It's Cold without winter
by guto llewellyn
When Andy Coleman arrived in Swansea (and brought his family with him, in case you hadn’t heard) he displaced Julian Winter as Chairman of SCFC. He might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but ATFV columnist Guto Llewellyn has some warm thoughts about Winter…
The best thing any owner can do is accept they aren’t qualified to run their club. The less involved they are in the decision-making process, the better.
As such, they need to delegate effectively and select people who know what they’re doing as their direct subordinates.
It’s why Man City have been able to dominate the English game for so long; an eye-watering amount of money was spent when the club first fell into Emirati hands but their success was erratic. For many years their transfer policy was wasteful but then they scoured Europe for some of the best football brains around, and built an infrastructure which put those Middle Eastern millions to the best possible use.
Compare this with their cross-city rivals, Manchester United, who have consistently under-achieved over the past decade despite out-spending City in that period.
United’s big decision-makers during this time have been money men, people who excelled in securing commercial deals but didn’t have much idea how to negotiate a transfer deal.
It’s a big reason why Man City won six league titles and one Champions League over the past 10 years but a historically much bigger club from the same city have out-spent their rivals but ended up with just one FA Cup, one Europa League and two League Cups in the same period.
That brings me to Swansea, a club which I thought for years had fully understood the importance finding the right people to run the club from day to day.
I think it’s fair to say Swansea’s owners have had a questionable record since buying the club in 2016 (substitute the word “fair” for “extremely charitable”).
They’ve overseen a steady but consistent decline, narrowly avoided financial collapse after losing the Premier League TV money which sustained the club and regularly wound up the fans whenever they’ve said or done anything of note.
The one thing they did well was appoint people below them to oversee daily operations.
Retaining Huw Jenkins as chairman didn’t have the desired effect as he lost his Midas touch, although his parting gift of blocking the sale of Dan James to Leeds on the cheap really emphasised the importance of having somebody who knows what they’re doing in that role.
But after that the owners sought people who had an extensive background in the sport and understood both the on-pitch and off-pitch aspects of the industry.
Probably the greatest appointment they ever made was Trevor Birch, a former footballer who had previously worked at a number of other crisis-hit football clubs.
He understood the sport inside-out, knew what was needed to get the Swans back on an even keel and did the absolute best he could with very limited resources.
His departure was a blow for the Swans but they replaced him with somebody with a similar background in Julian Winter.
Winter was also a former footballer who had gone into the business side of the game after hanging up his boots.
He had to guide the club to a new way of operating as the Premier League parachute payments dried up, relying less on big name loans and concentrating instead on young talent which could be developed and sold on for a profit.
The limited budgets and meddling from above caused friction at times. He often had to act as a mediator between the owners and Russell Martin but increasingly took the side of his manager as they both became frustrated with the situation.
Not every fan viewed Winter as a positive influence at the club. There were many who criticised him during his time at the Liberty and many who celebrated his departure.
However I was among those who warned that he would be a big loss for the club.
People who understand both football and business inside out are hard to find and Winter knew his stuff. He also understood this club, its character and how it would have to do things if it wanted to cope in the challenging financial climate of the Championship.
Those who couldn’t see Winter’s contribution at the time will now surely realise in hindsight that he was a seriously valuable presence at this club.
His replacement, Andy Coleman, seems like a really nice guy. Flown in from the US to run operations at the Liberty, he arrived brimming with the enthusiasm of a cockapoo puppy.
Unfortunately he had the same experience as a cockapoo puppy when it came to running a football club.
His background was in hospitality and his only real involvement in football had come as Chairman of the DC United Foundation, which carried out community work in the US capital.
Despite all his good intentions and despite all his eagerness, he’s had a rough start to life in Swansea.
Having been given big money by recent standards in the summer, the club broke with the sensible business plan of buying young stars with a large potential sell-on fee, instead opting for more seasoned pros who they hoped would be ready-made stars, without the same potential sell-on value.
The club also moved away from the playing philosophy which was such a key part of its identity, in search of quick-fire success.
It all stank of naivety but it also highlighted the shortcomings of the new setup and what we miss by not having people with the backgrounds of Trevor Birch or Julian Winter at the club.
They were steady and reliable figures who understood the game and knew what was required in Swansea’s circumstances. They both had a rare set of skills and expertise which can be very hard to find and some of our fans, as well as the club’s owners on the other side of the Atlantic, were foolish in their lack of appreciation.
What’s done is done and Coleman is now the club’s Chairman. I seriously hope he learns from early mistakes and develops to become an effective operator because as I said, he comes across as a genuinely well-meaning human being who desperately wants to make this venture a success.
But the past 12 months have once again shown the importance of delegating effectively when you’re a football club owner.
It’s yet another lesson Swansea’s owners have insisted on learning the hard way.
