Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

[Maxabillions]

He betrayed us for the main board.

First Joe leaves now this

 

[BrunoV]

Pretty disappointed tbh, would've preferred BrunoV just get announced coach already so he could show us how to actually coach the side rather than just talk about it.

You and me both

 

[ant555]

Well I got the next coach part right Just have to stop listening to those pesky Perth sources that steered me down the Fremantle path.

I think they have done well. Who knows if Rutten will be a good coach. That can only be answered in time. What he does bring is a system based philosophy and with Caracella coming on board as the man to drive the game plan we are giving ourselves the best chance of going somewhere and changing the culture of the side.
More moves going on in the background. I hear the VFL line couches have been told their services are no longer required and the AFL line coaches and development coaches will be taking on those roles going forward.

 

[Runk]

Well I got the next coach part right Just have to stop listening to those pesky Perth sources that steered me down the Fremantle path.

I think they have done well. Who knows if Rutten will be a good coach. That can only be answered in time. What he does bring is a system based philosophy and with Caracella coming on board as the man to drive the game plan we are giving ourselves the best chance of going somewhere and changing the culture of the side.
More moves going on in the background. I hear the VFL line couches have been told their services are no longer required and the AFL line coaches and development coaches will be taking on those roles going forward.

To be fair, I reckon the Freo thing had some truth to it. I've no doubt they've spoken with him in some capacity.
His presser today he even stated his desire to get back to Perth, but yeah, no doubt in my mind they spoke with him or at least his management.

 

[CBombers17]

The Rutten move looks to have been in planning for sometime, we headhunt him from the Tiges, he assumes a gameday coach role (to some degree) this season with the move of Woosha to the bench, we recruit Caracella to assist heading forward. Not rushed, not haphazard, it looks thought out & sensible to me.

Fair enough. One could also see that they extended Worsfolds contract for too long and have made a series of decisions to cover their arse ever since.

Rutten may work out to be an amazing coach in waiting. But if he's good enough why isn't be coaching now? Surely the last 6 months in the box is preparation enough, what's another preseason under Worsfold and the extra year for?

This has a familiar look about it for mine and familiar and Essendon hasn't been a good thing for a long time now unfortunately.

I do hope you are right however. I guess we will find out in 2021!

 

[fairbump_playon]

Classy move, good timing.

I like that the club has taken decisive and proactive action rather than follow the sudden emotional Monday morning sacking route, on the back of a pantsing.

I'm also mentally prepared for the whispers to "just bounce Worsfold immediately" to become a roar by about Round 6 after we slump to 1-5.

 

[VelvetSledge]

Classy move, good timing.

I like that the club has taken decisive and proactive action rather than follow the sudden emotional Monday morning sacking route, on the back of a pantsing.

I'm also mentally prepared for the whispers to "just bounce Worsfold immediately" to become a roar by about Round 6 after we slump to 1-5.

Absolutely nothing surer in this world.

 

[Maddogm]

More moves going on in the background. I hear the VFL line couches have been told their services are no longer required and the AFL line coaches and development coaches will be taking on those roles going forward.

How would that work when games are on at the same time?

 

[JT_the_Man]

How would that work when games are on at the same time?

We get new AFL line coaches and development coaches?

 

[DapperJong]

LOL

 

[Vander18]

One critical takeaway from the presser...

Ruttens neck is thicker than my quads.

 

[Zach Package]

One critical takeaway from the presser...

Ruttens neck is thicker than my quads.

They don’t call him truck because he’s slow. They call him truck because he’s a wide load

 

[Call Me Cake]

The most stupid decision ever.

What the hell are we doing? We're meant to be concentrating on fixing our clearances and getting our forwards in order and we're playing games with our coaching ranks?

Piss poor form from the football club. 2020 will be a nothing year because of this. There will be no drive from us and we would be all stupid to accept this from the football club especially after what we were given in the finals and the last few rounds.

This pathetic decision to sit on a fence rather than making a straight call from the outset is such a weak attempt. It's almost like holding onto a cheating ex because you're unsure of a girl you're pursuing.

