Simon Lethlean finished at St. Kilda effective immediately?

[Saintmatt]

History shows the hard line works.

Only with a list that is in the premiership window and with a group of mature match hardened and conditioned bodies.

Ross failed in his only attempt at a rebuild and one of the greatest criticisms he was receiving in his final year at Freo was he only had a one-size-fits-all approach and it was contributing to the significant injury toll especially amongst the younger players.

Still a very long way to go before we know if Ross can build a list capable of winning a flag.

Ross has shown that this time around, he is not afraid to play young players...
NWM, Owens, Phillipou, Caminiti, and Windhager were all regular members of the team in 23.
The first three were never dropped at all. Owens only missed due to concussion.

That is a totally different approach to his first stint at coaching with us where Armo, McEvoy, Lynch, etc hardly got a look in.

True. But that was also more out of necessity last season due to injuries. He had a free hit last year. It’s the courage to play youngsters when you’re contending that requires real courage and conviction.

[shrodes]

From the Hun
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 5d2b8bc752

Simon Lethlean and St Kilda “agreed to part ways” after the club made it clear it wanted the chief executive to steer clear from the football department.

St Kilda president Andrew Bassat has denied Ross Lyon wields too much power at Moorabbin after another departure continued 16 months of upheaval at the Saints.

The Saints announced the split with the former club football boss on Thursday, after Lethlean had been frozen out of the football department since Ross Lyon’s return as coach in October, 2022.

St Kilda appointed Lethlean to the CEO job before enacting drastic change to the club in a bid to put football first.

The Saints said on Thursday the chief executive’s role had “shifted” and Lethlean’s hopes of straddling both the business and football side of the club were taken away.

The Saints have not begun the search for a new CEO yet, with chief operating officer and former North Melbourne chief executive Carl Dilena to step in as interim.

Dilena played alongside Lyon at Fitzroy in the late 1980s and early 90s.

It’s understood that Lethlean and Lyon never worked particularly closely together but also didn’t butt heads in any meaningful way.

The Saints believed the pair worked amicably but Lethlean was forced further away from the football department and the role he envisaged in 2022.

Lethlean became the latest figure to depart St Kilda after a lengthy review in 2022 that most notably saw coach Brett Ratten sacked.

Notable staff ins and outs at St Kilda since Brett Ratten’s sacking

OUT
-Brett Ratten (senior coach) – left October, 2022
-James Gallagher (list manager) – December, 2022
-Geoff Walsh (head of football) – January, 2023
-David Rath (head of football) – March, 2023
-Nick Walsh (head of performance and conditioning) – May, 2023
-Chris Toce (national recruiting manager) – December, 2023
-Jarryd Roughead (recruiting) – January, 2024
-Simon Lethlean (CEO) – January, 2024

IN
-Carl Dilena (chief operating officer, now interim CEO) – arrived October, 2022
-Ross Lyon (senior coach) – October, 2022
-Robert Harvey (assistant coach) – October 2022
-Brendan Goddard (development, now assistant coach) – November, 2022
-David Misson (performance and conditioning, now general manager of football) – November, 2022
-Stephen Silvagni (list manager) – January, 2023
-Graeme Allan (head of talent) – January, 2023
-Alex Sakadjian (head of performance) – May, 2023

Two heads of football came and went and the recruiting team has been largely replaced since Lyon moved back in to Moorabbin.

Old colleagues of Lyon, such as list manager Stephen Silvagni and current footy boss David Misson, were all brought in before last season.

Bassat said Lyon was not attempting to take control of the club.

“Ross is absolutely the boss within the player’s environment and he is doing that very, very well,” Bassat told Channel Nine.

“Ross is not seeking to in any way control the board or control the club beyond that. And if he tried, it wouldn’t go well.”

Lethlean acknowledged the club had shifted to a different direction in a club statement released on Thursday.

“The club has a new coach and a new strategy and I have agreed with the president that it is time for the club to seek a new CEO,” he said.

St Kilda president Andrew Bassat also pointed to the 2022 review, which pushed the Saints to zero in on winning games as the club’s clear priority and led to a change in roles within the club.

“The club has undergone significant changes as a result of the 2022 football program review which highlighted the need to elevate our football department and place football at the heart of everything we do, which we hope will see St Kilda competing for premierships before too long,” Bassat said.

“Simon and the board share the view that a new CEO would be best placed to take the club forward.”

The president told Channel Nine that the board and Lethlean agreed the chief executive’s “fit wasn’t great going forward”.

Bassat said Lyon was not attempting to take control of the club.

Bassat declined to comment further when contacted by this masthead.

The chief executive’s departure came just over a week after the Herald Sun revealed noses were out of joint about St Kilda planning to charge the Danny Frawley Centre fees.

He was gone eight days later but Saints insiders pushed back on the timing of his departure being anything more than a coincidence and that discussions had been ongoing with the board about Lethlean’s future.

