Jeff Shi - Interview in The Athletic

[Mardenboroughs Shoulder]

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?

Not ITK but it seemed MGW's loan was wrapped up in him signing a new contract. There will have been discussions about how much he could expect to play and the loan move would seem to be driven by this?

 

[JOSWolf]

Not ITK but it seemed MGW's loan was wrapped up in him signing a new contract. There will have been discussions about how much he could expect to play and the loan move would seem to be driven by this?

Possibly but still a bonkers decision in my opinion to loan him out with our midfield options so weak on numbers.

 

[MattH]

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.

Yup, nothing in that interview you wouldn't expect Jeff to say. Fan experience and results on the pitch are what matters.

 

[Streathamwolf]

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.

Well said, sums up the position clearly. I don't always agree with your posts Wwbug but I certainly do here!

 

[GuzzWolf]

I'm officially getting bored of all this tripe chat and have got better things to do with my life. When Jeff starts playing football instead of poker I will return.

 

[Shergar]

Find a buzz word that you can use over and over that makes the conversation sound knowledgeable and technical.

Buzz word for this interview: Cycle.

(previously used. Industry, trust, legacy..)

 

[Brixton Wanderer]

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

It’s a great avenue for growth as well as being a potential gold mine. There will be many more that follow suit in my opinion, both in and out of football.

The people moaning about Wolves being featured on NBA2K for example are completely clueless. It’s huge for the club as a brand, I’m genuinely shocked we’re going to be on there alongside those other brands.

PSG are a good example of how to push a club into new revenue streams and new sub-cultures by working with Jordan brand. See also Madrid and Man Utd. The more money we make, the bigger we get.

 

[oldgoldheart]

I dont think it is too bad overall but I do worry about the impact that the extra "millions of fans" will have. he seems to forget that they contribute next to nothing currently. almost all the £154m comes from UK based fans. just thinking about my family spend:

Sky
BT
Amazon prime
2x Season tickets
2 x away season tickets (yes I am one of the hated few)
19 away tickets
say 5 cup
shirts and other tatt
plus of course, travel, food etc and most importantly time.

it is quite a burden and I expect to be treated as important rather than some legacy commodity. if the new "fans" start contributing financially and it means the football team benefit (as opposed to reinvesting in esports) then fine. my fear is that the money may never trickle back to wolverhampton

 

[Fenrir_]

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.

Would imagine that as long as the club hold the rights to the image then the club has to be getting money out of it, but totally see what you mean that it could be an independent venture that makes more money elsewhere than it does for WWFC.

I'm sure they've said they like the Red Bull 'model', maybe (total hypothesis) they want to build something similar where it's all under the umbrella of that wolf's head emblem. Which to be honest fills me with as much dread as it does hope

 

[Hot Fuss]

To read Jeff Shi say “Chongqing QGhappy winning Honor of Kings was absolutely huge on Chinese social media - like Wolves winning the premier league.” just makes me sick.

Honestly struggling to give a **** anymore.

 

[jonesy]

The more I see of the article, the more I feel like at least they are on the same page with Bruno and they will go again in January. The only statement out of the article that annoys me is him saying it was a good window..... it wasn’t it was ****!!

The moral for fosun is stop over promising and under delivering!!! Keep off the cameras and let Bruno do the talking. We got promises over the last few months about team strengthening from chairman, Bruno and Tim spiers and all didn’t happen.

 

[Bob Wolf]

Slightly worries me that if Bruno said no to the majority of the suggestions how bad must they have been to mean that we made two offers for that keiffer Sutherland chap.

 

[Stratman Wolves]

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.

More or less my thoughts. Money not an issue, then why the dramatics over the Botman fee? If Jez Shi doesn't want to spend, the supporters shouldn't either.

 

[Jefe]

It's as though the players we have are like Panini stickers, and in Jeff’s mind it’s a simple case of methodically adding to them to get the perfect collection. That they never age, they never become more injury prone, they don't need competition to keep them motivated, they don’t run down contracts they may not extend.

That his recruitment team has been working on some thirty targets since day one, somehow makes this failure seem more profound than if had he left it all to deadline day. It may not be his intent, but I agree there is a pass the buck to Bruno undertone to this interview, probably because he is aware of the backlash aimed at him. He says it’s been tough to sign better players in the current market, but we’ve seen this same window play out under Nuno several times, so perhaps the manager is not the common denominator here. Have you not considered by now Jeff that this is how the market is permanently?

