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by ROGER HALSTEAD STEVE Deakin, the Oldham coach, was at work with the players as usual last night after suggesting in media interviews 24 hours earlier that he might "walk away" from the job if he wasn't getting the best out of his squad. The club has since made it clear, in press statements from chairman Bill Quinn and chief executive Chris Hamilton, that Deaks has the full support and backing of the board and the players. On Monday morning Deaks had his usual post-match debriefing with Chris, during which the coach was assured that the club was behind him and fully supportive of the job he was doing. By a strange twist of irony Deaks learned today that the Rugby League World magazine had named him as their NL2 coach of the month for April, nudging Ellery Hanley into second place. Talking of his meeting with Chris, Deaks said: "Sometimes it is good to have these meetings to get rid of your frustrations and to share them with somebody you respect and somebody whom you know can offer good advice from personal experience. Chris has been around for a long time. He has been there, and done it. "He gave me good advice and, as ever, loads of support. I felt a lot better after that meeting and I thank him for that." Last evening, when the players reported in for training and rehab, there were frank discussions and sharing of views on how best the squad can move forward from here. Giving fans an insight into what went on, Deaks said: "We looked at possible reasons for the poor performance against Blackpool and attempted to come up with both a diagnosis and a prognosis. If we have an illness we need to know what to do to get it out of us. "Various things were discussed and views expressed about where we might be going wrong in either mental or physical match preparation and what we need to do to correct it. We are all committed to doing that this week and to producing the best possible preparation for the cup tie at Dewsbury on Sunday." Training over, Deaks dashed over to Yorkshire last night to run the rule over Dewsbury in their narrow home defeat by Widnes Vikings in an NL1 game. Talking generally of events at the club over the past 48 hours, Deaks said: "Everyone with a role to play at the club, not least me, should do self-analysis on a regular basis and ask if they are fulfilling that role to the best of their ability. "Having won 12 of our 15 games this season we've got an 80 per cent success rate, but I have to compare statistics like that with the standard of performance and ask myself if I am getting the best out of the players taking into account resources and all the many other factors that are involved. "It is easy for coaches to point the finger at players, but they must also point it at themselves and by pointing out my concerns about the players and the team immediately after the Blackpool game I was also questioning my own part in it all. "Self-asessment has to be an ongoing thing and you only get the information you need to do that self-assessment by talking to people at the club like senior management, backroom staff and players. "I am as critical of me and my team as anyone is -- and a lot more than most people -- and everyone needs to be aware of that." |
