Jeff Shi - Interview in The Athletic

[Ned]

The only arguments you can have that the window was "good" are:

We kept Traore and Neves
Trincao and Mosquera might come good


We didn't improve the spine at all which we've needed to do for God knows how long. This interview is basically like a schoolkid in the headmasters office going "it wasn't me, Sir, it was Lage who did it".

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Hmmmm....

Good spot re the contradiction. "Bruno had the say" huh.... Is that like Nuno liking a small squad (just like he has gone for at Spuds, NOT)....

If that is the best that he can come out with about the transfer window he would have been better, in my view, to just keep quiet.

If that is Shi's justification the word "pathetic" comes to mind. The scent of male bovine excrement reeks....

Much of the rest of the article was quite positive albeit much of it about visions and aspirations.

Nuno's squad has reduced in size at Spurs by 3 players, also wanted to ship another out as well.

 

[MasWolf]

Says Bruno was offered 20 or 30 players but didn't think two thirds of them were better than he had. Not a great advertisement for the scouting team that.

Says the squad is 20 seniors and Bruno wanted 22.

Says it's a good window not a great one.

Says the targets on the last day weren't the top targets that they had been trying for months but would have helped the squad.

Looks forward to a window where we don't have to spend 50 or 100m so the money can be used on the Steve Bull stand

Looks forward to a window where we don't have to spend £50-£100 million? Is he talking about us back in the Championship then as to make any progress we need to spend that every year.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

E-sports teams obviously cost a fraction of 'real' teams. I haven't time to look them up now, but if you check the figures for people watching the final of Fortnite online it was absolutely huge. And I'm fairly certain that in the US - as far back as 2019 - more people watched the final of some shoot-em-up online than watched the Super Bowl

This isn't even in the same galaxy as true. Like off by miles.

 

[steve vena]

We seem absolutely clueless at times in the transfer market. Lowballing with bids don't work all the time ...clubs just laugh it off.
Get a director of football in ffs ....someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[Scallywolf]

Not wrong though is he.

He may or may not be but there is a better way of posting opinion.

 

[clivewolves]

I'm surprised Shi actually agreed to an interview at the moment as there isn't much to be gained from it.

Stadium is the status quo.

Transfer strategy was as it seemed. Some of it good, some not, but kind of muddled. We had money to spend but only on top players, but then top players cost top money. I get we only want players who are better than we have, but I wish Spiers would have pointed out we have three central midfielders and one those was approaching 35 at the time of the interview. The recruitment team has to be doing better there.

I see the benefits of esports. I think Wolves need to be more proactive in communicating the benefits on a regular basis. Russell Jones gave out some numbers on social media as Shi has done in this interview and you can see the value there. But they were being reactive to fans comments. Wolves need to continually add context so more fans understand.

I think Shi knows football lingo, but his heart is commercial. I'm fine with that. He'll have to be if we want to be self-sustainable and successful in football. I agree with him that we will be better in the future on and off the pitch.

 

[WalsallWolf]

I have read the article in full and I just do not trust this guy and what is more concerning is, he is clearly out of his depth and out of touch. It is Dean Saunders like of a chairman in that some of those quotes are about as laughable and contradictory as.

I do not buy into the "trust fosun, we have much to thank for" etc stuff. Yes, we do have much to thank - I am well aware they have pumped money into the club we could only ever have dreamt of 6 years ago, but for me the bulk of the success to now has been down to Nuno and his relationship with Mendes in bringing in the likes of Neves, Jota, Moutinho, Adama etc. That was down to Nuno/Mendes. Even little things like Coady, that wasn't a FOSUN/Jeff decision.

Is it possible we could have someone on the board who actually knows what he is doing? Or can it only be Jeff/a tie in to fosun?

I like Bruno Lage and he seems a coach with good intention but I really resent the way in which a) he was appointed and b) how he has been utterly thrown under the bus by his superiors within 3 games of being here. I don't think the guy stands a chance at Wolves, if he communicates in public during the Jan Window as he has this summer (and rightly so) I think he will either be sacked/walked. Oh infact, I guess it will be "mutual consent"

 

[Scallywolf]

Used to be a fan of Jeff’s but I’m now beginning to think he is completely out of his depth.

Jeff needs to get more experienced football people around him and delegate some of his current duties.

Our current board of directors is woefully short of people and experience imo.

 

[Hot Fuss]

Does he at all mention why when we didn’t get any of the deadline day targets he still let go one of our other fit CM’s go on loan?

