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Tony Khan interview...

Started by WhiteJC, May 06, 2021, 10:05:21 AM

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WhiteJC

Tony Khan Helps Run an NFL Franchise, Premier League Football Team and All Elite Wrestling. And He Trusts Himself Now More Than Ever.
A candid Q&A with the billionaire sports exec and pro-wrestling fanatic about wins, losses and knowing when to let go.

When I talked with Tony Khan precisely two years ago, he was exuberant. All Elite Wrestling, the company he co-founded at the outset of 2019 along with a cohort of professional wrestlers aiming to challenge World Wrestling Entertainment's status quo, was the talk of its industry. But at the time, he could hardly contain his enthusiasm about a potential offseason acquisition for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars franchise. His father, auto-industry billionaire Shahid Khan, has been the Jaguars' principal owner since 2011. At all of 38 years old, Tony is the team's Chief Football Strategy Officer.

When we caught up earlier this week, the Jaguars were fresh off claiming former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the NFL Draft's No. 1 pick, and Khan once again led with contagious positvity about the team's fortunes. "It was a really, really busy, but good weekend for us," he says cheerfully. Khan apologizes for dialing into our Zoom on audio only, but insists he's bustling about his office and wouldn't want to give me web-cam "vertigo."

That's an apt metaphor for the dizzying day-to-day of a guy who has his hands full being remarkably hands-on with AEW, booking and creatively outlining the weekly card for Dynamite, which airs at 8 p.m. every Wednesday night on TNT. And that's not accounting for what have effectively become his side hustles: strategizing for the Jaguars and Premier League soccer club Fulham FC, which his father owns and for which he serves as Vice Chairman and Director of Football, as well as being a major investor in sports-analytics firm TruMedia.

"I don't do much besides work anymore," Khan concedes. "But I love everything I'm doing, so it's fun trying to squeeze it all in every day."

Surely, not all the fans of his respective organizations approve of his executive whims or the ways in which he divides his time, but over the course of an hour-long conversation, Khan takes great pains to detail how he delegates responsibilities and reflects on his own errors in judgment. And given how he continues to innovate and disrupt within the wrestling space in particular — a recent episode of Dynamite drew more than one million viewers, and critics have praised AEW's willingness to open the so-called "forbidden door" and share talent with ostensible competition like Impact Wrestling — we went deep on the lessons learned amid his most formidable entrepreneurial journey.

If the idea behind AEW was to disrupt pro wrestling, how do you think the company is doing on that score more than two years on, especially accounting for the pandemic as its own disruption?

It's been going great. I mean, most of the Dynamite [episodes] have happened during the pandemic, but I think that's a function of timing. I'm really glad I got Dynamite started before the pandemic, or it would have been impossible to launch. But also [that we launched] far enough in front of the pandemic that we were able to get a big-money TV extension before the pandemic struck. All the major media conglomerates took a big hit, so I'm not sure we would've gotten that nine-figure TV contract in the post-pandemic markets. I just think the timing was very good for us.

Did the pandemic put pressure on you to make Dynamite that much more dynamic, and how did that interact with the reality of Covid protocols and mitigation?

Absolutely, yes. There was that much more pressure because certain things we took for granted, like being in a new building with a great crowd every week — that was no longer something we were able to do. And it was many months before we were able to return fans at all, and then we did it safely by running the shows outdoors and with physically distanced seating. I think it allowed us to maintain a sense of normalcy. So, yeah, it was a more challenging environment than pre-pandemic. I think it really brought the best out of us. A lot of the best matches and best stories we've done, I think, have been since the pandemic started.

Still, there had to be a risk of some fans or even advertisters disassociating from the product if there was a perception that AEW wasn't being Covid-vigilant enough.

I think it was good to have all these conversations and talk about what some of the potential repercussions could be. But luckily, we had none of those repercussions in real life. We had no sponsor pushback. We had no fan pushback. I saw on Twitter there were a couple of people who questioned the move, but a lot of those same people ended up coming to the shows and saying they felt very safe. And a lot of people who've been advocates for a very slow and safe return to normal life have gone to these shows and thought that they were done the right way.

Another big decision in recent months was opening the "forbidden door" by sharing talent and storylines with competing promotions. Is that all a shrewd attempt to crowd out WWE's influence?

