NUFC.com reporting FF has stepped down as Chief exec and chairman..... to be replaced by a Mackem!!!

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Answers

From PA:

NEWCASTLE SUPREMO STEPS DOWN

Newcastle United plc have announced a major boardroom shuffle that will see Freddie Fletcher step down as chairman and chief executive.

Sunderland finance director David Stonehouse will become chief executive from April 3 while John Fender, currently an independent non-executive director, will be appointed non-executive chairman.

Fletcher will end his full-time executive duties from the end of May and become a non-executive director.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Sunderland finance director? What is all this? I can't see this on nufc.com

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Also:

Meanwhile, Les Wheatley is resigning as finance director and chief operating officer to take up the role as director of finance at Liverpool.

A hunt will be launched for his successor shortly.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

According to Galaxy, things haven't been good at the club since Fletcher called the wimmin "dogs" and slagged off their star player. Hmm - not wor Galaxy, but the radio. Typical press accuracy again, eh!

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Blidy hell , well i dont suppose it couldve got any worse on the pa front , so mebys this is a good move . ill tell you what one thing can certainly be said about our poor ugly cousins down the road - the fans are treated far better all round , and any efforts to sort this out at our place cannot be a bad thing . Fletcher did a lot of good things , and a few huge cock up's , cant say im that upste , but hey Freddie thanks anyway it wasnt the easiest job in the world .

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Freddie Fletcher is the meanest nastiest bastard there ever was. He brought money and should be thanked for that, but there is no excuse for being a bastard while doing it.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

C'mon Mac, get off the fence!!

I'm not certain what my own conclusion on the man is. He was hired specifically to maximise the Club's turnover - something he had apparently done sucessfully for Rangers. Imo, he has done an outstanding job in that regard. This has been extremely important for the Club's competitive position, and he should be complimented for his success.

The problem is that - due to the obvious deficiencies of other senior management - he has been asked to take on additional responsibilities that were simply beyond his personal abilities, especially where these involved dealing with people/customers/fans.

If you've ever dealt with the man you will know that he is very strong-willed and highly focused, but a terrible listener. For those who've attended management development courses, he is a highly task-oriented person, but one that has inordinate difficulty dealing with the softer, people-related issues.

'Maximising revenue' was a clearly defined task/project that he achieved exclusively through his own personal drive, planning & execution, attention to detail, etc.

So, while I don't like the man, I believe he has been highly successfully in the task he was hired for. I believe he has been largely unsuccessful in his role as Chief Executive, as evidenced by the Club's poor operational performance, and dreadful, and continually deteriorating, public relations during his tenure. Imho, much of the fault for his failures in this regard must be laid fairly and squarely at the door of those responsible for putting him into management roles that he was not adequately equipped to undertake.

In addition to being thrust into the Chief Executive position, he also picked up the role of Chairman of the plc, when the previous Chairman, Terence Harrison, resigned along with all the other non-Executive Directors, and threw the company into turmoil, as well as at odds with the City and its institutional investors. As a stand-in Chairman, I loudly applauded his performance at the AGM post-NOTW revelations, at which the two major sharholders sat like Tweedledum & Tweedledee, and embarrassingly said nothing while FF fielded ALL the flack. I thought the man's fortitude that day was outstanding, the consummate company man defending his employers beyond the limits of his personal abilities.

Unfortunately, his instinctive lack of empathy precludes him from coming over as an individual who cares about issues impacting the company's customers/fans and its individual shareholders - even if he really does care, deep down. However, this really is not his fault - yet again he was simply doing his level best to represent his employers who placed him in role he was ill-equipped to successfully carry out.

Overall, he has done some very good work for the Club and should be thanked for that. He has tried manfully to "plug all the holes in the dyke", including those created by others, even though not suited to the role. I feel it is good that he is now stepping down, both for his own well-being and for the long-term good of the Club. Let's just hope he is replaced by people who are better equipped for their tasks. The Club's relationship with the City is still awful, and its relations with its supporters even worse. There is a great deal of bridge-building to be done on several fronts, as well as the building of a successful football club in very difficult financial circumstances.

Thanks for your efforts Freddie, and best wishes for a long and happy retirement.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Sorry, Clarky. For what it's worth, I'm a hundred per cent with Macbeth on this.

Yes, he was instrumental in bringing in the money, along with many, many others' efforts in that direction. But he personnified, for me, a certain way of doing business that brought a coldness and callousness right into the heart of the club that represents our city.

I'll rest easier tonight, knowing that he is gone. Here's hoping the next guy knows that financial success doesn't have to be created that way.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Ah Freddie Fletcher, what a man I could listen to him all dazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Sting (whose side is he on?) writes :-

>>>>what one thing can certainly be said about our poor ugly cousins down the road - the fans are treated far better all round

Aye they get to see a great football team, get the excitement of huge transfer signings - Bould must be a World record signing (for oldest player) they have studiously avoided the excesses of the Premier League and Europe these many seasons, and they can watch their manager do some neat tricks with bananas. (-;

BTW Freddie Fletcher has done a tremendous job for the club, generating huge increases in revenue and was an essential part of the Keegan-Hall transformation. From a PR point of view it is probably good that he goes now after being so heavily involved in the SOS debacle. Thanks for a job well done, and a shame that the reputation was tarnished somewhat by the SOS episode.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

WOOF! WOOF! :o)

(Sorry - I couldn`t resist!)

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Lets get Gordon Bennett ex Norwich now Aberdeen into the fold, I rate his attitude

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Hey, Val

...if you read my post again I don't believe I'm saying anything that much different to you.

I dealt with the man when I was ejected out of my Bonded seat in the Milburn Stand, almost before the ink had totally dried on my #500 cheque - purely to create an extra 'buckshee' for Management's mates. He was an uncaring, frustrating person to deal with then, who just would not listen to what you had to say, and in his relationships with the Clubs's customers, ie. the fans, he has simply continued in the same vein.

What I was simply suggesting was:

a) he has been very succesful doing what he was hired by SJH to do - maximise revenue.

b) offering my personal analysis as to why I believe he has failed in the more senior roles he has recently occupied (not his decision).

c) suggested that the real failure here lies with those who put him into management roles he was certainly not equipped for, rather than with FF himself who I truly believe - like him or loathe him - has tried his level best to make a success of. "A square peg in a very round hole!"

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000