Roast The Chronicles of Alan Richardson

[St Neil]

He was 100% going to coach prior to the exit interviews.
The fact that we have players wanting to move creates uncertainty. Can those players be talked around? Can we sell a further rebuild to the fans if they can’t?

Do we think another coach can get more out of this group?

I am out of the loop today. But I know 100% board members had been on the phone yesterday and on skype dealing with this matter.

Without knowing what is happening internally, I’d suggest that if Board members are talking to each other about the Senior coach then the dye is cast. Doubts tend to emerge as foundations for change. It seems to be time to plan and transition to a new coach.

I hope the Board has Plan B. I hope they can and will swing the axe. It just has to be done. The media are now openly speculating and supporters are becoming more vocal. Poor Richo is now stuffed. Surely even he sees that.

Now is a good time to move. We are the only club who will be in the Coaching market and we get to cherry pick the best that is available. As Allan Jeans used to say, ‘crisis creates opportunity’.

 

[StCicatriz]

see i see it as it being able to be both ....
from my point what the club is saying is that Richo is a capable coach he has shown he can be decent when we have the support around him to be successful (eg list) so as a club we are working on gettin the support around him right to give him the best chance to make it so he has our support and we are happy to move forward with him BUT... we are a perfomance business and if there is a better viable option there for us to take (eg Clarko) then we will gladly cut him loose for that ...
my bet is we dont rally have an option available to replace Richo that is going to be a significant enough improvment but if that does infact present itself we will move him on .. itslike driving a toyota and wanting a ferrari the toyoto is not fancy but it does the job but if the opition of a farrari comes you take it every time but you dont ditch your toyota for a push bike just cause its not a ferrari

the problem is in the detail. they openly state that if he doesn't making finals in 2019 he is gone. so they expect a turn around in 12 months but they also openly admit there are issues in the list that need addressing and he needs more assistant coaches. you cant turn around a list in one trade and draft period, after we've been out of finals for 7 seasons. that takes multiple seasons to get right. the idea that we also get 3 ready made players by their own admission is also going to be hard to do. so there goes the list element improving rapidly any time soon. then you get to the assistants, any new game plan brought in by new assistant coaches is also going to take time, the idea they can have that going in 1 off season is also going to be very hard to do. ross lyon in his prime couldnt do it, so what makes anyone think richardson can. its spray and pray territory, in fact it has the perfect symbolism of our ball movement going forward this year.

and that's the problem here, the detail does not support their plan at all. it has massive holes in it. hence why they won't stand by it 100% and they're leaving the door open. it doesn't resonate with supporters or anyone really. it's the hail marry of strategy, lets do it and hope it works, if not it ends like everyone knows how this ends and richo gets sacked next year. and that is why the media and everyone around it can tear absolute shreds off it and create on going speculation and innuendo. that is why no one outside of the club believes in it and its why purple etc. can run with what ever story they want, which will always be the most sensational version. you're going to get another 6-8 months of it and write off next years trade period too.

the thing they also openly admit, the payout is too large to sack him now. which makes me think if he had the performance he got this year, last year, then i doubt he gets extended and i doubt he stills there right now (would have been sacked sometime this year). so lets be brutally honest, it was mistake to extend his contract so far out because they completely misread the performance of the football dept. it was a mistake to make pelchen, ameet and then cox footy boss. it was a mistake to think 3 new players and 3 new assistants will suddenly improve results and we are now making a mistake in loading up on assistant coaches to try and drag richo to improve his performance in a 6 month window, facing the fact that the assistants may have to be paid out with the acquisition of a new coach or tension between the new senior coach and existing assistant coaches. that's the reality of the situation.

any noise around board members, reviews, players going or coming to the club, assistants coming or going, or even ratten/harvey/lenny/who ever coming in and taking the senior coach role this off-season, is exactly that, just noise. we made a huge * up and are now making more mistakes because of it. very hard to communicate that to anyone and expect them to believe you and further to that not generate more speculation and rumor.

