Jon Ralph on why Macca was sacked

[_Mike_]

Anyone that improves from 7 will do better. One or two less means little as long we have stopped the rot.

I'd be expecting that the next coach who comes along not only has a proven match day record, but gets us up to around 10 wins. We are more than capable of winning games without Griffen, Jones, Higgins and Tutt. I think we even beat Collingwood this year with Griff out injured.

Long story short, I expect to see improvement on the last 3 years in terms of results under the replacement coach

 

[Dazb86]

Do you think clubs will tag Macrae or Libba next season?

 

[_Mike_]

Do you think clubs will tag Macrae or Libba next season?

Libba was tagged most of this season.. Both will learn to play with a tag.

 

[dogsfan]

I'd be expecting that the next coach who comes along not only has a proven match day record, but gets us up to around 10 wins. We are more than capable of winning games without Griffen, Jones, Higgins and Tutt. I think we even beat Collingwood this year with Griff out injured.

Long story short, I expect to see improvement on the last 3 years in terms of results under the replacement coach

Think Cooney also did his hammy early on against the magpies and no Griff when we beat Gold Coast in Cairns when basically our best players were all pups.

 

[The Buck]

Three horrendous seasons culminating in the senior player revolt and exodus that finally resulted in the end of McCartney's coaching stint at the Bulldogs.

The question that we should be asking is, "why it took so long?" The evidence that he wasn't up to the task was clearly observable in his first season.
Leaving him in place for another two years has caused enormous damage.

To top things off, the spin campaign from loyal acolytes and friends in the media have continued to tarnish the club even after his departure. I'm glad that things are starting to filter out to balance the public debate.

The club has paid a heavy price for trying to be too polite and diplomatic about both his tenure and departure.

And just how would you have liked it played out mate? What would be your perfect scenario?

And, while you're at it, fix up your bloody name will you. It is Professor, not proffessor. Kind of detracts somewhat from pretensions of learning and knowledge.

Try and put a positive word in for the club every now and then. It will definitely lift your credibility factor a notch or two.

If I was in the trenches, it wouldn't be with you cobber. So consistently negative, you never miss a chance for a smear do you. Why don't you boot off and go and barrack for another club? You can spew your your venom there.

 

[Dav1d]

I'd be expecting that the next coach who comes along not only has a proven match day record, but gets us up to around 10 wins. We are more than capable of winning games without Griffen, Jones, Higgins and Tutt. I think we even beat Collingwood this year with Griff out injured.

Long story short, I expect to see improvement on the last 3 years in terms of results under the replacement coach

Griffen played against Collingwood
Cooney got injured in the first quarter and then Griffen was hobbling around,
Gia was the Sub and came on for Cooney immediately

Bontempelli had that 10 disposal+ in a quarter as well
my favourite passage of play still had to be the Macrae kick to Bontempelli for his first goal that Bontempelli knew to find some space because the ball was going to be coming in hot at any moment

 

[_Mike_]

Griffen played against Collingwood
Cooney got injured in the first quarter and then Griffen was hobbling around,
Gia was the Sub and came on for Cooney immediately

Bontempelli had that 10 disposal+ in a quarter as well
my favourite passage of play still had to be the Macrae kick to Bontempelli for his first goal that Bontempelli knew to find some space because the ball was going to be coming in hot at any moment

Ok, I couldnt remember if Griff was either not playing or injured at one point. Thanks for clarifying

 

[_Mike_]

Three horrendous seasons culminating in the senior player revolt and exodus that finally resulted in the end of McCartney's coaching stint at the Bulldogs.

The question that we should be asking is, "why it took so long?" The evidence that he wasn't up to the task was clearly observable in his first season.
Leaving him in place for another two years has caused enormous damage.

To top things off, the spin campaign from loyal acolytes and friends in the media have continued to tarnish the club even after his departure. I'm glad that things are starting to filter out to balance the public debate.

The club has paid a heavy price for trying to be too polite and diplomatic about both his tenure and departure.

Got to love the way you look at things.. No matter what the outcome, you're still going to complain.
McCartney is gone an who gives a crap what "journalists" like Barrett and Robbo think.. Its time for this club to shake off the loser mentality and put things right for once.

Its easy to answer the question of why it took so long.. Gordon and Garlick obviously saw something in McCartney that was enough to extend his contract yet backflip come crunch time. There is your answer as to why it took so long

 

[garfdog]

The truth will out...
Senior players lacked identity and leadership.
They did not have the self esteem to handle strong feedback.
Monty saw an opportunity to undermine Macca.
Claims of abuse in exit interviews have been wildly exaggerated (if it really happened it would be front page news, written by reputable journos).
The boys club won, gordon relented and Macca left.
If monty gets the job now it confirms what I've said all along about the cultural problems at the club.

