A president with REAL passion.....take note St Kilda!

[degruch]

Eddie bleeds for the Pies, but its his contacts in the business world that turned their fortunes around.. Same goes for Dick Pratt at Carlton, Jeff Kennett at Hawthorn and Frank Costa at Geelong etc...

Eddie bleeds? Eddie's only there for the business contacts, he bleeds for notoriety and money.

[skeptic]

Why would you say that? GW has implemented every reform he was brought to the club to implement. He has brought sponsors to the club, expanded the football department and most importantly kept a very steady ship in failrly unsteady times.

He does this in his own time. Every minute he spends working for St Kilda could be spent growing his own business. Do you realise how much his time would cost if the club had to buy it?

He bleeds for the club alright... from his back pocket.

What has JS done for Melbourne so far? Got a bit emotional?

Yes but does he do it with a smile on his face or a tear in his eye (it's very important)

[Saints43]

What has JS done for Melbourne so far? Got a bit emotional?

How much can he do in 15 hours ?

Er, that's the point. Stynes has done nothing because he just got the job.

GW has acheived in a number of areas.

GW is in well front.

JS lot to prove yet (see thread title - jist of discussion).

Pretty simple, Silvio.

[evertonfc]

As he was being paraded around the boundary before the 1997 GF, Stynes rejected the chance to wear a Melbourne scarf and wore a St Kilda one instead.

I love the bloke. That's passion for the St Kilda cause.

Eddie bleeds for the Pies, but its his contacts in the business world that turned their fortunes around.. Same goes for Dick Pratt at Carlton, Jeff Kennett at Hawthorn and Frank Costa at Geelong etc...

Eddie bleeds? Eddie's only there for the business contacts, he bleeds for notoriety and money.

Rubbish post. Eddie is a great for Collingwood and good for football. Ask anyone who knows their stuff in footy and they'll say exactly the same thing. He's a gun president who won't stop at anything to help his club.

He's raising the bar in the AFL and the knock-on effects are being felt everywhere. Without the Lexus Centre, no Victorian club would give a stuff about its training and facilities.

[st.byron]

Everything Westaway and co have done so far has been positive.

We now have plans for a guaranteed premium training facility
We have a 5 year deal with Sandringham
We have a new major sponsor, and a few new secondary sponsors

We'll know at the end of the year whether we're generating more money from outside revenues and whether we have invested more into the team.

exactly.
Sorted out the re-development fiasco and brokered a deal with City of Frankston.
Re-aligned us with Sandringham.
Major, big time sponsor on board.
Put blokes in the Football management dept. who know it back to front. ie. Burkey, Thommo.
Membership is down granted, but that's more ot do with on-field performance than the board.
Has publicly backed Lyon even though this board didn't have anything to do with his appointment.

FF has done an excellent job and achieved a lot in their time in the job (not even a year). Before FF I'd never heard of Greg Westaway, but he was building his business and profile, quietly, solidly. Am completely happy for him to quietly build a STKFC that isn't emotive or table thumping at board level. Seems to me they're quietly and solidly going about their business. Am totally happy with that.

[spert]

Seems to be plenty of optimistic FF supporters on the forum, but the jury is out on GW and his crew until a premiership is delivered to members and supporters..over to you GW & FF..time to start raising the bar as it is slipping.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

good luck to JS

i honestly hope he can turn the Dee's fortunes around as it would be a shame to lose another club because the AFL want another interstate team with not history no Roots who get everythng hand delivered on a silver platter for them

[bergsone]

One of FF biggest challenges next year is how to stop the membership slide.GW will have to prove his worth in this major area imo

[thejiggingsaint]

I dont doubt that many wear their hearts on their sleeve in footy circles.
At the risk of being hung for my next comment I'll say it anyway:
"maybe its time that we had a DISPASSIONATE board and president. Maybe the time has come for cold, calculated actions to get our club on the right track"
As Bill Withers once sang: "no time for tears..wasted waters all that is, an it don' make no flowers grow"
Tears in public show emotion and maybe we are at the stage where we need LESS of that (from the prez and board anyway!!! )

[Armoooo]

Westaway has been in the job 5 minutes and already he cops a bagging. He cared enough to lead a group and get the last mob kicked out (everyone hated them from memory also). Crickey is anyone ever happy on here.

I wonder the same Bev...many were those also backing Westaway and his team at the time...they jump off quick...

I don't think anyone was serious about sacking GW...

