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

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It does raise a question I've been interested in;
Do members want the President (and maybe the Board) to be visible, front of house figures eg Eddie, or would the prefer that the President and Board set the strategic direction, hire the (hopefully qualified and competent) CEO and then leave the running of the club to the CEO while providing oversight and realignment if and when required?
 
ghostdog said:
That petition is a doozy. Is it the same one that was posed on this board a few weeks ago?
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I don't remember a petition here a few weeks ago? There was a guy with a McDonald's logo avatar doing a survey though..
 
mike14 said:
It does raise a question I've been interested in;
Do members want the President (and maybe the Board) to be visible, front of house figures eg Eddie, or would the prefer that the President and Board set the strategic direction, hire the (hopefully qualified and competent) CEO and then leave the running of the club to the CEO while providing oversight and realignment if and when required?
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Don't care as long as we win.

Though Eddie is a bit of an embarrassment.
 

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mike14 said:
It does raise a question I've been interested in;
Do members want the President (and maybe the Board) to be visible, front of house figures eg Eddie, or would the prefer that the President and Board set the strategic direction, hire the (hopefully qualified and competent) CEO and then leave the running of the club to the CEO while providing oversight and realignment if and when required?
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They do need be visible. More so today then ever. A President of a sporting club is different to a similar position in business. It is because the way we measure business success is different to sporting success. Yes money is important and very influential in sport, but did we ever wave our scarf above our head when the club became debt free again? I certainly didn't get overly excited when A-Mart jumped on board. Winning games makes all these other problems go away and thats the big difference.

I think we need someone who is prepared to come across as a compromised twat (McGuire and Koch) that is prepared to defend us against the AFL establishment, the media and opposition teams. Now that will set a standard that both players and supporters can feed off. Passion that is visible week in week out. We all laugh at Eddy when he goes beetroot red after a Collingwood loss but he is passionate. We get Dyson pushed in front of a camera instead talking ocker. lol I don't even listen to his dribble anymore. At least he cut his hair the year.

Someone who sets a strategic direction? lol the club to this day continually doesn't know what it wants to do. E-sports, basketball and who knows whats next. This will come across really stupid, but I reckon if we zero have members next year, the club will still turn a profit from donations made.

Brasher needs to be front and centre most weeks. He needs to unite everyone towards one goal. Unfortunately he has been a part of our history were we have been fractured, frustrated, selfish, lost and confused. He may be good in business but his track record in sport is dismal to date and I cant see this leopard changing his spots anytime soon.

But I hope Im wrong.
 
CBombers17 said:
I would leave a board that would sign off on Bomba as caretaker coach in 2014 immediately. That's exactly the kind of decision you don't associate with. You are responsible for governance. You don't knowingly put people who may have 'problems' in positions where they can further damage others or the organisation. They could have gone with several other options and they all would have been far better ones. That appointment decision was worse work than the saga by the board IMO.

The other problem that can come with long tenure is the skeletons in the closet. Roco mentioned Dodoro having dirt on people at the club (not sure if over certain deals or behaviour) - and the club needing to be better than that. There's been talk of less than professional behaviour at Essendon and it's not referring to low level positions.

If people are compromised by knowledge of past misdeeds it directly effects their ability to make changes and run the place. If that is the case then that is another reason to chose changes at the most senior levels. New people don't carry that baggage and can make decisions and call people to account and make changes freely.

Viewed through this lense a fresh start with leadership isn't so stupid. Brashers vid was a effectively a pitch/justification for him as president to the members. It was a good pitch but there's plenty of other baggage that he potentially brings that isn't necessarily obvious.

This is why I'm looking closely for him to look under the rug and examine all processes with an independent review - not just say he's pulling the same old people into line. Professionally he would have recommended reviews like this to other organisations for his whole career. One is an indication of unfettered, fearless leadership and the other is just a power transfer by the same mob that have delivered us the rubbish we are today.
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This is all very good and well but not really much to do with our conversation about the advice of jumping ship from a board before the s**t hits you rather than trying to fix issues from a board level.

Also stuff like the Bomba decision is you making the call now in hindsight. When that call was made, there were no player suspensions. Bomba’s many issues were not known to any real extent. Even if there were rumours they had to consider player and financial stability.

