The Clubs That Grow Fastest Are Not Always the Ones With the Biggest Budgets – They Are the Ones That Make Fewer Mistakes.
Modern football is no longer decided only on the pitch. Recruitment, player development, performance management, organizational structure and strategic decision-making have become just as important as what happens on matchday.
As competition continues to increase at every level of the game, many clubs are looking beyond traditional structures in search of new advantages. One area attracting growing attention is strategic football consulting.
We spoke with football consultant and entrepreneur Ivan Ilecic about why independent expertise is becoming increasingly valuable and how better decisions can directly influence sporting and financial success.
Q&A Highlights
NSN: Why do football clubs need external consultants today?
Ivan Ilečić: One of the biggest misconceptions in football is that clubs need consultants only when something is wrong. In reality, the most ambitious clubs are often the ones most willing to seek external expertise.
Modern football moves fast. Coaches focus on performance, sporting directors on recruitment, medical teams on player availability and executives on long-term planning. Everyone is focused on execution.
What often gets lost is the opportunity to step back and objectively evaluate how the entire organization is functioning.
That is where strategic consulting creates value. An external consultant brings an independent perspective, identifies inefficiencies, challenges assumptions and helps leadership see opportunities that are often difficult to recognize while managing day-to-day operations.
NSN: If clubs already employ coaches, sporting directors and analysts, what value can an external consultant add?
Ivan Ilečić: The greatest value is objectivity. People inside football clubs are naturally invested in their work, their decisions and the people around them. That commitment is important, but it can sometimes make complete objectivity difficult.
An external consultant arrives without previous decisions to defend or internal relationships to protect. He can evaluate situations based on evidence rather than emotion.
In many cases, consulting is not about finding problems nobody sees. It is about identifying issues everyone recognizes but nobody has had the time, structure or authority to properly analyze and solve. Sometimes a fresh perspective is all that is needed to unlock significant improvement.
NSN: What are the most expensive mistakes football clubs make?
Ivan Ilečić: The most expensive mistakes in football are rarely isolated events. They are usually the result of poor decision-making processes. A failed transfer, an underperforming squad, recurring injuries or a stagnating academy often appear to be separate problems. In reality, they are frequently connected.
When clubs consistently make decisions without enough information, structure or long-term planning, the financial and sporting consequences can be enormous.
I often ask club presidents how many players they sign each year who fail to meet expectations. In many clubs, the answer is surprisingly high. That is why I believe the biggest expenses in football are not always the investments clubs make. They are the mistakes clubs fail to prevent.
NSN: What is the first question you ask a club president?
Ivan Ilečić: I always start with a simple question: What does success look like for your club?Every club has different objectives. One may be fighting to avoid relegation, another may be targeting European competitions, while others focus on player development or increasing squad value.
The problem is that many organizations discuss players, recruitment and analytics before clearly defining their objectives. Once success is clearly defined, every decision can be evaluated against that objective.
I usually follow with another question: What would it mean if the probability of achieving that objective increased by 20 or 30 percent? Football cannot guarantee success, but it can significantly improve the probability of achieving it.
NSN: How do you respond when a club president says consulting is expensive?
Ivan Ilečić: I usually answer with another question. What is the cost of making decisions without the right information?
Football clubs are very good at calculating visible expenses such as transfer fees and player salaries. What is much harder to calculate is the cost of poor decisions.
A player who never performs, a transfer strategy that fails or a missed sporting objective can cost a club far more than most people realize.
Many clubs spend more money dealing with the consequences of mistakes than they would ever spend trying to prevent them.
That is why I do not see consulting as an expense. I see it as an investment in better decision-making.
NSN: Why do you believe the most expensive player is often not the one with the highest transfer fee?
Ivan Ilečić: Because football often confuses cost with value. The player with the highest transfer fee is not necessarily the most expensive player. In many cases, the most expensive player is the one who fails to create value.
A player who occupies a roster spot, consumes resources and does not contribute to results can become extraordinarily expensive over time.
On the other hand, a player who improves performance, increases market value and contributes to long-term success can quickly become one of the best investments a club makes.
The same principle applies to consulting. The question is not how much something costs. The question is how much value it creates.
NSN: Which areas of a football club should be reviewed if the goal is sustainable growth?
Ivan Ilečić: One of the biggest mistakes clubs make is treating departments as isolated units. Football does not work that way.
A recruitment decision influences performance. Performance influences player value. Player value influences financial sustainability. Financial sustainability influences future competitiveness.
Everything is connected. The clubs that achieve sustainable growth understand this relationship and build systems that align every department around common objectives.
Long-term success rarely comes from fixing one isolated problem. It comes from improving how the entire organization functions.
NSN: What separates clubs that consistently grow from those that remain stuck in the same cycle?
Ivan Ilečić: The answer is decision quality. The clubs that grow fastest are not always the clubs with the biggest budgets. They are the clubs that make fewer mistakes.
Every organization makes mistakes. The difference is how quickly they identify them, how honestly they evaluate them and how effectively they learn from them.
The strongest clubs create environments where assumptions can be challenged, difficult conversations are encouraged and decisions are based on evidence rather than emotion.
Football will always involve uncertainty. Nobody can eliminate that.
But clubs can dramatically improve their chances of success by improving the quality of the decisions they make every day.
Many of these principles are also reflected in SportynX, a football intelligence platform designed to support clubs through player development, performance evaluation, recruitment intelligence and football operations.
Ultimately, the future belongs to clubs that combine expertise, objectivity and disciplined decision-making.
Those clubs may not always have the biggest budgets. But they will almost always have the biggest competitive advantage.