No, I don't think so at all. When I was younger, there were partnerships between a lot of the other wrestling companies. And there was the Wrestling Peace Festival, which was a great idea, and some of those companies did keep working together. You saw wrestlers from AAA in WCW, and you saw wrestlers from New Japan [Pro Wrestling] in WCW, and so I think it's very natural. Twenty years later, things have come back full circle, and now you're seeing those wrestlers from New Japan and AAA competing again on TNT. You're seeing [New Japan's] IWGP titles defended on TNT. I think it's the natural balance of the universe just coming back.

Sure, but how do you and other promoters determine that these arrangements are mutually beneficial?

I mean, I have to make sure we're getting taken care of, and obviously the promoter we're working with is going to have stuff they need to make sure they're getting taken care of. And I'm pretty reasonable. I don't want to screw it up for anybody. So whether it's Konnan with [Mexican promotion] AAA or dealing with the New Japan office or talking to Scott [D'Amore] and Impact, I just generally go into it like I'm dealing with another party in sports if you're making a trade or something. You know, you just try to work it out and be a good person and a fair partner in the negotiation.

As an analytics guy, how much of that plays into real-time, week-to-week decisions about who to push on your roster and on Dynamite versus the idea that it's purely creative thinking?

It's a great question. It's a mix. I look at the numbers — the minute-by-minutes, the quarter[-hours] — very closely. Since there's not a head-to-head competition on Wednesdays [against WWE's NXT, which moved to Tuesdays] anymore, the patterns have changed a bit. So we're learning new things based on the data that has been coming in the past few weeks. But since we began, I've studied these trends really closely and it can be a good indication of what's getting hot, what's getting a good response. Conversely, I don't want to knee-jerk react if something doesn't get the biggest number right away. It doesn't mean that it won't turn around and draw.

I'll give you a really good example of this. I've put a lot of effort into Darby Allin and really trying to emphasize that he's an important person for AEW because he's a creative artist who puts together short films and artwork for his matches. It's the kind of thing I could never come up with in a million years. That's why I love collaborating with him. because he comes in with really awesome ideas that nobody else would think of that are in his own voice. Darby wasn't the biggest draw [right away], but we've kept building and building with him, and now he's not just a future star for us; he's a big star now. That was a result mostly of his hard work and great presence and the great thought he puts into his character and the way I booked him, which is very strong. When you put all that together, now we've got a star who consistently is drawing ratings for us and is a big part of the show. And there's a lot of good examples of that. Britt Baker turned into a real star for us, and we put tons of time in on developing her to the next level. So I think it's a good mix of people we're building for the future and then stars that the audience recognizes from watching wrestling for years.

Unlike with, say, the Jaguars, where there's a hard salary cap on what you can spend to fill out your roster, it can seem open-ended when it comes to AEW. What's the reality of how you decide when to spend big on talent?

At the end of the day, it's similar to sports, where you have a budget and have to decide. It's not like a mandated salary cap by the league or some sort of wrestling governing body, but it is a budget that you need to stick to. So it is similar to operating a sports team, and in lot of ways I would describe myself as somewhere between if you were owning and coaching a sports franchise, or if you own the studio and were directing movies. It's a mix of being a showrunner of a TV show and a coach of a sports franchise. And, you know, you're making decisions about playing time. As a general manager of a sports team, you have to decide which athletes are going to get the contracts and who's going to get extensions, who's going to get a tryout and who's not, and these are things you deal with in wrestling too. When you're producing a TV show, you're dividing up the screen time and creating storylines. And so it's really a mix of the two things.

What's the approach to cross-promotional integrations on Dynamite? I've talked to AEW personnel in the past who didn't exactly relish too many forced campaigns, but were confident there'd be constructive conversations if it came up.

There are things that we do for cross-promotion. Godzilla vs. Kong was something we were able to integrate into the show and help one of our partners, and we've done other integrations, like a "Cracker Barrel Clash" and things of that nature. You don't want to do too many sponsorship partnerships like that where it feels like you're a sellout or something, but I'm always open. For the wrestlers, the biggest focus is always the show itself. I've never felt like we had to promote a product where it was cumbersome to the show, and we haven't really had a lot of pushback. Our audience is very vocal, and I listen to them and try to make changes based on what the audience wants to see, because  that's who we serve. And so we've never gotten pushback on that, and if we had, I think we would be listening for it.

You mention serving the fans. Your ultimate competiton, WWE, gets some criticism for being disinegnuous that its product exists to serve its fans. How do you convince your audience that those claims about AEW are genuine?

