Alan Richardson's contract in 2018

[spert]

I wonder where Richmond would be sitting right now, if their board had done what they've so often done over the past 40 years, and sacked Hardwick?

Might have got a new coach who got them a flag

[longtimesaint]

I'm absolutely fine with them biding their time over contract extensions for Richo for the moment.

A few doubts have crept in regarding Richo's tenure lately, particularly after blowing a 10 point lead with less than two minutes left of a very low scoring game. To some degree, Richo needs to be held accountable for this.

Maybe he's too soft? Does he go under the "nice guys finish last" umbrella?

Time will tell.

To hold Richo accountable for the loss on Saturday is ridiculous.
With 19 seconds left the coach can do nothing and has to have faith in the players (leaders) on the ground.
There wasn't time to send a message and probably inexperience cost us as Ross, Acres and Billings were all close enough to block Grey in those last seconds.

[St Chris]

The last thing we should want is dealing with the media BS every week that Buckley or Rocket deal with - we're too easy to target with that stuff.

The people making these decisions know how Richo is really tracking. Are the players responding to the message, is the development progressing etc. Make the decision based on that knowledge, not on his Win/loss percentage or his perception in the media.

This needs to be sorted ASAP. By GF week (2 months from now) I hope we've either extended his deal, or sacked him. 2018 is pivotal for this generation, and whoever is coach deserves clear air to do their job.

[Linton Lodger]

I wonder where Richmond would be sitting right now, if their board had done what they've so often done over the past 40 years, and sacked Hardwick?

Might have got a new coach who got them a flag

Not with that list.

Hardwick has actually performed a minor miracle this year, given what's at his disposal and on the back of Martin & Cotchin's form.

[parkeysainter]

Keep Richo for 2018 and see how we go. Any talk of him getting sacked is absolute rubbish and stupidity at the moment.

He took over a team that was at the bottom and the club purposely recruited a number of young players to get us a good list with depth in it which is what we have. He took us to 12 wins last year and will probably do the same again this year with a harder draw. We are on the verge of breaking into the top 8 for 2018...we honestly aren't far off it this year either. Don't panick Richo haters or Saints fans. Add a couple of very good players to our list through FA or trades and if a few more young blokes take another step then we will be sitting pretty next year. There is the expectation we will plays finals and the club will stipulate that to Richo. I'm pretty sure Richo will put it on the players also.

Let Richo finish off this master plan the club put in place around 4-5 years back. If things go rotten next year then look at his tenure at the completion of the season. Anything else is stupidity.

[Yorkeys]

True, true (give or take a Rance). I expect AR to have marked a few players* cards for 2018 and will have special programs for Messers Acres and Gresham covering topics like decision making, scoring opportunities are rare gifts, and make tackles stick and/or smart a wee bit (and neat hair will not get any credits).

*Weller, Lonie, Steele, Montagna, Wright, as well as the Forward craft /scoring goals is important coach.

[Sainternist]

I'm absolutely fine with them biding their time over contract extensions for Richo for the moment.

A few doubts have crept in regarding Richo's tenure lately, particularly after blowing a 10 point lead with less than two minutes left of a very low scoring game. To some degree, Richo needs to be held accountable for this.

Maybe he's too soft? Does he go under the "nice guys finish last" umbrella?

Time will tell.

To hold Richo accountable for the loss on Saturday is ridiculous.
With 19 seconds left the coach can do nothing and has to have faith in the players (leaders) on the ground.
There wasn't time to send a message and probably inexperience cost us as Ross, Acres and Billings were all close enough to block Grey in those last seconds.

Then why did it happen? Are the players ill-prepared for such situations?

If so, the coach assumes full responsibility.

Anyway, regardless of what you think, it still goes against his record as a loss. They (all parties) should never have let Port score that winning goal. They should have been in shutdown mode right after Membrey's goal to secure a win. It was a major blunder!

[loris]

I love the winning percentage argument.

Richo took over a list that was stuffed and a rebuild was under taken, hell some thought we would not win a game early in his tenure.

To me the question is have we been improving and can he improve us further.

Given what is has has at his disposal 37% is probably a reasonable result.

My personal view is that I would want to see how we track early next year.

Also many conveniently forget that Richo had no say in the recruitment of types of players he would be prefer, as he was only appointed to the Saints senior coach position either a week before or a week after the draft.
So he inherited, as Junior said, a stuffed list & didn't have any meaniful input into preferred players for Saints rebuild in his first season. Players had been delisted & recruitment choices made before he was up and running.

[Greg T]

Would easily give him another 2 years as we are building nicely
We have some stability ATM,and we have some great kids coming thru
IMO were only a couple of players off winning the big one,we're capable

[Con Gorozidis]

So just to clarify.
Are people seriously advocating signing him up for 2019 and 2020 in the next few weeks?

[older saint]

Perhaps i am one of the exceptions here but i would like to see Richo get another 2 years now. Avoid the speculation for 2018, show a sign of strength and conviction behind a coach they believe in, and sends a great message to prospective recruits - aka Kelly etc - of we are set for the next 3 years you know what you will get.