As for the OP, we are complaining that nobody shows any emotion the second Westaway does we'd be on his back saying how unprofessional and how we have to look like a strong club...

IMO the less we hear about him the better, it means he is going on about his business behind the scenes, hopefully controversy free...

If we want somebody who can speak on behalf of the club I don't see why it can't be Thompson or Burke...

[The Peanut]

Greg Westaway is under fire because a key promise he made when lobbying was a Premiership, or at least that’s what many of us ‘voters’ believed was what he alluded to, and we have slipped back, instead of going forward.

I don’t think most of us know just how much he bleeds for the club, but unlike RB I believe he has been a member and actively followed the club for many decades. He is semi-retired with his son taking over his business from what I have been told, and he wanted to further develop and establish the club as a positive contender in the future.

That’s all very well, but from his demeanour at the last AGM I came away with a perception that he wasn’t the full-bottle on everything at the club and AF did most of the talking. This didn’t give the faithful the confidence that he is 100% in control, although one observation is very little to go on.

Sorted out the re-development fiasco and brokered a deal with City of Frankston.

Hmm, I think that AF had a hell of a lot to do with that one – however that’s what he’s paid for.

Re-aligned us with Sandringham.

.
Who knows the details behind this one, but for mine it appeared that this all happened as an after-effect from the Melbourne/Casey negotiations.

Major, big time sponsor on board.

I thought that ‘Jeld Wen’ was picked up by AF’s newspaper ad and/or staff negotiations. Not sure though.

Put blokes in the Football management dept. who know it back-to-front. i.e. Burkey, Thommo.

This was a good thing but it was arguable that he did this as a tactical ace for an election win. They may have been busy behind the scenes since being elected but generally, for the amount of time they have been around there is little obvious evidence to supporters from where I'm sitting.

Membership is down granted, but that's more to do with on-field performance than the board.

Yep, but surely the board need to do something that gives the supporters some hope for the future, as next years membership target doesn’t look good from here.

Has publicly backed Lyon even though this board didn't have anything to do with his appointment.

Yep … but a '10 year' contract was alluded to, which I thought was a way over the top considering the results so far. Nevertheless, to keep things in perspective RB blundered in the media for a few years.

I am not calling for heads - but I am screaming for substantial 'on-field' improvement. RL is in charge of on-field operations and he is under the direction of the board, so you can take your pick who to blame.

I believe that it's very unfair to blame players for their individual performances when they don’t have any control over the preparation, the training, the game plan or their selections and field positions.

We have had the opportunity to observe individual players character over the past number of years and there has been a noticeable downgrade of many on-field performances since both RL and GW and Co have been on the scene.

If we can’t point the finger at them now – then we can’t point the finger at them when we win a GF.

[st.byron]

The only thing that FF inherited that hasn't been substantially changed is the coaching structure. Lyon and his assistants are appointments from the Butterss era. Westaway has come out and publicly stated his support for Lyon. The 10 year thing is a red herring. He had to come out and support Lyon. If he hadn't, Lyon's position would be even more undermined than it already is. That doesn't mean that the board wont act at the end of the year if things don't improve on-field.
What do you want the board to do? Sack Lyon now? That would just be another major drama to add to the catalogue of woes that have enveloped the STKCF.
It's good management IMO, to stand staunchly behind whoever's in the coach's seat until the decision to replace him has been made. Any other stance would only contribute to the image of a fractured and badly managed club.

[plugger66]

The only thing that FF inherited that hasn't been substantially changed is the coaching structure. Lyon and his assistants are appointments from the Butterss era. Westaway has come out and publicly stated his support for Lyon. The 10 year thing is a red herring. He had to come out and support Lyon. If he hadn't, Lyon's position would be even more undermined than it already is. That doesn't mean that the board wont act at the end of the year if things don't improve on-field.
What do you want the board to do? Sack Lyon now? That would just be another major drama to add to the catalogue of woes that have enveloped the STKCF.
It's good management IMO, to stand staunchly behind whoever's in the coach's seat until the decision to replace him has been made. Any other stance would only contribute to the image of a fractured and badly managed club.

Im not sure you should say he could have the job for up to 10 years and then get rid of him at the end of this year. If he wasnt sure that he will stay after this year why mention 10 years. Will just make us look plain stupid if he is sacked at the end of the year.

