MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Boddy blow already? (From South Wales Argus)
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MICHAEL PEARLMAN SAYS: Boddy blow already?
9:00am Tuesday 8th January 2013 in Sport
GIVE HIM A CHANCE: County chief executive Dave Boddy who is being harshly judged by some before he has even started in the role
SOME of the pounding of keyboards borders on the hysterical over Dave Boddy, not even yet started as County’s new chief executive.
Boddy has been compared to both Jerry Sherman and Anthony Hudson by posters on County’s fan forum.
Some will argue I’m wrong to present views of the fans’ forum on here, but by the same token many people on the messageboard are imploring me to address this. As ever in this column I will call it like I see it and await the cat calling.
First off, I don’t take any great issue with the appointment of Boddy, but let’s address some of yours.
1) He ruined Worcester City; their fans say so.
I listened with interest as Boddy presented his views on his time at Worcester, something I asked him about on first meeting.
Boddy was strong in his belief that the financial troubles at the club were recession-led rather than his fault and I’ve similarly read with interest the views of Worcester fans who paint him as the non-league Peter Ridsdale. It should also be noted Worcester City had debt when Boddy arrived.
Who is in the right on this issue is difficult for me to assess – I can only listen to the people involved on both sides – but it’s not of huge relevance to Newport in the sense that Boddy doesn’t arrive as anything other than an employee.
He has already expressed in black and white in this paper that he must justify his position by increasing revenue.
If Boddy doesn’t cut the mustard in his role, he will be fired, just as a manager would be.
2) Boddy lost lots of money in his time with Worcestershire CCC and is a football groupie.
No and yes. No, the stuff about Worcestershire CCC is totally false. He wasn’t at the county when they lost a lot of money and even if he had been, it was a result of the flooding of New Road in 2007.
And Boddy admits to football being “like a drug” to him, and makes no apology for being obsessed by it.
How you think on that depends on your views on what makes a good CEO. The FAW CEO, Jonathan Ford, Mr Coca Cola, has no real feel for football. That has had its merits, certainly, but think back to the England ticket fiasco and tell me it’s better to have a non-football person.
3) Boddy is a freeloader. Why do we want someone on a salary who is taking money out of the club?
Because it’s 2013. The only argument from the fans I dismiss out of hand is the one that says you don’t need anyone else running the club. You do. You’re not Southern League anymore, you’re a full time outfit. You need to be run by professionals who don’t have other interests. The Matt Southall consortium also thought that a CEO was essential.
4) Why didn’t the club advertise the position?
A stance I have a great deal of sympathy with. In my view, they should’ve done. It’s much easier to justify saying you’ve appointed the best person for the job if you’ve interviewed for it. As the club hasn’t dealt with time constraints they should’ve interviewed other applicants, in my opinion.
In mitigation, the last time the club invited applicants and appointed someone on the back of that, it was Hudson who ended up being a less than stellar choice.
5) Chris Blight worked with Boddy at the Football Conference, why didn’t County call him for a recommendation?
Are you kidding me? Three months ago Blight was getting the same level of scrutiny, now he’s an endorsement source? Make your mind up.
6) Tim Harris has a business history with Boddy . A conflict of interest?
Yes he does and yes it is. That’s why Harris endorsed Boddy and then told the board it would be inappropriate to sit in on the interview, so he didn’t.
7) Why no Trust input?
Two members of the board are trust members. They were in on the interview and sat with the rest of the directors as Boddy’s appointment was announced.
In conclusion, while I’d sympathise with the view that the CEO should’ve been an advertised position, I don’t have any grave reservations on Dave Boddy. What I would urge, is that people at least give him a chance. That’s only fair.
Comments(7)
D Taylor
says...
9:36am Tue 8 Jan 13
What we need is someone who can renegotiate the lease of Rodney Parade over the next 8 weeks or so. That doesn't have to be a football person but it does need someone with experience of such contracts and who is a completer/finisher as well as being intelligent.
33daverave
says...
9:43am Tue 8 Jan 13
Why bother with an interview ?
33daverave
says...
9:51am Tue 8 Jan 13
Truth hurts does it ?
Kevin Ward - Editor
says...
10:39am Tue 8 Jan 13
If you wish to put yourself at risk of libel actions that is a matter for you, but such comments will be removed from this site.
the dork
says...
3:45am Wed 9 Jan 13
chasvaughn
says...
8:29pm Wed 9 Jan 13
Yes WCFC did not make profits when he took over as Chairman, but the losses rose by record amounts in every year of his chair apart from the year of the FA up run and BBC televised game. Annual losses of £20 to £30k rose to between £80 to £120k. Boddy an his Board of Directors were charged with managing the finances, and failed. It should be noted that WCFC did not have CEO, and Boddy had responsibilities for commercial matters. WCFC did have creditors, the man one being Nat West Bank, to the tune of around £1 million, however the bank was comfortable with the credit line due to the asset value of St. Georges Lane, so WCFC was cash poor, but asset rich.
The accounts showed a company that could meet its outstanding obligations and was considereda going concern.
During Mr Boddy's tenure as chairman, the company moved from this position to a position of being both cash poor and asset poor, with a set of accounts which showed the business as not a viable concern, and with its major creditor, the bank, no longer comfortable with the trading position and requiring debts to be satisfied in full. So what brought about this position Is Mr Boddy fair to blame the recession? no, he is not. The asset (St. Georges Lane) was sold wthout any consultation with shareholders, and was announced to shareholders at a shareholder meeting as a 'fait du comlit' Mr Boddy announced that the ground had been sold for £7.3 million. Now what Mr. Boddy wil claim is that it was due to the recession that the final sale price reduced to £2.9 million - in the space of two years. Thats some recession, I know my house hasnt reduced in value by 70% even over the last 5 years. At the same time as the ground sale, Mr Boddy entered the company into a joint venture with St. Modwen Properties, to secure land for the new football ground. The purchase price of the land was £600,000 with additional infrastructure costs of £800,000. The affect of the same recession on the land price at Nunnery Way was that the purchase price was still £600,000 and the infrastructure costs were still £800,000. So a recession which reduced the sale price of land by 70% somehow had no impact whatsoever on the purchase price of land. The real reason behind reduction was due to the contractual tie-ups, negotiated by the Board of directors. The full details make for dreadfl reading, and the board had been advised by an independent third party that the outcome of these contracts would be that the club would have hocked its future and could well find itself homeless and without cash, and with no way of raising revenue for a ew ground - how prophetic was that? Thats is where the club now is.
It makes me angry to see the recession being blamed for the demise of a football club, every football club is suffering, but good commercial management is needed to keep afloat. I am not a supporter of Worcester City, but I am a shareholder of Worcester City Football Cub Ltd. There is no financial benefit in WCFC Ltd. shares, they are non-tradeable shares, but I feel an obligation towards the company and an expectation that the Board of Directors act accordingly. The constitution at WCFC Ltd. protects the company from inscrupulous investors, but also makes it very difficult to remove nonperforming directors, as we found when trying to get an EGM.
Does Mr Boddy also blame the recession or the demise of his previous clubs? Upton Town? Worcester Athletico? Football might run in his blood but that doesnt mean he's any good at it.
ohc says...
9:23am Tue 8 Jan 13