Friday 21 August 2015

Time for a little more thought

As I like to do, I've been thinking about some of your comments in recent days.

I don't think some of them have been especially fair.

For one thing, what we all overlooked at the time was that Derbyshire had the nous to start contract negotiations with Mark Footitt at this early stage, before he got into the last year of his contract. It was always unlikely that Mark would sign the first contract offer, especially, as I wrote the other night, when he is coming to the peak of his career.

Think on this...who put it 'out there' that Mark had rejected the club's contract offer? Of course, using one of the 'tools' open to him to get the best deal for his client, it was in all likelihood Mark'a agent. In one fell swoop he alerted clubs around the country that he may be available IN TWELVE MONTHS TIME and to start forming an orderly queue for his services.

I would be surprised if there were any early signature on a contract and I think it would be worth Mark's waiting to see how the winter goes for one thing. He can't deny that Derbyshire have looked after him physically and financially, when he was hardly awash with offers on leaving Nottinghamshire. Such considerations will come into his head, as will the fact that his bowling has come on apace under the tutelage of Graeme Welch, as has that of other players. he would not be the first to find things went pear-shaped on a move to pastures new.

I fully respect his right to consider options, but I have total confidence that the club will do the right thing in trying to keep him, as well as in realising when they can go no further.

I have to say that I disagree regarding the supposed lack of communication with the club too. As supporters, we have no right to know exactly what is wrong with am injured player, because confidentiality between a practitioner and patient is important. We don't want opposition sides knowing that bowler A has a knee problem, because they can then prepare for him neither bowling at full pace nor for long spells and bat accordingly. The people in charge of our club are not daft and sometimes the appreciation of why they are tardy in releasing information needs greater contemplation than is being given in some quarters.

Nor are they, as being suggested by one or two of you, poor coaches. These are highly qualified men, as advanced as one can be in the profession, more than most of us in ours. That their young charges don't always carry out instructions to the letter is no real surprise - do the young employees in your organisation always get it right? Are you, for that matter, entrusting the future of your company to them because there are no viable alternatives at this point in time?

Which brings me neatly to Tony Palladino. Do you really think that if Tony was fully fit he would be omitted from one-day sides? The team has cried out for experience, but there was every chance that Mark Footitt could have been on England duty, so Tony's availability for the four-day game was even more important. I fully expect, at the end of the season, to hear that he is to undergo surgery, but the club has every right to release information on players and their fitness when they see fit, like every other across the land. Those suggesting that the coach is 'to be questioned' on his omission will, I am sure, be back on here to tender their apologies in due course should it happen...

There's the rub, as I have written previously ad infinitum. No one outside the club knows the reasons for decisions and if the club feels that it is best things stay that way, then so be it. I follow the news feeds from the various county clubs and Derbyshire are far from being the least communicative with their members and followers. If there are issues with specific players, just as happens in your organisation, the parties involved are fully entitled to discretion. Be it fitness or discipline, these things happen and the parties concerned are the only ones with a right to know about it.

I do hope that greater consideration is given by everyone before committing comments to the blog, or I will need to start being more ruthless. Before you say anything, ask yourself one simple question - if the person you are writing about was stood opposite you, would you say to him what you are happy to write? I would and when I am critical, I try to remember that the person concerned is somebody's brother, father, son or grandson. I don't feel a need to hide when meeting people at the club, because I like to think my comments are generally fair, even if I am critical. Can you always say the same?

It is important that this is the case for everyone, because I won't allow a witch hunt aimed at any individual or section of the club. It simply isn't right. There are places on the web where that kind of thing is fair game, but this isn't and will never be one of them.

As I have said before, I don't want this site to be a cross between The Waltons and The Little House on the Prairie, but it is aimed considerably higher than cheap shots at people with dignity and a commitment to improve things, which they will. Expect changes this winter, expect improvement in the summers ahead.

Keep your comments coming, but give them considered thought please.

5 comments:

  1. I,m sorry Peakfan but I cannot agree with the view that supporters have no right to truthful and accurate information regarding player injuries.It is and always has been long standing practice for football and rugby clubs to regularly update the media (and therefore their supporters)on the latest injury situation and how players are progressing. There is no reason not to and the theory about revealing our plans to the opposition is a red herring as just about every cricket club reveals their squad at least 24 hours in advance,sometimes longer.Managers are usually only too willing to let the world know they have injury issues and use the fact to their own advantage.

    If Palladino,or any other player for that matter, has some sort of injury problem then say so.Why the need for secrecy?. People might then begin to understand some of the apparently bizarre selection decisions which have long been associated with the current leadership. Palladino is a bad example for you to choose because his lack of involvement in limited overs cricket has been long standing and rarely the result of injury.He should have played against Durham,which to my mind was a more important game than a relatively meaningless match against Kent. Professional sport is different to other professions and those involved in it have to accept their lives are subject to public scrutiny and normal rules do not necessarily apply.

