Gillon McLachlan's meeting with the Lions and the end of Holmes

[Alan Smithee]

As I said before, the only reason anything is happening is because Gill doesn't have the same complete and utter disdain against the Club that VLAD does

 

[POBT]

Nothing new here - just confirmation to the outside world.

Yeah, the new thing is the situation is now getting national coverage. 2 articles, including one by Patrick Smith, is a good news day for those who think this club needs change.

 

[Kevvo]

Yeah, the new thing is the situation is now getting national coverage. 2 articles, including one by Patrick Smith, is a good news day for those who think this club needs change.

I agree with this, but it's pretty important that it gets followed up in the near future with signs of progress. Right now, you would expect that the young players' families would be a bit anxious about this situation. Media coverage highlighting how dire things are, while encouraging to the membership, may trouble them in a more immediate way.

 

[Skoob]

Lol. "A Brisbane source says the Lions are dysfunctional".
A source? There's about 30,000 who could tell you that.

The AFL really needs to convince Leigh to take the reigns and Sharpless to step down. I also hope that they cough up some serious assistance on the proviso of changing CEOs.
Not a fan of assistance packages being dangled like a carrot while waving a big stick to make us earn it, but we can't ever hope for this current board to get things done. New chairman, new CEO, more (footy/business) directors. I hope they get it done.

 

[Football Pope]

Transcript from the Footy Classified (5/5/2014) discussion of Gill McLachlan's trip to Brisbane.

DAMIEN BARRETT: They [Richmond] have got concerns but not as many as Brisbane Lions Gaz. The situation is this… Gill McLachlan was appointed CEO last Wednesday, by Friday he’s on a plane to Brisbane to speak with Bob Sharpless, the Chairman of the footy club.

CAROLINE WILSON: That meeting was already booked in fairness…

BARRETT: …but he still took the time to go up there. Not everyone in the footy club knew what was going on with it. There was – to use an AFL industry word – a “robust” conversation between the two about where this club is heading, in particular around the messaging of taking this footy club away from the Gabba where it’s based, to a place called Springfield which is near Ipswich, and there is a conflict there which Bob Sharpless is happy to put his hand up to, but it is very uncomfortable for some people around it because he does…

GARRY LYON: [dismayed tone] Moving the club from Brisbane?

BARRETT: …to a little satellite city near Ipswich, and Bob Sharpless’s businesses own a large part of this particular city. So it’s a work in progress, there is no government money funding for any of this at the moment and Gillon McLachlan has told Bob Sharpless just to get the messaging right for this footy club, because to move it away from the Gabba, Lloydy, even if it’s not to play games as he was at one stage saying, it’s very confusing for the Lions…

MATTHEW LLOYD: …and they’re broke? Are they broke?

BARRETT: Oh they’re in all sorts of trouble financially…

LYON: How safe is Bob Sharpless? Is he the man to take this footy club…

BARRETT: ...no, I reckon we’ll find within the next twelve months that Leigh Matthews will be heading that footy club as Chairman.

LYON: [surprised] Watch this space.

Caroline Wilson blew his story out of the water with her one and only line...... Seems Barretts source not aware of what was going on......

This link worked for me.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...another-shakeup/story-fnca0u4y-1226908056755#

Summary of article (by Greg Denham so, you know, grain of salt):

- Holmes gone by end of year
- 7th consecutive year of loss and debt of $10M
- several influential Lions people, including one major benefactor, moved to the Suns
- board dysfunctional and not representative of membership
- disenfranchising people; number of long time, wealthy Brisbane people have lost interest or support the Suns

The AFL were aware that all this was a distinct possibility when they went out to capture the northern market when creating the Suns..IIRC Matthews was vocal and critical of them then...Instead of investing and getting their existing product right they were hell bent on going all out on expanding .. The alarm bells of poor governance had been ringing for a bit and it was time to step in... all the warning signs were there after winning 3 premierships and going cap in hand...

 

[Hollow Knight]

I'd rather Greg Swann than Conlan. Conlan has a good understanding of the code up here but I don't think that necessarily translates to running an AFL club.

Will take proven experience over nepotism.

The Patrick Smith article was dreadful by the way. Just a bunch of already well established historical and contemporary bullet points smoothed together. Dreadful writing.

Malcolm's time has been up for quite a while. And Sharpless is already starting to pong.

 

[Judge]

I'd rather Greg Swann than Conlan. Conlan has a good understanding of the code up here but I don't think that necessarily translates to running an AFL club.

Will take proven experience over nepotism.

The Patrick Smith article was dreadful by the way. Just a bunch of already well established historical and contemporary bullet points smoothed together. Dreadful writing.

Malcolm's time has been up for quite a while. And Sharpless is already starting to pong.

That hardly narrows it down TBD, I can't remember the last article of Smith's which I found remotely entertaining or informative. I didn't even enjoy his Essendon-bashing articles, which really says something.

Smith strikes me as a smug, supercilious know-all, and his penchant for ridiculous nicknames and attempts at satire/humour are just pathetic.

I can't stand that prick.

 

[Hollow Knight]

That hardly narrows it down TBD, I can't remember the last article of Smith's which I found remotely entertaining or informative. I didn't even enjoy his Essendon-bashing articles, which really says something.

Smith strikes me as a smug, supercilious know-all, and his penchant for ridiculous nicknames and attempts at satire/humour are just pathetic.

I can't stand that prick.

The Archie Butterfly of sports journalism?

 

[POBT]

I'd rather Greg Swann than Conlan. Conlan has a good understanding of the code up here but I don't think that necessarily translates to running an AFL club.

Will take proven experience over nepotism.

