Sheedys exit was poor. Knights was treated horribly. And now this. We are being run by a John Howard lookalike who can't speak English properly and doesn't know some of the younger players names.
Bomber gave Little a big tick last night though. I would like Little to have a chance at running the joint without the ASADA crap hanging over us, but I think there may be some board members who need weeding out.
Oh. And Little needs to take a public speaking course.
He may look like John Howard and occasionally stumble when speaking in public but his business acumen cannot be denied. We could do much worse I reckon. That being said, a clean slate might be required.
Business acumen is not what we need at this stage. I'm ok with him making financial decisions, and we definitely need him on the board, but as a representative of the club, can we please have someone who can speak with some passion about the place? He's emotionless, clinical, and sterile.
McGuire, Kennett, Brayshaw - the 3 club chairmen that spring to mind - are all passionate, emotional, strong willed people who are capable of playing the media game. We do not have that in Little.
I want excitement at the club. We are dull. From the chairman to the playing group. Vanilla is not a term that should be used to describe our club, because at least vanilla is a flavour. We have no flavour. Did you see the applause Bomber got last night? It was because he spoke with passion and charisma. We haven't had that since Sheeds was sacked. Even Hirdy is more conservative than the way he played would lead you to believe.
If we continue to be dull as a club, good luck getting kids to barrack for us, and good luck selling merchandise, memberships, and tickets.
We need a salesman, not a businessman.
That's funny, I want someone who is level headed and does his best to choose the best path with all information at hand, to steer us out of the greatest adversity any club has ever faced in over a century of our game.
But if you want Brayshaw then you're entitled to your opinion.
Just in case I wasn't clear, I could not think more of the opposite of that entire post.
I honestly don't get this anger towards the board. They have done their best in an incredibly difficult situation. I am yet to see a huge blunder by them that they should have foreseen as a blunder and not made. Still not sure what this leak to Wilson is/was?
I just hear on the radio they are meeting again this weekend re: Hird. Any truth to this? And if so, why?
Peeto, this morning Wilson went to press with the headline that the club had sacked Hird, giving apparent details of meetings that had taken place. By midday, Hird walked out of the club stating he was still the coach. Little then shot the club in the foot yet again. Instead of turning around and simply stating that James Hird at this time is the coach of the Essendon football club, he instead said that his position will be reviewed by the board in two weeks. WTF!! You might as well disband the club now with that sort of ineptitude. He (and by default the board) had the chance to stop this bullsh!t right from the get go. Regardless of whether the board dismiss Hird or not, what farking idiot thought it was a good idea to provide the press with an open invitation to speculate on the coaching position at Essendon for the next two weeks. It's not as if they haven't written enough ■■■■ about us over the last 20 odd months. They have had 20 months to learn how to play the media and have learned sweet FA. All they needed to do was confirm Hird as coach. In two weeks time they come out and say, after reviewing the situation, it was decided the best course of action is for Essendon and hird to part ways. That takes all the power away from the press, but no, these fools continue to assassinate themselves. FMD!! It doesn't take a genius to realise that the board have gotten it wrong substantially time after time after time in this whole fiasco.
I honestly don't get this anger towards the board. They have done their best in an incredibly difficult situation. I am yet to see a huge blunder by them that they should have foreseen as a blunder and not made. Still not sure what this leak to Wilson is/was?
I just hear on the radio they are meeting again this weekend re: Hird. Any truth to this? And if so, why?
Peeto, this morning Wilson went to press with the headline that the club had sacked Hird, giving apparent details of meetings that had taken place. By midday, Hird walked out of the club stating he was still the coach. Little then shot the club in the foot yet again. Instead of turning around and simply stating that James Hird at this time is the coach of the Essendon football club, he instead said that his position will be reviewed by the board in two weeks. WTF!! You might as well disband the club now with that sort of ineptitude. He (and by default the board) had the chance to stop this bullsh!t right from the get go. Regardless of whether the board dismiss Hird or not, what farking idiot thought it was a good idea to provide the press with an open invitation to speculate on the coaching position at Essendon for the next two weeks. It's not as if they haven't written enough **** about us over the last 20 odd months. They have had 20 months to learn how to play the media and have learned sweet FA. All they needed to do was confirm Hird as coach. In two weeks time they come out and say, after reviewing the situation, it was decided the best course of action is for Essendon and hird to part ways. That takes all the power away from the press, but no, these fools continue to assassinate themselves. FMD!! It doesn't take a genius to realise that the board have gotten it wrong substantially time after time after time in this whole fiasco.
Do whave a fractured board, that is taking too long to make decisions?
Then at the 11th hour they are forced to make pressured decisions that are just wrong.