[Behind Play]

The only thing that FF inherited that hasn't been substantially changed is the coaching structure. Lyon and his assistants are appointments from the Butterss era. Westaway has come out and publicly stated his support for Lyon. The 10 year thing is a red herring. He had to come out and support Lyon. If he hadn't, Lyon's position would be even more undermined than it already is. That doesn't mean that the board wont act at the end of the year if things don't improve on-field.
What do you want the board to do? Sack Lyon now? That would just be another major drama to add to the catalogue of woes that have enveloped the STKCF.
It's good management IMO, to stand staunchly behind whoever's in the coach's seat until the decision to replace him has been made. Any other stance would only contribute to the image of a fractured and badly managed club.

Im not sure you should say he could have the job for up to 10 years and then get rid of him at the end of this year. If he wasnt sure that he will stay after this year why mention 10 years. Will just make us look plain stupid if he is sacked at the end of the year.

He also went on to say that it was only his opinion and not the opinion of the board........could be his way out.

[spert]

Rather than flippant support of Lyon, I would be more encouraged to hear a statement along the lines of.." we wont tolerate poor performances or anything less than 100% effort at this club in our quest for another premiership".

It seems to me like the membership drive is a lot less intese and low profile than a few years back..other clubs are visibly putting us to shame this year from my experience.

[kaos theory]

We have had the opportunity to observe individual players character over the past number of years and there has been a noticeable downgrade of many on-field performances since both RL and GW and Co have been on the scene.

What??????

Peanut, are you losing the plot?

I agree that some blame (maybe more) can be leveled at the current coaching panel for our slide, but to include GW in that is pretty silly.

He inherited RL chioce from the previous administration. What did you expect him to do? Sack RL as soon as he came in, with RL having just one year in the job, and try to secure a new coach when 4 other clubs were in the same boat? How sensible would that have been? Imagine the turmoil that would have caused?

What GW has done is strengthen a badly under resourced footy deprtment, e.g. mathew drain, better proceeses for managing and recovery for injuries, and better approach to recuitment. Its RL's job to make effective use of this.

To be fair RL has only had 1.5 years so far. Addmitedly, its not going well atm, and many of us are concerned, but THE key to sucess will only come from stability. Whether RL will last the distance, time will tell, and where we sit at the end of the year and what improvement have been made will all be assessed, and if changes need to be made, they will.

But to start talking as if GW & his team are not performing (after just 6 months) is strange....unless you want to return to the saints of the 80s where as soon as things went slightly wrong we constantly imploded rather than building & sticking to a long-term vision....

[JeffDunne]

Can someone name me one team that's been successful with a dial-a-quote president?

Carlton in '95 maybe, but that 'success' was on the back of some pretty blatant cheating (which has since been confirmed).

[The Peanut]

We have had the opportunity to observe individual players character over the past number of years and there has been a noticeable downgrade of many on-field performances since both RL and GW and Co have been on the scene.

What??????

Peanut, are you losing the plot?

I agree that some blame (maybe more) can be leveled at the current coaching panel for our slide, but to include GW in that is pretty silly.

He inherited RL chioce from the previous administration. What did you expect him to do? Sack RL as soon as he came in, with RL having just one year in the job, and try to secure a new coach when 4 other clubs were in the same boat? How sensible would that have been? Imagine the turmoil that would have caused?

What GW has done is strengthen a badly under resourced footy deprtment, e.g. mathew drain, better proceeses for managing and recovery for injuries, and better approach to recuitment. Its RL's job to make effective use of this.

To be fair RL has only had 1.5 years so far. Addmitedly, its not going well atm, and many of us are concerned, but THE key to sucess will only come from stability. Whether RL will last the distance, time will tell, and where we sit at the end of the year and what improvement have been made will all be assessed, and if changes need to be made, they will.

But to start talking as if GW & his team are not performing (after just 6 months) is strange....unless you want to return to the saints of the 80s where as soon as things went slightly wrong we constantly imploded rather than building & sticking to a long-term vision....

Yep - it ain't GW's fault that we picked RL as senior coach - but taking on the Presidency makes it his responsibility for what happens in all aspects of the club ... no matter how good he may or may not be he isn't a God but it's his reponsibility to lead us to the promised land ... so as the man at the top he can't sit on his hands - he has to take a leadership role.

It's times like these that we really need a 'leader' IMO - no matter how long he has been in the chair. It's believed that he had an excellent relationship with his trucking business staff - let's hope he can sort this whole thing out without a sacking.