If it’s true he wouldn’t lay down an extra €5m for a top target in Botman when “budget is not a problem”, then he is being myopic. I’d much rather pay a little over the odds to bring in two of the four targets required than end up empty-handed as we have yet again. Our scouts don't exactly come out of this smelling of roses either, if in several months they could only identify ten players that the manager agreed would improve the squad. Renato Sanches? I could have told you he'd be an improvement!

We're only two men short of the optimal 22-man squad, Jeff says. Fine, but I distinctly recall Bruno wanting two players per position. I can identify at least three areas on the field where that is not the case. Central midfield is a disaster waiting to happen (because of the decisions made by the management to let so many go without replacement), and it’s disappointing Jeff was not taken to task about this.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

We left it too late and are going to wait for a summer overhaul I feel. Hopefully the pandemic has eased off some more by then. The South American market is the future I also think.

For example we scout Columbian players

(Columbian) Daniel Munoz 10m / Alexander Bah 5m - rb (Danish)

Jorman Campuzano 4m - dm (Columbian)

Cheap and young players that will get better it is a no brainier to go down this route.

No denying this past transfer window was beyond frustrating. It’s obvious we need a physical CM and another striker. I’d also add a RB & CB to that list

 

[Oldgoldilox]

I read the article earlier and as usual Jeff contradicts himself several times or appears to at least. Im prepared to cut him a certain amount of slack as his English isn't perfect and some nuance may be lost in his phrasing of certain remarks. He clearly has a good business head and his belief that our involvement in e-sports will help raise further our international profile, I can only take as read because its a subject I really don't understand.

I do think though that JS needs serious help with player recruitment. He spoke about wanting to bring in only "top players" and then "ideal players" and finally they decided that the ideal players had already moved or weren't any better than what they had so didnt bother. And he claims that Bruno was with him up to the final minute of the window and was happy with what they had. Given that the issues are so clearly plain to see, it beggars belief that they approached the window in such an apparently half hearted manner. I wouldnt suggest flirting with FFP sanctions again but the same type of determination to make the 3 or 4 additions we need as we had when we brought in Jimenez, Patricio, Jonny & Moutinho wouldn't go amiss. It doesnt appear to be there anymore. Dare I suggest it walked out the door with Thelwell

 

[Mr Sizzle]

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 - but then goes on to say his senior team is performing excellently - No i cant work it out either...

 

[Nige100]

Easy to answer questions posed by a publication and journalist in particular that is desperate for something Wolves related to report. Would have been questions very firmly off limits before any such interview happened. Like -

What was the rationale behind the MGW loan when no CM was incoming

Why did we not avoid another potential Dias situation and stump up the additional £5m for Botman if finances hadn’t been an issue? Understand during the window we didn’t want to appear to not have a financial issue to other clubs but £5m is 3 league table places

If we have presented the coach with 20 to 30 names most it which he didn’t want who the **** is doing the scouting and why are we not replacing them?


Why no genuine DOF?

Questions you can bet completely off limits.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

Anyone else find it slightly ironic that a few posters who are moaning still about the lack of money spent in the window, & then also bashing Jeff for using the Athletic to respond, won't stump up the cash to read the article in full?

 

[Wolf in the sun]

still remember jeff saying lambert had the same genes as fosun..

Paul Lambert leaves Wolves: Fosun revert to "Plan A" after another Jeff Shi u-turn

As Paul Lambert leaves Wolves, Tim Spiers provides his insight on the Scot's departure from Molineux.

www.shropshirestar.com

he cant really trust what he says out loud unfortunately....he will tell us one thing and mean something completely different

 

[Nige100]

Anyone else find it slightly ironic that a few posters who are moaning still about the lack of money spent in the window, & then also bashing Jeff for using the Athletic to respond, won't stump up the cash to read the article in full?

Not at all I subscribed to The Athletic but thought it was poo. They are virtually giving away subscriptions no publication doing well does that.

 

[Sanewolf]

It's as though the players we already have are like Panini stickers, and in Jeff’s mind it’s a simple case of adding slowly to make the perfect collection. That they don’t age, they don’t become more injury prone, they don't require competition to keep them motivated, they don’t run closer to the end of contracts they may well not extend.

That his team had been working on some thirty targets since day one, somehow makes this failure seem more profound than if had he left it all to deadline day. It may not be his intent, but I agree there is a pass the buck to Bruno vibe to this interview, probably because he has become aware of the backlash aimed at him. He says it’s been tough to sign better players in the current market, but we’ve seen this same problem play out under Nuno, so perhaps the manager is not the common denominator here. Have you not considered Jeff this is more or less how the market works permanently?

