Saints in disarray

[SainterK]

This thread or rather the initiator of this thread seems to have unleashed a bit of an emotional spray gun.

What is the source of the claims?

Not sure...

Seems unimportant.

Lots of people say "I know what it is" but they don't elaborate

maybe we cant say anything
maybe we know nothing
maybe
just maybe
the shite is about to hit the fan
maybe not

get me?

Maybe

[Harvey To Hayes]

The club can make an excellent start to our next stage of development by signing Watters for a contract extension on Monday and clearing up who is coming and going- be upfront and honest, otherwise we will really look like a leaderless rabble.

Lets give TDL an extension while we are at it.

Watters is contracted, I dont see the point in rushing to extend.

Lyon was contracted and our win/loss ratio was in free fall in 2011 but according to all of the "Monday's Experts" us not resigning him midway through his contract was the biggest mistake in the history of sport administration.

So which is it?

[Buckets]

CEO was sacked

Sacked, yet hanging around until the position is filled? Amazing!

If finances are hurting the club I'm not too surprised that Nettlefold has been told he is going to be replaced.

[SainterK]

Ill do it, $30 an hour...

Long as it falls within school hours.

[howlinwolf]

Truth be known SainterK you'd do it for nothing
And I reckon you'd do a damn fine job !

[dragit]

The club can make an excellent start to our next stage of development by signing Watters for a contract extension on Monday and clearing up who is coming and going- be upfront and honest, otherwise we will really look like a leaderless rabble.

Lets give TDL an extension while we are at it.

Watters is contracted, I dont see the point in rushing to extend.

Lyon was contracted and our win/loss ratio was in free fall in 2011 but according to all of the "Monday's Experts" us not resigning him midway through his contract was the biggest mistake in the history of sport administration.

So which is it?

I bet we don't have the same clauses in place for Watters that we insisted for Lyon... Thereby effectively making the contract null & void.

One bloke is widely regarded as a top 3 coach of the comp who was head hunted by multiple clubs...

The other doesn't shy away from anything except winning games of footy, we are fairly safe from poaching for now.

I think you are right about one of the biggest mistakes in the history of sports administration... either we didn't want Ross or we have f***ed up beyond belief, by not offering up an unconditional contract to a highly sought coach.

[st.byron]

Had a chat to a Saints player yesterday, he said he loved Watters and so does every player under 25. He embraces them and their development. A few of the older lads have their noses out of joint because they were always the focus under Ross.
He said teh young players are all very very close and all want to be a part of the next phase. They also realise they need to be patient as the rebuild wont be instant.

I guess it is hard to come to terms with being so close and now not being the focus of the club.

For those who love Ledger, he also said he was a bit shocked by it all, but that is the caper.

This sounds reasonable to me. Hopefully all the other crap flying around from the likes of Finey and Taylor is just hot air.

Re Joey......it's a tough call but........he's 30. So maybe another two years where he's got real currency.
We are not in that time, barring a miracle, going to be winning a flag.
So maybe it's worth, while he still has trade value, swapping him for a quality young guy who could be a ten year player and part of our next push.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

Joey probably thinks he deserved better than a 3rd place in the B&F. And he probably did. I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

[Scoop]

I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

It certainly didn't....

[st.byron]

Joey probably thinks he deserved better than a 3rd place in the B&F. And he probably did. I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

I missed that. Read about the dwarf thing but thought CJ was the culprit. Didn't realise Joey was also involved.....

[Bluthy]

CEO was sacked

Sacked, yet hanging around until the position is filled? Amazing!

If finances are hurting the club I'm not too surprised that Nettlefold has been told he is going to be replaced.

In the new Presidents interview on SEN, whilst insisting that Nettlefold himself felt he couldn't commit as CEO to some long term projects the Saints are beginning, he pointed out that Nettlefold had actually come from the board, he didn't go through a selection procedure. I think he is raising the bar and wants a really top quality CEO for a new direction that will take some time to implement. He sounds like a man with a vision.

You get the feeling there is a real changing of the guard at St Kilda in nearly all departments. Exciting, scary and a bit disorientating. But hey that's the Saints!

[plugger66]

I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

It certainly didn't....

If it was such a huge thing then why re sign the main man who is pretty ordinary player who wouldnt really be missed? i dont know the answer but surely the club dont care that much if as we did re sign CJ.

