Communications disaster

The statement from Charlton Athletic yesterday concerning speculation around the appointment of a new manager attempted to absolve Thomas Sandgaard from any responsibility for the ongoing failure to name anyone and perhaps, unhelpfully, confirm that Ben Garner has not been appointed (yet?).

Social media has changed the game in terms of communications and managing it is critical, especially for big businesses with high numbers of interested 'customers.' Done well and it can be a powerful medium - but done badly and it can ruin you. The WIOTOS acronym (When It's On The Official Site) is often cited amongst supporters but the club has a responsibility to manage communications before anything is finally confirmed on it's website or else it ends up in the position it has found itself in.

What is clear is that champion local journalist (SLP) Rich Cawley had enough evidence to announce the impending appointment of Swindon's Ben Garner on 25th May as the next manager. With hindsight, he may have jumped the gun but if he has two good sources confirming the same thing, then he is safe to go. The speculation that has followed, largely from supporters, has not helped but the club has allowed this to happen. Where was the cast-iron Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) that should have prevented the few people in the know from leaking anything about his possible appointment or invoked a quick end to negotiations if they did leak anything?

Since then we have had fans telling us that the delay is over Swindon's compensation, Garner's salary, bonus or exit terms as well as his desired management team. Speculation over the possible appointment of Swindon's Director of Football who resigned suddenly last week has also stoked the fires. 

Unhelpful Tweets from Thomas Sandgaard and Raelynn Moroney haven't helped, even if what they have said has been factually correct i.e. no final decision has been taken. All that has served to do is strengthen the rumours as to why not.

This failure now leaves us in a position where Sandgaard may now be forced to ditch the manager he had chosen (possibly after being rejected by his preferred choice/s) because he decides he now needs to bring things to a closure on the Garner front or possibly complete his appointment which could look reluctant. Neither outcome is a winner for Charlton Athletic. 

Confirming that Garner won't be the new manager might mean we have lost a candidate he was convinced by and/or result in an ongoing delay to appoint someone else which threatens to disrupt our pre-season preparation for a second year. Appointing him would need a pretty good explanation to accommodate the delay and that would likely confirm at least some of the speculation which really wouldn't be helpful. Did he really lose Michael Beale or Matt Taylor over his preferred recruitment approach? Is he expecting to get someone on the cheap or on unrealistic exit terms? Are we focused more on avoiding failure than achieving success?

Do we really want to appoint a manager who believes he has to compromise too much over recruitment, who can't have the team he believes he needs to be successful around him or who will start the job unhappy with his remuneration or the clubs ability to tear-up his contract without any significant costs? Any of those issues would inevitably affect player recruitment too and that doesn't bode well for a happy ship.

In the wider world, we look like a club in permanent turmoil. One that continues to lose and who makes a hash of nearly everything it does. Supporters increasingly lose interest and the decline of the club goes on. Most of this could be avoided if the club was properly managing comms, but it isn't. Mr and Mrs Owner need to stop replying to supporter Tweets about sensitive club negotiations. 

Finally, we are reminded once again that what we need is an experienced CEO who is at the club everyday, providing hands-on leadership and co-ordinating the various teams running the affairs of the club. Brian Jokat clearly isn't doing that in his COO role and perhaps it was never his remit although he was offered up as a part-solution when Sandgaard appointed him. 

This is the sixth week since Jackson was told his contract wouldn't be renewed. The players are due back to pre-season training next week and the fixtures will be out too. Sandgaard will be in town this week and I expect a new manager to be appointed whilst he is here if the turmoil is to be ended. The club needs to fully answer a number of questions when it makes that appointment in order to draw a line under all of this and try to get everyone looking forward and moving in step. Perhaps, some really positive and timely player recruitment can get a squad up-to-full strength before the season starts on 30th July and to get us off on a winning start this time. We live in hope.