To the Board and CEO: Do YOUR Job and Sack Richo or RESIGN!!

[kaos theory]

To the rabble of fools on the board and the bureaucrat CEO (Finnis): The message is simple, you made a massive error in judgement by extending Richo's contract and you must now correct the situation.

I cannot believe the level of incompetence displayed by the pack of baboons running our club. A pack of baboons which don't have the intelligence or the balls to do the most obvious thing to begin healing our club.

Everyone knows Richo is not up to it, past players, supporters and many of the current players too. Yet you stick your head in the sand and ignore reality.

You would rather jeopardise our future than fix YOUR mistakes.

What do you think will be the impact on attracting quality talent? The membership? The game attendances?

Do you think we will all be so excited about the availability of gender neutral toilets at the games, that we will not care about another year of the football team going nowhere?

WAKE UP!!

[jonesy]

X2

It's the most laughable situation in my time following this sh.t show club. Embarrassing. On our current trajectory, we will fold , and to be honest I don't think most of the fans we have left care anymore if we did.

[Cairnsman]

I'm curious, which current or past players have claimed Richo isn't up to the job?

Are there quotes in the media you can provide links to?

[Teflon]

I’ve given up - Finnis/Summers standing by him mean he’ll coach in 2019
I’ve never felt less enthused about the future than now
Sadly if we win some games next season because we have some half smart assistants etc in.....how hard is it going to be replacing him then? His next defence will be “I’ve only had 1 yer with gun assistants.....surely I need an extension...”
we are being held to ransom by Finnis and co to save their corporate career ambitions at AFL House NOT for the good of our club
Summers shouldn’t even have a friggin vote he’s gone in 2 months
Bassat ringing Alan to apologise for not being strong enough in his original answer to if hes is staying just demonstrated to me that we’ve backed ourselves into a corner and to reverse that is going to be virtually impossible
I think J Watts might have been our stronger solution.....and we missed it
Will now pause membership till Alan goes - I don’t earn enough to continue throwing good money after bad while people play “corporates” with my club
Pleasing? Not really.

[Yorkeys]

Others on here will know the clinical details far better than me but it seems to me that there is a sort of serious cognitive dissonance going on. Clearly CEO had/has huge faith in Richo that is not matched by Richos performance ( you could superficially argue that the extension itself caused Richo to drop whatever balls he had in the air). The great majority of people recognise AR is a terrible flop and the most sensible course would be to part ways, but it hasn't happened. The Club, which I assume really means the powerful and influential CEO, just will not accept that fact even in the face of the evidence. The rationalisation appears to be that it is the assistants and the players, so we will change them. So terrible events of 2018 have been put on three or four faithful, if ordinary, assistants who all suddenly became incompetent. Goddard, Freeman, Gilbo, Connellan and Wright have been sacked - what aggregate number of games did they play in '18 (answer: not many). To argue those people have dragged Richo's performance down is laughable if it were not so sad. Oh of course change list management - but we had a few gems discovered in the 2s and Frankston that were never going to be developed without injuries to favourites. Are we to believe all these assistants conspired to thwart Alan's tactical genius. I suspect the new President understands the CEO's psychological commitment to AR and is seeking (no pun) to resolve the situation as it is complex and fraught. It is hard if not impossible to convince zealots to change their beliefs (exhibit A: ourselves). I hope that the new board members and Lethers are well aware of the issues and are just working through them methodically. The CEO has been humoured with AR still coaching and new people have been brought in, all of which fortunately seem big improvements. However I doubt the CEO will be indulged for too much longer especially if we cannot attract excellent players and reach a point in 2019 where it is unlikely we can make the finals - which unfortunately is likely to be about round 6 as forecast on here.

[fugazi]

I think common sense will prevail with the new board.
The old administration seemed to have adopted that weird view akin to having paid for a Prawn Cocktail only to discover half way through the prawns are off....but keep eating it because you wouldn't want to waste your money.

Pretty much what we would be doing keeping AR on...gulping down dodgy prawns.

[kaos theory]

I'm curious, which current or past players have claimed Richo isn't up to the job?

Are there quotes in the media you can provide links to?

Our former captain - Its obvious, listen to his interviews on fox footy a few weeks ago.

