Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham

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15+ years of seeking quick fixes and maintaining a Messiah complex has left us with a Board with no guts, drive or proven quality. The same sycophants end up being replaced by likeminded people, and the cycle continues.

From the outside, it’s infuriating to watch, but we have no choice. Members and supporters want a quick fix as much as those internally want one, but we have very little influence on staffing or philosophical direction.

The stability that the Corporate structure allows for is sadly its weakness. A spill is needed, and more member influence is needed, but who’s to say we wouldn’t end up in the same position afterwards?

This post is as pointless as the last 20 years has been at Essendon.
 
BrunoV said:
I'm reluctant to buy in to the criticism of Barham re Thorburn.

There is a lot of bullshit floating around. Yes, it is very easy to do a Google search after the event when you know what you're looking for.

The simple reality is that the rules have changed.

Now history as CEO of a big 4 bank is not as important as something that happened at an organisation 9 years earlier, before you were a board member and which you haven't even adopted as your position.

There is no bottom when it comes to dealing with people who derive a sense of identity based on the validation of others. Nothing will ever be safe. People will also act the way you expect/allow them to. Its the old truism that you get the electorate you deserve.

The failure here is the failure to act with spine. It is the second time in 2 weeks the board acted without spine which has resulted in the inferior candidate getting a job.

The dots are there to be joined re the coaching. Sheedy had backed them into a corner with Hird leading the selection process until Scott came in to participate in the 'same process' resulting in his appointment within minutes of his first interview with the panel. The process wasn't followed. No one finished.

I don't mind people exercising judgment. I mind it when people act without spine and compromise quality out our weakness.

All indications are that it is the votes below Barham which are the biggest issue. They are the ones who cower because they fundamentally have no vision and don't even have the guts to go along with Barham's vision.

Obviously votes are the problem because there was almost a spill when we missed Clarkson.
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Sacked the coach (let's not even get into the disgraceful way it was done) for the sole reason of chasing Clarkson - who actually wasn't available.

Employed a CEO without knowing something that was so important that it could basically have him fired on his first day.

These are major, major problems concerning the two most senior people at the footy club below the board. They're not minor mistakes. This is the core business of a board - it's the stuff they are required to do.

There are clearly massive issues with governance and process which the board is meant to uphold. He can talk about it all he wants, it's what happens that matters.

We can't pretend Barham has been anything but a complete disaster so far.

Can he get better? I guess so

Should he just resign now? I dunno. Quite possibly, but what are the other options?

We don't need to make excuses for him. He's been a very, very weak leader so far, with incalculable cockups. And he wanted this. He thought he was the man. He'd been agitating for it for a long time and only got it when the drunk and senile Sheedy swapped teams.
 

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citizen-erased said:
front page of the HS

Holy Wars. lol.
Have the archbishop, State premier, State opposition leader and federal opposition leader weighing in.

The rest of the comp are ****ing minnows at this sort of stuff.
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Let’s really set the gold standard here. Have we had a comment from Pope Francis? Taking Essington and AFL to the world, one scandal at a time.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
Sacked the coach (let's not even get into the disgraceful way it was done) for the sole reason of chasing Clarkson - who actually wasn't available.

Employed a CEO without knowing something that was so important that it could basically have him fired on his first day.

These are major, major problems concerning the two most senior people at the footy club below the board. They're not minor mistakes. This is the core business of a board - it's the stuff they are required to do.

There are clearly massive issues with governance and process which the board is meant to uphold. He can talk about it all he wants, it's what happens that matters.

We can't pretend Barham has been anything but a complete disaster so far.

Can he get better? I guess so

Should he just resign now? I dunno. Quite possibly, but what are the other options?

We don't need to make excuses for him. He's been a very, very weak leader so far, with incalculable cockups. And he wanted this. He thought he was the man. He'd been agitating for it for a long time and only got it when the drunk and senile Sheedy swapped teams.
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agree with this

I think we let Barham steer the ship through the off-season (it's cooked anyway).
I'd be hoping there's a board transition to a new era.
 
citizen-erased said:
agree with this

I think we let Barham steer the ship through the off-season (it's cooked anyway).
I'd be hoping there's a board transition to a new era.
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Yeah let him take out the trash and then let us vote in a new board in November.