If it’s true he wouldn’t lay down an extra €5m for a top target in Botman when the “budget is not a problem”, then he is being myopic. I’d much rather pay a little over the odds to bring in two of the four targets required than end up empty-handed as we have yet again. Our scouting network doesn’t exactly come out of this interview smelling of roses if in several months they could only identify ten players that the manager agreed would improve the squad.

We have 20 senior players as opposed to the 22 required, he says. Sure, but is that two per position as Bruno wanted? I can identify at least three areas on the field where that is not the case. Central midfield is a disaster waiting to happen, because of the decisions made by the management to let so many go without replacement, and it’s disappointing Jeff was not asked to justify himself about this.

This, this and this again.

In particular first paragraph about Jeff treating the squad like Panini stickers. Yes we still have all of our defenders from last year so no need to swap or upgrade to new stickers but the point if Jeff that the defenders we currently have are not good enough! We found that out last year when Nuno tried to play 4 at the back, anyone remember Lingard running through our backline at will?

Boly hasn't been the player he was for 18 months.
Saiss is a CM who originally stepped into CB to cover an injury and hasnt moved back.
Coady was Nuno's player, good defender who was crucial for switching play from the back. Bruno plays a different style.
Killman is performing well but still suspect in a back 4, high hopes though.

So yes Jeff we do have the same players as last year but last year we realised we wasnt good enough and if it wasn't for a couple of 1-0 wins in March time last year against Fulham & Sheff United we would have gone into the final few games in a relegation dog fight.

Its this exact sort of mindset that has watched us go from two 7th place finishes to a team 3/1 in odds to get relegated this year.

 

[Berkswolf]

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.

Even though Bruno has stated he only wants players in that will improve the team? Perhaps you could point him in the direction of them!

 

[Sanewolf]

Anyone else find it slightly ironic that a few posters who are moaning still about the lack of money spent in the window, & then also bashing Jeff for using the Athletic to respond, won't stump up the cash to read the article in full?

What a weird comparison, not sure what your point here is mate.


What does a fans income or decision on what they spend their money on have anything to do with how much Wolves spent in the transfer window?

 

[Warrington_Wolf]

Anyone else find it slightly ironic that a few posters who are moaning still about the lack of money spent in the window, & then also bashing Jeff for using the Athletic to respond, won't stump up the cash to read the article in full?

Not at all - most probably can't afford it anymore as their season ticket has increased again.

 

[CelebrityWolf]

Bit awkward and a little daft to shoot down the ffp excuse as that was the one thing the positive brigade had been clinging too all summer.

 

[wwbug]

If Fosun benefit from WWFC I am very happy .

 

[wwbug]

Bit awkward and a little daft to shoot down the ffp excuse as that was the one thing the positive brigade had been clinging too all summer.

Honesty , we asked for it . I want it .

 

[wwbug]

To read Jeff Shi say “Chongqing QGhappy winning Honor of Kings was absolutely huge on Chinese social media - like Wolves winning the premier league.” just makes me sick.

Honestly struggling to give a **** anymore.

I read that and my question to you is
Where do you think the money will come from to buy better players ? Or would you prefer WWFC under Morgan and Moxey.

 

[CelebrityWolf]

Honesty , we asked for it . I want it .

Can we at least sue for time lost? People spent hours and days laying out the intricacies of why we couldn't spend in this window due to ffp and it turned out to all be complete nonsense.

 

[NJWolves69]

Let's clear something up here - this was not an interview with Jeff, this was a statement. An interview suggests there was dialogue with Spiers asking questions. This was a statement from Jeff on talking points that he handpicked with no follow-up questions.

This "interview" was complete nonsense. There were no defenders targeted that were better than what we have? Really? Not a single guy that is better than Saiss, a 30 year old converted CM with a year left on his deal?

Also talk about throwing Bruno under the bus. Jeff basically said we would have been able to sign more players if he didn't veto "2/3" of the players that were presented to him. Fantastic message to send to a new manager - not only did he not deliver on the manager's requests, he made sure he rushed to the media to deflect any possible blame. I don't see how these comments can possibly sit well with Bruno.

Everyone would be better off if there were knowledgeable football people in the club, and Jeff stuck to his video games.

