Richie Myler confirmed as new Hull FC Director of Rugby...

[JonM]

15 hours ago, JohnM said:

Was that when he was at Widnes?   I guess that policy had nothing to do with making Widnes the club it is today. 

It really had nothing whatsoever to do with where Widnes ended up. We were a members' club at the time Dougie was coach, so there was really no option to go deep into debt because the elected committee members would've been personally responsible for it. Dougie's spending habits simply resulted in us having to panic sell players in the mid-nineties in order to fund stadium improvements. The collapse 20 or so years later followed on from the club being one of several professional sports clubs being used for VAT fraud/ money laundering, nothing to do with the relatively small sums people like Martin Offiah or Jonathan Davies were being paid.

What has of course massively changed since those days is that players and coaches are full-time, and training doesn't consist of a few laps of the pitch and then off to the pub. I loved watching the Widnes team of the 1980s, but today's championship team would thrash them. Neither Offiah nor Davies did any weight training prior to joining Widnes.

[M j M]

1 hour ago, Spotty Herbert said:

I would prefer to see it as a weak board being persuaded by a very strong coach that if you sign the players I want it will bring the crowds in. It didn't, leading to near bankruptcy and near relegation. Can we agree that Laughton made a significant contribution to this state of affairs, even if he wasnt solely to blame?

Not really. Alf Davies was the Leeds Chief Exec at the time and was anything but a weak character. However the board and legacy family owners were very resistant to Super League and not interested or unable to put more money in after 1995. 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

'Daddy please get little Richie a job at your new business - i'm sick of him sat at home all day watching his ex wife on Springtime On The Farm' 

 

Or something like that.....

 

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

3 hours ago, JonM said:

It really had nothing whatsoever to do with where Widnes ended up. We were a members' club at the time Dougie was coach, so there was really no option to go deep into debt because the elected committee members would've been personally responsible for it. Dougie's spending habits simply resulted in us having to panic sell players in the mid-nineties in order to fund stadium improvements. The collapse 20 or so years later followed on from the club being one of several professional sports clubs being used for VAT fraud/ money laundering, nothing to do with the relatively small sums people like Martin Offiah or Jonathan Davies were being paid.

What has of course massively changed since those days is that players and coaches are full-time, and training doesn't consist of a few laps of the pitch and then off to the pub. I loved watching the Widnes team of the 1980s, but today's championship team would thrash them. Neither Offiah nor Davies did any weight training prior to joining Widnes.

Apples and Oranges Jon. The Widnes team of the late eighties had the lot, size, speed aggression and no little skill. That lot training full time would be a match for just about anyone today.

[JonM]

29 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Apples and Oranges Jon. The Widnes team of the late eighties had the lot, size, speed aggression and no little skill. That lot training full time would be a match for just about anyone today.

Yes, I'm absolutely sure if they were training full-time and had access to the range of stuff modern players do, every one of them would be a top player today.

But the point is that things have moved on over forty years, and even at amateur level you'd expect players to be hitting the gym pretty seriously, games get videoed for later review and so on. No professional club has one bloke sat in the dugout who makes all the signings and who goes and shouts at the players at half-time. And that's the same in football, rugby union, cricket etc too. 

Even Doug Laughton who is being held up as the example here had a Widnes club committee which contained some ex-players (and coaches) - people like Harry Dawson, Vinty Karalius & Frank Myler. He also had a chairman who negotiated contracts with players and part-time specialist coaches e.g. Bill Hartley was sprint coach for Widnes before Maurice Lindsay persuaded him to move to Wigan.

[Gomersall]

What’s all the Widnes posts got to do with Richie Myler?

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

1 hour ago, Gomersall said:

What’s all the Widnes posts got to do with Richie Myler?

Well, he was born in Widnes and he did play a couple of games for Widnes and Doug Laughton who seems to figure prominently in this thread was also from Widnes.  So as thread drift goes this seems  to have stayed pretty much on ltrack.

