Oppo Camp Other Clubs News/General Discussion (Part 2)

[BillyElliott]

Hird being coach again would be hilarious. What a shit club.

Do people forget he was shit at the job the first time round? (let alone a disgrace)

And this would his third time at it..he came back in 2015 after his initial suspension & failed again.

 

[Cyclops]

McVeigh is the most credentialled "Essendon man".

At least he has extensive assistant coaching experience with GWS and Sydney.

Solomon was elected to the board and then ushered into an assistant coaching role, which Scott was unhappy about.

Yeah the moment Solomon was slotted in the spill was on the cards in my view, although I'm not vcaliming any special insight it seems bloody obvious.

Clubs can't survive if there are significant factions undermining success.

If Sheedy has stated "only Hird can unify us" its tantamount to threatening to white ant any and every other possible candidate. Dogs in a manger, I don't believe Hird can succeed, not even with drugs, but his followers will try to prevent anyone else from even trying.

 

[Vicky Park]

Sheedy also said something about you need to love Essendon in order to coach Essendon.

Hmm, let me think, have there been any successful modern coaches who may not have ‘loved’ their new teams before being appointed. Struggling to think of some…except Scott at Geelong, Clarko at Hawthorn, Matthews at Brisbane, Fagan at Brisbane, even Fly at the Pies.

Ridiculous comment.

 

[Travis Shanks]

Sheedy also said something about you need to love Essendon in order to coach Essendon.

Hmm, let me think, have there been any successful modern coaches who may not have ‘loved’ their new teams before being appointed. Struggling to think of some…except Scott at Geelong, Clarko at Hawthorn, Matthews at Brisbane, Fagan at Brisbane, even Fly at the Pies.

Ridiculous comment.

And I seriously doubt that Sheedy, the hard-headed bastard who gave Essendon so much success, was feeling any love at all for the Dons when he took over the job.

 

[gouki88]

Sheedy also said something about you need to love Essendon in order to coach Essendon.

Hmm, let me think, have there been any successful modern coaches who may not have ‘loved’ their new teams before being appointed. Struggling to think of some…except Scott at Geelong, Clarko at Hawthorn, Matthews at Brisbane, Fagan at Brisbane, even Fly at the Pies.

Ridiculous comment.

It’s such a silly blanket statement, as if Essendon is some unique organisation (maybe in the extent to which it’s a basket case!).

 

[sideswipe]

And I seriously doubt that Sheedy, the hard-headed bastard who gave Essendon so much success, was feeling any love at all for the Dons when he took over the job.

He loves the bottle these days. Has been a pisswreck for years.

 

[Travis Shanks]

He loves the bottle these days. Has been a pisswreck for years.

I'm not too bad when topped up, but we can't all begin to make more sense once we've had a few.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Yeah the moment Solomon was slotted in the spill was on the cards in my view, although I'm not vcaliming any special insight it seems bloody obvious.

I came to the same conclusion. They were also trying to get former player, Paul Weston, on the board to undermine Barham.

This has been in the works for several years. Now, they're revealing themselves for what they really are.

 

[Vicky Park]

It’s such a silly blanket statement, as if Essendon is some unique organisation (maybe in the extent to which it’s a basket case!).

It’s the Essendon ‘exceptionalism’. They are different to, and of course better than, other clubs. So they need an ‘Essendon’ man because no one else could possibly do it.

Carlton are also infected by exceptionalism, and we’ve had a bout or two of it over the years. But I’m confident we’re cured. The other two clubs - no.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

It’s such a silly blanket statement, as if Essendon is some unique organisation (maybe in the extent to which it’s a basket case!).

He's trying to play on the idea that because Essendon legends like Reynolds and Coleman were successful premiership players and coaches that Hird will replicate that success as well.

It's a totally different era with the sport becoming full time and professional. It's delusional thinking, but a lot of Essendon supporters buy into this hype and mystique.

 

[sideswipe]

It’s the Essendon ‘exceptionalism’. They are different to, and of course better than, other clubs. So they need an ‘Essendon’ man because no one else could possibly do it.

Carlton are also infected by exceptionalism, and we’ve had a bout or two of it over the years. But I’m confident we’re cured. The other two clubs - no.

The finals win drought is fairly exceptional. As was the whole drugs saga.

They might just be right.

 

[gouki88]

He's trying to play on the idea that because Essendon legends like Reynolds and Coleman were successful premiership players and coaches that Hird will replicate that success as well.

