Probably not what everyone has been waiting for. I would never deny "the owner's right" to do something, but can I question it? GT describes the JW departure as sorry to see him leave - big understatement! But he then goes on to explain that BtB wants to make every decision so essentially there wasn't room for him. May I say "thank you for the clarification", that statement explains what has happened - though not the timing or sudden impact of it. My fear is I agreed with JW a lot, but I don't trust BtB one bit. I now expect BtB to pick up JW's £150k salary (and that will look great on his credit record). Quite simply I am not happy, but I thank GT for the clarity.
Well the difference is clear - Ashcroft never became involved with the club and was only interested so far as his investment. Therfore Julian Winter ran the club and very well but now we have an owner who does want to take an interest so what is the point paying JW when now he has worked alongside Bassini and effectivly carried out a handover of responsabilities over a 3 month period. Seems perfectly reasonable from both sides. Trouble is that us fans have yet to trust or believe in the new owner - maybe in a few months he will have won us over. To be honest the club seem to be running pretty efficiently and the transparency of the player deals was refreshing; even though there is work going on around the ground he needs to get his point accross as there is a lot of discontent at the moment.
Chris, looks like you've hit the nail on the head and all those calling on Ashcroft to be more involved cant now moan when Baz is, yes 3 months is a good period to work out the intricacies of whats going on and grab the reins. Its still early days and the only crime really comitted is appointing a poor PR firm to advise, with a bit of coaching I'm sure we can get there.....
At least he has spoken, and my guess from that is that he'll be staying put. But it throws up the same, simple question we have been asking all along. When the entire money trail is taken into account, who owns Watford Football Club?
NNW, you seem to be one of the few from this site who lives near Watford. Has there been anything about the interview that the WO were trailing between them and Mr.B?
Excellent question NNW ,and I wonder if GT even knows, His comment speaks volumes and he is obviously not thrilled!!! That said Chris `s post makes a lot of sense ,so are we ready for another rollercoaster ride? I too was pleased and surprised at the transparency of the transfer deals, if not the amounts! Work has been done on the pitch and the sw corner ,even if its sticky plaster work its something! More time will tell! Aberdeen was right a decent PR company would have helped his image heaps!
GTs statement in the interim report earlier in the year, are we following this ethos? "To the Future I make no apology at all for reiterating my sentiments in my previous Chairman’s statement in June, where I placed on record the Board’s thanks to all members of the Club’s staff for their outstanding commitment and dedication each and every day. We remain certain that the provision of open – and, where possible, informal – communication between key Club figures and supporters is fundamental to generating a feeling of togetherness and unity, the like of which this Club has used to its advantage in previous years. Once again, on behalf of the Club, I’d like to offer gratitude to those of you who have, in whatever way, backed Watford and its aims. Thank you in advance for your continued support."
The most important sentence in this story is the one that says Mr B is taking over all major decision making and we are becoming an "owner managed club" . Mr B is just not credible as the "owner manger" of a business the size of Watford FC. Does he really think he can run such a complex business, in which he has no experience, by himself? He has hardly shown a sure touch so far, and his secretive approach is not what a supporter based business like a football club needs.He needs to be providing vision . leadership and establishing a credible management team, while building solidarity with the supporters and local media. So far, just the opposite has happened. And now he is in sole charge! I ask you--would you invest in a business of which Mr B has sole charge?
Roger to be fair Watford FC is little more than a corner shop in terms of business complication. I agree regarding leadership and particularly the point about team and inclusion of all stakeholders. Its true that the publicly availabler information is not inspiring but step back and think, 7 million pounds does not appear by magic and such capital sum invested in football would indicate a personal wealth of over 25 million, as such Mr B must have some success he is not trumpeting and thats up to him. Either that or you go for the backer theories either way he would have to be convincing to the financial community or a personal success, they're the only options as I see them. Its clear hes going to be in the driving seat, GT made it clear reminding us he is non exec that he is not running and doesnt want to run the business. The challenge for Mr B is to build that team between himself, the player management and the non execs that then makes the fans at large believe, ie. put himself in JWs shoes but with his hand on the pursestrings and able to make fast effective descisions with immediate action which is an advantage over the old regime that needed to go back to Fordwat to regularly.
Aberdeen--but a football club --even one as small as Watford--is probably a more complex business than an hotel , a restaurant, a strip club and "Mutitrade",whatever that was. And if running a football club is so easy, why are so many in such financial difficulties and why do two or three a season go into administration? You may be right, and Mr B (with or without his "secret backers" ) may make a go of it. Most owners of football clubs, like most Prime Ministers, start in optimism and end in disappointment. Mr B may be the first to reverse this pattern. But somehow I doubt it.
Aberdeen - in a simple vote I would disagree with you. I agree with Roger's views. As for Baz owning a car wash .......... I know from a very good source he used to own a "small property development company". Since his bankruptcy he has lost credibility in property development I hear. I still believe he is "playing with" someone else's money as I cannot believe Aberdeen's viewpoint of his financial worth. But I cannot believe someone else would put a bankrupt in charge of his investment - Simple.
As for football being a "simple business, nothing special", we can debate this for a long time. What I do know is the football club and all of its assets are worth approx £20m, and Watford's debt was £15m which was widely acknowledged to be on the limit of Barclays Bank and Lord Ashcroft, hence the season ticket advance from Ticketus Services 35. Recovering any business from the edge of insolvency isn't simple. Trying to do it when you have thousands of customers which ensures the business is in the limelight means IMO making a success of Watford FC is not straightforward. For this reason I have resisted the temptation to propose a supporter led buyout of the club.
Everybody thinks other people's jobs are simple - well running WFC is not simple. Whatever way we look at it Baz's ownership does not make sense. If he has men with money behind him - how did he gain their credibility with his track record and bankruptcy. If it is his own money then how did a bankrupt go from zero to several millions in two years without anyone being able to see what ventures he was involved in. The only solution I can offer is that when he was bankrupt there were several millions kicking around that just happened not to belong to him and so be able to pay his creditors - tucked away in the family no doubt.
We should give Baz a chance but there are too many unanswered questions. The Wobby should get after him...!!
