David Koch - The Chairman of the Board

[Gillian Batty]

It's everywhere you look. I'm not entirely sure it can be wrestled back. The masses have bought in to the mediocrity. The team gets cheered off the ground regardless of the result. I can take losses, but I can't possibly accept what happened yesterday and the sentiment in the buildup to the game.

We are just a bland-ass club that doesn't actually stand for anything anymore, and that is utterly devastating.

 

[edgie]

Prison Bars and Dave Granger as tackling and wrestling coach would alleviate these problems.

Winning is the only thing that will alleviate it, and I don't care if it is done in pink Knickerbockers, Port Adelaide expects to win. Port Adelaide is more than a colour scheme.

 

[Trewth]

Spot on OP.


The tragedy for me is the fact that the only thing this current club has in common with the one pictured below is the name and address.

 

[hammertime#8]

'Vanilla' is just about the perfect word to describe our season so far. Yesterday however, we were the full Maude Flanders un-flavoured non-fat ice milk.

 

[edgie]

Kane Cornes' defection to pose in "Fireman of 2016" Calendars is also indicative of the lack of commitment to the ultimate cause that has permeated the entire club this year.

Yeah, look, hindsight bring 20/20 and all that... You're right.

It was another example of Port Adelaide disrupting it's on field ability and delivery to be a good news story. A club champion setting himself up, amid growing concerns about footballers post football lives.

 

[edgie]

Spot on OP.


The tragedy for me is the fact that the only thing this current club has in common with the one pictured below is the name and address.

Which is precisely why I don't want the PBs permantly back as well. They have to be earned, with sustained, continued success, and the right attitude.

Also that open lace up is a bit sexual. Definitely too risque for KT and Kochie.

 

[KenOath]

I've said it before, the club lost it's way this year. As soon as the "Bring the Noise" brochure landed in my mailbox I knew that something wasn't right.

"We are Port Adelaide" is what drove us out of the mess, it's what will enable us to get back on top for a sustained period. More substance, less gimmicks!

 

[Macca19]

tribey

 

[edgie]

Several posters were also given a bit for ending their well wishes on the crows a week early. Perhaps some of the vanilla got in to us without realising...

 

[OneGreatClub]

Cast your mind back a few short years to when we were in the doldrums. Onfield, off-field, the works. Shitshow writ large.

While we'd all agree the crux of the problems that led to our eventual nadir of 2011-2 were obvious - club cleft in two, AAMI Stadium, dud timeslots and a lack of national exposure eroding our sponsorship value leading to the financial implosion that saw us slash'n'burn our football-related spend - there were deeper gremlins afoot.

There was a populist opinion outside Alberton that it was simply on the nose. That it was too Port Adelaide. It was arrogant. It was insular. It was no longer coming to heel. Its very identity - the 126 years of SANFL dominance that saw it promoted to the AFL in the first place - was a millstone around its neck. You'll never attract the new supporters you need to be a viable concern going forward! The OneClub merger is a mistake! Referencing Fos Williams' famous Creed is counterproductive! How dare you get the Victorians involved in our Fruchoctopian carry-on! Pull your heads in, jettison the references to your past, turn that scowl into a smile and you'll be so much more likeable.

Former State Treasurer Kevin Foley's tilt at the Presidency was to be built around this doctrine. Power FC would be the manifesto, in much the same way former CEO John James told Ashley Porter that "Port Adelaide" was "geographically constricting" while likening our future branding direction to GE and KFC. And all this off the back of the disastrous reign of coach Matthew Primus - eager to distance himself from the real or imagined hubris associated with the likes of Choco, Chad Cornes and Warren Tredrea - making 'humble' his chief buzzword, while CEO Mark Haysman was sacrificed at the altar of his own recalcitrance to be replaced by former SANFL man, Keith Thomas.

It was a real sliding doors moment for the very raison d'être of the club.

And in stepped David Koch.

Even your most hopeful Port fan had their doubts about the combination of a FIFO President from Sydney TV and high finance, let alone the 1984 Jack Oatey Medallist whose appointment as CEO had John Olsen and Leigh Whicker grinning from ear to ear. But those fears were soon allayed as KT and Kochie doubled-down on affirming our identity with the slick 'We Are Port Adelaide' campaign as the boardroom warfare over stadium deals, AFL licences and reserves teams continued in earnest.

Away from the suit and tie a formidable football department was assembled as Ken Hinkley, Alan Richardson (then Phil Walsh) and Darren Burgess arrived at Alan Scott HQ to implement the seismic shift supporters had been crying out for for years. Bigger bodies. Harder bodies. An honest gameplan. We will never ever give up. An upset Elimination Final win against Collingwood at the MCG in the first year. A demolition of Richmond at the new Adelaide Oval the next. A stunning win over Freo in Perth and then an ace away from a fairytale Grand Final appearance not 26 months since the infamous loss to GWS.

But somewhere amongst this seemingly inevitable march towards the ultimate success something changed.

The night we beat Hawthorn at the Oval a woman - non-member - threw her drink on an opposition player. The men from Glenferrie were also booed off, perhaps by those with long memories of the 'unsociable Hawks' years of dominance over us by fair means and foul. Bizarrely, Keith Thomas chose to respond to the isolated act of a lone moron and wider crowd behaviour that is a staple of football culture by lecturing his members on how to behave at the ground.

