The equation looks pretty simple for Myer chief executive John King and what’s left of the company’s board, which lost chairman Garry Hounsell just hours before its annual general meeting on Thursday, after Wilson Asset Management joined Premier Investments in voting against his re-election.

Get a good result out of the critical Black Friday and Christmas sales events and they’ll get a chance to push on with their slow and painful turnaround of the shrunken department store chain.

Muck it up and WAM’s founder, Geoff Wilson, is likely to join Premier chairman Solomon Lew in demanding more change.

Lew proclaimed Hounsell’s sudden resignation as a victory, but it looks a pretty hollow one given the mire that Myer is in.

King’s turnaround plan, based on growing online sales, cutting costs and reducing lease costs and floor space by shrinking and shutting stores, does look relatively sensible. But COVID-19 has made it even more difficult to execute.

Read more of Chanticleer's Myer analysis here.