Jeff Shi - Interview in The Athletic

[Berlin Wolf]

E&S reporting on Jeff's interview.

Jeff Shi: Budget 'wasn't an issue' for Wolves regarding transfers

Wolves chief Jeff Shi insists budget was no issue for the club during the summer transfer window, despite a lack of further signings late in the transfer window.

www.expressandstar.com

 

[Streathamwolf]

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!!

Interestingly I felt that was what he did say, though without specifically mentioning January.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

@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

That's total viewers, concurrent viewers was less than half at 44 mil. It's big but eSports orgs massively overstate and exaggerate their numbers. Superbowl numbers was concurrent

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Haven't trawled through all this (apologies Mutchy) but have read the article in the E&S. Not convinced by anything he says tbh. If money was not an issue why were no players brought in towards the end of the window? He admits there were players that Bruno wanted but does not clarify why they did not come in? There's more questions than answers for me.

 

[Streathamwolf]

I don't see Jeff blaming anyone in the article, he makes it clear that decisions were made jointly and acknowledges we missed some targets and then decided not to bring in the back-up options. He isn't going to say " we were crap" but admits some disappointment while highlighting a bigger squad.
Edit: I don't believe he just lies, he gives his perspective, which is different to most fans, whose perspectives differ hugely - as is obvious on here!

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

He is effectively saying the recruitment team have let down bruno, which they have.

Still can’t believe we didn’t spend a bit more on botman, and we let Mgw go

 

[Streathamwolf]

He is effectively saying the recruitment team have let down bruno, which they have.

Still can’t believe we didn’t spend a bit more on botman, and we let Mgw go

Agree re Botman, v frustrating. MGW getting a game every week could mean we get him back in January "oven ready", although he was already close in pre-season.

 

[Wall heath Wanderer]

Jeff, here is an idea for you. No more interviews where you appear to pass the buck and and add to the feeling amongst a lot of the fan base that our new manager has been thrown under the bus.
A lot of us don't really care about e-sports, and even more of those worldwide that are into it are not wolves fans and never will be.

After all the uproar about the super league and the use of the term "legacy fans", talking about the fans in England as the minority, which we may well be, is a sure fire way to get our backs up. We were here before you, and we will be here long after you and your millions of overseas fans, have gone.

Mainly, after the whole trust us thing, more words from you are not what is needed. Action speaks louder than words, and it is positive action that is needed to heal the rift that is beginning to appear between a section f the fan base and the higher echelons of the club.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Agree re Botman, v frustrating. MGW getting a game every week could mean we get him back in January "oven ready", although he was already close in pre-season.

could get a game here every week when we pick up 2 injuries on Saturday

 

[Streathamwolf]

could get a game here every week when we pick up 2 injuries on Saturday

Positive as ever . Let's hope not for all our sakes.

 

[Darvo]

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

FAO Mods: Clear drinkism here. As someone who likes the odd tipple (at any time of the day), I’m deeply offended.

 

[Beastier]

From reading the E&S extracts, it seems an "honest but with perspective" interview.

Given that he seems to be qualifying the lack of signings suggests he's picking up on the feeling of mass disappointment towards him personally.

However he won't tolerate "fails but tries his best" of Bruno - he also should understand that he has to deliver himself. Obviously very few clubs can chuck the kind of money round as the likes of the Mancs' clubs & Chelsea, however a number of others in and around our stature have still managed to sign high quality players that will strengthen their teams/squads, whereas we've struggled.

 

[JonahWolf]

There are definitely things in there of which to be critical, but for gods sake how many times does it need explaining, as others have done many times, with regard to esports.
It’s about brand exposure, and growing commercial partnerships.
Our sponsorships are pitiful in comparison to the commercial giants like Yanited. There isn’t a product line that exists that doesn’t have some brand or another associated with Yanited. All sorts of companies give them money to have their name mentioned in the same breath, because of their global reach. Their kit and short sponsor deals are colossal for the same reason.