[kaos theory]

I’ve given up - Finnis/Summers standing by him mean he’ll coach in 2019
I’ve never felt less enthused about the future than now
Sadly if we win some games next season because we have some half smart assistants etc in.....how hard is it going to be replacing him then? His next defence will be “I’ve only had 1 yer with gun assistants.....surely I need an extension...”
we are being held to ransom by Finnis and co to save their corporate career ambitions at AFL House NOT for the good of our club
Summers shouldn’t even have a friggin vote he’s gone in 2 months
Bassat ringing Alan to apologise for not being strong enough in his original answer to if hes is staying just demonstrated to me that we’ve backed ourselves into a corner and to reverse that is going to be virtually impossible
I think J Watts might have been our stronger solution.....and we missed it
Will now pause membership till Alan goes - I don’t earn enough to continue throwing good money after bad while people play “corporates” with my club
Pleasing? Not really.

100%

The key worry is that if we win 8 to 10 games next year, they will say that everything is back on track again, so Richo stays another year.... and we will continue as a middle-rung club, going nowhere.....

[takeaway]

I'm curious, which current or past players have claimed Richo isn't up to the job?

Are there quotes in the media you can provide links to?

Our former captain - Its obvious, listen to his interviews on fox footy a few weeks ago.

Yes, but he's in the media now. Clarified his views on AFL.com today. Support.

[saintspremiers]

I'm curious, which current or past players have claimed Richo isn't up to the job?

Are there quotes in the media you can provide links to?

Our former captain - Its obvious, listen to his interviews on fox footy a few weeks ago.

Yes, but he's in the media now. Clarified his views on AFL.com today. Support.

I wonder if AB tried to settle him down and toe the party line to stop the talk of sacking Richo.

[Ghost Like]

The irony in this fiasco and let's face it, that's a mild description, is that Richo's mates took the p1ss out of him about becoming coach of St Kilda because he had always remarked to them about what a poorly run club it was. They could not believe he applied for the job. Now he's the beneficiary of it being poorly run.

[takeaway]

The irony in this fiasco and let's face it, that's a mild description, is that Richo's mates took the p1ss out of him about becoming coach of St Kilda because he had always remarked to them about what a poorly run club it was. They could not believe he applied for the job. Now he's the beneficiary of it being poorly run.

What's the fiasco? Changes are taking place but I think most of the "fiasco" are flawed perceptions and false whispers within SS.

[spert]

Roo's comments on Richo's coaching future were straight out of the Dutton book of bullsh*t- "I fully support the PM"...

[Ghost Like]

The irony in this fiasco and let's face it, that's a mild description, is that Richo's mates took the p1ss out of him about becoming coach of St Kilda because he had always remarked to them about what a poorly run club it was. They could not believe he applied for the job. Now he's the beneficiary of it being poorly run.

What's the fiasco? Changes are taking place but I think most of the "fiasco" are flawed perceptions and false whispers within SS.

Yep, nothing to see here. We are right where we wanted to be.

[samoht]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, whose skills hold up under pressure - and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective. We need to improve our recruiting - 5 C grade ruckmen do not make an A grade ruckman, and 5 inside midfielders with average skills, do not make an A grade midfielder.
It's an uneven playing field - because of our poor recruiting. This is the area we need to improve in.

[spert]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective.

Do we really know if Clarko, or a Leigh Matthews for example could have got more out of the playing group? I bet you they would have. I say this as I have seen over my long years where playing groups in different clubs (albeit at a lower level than AFL), have looked like a different team when a coach got replaced- some players didn't respond to one coach, yet had a new lease of life under a different coach. Sure, it is highly important to recruit the best available talent, but the real test of any coach, manager etc, is to extract the most out of your resources- hasn't happened for the last season and a half in my opinion.

[samoht]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective.

Do we really know if Clarko, or a Leigh Matthews for example could have got more out of the playing group? I bet you they would have. I say this as I have seen over my long years where playing groups in different clubs (albeit at a lower level than AFL), have looked like a different team when a coach got replaced- some players didn't respond to one coach, yet had a new lease of life under a different coach. Sure, it is highly important to recruit the best available talent, but the real test of any coach, manager etc, is to extract the most out of your resources- hasn't happened for the last season and a half in my opinion.

Yes but you can extract more from A graders than C graders. We nearly rolled Hawthorn and Clarko despite our injuries and the vast gulf in talent.

[Ghost Like]

I think the unsubstantiated stuff you refer to is actually the realisation of the results.

I agree Samoht that our recruiting could have been better but I'd also say our coaching and development could have been better.

If by nearly beating Hawthorn makes Richo as relevant as Clarko, then doesn't that make our recruiting and list equally as relevant? After all Hawthorn had injuries / retirements as well.

This is all part of the fiasco, the recruiting, the development, the coaches and the management. Did our coach select all his assistants? If so, four were no good.