It's a totally different era with the sport becoming full time and professional. It's delusional thinking, but a lot of Essendon supporters buy into this hype and mystique.

It’s as if he’s somehow forgotten, likely in a drunken stupor, that he, a Richmond man, was the last successful Essendon coach. Dickhead

 

[Cyclops]

The notion of what makes a successful club came up on the main board thread.

What made Shredy era essendon great was a quiet solid admin, some recruiting nous and luck, and getting a young coach from a successful program (Len Smith/Hafey/Jewell's Richmond).

This isn't that. Hird only ever learned from Sheedy. Hes not a showman or a leader. He was a very talented player but he was a mediocre captain.

Hes not a cleanskin either. Brings a very tainted legacy.

 

[manicpie]

It’s as if he’s somehow forgotten, likely in a drunken stupor, that he, a Richmond man, was the last successful Essendon coach. Dickhead

I think he's their biggest problem. Sheedy that is

 

[76woodenspooners]

Watching the first 15 minutes of Footy Classified last night was nauseating. The way Eddie McGuire and Dermott Brereton spoke about James Hird felt completely detached from what that period actually did to people.

For some supporters, the supplements saga isn’t ancient history or some romantic football story. It still hurts. I know someone directly impacted by it, and the toll on him and his family was enormous. They still feel deeply let down by Hird.

I’m no great fan of Brad Scott, but it’s hard not to feel he has been undermined by sections of the club — board figures, past players and coterie types — who have wanted Hird back from day one. Kevin Sheedy has been one of the loudest voices in that camp.

Sheedy’s comments about Hird being “very much in the frame” and wanting him back to put the “Essendon” back into the club are exactly the sort of rose-coloured thinking that has held Essendon back. It ignores the reality that the supplements program happened under Hird’s leadership.

Yes, others played major roles. But Bruce Reid warned in 2012 that the club was “playing at the edge” of legality, and still the program continued.

Bringing Hird back would only reinforce the perception that Essendon has never fully confronted the governance and cultural failures exposed by the saga. After more than a decade trying to move beyond questions of accountability, oversight and insularity, returning to the figure most associated with that era would reopen old wounds for players, supporters and the wider AFL community.

Essendon as a football club desperately needs stability and a clean break from the past.

A Hird return wouldn’t move the club forward. It would drag the supplements saga back into the spotlight all over again.

No, no, you’re wrong.

Essendon were screwed over by the AFL, they’ve spent over a decade in the wilderness and now enough is enough, it’s time for the Essendon Old Guard to reclaim the club and restore the club’s pride. Or as some would say “MEGA”.

Go on Essendon, do it!

 

[Rail King]

The notion of what makes a successful club came up on the main board thread.

What made Shredy era essendon great was a quiet solid admin, some recruiting nous and luck, and getting a young coach from a successful program (Len Smith/Hafey/Jewell's Richmond).

This isn't that. Hird only ever learned from Sheedy. Hes not a showman or a leader. He was a very talented player but he was a mediocre captain.

Hes not a cleanskin either. Brings a very tainted legacy.

Good summary. He wasn't just a bad coach, he was the most disastrous coach ever in the history of the game.

 

[Roverjg]

McVeigh is the most credentialled "Essendon man".

At least he has extensive assistant coaching experience with GWS and Sydney.

Solomon was elected to the board and then ushered into an assistant coaching role, which Scott was unhappy about.

You are right. I had forgotten about McVeigh. I like his overall experience at two successful clubs and if they need an Essendon man as both Sheedy and Hird have claimed, then they should consider McVeigh

Solomon also has extensive assistant coaching/ development experience... He as Assistant coach and Development coach of Fremantle's 1-3rd year players in 2010. Development coach and senior Assistant coach at GCS from 2011-2020. He was their interim coach in 2017. He was assistant coach to McVeigh (when he was interim coach) at GWS in 2022. As you stated he was on the Essendon Board 2024-25 and senior assistant this year in charge of backline and team defence. That role & their performance alone should disqualify him from the coaching gig

 

[Vicky Park]

I think he's their biggest problem. Sheedy that is

The level of delusion is staggering. Sheedy looming in the background, and effectively issuing what sounds like a warning. The new coach must be an Essendon man. And if he’s not…

 

[sr36]

Watching the first 15 minutes of Footy Classified last night was nauseating. The way Eddie McGuire and Dermott Brereton spoke about James Hird felt completely detached from what that period actually did to people.

For some supporters, the supplements saga isn’t ancient history or some romantic football story. It still hurts. I know someone directly impacted by it, and the toll on him and his family was enormous. They still feel deeply let down by Hird.

