Damning Post on Richo

[saintsRrising]

Well as you know I have been a harsh critic of Richo's outdated Gameplan for a long time.

This post by one of the well regarded Club Insiders that posts on BF is damning stuff and shows why we are rooted if Richo stays.

I’ve tried to bite my tongue on this topic for 2 years now but I honestly think Richo is getting worse, not better. Some of his pig headedness (particularly at selection) has been astounding. Players knowing that some of their teammates get a free pass on certain aspects of Richo’s “gameplan” while others are ridiculed in front of everyone.

The absolutely farcical gameplan that Richo came up with over summer that was identical to the previous years, even though everyone knows that it won’t work. Then over the whole pre season we can see that it’s not working but we don’t fine tune, we just keep rolling along.

The game in Geelong where Richo was petrified of a hiding so he played 1-2 extras around the footy all game, giving us absolutely no hope at all of winning from the first bounce. To see him chuffed that we were winning clearance but bombing it long to Paddy vs 3 Cats defenders was embarrassing. We continued with this crap all game to lose by 50 points while kicking 7 goals. This was the final nail in the coffin for me, seeing our youngsters running around clearly frustrated, clearly knowing they were being given no hope to win by their coach. Players were pleading to line coaches at the breaks to at least even the numbers up in front of the footy only to be ignored. Line coaches being ignored when pleading to change set ups as it wasn’t working.

Only a few in the media really highlighted the worst tactical effort from an AFL coach that I’ve ever seen, and Robbo was one of them.

How can our youngsters ever hope to learn when that is the way they are being asked to play?

I have nothing personal against Richo, he’s a decent bloke as we all know, but I can’t stay silent and let him ruin players careers. Our club is in crisis and if we do indeed keep Richo for at least another year then I shudder to think where our footy club will be at. I won’t say anymore, I’m just so upset with where my club is at and where it’s headed.

Bloody heartbreaking.

Sure you can argue about the quality of the players that we have acquired, but Richo with his Gameplan has made them worse.

It must be very difficult being a player at present when you know you have to go out each week to try and push s*** up a hill.

[saynta]

Well as you know I have been a harch critic of Richo's outdated Gameplan for a long time.

This post by one of the Club Insiders that post on BF is damning stuff and shows why we are rooted if Richo stays.

I’ve tried to bite my tongue on this topic for 2 years now but I honestly think Richo is getting worse, not better. Some of his pig headedness (particularly at selection) has been astounding. Players knowing that some of their teammates get a free pass on certain aspects of Richo’s “gameplan” while others are ridiculed in front of everyone.

The absolutely farcical gameplan that Richo came up with over summer that was identical to the previous years, even though everyone knows that it won’t work. Then over the whole pre season we can see that it’s not working but we don’t fine tune, we just keep rolling along.

The game in Geelong where Richo was petrified of a hiding so he played 1-2 extras around the footy all game, giving us absolutely no hope at all of winning from the first bounce. To see him chuffed that we were winning clearance but bombing it long to Paddy vs 3 Cats defenders was embarrassing. We continued with this crap all game to lose by 50 points while kicking 7 goals. This was the final nail in the coffin for me, seeing our youngsters running around clearly frustrated, clearly knowing they were being given no hope to win by their coach. Players were pleading to line coaches at the breaks to at least even the numbers up in front of the footy only to be ignored. Line coaches being ignored when pleading to change set ups as it wasn’t working.

Only a few in the media really highlighted the worst tactical effort from an AFL coach that I’ve ever seen, and Robbo was one of them.

How can our youngsters ever hope to learn when that is the way they are being asked to play?

I have nothing personal against Richo, he’s a decent bloke as we all know, but I can’t stay silent and let him ruin players careers. Our club is in crisis and if we do indeed keep Richo for at least another year then I shudder to think where our footy club will be at. I won’t say anymore, I’m just so upset with where my club is at and where it’s headed.

Bloody heartbreaking.

Sure you can argue about the quality of the players that we have acquired, but Richo with his Gameplan has made them worse.

It must be very difficult being a player at present when you know you have to go out each week to try and push s*** up a hill.

That's f****** terrible, but has a ring of truth about it, unfortunately.

[Teflon]

MG is one of the most balanced posters on BF...for him to come out and write that in public ...things are bad

Jax too has said similar

We are being fed a Finnis/Lethlean Shyte sandwich and these 2 ARE NOT Saints people...if we fold they’ll go ba k to AFL HQ land as messiahs....

Top down change needed

[saintsRrising]

All the insiders apart from Tony74, who trots out the CEO PR spin (either that or he just a nice guy that wants to believe), are stating that Richo has no faith in the playing list and basically knows he cannot succeed with them.

This is the same guy that was trotting out the we'll be Top 4 this year line.