What is Rutten then? A baby? Needs his hand held? Are we afraid to hurt woosha's feelings? Rutten was stuttering for words throughout his presser, couldn't even structure any meaningful sentence unless it was "I urr wanna be senior... urrr"

God we have become so pathetic. *.

 

[brain taylor]

Put him on the field, campaigner's huge

 

[afairgo]

So if we have a bad year in 2020, who is accountable?

A thank you today to Worsfold with a payout - give Rutton the chance to lead and away we go.

We have also effectively signed him for 4 years (next year +3). Just give a 3 year and start from today. That would be normal and appropriate - and you would know fairly soon how he is going.

But... we compromise again. Not how you win premierships but at least a change is happening.

 

[Towno78]

When we win our next flag, I maintain from the outset that this is a genius move.
But if it fails, I have no knowledge of this post.
Good luck Ben.
I wonder if Blake was aware of this plan when moving across?

 

[DapperJong]

The most stupid decision ever.

What the hell are we doing? We're meant to be concentrating on fixing our clearances and getting our forwards in order and we're playing games with our coaching ranks?

Piss poor form from the football club. 2020 will be a nothing year because of this. There will be no drive from us and we would be all stupid to accept this from the football club especially after what we were given in the finals and the last few rounds.

This pathetic decision to sit on a fence rather than making a straight call from the outset is such a weak attempt. It's almost like holding onto a cheating ex because you're unsure of a girl you're pursuing.

What is Rutten then? A baby? Needs his hand held? Are we afraid to hurt woosha's feelings? Rutten was stuttering for words throughout his presser, couldn't even structure any meaningful sentence unless it was "I urr wanna be senior... urrr"

God we have become so pathetic. fu**.

wow

 

[madrigal]

Are they going to sack Worsfold as head coach if we win premiership next year?

 

[freddy mercury]

What a load of s**t, why not just make him coach now? * this club

 

[brain taylor]

Are they going to sack Worsfold as head coach if we win premiership next year?

I know this is a fun hypothetical but if you think we're a chance of winning the flag next year you might have a broken brain.

 

[blitzer]

Are they going to sack Worsfold as head coach if we win premiership next year?

What a terrible problem that would be to have.

 

[The Donners]

The easiest thing to do was go for the safe, conservative option and hire Ross Lyon.

Rutten could have also taken the Adelaide job. Sure he’s probably settled in Victoria but he would’ve probably got an extra year or 2 at Adelaide because he is a favourite son there. A vote of confidence for Essendon.

 

[The Donners]

What a load of s**t, why not just make him coach now? fu** this club

Let’s list the disadvantages and advantages of sacking the coach.

Disadvantages:

Pay out Woosha
Sack another coach
Unstable club (may thwart potential trades)
No job handover (how good is starting a new job with your predecessor still there, easy transition, pick up on what’s right and what’s wrong)

Advantages:

Perhaps “learn” not mentioned in the presser
More personality on the bench/box

 

[Lore]

Sorry for way long post.

tl;dr

• Worsfold may still be at the club in 2021
• They've been putting things in place for this scenario ever since Worsfold's family moved back to Perth and his future in Melbourne became uncertain
• Developing Rutten to become a senior coach was part of our pitch to get him out of Richmond
• imo Rutten may have been approached about some of the other senior gigs going around, which explains the timing of this particular announcement

Finally had a chance to watch the announcement/speech/press conference videos on the club website, and it looks like they're pushing the angle pretty strongly that they want Worsfold next year, but that Worsfold wasn't prepared to commit beyond the end of his contract in 2020.

Worsfold's family situation has been known for some time, he and his family moved to Melbourne when he took the job at the end of 2015. By 2018, his family had moved back to Perth without him. That on it's own isn't at all difficult to believe, since we already knew about that. He loves football and coaching and wants to be involved in it, he was approached by Xavier Campbell when we were in that black hole, and given his experiences and interests he had something to offer to our playing group which had basically had its soul torn out during the saga. Made a couple of references to hearing Jobe speak and so on, wanting them to be able to enjoy football again the way he had had the opportunity to. He also said something about not believing that the Essendon job was right for a young coach to take over as their first senior coaching gig at that point, but felt that with his experience it was a challenge he could take on.

