Gavin Baldwin on Doncaster Rovers succession plans, lessons learned and Grant McCann

Fresh from a superb, title-winning campaign last time out there is plenty of expectation among the fanbase as they look forward to a long-awaited League One return. Ahead of the new season, the Free Press was granted an extended interview with Rovers' long-serving CEO Gavin Baldwin. The lengthy chat covered a vast range of topics.

Here, in the first of a three-part Q&A, we look at hot topics including the club's succession plan post-Terry Bramall, the future of manager Grant McCann and get Baldwin's thoughts on the lessons learned from the club's struggles a few years ago:

Q: It feels almost like a different club now at Rovers from just a few years back. What do you think was the catalyst?

GB: "The biggest change for me was Terry coming in as chair, and Grant as manager. Grant brings an expertise and realistic aspirations of doing well on the field. And Terry, through becoming chair and having the responsibility to control his spend, has given us the freedom to do everything we've probably wanted to do for years.

"It means we've got a playing squad of which we can be proud, we can make improvements to the training ground and stadium of which we can be proud and that creates a momentum where it feels the club is together as one."

Q: As good as it is right now, there's no denying the club went through the wringer a few years back. Were they tough times personally?

GB: "Yeah they were. It wasn't an enjoyable time. However I would say my job was more important during those tough times. That's because my definition of success then was different. Back then it was having a team that played in the EFL and, if we're being crude, paying our bills.

"Through the staff coming together and finding new revenues, it meant we had a playing squad that could compete. My definition of success was very different. We're now looking ahead to this season and saying 'can we get in the play-offs?' and 'what kind of improvements can we do to the stadium?'

"Equally I don't believe that makes me any more effective. I can't say I'm better (at my job) because those times before was when I really had to work. We were fighting for car parking contracts so that we could bring one more player in.

"We're now at a stage where Club Doncaster is paying for the new tannoy system and the new medical facility for example and that is because of the profits it makes. And then Terry is giving us a competitive playing squad on top. So out of adversity comes some good things. I'd say we're now feeling the benefit from those tough times and that we've learned from them.

"The atmosphere at games wasn't great. But at the same time we kept the club alive. And you just think if we'd not come up with these other revenues, then where would the club be now? That's the scary thing."

Q: How reliant is the club on Terry's funding?

GB: "If Terry wasn't funding us then we'd have a playing squad and would be able to pay bills but it would be back to the times where it's tough on the field.

"If you look at clubs going out of business, and I'll not name them, even without Terry we'd not be in that position. And that's because of the discipline we learned during the tough times. But what we wouldn't have is everyone looking forward to every Saturday - it'd be tough.

Q: Plenty of fans are often ask what the club's succession plan post-Terry looks like. Are you able to expand on it at all?

GB: "We've got a plan whereby should Terry leave at any stage - and by the way he's got no intention to at the moment at all - we have a succession plan.

"Even now, there's a volume of people who want to be part of the club. But Terry right now wants to be in charge and enjoys being in charge, the day-to-day contact.

"He's very, very comfortable at the moment but I already know that if we had to, I could pick up the phone to realistically three people who are very keen to have a conversation about the club's future.

"The sort of person and businessman Terry is in, he's not going to leave us in a position where we could be on a cliff edge tomorrow. That wouldn't be the case. We've got a company-risk assessment and part of that includes if something happens to Terry we've got a plan next to it that is ready to go."

Q: How important has Grant McCann been to the club's success in recent times and how does the relationship between him, yourself and Terry work?

GB: "Terry calls it a triangle and we're all in it together. The prime example is that at most clubs a chairman gives a manager a budget and that is worked towards.

"With us, we met Grant virtually the day after the end of last season. He drew a picture of the squad, names he wanted and how much he thought they'd cost. That was the squad budget. So it wasn't that he was working to a number.

"He didn't come with unreasonable requests. It was all to do with what he thought would give him a chance of potentially having some fun this season.

"We worked hard to bring Grant back but equally he wanted to come back here. And I think he's learned from being at other clubs, just the level of support that he does get here and I think he values that.

"Grant doesn't come along asking for £5million for a player because he knows it's not reasonable. He pushes but it's always within a reasonable boundary."

Q: Has the club protected itself - as much as is possible - against another team poaching Grant in the future?

GB: "Basically, there's the side of it where I think Grant genuinely feels supported and that he enjoys being here.

"The other side is that contractually, if he was to leave, then the compensation we would receive is considerable. It would then enable us to go out and recruit another very good manager.

"But equally we don't want Grant to leave and we don't believe he does either. He's been clear he enjoys it and his passion is to get us into the Championship, as too is Terry's. My job though, if you like, is to plan for the worst-case scenario.

"We know what we want our next manager to look like and we would recruit for that instance. Where we've been guilty in the past is almost lurching from manager to manager. But again, I come back to the point of we were doing what we could afford to do at the time. Now, we've got ability to plan what a manager looks like."

Q: You spoke at the Supporters' AGM of compiling a huge list of annual improvements - big and small - across all areas of the club. Can you shed more light on this?

GB: We put together a list and there were 139 things to improve. We do it every year but sometimes that list would feel unrealistic because we'd not have the funds to fulfil it. Some of the things are very small but some are very significant. For instance we've put in planning permission for a new fan park outside Belle Vue Bar. We want to enable supporters to enjoy the fan experience more.

"There's also plans for more hospitality because we sold out towards the end of last season.

"All of this is to improve the fan experience so that they wake up on a Saturday and get that tingle. We haven't got prices that make you feel like we're trying to rip people off.

"The biggest criticism we had from fans in Belle Vue Var was they couldn't put their pints down anywhere and that we didn't serve chips. That's been sorted.

"I think what this all demonstrates is the kind of staff we've got here and what Terry has realised since getting closer to it, is how good the staff are here. And this is where I get passionate because they're the same staff largely as when we were doing poorly. But they were operating within different parameters then."

Q: Have proper lessons been learned from the past?

GB: "When it was tough, if we'd have had an offer of £500,000 for Jay McGrath – as was made public recently - then it'd have been a different conversation.

"Because we'd have wanted that money. Now we don't need it. Now, we discuss what would the squad be like if we keep Jay and what would it be like if we spent that money on the squad. Therefore the decisions being made now are football decisions, whereas in the past they were made for financial reasons.

"With the five-year plan one of the wrong things to do was to advertise the five-year plan! But equally, we do have a direction of travel and Terry is very clear that that direction is Championship.

"But it will be to support a club that is Championship-ready when it goes there. Now for instance, I feel much more confident that we're going into League One and will be ready. That's why all the work - tannoys, medical facilities etc - is going on right now. When we get into the Championship we'll then have the infrastructure and revenues to support it. We'll not be going there to be the whipping boys. We want to have a good time when we're there. And that's where lessons have been learned."

Stay tuned for the second part of our chat with Gavin Baldwin.