Richo has agreed to resign <mod edit>

[SaintPav]

Finally.

A year later than it should have been, but at least we can now move on.

Good bloke I’m sure, just not the job for him.

This good bloke stuff is very overrated and meaningless, if not patronising and condescending.

Highly doubt he would have lasted 6 years if he was that "good".

Well, he actually did last 6 games shy of 6 years.

Wasn't having a go at Richo at all and I'm sure he is a very decent man but at the end of the day Richo would have done what was best for Richo.

I hope the club paid him out.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Sad day in many ways. He was our coach for 6 years.

Good luck Richo. You gave it a fairdinkum crack and did your best.

All the best going forward. I still think he is a decent coach and he will easily get a role somewhere.

[SaintPav]

Sad day in many ways. He was our coach for 6 years.

Good luck Richo. You gave it a fairdinkum crack and did your best.

All the best going forward. I still think he is a decent coach and he will easily get a role somewhere.

Not as a senior coach.

[The Fireman]

Good day in many ways. 6 years of failure behind us now.

Just couldn't coach and doubt he will get a go anywhere else.

Apart from that nice bloke.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Yes, of course. A development coach role would suit him perfectly.

[ace]

Both James Hird and Bomber Thompson have applied for the job.

Bomber said, "I would be ecstacy if I got the job".
"I had nothing to do with it and besides next time I won't get caught".

Hird said "unlike Thompson I don't deal in drugs and besides next time I won't get caught".

[Saintmatt]

He is.....

Matt Finnis is a disgraceful operator.

Why?

It's Finnis' needless 2yr extension of Richo that's lead to us today having to bullet yet another coach. His tenure at St K should entirely be tied to the coach he extended and then just fired less than a year into a 2 yr extension.

[oldie60]

All the best to the guy and hope that some of our players have a good look at themselves because at the end of the day there were many games we had the opportunity but through poor kicking for goal and playing 3 qtrs of football is not good enough. At the end of the day his coaching was neither good or bad. Cheers Richo !

[B.M]

Classy exit press conference from Richo, man of integrity and as always honest as a days long.

Yes, of course we needed a change because of the W/L and a new direction needs a new voice, but I have no doubt that he was a good leader, with good communication skills and good teaching ability.
He may have lacked a bit in match day coaching skill but to say he had no idea about footy coaching, when he’s been in the business for more than 20 years and 15 at AFL level, particularly from armchair experts who probably haven’t ever kicked a ball in anger, is ridiculous in my eyes.

I actually played against East Burwood when AR was coach, different level I know (although Div 1 EFL is a good standard) they were an outstanding club with a great culture around the start of this century. He was very well respected in the comp.

Anyway, Two years just missing the finals, with an average list, means he is not clueless about footy. He wasn’t successful, but had some success.

If you actually think about the lists, and the unavailabilities (and accuracy) over the course of his tenure, you get a bit of a sense about the difficulty of the task he’s faced.

First year, we went into as favs for the wooden spoon and ended up as such. Next two years saw large improvements, only to miss finals on % in. Plateaued, so we had two strong seasons.
2018 was where it all went south. For him to survive with THIS list, he needed
Hannebury and Steven to play every game - Nope
Geary to lead every game - Nope
Roberton and McCartin back from injury and playing there role - Nope
All young players to all step up - Some have, some have not
Bruce back - tick
King to debut mid season and have some impact - Nope
Mature age recruits have an impact - tick
Billings and Gresham to become genuine Agraders - Not quite.

So not a lot went right.

Compare that to 2009, where we had 6 out and out stars, and basically went through the season injury free.

Yes change was warranted, even needed. But the next coach will need some better luck, and most of all better players

[desertsaint]

dead man walking. now he can live again. had to happen. a weight off everyone. now lets hope the players respond. and we miss out by one spot on whomever turns out to be a star from the draft.

[SemperFidelis]

Great custodian of our club. I really liked him as a person and how professional he was as a St.Kilda coach. The fact we have retained so many players after such a long period of struggle is a direct result of the environment and culture he was able to build as a leader of our football club.

Happy to call him a St.Kilda man. Shame he couldn't be the one to move this next gen to the finals, just isn't the right fit for what we need in 2020.

I really think he will be an asset to another footy club in the near future. Thank you and best wishes Richo.

Nice!

Yep. Couldn’t have said it better.

[Premium89]

Shame but his time was up and we need change.
I like the way that Bassat has addressed the issue of the coach search not being “pre-determined” - making it clear that no Scott deal has been done. He also made the point that he’ll chair the selection committee- looks like he’s fixed on getting the Saints back on track.
Thanks Richo for your efforts.
Go Saints.
TFD

Haha well Bassat should be handy to have around while we try to fill a vacant position!

[BarryGrogan]

He is.....

Matt Finnis is a disgraceful operator.

Why?

It's Finnis' needless 2yr extension of Richo that's lead to us today having to bullet yet another coach. His tenure at St K should entirely be tied to the coach he extended and then just fired less than a year into a 2 yr extension.

To be fair, seeing out a coach's contract and sacking them is seen as exactly the same thing.

Either way, you no longer want them.

So extension or not, we'd have bulletted Cho regardless.

[DJ Higgins]

Firstly he did not get sacked he just wasn't going to get re hired there is a difference. The man seems like a nice likeable guy that was everyone's mate but as a development or head coach I don't think he was good. Look at our skills they are crap, look at our game plans, there isn't any, look at his team selection wtf.
Bottom line is we need a coach who can get results I don't get who it is as long as they improve our skills, don't pick favourites and play astyle that can win more than every third game

[BarryGrogan]

Firstly he did not get sacked he just wasn't going to get re hired there is a difference. The man seems like a nice likeable guy that was everyone's mate but as a development or head coach I don't think he was good. Look at our skills they are crap, look at our game plans, there isn't any, look at his team selection wtf.
Bottom line is we need a coach who can get results I don't get who it is as long as they improve our skills, don't pick favourites and play astyle that can win more than every third game

How many sacked coaches didn't get re-hired?


Heaps. But I bet you can't name them. Cause we all know they just got sacked.

[st.byron]

Firstly he did not get sacked he just wasn't going to get re hired there is a difference. The man seems like a nice likeable guy that was everyone's mate but as a development or head coach I don't think he was good. Look at our skills they are crap, look at our game plans, there isn't any, look at his team selection wtf.
Bottom line is we need a coach who can get results I don't get who it is as long as they improve our skills, don't pick favourites and play astyle that can win more than every third game

Someone posted on here Monday that they saw Finnis and Richo walking along Linton St deep in conversation. Perhaps he was told he wasn’t going to continue and was given the option to walk away himself rather than being publicly pushed. So he was given the opportunity to make a graceful exit which he took.