Lyon addressed talk of a rift between him and Lethlean in July.

“Clearly when I’ve been transitioning into the club, there has been a new regime in football,” he said then.

“There has been some change and with change, I wouldn’t say there is unhappiness but sometimes not everyone is comfortable with change.

“From my end and Simon’s end we are fine. We have common friends and people professionally we have worked with.”

In October, Lethlean said there had been “some robustness” in the relationship.

“I’m a one-year CEO, and I’m learning more from Ross and how he wants to run football than I’m sure he’s learning about how to run a footy club,” Lethlean said then.

WHO COULD REPLACE LETHLEAN?

St Kilda has not begun its process yet to replace Simon Lethlean, with chief operating officer Carl Dilena now in the interim CEO role.

The Saints likely haven’t even created a criteria for the role but these are some names within the industry who could eventually land on the club’s long list.

Carl Dilena – The interim CEO held the same role at North Melbourne for six years and led a financial turnaround at Arden Street. The Saints has reduced its debt levels in recent years but has some way to go. Dilena knows the club as chief operating officer and played with Ross Lyon at Fitzroy. “Without a doubt, Carl has helped set us up for an exciting future with a level of stability and strength that we’ve never had before,” then Roos chairman Ben Buckley said upon Dilena’s departure.

Kylie Rogers – No doubt Rogers would be on the St Kilda long list but she turned down Hawthorn’s interest for the same position last year. Rogers said in March she has ambitions to be the boss of the AFL one day and stuck fat at league HQ even when Andrew Dillon was appointed over her to be Gillon McLachlan’s successor.

Giles Thompson – Former CEO of Racing Victoria, Thompson was touted as going deep in Hawthorn’s CEO search.

Steve Rosich – Another name thrown up from the Hawthorn search, Rosich is the boss of the Victoria Racing Club and was the chief executive of Fremantle. Rosich was at the Dockers when Ross Lyon was coach and departed the club at the same time as the coach, in 2020.

Other names to watch: Sue Clark (Western Bulldogs), Simon Lloyd (Geelong)

[MC Gusto]

We have a president who will do whatever it takes (within the rules) to achieve the ultimate success for our club

I’m happy with that

[cwrcyn]

I'd be interested to know how much Lethlean was being paid. Was he taking a bigger piece of the pie than could be justified ?

Could this partly be a move to restructure in order to free up more money for the football Dept?

Board: "Simon, we need you to take a 15% pay cut so we can pour more money into the football side of things"

Simon "I'm worth every cent of what I'm paid and could get more elsewhere"

Board: " We'll, we're sure you'll find a position elsewhere with a salary you think you deserve "

[Vortex]

Is Ross toxic?

Ross was a Captains pick by Bassett and that can create toxicity. It won’t be a problem if we are winning.

Ross only answers to Bassett and doesn’t recognise anybody else in the organisation as being his master so that can be toxic also. That won’t be a problem either if we are winning.

He had similar issues at Freo and it wasn’t a problem when they were winning. Big problems came in his final 4 years when he only had a winning percentage of 33%.

We need to keep winning. That could be a problem for a few years while the list is being rebuilt. I just hope St Kilda doesn’t do what St Kilda does and stuff this up. There are some heavy hitters in the coterie who can’t stand Ross. That’s where Bassett better not fall asleep at the wheel again and make sure he’s maintaining a vigilant watch over his Captains Pick.

Which Coterie specifically? I’m a member of one and that’s not the pervading view at all.

Silver Halos

[The Fireman]

Ross is the boss

In Ross we trust





Fanboy

[shanegrambeau]

Could be wrong
But I got the impression that Lethlean was an AFL man so to speak
And an AFL appointee

[Zed]

Lyon has effectively cleared everyone out now.

How long was he CEO

12 months?

This sounds like it was Basset's plan after the 2022 review all along.
Classic corporate toe cutting
Appoint Lethlean to head toe cutter .
When the job is done , the toe cutter always the last one to be shown the door by the true architect of the plan.

I think all the planned cuts are done now.
From here on its normal business comings and goings.

[Vortex]

Lyon has effectively cleared everyone out now.

How long was he CEO

12 months?

This sounds like it was Basset's plan after the 2022 review all along.
Classic corporate toe cutting
Appoint Lethlean to head toe cutter .
When the job is done , the toe cutter always the last one to be shown the door by the true architect of the plan.

I think all the planned cuts are done now.
From here on its normal business comings and goings.

Said it from day one, Bassett was always saving his arse after being asleep at the wheel.

He's all chips in on Lyon.

It's a fine line between competency and just plain winging it.

[Vortex]

All we need now is a crap load of luck with the list build.

