Chaos at FC Esbjerg

It's all extremely bizarre. I said a few years ago that they could follow the pattern at Nice, where they essentially threaten the existence of a club to drive over the odds offers to generate a return having paid off their original stake through the clubs they've acquired. And if they are lucky, they get a bit of success here or there. That was very much a fringe opinion, but given the mess they are leaving everywhere and the sole success they seem to have is upsetting the fans, it may not be far off.

You'd think owning multiple clubs that they'd try and have them working together to get the best ideas and utilise them everywhere. But El Ahmad said he never talks to the other clubs. Bizarre bizarre bizarre.

 

We need to get Scooby Doo and Shaggy on to em .

 

And some supporter's of our club are still saying is there anyone really better to take over our football club!

 

Conway is Barnsley's answer to Miley Cyrus.

 

That's our problem. The main thing that could see us go bust is the ground issue. I can't see anybody wanting to make a success here unless they own the whole kit and caboodle.

 

Don't smell my fart my eggy, eggy fart.

 

There's some of that going off between other clubs in the group. Ganaye, for example, spreads himself very thinly between three of them.

 

Ganaye was appointed by Patrick Cryne. I've a suspicion that the mass signings made pre season in 2017 were funded by the consortium well before the deal was publicly ratified. There's sumat we don't know. That could also be linked to the payments to the Cryne's etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the signings of Mcgeehan, Thiam and co were leverage of some sought.

 

I think everyone on here knows that in the early days of this regime I was excited and more than willing to cut them some slack for what I assumed were teething problems. But now I know those teething problems are obviously just their standard operating procedures, it's the same at all their clubs, the similarities are frightening.

Like you say, they have a continental network of professional clubs, why on earth would they not capitalise on that? Build on what works, remove what doesn't, share knowledge, resources, personnel... But no, with the exception of some bizarre loan deals they all operate in complete isolation.

 

I do not think that is the case , I think everyone of us wants this lot out of our club asap but the question is who potentially can we turn to , when this mob took over there was not exactly a queue forming , I would love to hear the news that they have put the club for sale but we cannot have another set of numpties taking the reigns , ideally someone with an allegiance to the town or club, someone who cares , but where do we find someone ?

 

They're just the scapegoat, their way IS THE ONLY WAY.

Yours
Pluie rouge

 

Which makes it all the more bizarre that El Ahmad seemingly doesn't get involved in knowledge sharing. I'm sure it still happens, but around a decade ago, there were groups of clubs (not associated) who had regular roundtable meetings to discuss what they did, what systems they used and shared best practices. You'd think the whole point of a multi ownership structure was to share across the group.

 

The only way to stand up to these horrible basteds is to vote with our feet, it’s the only way! We will not see on the field improvements with these at the helm with their daft policy’s. If you want a football fix go & support your local non league sides. We need to stand up to these charlatans.

 

The article has a great deal of crossover with our own experiences, but with specific allegations of the type of matchday interference that we've only alluded to. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there have been instructions for certain players to get game-time, but there's no obvious evidence of such, as there is in this case.

I do think that Poya and Schopp are weak enough appointments as coaches to tolerate such interference, and perhaps that explains their appointments into coaching roles that are too big a step up for them. I don't see that Val, Struber (despite his insistence on playing Ritzmaier), Stendel or Hecky would be tolerant of such, which perhaps explains why they left when clearly dissatisfied or took the opportunity to move on at the first opportunity. The more obvious names in the frame that many of us wanted to see appointed after Schopp would also not stand for interference in team selection or transfer policy, which is why I have little confidence that we'll see a 'sensible' coaching appointment anytime soon.

The quote about preferring not to win vs deviating from the pressing game is absolutely in line with my expectations, although I never expected to see a direct quote given to that effect, based on what I've seen take place at Oakwell over the last 3 years. Results are very obviously a secondary priority in the way the club is being run.

There's a fantastic opportunity for some investigative journalism to link all these separate stories together. We've seen enough discontent coming out the other clubs in the wider group, but they're all reported as isolated stories. The inter-group transfer dealings look 'unusual' so it makes you wonder just what's going on when looked at as a whole. The only thing they seem to be successful at is getting clubs relegated, or close to it, in their respective divisions.

 

This is dynamite. Whilst something is lost in translation, there seem to be a lot of parallels with our situation. Asbaghi has never looked comfortable, nor particularly happy, nor particularly animated and, if he is subject to just a hint of this style of governance at board level, that it really not surprising. There is a key difference between management and governance and the manager (or head coach) HAS to be given a free hand to impose his ideas and selections. Governors (the board) rarely have the experience and capability to do this. If a sound manager with EFL experience is allowed to manage next season, we could turn things around. If not ......... When will members of the board realise the damage they could do by following this mantra without recognising reality? How far would we, or Ejsberg, have to sink for sense to prevail. Get a manager/coach with EFL experience and let him manage before it's too late.

 

I agree, it needs to be picked up by one of the big papers.

 

It might come out that they don't have any money at all and it's an elaborate hoax that's spiralled out of control. We could become the next Aldershot or Notts County.

 

As an aside it's Paul Conway's SPACS model that has me concerned. It's designed to get people investing in a portfolio of clubs in Europe. However, I can't possibly see what they're getting in return for that investment. It seems like a con to me.

As it's already been mentioned it's about time the tabloids got involved.

 

Rob Staton is on the case, I quoted the tweet and tagged Rob along with Doug O Kane and the Football Heaven team to see if they could do some digging. A Danish journalist has reached out and hopefully can give Rob the info needed