Grant Thomas says...

[Laurie]

A successful coach is the only way i see us as recruiting some A grade players to our club.
To see the mass excodus at the end of the 3rd quarter last week tells you that supporters and members are totally pissed off yet once again.
I suspect though there are so many snakes running our club that they already have SCOTT as our next coach in waiting.God help us if this is to happen.

[thejiggingsaint]

Malthouse, anyone???

[shanegrambeau]

I think GT was saying the “development” paradigm is rubbish, All the 5-year plans, re-building rhetoric needs to be flushed and it’s time for a “let’s just do it right now”. North Melbourne in the 70s and to some extent, North up to about 2016/7.

I don’t mind that. We might only be a middling club like North, but at least we can get excited and there is more real accountability.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

[saynta]

We can't just bring in a special guy and improve a lot.
We have serious flaws in our list-
no back up ruck
no genuine marking options in F50 (King is a year away from being starting 22)
substandard mids like Seb, who is crap, and Dunstan, who is slow
We'd need patience while coach decides who to draft, and then develop them properly.
I don't think we'll get 4 great FAs in, regardless of who the new coach is.

So improvement will happen in 2021.
2020 is learning new style

Seb is a good footballer.

[saynta]

Blight was crap afaic.

[amusingname]

We can't just bring in a special guy and improve a lot.
We have serious flaws in our list-
no back up ruck
no genuine marking options in F50 (King is a year away from being starting 22)
substandard mids like Seb, who is crap, and Dunstan, who is slow
We'd need patience while coach decides who to draft, and then develop them properly.
I don't think we'll get 4 great FAs in, regardless of who the new coach is.

So improvement will happen in 2021.
2020 is learning new style

Seb is a good footballer.

I agree Saynta, he is playing a role that is not capitalising on his strengths as an accumulator, as clearly his finishing skills aren't great. ideally would be playing similar to priddis did at west coast, getting the ball out and relying on handballs primarily or short kicks, using outside mids to deliver the ball into the forward line, unfortunately that is what we are sorely lacking at the moment.

[BarryGrogan]

.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

I think you're missing the point.

A bold, ambitious and ruthless strategy took us from 16th to 3rd within 2 years, and 6 points off a Grand Final berth.

It all started with ambition and an element of risk in making a bold decision.

[takeaway]

I think GT was saying the “development” paradigm is rubbish, All the 5-year plans, re-building rhetoric needs to be flushed and it’s time for a “let’s just do it right now”. North Melbourne in the 70s and to some extent, North up to about 2016/7.

I don’t mind that. We might only be a middling club like North, but at least we can get excited and there is more real accountability.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

How much of the Blight "disaster" was really due to Blight and his unusual methods? Or did we panic too early and bailed out of the "ride of your life" ? All I know is around 2004/5 when the very good list was maturing, I would have preferred Blight coaching rather than GT.

Anyway, we have as much chance of getting Clarkson as finishing on top of the ladder this year.

[Scollop]

I think GT was saying the “development” paradigm is rubbish, All the 5-year plans, re-building rhetoric needs to be flushed and it’s time for a “let’s just do it right now”. North Melbourne in the 70s and to some extent, North up to about 2016/7.

I don’t mind that. We might only be a middling club like North, but at least we can get excited and there is more real accountability.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

How much of the Blight "disaster" was really due to Blight and his unusual methods? Or did we panic too early and bailed out of the "ride of your life" ? All I know is around 2004/5 when the very good list was maturing, I would have preferred Blight coaching rather than GT.

Anyway, we have as much chance of getting Clarkson as finishing on top of the ladder this year.

I want a coach who gives a rats tossbag and cares only about winning. Blight was more interested in his leisure activities than he was about his work. GT cared about the club and knew how important it was to help his charges believe in themselves. I want an Uber positive bloke...unlike the bloke we have now

I still can't understand why Richo and the club heirachy had written off this playing list before the 2018 season even started ( if the post by Devilhead is true which I have no reason to doubt). If the head coach doesn't have faith in his group no wonder we were stuffed. It pisses me off even more that they sold us a lie and publicly stated something totally different

[Scollop]

.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

I think you're missing the point.

A bold, ambitious and ruthless strategy took us from 16th to 3rd within 2 years, and 6 points off a Grand Final berth.

It all started with ambition and an element of risk in making a bold decision.

We need a team that has tasted premierships and knows how to get there and knows what's required to sustain successful periods. The Doggies had a few of the Geelong crew, The Tigers had Hardwick and a few of the Lions crew in Caracella and Leppitsch. If we get Brad Scott they should get senior guys around him who were at the Lions during their threepeat. It could also help grow the memberships if they sell the message that it's a dream team of sorts with premiership experience

[takeaway]

I think GT was saying the “development” paradigm is rubbish, All the 5-year plans, re-building rhetoric needs to be flushed and it’s time for a “let’s just do it right now”. North Melbourne in the 70s and to some extent, North up to about 2016/7.

