Not that I'm disagreeing, but if it was an easy process to achieve success like Rangknick did in such a short period with the Red bull clubs then anyone could do it and they'd be more similar examples to draw from. Ragknick is a confident guy, perhaps even arrogant. He modeled his plans for Liepzig on capital, concept, and competence. His diligence, wise spending, work ethic, precise delegation of roles (including handpicking managers like Nagelsmann and the DoF who succeeded him), mad obsession for the game and penchant for the finer details are the ingredients that led Liepzig to unprecedented prominence much to the chagrin and jealousy of opposition clubs in Germany.
I feel if the other factors at play (and other characters involved) didnt come together swimmingly then the project would've failed no matter how simple the process appears on paper. Rangknick depended on a slew of things to work in his favor but he was the major driving force and that can't be taken from him, not even by himself
Not to be pedantic but isn't the term 'plastic' technically reserved for a certain type of fan and not a club or footballing institution? Are the multitudes of Die Hard match going Liepzig supporters mostly plastic? The club treats them great and by all accounts the match day experience at Red bull arena still stands up to the high quality experiences you get at other famous German clubs that adhere to tradition like Dortmund and Bayern. The region of East Germany where Liepzig is also deserves a club playing top flight football.
I understand the hatred Leipzig receives, they went against a long standing tradition in German top flight football that has remained unchanged for decades, but nothing lasts forever. Exceptions to the 50 plus one rule were made for Wolfsburg and Leverkusen, simply because they were bankrolled for over two decades by the same ownership. The unprecedented is a guarantee every so often even if it comes in cycles many years apart and Liepzig are representative of this. Manchester united fans have been undeservedley blanket called plastics by opposition fans for a long time now due to the club's financial strength and global fanbase and global appeal. They are plastics in the fanbase yes, but that's part and parcel with the scale of popularity the club has attained. Is united a 'plastic' club for having ambition and for having foreign and some plastic supporters?
Liepzig still fall under/meet the 50 plus one rule as they cleverly circumvented the system to ensure it was achieved under their terms. The club did this by issuing a small amount of shares, buying 49% of them then pricing the rest prohibitively and choosing who could invest, chiefly Red Bull employees. I find them an appealing club, but then maybe I biased as I can see parallels with them and my local billionaire bankrolled club in Atlanta united. I didn't mean to write a novel