Unluckiest coach to be fired

[PenAndPaper]

Harvey
Bailey
Malthouse
In that order

 

[Sniggles]

Laidley was the luckiest coach not to be sacked, does that count?

I thought his and the clubs efforts in 07 (to finish top 4 after they were widely tipped to finish bottom 4) were extraordinary. Would love to hear a North supporters perspective on that.

 

[Tas]

I thought his and the clubs efforts in 07 (to finish top 4 after they were widely tipped to finish bottom 4) were extraordinary. Would love to hear a North supporters perspective on that.

Yeah, with what he had he did a bloody good job, but he had a significant hand in us having not much to work with though. He leant too much on the leftovers of the Pagan era until one by one they retired (kind of the Dogs problem atm), he didn't cut deep enough or quick enough into the squad, didn't develop good leaders to replace the ageing ones and kept bringing in average plodders to fill gaps rather than go hard with youth.

We out-muscled young rebuilding teams that eventually went past us and when we got to finals we got smashed by teams that had loads of talent.

At least he stuck his hand up and had taken responsibility after he left saying we were devoid of good young developing players and leaders because of his failings. It was also a tough time because Wacko Jacko was running the AFL and he was forcing us to cut spending to unsustainable levels to even qualify for assistance to help for the burden caused by his shitful Docklands stadium which failed to live up to what he promised. As such our recruitment and development budget was shoestring and that reflected in terms of what we recruited.

 

[sammm]

I think the problem was, the only other match up they had for Jarman was Burke, and he was racking up the ball at will in the middle so they probably didn't want to lose his drive from the centre.

Grant Thomas was an odd one at the time. He had the Saints going really well, players loved him and they looked likely to win a flag under his tutelage. Then he had the falling out with the president and was goneski.

and the lesson to be learn't is don't upset the president.

 

[mauricerioli]

From all accounts I've heard, Matthew Knights was a total egomaniac, his mentoring style was totally centred around himself, he loved media attention, and in 2010 the players absolutely hated playing under him. I couldn't have been anymore glad he got the sack, and hope he's grown up since coaching the Cats VFL.

You must have been so relieved when Essendon sacked Knights and appointed a media shy, selfless type like James Hird then.

 

[illavitar]

Damien Hardwick

 

[ajdude]

sando's surely up there

 

[Klaus]

sando's surely up there

Possibly, although I thought Adelaide under-achieved in 2013 and 2014. They were a kick away from a Grand Final in 2012, yet they've been a shadow of that team since. It comes as a shock, however if you go purely on results it isn't too unexpected.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

sando's surely up there

I'd say so. He walked into a side which...

- Had been pillaged by the expansion teams.
- Had their best young forward get on a plane never to return.
- Sacked a very capable recruiter in Matt Rendell over some sensationalist bullshit.
- Had that whole Tippett s**t-fest which cost us 4 draft picks plus the two we would have got for the dog himself.
- Had it's head of strategy Dean Bailey suspended for a year followed by his sudden, tragic passing.

After the 2012 season, nothing wen't right for the club or Sanderson.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Ratten still right up there

 

[ivan rassmussen]

Royce Hart. After 8 wins from 53 games, his 15 year plan was just starting to get rolling. 1995 couldn't come quickly enough...

 

[BG32]

Neal Daniher

 

[qman]

Paul Feltham at Brisbane and Ken Sheldon at St.Kilda.

 

[illavitar]

IT HAS TO BE SANDO JUST LIKE IT WAS BUDDY FRANKLIN AT THE START OF THE YEAR

 

[TazHawk15]

Alan Joyce.

2 Premierships as well as 2 Pre-season Premierships.

 

[jacross]

Especially if leaves Freo in the same state that he left St Kilda.

You can accept a coach leaving a burning mess behind if he wins a flag whilst he is there. If he doesn't all the heartache is for nothing.

There is a reason why Gary Ayres is so universally disliked by Geelong fans.

Whether fair or not, this is true. My opinion of Gary Ayres was very cool for quite a while. It wasn't until he went to Port Melbourne and we had some Premiership success that my opinion changed to 'BEST COACH EVER!'.

I was really too young to understand Ayres properly but I think Lyon's list management (amongst other things) at St Kilda was particularly poor. People say he 'almost won a Grand Final' but I only need to ask my Saints supporting father, Saints supporting best mate, and also think back to the Cats in the 90s to know how little 'almost winning a Grand Final' is worth.

 

[jacross]

He served no apprenticeship and went straight from being a news reporter to a senior coach. Left a path of destruction behind on what was initially a promising team.

In short, he was a terrible coach and deservedly got fired.

He's pretty much happy to say the same himself. He resigned.

 

[jacross]

Gary Ayres. Better than 50% W/L, wins a game of football on the weekend, sacked during the week. Privately, he blamed 'your Rucciuto's, your McLeod's, your Jarman's.'

HA heard that in my mind in exactly his voice too.

 

[MisterMarcus]

Stan Alves was fired in 1998 after taking St.Kilda to the Semi Finals. Considering how poor they'd been in the first few years of his tenure, I thought he deserved better.

In his biography, Alves makes it pretty clear he never had the support of the board. As soon as he was appointed, a board member apparently took him aside and told him not to get too comfortable, he was just warming the seat until they could convince Trevor Barker to become head coach!

The most famous incident, of course, being at the after match function following the 97 GF loss. Alves was cornered by a couple of board members and told the one thing more disappointing than losing the Grand Final was the fact that Alves couldn't be sacked at the end of the season!

He was also ahead of his time in incorporating yoga, meditation, and various "Mind Body Spirit" things into the training. As he tells it, decades of failure had made St Kilda backwards-looking and reactive...they just wanted a meat-and-potatoes footy coach and were completely resistant to his new ideas.

 

[The Passenger]

Crazy Vossy. Was always going to make mistakes early as he had no experience, but since then he had turned the Lions around and had them heading in the right direction. I think any club willing to give him a second shot at it will be rewarded.

Had Voss done the standard thing and been an assistant for 2-4 years somewhere he probably could've been a great coach. Went crazy at the trade table and treated players like commodities (as per American, European sports) but it's just not the Australian way.

 

[illavitar]

Alan Joyce.

2 Premierships as well as 2 Pre-season Premierships.

Yeah but.. he's now like the CEO of Qantas?

 

[Tiger_man322]

James Hird.

Brilliant man

 

[JoondalupJ]

Who, in your opinion, is the most unfortunate coach to lose his job?

Tom Hafey comes to mind. He took Collingwood to the Grand Final in '79, '80 and '81 then was fired at the end of 1982.

Stan Alves was fired in 1998 after taking St.Kilda to the Semi Finals. Considering how poor they'd been in the first few years of his tenure, I thought he deserved better.

Who are some others?

Stan Alves for me was a grave mistake made by the ever mistake making St Kilda, Brett Ratten definately the second unluckiest.

Sacking coaches for the wrong reason is the biggest blue of all. Because more than likely its players dictating terms, or unsatisfactory relationships with coach and admin. It leads to hasty stupid decisions.I have a feeling Adelaide have slipped into that stupid mode now. Sanderson sacked by players?????

I tell you what , if I was the next coach of the Crows I'd be lining up a few of those "bigger than the club" players and letting them know one act of treachery , and your gone.

Now I think Leigh Mathews went to Brisbane with a very hard line. Adelaide Crows may not be a very easy place for a coach. So who ever goes needs to make his condition hard and sound!

 

[JoondalupJ]

Yeah but.. he's now like the CEO of Qantas?

Ha ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JoondalupJ]

James Hird.

Brilliant man

He's back!