Whatever happened to "In Ken we trust"?

[RussellEbertHandball]

I still believe in Ken's mantra of you get what you deserve
Hard work + stupid training ie not enough on kicking + dumb selections + limited tactics = get what you deserve - not much.

Hard work + smart training ie fix up the kicking at training rather than running + improved tactics = we might get what we want.

Ken talks about being brave. My personal mantra for 3 or 4 decades is that there is a fine line between courage and stupidity. That line sometimes moves. I think we have been too stupid too often rather than being brave or courageous. If the coach keeps telling the players their dumb disposal selections were brave and not stupid, they wont improve.

 

[Rexie J]

I personally think Ken needs better support. Nicks is doing fine and if we lose him we might be in trouble.

Voss needs to go back to the drawing board, Edwards has the right ideas only half the time.

Perhaps Burgo should scale back the amount we run and put in some more weights training. Clearly being out-muscled atm.

This is something that totally confuses are somewhat yesteryear brain. Ken is the senior coach. Surely each 'line coach' doesn't simply go off on their own and devise some plan without it being fully discussed and only then integrated into the overall game plan. I find it difficult to comprehend the coaches act independently, hence the comment "Edwards has the right ideas only half the time" has me totally confused.

Surely it's Ken's responsibility to say that's not working or won't work or doesn't fit our thinking.

 

[RossFC]

This is something that totally confuses are somewhat yesteryear brain. Ken is the senior coach. Surely each 'line coach' doesn't simply go off on their own and devise some plan without it being fully discussed and only then integrated into the overall game plan. I find it difficult to comprehend the coaches act independently, hence the comment "Edwards has the right ideas only half the time" has me totally confused.

Surely it's Ken's responsibility to say that's not working or won't work or doesn't fit our thinking.

Yes it's Ken's responsibility and I hope he can identify the major problems with the midfield tactics and forward structure with Voss and Edwards and think of something that can be a winning formula.

Nicks having an animated conversation with Voss during the game shows that everyone is not on the same page internally which is why I think the bye would help not only the coaches but the players who I feel need a week off as well.

 

[edgie]

Ken isn't coaching brave football.

Brave football is leaving a few forwards at home to kick to. It is rolling the dice with positive football, with people in aggressive attacking positions waiting to receive an opportunity to score, instilling a mindset that we will win the ball, we have players in front of us to move the ball too, and we will get it to them.

Someone looking up on the wing and seeing only a few loose opposition players and an empty 50 in front of them is not brave football. It is stupid, it is momentum killing, reactive half court football. Defence first has gone too far. Defence first has placed attack second, and that is exactly how we are playing, ok without the ball, slow and stale with no direction and structure with it. We talk about how a missed kick at goal hurts team momentum hurts team morale, but seeing an empty 50 is more damaging to it.

 

[raptalia]

It is too easy to kick the Coach when we loose a few games. The players have to take some responsibility for the situation and there are a couple who may not be as good as we thought they were. As I see it only Robbie Gray and Jack Hombsch can take any kudos out of the season so far.

As for the game day strategy I am not sure who is to blame. As I keep saying we do not know what the Coaches' instructions are and if the players are following those instructions. Irrespective of blame we keep on being forced wide and fail to use the direct route to goal. What is worse we allow the opposition to run unchecked through the middle of the ground and deliver to their forwards. How hard is it to rectify this? How hard is it to tell our midfielders to pick up opposition players who consistently run in twos and threes between CHB and CHF? Opposition sides appear to be able to set up from their kick in and run unchecked and this is one reason why the inside fifty count weighs so heavily in the opposition's favour. I cannot help but feel a sense of deja vu in this as we played a similar style in Choco's last years. We don't play the negative style of footy that we did under Choco but as several posters have pointed out we play a 'move the ball at costs' game which is fine when players are prepared to work and run but looks terrible when we hand ball straight to an opponent. I realise that players cannot hang onto the ball but why not look before you give off and at least handball to the opponent's feet if there is no one to give to? Why hand ball straight to the opponent's chest? Like many of you I have lost count of the number of easy turnovers at the stoppages. Too often our players get hands to ball but give it straight to the opposition. Our Coaching staff have to work this out.

