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[Tony Towner]

How did Sasa come through Mendes?

Part Time Steve said he did in his piece yesterday. It was supposed to be in defence of Sellars, but really just exposed him as a lieing patsy, which most of us knew anyway

The arrivals — Goncalo Guedes, Matheus Nunes and Sasa Kalajdzic — were proposed by influential agent Jorge Mendes with only a confirmatory check by the staff at Compton Park.

 

[Johnny75]

The direction in which the bulk of our transfer spend goes. Even when you don't think it's Mendes like Sasa you eventually find out it is. They'll be the occasional signing like Collins that excludes him, but the meaty fees will always come though him. Jeff polices that policy he doesn't decide it, that comes from above. What can't happen is those players being duds, which for a variety of reasons this years 3 to the tune of 80+m all have been

As I said last week there is no point getting rid of him and replacing him with Jeff2, the way the club is structured from Chief Exec downwards needs tearing up, including the Mendes relationship. If we don't do that then all that's changing is the name. The best you'll get is not being patronised by a smug prick once a year if the new guy is more PR savvy.

That's way too doom laden.

I would like Fosun to sell us but I don't see how not changing Shi and Sellars will make a difference. There's no way Guo or Mendes have the time for the level of control you're inferring.

Besides which Shi and Sellars could do what they want, what is Mendes going to do?

 

[Johnny75]

Part Time Steve said he did in his piece yesterday

The arrivals — Goncalo Guedes, Matheus Nunes and Sasa Kalajdzic — were proposed by influential agent Jorge Mendes with only a confirmatory check by the staff at Compton Park.

Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on anything that useless cunt says. I read the piece and it's lazy bollocks without a single fact being checked.

Not least of all that Sasa's agents are different and he has no ties with them.

I wouldn't trust that useless sack of shit to tell me it's raining without looking out of the window to check myself.

Makes Spiers look like Woodward and Bernstein.

 

[Tony Towner]

That's way too doom laden.

I would like Fosun to sell us but I don't see how not changing Shi and Sellars will make a difference. There's no way Guo or Mendes have the time for the level of control you're inferring.

Besides which Shi and Sellars could do what they want, what is Mendes going to do?

I'm not inferring Guo and Mendes get involved in the day to day, ticket prices, sponsorship, catering contracts etc. The transfer policy and who that runs through clearly comes from there though and replacing Jeff won't change that unless it's someone with the remit to do so, which won't happen. The bulk of our Summer recruitment would have been the same whoever is in that role, unless the terms of reference are changed

 

[prawnking]

They're the sort of details that aren't considered when you've got an agent pulling the strings and setting the agenda. Sign the players and everything falls into place, or largely doesn't in reality.

Fosun have no knowledge how to do anything in this industry outside of what Mendes tells them, that's why there's such a mess.

Well you could argue that a better chairman than Shi would still have able senior football figures at the club to temper this influence and get a wider perspective. So Shi still has agency and responsibility for over reliance on Mendes.

You don't know that it's a Fosun directive just to let Mendes run riot, and strip any other PL footballing knowledge from the club

 

[prawnking]

That's way too doom laden.

I would like Fosun to sell us but I don't see how not changing Shi and Sellars will make a difference. There's no way Guo or Mendes have the time for the level of control you're inferring.

Besides which Shi and Sellars could do what they want, what is Mendes going to do?

This is where I'm at, I think throwing the blame at Mendes for absolutely everything when he's not even a club employee is absolving Shi and Sellars of way too much

 

[prawnking]

I'm not inferring Guo and Mendes get involved in the day to day, ticket prices, sponsorship, catering contracts etc. The transfer policy and who that runs through clearly comes from there though and replacing Jeff won't change that unless it's someone with the remit to do so, which won't happen. The bulk of our Summer recruitment would have been the same whoever is in that role, unless the terms of reference are changed

It's not just recruitment though, are we saying the decisions to not replace Dalrymple and Thelwell properly and the imposed tactics from above manager level come from higher than Shi too?

And how does the Beale pursuit fit into this? He's surely not a Fosun/Mendes man, just like Collins and (whatever SM says) Sasa?

