GIVEN the season Worcestershire have just had, there are bound to plenty of questions asked and fingers pointed.
The expectations at New Road weren’t particularly high for the 2013 campaign but the County have fallen short of them in every form of the game.
After such mediocrity, there will no doubt be calls for changes to the coaching staff in an attempt to breathe new life into their flagging fortunes.
But is this really the answer? Sometimes it is best to take a step back and consider the reality of the situation.
Worcestershire are a county of few resources compared to the majority of clubs in the LV= County Championship set-up.
For many years, they have been starved of investment in the playing squad and, as a result, have paid the price with poor results.
When Worcestershire were in Division One in 2012, they were punching above their weight, which in turn raised the bar unrealistically.
Perhaps now they are at the level more befitting their bank balance.
Yes, they have moved to address that situation with the impressive £10million revamp of the offices and executive facilities but that is a long term project.
It will likely be several years before they start to bear fruit to finance the team.
While that doesn’t make it any less frustrating for supporters, would replacing director of cricket Steve Rhodes actually improve things on the field?
It wouldn’t quite be akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic but hopefully you get my point.
If you haven’t got money to spend, then you are limited as to what you can achieve no matter who is in charge.
Some signings have been questionable — David Lucas in particular — but Rhodes is making the most of the hand he has been dealt.
In many ways, the situation he finds himself in is similar to that of the city’s football team and their manager Carl Heeley.
While poles apart in terms of the arenas in which they operate, both have their hands tied by relatively small budgets.
With City, Heeley has done the best with what he has available to him yet a win still eludes the team after seven games of the season.
In the world of sport, whether we like it or not, money is the driving force in the pursuit of success and both the County and City are proving the point.
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