Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Troubleshooting a Football Club

Hull City FC has recently parted company with their Manager Phil Parkinson after just 24 games .

Hull City FC reportedly paid Colchester FC £400,000 in compensation to acquire his services. They are currently second bottom in the Championship, a position that would bring about relegation and be seriously damaging to the financial health of the club. From a Business perspective was this too early to remove the Manager, and what does Hull City FC do now?

As interviewed on BBC Radio Humberside, John Whiteman is a Business Troubleshooter who regularly turns around companies in decline.

John Whiteman feels that for a board to remove a Manager after such a short space of time is the right move to make if the team are failing to perform and the board has lost the belief and confidence in the Managers ability to produce the results needed. Whilst it is nice to allow a management and team to develop over time, Hull City FC when compared to a typical business is in need of a Turnaround to avoid significant financial loss.

As in most situations there's also another side to the story. Was the manager given the tools to do the job, were the performance expectations too high, was there a lack of communication? The problem could certainly be with the board as well as the manager. The focus is on one person but it is rarely the case that a loss of performance is down to one person alone.

John Whiteman is renowned for getting business’s performing again in a very short space of time. John strongly recommends to Hull City FC, to look forward to the future and not dwell on the past.

As a business comparison, it is like having lots of potential customers (supporters) who will bring revenue into the company (football club) but the Production Manager (Manager) is failing to produce a product of a good standard (results). In this case it is of paramount importance for Hull City FC to appoint a new Production Manager (Manager), with experience, and get his machines (players) working to 100% capacity with the assistance and combined effort of every individual in the business (board and backroom staff).

When players can be focused and motivated to work as a team and give 100%, they can certainly outperform other clubs, who might have better individual skills, but lack the drive, desire and determination, to want to win, and be successful.

If Hull City FC can focus on these important aspects then results will come and a Turnaround will start to take effect. From this point the pressure usually lifts but John has found that in typically 50% of times companies revert back to their former habits. There are many ways of stopping this re-occur. Hull City be warned!

John Whiteman (Troubleshooter)
07976 766560
jw@johnwhiteman.com, www.johnwhiteman.com