Player Watch #13 Clayton Oliver – UNPRECEDENTED 4x B&F, 3x AA, 2x AFLCA Winner and Premiership Player (formerly)

[Scythe94]

OK, I've removed about three pages of posts.

Please do not use this thread to speculate about Oliver's private life – medical or otherwise.

Regardless of the veracity of your rumour, or what you know/have heard, if it's not public knowledge, just don't post it.

I don't want to turn this place into Demonland, but if you can't see the potential harm that this sort of rumour-spreading can cause (regardless of your intentions), then perhaps it's best if you take a bit of a break.

Thanks.

 

[Bluelegs]

Extended leave sounds like it will be much longer than that. When Gawn said "hopefully we get the best version of Clarry" it didnt exactly inspire confidence.

He was given extended leave after being sent home from the training camp.

I'm skeptical we'll ever see Oliver play again but these reports seem to imply something has changed in their plans.

 

[wingersclub]

If he is seen to be clubbing and on the gear when he is meant to be working on himself then he’ll be done I reckon.
Wishing you all the best Clayton!

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

He was given extended leave after being sent home from the training camp.

I'm skeptical we'll ever see Oliver play again but these reports seem to imply something has changed in their plans.

I took that as go home and see ya after Xmas. This seems like an update saying he hasn't made enough/any progress.

 

[Lord Nev]

I thought he said later this month.

Gawn: "From the last report, he's going to join in around those January training sessions".

Bit vague I guess, but seems pretty different to "indefinite leave".

 

[ancient one]

If he never plays again it will be be sad. But it is not the end of the world. We coped quite well without him for 8 games last year and will this year if that is what happens.

 

[Bluelegs]

If he never plays again it will be be sad. But it is not the end of the world. We coped quite well without him for 8 games last year and will this year if that is what happens.

His contract will make things very difficult for us for the better part of a decade if we can't offload him somewhere.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

But it is not the end of the world. We coped quite well without him for 8 games last year and will this year if that is what happens.

Danster agrees.

 

[LarryDavidNeitz]

Once again, just baffled as to why Clayton and the club don't agree to put out a sensible statement clarifying what the plan and anticipated timeframe is to help him get back on track. This 'will-he-or-won't-he-turn-up-to-training' and the vague "not ready yet for a professional training environment" drip-feeding is rocket fuel for rumours and speculation.

 

[Demon Attack]

Once again, just baffled as to why Clayton and the club don't agree to put out a sensible statement clarifying what the plan and anticipated timeframe is to help him get back on track. This 'will-he-or-won't-he-turn-up-to-training' and the vague "not ready yet for a professional training environment" drip-feeding is rocket fuel for rumours and speculation.

Because the club is a basketcase and they have no respect for members or understanding of how the media works. Trade period to now has been a PR trainwreck.

 

[Bluelegs]

Once again, just baffled as to why Clayton and the club don't agree to put out a sensible statement clarifying what the plan and anticipated timeframe is to help him get back on track. This 'will-he-or-won't-he-turn-up-to-training' and the vague "not ready yet for a professional training environment" drip-feeding is rocket fuel for rumours and speculation.

I suspect the reason is that Oliver and the Club aren't united on that point.

Oliver has been told to clean up his act and don't bother coming into work until he does. If he's not going to tow the line it's pretty hard for the Club to say much more than they are.

 

[Lord Nev]

Because the club is a basketcase and they have no respect for members or understanding of how the media works. Trade period to now has been a PR trainwreck.

I agree our comms are generally poor, but one way to make this situation WAY worse would be to give a firm date for his return and then Clarry isn't ready by then. You can imagine the headlines.

 

[Topkent]

Posted about it numerous times throughout the season, I'm not preparing dinner until 6:30 so here you go:

All stats are based off differentials.

WITH Oliver:

R1: -7 clearances
R2: -28! clearances
R3: equal clearances
R4: +10 clearance
R5: +10 clearance
R6: +6 clearance
R7: +3 clearance
R8: -6 clearance
R9: -3 clearance
R10: -9 clearance
R22: +2 clearance
R23: -9 clearance
R24: +3 clearance
QF: +4 clearance
EF: +3 clearance

-21 clearances over 15 games, won the count 7 times, lost it 7 times and drew it once

WITHOUT Oliver:

R11: -2 clearance
R12: +9 clearance
R13: +4 clearance
R15: +12 clearance
R16: +19 clearance
R17: equal clearances
R18: +13 clearances
R19: +7 clearances
R20: +9 clearances
R21: equal clearances

+71 over 10 games, won the count 7 times, lost it once and drew it twice

Lol take that lord nerd

 

[Topkent]

Weren't we too focused on last year's Oliver and everything was still rosy?

I'm not sure being away from day to day training is gonna be a good thing for him, could be real make or break scenario without schedule in his life

 

[LarryDavidNeitz]

I suspect the reason is that Oliver and the Club aren't united on that point.

Oliver has been told to clean up his act and don't bother coming into work until he does. If he's not going to tow the line it's pretty hard for the Club to say much more than they are.

That's where the club has to take control. It shouldn't be up to Clayton to make that call on a week by week basis when he feels like acting like a professional footballer.

The club is perfectly within its rights to set a timeframe that he definitely won't be in the program and advise the media and public of that and make clear that the club (not Clayton) will make a decision on when we clear him to resume training and that they'll update fans and media accordingly when he's ready to resume.

You don't need to set a specific date that he will return. Just make it clear the club decides when he'll return and definitely don't expect to see him turn up this month.

 

[Topkent]

That's where the club has to take control. It shouldn't be up to Clayton to make that call on a week by week basis when he feels like acting like a professional footballer.

