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Joined May 2020
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I’d like to point out that the 2013 transition of Ed Woodward from Executive Vice-Chairman to CEO at Man Utd has been widely regarded as the prime reason the club has failed to achieve relative to expectations since that date.
Woodward has been personally responsible for all transfer negotiations from the 2013 summer transfer window and has negotiated a great number of expensive, failed signings and has shown no great business acumen in over-paying for players.
Look at the amount of money Man Utd have spent in the last 7 years – then tell me the Chartered Accountant has managed that spending well. Dare we even broach his hiring record – or the payouts received by former Managers?
Other football club executives constantly refer to Woodward’s naïveté in transfer dealings because he doesn’t have the “football background”.
Sunderland Till We Die also demonstrates the issues that arise for “business” people when they try and run a football club – again, the new owners completely mismanaged their transfer window dealings and seemed completely stunned at their inability to get deals done.
Finally, the biggest issue with the FFA is that the corporate sheen brought to it by (Sir) Frank Lowy was undone when he turned the board into another family-run business. I mean, the man owned a club in the new league his board oversaw and guaranteed himself franchise exclusivity… Not to mention our “honest” bid for a World Cup that was a non-starter in the AFC (who hate us) and with FIFA (who needed guaranteed money and good viewing times for Europe). Are we really going to pretend our administrators to date have run the game?
I’m not sure great business acumen and big brands on CV count for much in our experience to date. New football, old soccer, same difference.
P.S. I love accountants, and I am re-training to become one, but I’d like to draw your attention to every corporate collapse ever and the glowing audits that preceded them…
Bitter legends have no right to dictate their codes
Apparently, we can re-hash the eulogy for the AIS football program. 3 months is enough time to create a magical youth setup like La Masia or Ajax, right?
More seriously, maybe the FFA should introduce a new “FFA Academy” team based in Southern Sydney (Kogarah, Belmore?) or Canberra that is youth-focused and constitutionally required to follow the Olympic football player eligibility rules – Australians only, maximum 3 overage players in the squad and the rest under 23. It would force game time for younger players and give them real football experience that pushes them to improve. Perhaps a bit like Chelsea this season – the coach would have to get the best out of his players and not rely on old has-beens. Win, lose, or draw I think most people would support a team that produces and toughens potential future Socceroos. The kids are cheap, you can lock them in for 3 years and sell overseas for a profit.
It would also apply pressure on the young players to improve because they aren’t going to be dropped and will be playing against more experienced and (sometimes) better players. The 3 overage players could add some spine and give guidance to the kids of what is expected from them at a professional level.
Hire Ernesto Valverde, push the youth angle and I’d sign up as a member tomorrow!
How’s that for a positive angle in these dark times?
Goodbye A-League. It was fun while it lasted