The esports thing is our attempt at doing the same. It’s not difficult thinking. Fosun/Wolves spend a million or so rebranding (essentially sponsoring) successful esports teams, millions of gamer eyes in China and the US are on them, in the fairly reasonable expectation that brings in higher sponsorships to the club.
If the new dodgy white-label Asian betting company after Manbet X suddenly offers £10m per year because of that exposure, the club has benefitted. As in the direct football operation, as those are the revenues that go right in the budget and help with FFP.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

There are definitely things in there of which to be critical, but for gods sake how many times does it need explaining, as others have done many times, with regard to esports.
It’s about brand exposure, and growing commercial partnerships.
Our sponsorships are pitiful in comparison to the commercial giants like Yanited. There isn’t a product line that exists that doesn’t have some brand or another associated with Yanited. All sorts of companies give them money to have their name mentioned in the same breath, because of their global reach. Their kit and short sponsor deals are colossal for the same reason.

The esports thing is our attempt at doing the same. It’s not difficult thinking. Fosun/Wolves spend a million or so rebranding (essentially sponsoring) successful esports teams, millions of gamer eyes in China and the US are on them, in the fairly reasonable expectation that brings in higher sponsorships to the club.
If the new dodgy white-label Asian betting company after Manbet X suddenly offers £10m per year because of that exposure, the club has benefitted. As in the direct football operation, as those are the revenues that go right in the budget and help with FFP.

I don't think many are disputing your theory, it's obviously right what you're saying - more exposure = more money.

It's whether we will actually benefit from that money. Is that bringing in more money for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Wolves esports or just Fosun? Really, we don't really care if it's not our club.

The interview makes this sound much more than a way of helping Wolves' finances, such as Jeff Shi is now 'splitting his time' between us and esports.

 

[Bacon Sandwich]

Someone making an interesting point on Twitter

Read this and substitute 'Wolves' for 'Thomas Cook'

Fosun Tourism rebrands Thomas Cook as a lifestyle online platform - ChinaTravelNews

The acquisition and integration of Thomas Cook’s brand assets converge with Fosun Tourism’s strategy of integrating industry operations with strategic investments.

chinatravelnews.com

 

[marrs-guitar]

After the recent attempts by the hierarchy to spin our mediocre transfer business on to Nuno supposedly vetoing better players than we brought in, I somewhat doubt that Bruno's hesitancy was a handbrake on the club acquiring talents if they were intent on doing so. Bruno is only the "head coach", after all. Not the manager, not the director of football.

For me, Shi simply chanced his arm on us being able to force through moves for quality players at nice prices for us if we simply waited until the final day – and all that without properly enquiring if the players even had a genuine desire to join us. They effectively put all their eggs in the final day basket and now have egg on their faces, left grasping around for "positives" – none of which relate to our on-field performances, which are ultimately the be-all and end-all of a football club.

The fact that this interview is stuck behind the paywall of a third-party publication, rather than being freely available on the club's own communication channels rather tells its own tale of how genuinely content the hierarchy are with the work over the summer.

 

[Bostin]

Judge us in 2-3 years now is it?

2 months ago it was 'judge us at the end of the window'

You've failed in your job to convince the main targets to come to the club, Jeff. Then you've also failed to get in the second choices on deadline day.

After watching those 'ask wolves' interviews, I'm not surprised a prospective player hasn't been convinced to join us. Our senior team have about as much football knowledge and charisma as my big toe.

When players signed for us they used to all talk about being sold 'the project'. There is none of that now!

 

[wolvesjoe]

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.

HOld on there.

We did bring in one of those, in Hwang a long scouted target.

So he is short of two players, which everyone knows and Shi is open about.

One of those positions, however, is centre back, where we have quality in depth already, so
not the most vital.

So down, in FACT, to the lacking midfielder. Which everyone admits.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

I really rate the commercial expansion the club is undergoing and think that whoever is responsible is doing a good job.

I do not rate this interview as a whole. In my entirely subjective opinion, it's a clear attempt to curry favour with fans by rewriting what happened in the last month. The problem is that I don't really believe Scott Sellars is doing a good job because I'm told he is. I believe he is doing a bad job because of the palpable evidence infront of my eyes.

I dislike attempts to tell me what to think or feel. The evidence in front of me is sufficient for me to reach my own conclusions.

Interesting that he feels sufficiently pressured so as to instigate this interview.

As always, results dictate everything.

If we win a few, everyone is happy.

