Beagrie - Right or Wrong?

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 19/10/2006

IT never rains without it pours. Well, amongst the Town fans that is. It appears that the target for criticism this week is Peter Beagrie and his 'special' arrangements with the club.

You may recall that at the time his signing was announced, Graham Rodger did say that he was not available on a full time basis or more correctly, he would be given leave to pursue his other activities.

At the time of his discussions with Town, Beagrie, knowing retirement was not too far away, was concentrating on his life outside football, as a player that is, and one cannot blame him for that.

Notwithstanding his other commitments, Rodger still saw Beagrie as an asset to Town and was prepared to enter into an agreement that suited them both.

This means that Beagrie will not be available for every game and he never ever stated he would be.

Now if Mr Rodger is happy with the agreement, then why should we complain?

There are those who suggest that Beagrie is keeping Hegarty out of the team and he is a fully contracted player. They may be right but I think that if Hegarty was that good, Rodger would not have needed the services of Mr Beagrie.

On the other hand, Rodger may have viewed Beagrie as a good 'standby' player and would use him when he was available.

We are not privy to contract details so only Rodger knows exactly what it says. But if Rodger is happy with it then we have to live with it.

There is also no sense in criticising John Fenty for allowing it to happen as some people appear to be doing. Graham Rodger is the manager and, within normal managerial constraints, is free to make his own decisions and that is what he will be judged on.

I can see no sense either in criticising Beagrie. He presented his requirements to Rodger at their meeting and Rodger agreed to give him some leeway. So Rodger must have approved of them.

Beagrie therefore, has a job at Grimsby Town as a player and another job with the media which may be what he is looking for when his playing days are over.

So you cannot blame him for accepting a deal that suited him and apparently suited Rodger too.

Some may question Rodger's decision in coming to such an agreement with him. But, as manager, he had every right to do so.

So if Beagrie is sat in the studio or commentary box while Town are playing elsewhere, you can bet that he is doing so with the full blessing of the manager.

So get off his back! He is doing no wrong.

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