Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott

[Call Me Cake]

Reckon some of you are reading too much into this "3 year plan" stuff. Of course a new list manager will want to place an importance on the draft, but as a part of the overall goal, not the rule.

I've watched the recent interview with Vozzo, where he spoke about the last two years as part of a reset and placed an importance on chasing A-grade talent (up to four players in our scope to be exact) alongside the draft and/or at the expense of draft picks.

That wouldn't be the case if we were just going all in on the draft only from now on.

I think we were always going to pay respect to the draft hence why we took advantage of the free agency market to fill positional needs with players that fit our age demographic while not compromising the draft hand in doing so. We were always aiming to do both, but not shying away from parting with some picks if the name was right.

 

[ghostdog]

Theres be media calling for his head half way through the year at that win/loss ratio

If your intention is to sign him anyway, and he is well aware that's how it will play out, external noise doesn't matter.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

We've seen with Kingsley and McRae recently and over the stretch with the likes of Hinkley and Sanderson that it takes 1 preseason to get a talented list into and winning finals.

They had way more talent and experience than most other new coaches have had.

Theres be media calling for his head half way through the year at that win/loss ratio

Think some have over inflated opinion on how we’ll go this season. 2-5 wouldn’t be that much of a surprise

 

[Mercurial89]

So if we're waiting on a 3 year plan based on targeting the draft are we rebuilding?

There used to be a concept among some of the best soccer clubs in the world, I'm thinking of Ajax and Barcelona in particular, of technical direction. The technical direction is set by a director and the coach is brought in to implement the vision. The point being that recruiting, training and development is consistent, not dependant on a coach.

We've seen with Kingsley and McRae recently and over the stretch with the likes of Hinkley and Sanderson that it takes 1 preseason to get a talented list into and winning finals.

Why do we need to give Brad Scott 5 year to get off his arse to starting doing something?

If Rosa drafts good players there will be a coach out there who is capable of getting them to play good football.

The assumption is Brad walked into a talented list.

Id argue he walked into an absolute shit hole of a club at every level.
I don't think where this club is coming from was fixable in two years.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Cannot for the life of me understand why this was necessary.

As I’ve previously posted, I want to see more from Scott as a coach. It’s still far from proven that he he can inspire and elevate the group on game day. Im also not convinced about him tactically or at the selection table.

Not calling for his head, but I’m not extending him either.

It's pretty easy to understand tbh, just watch that clip of Whateley from the previous page.

Rosa (presumably after that review of the list which determined it was dogshit) came up with a 3 year strategy to get things back on track and now the coaching tenure is aligned to that.

Among other things I read it to mean the club isn't expecting really tangible signs of improvement until 2027 and that's when they'll be in a position to judge whether the Scott/Rosa regime has been a success and is deserving of a further contract extension.

To your other point I'm not sure we have the quality on the list for any candidate to get the best out of themselves as a coach. He had a pretty good record at Norf so I think when given the right players he can coach a side deep into finals.

 

[ghostdog]

I’m surprised by the naivety here. To create stability and confidence in the direction/future of the club it is important to demonstrate faith in your most senior people. They need to know they have your unequivocal support and you will have their back through thick and thin. You don’t want Brad constantly worried about his position, and always watching for the knife about to come. It creates a culture of panic and fear, and makes it really really hard to stick a knife in his back when you decide you don’t want him any more.

So you tell him he's secure, no question, explain to him the reasons for waiting until year's end and let him cook. Open, honest, transparent.

 

[FlyingV]

I want to see what kind of football club we can be after a period of stability. Of all the issues in the AFL right now, extending our Coach by 1 year is probably one of the most trivial.

 

[Don Won]

So you tell him he's secure, no question, explain to him the reasons for waiting until year's end and let him cook. Open, honest, transparent.

Yes, and not just for him. (The perception of) Stability is important for keeping and attracting talent. This will keep the press off his back for another year and only costs us money.

 

[Vander18]

It's pretty easy to understand tbh, just watch that clip of Whateley from the previous page.

Rosa (presumably after that review of the list which determined it was dogshit) came up with a 3 year strategy to get things back on track and now the coaching tenure is aligned to that.

Among other things I read it to mean the club isn't expecting really tangible signs of improvement until 2027 and that's when they'll be in a position to judge whether the Scott/Rosa regime has been a success and is deserving of a further contract extension.

To your other point I'm not sure we have the quality on the list for any candidate to get the best out of themselves as a coach. He had a pretty good record at Norf so I think when given the right players he can coach a side deep into finals.

You align the coaching tenure to the plan if you are convinced the coach is the right person to deliver it.