If we lose our seventh league match in a row, this 'good' transfer window is brought more into question.

We are looking for a window in which we don't spend 50/100 million so we can invest in the Steve Bull stand? Well....we've just had 5 of them in a row!

I preach actions not words because, otherwise, idiots like me pore over the transcript and find some inconsistencies.

Pivotal few months for Wolves. We need to start winning games.

Good summary of how I feel.

Pleased the club are listening to fans concerns and feel the need to respond. That’s the biggest positive and I won’t downplay the value of it. The esports stuff is good, as is the commercial work.

On the other hand, lots of inconsistencies are creeping in now and that’s becoming a concern as it undermines trust in what they’re saying . As examples, in the Q&A ffp was a constraint this summer, while now it wasn’t. All the transfer talk was over the place even in this interview, and the repeated reference to Bruno having the final say is really looking like a poor excuse. Molineux development has also been all over the place since Fosun arrived - first not a priority, then big ambitions, then modest improvements, now maybe we need to replace a stand?

Jeff if you’re reading this, I appreciate the interview and the listening to fans. Please can we have a credible strategy supported by an experienced DoF. The DoF can build the squad to win the cups and enable investment in the stadium you described.

 

[wwbug]

A few positives over them past regimes of SJH and Morgan. Fosun are still committed .
Fosun can and will spend money if they want to. I don’t believe SJH or Morgan could .
I am happy to believe what I am told as it makes sense. Fosun are not sugar daddies they are a business .
They want a successful business. That does mean a successful club. It means making money and investing money sensibly. Give me this any day over the last 35 Years. Look at Forest and Derby or even closer to home .
I am less positive about Fosun than three years ago , but I think that’s because I understand them better and I do expect them to invest by this time next year or I will have a lot more doubts.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Sorry Jeff but you are clueless, snidey, and full of ****!

That is well and truly OTT.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

That is well and truly OTT.

Yes, I agree. There is cause for concern and even anger, but no need for insults.

 

[WickedWolfie]

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

To be fair most Spuds fans that l know thought/still think that they had lots of deadwood but l take your point.

 

[wwbug]

We asked him to speak he has. I am glad of that.
If we don’t come in the top ten this year I expect him to then act.
Starting with recruitment .

 

[JOSWolf]

“For example, we wanted a top centre-back, but if we couldn’t find a deal for one better than Boly, Mosquera, Conor Coady, Max Kilman or Romain Saiss, why sign them? The truth is, it’s hard to buy one ‘top’ player, convincing a player to come, convincing a club to let the player come.”

Botman a top centre back agreed to come but you wouldn’t pay the money Jeff.

Article is a load of everything is great nonsense.

Has Shi been asked if he thinks having only 3 senior central midfield players is in any way a good idea. He says the squad is better than the one that ended last season. I take it he is joking about the central midfield options?

 

[WickedWolfie]

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.

It's about both the absolute numbers and the squad balance. We are well endowed in some areas, in others we are almost eunuch-like even without any injuries....

 

[wwbug]

Has Shi been asked if he thinks having only 3 senior central midfield players is in any way a good idea. He says the squad is better than the one that ended last season. I take it he is joking about the central midfield options?

Yes CMF definitely worse with Vitinha and MGW gone and Moutinho older .
As a whole team he may be right. With additions and returning injuries we may be better than we were at the end of last season.

 

[JOSWolf]

I take it Shi wasnt asked about the ridiculous decision to loan out MGW on deadline day with no one coming in? I take it he didnt mention the fact that we are one or two knocks away from a central midfield in tatters?

 

[Sussex Wolf]

It's about both the absolute numbers and the squad balance. We are well endowed in some areas, in others we are almost eunuch-like even without any injuries....

Exactly. That’s the difference between a challenging interview and one which is more a club communication. It’s fine as far as it goes, but it’s not the kind of interview which gets to the heart of many fans concerns with the summer.

 

[Sanewolf]

So many things about this interview that I cant stand!

1. Jeff Shi never speaks, he is almost like a silent owner, the communication is poor so why oh why when he does decide to do an interview and address the fans would he do it through a paywall media stream? Do the interview on the Wolves website or through a free media outlet!