So if that is so then that means the Alan "Show Me The Money" Richardson is a fraud who is only there for the $500K per year that he is taking under false pretences. When the CEO came a knocking with yet another $million Richo must have thought that all his Christmases had come at once.


Well everyone says that Richo is a nice guy. Well funny thing is virtually everyone that has been conned will tell you the same story, that they could not believe it as Jo/Jane was just so nice.

[St Loxton]

Wasn't there some sort of player plead to Richo mid season or before regarding some tweaking of this game plan.
If I remember correctly the players responded immediately.
What happened to all that.

[Cairnsman]

Geez I'd hate to get on the wrong side of you SR.

[Tommyj]

Richo your a pony you talk in one tone garbage why don't you just take a cut and go I used to hope but you've even taken that away

[saintsRrising]

Geez I'd hate to get on the wrong side of you SR.

Personally I am just hoping that we can save the Saints from going into the grave. Right now our Board and CEO are just standing by watching Richo did the grave after handing him the spade to do it with. This is not to say that we have had a shocking injury run this season and that for years we have had questionable recruiting.


We just are polar opposites in our view on Richo. IMO he is our No1 problem. What good will be getting early draft picks when they have to join a demoralised playing list?

I have believed for a while that not only was Richo's Gameplan and Coaching sending us backwards but that it was being very damaging to our younger players.



There is hardly a poster that has not wondered what the hell has been happening with our young talent. MG's post just spells it out.

[saynta]

Unfortunately S R , you are correct.

[suss]

Unfortunately S R , you are correct.

I think he is.

I had my concerns earlier in the year, mainly after the Geelong game, but it’s now become patently obvious that the coach can’t coach.

I feel like going the full Con.

It’s beyond untenable, and only going to get worse ... much worse.

We have a knucklehead for a coach and a board that won’t sack him.

If we’re 18th on the ladder this time next year with the same coach, then God help this club.

[Cairnsman]

Geez I'd hate to get on the wrong side of you SR.

Personally I am just hoping that we can save the Saints from going into the grave. Right now our Board and CEO are just standing by watching Richo did the grave after handing him the spade to do it with. This is not to say that we have had a shocking injury run this season and that for years we have had questionable recruiting.


We just are polar opposites in our view on Richo. IMO he is our No1 problem. What good will be getting early draft picks when they have to join a demoralised playing list?

I have believed for a while that not only that Richo's Gameplan and Coaching was sending us backwards and was being very damaging to our younger players.



There is hardly a poster that has wondered what the hell has been happening with our young talent. MG's post just spells it out.

It certainly has the look of a personal crusade/agenda. What if you and your internet information sources have got it horribly wrong. You seem adamant you have the solution.

[kaos theory]

Well as you know I have been a harsh critic of Richo's outdated Gameplan for a long time.

This post by one of the well regarded Club Insiders that posts on BF is damning stuff and shows why we are rooted if Richo stays.

I’ve tried to bite my tongue on this topic for 2 years now but I honestly think Richo is getting worse, not better. Some of his pig headedness (particularly at selection) has been astounding. Players knowing that some of their teammates get a free pass on certain aspects of Richo’s “gameplan” while others are ridiculed in front of everyone.

The absolutely farcical gameplan that Richo came up with over summer that was identical to the previous years, even though everyone knows that it won’t work. Then over the whole pre season we can see that it’s not working but we don’t fine tune, we just keep rolling along.

The game in Geelong where Richo was petrified of a hiding so he played 1-2 extras around the footy all game, giving us absolutely no hope at all of winning from the first bounce. To see him chuffed that we were winning clearance but bombing it long to Paddy vs 3 Cats defenders was embarrassing. We continued with this crap all game to lose by 50 points while kicking 7 goals. This was the final nail in the coffin for me, seeing our youngsters running around clearly frustrated, clearly knowing they were being given no hope to win by their coach. Players were pleading to line coaches at the breaks to at least even the numbers up in front of the footy only to be ignored. Line coaches being ignored when pleading to change set ups as it wasn’t working.

Only a few in the media really highlighted the worst tactical effort from an AFL coach that I’ve ever seen, and Robbo was one of them.

How can our youngsters ever hope to learn when that is the way they are being asked to play?

I have nothing personal against Richo, he’s a decent bloke as we all know, but I can’t stay silent and let him ruin players careers. Our club is in crisis and if we do indeed keep Richo for at least another year then I shudder to think where our footy club will be at. I won’t say anymore, I’m just so upset with where my club is at and where it’s headed.

Bloody heartbreaking.

Sure you can argue about the quality of the players that we have acquired, but Richo with his Gameplan has made them worse.

It must be very difficult being a player at present when you know you have to go out each week to try and push s*** up a hill.

