AGM

[Hannibal 5,814]

Absolutely hilarious

Glad we cleared that up.

[Slartibartfast 16,968]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned here but one of the things that astounded me in Jackson's address was the fact that he has been able to cut $1.8 million from administrative salaries. I did get that right didn't I?

To think we can operate effectively without these cost, attract major sponsors, deal with more members and still manage to cut that number of staff is very frustrating. I'm not a FH but I have been a player sponsor for a number of years, certainly since Schwab and Stynes/McLardy took over and I've been happy to contribute because I thought I was helping the club be competitive. It would appear all I've done is support a top heavy administration and have unnecessary senior staff running round whilst the club has failed on the field and struggled financially. We really were taken for fools and it's hard to feel any affection for those that squandered our money.

Thank heavens for Jackson.

[Sir Why You Little 36,761]

$1.8 Million is a staggering amount...No wonder the AFL stepped in and said "Enough"

Schwab's final Press Conference he spoke very well, but once it is revealled what he actually presided over it is a total disgrace.

I wonder if he has any remorse at all?

Or just mooved on to the next project....?

[rjay 24,689]

$1.8 Million is a staggering amount...No wonder the AFL stepped in and said "Enough"

Schwab's final Press Conference he spoke very well, but once it is revealled what he actually presided over it is a total disgrace.

I wonder if he has any remorse at all?

Or just mooved on to the next project....?

He always put bunches of words together well 'wyl', it's just they never amounted to much.

[Guest]

He always put bunches of words together well 'wyl', it's just they never amounted to much.

I listened to his 2012 AGM speech after I listened to PJ's and it made my mind up about him even further. He spoke for roughly 8 mins. In that 8 minutes, we were continually told how we were in the best position strategically in a generation (why this was the case was never explained),that somehow getting Neeld quickly was a positive (despite the fact that he hadn't made the final four list at the Crows or Bulldogs) and that we were all resilient and tough. It all sounded very good but where were the financial statistics? Things like the balance sheet, talk of the new sponsor (that would be gone in four weeks; lucky he didn't talk about it!) and the details of that deal etc.

Compare this to PJ. As I said in another thread, some of the speech was pretty dry. However, where it was short on feel good rhetoric and spin, it was filled with information that attempted to justify the moves that had been made. Sure a lot of it was dull sets of statistics. However, we needed to hear that.

Some on here have said PJ has a good footy brain. I don't necessarily agree with this in terms of tactics and recruiting. I also think he knows that is not his forte when he said earlier on that the CEO needs to be 'of the football department but not in it' (?). PJ is a businessman and administrator and that shows when you listen to him. Schwab was a motivational speaker and a football club politician.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Colin B. Flaubert

[Dr. Gonzo 23,927]

Brilliantly put CBF.

[Satyriconhome 10,436]

The previous administration had gotten the Club out of debt and we posted a profit of $70000 the previous year, so no it wasn't a mess, the only mistake was picking the wrong coach, net result the fairweather supporters jumped off and we had to pay out contracts...hence the need to cut costs, we had a couple of extra at the top. the CFO springs to mind, we didn't necessarily need... revisionists are wonderful

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned here but one of the things that astounded me in Jackson's address was the fact that he has been able to cut $1.8 million from administrative salaries. I did get that right didn't I?

To think we can operate effectively without these cost, attract major sponsors, deal with more members and still manage to cut that number of staff is very frustrating. I'm not a FH but I have been a player sponsor for a number of years, certainly since Schwab and Stynes/McLardy took over and I've been happy to contribute because I thought I was helping the club be competitive. It would appear all I've done is support a top heavy administration and have unnecessary senior staff running round whilst the club has failed on the field and struggled financially. We really were taken for fools and it's hard to feel any affection for those that squandered our money.

Thank heavens for Jackson.

I agree with most of what you say here but I just hope they haven't cut too hard, sometimes they have to cut good as well as bad to try to balance the books.

Having said that, I certainly hope our income is more wisely spent in future. It's very frustrating to see us back in debt after all the money the club raised; you don't get to many dips in the well of good will.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

The previous administration had gotten the Club out of debt and we posted a profit of $70000 the previous year, so no it wasn't a mess, the only mistake was picking the wrong coach, net result the fairweather supporters jumped off and we had to pay out contracts...hence the need to cut costs, we had a couple of extra at the top. the CFO springs to mind, we didn't necessarily need... revisionists are wonderful

Fair-weather supporters? You make it sound like we were a top side who had a couple of years of poor form; I think a lot that jumped ship did so after a lifetime of failure by the club.

Edited February 8, 2014 by RobbieF

[The Great Pretender 456]

Glad we cleared that up.

Now that's funny.

[Sir Why You Little 36,761]

The previous administration had gotten the Club out of debt and we posted a profit of $70000 the previous year, so no it wasn't a mess, the only mistake was picking the wrong coach, net result the fairweather supporters jumped off and we had to pay out contracts...hence the need to cut costs, we had a couple of extra at the top. the CFO springs to mind, we didn't necessarily need... revisionists are wonderful

yes of course Satyr. Nothing was wrong at all.