I think there is merit to adding someone in the background with coaching experience to provide ideas and expertise . Clearly Kingsley is a very good assistant but someone like the job Ratten does at Hawthorn is invaluable. Names such as Frawley, Wallace( although trust would be an issue with his history ask Joyce and smorgan) , Ayres, Williams, Thompson etc.

[Yorkeys]

Maybe not 2 years but as he is contracted in 2018, +2019 would send a signal just as leaving him hanging would. I often wonder if gifted but undisciplined players think they can just outwait a coach or white ant. Tails wagging Saints is not healthy. Of course to leave it at just 2018 means he would have every right to look at opportunities from end 2018 on and be silly not to. You don't want uncertainty corroding. I think he is underrated. And I was right once....can't quite remember when.... We have invested a lot in AR's development; giving it away would need to be for a mighty good reason - not a brain snap by a couple of players on a crap day in Adelaide. Assistants - yes upgrade every so often.

[St Lenny]

How quickly people forget that Lyiin did exactly that. Lied to everyone. Lied to Melbourne who thought they had him. Lied to St Kilda. Not to mention Mark Harvey, who Freemantle lied to because of Lyon. Lied to his own Manager who was negotiating a new contract with St Kilda. Lyon himself chose to engage the "Exit Clause" on his contract while he still had a year left on his contract when he chose to walk out on us. Kept it all secret and allowed the club to arrange a Press Conference where it was to be announced he had agreed to a new 4 year deal. All that had gone on for 6 months without St Kilda's knowledge. Please remember his lack of ability to bring on young players. And of coarse the unforgivable retiring of Bakes, Eddy, McQualter and Gardiner. So PLEASE don't tell me that St Kilda handled this poorly, because that could not be further from the truth.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-16/w ... re/2901776

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/h ... d8e250ad66

[longtimesaint]

I'm absolutely fine with them biding their time over contract extensions for Richo for the moment.

A few doubts have crept in regarding Richo's tenure lately, particularly after blowing a 10 point lead with less than two minutes left of a very low scoring game. To some degree, Richo needs to be held accountable for this.

Maybe he's too soft? Does he go under the "nice guys finish last" umbrella?

Time will tell.

To hold Richo accountable for the loss on Saturday is ridiculous.
With 19 seconds left the coach can do nothing and has to have faith in the players (leaders) on the ground.
There wasn't time to send a message and probably inexperience cost us as Ross, Acres and Billings were all close enough to block Grey in those last seconds.

Then why did it happen? Are the players ill-prepared for such situations?

If so, the coach assumes full responsibility.

Anyway, regardless of what you think, it still goes against his record as a loss. They (all parties) should never have let Port score that winning goal. They should have been in shutdown mode right after Membrey's goal to secure a win. It was a major blunder!

This was a major blunder but it was due to inexperience of the players near to the contest.
There is nothing the coach could do except now learn from it and make sure the players are drilled in what to do in another similar situation

[thejiggingsaint]

I wonder where Richmond would be sitting right now, if their board had done what they've so often done over the past 40 years, and sacked Hardwick?

Might have got a new coach who got them a flag

Yeah right!

[thejiggingsaint]

So just to clarify.
Are people seriously advocating signing him up for 2019 and 2020 in the next few weeks?

NO! Just asking for some commonsense to prevail

[thejiggingsaint]

Hey, look Colleagues, we're all part of the Saints family...... and naturally, we ALL know how well family members always get on with each other and agree!

I made this original post from the motives of being concerned about the potential for disaster, should the negotiations regarding the senior coaches tenure at the club be badly handled. Simple as that. I respect 100% the rights of others to hold a different point of view to myself. I'd hate to see this issue become a means of destabilising what appears to be the beginnings of a good period for our club.

I fully appreciate the feelings of impatience and frustration at the pace of our improvement. It's difficult, in the wake of recent results to maintain the belief that we are improving, as I say, I respect other colleagues' rights to oppose my position.

Let's show the footy world (via the medium of this forum) that like any family, we bicker and debate among ourselves, but in the final analysis have the common bond of following a great club!

Let debate rage! But let's be nice! You know we can do it!

Go Saints! ( To hell with the rest!)

[Con Gorozidis]

I wonder where Richmond would be sitting right now, if their board had done what they've so often done over the past 40 years, and sacked Hardwick?

Might have got a new coach who got them a flag

Hardwick had 15 wins in his 4th season.

That is why they kept him around.

[Ellaandjohn]

Listening to the "muppet show" (AKA Morning Glory) on SEN, this morning, I heard the topic of whether Richo's contract should be renewed in 2018. The muppets thought that the club should "wait and see" how the season goes. Now on the surface, this seems more than reasonable, and there's not a lot that one can say in disagreement on this.

However, for goodness sake, do NOT let us repeat the farce that occurred in 2011! Make no mistake, these last six years of frustration can be traced directly back to the ham fisted manner in which the club approached contract negotiations with our former coach. As it's been said; "those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it"

Alan Richardson (in my humble opinion) will be doing everything in his power to get us into finals for 2018. It's time for some strength of character from the board and Richo's management in ensuring we do NOT repeat our sad history with appointing/ dismissing senior coaches!

