As I have often commented when writing stories for @LadiesWhoLeague, it wouldn't be a week of blogging without a story on the circus that is the Parramatta Eels at the moment.
For those that have been following the political issues which have engulfed the Club throughout this year (and to be fair, Parramatta have been fairly unstable arguably for the last 5 years), you will know that at a Leagues Club Board level there has been continuing pressure from the former Chairman of the Board Roy Spagnolo to return to Board. Under Spagnolo, one of the Board's greatest achievements was the profit he was able to generate for the Leagues Club.
However, Spagnolo has since been issued with a show-cause letter which asks him to explain a list of irregularities discovered during an independent audit by Russell Corporate Advisory. We can expect a response from Roy on Tuesday. This coincides with a meeting of the Leagues Club board which could in turn choose to suspend his membership.
Sigh.
The group at Parramatta (apart from the fans) who I feel most sorry for are the players. While much has been said about the performances of the players on the field, Parramatta will not be a successful football club until the front room is in order. It comes as no coincidence that 2 of the worst performing teams this year, being the Eels and the Tigers have been the 2 clubs who had issues at a management level.
Hopefully, following the hearing on Tuesday this can be sorted out. Whether this means Spagnolo being cleared and returning to the board or whether it means Spagnolo walking away, its clear that the current situation is not working and Parramatta will not see on field result until this circus stops.
In other news, tremendous congratulations need to be given to Scott Seward who was appointed CEO of the Parramatta Eels yesterday. Seward has been promoted within and was previously the general manager of membership and consumer business at the Eels.
The Eels will look to name a new coach for Ricky Stuart by the end of the week.
I just hope that following the new appointments, Parramatta can look to have a fresh start (again) next year and work towards having both a CEO and a coach who are long term appointments.
Parramatta fans will be looking for a quick fix but I am confident that there isn't one. While this doesn't mean we can't have short term success, it does mean that Parramatta fans need to be patient. Hopefully both the new CEO and coach can work together in order to get Parramatta back on track and again make us a Club where players want to come and play.
Love,
@LadiesWhoLeague
P.S. A brief comment on the 'protest march' which happened at Parramatta Stadium yesterday. I use the term march loosely because 40 members out of 17,000 is not enough to constitute an effective voice for the Eels membership base. I sound like a broken record but what Parramatta now needs is stability. We also need the support of our fans (despite how difficult it is). Protest marches like this achieve nothing, particularly when the new board was only elected this year and really hasn't had much of a change to make a difference... yet.
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