Before people suggest I'm a Macca apologist, all I'm saying is that his sacking should have occurred based on poor results on the field not because of a systematic campaign to degrade his character.

 

[dogwatch]

What concerns me is that we have to start all over again.

The club backed McCartney's vision to the hilt, bringing in his entire team of assistant coaches. We might not all have agreed that they were the right people but they were Macca's team, brought in to implement his way of doing things. Will they all melt away once the new coach is appointed? It may end up being a big, costly and disruptive clean out.

And what is the new vision? Do we now have to veer off in another direction? Maybe so, but that will be disconcerting to all those who were asked to get behind the old vision and strategy. You can't blame players and members of the FD if they are a bit distrustful or cynical after all this.

Also the thing I liked most about McCartney's regime was his approach to recruiting and his ability to smooge players and the parents of 18yos so they were rapt to come to VUWO. Now we lose him right on the middle of the crucial trade/draft period, so who is doing the smooging? No-one? And how much support have we lost from the families of those young kids we recruited who were told "we will treat your son as if he were our own son"? Who do they place their faith in now?

The new coach might inherit a good young list but he will have a fair bit of groundwork and fence-mending to do.

 

[HK_Bulldog]

Thats an awesome post Dogwatch. In the corporate world, when a new boss comes in, the old guard are either sidelined or leave. Some survive but its a combination of some crawlers and some really good ones, difficult for the new boss to know which.
People talk a lot about tactics but one thing the kids had last year was passion and a crack in mentality in spades. I don't care what game plan is in place, take the edge off intensity and we're stuffed.

 

[_Mike_]

I have a gut feeling that we're going to have further problems should we appoint Monty. I'm all for this club getting proven experience from outside the club

 

[Unnamed1]

Ah enough about McCartney's 'vision' etc. He's a good salesman, but didn't have the substance to back it up.

- his method was based on football from 5 years ago at Geelong
- he employed his Geelong mates and little else
- he sold his reputation on 'communication' but beyond the abusive spray he didn't have the skill or nous to tell the player constructively what steps to take to improve
- he was stubborn and reluctant to give any air to the club leaders

 

[stefoid]

The basics that he was trying to instil ARE the basics however. A fanatical approach to hard work, defence, "cracking in" and team first mentality ARE required to be a top team - all the top teams might have varying strategies and styles of play, but they all display these attributes at a minimum.

 

[paul scholes]

Posters keep throwing up the GC game, but to maintain that for 22 weeks isn't sustainable . When you lose that much experience ,and regardless of the circumstances or where their careers were at, you either hold ground or fall .

 

[threenewpadlocks]

The basics that he was trying to instil ARE the basics however. A fanatical approach to hard work, defence, "cracking in" and team first mentality ARE required to be a top team - all the top teams might have varying strategies and styles of play, but they all display these attributes at a minimum.

The difference is though it took at least three, and would be more, and that was the only things that he "developed" them in.
And besides, the whole logic of teaching players one style of game for a period of three years before another is ridiculously flawed - modern footy, tactically, evolves much faster than that. McCartney was effectively teaching us how to play like the 2007 Geelong team over the 2012-2014 period of time.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

The truth will out...
Senior players lacked identity and leadership.
They did not have the self esteem to handle strong feedback.
Monty saw an opportunity to undermine Macca.
Claims of abuse in exit interviews have been wildly exaggerated (if it really happened it would be front page news, written by reputable journos).
The boys club won, gordon relented and Macca left.
If monty gets the job now it confirms what I've said all along about the cultural problems at the club.

Before people suggest I'm a Macca apologist, all I'm saying is that his sacking should have occurred based on poor results on the field not because of a systematic campaign to degrade his character.

Good post. My take is that these situations are never black and white but varying degrees of grey.

Gathering the comments from Macca and surrounding Macca from the media, players comments and snippets from insiders, it would appear that Macca was not a coach that focused on just winning at any cost, he was focusing on development. Sometimes it worked ie Stringer in the backline improved his presence in the forward line later in the season, sometimes it failed ie persisting with Jones alone in the forward line last year. The focus on developing the younger players meant we lost some games we could have won, this is backed up by Griffin's comment that "Rocket coached to win." Development was possibly the reason he persisted with leaving Jones, Talia etc in the VFL who went on to win a flag, similar to Geelong, but while that galvanised Geelong, Jones left. (Interesting to read in today's paper that he is doing extra pre season training to build his stamina).

