Tromso Olympiad 2014

[Graeme Kafka]

Oops, I had a post all written out - and then realised it basically just said the same as John already had above.

I must be going slow in my old age! Probably time to retire somewhere nice like Budapest - I hear it has a banging chess scene.

[George Neave]

Actually the posting over last few hours demonstrates well the dangers of giving executive powers without having appropriate controls in place first to ensure the powers are not abused. Here we are lacking the procedures. This is not difficult: there should be request to ALL members to note their interest in the position of captain 6 months before Olympiad. A selection panel should be appointed to choose from nominees. The International Director should chair the committee but should exclude his or her self from any vote if he or she wishes to be considered for the position. The members of selection panel should be minuted in council. I would suggest anyone sitting on selection panel should be excluded from doing so next time. I would expect International Director to recommend the panel but for it to be put to vote and approval at council. Possibly some criteria (qualifications) should apply for those who sit on selection panel e.g. players representative, former captain(s) or such like.

If you have a process and follow it then you are far less likely to get problems like this.

Addendum: Actually same panel as picks the players could also cover this.

[Phil Thomas]

Actually the posting over last few hours demonstrates well the dangers of giving executive powers without having appropriate controls in place first to ensure the powers are not abused. Here we are lacking the procedures. This is not difficult: there should be request to ALL members to note their interest in the position of captain 6 months before Olympiad. A selection panel should be appointed to choose from nominees. The International Director should chair the committee but should exclude his or her self from any vote if he or she wishes to be considered for the position. The members of selection panel should be minuted in council. I would suggest anyone sitting on selection panel should be excluded from doing so next time. I would expect International Director to recommend the panel but for it to be put to vote and approval at council. Possibly some criteria (qualifications) should apply for those who sit on selection panel e.g. players representative, former captain(s) or such like.

If you have a process and follow it then you are far less likely to get problems like this.

Addendum: Actually same panel as picks the players could also cover this.

I fully agree with Dougie that directors are put into position to direct.

In general I don't see that forming sub committees is a viable option.

In the case of adult Olympiads and here I am thinking in general about future Olympiads ONLY I would suggest that the ID completes team selection - at least as far as deciding first choice players.
And only then look to find a captain. Since we're talking about mature adult players if more than one player feels that there are good grounds for rejecting a certain candidate then it would be hard to go against that view.

All of which should be carried out by the ID in private.

[robin moore]

Graeme wrote

Probably time to retire somewhere nice like Budapest - I hear it has a banging chess scene.

Worked out there for a few months, it's basically a city of two parts. The modern central touristy part that most folk see but to be honest a lot of the rest of it is no better than an old hole.

[Patrick McGovern]

I respectfully request that the moderators act and intervene here; please?

[andyburnett]

I respectfully request that the moderators act and intervene here; please?

Whatever for Pat? Am I missing something?

[Patrick McGovern]

Andy B- what i see is constant harassment of Andy M. your argument re captaincy has merit, especially after John Shaw's posts, but harping on about it makes this is as Joe put it too personal. should the majority agree at the next AGM then you will have your way, until then your point (already made many times) should just lay.

[Matthew Turner]

Everybody pretty much agrees what should happen under normal circumstances. The International Director should have a quiet word with the players and then select a mutually agreeable captain. This is obviously an extraordinary occasion. We have ended in a situation which is not fair on anyone. It would appear that the players have a captain that they do not want and Andy Muir has been forced to select an unpopular captain with no way to deflect the flack. At the moment we have a situation where there is a danger that Scotland will underperform at the Olympiad and Andy Muir will be forced to finish as International Director despite the fact that he has in many respects done a good job as regards Tromso - getting things organised early and saving money on flights etc.
Some pages back Hugh Brechin suggested forming a committee to select the captain. In general, I don't think this is necessary, but perhaps it would be appropriate to do this with Tromso. I suggest Andy Howie, Dougie Bryson and myself, assuming we all ruled ourselves out of the captaincy role. We'd take submissions from the players and from Andy Muir and possibly others (Jonathan Grant for example) and then make a decision. If we chose Andy Muir then the players would have had their say and they would have to accept it. If we chose someone else then Andy Muir could hopefully feel that the right person had been selected in the end and that his International Directorship was continuing to operate successfully.

[Phil Thomas]

Graeme wrote

Probably time to retire somewhere nice like Budapest - I hear it has a banging chess scene.

Worked out there for a few months, it's basically a city of two parts. The modern central touristy part that most folk see but to be honest a lot of the rest of it is no better than an old hole.

Re: Tromso Olympiad 2014
Postby Patrick McGovern » Mon Mar 31, 2014 11:40 pm Wrote

I respectfully request that the moderators act and intervene here; please?

****************************************************************
I have to agree with Pat here. :-\
The good people of Budapest should not have their city denigrated in this way.

They are not members of this forum and should be protected. :ymsmug: :ymsmug: :ymsmug:

To recap some schoolboy geography Budapest is a city of two halves. City of Buda on one bank and city of Pest on the other bank. In the middle runs the Danube river. :| :| :| :|

The other reason the moderators should intervene is to stop the thread straying off topic.
And two whole pages without an icon - far too emotional
:-l :-l :-l :-l :-l

[andyburnett]

Andy B- what i see is constant harassment of Andy M. your argument re captaincy has merit, especially after John Shaw's posts, but harping on about it makes this is as Joe put it too personal. should the majority agree at the next AGM then you will have your way, until then your point (already made many times) should just lay.

Thanks for that Pat, but I, and many others, will 'harp' on about things until something is actually done about it. Quite why you've chosen to point this out now (when I asked a simple question of you re: moderation) I can't quite understand, but there you go. If you see it as 'harassment' and 'too personal' then that's your problem.

I've argued with Andy Muir about many things over the years and every time we have eventually spoken about it in person and agreed to disagree or whatever - however, this issue is too important to ignore or wait for an AGM as some of you would like to happen.