There have to be some things that shouldn’t be made public for s host of reasons. Would you like your employer blabbing your personal life to all and sundry. The VIQI statement is sensible and covers most of the things over which people might be suspicious. Until that is proved to be false that has to be accepted, or is everything and everybody associated with Widnes RLFC assumed to be dishonest? Let the board do their business and criticise then. Carry on with the suspicion and innuendo and nobody will want to come here, or support the club.
Which is fine, but at no point has anyone said "Sheens left for personal reasons".
Given the recent history of the club, and the significant reliance on fans funding (through the Bethany Pennington campaign, donations, ongoing VIQI contributions, waiving Season Ticket monies), of course fans are going to ask questions.
The VIQI statement is now on their website here: https://www.viqi.co.uk/news/2020/10/12/viqi-member-update-12th-october-2020-tim-sheens-resignation
Thanks for the link James. I too am most disappointed at Tims sudden departure - he has made a significant contribution to the club in the short time he’s been here.
Over my long lifetime I’ve learned the difference between “trust” and “blind trust”. People in power make decisions that affect others, and sometimes the reasons for their actions remain confidential. If you have confidence and trust the decision makers then, to me, that’s reasonable.
What is not acceptable is to have blind trust (faith?) in people who are unwilling to explain their decisions. In my opinion VIQI have communicated as much as they can without sharing what could be personal or confidential information so I trust them.
However, the club issued a very poor statement and, in my view, have let the fans down.
I can understand peoples frustration due to the information or lack of, coming from the club but we have to accept that on occasion situations arise that people do not want to be made public, with that in mind we should respect the wishes of either Tim Sheens or the Board or both...
The information provided would suggest there are no financial issues or need to be overly concerned, the club have moved quickly to draw a line under it and try to appoint a new coach, sooner or later the truth will out and at that point people can make informed judgements
We can judge now! The people who run club are out of their depth. And as for Finney @@@@
Firstly, maybe the lack of comment on the nature of Sheen's department is a litigation issue or maybe he has agreed to a contract elsewhere but that cannot be announced yet.
I am not sure how sheens departure can be blamed on anybody at the club and as for Finney, what evidence is they to suggest he is out of his depth?
THE END.
Oh dear - disappointment at losing Sheens certainly, but could be an opportunity to improve. It could actually be the BEGINNING of a bright future for Widnes.
On what basis do you conclude that the people running the club are out of their depth and you clearly have an issue with Finney. Based on what?
The club has come through Administration and fighting its way through the covid pandemic and still look to be positive in their search for a replacement coach. What would you be doing that is different?
The other thing is why can the VIQI board ask why Sheens left and be told the answer, yet members who pay in every month and also season ticket holders aren’t? Either tell every member or tell no one.
Well then there really isn't a point in VIQI having a seat then is there?
VIQI as an organisation has a seat on the board, with the representative for VIQI looking after the interests of the members. 1000 members (or whatever the number of members is), dont have a seat on the board themselves.
If keeping certain things quiet looks after the interests of the club, then I support that. In the nearly 20 months that the new board has been in charge have, they have not given me any reason or cause to be suspicious. That might change in the future but for now they have my trust and hopefully many others.
Keiron left for job satisfaction and looking after his career - cant argue with that- although timing was terrible.
Tim is nearly 70. Maybe a 70 year old, at his time of life, doesnt want to be waiting around for a season that doesn't have a starting point. Could be wrong. If he decided he wanted his destiny to be in his own hands, at the moment could anybody blame him.
It really isn't the end of the world.
Name me one decision Finney deserves a lot of flack for?
A bit of perspective....Widnes Vikings are not a big organisation say of similar size in terms of personnel and budget as say a large junior/small sec. school, a medium size supermarket, a dental surgery etc. and not very complex either so it would be difficult for anyone with a reasonable degree of leadership to be out of their depth...............having said that the people running the organisation do seem to have a problem recruiting and keeping key personnel such as the commercial manager and now the rugby manager...it may well be that these people have got better employment elsewhere but the second problem they appear to have is the lack of value they place on the supporter , the customers so to speak..................most organisations place a high value on the way they portray themselves to customers.......they put a positive spin and outlook on things....no so at the Widnes Vikings. Small things matter at the point of contact with the public.....the website?...mediocre at best certainly far too many pages not up to date ,the shop .....very variable can`t say what they are like on the phone as I have never rung them all in all there is a lot to be desired in customer relations. They need to get their act together.. fast !!!