Yeah, I'm not convinced the jump from AFLQ to CEO of a club is manageable. I could be wrong as Conlan brings other experiences but the romance of that appointment shouldn't be a factor. Worth noting that Richard Griffiths went into a 2IC role at GWS after his time as head of AFLQ.

FWIW, for similar reasons, I am not completely convinced that Lethal is the right man to be Chair of the Board but I think that that role is less about business acumen and more about being a figurehead/leader/spruiker.

 

[James North]

Lethal strikes me as a potentially great "President" of the club.

 

[Hollow Knight]

If the AFL do force a shakeup at board level I assume they will also send all members a written apology admitting they goofed by undemocratically forcing (by blackmail) a compromised mess of a board upon us last year rather than letting us elect a fresh ticket of people who care deeply about the club.

Lol I kid, they'll never cop to the blame.

 

[Skoob]

I'd rather Greg Swann than Conlan. Conlan has a good understanding of the code up here but I don't think that necessarily translates to running an AFL club.
Will take proven experience over nepotism.
The Patrick Smith article was dreadful by the way. Just a bunch of already well established historical and contemporary bullet points smoothed together. Dreadful writing.

Malcolm's time has been up for quite a while. And Sharpless is already starting to pong.

And what was with the half-arsed attempt at really poor jokes??
Heavens, back then they would charter a plane to fly them at a low altitude to help those with a fear of heights. Or that might have had something to do with air pressure. One or the other, but it tells you just how well the club was travelling. Well, by plane, obviously


(By the way, the quote function won't let me paste text)

Agree on Swann. The very little I know about him, it's still exciting, the thought of that sort of muscle working for us.

 

[GingerGreatness]

Don't blame me, I voted for Pinskier.

 

[Ironmonger]

The Patrick Smith article was dreadful by the way. Just a bunch of already well established historical and contemporary bullet points smoothed together. Dreadful writing.

Completely agree. He used to have a lot of credit with me for his strident criticism of the AFL over the way Fitzroy's exit was managed, but for years now he has been coasting. And when you read imprecise, unstructured ramblings like the article today it sheets home just how poor he's really become.

 

[Ironmonger]

If the AFL do force a shakeup at board level I assume they will also send all members a written apology admitting they goofed by undemocratically forcing (by blackmail) a compromised mess of a board upon us last year rather than letting us elect a fresh ticket of people who care deeply about the club.

Lol I kid, they'll never cop to the blame.

The nasty suspicion at the back of my mind is that part of what motivated that compromise was a desire to ride in like a white knight at a later point and engineer exactly the solution they wanted, while taking the credit for it.

Certainly the way McLachlan has immediately got his fingers into our issues suggests that they weren't in any doubt about the seriousness of the problem. Perhaps it's seen as a way for the new administration to get a reputation for fixing stuff.

EDIT: Thinking about it some more, maybe it's just that I hope that's the case. We need some external intervention, and while I have a lot of reservations about the AFL I don't see anyone else coming along to sort us out. The AFL getting their paws onto our management structure is the lesser of two evils right now.

God, what a mess.

 

[Skoob]

Caroline Wilson blew his story out of the water with her one and only line...... Seems Barretts source not aware of what was going on......
QUOTE]


I don't think it does (change his story). Sure the trip would have been planned and not spur of the moment, but it's not like Gill didn't know he was going to be promoted when he was. It was still a priority that within days of his official appointment he was to meet up here. Whether he decided it necessary on the Thursday, or 2 weeks prior to come up, it was important enough to do it straight away.

 

[Skoob]

The Archie Butterfly of sports journalism?

Not even close.

 

[James North]

That article reads like he's a 13 year old trying to reach 2000 words for an assignment requirement.

 

[dlanod]

Completely agree. He used to have a lot of credit with me for his strident criticism of the AFL over the way Fitzroy's exit was managed, but for years now he has been coasting. And when you read imprecise, unstructured ramblings like the article today it sheets home just how poor he's really become.

A fair few years ago he stopped being a reporter and started being an opinion writer, and then he stopped having an informed opinion and instead just having tirades.

 

[Skoob]

Stupid quote function.
Now putting my replies in the quote box of the message I'm responding to. Can't edit it out either.

 

[Football Pope]

I don't think it does (change his story). Sure the trip would have been planned and not spur of the moment, but it's not like Gill didn't know he was going to be promoted when he was. It was still a priority that within days of his official appointment he was to meet up here. Whether he decided it necessary on the Thursday, or 2 weeks prior to come up, it was important enough to do it straight away.

Would have bee planned months ago.....The new CEO doing the rounds to get a first hand picture of what's going on...could hear the reversing beebs by Barrett in Queensland with his reply..Barretts source, it seems, was caught napping!!

but he still took the time to go up there. Not everyone in the footy club knew what was going on with it. There was – to use an AFL industry word – a “robust” conversation between the two about where this club is heading, in particular around the messaging of taking this footy club away from the Gabba where it’s based, to a place called Springfield which is near Ipswich, and there is a conflict there which Bob Sharpless is happy to put his hand up to, but it is very uncomfortable for some people around it because he does

…

 

[blynd_freddie]

Stupid quote function.
Now putting my replies in the quote box of the message I'm responding to. Can't edit it out either.

Might have just solved the quotation marks issue for you Skoob - give it a run.

 

[John]

Don't blame me, I voted for Pinskier.

Votes are never as important or as unimportant as they seem.

 

[Tassie4ever]

Michael Conlan as CEO, Lethal as Chairman and Gill to take a fresh look at all options for our new admin/training base....... if that happened all I could say is WOWWEEEE

Best of all, he's a Tasmanian.

 

[scott_the_man]

Stupid quote function.
Now putting my replies in the quote box of the message I'm responding to. Can't edit it out either.

the same thing happens to me on my android phone. bloody annoying