Regarding your post here, there are always pluses and minuses to length of employment. Organisational history can be important to ensure mistakes aren’t repeated.

Dodoro is a whole other kettle of fish.

It’s rarely the right action to throw everything out. Brasher started by saying the right things, I’m happy to give him time to show he’s backing those words with actions.
 
Mr Mojo Risin said:
This is all very good and well but not really much to do with our conversation about the advice of jumping ship from a board before the sh*t hits you rather than trying to fix issues from a board level.

Also stuff like the Bomba decision is you making the call now in hindsight. When that call was made, there were no player suspensions. Bomba’s many issues were not known to any real extent. Even if there were rumours they had to consider player and financial stability.

Regarding your post here, there are always pluses and minuses to length of employment. Organisational history can be important to ensure mistakes aren’t repeated.

Dodoro is a whole other kettle of fish.

It’s rarely the right action to throw everything out. Brasher started by saying the right things, I’m happy to give him time to show he’s backing those words with actions.
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People knew plenty about Bomba according to other posters on here. Very well know issues for years. It's the boards job to find them out and there are zero excuses in not doing so when the person is already an employee.

How is it that people turn the questionng of the new presidents appointment into "throwing everything out"? Its one role at the club. Sure it's highly influential but it's a major exaggeration to suggest having a fresh president or changes to the board as mass changes.

Edit: Weve had these nice president batton changes for years now and where are we? The president moving into the office at the club full time. A very unusual move and not a positive indication that we actually function very well (which we clearly don't). If we don't function very well then whats the CEO doing?

There's lots of investment into defending people who aren't giving us a great club as a result of their influence for years IMO.
 
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CBombers17 said:
People knew plenty about Bomba according to other posters on here. Well know issues. It's there job to find out and there are zero excuses when the person is already an employee.

How is it that people turn the questionng of the new presidents appointment into "throwing everything out"? Its one role at the club. Sure it's highly influential but it's a major exaggeration to suggest having a fresh president as mass changes.
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Even if you don't want to throw everything out, you want Brasher gone because he was here during the saga years. I think that's too simplistic and know I don't have the information about what he has done to know whether he should be gone or not. I'm just happy to give him some time to back up some good first words with action. That's all.

Originally I was simply quoting you because I thought (and still do think) the advice you were given is pretty poor advice (outside of selfish interest). I really have very little care (or not the same as you) to continue to have this conversation. I'm fine if you have a different view or opinion and rarely does anyone's opinion change from an internet forum. That's ok, I have no problem with you at all. So let's leave it as we have differing opinions. :)
 
Mr Mojo Risin said:
Even if you don't want to throw everything out, you want Brasher gone because he was here during the saga years. I think that's too simplistic and know I don't have the information about what he has done to know whether he should be gone or not. I'm just happy to give him some time to back up some good first words with action. That's all.

Originally I was simply quoting you because I thought (and still do think) the advice you were given is pretty poor advice (outside of selfish interest). I really have very little care (or not the same as you) to continue to have this conversation. I'm fine if you have a different view or opinion and rarely does anyone's opinion change from an internet forum. That's ok, I have no problem with you at all. So let's leave it as we have differing opinions. :)
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Totally. And I can see how it could come across as that (selfish). Peoples motivations on these football club boards is an interesting factor. Contributions can be seen to be selfless when in fact there is a lot of power, influence and ego at steak for the big players. Most of these guys are used to power. They know how to get it and keep it (and share it). That's not how most of us think (i would say fortunately) so we may naturally assume they are always just doing it out of some generosity of spirit for the club....

I think the discussion is a good one to have had. There's not generally much discussion about the board. Maybe this is why? :)
 
CBombers17 said:
People knew plenty about Bomba according to other posters on here. Very well know issues for years. It's the boards job to find them out and there are zero excuses in not doing so when the person is already an employee.

How is it that people turn the questionng of the new presidents appointment into "throwing everything out"? Its one role at the club. Sure it's highly influential but it's a major exaggeration to suggest having a fresh president or changes to the board as mass changes.