2. Stop lying to us! You know it wasn't a good window, we know it wasn't a good window, Bruno knows it wasn't a good window so don't insult my intelligence by saying it was a good window.

3. He says FFP was not a yet problem despite the fact in his previous interview he spoke at great length at how our hands are tied because of FFP, now proven to be a lie.

4. Chucking Bruno under the bus. Bruno was open and honest with the fans and said he needed more top quality players and now Jeff is trying to throw him under the bus and say Bruno turned down players.

5. Why didnt Tim directly ask the question "Jeff you must clearly be able to see that having only 3 CMs in the whole squad is not good enough, why are we in this position? and with this in mind was it a wise decision to loan out MGW?" Ask direct questions.

I believe Jeff genuinely thinks fans are not intelligent and will believe anything he says.

As for the Esports stuff i couldn't care less what they do with that side of the club as long as it isn't not affecting the footballing side of the business.

Rant over, roll on Watford.

 

[JOSWolf]

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

The bloke is out of his depth and clueless in my opinion.

 

[jrpb-3]

yes the market is difficult so getting all targets not always possible, but does sound like there maybe some mismatch somewhere in the who/type of player we are looking at/scouting who/type bruno wants and how much we are willing to pay for those.

I assume scouts/whoever puts together lis is given some sort of criteria of what we are looking for. So were the requirements poorly specified (by Bruno or whoever) did the scouts do a poor job of finding players who met the brief or was there a mismatch between the cost of player who match thew brief and also match the budget

if the initial list was long was that just part of the process i.e. get a list together, then quickly remove all the ones that are well out of price range and don't fit what Bruno wants then divide others down into top targets and then backups thats OK, It's what happens next that is important.
Seems like the main issue that may need to be looked at is the reasons we didn't get any of the main targets, and if we decided not to go or the backups then were they of the right standard to be on the backup list in the first place

 

[Bugsy911]

The bloke is out of his depth and clueless in my opinion.

I tend to agree now.

 

[Cousins78]

HOld on there.

We did bring in one of those, in Hwang a long scouted target.

So he is short of two players, which everyone knows and Shi is open about.

One of those positions, however, is centre back, where we have quality in depth already, so
not the most vital.

So down, in FACT, to the lacking midfielder. Which everyone admits.

Yeah the mood would be alot better if a midfielder was brought in

 

[JOSWolf]

He is effectively saying the recruitment team have let down bruno, which they have.

Still can’t believe we didn’t spend a bit more on botman, and we let Mgw go

'
Both he and Sellars play a large part in this then and they have let Bruno down.

 

[JOSWolf]

Agree re Botman, v frustrating. MGW getting a game every week could mean we get him back in January "oven ready", although he was already close in pre-season.

Trouble is we need MGW here now and it was a joke decision to let him go. Can play in central midfield if needs be and attack minded and mobile and in decent form in pre season and Bruno was using him from the bench. Our midfield options are a disgrace.

 

[haveaniceday]

Pretty obvious attempt at gaslighting. Trying to convince us it was a good window, Bruno didn't want players, they didn't leave it last minute, they had 20-30 targets, only wanted top players (moore?), budget wasn't an issue (5m extra for botman was?).

All lies unfortunately, I appreciate the club doing what they can to increase revenue streams but they need to focus on the football. Further solidified my decision to avoid spending at the club where possible, I don't feel the money is being used wisely.

 

[Wandsworth Wolf]

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

Of course, the big question is, does that revenue make its way back to the club?

Does Wolverhampton Wanderers football club benefit financially from Fosun exploiting its ‘brand name’?

Wolves e-sports has been set up as a different company, which is fine - but what’s the end goal? Forget brand exposure. Is it intended as a stand alone business to commercially benefit Fosun, or is it a revenue stream to benefit the club?

Big difference in my mind.
And the jury is out.

 

[JOSWolf]

Yeah the mood would be alot better if a midfielder was brought in

There are free agents who would be better than nothing but again the club are sitting on their hands by the looks of it and giving the quality excuse *******s.

 

[Monketron]

Using the excuse 'we only want to buy quality players' sort of loses it's meaning when it becomes very clear you just don't have the money to buy the players you're aiming for.