Fleeing free agents, players popping off at the GM and a stadium that won't be ready for opening day.

It's enough to leave a person with the impression the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a franchise in turmoil.

Who would have thought as the Bombers walked off the field following a loss at the Grey Cup that just months later the team would look from the outside to be a team in decline and not on the rise?

These should be the headiest of days for the Winnipeg Football Club, but lately there's been a lot of stumble and bumble.

Just a day after taking it on the chin in the opening hours of free agency, Bombers GM Joe Mack had to face the ignominy of publicly being called inept by a pair of his players.

If perception is indeed reality, things are a mess in Bomberland.

A quick recount of the last 24 hours shows:

The Bombers have lost their top Canadian on offence with guard Brendon LaBatte signing in Saskatchewan; receiver Greg Carr backed out on a deal at the last minute to move on to the Edmonton Eskimos; and then embarrassing comments rife with foul language and disdain for club management were tweeted by players Jonathan Hefney and Deon Beasley.

The snickering around the CFL was audible across the land as the opposition howled in glee at the misadventures of Mack and the Bombers. It was an embarrassing day for the organization, one that must be learned from and acted upon.

The chain of command is cloudy in Winnipeg and that leaves room for disrespect from players, as was displayed on Thursday.

Mack is among the top talent scouts in the CFL, a personnel man right up there with the best of them. But that's not his job description. He's the general manager and that requires more than watching film and finding players. Mack needs to supervise the entire football operations department and be seen to be doing it.

Maybe he's got his finger on the pulse of his team and maybe he doesn't. The fact we even have to speculate about this is scary.

Agents and other GMs around the league have commented on Winnipeg's organizational structure, saying Mack has the title but assistant GM Ross Hodgkinson has the job. It appears the players see it the same way. They don't fear Mack because they don't know if they should.

There is absolutely no chance of two players jumping on Twitter in B.C. and calling out Lions GM Wally Buono. Same goes for Jim Popp in Montreal. Yet it happened in Winnipeg on Thursday and one has to wonder why.

Winnipeg employs a strange flowchart, where Mack sits atop the operation and has final say, but doesn't involve himself with all the day-to-day management of the club.

It's not a knock against Mack -- he's a personnel guy with a nose for talent and that's where he likes to spend his energy and focus. The Bombers have benefitted from that in the form of some excellent scouting and development of U.S.-born players.

But Mack is the GM and that means less time in the film room and more time out front being seen as the top dog.

CFL legend Don Matthews was fond of the saying, "This is a dictatorship and I'm the head dick." It was funny to hear but he was dead serious and woe was the player that crossed Matthews. The formula seemed to work, as Matthews retired with enough Grey Cup rings to cover every finger.

Mack needs to be seen to be front and centre. He needs to be feared and respected by the men in the dressing room and not just thought of as the guy the coach calls Mr. Mack.

That was never more apparent than Thursday.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless

Gary Lawless, Winnipeg Free Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 17, 2012 C1