100% correct, but its worse than that, because we have a process driven, risk-averse bureaucrat as CEO who wants to cover up his mistakes but claiming that Richo is a great coach. He has the backing of our buffoon president and hired Leathen to come to the same pre-arranged conclusion.

These people need to be removed from our club ASAP, before they destroy it completely.

[ThomasR]

The "free pass" comment is spot on IMO. The three players who exhibit the least willingness to run defensively when the opposition have the ball all happen to be in the leadership group (not the captain). They are equally as careless with ball in hand. What sort of example is it setting to the younger players?

At any other club Gresh (widely acknowledged by his peers as the coach's favourite with a hint of ridicule) would be trade bait because of his lack of defensive effort - but you can't really blame him when the leaders are unable to censure him without being hypocritical.

We are 9-1-9 in 4th quarters this year (including a loss in the Melbourne game). For a team that is 4-1-14 that is pretty damning evidence that some players simply aren't working hard enough throughout the game (I doubt anyone would suggest that it is our supreme fitness).

You can repeat the words "strong", "positive", "pleasing" as often as you like but sometimes these guys just need some tough love (see Billings). That is not to say we need to go on a Crows-style blindfolded boot camp, but there needs to be someone to hold the players accountable for their efforts. We lost a lot of that fear factor when Roo retired. Richo would make a fine development manager but he needs to stop playing favourites and fix his attitude to ever enjoy any success as a senior coach.

[saintsRrising]

It certainly has the look of a personal crusade/agenda.

So you think that I am some lone crusader against Richo? Not sure of you have read many threads on SS of late, or over on BigFooty, or have sat in the outer at our games?

What if you and your internet information sources have got it horribly wrong. You seem adamant you have the solution.

Point 1. The solution. Worse case scenario in replacing Richo is that we hire another coach who is as bad as he is and are no worse off.



Point 2. For the moment forget what others are saying. I have eyeballs.


I have being going to games for almost fifty years. Mainly after I hit 18 though as I could not often get to games till I could do so under my own steam and as in my teenage years I had to work on the weekend.

After that till the Reserves stopped I used to go and watch the Reserves games and then the seniors. With Sandy etc these days as our reserves I see less of that.

Right up till recently every now and again a new young player would stand up and catch your eye. Watched Everitt rove the ball in a reserves games at Kardinia Park bend over to scoop the ball up in one hand to snap true for a goal.

Saw Jack Steven emerge and thought this guy will be a player.

Now when we will see some new young guy emerge they mainly just go sideways or deteriorate.

Yes we have had terrible playing lists in the past, but that was mainly as we recruited very poor talent. Right here and now we take raw talent and it mainly goes nowhere.


Personal? Of course it is flamin personal as the Saints are MY (as it is for all supporters) Club. I was here 5 decades before Richo, and will be here decades after he is gone. That is if we survive him if he is indeed kept on for two more years.


I want what is best for the Saints. I want Richo to go not due to any personal dislike of him, but because he is very poor at his job.

[older saint]

We need someone with a big cheque book to come in and bail them out because clearly the payout is the only logical reason he is being kept on.

[Saintmatt]

Wasn't there some sort of player plead to Richo mid season or before regarding some tweaking of this game plan.
If I remember correctly the players responded immediately.
What happened to all that.

Sadly, MG’s original BF post is not really new news. A version of it was reported in The Age some months ago.

What actually happened re: players and coach is that at half time in the Geelong game; Ross and Steven went to Richo and pleaded with him to give them an extra in front of the ball to kick to (ie instead of 1 extra around the ball). You’ll all remember Tom Stewart taking the piss that night taking uncontested mark after mark. Paddy was basically 1 on 3 all night.

So - what we have is the players actively taking the game plan apart - disrespecting it - and wanting to re-construct it to make it workable. Mid game. Let that sink in. Mid game. The players did that - not the Coach(es). You might also recall the vision of what looked like Richo and Kingsley arguing in the box that night. Mmmmm ... damning.

The next week was GWS. And the players just went and played as they had in early 2017 ... zero regard for the 2018 game plan. Almost pinched it.

Largely downhill thereafter (bar Melbourne).

As for Richo and his favourites ... I think all of us know that ... and it both burns and amazes us as to how he gets away with it. Weller, Newnes, Lonie, Gilbert. Persisting with Billings for a month after he should have dropped him. White, Rice and Sinclair the 1st ones dropped. Neither blooding talent and building for the future nor going full Ross Lyon and playing all the role players. To quote a new term ... zero selection integrity.

As for crucifying young players careers - if Richo hasn’t done that with his 1 dimensional “pressure”game plan then, he’s sure as hell done that overseeing a despicable development program.

