Has today's heavy loss hurt Ratten's chances??

[suss]

I thought it might've hurt his chance a bit, then I watched this ...

https://www.saints.com.au/video/2019-08 ... iews-swans

I don't think we could do better than Ratts. He seems to know where the problems lie and acknowledges the work that needs to be done.

It's also nice to watch someone who knows how to communicate and doesn't sound like a parrot.

[freely]

Yeah, nice to watch someone who just flat-out blames the players. You can certainly see where he's coming from.

[stkfc1]

Hind is not of AFL standard

Disagree. Has speed, agility and can kick. Plenty of others on our list worse than him. Newnes Acres DMac etc

[Laurie]

Yes i believe it has and may well bring Brad Scott back into the equation much to my disgust.

[BarryGrogan]

Yes i believe it has and may well bring Brad Scott back into the equation much to my disgust.

Is that speculation on your behalf Laurie? Or have you heard that it has?

[Sanctorum]

Yes i believe it has and may well bring Brad Scott back into the equation much to my disgust.

Irrespective of whether Brad Ratten or Brad Scott gets the gig, either one will turn this team into a far more skillful and attacking outfit.

You'd reckon that incumbency should get Ratten over the line but as has been pointed out by others, much could depend on what both candidates prescribe in their interviews how they regard the current list, and what they believe needs to be done to get the team playing finals in 2020, including delistings and trade targets.

It is my view that St Kilda currently have sufficient talent, which augmented by serious skill improvements under Ratten/Scott and the addition of a couple of quality players (Hill, Tomlinson, Goldstein/Ryder/Smith) combined with strong hard coaching, has the capacity to play finals next year.

This leads to one other important question for 2020: should the club appoint a new captain. Jarryn Geary has been given a contract for next year but it is not known if he will hang on to captaincy. He is 31 and coming back from serious leg injuries which makes it by no means certain that he can hold his place in the Saints' "Best 22"

Given the club will have a new coach next year and by all accounts is considering a major overhaul of the playing list, It would make sense to also appoint a new skipper - Seb Ross is an obvious choice, as is Dan Hannebery. However maybe it is time to bring in generational change and make it Jack Steele who will be 24 and regarded as one of St Kilda's best players.

[silverhalo]

Yes i believe it has and may well bring Brad Scott back into the equation much to my disgust.

Irrespective of whether Brad Ratten or Brad Scott gets the gig, either one will turn this team into a far more skillful and attacking outfit.

You'd reckon that incumbency should get Ratten over the line but as has been pointed out by others, much could depend on what both candidates prescribe in their interviews how they regard the current list, and what they believe needs to be done to get the team playing finals in 2020, including delistings and trade targets.

It is my view that St Kilda currently have sufficient talent, which augmented by serious skill improvements under Ratten/Scott and the addition of a couple of quality players (Hill, Tomlinson, Goldstein/Ryder/Smith) combined with strong hard coaching, has the capacity to play finals next year.

This leads to one other important question for 2020: should the club appoint a new captain. Jarryn Geary has been given a contract for next year but it is not known if he will hang on to captaincy. He is 31 and coming back from serious leg injuries which makes it by no means certain that he can hold his place in the Saints' "Best 22"

Given the club will have a new coach next year and by all accounts is considering a major overhaul of the playing list, It would make sense to also appoint a new skipper - Seb Ross is an obvious choice, as is Dan Hannebery. However maybe it is time to bring in generational change and make it Jack Steele who will be 24 and regarded as one of St Kilda's best players.

And don't forget King / Bytel who look like being serious additions to our list..

[Zed]

I thought it might've hurt his chance a bit, then I watched this ...

https://www.saints.com.au/video/2019-08 ... iews-swans

I don't think we could do better than Ratts. He seems to know where the problems lie and acknowledges the work that needs to be done.

It's also nice to watch someone who knows how to communicate and doesn't sound like a parrot.

Exactly. He called it exactly as it is.
We dont have enough skill and at the end of the day , effort alone isn’t sufficient.
So if he gets the job we prioritise skill and then finally hopefully in the not too distant future we see reward for efforts and a return to finals.

I hope the coach selection panel are smart enough to recognise this is the number 1 thing holding us back, and finally we have a coach demanding change.

[Toy Saint]

The last two weeks have been disappointing.

I'm beginning to think that Ratten isn't the messiah, he's just a safe, conservative ordinary coach. Pretty sure he's not the next Alan Jeans, Alister Clarkson or Kevin Sheedy.

I'm in the mood to take a risk and give Robert Harvey a crack. Actually, Id like to 'get the band back together' and get St Kilda people into the key positions. Simon Lethlean bothers me, I reckon he's an AFL stooge, and I'm not sure about Matt Finnis. It would be great to get proper St Kilda people leading the club.

[Greg T]

Hope not
Poor blokes taking over the titanic
I’m sure he’ll make the right changes

[groupie1]

No.
But it did hurt some players

For too long we have prioritised effort over skill.
I hope they appoint Ratts because he clearly has had a gutful of poor skill already.
It’s exactly what we need to bring into the club.

Agreed, but more nuance...

WE prioritised athleticism during the Lyon era over skill, and quick fix half-assed footballers (Brett Peake a painful case in point)
We then prioritised character ("good bloke, good family, good head on his shoulders")
Since Lethers, recruiting language has changed to looking for skill.
And now we see Ratts talk about skill deficiencies after the Sydney game.

