10 Responses to “Charles van Commenee set to leave UK Athletics”

1. Kevin O'Neill says:

   September 11, 2012 at 09:05

   An abrasive character but we'll be sorry to see him go. Complacancy doesn't work and that's a criticism no-one can level at the Dutchman!

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2. Lemon says:

   September 11, 2012 at 09:57

   “It’s a no-brainer. I never understand when people who have failed stay in jobs, as in politics and football.” – a jipe at some of the under-performing Team Coaches (remain nameless!) who feel they are in some kind of clique and void of criticism I feel!

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3. 1980s Ex-Athlete says:

   September 11, 2012 at 12:09

   4 Gold's is a stunning & unexpected over-achievement. Suspect the "missed" 8 medal target is an unfortunate convenience from somebody who'd a long time ago made up his mind to leave.

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4. roger finch says:

   September 11, 2012 at 12:50

   thanks for what you have done for uk Athletics,i think you have been a revelation and truly wish you would stay on.you stood your ground on Idowu and Meadows and altho i like Meadows you were right.Idowu is Pathetic with his behavior and i was glad he did not get a medal.i had tkt for Crystal Palace and paid money to see him perform not pull out cause it was raining.Thanks again Charles,it will be all downhill from now im afraid.

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5. Ray Eaton says:

   September 11, 2012 at 13:05

   Judging Van Commonee's record over four years in the job, he oversaw a fair amount of success, at two World Championships, the Europeans, and of course, this years Olympics. He had his disappointments too, not least, failing to meet the target of eight medals. But he leaves British Athletics in a far stronger position, than when he came into the job, in 2008(a lot of people have forgotten about the dismal days, under Dave Collins, which included the 2006 European Championships, where GB failed to win a single individual gold). He has been one of the finest holders of the role of British Athletics headcoach.

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6. James says:

   September 12, 2012 at 12:01

   Mixed views, but clearly a person who was divisive in his approach. I am disappointed with UKA he was purportedly offered a new contract and a replacement is coming from within. The failures of the coaching system over the last few years are down to CVC but also the cohort who supported him – oh dear…Our successful Olympians (Mo Farah, Jess Ennis) as far as I understand are coached outside of UKA direct involvement. So success was even thinner…I think we need a belt and braces review and not an internal candidate who did nothing other than accept CVC's approach in the last few years…

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7. bucephalus says:

   September 12, 2012 at 18:11

   Very difficult to quantify success in his position. He painted himself into a corner with his insistence upon 8 medals, so his resignation should be respected. He appeared to lack certain person management skills, but showed sufficient sense to let Ennis and Farah flourish away from a centralised system, which is not the best for a multifarious sport like Athletics. It seems the status quo (i.e.U.KA. management) will continue, with coaches etc being appointed without advertisement of posts. This is a great pity. The time is right for U.K Sport to initiate a " root and branch" INDEPENDENT enquiry by a panel of Athletics experts into the structure and workings of U.KA. to see if public money is being effectively spent. Really, we need a Director of Athletics, with a Director of Performance, and a Director of Coaching, working together, and responsible to him.

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8. Steve says:

   September 13, 2012 at 16:13

   Charles is a great coach and the finest asset our athletes could hope for. He will be missed, no doubt about that.

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9. JAGS says:

   September 13, 2012 at 23:04

   At best, I think that Van Commenee has infused what was a complacent sport, seriously lacking in drive and commitment, with an uncompromising culture of professionalism and purpose. The generation of well paid but under motivated elite athletes has all but vanished since the dishing out of National Lottery funding was put under more stringent control. There's no doubt that the Dutchman has made a significant impact on, as well as created an essential legacy for, our sport at the top level. That said, the same cannot be said about the quality of his coaching know how or 'people skills'. His approach to developing working relationships with key athletes has, at times, proven disastrous and unavoidably harmful in terms of generating morale throughout the entire team. Despite the issues about who's been to blame, it's nonetheless been his responsibility to make sure that the relationships have worked for the benefit of the team – ultimately he's been responsible when this has failed. It's now clear to me that his lack of ability to make the most of our local talent explains his resorting to encouraging experienced overseas prospects to take up UK citizenship which, despite being entitled to, they might not otherwise have considered. While I don't question the right of the athletes themselves to do this in principle, I do believe, however, that it was more than a little desperate – and perhaps cynical – of Van Commenee to resort to what was clearly a last ditch effort to bolster up an Olympic squad that appeared too obviously lacking in depth as the Games approached. It's this combined failure to more effectively support the established best within the team and tap into the potential of our own developing talent, that exposes a detrimental lack of resourcefulness to an almost embarrassing extent. The issue, for me, is not should he have gone. There's no question about this – the answer is yes. He's done the most of what he can do and it's time for him to move on before the good he has achieved eventually turns bad. The real issue now is to find the right replacement for him who can continue the culture of top level professionalism that's been established while able to demonstrate the necessary skills and resourcefulness to work much more effectively and harmoniously with British athletes and coaches at all levels.

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10. JAGS says:

    September 13, 2012 at 23:26

    I'm not so sure that the most important reason for Van Commenee to leave should've been because he "failed" to achieve his target. This sort of prediction can never be completely measured accurately in absolute or finite terms. Also, his forecast could be looked at from a different perspective – i.e. 4 golds is actually better than only 1! I believe it was important for the Dutchman to go essentially because he lacks the resourcefulness or people skills necessary to elevate the team into serious world contention. If you want to worry about numbers, how about asking yourself why did we produce so few finalists across all the events. I think that's more worrying as it betrays a real and tangible truth about our lack of progress as a performing squad. While athletes elsewhere on Team GB arrived at the Games clearly 'up for it' in their respective sports, with the exception of 5 athletes (Farah, Ennis, Rutherford & co.) we seemed – overall – to flounder on the day when it really mattered! If coaching had anything to contribute to the unequivocal success of Team GB in the other sports (and the emphatic success of the support programme in cycling has been much discussed since) then I would suggest that we had some serious problems going on in that respect. I do believe that Van Commenee had to go but for far more substantial reasons than simply not quite getting his prediction right!!

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