THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Regardless of his ability, you can't doubt his passion and commitment to the cause. Saw that video on Twitter of DM talking to our supporters and there is no doubting his commitment whatsoever. Didn't see any of that from Neilson during his 13 months or so in charge.

Said it in another thread, but I have no doubt that we will turn things around under DM either this season or smashing it in L2.

A manager needs to be able to do more than talk passionately, see - Pete Winkelman.

DM has passion, commitment and knows how he wants his team to play.
Which is great, except that this isn't his team.
The likes of Big Sam and TP, come into a club, look at the players and say this style will get the best from these players.

I've worked under a number of different directors and managers since I ventured into the world of work, about 10 years ago.

My main observation from the past 10 years regarding decision making is as follows: those who simply focus on short-term results often end up making decisions which can cause considerable problems in the mid to long-term. This statement is obviously not always true, 100% of the time. Though, I've seen enough knee-jerk reactions from my current employer to establish that most of the time, they're not usually in the best interests of the organisation, going forward.

Now look at PW's track record:
*Builds a premier league standard 30,500 capacity stadium with the aid of a clever 'enabling development'.
*Includes a hotel and arena in the stadium masterplan and subsequently the construction, to give the club extra sources of revenue both during and out of the football season.
*Develops a fantastic retail park around the stadium, which transforms the area and employs large numbers of local people.
*Spends years planning and negotiating for the best possible training/academy site and facilities for the club, to enable continued, improved development of the younger generation and also senior players coming through.
*Regularly hires young, ambitious, talented, aspiring managers with less experience with a long-term view of equipping them with the training and experience necessary to succeed at an unusual football club.

Do any of those decisions sound like a man that aims to make short-term appointments/decisions?

He's trying to build a club and a legacy that will be enjoyed and benefit the community long after he's gone.

I know some will argue something along the lines of "he won't leave behind a good legacy/it won't be enjoyed after he's gone if we get relegated out of the football league" or something presumptuous and alarmist. The reality is still thus: we're not yet relegated and it remains mathematically possible for us to remain in league one. It ain't over 'til the fat guy sings and I haven't drank nearly enough for that shit yet.

COYD

Unfortunately all decisions are eventually judged with the benefit of hindsight, instead of in the light of circumstances at the time they were made.

From the latter standpoint I would judge almost all Pete's decisions over the years to be valid.

Excellent post.

I don't think Pete can be completely free from criticism. He is still learning to be a football chairman in some ways and has been guilty of delaying important decisions which he has admitted he regrets. He has stated he should have sacked KR earlier during the summer following relegation from the Championship - and he should have.

Other big decisions too regarding sanctioning signings he should have made prior to the Championship, again something he has admitted he made the wrong decision with. His latest mistake was not sacking Neilson earlier. He has been a bit naive on the football front - I just hope he is learning from his errors.

Overall though, in terms of long term decision making re the stadium, facilities, training ground etc you can't really fault him at all.

This is precisely why I think he should be trusted and given patience/time, Filthy.

The big decisions, which I think will prove to be most impactful in the future, have been pretty damn good, so far.

Managers/players/coaches and most miscellaneous staff appointments are almost exclusively on short-term deals (1-5 years). The mistakes made in those areas can be rectified a lot more quickly than building a poor stadium/training ground/bad financial planning/costly knee-jerk decisions.

I think this is why Pete has always been careful in allocating a budget for his managers and for players in transfer windows. He's aware that a short-term 'record transfer' or a big name manager may appease fans for all of about 5 minutes, but if they don't come good during the time they're contracted to manage/play, it could prove to be a bad long-term decision. Some are ignorant and just call him tight...

Far better to bring in DM, who's successfully worked with young players and grow our own here, than rush to bring in an experienced manager, who wants to spend money we don't have, to gamble with our short-term survival and long-term future.

The truth is Dan might take us down but equally, there was no guarantee someone cut from the same cloth as Grayson/Slade/Warnock etc etc would keep us up.

It's all a gamble and I'm certain Pete knows more about the clubs finances and how much he can gamble with, than any of us.

Yes, none of us want to watch shit football or get relegated; don't think for one second Pete hasn't thought about all of those concerns. Our concerns are his concerns - you only have to talk/watch/listen to him at a game to know that.

But we support a football club rather than a sporting equivalent of Taylor Wimpey

Yes. And with some-one like Pete in charge, we'll be able to continue supporting our football club for a long time. Compare to the numerous football league clubs dropping down due to lack of funds after poor investments, and Pete's definitely doing things the right way