For someone who spends a lot of time at the club you must have your eyes and ears closed most of the time.

The mind boggles....

[Guest]

yes of course Satyr. Nothing was wrong at all.

For someone who spends a lot of time at the club you must have your eyes and ears closed most of the time.

The mind boggles....

He is getting back into gear isn't he? I have him blocked but I still get to hear some of his pearlers when other posters quote him. So far, he has been the guy who has kindly been giving us training reports (just like in 2013). When the season starts and IF everything doesn't go to plan and there are a few restless natives, watch him hit a rich vein of form in which we are all berated for how morally lacking we are.

[Sir Why You Little 36,761]

He is getting back into gear isn't he? I have him blocked but I still get to hear some of his pearlers when other posters quote him. So far, he has been the guy who has kindly been giving us training reports (just like in 2013). When the season starts and IF everything doesn't go to plan and there are a few restless natives, watch him hit a rich vein of form in which we are all berated for how morally lacking we are.

"But there was no mess...."

[rpfc 28,084]

The previous administration had gotten the Club out of debt and we posted a profit of $70000 the previous year, so no it wasn't a mess, the only mistake was picking the wrong coach, net result the fairweather supporters jumped off and we had to pay out contracts...hence the need to cut costs, we had a couple of extra at the top. the CFO springs to mind, we didn't necessarily need... revisionists are wonderful

Then you must think you're wonderful...

[Whispering_Jack 29,370]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned here but one of the things that astounded me in Jackson's address was the fact that he has been able to cut $1.8 million from administrative salaries. I did get that right didn't I?

To think we can operate effectively without these cost, attract major sponsors, deal with more members and still manage to cut that number of staff is very frustrating. I'm not a FH but I have been a player sponsor for a number of years, certainly since Schwab and Stynes/McLardy took over and I've been happy to contribute because I thought I was helping the club be competitive. It would appear all I've done is support a top heavy administration and have unnecessary senior staff running round whilst the club has failed on the field and struggled financially. We really were taken for fools and it's hard to feel any affection for those that squandered our money.

Thank heavens for Jackson.

Cost cutting measures are often implemented when things get tight financially as they did when, a few weeks into the season last year, it became clear that we weren't going to reach our budgeted incomes. This was mainly due to our poor on field performances as well as our failure to get sponsorship from a Chinese airline company with which we had been negotiating for two years.

This made it necessary to bring in the razor gang but it doesn't necessarily mean that the expenditure in those areas had been wasted in the past. It was expenditure without which we had to make do because of the new circumstances.

Our sponsorship money also went into greater spending in the football department with which PJ is continuing and which is just as well as you recently pointed out when Dean Bailey first coached the club, the conditions he worked under were truly appalling.

Thankfully, the debt demolition and other measures undertaken in the interim by the Stynes/McLardy administration sees us sharing a state of the art facility at AAMI Park. As PJ pointed out, our balance sheet is strong and so it must be given that we're paying an arm and a leg for our new coach.

I'm optimistic, keen and excited by some of the things that are happening at the club but appreciate that success won't happen overnight and I wouldn't get carried away yet by anything our new leadership says at AGMs.

In addition to the talk I would like to see runs on the board.

[Slartibartfast 16,968]

Thankfully, the debt demolition and other measures undertaking in the interim by the Stynes/McLardy administration sees us sharing a state of the art facility at AAMI Park.

I think you'll find it was Harris and Gardner that committed to AAMI and that Stynes/Schwab oversaw the move.

Gutnick is responsible for our net asset position because of Bentleigh. Each administration since has played their role in securing it. Without it we'd be in pretty poor shape as it provides a pokie facility as well as the land.

Joseph may have saved us twice. Save might not be the right word but you know what I mean.

[sue 9,070]

yes of course Satyr. Nothing was wrong at all.

For someone who spends a lot of time at the club you must have your eyes and ears closed most of the time.

The mind boggles....

Ease up - he clearly did not say 'nothing was wrong at all'. Unless you think the word 'mistake' in his phrase "the only mistake was picking the wrong coach" has a different meaning than that found in the dictionary. He might be over-optimistic a lot of the time, but no need to exaggerate.

Personally I prefer to read posts which have at least some degree of optimism in them rather than some of the negative reaction that some posters make instantaneously to almost any event. And no, I don't think they are justified to be like that simply on the basis of how cr*p we have been.

[Whispering_Jack 29,370]

I think you'll find it was Harris and Gardner that committed to AAMI and that Stynes/Schwab oversaw the move.

Gutnick is responsible for our net asset position because of Bentleigh. Each administration since has played their role in securing it. Without it we'd be in pretty poor shape as it provides a pokie facility as well as the land.

Joseph may have saved us twice. Save might not be the right word but you know what I mean.

True on most of those points but given our parlous financial state when Jimmy came in, we needed the measures he implemented such as the debt demolition, mending fences with the AFL & MCC etc just to survive to see the day of our move to AAMI Park. And the final decision to secure the Bentleigh Club had to be made by the administration that was in situ when the time arose. And yes, Joe did in that way save the club, an accomplishment for which few would give him credit.

