Possibly, but probably not. Who vouches for your "insider"? I realise this may be an annoying answer, which is not my intention, but try and see it from my point of view. How could I possibly trust such a chain of information. I don't even know you from a bar of soap, or Jesbass, for that matter, let-alone your "source". And even if you told me your insider was, say for example, Tony Iro, how could I possibly know this to be true. I'm a skeptic, but please don't take it personally.
Furthermore, I'd be willing to believe that Ivan IS coaching for mediocrity, which would be totally unacceptable, if some hard evidence were put forward, such as a video of a half-time talk.
Laughs. I really am quite attached to them!No worries. If i was about to have an arm and a leg taken off i'd be a sceptic too
2B2S
I agree. I would rather a coach come out and say were rubbish/poor when we lose by 20 then saying they tried their best and oppo were too good etc.
This would indicate to the players that a loss is good enough. when it never is.
Except of course if we play damn well and still lose, that I can except.
I agree. I would rather a coach come out and say were rubbish/poor when we lose by 20 then saying they tried their best and oppo were too good etc.
This would indicate to the players that a loss is good enough. when it never is.
Except of course if we play damn well and still lose, that I can except.
For what it's worth...
You've never met me but you know who I am courtesy of fundraiser/writing duties.
I've never met NU but I've spoken to him on the phone.
I've never met the insider in question, nor can I confirm that he and NU are related, but as they have the same surname and that surname only has 200 residential phone listings nationwide, I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the back of that, and his word, and my dealings with him.
Whether you want to join me in that is your prerogative, but...
...saying that Iro lays down the law doesn't actually address the argument that Cleary is or isn't coaching for mediocrity. He's very stoic in his conversational manner, and the risk is that people interpret his delivery as his message.
Ultimately, I believe that NU has a source and that this source is who he says he is - but I'm not at all convinced that Cleary coaches for mediocrity.
I'm not convinced that that needs to be the case. I think there's something to be said for someone that will protect their charges in public, and then get stuck into them behind closed doors to make fixes.
Sometimes throwing the players to the wolves isn't the most beneficial approach to improving team unity and performance.
I believe Ivan coaches for excellence and instills the expectation of excellence in his players. But weather he can extract excellence is the question at hand.
I hadn't thought of the phycological benefits of this appraoch. Specking for myself i'd want to bust my boiler for a coach that goes into bat for me publicly if i have under performed on the footy field.
The flip side to this maybe players that take the coach for granted.
Yep, that's how I'd respond, too. But it depends on the group of players. I get the impression that our players would respond similarly to how you and I would, but a different club with a different roster and culture might thrive in an environment where the coach roasts them in the media.
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