Then why is he not rebuilding/resetting? Our team is consistently around the 8th or 9th most experienced and we have lost to sides this season who are less experienced than us. If he has a licence to rebuild then why is he not doing it?
There is no evidence of this considering that our last build under this coach was a failure, without a single top 4 H&A finish.
No evidence that he's learning from his mistakes either. So far this season is almost a mirror image of 2013.
I've seen this myth posited by a few people who are pleased with the way we're heading. And it is a myth. Also a straw man response to many well reasoned arguments about our selection.
Very few people are suggesting that we field a team with 10 or 11 18/19 year olds. Most reasonable people simply just want to see old, underperforming players replaced with younger guys who are in good form in the VFL or in the pre-season. It would make us better in the short term, less experienced and would also contribute to the rebuild/reset.
How exactly will replacing, say, Swallow, Thomas, and Thompson with a combination of Clarke, Anderson, Wagner, Mountford and Durdin turn our competitive losses into 100 point smashings? I'll give you a hint, it wouldn't. In fact, it might even make us a better side in the short term, turning a few of those close losses into wins, as well as undeniably making us better in the long term.
No it's not the best case scenario, we're persisting with old players who aren't contributing now and have no place in our future. If they were still alright now despite having little chance of being part of our future success then I don't have a problem with them being selected. ie. Gibson. It's not the best case scenario to pay lip service to a rebuild by giving debutantes one game then casting them to the curb, imploring they work on their deficiencies in the VFL while older players are given continued leeway to fix their limitations in the seniors.
Agreed, he should be judged on his record in the last 18 matches, which sits at 3 wins, his deplorable record in close matches, and his inability to hold on to 5 goal leads.
He should be judged on his garbage rhetoric where he blames a rookie team, despite the side he picks being nothing of the sort.
He should be judged on his last 8 years where he has had plenty of time to build a list yet couldn't coach a team to be consistently good enough throughout the Home and Away season to finish in a top 4 position and give us a genuine shot at a flag, despite finals performances demonstrating that the talent on the list was clearly there.