Howards Way - Will It Be Plain Saling For The Aussies

With due apologies to all our readers in Wales who probably don’t want to think about rugby right now, there was a story related the oval ball that our eyes here at Football Business last week.

Pat Howard, the former Leicester Tigers player and coach was appointed as General Manager of Cricket Australia.

Australia, you probably don’t need reminding – but lets do it anyway because its fun – have slip down the Test Match rankings and sit now amongst the also-rans. In the wake of the Ashes disaster in the winter Cricket Australia have conducted a review of how they intend to get back to the top of the world. And the man they choose to help them implement their vision for that is Howard.

Reaction to the appointment is mixed. A quick look at the Cricinfo website and you will soon see comments that are typical: “Would Rugby appoint a cricketer?” Says one. “When baking bread we appoint bakers to the job, you should consider the same approach. I think for Rugby Union he would be great,” reasons another.

And that, generally, is the attitude of most sports people too as well as the public. That we don’t understand because we haven’t played the game – or in Howard’s case the right game.

The man himself was unequivocal in his excitement: “It is a great opportunity for anyone in sports leadership,” he commented. And surely it’s the last two words in this sentence that are the key.

It’s not like they have appointed a bloke off the street to do the job. It’s not like they have come up to me and said: “go on then, have a go.” Pat Howard has been a superb coach, he has played top level sport and he is steeped in experience. Are we really, in sport, so insular that we don’t believe skills can be transferable?

To take the argument down to a really simple level, I drive a Ford Focus. That doesn’t mean, though, that I am unable to drive any other sorts of car. The beauty of experience is that those experiences can be used elsewhere. For example, in Football Business we have franchisees from many different walks of life. Some ran businesses before, some did not. Some are young, some are, shall we say, more mature – its not like we say that people are precluded or can’t run a business because they haven’t before and to judge Pat Howard before he has had the chance to do anything is bizarre.

There is a saying that “if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always got.” So credit Cricket Australia for thinking outside the box.

As an English cricket fan I would be lying if I said I wished him well, however. Bitterness is also a transferable skill.

Got The Time, Tick Tick Tickin’ In My Head

Last week I wrote about the global appeal of football in comparison to any other sport.

Well, if you wanted any further explanation do yourself a favour and turn on Sky Sports News at some point in the next 30 hours or so.

Yes, that’s right. Its transfer window time again. The clock is ticking. And seemingly every Premier League Club – and plenty in the football league are eager to spend money.

Of course it’s not so important for the 72 Football league clubs, as they can loan players in a few days time – although some are looking to, or having to, buy and sell. But that won’t stop their fans panicking too. I know. I was a fan of a Championship club (and lower) a few years back.

And whatever your personal views on the merits of the window (and for what its worth here’s mine: who on earth thought it was a good idea to end it a month into the season?) you can’t deny a couple of things. 1) As football fans it mostly consumes our lives for a week or so. And 2) It makes for some great telly.

Here at Football Business we are lucky (or unlucky….depending on if you are sweating on the yellow Breaking News strip to mention your team, when it just doesn’t…) to be allowed to have Sky on in the office. Generally it’s set to Sky Sports News (sometimes the test match if I get the control or tennis if its Wimbledon Fortnight) and this week it comes into its own.

There’s people in the studio slaving over Flatscreen, Touchscreen TV’s. There’s breaking news every few seconds, as I type this its just come up that Anton Ferdinand is talking to QPR, a few minutes ago it was confirmed that Owen Hargreaves was having a medical at Man City (I hope the people at the Etihad have remembered that there is only 32 hours to go…..) and there is people texting and tweeting at an alarming rate.

Which goes to prove my point.

As much as I love other sports, cricket and boxing to name but two, there is quite simply nothing that competes in either my, or the public’s attention.

Yes England can be the best cricket team in the world, yes David Haye can fight Klitchsko and those things get plenty of coverage, but let me tell you what they aren’t: They aren’t football.

Which is exactly why if you are as passionate about football as we are, we can help you make it your career.

People love football and they love to play it. They love it so much they’ll even pay you if you organise it for them.

Now….have we signed anybody yet….?

*today’s blog title is an Anthrax song.