Gary Sweet: “We need every ounce of energy from everyone”..
Good afternoon one and all, and may I extend a very warm welcome for this massive league match against Pompey to our visitors from Hampshire.
Make no bones about it, this has been a particularly tough week or two for us all at the Club. Very tough indeed. I feel the need to air the fact that everyone running our Club is hurting like you and feels deeply responsible, but also ever-more determined and desperate to do everything we possibly can to steer this ship back on course.
Defeat at Watford was a bitter pill to swallow, especially resulting from such unforgiving decision-making which rocked our well-prepared game-plan and handed momentum to our rivals. A decision, I hasten to add, which has been backed up unanimously by the PGMOL panel upon review, as being incorrect.
I don’t wish to sugar the pill in any way. Our under-par response took the game away from us unfortunately. I would, however, love to restart that game from the 10th minute with the correct decision made, to see what our well-versed game-plan would have achieved. However, our response was simply not good enough. We have no choice but to react more quickly and resolutely to in-game setbacks. That has to change.
As we find ourselves anchoring the league table as we enter today’s fixture, we have all, beginning with myself, undergone a great deal of soul-seeking, self-analysis and self-examination over the last few weeks as to how we have landed in this position. A position which, bluntly, is simply not acceptable with the resources we have this season. Unacceptable, of course, to you and most certainly unacceptable to me and the board.
Nobody here has ever taken this lightly and, right now, we cannot be more serious, committed and determined to navigate these waters safely and securely.
I can fully appreciate and understand that many feel they will know the reasons for our current plight. When we have reflected, it is not beyond our comprehension to be able to piece together a series of events which have either gone against us or where we have failed to respond appropriately enough. It is certainly not beyond my pride to admit where I or we have made errors either – and I and we indeed have.
Deep reflection into every corner of the business by everyone, including some independent analysis, would suggest that we have had a year where some events that have triggered a negative reaction have been impossible to predict, or they have been unique first-time life experiences which have deeply challenged everyone. However, we all feel the responsibility regardless.
Ultimately, as the CEO, I am accountable, of course. Obviously, not everything is within my or our control, but football is a results-only business and whilst so many positive things are happening in every corner of the business otherwise, we will be ultimately judged on where we end up in the league table at the end of this season.
Behind the scorelines, across other aspects of the Club, it all looks and feels quite different. Apart from the obvious deep direct disappointment of our run of poor results, everything else is conversely positive and optimistic. Particularly, for example, in areas such as our academy where our facilities continue to grow, our teams at all levels are blossoming, and results are excellent as we observe a plethora of talent finally coming through after years of investment and patience.
With the complete root and branch overhaul of our Community Trust that’s been going on over the last few months, too, you will begin to see much more engaging programmes that will be relevant and positively impactful to our communities.
While not completely visible, a significant sum has been invested into the operational infrastructure of our Club, particularly at The Brache on pitch improvements, new changing rooms, medical facilities and even more fitness and rehab kit, which will all contribute to a better environment for all and reduce our injury count.
The development business is keeping Power Court on track, with some natural tension on matters largely outside of our control such as the sub-station, some sewer issues and closing a deal on infrastructure funding with central government as we move into a very busy phase.
Financially, we’re sound and stable too, which is not necessarily the case throughout the English game, sadly.
This week, we attended the mid-season EFL Conference where Championship clubs voted on a new P&S (profit and sustainability) rule change, which will permit clubs to make an even bigger allowable loss of, now, up to £50m over a three-season period. We don’t know the result of the vote yet, as I’m writing this as the formalities continue, but sadly, I think it’s inevitable that clubs will support it. We, however, will have voted against the proposals as we feel it is a backward step and, without much more robust cost controls, only promotes the continued spiral of player and agent cost inflation that goes against supporter or local club ownership.
It’s another nail in the coffin for a fair platform of sustainability in football and, as a Club built on the foundation of financial sustainability, it means we have to work even harder and better if we have a chance of competing at this level. It has always been our belief, along with the belief of our Supporters Trust, that football clubs must be run sustainably and not be propped up by billionaires disconnected from our communities, for the long-term future of the game and for the protection of the pyramid. That’s the model we believe in and, ideally, wish to maintain.
The alternative is for us to join other clubs and submit to the largescale US takeover of our national game where, ultimately, we are watching the competitive battle commence based upon how much loss and debt an investor is willing to burden its club with, which we are not in a position to contemplate.
With over half of the clubs in the top two tiers of the English game having some sort of US ownership (and growing), for one afternoon at the Conference we were given several presentations illustrating the Americanisation of the EFL’s broadcast rights. Whilst, in isolation, there’s a lot to like about this massive development in exposure, it is also the reason for the continued dilution of the authenticity of the live fan experience, such as the gradual erosion of the 3pm Saturday kick-off.
Though really important, none of these long-term issues address the immense challenge of this season and this situation. We are clearly in a hole we have no choice but to dig ourselves out of. There is no other option! My vehement focus right now, with everyone, has constantly been to recognise where we may have lost our way so we can help navigate this team to safety and so we can continue the rebuild this summer upon the firm base of the Championship.
We’ve learned where improvements need to be made to the way we operate more quickly in periods of transition, and we’ve reacted by implementing changes, acknowledging that change usually takes varying degrees of time to yield results.
During this process, we’ve certainly learned that things – and maybe even some people – aren’t always what they were on the way up, when the chips are down.
One other important thing we have learned is that we recognise that our communication to you needs to improve. Whilst it was never the intention to neglect this area, we are nothing without your support and our togetherness and we want you to feel more engaged.
Though we have our disagreements and disappointments, the board are totally united – and we need, we implore, you to be too.
Right now, for the good of our Club, we need every ounce of energy from everyone connected, whether player, staff, supporter or neighbour, focused on positively pulling together for 12 games over nine weeks to get this job done.
We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. We need everyone – from every player to every fan – to believe. Only a collective positive mindset will succeed. Confidence flows from results and results flow from confidence. Let’s put our (justified) concerns and criticisms to one side and get right behind Matt and the boys, reviving that never-say-die spirit we’ve shown over the years and helping the team believe – know – that they can do it. Because we’re Luton. And always will be!
