Archery boss keen to hear critics

By Peter Scrivener

Wills is now the only Briton left in the men's archery competition

Manager Hilda Gibson says criticism from within Britain's archery team can help them rebound after they failed to win a single Olympic medal in Beijing.

Alan Wills has hit out at the tactics of head coach Peter Suk and in his latest BBC Sport blog he threatened to quit if things do not improve.

BBC Sport understands that Wills is voicing the concerns of the GB team.

Gibson told BBC Sport: "Getting everything on the table is a good idea, it's important all concerns are aired."

The Olympic and Paralympic archery teams are holding a review meeting in mid-October to discuss issues arising from the competitions.

Wills initially criticised his preparation by Suk after his 108-104 defeat to Cuba's Juan Carlos Stevens in Beijing, saying that he felt his personality was being squashed down.

OLYMPICS BLOG Everything was wrong in the build-up to the Olympics GB archer Alan Wills

Later, Wills said he had spoken in the heat of the moment.

But in his latest BBC Sport blog, he said: "I've had more time to reflect and I stand by what I originally said and if a lot of things don't get better, I will pack it in and that's not me being a sore loser.

"This year, everything was wrong in the build-up to the Olympics with the selections for the World Cup circuit.

"If we bombed out in the first round of a competition, Peter (Suk) would say don't worry - but confidence gets knocked if you're not doing well.

"We need a do-or-die mentality - put everything in until your fingers bleed."

Wills also pointed to team morale being too low in the GB holding camp in Macau and Suk leaving straight after the competition without holding the usual team de-brief.

There were concerns about motivation levels in Macau, but they were where they needed to be Hilda Gibson GB archery team manager

But Gibson, while accepting there were issues to address, defended Suk's methods.

She said: "We didn't win all the medals on offer, so obviously there is room for improvement.

"And yes there were concerns about motivation levels in Macau, but they were where they needed to be - you can't be on a high all the time and it was better that they were lower in Macau.

"Peter was in Macau and Beijing and then went home to Korea, that was always the plan and the archers knew that.

"It was a matter of timing and while it wasn't the best, Peter needed a break before he went back to Beijing for the Paralympics.

"I can understand Alan's frustrations because he knocked out the Olympic champion, Marco Galiazzo, in the last 32 and he has won medals at world events before, but for some reason he was unable to repeat his performance of the previous day.

"We didn't win any medals, which was disappointing, so we need to analyse and decide what went wrong and how to improve.

"That is what the review meeting in October is for."