 

[Mstr Strokesman]

see i see it as it being able to be both ....
from my point what the club is saying is that Richo is a capable coach he has shown he can be decent when we have the support around him to be successful (eg list) so as a club we are working on gettin the support around him right to give him the best chance to make it so he has our support and we are happy to move forward with him BUT... we are a perfomance business and if there is a better viable option there for us to take (eg Clarko) then we will gladly cut him loose for that ...
my bet is we dont rally have an option available to replace Richo that is going to be a significant enough improvment but if that does infact present itself we will move him on .. itslike driving a toyota and wanting a ferrari the toyoto is not fancy but it does the job but if the opition of a farrari comes you take it every time but you dont ditch your toyota for a push bike just cause its not a ferrari

Maybe more like if you can’t be with the one you love ,love the one you’re with ?

 

[MOLTEN GANGLANDS]

Are you accusing George of not been strong in the contest?

tonight.. he was disappointing. Most of the time he's pleasing, significantly, and that is our want. George is here for a career, once he gets his thread naming right he's gonna be a fantastic mod for us for a long time

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

I spoke to a retried Saints player 18 months ago, (Played in the 09/10 GF's) he told me that he wished he played under Richo, that the players love him and respected him, funny how much can change in 18 months...

or not at all ... depends on what ones agenda is ...

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

I spoke to a retried Saints player 18 months ago, (Played in the 09/10 GF's) he told me that he wished he played under Richo, that the players love him and respected him, funny how much can change in 18 months...

I guess back then it was onwards and upwards.

 

[stfan]

I spoke to a retried Saints player 18 months ago, (Played in the 09/10 GF's) he told me that he wished he played under Richo, that the players love him and respected him, funny how much can change in 18 months...

Must have been Jayson Daniels then as we have not had many Saints back twice

Or maybe Ditterich.

 

[st_trav_ofWA]

the problem is in the detail. they openly state that if he doesn't making finals in 2019 he is gone. so they expect a turn around in 12 months but they also openly admit there are issues in the list that need addressing and he needs more assistant coaches. you cant turn around a list in one trade and draft period, after we've been out of finals for 7 seasons. that takes multiple seasons to get right. the idea that we also get 3 ready made players by their own admission is also going to be hard to do. so there goes the list element improving rapidly any time soon. then you get to the assistants, any new game plan brought in by new assistant coaches is also going to take time, the idea they can have that going in 1 off season is also going to be very hard to do. ross lyon in his prime couldnt do it, so what makes anyone think richardson can. its spray and pray territory, in fact it has the perfect symbolism of our ball movement going forward this year.

and that's the problem here, the detail does not support their plan at all. it has massive holes in it. hence why they won't stand by it 100% and they're leaving the door open. it doesn't resonate with supporters or anyone really. it's the hail marry of strategy, lets do it and hope it works, if not it ends like everyone knows how this ends and richo gets sacked next year. and that is why the media and everyone around it can tear absolute shreds off it and create on going speculation and innuendo. that is why no one outside of the club believes in it and its why purple etc. can run with what ever story they want, which will always be the most sensational version. you're going to get another 6-8 months of it and write off next years trade period too.

the thing they also openly admit, the payout is too large to sack him now. which makes me think if he had the performance he got this year, last year, then i doubt he gets extended and i doubt he stills there right now (would have been sacked sometime this year). so lets be brutally honest, it was mistake to extend his contract so far out because they completely misread the performance of the football dept. it was a mistake to make pelchen, ameet and then cox footy boss. it was a mistake to think 3 new players and 3 new assistants will suddenly improve results and we are now making a mistake in loading up on assistant coaches to try and drag richo to improve his performance in a 6 month window, facing the fact that the assistants may have to be paid out with the acquisition of a new coach or tension between the new senior coach and existing assistant coaches. that's the reality of the situation.

any noise around board members, reviews, players going or coming to the club, assistants coming or going, or even ratten/harvey/lenny/who ever coming in and taking the senior coach role this off-season, is exactly that, just noise. we made a huge **** up and are now making more mistakes because of it. very hard to communicate that to anyone and expect them to believe you and further to that not generate more speculation and rumor.

