £250,000wealthier.

Speculation is already rife about whichplayers will leave City, with Juventus and Barcelona reportedly having bid forN’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez respectively. While some media commentators aresuggesting that even coach Claudio Ranieri will leave the club, bookmakers arealready taking bets on Leicester City getting relegated next season.

At the same time, many people continue toask how Leicester managed to win the Premier League. Apart from BlackburnRovers in 1995 (a club which, at that time, was incredibly well resourced), theleague has been dominated by the usual suspects throughout the entirety of itshistory. Yet City have somehow given hope to other clubs that they too canemulate the champions’ success.

One feature of Leicester City has been theway in which the team has added-up to more of the sum of its parts. In partthis is due to Ranieri, who always seems to build teams that are strong andcohesive, with foundations based on passion, soul and fight. Indeed, theItalian has often emphasised in press conferences how much heart his players have.

Such public displays of belief in hisplayers have always been a characteristic of Ranieri’s management style. Yet heis a modest, self-effacing man too; when asked in interviews about the leaguetriumph the day after Leicester won the league, his response was “I don’t knowhow we did it, but the players and the fans were important.”

Perhaps this is one of the reasonsLeicester succeeded: Ranieri made the players, team and club the focus ofattention, not himself. This stands in stark contract to the ‘cult of manager’which often characterises English football. Contrast the Italian with JoseMourinho; always bigger than his teams, the Portuguese was out of form, out ofluck and out of a job before Christmas.

The team that Ranieri built was importanttoo, as it was a team arguably cast in the same image as the coach. DannyDrinkwater and Danny Simpson were Manchester United cast-offs; Jamie Vardy wasa journeyman professional turning-out for lower league teams; Marc Albrightonand Robert Huth were failing players in failing teams; Kante and Mahrez wereunknowns from the French league.

By bringing together a group of playersseeking a second chance, a new beginning, Leicester’s and Ranieri’s faith inthem brought out the best in men who are now world famous. Unlike Chelsea,Manchester City and Manchester United this season, one lesson of City’s victoryis that success is not necessarily bought, it is built and engendered.

Jamie Vardy has become emblematic ofLeicester’s rise, having gone from being an amateur, non-league footballer withStocksbridge Park Steels to becoming an England national team regular. But if it wasn’t for the skill of LeicesterCity’s scouts, Vardy may never have been spotted and may never have played inthe Premier League.

City’s scouting network is not only basedon the breadth and depth of its reach, it is also renowned for the way in whichits targets players. The club’s scouts don’t just look for the most skilfulplayers, rather they seek to identify talent that fits with the club’s ethos ofhard work and togetherness. Hence, players are not just recruited because oftheir performance statistics but also for how they are as people. This approachhas been so successful that Arsenal have already poached two of LeicesterCity’s most important scouts.

Little more than a year ago, the club wasbottom of the Premier League and about to be relegated. Yet a late rally underthe club’s somewhat unorthodox former manager (Nigel Pearson) resulted in theclub escaping a drop in to the Championship. The patience and faith shown inPearson by the club’s owners was an important part of this season’s resurgenceand an indication of their leadership style.

Many teams in the Premier League have avoracious appetite for new managers, most notably the likes of Chelsea, AstonVilla and Watford. However, Leicester’s Thai owners seem to have gone abouttheir business in a much calmer, more considered way. They appear to havefostered a culture of togetherness which at the same time seems to emphasisepatience and strategic thinking.

Although they have been in charge since2010, the King Power International Group have not been prone to sack theirmanagers nor to engage in wasteful expenditure on highly paid, under-performingtalent. Equally, there move to a new stadium and gradual playing improvement onthe field have set a benchmark for clubs that are often lead more turbulentexistences.

Where Leicester City go from here will beinteresting – one assumes that they won’t be relegated from the Premier League;many people from the city are hoping that the team won’t be repeatedlyembarrassed in the Champions League. Building sustainable success will be adifficult task, which means the pressure is on Claudio Ranieri and his scoutsacquire talent that bring more playing success but by fitting into anestablished team culture.

How City convert playing success intofinancial success will also be an issue. There are clear opportunities aheadfor Leicester, ranging from the commercial opportunities the Champions League willbring through to the potential overseas fan engagement the club’s fairy talesuccess seems to be bringing.

One decision the club does face is what todo with its shirt sponsorship deal. Valued at only £1 million per year, thefirst-team’s shirts carry the King Power of the club’s owners. The owners maysee some value in continuing with such an arrangement. However, when clubs likeManchester United and Chelsea have shirt sponsorship deals worth £70 million ormore, Leicester need to consider whether they would be better off finding aglobal sponsor who will pay them more money.

How the club’s owners respondedstrategically to the new operating conditions the club now faces could welldetermine whether or not relegation odds are an accurate measure of howsustainable Leicester’s success this season actually is. It may seem like thestart of next season, in August, is a long way away. But football moves fastand is an unforgiving business; as such, Leicester City rapidly need to makesome important decisions. Especially if they are to continue defying Britain’sbookmakers.

作者简介：西蒙·查德威克，任教于英国索尔福德大学，被聘为“92班“教授，教授“体育企业”，“体育战略”等课程。同时他还担任2022卡塔尔世界杯研究项目主任。与西蒙·查德威克教授合作过的世界顶级体育组织包括巴塞罗那足球俱乐部、欧足联、德国足球甲级联赛、阿迪达斯、米其林、国际网球联合会、德勤和Repucom。

Simon Chadwick is 'Class of 92' Professor of Sports Enterprise at Salford University Manchester and Director of Research for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. He has worked with many of the world's leading sports organisations including FC Barcelona, UEFA, the Bundesliga, Adidas, Michelin Motorsport, the International Tennis Federation, Deloitte and Repucom.

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声明：文中观点仅代表作者本人观点，不代表懒熊体育。