 

[Tony Towner]

Well you could argue that a better chairman than Shi would still have able senior football figures at the club to temper this influence and get a wider perspective. So Shi still has agency and responsibility for over reliance on Mendes.

You don't know that it's a Fosun directive just to let Mendes run riot, and strip any other PL footballing knowledge from the club

There was no need at all to lose the role Dalrymple was doing and could and should still exist even within our structure. I don't think you'd fill the Thelwell one with a credible candidate without a sizeable change to the Mendes arrangement though. It's why Sellars being over promoted and keeping his gob shut suits Jeff

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Well you could argue that a better chairman than Shi would still have able senior football figures at the club to temper this influence and get a wider perspective. So Shi still has agency and responsibility for over reliance on Mendes.

You don't know that it's a Fosun directive just to let Mendes run riot, and strip any other PL footballing knowledge from the club

Fosun had the relationship with Mendes before Wolves, that relationship is above Shi's head. The 'over reliance' on Mendes isn't down to Jeff Shi it's a fundamental part of Fosun's entire business plan.

They didn't form the relationship with Mendes to help run a football club, they own a football club because of the relationship with Mendes.

 

[Tony Towner]

It's not just recruitment though, are we saying the decisions to not replace Dalrymple and Thelwell properly and the imposed tactics from above manager level come from higher than Shi too?

And how does the Beale pursuit fit into this? He's surely not a Fosun/Mendes man, just like Collins and (whatever SM says) Sasa?

I was replying to a comment specifically about transfers, I didn't mention any other aspects of the job. Coincidently I covered Thelwell and Dalrymple in a post after yours

 

[prawnking]

Fosun had the relationship with Mendes before Wolves, that relationship is above Shi's head. The 'over reliance' on Mendes isn't down to Jeff Shi it's a fundamental part of Fosun's entire business plan.

They didn't form the relationship with Mendes to help run a football club, they own a football club because of the relationship with Mendes.

So you think there's zero manoeuvrability or room for better decision making within the Shi and Sellars roles?

 

[Adrian Peckham Monk]

Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on anything that useless cunt says. I read the piece and it's lazy bollocks without a single fact being checked.

Not least of all that Sasa's agents are different and he has no ties with them.

I wouldn't trust that useless sack of shit to tell me it's raining without looking out of the window to check myself.

Makes Spiers look like Woodward and Bernstein.

I agree. If Mendes makes an introduction to another agent because he's worked with them on other deals, it's just a convenient stick to beat Mendes with since you know he's an easy target you can blame for your own negligence because you simply refuse to stand up and admit responsibility.

Mendes, Zavahi etc will make introductions to other agents on behalf of clubs they work closely with, especially if they have other deals that depend on it. This isn't just a Mendes thing. I know a client (former player) of an agent who at one point in our recent history had three first teamers on the books pretty well and he confirmed 'that's what agents do to get their deals moving'. That isn't the problem, and to try and blame Mendes is completely missing the point.

The problem manifests when your football knowledge at executive level isn't good enough to even know who Emery or Gallardo even are, you refuse to extend your sphere of influence and trust beyond an agent and a former Chesterfield Assistant Manager, and your judgement beyond marketing and revenue streams is woefully inadequate. The more decisions you have to make, you will eventually regress to the mean, because you haven't learned anything from the decisions you got lucky on. That's where Jeff Shi is right now.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

So you think there's zero manoeuvrability or room for better decision making within the Shi and Sellars roles?

I wouldn't go as far as zero but the bigger restriction for me is knowledge rather than authority.

Mendes is central to Fosun getting involved in football, there will be opportunity to do bits around the fringes without his involvement but nothing that treads on his toes or moves away from him. Perhaps if Shi had more of a sporting/football background he'd identify some shortcomings of the plan based purely on Mendes but that doesn't appear to be the case.