There's a lot of differences. I don't do really cheap DQ [disqualification] finishes to prolong something. There are other wrestling programs where you might see multiple DQs and countouts in a week. I believe in giving the fans a finish to the match. I believe in not false-advertising programs and people. I might hype something I really believe in, but there's a big difference between hyping something and false-advertising outright, and I've never done the latter. I think that's why we have a lot of goodwill with the audience. Following through on the things you say you're going to do and trying to deliver a show that's in the spirit of what the fans want to see week in, week out and offering fresh matches and fresh programs is a big part of it. You know, not doing the same matches 17 weeks in a row over and over again.

That said, AEW has had its missteps, like any new business does. Can you cite a few and how you bounced back from them?

I want to talk about three things, but the third one is not a failure; it's just about trying to get the best out of a bad situation. So at the end of 2019, we were in a head-to-head battle on Wednesday nights, and this went until very recently. And that was clearly the time where we just weren't giving our fans what they wanted. We'd started with this great audience, and there were a lot of people with good ideas, but there were too many people, too many ideas, and there was just too much. It was overwhelming. I promised myself I was going to work harder and come up with my own ideas. I would still solicit outside suggestions, but I was only going to do stuff I really believed in, and I was going to be more meticulous. I believe it made a big difference and we came back much more focused, much more organized and with a great response to our next several shows. From the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2020, the numbers turned around, and I was really proud of that.

We were doing the best business we'd ever done, and then the pandemic hit. All of a sudden we went from having our full roster to having less than 30% of them available. In the month of April, 29% of our roster appeared, and the 71% that did not appear included a lot of the biggest stars in the company. And with that 29% of the roster, we fought on. We did win the demo every week, but the ratings were tighter than I wanted. Every week was a dog fight. For these tapings, I really felt like we had to keep the momentum going, but also so that we've fulfilled our obligations to our TV partner by producing new shows. The last thing I ever would want to do in this situation with everybody's livelihood at risk is breach the TV contract. That is our lifeblood revenue stream. And so we taped enough wrestling matches to do up to six or seven weeks of Dynamite. We kept the stories alive, found fresh ways to do it, and I was really proud of the way we literally put over a month's worth of shows together in 15 minutes; the work held up. As an entrepreneurial object lesson, it's trying to make the most out of what you have even if your resources are limited, and sometimes it'll be your best work.

And a big part of those shows was Brodie Lee [aka Jon Huber, who passed away last December]. He was a huge draw for us, and he was a locker room leader. In every way, he was one of our most important stars. And he got sick last year, not from Covid, but from something else. Suffice to say, it got bad. We knew he wasn't going to come back to wrestle, but he was really fighting for his life, and we were all praying and hoping and trying to rally around his wife and sons. They really became part of our family here, and I don't say that lightly. They were with us at the shows, and we were with them through the most difficult times and trying to take care of them and do right by that great family.

I think when you're building a business, there's going to be times where you lose a loved one, you lose part of the team. That's important for everybody too, remembering it's a family and you have to support everybody. I felt enormous pressure to put a show together that would be a great tribute to him. I'm prouder of that show than anything else we've done as a company, and I'm also really grateful for the fans that we had. That was real, and that was one of those times where you forgot we're in a pandemic. So that was a really special moment for the show and an example of, something that was a terrible circumstance that we just tried to make the best of.

Lastly, for the Jaguars and Fulham fans out there: Your passion for AEW is clear, so how do you decide when it's time to delegate day-to-day operations in your other businesses?

I've done that at the Jaguars to some extent, in terms of managing the data myself and being the person overseeing the dissemination of the data to the coaches. I hired an amazing person named Karim Kassam at the Jaguars. He's a really, really capable person with a great football knowledge, but also highly intelligent and really good with programming and systems and statistics. So that has freed me up to focus on the personnel and scouting at Fulham, as well as writing AEW shows and running our roster.

You have to make choices. There's only 24 hours in a day, so hiring really intelligent people to work with you helps a lot. Delegating some of your responsibilties [helps], but if you're an entrepreneur and you bootstrap the business, there's a good chance you have some kind of special skill that got you to where you are, and I wouldn't quit doing that. For my dad, I think it's managing his autoparts business. He still manages the relationships with the auto companies. He's not actually designing the molds anymore like he was at the beginning, but every once in a while, he'll still get it on the ground floor and do some of that. For me, I don't think I'll ever get far enough removed from AEW where I will remove myself from the process of signing or the creative process.

