WHY did Westaway last as long as he did?

[saintspremiers]

Can anyone understand why no one ousted him?

I've got very little good things to say about his rule.

Did nothing re keeping our image in tact and oversaw a period of significant instability.

Was there no powerbrokers ready to challenge?

Summers sounds better but is from the same ticket. Never heard of any other groups challenging???

Did Westaway really have to see out his term before someone else took over??

Is the crux of the issue we don't have enough powerful supporters left to get critical mass for a board challenge?

[Verdun66]

Good question. He always looked reluctant, and a bit irritated when the pressure was on. We don't have a supporter with the tools and will to become a strong effective President of the club. Or a figure who will get someone like that for us and convince that person to devote themselves. Too many factions and boys clubs. How else did Nettlefold get the gig on all that money? I'm not jealous of people on big money who get the job done, but it riles me when it doesn't.

Sounds like Netters fell on his sword given Caro's article. He was going to get shafted/boned anyway. Please can they get someone competent as CEO, and an inspirational Prez wouldn't go astray. Summers is an improvement but maybe still short of what we really need.

[bennymac5]

Agree completely with Westaway. He was completely anonymous and was happy to let the football department run the club. His refusal to accept let alone attempt to our culture problems was appalling.

Disagree on Summers though, in a couple of months in charge, he has sacked a coach, identified our culture flaws and is doing something about it. Don't let his lack of assurance/reasoning in a meaningless press conference give you a false perception of him.

[saintspremiers]

Agree completely with Westaway. He was completely anonymous and was happy to let the football department run the club. His refusal to accept let alone attempt to our culture problems was appalling.

Disagree on Summers though, in a couple of months in charge, he has sacked a coach, identified our culture flaws and is doing something about it. Don't let his lack of assurance/reasoning in a meaningless press conference give you a false perception of him.

I have not made up my mind either way re Summers. If he is as good as you say then why didn't he take over earlier?

[gringo]

Agree completely with Westaway. He was completely anonymous and was happy to let the football department run the club. His refusal to accept let alone attempt to our culture problems was appalling.

Disagree on Summers though, in a couple of months in charge, he has sacked a coach, identified our culture flaws and is doing something about it. Don't let his lack of assurance/reasoning in a meaningless press conference give you a false perception of him.

I don't get why anyone expected Summers to say why Watters was sacked. They can't come out and say "he was a controlling freak with communication issues and random structures that are made up on the hop. All the players hate him and he's very short."

He seems like a nut buster I think he will be good.

[spert]

The club is now suffering from decisions made over the last few years, and it really indicates a lack of strong and innovative leadership in that time, no other way to put it. To fix this club will show what Summers is made of.. I hope it's a mixture of strength and smarts.

[Legendary]

I have not made up my mind either way re Summers. If he is as good as you say then why didn't he take over earlier?

Probably out of respect for the fact that Westaway was approaching his full term, had overseen 5 finals series in his time in charge, and had resourced the football department (which is what he promised to do when he was hired).

Summers is very good in two areas: leadership and finance.

We need both right now. He is a very determined person and will make an excellent president, I think he has started off very well. He is effectively acting as our CEO at the moment, but will step back once we get the right person in that position (as he should).

[Cairnsman]

Where is Butters these days? He had flair and businesses acumen. Could he ever make a return?

[Saintmatt]

Agree completely with Westaway. He was completely anonymous and was happy to let the football department run the club. His refusal to accept let alone attempt to our culture problems was appalling.

Disagree on Summers though, in a couple of months in charge, he has sacked a coach, identified our culture flaws and is doing something about it. Don't let his lack of assurance/reasoning in a meaningless press conference give you a false perception of him.

I don't get why anyone expected Summers to say why Watters was sacked. They can't come out and say "he was a controlling freak with communication issues and random structures that are made up on the hop. All the players hate him and he's very short."

He seems like a nut buster I think he will be good.

Gringo - that is the funniest piece of prose I've read all week. Absolute gold. Cheered up my rainy Saturday morning no end. Thanks.

[Saintmatt]

I have not made up my mind either way re Summers. If he is as good as you say then why didn't he take over earlier?

Probably out of respect for the fact that Westaway was approaching his full term, had overseen 5 finals series in his time in charge, and had resourced the football department (which is what he promised to do when he was hired).

Summers is very good in two areas: leadership and finance.

We need both right now. He is a very determined person and will make an excellent president, I think he has started off very well. He is effectively acting as our CEO at the moment, but will step back once we get the right person in that position (as he should).

+1. Peter is a Chartered Accountant and a long serving CEO of a business (AV Jennings) that has had some very difficult times throughout the GFC. He may not have charisma but who the hell cares if he gets it done. He will be stellar .... he just needs a good CEO now to implement his board's strategic planning

[Eastern]

Can anyone understand why no one ousted him?

I've got very little good things to say about his rule.

Did nothing re keeping our image in tact and oversaw a period of significant instability.

Was there no powerbrokers ready to challenge?

Summers sounds better but is from the same ticket. Never heard of any other groups challenging???

Did Westaway really have to see out his term before someone else took over??

Is the crux of the issue we don't have enough powerful supporters left to get critical mass for a board challenge?

I have NO IDEA how Greg Westaway performed during Board Meetings of the St Kilda Football Club, and I suspect NEITHER DO YOU. I do know that he was more of a "Behind the Scenes President" !!

[stinger]

Where is Butters these days? He had flair and businesses acumen. Could he ever make a return?

no...scumbag ..imho

[Enrico_Misso]

Alwaysaway had no profile.
He never stood up for the club.
When "journalists" (sorry muckrakers) like CW were berating the club about the "schoolgirl" affair he never stood up and diffused all the rubbish with a few home truths.
On any football issue you would regularly see Maguire, Collis, Kennet , Costa, Smorgan etc. etc strongly putting their club's point of view.
But Alwaysaway was always missing - right.

