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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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Old Campaigner said:
It will though.

Sheedy will thump the table and go on a Grandpa Simpson-style rant about how it should be done, before standing up and letting out a loud involuntary old man fart.
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The fart smell would be covered up by the smell of the onions worn on the belt. That was customary back in the day.
 
Hope this w***er Dudoro stays on thinking he's secure with his bullshit politicking and the external review exposes his ass.

The sooner he ****s off the better.

When one person who's under performed in his job for decades continually clashes with CEOs, GMs, Coaches etc.... including people who've been apart of building premiership teams... **** off the person who's always involved.

Do we need to have another GM who's built a premiership side come to us and leave because of Dodo for the ****ing penny to drop?
 
Bunk Moreland said:
It’s ridiculous he’s in any role. Six figures in whatever the * job he has is just a sign of a joint that has too much money. All he’s done is supposedly come up with “the country game” which is a non event.

As for being on the board, ffs he was sacked 15 years ago for a reason. He shouldn’t be making any decisions.
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It's symptomatic of an incestuous club that's fixated on it's own people holding key roles; Sheedy has been a bigger name by far than anybody we've had in the past 20 years (except maybe for one disgraced former coach) so we cling on to him for dear life, not understanding like everyone else that he's just another old codger well past his use-by date for football department contributions.
 

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Caro:
  • Mahoney to be part of the coach search sub-committee and he’s staying
  • Dodoro will definitely stay for the trade draft period this year
Lloyd:
  • Mahoney and Dodoro have patched things up
Caro:
  • Not sure both will survive an external review

Whole panel talking about what they think happened on the board this year.
  • Campbell apparently dominating doing basically what he wanted with Worsfold and Rutten etc. (much as he did under Tanner)
  • Brasher apparently extended Campbell’s contract without the rest of the board knowing about it (so not just us mugs in the cheap seats?!)

Caro:
  • Mahoney was very close to getting the CEO job at Melbourne, she’s not sure what the knocks are on him
  • Board is prepared to back Mahoney
  • Auld could be targeted for CEO job if he doesn’t get the big seat at AFLHQ (Andrew Dillon currently favoured to succeed Gill)
 
DallasCrane316 said:
Caro on Footy Classified saying that

  • Mahoney will be on the coaching sub committee.
  • Club expects Dodoro to be around for this trade period.

Lloyd said he’s heard similar.

Caro thinks that one of the two will go once the external review is completed.
Click to expand...
The more I hear the more I think both have to go. Dodoro is a snake in the grass.
 
Nuggs Bunny said:
It's symptomatic of an incestuous club that's fixated on it's own people holding key roles; Sheedy has been a bigger name by far than anybody we've had in the past 20 years (except maybe for one disgraced former coach) so we cling on to him for dear life, not understanding like everyone else that he's just another old codger well past his use-by date for football department contributions.
Click to expand...
That's ageism.
 
If this is the Red and Black Wedding then I suppose he’s actually the Late Lord Frey.
 


RoCo and Shawry were recording the pod when Campbell’s resignation news came in this morning, interesting reactions. (It’s right at the start.)

RoCo suggesting a lot of stuff will come out with this review, particularly around many of the women who left the club. Says XC probably well intentioned but not good enough.

Then goes into talking about coaches and selecting a new one. Quite scathing about factions and the board and the selecting of a new coach by the same people who hired and backed in the last one… obviously recorded before the other resignations today.

Talking about Hird following the Corcoran article…
  • RoCo: jury was out on his coaching with quite mixed results and difficult to assess his record, but it’s not glowing, nor is it shocking. But the club can’t throw off the dark cloud of that era while Hird is here, would be a constant distraction and will be a constant sore point. Would have some parts of the media continuing to dig stuff up from ten years ago, and people going at the club for it. Repainting a fresh target on the club again.
  • Shawry: very worried about the personal side of things, pressure cooker that would be put on Hird and his family and not going through that again. Not sure how Yze Kingsley and other young coaches, how could they come into this club? Maybe Hird could unite it technically, imagine being one of those coaches coming into that culture?
Then talking about other options for coaching: RoCo suggests Justin Leppitsch and Ross Lyon might be a good fit, Shawry wants an open process, ruling out a first year coach because he thinks this club is too hard for that but beyond that it has to be done properly. And then he goes someone who knows the club backwards, like Dean Solomon 😂🤔 plus Mark Williams as a GM-Footy running the coaching, development, etc. Would put Mahoney over that with the administration of four teams to keep him busy he wouldn’t be as hands on as he might be with 1-2 teams.
 