Nonetheless, it all just makes me sick and sad. And I suspect most other long-term, rusted on supporters too.

Just rip the band aid off and get it over with. For all our sanity.

[rodgerfox]

So Richo reckons we were pretty good aside from just a 7 minute period.


And therein lies the problem.

[Saintmatt]

So Richo reckons we were pretty good aside from just a 7 minute period.


And therein lies the problem.

#hubris

[st.byron]

It certainly has the look of a personal crusade/agenda.

So you think that I am some lone crusader against Richo? Not sure of you have read many threads on SS of late, or over on BigFooty, or have sat in the outer at our games?

What if you and your internet information sources have got it horribly wrong. You seem adamant you have the solution.

Point 1. The solution. Worse case scenario in replacing Richo is that we hire another coach who is as bad as he is and are no worse off.



Point 2. For the moment forget what others are saying. I have eyeballs.


I have being going to games for almost fifty years. Mainly after I hit 18 though as I could not often get to games till I could do so under my own steam and as in my teenage years I had to work on the weekend.

After that till the Reserves stopped I used to go and watch the Reserves games and then the seniors. With Sandy etc these days as our reserves I see less of that.

Right up till recently every now and again a new young player would stand up and catch your eye. Watched Everitt rove the ball in a reserves games at Kardinia Park bend over to scoop the ball up in one hand to snap true for a goal.

Saw Jack Steven emerge and thought this guy will be a player.

Now when we will see some new young guy emerge they mainly just go sideways or deteriorate.

Yes we have had terrible playing lists in the past, but that was mainly as we recruited very poor talent. Right here and now we take raw talent and it mainly goes nowhere.


Personal? Of course it is flamin personal as the Saints are MY (as it is for all supporters) Club. I was here 5 decades before Richo, and will be here decades after he is gone. That is if we survive him if he is indeed kept on for two more years.


I want what is best for the Saints. I want Richo to go no due to any personal dislike of him, but because he is very poor at his job.

Yes exactly. I feel exactly the same way.

[saintspremiers]

So Richo reckons we were pretty good aside from just a 7 minute period.


And therein lies the problem.

And the fwit said we outscored them 7 shots to 2 in the last saying we responded well.

RICHO IS A FRAUD AND IS ROBBING OUR CLUB OF MONEY AND DESTROYING OUR SOUL.

I’m very close to sending a ballastic email to Finnis.

I donated a very large sum of money towards Moorabbin so quite possibly will get a decent hearing as a result (saying that money shouldn’t buy you the ability to be heard!!).

I just don’t know if I should do it. Emotions may get the better of me and I could get a bit vocal in my anger towards this pathetic situation our CEO and president has put us in.

[BenLong#21]

Lose by 35 to a side with 9 blokes under 50 games playing for them.
Richo pats himself on the back for a job well done.

[stkfc1]

So Richo reckons we were pretty good aside from just a 7 minute period.


And therein lies the problem.

And the fwit said we outscored them 7 shots to 2 in the last saying we responded well.

RICHO IS A FRAUD AND IS ROBBING OUR CLUB OF MONEY AND DESTROYING OUR SOUL.

I’m very close to sending a ballastic email to Finnis.

I donated a very large sum of money towards Moorabbin so quite possibly will get a decent hearing as a result (saying that money shouldn’t buy you the ability to be heard!!).

I just don’t know if I should do it. Emotions may get the better of me and I could get a bit vocal in my anger towards this pathetic situation our CEO and president has put us in.

Send it. In fact maybe start a petition, I'll be the first to sign it. Maybe if they know just how pissed off all the fans are, they'll be forced to make change.

[st.byron]

So Richo reckons we were pretty good aside from just a 7 minute period.


And therein lies the problem.

And the fwit said we outscored them 7 shots to 2 in the last saying we responded well.

RICHO IS A FRAUD AND IS ROBBING OUR CLUB OF MONEY AND DESTROYING OUR SOUL.

I’m very close to sending a ballastic email to Finnis.

I donated a very large sum of money towards Moorabbin so quite possibly will get a decent hearing as a result (saying that money shouldn’t buy you the ability to be heard!!).

I just don’t know if I should do it. Emotions may get the better of me and I could get a bit vocal in my anger towards this pathetic situation our CEO and president has put us in.

Always good to take some of the emotional charge out of it. Send it, just dont cross over into abuse. That never lends any weight to communication but instead undermines it. If you can get the depth of how you feel without personal abuse, send it. The more they hear how members feel, the better.

[bigred]

I’m very close to sending a ballastic email to Finnis.


lol

[loris]

I’m very close to sending a ballastic email to Finnis.


lol

He might take a week to reply. I think he’s either swimming the English Channel now or shortly. So allow for currents & winds before you get you reply