January 2020 transfer rumours thread (Deadline Day starts Page 283)

That is true Henry but like it or not ultimately "it is only an internet thing" simply is no longer true. It feeds into main stream media and no matter the truth of it all the soundbites register and flavour opinion.

It is a nightmare for any business to manage but if you ignore it, it is very hard to correct the wrong profile being created.

Just a quick point on Fosu we did not let Fosu go. We offered him a new contract in the knowledge he had been tapped up and was ready to check out months before the end of the season.

No matter the validity of the strategy here it appears ESI are pursuing another theoretical approach to the industry.

I love innovation, new ideas and strategies but as the per previous administration you simply have to respect the marketplace in which you seek to work those strategies.

Quite simply there is no operational value to Messrs Gallen, Bowyer and Southall holding endless series of discussions with clubs, agents, players, media if there is no end product beyond testing your theories in the market. If the past 4 weeks have done no more than establish a placeholder for a new way of doing business then ESI bought the club at the wrong time in the wrong position.

I don't care how many relegation clauses you may have in the purchase agreement you ignore market status, needs and opportunities at your peril.

The cost to the business of months of preparation and 4 weeks executive manpower in seeking to grow the business only to deliver no end product is not a good look nor is it to use a favoured term "sustainable".

There is a reason salesmen no matter the work they do on the client pipeline get paid for hitting their targets.

There is zero value to giving anybody a long term contract or somebody else a new title if you are not going to empower them to deliver to your business. Such a failure to invest in people "in a people business" will create zero asset value, corporate or individual.

I am fully aware of the need for fiscal prudence and have little doubt there will have been a range of investment criteria in play. Whether such criteria fits the marketplace at any given time will determine your success. If the criteria is flawed or out of kilter with the relevant market conditions then do not even waste your time going to the market.

You will do more harm than good especially if those involved are sending mixed messages to your stakeholders. Just manage the message. It really is not hard.

"Thrilled to be the new owners etc., do everything we can to keep the show on the road, but there is X, Y, and Z to do and a great deal of business restructuring etc., etc.,

Much of what we appear to be seeing seems to more about business theory (all very commendable) than business practice. Unfortunately it is usually the latter which delivers results.

Countless masterplans falter when tested against the reality of the status of the business and the industry in which you seek to operate. That is not necessarily a disaster providing you learn, adjust and respond. Crucially however brilliant the Masterplan maybe and possess the potential to establish the club as a viable business for decades to come unless you are able to carry your stakeholders  (and investors) with you will never realise let alone maximise such potential.

These things do not grow in isolation they are organic in feeding off each other

I have no reason to doubt the endeavour, the approach, the intent or the commitment but in the final analysis the focus will be on the little box marked "deals done".

If I were sitting in Abu Dhabi I will be looking forward to scrutinizing my first monthly operational report. I have no idea whether people still use the traffic light system but have to wonder just how many facets of the business are red, green or amber.

I do apologise for the corporate bollocks but as you may detect I am just a tad disappointed. There was a huge opportunity to make a significant statement not in spending millions but in empowering your business, showing progress, and displaying collective executive engagement to the industry and your stakeholders. They are not the signs I am reading. Such opportunities do not come around too often.

At the moment the dialogue goes along the lines

" I see Charlton were taken over by ESI"

"Were they? Can't say as I noticed"

"Yes, Bowyer got a new contact, getting a few injured back, but they lost Gallagher, maybe Taylor"

"Ok, no real change then."

"No not really. New bloke seems quite chatty"

You tell me how it is going.