“Because it’s difficult”

 

[steve vena]

I’d keep off the alcohol so early in the morning if I was you!

Don't drink pal , I just don't trust the bloke.

 

[wolvesjoe]

From a less negative perspective:

The senior squad is 20 players, with Neto to return.

Bruno wanted 22.

Its really not a big jump.

From the fragments passed on, the take home message is that Wolves have a ceiling regarding transfer
fees and wages that was insufficient to bring home those 2 extra players. They have an excellent squad, the
best ever under Fosun, they retained the star players, who see rejuvenated under Bruno.

But we are still taking a chance between now and mid-January.

More broadly, we may be taking a chance by not maximising investment when the overall quality of the squad is
so high, and the new manager seems high calibre, energised and up to date in tactics and psychology.

That would be my worry, rather than those 2 players required to reach the 2 for every position ambition.

 

[Scallywolf]

Don't drink pal , I just don't trust the bloke.

Fair enough.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Don't drink pal , I just don't trust the bloke.

He's clearly excellent when it comes to the commercial side of things. Expansion in many fields is testament to that.

He also clearly needs help when it comes to the footballing overview. There's no disgrace in that, it's not his profession.

What irks me though is not acknowledging that and making the necessary hire. Someone whose experience extends beyond youth team management.

 

[Hot Fuss]

Genuinely seems more interested in esports than actual football.

 

[VictorPyrrhic]

Shi is asking us to hold off on our judgements for another 3 years. It's up to us to decide if that is acceptable. Ultimately, it's a game of football to us and a brand/investment to him.

 

[bennymacca]

very interesting that Jeff says that of the 20 - 30 targets the ideal targets (maybe Milinkovic-Savic? and a few others) were not the transfer day targets its just they kept working on it on transfer day.

Also that selling a player is based on when they have reached peak value/progress with Wolves (like Jota) rather than a cashflow thing.

 

[Fenrir_]

I’m slightly worried about this esports. It seems to be quickly becoming the priority and he’s kind of talked down about the fans here again, saying we have ‘200,000 in England’ who support Wolves but ‘10 million who follow the badge’ because of esports.

Does anyone know what they’re paying to buy these teams they’re taking over?

In terms of numbers of ‘supporters’ and exposure they’re blowing us out the water.

We always had the fact the Premier League money would make us Fosun’s priority but how long can that last to esports?

I don’t know enough about it so I’m just asking questions but ‘Wolves’ becoming the best in that area seems a priority for them and it’s insane the numbers it’s doing for them. With the way esports is rising, how far can this go?

I accept not many on here will know about the Chinese esports scene but it does seem crazy

Esports will be a good avenue for us to grow the brand (hate using that word in this situation!) and make a ton of money. I'm sure there was a Wolves themed 'skin' you could get for a game recently (might have been Fortnite), and plastering that kind of advertising all over gaming could be massively profitable because people will pay for these skins to put on their virtual character. Wolves have got into a bit of sim racing in rFactor, and had Wolves themed liveries on the cars. I do sim racing and if I could buy an official Wolves livery for a car for say, 99p (rather than spend a couple of hours bodging my own together!), I'd do it. Multiply that by all the potential customers (if we have 10m following the badge), and you start to see where the money can come from - and it's not an insignificant amount, the potential is massive

 

[jonesy]

As someone pointed out maybe he is just telling the truth and that’s what Bruno thought !! I would have preferred him to come out and just say we didn’t get who we wanted we will go again in January and we back our man Bruno!!

 

[Mutchy]

Direct criticism towards actions, things said etc. Thats fair enough.
Don't get into personal abuse and name calling though please.

 

[SA Wolf]

Walk the walk, not talk the talk, Mr Shi.

 

[Kcb92]

It's good to hear from Jeff even if it's probably a bit overdue and it's evident from this, we're in good hands commercially and that Jeff/Fosun have the right intentions so this interview alleviates a few concerns in that regard but a few things that stuck out:

Jeff claims the squad is larger. Are we not a man lighter? With Patricio, Otasowie, MGW, Vitinha & Jose missing from last season and with Sa, Hwang, Trincao & Yerson coming into replace them? More if you include Cundle, Marques and Corbeanu, who were also regulars on our bench.

I'd have liked to hear his justification for the severe lack of depth in midfield. We're once again walking a tightrope injury wise which is concerning considering we did the same thing with strikers last season and look how that went.

Jeff doesn't actually give an answer when asked how Wolves approach competing with City & Chelsea if we can never get near their spending power. He just says we have to find a way and then goes on to talk about growing commercially and how the team need to do well to support that.

