Roast The Chronicles of Alan Richardson

[Sir Skid]

Yeah interesting times especially with Ratten leaving Hawthorn to "explore other opportunities"

OK "other opportunities" screams Senior Coach not a business outside of football. So who's likely to be looking for a new coach in the short term. Four options you'd think GCS, Carlton, Doggies and us.

Cross off GCS since Dew is a recent appointment and will be given time. Carlton - they sacked him - would you go back? Cross them off.

That leaves Doggies and us - both coaches are contracted till the end of 2020. Bevo got the Doggies a premiership and has a shocking injury list this year. Peter Gordon loves him so I reckon he's safe. That leaves us.

So what would the offers be to Ratten - three options

Ruthless Sack Richo now - appoint Ratten (Cost $500K to $1m plus Rattens salary).

Buckley/Malthouse Agreement - Appoint Ratten as Director of Coaching/Development, Richo remains Head Coach roles to be reversed at the end of 2019.

Your on your own - Appoint Ratten as an assistant coach - keep Richo as head coach - Richo fails - Ratten appointed. Richo succeeds Ratten is stuck.

I can't see 1 or 3 happening so maybe it would be 2.

Clubs spins Richo has been great for us blah blah blah invaluable teacher blah blah blah needs to keep him in a role blah blah blah but a time for a change of focus blah blah blah blah.

Thoughts?

Option 1 preferred. 3A next.
Could live with 2 also.

 

[Rors]

So the people at the club who put their reputation on the line and said to their supporters that this team would be a top 4 team by 2018 and a premiership team by 2020 are now saying that this wasn't achieved because of the players, the assistant coaches and the list manager. They say they have the right coach because they can't sack him because they gave him a 2 year contract last year which they can't afford to break.
This is comedy gold. But it's not ha ha ha comedy. This joke is on us - the poor suffering supporters.

This is exactly what it feels like. Nailed it

 

[Mstr Strokesman]

So the people at the club who put their reputation on the line and said to their supporters that this team would be a top 4 team by 2018 and a premiership team by 2020 are now saying that this wasn't achieved because of the players, the assistant coaches and the list manager. They say they have the right coach because they can't sack him because they gave him a 2 year contract last year which they can't afford to break.
This is comedy gold. But it's not ha ha ha comedy. This joke is on us - the poor suffering supporters.

The joke is on us AGAIN.

 

[Sainter93]

I’m only 25, but I certainly can’t recall our supporter base being as angry and disenchanted as they are now. I certainly feel this.

I want to ask the older supporters about the times during the Watson/blight years as I was too young to really remember. Is this period worse than then? Do you guys feel more angry and lost at what the club is doing?

 

[Sir Skid]

I’m only 25, but I certainly can’t recall our supporter base being as angry and disenchanted as they are now. I certainly feel this.

I want to ask the older supporters about the times during the Watson/blight years as I was too young to really remember. Is this period worse than then? Do you guys feel more angry and lost at what the club is doing?

I'm more angry now as the club is in denial about the contract extension blunder.
Frustrated that all aspects of rhe club apart from medical seem to be in a flat spin plumetting to the ground whilst we're being told everythings ok and Richo's the right man for the job.

 

[King_Knut]

I’m only 25, but I certainly can’t recall our supporter base being as angry and disenchanted as they are now. I certainly feel this.

I want to ask the older supporters about the times during the Watson/blight years as I was too young to really remember. Is this period worse than then? Do you guys feel more angry and lost at what the club is doing?

The difference between then and now is we got some major recruits in Hamill and Gehrig. We were still shit, but it really helped with the leadership and you could see the young players eating it up.

They young ones now seem resigned to the losses. The waste of talent is gutting.

 

[Saintbloke]

I’m only 25, but I certainly can’t recall our supporter base being as angry and disenchanted as they are now. I certainly feel this.

I want to ask the older supporters about the times during the Watson/blight years as I was too young to really remember. Is this period worse than then? Do you guys feel more angry and lost at what the club is doing?

