So what do people want to see happen..?

[skeptic]

It’s been a rough week and it’s certainly led to a plethora of observations at times bordering on hysterical about what’s wrong with the club at the moment...
There have been calls to sack the coach, the assistant coaches, the board, certainly the football department, trade every player, Lynch a few particular players and on and on it goes. We went from hoping for finals to near certainties for the spoon.

So my question is how do people want the club to react right now and over the season.

For me, though I don’t rate Richo IMO you can’t sack him. We’ve just signed him for 2 years (I know right) and then sacking him 6 months later is the kind of tomfoolery that ensures ppl shouldn’t ever take us seriously.
Like it or not I think we’re stuck with him until at least mid next year.

So for me, the question is how to get the best of that.

For mine, following the appraisal that we’re not where we want to be in terms of playing list and development, we really focus on ensuring there are no questions left about who we want to persevere with...
Paddy stays, Hickey needs games, Marshall plays, White gets a go, Sinclair, Steele, and Koby get another chance after they earn their way back, Dunstan plays, Austin plays etc

Rotate the list around and make sure anyone that we’re unsure about gets there chance

Major movement at seasons end and move heaven and to get those mids that we need

Coaching wise, I think the club sounds out it’s own preferences for potential coaches and either brings them to the club in an assistant capacity or gets them in place before the axe drops.

Elshaug goes... attract some new blood in terms of assistant coaches too.

Anybody else?

[desertsaint]

we give up on the eight and develop the players in their natural positions. take risks and let them play a free running game. rotate those that are a chance. the likes of armo, stevens, gilbert, brown, longer come on when needed to rest others. if we get smashed, we get smashed - gws didn't stifle development by making their youngsters focus on locking down games

[stonecold]

we give up on the eight and develop the players in their natural positions. take risks and let them play a free running game. rotate those that are a chance. the likes of armo, stevens, gilbert, brown, longer come on when needed to rest others. if we get smashed, we get smashed - gws didn't stifle development by making their youngsters focus on locking down games

S
Fair enough, if your playing blokes to develop then, Longer plays before Hickey!!!!!

Why?
Two reasons, he is younger number 1 and number 2, he has shown far more in the last 18 months, aside from he's last two games playing injured!!!!!

Hickey has shown Nothing, play Marshall before him if need be (however, not a ruckman at this point)!!!!!

[Drake Huggins]

Make Billy Longer captain.

[SuperDuper]

we give up on the eight and develop the players in their natural positions. take risks and let them play a free running game. rotate those that are a chance. the likes of armo, stevens, gilbert, brown, longer come on when needed to rest others. if we get smashed, we get smashed - gws didn't stifle development by making their youngsters focus on locking down games

agree with this... tell a guy like Steele to spend a month just trying to get the ball

if we lose a couple... big deal.. these guys need to be able to develop skills that include attacking, not just defending

[fugazi]

we give up on the eight and develop the players in their natural positions. take risks and let them play a free running game. rotate those that are a chance. the likes of armo, stevens, gilbert, brown, longer come on when needed to rest others. if we get smashed, we get smashed - gws didn't stifle development by making their youngsters focus on locking down games

+1

[spert]

Lack of leadership and direction in the football dept, and lack of leadership and direction by the playing group. It's easily fixed by the president and board..just address the football dept and the playing list.. point the finger and say "GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER" though in reality with our lot, it would be more like "don't rock the boat chaps"

[portosaint]

Give up obviously. Forget about development. Trout is shite so all our kids must be too.

Just sit tight and wallow in our own pity.

After all, we should have Bont and Petracca, etc etc..... Blah blah blah

[saintspremiers]

Sadly we are prob stuck with Richo for this season, but unless a miracle happens
and we improve on 2017, Richo needs to go later on this year, and paid out for next year.

[SaintPav]

Make Billy Longer captain.

Captain coach!

[stonecold]

Make Billy Longer captain.

Onya Legend!!!!!

[saynta]

Give up obviously. Forget about development. Trout is shite so all our kids must be too.

Just sit tight and wallow in our own pity.

After all, we should have Bont and Petracca, etc etc..... Blah blah blah

And.....

[portosaint]

Grab that Delorean that was getting spoken about and go back in time. Obviously.

[Con Gorozidis]

I don't want anyone sacked.
I want three things.
Independent reviews of:

1) the football department and coaching
2) all of club resource allocation
3) the playing list

These three reviews should all be separate and all independent.
Questions I want answered include:

1) how does our recruitment compare with other clubs?
2) how do the coaches communicate new ideas? Are they learning from mistakes?
3) is the footy department delusional about the actual state of the list.

Plenty of other questions. But this is the kind of thing I'd like to see happen at this point.

The reason I feel this is necessary is it now seems obvious to outsiders that the club has retreated in to its own echo bubble of self reinforcing and has stopped wanting to face objective facts.

[portosaint]

I don't want anyone sacked.
I want three things.
Independent reviews of:

1) the football department and coaching
2) all of club resource allocation
3) the playing list

These three reviews should all be separate and all independent.
Questions I want answered include:

1) how does our recruitment compare with other clubs?
2) how do the coaches communicate new ideas? Are they learning from mistakes?
3) is the footy department delusional about the actual state of the list.

Plenty of other questions. But this is the kind of thing I'd like to see happen at this point.

This is a good answer. The only thing i would add is how our development compares with other clubs.

I guess that could come under the coaching review. But an emphasis on our development of youth is a must. IMO

[stonecold]

DH in charge of everything, seems to have all the answers, apparently!!!!!