[Damo 3,289]

Gutnick is responsible for our net asset position because of Bentleigh.

Joseph may have saved us twice. Save might not be the right word but you know what I mean.

Yet you were instrumental in removing him.

[Earl Hood 6,067]

$1.8 Million is a staggering amount...No wonder the AFL stepped in and said "Enough"

Schwab's final Press Conference he spoke very well, but once it is revealled what he actually presided over it is a total disgrace.

I wonder if he has any remorse at all?

Or just mooved on to the next project....?

Well is there a more bloated, over paid industry in OZ except perhaps for the financial sector and parts of the legal fraternity. They all have something in common, big egos, limited, talent, insular thinking. There is no doubt you could cut deep into the AFL clubs to save money and loose very little, as long as you do it right.

The fact that Danks got so far into the system with his unproven, hardly legal, snake oil products speaks volumes about the calibre of managers in charge of AFL and NrL clubs.

[Satyriconhome 10,436]

No Colin and WYL, just it's HISTORY...or don't you have a sense of relevance if you can't keep dragging up the past...let it go....mistakes have been made...hopefully this year will be different...hope so...I just don't like posters bagging just for the sake of it...make you feel less inadequate...if that's what you do it for then I feel sorry for you

fairweather supporters jumping off...less membership money, less gate receipts, less merchandise, less sponsorship money...which bit don't you get...sorry forgot facts against vitriol again

[rjay 24,689]

The previous administration had gotten the Club out of debt and we posted a profit of $70000 the previous year, so no it wasn't a mess, the only mistake was picking the wrong coach, net result the fairweather supporters jumped off and we had to pay out contracts...hence the need to cut costs, we had a couple of extra at the top. the CFO springs to mind, we didn't necessarily need... revisionists are wonderful

No 'Sat', that is just not true. CS left the club in a mess, the biggest mistake was bringing him back into the club for a 2nd go.

If you don't think the club was a mess then why did the AFL have to step in to right the ship...and no matter which way they (AFL) put it PJ is here because the AFL wanted him here, Roos is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here, Bartlett is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here.

I don't want to dig up the past but I will when someone tries to re write it and you have by saying the only mistake made was Neeld. Neeld was the wrong man for the job but anyone would have struggled with the way the club has been mismanaged from board level down.

[Alcho Dee 269]

No 'Sat', that is just not true. CS left the club in a mess, the biggest mistake was bringing him back into the club for a 2nd go.

If you don't think the club was a mess then why did the AFL have to step in to right the ship...and no matter which way they (AFL) put it PJ is here because the AFL wanted him here, Roos is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here, Bartlett is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here.

I don't want to dig up the past but I will when someone tries to re write it and you have by saying the only mistake made was Neeld. Neeld was the wrong man for the job but anyone would have struggled with the way the club has been mismanaged from board level down.

And the coach must have the players to work with, so that's not Neeld's fault either....but he did suck!

[stuie 7,374]

$1.8 Million is a staggering amount...No wonder the AFL stepped in and said "Enough"

Schwab's final Press Conference he spoke very well, but once it is revealled what he actually presided over it is a total disgrace.

I wonder if he has any remorse at all?

Or just mooved on to the next project....?

Wow. Still going on about Schwab. I don't think it's him that needs to move on....

[DeeSpencer 24,973]

No 'Sat', that is just not true. CS left the club in a mess, the biggest mistake was bringing him back into the club for a 2nd go.

If you don't think the club was a mess then why did the AFL have to step in to right the ship...and no matter which way they (AFL) put it PJ is here because the AFL wanted him here, Roos is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here, Bartlett is here because PJ and the AFL wanted him here.

I don't want to dig up the past but I will when someone tries to re write it and you have by saying the only mistake made was Neeld. Neeld was the wrong man for the job but anyone would have struggled with the way the club has been mismanaged from board level down.

Here's my take. 2000 grand final things were obviously ok. Not a strong club by any means but at least a club with some playing talent and so on. Things went up and down. 2004 we made finals with a relatively young list but it didn't come to much.

But through that whole period Presidents and CEO's continued to change and not once did us as members manage to step up and get a stable board. In turn the CEO hires were a shambles. Further more there was no football knowledge embedded in the club at board level, CEO level or footy department level.

About this time around 2005 onwards the recruiting and sports science arms race took off. We were completely left behind. When we moved on from Craig Cameron as recruiter and Daniher as coach we had no institutional knowledge of how to hire the right people to replace them. Plus we couldn't match the spending either.

Schwab had good intentions to fix the debt, grow the base and pump money in to footy department but again the lack of institution knowledge of how to run a footy department got Schwab in trouble.

The end lesson is that more than anyone we've got ourselves to blame. As members we have to control the board so that we have the business knowledge and footy knowledge in our club. Things are pretty good right now with Bartlett, PJ and Roos but the other position I'd like to have is a Jason Dunstall like director of footy but we can't have everything can we!