samoht wrote:Is it the coach's fault that we have a thin midfield with few in it that have the ability to take the game on?
If you look past Ross and Steven (who is being successfully tagged out of it in important games), Steele and Stevens either don't win enough ball or tend to over- handball when the pressure is on.
That means we're not getting enough drive - so how can you play through and own the middle of the ground/corridor when you're handballing under pressure - instead of kicking straight down the middle.
We may well have the weakest midfield. The coach may have little to do with it.
And this is still the crux of the debate, isn't it.
Is it the coach? Or the rubbish list?
Chicken or egg?
Realistically, it's almost always a combination of both. However one area is usually the catalyst for s*** performances.
I really worry about where we're at. Really worry (in a football supporting sense of course).
I look at our team each week, and see absolutely nothing that gets me excited as football supporter. Carlisle is the only one that I see as a potential genuine top shelf player. The rest are either mediocre, or just above average.
The way we play, is awful, Even when we win, it's ugly. Even when we were flogging Richmond, we'd had 25 Inside 50s for only 27 points on the scoreboard at one point. That's very concerning, and obviously unsustainable football.
But Richardson had his chest puffed out like we were vindicated. I was more concerned after the Richmond win than some of our losses. If that is how we're trying to play - then we're in trouble. If that's Richardson's blueprint for success - we're stuffed.
If you play a team of witches hats, and have 25 Inside 50s, but have only put 25 points on the board - something is seriously wrong with your offensive game. Guess what happens when you don't get 25 Inside 50s in the first 40 minutes?
I told you all after the GWS win that way we won was worrying. The strategy that we used to get over them, was an easy one for opposition teams to counter. We revealed our hand, and it wasn't overly impressive.
Effort, and f****** 'pressure' is the cornerstone of footy. Without it, you won't win a flag. It's the backbone that supports your ability to execute your strategy. Without it, your strategy is far harder to implement.
But I genuinely fear now, that our strategy is pressure! And that's it!
We're not loaded with talent in the backline, but they're not hopeless. And, our movement out of the backline is pitiful.
We're not loaded with talent in the middle. Our movement through the middle is terrible, and our movement into the forward is just pathetic.
We're not loaded with talent in the forward line either, but they're not hopeless. Our contested marking and conversion is amateur hour stuff.
On top of this, we allow teams to waltz through us in the middle, and across the backline. Which means defensively, our defenders do not stand a chance.
So we have limited talent - and what appears to be zero structure and method for how to play a game of footy.
If you have awesome offence, and no defence - you won't win the flag.
If you have awesome defence, and no offence - you won't win the flag.
But, at least if you have one area covered, it can keep you in the game at times and cover up cracks until you develop the other part part of your game.
We just seem to have neither. We are 11th in Points For - and we're 7th for Points Against! We're not good defensively, and we're terrible offensively.
But again, is it the coach or the players?
The problem is, Richo's reaction post the GWS and Richmond wins. He clearly liked what he saw. That was what he wanted them to do. And I think that that is a flawed strategy.
I'm speculating, as I don't know what his strategy is for a fact. I'm guessing.
But if it is, he needs to change it, He needs to fix it. It's s***.
His constant focus on 'pressure' and being 'strong' and 'solid' and this pipe dream of being the best defensive team in the comp, seems to have come at a cost. The cost is that we neglected our offence, And now that our defense has fallen over, we have nothing to fall back on.
A coach has two jobs -
1) Develop a plan that is capable of winning the flag.
2) And to get the players to carry it out each week.
Richardson in my opinion, is failing badly in number 1). Not sure about 2). If he's good at 2), then you don't sack him. That's a difficult skill and often hard to come by. We just need to change the plan. And hopefully unlike Lyon and some others, he is capable of realising his error and making the necessary changes.
( God help me)
..... I have a shrewd idea of just where THAT project would end up 