[Moorabbin Man]

Of course the older players aren't happy - everything you worked for and busted your guts over the last 10 years has amounted to nothing. You've been told that when the next chance at success arrives , you wont be playing. Your only value now is either as a mentor for the next generation or at the trade table. Your hopes and dreams have been smashed and buried. How would you feel ? .. you would be hurt, confused and wonder what the hell you are doing, and what the future holds. Some of the older players will accept it and understand their role - some wont.

And if the off-field side of the club was happy and settled after finishing 16th , then I would be more than worried. I certainly hope there is angst, there is a review, and there is change. Note - I am not advocating a change of people as I am not close enough to them- but process, structure and the way we do things off field needs to improve.

That is all true, but the players still had the opportunity in 2011, but showed up for the season as a psychological rabble. Sure, fresh blood should have been injected, but in 2011 they never struck me as a team determined to wipe out that pain. Whilst Geelong zealously worked to do it again. So if they are feeling sorry for themselves now, they need to man up.

[SainterK]

I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

It certainly didn't....

That explains his B&F speech, didn't like it much

[Teflon]

Finances aren't great. 3 senior players are trade bait. 2 assistant coaches will go. Scott will be there till the end of 2016. We've been through worse.

So Dal, Fisher & Joey up for grabs - hope to keep at least 1 of these 3 to help kids
2 Assistants going - agree with this and Laudley should be one of them

Finances no surprise - we are bleeding members not unexpected

[SainterK]

Finances aren't great. 3 senior players are trade bait. 2 assistant coaches will go. Scott will be there till the end of 2016. We've been through worse.

So Dal, Fisher & Joey up for grabs - hope to keep at least 1 of these 3 to help kids
2 Assistants going - agree with this and Laudley should be one of them

Finances no surprise - we are bleeding members not unexpected

Dal, I'm ok with the other two leaving

[The Saintsational Man]

"An AFL club requires $50 million per year to run efficently, we're working with $33 to $34 million per year."

Those are not my words, they're Michael Nettlefold's just over a month ago.

[Megamaguire]

Recruitind and draftselections are yet to occure. I've only one thing to say...
F O C U S on recruiting and laugh at the life of footy commentators in the off season!

The Spring crisis stories created by the lads looking for easy readers wont work anymore. saints fans are used to judging such rumours in terms of good players retained and good players got. Anti-saints 'stories' are good for recycling. Not worth the paper they are printed on.

G O S A I N T S !

[dragit]

"An AFL club requires $50 million per year to run efficently, we're working with $33 to $34 million per year."

Those are not my words, they're Michael Nettlefold's just over a month ago.

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

We've just played in finals for a decade and 2 grand finals… Coming from the outside, it seems that we should be in a reasonably strong position right now.

Or maybe there are just too many clubs in Victoria to run 10 successfully at 50 million each?

[maverick]

"An AFL club requires $50 million per year to run efficently, we're working with $33 to $34 million per year."

Those are not my words, they're Michael Nettlefold's just over a month ago.

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

We've just played in finals for a decade and 2 grand finals… Coming from the outside, it seems that we should be in a reasonably strong position right now.

Or maybe there are just too many clubs in Victoria to run 10 successfully at 50 million each?

Nope he should take responsibility...

[8856brother]

I suspect his dwarf-hiring, followed by caustic text messages to the little fellow, didn't win him any fans at the club.

It certainly didn't....

That explains his B&F speech, didn't like it much

What didn't you like about it K? I haven't heard it, or heard anything about it.

[bergholt]

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

Nettlefold is taking responsibility, that's why he's walking away.

Being CEO of a club like St Kilda is basically like pushing s*** uphill. Decisions made years or decades ago - Docklands, Seaford, draft picks - have the biggest impact on the direction of the club, all you can do as CEO is tinker around the edges and hope like hell everything works out. Maybe you get a good major sponsor, that brings in a bit of cash, but even so if you're losing games then you won't have members. There's no magical innovative way to get 10k extra members on board for a 2014 season where we'll win less than 5 games. It just can't happen. That's not Nettlefold's fault, it's the reality of the situation a club like St Kilda is in.

So with 10k less members than in previous years, that leaves us $10m - 15m short of revenue. Pretty simple. No idea what Nettlefold is supposed to do about that - sponsorship deals are a few million at the outside. The only good option is to sell a shitload of games to NZ, Cairns, Tassie. I'm pretty sure fans won't like that though. So we rely on AFL bailouts every year. Sux, but that's the way it is.

