Carlton Supporters Club

So the guy whose job isn't to assess medical reports and who isn't qualified to do so is the ideal person to make the call? One of the more out there ideas but would nicely explain this mess.

You don't seriously think the club doctor runs the joint do you?

So then, who else in our club senior administration has enough of the equivalent training in technical aspects of health and injury to make recommendations to the board based on assessment of the specialist reports.

You don't seriously think the board read those reports do you?

It would be very poor governance for the board not to require some form of involvement and feedback from McKay regarding any player welfare issues. Short of actually having a medical doctor on the board, he is the next best option.

Not sure what you're arguing. That McKay actively took ownership of the risk that Thomas would never recover and now that it looks like he won't, he shouldn't be held accountable for taking the risk? And all that is fine because he's a vet and vets are better than doctors at assessing medical reports in humans?

Definitely sounds like good governance yo me.

Question for LP...

What are McKays responsibilities at the club?

Head of Football, pure and simple, responsibilities of the role vary from club to club!

Malthouse reported directly to Swann so McKay didn't actually head up the entire football department during Malthouse's tenure.  Malthouse wasn't on the executive but McKay was.  However, it's certainly possible, and highly likely if my informants are correct, that Swann and Malthouse sidelined McKay.

It's unlikely we will ever know the truth behind what happened during the Malthouse reign.

McKay's title is Head of Football and as I said that means many things at many clubs. For example some are administrative like Noble at the Crows or Kerr at Essendon, while others are recruiting, coaching and development based roles like Balme at Collingwood or Hocking at Geelong. There is no one template that fits all. From what we see McKay talking about most frequently it looks like his role is more performance, medical and welfare based than coaching or development. That sort of fits because Carlton is unique in that it offers rehabilitation, assessment and biometric services to other clubs. If we wanted to find a role analogous to Balme or Hocking I would say Neil Craig fits that bill at the moment.

McKay's role now reflects his title with Bolton and SOS as his direct reports.

There was a radio interview earlier in the year with SOS in which he described a structure that more likely puts himself, McKay and Bolton all on the same level in terms of planning, football management and recruitment. Craig himself described his role as the person coaches, staff or players can approach when plans or strategies are in conflict. So it appears Craig is on the side acting as an independent arbiter to broker "people" solutions.

In effect we now have the exact opposite of the structure MM had in place, the Autocracy is dead it's now all about systems and structures!

This seems so much more sensible, using the resources fully rather than pigeon-holing individuals to perform at a fraction of their capacity.

People whose contribution is not valued should not even be in the organisation.

I'd turn that around Cookie; people who don't value the contribution of others shouldn't be in the organisation.