Trust is Built by 'Answering' — Reflections on the Media Relations of the New VF Kofu Management

As of now, I have no concerns about what is happening on the pitch.

We lost the opening match. However, I don't think there is any reason to be pessimistic about the content of the game. Looking back at the expected goals, Kofu had 1.15 against Tosu's 1.45. Since Tosu's second goal was a penalty kick, if you subtract that (the expected goal value for a penalty in standard models is 0.76–0.79), the quality of the chances created during open play was actually higher for Kofu. At the moment, I don't see any particularly negative elements on the pitch.

If I had to point something out, it would be that despite not having many players who use height as a weapon in the front line, the team seemed to resort to monotonous crosses in the second half. But I am a soccer amateur. I don't have a tactical eye; all I have are reflexes that make me look up at the sky the moment a goal is conceded. That is why I try to write about management in this note.

The line that said 'there was no response'

And what is bothering me is the situation off the pitch. You might think it's strange to talk about such things the day after the opening match. I'm sorry. But for someone who cannot talk about tactics, this is about all I can discuss. I wanted to talk about this somewhere, but it's the kind of topic I want to address early in the season. So, although this is an event from a little while ago, please bear with me.

The Yamanashi Nichinichi Shimbun noted in its pages that it had requested interviews with Technical Director Jun Nakamura (hereinafter referred to as TD Nakamura) twice, but received no response. Newspapers usually don't go out of their way to write about the process of being ignored. I read that single line, 'there was no response,' as a desperate protest from a local newspaper, despite its mild tone.

A one-way philosophy

On the other hand, TD Nakamura was not silent at the same press conference. Regarding the play model, heprojected a PowerPoint presentation that should have been an internal documentas it was. This in itself is truly wonderful. I don't know of any other example in Kofu where a club has shown its supporters so concretely what it aims to achieve and how it will fight.

However, that is exactly why it bothers me. A person so enthusiastic about disclosure does not respond to interview requests. The philosophy flows out generously. However, the line is one-way. He speaks eloquently about what he wants to talk about, but does not answer what he is asked. It is not silence, but selection. It is not concealment, but control. Come to think of it, numerical targets such as points were not mentioned at this press conference either. If he just doesn't want to say numbers, there is room for understanding it as a kind of caution. But when viewed alongside the lack of response to interview requests, I cannot shake the suspicion that what is being avoided is not the numbers, but the 'questions' themselves.

There was another scene at the press conference that caught my attention. It was when a reporter from Yamanashi Nichinichi, who had already asked several questions, tried to follow up with another one.Manager Shibuya said, 'Please limit it to one.'It is true that it was the reporter's multiple question, and one could say it was a consideration for the proceedings. However, there were not many reporters raising their hands, and it didn't seem like time was running out. The questions were limited to one. As for the answers, they were not many to begin with, let alone needing to be limited.

Come to think of it, after the pre-season match, the build-up when receiving pressure from the opponent was mentioned as an issue. Would it be too mean to say that something similar is happening in the press conference room? When the press of a question is received, the ball is kicked out of bounds. If you call that an issue on the pitch, you should also call it an issue off the pitch.

The reporter asking the questions is not in the wrong

Just to be clear, I have no intention of blaming the reporter who asked multiple questions there. The sight of reporters who press for answers at press conferences being attacked for 'not reading the room' is becoming a staple of this society, but asking follow-up questions is the duty of a reporter. A healthy organization cannot grow in a place where those who fulfill their duties are ridiculed.

On social media, there are voices saying, 'Since Yamanashi Nichinichi is a sponsor, they should write supportive articles.' But being a sponsor and editorial rights are different things. If the person who provides the funds can buy the pages, it is no longer reporting, but advertising. A club grows only when appropriate criticism circulates. I believe that being able to welcome that is a sign of the maturity of citizens who live with the club.

I don't want to blame anyone (A request to all club staff)

To be fair, defensive media relations are not an invention of the new management. I have the impression that the management during Mr. Sakuma's time also had a strong tendency to try to control information. The current management has a continuation of that style, and a sense that it has become easier to see on the surface. From the outside, that is how it appears. And if the style has outlived the people, it means it is no longer a matter of individual personality, but of organizational culture.

Another thing I want to say fairly is about TD Nakamura as an individual. He has built his career as an academy coach, and he should not have had much experience or training in standing on the front lines of the media as the face of the club. A person who can prepare such concrete content for a philosophy is intentionally refusing only to respond to interviews. It is more natural to think that way. Or rather, I want to think that way. If he was ignoring requests while knowing about them, it would be a matter of social etiquette, let alone the skill of media relations. If so, what is needed is not criticism of the individual, but follow-up as a club. The public relations department should stand in between, organize the form of response, and convert the content at hand into answers to questions. It is not a difficult construction project. If it is content worth talking about, it already exists.

Trust is built by answering

The club has positioned this season as a 'season to restore trust.' Looking back, this year, the club has disclosed more concretely than ever what it aims to achieve and how it will fight, while at the same time, it has repeatedly failed to respond to interview requests from the local newspaper. It seems to me that the same club is offering an open hand and a closed hand in the same year.

Trust is not built just by saying what you want to say. It is built little by little by answering what you are asked. And answering is the cheapest investment in trust that a club can make. It requires no capital investment or reinforcement costs. The local newspaper is not a subcontractor for public relations, but one of the few circuits that connects supporters and management. When that circuit thins out, it is usually only after the fact that one realizes it is thinning.

I repeat, I see no seeds of concern on the pitch for now. My worry is what is outside of it. I hope it is an unnecessary worry. I hope that at the end of the season, I can laugh and rewrite this, saying it was just an unnecessary worry.