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Roker Rapport Podcast: With Stewart Donald (Tues 28th May)

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SD open as always and as always a really good listen going into all aspects of the club......

Thankfully CM there to keep it professional given the RR lads were trying to lead questions on slagging off the centre backs and Will Grigg particularly.

While its not a problem calling them into question on here its a sly trick trying to get the owner to slag them off on a podcast given he will be working with them.

CM did a good job of saying "haway lads, this is wrong that we are discussing the performance of club employees in a public forum, especially as we havent had a season debrief with Jack Ross"

Think these podcasts are spot on, we have more info than we have ever had before and after Short it is genuinely refreshing that we get the level of communication we do.

But as they were discussing the failure of Will Grigg I was just sat thinking "WTF is going on here, the bloke still plays for the club and this is going to cause an absolute shitfest if the owner starts slagging him off"

Thankfully CM stepped in and kept it from happening.

Other interesting bit for me was CM talking about the fans and that players couldnt use it as an excuse....It was clear from what he said that the hostility of our crowd can be an issue but that we can also be tremendous. He said it in a way that made it clear he sees this as the players issue in the sense that they need to learn to cope with it when it does get nervous and hostile in the ground (WTF fans are doing this I will never know but its a recurring theme sadly).....Far from slagging off the fans I think he was hugely complimentary, contrary to people trying to paint a different picture the last few days.

Overall a cracking interview, probs one of the longest and best and came away feeling that they are painfully aware of the limitations of the squad, that mistakes have been made from manager to owners and players but that they will be put right.
 
The Rat said:
:lol:

The only person with that take I’ve read

Best interview yet for the reasons you criticized it for
Click to expand...

It was a good interview however I don’t think he’s been unfair, he said it was great himself? At the same time do we want our chairman discussing the individual performances of players and shredding apart performances and tactics? I personally don’t, I think it undermines the manager and as he rightly said CM bats it away as he saw the potential for a line of professionalism being crossed. Charlie actually says himself he’s all for a brief overview of the performance on the pitch but that’s as far as it should go.
 
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ExileBFG said:
It was a good interview however I don’t think he’s been unfair, he said it was great himself? At the same time do we want our chairman discussing the individual performances of players and shredding apart performances and tactics? I personally don’t, I think it undermines the manager and as he rightly said CM bats it away as he saw the potential for a line of professionalism being crossed. Charlie actually says himself he’s all for a brief overview of the performance but that’s as far as it should go.
Click to expand...

Yeah possibly but the interviewer was right to go there and ask tough questions, if they don't want to answer it doesn;t bother me like, they don't have to in th slightest, as you say they shouldn't talk about players. But its good that he raises it as it raises feelings of the fans.

The tone of the podcast is how it should have been all year, friendly but with tougher more journalistic questions

that Connor lad is a nice guy but it was too much about being mates, never pressed anyone once, just accepted the answer, I like the lad who does this one, long may it continue, was very impressed with him, took some balls that.

Being a journalist isn't about having a major opinion a lot of the time, its just probing where you think you need to. He showed some good instinct IMO
 
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The Muffin Man said:
Thankfully CM there to keep it professional given the RR lads were trying to lead questions on slagging off the centre backs and Will Grigg particularly.

While its not a problem calling them into question on here its a sly trick trying to get the owner to slag them off on a podcast given he will be working with them.

CM did a good job of saying "haway lads, this is wrong that we are discussing the performance of club employees in a public forum, especially as we havent had a season debrief with Jack Ross".

But as they were discussing the failure of Will Grigg I was just sat thinking "WTF is going on here, the bloke still plays for the club and this is going to cause an absolute shitfest if the owner starts slagging him off"

Thankfully CM stepped in and kept it from happening.
Click to expand...

I agree about this bit. I was shaking my head at the interviewer(s) at a number of points where they were slagging off certain players, tactics, recruitment etc.

I know professionalism isn't exactly RR's strong suit, but Christ, some of those questions they asked and statements they made to the owners were appalling behaviour.

At one point one of them sounded like he was almost going to start crying when CM or SD pulled him up on it and he said something back like "I've got to ask the questions". It seemed to me like he'd been ordered to ask all the questions on the sheet by the boss and didn't know what to do: disobey his boss and piss him off, or obey his boss and piss CM and SD off.

Regardless, always great to hear SD and CM talk for such a long time about the club. Can't really expect a local fanzine to have TV-quality interviewers, can you? It's great they're getting the interviews.
 
fyl2u said:
I agree about this bit. I was shaking my head at the interviewer(s) at a number of points where they were slagging off certain players, tactics, recruitment etc.

I know professionalism isn't exactly RR's strong suit, but Christ, some of those questions they asked and statements they made to the owners were appalling behaviour.

At one point one of them sounded like he was almost going to start crying when CM or SD pulled him up on it and he said something back like "I've got to ask the questions". It seemed to me like he'd been ordered to ask all the questions on the sheet by the boss and didn't know what to do: disobey his boss and piss him off, or obey his boss and piss CM and SD off.

Regardless, always great to hear SD and CM talk for such a long time about the club. Can't really expect a local fanzine to have TV-quality interviewers, can you? It's great they're getting the interviews.
Click to expand...