Seems everyone is finally on the same and the correct path

[barneyboyz]

The short answer to this question, IMHO is "quite likely".

The players today failed to give any indication that they were hungry to win or to demonstrate that they want to play for their coach, in the way that both Carlton and North Melbourne players have done.

Perhaps it was a case of players believing there was nothing in particular to play for because that was certainly an impression we could deduce from a very poor level of teamwork, woeful skills and lack of intensity.

I remain open-minded about the leading contenders: the choice between Brett Ratten and Brad Scott, either one would be good! Unlike a lot of fanatic Saints supporters I would be quite pleased to see Brad Scott become the new St Kilda coach - he possesses the required level of discipline and ruthlessness to make a lot of Saints players that are on the verge of playing 100+ games achieve elite levels of skills and blend them into a team that will play finals in 2020.

They gave up during the Carlton game last week, just like so many times of late. If anyone thinks Ratt's comments about moving players on was just about skill, then they might get a shock. Many of our (so called) 'best' players don't stand-up when it counts. The bending over, on so many occasions over the last couple of years should embarrass us all.

Big changes need to be made to this club's playing list, and us supporters need to get over our 'messiah' worshipping. Like Ratts said, if you can't do it, we'll move you on

[spert]

Players butchering the ball while not under pressure means a few players may really be out the door.

[freely]

The short answer to this question, IMHO is "quite likely".

The players today failed to give any indication that they were hungry to win or to demonstrate that they want to play for their coach, in the way that both Carlton and North Melbourne players have done.

Perhaps it was a case of players believing there was nothing in particular to play for because that was certainly an impression we could deduce from a very poor level of teamwork, woeful skills and lack of intensity.

I remain open-minded about the leading contenders: the choice between Brett Ratten and Brad Scott, either one would be good! Unlike a lot of fanatic Saints supporters I would be quite pleased to see Brad Scott become the new St Kilda coach - he possesses the required level of discipline and ruthlessness to make a lot of Saints players that are on the verge of playing 100+ games achieve elite levels of skills and blend them into a team that will play finals in 2020.

They gave up during the Carlton game last week, just like so many times of late. If anyone thinks Ratt's comments about moving players on was just about skill, then they might get a shock. Many of our (so called) 'best' players don't stand-up when it counts. The bending over, on so many occasions over the last couple of years should embarrass us all.

Big changes need to be made to this club's playing list, and us supporters need to get over our 'messiah' worshipping. Like Ratts said, if you can't do it, we'll move you on

Surely that goes for coaches incapable of motivating players too.

[barneyboyz]

The short answer to this question, IMHO is "quite likely".

The players today failed to give any indication that they were hungry to win or to demonstrate that they want to play for their coach, in the way that both Carlton and North Melbourne players have done.

Perhaps it was a case of players believing there was nothing in particular to play for because that was certainly an impression we could deduce from a very poor level of teamwork, woeful skills and lack of intensity.

I remain open-minded about the leading contenders: the choice between Brett Ratten and Brad Scott, either one would be good! Unlike a lot of fanatic Saints supporters I would be quite pleased to see Brad Scott become the new St Kilda coach - he possesses the required level of discipline and ruthlessness to make a lot of Saints players that are on the verge of playing 100+ games achieve elite levels of skills and blend them into a team that will play finals in 2020.

They gave up during the Carlton game last week, just like so many times of late. If anyone thinks Ratt's comments about moving players on was just about skill, then they might get a shock. Many of our (so called) 'best' players don't stand-up when it counts. The bending over, on so many occasions over the last couple of years should embarrass us all.

Big changes need to be made to this club's playing list, and us supporters need to get over our 'messiah' worshipping. Like Ratts said, if you can't do it, we'll move you on

Surely that goes for coaches incapable of motivating players too.

It would do, although I believe what Ratten said after the game on Saturday would have been said weeks ago, if he'd been made full time coach.

it is a difficult balance for an interim coach

Also, if you look back at the last three weeks, we had at least 2 players in Steven and Hannebery (and to some degree Carslisle) that were very much under-done. I just wonder how much pressure he was under to keep playing them, when it was clearly an liability??? The first week against Freo worked (sort of), but then...

[CarlD]

WE prioritised athleticism during the Lyon era over skill, and quick fix half-assed footballers (Brett Peake a painful case in point)
We then prioritised character ("good bloke, good family, good head on his shoulders")
Since Lethers, recruiting language has changed to looking for skill.
And now we see Ratts talk about skill deficiencies after the Sydney game.

Seems everyone is finally on the same and the correct path

Still not convinced everyone is on Ratten's page otherwise why have the Saints been linked to turn-over merchants like Zak Jones. Ratten is to be commended for making it very clear what he expects from players being looked at - it's about time somebody told it like it is. While of course Ratten still has to get the coaching gig you would expect that if anyone else is appointed that they too would have the same view of the list's weaknesses.

[Goose is king]

Why haven’t we picked our new coach yet?

[tony74]

Next week

[B.M]

The Longer it takes, the more it may be a different person.

If it’s Ross Lyon

I’m out

[tony74]

Won’t be.

[Devilhead]

Banger or Fatten surely

[sunsaint]

or lethleans boy after all

[shrodes]

Next week

Tom Browne reckons Ratts has it

[freely]

So depressing. Please please please not this loser. Say it ain't so, Joe.

[Special]

So depressing. Please please please not this loser. Say it ain't so, Joe.

Ratts is a loser??

Who do you want?

Maybe tony74??