They just can't read the play at all, and boy do we look like a basket case.
Like a hung jury, time to get new blood in.
We talk about player culture. What is the culture within the board?
Pretty bad it seems.
Unless they're outsmarting us all, and are using the very same OPTICS that the AfL and their media minions have used against us. That this is all strategic, with an end game in mind that suits an outcome we desire.
There's no inbetween on this.It's one or the other.
Apologies to all for the following long rant but as many are I'm totally disgusted by tonight & have to vent this ■■■■■ somewhere.
I hearby call on the EFC board to no longer call on me through Paul Little statements to accept let alone move on from any & all of the following:
Criminally incompetent Federal Court rulings which if unchecked have the potential to affect ANY Australian's inalienable rights who operates under a contract (let alone EVERY professional sportsperson in the country);
The heaviest punishments in the history of the code being metered out for the exact same governance failings that were rampant at the same time and afterwards at most if not every other club, as well as being failures the ruling AFL management itself were essentially guilty of;
The criminal conspiracy of corruption between the nations largest sports organization, the Federal Government of the day, the Nation's Anti-Doping in Sports watchdog, and a compliant posse of blatently slanderous gutter 'journalists' & media to undertake a malicious prosecution that has falsified evidence, routinely misrepresented rights goals and obligations, flagrantly broken every privacy law & statute in the book, and carried out an internationally unprecedented defamatory campaign to slander the good standing (in all facets of life) of the only individual with integrity to not go along with the all-too convenient scapegoating of single clubs all to cover up the obvious fact that multiple recent premiership clubs doped and criminal match-fixing is rampant in the sport;
And finally EFC board I will never 'accept and move on' from the fact that YOU have probably been the Club's worst enemy throughout it all.
It was you that wouldn't sack Robinson & Dank at the time because it would cost too much.
It was you that allowed a self-report farce.
It was you that allowed the players to not protect themselves and their privilege during questioning (ie "only answer on certainties") when you thought you had an ASADA/AFL deal in place.
It was you who NEVER sued anyone on the outrageous libelous slander being pumped out on a daily basis that would have at least stemmed the flow if not completely avoided the all-in media gorging upon anything EFC for 2 years now and will not in this decade cease (once you accept being the scapegoat you'll always be the convenient scapegoat to distract from EVERY optics-damaging scandal)
It was you who allowed ASADA & AFL avoid the AOD legality issue for 7 months until it was all to late.
It was you that till this day, in the mother of all media propaganda wars being waged against the club and its personal, still haven't retained independent external Media & PR professionals...
It was you who accompanied Hird to launch Supreme Court writs in full bombastic fashion and then backed down by the week's end effectively carrying out the conspiracy's evidenced "James Hird to be isolated" task in their "There's still James Hird to deal with" goal.
It was you who gave up on the first night long after the 4 had already left the farcical 'hearings' of day 1. You then spent all of that dark Tuesday helping AFL in convincing the 4 one-by-one to accept the fascism as well.
It was you, through Paul Little, who after watching the viscously sanctimonious hubris of Demitriou & Fitzpatrick on that horrendous night, actually farken thanked them and the entire AFL witch-hunt squad for the gang-molestation of the club they had orchestrated!
It was you & your absolute incompetence that has allowed the AFL to continually alter the terms of the settlement to such extent that even xmas was pettily canceled and the AFL have blatently breached those terms on countless occasions and you obviously haven't even given a whimper in protest.
It was you who sat down first with Wilson, in the second attempt to get us to accept & move on, and still to this day leak exclusives to her even on the evening of the B&F when it should be easy enough to present news directly to the members & supporters of the club itself by oh I don't know maybe arranging a webcast of the B&F. Seriously rolleyes at that one.
It was you who frighteningly threatened to sanction a man for something his wife said in the year 2014 in a story focussed on the culture of bullying, and enabled an opposition club's president make a story out of it!
It was you, through Paul Little, who allowed Fitzpatrick to sit within 50 metres of you at an EFC home game.
It was you who muzzeled the supporters with the pandering #respect campaign when the already heightened frustrations of the corrupted umpiring displays threatened to overflow instead of requesting any explanation from the league. You know, like North do on a fortnightly basis...
It was you who cowtowed again and continued to 'isolate Hird' when he came back from exiled suspension, a ludicrous move that has only served the interests of those who attack us, sending the subliminal message that he's the sore thumb, the withering poisoned branch that needs to be hidden away out of sight, to be ashamed of & move on from.
