Lessons Learned- Part 1.

By Whaley Shark
June 2 2013

After our roller-coaster season, maybe it's time to take stock?

After a near-calamity, it’s usually a good idea to sit down and think a bit about how you got in that position, and how you might avoid doing so again. Since last season was a good deal nearer calamity than triumph, I thought it might be worth saying what I think some of our lessons might be, and I’m going to start with what went on off the field. I should say this is very much the view of an outsider looking in- I have no knowledge of the inner workings of Sale Sharks, and there may well be important things I just don’t know.

However, if the word ‘Omnishambles’ hadn’t been invented to describe the aftermath of the Government’s 2012 budget, we’d have had to think it up in about November last year. Performance on the field was disastrous, the reality of the SCS experience on cold, dark Friday nights was beginning to sink in, coaching staff were coming, going, changing roles day by day, and some long-serving, loyal backroom staff were leaving, apparently unwillingly. If you want my honest opinion, Sale Sharks did well to recover at all from those depths.

Lesson 1. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. That starts with the stadium itself. We were told it was going to be all sorts of things (and corporate at SCS may be a wonderful money-spinner compared with EP) but, for me, it is a much less social experience than EP used to be. It is also a pain to get to, with no realistic public transport option and an extra half hour driving each way. That’s why I’ve missed two home games this season- the first in almost ten years. But I now have a way that works for me and, while it’s less pleasant than it used to be and puts a good deal less of my cash in Sale Sharks’ bank account, it’s not so crap that I am jacking it in, this season anyway. Of course, with hundreds of cars displaced from the stadium car parks next season, maybe my thinking will change…..

Then there was the ‘Northern Super Club’. You’d put up with a lot if the on-field performances justified it, but they didn’t, and the Northern Super Club, with thousands of fans clogging the motorway network from Stafford to Carlisle, turned out just to be empty talk. Part of that was down to the high profile signings who, in my view, never really did it on the field. While these lessons are for my on-the-field article in a week or two, I feel it’s too easy just to use the likes of Richie Gray and Danny Cipriani as scapegoats, and their difficulties have been symptoms of deeper problems.

Lesson 2. Communicate clearly and honestly so you build trust. This is certainly tied up with Lesson 1. If everything is always a shining triumph, then you devalue your genuine successes. We know from our own lives that shit happens, and are not so stupid that we don’t think things can go wrong for Sale Sharks too. We’ve had big signings who haven’t quite materialised; John Mitchell, coming, not coming, having a holiday, joining full time, then jetting back to South Africa. Maybe this is a case where less is more- where there’s nothing to say, say nothing; where things are bad, say so and say what you’re doing to resolve matters; then, when things are actually good, then by all means blow your own trumpet. We saw a bit of this latterly, when Brian Kennedy and Ian Blackhurst stepped in. I have no idea whether the ‘Rugby Strategy Board’ has ever actually met, but its announcement was important, in that it conveyed a sense that the grown-ups had intervened and were getting a grip. It’s certainly noticeable that the tide of off-field chaos receded fairly rapidly after that.     

Lesson 3. Don’t walk before you can run. This applies at both the personal and organisational level. Relocating is a huge change, especially for a small organisation with a fairly new CEO. Doing it at short notice to a pretty new stadium in which the teething troubles were still being ironed out carried substantial risk. Coupling that with a lot of hype (see above), and not obviously taking note of fans’ legitimate concerns, was a recipe for trouble. A more cautious approach might have caused less aggravation. With a more experienced hand on the tiller, and Steve Diamond’s return to the DoR role, things have settled a bit. Dimes is certainly no fool, so hopefully he’s learned from what must have been a chastening few months and that’ll stand him in good stead if he fancies another go at CEO some time. I may be doing him an injustice, but my general impression is that it’s difficult to disagree with him. While strong will and vision are essential attributes for a leadership role, so is being able to listen to someone who says quietly to you that you’re being dumb, and being willing to change your path as a result. That just might be a skill to cultivate. Similarly, my sense is that Bryan Redpath has been more comfortable in the Head Coach role, than doing the DoR job, but again, he’ll have learned a lot.      

I’m well aware that what I’m saying sounds easy, but is far from it when one is confronted by real life. However, there is no need to create trouble for yourself, and hopefully we’ll avoid that more effectively next season. Anyhow, as they say, onwards and upwards.