I'm a lot older than you :-( but having supported the club through multiple eras, I can make some observations. A lot of the Sainters I knew then thought Alves got well and truely shafted by the club when another year may have seen us back on track (tail wagging the dog -vaguely similar to the Watters situation). I remember wondering why Watson was appointed as an unproven coach. Like Richo, Timmy just didn't really have a handle on being a senior coach- maybe with some more years as an assistant, he could have been OK.
Blight was from left-field, and I think RB and GT were rightly looking for a proven coach after Watson failed. Blight though is very unconventional and probably didn't quite fit in with what the club thought a typical premiership coach would be like (I know a couple of Cats players who gave me interesting insights as players under his coaching). It was possible that if Blight was left to do his thing, that he may have succeeded, same as Watters. The problem is though, that a club starved of success then reaching a GF a few years earlier, is then more hungry and in typical Saints fashion, looks for quick fixes (though the Richo long fix isn't working).
That's some of my thoughts anyway...

 

[Sainter93]

The difference between then and now is we got some major recruits in Hamill and Gehrig. We were still shit, but it really helped with the leadership and you could see the young players eating it up.

They young ones now seem resigned to the losses. The waste of talent is gutting.

If we were to say get a Hannebery into the club on the cheap. But Richo was to still stay.. would it change much into how supporters think and feel? Would it change much at the club at all?

It’s very difficult to say right now

 

[King_Knut]

If we were to say get a Hannebery into the club on the cheap. But Richo was to still stay.. would it change much into how supporters think and feel? Would it change much at the club at all?

It’s very difficult to say right now

Not Hannebery. Party boy by all accounts. Need someone in the ilk of Shiel. Or Luke Parker.

 

[Sainter93]

I'm more angry now as the club is in denial about the contract extension blunder.
Frustrated that all aspects of rhe club apart from medical seem to be in a flat spin plumetting to the ground whilst we're being told everythings ok and Richo's the right man for the job.

In the past the club was too hasty with decisions and never thought through them.
Now it seems like it has no balls to make a decision.

Where’s the balance..

 

[ScrappyDo]

I’m only 25, but I certainly can’t recall our supporter base being as angry and disenchanted as they are now. I certainly feel this.

I want to ask the older supporters about the times during the Watson/blight years as I was too young to really remember. Is this period worse than then? Do you guys feel more angry and lost at what the club is doing?

Aww s*** S93, now I do feel old. I was hardly a supporter back then but I was surrounded by them on a daily basis. There were still great players at the club during that time, like Burk, Harvey, Lowe and co, and Roo and Kosi came on board. There was something to hang on to. It's not like the the mess now. Tim and Blight were a disaster, and although peeps now complain them now, GT and Buttholes pulled us up by the bootstraps.

 

[DarkSaint]

Some great comments in this thread. Whether we get new one assistants in or not, he needs to go. Last few years he was riding on Roo and Joeys on field coaching to get it done.

No one in their right mind saw this coming. The 2 players weren't winning games for us with their playing ability last year, but sure as hell were from their infield coaching.

Worse case scenario we leave Richo and get good assistants in and we start doing better. Bottom line is that Richo still isn't up to it rather the assistants are.

We need to get rid of him end of. The club and everyone has failed in their plan dramatically and when that happens, heads fall. Simple.

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

Aww s*** S93, now I do feel old. I was hardly a supporter back then but I was surrounded by them on a daily basis. There were still great players at the club during that time, like Burk, Harvey, Lowe and co, and Roo and Kosi came on board. There was something to hang on to. It's not like the the mess now. Tim and Blight were a disaster, and although peeps now complain them now, GT and Buttholes pulled us up by the bootstraps.

Absolutely. Unlike now, the club was full of champions and characters who you would want to go and see no matter what. But, just like now you could tell the coaching was the main problem. This paved the way for the GT years which was personally my favourite period as a supporter.

 

[ScrappyDo]

Absolutely. Unlike now, the club was full of champions and characters who you would want to go and see no matter what. But, just like now you could tell the coaching was the main problem. This paved the way for the GT years which was personally my favourite period as a supporter.

Yeah me too B2C. Skilled exciting footy, and it was a pleasure to watch.

