Posts Tagged ‘Fighting A Losing Battle’

Brown believed to have one last chance

• Brown says his players are ‘one million per cent’ behind him
• Probable returning former chairman thought to favour change

Phil Brown, the Hull City manager, is expected to be out of a job if his side lose at Burnley on Saturday as the noose around his neck tightens amid growing turmoil at the troubled Premier League club. Brown appears to be fighting a losing battle to remain as manager in the wake of chairman Paul Duffen’s departure today and the Guardian understands he has been told that results must improve straight away, or he could face the axe.

The manager, however, insists he has the full backing of his players: “I think they are one million per cent behind me and hopefully that will show in the performance on Saturday.”

Duffen, who was Brown’s most powerful ally at the KC Stadium, stood down following a meeting with the owner and major shareholder, Russell Bartlett, leaving Brown exposed. Duffen will be replaced by Hull’s former owner Adam Pearson next week. Pearson, who left Derby County yesterday, will return to the club he saved from administration in 2001 and is understood to be keen on a change of manager before the team’s plight worsens.

Brown will be in charge of Hull at Turf Moor, but this could be his last act. He met Bartlett yesterday evening to discuss the owner’s concerns and was left in no doubt that results must improve immediately. Despite just three league victories in 2009, Duffen has backed Brown to the hilt and refused to sack him. He is powerless to save Brown now, however, and has paid the price for Hull lurching towards financial meltdown. According to accountants Deloitte, relegation would see Hull needing to generate around £23m just to meet existing liabilities.

Brown was appointed manager during Pearson’s previous spell and could earn a brief stay of execution should Hull engineer a positive result this weekend, but it seems the writing is on the wall, with bookmakers suspending betting. Brown said: “A manager always relies on results and at this moment in time, we’ve got four points from the last three games. If we can put our best foot forward against Burnley and we can get something from the game, that will be a good return for October. It was a big month and so far it’s been fairly successful on the field of play.

“The support of Paul Duffen was there for everybody to see, but that’s gone now. What is around the corner you can only guess, and only time will tell who his replacement is.

“I don’t think it was on football results, I think it was on the business of football. It’s difficult to separate the two, but you do tend to run a business as well as a football club.

“The game is about change. Paul’s resignation, nobody saw it coming. But it’s happened and I have to respond to it. Whenever you pick up a newspaper, it might be speculation about my position, Paul Duffen’s position, or Hull City in general, but I keep looking at that league table and we’re still in the Premier League. I’ve responded to every challenge that’s been thrown at me and I’ll continue to do that.”

Duffen said: “I come from a background where if things don’t work out then the buck has to stop somewhere. While Phil Brown is ultimately the man on the pitch, I believe it is my responsibility to oversee the transfer market. Results have been disappointing and the most important thing is to create the best atmosphere to help the club succeed.

“I had long talks with my fellow directors and my partner and we decided that to give the club the best chance it is probably a good idea for me to step aside.”

On the prospect of Pearson succeeding him, Duffen added: “It would seem that is the most likely scenario, he is now available. It would not be rocket science to connect those two things. If you ask me a hypothetical question, I would have thought it would be a very logical and positive move.”

Endorsements block a ‘major factor’ in Ronaldo’s move

• Ronaldo could earn ‘at least £85m’ in commercial deals
• Sir Alex Ferguson admits winger wanted to leave United

Cristiano Ronaldo’s frustration with Sir Alex Ferguson’s reluctance to encourage Manchester United players to exploit their commercial potential was a major factor in the 24-year-old’s desire to leave Old Trafford, industry sources say.

It is a scenario that echoes the experience of David Beckham, whose departure to Real Madrid in 2003 was influenced by Ferguson’s view that his off-field profile was distracting focus from the team.

Ferguson last night admitted he had been fighting a losing battle to keep Ronaldo from Real’s clutches, saying: “He wanted to leave, it’s as simple as that. He was going to go some time. We’ve done well to keep him for so long.”

Mary-Ellen Field, a leading expert in commercial and licensing rights, told Observer Sport that Ronaldo’s £80m move will open up a huge range of previously restricted commercial options and will allow him to earn “at least £85m” from endorsements over the next decade.

“Ferguson’s view that [commercial exploitation] takes a player’s mind off the game is valid,” Field said. “However, the contract between the player and licensee means they usually have to work 20 days a year at most.

“With any brand building, whether it’s a person or product, the more positive exposure you get, the more valuable your brand becomes. It would have been beneficial for the club and player to get as much exposure as possible.”

In 2002, United signed a 13-year £300m contract with Nike that allows the company to control the club’s ­global licensing and retail operations. believes that if Ronaldo had been able to develop, for example, his own perfume brand, like Beckham’s lucrative Pure Instinct, it would have been mutually favourable. Despite being the world and European player of the year, Ronaldo’s only major deal is a recent agreement with Castrol, in contrast to Beckham’s blue-chip partnerships with Armani and Adidas. “There is no downside. The player is happy with his endorsements, and the club can sell the product and get the mark-up – website sales are huge,” Field said.

Once Ronaldo’s current commercial worth of £18m is added to his basic salary at Madrid – a five-year contract should earn him at least £45m – with the correct off-field management the player could accumulate more than £175m by the time he is Beckham’s age, 34. Beckham is ­currently worth around £125m.

Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at ­Coventry University, said: “United have a greater desire for on-field performance, driven by Ferguson. From the people I speak to at Real regularly, there is a much greater sense that Madrid is an entertainment brand rather than a football club.”

Florentino Pérez, Madrid’s president, has said that the deal for Ronaldo will be paid for through improving “our accounts by increasing the club’s ­economic value”. This will be achieved by Ronaldo and the Spanish club’s other new acquisition, Kaká, being aggressively marketed in developing markets, including Asia, as Beckham was when he signed for Real. Madrid estimate that his four years at the Bernabeu boosted shirt sales by 137%.

And in contrast to United, Ronaldo and Kaká will be encouraged to develop their individual commercial activities beyond Madrid’s own in-house deals, to expand their profiles globally.

Surprisingly, Ronaldo has not ­registered his name as a trademark, which Beckham, as most high-profile sports stars do, did early in his career. It is thought Ronaldo’s advisers, acting on legal advice, decided this was too expensive, though it would cost him little more than two weeks’ wages.Last July, Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo’s agent, signed with CAA, the American agency whose clients also include Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt and Beckham, but has yet to yield any deals. Towards the end of 2007, Ronaldo was approached by a ­consortium, via GE Finance, which was interested in developing his commercial interests. Mendes signed a letter of intent, but by last summer that had been cancelled, which left Ronaldo disappointed.

Madrid’s investment ­strategy appears to be set to continue with reports last night suggesting they are close to signing Valencia’s David Villa in a £34m deal. It would take the club’s outlay on players this month to more than £170m.

Meanwhile Ronaldo has indicated that any negative reaction to his move will merely spur him on. “I love it when people jeer me. I love to see the hate in their eyes, to hear the insults. It doesn’t bother me,” he said in an interview with the French magazine So Foot which was given before his move to Madrid and will be published this month. “It’s true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me and who support me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately, that happens rarely.”