Vozzo may be convinced of Scott, I’m not

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

I still think we could have waited. If we start the season well then sign him mid season. For mine it is one of the dumb things AFL clubs seem to do.

Not saying I would have signed him now but I'm guessing the main point to doing it now is if we don't start the season well. It's the administration saying they understand this is a long process and that they believe in his plan.

 

[boncer34]

Tl;dr

Haven't turned over anyone except rookies.
Bruno doesn't rate the list
List was underperforming under Truck
We're nowhere near it after a 5 year rebuild
Someone from the last 2 years needs to be fired for it.

 

[faible]

Some heads should role for the last 2 years, shouldn't they?

 

[ant555]

Not saying I would have signed him now but I'm guessing the main point to doing it now is if we don't start the season well. It's the administration saying they understand this is a long process and that they believe in his plan.

True. Will create a lot of white noise if this year doesn’t go to well unfortunately but it is what it is.

 

[BrunoV]

Who was it that empowered him to make crucial list management decisions that the coach didn't agree with?

 

[faible]

Who was it that empowered him to make crucial list management decisions that the coach didn't agree with?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

If everything was so bad why has the list turnover being limited to rookies?

You didn’t see the extra picks Rosa got as part of pick 9 deal? We have two firsts and seconds next year

 

[faible]

You didn’t see the extra picks Rosa got as part of pick 9 deal? We have two firsts and seconds next year

Strange that we haven't lost any players off the main list over the last couple of off-seasons through trade, retirement or delisting.

 

[Mercurial89]

I guess I kind of just put myself in the situation and see if the actions of what information we know (probably about 20% of reality) is how I would have acted given a few assumptions.

I walk into the role having preconceived notions from the outside but taking a pragmatic wait and see approach to some things, have to get an idea of the environment etc before making decisions, gather the data etc.
Sensible and good management.

Soon realize that standards, list, development, playing ability, list management, and back office are beyond ****ed it's hard to believe this is a professional sporting organization.
Off guard perhaps, but got to start unraveling the mess somehow, no not burn it down because that's how you lose what little good you may have and put yourself at a disadvantage.

Knowing it's a monster job there has to be a bare standard of some mediocre success to keep the wolves at bay, remember I'm fighting political battles as well as trying to turn a football program around.
We get a nice baseline as we slowly unravel the web, make changes and begin list churn. Maybe not as fast as it could be but it's a delicate line to tread so as to keep my job.

I find the ally in vozzo and we try not to cut too deep because of the whole gut the list strategy is actually done I'm not lasting here.
Makes sense so far.

I make perceived mistakes at selection, contracts and coaching. But the overall performance of the squad seems to stabilize before falling in an absolute hole, unsurprising to me, these players are not living professional lives.
I say perceived mistakes because there would be personal, human reasons behind some decisions that don't make sense to fans looking at the football team view.
I'll count them as mistakes because everyone makes them, but I'm not hanging the person on these.

We finally get free air from the anchor that was our parasitic list manager and the new guy applies a modern view on the list and maps out a plan.
Most fans tick off on the off-season just gone as progress in the right direction.

I get offered a 1 year deal to try and align the club contracts wise, get stability, confidence in direction.

Fans with 20% knowledge of everything going on act like the club is going nowhere and the last 2 years have accomplished nothing.

I don't think they have made all the right decisions, but I don't think when viewed through the lens of reality that they have wasted time or done a horrible job.
I'm sure if you want to view it that way that you can.

But at the moment this just seems like a guy who's probably pretty good at his job trying to fix two decades of shitness, and having to fight political battles whilst doing so, its not a smooth process.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Tl;dr

Haven't turned over anyone except rookies.
Bruno doesn't rate the list
List was underperforming under Truck
We're nowhere near it after a 5 year rebuild
Someone from the last 2 years needs to be fired for it.

Fringe players are typically the ones who are most likely to be turned over, if you’re getting rid of a best 22 player you really want something coming back the other way otherwise you’re taking a step backwards with the step forward being a late pick or a FA a club is happy to let walk. The fact that our leading goal kicker (and according to some one of our most important players) landed a fairly late pick probably shows how our list quality is viewed externally.

I believe the view of the list internally has evolved over the past few years, at the time of Rutten’s sacking the view was clearly that the list was mostly fine and a better coach was needed to get the best out of it, now after a review and some fresh eyes from outside the Dodoro camp they’ve apparently concluded it’s actually not up to scratch and there’s a fair bit of work required to fix that (Rosa’s 2027 plan).

