New board members aren’t going to come in and start publicly bashing the previous board. There’s nothing to gain in it, and it comes across as petty and unprofessional. Just pay lip-service, drop a backhanded compliment and move on.
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I would have loved some subtle condemnation by Welsh myself.
Something like, the previous Board as we knew it, the Executive and the Coach didn’t get the results expected and were moved on.
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Agree with this. There is no upside to it. It was obvious he was clearly frustrated but all that matters is getting it right moving forward
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Do we need to? Let’s not go down this rabbit hole…
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I wasn’t a fan of the Welsh appointment tbh. I don’t like his politics. Having said that, the whispers I’m hearing from inside say he’s astute and immediately across the issues ( past and current) in the footy department.
Here’s hoping.
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Another great podcast @CJohns. Just keeps getting better.
Loved that you raised the issue about a lack of warmth to fans at the Hanger, and Welsh acknowledged it as an issue.
A couple of months ago, a Geelong supporting friend told me a story about taking their kids to visit the Catery. It was during covid time and in the middle of the week - when you’d imagine the door wouldn’t exactly be open to fans.
To their surprise, they were welcomed in by one of the staff. While looking around the foyer, Brian Cook is walking past and stops to have a chat with them. He then goes “Im probably not allowed to do this, but want to see the facilities and see the players?”. Brian takes them through the facility, introducing them to various players, who also stop for a chat and photos.
Couldn’t help but compare that to my experience of being with the family at the Hanger…
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I had to stop following him on Twitter, because of his politics.
But I do think he’s a great person to be on the board, and he spoke well & with passion for the club to improve…… which wasn’t a surprise. As he has always been that way.
I think it’s great to have some young people on the Board (under 40’s) for some exuberance.
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…and three days later they all had covid. 
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What are his politics?? People keep mentioning it.
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He’s conservative.
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Anything other than left wing will be a win!
It’s interesting isn’t it. I think the Hangar is great. I always enjoy going there. More so than my visits to Windy Hill.
I’m from interstate so visit infrequently but try to whenever in Melb. The staff have always been friendly and even looked after my suitcase why I’ve wandered around.
Once I arrived just as they were closing up the Bomber Shop. They kept it open an extra 15 mins just so I could look around and buy a couple of items.
A few years back I was going to be in Melb for a day so emailed the club and said would it be possible to get a tour of the new facilities. I got an email response the next day. I ended up getting a one on one personal tour of the Hangar. The players were training outside so was able to go into the inside Hangar, chatted to a couple of players and support staff and ate from the players’ left over sandwich and fruit platter. It’s was great. I felt the club had really looked after me and my random request.
I like that I can go in and have a drink in the coffee shop and at the table next to me there are EFC staff having a work meeting making important EFC decisions.
I hear some comments that the Hangar is “souless”. I agree that there is some things the club could do to make it better. BUT, it’s also up to us fans to make it our place and to give it the soul.
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Why does the politics matter? If there’s one ugly and unfortunate aspect to what’s happening at Hawthorn, it’s the fact that club has been hijacked by a party political brawl that’s tearing a once United club apart. It’s playing out like a state election in the media, Club greats are turning on each other and it’s ugly.
Politics shouldn’t matter. We can’t encourage this worrisome shift which is seeing football clubs become hijacked by political and cultural ideology. Do we really want to encourage and support candidates to our Board that are either only Liberal or only Labor? That would be a recipe for disaster and disunity and I don’t believe our support of a candidate should be influenced by one’s political views, unless it directly impacts the clubs welfare (Eg: Kennett spat = lost government funding). We should be encouraging diversity of thought and background and that should mean the political views are largely irrelevant.
Welsh is widely regarded as a successful businessman who’s successfully transitioned from footballer to a new career. He’s well connected, respected and supports the need for significant change and cultural shift at Essendon, something we almost all conclusively agree on. His political views are irrelevant in his pursuit of his seat on the Clubs board.
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Unless he was some sort of extremist, I don’t think it should come into it.
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It shouldn’t matter, but in more extreme situations, it can go to how a Board treats its employees, including players off the field.
Under the first Kennett Presidency it was authoritarian.
One instance was players being forced to take out private health insurance with a sponsor. The fees were much higher than others and did not deliver better cover.
Also, players were summonsed to appear every time Kennett wanted an audience.
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That’s not his politics though, that’s him as a person. You don’t need a particular political leaning to be an ■■■■■■■■.
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True, but LNP is traditionally less well disposed to employee rights.
If a political animal carries that philosophy through to Board membership and it’s not balanced with the politically inactive or neutral there could be a problem.
I would like to see a professional or two on the Board.
Yeah I definitely don’t see political views as a problem for the board, as long as the board member’s values are aligned with the core values of the club.
Welsh was very passionate about the clubs engagement with indigenous programs, for example. That’s important.
The reason I stopped following him on Twitter was because he was going after local MP’s, clearly who were standing in the way of his business interests……
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Here it is!!! Essendon Board candidates Ben Dunn and Paul White join the show to discuss their candidacy and what they can bring to the Essendon Football Club. It’s a great listen
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Thanks for interviewing candidates, makes for interesting listening to get a bit more beyond their candidate statements - particularly with I think Andrew Muir being the only one to include contact details and only some candidates seeming active on social media.
One thing I noticed in these interviews, along with other candidate interviews on The Sash podcast, was that a lot of the issues new candidates point out are things that sound great but then you realise that the board under Barham have acknowledged them already, and are perhaps more accurately considered as problems under the Brasher board (and earlier).
There were a few points that I would’ve liked a bit more push back on - Eg. I found Paul White to be a little elusive around his issue with the club’s handling of Thorburn and would’ve liked to hear him explain it a bit more as to what specific aspect led to him cancelling his membership and what he would have done differently. But I guess these are more conversational interviews rather than a political style interrogation.
Thanks for interviewing them and I look forward to hearing any others to come.
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