Edit: Weve had these nice president batton changes for years now and where are we? The president moving into the office at the club full time. A very unusual move and not a positive indication that we actually function very well (which we clearly don't). If we don't function very well then whats the CEO doing?

There's lots of investment into defending people who aren't giving us a great club as a result of their influence for years IMO.
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Did they know or had they heard rumour and innuendo around this? I don't think anyone could have foreseen the sups debacle, the downward spiral and ultimate downfall after Thompson was no longer employed by the club. At the time we put him on, he was an EFC legend who had coached Geelong to multiple premierships and was the perfect mentor to help Hird into the role. If you go back to when things were announced, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wasn't genuinely excited as well as a reasonable level of disappointment from Geelong.
 
Dero said:
Did they know or had they heard rumour and innuendo around this? I don't think anyone could have foreseen the sups debacle, the downward spiral and ultimate downfall after Thompson was no longer employed by the club. At the time we put him on, he was an EFC legend who had coached Geelong to multiple premierships and was the perfect mentor to help Hird into the role. If you go back to when things were announced, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wasn't genuinely excited as well as a reasonable level of disappointment from Geelong.
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He was talking about 2014 when Thompson was interim senior coach.

It was still only rumour and innuendo, even if those were stronger than 3 years earlier.
 
number 8 is foolish his job is not player welfare.
if that is his real strength then we are employing him in the wrong field
CBombers17 said:
Here is an update from yesterday that goes into more detail. Slightly less disturbing than the abstract - only slightly though - #8 is outstanding

****

PETITION UPDATE
18 points of letter and petition to Mr. Paul Brasher
XGWKVYAUBrJvrSL-128x128-noPad.jpg

Brett Crabtree
Australia
SEP 27, 2020 —

For the information of all who have signed the petition, below are the 18 main points from our letter issued to Mr. Brasher and the EFC Board.
1. The club constitution does not state that an objective is to win premierships and be the number one professional sporting organisation in Australia. This fact is not in the member’s best interests and should be amended to include this objective.
2. Membership decline of over 20% in 2020, the 2nd largest decline in the AFL this season.
3. The desire to continue to appease the AFL for our past wrongs (supplements saga).
4. Lack of on-field success.
5. Lack of a finals victory for over 15 years.
6. Player unrest.
7. The lack of public support for Conor McKenna during his COVID-19 public execution by the AFL and media.
8. Not allowing Adrian Dodoro to be part of the Player Hub. Adrian is likely family to many players, having known most since they were 17 years of age. To not include him in the hub was an error and we assume one of the reasons Conor McKenna has chosen to leave the club.
9. Players not committing to the club or making it public of their intention to consider greener pastures elsewhere.
10. Lack of acceptance of responsibility of under performance by officials, coaches, and players. To see our captain and other players laughing when losing by 10 goals is unacceptable.
11. Ongoing EFC acceptance of a concerted campaign by the AFL umpires/AFL to disadvantage our team via a lopsided free kick count.
12. Seemingly blasé attitude to losses of the club captain, Dyson Heppell.
13. Revolving door of the player leadership grou.
14. The disengagement of members and supporters over the last decade.
15. Declining crowd numbers (excluding 2020) to EFC home games.
16. The club CEO Xavier Campbell appearing to be the face of the club. Why isn’t our President’s voice being heard? Jeff Kennett, David Koch, Peggy O’Neal, David Smorgan and Eddie McGuire among others are ever-present and standing up for their club and/or engaging with supporters.
17. Disengagement of supporter groups, essentially being ignored or dismissed by EFC.
18. Xavier Campbell “appearing” to place the AFL’s interests ahead of Essendon Football Club.
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foj1 said:
number 8 is foolish his job is not player welfare.
if that is his real strength then we are employing him in the wrong field
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May written by committee? Its funny and sad at the same time. I reckon 1350 of the 1400 people who have signed are Richmond supporters (the rest we just need to let go).

The pass test for Brasher as president should be to answer to all 18 points in full via another video, deadpan without laughing.
 