Tonight it was you who surrendered our rights without a whimper of backbone again, who sent Little out there with his 4 possible speaches jest in a vain attempt for levity. You decided to not appeal a ridiculously flawed Fed Court decision which in a blind rush to convenience ignored the actual case in front of it and causes serious problematic consequences if unchecked. That you would yet again shirk your responsibilities along with your spines was no suprise, as was stating the undying nature of your fight to clear the players names in the same breath, as always. Problem is, after tonight I don't believe you anymore. A board who wants to clear names, right the wrongs done to the club its staff and its supporters, and restore its honour simply doesn't act this way. No stone in the quest for redemption should be left untouched on this dirty battlefield. NEVER should the actual coach (season 2014 is over) regardless of being a club champion or not, be so 'isolated' on the literal night of nights of the club that he's told not to attend because he wants to uphold his legal rights to appeal a court decision that he and his legal representatives (let alone yours) feels was deeply flawed. Not only that, but to also totally avoid mentioning his name for the whole entire evening like babies ignoring a problem until it goes away is so farken petty & childish it's straight out of the AFL playbook. Sadly the idea that if you have actually been working to the AFL's aims against the club's supporters interests the whole time, your actions finally begin to make some sense. But it only heightens my total disgust of you all that much further.
If you do the unthinkable tomorrow and try to sanction let alone sack a man, who is the Club's Coach, who is a third generation club champion brownlow medalist premiership captain, who has been continually driven through ■■■■■ by all & sundry including you on multiple occasions in this farce, and has not broken a single law, for simply upholding his legal rights I am sure that you will provide the tally & identity of votes to the membership in unison with any of your always hamfisted board announcements.
Fark Carlton & hopefully there's no need for an EGM.
Unfortunately, this sums up the boards performance all too well.
Sheedys exit was poor. Knights was treated horribly. And now this. We are being run by a John Howard lookalike who can't speak English properly and doesn't know some of the younger players names.
Bomber gave Little a big tick last night though. I would like Little to have a chance at running the joint without the ASADA crap hanging over us, but I think there may be some board members who need weeding out.
Oh. And Little needs to take a public speaking course.
Sheedy's exit wasn't poor. It was a very difficult move, and one that we are most likely going to have to repeat if James Hird stays as coach.
Knights wasn't treated horribly. We payed out his contract. Our failing there was extending his contract and 12 months later changing our minds.
How exactly is anyone expecting to "weed" out board members at an EGM. It'll be like weeding with a front end loader.
And while it's great to have idiot presidents parade themselves in the media and make all sorts of wise statements about King Kong and the likes, what we really need is to just get through this saga. Then sit back and see where the chips will fall. If Little manages to hold the place together, then he can speak like porky pig for all I care. Today he has managed that by the skin of his teeth.
I honestly don't get this anger towards the board. They have done their best in an incredibly difficult situation. I am yet to see a huge blunder by them that they should have foreseen as a blunder and not made. Still not sure what this leak to Wilson is/was?
I just hear on the radio they are meeting again this weekend re: Hird. Any truth to this? And if so, why?
Peeto, this morning Wilson went to press with the headline that the club had sacked Hird, giving apparent details of meetings that had taken place. By midday, Hird walked out of the club stating he was still the coach. Little then shot the club in the foot yet again. Instead of turning around and simply stating that James Hird at this time is the coach of the Essendon football club, he instead said that his position will be reviewed by the board in two weeks. WTF!! You might as well disband the club now with that sort of ineptitude. He (and by default the board) had the chance to stop this bullsh!t right from the get go. Regardless of whether the board dismiss Hird or not, what farking idiot thought it was a good idea to provide the press with an open invitation to speculate on the coaching position at Essendon for the next two weeks. It's not as if they haven't written enough **** about us over the last 20 odd months. They have had 20 months to learn how to play the media and have learned sweet FA. All they needed to do was confirm Hird as coach. In two weeks time they come out and say, after reviewing the situation, it was decided the best course of action is for Essendon and hird to part ways. That takes all the power away from the press, but no, these fools continue to assassinate themselves. FMD!! It doesn't take a genius to realise that the board have gotten it wrong substantially time after time after time in this whole fiasco.
I'm guessing we have a fractured board, that is taking too long to make decisions.
then at the 11th hour, they make pressured decisions that are wrong.
They just can't read the play at all, and boy do we look like a basket case.
Like a hung jury, time to get new blood in.
We talk about player culture. What is the culture within the board?
Pretty bad it seems.
It's a complete farce. We could have made a move on Hird and secured Thompson yet they gave Hird a 2 year contract. We
placed a band aid on a gun shot wound.
Hird will go and if we lose Thompson aswell then it'll be time for the board to go.
Sheedys exit was poor. Knights was treated horribly. And now this. We are being run by a John Howard lookalike who can't speak English properly and doesn't know some of the younger players names.
