I agree Miller is the one they want to move for the reasons you posit, Chef.Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2025 8:34 am The only thing that could justify for me the bag of burning shit Rutherford left on Gary Mason’s front stoop is they have a good offer from a team that Miller won’t waive for. Trying to force his hand so to speak. I do believe it’s Miller they want to move, the room seems to be walking on egg shells around him, a stick of dynamite with a short fuse, we’ve all worked with Cats like that. But his NTC is probably causing problems in the offers they are getting. I believe the only reason they are open to trading Pettersson is because they are getting shit offers for Miller due to his NTC and it’s gotten to the point that the two can hardly co-exist. Rutherford is probably now trying to embarrass him, making it really uncomfortable for him in wanting to stay here.
I also think that it is entirely plausible in Rutherford's mind that he is trying to make things worse for JT to get him to loosen up the potential suitors, and it might make more sense if there's an offer in hand.
I don't think this is a genius move. I think it is a variation of the clown show we saw after the "Bruce, there it is" half-season. Using the media to make a guy feel unwelcome. Its Bush League. And while JR says, this won't have an effect on how they play, of course it will.
I won't speculate on why Miller took a leave. But I will posit the following hypothetical -- if you had an employee who couldn't chill out and it was causing the team performance to suffer but that guy was a really good employee, wouldn't you consider saying to that employee, "You've been burning real hard. You are such a good worker, you are so competitive, you expect the best out of all of us. We've tried to say, don't take this so hard, you aren't responsible for everyone else, but I can tell this is all getting to you. You feel the weight of the world, and it shows. But you don't need to do it all on your own; all this pressure you are feeling -- it's normal, it's what high achievers do, but it's also wearing you down, and me down, and everyone is worried about you. Maybe the best thing is a little break. To take you out of this pressure cooker. To show you, you don't have to do everything, there's a lot in your life that's important. Everything isn't work. And to make your colleagues stand on their own feet, take responsibility for the performance. Take at least 3 weeks. Take a little longer if you need. But when you've cleared your head, we will welcome you back." Rather than fight you too hard, the employee says, a little bit to your surprise, "yeah, I've tried everything else. Maybe a little time away is what I need." And then when the outsiders say, "what's going on with that employee," you say "that's his business, not for us to talk about, but I can tell you he's been doing everything that we ask of him and that we support him 100%."