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This one recorded tonight (I posted it earlier but only able to listen to it now).

Theme running across both is about you can be a good club, a well-run club, even when you’re not a successful club.

Talking about the disillusionment and disaffection of support base with the club and how important that is to be a good club. If you’re not having on-field success the supporters can bring you through that.

Engagement can’t just be tacked on. Katie Lio and Paul Cousins getting on the board were sort of regarded by the club as “fan representatives”, getting them on the board was a good thing but the club just saw it as appeasing the fans, so it’s sort of tokenistic instead of intrinsic and central to the existence/rebuild of the club.

Talking about engaging with fan podcasts and not just doing the SEN interviews (how about fan forums? There used to be an official Essendon account somewhere on here…)

Not as many fan events, no free events for families and kids on the field having a kick with players, more $250 dinners in the function rooms. Apparently the cafe is unfriendly to fans, who are treated like outsiders. Haven’t really rewarded the fans for sticking by the club through all of the bullshit either, despite us all pledging and continuing to support.

XC was too autocratic as a CEO. Making a lot of decisions single-handedly. Lack of success in football really not good and the last straw was when he tied himself to Rutten and Brasher, captain of the proverbial sinking ship.

Culture impacts on-field. Fundamental philosophies passed down from generation to generation in a good culture, but our older leaders never got those values passed on (because reasons). Like setting standards and expectations and attitudes. Should be set at the top of the organisation, not putting it all on the players.

Talks a bit about his experiences with Barham, he’s not cliches but he has good negotiating skills, firm when he has to be but in a human sort of way, “a hardarse without being a hardarse”. A smart guy and RoCo quite confident in Barham’s abilities. Will change the flavour of the club even if some key players stay, they won’t all necessarily go.

Want to barrack for a footy club, not a corporation. Feels like you’re barracking for BHP or something.

What are “Essendon people”? Do board members have to be Essendon people or could it be like former players from other clubs etc? Need a broad cross-section of the community. Not a give that you have to have a former player. Need to have the right skill set beyond the ability to kick a ball. Don’t like the former champion thing. Having three on there at once maybe too much.

RoCo has never been on a board, skill set is different to other people. Regards himself as an Essendon person even if he hasn’t played for the club, knows a lot of people there, has worked there, well connected to the fans, supported the club since he was 5, always kept tabs on what is going on at the club, etc.

Mark Bolton is a suggestion of RoCo for a potential board member.

Asked if he would go on the board? What would that look like? Would he be interested? People have asked him and he sees it as a joke but he loves the club and he’d love to help and he feels like he has something to contribute in terms of the club’s media profile and its public image, but he has no corporate expertise either. So if that’s regarded as a requirement then no, but maybe not everyone on a board needs that.

Taking the absolute piss about the commercial side of stuff engrained in the club, 18% off for Hurley and cheap furniture etc. RoCo mentioned Hooker has a Hurley milestone wine thing and even Chook had a silly comment “better than 18% off at the bombershop”…

God they’re going on a bit about trying to get RoCo on the board 😳

Ross Lyon and Justin Leppitsch both being pumped up a bit as potential coach options. Gia got the coach of the year last year. Cara talking down his ambitions as a senior coach too. Yze another one, but might struggle with the politics and coteries. Mark Williams would be a good one to tell the coteries to pull their heads in. He could also support someone like Solly, who is very highly rated within the industry compared to outside. Wouldn’t do it for his Essendon background but it wouldn’t hurt either. And a No on Hird. Great person, very intelligent, but if you’re talking massive cultural change then you can’t bring him in and anchor us back to that period. Jury out on how good his coaching actually is. Would be a gamble, outweighed by the baggage. Giving a bird to the rest of the comp isn’t a good enough reason. Pyke? He made Adelaide good but in practice the camp stuff and Pyke is similar to Hird, bit of baggage, but with the club as it is now you need someone who doesn’t have marks on their integrity. Need to remake the club properly.
 