Tactics aside the really disturbing aspect in 2015 is our lack of fight and ability to run on in the last quarter. In 2014 these were strengths so what has happened in the off season? If we hark back to last week's game we got to with a couple of goals in the third and last year we would have been confident of going on to win from that position but this year we have the opposite. Apart from Walsh leaving and Voss joining the Coaching Panel you would not think we are preparing any differently. Should one change in our Coaching Panel have such disastrous consequences? I fail to see how Hinkley's message would be much different to last year. I do not know but I suspect that the problem lies in the execution rather than the intent. Players like Matthew Broadbent, Jarman Impey, Tom Jonas, Justin Westhoff are not playing with anything like the intensity and consistency of last year. Injury has not helped Impey but the others have been disappointing. Perhaps it is Michael Voss' job to fire these players up and he is not able to do it?

Too many questions and no obvious answers. As Head Coach Ken Hinkley has to take some of the blame for our predicament but I am not convinced that he is the only culprit. I still have faith in Ken but I think he is currently facing his biggest challenge. The challenge is not about talent or form but about re instilling the 'never say die' mindset and spirit we have had over the past couple of years.

 

[*PAF]

This thread is embarrassing. Camry like really.

We're all pissed off with recent output but to have a crack at Ken...wtf!

Too many extremes from both sides of the debate however Ken oath we should hold him accountable. However that doesn't mean we want him sacked now does it.

 

[pafc88]

Not having a crack at Ken but he and the hierarchy on gameday have a lot to do with why we are in this mess...

Westhoff and wingard running starting halfback at the 1st minute of the centre bounce against richnond tells me they are going another way this year...their mindset is completely different..

At the moment we dont look like even beating the worst team in the competition. It will click though i know it.

 

[Powertron]

Too many extremes from both sides of the debate however Ken oath we should hold him accountable. However that doesn't mean we want him sacked now does it.

Agree on both counts.

 

[cj_09]

Ken isn't coaching brave football.

Brave football is leaving a few forwards at home to kick to. It is rolling the dice with positive football, with people in aggressive attacking positions waiting to receive an opportunity to score, instilling a mindset that we will win the ball, we have players in front of us to move the ball too, and we will get it to them.

Someone looking up on the wing and seeing only a few loose opposition players and an empty 50 in front of them is not brave football. It is stupid, it is momentum killing, reactive half court football. Defence first has gone too far. Defence first has placed attack second, and that is exactly how we are playing, slow and stale with no direction and structure. We talk about how a missed kick at goal hurts team momentum hurts team morale, but seeing an empty 50 is more damaging to it.

What an excellent post.

You hit the nail on the head mate.

 

[Port 2004]

Ken isn't coaching brave football.

Brave football is leaving a few forwards at home to kick to. It is rolling the dice with positive football, with people in aggressive attacking positions waiting to receive an opportunity to score, instilling a mindset that we will win the ball, we have players in front of us to move the ball too, and we will get it to them.

Someone looking up on the wing and seeing only a few loose opposition players and an empty 50 in front of them is not brave football. It is stupid, it is momentum killing, reactive half court football. Defence first has gone too far. Defence first has placed attack second, and that is exactly how we are playing, slow and stale with no direction and structure. We talk about how a missed kick at goal hurts team momentum hurts team morale, but seeing an empty 50 is more damaging to it.

Yes a great post. Should pass it onto Kenny and co because you are 100% correct imo.

 

[gravedanger01]

80% is in there head its essentially the same side as last season, little change elsewhere, they are fit etc etc, they are down on self belief and confidence, how you fix thats is anyones guess but i dont believe it the coach they can help but ultimately it the individual and how the team impacts on the individual that will see change, will it happen soon enough to turn the season around??....not sure but on what we have seen this last few weeks thats unlikely

 

[Willsy10]

I still trust Ken to turn this around, but we have been just as poor in the coaches box as we have been on the field this year. Definitely some concerns, but haven't lost the trust just yet.

 

[klem22]

Not having a crack at Ken but he and the hierarchy on gameday have a lot to do with why we are in this mess...

Westhoff and wingard running starting halfback at the 1st minute of the centre bounce against richnond tells me they are going another way this year...their mindset is completely different..

