Ross Lyon?

[older saint]

To St Kilda supporters Ross Lyon is like Dan to Victorians either love him or hate him nothing in between.

He has been mentioned and joining the dots it makes sense :
- Wouldn't sack Ratten like this without a plan in place;
- Lyon said he didn't want to go through a process again;
- Most if not all people are gone from management from when he was there;
- Lenny had returned.

The question is though to those who were personally hurt when he left can you/ will you move on if this does happen?

My thought was it was ordinary what he did, shafting even his manager, however that is a statement of the bloke not of his ability to coach or get players to buy in.
The bigger question for my is what has he learned since he left Freo and what would he/will he do different?
He is a coach i feel has a time frame of around 6 years or so as he works so hard and pushes staff so hard - would that have changed?

He would be the best credentialed coach we would have had since Blight (who didn't want to coach really but got talked into it).
Has he improved, grown, learned via looking at the game through a different lens?

There are plenty of players i have cheered for your are ordinary people so is the coach any different if he is good?
Just hypothetical

[skeptic]

It’s a tough one for me.

At the risk of annoying Teflon… I disliked him even when we were winning and really fell into the view that his style relies for too heavily on his champion players getting the job done.

To some degree, that strategy has a lot of merit as it has seen his teams get to at least 3 grand finals which one has to respect to a degree but if you don’t have the champions… that’s a problem and if you can’t develop them, that’s a problem.

His biggest strength is his leadership which I admit is excellent and for all of his faults… IMO RL is uncompromising when it comes to driving professional standards.

Admiral qualities in a coach

The part of the puzzle that he lacks IMO is actually building up that environment and those qualities in ppl that don’t have it right away and I think that is a really big deal. For arguments sake… a guy like NWM for example may not have the work rate right away or be more effected by homesickness initially (hypothetically)… players like that he seems not to be able to turn them around and adopts the &@$? them approach and writes them off.

And I don’t know if he has the flexibility address that… and let’s face it, the other well known challenge is whether he can update his game plan or change with the times.

Personally… I feel like the only way RL could work is that if he had someone there that had a degree of authority that could force him to mix particular things up. Can’t see anything like that working here

[Scollop]

Without a champion team and a list with strong depth, Lyon is a 50/50 coach

Let's see...will Lachie Neale want to come?

Would Ed Langdon consider moving to St Kilda if Lyon is our coach?

[Scollop]

Maybe he can assemble the old crew. Lenny, Dal and Roo still look pretty fit....shame about Chips

[evertonfc]

I feel like 2-3 years of Lyon will prevent us from collapsing into a total and utter basketcase, which is what we're on the precipice of.

I genuinely believe there's probably not a Craig McRae out there waiting to come in.

Lyon is a plug-and-play option. We slot him in, he gets to work, we will instantly become a lot more competitive and players will be expected to work their backsides off every single day at training.

Will he get a flag with this list? Probably not, but I think he can help steady the ship and point us forward at a time we desperately need some forward momentum. I think he'll bring in the standards and values we are urgently seeking.

I don't think people realise how rotten it is down there. We've got a lot of players who need to be put through the RL food processor.

I reckon Max will benefit enormously from Lyon's tutelage (as Kosi did) and he'll put the message out to Ben that we're fair dinkum. Once we get Ben on board, I think you'll see some serious momentum start to roll back into this football club.

[cwrcyn]

He's a known quantity.

He's demanding of the players and accepts nothing less than 100% effort and commitment

His ex players from St Kilda love him and think he's a great coach

He won't be wishy-washy in his approach

He'll take no crap from the media

He's meticulous and organised as a coach


After seeing what we got from Watters, Richardson, and Ratten, Ross Lyon is an attractive option.

[cwrcyn]

He also commands respect. That's important

[Scollop]

I feel like 2-3 years of Lyon will prevent us from collapsing into a total and utter basketcase, which is what we're on the precipice of.

I genuinely believe there's probably not a Craig McRae out there waiting to come in.

Lyon is a plug-and-play option. We slot him in, he gets to work, we will instantly become a lot more competitive and players will be expected to work their backsides off every single day at training.