Although ripping the bandaid off now might also be useful in that whoever comes in has to take responsibility for the decisions made going forward, can't blame it on the previous administration.
 
Lore said:
Yeah let him take out the trash and then let us vote in a new board in November.

Although ripping the bandaid off now might also be useful in that whoever comes in has to take responsibility for the decisions made going forward, can't blame it on the previous administration.
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Who is on Muir's 'ticket'? Is it just the other 5 members already on the board or a new ticket all together?

If Muir is on the board, surely Barham just steps down, Muir takes over and his 'ticket' takes up the remaining 5 board spots.

Provided that the original 5 (Barham, Hisgrove, Welsh, Green, O'Sullivan) are happy with Muir's leadership and the new 5 are all pulling in the same direction (discounting Sheedy from this exercise) that could be the solution.
 
Darealrath said:
I'm still okay with Barham, and I'm really worried about what the alternative might be (a Sheedy puppet regime).
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‘Somehow, Palpatine returned’
 
Bunk Moreland said:
Sacked the coach (let's not even get into the disgraceful way it was done) for the sole reason of chasing Clarkson - who actually wasn't available.

Employed a CEO without knowing something that was so important that it could basically have him fired on his first day.

These are major, major problems concerning the two most senior people at the footy club below the board. They're not minor mistakes. This is the core business of a board - it's the stuff they are required to do.

There are clearly massive issues with governance and process which the board is meant to uphold. He can talk about it all he wants, it's what happens that matters.

We can't pretend Barham has been anything but a complete disaster so far.

Can he get better? I guess so

Should he just resign now? I dunno. Quite possibly, but what are the other options?

We don't need to make excuses for him. He's been a very, very weak leader so far, with incalculable cockups. And he wanted this. He thought he was the man. He'd been agitating for it for a long time and only got it when the drunk and senile Sheedy swapped teams.
Click to expand...

It all rings of a group making decisions over long lunches. The club doesnt need that right now. Or ever actually...
 
TheGrizz said:
Who is on Muir's 'ticket'? Is it just the other 5 members already on the board or a new ticket all together?

If Muir is on the board, surely Barham just steps down, Muir takes over and his 'ticket' takes up the remaining 5 board spots.

Provided that the original 5 (Barham, Hisgrove, Welsh, Green, O'Sullivan) are happy with Muir's leadership and the new 5 are all pulling in the same direction (discounting Sheedy from this exercise) that could be the solution.
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I don't think we can appoint anyone else to the board currently. Wellman and Allen are still technically there until after the AGM, so with Welsh in Madden's spot there's only actually one spot available (Brasher's). There's a maximum of 4 appointed board members at any one time and I think we might've hit that cap for now?

Also notable that Muir is himself up for election in November. How'd it be if the president wasn't re-elected?
 

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Darealrath said:
I'm still okay with Barham, and I'm really worried about what the alternative might be (a Sheedy puppet regime).
Click to expand...

That's the thing isn't it, it'd probably end up in a worse place with a new board (likely with Sheedy crossing over considering he hasn't been getting his way).

It seems Barham's heart is in the right place, he's just jumping before he looks, probably because he's too keen to get all the pieces in place. He needs to reflect on the things that have worked well in his short reign, the external panel for the coach and pushing for an external review. If he has a bit more patience and gets advice before he (and the board) jump into things then hopefully they can get a few more wins.

They have to nail the CEO appointment, and then the board can sit in the background and (hopefully) watch on as the club runs smoothly from there.
 
I think there has been a bit of a missed opportunity here with the Thornburn appointment. A large percentage of the world is religious, and some of their beliefs go back thousands of years, and obviously do not reflect the world as it is today. It's a slow change for them but it appears religions are making some changes to be more progressive and accepting.

Rather than persecute and reject religious people from certain employment opportunities, perhaps it's better to point out to them that some of their views are not acceptable any more. Having religious people in professional positions who are more free thinking and inclusive will help drive change inside those religious institutions, so those institutions don't become an echo chamber. Thornburn seemed to be one of those people as he pushed for diversity and inclusivity in his professional life.

On the other hand rejecting people because of their religion will set us back and create more division rather than harmony within our society.
 
Nifft said:
I think there has been a bit of a missed opportunity here with the Thornburn appointment. A large percentage of the world is religious, and some of their beliefs go back thousands of years, and obviously do not reflect the world as it is today. It's a slow change for them but it appears religions are making some changes to be more progressive and accepting.

