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Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham - Statement from Barham addressing Merrett etc - 12/9

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Darealrath said:
I'm still okay with Barham, and I'm really worried about what the alternative might be (a Sheedy puppet regime).
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That's the thing isn't it, it'd probably end up in a worse place with a new board (likely with Sheedy crossing over considering he hasn't been getting his way).

It seems Barham's heart is in the right place, he's just jumping before he looks, probably because he's too keen to get all the pieces in place. He needs to reflect on the things that have worked well in his short reign, the external panel for the coach and pushing for an external review. If he has a bit more patience and gets advice before he (and the board) jump into things then hopefully they can get a few more wins.

They have to nail the CEO appointment, and then the board can sit in the background and (hopefully) watch on as the club runs smoothly from there.
 
I think there has been a bit of a missed opportunity here with the Thornburn appointment. A large percentage of the world is religious, and some of their beliefs go back thousands of years, and obviously do not reflect the world as it is today. It's a slow change for them but it appears religions are making some changes to be more progressive and accepting.

Rather than persecute and reject religious people from certain employment opportunities, perhaps it's better to point out to them that some of their views are not acceptable any more. Having religious people in professional positions who are more free thinking and inclusive will help drive change inside those religious institutions, so those institutions don't become an echo chamber. Thornburn seemed to be one of those people as he pushed for diversity and inclusivity in his professional life.

On the other hand rejecting people because of their religion will set us back and create more division rather than harmony within our society.
 
Nifft said:
I think there has been a bit of a missed opportunity here with the Thornburn appointment. A large percentage of the world is religious, and some of their beliefs go back thousands of years, and obviously do not reflect the world as it is today. It's a slow change for them but it appears religions are making some changes to be more progressive and accepting.

Rather than persecute and reject religious people from certain employment opportunities, perhaps it's better to point out to them that some of their views are not acceptable any more. Having religious people in professional positions who are more free thinking and inclusive will help drive change inside those religious institutions, so those institutions don't become an echo chamber. Thornburn seemed to be one of those people as he pushed for diversity and inclusivity in his professional life.

On the other hand rejecting people because of their religion will set us back and create more division rather than harmony within our society.
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It's a nice thought but in reality, we can't even trust EFC to fire an employee with dignity or run a proper recruitment process for every open position, let alone run a football club.

If they tried their hand at bringing religion into line with current society beliefs on human rights they'd probably initiate the apocalypse by accident.
 
Nifft said:
That's the thing isn't it, it'd probably end up in a worse place with a new board (likely with Sheedy crossing over considering he hasn't been getting his way).

It seems Barham's heart is in the right place, he's just jumping before he looks, probably because he's too keen to get all the pieces in place. He needs to reflect on the things that have worked well in his short reign, the external panel for the coach and pushing for an external review. If he has a bit more patience and gets advice before he (and the board) jump into things then hopefully they can get a few more wins.

They have to nail the CEO appointment, and then the board can sit in the background and (hopefully) watch on as the club runs smoothly from there.
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His heart might be but his head isn’t. He clearly isn’t up to the role. He is incapable of clear, concise decision making, inept at presenting his views to the public and incompetent at getting the job done.

We need a gun CEO and a new board. Simon Lloyd in some capacity would be a fantastic start but we have a long way to go…
 

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MarkJohnson#1 said:
His heart might be but his head isn’t. He clearly isn’t up to the role. He is incapable of clear, concise decision making, inept at presenting his views to the public and incompetent at getting the job done.

We need a gun CEO and a new board. Simon Lloyd in some capacity would be a fantastic start but we have a long way to go…
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I disagree about needing a new board. How many boards have we had that would've been happy to get external people to perform a coach search and a full review of the club? I think that's a huge step in the right direction. What would we end up with if we get a new board? Are they going to action anything that comes from the external review, or will they be insular like previous boards and only make the changes that they want?

I want to see the club settled. I don't think the board has that much more to do before they can drift into the background. Firstly a good (non-controversial) CEO, and then they need to ratify any changes from the external review to make our football department better. After that hopefully we don't hear too much from them.
 
Nifft said:
I disagree about needing a new board. How many boards have we had that would've been happy to get external people to perform a coach search and a full review of the club? I think that's a huge step in the right direction. What would we end up with if we get a new board? Are they going to action anything that comes from the external review, or will they be insular like previous boards and only make the changes that they want?