My thought on it is, if you're running multiple different businesses, find the places you add the most value and find the places where the most things can go wrong if you weren't paying attention and focus on those. And then for the stuff in between, find really good people to delegate to. I think that's a good rule of thumb.



https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/371044

FulhamStu

So in Tony's words, he overseas scouting.  Nothing about directing the football.  If we are really after what he calls a head of scouting thats Tony's words for head of recruitment.  That can also be interpreted as replacing Tony as DOF if not in name but in real terms.

H4usuallysitting

Personnel & scouting for Fulham....that was the only bit I understood of the whole article......so, in everyone's opinion - has Mr Tony Khan done a good or bad or middle job with personnel & scouting?


ALG01

#3
This is a hard read with very little in English as I know it. What i can fathom is we have a part time DoF that is focused elsewhere. It also suggests that he does not understand premier league football which is a world wide mega industry needeing the full time involbvement of its key players, not to be treated as a poor relation to the parochial jags and wrestling.

It is my understanding that in american football the stats are a vital part of anaysing a game by virtue of how the game is played. it is very stop start and full of many short term set plays.
IN proper football it is fluid and way more dynamic and subtle so the anaysis is a more clunky thing. I believe at Brentford they exploit the analytics brilliantly as they marry it into proper and traditional methods using experienced personnel.

toshes mate

Karim Kassam, mentioned above in connection with the Jaguars, got his MSc at Imperial College and has worked for Microsoft. He has a PhD in psychology.  He's been around the entertainment industries mainly sport but I cannot see that he is any better with computers than Neil Ferguson or Bill Gates or Tony Khan or ...

H4usuallysitting

Quote from: toshes mate on May 06, 2021, 12:20:07 PM
Karim Kassam, mentioned above in connection with the Jaguars, got his MSc at Imperial College and has worked for Microsoft. He has a PhD in psychology.  He's been around the entertainment industries mainly sport but I cannot see that he is any better with computers than Neil Ferguson or Bill Gates or Tony Khan or ...

Have you seen the IT Crowd.....standard answer....turn it off & on


Twig

#6
Hmmm, ploughed through this expecting to get past all the wrestling gobbldygook and read about his vision for FFC and the role he plays.  I was left hugely underwhelmed. It seems that by virtue of hiring someone at the Jags TK has a bit more spare time for "personnel and scouting at Fulham". Is that it? Is that all a DoF does...personnel and scouting?
Can we please have someone who defines "the Fulham way", our playing philosophy, our style.  Then and only then can someone focus on hiring in a planned manner. Brining in players who fit that approach and releasing those that don't. It's what we've been sorely lacking, a coherent strategy.

Penfold

He is a Director of Football in name only. His only interest appears to be player recruitment. Doesn't he also title himself 'sporting director'?

Appears to like to collect job titles the same way Leonid Brezhnev collected medals.

Holders

This is virtually unintelligible. I do hope this isn't how his mind operates.
Non sumus statione ferriviaria


We Are Premier League

I think the best we can hope for is a solution similar to Spuds. A football Board with Khan as the Chair, as long as he has enough football knowledge in the rest of the members that could work ok. TK, Head Coach, new director of Scouting and Mackintosh as the committee members

Matt10

It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.

HV71

Quote
" My thought on it is, if you're running multiple different businesses, find the places you add the most value and find the places where the most things can go wrong if you weren't paying attention and focus on those. "

Therefore he really has got his work cut out - as he must be still searching for where his talents have got most value for Fulham and to add to that - repeated relegations rather indicates that a few things are going wrong


toshes mate

Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

The Rational Fan

#13
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

FFP controls limits the ability of a DOF to get a lot of good players at once, but this game is about money and the DOF that can get the money will eventually get thr best players.

ALG01

Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:10:56 PM
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

I cannot imagine what you see in tony Khan that makes you defend him, no matter what.
I judge by results, and if he wasn't dad's boy he would be long gone.

if he had money to spend then he would have done that in january. I was told FFP was why he didn't but he was the one that got us into that situation. He is a part time amateur in a job requiring a full time professional.

So again i repeat, what is it you see that the rest of us do not to give you so much confidence in the man?


The Rational Fan

#15
Quote from: ALG01 on May 07, 2021, 01:19:55 PM
Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:10:56 PM
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

I cannot imagine what you see in tony Khan that makes you defend him, no matter what.
I judge by results, and if he wasn't dad's boy he would be long gone.

if he had money to spend then he would have done that in january. I was told FFP was why he didn't but he was the one that got us into that situation. He is a part time amateur in a job requiring a full time professional.

