Perth Glory FC have been pretty up-front with how badly their financial dealings have been going lately. In a somewhat rare honest admission from the current administration (“Yeah, of course we know how transfer and loan deals work...”) the club’s CEO Paul Kelly stated "We lost three or four million dollars last season and we'll possibly lose three million dollars this year”, though owner Tony Sage says he remains committed to Perth’s future.
Now while Monty Python tells us it’s fun to charter an accountant (and sail the wide accountancy) the club’s form with hirings lately doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Certainly those charged with building a team that can win matches haven’t excelled in their role, and the club’s administration have overseen an extended holiday for Chris Coyne (“a 14, a 7, a 9 and lychees...”) and some late starts for Josh Mitchell and Michael Baird. Besides, I’m not even sure how many good chartered accountants hail from Glasgow nowadays.
So with that in mind I’ve dusted off the old Financial Accounting 101 textbook, created a new spreadsheet, and put out my stall to offer my services for free. With some cost-cutting here and a discount or two there, I’m offering Tony Sage some real savings that will reduce the strain on his wallet - and the man himself.
Hire Football People
Right now, inasmuch as I can tell, the club’s administration is made up of ex-business execs, uni graduates, and people with some sort of background in PR, secretarial work, or commerce. In this, there is a distinct lack of what I will term football people. These are people who have a passion for the game in one way or another; and as far as I see it they fit in two distinct groups.
Group one is the person who knows football administration - transfers (*AHEM*), regulations, and FIFA red tape. Group two are the people who are fans of the game - and therefore understand the passion and emotion that comes with supporting a team. Currently, Perth Glory’s administration lacks both. The problem with this is that they a) don’t understand their target audience, and b) don’t seem to grasp the best way to operate within the market.
I believe replacing some of our current staff with people from these groups will improve customer relations, ensure better strategies and decisions are made off-field, and give the club a healthier outlook going forward. Football-focussed people with a bit of business acumen are the ideal candidates to work at a football club.
Tangible benefit: N/A
Intangible benefit: Increased PR, increased product knowledge, Prevention of reputation loss.
Poach-A-Coach
At the end of this season, I fear - unfortunately - that the FFA will let the North Queensland franchise wither and die, freeing up a few players (those that haven’t already been taken) and one rather experienced and charismatic European coach. Likewise, I feel it’s pretty likely that Sydney will again shoot themselves in the foot and part with their championship-winning Czech manager. Here then we have two prime candidates who are superior to Ian Ferguson by any measure, ripe for the picking.
By grabbing either Lavicka or Straka (preferably the latter for his Bernd-like PR) and signing them to a 2 year deal, the club gives them the opportunity to rebuild the squad and then have a real crack at a title the following year, Coolen or Ange style. It also avoids the cost of flights, telephone calls, and interviews with foreign candidates who would inevitably be looked at when Ferguson’s reign draws to an end.
Tangible benefit: Costs of finding and interviewing overseas candidates.
Intangible benefit: Higher quality football, better player-coach relations, better PR
Weak and Fowlerless
Robbie Fowler is a modern football legend - of that there is no doubt. He is, however, an ageing legend whose price tag means he no longer provides value for money. The nine goals he has scored this season hides that only five were scored from open play - and the fact that nobody else is scoring at the same rate reflects more on how poor the Glory’s finishing has been, as opposed to Fowler’s being prolific.
Some may argue that Fowler has brought great PR and more fans to the club - and indeed, he has. Or, more accurately, did. Those who turned up curious to learn about this Fowler fella soon stayed away once they saw how the rest of the team played. I don’t think I’m being overly cruel here - even owner Tony Sage can see this from the club’s attendance figures. In Western Australia, a succession of losses - with poor entertainment value to boot - ensures that the fickle Perth public loses any interest that a Fowler-esque figure can bring.
Thus the solution is to remove Rob and use his wages to pull in a younger, more useful marquee who can be used to make the whole team play better football; a creative midfielder would be lovely. The lack of ‘star’ power with this signing would be more than compensated for by having a more effective footballer in the marquee slot - and the fans brought in by wins and better quality football that come with it would easily balance out the loss of scouse bandwagoners.
Tangible benefit: est. $600,000 / year
Intangible benefit: Less scousers
Don’t Loan Out Your Best Players Into The A-League Season
This should be somewhat straightforward, yes? I’ve nothing against players going on loan in the off-season to stay fit or save the club some money - in fact, I think more A-League teams should be sending players (especially younger ones or ageing veterans in need of extra work) on short-term loans to state league sides. If the players wish to go overseas to maintain fitness, that’s fine as well. But for crying out loud - don’t make these loans last any further than 2 weeks before the A-League season begins!
The Chris Coyne Chinese Club Crisis shows exactly how badly this can go; and how poorly a club and player can handle something as supposedly straightforward as transfer and loan dealings (refer to needing more football people above). Coyne is, quite simply, one of our best players. In many people’s minds he was the mortar to Andy Todd’s bricks last year- and together they chewed through a number of opposition attackers. While Josh Mitchell (surprisingly, I’ll admit) seems to be developing into a competent centre back for us, the fact remains that Chris Coyne is the only quality centre back we’ll have next year... assuming he’s not loaned out to French Guinea to improve his Socceroos chances.
You know what? If clubs come calling in the off-season and we’re going to screw up a loan deal again, let’s loan Mile Sterjovski instead. When he’s switched on, he is amongst the best players in the league - the problem being he seems to be on some sort of energy-saving timer. At all other times he is simply an Australian-marquee-sized passenger in the wage budget.
Tangible benefit: N/A
Intangible benefit: Lack of fan anger, Not conceding the most goals in the league, Prevention of reputation loss.
So, here are four simple ways for Perth Glory FC to save a bit of money and increase their social currency. Social currency, you say - what’s the point of that?
Well, what A-League franchises need to recognise is that first and foremost they should be targeting football fans with their actions. Now this may seem counter-productive if we wish to bring new faces into the football family, but the fact is why would Joe Bloggs show any interest in football if football people don’t? We as fans are often fickle - it’s a great luxury being able to say we know more than those in power, when in fact we don’t have to put up with the consequences when our grand plans go wrong - but it is something else altogether when such fans stop coming to games altogether; or even worse, stop caring.
Some clubs, unfortunately including my own, seem to be approaching this from the wrong way - let’s bring the public in first, and put football fans second. It’s a strategy akin to a small retail store that prefers putting up SALE! SALE! SALE! rather than give good customer service. Just come in, buy the product, and get out. It simply doesn’t work. When you lose a football game or two, the public goes away. But fans always stay - right up until the point that they realise an administration is practically trying to get rid of them.
Supply those same fans with a team to be proud of, a group of players with as much pride in the shirt as the supporters have, and they are the world’s best marketing tool; anyone alive for the Perth Glory games of the late nineties would attest to that. That tool can then be used by Tony Sage as he wishes - to put us on the map in Asia, to attract new faces to the game, hell - even to close business deals in South America if he wants.
But if you keep targeting the wrong audience, if you fail to grasp how the market works, or you just ignore your most loyal customer - well, even the most basic business student can tell you how that turns out.
