I offer these words not because I like you or because I want you at our club, but because it may take a while to force you out once and for all. If your term here is to be remembered as anything but an unmitigated disaster, you need to learn quickly and start doing things very differently. It may be too late to save your job and possibly your reputation. But I give you these ten lessons about football in the hope that whilst you cling on to your post, you could maybe try to make amends. It is a real shame that nobody sat you down and explained these things before you became our CEO. Still more of a shame that after almost two years in the job you have seemingly not learned any of them for yourself. They aren't complicated lessons and I don't claim any particular skill or insight - I am just shocked at your complete lack in this area. Anyway, here goes:
1. Whatever anyone has told you, the primary source of income for any football club is the fans. This may be directly through ticketing, merchandising or debenture schemes or indirectly though tv revenues, advertising and the like. Even with a proposal like player farming it is still ultimately fans who are paying the money, albeit fans of purchasing clubs. Sometimes owners do support clubs financially, but apart from the increasingly rare breed of fan/owners this money is never an unconditional gift. Rather it is a somewhat risky investment with the aim of extracting more money from the fans in the long run. Never underestimate the importance of the fans.
2. In many ways supporters of football clubs are unlike the 'customers' of other businesses in the leisure 'industry'. The vast majority display a brand loyalty that no other business could ever dream of. Many supporters attend games for years on end despite never really getting a satisfactory product. It is not weirdness, but love, that makes them do this. Nobody should be surprised at this love. Most adult supporters will have been with their club for longer than they've known their spouses, longer than they've had their children, longer than they've lived in their current house. Many will not even remember a time before they were supporters. Placed in this context it is, of course, quite unsurprising that many fans feel a sense of attachment that your average executive will never ever feel.
3. The primary reason people go to football is to watch football. There are a number of things that people want. First and foremost is to see their team win. Nobody wants to support a club with no ambition and/or no hope. It has to be clear to everyone in and around the club, that winning is the key aim. Secondly, people want to see effort. Fans will, for the most part, be quite forgiving of a team that tries, a team that chases every ball, a team that never gives up. Conversely, they will extremely intollerant a ramshackle bunch of directionless players with no affinity for the club who do not put in the necessary effort. Thirdly fans want to watch entertaining football. One of the joys of going to a professional football match is seeing the players do things that you couldn't do yourself over the park with some mates. It is not necessary for the team to be packed out with flair players, but there has to be enough skill on display to keep things interesting. If you wan't to be successful at running a football club (and it is by no means certain that you do), these are the three things to focus on.
4. If it is football that makes fans turn up, there are a lot of things that will not make fans turn up. If fans are interested in sofas, cheerleaders and house djs, they do a very good job of hiding it and they are not particularly interested in having them at football. At best, initiatives like this are a waste of time. At worst, they are a sign that the calibre of thinking at the top of the club is not what it should be. If the football itself is the motivational factor, there are certain 'hygeine factors' that should be addressed to avoid putting off the less committed fans. People want a good view, clean surroundings, decent toilet facilities and the availablity of reasonably priced refreshments. These will not get people into the stadium, but their absence may put some off, especially if the football is bad.
5. Much of what supporters do is habitual. They attend matches and support the team because it is what they do. Some go on long unbroken runs of attending matches, travelling the country and/or collecting programmes. To some, the habit is so strong that major family events will be organised specifically so that they don't clash with matches. You might think that this is good for a CEO, because with that level of ingrained behaviour it is very difficult for someone to stop attending matches. However, there are two important concerns here for someone managing a club. Firstly, try not to disrupt the pattern of attendance too much or you run the risk of breaking people's habits. Secondly, once someone is out of the habit, they may find that other habits emerge and that the going to football one never comes back.
6. Atmosphere is very important to football, both to individual matches and the general atmosphere around a club. It is something that develops organically. Sometimes it develops slowly through custom and tradition, sometimes very quickly along with the spirit of the times, or 'zeitgeist' as they say on the continent. Through careful management, a good admosphere may be nurtured and encouraged. With bad management a positive atmoshpere can be killed stone dead. What can't be done though is to falsely create, impose or buy in a different atmosphere. Things just don't work like that.
7. The value of players is directly related to the perceived quality of the clubs on their cv and to the division of their current club. Let a club get relegated and you can expect that not only will any players of reasonable quality want to leave, but the amount that others are preparred to pay will be significantly reduced.