[graveyard johnny]

19 hours ago, JohnM said:

 

Incidentally, what was the ultimate result at Widnes of Laughton's chequebook coaching?

some fantastic memories of displays of rugby league skill from some of the grearest players to have ever signed an RL contract for which I  am grateful I was there to witness - great players, great days - thanks for bringing those players to the game Doug

[Hopie]

If Mr Myler is the most qualified candidate to apply, not sure it was a good pool of candidates. He may have potential, but what experience does he have?

[Lowdesert]

9 minutes ago, Hopie said:

If Mr Myler is the most qualified candidate to apply, not sure it was a good pool of candidates. He may have potential, but what experience does he have?

I would imagine he’ll need to have a decent understanding of contract law but the clubs solicitors will deal/help with that.

What experience should he have?

[graveyard johnny]

13 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

 

What experience should he have?

hes got 4 kids so he should be used to dealing with petulant children that need their arze wiping 

[JohnM]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

some fantastic memories of displays of rugby league skill from some of the grearest players to have ever signed an RL contract for which I  am grateful I was there to witness - great players, great days - thanks for bringing those players to the game Doug

So he didn't bankrupt the club and he didn't have to sell those very same players to stave off bankruptcy. Instead , he laid the foundations of the club as it is today?

[fieldofclothofgold]

I Richie has now got full responsibility for re recruitment and the engagement of the new head coach I cant wait to see who he chooses. I'm very bemused by this business by Hull FC . Did Richie apply for this gig or was he " Headhunted" ? Yes I know!!!!but it's still very strange bit of business 

[Dunbar]

31 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I would imagine he’ll need to have a decent understanding of contract law but the clubs solicitors will deal/help with that.

What experience should he have?

The Sky Sports article says the following;

Myler's position will involve him overseeing all on-field performance aspects of the senior and academy teams, including rugby operations, recruitment, and the management of the club's coaching staff.

So, for a start he will not only be managing people but managing people who manage people.  In other words, he is being parachuted into a senior leadership role with no obvious examples of him managing people on his CV.

All Rugby Operations and recruitment means the building of a squad of players (within a fixed budget) and the associate plans for player development as well as the budgets for non playing staff.  For recruitment, he will need to work internally (for Academy graduates) and with a network of scouts and agents for player availability both here and abroad.

Following identification of available talent, he would need to negotiate, length of contract and terms (again within a fixed budget).

I expect this type of role would have to put into place performance criteria for the coaching staff and managed people against that criteria.  He will also be an escalation point for any disputes, grievances and appeals so will need to sit in chair of those sessions.

Finally, I expect he will be the person explaining club performance and culture upstream to the owner and board to stakeholder management will be a key skill.

This is a role leading maybe 60 to 70 people and a circa £3 to 4 million budget.

There will be more but this feels like a lot for a recently retired player to handle who hasn't progressed through a management or coaching role within the game.

Good luck to him.

[fieldofclothofgold]

6 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

The Sky Sports article says the following;

Myler's position will involve him overseeing all on-field performance aspects of the senior and academy teams, including rugby operations, recruitment, and the management of the club's coaching staff.

So, for a start he will not only be managing people but managing people who manage people.  In other words, he is being parachuted into a senior leadership role with no obvious examples of him managing people on his CV.

All Rugby Operations and recruitment means the building of a squad of players (within a fixed budget) and the associate plans for player development as well as the budgets for non playing staff.  For recruitment, he will need to work internally (for Academy graduates) and with a network of scouts and agents for player availability both here and abroad.

Following identification of available talent, he would need to negotiate, length of contract and terms (again within a fixed budget).

I expect this type of role would have to put into place performance criteria for the coaching staff and managed people against that criteria.  He will also be an escalation point for any disputes, grievances and appeals so will need to sit in chair of those sessions.

Finally, I expect he will be the person explaining club performance and culture upstream to the owner and board to stakeholder management will be a key skill.

This is a role leading maybe 60 to 70 people and a circa £3 to 4 million budget.

There will be more but this feels like a lot for a recently retired player to handle who hasn't progressed through a management or coaching role within the game.

