David Barham - Our new Board Overlord

Hi Melissa,

You’ve sort of half addressed one of my questions from the other thread so I suppose you wouldn’t mind talking about it here.

I asked about Andrew’s skills vs the other options available and you’ve mentioned some attributes here.

Addressing your comments.

Tough footballer.
What on earth is relevant about how tough someone is on the football field to how appropriate they are as a pick for Football Director and President in Waiting? Is the implication that an intelligent and capable ex player would be marked down as an option if they weren’t a hard nut on field?

Footy smarts.
Is this something gained during or after his career? As I mentioned, Andrew played for only one club, ours, during our weakest era and was never involved at any club (including ours) as a coach or administrator.

Successful businessman.
Andrew did some fairly lucrative property development deals with some coterie members. What sort of relevant business skills would this demonstrate that would get us excited about bringing him in to not just running but turning around the fortunes a mid sized sporting organisation with 150 employees? Is there really no one available that could have demonstrated more relevant and transferable acumen?

I’d be interested, again, in hearing you expand or explain why Andrew was the best available appointment vs any other candidates available (if any others were indeed assessed) other than that he’s an Essendon person with a lot of money and broadly well liked.

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