The Buzz From Dean Court – October ‘07
February 2, 2010 by admin
Filed under AFCB - News Archive 07-09
We conducted the interview this Wednesday (24th October), in the midst of escalating pressure and speculation. At the time, it was being suggested that Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly had ‘gone to ground’ and were avoiding answering questions put to them. We certainly didn’t find this to be the case. They asked us not to publish this until Friday 26th October because they had one of the regular meetings referred to in this article with Kevin Bond the following day and in the light of increased pressure wished to conduct that first and release a statement of their own prior to any media comments.
The impression we gained was one of two individuals who have probably, from the first day of ownership spent their waking hours trying to find solutions in very difficult circumstances. Money, as ever is the main issue and certainly it seems that positive changes have been made and executive management appears to be more competent and transparent. They explained how the budgets set and thus the actionable plans have been compromised by the withdrawal of investors and perhaps more worringly, the low attendances – which are probably responsible for a £100,000 shortfall alone. Other aspects that are beyond their control have not gone smoothly either – Buzz had already reported on the delays and long timelines concerning the East Stand Development (see articles below), so they unquestionably have to find new ways to plug unexpected shortfalls on a regular basis.
Of course, most would argue that the attendance shortfall was entirely down to the team performance and that is probably true, but they make the comment that sometimes you have to fight your way through pain to get out of adverse situations – that quitting or withdrawing support will not help.
On the subject of the manager, they were candid about what they expected and the resources at his disposal. Whilst they would not be drawn into too much detail prior to the release of their statement, they did emphasise that the manager was made fully aware of the budgets and has been granted complete authority regarding squad and team selection.
As they made clear in the statement they made yesterday and as is touched upon in this interview, they are sympathetic to aspects such as the injury situation and regard the position at what is a comparatively early stage of the season to be recoverable. They also stressed though that obvious performance expectations exist and that the resources that the manager has to work with will not change.
Read what they had to say and let us have your feedback so we can follow up on this on Buzz and with the club.
Email us at: buzzforinfo@goooglemail.com
So Jeff, it’s your first executive role at a football club – does it feel like a baptism of fire yet?
JM: “I would like to use the analogy that someone comes along and offers you the chance to buy a fantastic classic car. You’re told it needs about £10,000 of restoration work, but it’s exciting and it’s worth doing. Let’s say that the deal has to be done quickly and there is an element of trust in it. A short time down the line, you find that there are a lot of hidden problems – it’s going to take 5 times as much investment to restore and you have to make a commitment to dig deeper or walk away and write off the original investment. That’s the situation that Steve and I faced. What we’ve done is to dig deeper because we think it’s worth it”
What do you feel you have achieved thus far?
SS: “To take Jeff’s analogy a bit further, we have patched up some of the bodywork and got it back on the road, but there’s a lot of work still to be done before the restoration is completed”
Alright – let’s get a little more specific – what’s improved and what’s still to be done?
SS: “We’ve reorganised the way the business works and that’s bringing in results such as the recent sponsorship revenues and of course we have paid off the CVA, so some of the threat level has been reduced. When our proposals were accepted, we set one specific target, which has been well publicised – to ensure that the club was playing football at the start of the season. Believe me, even that was a serious challenge. As to what has to be done – we have targets across the board and frankly, in this business, the ground shifts constantly beneath your feet, so we work on a system of constant performance reviews”
OK – you have raised the subject of performance reviews, so the first question on that subject is financial. How secure is the club now?
JM: “As I’ve already mentioned, the business needs more investment – we’ve never said otherwise. Our initial work and personal investment stopped a total collapse. After the rescue, the next step was to substantiate that the business could be run better and could become a going concern. The club is being run better. We can demonstrate this to supporters, sponsors, investors, advertisers etc. There will be a special event on 1st November – the attendees will see for themselves that pretty much all that is missing now is the right level of investment – and if we get that, then our backers can look forward to reaping genuine rewards from the business”
You didn’t say though that it is a going concern at the moment
JM: “Steve mentioned shifting ground. You set budgets and performance reviews and then for example find that your gate revenues are considerably lower than forecast – and we certainly weren’t being over-optimistic with our forecasts. That punches a big hole in everything and makes life more difficult”
That really leads us on to the second part of the performance review question – the gates are low almost certainly because of the results on the pitch, so what are you doing about that?
JM: “We view that much the same way that we view the commercial side of the business – all are interconnected, You can argue that there is not enough investment going into the playing side and you can argue that the playing side is equally affecting the revenues, so you can’t divorce the two and we don’t try to in terms of our responsibilities concerning performance”
There’s no staying away from this – since we arranged this interview, you have come under considerably more pressure. In effect, you are being presented with an ultimatum in the local media – are you going to answer it?
JM: “Yes. To suggest that there are only two choices concerning the manager’s position is clearly not true. Looking at it from a purely business view, Kevin is under contract and has accepted the challenge of managing a team at this level with limited resources, As executives of the business, our responsibility has been to support him within the well understood constraints. As with any manager in any business, he has a responsibility to deliver results and again, as with any business, the performance of key staff is kept under review. Responsible executives do everything they can to get the best out of their line managers”
Will there be additional support available to the manager?
JM: “I’ve previously mentioned the Manager will have to manage with the resources he has at his disposal, or suggest a way of maintaining financial parity. It has to be understood that whilst the executives run the club, we do not interfere with the playing side of the game. The budgets for the team were clarified at the outset and have even been extended as we felt circumstances warranted some additional support. The manager here has enjoyed complete autonomy in terms of who is brought in, who goes and who plays within the well understood budgets”
Have you been stung by the criticism and pressures from the newspaper ultimatum and some fans?
SS: “Of course. For a start Jeff and me have basically bought the two most expensive season tickets by a mile. We are passionate about the task we have undertaken and about the club. We have demonstrated our commitment and our passion in several ways. We are literally the biggest supporters in the club. The idea that we could be shaken off sound business ethics and practice by being presented with an ultimatum that immediately does more damage than good is almost insulting – and if we were railroaded into a knee-jerk decision by something like this, then I think people should really start asking questions about our leadership and management principles”
So what should the fans think now?
SS: “For the first time in a long time, straight questions have been met with straight answers. We have engaged with the fans in ways not seen before. It might be a bit painful at times to watch performances that fall below expectations on the pitch but maybe all of our expectations are set too high – God knows everyone understands how that affects me, but there are times you have to dig deep and motivate yourself beyond that and just get behind the club.. We are trying to help out in every way we can to make that happen. We have just introduced another incentive with the special offer of free and discounted tickets for the MK Dons match and the reason we have done that is because we know that if we can lower the cost to fans for matches like these in what are difficult times, then we raise the possibility of more revenues and more support for the team. What I hope they are thinking is that we are making a hell of an effort and that they go at least part of the way to matching that by fighting through the pain barrier and backing the club”
