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Speaker 1: On Dame Knowles. I have finally managed to read the

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Speaker 1: Stronic Report, and I'm going to read you parts of

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Speaker 1: the Stronic Report. Now. Remember this is the report that

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Speaker 1: kicks everything off. Read Dame Nols, right. This is the

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Speaker 1: report that talks to the players. This guy's brought in,

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Speaker 1: he talks to the players. He outlines the problems in

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Speaker 1: general terms. It's presented to Dame Knowles for her to participate,

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Speaker 1: and then the whole thing just turns into a mess

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Speaker 1: and she stood down. So here you go. Problem number

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Speaker 1: one from the players fear and psychological safety. A strong

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Speaker 1: theme was a sense of fear within the environment. Players

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Speaker 1: talked about being scared to speak up, scared to make mistakes,

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Speaker 1: scared to ask questions, and scared to be themselves. The

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Speaker 1: fear was not described as one off or occasional. It

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Speaker 1: has been around for a long time. Some shared that

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Speaker 1: they don't feel like they can give honest feedback because

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Speaker 1: it won't be received well or because it will come

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Speaker 1: back on them later. I need to tell you, by

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Speaker 1: the way, this is the first time that anybody has

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Speaker 1: got their hands on this report and read it, right,

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Speaker 1: So you're hearing it for the first time, right, now.

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Speaker 1: The source of fear seems to come from a few things.

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Speaker 1: In consistent reactions from lead, unclear expectations, in a history

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Speaker 1: of seeing others shut down or left out after speaking up,

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Speaker 1: some players describe feeling like they were always walking on eggshells.

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Speaker 1: Is She number three? As she number two is mixed

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Speaker 1: messages and contradictions. I'm just gonna leave out the boring

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Speaker 1: stuff you get to the juicy stuff isue number three.

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Speaker 1: The weight of not being good enough, of not feeling

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Speaker 1: good enough. Many players talked about a constant undertone of

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Speaker 1: not being good enough. Even when feedback was meant to help,

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Speaker 1: it often came across as negative or critical. This led

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Speaker 1: to players feeling like they were always trying to avoid

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Speaker 1: failure instead of reaching for their best. They described an

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Speaker 1: environment where the tone can be quite intense and the

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Speaker 1: feedback more about what's wrong than what's working. Some shared

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Speaker 1: that they began to second guess everything or withdraw a

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Speaker 1: bit just to stay out of the firing line. As

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Speaker 1: She number seven, inconsistency and shifting standards. Players noticed that

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Speaker 1: the behavior and mood of the coaching and support staff

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Speaker 1: can change noticeably depending on whether the team is winning

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Speaker 1: or not. When results are going well, the environment feels

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Speaker 1: more relaxed and positive, but when the team is not performing,

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Speaker 1: expectation and shifts suddenly in the tone becomes more intense

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Speaker 1: and critical. There was also a sense that individual players

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Speaker 1: are treated differently. Some are held accountable for small things

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Speaker 1: while others are not challenged on bigger issues. Another example

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Speaker 1: was the fitness standard and how some were held accountable

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Speaker 1: to it and others not. It was clear number nine

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Speaker 1: commitment to high standards. It was clear that the players

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Speaker 1: believe in the importance of high standards. Players acknowledge they

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Speaker 1: don't always meet the standards, and they want to be

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Speaker 1: held accountable when that does happen. The concern was not

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Speaker 1: about the existence of standards, but about how they are

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Speaker 1: implemented and communicated. When standards feel unclear or inconsistently applied,

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Speaker 1: it undermines the purpose, and the report goes on and

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Speaker 1: on in that vein. Now, this is what was put

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Speaker 1: to Dame Knowles. This is what she seems to have rejected.

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Speaker 1: You can and then of course the thing blows up

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Speaker 1: and she has stood down. You could judge yourself based

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Speaker 1: on what I've just read. Are the players being sissies

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Speaker 1: or other coaches being bullies. For more from Hither Duplessy

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