Clarkson Kicking On?

[hyperswivel]

Can anyone envisage any scenario in which Clarkson's coaching contract wont be renewed at the end of the season?
Maybe if we get the wooden spoon, but even then I can't see the board making a big shake-up like getting rid of the coach so quickly.

I think he'll be around for at least a few years to come. If the players need time to develop, then so does the coach.

 

[RustyHawk]

Can anyone envisage any scenario in which Clarkson's coaching contract wont be renewed at the end of the season?

1. Do a "MALCOM BLIGHT" - ignore the wishes, feelings or directives of the Board.

2. Leigh Matthews - tells Board he will be available next year;

3. Criticisms of style, ability, suitability etc by respected former coaches Jeans, Parkin & or Kennedy.

4. Sustained media criticisms;

5. Tell the board he himself feels the players are not responding & or other personal reasons for not wanting to continue;

6. Port Adelaide or other AFL club want him a senior coach with 3 year contract.

Just some of the few reasons I can think of why Clarkson could not, would not coach next year.

 

[Grendel]

2. Leigh Matthews - tells Board he will be available next year;

If that were to happen I reckon it'd be 'bye-bye and thanks for the clean out' to AC.

 

[cs61]

If that were to happen I reckon it'd be 'bye-bye and thanks for the clean out' to AC.

It'd be pretty harsh on AC if that were to happen, although I really don't think Lethal is leaving Brisbane anytime in the near future, you'd have to think if he wanted the job hawthorn aren't in a position to reject sir Mathews from the head position.

But I'd like to see what AC can do with our list over the next couple of years, he's obviously doing the right thing in terms of list management, planning, team rules etc. but probably needs 3 year min. to prove he can coach on match-day.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

Can anyone envisage any scenario in which Clarkson's coaching contract wont be renewed at the end of the season?
Maybe if we get the wooden spoon, but even then I can't see the board making a big shake-up like getting rid of the coach so quickly.

I think he'll be around for at least a few years to come. If the players need time to develop, then so does the coach.

Show the article. I reckon that the journo who wrote it made up a story that is 100% BS

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Clarkson is the future of Hawthorn. Any attempt to end his coaching with the Hawks at the end of 2006 would be a negative move, no matter who else is available. Clarko has what it takes to be a top coach, and if he doesn't do it with the Hawks, some other club will be the lucky ones.

 

[Mr.Likeable]

Leigh Matthews is the greatest player I have ever seen, and he did everything that could possibly have been asked of him for Hawthorn. Obviously, he can coach. Premierships at two clubs is a rare feat indeed.

At the end of 2004, we needed a fresh external face. We got one.

Alastair Clarkson has done everything right. Everything. To move him aside for a favourite son would be wrong, wrong, wrong.

Alastair Clarkson is more a part of Hawthorn than Leigh Matthews right now.

I'm sticking by our man. If we let him go to make room for Lethal, I believe another club would snap Clarko up, and we could well live to regret it.

Clarko is Hawthorn. Loyalty is a two-way thing. Let him earn his extension, then give it to him. I expect improvement this year, and I would hope Clarkson will be rewarded for another faultless year with a longer contract this time around - maybe three years.

 

[LoneStar]

If he wins at least 6 games this season - give him a 1 year extension
If he wins at least 7 or 8 games this season - give him a 2 year extension
If he wins more than 8 games this season - give him the 3 year extension
If he were to win 5 or fewer games this season - seriously evaluate the situation before re-signing him

 

[medusala]

Alastair Clarkson has done everything right. Everything. To move him aside for a favourite son would be wrong, wrong, wrong.

Alastair Clarkson is more a part of Hawthorn than Leigh Matthews right now.

What on earth could possess you to say that. Clarkson has clearly made mistakes in his coaching. I am sure he would even admit that himself. His coaching record is nothing to jump up and down about so far. Winning one more game than Schwab achieved isnt cause for handstands.

If he doesnt do better this year then his contract wont be renewed nor should it.

 

[RustyHawk]

If he wins at least 6 games this season - give him a 1 year extension
If he wins at least 7 or 8 games this season - give him a 2 year extension
If he wins more than 8 games this season - give him the 3 year extension
If he were to win 5 or fewer games this season - seriously evaluate the situation before re-signing him

Personally, you never want to get stuck in a situation of X number of games = X years extension.