I’m no great fan of Brad Scott, but it’s hard not to feel he has been undermined by sections of the club — board figures, past players and coterie types — who have wanted Hird back from day one. Kevin Sheedy has been one of the loudest voices in that camp.

Sheedy’s comments about Hird being “very much in the frame” and wanting him back to put the “Essendon” back into the club are exactly the sort of rose-coloured thinking that has held Essendon back. It ignores the reality that the supplements program happened under Hird’s leadership.

Yes, others played major roles. But Bruce Reid warned in 2012 that the club was “playing at the edge” of legality, and still the program continued.

Bringing Hird back would only reinforce the perception that Essendon has never fully confronted the governance and cultural failures exposed by the saga. After more than a decade trying to move beyond questions of accountability, oversight and insularity, returning to the figure most associated with that era would reopen old wounds for players, supporters and the wider AFL community.

Essendon as a football club desperately needs stability and a clean break from the past.

A Hird return wouldn’t move the club forward. It would drag the supplements saga back into the spotlight all over again.

Shhhhhhh. It's glorious.

 

[sr36]

The level of delusion is staggering. Sheedy looming in the background, and effectively issuing what sounds like a warning. The new coach must be an Essendon man. And if he’s not…

Has Sheeds lost his marbles and forgotten that he was a Richmond man?

 

[The Raging Potato]

It’s the Essendon ‘exceptionalism’. They are different to, and of course better than, other clubs. So they need an ‘Essendon’ man because no one else could possibly do it.

Carlton are also infected by exceptionalism, and we’ve had a bout or two of it over the years. But I’m confident we’re cured. The other two clubs - no.

Sorry to intrude, but you are 100% on the money. At Hawthorn, we had our own delusional period in the 1990s and early 2000's. Peter Knights, Ken Judge and Peter Schwab were all good Hawthorn people with the best of intentions. But were they genuinely the best people for the job? Probably not.

We were crap and a joke, but even after we hit rock bottom, Rodney Eade, Terry Wallace and Gary Ayres were all being pushed by different vested interests and coterie groups within the club. It took Jason Dunstall and Ian Dicker to be strong enough to resist those internal forces, step outside Hawthorn’s own reality-distortion field, and appoint Alastair Clarkson - a Melbourne and North Melbourne man.

Every club, at some point, drinks its own bathwater. The problem is that some clubs become addicted to it. Over the past 35 years, Essendon and Carlton have been Hall of Famers in that regard.

By contrast, Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and more recently Richmond, have been the best performed and best managed Victorian clubs over the modern era

As much as it makes me feel sick to say it, Essendon needs to get this appointment right. They give me the sh-t's, but a strong Essendon is good for the health of the competition, both in Victoria and nationally.

 

[TW Sherrin]

Genius by Hird to go hard early.

Hinkley and co will be doubting the.process now.

 

[TW Sherrin]

The level of delusion is staggering. Sheedy looming in the background, and effectively issuing what sounds like a warning. The new coach must be an Essendon man. And if he’s not…

Sheedy is single biggest reason they've spent 2 decades in the wildeness.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

The best part is that they had extended his contract to the end of 27, so they'll pay him over a mil next year for nothing.

You should find the answer here: https://afltables.com/afl/stats/coaches/coaches_idx.html
Click on % under Total:
View attachment 2621900
Then go to the bottom of the list and look (upwards) under Teams for anyone with more than one club named.

View attachment 2621905
Crazy Vossy has a worse record than Scott:
View attachment 2621909
Tommy Lahiff has the worst record of any two-club coach, but doesn't meet your criteria as he was a caretaker only with his second stint.

Eddie Drohan, a Collingwood Premiership player, seems to be the winner, as he's next on the list (moving upwards)!:
View attachment 2621928
He does qualify, having spent full seasons in charge of two clubs:
View attachment 2621931
He probably should get the nod for having the best moustache in the history of the VFL/AFL, and I think that's reasonable compensation!!:
View attachment 2621933

Great work!

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Sheedy also said something about you need to love Essendon in order to coach Essendon.

Hmm, let me think, have there been any successful modern coaches who may not have ‘loved’ their new teams before being appointed. Struggling to think of some…except Scott at Geelong, Clarko at Hawthorn, Matthews at Brisbane, Fagan at Brisbane, even Fly at the Pies.

Ridiculous comment.

Matthews at Collingwood
Malthouse at Collingwood
Hafey at Collingwood ! Despite no flag was very successful.