Peter Wheeler

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dailywaffle
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Peter Wheeler

Post by dailywaffle »

Peter Wheeler

An outstanding servant to the game of rugby. Served Leicester, England and the British Lions with great distinction, and was undoubtedly one of England’s greatest ever hookers.

Chief Executive of Leicester Tigers since the dawn of the professional era, under his stewardship the Tigers have become the most successful club, both on and off the pitch, in the UK. He continues to play a key role within PRL and is one of the PRL’s representatives on the new Professional Game Board. He has played a significant part in the great success of professional rugby in England.

Peter Wheeler’s integrity, professionalism and competence have recently been called into question by a number of posters on this board. Some of whom would like to see him and the rest of the board resign or be forced out by ‘fan power’. Posters who, in all likelihood, have a less impressive CV than Mr Wheeler.

Whilst accepting that Peter Wheeler is accountable for his actions, and that nobody is above criticism, I am happy to take the view that when it comes to helping make difficult decisions for the benefit of Leicester Tigers, he has very much earned the benefit of the doubt.
kornboy130
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Post by kornboy130 »

He also cancelled his holiday with family to be part of the interviewing process for Tigers.
sammy
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Post by sammy »

I still support him and the board.

This whole fiasco has undoubtedly been damaging. We got the wrong man for the job eight months ago, and now we've done the smart thing and got rid.

We should be the best club side in Europe, and scraping into the Premiership final is not good enough.

Loffreda, like Avram Grant, wasn't good enough. This season we have gone backwards. The time has come to turn to a former player, someone who knows the club and the ethos.

Like most, I feel for Loffreda, but sentiment is no reason to keep a coach at a club.

Well done the board.
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Cancelled holiday

Post by smalldell »

Yes I bet he did cancel his holiday and I bet the club paid for it........


If we win 3 trophies next yr I will back him...if we dont i want him to sack the head coach and resign....
dailywaffle
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Re: Cancelled holiday

Post by dailywaffle »

smalldell wrote:If we win 3 trophies next yr I will back him...if we dont i want him to sack the head coach and resign....
I am extremely confident that we will not win 3 trophies next season, so regardless of what happens in the interim period I look forward to seeing your 'demand' for Wheeler's resignation next year.
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Post by G.K »

DW - What's the point of this at this time? Are you his spokesman, part of his family or just a (word previously used here has now been withdrawn)?

By the way no-one as far as I know is doubting his past achievements just his (and others) present management and decision making.
Last edited by G.K on Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Nowadays referees decide matches, players by how much.
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Post by Jeremy Anderson »

At last somebody is talking some sense after all the histrionics and toys been thrown out of prams on this forum. Well done dailywaffle.

I have full confidence in the Tiger's board. They have made the difficult decision when the easy one was to wait and hope. However I assume there review showed that the chance of success from the fingers crossed approach made that a poor choice.

Instead they have given themselves time to find a new candidate which they would not have had part way through next season.

Nobody gets things right every time and the good manager changes things as soon as they realise a something is not going to work. I don't fault them for choosing Marcello and I applaud them for making the hard decision now.
Jez

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dailywaffle
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Post by dailywaffle »

gkbradley wrote:DW - What's the point of this at this time? Are you his spokesman, part of his family or just a sycophant?

By the way no-one as far as I know is doubting his past achievements just his (and others) present management and decision making.
I would have thought that the point was rather obvious.

I am not his spokesman, not a member of his family. Clearly, you therefore believe that anyone offering public support for our Chief Exec is a sycophant.

I will refrain from namecalling in return.
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Post by Iain D »

Gents, I agree with you as to the pedigree of Peter Wheeler. I have met him and other members of the board on numerous occasions a number of years ago (and I was a big fan of Tudor). Furthermore, in general, I agree that the Board have done a fantastic job of managing the club especially in the transition from an amateur club to one of (if not the) best clubs in Europe.

However... I feel that the handling and communications surrounding the release of ML have been abysmal. There has been no official word as to the reasons surrounding his departure, and so we are all bound to speculate.

Of those reasons surfacing, I find it even more incredible that we have found ourselves in this position.