[shanegrambeau]

Jake's viewpoint

[Moods]

This screams of another one shown the door because he dared to disagree with Ross the boss.
I know I am in the minority but I really don't like Ross Lyon and cannot understand why he is touted as some kind of supercoach.
He has only had success, moderate success at that, when he has been handed A-grade talent.
He has always shown a tendency towards dictatorship within the clubs he is at with anyone that is not 100% behind his message shown the door.
While many will say that a dictatorship is good as everyone needs to be on the same page all the time that is simple not the case.
Success comes from inviting different opinions and incorporating the best of them while gently rejecting the others but still encouraging them.

He is also the coach with greatest win ratio, second most finals appearances, second most Grand Final appearances at St Kilda.

He is the only coach in history to take St Kilda to five consecutive finals appearances, albeit over two stints.

To call it "moderate success" is laughable. To say he has only been successful with A-Grade talent was proven wrong as recently as the last 12 months.

I'm pretty sure the likes of Leigh Matthews, Alan Jeans, Kevin Sheedy, Mick Malthouse, Alistair Clarkson and David Parkin weren't into inviting different opinions.

History shows the hard line works.

Great post. Perfectly put.

[bobmurray]

Jake's viewpoint

Now there is 2 blokes that like female co-workers.

[Yorkeys]

Spurious comparison, ie chalk/cheese. Of course some don't like Ross but to exhibit it in nasty Murdoch style characterisations seems hitting below the belt.
It's speculative heresay what the reasons are for SLs departure. He does not have a string of achievements, on the contrary. Just as plausible is that it became apparent SL was not suited to the CEO role which is different and more difficult than what he had done. Fans being into the malicious narrative of the media, clearly designed to undermine us and Ross in particular, disappoints, as Andre might say.

[cwrcyn]

Lethlean has not previously been in this kind of role. Bassat has and is. I think Bassat has seen enough to make his own conclusions, irrespective of Ross Lyon's thoughts.

The club is seeking to put the best possible team together. Bassat understands the administrative side and Lyon understands the football side. If Lethlean is not the best person for the job, then the president and the board have a responsibility to get someone who is.

It's easy to speculate about personality clashes. The reality might just be about competency.

[CQ SAINT]

Probably going to set up some state development initiatives with Hawthorn's treasure chest, now it's clear they won't be at there new 'excrete, smells like a fart' training centre/community hub, anytime soon. Ours is powered by AIA Vitality, there's will be powered by methane.

Maybe we can lease them Seaford.

[SydneySainter]

I think Lethers so called brilliance was well overstated by some of the fans.

His first master stroke move was bring in a busted Hannebery on a godfather contract.

Then, being party to that debacle of Ratts re-signing, only to be shown the door 6 months later.

His reward, the CEO role???

[B.M]

Lethlean was in the recruiting department- list management?

I did not know that??

[CQ SAINT]

Lethlean was in the recruiting department- list management?

I did not know that??

Yeah he was told to keep his focus as CEO off the football department and his yes men were all told to seek employment elsewhere.

He was an influence as General Manager of Football and COO, naive to consider otherwise.

[magnifisaint]

Lethlean was in the recruiting department- list management?

I did not know that??

Wake up boy. You're asleep at the wheel.

[Devilhead]

No one will give a shite about this after win the first 3 games

[HardSaint]

good riddance to Lethlean

His whole appointment was always an AFL old boys club appointment to let the dust settle after taking the hit for the toxic /misogynist culture that was exposed at the highest levels of the closed shop network that is AFL HQ

That he was shoe horned into a role at Moorabbin displayed the AFL throwing its weight around to look after one of its own at the expense of any autonomy we, as a club, might have had, was always on the nose and something I've always had an issue with as long as many others I've talked to over the past 5 years

That there is scant evidence of him being the top administrator his previous post at AFL HQ would reliably bring to a struggling club like us demonstrates that the decision to get rid of him is about right in its timing - he's had his chance, he sidestepped and took no heat for the appointment, the contract extension nor the dismissal of Ratten - zero accountability during his whole tenure and Ratten is a far better man than our Simon and for whatever reasons had to

nah, this little cushy governorship created by the AFL simply had to end if we're to amount to anything in the coming years

[D.B.Cooper]

Lethlean was in the recruiting department- list management?

I did not know that??

His own comments in the link below, show he was right in the mix of the Hannebery debacle if not the instigator.

He also defended the clubs decision very strongly (as anyone would) early days when Damien Barrett criticized the club for taking a "banged up player" with questionable off field behavior on such a big contract and 4-5 year tenure.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2018/08/10/ ... e-targets/

Who was proven correct?

Letloose is the best decision IMO.

[saynta]

Nah, on second thoughts I won't be opening that link or reading garbage from years ago.

[B.M]

If we had the COO choosing players who we should recruit

Little wonder we were a rabble

But I doubt that was the case

It’s just a nice story because of their connection with Old Xavs
I believe Lethlean played with DHs dad?