Secondly I would never be happy if they offered a new, relatively untried coach like AC anything more than 2 years.

Another 3 years gets into the realm of a reign like a Peter Schwab and all the other terrible coaches we've had since Allan Jeans left us all those years ago. 5 years wasted.

I believe he should be offered another 2 years if the team is "competative"

2 years means he cannot have a comfort zone, he needs to keep inventing and reinventing ways to win. 3 years means he can afford to have 1 bad year. Hawthorn quite simply cannot.

Part of the criteria for reappointment should be based on how many "Port Adelaide's @ AAMI - 2005" we suffer. (Seriously the worst performance by a Hawthorn team in my memory)
None in 2006 would be brilliant. 4-5 PA's with 6 wins..hmmm, I wouldnt think he would / should get another year.

We are a young team. We are an inexperienced team. There's hope, there's dreams.

IMHO the main criteria should be competativeness of the team.

Example:last week against Adelaide would have been more than acceptable. We didnt win but we made them earn it. If you read their board before the match the Crows crowd had dismissed us and thinking of next week. They were talking of and expecting a 6 & 8 goal win.

I was personally proud of our young team last week. I would be happy based on that performance for AC to continue. Of course, time will tell.

 

[Lukazzz777]

Personally, you never want to get stuck in a situation of X number of games = X years extension.

Secondly I would never be happy if they offered a new, relatively untried coach like AC anything more than 2 years.

Another 3 years gets into the realm of a reign like a Peter Schwab and all the other terrible coaches we've had since Allan Jeans left us all those years ago. 5 years wasted.

I believe he should be offered another 2 years if the team is "competative"

2 years means he cannot have a comfort zone, he needs to keep inventing and reinventing ways to win. 3 years means he can afford to have 1 bad year. Hawthorn quite simply cannot.

Part of the criteria for reappointment should be based on how many "Port Adelaide's @ AAMI - 2005" we suffer. (Seriously the worst performance by a Hawthorn team in my memory)
None in 2006 would be brilliant. 4-5 PA's with 6 wins..hmmm, I wouldnt think he would / should get another year.

We are a young team. We are an inexperienced team. There's hope, there's dreams.

IMHO the main criteria should be competativeness of the team.

Example:last week against Adelaide would have been more than acceptable. We didnt win but we made them earn it. If you read their board before the match the Crows crowd had dismissed us and thinking of next week. They were talking of and expecting a 6 & 8 goal win.

I was personally proud of our young team last week. I would be happy based on that performance for AC to continue. Of course, time will tell.

If they do not renew his contract it will be a sad, sad day. He is amazing for us and we are so lucky to have him. Will be the next supercoach. I am an Inside the Huddle member and have two meetings a year chaired by Clarkson... I have seen first hand his inside strategies since day one and believe he is amazing...

 

[Grendel]

To clarify, it's not my wish to give AC the bum's-rush if Matthews were to become available, just my belief that is what would happen.

My own thoughts are along the same lines as Rusty's post. We might end up having some horrendous run with injury and win less games than we hope, but if they showed real team spirit and pride and we were getting game time into the kids because of such an injury run, how might that affect AC's chances of re-appointment?

Or we could have a dream run (Barker fit all year for example) with our best side out there the majority of the time and still only win the projected 8-10 games. Would that be enough then as our best 22 is actually capable of some fairly competitive footy.

The jury is still out with me one way or the other. I'm over the moon that we've had a serious clean out in the two seasons of drafts that have been available to us, it was long overdue for us to target high end quality kids. Yet AC is still to be judged by what he's going to do to develop those kids into top-line footballers.

Back on the Matthews scenario for instance, most acknowledge that Walls was the one that instigated getting youth into Brisbane. But none of Walls, Northey or Merrett did anything to take that next step with those kids, Matthews (as well we know) did.

There's no rush to re-appoint him either way. If results are good, I'm sure he'd be the type that would want to re-sign to continue the job he's started rather than go elsewhere for maybe a similar two-year rebuilding schtick at another club. If results are bad.. that's then something that needs to be addressed if he's got what it takes to really deliver what we're all wanting in the long-term, a premiership capable side.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Persoanlly, I don't think Leigh Matthews would ever have the desire to coach Hawthorn. I think he will finish with Brisbane Lions then go into the media. Leigh had his chance to coach the Hawks when we were looking for someone late in 2004, and he elected to stay with Brisbane. That's fine, it's his decision, but if ever he was going to return to the Hawks as a Coach the timing was perfect.

