From the Chairman's Desk

[Gyoza]

From http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/news.asp?nid=7401

From the chairman's desk

Thursday, 29 April 2010
David Evans for essendonfc.com.au
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As part of my commitment to open the lines of communication with members and supporters, welcome to my first column on the essendonfc.com.au website.

Throughout the season I will take the opportunity through our official website to offer fans with my thoughts and views on issues confronting this club and the game as a whole.

WE need to start with what matters most to all of us – the performance of the team on-field.

I can assure you we all share the frustration of the fans with our start to the season. What we have seen on-field to this stage is not acceptable and we need to find a way to get this side back playing its best football as soon as possible.

As a club we need to continue to support the players and the coaching group as they search for the form that took us to the finals in 2009. This group is clearly down on confidence at the moment and the most important thing we can do is believe in them, and the plan, moving forward.

What I do know about the modern game is that fortunes can turn almost by the week. We need to be patient as this group develops and understand that we are on a path that will inevitably see us hit some hurdles. I am confident we will come out the other side. It is hard for me to ask for your trust and faith having only been in the role for a few months but it is this that I seek. All members and supporters must know that I crave success as much as anyone and sustained underperformance is not something that we can live with.

Our coach Matthew Knights has come in for some sharp criticism over the past two weeks and he is experienced enough to know it comes with the territory. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that we are not playing at our best. We will keep providing him with the resources and support to see through his plan. He is an Essendon person, and he has a vision for this club.

Many in the media will have their opinions and that is fine – they are paid to have opinions. But we won’t be distracted by them. We have a vision for this football club and while the journey will inevitably test us at different times, we must have the courage to steer the course.

THE Anzac Day game is another theme that inevitably crops up at this time of year with suggestions that it should be shared among other teams.

This club, together with Collingwood and the RSL, developed this day as part of one of the most important days on the Australian calendar.

I think we deserve to play on Anzac Day because it was these two clubs, together with the RSL, that decided to make the day happen. The AFL has provided us wonderful support and it is has been developed into a game that befits the occasion.

Clubs should be encouraged to identify ways of establishing marquee games and that creativity should be rewarded. It would be totally unfair to take the game off the two clubs that helped build the match from the ground up.
We understand our responsibility to the day. Essendon was the driving force behind a recent documentary that aired prior to this year’s game, bringing attention to the Vietnam conflict. Essendon brought Channel 7 and Collingwood together to make the documentary a reality. It wasn’t a cheap exercise but it was a measure of our commitment to the role football can play on Anzac Day.

We also actively seek to help raise funds for the RSL including through the promotion (see link above) where fans can purchase the Essendon players' Anzac Day guernseys.

Beyond this, I would also like to find ways to continue to develop the occasion and the tradition of the game. I would like to see the Anzac Medal awarded retrospectively commencing with the drawn game in 1995 through until 1999. These retrospective medals should be presented in the lead up to next year’s game.

Let’s hope things turn around on-field in the coming weeks and I look forward to talking with you through the season.

Regards

David Evans
Chairman
Essendon Football Club

[ealesy]

What a wank.

Nothing more than a pathetic PR excerise.

Now as Chairman, I don't expect him to be telling us how things will be fixed on the field, but how about giving some insight into what is being done to properly resource the membership department to recitfy the problems their that make us the laughing stock of the competition every season.

Surely you've been copping numerous e-mails from fans that have paid for their membership and are still waiting to receive anything from the club, going into round 6 of the season. Surely that is completely unacceptable and is something the Board should be addressing and ensuring does not happen yet again next year.

[Windy_Hill]

Truth of the matter is he will lose his job if it doesnt turn around.

Bottom line, this is corporate fluff and frankly patronising.

[Rover 7]

Well he's going to have to change his tune with next the episode.
He's already said that Essendon should aim for the finals every year like they always used to do until five year plans reared their ugly head.
This year should put the kybosh on that.

[s'dreams]

Anyone know where I can buy a trailerload of chook poo (it is the Richmond way)? OMG - Ive turned!!!

Cheers - STI