On Wednesday night, AEW Dynamite emanates from Glasgow ahead of its Forbidden Door pay-per-view at the O2 in London on Sunday.
Sorry, I know this isn’t Wrestlingish, but I say all this because that means our esteemed Director of Football, Tony Khan, is back on UK soil.
Up until the launch of AEW in late 2019, TK was a regular at Motspur Park. He built quite the relationship with many of the 2017/18 promotion squad and was often seen socialising with Tom Cairney, Aleksander Mitrovic, and others. But his visits have all-but dried up as Khan seems to focus the majority of his attention on professional wrestling.
Stretched
Did you know that Tony has no fewer than four titles at Fulham? Director of Football Operations, Vice Chairman, General Manager, and Sporting Director.
These titles are either there purely to stroke his ego, or that’s quite a few hats to wear. Even more when you consider Tony has a further three balls to juggle – AEW, the Jacksonville Jaguars and TruMedia.
None of this is news, of course. But what is interesting to me is how in the last five years, people have stopped asking questions about how Tony splits his time.
He used to be asked in almost every interview. He’d proceed to give a wonderfully rehearsed answer that still left you scratching your head – there are only so many hours in the day, after all. He once said he spent 80 hours a week in the office on football alone (he didn’t specify what type). That’s 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Do you believe that? I don’t.
But Tony Khan is the master of the “promo” – wrestling vernacular for when a wrestler addresses their opponent or the audience on the microphone.
You see it often in his answers about AEW, where he’s constantly asked potentially controversial questions; he repeats the question, speaks deliberately, and more often than not squeezes in the company’s next televised event – a true promoter.
It’s not dissimilar to a politician: lots of words, very little substance. But kudos to him for trying to keep up appearances – it’s not as if any of his positions are actually under threat.
Big week?
So, to this week. We’re likely to see both Tony and Shad on the Craven Cottage balcony as the Whites play Manchester United. (It’s a good job the game was moved for TV, as AEW has another show in Glasgow on Saturday night.)
This trip coincides with the final week of the transfer window. And as we’re all painfully aware, we’ve not done an awful lot so far.
Does Tony’s presence in the country mean we’re set to ramp up that activity? His trip to London at the end of August is now an annual affair – AEW usually has its UK event at Wembley stadium but switched this year due to Coldplay’s 10-show residency.
The lion’s share of our transfer activity typically happens during this same period – coincidence? Well, probably not. But, like many others, I’m grasping at any straw I can get my hands on.
We look like we’ve warded off interest from Atalanta for Rodrigo Muniz – but until the Brazilian signs the new deal he so richly deserves, question marks will remain. Perhaps Tony wants the photo opportunity and will deliver the papers himself?
Let’s see how it all pans out. The key question is: has Tony Khan come to the UK purely for AEW? Or does he plan on moving the needle at one of his many other ventures?
Come what may, in the next 12 days we’ll have the answer. And that answer will shape the next nine months. Let’s not be too afraid to ask these questions to the powers-that-be before it’s too late, shall we?
We can ask the questions but as ever will get no answers! What a way to treat your customers
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Tony is a dilettante. He might mean well but is out of his depth. Clueless about building a team, thankfully Marco is there to save the day but for how long? He needs to step aside and bring in someone who actually knows football and has what it takes to build a strong squad...well before the transfer deadline!