I don’t mind that. We might only be a middling club like North, but at least we can get excited and there is more real accountability.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

How much of the Blight "disaster" was really due to Blight and his unusual methods? Or did we panic too early and bailed out of the "ride of your life" ? All I know is around 2004/5 when the very good list was maturing, I would have preferred Blight coaching rather than GT.

Anyway, we have as much chance of getting Clarkson as finishing on top of the ladder this year.

I want a coach who gives a rats tossbag and cares only about winning. Blight was more interested in his leisure activities than he was about his work. GT cared about the club and knew how important it was to help his charges believe in themselves. I want an Uber positive bloke...unlike the bloke we have now

I still can't understand why Richo and the club heirachy had written off this playing list before the 2018 season even started ( if the post by Devilhead is true which I have no reason to doubt). If the head coach doesn't have faith in his group no wonder we were stuffed. It pisses me off even more that they sold us a lie and publicly stated something totally different

GT DID care about the club of course but imo the rest of the post is just your view, and imo is rubbish.

[The_President]

I miss GT, his brutal honesty. Tells it like it is. I agree wholeheartedly re Clarkson. Throw the bank at him, and when we're playing attractive footy and winning finals again, that investment will pay for itself.

I always liked GT and find that he gets a really hard wrap on here.

I spoke to Joey post retirement and asked him about the coaches he had. He said that

Ross was by far the best tactical coach by a mile. Also said that he was really approachable for the players and would sit and have a beer with them. Said that Ross would go out of his way to find out about the player outside of footy (family, partners etc) and then would ask them about their partners/kids etc.

GT wasn't a great tactical coach, but was the best at building a winning culture. He had everyone playing for him and for each other. Most importantly he let the players play to their strengths - hence the general high scoring/free flowing game style.

Richo also wasn't a great tactical coach. Said often times during a game when the opposition was getting a run on he was just looking around and wondering when the changes were going to come but they never did. Richo just stuck to his guns and left it at that. Said that he came across with big wraps of being a development coach, but found that he couldn't relate to the younger guys at all as people. Wouldn't sit and have a beer with them, wouldn't really sort of mingle with them on a personal level at all.


To use an old Denis Paganism - It's important to not get your ambition mixed up with your abilities.

Some people are good development coaches, some are good assistants. But only a few make good senior coaches. To be a senior coach you need to be a leader. You need to be able to delegate (Buckley and Clarko both rarely take pre-season sessions). But you also need to be able to relate to players on all levels.

[saynta]

I miss GT, his brutal honesty. Tells it like it is. I agree wholeheartedly re Clarkson. Throw the bank at him, and when we're playing attractive footy and winning finals again, that investment will pay for itself.

I always liked GT and find that he gets a really hard wrap on here.

I spoke to Joey post retirement and asked him about the coaches he had. He said that

Ross was by far the best tactical coach by a mile. Also said that he was really approachable for the players and would sit and have a beer with them. Said that Ross would go out of his way to find out about the player outside of footy (family, partners etc) and then would ask them about their partners/kids etc.

GT wasn't a great tactical coach, but was the best at building a winning culture. He had everyone playing for him and for each other. Most importantly he let the players play to their strengths - hence the general high scoring/free flowing game style.

Richo also wasn't a great tactical coach. Said often times during a game when the opposition was getting a run on he was just looking around and wondering when the changes were going to come but they never did. Richo just stuck to his guns and left it at that. Said that he came across with big wraps of being a development coach, but found that he couldn't relate to the younger guys at all as people. Wouldn't sit and have a beer with them, wouldn't really sort of mingle with them on a personal level at all.


To use an old Denis Paganism - It's important to not get your ambition mixed up with your abilities.

Some people are good development coaches, some are good assistants. But only a few make good senior coaches. To be a senior coach you need to be a leader. You need to be able to delegate (Buckley and Clarko both rarely take pre-season sessions). But you also need to be able to relate to players on all levels.

Interesting comments. Thanks for posting them.

[Joffa Burns]

.

The Blight thing was a disaster and we don’t seek a coach so that we can sack him after his celebrity attracts new players. St Kilda was on the nose for at least a year after that by the way, and I’m sure we lost a few potential recruits. Luckily our incredible set of young draft pics left it unnoticed.

I think you're missing the point.

A bold, ambitious and ruthless strategy took us from 16th to 3rd within 2 years, and 6 points off a Grand Final berth.

It all started with ambition and an element of risk in making a bold decision.

Not sure it was 2 years more like 2000 - 2004 but Would we have lured Gehrig & Sammy without the Blight name?

You make a point.

[barneyboyz]

Malthouse, anyone???

There was a time, just after he left Wet Toast we had just replaced our coach (Stan???) and I thought bugger! The rest is history (or his story)

[spert]

As an aspiring young player, or a bigger name player, who would you want to play under if you had the choice- Clarkson or Richo?