Notes

Message for Nico:

Hi Nico,

Your messages between James were very long, meaning there was a lot to think about. These are my reflections, thoughts and interpretations. Even though a decision has been made regarding James since you sent the message, I still think these are important.

To start with I think it was good that was open and honest with you about Hadley, in the sense that he told you what was happening with that team and that he has communicated with them. The first question you asked him was if he sees any potential risks in returning to our environment. You sent the message at 17:51 and he responded at 17:52. SO there was about a minute between the messages. This makes me ask myself if he thought about all the scenarios that could be risky or if he took the time to think about everything that you may consider to be a risk. I think if he does, he takes longer to respond to that message because he has taken more time to think about it and consider different scenarios.

After this, you asked if he had any questions and he did. I think this is a good thing as it shows here he is also interested in understanding what your thinking instead of not worrying about it. This is key for me because by asking the questions you can get a better understanding of what that person is thinking and possibly put yourself in a better place to achieve what you want. He asked if you want him to be in our environment and you explained that you were interested in the prospect of that, that's why you contacted him. You explained how you look at it, for example you put that you want to avoid time-wasting for anyone which is good because you have given him details of what your thinking which overall provides clarity which can prevent misunderstanding.

He now asked you "what would the risk be that you would be taking?". I think this again shows that he is interested in learning what you see as possible difficulties or risks in this case. This can allow him to know this and then show you what he has/could do to combat those risks. You say that there is always a risk in bringing a new player In. This is good because it shows its not just risk with him, its risk with everyone you bring in. After this, you proceed to talk about his situation which I think is beneficial as you started talking about him specifically which is what he is there for. You then list/tell him the possible risks you see which again is beneficial because it focuses in on what you are thinking and his situation specifically.

Now you talk about how his previous experience with you may or may not give him an understanding of what things are like now. I think this is very important because it provides a perspective on what things were and how they are now. If James thought they were the same then you have made it clear that not everything is. Which could help James understand what he would be joining if the opportunity was there.

What you speak about after this is key for me. You speak about your interpretation. You gave him your honest, straight-up thoughts on how you understand he feels. I think this is one of the most important parts of the conversation because it possibly makes James question himself on how he has spoken to you and then later on if he has looked at the whole picture - so on and off the pitch, short and long term. You follow this trend by going into detail about your concerns from how you think he feels. Again I think this could possibly make James question himself about whether he has approached this correctly. This could be good or bad depending on how he takes it. On the negative, he may doubt how he's approached you, on the positive side he may learn about what he has done wrong/right and then adjust that for another time. You explain that you take every decision very seriously, and he may have underestimated this in you, another thing that may concern you. You don't want a player in your team he doesn't understand you well enough to be productive with them and to help improve them as a player and person.

Towards the end of your message, you pose a question to him which I find quite intriguing. You ask if he is capable of matching your input by showing a real investment in what you say and ask him. I found this particularly interesting because you use the word "capable". To me, this implies you are questioning if he actually has the ability to do that, not having the ability and not using it now but not having the ability as a whole or not having it to a high enough level.

You finish off the message with your final verdicts. One being, that if this is the team he doesn't fully want to join you would encourage him to pursue somewhere else. I think this shows where you stand at the end of this message. In the final paragraph, you say that this is you showing a side of you that he possibly forgot and arguable needs reminding of. I interpret this as you trying to give him an overall picture of what one of the points you may have been trying to get across to him during the message.

Overall I think that James should take something away from this message, that could hopefully help him in the future. I think the points you have made are valid and definitely give overall clarity on his situation from your view.

Regards,

Finley