The club is perfectly within its rights to set a timeframe that he definitely won't be in the program and advise the media and public of that and make clear that the club (not Clayton) will make a decision on when we clear him to resume training and that they'll update fans and media accordingly when he's ready to resume.

You don't need to set a specific date that he will return. Just make it clear the club decides when he'll return and definitely don't expect to see him turn up this month.

Pretty sure people would outraged these days if the club was seen to be dictating his mental health for hi.

 

[LarryDavidNeitz]

Weren't we too focused on last year's Oliver and everything was still rosy?

I'm not sure being away from day to day training is gonna be a good thing for him, could be real make or break scenario without schedule in his life

While he's away from the club would like to see him in structured professional support environment for whatever his specific issues are.
Have to assume he has resisted that given the cycle of ad-hoc support systems they've had in place for him over last few months. Which doesn't bode well for him getting on top of it and getting back to playing football.

 

[booshboy]

Unfortunately the bloke just seems too immature to cope with the real world.

 

[Bluelegs]

That's where the club has to take control. It shouldn't be up to Clayton to make that call on a week by week basis when he feels like acting like a professional footballer.

The club is perfectly within its rights to set a timeframe that he definitely won't be in the program and advise the media and public of that and make clear that the club (not Clayton) will make a decision on when we clear him to resume training and that they'll update fans and media accordingly when he's ready to resume.

You don't need to set a specific date that he will return. Just make it clear the club decides when he'll return and definitely don't expect to see him turn up this month.

If we're talking about this from a PR perspective I really don't see much of a difference though. If Oliver has to meet a certain number of criteria to return then you can't force him to do that so putting a specific timeframe down doesn't do much for us, unless we believe he will actually cooperate.

It's also the question of how much you want to give away. Since we've gone with the mental health line, putting a timeframe on his return doesn't really make much sense either, you just say it will take as long as it takes.

I suspect the other thing is that any more information we give away will basically confirm the rumours which don't do us or Oliver any favours.

The truth is in any other job he would have been sacked by now but since our highest paid player and we basically have no way to get out of paying him then we don't really have that option.

 

[Bluelegs]

Weren't we too focused on last year's Oliver and everything was still rosy?

I'm not sure being away from day to day training is gonna be a good thing for him, could be real make or break scenario without schedule in his life

It's a bit of a catch 22. If he's acting like a tool at training and rocking up out of sorts you can't really walk past that even if that environment would be the best thing for him.

Agree with LDN that he basically needs that same structure provided for him away from the club but I would question wether the club even has the resources to commit to that sort of thing.

 

[Topkent]

"hopefully" we get a good version of Clarry.... sounds like the captain has no doubt hes back on track. ... no quite the in your face fist pump you made it out to be Nev.

Lol another win for the #ARG

 

[Topkent]

It's a bit of a catch 22. If he's acting like a tool at training and rocking up out of sorts you can't really walk past that even if that environment would be the best thing for him.

Agree with LDN that he basically needs that same structure provided for him away from the club but I would question wether the club even has the resources to commit to that sort of thing.

I'm fine with the club sending him away, but you could see him really going off the rails without structure as well.

 

[LarryDavidNeitz]

If we're talking about this from a PR perspective I really don't see much of a difference though. If Oliver has to meet a certain number of criteria to return then you can't force him to do that so putting a specific timeframe down doesn't do much for us, unless we believe he will actually cooperate.

It's also the question of how much you want to give away. Since we've gone with the mental health line, putting a timeframe on his return doesn't really make much sense either, you just say it will take as long as it takes.

I suspect the other thing is that any more information we give away will basically confirm the rumours which don't do us or Oliver any favours.

The truth is in any other job he would have been sacked by now but since our highest paid player and we basically have no way to get out of paying him then we don't really have that option.

It's not about putting a timeframe on his return, nobody can do that.

It's about making clear there's no point speculating on when he'll be at training on a daily/weekly basis and then writing articles about whether he's turned up or not, as has occurred today. If they make clear he's out for a whole month and we'll all be given an update early Feb then it takes the weekly speculation away.

 

[Bluelegs]

It's not about putting a timeframe on his return, nobody can do that.

It's about making clear there's no point speculating on when he'll be at training on a daily/weekly basis and then writing articles about whether he's turned up or not, as has occurred today. If they make clear he's out for a whole month and we'll all be given an update early Feb then it takes the weekly speculation away.

Yeah I agree we shouldn't be putting a timeframe on it at all. I think Gawn was the only one who did in hindsight and that was a misstep.

I don't think that will end speculation though. The question of when he will return will ultimately not be answered and so regardless of what you say, every milestone in the pre-season and every interview is going to have someone asking how he's going and when he'll be back.

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

If he's acting like a tool at training and rocking up out of sorts you can't really walk past that even if that environment would be the best thing for him.

"I urge you to stay away from our environment"

 

[mrmonkey]

Yeah I agree we shouldn't be putting a timeframe on it at all. I think Gawn was the only one who did in hindsight and that was a misstep.

I don't think that will end speculation though. The question of when he will return will ultimately not be answered and so regardless of what you say, every milestone in the pre-season and every interview is going to have someone asking how he's going and when he'll be back.

Unfortunately there's nothing else going on in the pre-season so the football media vultures will keep at it until the season gets closer or something else happens. I'm not going to buy into any of the speculation, but I am concerned that this will be a distraction throughout the season as it was last season. The only difference is at least we now know he has some challenges that he needs to overcome, rather the constant he's only a couple of weeks away for 10 weeks. To me whether the team is better with or without Oliver is irrelevant imo, it's the distraction that's the problem.