Official West Hartlepool RFC

well all that says is its not about selection and he wont go into the details! he'd be staying if he was happy with the club!

No CB he doesnt say hes not upset with the club. He just says hes not going to post on here why hes leaving. So i wouldnt jump to any conclusions. But oldge knows garse so he will know why hes leaving like i do.

He might be upset witb something involving the club but says its nothing to with team selection and fighting for a place. If he was upset with the coub why does he wish 'West and all the lads the best of luck."

Stop stirring you should be ashamed of yourselves.

i wished the club and the lads all the best because i have a lot of close and dear friends at west. i just don't agree with how some things are going. cheers paul rudd

Well why dont you say what they are so all this crap can stop

CB relax nobody is **** stiring . Just people want to why one of our best serving players in recent years is leaving to go to another club.

Thats what I asked him.

ask him in person and he will tell you.

I dont know why yo are getting so defensive CB we are all just concerned about the same thing and I know you are as well. Its just too important to let things get worse by ignoring it! My hope is that by bringing it up on here it will be discussed by those that are in a position to do something

like i said im not gonna splash it all over this website am i. if u wanna know so much ring me. this last thing i'm gonna do is start slagging the club who i've played for since the age of 11. the fact is im leaving for another club and thats the end of that. lets just leave at that. cheers paul rudd

I give in

Oldge - you are getting worse mate. Nothing is being brought up to discuss that is what I am asking. What for goodness sake is too important to ignore !!!!!!!!!!!
Is it team slection, training methods and coaching, price of beer kids running all over the place or what. I train at least once a week and I dont know what you are on about.

Garse - good luck mate

CB i'm not sure who you are but i know you are obviously a west lad through and through! The point for me is that lads that love west are for certain reasons unhappy about things. These things need to be discussed by the club and not in to much detail on here. I just think its a starting block to get the issue out in the open! I will happily explain to anyone in person what i believe is wrong and even what other people have said to me. Dont know what you mean about me getting worse. Anyone that knows me knows that i have no personal reasons to stir. I am just a social rugby player and will play for any one of my clubs teams then have a few pints after. So all i care about is the future of west!
I am not saying everything is doom and gloom nor do i particularly agree with my mates decision to leave but he has and it does matter!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sorry but this is going nowhere.

CB - do you have a problem with kids running all over the place?

Your words mate.

I do!!! They should be supervised at all times and not running about where glasses and the likes are. No problem with kids being in the club enjoying themselves but the way you stated your comments it looks like your just looking for an argument. Perhaps better on a seperate thread to be honest...your call

Its great on Sundays and up to a certain time of night but the lads go elsewhere like the cricket because kids arent allowed in there after 9. You cant have a good drink and let your hair down in a kindegarden

Nobody ever lets their hair down in the cricket club. Most of them actually don't have any hair.

I would have imagined that with all the doom and gloom that some people are talking about, I would have had countless numbers of people wanting to speak to me at training or my phone ringing itself off the hook. It suggests to me that some people may well be uninformed, unsure of the credibility of their own arguments or just intent on spreading tittle tattle. Surely people can also recognise that, whilst often entertaining, looking for answers or solutions to problems or issues via a rugby club website is not the way forward - for that reason I can’t really believe I am responding to this posting, however....

If people think that in an organisation the size of our rugby club there will ever be a moment in time when every club member will be entirely happy and satisfied then they are naïve bordering on dumb. Events such as last years promotion can serve to ‘gloss over’ some peoples unhappiness/frustration/grievances – I don’t believe for one minute that there wasn’t at least one person stood in fancy dress at last years end of season party thinking that they should have played more first team games during that season.

This year, in a campaign that has, in many respects, flattered to deceive – especially in terms of away league form – it is more likely that such grievances and undercurrents will rise to the surface. Added to that, the fact that some new faces arrived over the summer (and put the hard yards in alongside everyone else) was also going to fuel some people’s disgruntlement. As coaches, myself and Kevin tried really hard to ensure that the right type of player/person signed for us and I think we got that right – the majority of the players were former ‘West lads’ and people whom players from within last seasons squad had identified as people they would like to be playing alongside. I think I am fair in saying that all of the players who ‘arrived’ have fitted in well and been very reliable in terms of training, etc.

The rumours of massive match fees, etc., that often abound at any club in such instances are, at this club, unfounded and I will speak to anyone personally should they require confirmation of this. A desire to improve the clubs facilities - so that we do not have to limit or cancel training sessions due to ruined pitches, or train under inadequate floodlights - does not fit well with the model of paying players extortionate money to play rugby. Furthermore the club would then struggle to meet my massive salary demands.

In terms of coaching/training, we have been hit hard by poor weather this year which has limited the content of some of the sessions. Those people who do turn out to train will also recognise that as coaches, myself and Kevin are faced with the prospect of organising sessions that cater for 17 year olds who have just begun playing senior rugby and 30 something’s who have premiership experience. The valuable assistance we get from other coaches such as Sos, Barry and Chris makes this job easier at times but work commitments mean that those guys are not always present.

Selection wise, we have used in the region of 32 players in league and cup rugby at first team level so far this season – it would have been one more including Steve Smart had the Morley game not been called off. That is roughly the same figure used by the end of the season last year. Even if you take off the 8 new players who have arrived this season, it still leaves us with a figure of 24 and those 8 new players could be offset by at least of last years squad who have not featured this season due to various reasons (A Davies, D Garside, H Tones, B Cullinane, A Hare, P Wallis, G Painter, D Weegram). These figures do not tally with a closed selection policy and I am fairly annoyed that some people should suggest such a thing. It is also anticipated that more players will get opportunities between now and the end of the season.

Fortunately the club is not in the position it was a few years ago when many young players were thrust into the first team too early because we had no option and no second team. That is not the situation now and some young players need to accept that that they need to be more patient now but ultimately will benefit in the long run. They need to realise that they may now need to work their way through the teams like players from my generation, and all generations before, had to do when they turned 17/18. To be fair I think most of our youngsters do.

People looking for examples should try taking a look at lads like Tinker or Coatsy. Lads who have at many times, including recently, been disappointed by selection decisions in terms of their first team opportunities. They respond by accepting the coach’s decision, asking questions about the decision and asking for advice on how to get the decision changed in their favour in future. Most importantly, they turn up for training twice a week and never cry off a Stags fixture when selected. These lads will no doubt be disappointed and will have the occasional moan to other mates about why they are not in the team but, in my eyes at least, their general attitude warrants that they deserve to be able to do this.

With specific regard to Paul, he has had the decency to not discuss any grievances he may have via this website and people should respect that. I have always maintained that I will never beg any player, current or prospective, to play for West Hartlepool – I do not believe this is right but at the same time, people will hopefully not forget that Paul and Dave are very good friends of mine and to suggest that I would not be bothered to see either of them leave West is insulting. Immediately before taking on this role I said that I would not let coaching get in the way of friendships and that ideal still remains.

Well said - as usual. Let's get on with beating Hartpur.y