Thommo retirement costs us 100k - Caro is back

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Roos paid Thompson $100,000
Caroline Wilson | February 12, 2009

THE Kangaroos were forced to pay Nathan Thompson a $100,000 settlement as a result of last year's botched handling of the decision to delist the veteran forward.

North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw confirmed last night the club had made a significant settlement with Thompson, admitting: "It wasn't an exit I was proud of. It wasn't handled appropriately.

"I'm not going to talk figures but we ended up having to sort it out with him and I have no problem with that. I guarantee it won't be happening again."

Brayshaw said he had delivered a blunt message to coach Dean Laidley at the end of the 2008 season, telling him: "The staff and the players don't know you." The message came at the end of a tumultuous trade period in which Laidley controversially placed Hamish McIntosh on the table and the club faced the culmination of a midseason falling-out between the coach and Daniel Harris.

"To cut a long story short," Brayshaw told The Age, "I have known Dean for 30 years and I just said to him: 'Mate, your staff need to know the bloke that I know.'

"As good as he is as a strategist and genius, I believe, in match-day terms, he needs to work on the other stuff. He probably went away with some mental baggage he didn't need but, to his credit, he has put his hand up and really worked on his relationships around the club. The feedback we are getting is terrific."

Laidley had been publicly assured of a contract extension by club chief executive Eugene Arocca towards the end of last season, an offer later withdrawn by the board. Laidley has a clause in his contract that the club must renegotiate with him before round 15 this season. That clause was introduced after the stringing out of his previous negotiations with the club.

"Dean and I speak every week and he knows he will get a straight answer from me," said Brayshaw. "What happened last time won't happen again."

Laidley spoke to The Age about the Kangaroos' dramatic end to 2008 and revealed for the first time the health scare that left him virtually bedridden for several weeks from round 16.

However, the coach denied he had lost the plot after his side's stunning collapse against Sydney in the 2008 elimination final that preceded the Thompson sacking and the trade period.

"I didn't lose the plot," said Laidley. "It was an emotional time but we didn't lose the plot. (The Sydney defeat) whacked all of us between the eyes.

"It cut me as much as anything has cut me in my football career and I told the players I needed to go away for a while and assess where we were at. I include myself in that."

Laidley, who had assured Thompson he would be offered a new contract several weeks before the club changed its mind, admitted the controversy was one of a series of incidents that could have been handled better by both the coach and the club. The Thompson negotiation failed largely due to a lack of communication between the coach and his staff.

Of the falling-out with Harris, Laidley conceded: "If I had my time again I might have done things differently. Maybe it should have been in private."
 
Some interesting points here. She is doing her best to dig out some "skeletons" just before the start of the season. Are there any absolutely "new" facts in this article? Probably not. Is it backpage news material? Probably not. Would we have preferred this stuff didn't appear at all at this time? I'd say so.
 

__aria__

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interesting article i thought

0,1658,5153013,00.jpg
 

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Me, too, ars.

Bonus points for the pic. That sucker never gets tired.

Of the falling-out with Harris, Laidley conceded: "If I had my time again I might have done things differently. Maybe it should have been in private."

*sigh*

Pretty damn surreal stuff from our fearless leader there.

This thread needs more DarwinRoo.
 
Me, too, ars.

Bonus points for the pic. That sucker never gets tired.



*sigh*

Pretty damn surreal stuff from our fearless leader there.

This thread needs more DarwinRoo.

Im sure Harro would be saying the exact same thing about his 2008 season.

This thread needs less s**t stirring from the Mod.
 

theduckfan

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Im sure Harro would be saying the exact same thing about his 2008 season.

This thread needs less s**t stirring from the Mod.
TOD is great, and welcome to post his "s**t stirring" where ever he like...

Back to the point..

What Laidley did was not all bad, he could have done it a little my quietly but what he did was make Harris work hard and also showed all young players that no one in the team is safe, and every one has to work hard to get a spot in the 22.
 
TOD is great, and welcome to post his "s**t stirring" where ever he like...

Back to the point..

What Laidley did was not all bad, he could have done it a little my quietly but what he did was make Harris work hard and also showed all young players that no one in the team is safe, and every one has to work hard to get a spot in the 22.

He is a mod and should act as the neutral voice regardless of his like or dislike of certain posters.

Back to the point..

We agree on that but it would have been nice if Harris' performance was of a quality that would prevent the need from a rocket the coach.
 

theduckfan

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He is a mod and should act as the neutral voice regardless of his like or dislike of certain posters.

Back to the point..

We agree on that but it would have been nice if Harris' performance was of a quality that would prevent the need from a rocket the coach.

Agreed, ill give him some slack, and lets just hope that 2008 was his bad year.
 

budge11

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All he said was this thread needs more DR.

You say Harro should harden up...
 
All he said was this thread needs more DR.

You say Harro should harden up...

Yeah, maybe I am a bit too precious at times.

I have enjoyed this board but the frustration of the pre-season is getting to me.

I go away on an exercise next week so maybe a week off will do me the world of good.
 

Rooàparis

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I am really annoyed that the Club paid $100k for Thompson to leave when i and many others thought he could have and should have stayed on for another year!
angry.gif


Their are a couple of other statements in this which tell me that Dean is nearing the end of his time at NMFC. Anyone else get the same impression?
 