I reckon he's done an OK job for his tenure, he realises he hasn't got the appetite for it any more, and he's being really good to the club by hanging around until he can be replaced. Cut the guy some slack.

[dragit]

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

Nettlefold is taking responsibility, that's why he's walking away.

Being CEO of a club like St Kilda is basically like pushing s*** uphill. Decisions made years or decades ago - Docklands, Seaford, draft picks - have the biggest impact on the direction of the club, all you can do as CEO is tinker around the edges and hope like hell everything works out. Maybe you get a good major sponsor, that brings in a bit of cash, but even so if you're losing games then you won't have members. There's no magical innovative way to get 10k extra members on board for a 2014 season where we'll win less than 5 games. It just can't happen. That's not Nettlefold's fault, it's the reality of the situation a club like St Kilda is in.

So with 10k less members than in previous years, that leaves us $10m - 15m short of revenue. Pretty simple. No idea what Nettlefold is supposed to do about that - sponsorship deals are a few million at the outside. The only good option is to sell a shitload of games to NZ, Cairns, Tassie. I'm pretty sure fans won't like that though. So we rely on AFL bailouts every year. Sux, but that's the way it is.

I reckon he's done an OK job for his tenure, he realises he hasn't got the appetite for it any more, and he's being really good to the club by hanging around until he can be replaced. Cut the guy some slack.

Hey Bergs, I'm not hanging the guy… I'm asking the question as I don't really know what he has achieved with us.

In the end the guy at the top takes responsibility when things go bad… but just like a head coach, often there is nothing that they could have differently to make a significant impact.

It's a hard job, but if the $750,000 is around the mark, then he should be slaying it or moving on.

[maverick]

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

Nettlefold is taking responsibility, that's why he's walking away.

Being CEO of a club like St Kilda is basically like pushing s*** uphill. Decisions made years or decades ago - Docklands, Seaford, draft picks - have the biggest impact on the direction of the club, all you can do as CEO is tinker around the edges and hope like hell everything works out. Maybe you get a good major sponsor, that brings in a bit of cash, but even so if you're losing games then you won't have members. There's no magical innovative way to get 10k extra members on board for a 2014 season where we'll win less than 5 games. It just can't happen. That's not Nettlefold's fault, it's the reality of the situation a club like St Kilda is in.

So with 10k less members than in previous years, that leaves us $10m - 15m short of revenue. Pretty simple. No idea what Nettlefold is supposed to do about that - sponsorship deals are a few million at the outside. The only good option is to sell a shitload of games to NZ, Cairns, Tassie. I'm pretty sure fans won't like that though. So we rely on AFL bailouts every year. Sux, but that's the way it is.

I reckon he's done an OK job for his tenure, he realises he hasn't got the appetite for it any more, and he's being really good to the club by hanging around until he can be replaced. Cut the guy some slack.

Sign up and attract netter sponsors when we were flying in 09/10, he was there then.
The Hawks nearly merged in 96/97, look at them now....
no excuses.

[plugger66]

Should the CEO take responsibility for a club running at 66% of the funds required and half the membership numbers needed?

Nettlefold is taking responsibility, that's why he's walking away.

Being CEO of a club like St Kilda is basically like pushing s*** uphill. Decisions made years or decades ago - Docklands, Seaford, draft picks - have the biggest impact on the direction of the club, all you can do as CEO is tinker around the edges and hope like hell everything works out. Maybe you get a good major sponsor, that brings in a bit of cash, but even so if you're losing games then you won't have members. There's no magical innovative way to get 10k extra members on board for a 2014 season where we'll win less than 5 games. It just can't happen. That's not Nettlefold's fault, it's the reality of the situation a club like St Kilda is in.

So with 10k less members than in previous years, that leaves us $10m - 15m short of revenue. Pretty simple. No idea what Nettlefold is supposed to do about that - sponsorship deals are a few million at the outside. The only good option is to sell a shitload of games to NZ, Cairns, Tassie. I'm pretty sure fans won't like that though. So we rely on AFL bailouts every year. Sux, but that's the way it is.

I reckon he's done an OK job for his tenure, he realises he hasn't got the appetite for it any more, and he's being really good to the club by hanging around until he can be replaced. Cut the guy some slack.

Reckon 10K members is 1 to 1.5 million revenue not 10 to 15 but it is still a hell of a lot to a club like ours.