Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham

[Lore]

Tom Morris, 9 News via Fox Sports:

“A major board challenge is imminent at Essendon. In the wake of an off-season of turmoil, key powerbrokers - including at least one former player - are preparing a movement which would oust David Barham as president, and other directors too,” he said on Nine News.

“I’ve spoken to one of the key powerbrokers tonight, who says this is not coterie-driven, and it’s just a manner of when and not if the challenge takes place.

“There’s a view the club has been left rudderless and the Barham era has left a legacy of division, instability, player drainage and lost opportunity from this group of people.”

‘Rudderless’ Bombers facing more off-field chaos as club boss set to be challenged

‘Rudderless’ Bombers facing more off-field chaos as club boss set to be challenged

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Yoda_]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

 

[Bjchan13]

Green and Barham, easy one for me. Vozzo, McPherson, Scott and Rosa should get a few years at things without Sheedy, Dodoro and the idea of Hird lingering in the background. We only just got rid of them. No need to bring them back through Weston and Solomon. Welsh already on the board is enough of a sheedy player connection.

 

[thebigboy]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

Weston’s interview on SEN this morning was as big of a train wreck as it gets IMO. That interview did more for Barham & Green’s campaign than anything they could say themselves

 

[faible]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

I assume with Sheedy out, his little cohort of allies are upset and want to fix it.

 

[Nicholas61]

Weston’s interview on SEN this morning was as big of a train wreck as it gets IMO. That interview did more for Barham & Green’s campaign than anything they could say themselves

Did he give any specifics on why he is unhappy with our current setup and what his plans are?

 

[Donflicted]

Voted for Barham and Melissa

I am doing my part!

 

[Nicholas61]

One of the criticisms on Blitz was that it took 2 years for the club under Barham to remove Dodoro. There are a couple of things there - first at least it was done, it isn't easy removing someone like that with those tentacles. Second if Sheedy faction gets in there is the real possibility he is back given his current involvement with Hird and the optics that he is still involved in recruitment.

 

[Yoda_]

I know we are all on about what if Weston gets on, who (on the current board) is openly supporting him? Could they be removed if the support doesn't get up or is it member driven hence is difficult to remove people?

 

[Phone]

One of the criticisms on Blitz was that it took 2 years for the club under Barham to remove Dodoro. There are a couple of things there - first at least it was done, it isn't easy removing someone like that with those tentacles. Second if Sheedy faction gets in there is the real possibility he is back given his current involvement with Hird and the optics that he is still involved in recruitment.

so did they not see the article about Dodoro taking us to Fair Court, or what.

that is an insane critique imo. it seems perfectly reasonable to form a view that based on the events of the last ~2 years removing Dodoro was not as easy as say, sacking Matthew Knights or Ben Rutten.

 

[Nicholas61]

so did they not see the article about Dodoro taking us to Fair Court, or what.

that is an insane critique imo. it seems perfectly reasonable to form a view that based on the events of the last ~2 years removing Dodoro was not as easy as say, sacking Matthew Knights or Ben Rutten.

Sheeds leaving at the same time Dodoro took leave (probably preparing his Fair Work case at that point) I think shows how deep his fangs have been embedded into the club. Not to mention his other connections and the people he had conflict with over the years getting run out of the club.

 

[thebigboy]

Did he give any specifics on why he is unhappy with our current setup and what his plans are?

It was heavily around the teams lack of development and playing groups commitment, however his only plans were to point it out & get the right people in place to address it.

The peak of the train wreck was citing the 2km time trial last week and claiming a senior player & rookie didn’t run it hard like TD used to in the 80s.

It’ll be up on the SEN podcasts, but I dare say anyone listing to that and thinking he was a viable candidate would have a very different opinion now.

 

[Lore]

I know we are all on about what if Weston gets on, who (on the current board) is openly supporting him? Could they be removed if the support doesn't get up or is it member driven hence is difficult to remove people?

The theory seems to be that if Weston gets on the board it will tip the balance of power in favour of Andrew Welsh as president, instead of VP as he is now.

Apparently Welsh as president is scary because he played football with Hird and under Sheedy once upon a time and therefore that means he’ll destroy everything he’s been helping to build since he got on the board in the first place.

Welsh is on the record as disapproving of Sheedy breaking board unity, supportive of Hird as a future coach if he goes and gets experience as an assistant coach somewhere else, promoting stability with the current board, advocating strong club governance and wanting to implement the recommendations of the club-wide review, and is particularly in favour of a thorough process in appointing coaches specifically: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl...w-welsh-up-for-challenge-20221013-p5bphy.html

The fact that Welsh is a likely successor as President in 2 years anyway seems to have escaped notice. Barham is planning to handover to Welsh (or whoever the board supports, but he seems to think it’ll be Welsh) before retiring as a director; Barham will hit his maximum 12 year term as a director in 2027 anyway and wants to complete the handover before that.

Solomon is a friend of Welsh and would likely support him in whatever he was willing to do, but I don’t think Welsh wants to be president just yet anyway. There’s no reason to jump the gun on that.

Weston may be bad news, but he doesn’t have the support and cannot single-handedly destroy everything.

 

[Yoda_]

The theory seems to be that if Weston gets on the board it will tip the balance of power in favour of Andrew Welsh as president, instead of VP as he is now.

Apparently Welsh as president is scary because he played football with Hird and under Sheedy once upon a time and therefore that means he’ll destroy everything he’s been helping to build since he got on the board in the first place.