A classic chicken or the egg scenario. No one on here knows the answer. Some believe we don't have enough eggs for an omelette whilst others believe the chickens are the problem. In the meantime we are left feeding the chooks until 2019 (not the greatest analogy bu fitting for SS)

[spert]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective.

Do we really know if Clarko, or a Leigh Matthews for example could have got more out of the playing group? I bet you they would have. I say this as I have seen over my long years where playing groups in different clubs (albeit at a lower level than AFL), have looked like a different team when a coach got replaced- some players didn't respond to one coach, yet had a new lease of life under a different coach. Sure, it is highly important to recruit the best available talent, but the real test of any coach, manager etc, is to extract the most out of your resources- hasn't happened for the last season and a half in my opinion.

Yes but you can extract more from A graders than C graders. We nearly rolled Hawthorn and Clarko despite our injuries and the vast gulf in talent.

But they are playing off in finals due to a consistent year of top football- a few flash in the pan performances by lowly teams late in the season don't mean a lot.

[Scollop]

Even if we had a handful of A grade elite talent I reckon that Richo would still be underperforming. Don't forget that HE and THIS board thought that this playing group were top 8 and even worthy of top 4 in 2018. Even if you gave Richo the reins at Melbourne or Collingwood or West Coast or GWS he would still stuff things up. It's quite simple. Richo doesn't inspire people.

Fancy comparing one of the modern games most accomplished coaches who created a unique gameplan that ultimately won him the 2008 flag ( when no one expected them to plus he went on to win 3 premierships in a row ) with a guy who has one of the worst win loss ratios of any coach in the history of VFL/AFL. Clarko was able to keep on top of the competition and he modified his gameplans with his ability to be innovative and - most importantly - to get the best out of his team and extract maximum effort on a consistent basis

Last year when Clarko saw that his usual tried and true methods were not working he resorted to good old fashioned 'punishing' of his players. A lot of the playing group and especially the leaders at Hawthorn have spoken over the years about how tough and demanding Clarko is. He leans on the captain and the leadership group and he sprays them intensely and he does it often. This sets the tone for how everyone is so demanding of each other at that club and it starts from the top. In 2017 Clarko knew that his usual tactic of ranting and raving had to be stepped up and what better way to do it than to physically challenge the players and put them through the most uncomfortable and harsh punishment. It was extreme and it emphasised that he was not going to sit idly by and accept the poor efforts on the field and perhaps the poor effort on the training track. Do people remember what he did? Do you remember the term 'schnitzelled'? Clarko went on Foxfooty and admitted that he had done it.

Talent alone does not win you flags. It doesn't matter if you have more A graders than another team. It's how you play as a team and how you play to your strengths while attempting to nullify and reduce the opposition's strengths. Richo has been unable to innovate and maintain an advantage against our opponents. Richo has failed to be the leader that is required who drives a winning culure. The flashes of brilliance and the wins against some of the top 8 teams shows that we have enough talent in the team.

The problem is that the head coach has not been able to create an environment where we have the tools and the gameplan to consistently win and he has failed to maintain our desire and he has failed to motivate each and every individual within the playing group. It's quite simple. Richo isn't tough enough on the players. He is poor at tactics, team selection and having a varying gameplan and I think he has gone past his use by date with most of the current playing group.

Richo has shown through some of our most important marquee games on a Friday or Saturday this year that he isn't up to the job. Changing assistant coaches and making some changes to the playing group will not change the fact that Richo is not up to the job

[saintadamski]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, whose skills hold up under pressure - and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective. We need to improve our recruiting - 5 C grade ruckmen do not make an A grade ruckman, and 5 inside midfielders with average skills, do not make an A grade midfielder.
It's an uneven playing field - because of our poor recruiting. This is the area we need to improve in.

HALLELUJAH!!!
Great post! finally.
Is Richo a crap coach - yes, but to say that Clarko would come in with the same list and wave a magic wand is utterly absurd.

The list is a result of incredibly bad recruitment for almost a decade!

I understand everyone blaming Richo - and to a degree you can, but to not acknowledge how f****** POOR this list is, is simply blind.

Start with this:
Newnes - delist/trade
Weller - delist/trade
Sinclair - delist/trade
Hickey - delist/trade
Longer - delist/trade
McCartin - delist/trade
Dunstan - delist/trade
Geary - delist/trade
Lonie - delist/trade

etc etc etc...THEN THE COACH

Now compare our current god awful list to this:

Hayes
Fisher
Riewoldt
Baker
Dal Santo
Goddard
Milne
Montagna
Dempster etc etc

SEE WHAT I MEAN!!!!!??

