Phil Alexander - new consultant to Rob Couhig
The latest Trust Board minutes (for June) contain the following info...
"Club Update
Phil Alexander (formerly Crystal Palace) has joined as a consultant to Rob Couhig, heading up all revenue generation activities."
Here are a couple of links about him...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Alexander
https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/club/phil-alexander-named-premier-league-ceo-of-the-year/2022-05-27/
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I remember him playing centre half for Wokingham against us in the Isthmian lge.
Damn good kicker and World bowl champion at Wembley for the London Monarchs back in the day, Won't have too many of them in the league. Welcome.
Also very experienced sports admin. Sounds like a positive move.
I remember him from the World League. Great kicker and maybe still a good option for goal kicks
I was expecting someone to post 'I am underwhlemed by this sign, terrible football career and never got a better CEOing job than Place?'
No ambition.
How come you were expecting that?
Brings back visions of Monkman about 20 years ago?
"If you have any ideas, email them in". 🤣
‘When you’ve finished work we need you handing out leaflets in the town centre.’
This is the only Monkman I know https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZagrO1C8UUY
Coming from a Premier League club and joins us is a strange move. Hopefully the appointment will be very successful but I assume it will come at a big cost.
Does this mean Rob is stepping back a bit and does it also mean we have come to a settlement with Derby to fund such positive steps?
I can't see how any of those conclusions stack up tbh but each to their own.
Rob lives in a different country he was never going to be hands on 24/7/365.
Read the article on the club website, it does cover a few of these points.
Who knows if we'll ever find out exactly what happens with Derby, will no doubt be undisclosed if anything is ever agreed.
Is this guy still with Crystal Palace or is he a free agent?
I think it's a dual registration situation
If it was before your time, the key details are he was brought in on a hefty wad to improve the commercial side of things. But ended up with what I believe a fanzine at the time described as a "sheepish" policy of "let us know your ideas".
Things eventually came to a head with tales of our chairman actually having to come back from holiday to "mutually end" the arrangement, with rumours that the "new ideas" were losing us serious wad.
Did you mean Pete? As it's Pete who is the day to day guy. Rob is clearly 1,000s of miles away in the US, so there's only a limit how hands on you can be from that range?
Pete has moved back to the US hasn’t he?
If there are any on-field problems, Rob can still write open letters to sort things out though, can't he?
Clearly the appointment takes pressure of Pete Couhig but would be interesting to know what Neil Peters, the current commercial head thinks. The new guy seems to have the same remit.
There was a story on the official site that stated Pete would be more focussed on the football side of things.
Not sure exactly what that means. I assume contract negotiations, dealing with agents etc. rather than taking coaching sessions or discussing tactics with Gaz and Dobbo. I certainly hope so anyway.
So has Andrew Howard taken a back seat again?
Neil Peters is head of operations, not commercial.
I think you will find Phil is an advisor only.
Anyone know if Andrew Howard is still active as a negotiator? He certainly had an impressive record!
I was going to say this thread would be a lot thinner if people had read the article on the website as it covers a lot of that being asked, but it doesn't seem to want to load for me at the moment
Wycombe Wanderers are delighted to announce the appointment of Phil Alexander as Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO, Rob Couhig.
Phil has recently left his position as Chief Executive Officer at Crystal Palace after 26 years, being named Premier League CEO of the Year at the Football Business Awards in May, and retaining a position as a part-time consultant at Selhurst Park.
He will help to oversee the commercial and operational side of the football club, with Pete Couhig focusing more on footballing matters.
Phil arrives with a wealth of experience in both the EFL and Premier League. He played for England schoolboys, professionally for Norwich City and was placekicker for the London Monarchs American Football team, winning the World Bowl at Wembley Stadium in 1991. Phil also played for Wokingham Town against Wanderers on several occasions in the 1980s and had spells at Bracknell and Swindon Town before joining Palace.
As well as being the longest-serving Premier League CEO, Phil was a member of the FA Council, representing the Premier League, and sat on the FA’s Professional Game Board.
Phil said: “I live locally and I’ve got to know both Rob and Pete Couhig over recent years, and I admire the ambition and passion they have for the club.
"My work at Wycombe fits nicely alongside my consultancy role at Palace and will focus primarily on driving commercial revenues and improving the fan experience on match days.
"I’ve been involved in sports all my life and my objective will be to generate a team spirit amongst the staff and achieve our commercial goals in the same way that Gareth does at the training ground.
"I want to hear from any businesses in the area who wish to get involved with the club in any capacity. Just call me anytime at the club.”
Rob Couhig commented: “For the past year, Pete and I have discussed ways to make it more likely for the club to play in the Championship and be true to our goal of operating the club on a financially sustainable basis.
"We recognized that this would require Pete to spend even more time with the football operation and Gareth, and have the ability to spend time with his family. It also meant that we would need senior leadership to help fill the gap on the commercial and operational parts of the business.
"We wanted someone who had the right experience, integrity, and an understanding of the Wycombe Way. I believe in Phil Alexander we have found that person. Phil has earned the enormous respect he enjoys in the football community. I am very excited that Phil has agreed to take on the challenge. It's a huge step forward in our plan for the club.“
Interested how these 2 things tie up.
Can he more focussed on the football side from the USA?
Or was it a temporary closed season move home?
According to his LinkedIn page, he is responsible for managing and developing of all commercial sales relating to Wycombe Wanderers and Adams Park, including developing new platforms , revenue streams etc etc . Sound familiar to the new man’s role. So I don’t think his title matters.
Let's hope this adviser lasts longer than Rob's last one. Mark Palmer lasted less than six months didn't he?
with seemingly no announcement that he'd left?
Pure speculation, but I always thought there was a connection between Mark Palmer's lengthy talk during his introduction to WWT members on not getting promoted to the Championship before we were ready and had infrastructure in place, our blinding start to the 2019/20 season, and the Couhigs deciding that this was a once in a blue moon chance to get Wycombe promoted to the Championship and throwing his advice out of the window.
I'm guessing Phil Alexander will have been appointed in less haste and with him and Couhigs singing from a similar hymn sheet before he starts.