look i dont watch fox footy and i generally dont read over every article written so i may be wrong but i dont recall the club putting an expectaion on Richo's performance for 2019 .. i certainly have not heard the phrase "if he doesn't making finals in 2019 he is gone" coming from anyone so im not sure how openly this is common knowllege ???
also i havent heard the "openly admit, the payout is too large to sack him now" so where was that said and by who ?
what i hear the payout is not huge and if we had a Clarkson lined up then it wouldnt even be an after thought to wear that pay out ... where the payout does become to high is when you talk about paying out a coach and replacing him with a coach none the better ... look im certainly in the cam that thinks Richo isnt the right guy for the job but at the same time i dont want to pay the guy out and replace him with another guy who is most likely going to provide the same results as he is in 2019 and then have two years of seeing if he is any good after that ....
i get the feel we are hedging our bets somewhat we keep richo on if as expected he delivers the results we all expect him to he gets the sack we then enter the frey to get a coach like Clarkson (who could very well be available by that stage) and if not we have Ratts in the waiting ready to take over ...

from the people ive been talking to they all agree that the fix is not a quick fix we need to do some heavy lifting to right the wrongs of 2018 , 2018 capitulated for us the hard draw , the injurys and the poor form left us with nothing to gloss over our glaring issues , for this we possibly in the next 5 years look back and say this year was the year we needed to have to right the path ...

 

[DarkSaint]

Can't see the club sacking him anytime before the new season. Think they have shot themselves in the foot yet again with Simon and the new president backing him in as coach and that he will remain.

Want him gone straight away, but this will have to be an almighty backflip and then we would cop even more s**t from the media about saying all those things a few weeks ago.

This club just has a way of screwing up.

 

[Animal Cager]

This was posted in reference to Richo by a new ITK at Saintsational, No.11. I don't think they're so much a new ITK, rather one that has changed their name on SS:

"It needs to be a unanimous board decision. There is a majority. It’s just a matter of time. Corporates, benefactors, sponsors, members have inundated the club. He’s gone".

 

[stavro#4]

This was posted in reference to Richo by a new ITK at Saintsational, No.11. I don't think they're so much a new ITK, rather one that has changed their name on SS:

"It needs to be a unanimous board decision. There is a majority. It’s just a matter of time. Corporates, benefactors, sponsors, members have inundated the club. He’s gone".

Finnis still back Richo

 

[Murraj1966]

Finnis still back Richo

Because he's strong at the contest, boring and doesn't cause waves

 

[triggering bro]

Finnis still back Richo

He can go to

 

[gringo2011]

gringo....our average home game attendance this year was 25,500......down on last years av of 31,300.

Yes...it's going to be a hard sell for next season…..a very hard sell at this stage.

I call bullshit, I go to games and there is nowhere near that.

 

[pebblesofsand]

This was posted in reference to Richo by a new ITK at Saintsational, No.11. I don't think they're so much a new ITK, rather one that has changed their name on SS:

"It needs to be a unanimous board decision. There is a majority. It’s just a matter of time. Corporates, benefactors, sponsors, members have inundated the club. He’s gone".

Except that's not what is written in the Constitution of the club. The coach is appointed by the Board. The Board acts on a simple majority.

ITK-NOT!!!!

 

[Dr Spaceman]

Finnis still back Richo

He needs to swallow his Pride

 

[Saint Watto]

I call bullshit, I go to games and there is nowhere near that.

Official stats there gringo...…..and we can only go on what the venue......media and club says is the official attendance......I also go to all the home games.

 

[Sir Skid]

He needs to swallow his Pride

Both need to go for this to move now imo

 

[Saintbloke]

I don't think there will be any announcement about coaching until after the finals.

 

[Feerits Elf]

He can go to

... the newspapers?
... Disneyland?
... hell?

HURRY UP DAMMIT I'M ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT HERE

 

[NarklesHelmet]

My gut feel is that Finnis will be the one holding up the Richo sacking. It makes sense too: he comes out looking pretty bad if a decision he signed off on prematurely costs the club a shitload of money. Especially our club who isn’t exactly flush.

He’s a careerist and this sort of thing looks poor on a CV so he’ll be doing all he can to keep Richo on and hoping like hell it turns next year.