 

[Joffaboy]

Do what you want with your own membership, you’re an adult . But the truth is the best coaches out there get paid the most and clubs like hawthorn, west coast, Coll can afford to appoint who they want with buckets of cash outside the salary cap to do it . Saints are 10 mill in debt and if everyone did what you’re suggesting the club would go broke and bust .
I will always buy a membership thru the dark times and the good .
Hopefully the good is only a few years away so the people that drop off next year can jump back on.

The 10 million debt has nothing to do with it.

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[saintvic]

It’s obvious a lot of us supporters want Richo sacked (the thread title was a bit of a clue )
Is it too ‘old school’ to try and organise a petition to the club?

 

[Joffaboy]

Really?
I'd be amazed if he ever gave the prick the time of day, let alone be divulging the clubs inner secrets!

If true...Tis Most Disapointing!

Riewoldt is now in the media so is treated as a media person by the club.

Does Not get info from the club. He said so himself

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[70s sainter]

The 10 million debt has nothing to do with it.

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Then why did r Lyon leave ? Cash offered from a rich club . As simple as that . I would love to see our football dept spend per year compared to hawks , Coll, ess, Adelaide, west coast, freo, rich.........
Our assistants are all apprentice coaches ffs.
Kangaroos and Brisbane are prob a good example of what’s possible on the cheap but you need to absolutely nail it .

 

[Circus]

Yeah me too B2C. Skilled exciting footy, and it was a pleasure to watch.

We had players with character back then who you knew would give their all, and young players with real potential. You knew that the Saints would continue a long tradition of making any team anywhere having to play hard footy to win against us. We had spirit and grunt. Even in long dark periods of little success you could rely on the Saints to have a real go.

To me the worst possible thing about our current situation is our lack of fight. Its not that some players are not having a go its much more that the collective team isn't having a go.

A great passage of hard fought good footy gets undone by a shocking turnover by hand or foot, the energy dissipates and the "team" goes through the motions for a few minutes while trying to regroup. By that time the game has slipped away.

It seems that the collective simply doesn't have confidence that what they are doing, or supposed to be doing, will succeed, so they don't do it. They don't believe in each other enough. They don't have faith in the "game plan".

I think its because far too many players are getting games their output doesn't justify. The other players go onto the ground knowing they are carrying passengers who can't implement whatever they are required to do.

There isn't as much room for error in the modern game so little stuff ups are magnified because they are very costly. We used to have cult heroes like Jack Daniels who was a terrible kick of the footy. But we loved him because of his heart, he never gave up! And he would sometimes handball or kick it properly. And we'd breathe easier and cheer loudly!

That's what isn't apparent at present. I think its very bad coaching. I think Steele, for instance, has steel and could be a great leader. But his current role is to stop someone else and not be creative.

I think our whole approach is to minimise damage and it has become so pervasive it has infected the entire team. We do not use the "character" of the players we have. We don't allow them to express their individual abilities. We play them as if they are pieces in a game of chess. We have shattered their sense of joy and achievement.

We need a whole new start.

 

[Saintbloke]

Please...get a new coach Saints.

 

[Saint Shags]

Some great comments in this thread. Whether we get new one assistants in or not, he needs to go. Last few years he was riding on Roo and Joeys on field coaching to get it done.

No one in their right mind saw this coming. The 2 players weren't winning games for us with their playing ability last year, but sure as hell were from their infield coaching.

Worse case scenario we leave Richo and get good assistants in and we start doing better. Bottom line is that Richo still isn't up to it rather the assistants are.

We need to get rid of him end of. The club and everyone has failed in their plan dramatically and when that happens, heads fall. Simple.

How does that help?
Still lacking on field leadership.
Getting rid of Richo doesn't make that change.
There is a reason the likes of Brisbane went after Hodge. Leadership. For what ever reason for all the years playing under Roo Joey Demspter and co not one has stepped up to the plate since. I see that as an indictment on the players themselves.

 

[Rors]

I’ll put my hand up & say that in 2014 when the Road to 2018 campaign began, I never believed we’d be top 4, but I believed we’d be a contender for the top 8 - around position 6-9.

Never in my mind did I envisage that 4-5 seasons later that we’d be bottom 4 with only half a win more than our spoon year that was that 2014 season.