 

[SA Wolf]

I dont think it is too bad overall but I do worry about the impact that the extra "millions of fans" will have. he seems to forget that they contribute next to nothing currently. almost all the £154m comes from UK based fans. just thinking about my family spend:

Sky
BT
Amazon prime
2x Season tickets
2 x away season tickets (yes I am one of the hated few)
19 away tickets
say 5 cup
shirts and other tatt
plus of course, travel, food etc and most importantly time.

it is quite a burden and I expect to be treated as important rather than some legacy commodity. if the new "fans" start contributing financially and it means the football team benefit (as opposed to reinvesting in esports) then fine. my fear is that the money may never trickle back to wolverhampton

Not sure this is true. Sky, BT and other broadcasters sell Premier League football all over the world. It is the most popular league in the world and hence a huge proportion of their revenue comes from outside the UK. This is what prompts them to plough such money into football, not just from UK subscribers.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

What a weird comparison, not sure what your point here is mate.


What does a fans income or decision on what they spend their money on have anything to do with how much Wolves spent in the transfer window?

Maybe it is, just find it a bit odd. The Athletic, is what, couple quid a month? Or they offer free trials? Yet moan about Jeff/Fosun being tight.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

Not at all I subscribed to The Athletic but thought it was poo. They are virtually giving away subscriptions no publication doing well does that.

Don't think I mentioned/brought up anything about the quality of writing to be fair.

 

[Hot Fuss]

I read that and my question to you is
Where do you think the money will come from to buy better players ? Or would you prefer WWFC under Morgan and Moxey.

Firstly I would question if the money is going to be significantly reinvested in the playing side. Jeffs interview suggests to me he’s perfectly happy to stay up in the premier league without particularly pushing the team/ground.

Secondly, like all premier league clubs, we generate money from shirts, tickets, sponsorship deals and 100 odd million off sky every year. We aren’t potless and should be doing better than the last window in my opinion.

Its not Jeffs fault football is in the state it is, but it’s a million miles away from why I got into it as a kid from Wolverhampton. Success would be great but seeing my club reduced to a “brand” and a “company” and basically being used as a cash generator for an investment company while my tickets prices go up and up and up just leaves me cold.

 

[wwbug]

Firstly I would question if the money is going to be significantly reinvested in the playing side. Jeffs interview suggests to me he’s perfectly happy to stay up in the premier league without particularly pushing the team/ground.

Secondly, like all premier league clubs, we generate money from shirts, tickets, sponsorship deals and 100 odd million off sky every year. We aren’t potless and should be doing better than the last window in my opinion.

Its not Jeffs fault football is in the state it is, but it’s a million miles away from why I got into it as a kid from Wolverhampton. Success would be great but seeing my club reduced to a “brand” and a “company” and basically being used as a cash generator for an investment company while my tickets prices go up and up and up just leaves me cold.

Thanks for a great reply .Loved it
I can’t agree but that maybe because I could be cold and pragmatic . But I do (like you)have a passion for Wolves

 

[DanishWolf]

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.

Thats the thing isnt? Jeff first throws Lage under the bus, claiming he turned down 2/3 of the players suggested to him. But that leaves 10, who either didnt want to come, or where the fee wasnt (in Jeffs words) fair...

But what is fair? And would Jeff even have a clue about what constitutes fair in the current climate? So 35 million for Silva is just perfect, but 25(or whatever it was) million for Botman is completely unfair? And there was not one midfielder in the world, that we could pay for, that would come, and would improve on our options?

 

[SA Wolf]

Not sure this is true. Sky, BT and other broadcasters sell Premier League football all over the world. It is the most popular league in the world and hence a huge proportion of their revenue comes from outside the UK. This is what prompts them to plough such money into football, not just from UK subscribers.

Found this from a 2019 KPMG report into football broadcast rights;

The GBP 4.2 billion overseas broadcast rights revenue for the 2019-2022 cycle is 46 % of the total broadcasting revenue. As international revenues are set to grow, in the next distribution cycle (2022-2025) the EPL is likely to see its overseas broadcasting income surpass its domestic rights for the first time.

This may be out of date due to the Covid pandemic and so needs updating, I would guess, but from next year, overseas revenue will surpass that from UK subscribers. May have already done so!

 

[VictorPyrrhic]

I like some of what Shi states he is intending to do but i do worry that it is a moving target. In 10 years time it won't be whether we've increased revenue by 100m it is whether we've closed the gap relative to our rivals otherwise as transfers inflate we'll still be purchasing the same category of player.

I just don't see us ever closing the relative gap between us and Man United for example and if anything i think it'll increase! Conversly, we should consolidate our current position but progress will be much more difficult to attain.

 

[Nige100]

Don't think I mentioned/brought up anything about the quality of writing to be fair.

You didn’t no being fair but people won’t subscribe to ****.