Senior Blues Meeting Recap: May 2024
Update courtesy of Les Smith…
The final meeting of the season was held in the Legends Lounge due to work being carried out in the Cestrian to install a new ceiling speaker system.
Chairman Chris opened by conveying the sad news of the passing of Barrie Hipkiss.
The first speaker was Jim Green who described the criteria adopted by the Club in player acquisition. There was clarity on the needs of the team and of identifying, prioritising and pursuing targets. Players were identified via scouting, networking, data analysis and via agents although it should be noted that the Club have not paid any agents fees.
The Club are always looking for value and compatibility with the philosophy and dressing room harmony, and Jim explained it is an on going process that they won’t always get right.
He took questions from the members on the current squad situation as well as dealing with diverse issues including sponsorship, CFU membership, the playing squad budget, and the increasing use of the KGV Hub as a community and business facility.
Former player Brynley Jones was scheduled to be the second guest speaker. He later conveyed his apologies for his enforced absence (due to a now resolved health issue) with the intention of attending a meeting next season.
The final guests, Colin (Woodthorpe) and Mike (Allcock) were ably preceded by Calum who was spotted in the building and was happy to amplify his reflections on the season, as previously expressed on the Seals Podcast and on the Club website, before dashing off to meet with a potential target (who’s name and position was not disclosed).
He outlined the squad building plans for the coming season in terms of size, age profile and physicality, and also took the opportunity to express his views on a number of things including referees and their assessors, post match interviews, and the relative playing budget within the NLN.
Mike and Colin each talked about the season from their own perspectives and their inputs to the process. Colin was particularly disappointed as this was the first time in his managerial career that he had not been involved in a play-off situation whilst Mike also talked about the progress within the Academy programme both on and off the field.
He also identified Scholars who he believed had the potential to make further progress at the club.
Next Meeting: Friday, August 2nd.
Places are still available for the Senior Blues trip to RHS Bridgewater, Wed, 12th June: for details contact Geoff Leith on 07502615205, or email geoffleith23@gmail.com.