[Con Gorozidis]

The important thing is that all aspects of the club are in sync and aligned with realistic goals.
My concern in the last few years is that the Marketing Department seems to have gone rogue and is leading the club by making huge promises and the footy department have been sucked in to their vortex.
The footy department are now terrified to make a change or take risks.

We might have to go backwards to go forwards.

[samoht]

I agree with independent reviews ...but I also think that all departments should review their own performance and identify where they went wrong and what they need to improve on. An honest assessment. The departments should also rate each other’s performance and rank each other’s importance, relative to one another - so that the club budgets the right spend for each department.... this should be an ongoing process.
The club needs to realise that recruiting right now followed by player development are the 2 most important areas - so we need to spend more in these areas - we need the best recruiters in the business; we don’t need to chase or have the best coach right now; just the appropriate coach for where we’re at.
Maybe 70% of our total spend right now (and maybe from now on) should be allocated to recruiting and player development?
.I want whoever it is that recruits from now on and into the future to be judged not only on who gets recruited, but on whether they are recruiting for team balance. We can’t end up with 10 mediocre inside midfielders and 4 ordinary ruckmen, we need the right balance and quality over quantity. Footballers with good leg speed, good foot skills and who have the ability to hang on to the ball and to run with it - not panic when they get the ball and look to handball it like a hot potato - they’re our targets right now (and always should have been) ... and we need to recruit with the right team balance in mind, at all times.
I think our recruiters have failed us, miserably (on the team balance side of things). If anyone is found wanting and needs to be sacked, they should be!

[Con Gorozidis]

I feel like the marketing department are running the joint and that is a recipe for disaster.
Maybe there are some strong personalities in there. Im not sure. But the constant positive marketing spin is going to end up really pissing fans off when the footy club can't deliver.
So far we have been fed a diet of hope and people have bought in to that. But it is going to be ugly when it crashes.
We needed to build a solid base but we didn't do that. We tried to fake it until you make it.
Things will get ugly when we realise we ain't going to make it with the current footy Dept set up.

I'd be very interested to know why Jamie Cox was ousted.
Was he no good or was he a realist telling them things they didn't want to hear????

[Goose is king]

I want this to be the line in the sand moment. After not making the finals in 2006 ( I think) in 2007 Geelong got beaten by North Melbourne at Kardinia Park and that soul searching from that loss had them win heaps of games in a row and then the first of their three premierships in 5 years. That’s what I want to happen next

[bigcarl]

I'd like to see Acres at the centre bounces for one

[Con Gorozidis]

I agree samoht.
I know Carlton haven't started winning games...yet.
But everyone can see what they are trying to do.
They have tried to recruit players in all positions and have a range of different types of players.
It hasn't come together yet but the plan is obvious so I will be interested to see how it pans out next season.

[Con Gorozidis]

I'd like to see Acres at the centre bounces for one

+1.

[mad saint guy]

I feel like we were somewhat doomed to spend an extended time in the bottom half of the ladder because of when we were challenging and how short sighted the club was during that period (2004-2010). We went through a genuine rebuild in the late 90s/early 2000s picking up elite talent in Hayes, Riewoldt, Goddard, Ball, Dal Santo, Koschitzke, Milne, Montagna, Maguire, Fisher and Baker and experienced guns like Gehrig, Hamill, Voss, Penny and Powell to compliment the veterans Harvey, Burke, Loewe, Hudghton, Thompson and Peckett. However from 2004 through until 2010 we drafted a grand total of 7 players who played 100+ games for us (Gwilt, Gilbert, Armitage, Jones, Geary and Steven). That's 6 players from 7 years of drafting, and most of those players have struggled for their spot in the team for a large chunk of their respective careers.

We simply don't have that quality on the list anymore. Of our current list the only players who could equal those I mentioned from our previous rebuild would be

Kids: Ross, Billings, Gresham, Acres, (hopefully Clark and Coffield)
Mature gun recruits: Carlisle, Membrey, Roberton
Veterans: Steven, Geary

That's 4 gun kids (maybe 6) compared to 11, 3 mature guns compared to 5 and 2 high-quality veterans compared to 6.

We bottomed out at the wrong time when the expansion teams were raiding the top end of the draft and when we decided to force out experienced stars in Goddard and Dal Santo we completely failed to capitalise on those moves. I think our recruiters have too much of a focus on drafting players from good families who achieve good grades at school and as a result we have a soft team of nice guys who are tentative and have no confidence or aggression when they take the field in an AFL game. It hurts us massively that we spent so much on two ruckmen who don't look like making it while moving on two who contributed heavily to their respective teams in the best game of the first two rounds this year. Blowing our first pick one in 12 years on a 1980s style full forward with health problems is a big issue as well.

I think our plan of challenging for the top four this year is delusional and I think we should run with a team along these lines for now to try and develop young players/see if they are up to the task

B: Geary, Austin, White
HB: Savage, Carlisle, Roberton
C: Acres, Steele, Sinclair
HF: Billings, Bruce, Long
F: Gresham, McCartin, Membrey

Foll: Hickey, Steven, Ross
Int: Dunstan, Clark, Coffield, Marshall

Fringe: Longer, Armitage, Webster, Newnes, Gilbert, Weller, Stevens, Brown, Goddard

[bigcarl]

I'd like to see Acres at the centre bounces for one

+1.

Not sure Richo has the balls to try it ... but that's his right. It's his job on the line