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mike14 said:
It does raise a question I've been interested in;
Do members want the President (and maybe the Board) to be visible, front of house figures eg Eddie, or would the prefer that the President and Board set the strategic direction, hire the (hopefully qualified and competent) CEO and then leave the running of the club to the CEO while providing oversight and realignment if and when required?
Click to expand...
Personally i prefer the quiet achievers - more or less as Brasher presented himself would be fine (as long as they are actually achieving something). I don't think Eddie's style suits who we are, but there is a sameness about our leadership and maybe that communication style needs to change?

Do people think there's a place for the president publicly calling out the players or the football department or is it just grandstanding? I'd rather have anyone than Koch but one thing he does is he beat the drum when they are bad and at least publicly demands better.

As for Kennett he does similar but he is also seems prone to saying stupid stuff just to hear himself talk.
 
CBombers17 said:
Personally i prefer the quiet achievers - more or less as Brasher presented himself would be fine (as long as they are actually achieving something). I don't think Eddie's style suits who we are, but there is a sameness about our leadership and maybe that communication style needs to change?

Do people think there's a place for the president publicly calling out the players or the football department or is it just grandstanding? I'd rather have anyone than Koch but one thing he does is he beat the drum when they are bad and at least publicly demands better.

As for Kennett he does similar but he is also seems prone to saying stupid stuff just to hear himself talk.
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I doubt you'd hear quite as much out of Eddie and Kochie if they weren't on TV and radio every day of the week, sometimes two or three times a day. Most of what they have to say about Goodes or Sidebottom is said with their media w***er hat on, not as President of Maggies FC.

We don't really have that many media people like that who could become our president. The biggest Essendon names with mainstream platforms are Tim Watson and Matthew Lloyd, and Lloyd isn't really viable with his "impartial" bashing of the club at every opportunity. RoCo also has a reasonable platform but podcasts and blogs aren't exactly mainstream yet, so you miss a big section of the target audience with him.
 
Lore said:
I doubt you'd hear quite as much out of Eddie and Kochie if they weren't on TV and radio every day of the week, sometimes two or three times a day. Most of what they have to say about Goodes or Sidebottom is said with their media w***er hat on, not as President of Maggies FC.

We don't really have that many media people like that who could become our president. The biggest Essendon names with mainstream platforms are Tim Watson and Matthew Lloyd, and Lloyd isn't really viable with his "impartial" bashing of the club at every opportunity. RoCo also has a reasonable platform but podcasts and blogs aren't exactly mainstream yet, so you miss a big section of the target audience with him.
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True. And you wouldn't want someone in the role without them having sound background in management or financials - which could rule some of our better media performers out anyway.

I think the media stuff is good to have in the kit bag for exactly the reasons Brasher outlined. If you need to do much more fast talking than that it's because the operating is failing on your watch and it's probably time for goodbyes.

Let's face it. If you at least halve the games between Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton and Hawthorne, the majority won't want the place burned down anyway. I think most of us just want to see some progress and not be fed absolute bullshit by the club at every turn. Sane supporters get we aren't going to win flags every 5 minutes in an equalised 18 team competition - the others all signed the petition.
 
So Kevin Sheedy will be appointed to the board effective immediately, replacing Katie Lio and standing for re-election in December.

Does this stink to any one else? Replacing a member elected board member and doing it with someone the board knows can't be beaten in an election? Feels very classic Essendon insular move to me.
 
Also good to know we're looking to the future....

They must be really concerned about 2021 membership numbers/money
 
boncer34 said:
So it's not just me
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Nope.
And I'm not eve saying that having Sheedy on the Board is necessarily a bad move (except that it is possible his voice will carry too much weight in the room), it's the way we've gone about it as you stated above, and the fact that instead of looking for something new or different we've gone with the simplest, populist option because "we are Essendon."

It's also funny that the announcement email states that Sheeds "won't be involved in day-to-day operations of the footy department," but he will be available in a mentoring capacity to Ben Rutten whenever Ben requires it." Surely mentoring the coach counts as being involved in footy department ops? We now have a situation where our Head Coach is being 'mentored' by a club legend who sits on the Board, meaning their is direct link between the two. Is Rutten meant to treat a Sheedy tip as a suggestion from a mentor or as direction from the Board?
 
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