So disappointed

 

[ScrappyDo]

We had players with character back then who you knew would give their all, and young players with real potential. You knew that the Saints would continue a long tradition of making any team anywhere having to play hard footy to win against us. We had spirit and grunt. Even in long dark periods of little success you could rely on the Saints to have a real go.

To me the worst possible thing about our current situation is our lack of fight. Its not that some players are not having a go its much more that the collective team isn't having a go.

A great passage of hard fought good footy gets undone by a shocking turnover by hand or foot, the energy dissipates and the "team" goes through the motions for a few minutes while trying to regroup. By that time the game has slipped away.

It seems that the collective simply doesn't have confidence that what they are doing, or supposed to be doing, will succeed, so they don't do it. They don't believe in each other enough. They don't have faith in the "game plan".

I think its because far too many players are getting games their output doesn't justify. The other players go onto the ground knowing they are carrying passengers who can't implement whatever they are required to do.

There isn't as much room for error in the modern game so little stuff ups are magnified because they are very costly. We used to have cult heroes like Jack Daniels who was a terrible kick of the footy. But we loved him because of his heart, he never gave up! And he would sometimes handball or kick it properly. And we'd breathe easier and cheer loudly!

That's what isn't apparent at present. I think its very bad coaching. I think Steele, for instance, has steel and could be a great leader. But his current role is to stop someone else and not be creative.

I think our whole approach is to minimise damage and it has become so pervasive it has infected the entire team. We do not use the "character" of the players we have. We don't allow them to express their individual abilities. We play them as if they are pieces in a game of chess. We have shattered their sense of joy and achievement.

We need a whole new start.

The character angle is the big thing for me. Cho has somewhere in his life turned himself into a characterless bland rice cracker of a man, and he's the effing roll model for our young potential leaders. And Gears (bless his boots) is just not leader material. These guys by their very presents are preventing the natural leaders from blossoming. Cho talks about wanting the next leaders to step up, but he defines the parameters based on his own deficiencies which are not conducive to genuine leadership in the first place. He doesn't take risks and pitches at the lowest common denominator, and won't back his boys in a scrap. Those are not the hallmarks of a leader, but a loser.

 

[triggering bro]

I’ll put my hand up & say that in 2014 when the Road to 2018 campaign began, I never believed we’d be top 4, but I believed we’d be a contender for the top 8 - around position 6-9.

Never in my mind did I envisage that 4-5 seasons later that we’d be bottom 4 with only half a win more than our spoon year that was that 2014 season.

So disappointed

The club is showing a lot of blind faith in allowing Richo to go again for another rebuild. Giving a coach two consecutive rebuilds is unheard of. I can’t think of any others?

For those that are saying it’s not a second consecutive rebuild, I beg to differ, considering the list manager has been sacked & Richo & lethlean have continued to blame the LIST for our poor results. Issue in their eyes is the LIST hence commencing a second consecutive LIST build.

Richo has blood on his hands scapegoating others & that’s why I’m not empathetic to the possibility of him getting the arse. It’s everyone else’s fault, not yours, isn’t that right Richo?

How many careers will be lost as a result of Richo failing to take any responsibility? An entire playing list? More coaches & recruiters?

The bloke has poor character. Sick to death of people saying he’s a good bloke. He’s a gutless campaigner IMHO.

 

[Rors]

The club is showing a lot of blind faith in allowing Richo to go again for another rebuild. Giving a coach two consecutive rebuilds is unheard of. I can’t think of any others?

For those that are saying it’s not a second consecutive rebuild, I beg to differ, considering the list manager has been sacked & Richo & lethlean have continued to blame the LIST for our poor results. Issue in their eyes is the LIST hence commencing a second consecutive LIST build.

Richo has blood on his hands scapegoating others & that’s why I’m not empathic to the possibility of him getting the arse. It’s everyone else’s fault, not yours, isn’t that right Richo?

How many careers will be lost as a result of Richo failing to take any responsibility? An entire playing list? More coaches & recruiters?

The bloke has poor character. Sick to death of people saying he’s a good bloke. He’s a gutless campaigner IMHO.

InB4.... “But but but.... Richmond backed & Hardwick & they won a flag”....