Good luck to him.

He will be doing the annual staff reviews too .

[doc]

He'll be alright. It's Hull. What could go wrong?

Good luck to the lad.

[daz39]

Bet he lasts longer than some of their recent overseas signings.

[Dunbar]

3 minutes ago, fieldofclothofgold said:

He will be doing the annual staff reviews too .

I kind of had that in mind when I mentioned performance management. 

But yes, there will be a lot of processes he will need to understand and perform (maybe even create if they are not all there).

A manager could go through several years of development and coaching  before he/she attains a role of this seniority and responsibilities.  He will need to learn a lot quickly.

[LeeF]

Pearson has played a blinder here. Everything is now down to Myler - coach appointment; player recruitment; player development etc 

[RigbyLuger]

Can't go as badly as Jamie Peacock, Hull KR Football Manager, can it?

[georgeb1]

F C thinking outside the box at last , sleeping giant with arguably the largest fan base just waiting to happen 

[LeeF]

Just now, RigbyLuger said:

Can't go as badly as Jamie Peacock, Hull KR Football Manager, can it?

What Myler coming out of retirement for the last game of the season for Hull to maintain their Grade A status?

[Lowdesert]

9 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

The Sky Sports article says the following;

Myler's position will involve him overseeing all on-field performance aspects of the senior and academy teams, including rugby operations, recruitment, and the management of the club's coaching staff.

So, for a start he will not only be managing people but managing people who manage people.  In other words, he is being parachuted into a senior leadership role with no obvious examples of him managing people on his CV.

All Rugby Operations and recruitment means the building of a squad of players (within a fixed budget) and the associate plans for player development as well as the budgets for non playing staff.  For recruitment, he will need to work internally (for Academy graduates) and with a network of scouts and agents for player availability both here and abroad.

Following identification of available talent, he would need to negotiate, length of contract and terms (again within a fixed budget).

I expect this type of role would have to put into place performance criteria for the coaching staff and managed people against that criteria.  He will also be an escalation point for any disputes, grievances and appeals so will need to sit in chair of those sessions.

Finally, I expect he will be the person explaining club performance and culture upstream to the owner and board to stakeholder management will be a key skill.

This is a role leading maybe 60 to 70 people and a circa £3 to 4 million budget.

There will be more but this feels like a lot for a recently retired player to handle who hasn't progressed through a management or coaching role within the game.

Good luck to him.

Yeah, the reason I ask is that I am unsure who else holds a similar role in RL and  this will be a new role in Hull FC.  Whether Mylers role will follow a job description similar to the HR generated format/requirements/desired skills you’ve kindly produced, or that there may be restrictions.

Additionally, I don’t know what other help there is within the club.  It seemed, from TS interviews, that he dealt with RL and his CeO dealt with everything else.  If that is still the case, what work is still being picked up by that CEO?  

It’s a strange decision imo to sack the coach and appoint someone to work in a DoR role that had previously been done by someone else who is still employed by the club.  
Indeed he will need some good luck and a little bit more.  There again, if his actual job role is a lot less than the script you’ve written, there might enough people around him to help or he will be able to delegate to.


 

 

 

[Lowdesert]

9 minutes ago, LeeF said:

Pearson has played a blinder here. Everything is now down to Myler - coach appointment; player recruitment; player development etc 

It’s not in APs interests to hang him out to dry Lee.  
 

The most obvious(to me and also someone else who mentioned it today) is that you don’t sack a coach without having someone to step in.  Grix has already said he came to learn as an assistant.  That tells me he is happy as an assistant at the mo.  No names mentioned for a new coach as yet.

[LeeF]

Just now, Lowdesert said:

It’s not in APs interests to hang him out to dry Lee.  
 

The most obvious(to me and also someone else who mentioned it today) is that you don’t sack a coach without having someone to step in.  Grix has already said he came to learn as an assistant.  That tells me he is happy as an assistant at the mo.  No names mentioned for a new coach as yet.

Not hang out to dry but a scapegoat if it goes wrong