Perhaps hearing from Scott Sellars may provide some much needed insight here but this interview doesn't do anything to convince me Jeff and his team know what their doing football wise to achieve their stated ambitions of "Top six, Top four, winning trophies".

 

[MasWolf]

I'm surprised Shi actually agreed to an interview at the moment as there isn't much to be gained from it.

Stadium is the status quo.

Transfer strategy was as it seemed. Some of it good, some not, but kind of muddled. We had money to spend but only on top players, but then top players cost top money. I get we only want players who are better than we have, but I wish Spiers would have pointed out we have three central midfielders and one those was approaching 35 at he time of the interview. The recruitment team has to be doing better there.

I see the benefits of esports. I think Wolves need to be more proactive in communicating the benefits on a regular basis. Russell Jones gave out some numbers on social media as Shi has done in this interview and you can see the value there. But they were being reactive to fans comments. Wolves need to continually add context so more fans understand.

I think Shi knows football lingo, but his heart is commercial. I'm fine with that. He'll have to be if we want to be self-sustainable and successful in football. I agree we him that we will be better in the future on and off the pitch.

If Spiers points that out then he isn't getting another interview.

 

[Fenrir_]

A lot of that interview (the bits I've seen shared on here!) really doesn't sit right with me. I'm sure Lage may have turned down a player or two, I'm even more sure he didn't want to go into the season with three senior midfielders who are all - in his own words - too similar. We know we could have got Botman over the line but didn't want to pay the money and if FFP wasn't a restriction then the question has to be asked why we didn't stretch ourselves to get it done (I understand if they wanted €20m more for him, but if we were €5m off on a €30m deal I think we should have bit the bullet on that one).

And the comment about looking forward to a window when we don't have to spend £50m-£100m so we can invest in the Steve Bull stand... just **** off with that one!

 

[RosehillWolf]

Judge us in 2-3 years , sorry, but we will be back in the Chump if things don’t improve , and quickly

 

[DanishWolf]

By the way, glad he speaks, but am I the only one who wonders why on earth he speaks to The Atletic and not through the official Wolves page or E&S enabling as many fans as possible to read it?

 

[Cousins78]

Absolute load of rubbish, we could have signed players is just an excuse as they wouldnt put the money up again for the players Lage wanted. Starting to lose faith with Jeff now

 

[AlexWolvesHD]

Must have spent all summer trying to sign Van Dijk & Pogba seeing as Botman & Sanches weren't ideal targets apparently

 

[JamesWolves]

And I thought this transfer window was a shambles, this interview is so much worse, the whole 'major fanbase isn't in England" feels like a punch in the face

 

[HKWolf]

From reading that, it confirms a few things:

-The marketing guys are doing a good job (Russel Jones). The e-sports and fashion stuff is clever.

-The football/ticketing guys are ****ing abysmal (Sellers and Vinny Clarke).

-FFP was an outright lie used by Shi as an excuse not to spend money. I called it all along, but the apologists wouldn’t have it. Financial years end on the 31st March they would say (31st May for football). The UEFA settlement ends at the end of the 2021/22 season they would say (financial year 21 is reported during the 2021/22 season, it doesn’t include that season).

Essentially, Jeff needs to cut out this bull****, bin those useless yes men (Sellers and Clarke) and stop missing opportunities. The 2 players that we can all see we need (Cb and Cm) would have driven his commercial project into overdrive by putting us into the top 4 (Sanches and Botman).

It really is simple, and saying it is hard does not make it hard. Just buy the right players and they will pay for themselves and more. We were penny wise regarding Dias and Kessie, but who looks pound foolish now?

Using time as justification is also wrong and foolish. If we had bought Costa 1 year, Cavaleiro the next, Neves a year later, Jota etc, we would still be running at a loss and in the Championhsup now. Sometimes it is better to go big in 1 go, than drag it on across 5 years.

We need 2 players Jeff. Just get them for heavens sake, and everyone will love you again and so will the Wolves bank balance.

 

[DanishWolf]

Looks forward to a window where we don't have to spend £50-£100 million? Is he talking about us back in the Championship then as to make any progress we need to spend that every year.

That quote was the most odd one, knowing we only spend 21, and made a net profit...

 

[optimuswolf]

Looks forward to a window where we don't have to spend £50-£100 million? Is he talking about us back in the Championship then as to make any progress we need to spend that every year.

