Tromso Olympiad 2014

[D-Oswald]

David, I was referring to International Director, interested in that one? B-) !

Haha sorry my bad! I will have a think about that one...

[D-Oswald]

I was talking about which captain rather than whether to have a captain or not - as a matter of fact I agree that one captain is (probably) enough (or even having playing captains?!).

I believe Neil Berry was a playing captain in Turin 2006, but this was when 6 players were allowed and now there are only 5.

[Andy Howie]

Team as been announced IM Andrew Greet, IM Roddy McKay, GM Colin McNab, GM John Shaw, FM Alan Tate


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[Alex Gillies]

Team as been announced IM Andrew Greet, IM Roddy McKay, GM Colin McNab, GM John Shaw, FM Alan Tate


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Decent team all capable of getting some scalps - best of luck

[Adam Bremner]

At the risk of being lynched for throwing my two cents in here...

As with Elaine and Andrew, I don't really understand why two captains need to be present. If the captain has a large amount of admin to do, then I understand why someone should be there to take it away from the players. However if it is for prep, then what is wrong with using Skype? Seems to save flights and accom. That way you can have an official (ideally strong enough to be able to help out before games), but also use the fact this is 2014, and if players have preferred prep people/seconds, then do it via the net.

[Clement Sreeves]

At the risk of being lynched for throwing my two cents in here...

As with Elaine and Andrew, I don't really understand why two captains need to be present. If the captain has a large amount of admin to do, then I understand why someone should be there to take it away from the players. However if it is for prep, then what is wrong with using Skype? Seems to save flights and accom. That way you can have an official (ideally strong enough to be able to help out before games), but also use the fact this is 2014, and if players have preferred prep people/seconds, then do it via the net.

+1

[Hugh Brechin]

Sorry for being a little late to this thread. I don't really want to stir things up again, but I feel that important issues remain unresolved here.

For a man who was only narrowly elected, at the second time of asking, to fill a position for which there was no other candidate, Andy Muir seems to have acted with more than a measure of arrogance in effectively imposing himself upon the team. Though I'm sure everyone involved will do their best for Scotland regardless of the circumstances, it seems extremely unlikely that the optimal climate for a strong team performance can be achieved if multiple members of the squad are unhappy with a captain who has unilaterally decided to go.

The event is still a fair time away, and a number of alternative ideas (some probably more serious than others, but I can count at least a few possibilities) have been proposed on this thread (in addition, possibly, to any more in the private correspondence regarding the matter which appears to have taken place.) I don't really have any strong views on which would be the best (I can see points to several ideas), but at the very least they should be considered carefully. I think it would be very unwise of Andy to insist on his preferred course of action without recourse to further consultation. Previous selections of Olympiad captains (to my knowledge) have not been contentious. This one is. Citing precedents is no answer.

I really don't think it's appropriate to ignore the concerns of some of our strongest players and allow this decision to be solely made by someone with such a clear conflict of interest. Perhaps some kind of one-off panel (which could for instance be comprised of a couple of CS directors and a couple of strong non-selected players) could review the appointment. Or Andy could recognise that this situation is deeply unhelpful and withdraw himself from consideration, but I don't think any of us are holding our breaths on that one.

(Also, given the circumstances, Andy's stated decision to avoid the noticeboard for the next month or so is redolent not so much of high-minded restraint than of someone sticking their fingers in their ears and humming loudly in an effort to avoid hearing something they don't want to.)

[Graeme Kafka]

I think everybody and their GRANNY can see what's going on here. Let's not combover the main issues.

[Patrick McGovern]

Andy Muir seems to have acted with more than a measure of arrogance in effectively imposing himself upon the team

I thought moderators were meant to be impartial and non partisan??

[Hugh Brechin]

When we're moderating, yes. I should state that the above post strictly represents personal opinion. Moderator hat definitely not on.