I want to see the club settled. I don't think the board has that much more to do before they can drift into the background. Firstly a good (non-controversial) CEO, and then they need to ratify any changes from the external review to make our football department better. After that hopefully we don't hear too much from them.
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This is a measured response.

I like the change brought on by Barham. I was ready to give him away free to a nice home but you are right, sometimes it’s better the devil you know.
 


This is quite interesting. Couple of finance people who have a bit of experience with ... well mostly on this podcast they talk about investing and what a good investment looks like, including governance and attending various AGMs and such. Alan Kohler is the ABC's finance guy that always puts up the random interesting graphs so the segment doesn't put you completely to sleep – and a long time Essendon member and supporter. It's his pod, with rotating guests, but the other bloke in this episode is a Tigers fan called Stephen Mayne, who you might've heard of also.

But the important thing here is that they're talking about firstly the hiring of Thorburn (which probably put it on their agenda in the first place), whether he's even the right person to be running the recruiting process, let alone running a recruiting process and then putting his hand up for the same job.

From there talking about the decision to sack Thorburn, and what Thorburn's actions might have been during and after that and how that was handled by the club, which included a rather interesting character reference for Barham, the brawler who is quite used to staring down billionaires and people with big egos thanks to his background in commercial television and had no problem rolling the former chairman of PWC.

Also some comments on the importance of various roles in a football club, the President and the Coach are the most important, the Football Manager and List Manager are the next two. The actual CEO is basically an administrative role.

Then from there, talking about Essendon's board and the composition of it, the possibility of a board takeover, the "really weird" constitution that prevents such a takeover due to having 4/10 appointed directors so that we can't elect a group of cheerleaders in a single AGM and upset the apple cart.

To get rid of Barham you'd need an EGM because he's not up for election for another 12 months (hint: this also applies to Sheedy), so can't be overthrown at the AGM.

Some interesting comments around sacking Sheedy and how he should've been sacked instantly after the comments on Friday.

Then mentions that Barham is only going to be temporary as president anyway! Apparently he has a lot of blood on his hands, which isn't wrong. I mean Barham does seem to be acting relatively fearlessly, so short term makes sense. But I don't recall him saying so 🤔

Starts at 7:10 and goes to about 14:10.
 
Hmmm. I reckon the CEO is a bit more than administrator, even at a footy club. They’re more present at the club (than a President) and are tone-setters. Think about the vibe XC gave off - outwardly mild and friendly but focussed on the corporate side and pleasing the right people on that side of the business, not possessing the footy knowledge or credibility to have his feedback accepted by the players (and perhaps a bit of a **** to people he thought weren’t important). What kind of atmosphere does that provide as a backdrop for the players? Not one where footy and winning is the #1 priority.

Then think of someone like Tom Harley and the type of personality he is - good communicator, carries the ability to influence with footy people and corporate people alike, has a positive and interested energy to him.

So if culture is important then surely the CEO (along with coach and footy dept of course) influence the vibe and mindset of the players to an extent.

Not saying the CEO is more important than the Pres, but influential in their own way.
 
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frodos gardener said:
Hmmm. I reckon the CEO is a bit more than administrator, even at a footy club. They’re more present at the club (than a President) and are tone-setters. Think about the vibe XC gave off - outwardly mild and friendly but focussed on the corporate side and pleasing the right people on that side of the business, not possessing the footy knowledge or credibility to have his feedback accepted by the players (and perhaps a bit of a **** to people he thought weren’t important). What kind of atmosphere does that provide as a backdrop for the players? Not one where footy and winning is the #1 priority.

Then think of someone like Tom Harley and the type of personality he is - good communicator, carries the ability to influence with footy people and corporate people alike, has a positive and interested energy to him.

So if culture is important the surely the CEO (along with coach and footy dept of course) influence the vibe and mindset of the players to an extent.

Not saying the CEO is more important than the Pres, but influential in their own way.
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I think the point they were making was more that the CEO isn't making strategic or influential decisions about the core business of the club, which if you're looking at an organisation as an investor then the long term strategic direction is probably more interesting. As long as they can competently set the tone or the vibe and keep the place ticking over, that's the main thing. You don't need a revolutionary in that chair if the other four are competent.

