Just a quick note about some off field developments that emerged yesterday. A few weeks ago it was reported that the club’s finance director Doug Lee would be leaving his post to be replaced by Malaysian Simon Lim. Mr Lim was to be based at Cardiff City Stadium and, although there was the sort of speculation that we heard at this time last year when Gethin Jenkins left his CEO post that he had been pushed rather than jumped, the official line was Mr Lee had left to pursue other projects.
Whatever the truth might be, it seems Mr Lim is to have a wider job description because with the club’s chief backer Vincent Tan in Cardiff for the weekend to watch the win over Blackpool, news has emerged that Alan Whiteley, Gethin Jenkins’ replacement, will be leaving as well if this story in the local media is accurate.
Now, with all of the furore about the re-branding, there are going to be plenty of people who look at this as further proof of Vincent Tan’s dictatorial tendencies. They could well be right of course, but with doubts around about whether Alan Whiteley was ever a willing or enthusiastic CEO, about the investigations into fraud allegations against him (which, apparently, are still ongoing) and the suggested possibility that he was only ever on a one year contract after Gethin Jenkins left his post on 22 October 2011, it’s hard to come any firm conclusions as to what is happening yet – however, with it being reported that Mr Whiteley could keep his seat on the Board of Directors as well, it hardly appears as if he is walking away from the club in a fit of pique after being sacked.
One suggestion I’ve seen is that Alan Whiteley is paying the price for the current impasse in the negotiations to try and clear the Langston loan note debt and there are suggestions from some who claim to have inside info that Peter Ridsdale may be charged with conducting the talks between the two sides in the hope that he can broker a deal – I’ll steer clear of making my feelings known about this for now except to say that it’s bound to cost us if agreement can be reached and Mr Ridsdale plays a part!
One last thing, if Alan Whiteley is leaving his CEO post, then I think it has to be recorded that he was given an almost impossible task in trying to sell the change to a red kit to the club’s support and, although many (myself included) have been critical of the way the City have conducted themselves at times over the past few months, I think he did a pretty decent job of it. I had sympathy for his position in trying to defend what so many supporters found indefensible and thought he tried to conduct those meetings I attended at Cardiff City Stadium back in March in a calm and patient manner.
