Opinion Stephen Silvagni

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Azzurro

Club Legend
Oct 5, 2010
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With great love and respect, as is proven by the number of likes your post has received, that post is a triumph of easy superficial judgment over an understanding of the facts of an obvious complex situation.
Why should we supporters jump to emotively driven conclusions when we clearly don’t know most of the facts?
Just chill.
It seems that there are genuine philosophical differences within the management of the club about list formation.
Name one other club where such differences don’t exist!

Name one other club that has it played out in public every time it goes on.

Silvagni would not be leaking this s**t, and it doesn't have to be anyone from his 'camp' either.

The fact is: we are losing a valued contributor ahead of schedule. That is a loss, regardless of the name.
 

Sweet Seventeen

Club Legend
Oct 11, 2019
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I don’t remember Jezza getting shafted.

He tied his allegiances to the President George Harris, and when Harris was voted out, Jezza decided to resign. I was pissed off with Jezza for leaving at the end of 1979, because of his loyalty to the ex-president and not the club.
Very true GB, your recollections are clearly better than mine. I think i may have lost quite a few brain cells over the journey. And i really could not afford to do that.
 

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People are calling for the sacking of Lloyd, Liddle, everyone - and this is exactly the danger of having someone like SOS in the role he's in at the club. If everyone else is the problem, maybe actually SOS is the problem. But because he's a favourite son people completely lose objectivity.

He's done a brilliant job. But because of who he was as a player and his relationships with the powerbrokers, his influence seemingly went way beyond his stated role. That was fine for a few years but it's the way 'Old Carlton' would operate. Now that his rebuild is nearly done we need to move beyond that kind of attitude, and need to have everyone on the same page. Sacking everyone and keeping SOS isn't going to help - he was leaving anyway in a year.

His legacy is the amazing list he's built. I am really disappointed though that these leaks have come from him and his camp, it's at least one or the other if not both. I don't think that reflects well on him and I would have liked him to go with the decorum Bolton had, even though Bolton no doubt felt pretty hard done by too. There's no need to damage the club on your way out in a pique of fury.

Last thing I'll say - jury is out on Liddle. But what he's shown me is what an enormous backbone he has to take on SOS at Carlton where he felt that SOS was overstepping. Might bode very well for us. He has guts. If not, then he moves on and Prendergast steps in. But I'm going to give him that chance now he'll have the clear air he wants and the list manager he appoints.
Thanks Chris :thumbsu:
 

Ninja Worrier

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Jul 13, 2018
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Makes sense, if SOS’ influence was viewed as outsized, Lloyd was most directly impacted. Natural ally for Liddle in this.

Seriously, where was MLG in this?
Protecting his own arse
There’s 2 sides to every story.

SOS is clearly unhappy with how he has been treated, nonetheless, those who he is upset with quite likely view their own behaviour as being in the best interests of the Blues, albeit with a touch of self interest.

My understanding is that SOS has chosen to depart, his position isn’t untenable, he is however, clearly unhappy with some senior people at the club and feels that it’s time.

This is different to him being pushed or exited. Like in any role, if you have more unhappy moments than rewarding ones you assess your options and make a decision accordingly, as he has done.

His role was almost complete, we are in great shape and success is likely to follow. With his boys at the club, his own playing legacy and that of his father, SOS will celebrate the club’s success and will always be a blues champion no matter where he goes next...
That's all fine..happens all the time with workplaces...my concern is the scorpion
 

bigm386

Norm Smith Medallist
May 17, 2012
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Just to add my two cents to this I am honestly beyond frustrated they this has been allowed to fester and the timing of it is beyond annoying. When we finally look like steaming forward we get bogged down by the same old anchors poisoning our club for decades.

Our board and the 'power brokers' have been an absolute rabble for a long time. Bruce Mathieson in particular is one that needs to go, he should be told to take every individual one of his poker machines and jam them. We will never have a unified board with people who believe they are bigger than the sum of its parts.

I honestly believe SOS and Liddle are two very strong operators at their given positions. Unfortunately they don't seem to get on.

SOS being a club legend gets the vote of the people but sacking Liddle would be stupid and frankly won't happen.

If anything I am disappointed MLG let this happen.

I don't want SOS to go, this is all ridiculous
 

cookie monster

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Jun 12, 2008
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No matter what happens to SOS here on in, Liddle won’t survive. The force is gathering....
So you want the List Manager, CEO and Pres gone in a 12 month period?

Cain Liddle is a professional. His issue is going into bat for a Senior Coach who wasn't getting listened to. He shouldn't be losing his job for that
 
Mar 1, 2005
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Sorry I have to disagree Ope, but he's just a business man who is forging a career in sports administration, and just so happens to have landed a senior job at a large business corporation named the Carlton Football Club.

He'd leave the place at the drop of a hat if a better offer came along, as he did with Richmond when we came along....it's just career progression.

He seems to have trodden on a lot of toes, as many senior executives often do....I worked in government for over 35 years, and the senior executives wouldn't think twice about pissing people off along the way to ensure they were offered another contract. And the people right at the top didn't give a rats so long as the business objectives were being met. And if the managers or workers got so pissed off and left, they didn't care, because everybody is replaceable in their eyes. And it would be no different in most large private companies.

The difference here is that football clubs are in the public eye, and any internal conflict is scrutinized to an inch of its life by the media. Makes for a great story.

