FL Chairman: Greg Clarke: "Exeter are a great example"

[hatch4england]

John William's post is spot on. However the chances of finding anyone willing to buy the freehold with a planning restriction and a tenant as financially insecure as ECFC are minuscule at best.

 

[STURTZ]

A ridiculous "straw man" argument that seems designed to avoid discussing the real issue. It is not a straight choice between carrying on as now and giving the club to a crook. Very few (if any) of the people who, like me, are unhappy about the way the Club is being run want to bring in a shyster like Russell or Lewis.

What we want is for our club to be run professionally but under the direction of its majority shareholder, the Trust, and in the interests of its fans and its long-term development. Is that too much to ask?

Specifically what I would like to see is mainly, but not restricted to:

a) A Club Chairman who is in place not because we pay him a fat fee but because he or she loves the club and wants to promote its interests. Preferably one who listens to the fans, is articulate, and is effective in driving the long-term off field infrastructure and strategic direction. Ideally they should also chair the Trust to ensure synergy between the Trust and Club boards, but if not they should work closely with the Trust Chair and share their vision.

b) A Club Board which works in tune with the Trust's strategy and which sets and implements performance management targets for the club's employees (including the football management team). And which regularly reviews the operational work of the administrative and football managers.

c) A Trust Board that ensures its wishes and strategies as majority owner of the Club are put into effect by the Club Board, and ensure the latter provide them (and through them the fans) with accurate, timely and honest information about the financial position, future plans and all other relevant matters which are not genuinely commercially confidential. One which tells its members what's going on even if the Club Board wants to keep them in the dark, and makes it clear to the Club Board that if they don't fulfil the remit given to them by the owners they will be shown the door.

d) A Managing Director who is effective and commercially focussed, and who increases income and controls costs to ensure the maximum percentage of the Clubs income is available to spend on putting the best possible team on the pitch.

e) A Football Manager who is the servant of the Club, doesn't have a contract which gives him too much power, and isn't so dominant that their interests can take precedence over those of the owners and the long-term interests of the club.

f) A strategy for building the Club's long term engagement with the city of Exeter and the wider fanbase, with a pervading ethos of treating the fans as intelligent people, of working with the local community and being a good neighbour.

Of course, none of this precludes the possibility of investment by a well-meaning individual or individuals in the Club. If someone wanted to donate £10m to buy the freehold and redevelop the ground, great - provided that they did not want to run the club themselves or treat it as a plaything. However, as that isn't likely any time soon, the future of the Club should be in the hands of the Trust and the fans, not the people who are currently making such a hash of running it while telling everyone what a good job they are doing and fooling people like Greg Clarke.

Well that told me then!

 

[PeteUSA]

How dare you refer to Cowick St. as back street.

Couldnt agree more, he's got a shop in Sidwell Street, and he used to have a nice place in Heavitree.

 

[IndoMike]

Seriously, much maligned poor old Doble, but he kept us afloat for many a year.

 

[John William]

Nothing personal, Sturtz, I just can't go along with the "it's what we've got or back to the bad old days" argument. We could make the Club and Trust much more effective without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yeovil and Swansea have done it, so could we.

 

[suffolklad]

Nothing personal, Sturtz, I just can't go along with the "it's what we've got or back to the bad old days" argument. We could make the Club and Trust much more effective without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yeovil and Swansea have done it, so could we.[/QUOTE

Agreed BUT in both those cases the trust is there to support NOT run the club. It is the financial backing that has taken both clubs to where they are now. NOT the "Trusts".
City will never be a TOP club with the trust solely in charge. The arguments about how much chairmen managers etc get paid is all incidental in my opinion.

 

[John William]

Agreed BUT in both those cases the trust is there to support NOT run the club. It is the financial backing that has taken both clubs to where they are now. NOT the "Trusts".
City will never be a TOP club with the trust solely in charge. The arguments about how much chairmen managers etc get paid is all incidental in my opinion.

That's a fair enough viewpoint, though Yeovil are not a wealthy club and have done it by a mixture of skill and judgement allied to a bit of luck, not through a rich sugar-daddy.

And our Trust are not solely in charge. They actually have let control slip away and need to regain this. But I don't think anyone is advocating that the Trust run the Club day-to-day, the TB are all volunteers with other careers etc. I just want them to set the strategy and make sure those who do run it, do so efficiently and in the Clubs long term interests.

Also I agree there are more important things than how much the Chairman and Manager etc. get paid. But they are indicators of my general point. Wherever too much of an organisation's income is devoted to paying a few people at the top it's generally a sign of wider problems.

 

[malcolms]

Seriously, much maligned poor old Doble, but he kept us afloat for many a year.

Although, Ivor and I didn't always see eye to eye, I find it unbelievably insulting to a true Exeter City supporter and benefactor when someone, who should know better, suggests he is in the same bracket as fraudsters...I'm sure supporting the club he loves cost him as fortune and unlike the present board who have the front to stand by with their hands out, he deserves more respect....

 

[Grecian_Jay]

That's a fair enough viewpoint, though Yeovil are not a wealthy club and have done it by a mixture of skill and judgement allied to a bit of luck, not through a rich sugar-daddy.And our Trust are not solely in charge. They actually have let control slip away and need to regain this. But I don't think anyone is advocating that the Trust run the Club day-to-day, the TB are all volunteers with other careers etc. I just want them to set the strategy and make sure those who do run it, do so efficiently and in the Clubs long term interests.

Also I agree there are more important things than how much the Chairman and Manager etc. get paid. But they are indicators of my general point. Wherever too much of an organisation's income is devoted to paying a few people at the top it's generally a sign of wider problems.

Errm no they have done it by having a world class manager for the majority of their success.

 

[John William]

Errm no they have done it by having a world class manager for the majority of their success.

That too.