Francesco Calvo - President of Business Operations

[Villan82]

Tone is important and that is refreshing after Mr 'I'm f***ing amazing at selling sponsorship'.

[garyellis]

Excellent piece overall and I think he will be a more strategic operator than Heck.
The one bit I did not agree with was the reference to Newcastle.
Their sovereign wealth backers do not give them a pass on the same restrictive practices we are battling with.

[Crown Hill]

More honest than Heck but underwhelming.

[Clampy]

More honest than Heck but underwhelming.

What was you expecting him to say exactly?

[Mister E]

His point about not having representation on Premier League committee and working groups marks a stark contrast with the work that Steve Stride used to do. To be influential, you've got to be on the inside.

[algy]

Excellent piece overall and I think he will be a more strategic operator than Heck.
The one bit I did not agree with was the reference to Newcastle.
Their sovereign wealth backers do not give them a pass on the same restrictive practices we are battling with.

No, I think right now - oddly - Newcastle and us will be fighting the same battles for the same reasons. May end up wanting slightly different outcomes, however!

[pauliewalnuts]

Newcastle have exactly the same problem we do. The money comes from a different source and their source has more of it but they are limited the same way we are.

I am actually surprised their Saudi owners don’t seem that bothered about engaging in financial jiggery pokery to fund them more.

[AV82EC]

Don’t the Saudis fund other football clubs and actually Newcastle aren’t top priority in that list. It may partly explain why they seem a bit rudderless this close season.

[aj2k77]

Very encouraging from him. I like the way he talks, very pragmatic, optimistic but not bombastic.

[London Villan]

You’d hope, coming from a footballing culture like Italy, he gets the importance of fans a little bit more than heck with his boasts about new advertising hoardings and ignorance around disabled fans….

[Steve67]

The guy sounds switched on and has clearly taken the time to consider and learn about the culture of being a Villa fan.  Fair play to him for that.   I hope that we are able to use the good name of Villa Park to attract a really special and rich in value sponsor if we ever do have the ground sponsored.  I'm a tad surprised we haven't done this already but perhaps the right people haven't been attracted as yet.

[Chris Smith]

Newcastle have exactly the same problem we do. The money comes from a different source and their source has more of it but they are limited the same way we are.

I am actually surprised their Saudi owners don’t seem that bothered about engaging in financial jiggery pokery to fund them more.

It seems fromthe outside that they’ve been treading water since Staveley and Ghodoussi left last year.

[paul_e]

I think Neom is the big difference. They now seem to have accepted that it's an impossible project and started to scale back but even after that it's still a huge investment and one that is needed for them to diversify away from oil. The best way for them to mitigate that is to draw people to live in SA and start investing in it's economy.

Newcastle doesn't do much in that regard but their own league potentially can, so I wouldn't be surprised if they've moved away from any ideas of throwing untold millions at the the geordies and are just going to operate it as almost a normal business, especially given the impact of the financial regulations which make it pretty much impossible for them to 'win'.

I may be wrong and they might start throwing huge amounts of money around but what we're seeing doesn't really support that.

[Gareth]

Newcastle have exactly the same problem we do. The money comes from a different source and their source has more of it but they are limited the same way we are.

I am actually surprised their Saudi owners don’t seem that bothered about engaging in financial jiggery pokery to fund them more.

It seems fromthe outside that they’ve been treading water since Staveley and Ghodoussi left last year.

It almost feels like Newcastle is just an office in UK for a big business….feel like they should have a presence there but with minimal investment

[eamonn]

Sounds like he's gently making it aware that naming rights are up for grabs for Villa Park.