I don’t for a second think the board is not pulling the trigger because they don’t think there’s anyone better out there. Richo is the worst 100 game coach in the history of the game, they could literally pull Bomber out of his meth den and he’d do better.

Finnis will keep holding this up as long as he can.

 

[StCicatriz]

look i dont watch fox footy and i generally dont read over every article written so i may be wrong but i dont recall the club putting an expectaion on Richo's performance for 2019 .. i certainly have not heard the phrase "if he doesn't making finals in 2019 he is gone" coming from anyone so im not sure how openly this is common knowllege ???

already out there, purple covered it with the trigger clause

also i havent heard the "openly admit, the payout is too large to sack him now" so where was that said and by who ?
what i hear the payout is not huge and if we had a Clarkson lined up then it wouldnt even be an after thought to wear that pay out ...

correct

where the payout does become to high is when you talk about paying out a coach and replacing him with a coach none the better ...

sure, exactly my point, so if there is no pay out, then you make change, right!

its the risk appetite here, nothing is going to be an easy call. we don't have the appetite to take the risk and its going to cost us more time. another season and the fall out from it. its another trade period wiped out (2019). despite us inevitably going down that path regardless as all the scenarios lead to us going with something unproven, if its ratts well you can do that now and cut out your concern on the delay... see below.

look im certainly in the cam that thinks Richo isnt the right guy for the job but at the same time i dont want to pay the guy out and replace him with another guy who is most likely going to provide the same results as he is in 2019 and then have two years of seeing if he is any good after that ....

aren't you just moving back how long you are going to have to wait?

under the clubs scenario you are more than likely going to have to sack him anyways in 2019, given he won't hit the target. so then you are waiting two years as you put it, albeit it with a 12 month delay.

i get the feel we are hedging our bets somewhat we keep richo on if as expected he delivers the results we all expect him to he gets the sack we then enter the frey to get a coach like Clarkson (who could very well be available by that stage) and if not we have Ratts in the waiting ready to take over ...

clarkos contracted until 2020, so it wont be happening next year and he's reportedly in negotiations to extend by 2 years to hand over to mitchell. longmire is until 2020 as well.

so that leaves you with ratts. which we could do now ;-) so why delay, given thats your concern.

if ratts is the answer well you're just taking a hit on all the instability in 2019 as well, because you want a trial period on what he's like and play it safe. again affecting next years trade targets.

we need to get out of the realm on playing it safe. we need to have some resolve and dare. hopefully lethlean brings some of that into the organisation.

from the people ive been talking to they all agree that the fix is not a quick fix we need to do some heavy lifting to right the wrongs of 2018 , 2018 capitulated for us the hard draw , the injurys and the poor form left us with nothing to gloss over our glaring issues , for this we possibly in the next 5 years look back and say this year was the year we needed to have to right the path ...

i think we will look back and see a club playing it too safe again. wanting to hedge their bets, then ending up at the inevitable outcome where richo is sacked in 2019 and replaced with either an untried coach or ratten. either of which could have been implemented now and saved us 12 months of bullshit.

 

[Strahany]

If it's Finnis that is holding up a sacking of Richo, then I'd almost go as far to say that he needs to be supplanted immediately. Apart from the move back to Moorabbin (which I still maintain was a matter of *if* not when, such that any administration would have done it eventually - not to take anything away from those involved), Finnis has done a lot of grandstanding to build his own image, such as aiming for an AFLW license before establishing a proper VFL side, or even a healthy VFL affiliation for that matter. If he is blocking the sacking of Richo in order to prevent tarnishing his image, then that is reprehensible.

Comparing the two AFL cronies in Lethlean and Finnis, both of them have desire to hold high ranking positions in the AFL head office. However, since Lethlean was pushed out, he must deliver in order to redeem himself and justify a return, whereas Finnis looks like he's merely trying to dress up his resume with a nice little bow on top. But whilst success for Lethlean is tied directly to the success of our club, this doesn't appear to be the case for Finnis and may hurt the club (potentially significantly).

 

[Hayes4PM]

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[StCicatriz]

side note: whats the delay on gubby allen