Et tu, Cesc? Backstabbing on the Lake

Dennis Wise’s Lake Como Odyssey is over, and it might be Cesc Fàbregas’ fault. Yes, you read that correctly. After five years advising Como 1907’s board and working across various roles, including CEO, Wise has ‘stepped down’ and taken aim at Fàbregas in his parting statement on Instagram, stating: ‘The Club have decided to follow Cesc Fàbregas’ direction.’

Wise’s journey to Como begins in Newcastle, before taking us to Indonesia and on to the lake at the foot of the Italian Alps. Having abandoned the Leeds United managerial post in January 2008 for a fancy new executive gig at Newcastle United, he spent the next year playing the role of Mike Ashley’s self-sabotaging attack dog; constantly undermining Kevin Keegan and forcing obscure (and definitely not dodgy) transfers on the club appeared to be his job description.

A turbulent year at Newcastle ended with him resigning, having driven Keegan out of the club and signed a handful of flops that set the Magpies on course for the Championship. His career in tatters, Wise took a break until he appeared in an Indonesian documentary called Dream Chasers, in which he and Des Walker coached Garuda Select, an Indonesian academy team that travelled around England and Italy with the aim of earning youngsters professional contracts in Europe.

The show aired on MOLA TV, a channel owned by London-based SENT Entertainment, whose CEO Mirwan Suwarso had grand ambitions to put Indonesia on the footballing map. Suwarso purchased Como 1907 in April 2019, with the club on the verge of promotion from semi-professional Serie D, Italy’s fourth tier, having slowly recovered from bankruptcy two seasons previous: a second liquidation in twelve years.

Wise was the first ‘big name’ to arrive at the new Como, joining as an advisor to the board. A barely professional Italian club isn’t your average rehabilitation path but the club’s stadium sits right on the Lake, an area that boasts some of Europe’s most sought-after real estate. Its new custodians, SENT Entertainment, are backed by Djarum Group, whose owners the Hartono brothers are worth an estimated £40billion combined.

Wise had hit the jackpot and began to flex his muscles accordingly. He clashed with CEO Michael Gandler over the American’s decision to replace the pitch at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia with fake grass. He won, and soon took over as CEO from Gandler. Como were promoted to Serie B in his first season in charge and although he slipped into some old habits, namely signing Des Walker’s son Lewis despite better options being available, he became a cult hero with Como’s hardcore fans.

Wise always presented himself as a dictatorial hard man. Whether it was an argument over artificial grass or wanting to fight Phil Hay, he acted like a knock-off Julius Caesar. Like most dictators, he was the architect of his own downfall, which began when he persuaded Cesc Fàbregas to join the club in the summer of 2022.

The former Spain midfielder gave the club an unexpected PR boost when his agent offered him to Como during a conversation with Wise about Bologna centre-back Luis Binks. There was only one catch. Fàbregas wanted to be a Como shareholder. What Cesc wants, Cesc gets, which became a recurring theme at the club.

Last summer, he retired from playing and started coaching Como’s Under-20s while retaining his small shareholding. In November 2023, he became caretaker manager when owner Suwarso decided to sack coach Moreno Longo despite being in promotion contention, reportedly going over the head of Wise and sporting director Charlie Ludi in making the decision. Weeks later, Wise was replaced as CEO and ‘moved upstairs’. It was presented as a prestigious move, but really it signified the removal of all his operational power.

Fàbregas became assistant manager a month later, lacking the sufficient coaching badges for the top job. That went to Osian Roberts for the rest of the season, but Fàbregas remained a recognisable figure in the dugout as Como achieved promotion to Serie A, helped by a huge transfer outlay of around €16m in January, bringing in eight players.

With little mention of Wise during the run-in, the image of him celebrating his team’s promotion ‘alone’ with his wife and, strangely, Jamie Vardy in Como’s Piazza Volta seemed to signal the end was near. The rest of the city were off crowning their new emperor Fàbregas, who was about to be named manager of the club he partially owns, with his old boss Roberts moving upstairs to ‘focus on player development’.

Local paper La Provincia reported Wise had left the club on June 5th, stating that he and Fàbregas were ‘incompatible’ as the latter’s decision-making power had increased considerably since his arrival as a player in 2022. A communication from the club was never forthcoming, and nothing further came out until Wise’s barbed Instagram post last Thursday.

Et tu, Cesc? Perhaps Wise is just a bad judge of character. After all, anyone who asks Ken Bates to be godfather to their son clearly has a tough time working people out. ⬢