So again i repeat, what is it you see that the rest of us do not to give you so much confidence in the man?

I can see his long term plan, it's planned like the engineer that he is and most of the time he does what would do. He had the FFP money to spend for January to June 2021, lots of it so he could have afforded a top striker and winger, but as I said before the window opened only a fool would buy players in the winter 2021 window. Tony Khan plans to give Parker a top squad that he can take down and then up.

As an example, the worse signing TK ever made financial was Ryan Babel, as the winger delivered excellent in-field performance that was never going to make any difference to our financial position. Every pound saved in the winter transfer window is a pound that be spent for next season. I don't even believe he bought in Maja for this season, but to get him as an option for next season.

Tony Khan has a brilliant plan, had the money to do it, and struggles with buying the players to make it happen. Ultimately, the longer we yo-yo the more chance we have to come 17th in EPL. The key is to make sure why yo-yoing we acquire young players that are too good for the championship.

Penfold

Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:38:46 PM
Quote from: ALG01 on May 07, 2021, 01:19:55 PM
Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:10:56 PM
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

I cannot imagine what you see in tony Khan that makes you defend him, no matter what.
I judge by results, and if he wasn't dad's boy he would be long gone.

if he had money to spend then he would have done that in january. I was told FFP was why he didn't but he was the one that got us into that situation. He is a part time amateur in a job requiring a full time professional.

So again i repeat, what is it you see that the rest of us do not to give you so much confidence in the man?

I can see his long term plan, it's planned like the engineer that he is and most of the time he does what would do. He had the FFP money to spend for January to June 2021, lots of it so he could have afforded a top striker and winger, but as I said before the window opened only a fool would buy players in the winter 2021 window. Tony Khan plans to give Parker a top squad that he can take down and then up.

As an example, the worse signing TK ever made financial was Ryan Babel, as the winger delivered excellent in-field performance that was never going to make any difference to our financial position. Every pound saved in the winter transfer window is a pound that be spent for next season. I don't even believe he bought in Maja for this season, but to get him as an option for next season.

Tony Khan has a brilliant plan, had the money to do it, and struggles with buying the players to make it happen. Ultimately, the longer we yo-yo the more chance we have to come 17th in EPL. The key is to make sure why yo-yoing we acquire young players that are too good for the championship.

Certainly not rational. 🤣

toshes mate

Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:38:46 PM
I can see [TK] long term plan, it's planned like the engineer that he is and most of the time he does what would do.
He has a BSc in Finance.  He is not an engineer.   His grandfather was a Raj.  His father is the engineer.


ALG01

Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:38:46 PM
Quote from: ALG01 on May 07, 2021, 01:19:55 PM
Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:10:56 PM
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

I cannot imagine what you see in tony Khan that makes you defend him, no matter what.
I judge by results, and if he wasn't dad's boy he would be long gone.

if he had money to spend then he would have done that in january. I was told FFP was why he didn't but he was the one that got us into that situation. He is a part time amateur in a job requiring a full time professional.

So again i repeat, what is it you see that the rest of us do not to give you so much confidence in the man?

I can see his long term plan, it's planned like the engineer that he is and most of the time he does what would do. He had the FFP money to spend for January to June 2021, lots of it so he could have afforded a top striker and winger, but as I said before the window opened only a fool would buy players in the winter 2021 window. Tony Khan plans to give Parker a top squad that he can take down and then up.

As an example, the worse signing TK ever made financial was Ryan Babel, as the winger delivered excellent in-field performance that was never going to make any difference to our financial position. Every pound saved in the winter transfer window is a pound that be spent for next season. I don't even believe he bought in Maja for this season, but to get him as an option for next season.

Tony Khan has a brilliant plan, had the money to do it, and struggles with buying the players to make it happen. Ultimately, the longer we yo-yo the more chance we have to come 17th in EPL. The key is to make sure why yo-yoing we acquire young players that are too good for the championship.

Well I do understand the words and admire your outlook but I do have to say that I think you are absolutely wrong.
I especially do not think
a) he has any long term plan worthy of the name
b) the idea only a fool would buy in Jan 2021 is absolutely incredible. he would have save the season getting two forwards of note. we were playing very well, not letting in goals and just needed forwards to complete the jigsaw. failing ot spend guaranteed relegation.
c) yo yo to success? That is as nonsensical. We are in the prem, we couold have survived. Getting relegated is totally ridiculous.
d) he hasn't managed to get a squad together yet worthy of the name, so what makes you think he will do it now.
and
e) I suspect you are the only person that thinks babel was a bad move. He was the highlit of the last campaign and single handed nearly dragged us back into contention.