It would appear that the senior players began to feel there was no interest in their careers and the focus was only on development of the younger players. Not an issue for players like Murphy and Morris (good mentors) Gia (looking at going into coaching) and Minson and Boyd who stung by harsh feedback are still taking it. Players like Jones, Cooney and Higgins would have felt stuck in between and harsh feedback to improve themselves was another grievance instead of seen as a genuine attempt for improvement. Cooney was moved on, I think in part to his attitude ie hanging around Hawthorn celebrating their premiership looking like a groupie would not have gone down well for an old school coach like Macca.

For Macca like Rocket, was saddled with more responsibility than just coaching, an issue for our under-resourced club. This meant communication was not regular and possibly due to time restraints meant that he became more harsher, without the time to do the proper mentoring and motivation that good leaders do. The last straw was losing to GWS a team coached by the man expected to be our coach Leon Cameron. The talk between the players might have been along the lines of we are going backwards not forwards.

The Best and Fairest which I attended for the first time seemed a very strained affair in hindsight, my son and I spoke about it afterwards and his observations were interesting. He heard a few of the young guys talking in the toilet and he felt they came across as a bit arrogant, he also noted that the young guys who were in the VFL seemed really committed ie Grant commenting he was going home to lift weights, as he was still playing finals and refused the invitation to go out with them afterwards. Did the young guys rub the older guys up the wrong way with this arrogance hence the reported altercation between Minson and Stevens?

If reports are true and Monty was busy white anting Macca this would have been the final ingredient to create a perfect storm with the resulting fall out.

The club has an interest in collecting social media feedback from the fans including our rabid Facebook forum who were by and large Macca haters. Loosing Griff would have thrown the club into damage mode and the decision to not back Macca with the resulting outcome. The club lead by Gordon has tried to appease the fans by grabbing Boyd at any cost. I just hope the club realises they need to pay top dollar for an experienced coach who can motivate the players and engage with the fans, otherwise all of Macca's great work and our development years would have been for nothing.

 

[Next Waiting]

What concerns me is that we have to start all over again.

The club backed McCartney's vision to the hilt, bringing in his entire team of assistant coaches. We might not all have agreed that they were the right people but they were Macca's team, brought in to implement his way of doing things. Will they all melt away once the new coach is appointed? It may end up being a big, costly and disruptive clean out.

And what is the new vision? Do we now have to veer off in another direction? Maybe so, but that will be disconcerting to all those who were asked to get behind the old vision and strategy. You can't blame players and members of the FD if they are a bit distrustful or cynical after all this.

Also the thing I liked most about McCartney's regime was his approach to recruiting and his ability to smooge players and the parents of 18yos so they were rapt to come to VUWO. Now we lose him right on the middle of the crucial trade/draft period, so who is doing the smooging? No-one? And how much support have we lost from the families of those young kids we recruited who were told "we will treat your son as if he were our own son"? Who do they place their faith in now?

The new coach might inherit a good young list but he will have a fair bit of groundwork and fence-mending to do.

I agree. The danger is that they again miscalculate where the list is at as they did in 2010 and appoint accordingly. It's emerging but not ready. 2015 should be another year where development shades results in the order of priorites because that is where the list is at. From 2016 results emphasis can shade development because that's where the list will be at. Let's hope they know where they're at rather than cater to the instant gratification set.

 

[Next Waiting]

Good post. My take is that these situations are never black and white but varying degrees of grey.

Gathering the comments from Macca and surrounding Macca from the media, players comments and snippets from insiders, it would appear that Macca was not a coach that focused on just winning at any cost, he was focusing on development. Sometimes it worked ie Stringer in the backline improved his presence in the forward line later in the season, sometimes it failed ie persisting with Jones alone in the forward line last year. The focus on developing the younger players meant we lost some games we could have won, this is backed up by Griffin's comment that "Rocket coached to win." Development was possibly the reason he persisted with leaving Jones, Talia etc in the VFL who went on to win a flag, similar to Geelong, but while that galvanised Geelong, Jones left. (Interesting to read in today's paper that he is doing extra pre season training to build his stamina).

It would appear that the senior players began to feel there was no interest in their careers and the focus was only on development of the younger players. Not an issue for players like Murphy and Morris (good mentors) Gia (looking at going into coaching) and Minson and Boyd who stung by harsh feedback are still taking it. Players like Jones, Cooney and Higgins would have felt stuck in between and harsh feedback to improve themselves was another grievance instead of seen as a genuine attempt for improvement. Cooney was moved on, I think in part to his attitude ie hanging around Hawthorn celebrating their premiership looking like a groupie would not have gone down well for an old school coach like Macca.