I'm sure he is a nice man.
His 50 years of membership speaks to his loyalty and heart.
He would make a very good president of a lawn bowls or RSL club where there are no demanding issues to address.
But he just wasn't a good president.

From what I have seen of Summers so far, he doesn't seem to be an enigmatic star media performer.
But he does seem to have some very clear aspirations for our club and will move mountains to achieve them.
He has a sharp intellect and is a doer.
I think he is exactly what we need.

[spert]

It appeared to me like Westaway was reluctant in the CEO role and was happy as a successful business man and club supporter to do the role..this is purely my opinion. At the end of the day we are a club in turmoil after all that, no further premierships, looking for a coach and CEO, finances in trouble, difficulty attracting big sponsors etc. I don't think Butters and the board at that stage would have done any worse, and may have even done better..my opinion again

[Johnny Member]

Lets not forget though, that on his watch we very, very nearly won two flags.

[Kickit]

It appeared to me like Westaway was reluctant in the CEO role and was happy as a successful business man and club supporter to do the role..this is purely my opinion. At the end of the day we are a club in turmoil after all that, no further premierships, looking for a coach and CEO, finances in trouble, difficulty attracting big sponsors etc. I don't think Butters and the board at that stage would have done any worse, and may have even done better..my opinion again

CEO?

[saintsRrising]

Lets not forget though, that on his watch we very, very nearly won two flags.

Wheels were in motion for that before he arrived......and indeed may have been a factor in him not thinking he and the Board needed to do more.

Lyon and Misson were all in play...and so he would have just been in the right spot right time.

Look I am sure he loves the club. But I would tend to think that he came in more because he wanted to see Butters gone, than because he had any real vision on how to progress the club, and that is not enough reason for anyone to become the president.

The initial stability was good, but that was just masking the morbidity. Being stable, just made us unstable.

[70s sainter]

Because the ceo probably felt comfortable and not threatened by his presence. Neither of them could survive without the other as they were both hopeless .Name one positive thing that has happened under their leadership.
More members? -no
More sponsorship?-no
more dept?- yes
same controversies?-yes
A decent coach?-no
Great facilities?-no

Positives - a decent list manager and recruiting team.

[WinnersOnly]

Can anyone understand why no one ousted him?

I've got very little good things to say about his rule.

Did nothing re keeping our image in tact and oversaw a period of significant instability.

I think the CEO is at the club all the time and they are in charge of the day to day running of the club - a more pertinent question would be to ask HOW has Nettlefold lasted this long? Perhaps we can blame Westaway for leaving Nettlefold fleece the club for as long as he has. He is the highest paid individual at the club and has seen one disaster after another during his time.

Poor player management.
Poor media management.
Loss of resultant sponsors.
Poor recruiting policies perpetuated by the Lovett trade.
Poor player development.
Poorly resourced recruitment team.
Allowed LYON to become an enigma.
Allowed LYON to leave the club.
Oversaw the hiring and sacking of WATTERS costing $$$.
Club in poor financial condition.

I think Nettlefold has a lot more to be accountable for than Westaway which is a nominal role.

[Dave McNamara]

+1. Peter is a Chartered Accountant and a long serving CEO of a business (AV Jennings) that has had some very difficult times throughout the GFC. He may not have charisma but who the hell cares if he gets it done. He will be stellar .... he just needs a good CEO now to implement his board's strategic planning

What do you (and many others) base that optimism on Matt? (Btw, I agree with both your points re the charisma thing. )

Summers has been overseeing the finances from his board position for several years now, yet...
The balance sheet is draining away.
Another huge trading loss for this financial year.
Today's 'customer satisfaction' figures are pretty abysmal, and look no better than decades ago.

I sure hope AVJ have done better under his stewardship...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83818&p=1414212#p1414212

'matt, I don't think that the GFC started in Aug 1998...

[Dave McNamara]

From what I have seen of Summers so far, he doesn't seem to be an enigmatic star media performer.
But he does seem to have some very clear aspirations for our club and will move mountains to achieve them.
He has a sharp intellect and is a doer.
I think he is exactly what we need.

Doer? Here are some of the mountains that he's moved with his sharp intellect Enrico...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83818&p=1414212#p1414212

Based on history, I think he is exactly what we have had too much of.

[fugazi]

cos he had "rights" ?

[BigMart]

He was invisible so no one took any notice of him..... Humphrey B Bear president....

[dragit]

From what I have seen of Summers so far, he doesn't seem to be an enigmatic star media performer.
But he does seem to have some very clear aspirations for our club and will move mountains to achieve them.
He has a sharp intellect and is a doer.
I think he is exactly what we need.

Doer? Here are some of the mountains that he's moved with his sharp intellect Enrico...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83818&p=1414212#p1414212

Based on history, I think he is exactly what we have had too much of.

Can you pull up the share price history of the other 17 presidents companies too Dave?

You seem to love this reference, but I'm not sure how relevant it is to presiding over a football club.

[stinger]

From what I have seen of Summers so far, he doesn't seem to be an enigmatic star media performer.
But he does seem to have some very clear aspirations for our club and will move mountains to achieve them.
He has a sharp intellect and is a doer.
I think he is exactly what we need.

Doer? Here are some of the mountains that he's moved with his sharp intellect Enrico...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83818&p=1414212#p1414212

Based on history, I think he is exactly what we have had too much of.

Can you pull up the share price history of the other 17 presidents companies too Dave?

You seem to love this reference, but I'm not sure how relevant it is to presiding over a football club.

it's all getting a bit boring dave...really....