Clarko WANTS to coach Hawthorn. He is an emerging talent who IMHO is headed for a long and successful coaching career. I'd like our club to be the first to benefit.

 

[sting]

I believe he should be offered another 2 years if the team is "competative"

Fully agree

 

[Gary Shadforth]

If he wins at least 6 games this season - give him a 1 year extension
If he wins at least 7 or 8 games this season - give him a 2 year extension
If he wins more than 8 games this season - give him the 3 year extension
If he were to win 5 or fewer games this season - seriously evaluate the situation before re-signing him

That's all very fine, LoneStar, with due respect, any decision on the coaching position would be based on more than a scale like that, IMO.

 

[Gary Shadforth]

It was a courageous decision by the powers-that-be at our club to go for a rookie coach. Remember, Alastair impressed the most in job application interviews against a steady stream of competitors for the job, most of whom were former Hawks players and had coached at other clubs.

Also consider that out there in the world of 'I would like to be a senior AFL coach', presently, there is very little quality available. Other clubs contemplating a change of coach would do well at looking at prospective rookies.

 

[Mr.Likeable]

Clarkson has clearly made mistakes in his coaching. I am sure he would even admit that himself. His coaching record is nothing to jump up and down about so far. Winning one more game than Schwab achieved isnt cause for handstands. If he doesnt do better this year then his contract wont be renewed nor should it.

For the most part I think we're commenting on different things. If we're looking purely at week-to-week wins, I think we can agree that his coaching record appears poor.

By a "faultless" first year, I mean big picture stuff. In any organisation that's shooting for results in a very competitive environment, every person in an executive role is going to make a lot of little errors of judgment etc. What counts is the degree to which they "get the big old ship turned and headed in the right direction" - and then, quickly deliver the bottom-line results (in the case of footy it's week-to-week wins, then finals appearances, and ultimately, one hopes, silverware). Clarko is a long way from this kind of bottom-line success, but you won't find many pundits who think that anyone could do better with the very young group of players at Clarko's disposal right now.

The big-picture stuff is where Clarkson shines:

In fifteen months, Clarkson has turned a soft side into a hard side (a major hallmark of all successful sides for the last 20 years at least), and he has turned an ageing and questionable roster into a list packed with exciting youngsters who, generally speaking, appear to be determined to throw themselves into their challenges with gusto. This turn-around in the substance of the playing group has occurred in a very short space of time and it has been quite an extraordinary transformation.

Clarkson has also appointed a team of deputies (his assistants) that is fresh but packed with an interesting range of skills, abilities, experience and success. They're hungry and talented like the players.

And, by the "Clarkson is more Hawthorn than Matthews" remark, I mean nothing more nor less than Clarkson is on the payroll at the Mighty Fighting Hawks, and Matthews is on the payroll at another club that will try to smash us every time they come up against us.

Based on his first year, I think Clarkson looks the goods and currently I'd put money on him being Hawthorn's coach in 2009. Naturally, if the wheels fall off completely this year, I'd revise my thinking.

 

[Grendel]

Good post Mr.L.

I reckon most here would agree that we're of the opinion that we'd like to see AC remain and continue with the changes that basically, he's been the driving force behind.

But I suppose given the relative healthy starts that both Schwab, Judge and even Knights had, there's a touch of uncertainty about fully backing a bloke just of the basis of what he's done in the one season/22 games he's actually been involved in the match day coaching side of things.

Still reckon there's no need to be to eager to sign him up until after at least the majority of this season is out they way and probably even better, until after the seasons been completed.

AdelaideHawk, I agree that I don't reckon Leigh will coach us either, just the specualation/conjecture if he said he would, I reckon us (and for that matter, at least half the sides in the league) would probably sack the incumbent and appoint him as well.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

Good to see that there are more fans of AC in here.

 

[cs61]

Agree 100% Mr Likeable. At the moment the vast majority would be behind AC.

A lot can change in a season of footy, but something out of the ordinary must happen for us to go back to 2004 type footy, I just can't see it happening at this stage but its possible.

As Grendel said, absolutely no need to sign him up now incase that unforseen movement backwards occur, but I'm sure if we are looking healthy at the halfway point, and Lethal doesn't come and declare his passion to come and coach hawthorn, he would be all but certain to get a well deserved extension.