8. There's an old saying that successful teams have a blend of youth and experience. This isn't just some meaningless phrase though, it really is true. The older players benefit from the enthusiasm, speed and stamina of youth. The younger players benefit from experience, skill and know-how of playing with older heads. Having an imbalance in the team can mean that vital qualities are missing. The squad needs to be big enough to ensure the right balance of the two.
9. No matter how good the academy, you cannot guarantee a steady flow of young talent. We have been pretty lucky at Charlton in recent years. Perhaps one reason for this is that historically we've been known as a well run team. A team that nurtures its talent and uses it wisely. If word gets about that we are a club that uses and abuses its talented youngsters, we may do rather less well at recruiting young talent in the future. Who would let their child sign for a club where there is no stable management, where youngsters are over-used and then sold off hurriedly? Poor management at a higher level within the club could seriously undermine any amount of good work being done by academy coaches.
10. In many ways, football fans are just like the 'customers' of other businesses in the leisure 'industry'. If you mis-treat them, ignore them, dismiss them or lie to them they will not trust you. If they don't trust you, they will not uncritically go along with your plans. Some will quietly slip away, some will actively boycott, others will fight tooth and nail to remove you. And that, I'm afriad, is the hole that you have dug for yourself right now.
I wonder what New Year's gifts other Charlton fans would give you.
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I wonder what New Year's gifts other Charlton fans would give you.
A one way first class ticket to Brussels on Eurostar and a cab driven by a Spuds supporter of course to St Pancras...................to the account of the fans protest fund
1) With no fans, the revenues dwindle quickly to zero. Who wants to sponsor a team when no one is seeing the sponsorship? This is not a tricky point.
2) If you are a fan, you feel a sense of ownership due to longevity of support. This attachment is often longer than your current relationship, most often longer than any other relationship you may have or ever have. It is difficult to ruin this but unfortunately possible. Bad idea.
3) allied to skill is an ability to run into the ground for your team. We have some good skill but I don't see enough of the body on the line.
4)by the pitch is great. Two times this season I have not been able to buy the food I needed at half time. One time I had to leave because the boy was so hungry. Gross incompetence.
5) we have a lot we can do during home game time, having season tickets brings us back. If we don't renew that's money gone because we won't be back.
6) our season tickets are maybe too far down the west stand closer to the Jimmy seed than the covered end. Me, the boy and the ex are vocal supporters and regularly get told to sit down. We don't know and can't hear enough songs though. Surely we can help with this?
7) getting relegated is a stupid idea and it's worth around £10m at least to try and ensure that doesn't happen. And changes to the management etc
8) agreed. An average age of 22 is too young. when Diarra and JJ are your only experienced players, you are 2 to 3 players short. JBG is still young but maybe counts. Cousins is still too young to count.
9) can't be underestimated how well we have done and how the current position is likely to screw over many potential players. We stand a very good chance of screwing up something which could be a great asset. Probably the most difficult thing here.
10) I am great at digging holes for myself. Some I manage to climb out of it get help digging out. Only once or twice have I ever dug something so deep that I need to leave. This is one of those. Thanks for the investment and the effort to the current management and owner. It's gone too far now without success and now, as you must know, it's time for you to move on.
Thanks.
Something that strikes me day after day of late is that in this time of adversity, Lifers are excelling themselves with such great descriptions of their feelings as we rant, rage, plot and plan against the current regime.
Rarely have so many opened their hearts and their innermost thoughts about the cruel hand that has been dealt to their football club.
Rarely have so many laid bare their emotions & invited fellow sufferers to share their pain on a football forum.
What a pity we can't bottle all this angst & anger, tie a nice black & white ribbon around the neck and send it post haste to our favourite CEO as a New Year's Special gift from all her customers.
Sigh.....if only.
One whiff of the contents would definitely blow that smirk off her face.
The sad thing is that if she read what you wrote on a day when she didn't have her head up her arse, it would probably genuinely educate her.
She doesn't have a clue and the finger points at the businessman that thought it was the right thing to give her that job.
I am presently lifting elements of it (and from Bethany's) to put into my letter to Katrien explaining why I am not renewing my Keith Peacock Suite tickets, my shirt sponsorship, and my west stand car park space next season. That's a decent lump that they'll be down from my company next year. We'll be back when they are gone.
Curb it, Davo, very happy to stick a little bit into the fighting fund.
****CENSORED***