Phil SumblerThe club confirmed the departure of CEO Julian Winter yesterday afternoon with what could well be the shortest departure statement in history – certainly one that many will read into that the departure was anything but amicable.
It has been widely speculated and reported over the past couple of months that Winter was on his way and of course we should not forget the weird statement from Andy Coleman a few weeks back where he criticised the speculation that was ‘out there’ concerning both Winter and Josh Marsh.
At that time you would be forgiven for thinking that the two parties were working towards a dignified exit for the CEO who joined the club three years ago following the departure of Trevor Birch.
Those thoughts though would have been dismissed totally yesterday with the club statement being blunt and to the point with it reading “Swansea City can confirm the departure of chief executive Julian Winter with immediate effect.
“The club would like to thank Julian for his efforts over three seasons in the role and wish him well for the future.”
Thirty-seven words was all it took to confirm the departure of such a high profile role at the club and tells you much about how much the relationship between Winter and the majority owners had deteriorated over the course of time.
We can always guess and speculate why that may be but the January window will not have helped and it is clear that the new investors – Andy Coleman, Nigel Morris and the soon to be announced Brett Cravatt – are keen on completely revamping the set up of the club and that obviously seems to be probably the biggest reason for the departure of Winter.
With Paul Watson seemingly already involved in the appointment of Michael Duff as the manager this week, Winter’s time at Swansea was always going to be limited but it is still quite sad that the club could not even find slightly more words on a Saturday afternoon to announce his departure. The parting of the waves on this occasion was certainly not a smooth one.
Watson’s appointment is expected to be made official on Monday or Tuesday next week although his influence over the managerial appointment is probably clear to see with the only hold up to his “official” appointment you would assume at this point being the need to sign things off with whatever settlement agreement has been reached with Winter.
The Swans Trust were slightly more detailed in their goodbye to Winter where they said they were “saddened” to ‘learn recently’ that he had departed which confirms what we all know that whilst today was the club announcement Winter’s departure had been some time before.
The Trust added “We are disappointed for Julian in how speculation about his future was shared widely prior to today’s official announcement, and whilst we know Julian is an experienced and tenacious leader who will manage it with dignity, this level of public speculation cannot have been pleasant for him or his family to experience.
“We are very grateful for the role that Julian has played and the club will be poorer without him.”
The last words there of the Trust are not something that anybody can say for certainty but Winter’s job was not an easy one at the club but there will be a very wide range of views as to the success that he had in those roles.
However, the club remains bigger than any one man so whilst the Winter door has closed, the Watson door will be opening and now we look to him, Coleman and Duff as the men to take the club forward.
Have the Trust actually grown a backbone and taken a dig there at the majority owners. After months of being just an extended mouthpiece for them are they saying that they have handled the exit badly and allowed the speculation to grow before putting it out? Or are they simply having a go at the fans who will always speculate on these things? If its the former then they are to be applauded, if the latter then they remain as distant from us as we always assumed they are.
They also need to stop saying thank you to the owners for giving them the time of day, they still own a decent shareholding and need to stamp their authority with that not make it sound as if club employees are doing them a favour.
But if they have finally shown a backbone then its good – forgive the cynicism though that it has happened at election time…classic politicians!
I think they have taken a dig but in true Trust style it’s not the most direct .
Their time for facing up to the Yanks has long gone.
For the sake of all Swans fans let’s hope that the new board members care more for the club and the team than the original board.
However things turn out the choice of the new manager seems well thought out .All we need to see happening now is some sensible handling of important players on short contracts and support for Duff when he tries to bring in new talent.
By the end of the transfer window we’ll know all we need to know.
Why attack the owners?
When some fans have taken a rest from posting their automatic and unfounded attacks on the owners Mr Winter has been their target. TBF he has been very much an invisible man since his appointment.
Trust comments are, quite frankly, an irrelevance.
Jules’time was up, and old Dai here ain’t crying.