Welsh is on the record as disapproving of Sheedy breaking board unity, supportive of Hird as a future coach if he goes and gets experience as an assistant coach somewhere else, promoting stability with the current board, advocating strong club governance and wanting to implement the recommendations of the club-wide review, and is particularly in favour of a thorough process in appointing coaches specifically: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl...w-welsh-up-for-challenge-20221013-p5bphy.html

The fact that Welsh is a likely successor as President in 2 years anyway seems to have escaped notice. Barham is planning to handover to Welsh (or whoever the board supports, but he seems to think it’ll be Welsh) before retiring as a director; Barham will hit his maximum 12 year term as a director in 2027 anyway and wants to complete the handover before that.

Solomon is a friend of Welsh and would likely support him in whatever he was willing to do, but I don’t think Welsh wants to be president just yet anyway. There’s no reason to jump the gun on that.

Weston may be bad news, but he doesn’t have the support and cannot single-handedly destroy everything.

so people are jumping at shadows about possibilities than assurances?

 

[Old Campaigner]

so people are jumping at shadows about possibilities than assurances?

PTSD from the last 20 years will do that

 

[zigipop]

Weston may be bad news, but he doesn’t have the support and cannot single-handedly destroy everything.

I find the statement “he cannot single handedly destroy everything” a curious one. Can you specify exactly what it is that EFC has that hasn’t already been destroyed in the last 20 years?

 

[faible]

I find the statement “he cannot single handedly destroy everything” a curious one. Can you specify exactly what it is that EFC has that hasn’t already been destroyed in the last 20 years?

Windy Hill hasn't been demolished (yet).

 

[Squeaky]

The lock on the trophy cabinet hasn't been destroyed in the last 20 yrs - it is in 'as new' condition!

 

[windyhill]

Windy Hill hasn't been demolished (yet).

I’m still standing, yeah, yeah. yeah.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

He’s a Sheedy puppet. Simple.

 

[ant555]

so people are jumping at shadows about possibilities than assurances?

Not really. It is a 100% ploy to try and remove Barham by voting him out. What happens next depends on 2025. Are you saying that with Barham gone and two new board members in the Hird camp that if we do not play finals Scott will still be safe ? The pressure will be enormous to get Hird in as coach after he spends a year at Port Melbourne working on fine tuning his skillset. It is not jumping at shadows. If Barham does not get back in it is a real possibility. Of course if Barham gets the votes then it is done and dusted before it began.
I have a few sources telling me it is 100% what their plan is. Problem for them will be I suspect Barham will keep his spot and it will be line ball between Solly and Verner Green. Solly will support the current board but you can almost guarantee that he would be in a Welsh / Weston camp with Sheedy behind the scenes with Barham out of the way.
There is still plenty of coterie support for Hird as coach.

 

[Donflicted]

Not really. It is a 100% ploy to try and remove Barham by voting him out. What happens next depends on 2025. Are you saying that with Barham gone and two new board members in the Hird camp that if we do not play finals Scott will still be safe ? The pressure will be enormous to get Hird in as coach after he spends a year at Port Melbourne working on fine tuning his skillset. It is not jumping at shadows. If Barham does not get back in it is a real possibility. Of course if Barham gets the votes then it is done and dusted before it began.
I have a few sources telling me it is 100% what their plan is. Problem for them will be I suspect Barham will keep his spot and it will be line ball between Solly and Verner Green. Solly will support the current board but you can almost guarantee that he would be in a Welsh / Weston camp with Sheedy behind the scenes with Barham out of the way.
There is still plenty of coterie support for Hird as coach.

When will it end so over this addiction to this fairy tale ending that Hird will be the GOAT coach that this old regime and these out of touch coteries think.

 

[ant555]

When will it end so over this addiction to this fairy tale ending that Hird will be the GOAT coach that this old regime and these out of touch coteries think.

It will never end for some but as long as Barham gets back and Vozzo is still around Hird will not be a factor unless he does 3 or 4 years hard yards as a senior assistant at an AFL club that has success. From what I hear Vozzo is not rusted on Scott but he wants him to keep building the footy department and program . Even if we have some struggles next year Scott will be safe to coach the fourth year (unless it is a total shit fight like 2020). The key going forward for Scott will be some decent improvement in 2026 and the pressure will be on Rosa to land a couple of top class Free Agents leading into that year. The plan is to draft again next year with maybe a trade option or two or a FA but they want to be set up to really push forward in 2026. Not saying they will not be trying to do that next year but the top end in charge know that next year may not be realistic with the current list. This years fade out really gave them a real dose of clarity on where we are at and how out of touch some of the movers and shakers behind the scenes are when it comes to the list.
I think it is fair to say after backing in the senior guys for most of the season last year even Scott will be looking at it differently next year if the inside talk I hear is right. Guess we will see. 2025 is looking to be among other things a real line in the sand moment for a number of players and the coach.

 

[windyhill]

When will it end so over this addiction to this fairy tale ending that Hird will be the GOAT coach that this old regime and these out of touch coteries think.

Yep. It’s ****ing pathetic.

 

[Old Campaigner]

When will it end so over this addiction to this fairy tale ending that Hird will be the GOAT coach that this old regime and these out of touch coteries think.

Probably when either Scott leads us deep into finals or Hird takes over, runs the list into the ground and dispels the mythology surrounding him

 

[thebigboy]

Probably when either Scott leads us deep into finals or Hird takes over, runs the list into the ground and dispels the mythology surrounding him

I think it’s more the latter. Short of a premiership, they would have a rusted on belief that Hird would have gone 1-step further