Jeff Shi has explained the thinking behind Wolves hiring Gary O’Neil.
The chairman has been expressing some thoughts about the club in the first of a new quarterly column he has in the Express & Star.
It is not too often that Shi speaks about Wolves and how things are going.
He’s done a couple of Q&As during his time at Molineux but by and large, he does tend to keep a low profile.
This has not always sat well with some supporters.
But it looks as though communication will be a little more frequent moving forwards…
Jeff Shi explains Wolves’ decision to hire Gary O’Neil as manager
Shi penned his first column this morning.
And it is certainly interesting.
There are definitely some random things in there, such as where he talks about playing Championship Manager 03/04 as Woking. And visiting Liverpool ‘to meet a couple of friends in the music industry’.
There’s some flannel, but at one point he does talk about the decision to hire Gary O’Neil.
On the reasons for this, he says: “I also believe the football industry has entered an era when teamwork is more crucial than personal calibre. The reason we appointed a young English manager; or always try to promote our own staff to step up to senior positions; or do our best to give the academy players a chance; or recruit hungry players who see our platform as a golden opportunity, is because it’s easier to build a team like that with natural chemistry, that can adapt to each other quickly.
“Also, it’s more possible to form mutual long-term targets and values and make the journey together more enjoyable for everyone.”
First Shi column comes across slightly odd
Many fans have longed for more transparency and communication from the club and those at the top.
So this new quarterly column from Shi is a good thing in terms of that.
But this first column from Shi is a little strange. He spends much of it suggesting how lucky Wolves are to be in the Premier League and how difficult it is to stay in the division, rhyming off statistics about teams that have gone down in recent years and teams that have stayed up.
He doesn’t actually say much of note, and in parts it comes across as checking in with fans for the sake of it.
And given Shi was not actually involved in the process of hiring O’Neil (it was Matt Hobbs who led), fans may find his comments there a little disingenuous.
Ultimately though, Shi should get some credit for at least trying to engage more.