I don't think any club with our revenues can be looking at 50m + net spends each window. Or even each year.

The club probably is on track to make a smallish (20-30m) annually with a net spend of zero. Anything beyond that would be 'unsustainable'

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

It’s a terrible window if Neves and Traore don’t sign new deals and we have to sell next summer for less than they’re worth, or even worse this January.

Then we’re looking to sign at least 5 players, rather than the 2-3 targeted this summer, with 2 of them being the best players currently in our squad.

All seems incredibly short sighted to me.

 

[Bugsy911]

It's an embarrassing interview and statement highlighting really that lessons haven't been learnt and are still operating on a threadbare squad.

An injury to any of our 3 midfield players or Raul and were in a world of trouble no pr spin can change this , we're literally at a point where somebody is better than nobody regardless of quality, its an utter shambles.

I have the feeling he is totally out of his depth now and the senior management team he assembled aren't upto the job.

 

[Clifton Wolf]

Let's just deal in facts here:
- Bruno publicly stated on 2 or more occasions that we needed to add '3 or 4 top players'. After stating that we only signed Hwang. We failed to deliver for Bruno so to pass the blame to him for rejecting players is farcical. If he rejected the players, they clearly weren't up to the required standard.

 

[steve vena]

I'm sick of the bull. I hate liars and hate that they are spinning things around onto Bruno.

 

[Streathamwolf]

very interesting that Jeff says that of the 20 - 30 targets the ideal targets (maybe Milinkovic-Savic? and a few others) were not the transfer day targets its just they kept working on it on transfer day.

Also that selling a player is based on when they have reached peak value/progress with Wolves (like Jota) rather than a cashflow thing.

Which makes sense. Overall, disappointed with the stadium element of the interview but for me they are still committed long term and will hopefully add those 2 more players - CM and CB - sooner rather than later.

 

[Bacon Sandwich]

This isn't even in the same galaxy as true. Like off by miles.

@jwolfie91 I had to go trawling for the link, but I remembered writing an article for a client about it a couple of years back. This is it - League of Legends vs the Super Bowl This esports giant draws in more viewers than the Super Bowl, and it's expected to get even bigger

Reading that you can understand Fosun pivoting to e-sports

 

[Fifty Niner]

Blaming Bruno for our lack of incomings. You have to laugh

If the ‘blame game’ has started already imagine the fall-out if we remain winless for another 3 or 4 games, especially if injuries or loss of form effect players in those fragile areas such as midfield.

Says he agrees with Bruno for top players, budget wasn’t an issue, refused to pay what he thought was a few million too much for Botman (a top target) and then tells us the last minute scramble was for the very type of players Bruno said he didn’t want: squad fillers, ie players no better than we already have.

 

[Wonder Boyo]

By the way, glad he speaks, but am I the only one who wonders why on earth he speaks to The Atletic and not through the official Wolves page or E&S enabling as many fans as possible to read it?

I agree with that to some extent. However, you can't do it through the official website, because to make the interview count the questions and discussion points have to come from an independent journalist who is free to ask critical questions and not just some club patsy. You could do it through the E&S, although I'm not sure any of their journalists are up to it at the moment. The new lad, Liam Keen, is doing a decent job, bit he's too inexperienced and wet behind the ears to do a proper in-depth interview with Shi at the moment and attempt to hold him accountable. I guess that leaves the nationals, but maybe it's better to use a news organisation such as The Athletic, which is well respected in terms of quality and trustworthy output and has its own journalist covering Wolves. So I can see why Shi picked The Athletic. He knows the interview, while behind a paywall, will get out to the general public after it's done.

Also, I think he may have read Tim's post window article, which was quite critical, and wanted to address a few of the issues.

After reading it I'm more assured that Fosun are in it for the long-term and committed. However, from this interview I would have liked a few more detailed and specific questions about the window (e.g. midfield) and also some comeback on the current running of the club behind the scenes (megastore, online shop, ticket office etc.). My experience of dealing with the club recently, as with many others, is that it's a shambles and hard to get hold of anyone to take responsibility for things going wrong. Are they understaffed or struggling after Covid? Think that was batted away far too easily by Shi, saying Vinny was doing a good job. There is lots going on behind the scenes that is very amateur and appalling from a supporter / customer point of view. When you're getting the details like that wrong, it erodes trust in the bigger picture. I'm really pleased we're 'growing the brand' with eSports but I'd like some of the training wear I ordered and paid a lot for, to get delivered sometime soon, considering I ordered it over 10 days ago and it's still in the processing stage.