Got to say I totally agree with them. Why sign him now. It's not as if he would wanted by other clubs. See how we are going half way through next year


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sainternist]

I'm absolutely fine with them biding their time over contract extensions for Richo for the moment.

A few doubts have crept in regarding Richo's tenure lately, particularly after blowing a 10 point lead with less than two minutes left of a very low scoring game. To some degree, Richo needs to be held accountable for this.

Maybe he's too soft? Does he go under the "nice guys finish last" umbrella?

Time will tell.

To hold Richo accountable for the loss on Saturday is ridiculous.
With 19 seconds left the coach can do nothing and has to have faith in the players (leaders) on the ground.
There wasn't time to send a message and probably inexperience cost us as Ross, Acres and Billings were all close enough to block Grey in those last seconds.

Then why did it happen? Are the players ill-prepared for such situations?

If so, the coach assumes full responsibility.

Anyway, regardless of what you think, it still goes against his record as a loss. They (all parties) should never have let Port score that winning goal. They should have been in shutdown mode right after Membrey's goal to secure a win. It was a major blunder!

This was a major blunder but it was due to inexperience of the players near to the contest.
There is nothing the coach could do except now learn from it and make sure the players are drilled in what to do in another similar situation

There is enough experience on that team now to know how to play a game out with only a couple of minutes left. It was a major stuff up. The coach is at least partly to blame for this. Also, our wasted opportunities inside 50m was another big factor into losing the game. This has been a frequent occurrence for a long time. Good coaches make sure this isn't an ongoing issue. Richo has that to answer to as well.

[Con Gorozidis]

So we all c**k a hoop with 11th on the ladder?

[Sainternist]

So we all c**k-a-hoop with 11th on the ladder?

If we finish 11th or below, some serious questions will need to be asked.

[Con Gorozidis]

So we all c**k-a-hoop with 11th on the ladder?

If we finish 11th or below, some serious questions will need to be asked.

No need to rush in to the contracts department and start whipping up a new one.
I think we can all wait 11 months and then re-assess.

[skeptic]

To put it bluntly, Richo doesn't get sacked now but he's on notice...

He's been given a solid amount of time to rebuild and to be honest, for the most part, the trajectory has been good. Even this year when things have stagnated a bit, there's been a lot to like.

The thing is, there are a number of problems with the club/coaching/list etc that have dragged on for a while now that need to be put to bed.
Richo's pass or fail next season depends on his ability to address them.

In no particular order they include...

1. The list: obviously building a list is an ever ongoing process that never finishes but there are a few problems that have dragged on for too long.
- We need two classy midfielders, good disposal, and fast
- We need at least one more capable/developing defender
- We need a primary ruck that can win tap outs and is decent around the ground

And finally, we have way too many HFF and HBF... Jack of all trade master of none types
D-mac
Meatball
Lonie
Billings
Savage
Long
Newnes
Wright
Weller
Gresh

I'm not suggesting that all/most of those players be cut... but there's way too many of a particular type of player on that list and most aren't consistently good enough to be in our 22. In a team that lacks midfield depth, good skills and these are the players that should be providing it and essentially rob us of what we need (some better than others)

2. Skills
It's been an identified issue for years. WE ARE TERRIBLE BY FOOT. We miss targets, we spray shots, we're often easily brushed off the contest... we take players like Bruce, Roo and Membrey which is possibly the most talented three collectives forwards on any list and put them under scrutiny time and time again by giving their defenders every advantage we can to spoil and clear the ball. In our forwards don't work miracles, we don't kick goals.

3. Game plan and structure. We all know it... we are incapable of not bombing the ball into F50 into a 3 on 1. We do it every single week. AND we seriously over handball, move the ball indirectly via the wing, pass backwards and forwards and so fourth. And let's not forget about the whole Longer incident with the free corridor

4. We are psychologically WEAK. Hands down we are the worst set shots of any team. Every good kick for goal that walks into the club catches the plague and loses the ability to perform a skill they've been doing since the age of 4. The most unreliable team from set shots from about the 25m onwards.
We bleed goals in the dying minutes of quarters... consistently
There are too many occasions where we either look like a million bucks and fall away e.g. Melbourne, WCE etc or essentially get shut out of games, or seemingly don't turn up e.g. Essendon.

All of the above needs to be addressed. By the end of 2018, Richo needs to demonstrate that this club is no longer rebuilding and has moved onto the next phase which is finals footy and tweaking to consistently play finals and win a flag.

I reckon we'll know at the half way mark of next season where we are

[The Recruit]

The last thing we should want is dealing with the media BS every week that Buckley or Rocket deal with - we're too easy to target with that stuff.

The people making these decisions know how Richo is really tracking. Are the players responding to the message, is the development progressing etc. Make the decision based on that knowledge, not on his Win/loss percentage or his perception in the media.

This needs to be sorted ASAP. By GF week (2 months from now) I hope we've either extended his deal, or sacked him. 2018 is pivotal for this generation, and whoever is coach deserves clear air to do their job.

We should have Eade as an assistant
Not sure any team is tying to poach Richo. I would move him on if Bevridge decided to come home