For Macca like Rocket, was saddled with more responsibility than just coaching, an issue for our under-resourced club. This meant communication was not regular and possibly due to time restraints meant that he became more harsher, without the time to do the proper mentoring and motivation that good leaders do. The last straw was losing to GWS a team coached by the man expected to be our coach Leon Cameron. The talk between the players might have been along the lines of we are going backwards not forwards.

The Best and Fairest which I attended for the first time seemed a very strained affair in hindsight, my son and I spoke about it afterwards and his observations were interesting. He heard a few of the young guys talking in the toilet and he felt they came across as a bit arrogant, he also noted that the young guys who were in the VFL seemed really committed ie Grant commenting he was going home to lift weights, as he was still playing finals and refused the invitation to go out with them afterwards. Did the young guys rub the older guys up the wrong way with this arrogance hence the reported altercation between Minson and Stevens?

If reports are true and Monty was busy white anting Macca this would have been the final ingredient to create a perfect storm with the resulting fall out.

The club has an interest in collecting social media feedback from the fans including our rabid Facebook forum who were by and large Macca haters. Loosing Griff would have thrown the club into damage mode and the decision to not back Macca with the resulting outcome. The club lead by Gordon has tried to appease the fans by grabbing Boyd at any cost. I just hope the club realises they need to pay top dollar for an experienced coach who can motivate the players and engage with the fans, otherwise all of Macca's great work and our development years would have been for nothing.

There is almost an unavoidable conflict here depending on what players prioritize as being more important. Their personal careers or the betterment of the club. Sometimes, as in our case, terrible list mismanagement from previous eras creates a scenario where individual and club success are not going to coincide for some players so those players make a choice about which is more important to them. We can all see the players and choices they made. As difficult for some as it is to see, Macca elevated the club over any individual, including himself.

 

[cromaglife]

There is almost an unavoidable conflict here depending on what players prioritize as being more important. Their personal careers or the betterment of the club. Sometimes, as in our case, terrible list mismanagement from previous eras creates a scenario where individual and club success are not going to coincide for some players so those players make a choice about which is more important to them. We can all see the players and choices they made. As difficult for some as it is to see, Macca elevated the club over any individual, including himself.

It's a tricky balancing act, one that I doubt most coaches would survive. The need to move on veterans that aren't 'your guys' seems to be a must if they aren't buying in. With the way free agency is setup if you ship out those players that aren't going to give the end of their career to help speed up development of the younger fellas i.e. 'your guys' you're just not got going to get the same quality of player back through free agency/trades.

Any decent vet will want to go to a 1st-8th placed team to play finals and if you do try this method the club will be anchored at the bottom of the ladder where more problems arise like pressure from the media and fans to win games.

A strong admin and coaching setup might be able to navigate this but the doggies and the funds available make this extremely difficult and seems a lot of money went into development but not enough on keeping the seniors ticking over under Macca. Which was the reverse of Eades tenure with no development going on and all resources being put to winning a flag. The best and most well run clubs (Hawks & Swans imo) do both and they have access to enough resources to be able to set up an admin that services development of the kids and the seniors alike and within this they have a great player culture where everyone is pulling in the one direction.

Long way to go for the dogs to that position which is why equalisation is so important for us.

 

[ErnieSigley]

Start over again? Of course we have to. It's been 3 wasted years of going no where, with an out of date game plan and holes in the list we had when we started.
The only good thing has been the high draft picks.

 

[Struggle]

J

Start over again? Of course we have to. It's been 3 wasted years of going no where, with an out of date game plan and holes in the list we had when we started.
The only good thing has been the high draft picks.

Just on this, is Talia the only KPP we drafted during this time??

 

[immortalmike]

J

Just on this, is Talia the only KPP we drafted during this time??

Depends if you consider Young, Campbell, Stringer and Redpath KPPs.

 

[black pup]

Seriously Macca game plan was so defensive, his game day coaching left a lot to be desired.
His bullshit, we are developing, teaching, cracking in, I have been involved with 3 senior teams.
For gods sake, every team in the AFL/VFL plus all major league's in country do that, he made out this was only going on at the Bulldogs. Got sick of listening to this rubbish.
Does new coach have to start again , yes for sure.
1. Game plan
2. Defence.
3.forward set up,
4 rucks and Mids.
New coach has a lot of young talent to work with, and plenty to do in 2015.
GO DOGGIES.

 

[FROGGR]

True that, although I think until this week Dalrymple would have been counting on being able to use pick 6. Now he has to wait to 26

I keep wondering if Peter Wright is sitting there thinking Daniel Gorringe-like thoughts about how the bulldogs were in his ear prior to the Boyd trade... while his parents help him pack for GWS. I'm trying really hard to cheer myself up by thinking he'll come to us in a couple of years time now the door has been opened...