Bomber gave Little a big tick last night though. I would like Little to have a chance at running the joint without the ASADA crap hanging over us, but I think there may be some board members who need weeding out.
Oh. And Little needs to take a public speaking course.
He may look like John Howard and occasionally stumble when speaking in public but his business acumen cannot be denied. We could do much worse I reckon. That being said, a clean slate might be required.
Business acumen is not what we need at this stage. I'm ok with him making financial decisions, and we definitely need him on the board, but as a representative of the club, can we please have someone who can speak with some passion about the place? He's emotionless, clinical, and sterile.
McGuire, Kennett, Brayshaw - the 3 club chairmen that spring to mind - are all passionate, emotional, strong willed people who are capable of playing the media game. We do not have that in Little.
I want excitement at the club. We are dull. From the chairman to the playing group. Vanilla is not a term that should be used to describe our club, because at least vanilla is a flavour. We have no flavour. Did you see the applause Bomber got last night? It was because he spoke with passion and charisma. We haven't had that since Sheeds was sacked. Even Hirdy is more conservative than the way he played would lead you to believe.
If we continue to be dull as a club, good luck getting kids to barrack for us, and good luck selling merchandise, memberships, and tickets.
We need a salesman, not a businessman.
That's funny, I want someone who is level headed and does his best to choose the best path with all information at hand, to steer us out of the greatest adversity any club has ever faced in over a century of our game.
But if you want Brayshaw then you're entitled to your opinion.
Just in case I wasn't clear, I could not think more of the opposite of that entire post.
Yeah that's ok, I get your point.
And, hell, I don't want a Brayshaw clone, because he is an A1 wanker.
And I think Little is doing as good a job managing the crisis and steering this ship as could be done. His business record speaks volumes. I don't want him gone from the club. BUT...
I'll ask you a question - why would my kids want to barrack for Essendon right at the moment? And if you have kids, why would yours?
It's not exactly a desirable or exciting club just at the minute. And once Little gets us through the crisis, we need to go into sell mode. A lot of PR work needs to be done rapidly, particularly if Hird does get some marching orders, and my biggest concern is that Little can't sell the club the way someone with a personality can.
Sheedys exit was poor. Knights was treated horribly. And now this. We are being run by a John Howard lookalike who can't speak English properly and doesn't know some of the younger players names.
Bomber gave Little a big tick last night though. I would like Little to have a chance at running the joint without the ASADA crap hanging over us, but I think there may be some board members who need weeding out.
Oh. And Little needs to take a public speaking course.
Sheedy's exit wasn't poor. It was a very difficult move, and one that we are most likely going to have to repeat if James Hird stays as coach.
Knights wasn't treated horribly. We payed out his contract. Our failing there was extending his contract and 12 months later changing our minds.
How exactly is anyone expecting to "weed" out board members at an EGM. It'll be like weeding with a front end loader.
And while it's great to have idiot presidents parade themselves in the media and make all sorts of wise statements about King Kong and the likes, what we really need is to just get through this saga. Then sit back and see where the chips will fall. If Little manages to hold the place together, then he can speak like porky pig for all I care. Today he has managed that by the skin of his teeth.
So Little comes in after Evans screws up the place, rebuilds all the off-field structure so that there are clear lines, direct comminication, complete over-sight of all functions and all areas of the club, signs on large sponsors, leads the club to record membership, makes the AFL decidee that the new setup should be looked as and possibly replicated and tries his heart out to steer the club through one mother of all situations and he is the one to blame? Bizaro world.
The board is not perfect, mistakes have been made, a better path could have been angled but almost everyone who was involved at the club when it all went pear-shaped is gone, including a change in some board members. Not sure we need any more blood-letting on that front, we need stability and patient control not a new board who has no idea what is going on and who then have to make uninformed decisions on the fly. A bigger mess they would then make.
Why should their decisions be uninformed? Are you in the habit of votong for uninformed people?
Members should see who among the candidates are competent, courageous and principled.
NOt just the ones who are there to get their bums into a superbox to watch the game.
As they have not been on the inside of all the details, just as we haven't, then they are hardly going to be well informed and be able to make quick and good decidsions. They will blunder quite a bit i imagine, nothing is then solved.
I agree we need someone like Charlie Pickering on The Project, who is a Bombers supporter. He has the gift of the gab and personality, has a sense of humour, can easily create repour, can handle the media and most of all, is a good all round model of the importance of the EFC and what that means.
I agree we need someone like Charlie Pickering on The Project, who is a Bombers supporter. He has the gift of the gab and personality, has a sense of humour, can easily create repour, can handle the media and most of all, is a good all round model of the importance of the EFC and what that means.
We desperately need some good PR.