VIQI say that they would have considered coming in to support if matters with Sheens came to a head for financial reasons.
I think it's fair to say that many members would have supported them had VIQI funds been used for dealing with that.
Maybe it's as simple as he just didn't fancy the job anymore but if they say that, they get fingers pointed at them for not doing enough to keep him.
This time next month, hopefully things will look a lot clearer.
Richards just a moany bugger if you look at any of his posts on here for the last few months
I'm not having a go at VIQI, I'm glad we have them to help support the club. The statement however adds to the mystery for me. Its frustrating that we seemed to have a good coach that was building a good part time squad and had managed to attract some big name signings in part due to his coaching reputation. Sheens is a very experienced coach and has been around for a long time, the fact he hasn't said a word seems odd.
Tripper has just left the England football squad for personal reasons that haven't been disclosed, but it did at least say personal reasons. Widnes haven't said its for personal reasons or anything else for that matter. We will have to move on, whatever the issue. But I've rarely known a coach and club both not say anything.
Purthill left us in the lurch with bad timing, but he said he was going to a SL club for job security and also a bit less stress as he was running things almost on his own at Widnes. It wasn't a popular decision at the time, but he explained himself and people understood his decision. Let's hope we can appoint someone again to take us forward and also stick with us for a bit of consistency and stability.
I’m not having a go at VIQI, I’m glad we have them to help support the club. The statement however adds to the mystery for me. Its frustrating that we seemed to have a good coach that was building a good part time squad and had managed to attract some big name signings in part due to his coaching reputation. Sheens is a very experienced coach and has been around for a long time, the fact he hasn’t said a word seems odd. Tripper has just left the England football squad for personal reasons that haven’t been disclosed, but it did at least say personal reasons. Widnes haven’t said its for personal reasons or anything else for that matter. We will have to move on, whatever the issue. But I’ve rarely known a coach and club both not say anything. Purthill left us in the lurch with bad timing, but he said he was going to a SL club for job security and also a bit less stress as he was running things almost on his own at Widnes. It wasn’t a popular decision at the time, but he explained himself and people understood his decision. Let’s hope we can appoint someone again to take us forward and also stick with us for a bit of consistency and stability.
It has, its to answer a gambling charge from last year.
Maybe Sheens was on the most money at the club and they both decided why pay a wage for X months with little benefit (Due to training/the season starting god knows when due to Covid, not cos he isn't a good coach!). The "I should be told everything" brigade are both funny and sad at the same time.
It could all easily come out after they appoint the next person, but the must know right now attitude needs to be turned in, quickly.
The fact that he completed some good signings well before he departed is no bad thing. Iirc there was some mention that he was 'pursuing other opportunities' or something like that. Just bad luck that he arrived just before Covid 19.
However, sounds like we have others who are interested and who maybe more within our means. We don't know which other clubs are financially stretched or whose coach wants to move on so I await announcement with interest.
I think saying the 'I should be told everything brigade' is a bit harsh. The main thing especially at the moment is that he is ok as he seems like a good bloke. I'm not desperate to know, and we now move on. But you can't blame people for being curious, it would be worse if no one was bothered. Some people moan for moanings sake, but most are fans with an interest in the club. I for one was very pleased when we appointed Sheens, so its natural to be disappointed and wonder why he's gone.
We have had some ups and downs since Wembley in 1993! At the moment watching rugby live of any kind next year will be a welcome bonus.
Why do people expect the details of Sheens departure ? Even if the reasons are not personal they can still remain private.What would you ‘do’ with the extra information ? What diffence would it make ? The club are not obliged to provide fans with the finer details if they do not wish to or if they see it as inappropriate,just to satisfy curiosity.