Rather than persecute and reject religious people from certain employment opportunities, perhaps it's better to point out to them that some of their views are not acceptable any more. Having religious people in professional positions who are more free thinking and inclusive will help drive change inside those religious institutions, so those institutions don't become an echo chamber. Thornburn seemed to be one of those people as he pushed for diversity and inclusivity in his professional life.

On the other hand rejecting people because of their religion will set us back and create more division rather than harmony within our society.
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It's a nice thought but in reality, we can't even trust EFC to fire an employee with dignity or run a proper recruitment process for every open position, let alone run a football club.

If they tried their hand at bringing religion into line with current society beliefs on human rights they'd probably initiate the apocalypse by accident.
 
Nifft said:
That's the thing isn't it, it'd probably end up in a worse place with a new board (likely with Sheedy crossing over considering he hasn't been getting his way).

It seems Barham's heart is in the right place, he's just jumping before he looks, probably because he's too keen to get all the pieces in place. He needs to reflect on the things that have worked well in his short reign, the external panel for the coach and pushing for an external review. If he has a bit more patience and gets advice before he (and the board) jump into things then hopefully they can get a few more wins.

They have to nail the CEO appointment, and then the board can sit in the background and (hopefully) watch on as the club runs smoothly from there.
Click to expand...

His heart might be but his head isn’t. He clearly isn’t up to the role. He is incapable of clear, concise decision making, inept at presenting his views to the public and incompetent at getting the job done.

We need a gun CEO and a new board. Simon Lloyd in some capacity would be a fantastic start but we have a long way to go…
 
MarkJohnson#1 said:
His heart might be but his head isn’t. He clearly isn’t up to the role. He is incapable of clear, concise decision making, inept at presenting his views to the public and incompetent at getting the job done.

We need a gun CEO and a new board. Simon Lloyd in some capacity would be a fantastic start but we have a long way to go…
Click to expand...

I disagree about needing a new board. How many boards have we had that would've been happy to get external people to perform a coach search and a full review of the club? I think that's a huge step in the right direction. What would we end up with if we get a new board? Are they going to action anything that comes from the external review, or will they be insular like previous boards and only make the changes that they want?

I want to see the club settled. I don't think the board has that much more to do before they can drift into the background. Firstly a good (non-controversial) CEO, and then they need to ratify any changes from the external review to make our football department better. After that hopefully we don't hear too much from them.
 
Nifft said:
I disagree about needing a new board. How many boards have we had that would've been happy to get external people to perform a coach search and a full review of the club? I think that's a huge step in the right direction. What would we end up with if we get a new board? Are they going to action anything that comes from the external review, or will they be insular like previous boards and only make the changes that they want?

I want to see the club settled. I don't think the board has that much more to do before they can drift into the background. Firstly a good (non-controversial) CEO, and then they need to ratify any changes from the external review to make our football department better. After that hopefully we don't hear too much from them.
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This is a measured response.

I like the change brought on by Barham. I was ready to give him away free to a nice home but you are right, sometimes it’s better the devil you know.
 


This is quite interesting. Couple of finance people who have a bit of experience with ... well mostly on this podcast they talk about investing and what a good investment looks like, including governance and attending various AGMs and such. Alan Kohler is the ABC's finance guy that always puts up the random interesting graphs so the segment doesn't put you completely to sleep – and a long time Essendon member and supporter. It's his pod, with rotating guests, but the other bloke in this episode is a Tigers fan called Stephen Mayne, who you might've heard of also.

But the important thing here is that they're talking about firstly the hiring of Thorburn (which probably put it on their agenda in the first place), whether he's even the right person to be running the recruiting process, let alone running a recruiting process and then putting his hand up for the same job.

From there talking about the decision to sack Thorburn, and what Thorburn's actions might have been during and after that and how that was handled by the club, which included a rather interesting character reference for Barham, the brawler who is quite used to staring down billionaires and people with big egos thanks to his background in commercial television and had no problem rolling the former chairman of PWC.

Also some comments on the importance of various roles in a football club, the President and the Coach are the most important, the Football Manager and List Manager are the next two. The actual CEO is basically an administrative role.