Lore said:


Caro:
  • Mahoney to be part of the coach search sub-committee and he’s staying
  • Dodoro will definitely stay for the trade draft period this year
Lloyd:
  • Mahoney and Dodoro have patched things up
Caro:
  • Not sure both will survive an external review

Whole panel talking about what they think happened on the board this year.
  • Campbell apparently dominating doing basically what he wanted with Worsfold and Rutten etc. (much as he did under Tanner)
  • Brasher apparently extended Campbell’s contract without the rest of the board knowing about it (so not just us mugs in the cheap seats?!)

Caro:
  • Mahoney was very close to getting the CEO job at Melbourne, she’s not sure what the knocks are on him
  • Board is prepared to back Mahoney
  • Auld could be targeted for CEO job if he doesn’t get the big seat at AFLHQ (Andrew Dillon currently favoured to succeed Gill)
Click to expand...

Interesting comments from Ross Lyon at the end. I share his position that on field creates off field stability as much as it's the other way around. This to me is the crux of the problem and why Dodoro leaving is central to our improvement.
 
JayJ20 said:
Although I am happy about changes, the thing that I’m a little concerned about is the people who handled Rutten’s exit and the botched attempt at getting Clarkson. They’re all still here and the people that had some sense (as per the reports) are gone. I don’t know how I feel about all this.

I should be excited about the changes today, but something isn’t right and I quite can’t put my finger on it.
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Same. For me I think it's a trust issue.
The fact is that Barham is a hard-nosed decision maker. I think that's been clear to all. That's not a bad thing in itself, however, it means that we can probably expect at times that people will be trampled. If he remains president, that will be an issue going forward. I don't trust that he would not make decisions first, then 'explain' or 'apologise' later.

Another fact is that we now have board members bailing out / being sacked. Again, that's not a bad thing in itself; I've long wanted the bloodletting to occur. However, that they are more willing to voluntarily leave before the external review is completed speaks more for their distrust of factional power than it does their belief in their principles. They are obviously confident that it doesn't matter what the external review finds, they will be gone.

A third fact regards the external review. We've already been positioned by Barham to expect a pivot on this in terms of what it is, does and its extent. Already, Barham has told us that he wants to look at other clubs, that is, 'externally'. It sets up the ER as window dressing, and when you consider that the removal of people yesterday equates to the replacement of a faction with a faction, and couple that with their mode of operation vis a vis Truck, and what you have is the same old same old; a faction that is willing to conduct its business on its own terms, rather than engaging in unbiased, rigorous processes and procedures.

So, that's what troubles me. I don't trust that institutional changes are actually what we are seeing, because these changes already have been built on a real lack of integrity. This is the fundamental reason why Barham's position itself really is untenable.

It's like founding a democracy that espouses freedom and equality on land that has been stolen. Something just ain't right.
 

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CBombers17 said:
Batton change dressed up as real change. This guy is representing the same regime and nothing more IMO. I hope there's a challenge to this board.

Even going back to 2018 there's a bit of a victory lap article with him and Tanner saying how well they handled the saga fallout. Apparently Brasher had spent a day or two a week on Essendon related work for the previous 5 years before that.

You would think he would know what everyones job is by now....

Without any kind of independent review on areas like player recruitment, coaching recruitment and fitness etc - plus the same heads in place - it's difficult to see the same people do a substantially better job.

Hard to imagine this is the best we can do given he was there and signed off on governance before the saga. That alone should demand a fresh start surely.

If all it takes to get support is a bit of earthy talk about burgers and bad losses and smashing Collingwood then no wonder they have been able to slide this far. That's low bar setting for someone who has been very influential at the club, and heavily involved at the club, for nearly 10 years.
Click to expand...
So this in September 2020 was true....

And so was the later criticism of his bullshit lap of the club at the start where he apparently came down hard on Campbell and told him to pull his head in - only to let him continue to ride roughshod over the club and extend him for 2 years begind everyones back.
.
Even now he sits on the panel ready to decide on the next coach of the club. Forget the good old days at Windy Hill - Entitled wealthy old businessmen using the football club as a plaything is the only enduring culture at Essendon.
 
What is Barham’s
ghostdog said:
Same. For me I think it's a trust issue.
The fact is that Barham is a hard-nosed decision maker. I think that's been clear to all. That's not a bad thing in itself, however, it means that we can probably expect at times that people will be trampled. If he remains president, that will be an issue going forward. I don't trust that he would not make decisions first, then 'explain' or 'apologise' later.