I think the club probably agrees we’re nowhere near it after 5 years, the failure of the 2020 draftees to develop as hoped is probably the biggest issue as that was supposed to be the core of the rebuild.

Dodoro was recently let go, does that count?

 

[boncer34]

Fringe players are typically the ones who are most likely to be turned over, if you’re getting rid of a best 22 player you really want something coming back the other way otherwise you’re taking a step backwards with the step forward being a late pick or a FA a club is happy to let walk. The fact that our leading goal kicker (and according to some one of our most important players) landed a fairly late pick probably shows how our list quality is viewed externally.

I believe the view of the list internally has evolved over the past few years, at the time of Rutten’s sacking the view was clearly that the list was mostly fine and a better coach was needed to get the best out of it, now after a review and some fresh eyes from outside the Dodoro camp they’ve apparently concluded it’s actually not up to scratch and there’s a fair bit of work required to fix that (Rosa’s 2027 plan).

I think the club probably agrees we’re nowhere near it after 5 years, the failure of the 2020 draftees to develop as hoped is probably the biggest issue as that was supposed to be the core of the rebuild.

Dodoro was recently let go, does that count?

We've also got 17 players who got a game in Trucks last season no longer on the list.

 

[the PILL]

I can handle the one year extension bit as a team stabiliser simply by weighing up the discussion points hashed out here on BF, but its going to get awfully popcorny for the media, opposition supporters and general EFC punters if we/he doesn't make finals 25/26...

 

[thebigboy]

I can handle the one year extension bit as a team stabiliser simply by weighing up the discussion points hashed out here on BF, but its going to get awfully popcorny for the media, opposition supporters and general EFC punters if we/he doesn't make finals 25/26...

That’s where the club needs to demonstrate that its improved & ignore the noise and stick to the plan.

If we’re a club that gets dictated to by the media and opposition fans still, then there’s no coach, player or administrator out there that can fix the club.

 

[BrunoV]

You didn’t see the extra picks Rosa got as part of pick 9 deal? We have two firsts and seconds next year

There was ambiguity in the way I expressed that point, I accept that.

But did you really believe I think that it is only 'rookie listed' players who have been delisted and drafted? Or was it the one thing you could jump on because you have nothing else?

You obviously read enough to pick up on your point. Why don't you answer some of the questions I was posing?

 

[BrunoV]

Fringe players are typically the ones who are most likely to be turned over, if you’re getting rid of a best 22 player you really want something coming back the other way otherwise you’re taking a step backwards with the step forward being a late pick or a FA a club is happy to let walk. The fact that our leading goal kicker (and according to some one of our most important players) landed a fairly late pick probably shows how our list quality is viewed externally.

I believe the view of the list internally has evolved over the past few years, at the time of Rutten’s sacking the view was clearly that the list was mostly fine and a better coach was needed to get the best out of it, now after a review and some fresh eyes from outside the Dodoro camp they’ve apparently concluded it’s actually not up to scratch and there’s a fair bit of work required to fix that (Rosa’s 2027 plan).

I think the club probably agrees we’re nowhere near it after 5 years, the failure of the 2020 draftees to develop as hoped is probably the biggest issue as that was supposed to be the core of the rebuild.

Dodoro was recently let go, does that count?

If you're getting rid of best 22 players it could also be that you're in year 5 of your latest reset / rebuild with a list profile and demographic that produces 25-27 players in their respective prime years, but which you don't believe in enough to weather the storm of a bad start to a season.

You might also want to do something about the 'standards' of the players which is being floated as the latest distraction. It is not fringe players who drive standards, it is the notional best players. If the only guy the club is prepared to make a call on is the obviously not professional athlete-fit 30 year old who had been hanging around with bikies, it doesn't really say that the standards are the problem that recipients of this propaganda assume that they are, does it? How many posts have been posted in the last few weeks from how many different people have accepted that Essendon, the side that wins enough games to qualify or otherwise be on the cusp of qualification for the finals every other year, had an environment for the players incapable of allowing the players to perform? I bet St Kilda's standards are at the level went want ours to be, Lyon would not have it any other way. How has that been serving them? I would hazard a guess that the Freo standards would be there, too. .

As I've been saying, don't listen to what Essendon is saying look at what is does and then decide if that is consistent with what it is saying.

You people won't listen to me on this point so I will enlist ant555, if he can be bothered. He needed to be ceremoniously fired out of a cannon upon dismissal because he had spent 20 year overseeing incoherent list builds prior to being moved out of a position of authority (and then served no real purpose other than a figure head for / instigator of factional in-fighting). But Dodoro had not been choosing players for years.

 

[Loonerty]

What do you mean you people