NEW SKIPPER

[Batch]

As he says, family comes first. And rightly so.

[Gnasher]

I would have liked him to travel (for team morale), even if he wasn't in the squad. Who knows, perhaps he was invited but decided to stay behind. I guess PDC would lose face if Caddis suddenly became match fit in 3 days so there was no chance of him playing tomorrow.

[Huwwy]

The baby thing is what causes the concern for me, and might be what drives an unresolvable wedge between the two of them. I don't think Caddis is too impressed with that aspect of his private life a) being blamed, and b) being discussed in public.

But in the BBC interview he blames wanting to stay in with his kid as the reason he didn't go running and so was out of shape. If that is true then it's a bit rich to now say he wasn't happy with his baby being given as a reason. He may not have wanted it to be public but then he's expecting PdC to make up reasons to the press when asked why he wasn't captain. Caddis should know more than any of us that PdC is not going to do that.

I like Caddis and think we need him but I also see that as Captain he needs to set the example to the rest of the squad. If PdC doesn't think he is then he can't complain about not being captain. Same happened to Risser and he is still here so if Caddis reacts positively this will blow over. If not, cheerio.

[Oaksey Moonraker]

On the interview Caddis feels harshly done by and makes reference that he has led his life the correct way and dedicated himself to football as being his life, doesn't drink or go out at all. He then does contradict himself after saying his life has been dedicated to football that now his girlfriend and baby come first.

I sense he feels after all the fuss around the Aldershot game last year and players going out on the piss, that having not been one to do that, he is now copping it for not being in the best condition in pre-season. Worryingly was a comment when asked if he would be captain again, he said not under the current manager. Not a sign that it's all resolved yet.

You can see both sides of the arguement but Paolo sets incredibly high standards and when players drop those he takes action and doesn't just let things go. Maybe a manager like Danny Wilson would be happy to let Caddis have it easy but once you do that for one then the others know you are a soft touch.

On another post I mentioned Olympic athletes and the likes of Bradley Wiggins being in training camps for weeks away from his wife and kids. Could you imagine Bradley saying to David Brailsford at Team Sky, I still want to be the top man on Team Sky but I am not in the shape I was on last years Tour but, because I won it, let me keep my place ahead of the others?

[Batch]

I don't know whether we know the truth about his fitness or not. Wasn't he still injured at the beginning of pre-season, or did I dream it.

I don't think anyone would complain if he's been dropped for not being fit. But you won't convince me the way this has been handled had been professional. Sorry Paolo, but that's how its come across.

[leefer]

As he says, family comes first. And rightly so.

Yep....but you gotta earn a wage to keep them,so that is the dilemma i would say.

[stfcinbmth]

Yep....but you gotta earn a wage to keep them,so that is the dilemma i would say.

Which he will do easily somewhere else, unfortunately. Got to smooth things over hopefully

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

This situation does not sit well with me at all. How can Caddis go from being such a model professional (which is how he was described to us by Di Canio himself) to being in a position where his standards have supposedly slipped so far that it warrants him being stripped of the Captaincy?? Really??

To me, stripping someone of the Captaincy is a pretty extreme measure and a possibly a last resort - the result of consistantly poor and unacceptable behaviour. I just can't imagine this of Caddis, Others maybe, but not him. I know none of us know exactly what has gone on behind the scenes in this situation but I can't help but side with the player on this.

That aside, regardless of what has happened, if Di Canio was really that unhappy with Caddis then he should have dealt with in house. Caddis has been embarassed publicly and no one deserves that. Even those of us who unwaveringly back Di Canio no matter what, must accept that this was not great management (and don't get me wrong, on the whole I have been very supportive of PDC)

Di Canio seems to live in a world of extremes where everything is black and white. Life as we know, is rarely like that. Sam Allardyce once said that 80% of being a Manager is man management and I think he's right. Di Canio has a massive amount of ability as a manager and it goes without saying that his passion is second to none. His man management skills though, in the long term, are a source of some concern to me.

Edit: Just seen Caddis hasn't travelled with the squad. Not good. If he ends up going, I'm going to take a lot of convincing that Di Canio was right.

[joteddyred]

Excellent post by OST, which I totally agree with.

However he's not just been stripped of the captaincy, he's been completely dropped, which is even more extreme and makes me thing he may have no future here.

For me this whole saga has tainted the excitement of the new season, which is a real shame.

[Cibocchi_Is_God]

It's not that Caddis has been massively unproffesional, out on the piss ect. It seems as though Di Canio thinks he cant deliver his principles to the rest of the squad, fitness being one of them. If Caddis came back two weeks or a week behind everyone else (regardless of circumstances) that's a big thing for Di Canio, as he obviously thinks that a captain must share the same ideals & principles as himself, and that they must be a shining example of these ideals. So even a minor slip would warrant stripping of the captaincy from Di Canio's perspective.

Wether that is right or wrong has already been debated. But it's very clear that Di Canio feels the captain has to represent everything he stands for and although he may have lost a good player because of his stance, Di Canio has very much shown that he is still the boss. My two penneth is that the results have been good so far, so i'll trust Di Canio on this one and hope that he and Caddis can settle it behind closed doors.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

Excellent post by OST, which I totally agree with.

However he's not just been stripped of the captaincy, he's been completely dropped, which is even more extreme and makes me thing he may have no future here.

For me this whole saga has tainted the excitement of the new season, which is a real shame.

Good point joteddy. What can he have done that was so bad to justify that? And I do agree, after a nice positive and generally quiet pre-season build up, it's put me on a bit of a downer as well. I mean, if PDC can fall out with Caddis, he can fall out with anyone at any time. And that's not a good thing.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

and hope that he and Caddis can settle it behind closed doors.

I think that's called locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

[kerry red]

But surely, if he is behind the rest of the team fitness-wise, he is not in condition to play anyway.

[Cibocchi_Is_God]

I think that's called locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I suppose, but it would be nice if some degree of confidentiality could be restored when/if the issue is resolved.

[Dazzza]

Playing Devil's Advocart, the dark lord’s favourite yellowy tipple, perhaps Di Canio is purposely over playing the situation to get a reaction from Caddis.

Caddis is without doubt a player who would slot into a good Championship team and arguably with some improvement would make it in the Premier League. He does come across as a good honest pro but lacking some the fire to push needed to take his game to the next level and push his career on.  I suspect Di Canio is playing for a positive reaction from Caddis and I’d wager he will get it.

Definitely a gamble and I’d argue playing it out via the press to such an extreme wasn’t the best plan of attack but come Christmas I’d lay a few quid that Caddis is without doubt one of the best players in League one.

Or playing for Huddersfield.