Another fact is that we now have board members bailing out / being sacked. Again, that's not a bad thing in itself; I've long wanted the bloodletting to occur. However, that they are more willing to voluntarily leave before the external review is completed speaks more for their distrust of factional power than it does their belief in their principles. They are obviously confident that it doesn't matter what the external review finds, they will be gone.

A third fact regards the external review. We've already been positioned by Barham to expect a pivot on this in terms of what it is, does and its extent. Already, Barham has told us that he wants to look at other clubs, that is, 'externally'. It sets up the ER as window dressing, and when you consider that the removal of people yesterday equates to the replacement of a faction with a faction, and couple that with their mode of operation vis a vis Truck, and what you have is the same old same old; a faction that is willing to conduct its business on its own terms, rather than engaging in unbiased, rigorous processes and procedures.

So, that's what troubles me. I don't trust that institutional changes are actually what we are seeing, because these changes already have been built on a real lack of integrity. This is the fundamental reason why Barham's position itself really is untenable.

It's like founding a democracy that espouses freedom and equality on land that has been stolen. Something just ain't right.
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure it was solely the decision of those that have resigned.
 
Lore said:


Caro:
  • Mahoney to be part of the coach search sub-committee and he’s staying
  • Dodoro will definitely stay for the trade draft period this year
Lloyd:
  • Mahoney and Dodoro have patched things up
Caro:
  • Not sure both will survive an external review

Whole panel talking about what they think happened on the board this year.
  • Campbell apparently dominating doing basically what he wanted with Worsfold and Rutten etc. (much as he did under Tanner)
  • Brasher apparently extended Campbell’s contract without the rest of the board knowing about it (so not just us mugs in the cheap seats?!)

Caro:
  • Mahoney was very close to getting the CEO job at Melbourne, she’s not sure what the knocks are on him
  • Board is prepared to back Mahoney
  • Auld could be targeted for CEO job if he doesn’t get the big seat at AFLHQ (Andrew Dillon currently favoured to succeed Gill)
Click to expand...



Andrew Dillon? Dear God, another idiot.
 
BrunoV said:
Andrew Dillon? Dear God, another idiot.
Click to expand...
My memory is getting hazy but I think I remember something about some acrimony after we let Auld go at one point before he moved up to GC.
 
Lore said:


Caro:
  • Mahoney to be part of the coach search sub-committee and he’s staying
  • Dodoro will definitely stay for the trade draft period this year
Lloyd:
  • Mahoney and Dodoro have patched things up
Caro:
  • Not sure both will survive an external review

Whole panel talking about what they think happened on the board this year.
  • Campbell apparently dominating doing basically what he wanted with Worsfold and Rutten etc. (much as he did under Tanner)
  • Brasher apparently extended Campbell’s contract without the rest of the board knowing about it (so not just us mugs in the cheap seats?!)

Caro:
  • Mahoney was very close to getting the CEO job at Melbourne, she’s not sure what the knocks are on him
  • Board is prepared to back Mahoney
  • Auld could be targeted for CEO job if he doesn’t get the big seat at AFLHQ (Andrew Dillon currently favoured to succeed Gill)
Click to expand...



Lyon was interesting.

Essentially said he'd be up for a chat but that he's not going to expose himself the way he did last year.

He'd be ideal. His evolution as a coach is not a well told story but in 2019 he had a rebuilding Freo playing much more attacking footy.

They were heavy scoring when the forwards (read McCarthy and Hogan) were fit. The wheels gradually fell off because of injury and then he got punted because Peter Bell wanted to be the biggest dick in the room.

Lyon's teams have been the antitheses of Essendon throughout his career.

I dont like him because I think he will win a premiership. We have a much more immediate need to set standards and to change the culture of the team to one of genuine contested work, defence and team work. Culture change is the job Fagan and Voss were charged with. No one appointed those guys because they were going to develop the latest tactical evolution of the game.

We know Lyon can get that buy in. He's done it twice. Unlike the others he's got a very sophisticated approach to the tactics of the game so that helps but, as I've said before, a premiership is a distraction at this point in time. The club and the players have no idea how to be a premiership team.
 
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