Francesco Calvo's first interview.
Francesco, welcome to Aston Villa. How have you found your first few days at the club?
“Thank you very much. I’ve found everything very exciting. I arrived here a bit in advance of when I was supposed to be here because I wanted to discover the city, to discover the club and to start getting to know the people and understanding the culture of the club. I’ve been visiting around Birmingham and the midlands, trying to understand where I’m arriving because I want to know everything properly in order to start in the right way.”
Your appointment was confirmed some time ago. What have you been learning about Aston Villa in the time that you’ve been waiting to start?
“Between my previous experience and now, I’ve had some time to study and I’ve been reading books. I’ve been trying to educate myself as much as I can about the region and about the club because I think the sooner I will be able to understand the club, its fans and the people working at the club, the better I will be able to perform.”
Your football CV is very impressive. You’ve been at Juventus, Roma and Barcelona – three huge clubs. How will your experiences at those giants help you here at Aston Villa?
“I think I’ve been lucky enough to work for different clubs and, as you said, big clubs. They are very different from one another. Juventus has an ownership which has lasted for more than a hundred years, with a big family in Italy, Barcelona doesn’t have any ownership other than its 155,000 members, and Roma had foreign owners, so I think I will try to take the best out of each club and try to adapt my knowledge to Aston Villa.”
You worked with Monchi in the past at Roma. Will already knowing each other help the relationship between the football side and the business side?
“I worked with Monchi for a short stint at Roma and we enjoyed working together a lot. I think that there isn’t a leading department at the club – we need to work together, helping one another. It’s very important that we work as one club because Aston Villa is more important than any of us. How Aston Villa has been developing on and off the pitch, on the pitch under the leadership of Unai, Monchi and Damian, what has been achieved so far is quite unbelievable given the short amount of time. My focus will be to support the three of them and support the football department of Aston Villa in order to make it an even more successful club.”
What conversations have you had with the owners so far?
“The owners have a very clear ambition to build the club every day, to make the club sustainable and lasting for the long-term. It’s admirable how determined they are to improve the club every day. That’s what I’ve been asked to do and what I will try to do every single day.”
What sort of leader are you? How would you describe the way you lead?
“That’s an interesting question. I can tell you the way I see myself and then we will have to double-check with the staff and the fans in a year’s time. I try to be open and transparent because I think that’s key to working properly with people. It’s not going to be a one-man show with me – I’m a director of an orchestra. My ultimate responsibility is to put everybody in the best possible position to deliver. I will try to support the others and dialogue, for me, will be extremely important.”
You’ve mentioned the supporters a few times. How important is your relationship with them, particularly when there's going to be all sorts of decisions to be taken?
“I know very well that in English football, the clubs are deeply connected with their communities and with their fans. That’s extremely important for me, for all the club and also for the owners – they’re fully aware of that. An open and transparent approach, for me, will be key, and I know very well what the fans represent to the club and what the club represents to them. We’ll do our best to develop the club and to build a strong and further relationship with the fans. I know, probably, we will not always agree or they will not always agree with us, but if we’re able to explain and be open, transparent and explain our decisions, that will be very useful to build a long-lasting relationship with them.”
You have a huge portfolio of things to do on your desk already, but what are you looking forward to most about working at Aston Villa?
“Like everybody working in football, we have a lot of tasks to do and it’s not easy to define the priorities. At the moment, in the short-term, I’m very excited and very determined to understand the club, the people and the fans. That’s important for me because understanding them will allow me to set up the priorities and understand what the club needs from me and where I can add value.”
We’ve touched on what’s going to happen straight away, getting familiar with the club, but what are the longer-term goals during your time here?
“The longer-term goal is to make the club successful 360 degrees. On the pitch, we have the right people to make it successful. Off the pitch, for me, is building on the foundations of the club and the hard work that has been done over the past seven years. The club has been growing a lot and now it’s about consolidating and optimising everything on the job in order to build something which is sustainable and solid for the long-term.”
As a football fan yourself, how much are you looking forward to the new season getting underway?
“I’m really looking forward to it. It seems like yesterday that the last season was over. The new season will start very soon, and I’ve heard amazing things about the atmosphere at Villa Park. Many people have told me that it’s probably the best atmosphere in European football, created by the fans in the stadium. I’m really looking forward to experiencing it myself.”
