Hapoel Jerusalem enters the era of Michael Davis with a lot of uncertainty and quite a few question marks. Who until last Thursday was an unfamiliar figure, became the controlling owner of the club during which only a few were partners. In a first and exclusive interview with the sports channel – which will be broadcast in full on Sunday in the sports news edition – Davis talks about the circumstances that led him to the forefront, his roots in Israel and his connection to Jerusalem and especially – the Reds’ necessary need for new leadership. Get a brief taste of the interview.
What do you know about the group and how did your involvement begin?
‘Like the city itself, the group’s history is full of ups and downs and drama. In recent years, since Uri Alon retired and today he has two babies under the age of one and of course a public company – in his time the group had a certain charm. She won on a regular basis, there was electricity around the team. Sometimes it’s hard to define the variables that make something so special, but a few years ago the group was on a better path. “Since Uri left, it feels like the team is looking for itself and we have not been able to recreate that magic we had in the past.”
So what is missing? Is it just Uri’s absence?
‘Part of the reason is that when you do not have a leader like Uri, the feeling is that there is no rudder. We have reached a point where the owner group is not as united as it should be, it does not have clear leadership. One goes in one direction, others go in another direction, and the group has not worked as a unified body for some time. Now it feels like there is an opportunity to recalculate a route and get everyone to swim in the same direction. Make sure the team gets the resources they need, and work a little less on autopilot. “We have unusually talented people and they do a great job, but the whole organization has not worked as one body for a while, and I think it’s pretty clear to the community around the group that it’s time to restart here and get everyone moving in the same direction.”
So should we expect big changes within the club?
‘I want to address the challenges together with the existing leadership. We currently have people in the group with incredible passion, who live, bleed and breathe this group. Anyone who is there in the field understands much more than I do what is happening, but what I can see even overseas, is that the most basic challenge is that we are not moving in the same direction. We need to fill the leadership vacuum that has been created, that we will all look together to the same North Star. “If the investors or the owners think one thing, and the actual manager thinks otherwise – it’s ineffective, and it’s very important that we re-formulate the message of what we want from the group, and what it takes to do that.”
The exclusive and complete interview – on Sunday in the “Sports News” edition
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