Quite an experiment

MyFootballClub.com says they have agreed a deal to buy a team: Ebbsfleet United. The club is in the Blue Square Premier League, one step below the Football League. The team, formerly known as Gravesend and Northfleet, sit ninth, six points out of a promotion playoff spot. The board and management will remain in place after MyFootballClub complete the purchase of a 51% interest in the club.

I think they may have to adjust their model a bit. I don't think putting team selection to a vote makes a lot of sense. The big strategic decisions definitely lend themselves to the wisdom of crowds, and I think they can be successful in that area. I also think that the club's fan-members can be very helpful in spotting talent around England and elsewhere, and that could be an advantage in scouting that other teams at this level won't have.

I don't see how the entire group of fans can help a lot with team selection when they aren't watching training and may not even be able to see many of the matches, either in person or on television. Is the Blue Square Premier League featured on the BBC, Sky or Setanta? I wouldn't think so. I suppose that concern will lessen if Ebbsfleet United move into the Football League. I wonder if members will be able to watch matches on the web that aren't otherwise available, and maybe even clips from training. That would seem to be a way around my concern, or at least to mitigate it somewhat. Otherwise, they are relying on the recommendations of the head coach (no longer titled "manager") and what's the point of putting those to a vote unless the members have enough opportunity to watch the players in action and know their current fitness?

Moreover, what happens when a player knows that he is popular and starts slacking off but still gets picked in the side? The manager, Liam Daish, seems happy with the new arrangement, which will change his title to head coach. But I wonder what the effects will be on his ability to lead when he is no longer solely in charge of selection. Maybe my concerns won't apply to non-league players. Maybe I'm just thinking of these things because I'm used to well-heeled athletes in all the sports I follow. David Sullivan, co-owner of Birmingham City, made some of the same arguments in discussing the concept with BBC.com. Sullivan, whose team has been in and out of the top flight throughout his 14 years in the boardroom, was much more dismissive of the chances of fans helping much at all. His comments were condescending, really, saying that fans don't know the inside details on player transfers that drive which ones get made. Well, they will have that information now, won't they? I will say that secrecy could be a problem for this club.

On the other hand, maybe the fan-members can help the head coach from falling into the trap of predictability. Maybe there's something to be said for formations to be chosen based on the accumulated wisdom of 20,000 football-mad people who have collectively watched millions of games, rather than just relying on the experiences of the staff, who, while presumably professional and expert, must necessarily base their decisions on a much narrower set of experiences.

I do see a lot of potential here for this to work. I think there is a lot of scope for improvement on the business side. Fans as owners may bring more eyes to bear on what the ground needs, for example. It's a way of taking a non-league club up, I think, as having thousands of members lending a hand would give the club resources that their competitors simply don't have.