Gary Davidson

I have it from a very reliable source that about a month ago we planned to get rid of dare, mcconnell and davidson. As we saw earlier the club kissed goodbye to the first two but not davidson. Davidson [our football director?] is apparently a laughing stock in melbourne. Does he not get involved in team selection, trade week, the draft etc? If he does no wonder our club is going nowhere.
For some reason Davidson managed to stay. Maybe he has them by contractual obligation?! If so expect to see the back of him next year.

What are your opinions of him?

Ex-players apparently hate him. As for the common supporter how would we know? You never seem to hear or see him.

I'm pretty sure we re-signed him this year because I remember Dwayne Russell saying on 3AW they decided to go with Gary over Mick Turner who was keen for the role. He said time will tell whether they made the right choice but that Davidson had to start making some improvements soon coz another season like this years would be a disaster for the club.

This year would have been a perfect year for a change but I suppose the Geelong triad has been extended to a quartet. Once your in your in.

Originally posted by BigCat1
I remember Dwayne Russell saying on 3AW they decided to go with Gary over Mick Turner who was keen for the role.

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I think it's only a matter of time before Mick Turner is appointed to this role, especially if he continues his good work with the Falcons and Davidson continues to under-perform.

Originally posted by ScouseCat
I think it's only a matter of time before Mick Turner is appointed to this role, especially if he continues his good work with the Falcons and Davidson continues to under-perform.

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I agree Scousey but you got to wonder why it wasn't done this year! I mean the time for change seemed to be perfect. How long will Turner wait until he gets sick of it. If I was him I'd feel pretty dirty if I was overlooked considering the clubs last few years. What is it that Davidson hangs his hat on?
I mean Wells can point to the kids he's drafted, Thompson has turned over the old side and developed new, young one while nobody can doubt Cook or Costa's work.

What is it exactly that Davidson does?

Originally posted by Sammy D
What is it exactly that Davidson does?

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**** all, and he does that poorly.

Has a job simply because he has his head up Cook's arse.

Hope you don't mind me popping in.

I have fond memories of Davidson leading the mighty North Hobart Demons to the 1987 TFL premiership. It was a breakthrough win for the Demons who had endured a drought of 13 years which was quite lengthy by their great standards. It was the first of 4 premierships in 6 years. Mark Yeates steered them to victory in the last 2.

In that 1987 premiership team were Simon Minton Connell, Brad Plain, David Noble and Darren Davies who all played AFL. There was also a guy called Steven McQueen who Geelong drafted that year but he never played for them. That was a real pity as he was a super player, was close to BOG in the big one and slotted 5 terrific goals despite playing on one leg for most of it.

I remember Davidson taking him off late in the game when it was all but won and embracing him like a Dad would a son and ruffling his hair very proudly.

What does he do?

Seriously, what is his job?

He's not considered part of the coaching staff or recruiting staff. If 'football director' what's that??

Re: What does he do?

Originally posted by BlueyH
Seriously, what is his job?

He's not considered part of the coaching staff or recruiting staff. If 'football director' what's that??

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I think his title is 'Football Operations Manager'

Re: What does he do?

Originally posted by BlueyH
Seriously, what is his job?

He's not considered part of the coaching staff or recruiting staff. If 'football director' what's that??

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He is in charge of the football department and it's 10 million dollar budget. He is the guy who oversees the appointment of all coaching staff and selection committee. He organises the player contracts and attends to any issues that the players may have outside of football (eg finding accommodation). He oversees the recruitment of new players, for example Bomber may want to go for experienced players, but it is Davidson who tells Stephen Wells what sort of policy to use in recruiting players. It's also Davidson who is ultimately responsible in attracting players to the club (eg by showing what Geelong can do for a player and what we can offer them). He also provides whatever is deemed necessary in furthering the football. He approves and organises training camps, he buys the footies used in training. He makes sure that game day preparations are in place for the team(eg transport). In short, he is hugely influential in the footballing direction that Geelong takes. He is Bomber's boss and Cook loves him becuase he runs a budget football department.