    There are some matters which need to remain confidential and only a fool would think otherwise,but Derbyshire seem to operate under a blanket of secrecy which in many cases is hard to justify. Please don,t take this as criticism in any way,but you have access to information which other people don,t and being in possession of certain facts may allow you to see things differently.The club broadly trusts you to reflect it,s views and that,s fine,but not everyone sees things through their eyes and people have a right to question or disagree,within reason.

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  2. I totally agree with you Peakfan and it is absolutely clear that some of the posters are using your blog to give voice to agitation and simply malicious comment. There are many examples, but the recent one about communication was an typical example of making something out of nothing in every respect.

    We are all disappointed by certain results where we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but the complete over reaction and distasteful comments do not do justice to some of the good cricket and progress made. Many players have shown good form and good achievements and yes we know consistency needs to be improved.

    The same commentators were quick to slate and abandon BG some months ago but now realise what the coaches believed, that we have an excellent player. At 26 he is now reaching his peak and should be a fine player for us for many seasons. Are we going to abandon all the other young players because they have had ups and downs as BS has done this year?

    It is also readily apparent that many of the negative comments made on your blog are from the very same people who consistently ridicule our Club on the FF.When those people, have to hijack your Forum because it has the more credible platform, you will realise they aren't representative of the genuine Supporter.They also rarely comment when the team does well.

    There is an opportunity tomorrow for the same posters to stand up at the Member's Forum and see if they have the same bravery in person to put their bile to Messrs. Grant and Welch.

    Regards Brian.

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  3. Marc I have explained this already mate and we obviously disagree. The bottom line is that Graeme Welch is the coach and is tasked with getting results and picks teams to win matches within available and fit resources. I can't believe you think you know more without full knowledge of the facts than he does with them - because I don't kid myself on with that. You call them bizarre decisions, but they were made by people who knew all of the facts and they do not need to justify themselves after everything they do.

    Seriously, when your job depends on making the right calls, do you think you would go about making 'bizarre' ones for the hell of it?

    They will be judged on results, but I will have a much better idea of things at the end of next season, when Welch will largely have a squad of his choosing, rather than having people he inherited, a handful of good senior pros and a bunch of kids.

    Do the club trust me? Maybe, I don't know, because I have never asked the question. I write MY blog and hope that it is written from a common sense perspective and as a supporter, not someone with an agenda. No one has ever pulled me up for being unfair, but they haven't ever told me what to write either, nor could they.

    I am not privy to what goes on behind the scenes and quite frankly, I don't expect to be. It is a supporter's blog, not investigative journalism, but I have strong opinions that I will always voice - tactfully, the way it should be....

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  4. I take your points,Peakfan and i,m not for a minute suggesting I know more than people within the club,but that,s the whole point,they know and we don,t. When things happen that supporters are genuinely concerned about and are left to fester with little or no explanation there is no wonder stories emerge which may or may not be true and people will inevitable speculate and form their own conclusions. Take Clare for example. We were told he would be back by June and playing again. Australia has been his solitary appearance but there has been no word whatever coming from the club.What are people supposed to think?. All this could be avoided with more communication from the club. I don,t believe it,s making something out of nothing if the true facts are distorted to suit a given situation,or at the very least,open to question.

    I don,t know where Brian has suddenly appeared from but he seems to hold some forceful opinions of his own,a right he would seem to wish to deny others. You and I have disagreed on a number of topics in the past and I think by now we understand each other well enough to know where to draw the line. For Brian to suggest there is nothing wrong with the clubs communication is fantasy and most people I know and talk to are firmly in the opposite camp to him.

    Speaking personally,i,m as pleased as the next man to see Godleman live up to his promise.I only wish some others would follow suit, but to suggest people were out of order or wrong to comment on his struggles during his first two seasons,is frankly laughable. I don,t recall any malice towards him but the truth is the truth and at that time he was within a whisker of being released.Godleman has hinted as much himself. Brian has rather defeated his own argument by highlighting "what the coaches believed". Which coaches?,those who decided he wasn,t good enough at his two previous clubs,or ours.They can,t all be right,which proves they all make mistakes.

    I,m not really sure what a "genuine" supporter is. Brian,s interpretation would seem to be someone who never questions any aspect of the club,treats every word they say as gospel and never utters a bad word in reply.In which case there would be little point in holding a members forum. You don,t have to be a member to either watch Derbyshire cricket or to hold a valid,worthwhile opinion. Like anyone,he is entitled to his opinions and I respect that,even though I take exception to some of his comments and disagree with certain others I haven,t mentioned.

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  5. And at that point this particular correspondence chain is considered closed.
    But do keep in mind what I have posted my friends. Thank you.

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