And he just happened to piss off a legend of the club, which most supporters don't exactly take kindly to.

But either way, we move onward and upward. Happy days :)

I have a fairly good insight into how the Richmond FC transitioned from the basket case financially and culturally around 2000 to the club it is today. One of the turning points was getting the old players etc back in embracing the club. Bartlett and Caroline Wilson were high profile people who were anti tigers for a long time due to the admin and culture. When Gale came in he acted like a conduit between the old and the new. he mended bridges and got rid of the problems....Its quite easy to see that this is starting to happen at the Blues as well- look at Diesal , look at some of the recent reunions.

Could it be that Liddle who was Gales rh man , wants to emulate what Gale did and try to finally rid the blues of this bullshit old boys culture? i dont know- just speculating. I know jakschit about whats going on internally .
As the saying goes- to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs. Could it be that SOS is one of those eggs that had to be broken? Too much power with not enough accountability. Could it be that his performance as list manager is irrelevant in the big scheme picture that CL has envisioned. Sure he looks like the messiah coming in after the 2 amateurs he succeeded, but he has had carte blanche , lots of low picks to work with and has done a good job. But is it a job that others could not have done? Maybe, maybe not. As I have stated before, the SOS selections remain full of potential, but to date there are questions over many of them- Walsh being the obvious exception.

If my working theory is correct, that CL is a driven, ambitious CEO who has learnt a lot from Gale at richmond, then there will be forces at work enabling him to make his omelet. I dont know who- I will leave that up to others who might know to fill in the blanks, but the mystery is whether it would be someone like MLG who is close to SOS, but also wants to right the ship, or whether it is someone else .

As I have said , I have no insight into whats happening. I see 2 very competent players in SOS and CL seemingly at war with one another. I do not know the rights and wrongs of the situation. The question is, has CL ****ed up as many are saying? Or has he had some support from somewhere to stir the pot and break a few eggs? Was CL an AFL "suggestion" as CEO? How does the fairly robust support (until it disappeared) for Bolton an honest outsider trying to change our culture, relate to the omelet? Is there a genuine push internally to finally rid ourselves of the last parts of the boys club and change into a modern club ? Is MLG part of the problem? Or part of the solution? There seems to be the emergence of some real agendas on here of late, which always happens- when we go into crisis mode- emotive rhetoric arcs up and the place becomes a s**t fight. Hopefully this wont happen and we can start dealing in some facts .
For mine, I dont have a horse in the race other than our magnificent club. If SOS has to go because he is an egg that has to be broken- fine. If CL has done the wrong thing and gone rogue as some have suggested, then fine - he should go. If MLG has been asleep at the wheel and allowed this all to blow up, when there was no need to- then we need a better President.
 

Opine

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 30, 2018
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....His legacy is the amazing list he's built. I am really disappointed though that these leaks have come from him and his camp, it's at least one or the other if not both. I don't think that reflects well on him and I would have liked him to go with the decorum Bolton had....
How do you know the current leaks are coming from him and his camp?
 

GT619

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 20, 2013
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There’s 2 sides to every story.

SOS is clearly unhappy with how he has been treated, nonetheless, those who he is upset with quite likely view their own behaviour as being in the best interests of the Blues, albeit with a touch of self interest.

My understanding is that SOS has chosen to depart, his position isn’t untenable, he is however, clearly unhappy with some senior people at the club and feels that it’s time.

This is different to him being pushed or exited. Like in any role, if you have more unhappy moments than rewarding ones you assess your options and make a decision accordingly, as he has done.

His role was almost complete, we are in great shape and success is likely to follow. With his boys at the club, his own playing legacy and that of his father, SOS will celebrate the club’s success and will always be a blues champion no matter where he goes next...
They’re carrying on like children
 

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Aug 16, 2015
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Not a particular popular view im about to share, but a former Blue who I know is pretty adamant that the club believes SOS may not have the same 'work ethic' of previous years and that Agresta is doing most of the hard yards.
This is just one of a number of reasons the relationship between Liddle and Silvagni has soured.

What can first, the chicken or the egg though?
 
Jun 3, 2018
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There’s 2 sides to every story.

SOS is clearly unhappy with how he has been treated, nonetheless, those who he is upset with quite likely view their own behaviour as being in the best interests of the Blues, albeit with a touch of self interest.

My understanding is that SOS has chosen to depart, his position isn’t untenable, he is however, clearly unhappy with some senior people at the club and feels that it’s time.

This is different to him being pushed or exited. Like in any role, if you have more unhappy moments than rewarding ones you assess your options and make a decision accordingly, as he has done.

His role was almost complete, we are in great shape and success is likely to follow. With his boys at the club, his own playing legacy and that of his father, SOS will celebrate the club’s success and will always be a blues champion no matter where he goes next...

And this, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen and whatever other minority grumpy bum group thy identifies with, is it.

Thread should be closed on this balanced post.
 
Silvagnis post is untenable and the way the club has handled the whole matter has been poor.
It's not simply a Liddle vs Silvagni thing either. This should be somewhat evident that Liddle has taken up the cause on behalf of others.

When one understands that the friction has been around for some time now and only allowed to get worse, questions should be asked how the situation has been in the air for so long, only to manifest itself in an ugly public brawl.

Very poor work by the club again unless we subscribe to the notion that any publicity is good publicity...which is silly
Just would have been nice (professional) to have handled the whole matter with a little more dignity, but not to be.
 

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