IMO, Sal, your overall approach is correct but the detail is where it all gets messy: on board must be a range of professional expertise - general business admin, marketing, finance, football, communication, networking.
then there's the intangibles: leadership, vision, charisma.
I think there are many combinations of the top bunch of attributes - most of which are covered on the current board & will be covered, I'm sure, on any challenging ticket.
But it's the intangibles that carry the team, supporters & even sponsors.
You can achieve what you need to achieve with the top batch, given time & general success - but , without success, you are also competing against the patience of the masses which is tough to do when the team is losing.
The difference, then, for us is the intangibles. This is what Eddie has in spades & the Bulldog Smorgan too. And, to an extent at Geelong. Fremantle, which is bordeline on intangibles, has struggled but achieved some success just in time to pull them through.
I think a lot of what GS has done is not so bad. HOW he did it is atrocious - it would have been silly to take Zantuck or Gardiner. But, this approach should have been clear to everyone including the coach well in advance & not announced in reaction.
Ironically, GS is suffering the same fate as Pagan - he may have an excellent record in business but is unable to carry the troops with him at Carlton.
That's where the money Vs plan debate comes in - $$ buys time for whoever is in power. but without a plan, we will be back again at the same point in 2yrs time.
money without a plan is kind of like our past recruiting strategy - just kicks the can down the road.
a plan without money is the bulldogs, geelong, richmond, hawthorn way... you can get there but it takes time & you need to set expectations appropriately.
the collingwood model = plan + money + intangibles. Unfortunately for them, they still have the colliwobbles.
So, bottom line:
We need a united board with all the business components mentioned above PLUS the intangibles. If we see a plan, all the better - & I think all tickets will showcase their plan before the AGM. These are the elements we should all be measuring the various tickets on.
(For what it's worth, I think Sticks has been harshly dealt with b/c of his often stated "I support the CFC & whoever is President has my support" line. He still plays in front & sometimes gets crunched from behind but club loyalty seems to be inshort supply at the moment & he is also going to keep Gibbs happy if things remain sour on the field...)
PS. We will still win a flag before Collingwood, Eddie or not...
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