Regarding ML: If he really was released due to there being a `power vaccum` in the club then this should have been dealt with by his assistant coaches. Messers Back and Cockerill should have been able deputies that would make a non-English speaking coach viable within the club. As it appears the opposite seems to be true. As for his lack of ability to give an effective team talk, this would have been evident before he arrived at WR and a solution should have been found. Revealing this as a primary factor 7 months after his arrival stinks of incompetence. Again, I`m not blaming the Board for this per-se.. more those responsible for hiring him in the first place and those responsible for supporting him within the coaching set up. Finally, as for `dated methods`.. he has worked with many outstading players who play for good clubs (Stade Francais, Leinster, Tigers) surely this too would have been evident prior to his selection, and hasn`t just occured within the last 7 months.

The more I look at it the more it doesn`t make sense.

Also, we had huge difficulties filling the Pat Howard void well over a year ago. We knew that, for some reason, Tigers are not the challenge that reputable coaches want to take on. There have been a whole host of coaching changes since the world cup has ended (Eddie Jones, Scott Johnson, Warren Gatland to name but a few) and yet we still find ourselves scratching our heads and looking internally for coaches with no real experience.

As a club we need a total change to look at the effects the ELVs will have on the game next year and see where we go. Sorry, but I don`t see the Back/Cockers combination as an effective solution to that problem. Does anyone remember the farce that was Cocker's as head coach at the beginning of the season?

I am not calling for the Board to resign, or anything like it. Merely that someone stands up and talks to the fans. Communication is terrible with Tigers right now, and if we the fans don't voice our concerns then why would anything change?
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Post by westwinds31 »

I too fully support the board and trust them to get someone in who (they) believe can take Tigers forward next season.

Agree that there has been a few toys thrown but you can't blame people really. "Sack the board" is ridiculous, as are demonstrations outside the ground.

That said, fans are understandably concerned and to be quite honest stunned at the nature of the Loffreda appointment and subsequent sacking. We will never know the real reasons until Cockerill or Backys next book I guess !
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Post by westwinds31 »

Iain D...you put it better than me mate !!
simon redshaw
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Post by simon redshaw »

I disagree, and I think the reaction of many is quite justified. I also think "throwing toys out of the pram" is a very unfortunate term when people are just saying their opinion. Isn't that part of a forum, however, aggressive or unjustified or wrong an opinion maybe to another, all should be allowed to have their say. They should not be castigated for saying their opinion.

Yes, once the board may have got things right, but I am sorry they aren't now. They also seemingly didn't get things right in their handling of Deano before he was pushed out. I can't comment on Mr Wheeler as a person and his integrity, however, he is part of a board that appointed Marcello Loffreda and he is apart of a board that fired him, and in many people's opinion have handled this wrong. The wonderful Leicester old boy has nothing to do with this. He has the same accountability as anyone else.

I am afraid there are still some people who despite all think this board can do no wrong and are handling this club in a great manner.

I cannot understand where they are coming from and I struggle to even understand their logic. They are entitled to their opinion. If I have slighted any of them in any way in my arguments I apologise, and it wasn't intended, but I like many are feeling quite hot under the collar about what has happened in the last few days, and feel very strongly about this.
Last edited by simon redshaw on Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dailywaffle
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Post by dailywaffle »

westwinds31 wrote:That said, fans are understandably concerned and to be quite honest stunned at the nature of the Loffreda appointment and subsequent sacking. We will never know the real reasons until Cockerill or Backys next book I guess !
I'm sure that there are reasons why Wheeler and Tom cannot say more at the moment.

Maybe some should also consider that it may not be in Loffreda's interests for a full assessment of his coaching effectiveness to be made public at this time.
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Post by Snorbins »

"He also cancelled his holiday with family to be part of the interviewing process for Tigers."
OK lets get real here, any professional will do this to get the job done. I have to interupt my holidays to deal with the unexpected. Its nothing new so do not be suprised by professionalism in the work place.
dailywaffle
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Post by dailywaffle »

Simon, we know each other, but I am sorry to say that your posts (and I appreciate that you are one of many) fall into the trap of implying that you 'know' that Wheeler et al have made a wrong decision.

I'm sorry, but you can't know that at all.

If you, or any of the many that share your view, can offer a calm, objective assessment of why Loffreda was proving to be an effective coach of the Leicester Tigers then I would be very interested to hear it. As it stands, and with the very greatest of respect, I am inclined to trust Peter Wheeler more on this particular issue.
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