Every pound saved now helps next season? You are not serious are you.

Mr rational, I do not know how old you are but one thing is sure, you have never run any sort of business because the logic you have suggested is perverse and runs counter to any logic. If TK went onto dragon's den with that financial plan, they would laugh him out of the pprogramme.

As I said, I admire your commitment to the man but it is bizarre what you have suggested, I am sorry but it is.


Twig

Quote from: ALG01 on May 07, 2021, 03:11:56 PM
Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:38:46 PM
Quote from: ALG01 on May 07, 2021, 01:19:55 PM
Quote from: The Rational Fan on May 07, 2021, 01:10:56 PM
Quote from: toshes mate on May 07, 2021, 12:11:42 PM
Quote from: Matt10 on May 06, 2021, 04:40:18 PM
It's an article for Entrepreneur magazine. So if it's not taken at face value, then reading between the lines of things related to Fulham will just upset most on here. In all respects, hate him or love him, TK is an entrepreneur. He's not sitting idle and collecting income from his dad. Do I want him to announce immediately he's delegated everything to a similar "Karim Kassam" for Fulham dealings? Absolutely.
He tried that with CK.  How did that go?   We need someone who knows the English professional game inside out.  The suggestion of Jokanovic/Parker is unrealistic but may be closer to the answer than anything remotely connected with pseudo psychological technology in sport.  I have spent decades in computer stuff and I appreciated their limits when I designed and coded a serious commercial application for the first time.  It sold well because it did what it said on the tin and no bugs.

Don't worry most fans want Tony Khan fired and if he is will celebrate for about a week, until Shahid Khan appoints someone new. As soon as fans see the next DOF, half the fans will want Tony Khan back.

If Tony Khan stays he'll probably buy Aina, Lemina, Lookman and Maja for much too much, which is better than buying no one. Keep Tony Khan he'll keep spending until we are a premier league team.

I cannot imagine what you see in tony Khan that makes you defend him, no matter what.
I judge by results, and if he wasn't dad's boy he would be long gone.

if he had money to spend then he would have done that in january. I was told FFP was why he didn't but he was the one that got us into that situation. He is a part time amateur in a job requiring a full time professional.

So again i repeat, what is it you see that the rest of us do not to give you so much confidence in the man?

I can see his long term plan, it's planned like the engineer that he is and most of the time he does what would do. He had the FFP money to spend for January to June 2021, lots of it so he could have afforded a top striker and winger, but as I said before the window opened only a fool would buy players in the winter 2021 window. Tony Khan plans to give Parker a top squad that he can take down and then up.

As an example, the worse signing TK ever made financial was Ryan Babel, as the winger delivered excellent in-field performance that was never going to make any difference to our financial position. Every pound saved in the winter transfer window is a pound that be spent for next season. I don't even believe he bought in Maja for this season, but to get him as an option for next season.

Tony Khan has a brilliant plan, had the money to do it, and struggles with buying the players to make it happen. Ultimately, the longer we yo-yo the more chance we have to come 17th in EPL. The key is to make sure why yo-yoing we acquire young players that are too good for the championship.

Well I do understand the words and admire your outlook but I do have to say that I think you are absolutely wrong.
I especially do not think
a) he has any long term plan worthy of the name
b) the idea only a fool would buy in Jan 2021 is absolutely incredible. he would have save the season getting two forwards of note. we were playing very well, not letting in goals and just needed forwards to complete the jigsaw. failing ot spend guaranteed relegation.
c) yo yo to success? That is as nonsensical. We are in the prem, we couold have survived. Getting relegated is totally ridiculous.
d) he hasn't managed to get a squad together yet worthy of the name, so what makes you think he will do it now.
and
e) I suspect you are the only person that thinks babel was a bad move. He was the highlit of the last campaign and single handed nearly dragged us back into contention.

Every pound saved now helps next season? You are not serious are you.

Mr rational, I do not know how old you are but one thing is sure, you have never run any sort of business because the logic you have suggested is perverse and runs counter to any logic. If TK went onto dragon's den with that financial plan, they would laugh him out of the pprogramme.

As I said, I admire your commitment to the man but it is bizarre what you have suggested, I am sorry but it is.


Saved me the bother, spot on.