This isn't a wealthy benefactor who's bought a club as a plaything or to see if they can do something radical, such as Benham. This is a business transaction from a investment firm who've been sold a dream by a shrewd business who happens to have football as his industry. I don't think making Wolves the best team or club they can be is really their aim, it's more a vessel to do business with Mendes.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Haven't seen anyone refer directly to this but I've just read (and if I've seen you guys probably saw it yesterday,) but Davis has explained in no uncertain manner that Sellars up in the stand has absolutely no say on team selection, tactics, subs etc, in fact he has no contact with the bench during a game.
Which if true (what would be the point in lying) makes a lot of the awful content on here regarding Sellars role, a bit shit.
But there again rather more focuses the blame on Davis.

 

[Tony Towner]

Haven't seen anyone refer directly to this but I've just read (and if I've seen you guys probably saw it yesterday,) but Davis has explained in no uncertain manner that Sellars up in the stand has absolutely no say on team selection, tactics, subs etc, in fact he has no contact with the bench during a game.
Which if true (what would be the point in lying) makes a lot of the awful content on here regarding Sellars role, a bit shit.
But there again rather more focuses the blame on Davis.

I have some magic beans available at a very reasonable price if you are interested?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1584215773832450052

 

[Stan Hullis]

No no, Steve Davis just left that there by mistake and Super Scott just happened to sit next to it.

 

[prawnking]

I wouldn't go as far as zero but the bigger restriction for me is knowledge rather than authority.

Mendes is central to Fosun getting involved in football, there will be opportunity to do bits around the fringes without his involvement but nothing that treads on his toes or moves away from him. Perhaps if Shi had more of a sporting/football background he'd identify some shortcomings of the plan based purely on Mendes but that doesn't appear to be the case.

So, as I've been saying, a chief exec with greater sporting knowledge and a more appropriate fit for an elite sports club would make some difference, same as with Sellars, regardless of the Mendes factor.

To suggest otherwise is the same as saying it doesn't matter what manager we chose as they'd be in thrall to Jorge. In that case there'd be no difference between Zenga, Nuno, Bruno and Davis, when there demonstrably is.

 

[1986]

It's all very downbeat really .

Even if we appointed a new CEO and a new Director of Football ( both from Football backgrounds ) , will they be supported from a funding point of view from FOSUN ?

Maybe staying in the PL at all costs is not the policy . The problems that FOSUN are having might be filtering through with the cheque book being removed for the forseeable .
Is it a case that they bought those players in the Summer to boost our profile and thereby our resale value , on the assumption that we'd be sitting in a reasonable position in the PL at the point of sale ?

If all the above is true - then we'll be fishing in a very cheap pond when it comes to a new Manager .

 

[MARKakaJIM]

So, as I've been saying, a chief exec with greater sporting knowledge and a more appropriate fit for an elite sports club would make some difference, same as with Sellars, regardless of the Mendes factor.

To suggest otherwise is the same as saying it doesn't matter what manager we chose as they'd be in thrall to Jorge. In that case there'd be no difference between Zenga, Nuno, Bruno and Davis, when there demonstrably is.

A more able CEO or sporting director may see the issues but that doesn't necessarily mean they have the authority to do whatever they want. We don't know how much autonomy those running Wolves have from those above them.

The fact that they dropped Shi, with absolutely zero sports background, in to run things on their behalf perhaps suggests they don't really care that much about that stuff? Follow that up with poor internal promotions to replace some at least competent people and it all starts to point the same way. They're just not that bothered about those roles.

I said somewhere the other day, the Nuno era was where everything dropped lucky, they had a largely successful group of signings and a manager who's style got the best out of most of them. Either side of that's it's been a mess, even from the low base at which the Fosun era started that first batch of signings and managers prior to Nuno were a crap shoot. What we're seeing now post Nuno is little better but the base level was greater.

There's no point longing for anything replacing Mendes, he is the reason Fosun bought Wolves, they don't have a football business without him. There are certainly better executive staff out there to run a football club than those currently employed at Wolves but why would they want to come and work in a broken system.

 

[Aikiwolf]

No no, Steve Davis just left that there by mistake and Super Scott just happened to sit next to it.

He also found the ear piece he's wearing, and he was just trying it out to find the owner.