: Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:31 pm  

Steve51 wrote:

It's the board's fault that Cullen wasn't in a position to try to stop the rot 12 months ago by not allowing him to remove some of the bad apples last Summer. Once that happened his authority wasn't worth a carrot & the players were able to play to the levels they determined rather than following their coaches direction.

It's the boards fault that they promised a top class coach, only to saddle us with Jimmy Lowes for months. That resulted in a crap preparation for the season. The board must have approved the appointment of Jimmy's mate from the gym.

I got slated on here for suggesting our team won't be ready & we're scacrificing stamina for size. Lot's of the usual numpties were orgasmic with the "Ooooh look at the guns on him" bullshit. Funny enough we have a team that can't sustain a decent level in any game for more than 50 minutes. Who'd have thunk it....well anyone with eyes should have.

What we needed first was to emply a coach who had both the ability & the authority to motivate the team & to follow a game plan. Then to remove anyone who doesn't want to be here. There's signs of that.

We then need to examine our recruitment policy. Stop hiring injury prone players and stop renewing contracts to continually injured players. The release of Reardon doesn't give another player the chance to take his shirt & shine. It frees up a seat in the North stand, nothing else.

Then there's the hardest part. We need to get to a certain standard in the next few months. The main reason for this must be to make us attractive to next years signings. Langer, Nicau, Wood, Gee etc all left here shouting our praises & what a great club it is to be a part of. That got us Johns. What the love do you think King & Monaghan will tell their mates when they return. What would make Yeaman leave a stumbling Hull side to come to us ??? Well shag all at the minute. Gleeson left here and on his interview he said we had so much in place but he realised that he's stagnating & will never win anything with us. That needs to change.

We've started to change the culture. Smith looks to have a broad brush to do things his way, & looks to be the man for the job. Our players need to have a sence of personal proffessionalism that's all but gone. Smith seems able to motivate them to show a bit more pride. We'll see.

So you're saying the board stopped Cullen from removing the bad apples from the club? Where have you got this information from? I think it was more to with Cullen not wanting to remove the 'bad apples'. We all know he favored Briers and co.

The players seemed happy enough with the preparation.

Everything is in place at this club, like I said it is the players that need changing, nothing else!

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:49 pm  

Cedric Bobon wrote:

Westwood wants out.

Leeds?

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:21 pm  

I think you will find it's just Warrington ...
We've changed everything, the ground, the coach, the players and we're still the same ...

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:35 pm  

KloeLovesChrisBridge wrote:

I think you will find it's just Warrington ...
We've changed everything, the ground, the coach, the players and we're still the same ...

Not changed the CEO recently, nor any of the board members...

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:49 pm  

Spot on.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:56 pm  

Wires71 wrote:

Not changed the CEO recently, nor any of the board members...

I think in the last 15 years we might have

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:08 pm  

JBrown832 wrote:

So you're saying the board stopped Cullen from removing the bad apples from the club?

Yes, from conversations with people within the club. Cullen was prevented from releasing a player. This ain't news, it's regularly on here & other boards from many respected contributors.

Re: Being accountable but not being held to account : Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:17 pm  

vladivar wrote:

I don't post on here much as most of the content is bickering, rumour mongering or swapping of ill informed opinions. But I have a really strong view on this discussion so I'll chip in.

The board of directors set the ethos and vision for any organisation and a sports club is no different. If a company employed the best sales people, managers and great customer service staff, with poor leadership, the performance of everybody beneath suffers. Having great people with poor leadership is as good as having poor people.

There's one big common denominator over the last 8 years of over promised under performance and its the CEO.

Moran's cash - check
World class players - check
Fantastic stadium - check
Credible coaching team - check

But you can't buy a winning culture. It comes from somebody at the top setting the right agenda and instilling the plans and desire to see it through. I'm sure some of the board members have their heart in the right place but some of them aren't exactly dynamic energetic business people with a track record of high performance. And the ones that can boast some success aren't there day-to-day, making decisions and driving activity.

Maybe the players do let themselves down from time to time. Maybe the coaching staff over the years have lacked ideas. Maybe there are key positions that are ineffective within the team. However, you could fix all of that and you'd still have an uncharismatic, visionless, hanger-on in charge with a willingness to accept mediocrity. The club would still be managed by meaningless results such as how many people come and visit the the 'showcase stadium' or how deep the 'water bore hole' is. You only have to hear the guy speak in public to know that he's not going to set the place on fire.

Here's a simple question for you before you moan about players and coaches (and each other).

Who, individually, is accountable for the club's performance?

It isn't Jon Clarke or Chris Bridge or Lee Briers. It isn't Tony Smith and it wasn't Jimmy Lowes or Paul Cullen. Oh, and it isn't Simon Moran.

One man is and has been accountable for club's performance for the last 8 years but continues to dance between the bullets and avoid the public attention he deserves. As long as he's around, Warrington Wolves will be mediocre because he doesn't demand or dictate high enough standards.

And as for the last 15 years point - the club didn't have the cash or facilities 10 years ago. His predecessors had some pretty valid excuses for the club's performance. In the last 8 years, there are no excuses whatsoever.

Good contribution to the debate if not a little controversial. I have often challenged Gatcliffes vision and drive. I have only met him a few times, and whilst undoubtrably a nice chap, strikes me as more of a capable task focussed middle manager rather than a sporting success driven visionary and leader. I also believe the executive board does seem to lack flair and desire for sporting excellence in my opinion.

For some of the older readers, compare the vision of the current CEO and that of Ossie Davies when he was appointed chairman.

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:21 pm  

Steve51 wrote:

Yes, from conversations with people within the club. Cullen was prevented from releasing a player. This ain't news, it's regularly on here & other boards from many respected contributors.

Out of interest a) who was the player in question and b) why did the club not want the player released and c) why did Cullen stand for it?

: Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:40 pm  

Steve51 wrote:

Yes, from conversations with people within the club. Cullen was prevented from releasing a player. This ain't news, it's regularly on here & other boards from many respected contributors.

I'm sorry but they're type of excuses/rumors I'm talking about. This forum is full of them.