This, imagine the fall out if the owner starts having a pop at the clubs biggest signing, a bloke who we hope will help us win the league next year.....If I was Grigg I would be seriously pissed off. Ultimately he is an employee and they are the bosses and I think at times SD got very close to overstepping the mark, CM however clawed it back.......Its not that questions dont need to be asked but this interview is being done before they have even had time to debrief and unpick the season with Jack Ross and the players.......To preempt those conversations with a public hammering of the manager and/or players would be hugely unprofessional and bang out of order imho.
 
Whilst Donald’s openness is admirable, it really does have the potential to create some shit storms. Hence why most owners play the silent in public card, it’ll blow up in his face at some point. He needs to realise he’s at a proper football club now not Eastleigh
 
fyl2u said:
I agree about this bit. I was shaking my head at the interviewer(s) at a number of points where they were slagging off certain players, tactics, recruitment etc.

I know professionalism isn't exactly RR's strong suit, but Christ, some of those questions they asked and statements they made to the owners were appalling behaviour.

At one point one of them sounded like he was almost going to start crying when CM or SD pulled him up on it and he said something back like "I've got to ask the questions". It seemed to me like he'd been ordered to ask all the questions on the sheet by the boss and didn't know what to do: disobey his boss and piss him off, or obey his boss and piss CM and SD off.

Regardless, always great to hear SD and CM talk for such a long time about the club. Can't really expect a local fanzine to have TV-quality interviewers, can you? It's great they're getting the interviews.
Click to expand...
Bollocks. Its RR's podcast, they set the agenda. Charlie came across as an arsehole who thought nobody should dare question what they do.

As the interviewers were all young lads they let him get away with it. More experienced journalists would have told him to do one. Slight tangent, but can you imagine Paxman or Marr rolling over like that?

RR need to realise that Charlie and Donald get a lot more from the podcasts than the fans do. They seem to want it to be a mouthpiece for the club
 
ExileBFG said:
It was a good interview however I don’t think he’s been unfair, he said it was great himself? At the same time do we want our chairman discussing the individual performances of players and shredding apart performances and tactics? I personally don’t, I think it undermines the manager and as he rightly said CM bats it away as he saw the potential for a line of professionalism being crossed. Charlie actually says himself he’s all for a brief overview of the performance on the pitch but that’s as far as it should go.
Click to expand...
This. Charlie was spot on to cut the interviewer off imo. Should be discussing overall performances, not singling out individual players.
 
Billy Batts said:
Copy n paste bud, COPY N PASTE.
Click to expand...
Always learning, always

Longy said:
To be fair, we all know the answer anyway. He’s been shit, we paid a lot of money, we expect more next year.

If it’s a question of tactics & fitting in, best wait to speak to the football man.
Click to expand...
It was a question they simply couldn't and rightly didn't answer
 
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The Muffin Man said:
SD open as always and as always a really good listen going into all aspects of the club......

Thankfully CM there to keep it professional given the RR lads were trying to lead questions on slagging off the centre backs and Will Grigg particularly.

While its not a problem calling them into question on here its a sly trick trying to get the owner to slag them off on a podcast given he will be working with them.

CM did a good job of saying "haway lads, this is wrong that we are discussing the performance of club employees in a public forum, especially as we havent had a season debrief with Jack Ross"

Think these podcasts are spot on, we have more info than we have ever had before and after Short it is genuinely refreshing that we get the level of communication we do.

But as they were discussing the failure of Will Grigg I was just sat thinking "WTF is going on here, the bloke still plays for the club and this is going to cause an absolute shitfest if the owner starts slagging him off"

Thankfully CM stepped in and kept it from happening.

Other interesting bit for me was CM talking about the fans and that players couldnt use it as an excuse....It was clear from what he said that the hostility of our crowd can be an issue but that we can also be tremendous. He said it in a way that made it clear he sees this as the players issue in the sense that they need to learn to cope with it when it does get nervous and hostile in the ground (WTF fans are doing this I will never know but its a recurring theme sadly).....Far from slagging off the fans I think he was hugely complimentary, contrary to people trying to paint a different picture the last few days.

Overall a cracking interview, probs one of the longest and best and came away feeling that they are painfully aware of the limitations of the squad, that mistakes have been made from manager to owners and players but that they will be put right.
Click to expand...
They painted themselves into a corner and were looking for an escape route.
 
To be fair I enjoyed the podcast alot more than most of their others. Usually i feel they only ask questions that Donald and Charlie want whereas this time I feel they asked questions the fans wanted. Good podcast, especially regarding Jack Ross.
 
The Rat said:
Yeah possibly but the interviewer was right to go there and ask tough questions, if they don't want to answer it doesn;t bother me like, they don't have to in th slightest, as you say they shouldn't talk about players. But its good that he raises it as it raises feelings of the fans.

The tone of the podcast is how it should have been all year, friendly but with tougher more journalistic questions

that Connor lad is a nice guy but it was too much about being mates, never pressed anyone once, just accepted the answer, I like the lad who does this one, long may it continue, was very impressed with him, took some balls that.

Being a journalist isn't about having a major opinion a lot of the time, its just probing where you think you need to. He showed some good instinct IMO
Click to expand...
This is a first....I actually agree with your post!
 
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