[Scollop]

Goddard, Freeman, Gilbo, Connellan and Wright have been sacked - what aggregate number of games did they play in '18 (answer: not many). To argue those people have dragged Richo's performance down is laughable if it were not so sad.

Are we to believe all these assistants conspired to thwart Alan's tactical genius.

Great points Yorkeys. Blaming the players and blaming the assistant coaches is head in the sand stuff. The board is ignoring the main problem. Yes there are many areas the club needs to improve, but I hope we find a replacement to Richo asap

[takeaway]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, whose skills hold up under pressure - and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective. We need to improve our recruiting - 5 C grade ruckmen do not make an A grade ruckman, and 5 inside midfielders with average skills, do not make an A grade midfielder.
It's an uneven playing field - because of our poor recruiting. This is the area we need to improve in.

HALLELUJAH!!!
Great post! finally.
Is Richo a crap coach - yes, but to say that Clarko would come in with the same list and wave a magic wand is utterly absurd.

The list is a result of incredibly bad recruitment for almost a decade!

I understand everyone blaming Richo - and to a degree you can, but to not acknowledge how f****** POOR this list is, is simply blind.

Start with this:
Newnes - delist/trade
Weller - delist/trade
Sinclair - delist/trade
Hickey - delist/trade
Longer - delist/trade
McCartin - delist/trade
Dunstan - delist/trade
Geary - delist/trade
Lonie - delist/trade

etc etc etc...THEN THE COACH

Now compare our current god awful list to this:

Hayes
Fisher
Riewoldt
Baker
Dal Santo
Goddard
Milne
Montagna
Dempster etc etc

SEE WHAT I MEAN!!!!!??

Pretty easy to pick the players from the bottom of the current top 30 or so to the top group in another era, including 2 standout No. 1 picks.

I actually think our trading/drafting, particularly since 2013 has been OK. 2006-10 was no good, with only Steven left, ie no senior experience left. 2012 was also poor.

Webster
Ross
Roberton
Savage
Bruce
Billlings
Dunstan
Acres
Membrey
McKenzie
Sinclair
Carlisle
Gresham
Rice
Steele
Long
Battle
Phillips
Marshall
Austin
Clark
Coffield
Paton


All good players imo who have or will play at least 50 games. I also think McCartin will start to show his worth, particularly if new rules result in less congestion. Depending on your definition of A grade, Steven, Gresham, Carlisle are close and I reckon Billings is getting there too. Quite a few others will improve too, ie Webster was very good this year. A lot of potential there, an improvement in DEVELOPMENT needed. Ratten with his experience at Hawthorn and their development record, will help.

A good high draft pick, an injection of senior experience, and some gaps filled with trading, and imo our list will not be as poor as some think. The main thing lacking is CONFIDENCE, which drops with losses. A few wins and things can turn pretty quickly.

[Cairnsman]

I'm curious, which current or past players have claimed Richo isn't up to the job?

Are there quotes in the media you can provide links to?

Our former captain - Its obvious, listen to his interviews on fox footy a few weeks ago.

Roo has clarified his comments and it would appear he is understanding and supportive.

Talk about Chinese whispers on internet steroids. A lot of misinformation, misrepresented, misunderstood information being peddled as well as just plain made up information.

It's providing fertile ground for supporters with an anchored mindset.

So that rules out past players having publically commented on Richo, have you got any links to media where current players have made comments about Richo?

[Teflon]

A lot of unsubstantiated stuff being posted in this forum - and misdirected energy. It's all the coach's fault - yeah, sure.

We are near the bottom of the rung, because of the way we've recruited over the last 10 or so years. We don't have even one A grader with elite skills, whose skills hold up under pressure - and we've had more than our share of injuries this year.

Clarko wouldn't have got us any higher - in fact we nearly rolled his team, despite our injuries and the star-studded Hawk lineup with several A graders.

Clarko, schmarko - where would he be without his recruiters?

We need some perspective. We need to improve our recruiting - 5 C grade ruckmen do not make an A grade ruckman, and 5 inside midfielders with average skills, do not make an A grade midfielder.
It's an uneven playing field - because of our poor recruiting. This is the area we need to improve in.

Please outline the COACHING reasons you are observing as to why Alan Richardson should stay?

Yes have heard you bleat about recruitment but just interested in your views as to why he now must remain and what’s he doing well out of the box?