That said, it depends on the structure of the club. Brendan Gale is a bit different at the Tigers as he's an executive director, so he's on the board of directors as well as being the Chief Executive.

The other thing I might've missed above is that they said the Coach reports directly to the board of directors anyway.
 
BrunoV said:
The dots are there to be joined re the coaching. Sheedy had backed them into a corner with Hird leading the selection process until Scott came in to participate in the 'same process' resulting in his appointment within minutes of his first interview with the panel. The process wasn't followed. No one finished.
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I just love how you've gradually shifted your use of language over the weeks such that this is now established fact. Not merely your entirely preconceived opinion.
 
Lore said:
I think the point they were making was more that the CEO isn't making strategic or influential decisions about the core business of the club, which if you're looking at an organisation as an investor then the long term strategic direction is probably more interesting. As long as they can competently set the tone or the vibe and keep the place ticking over, that's the main thing. You don't need a revolutionary in that chair if the other four are competent.

That said, it depends on the structure of the club. Brendan Gale is a bit different at the Tigers as he's an executive director, so he's on the board of directors as well as being the Chief Executive.

The other thing I might've missed above is that they said the Coach reports directly to the board of directors anyway.
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The board sets out the strategic plan and the CEO doesn’t sit on the board so shouldn’t influence the plan. Being the highest executive position at the footy club though, the CEO should be aligning club operations with the strategic plan.
 
CEO SEARCH:

“The Bombers want to pair new coach Brad Scott and football boss Josh Mahoney with an experienced AFL figure as CEO to help lead the club up the ladder.”

Some more CEO candidates:
  • Stuart Fox: MCC CEO & Former CEO of Hawthorn (not named in racism review)
  • Greg Swann: Brisbane CEO
As part of the ongoing overhaul, Essendon will now target an experienced football figure such as MCC chief executive Stuart Fox to become new CEO.

Fox, who won three premierships as CEO at Hawthorn and was not named in the Hawks review into the treatment of First Nations players, has run the MCG since 2017.

Respected Brisbane chief executive Greg Swann could also be headhunted.

Swann is one of the longest-serving CEO’s in the game and has been highly rated for his efforts helping the Lions rise up off the bottom.

His experience and standing would also appeal to the Bombers.
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REVIEW:
  • Findings to be announced and implemented once the board has approved it
  • Timeline to hand it up to the board is next week
  • Barham to oversee delivery of the external review. (I’m not sure if this is a generic statement as President or if they mean he’s taken leadership of it from Thorburn. The actual interviewing and writing stuff is probably done, they should be dotting Is and crossing Ts on the current timeline anyway. So mostly just liaising with EY and tabling it to the board?)
  • Expected to result in:
    • Staffing restructure
    • Further personnel changes
    • Stop the disruptive club politics (how??)
Essendon president David Barham will oversee the delivery of the crucial external review findings designed to help restructure the club.

…

The findings are expected to recommend a staffing restructure, more personnel changes and a move away from any disruptive club politics.

But they will have to be approved by the Essendon board before they are announced and implemented, as early as next week.
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The Prosecutor said:
That sounds like Dodoro is cooked.
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Season 3 Smiling GIF by The Simpsons
 
Lore said:
CEO SEARCH:

“The Bombers want to pair new coach Brad Scott and football boss Josh Mahoney with an experienced AFL figure as CEO to help lead the club up the ladder.”

Some more CEO candidates:
  • Stuart Fox: MCC CEO & Former CEO of Hawthorn (not named in racism review)
  • Greg Swann: Brisbane CEO


REVIEW:
  • Findings to be announced and implemented once the board has approved it
  • Timeline to hand it up to the board is next week
  • Barham to oversee delivery of the external review. (I’m not sure if this is a generic statement as President or if they mean he’s taken leadership of it from Thorburn. The actual interviewing and writing stuff is probably done, they should be dotting Is and crossing Ts on the current timeline anyway. So mostly just liaising with EY and tabling it to the board?)
  • Expected to result in:
    • Staffing restructure
    • Further personnel changes
    • Stop the disruptive club politics (how??)


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I’ve every faith Barham will do whatever it takes to implement the recommendations of the review.
 
Barham has made a bunch of blunders, but I think he needs to be judged on the changes made by the external review.And what he implements there.

Muir if he is considering a takeover has to see it through otherwise I think we will continue to be the same club we have the last 20 years.
 

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