At the moment we dont look like even beating the worst team in the competition. It will click though i know it.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ken has lost his way the head coach imo is responsible fro the mind set and the way players are playing.
We went through all this when williams started turning the club into poop. It was not until we seen a change in leadership in the club that things changed.
Im not calling for Ken to be sacked but somehow he has to reinvent himself and this club on the run he was asleep at the wheel coming into this year and has been caught out big time, he is the one who now has to be brave and take the game on and take this club further or he will become a rabbit in the head lights.

 

[edgie]

Doesn't Kochie have some sort of secret directive about the way Port Adelaide plays football, and that played a part in appointing Ken? Well it seems like Ken is not fulfilling that agreement at the moment.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Doesn't Kochie have some sort of secret directive about the way Port Adelaide plays football, and that played a part in appointing Ken? Well it seems like Ken is not fulfilling that agreement at the moment.

Nope.

 

[edgie]

Skill errors won't fix it. Matter of fact, when our skills are good, we move the ball too fast, resulting in having no one home cause we push too far up the ground. It is better to fumble a bit and have to go backwards again and switch due to a shank, that way we have time to get 1, maybe even 2 players in our half to receive the next disposal

 

[Hardcore]

Ken isn't coaching brave football.

Brave football is leaving a few forwards at home to kick to. It is rolling the dice with positive football, with people in aggressive attacking positions waiting to receive an opportunity to score, instilling a mindset that we will win the ball, we have players in front of us to move the ball too, and we will get it to them.

Someone looking up on the wing and seeing only a few loose opposition players and an empty 50 in front of them is not brave football. It is stupid, it is momentum killing, reactive half court football. Defence first has gone too far. Defence first has placed attack second, and that is exactly how we are playing, slow and stale with no direction and structure. We talk about how a missed kick at goal hurts team momentum hurts team morale, but seeing an empty 50 is more damaging to it.

Sounds good in Theory but when the opposition defenders push up and create a wall across the centre or our backline do we then leave 2 forwards up front? the ball would never leave the defence.

 

[chiwigi]

Ken has lost two of his main assistants in two years. The amount of slack he'd have to pick up would be incredible, he will be very much stretched until he can trust any new assistant.

Bloody hell I don't know of any manager who could cope with that so well in such an environment. Particularly when the employee group is so static.

 

[jaxx]

Sounds good in Theory but when the opposition defenders push up and create a wall across the centre or our backline do we then leave 2 forwards up front? the ball would never leave the defence.

This is right. I think our supposed lack of forward structure is us responding to the opposition wanting extra numbers around the ball to give us no space to run. Our forwards follow their opponent up to the ball.

At the centre bounce we always had our six forwards whereas Richmond started some centre bounces with just two in their forward 50 and the rest up on the edge of the square. We were also winning centre clearances at the time convincingly which may have influenced that.

 

[edgie]

Sounds good in Theory but when the opposition defenders push up and create a wall across the centre or our backline do we then leave 2 forwards up front? the ball would never leave the defence.

You pop it over their heard, that is where guys like Hartlett and Broadbent need to come in to it with their long kicks, and it is something we did time and time again last year. Like I said, you've gotta roll the dice and be positive thinking.

"We can't leave forwards home because then their defenders will push in to attack" is negative thinking at it's finest, complete Choco.

 

[edgie]

This is right. I think our supposed lack of forward structure is us responding to the opposition wanting extra numbers around the ball to give us no space to run. Our forwards follow their opponent up to the ball.

At the centre bounce we always had our six forwards whereas Richmond started some centre bounces with just two in their forward 50 and the rest up on the edge of the square. We were also winning centre clearances at the time convincingly which may have influenced that.

That is just Richmond being smarter allowing room for their guys to lead in, another thing we are failing at. Leading and kicking to honour the lead.

 

[Nemisis]

Watching behind the goals last weekend I couldn't help but notice we are still employing that straight line huddle in the forward line.
It is very easy to defend. Much rather three forwards start up on the centre square. Sarg and Ryder need room to move. (both are very slow atm)

 

[philreich]

Nothing tells me we will turn this around... we have been poor all year..

Bookmarked for when it happens. Players don't lose their ability overnight: just their confidence. Once that confidence returns, we'll be much tougher to beat.

 

[AJJPAFC]

They don't...but they also didn't do much in the rise of the team either. That's my point.

Other then, you know, appoint Ken and Richo.

 

[chiwigi]

Other then, you know, appoint Ken and Richo.

But if Ken is at fault they must be at fault...see.