Dear Ross Lyon

[joffaboy]

We've probably saved $500k/ year (we weren't prepared to pay RL $1 mill plus) and anyway we were sinking under RL in consecutive years from 20 wins to 15 wins to 12 wins (after being lucky with some close low scoring wins) - we were probably heading for 6 wins this year ?
The more our players got used to and learnt his defensive game, the more backward we went.

Agreed. It was a fortutious move on his part. I am getting more and nore convinced that he is a football parasite.

We were watching a boring and insipid brand of football under RL and getting used to the idea of losing as we learnt his "wonderful" one dimensional game plan, which was progressively being picked apart as we regressed.

Revisionist - in 2009 and 2010 we were not losing. 2009 was anything but insipid and most of the times not boring. The game against Geelong midyear was the game of the season.

2010 was more boring, but certainly not insipid. We lost Roo for 16 weeks so had to play drab football until his return. We managed enough wins to make top four and went within a whisker of stealing a flag.

This sweeping generalisations about "insipid and boring" and "one dimensional" do not stand up to even the most cursory of examinations. Its easy to make mindless statements because it is a low energy process and doesn't require any type of critical thinking.

A bit like bemoaning how Lyon wouldn't play Tom Walsh when it was clear he was the best forward ever and would play in any other team

Really, try a bit of thought before you make these silly proclimations.

[SaintPav]

Joffa, under normal circumstances I would agree with your almost perfect post. But due to my epiphany this morning, it is not Ross Lyon who we need to show more respect to, but one of our own fellow posters who is now my new GOD.

skeptic isn't god, and on this occasion my opinion is that he and RodgerFox, and the others who reckon Lyon cost us a flag are DEAD WRONG.

Lyon got us to the GF twice in a row, once on the back of a brilliant forward press, the next season on the back of losing Riewoldt for almost the whole season.

Before people carry on about the GF's you have to look at the two seasons in totality, and the undisputable fact is that two Lyon coached teams made consecutive GF's, one where the players blew it by choking in front of goal, the second time both players and coach responded and almost pinched a GF coming from 4 goals down against a team who was by far and away the most dominate team of the season.

To say he was responsible for us missing out on a flag is some sort of sick joke, and shows the small minded mentality of some posters, thats all, no more or no less.

Yeah, but come on, if Sceptic was coaching us that day we wouldn't be having this conversation and we'd all be happy.

[skeptic]

you make fair enough points JB especially on 2010.

Believe it or not I don't actually dislike RL

I think he is a very good coach, a strong leader that really went into bat for the club and created something that was pretty special

He took a team that had lots of potential that most of us thought were in decline or weren't that good and he drilled them into one of the best outfits ever seen. I mean seriously an idiot couldn't have done what he did in 2009 and he was a, maybe the driving major force behind that.

I don't mean to completely ridicule or minimise or dismiss his contribution in 2009 - a few posters bait me to the point that I get a little detracted from my actual point which was that in my opinion the warning signs of what would eventually be identified as his major weakness (IMO) began to show in their infancy late 2009. Like just about all of us I didn't really care at the time because we were on our way to our second flag.

I don't completely blame the players for the loss in 2009 just because i think with the right balance/moves/set up we could have been even more dominant than we were which pbly could have resulted... well who knows... certainly i still struggle with Dempster's selection as a forward for that game... just can't see the sense. You're right in the sense that certainly we didn't capitalise on our dominance in the 1st half and I pbly don't acknowledge the coaches role in that as much as I should.

2010 is a different matter as I actually thought following the 1st half he actually coached really really well... but on that occasion he got the team balance really wrong and it was a lot more plain for everyone to see

[ShanghaiSaint]

RL was a great coach and sure changed things up in 09.... was really amazing watching the footy the saints bought to the field week in and out. I still remember Neil Craig's comments after the crows game. What we did to Port at AMMI was also unforgettable. Shame we lost the big one... we really deserved it in 09. I am still cut about that till this day. if only it didn't rain, bloody hell.

Not to say 2010 GF 1 wasn't amazing. Lenny's goal, Goddard hanger and goal over that sook O brian... Damn that bounce! I think the rest of the AFL woke up to RL's game plan slash saints couldn't bring it over and over like in 09. RL didn't evolve ... in 2011 was had to take at times... This year the team is just so different it's nice to watch the saints out score their opposition with quick run attack. Just need a little more constancy. Very positive about us now, anything is possible this year and still very positive for 2013.

[SaintPav]

If Geelong supporters read some of this they would be really pissing themselves and I wouldn't blame them.

[Joffa 5]

I still remember Neil Craig's comments after the crows game.

Was that the "we didn't know if we were using a Sherrin or a Fawkner" comment? That was a cracker

[ShanghaiSaint]

I still remember Neil Craig's comments after the crows game.

Was that the "we didn't know if we were using a Sherrin or a Fawkner" comment? That was a cracker

hahahaha

[Majority]

Lyon knew many years ago that he would quit.
He had a couple of mates that agreed with him.
Lyon was so sure of it, that he told the world with it on his Fitzroy jumper.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/ ... round-ten/

[Dave McNamara]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/ ... round-ten/

For all those who don't know, The Rosie is a much loved and quite fantastic little backstreet pub. It remains a blow-in yuppie free gem, and if you can't get to the ground, is a great place to watch a game from.