Pre Season

Quote: knockersbumpMKII "I know more about man management than Lee Radford would ever do in several lifetimes, not giving them a jolly out to the seaside abroad is hardly ruling with an iron rod and nor would I suggest doing so in any case. balance of course but giving out candy for being naughty or not doing your chores is just a crazy way to go about bringing up your kids.
As I said, you can do the bonding thing and still give a 'reward' on home turf, it's less disruptive, it's less costly and it doesn't give the impression that the fans are cash cows for players whom are already being paid quite well to have a fair few days abroad with little if any benefit (aside from the usual PR nonsense spouted to justify it) . afterall it is at our expense which frankly given their performances would stick in the craw for me.

As for Gentle I think he was onto a loser from the off, fighting a battle he was never going to win and having Radford as his 2IC was a huge mistake. Gentle wasn't one of the lads, his methods and his way of thinking just too much of a stretch for a club with a mindset still stuck in the 70s.
He 'stupidly' expected grown adults to follow a plan/methods and to be 'professional' about it whilst giving them some latitude because if he hadn't being the outsider he was onto a hiding to nothing anyways. That he got us to two 6th place finishes and a Wembley after the Agar debacle was nothing short of a miracle IMO. However Gentle's methodology clearly didn't sit well with some including Radford.

The pressure of playing pro sport is not really any different to other working environments that have aspirations of being successful & having to work under pressure to achieve that success. You work hard, perform well and you get rewarded. You should expect to be supported & given all the tools necessary plus a set of firm instructions/policies to work with. You communicate and input, it seems that rugby players (especially at our club) are far different and like to set their own rules that sit outside of what I would deem to be professional. The club as a whole has a long long way to go, it misses so much it isn't funny (some of which I've pointed out already) and frankly we won't get anywhere with Pearson & Radford at the helm I'm afraid.
Niether of them are qualified enough to do what we actually need to be successful, Pearson is pretty much bipolar, well more on the mania side if I'm honest and well Radford is just clueless.'"

With such a high opinion of your man management skills and insight into the failings at FC I cannot for the life of me see why you are not a top coach. It must have been difficult turning down all the offers. Haven't either of our teams been beating down your door?