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Gee, Caro is like 5 months too late on this one. This was news when it happened.

I didn't agree with how it was handled and still believe Thommo should have been kept, but it's been done for over 5 months now, so who cares anymore?
 

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I think Laidley is out by one week, it was the Port loss that crushed me, what happened in Sydney had an inevitableness about it after the round 22 humiliation. Sounds like the bloke is a nutcase.
 
Nice to know that Caro has been trolling Bigfooty whilst on holidays - this is old news. Nice timing though when we are trying to generate membership. This sort of "wasting money" article really helps. The timing is amazingly callous.:thumbsdown:
 
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I think the article is refreshing.

I am happy to see that the President will not tip toe around any issue that needs addressing at the NMFC, and I am also happy to see the coach acknowledge that there are areas he needs to improve in, primarily communication. Deficiencies have been acknowledged, addressed and people are moving on. This can only be viewed as a good thing.

$100 K to pay out a retiring footballer is a nothing issue. How much did it cost to retire John Hay?
 
I think Laidley is out by one week, it was the Port loss that crushed me, what happened in Sydney had an inevitableness about it after the round 22 humiliation. Sounds like the bloke is a nutcase.



I agree with you jozeph. That Port loss was the biggest disgrace and I could not bear to ever witness anything like that again from our players.
Never again should they take any game for granted I hope this loss gave the players the sense of reality that they so obviously needed.

They need to use the horrors of the Port game to spur them on to ensure that the likes of this game are never ever to be experienced/witnessed again in the history of the NMFC.


As for Caro's article I am of the opinion that any media article is exposure, good or bad. Much better than not being talked about at all.
Her article really is not too bad, it does not even mentioned "cash strapped" despite the fact that the club has had to fork out an additional $100,000. I am amazed she didn't find space to put in how much that payment must have hurt a "cash strapped club" so thanks for small mercies.
Caro at last has realised we are on the way up not down.

Her piece on Laidley is positive and reflects the players and the coach in a positive way. All in all I think the article will help re-inforce faith in what the club has done and continues to do under the new administration to any still be doubters, or unsigned supporters, that are lurking out there.
 
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Look past the byline and the headline and it's not that bad. It's a companion piece to the Laidley interview where the club is going public on making a fresh start and admitting where it's gone wrong. You'd hope that supporters would see the payout as old news and hear the messages about what the club has learned and where it is heading.

And fwiw I don't hear that Laidley is on his last legs - I just hear that he'll have to get better at a few things to earn another contract, which is fine by me. I'm a fan overall but I'm pleased to hear he has been told to improve his treatment of players and colleagues, and hope he does it. I think JB's message is spot on - Laidley has great strengths but this has been a concern for lots of people and he needs to get onto it.
 
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Some interesting points here. She is doing her best to dig out some "skeletons" just before the start of the season. Are there any absolutely "new" facts in this article? Probably not. Is it backpage news material? Probably not. Would we have preferred this stuff didn't appear at all at this time? I'd say so.
If you don't read BF, and you hadn't seen the thread about exactly this, I'd say our football department ****ing up to the tune of $100,000 is a new fact.
 

The Zebra

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I can imagine the breathless exasperation as the football department psy ops people report back that 'people are mocking Donald again!'

The more you mock him, the greater his popularity grows.

There were about 30 school kids mobbing him just before the start of the intra-club. they were all waving magazines in front of his face trying to get autographs. And the chief of Football was saying no! Refusing to give out autographs.

Seriously.

That is the sign of a star.

He is the Christain Bale of Melbourne.
 

Kimbo

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Caro at last has realised we are on the way up not down.

Her piece on Laidley is positive and reflects the players and the coach in a positive way. All in all I think the article will help re-inforce faith in what the club has done and continues to do under the new administration to any still be doubters, or unsigned supporters, that are lurking out there.
I tend to agree here kl. I think this is another plank in the club's relationship building with the media, including and perhaps most importantly with Caro. (I'm not saying it was our fault, only that there is no point being on her wrong side, however 'unforgiveable' she seems.)

It also continues a theme that this leadership team have, of addressing head-on any negative issues which takes the media heat out of them. (Golf days aside. :eek:) Aaron Edwards' situation was a case in point. JB and Eugene seem to be very much on the same page here. I also like the fact that there is an honest admission that they stuff some things up, and simply seek to learn from these issues (rather than go into blame mode.)

Speaking of stuffing things up, I particularly enjoyed the admission by Laidley that he didn't handle the Harris situation well. I don't think anyone, Daniel included, would deny that he needed to contribute more and to realise his potential, but that (DR) wasn't the issue. It was how Laidley handled it, and that's what JB has highlighted. (Even more importantly, it seems JB modelled how to do it well.) The more I hear about these guys, the prouder and more reassured I feel about the future of our club.

Going back 18-24 months, I have regularly said I can't imagine Laidley winning us a premiership. I take his point about the lack of support, which none of us can fully appreciate, and that things are a gazillion times better now. With a new approach to relating to players and (in my dreams), a more attacking style of game plan, and playing some of the kids a bit sooner, I reckon he might just get there.
 

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