So far, yep.

The thing that I wasn't completely buying for a while there was the whole 'have to go home for family reasons' thing. It's almost a cliche at this point, and most especially in this industry where players get this homesick so often it seems like it's contagious.

Watching the press conference video, i.e. the actual question and answer part not the speeches, he elaborated more on that. Not only that they'd gone home just after the last contract extension he signed, but also that at the end of the current contract his decisions about re-signing with us would have to take their needs into consideration.

Both John and Xavier spoke about the ongoing discussions they had had since his family had moved back, with Xavier seeking assurances that Worsfold still wanted to stay on as our coach even for 2019. With Worsfold's home situation somewhat uncertain, it was evidently something that the club had to have an each way bet on, and put something in place in the background in case Worsfold does go home. That way, we would have someone to catch the fall and not end up with the break in continuity that sometimes happens when a coach leaves and someone new takes over. Clearly that idea of stability was paramount, and the board of the club are still trying to transition us away from the saga as a whole.

Xavier also spoke about the recruitment of Ben Rutten at the end of 2018, noting that the commitment to Ben's development towards his goal of becoming a senior coach was necessary in order for us to get Rutten to commit to leaving Richmond. There is also a hint there that Worsfold and Rutten may have had a pre-existing relationship before Rutten started at Essendon, perhaps from Worsfold's brief stint at Adelaide? Rutten also obviously had links to us through Dan Richardson as well.

Xavier then goes on to speak about Worsfold's future at the club. He makes it very clear that Worsfold may still be at the club in 2021. Depending on Worsfold's family situation, which is STILL uncertain, he may stay on in a different role after 2020, possibly as a director of coaching or something similar. That sounds like the kind of role that would potentially enable Worsfold to fly home a bit more often as well, which could be mutually beneficial. Worsfold also spoke to this points saying he still feels like he has a lot to offer from his experience as a player, captain, coach, whether that's in a more auxiliary role or whatever. Presumably if a job like that came up out west he'd be applying for it, but he hasn't walked away from the possibility at Essendon either.

The questioning then pivoted back to Rutten's position at the club with Xavier being asked to comment on how the appointment came about. Sean Wellman (who is a board member and our director of football operations or something like that) and Xavier made the recommendation together to the board about appointing Rutten to a senior assistant role to transition to senior coach. Xavier said that the key plank in their discussions about appointing Rutten were around John Worsfold's professional opinion of Rutten. Worsfold believes that Rutten is ready, so they're putting all of that in place now (kind of 'duh Fred' but yeah). Worsfold clearly still held in high esteem, at least by XC.


I think the real push here is actually probably to do with keeping Rutten. We clearly brought him in with the possibility of developing him into a senior coach, but with Don Pyke jumping (or being pushed) at Adelaide, they would surely be sniffing around Rutten (the media certainly seems to think so). With Worsfold's situation hanging by a thread, having a plan for continuity makes sense, and Rutten appears to be the best man for the job with that in mind. It wouldn't do for us to get to the end of 2020 and have Worsfold decide to leave (very real possibility), or be offered a gig as director of coaching at West Coast or something, and for us to be left with a gaping hole in our coaches box and no plans beyond that.

That potential situation becomes even more of a problem if Rutten has already been poached, and we are then forced to go externally to fill the gap. That would mean an entirely new approach, new game plan, rebuilding the relationships in the coaches box, and the trust between the coaches and the players, the players and the management of the club, etc etc. As much as bigfooty likes to throw the baby out with the bathwater, there is probably quite a bit of merit to having continuity in most of those areas. The general view from the club is that we only need to change the pilot, perhaps alter the course a little... but no need for an emergency landing in the middle of the Atlantic.

 

[The Donners]

I think it provides expectation management for us to not expect top 4 in 2020 since it’s a ‘transition year’....club extending the timeline before ‘pressure for success’ kicks in again...

Another 40-50 games into Parish, Francis, McGrath, Walla, Redman, et al and you’re looking at match hardened talent with perhaps another final or 2 under their belts. Besides, realistically next year isn’t our year anyhow.