Wiliams documentary film

[Tony1963]

That would need a whole series of two hour films that most would find a bit much. Two hours was plenty, most enjoyed it.

[48k]

swisstoni said:

Just a bit about the ‘sorting out companies’ thing. Shouting and kicking ass might sound like the answer.
But I’m afraid a boring old painstaking trawl through the books and seeing where the money goes is how sorting out companies is really done.

I would wager they have a pretty good handle on where the money goes. They wouldn't have survived this long otherwise. The money that goes out the door isn't their problem, it's the lack of money coming in the door that needs sorting. And to get more money in you need to be competitive. And to be competitive you need.... etc. etc.

Whatever the fundamental problems are, I hope they sort them soon. William's has always been a team that has triumphed out of adversity and hopefully they will again.

[Vaud]

Paul578 said:

and would have preferred more insight from the likes of Patrick Head and Frank Dernie.

Just how "well" is Frank these days?

[rdjohn]

Vaud said:

Just how "well" is Frank these days?

On a similar thread in the TV section

Hub said:

Yes, he was selfish and obsessed to the detriment of his family. The clues all suggest he has Asperger's - single minded obsession with cars/racing, emotionally detached, having to ask his wife about judging characters etc.

I had not thought about this before, but it does explain the obsessive running and the complete lack of emotion when Claire was reading extracts and also his recovery from his near-death experience.

[MarkwG]

rdjohn said:

...the complete lack of emotion when Claire was reading extracts and also his recovery from his near-death experience.

That may be a result of his paralysis, though: he may want to express emotions that his body won't let him.

[MB140]

Tony1963 said:

In my experience military officers are the last people you need for sorting a company. They’ve no experience with having to make a profit, no idea how to handle non-military people, and are a little too full of themselves.

Yes there are exceptions, but on the whole naa, leave them in the officer’s mess.

My experience of the military is that the officers make the decision, tell the NCOs how to do it. The NCO then ignores said officer and sorts everything out. Comes along and pats said officer on the back for his brilliant idea and decision making whilst secretly think how the fk did this bumbling idiot get through IOT (I have one which springs to mind from my days on Hercs)

I will caviat that with ‘there some very very good officers about but a lot more bumbling morons’.

[Cyder]

MarkwG said:

rdjohn said:

...the complete lack of emotion when Claire was reading extracts and also his recovery from his near-death experience.

That may be a result of his paralysis, though: he may want to express emotions that his body won't let him.

It looked to me like he was battling to keep the stiff upper lip, I thought his mouth was trembling while she was reading to him.

[StevieBee]

Hub said:

The clues all suggest he has Asperger's - single minded obsession with cars/racing, emotionally detached, having to ask his wife about judging characters etc.

I'm not so sure on this. I realise we live in an age when every quirk of character is prone to indicate existence on a spectrum, register or suggest possession of a syndrome of some sort, but I rather think it more complex than that.

Firstly, he's from a generation where men were 'programmed' not to display emotion at least publicly. I know many of his age including my late Father, who display similar traits. It's not that they have no emotion or emotional 'depth' (often, quite the opposite) but that it's retained within. FW sort of alluded to this himself in the film.

Also, I have on occasion, had the pleasure of engaging with those involved in F1 and other top line professional sports, not to any great extent but enough to get a sense of what's what. And what you find is the most successful of operators all display this complete and utter dedication to what they are doing to the expense of absolutely everything else. It's almost as if every ounce of what they can offer the world, intellectually, socially, politically and physically is channelled into that one, singular endeavour. And generally speaking, the more successful they are, the more this is apparent.

This is why sports people tend not to make particularly good talk-show guests or table guests at corporate hospitality events. Their baselines and field of experience is so utterly limited that they are often incapable of engaging with anyone or anything beyond their sporting field. This leads us to think that many footballers, for example, are 'thick'. (Some are, of course, but not all).

Edited by StevieBee on Wednesday 20th February 08:40

[Eric Mc]

StevieBee said:

This is why sports people tend not to make particularly good talk-show guests or table guests at corporate hospitality events. Their baselines and field of experience is so utterly limited that they are often incapable of engaging with anyone or anything beyond their sporting field. This leads us to think that many footballers, for example, are 'thick'. (Some are, of course, but not all).

Edited by StevieBee on Wednesday 20th February 08:40

Really? Well over half of the people who appear on TV as pundits and commentators are former participants. Some are actually very good.

I really do think that many of the really driven characters in sport (and other areas such as business, fashion, etc) do lack a broader perspective on life and can be very difficult to engage with. However, there are quite a few "normal" people who have become successful in sport too.

[StevieBee]

Eric Mc said:

Really? Well over half of the people who appear on TV as pundits and commentators are former participants. Some are actually very good.

I really do think that many of the really driven characters in sport (and other areas such as business, fashion, etc) do lack a broader perspective on life and can be very difficult to engage with. However, there are quite a few "normal" people who have become successful in sport too.

I did mean to expand that point slightly by stating that 'normality' tends to descend once they have come to the end of their competitive careers, in the same way that many (though by no means all) politicians tend to speak more sense when they are no longer in office.

One of my connections to this world was via a business enterprise with the sister of a top flight Footballer (not my sport by any means). This chap had a couple of England caps some as captain. This was around 2005 and the player was approaching retirement at the age of 35. The club he was with had begun a programme that effectively trained retiring players for life in the real-world. The realisation had sunk in that these players had been totally cocooned from the age of 12 or 13 so when they stepped out into the world they were exceptionally vulnerable. This particular player didn't even have a credit card or bank account. All his money was handled by his family and an 'advisor' who basically followed him around to pay for things.

[The Moose]

I have to say, I rather enjoyed that documentary film.

From the film, I certainly can see why the brother wasn’t given a serious position within the main team.

[Eric Mc]

StevieBee said:

I did mean to expand that point slightly by stating that 'normality' tends to descend once they have come to the end of their competitive careers, in the same way that many (though by no means all) politicians tend to speak more sense when they are no longer in office.

One of my connections to this world was via a business enterprise with the sister of a top flight Footballer (not my sport by any means). This chap had a couple of England caps some as captain. This was around 2005 and the player was approaching retirement at the age of 35. The club he was with had begun a programme that effectively trained retiring players for life in the real-world. The realisation had sunk in that these players had been totally cocooned from the age of 12 or 13 so when they stepped out into the world they were exceptionally vulnerable. This particular player didn't even have a credit card or bank account. All his money was handled by his family and an 'advisor' who basically followed him around to pay for things.

Whjat you are describing is the general freedom bestowed by retirement.