Lorna McLelland - Player Liaison Officer article in The Guardian

[joe_c]

Haven't seen this elsewhere on the site. Nice piece showing another instance of the club's pioneering spirit with Sir Graham and Sir Doug both key in the creation of the role.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/06/player-liaison-officer-aston-villa-lorna-mclelland

[sirlordbaltimore]

was it Fernando Nelson that Gregory claimed called him at home in the middle of the night as his garden gate was banging in the wind and he didn't know what to do ?

[Legion]

Thanks for that.

[IFWaters]

Haven't seen this elsewhere on the site. Nice piece showing another instance of the club's pioneering spirit with Sir Graham and Sir Doug both key in the creation of the role.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/06/player-liaison-officer-aston-villa-lorna-mclelland

She left after we were relegated. Does that mean the role doesnt exist any more ? I hope not.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Haven't seen this elsewhere on the site. Nice piece showing another instance of the club's pioneering spirit with Sir Graham and Sir Doug both key in the creation of the role.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/06/player-liaison-officer-aston-villa-lorna-mclelland

She left after we were relegated. Does that mean the role doesnt exist any more ? I hope not.

I know Lorna pretty well.
She was effectively made redundant and the role scrapped.
Or perhaps that's what Micah Richards does these days!

[IFWaters]

Haven't seen this elsewhere on the site. Nice piece showing another instance of the club's pioneering spirit with Sir Graham and Sir Doug both key in the creation of the role.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/06/player-liaison-officer-aston-villa-lorna-mclelland

She left after we were relegated. Does that mean the role doesnt exist any more ? I hope not.

I know Lorna pretty well.
She was effectively made redundant and the role scrapped.
Or perhaps that's what Micah Richards does these days!

So after doing something ahead of the rest we then decided we didnt need the role after all. seems symptomatic to me of the state we have been in.

[Legion]

Probably went as part of the wholesale cost-cutting measures across the club once we were relegated. A LOT of people lost their jobs.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Pretty much spot on Leeg.

[footyskillz]

Haven't seen this elsewhere on the site. Nice piece showing another instance of the club's pioneering spirit with Sir Graham and Sir Doug both key in the creation of the role.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/06/player-liaison-officer-aston-villa-lorna-mclelland

She left after we were relegated. Does that mean the role doesnt exist any more ? I hope not.

I know Lorna pretty well.
She was effectively made redundant and the role scrapped.
Or perhaps that's what Micah Richards does these days!

Actually a responsible ex player would be good to take on role.

[cdbearsfan]

It's not the sort of role an ex-player would necessarily be much good at. Most of the job is helping with paperwork, bills, accommodation, that kind of thing. Plus you would need to be at least vaguely proficient in a number of languages and few players, well few British players anyway, meet that criterion.

[Risso]

Didn't her role largely come about because of the difficulties JPA experienced when he first moved over?

[paul_e]

Didn't her role largely come about because of the difficulties JPA experienced when he first moved over?

Yep.  To me it seems like a cultural role where you help players find stuff that helps them settle in.  I was very close to moving to Boston earlier in the year (and might still go in the next year or 2) and part of that was they were going to have a guy in the office a few hours a week to help with settling, finding schools for the kids, get my wife work, etc. Seems like a great way of making sure someone can settle in without having to worry about things that are completely new to them.

[cdbearsfan]

Didn't her role largely come about because of the difficulties JPA experienced when he first moved over?

Yes. I think he struggled to settle and part of it was that his new born baby was sick and he didn't speak the language or know who to turn to.

The problems at the club are alluded to in the article, though Angel isn't mentioned by name.

"McClelland, a former language teacher who speaks French, German and Spanish, was working at a school in Birmingham when she sent a speculative letter that would change her life. It was 2002 and Graham Taylor had just been appointed as Villa manager for the second time.

One of McClelland’s daughters was working in the hospitality boxes at Villa Park when she told her mother about difficulties faced by young players who had moved to the club from abroad and were not receiving adequate support. As a counsellor and teacher McClelland was keen to help. She outlined how she thought she could. Taylor had been thinking that a more formal approach was needed and, after a long interview process, she was hired."

[Risso]

Didn't her role largely come about because of the difficulties JPA experienced when he first moved over?

Yep.  To me it seems like a cultural role where you help players find stuff that helps them settle in.  I was very close to moving to Boston earlier in the year (and might still go in the next year or 2) and part of that was they were going to have a guy in the office a few hours a week to help with settling, finding schools for the kids, get my wife work, etc. Seems like a great way of making sure someone can settle in without having to worry about things that are completely new to them.

I find it a bit ironic that in a job intended to help people settle in and know what was what, they didn't actually do anything for her!

"They said to me: ‘There’s your computer, there are your keys, there’s your phone – you know what you need to do. Create a role and find a name for it.’ So I did that. It took me a while, maybe a couple of months, to work out exactly what the role should include.