Then from there, talking about Essendon's board and the composition of it, the possibility of a board takeover, the "really weird" constitution that prevents such a takeover due to having 4/10 appointed directors so that we can't elect a group of cheerleaders in a single AGM and upset the apple cart.

To get rid of Barham you'd need an EGM because he's not up for election for another 12 months (hint: this also applies to Sheedy), so can't be overthrown at the AGM.

Some interesting comments around sacking Sheedy and how he should've been sacked instantly after the comments on Friday.

Then mentions that Barham is only going to be temporary as president anyway! Apparently he has a lot of blood on his hands, which isn't wrong. I mean Barham does seem to be acting relatively fearlessly, so short term makes sense. But I don't recall him saying so 🤔

Starts at 7:10 and goes to about 14:10.
 
Hmmm. I reckon the CEO is a bit more than administrator, even at a footy club. They’re more present at the club (than a President) and are tone-setters. Think about the vibe XC gave off - outwardly mild and friendly but focussed on the corporate side and pleasing the right people on that side of the business, not possessing the footy knowledge or credibility to have his feedback accepted by the players (and perhaps a bit of a **** to people he thought weren’t important). What kind of atmosphere does that provide as a backdrop for the players? Not one where footy and winning is the #1 priority.

Then think of someone like Tom Harley and the type of personality he is - good communicator, carries the ability to influence with footy people and corporate people alike, has a positive and interested energy to him.

So if culture is important then surely the CEO (along with coach and footy dept of course) influence the vibe and mindset of the players to an extent.

Not saying the CEO is more important than the Pres, but influential in their own way.
 
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frodos gardener said:
Hmmm. I reckon the CEO is a bit more than administrator, even at a footy club. They’re more present at the club (than a President) and are tone-setters. Think about the vibe XC gave off - outwardly mild and friendly but focussed on the corporate side and pleasing the right people on that side of the business, not possessing the footy knowledge or credibility to have his feedback accepted by the players (and perhaps a bit of a **** to people he thought weren’t important). What kind of atmosphere does that provide as a backdrop for the players? Not one where footy and winning is the #1 priority.

Then think of someone like Tom Harley and the type of personality he is - good communicator, carries the ability to influence with footy people and corporate people alike, has a positive and interested energy to him.

So if culture is important the surely the CEO (along with coach and footy dept of course) influence the vibe and mindset of the players to an extent.

Not saying the CEO is more important than the Pres, but influential in their own way.
Click to expand...
I think the point they were making was more that the CEO isn't making strategic or influential decisions about the core business of the club, which if you're looking at an organisation as an investor then the long term strategic direction is probably more interesting. As long as they can competently set the tone or the vibe and keep the place ticking over, that's the main thing. You don't need a revolutionary in that chair if the other four are competent.

That said, it depends on the structure of the club. Brendan Gale is a bit different at the Tigers as he's an executive director, so he's on the board of directors as well as being the Chief Executive.

The other thing I might've missed above is that they said the Coach reports directly to the board of directors anyway.
 
BrunoV said:
The dots are there to be joined re the coaching. Sheedy had backed them into a corner with Hird leading the selection process until Scott came in to participate in the 'same process' resulting in his appointment within minutes of his first interview with the panel. The process wasn't followed. No one finished.
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I just love how you've gradually shifted your use of language over the weeks such that this is now established fact. Not merely your entirely preconceived opinion.
 
Doss said:
I just love how you've gradually shifted your use of language over the weeks such that this is now established fact. Not merely your entirely preconceived opinion.
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Like strands in a cable...
 
Lore said:
I think the point they were making was more that the CEO isn't making strategic or influential decisions about the core business of the club, which if you're looking at an organisation as an investor then the long term strategic direction is probably more interesting. As long as they can competently set the tone or the vibe and keep the place ticking over, that's the main thing. You don't need a revolutionary in that chair if the other four are competent.

That said, it depends on the structure of the club. Brendan Gale is a bit different at the Tigers as he's an executive director, so he's on the board of directors as well as being the Chief Executive.

The other thing I might've missed above is that they said the Coach reports directly to the board of directors anyway.
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The board sets out the strategic plan and the CEO doesn’t sit on the board so shouldn’t influence the plan. Being the highest executive position at the footy club though, the CEO should be aligning club operations with the strategic plan.
 

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Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham

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