Will he get a flag with this list? Probably not, but I think he can help steady the ship and point us forward at a time we desperately need some forward momentum. I think he'll bring in the standards and values we are urgently seeking.

I don't think people realise how rotten it is down there. We've got a lot of players who need to be put through the RL food processor.

I reckon Max will benefit enormously from Lyon's tutelage (as Kosi did) and he'll put the message out to Ben that we're fair dinkum. Once we get Ben on board, I think you'll see some serious momentum start to roll back into this football club.

He has a reputation of leaving clubs in a much stronger position than when he first walks in... actually....hang on

[cwrcyn]

Give him the job, get Jason Cripps from Port to head list management and tell Ross that he's the coach and not the list manager.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

St Kilda's only GF coach this century. Fremantle's only GF coach ever.

Amazing that he's not coaching while the likes of Brad Scott are.

A no-brainer.

Those who are still bitter, get over it. I did.

[D.B.Cooper]

Brad Hill won a B&F under Ross Lyon

[spert]

St Kilda's only GF coach this century. Fremantle's only GF coach ever.

Amazing that he's not coaching while the likes of Brad Scott are.

A no-brainer.

Those who are still bitter, get over it. I did.

Saints premiership=0, Freo premiership=0 no thanks

[cwrcyn]

At least he go those teams to grand finals

[Scollop]

Another brain fart from Lethlean

Let the club make another stupid mistake after all the countless stupid mistakes while he's been here

This is the bloke who thought bringing in Dan Hannebery was a sensible, viable long term low risk option without consequences

[1971]

Yep. No brainer.

[Scollop]

Yep. No brains

[Rubyjo]

Saints Footy was something to be happy about..he needs a good forward coach and feels like a homecoming . The story will be great and let's hope he has come up with a modern game plan if he is the one .

[bergsone]

FWIW Just got some mail he has the job,usually reliable

[murray 66]

I for one was Filthy when Ross left us and wished him nothing but failure at Freo, but as good coaches do they succeed where ever they go. It didnt take him long at Freo to turn them into a top four contender and even playing off in a GF. As I am a bit older and wiser now I do understand that there are always two sides to a story, our board at the time wasnt forth coming in a contract extension with Ross mid year and he done what he thought was right for him and his family .. It says enough to me that the 09/10 crew of players still hold him in the highest regard and he is highly revered in the footy landscape.
My only reservation about Ross is that he does't work well with boards, a lot like Clarko they seem to forget who is paying them and they need to understand that they cant run there own show and not be accountable to someone/somebody! Hopefully Geoff Walsh can harness Ross if appointed and they can form a formidable partnership!

Bring on " Ross the Boss".. Go Saints

[Rocket]

Hearing the same Lyon very much in box seat !!!

[cwrcyn]

Well, if that's true, I'm okay with it. Ross Lyon and Lenny Hayes is a good combination.

A firm hand at the wheel with an unflinching approach. I think it's what we need right now.

If someone had told me 6 months ago that Lyon would coach us again, I would not have been enthusiastic, but after watching the back end of the season, I actually think it's the right thing to do.

We need to be rock solid next year and that's what Lyon would give us.

[Impatient Sainter]

Just imagine the feeling at the club if they got the old brigade together, with Lyon as head coach, Lenny taking the mids and Roo or BJ coaching the forwards. The place would be rocking and players would be floating on top of the ground during the pre season.

[murray 66]

I think we need him more then he needs us! I'm sure a lot of the older players that still have a great relationship with him have heavily endorsed him, if not pleaded with the club to get him back as senior coach. If appointed by the club I'm sure some players wont like his approach as Riewoldt has stated, but they can bugger off if there not fairdinkum anyway! This playing list is soft and have been babied for too long! He will demand exellence and not tolerate medeorocity from some cry babies..

[cwrcyn]

The uncertainty around untried coaches fills me with quite a bit of apprehension. The known quantity of Lyon is something that would make me feel like things are under control. And they would be. Make no mistake, Lyon knows what he's doing. He's tough and demanding in a way that keeps everyone on their toes. Right now, that's incredibly important.

[skeptic]

I wonder if RL would do a fixed term while training an apprentice

3 years with Lenny taking over is appealing