Kochie was suddenly everywhere, taking maximum plaudits for the revival while becoming a permanent fixture on our screens after seemingly every September goal. This spilled into 2015 with his ill-advised swagger immediately prior to the first bounce of our opening home fixture with the Swans, marching onto the Oval with the bewildered Fariss brothers and telling supporters to raise their scarves for NTUA before being told to jog on by a flustered goal umpire who had three middle-aged spivs cluttering up his workplace.

More isolated incidents at the Oval followed. Clarko accosted by a random chodeboat outside his hotel. A Western Bulldogs supporter claiming her autistic son was abused/bullied/fleeced in a game of high-stakes baccarat depending on which social media app she was using at the time. And how did Thomas and Koch respond to these unfortunate but isolated incidents? By playing a video on the big screens lecturing members on good behaviour. Again.

And now we have word filtering through from those who attended the Presidents Luncheon that Koch boasted he barracks for the Crows when they're not playing Port. That he hopes for a friendlier rivalry. Hackneyed appeals to the vague concept of South Australian unity. Off the back of his hopes for Port to be everyone's second team. Such platitudes even spread to the players, with Travis Boak's party line of putting the Showdown rivalry on hold culminating in yesterday's predictably soft and underwhelming team performance in contrast to the Crows fierceness from the off.

What. The. F**k.

What happened to We Are Port Adelaide?

At the beginning of the Koch reign he had the air of a prodigal son with something to prove. He'd not only resuscitate the ailing club of his childhood, but show his critics he could run a football club with just as much acumen as his other endeavours.

Now?

He seems every bit the liniment-sniffer drunk on his own bathwater that his doubters feared he would be, having converted us from the rehabilitated, feared and ruthless Port Adelaide that exists to win premierships to the worst version of Crows-Lite existing to be inoffensive, endlessly apologetic and liked.

David Koch has delivered a club whose success is now measured in crowd numbers, receipts and outsiders' smiles. The very club we feared John James and Kevin Foley would railroad us into.

100% vanilla. 0% ticker. Port Adelaide in name only.

I admire David K immensely for what he has done for our club. He KT and Ken saved it. However I agree we have become too honest too apologetic and the Crows and other clubs have taken advantage. We have become a laughing stock and it hurts. OK Koch and KT time to turn the tables. How about you highlight the incidents that occured after the game from Crows supporters. The Crows sweep these under the carpet and the SA media happily comply so the fairytale about the decemt Crows supporters continues. Other club players rough us up and that is OK ? Opposition supporters rough us up and that is OK? ThE umpires destroy us but you accept it without a whimper? I am furious.

 

[Gillian Batty]

I've said it before, the club lost it's way this year. As soon as the "Bring the Noise" brochure landed in my mailbox I knew that something wasn't right.

"We are Port Adelaide" is what drove us out of the mess, it's what will enable us to get back on top for a sustained period. More substance, less gimmicks!

But even when you strip away all of that bullshit, you're left with the very stark realisation that, as it stands, we exist to be liked and nothing else. The players don't really seem to mind disappointing the supporters and the supporters almost don't mind being disappointed at this stage. In this sense we are nothing like the Port Adelaide of eras past.

 

[manureid]

#Likes aplenty! Was getting mighty pissed at the Crows supporters around me 'largeing it up' as they ran roughshod over us for the firs 3 qtrs. I just wanted someone to show some fight, some physical presence and thought for a second Lobbe had when Jacobs went down, but then I saw the replay and the half arsed bitch slap and almost apologetic look on his face after and knew it wasn't going to happen.

 

[Pappagallo]

Out: Vanillarisation
In: Villianisation

 

[Kingfish73]

Fantastic post. We have lost the key principles that drove us in 2013-14:
a) hard work
b) responding to supporters that they will never give up
c) playing "port adelaide" football
d) earning respect
e) you earn the right to wear the jumper
f) Ken focus on football, Koch on $ and corporate interests

Whether it is KT, Koch, Ken, the skipper, other players - none of them seem to give a toss and show the pain of such a horrid year. Its your spineless one liners and spin. We have lost the foundation on how we grew out of our slump. Now we are a club that is digging a deeper hole for ourselves if we continue this complacent behaviour. If I am wrong within the inner sanctum, then please Port Adelaide, show something to your bleeding supporters. You cannot sugar coat this poor season.

Ken needs to be given everything he needs to make the changes he needs within the coaches box, players, and ensuring Koch and co leave the playing performance solely to Ken. Reduce media tree hugging. I still believe in Ken and that in my view is the greatest comfort we can rise again next few years.

 

[raptalia]

Judging from the number of likes, and I just added mine, this thread has hit a nerve with many of us. Vanilla is spot on.

 

[manureid]

As I assume 'people's' at Port peruse these threads, when tribeys OP clicks over 'Likes' at the rate of Rambo's never-ending bullets machine gun last night, I hope the message is delivered upon high.

 

[chiwigi]

I think Kochie and KT are going to receive a polite but strongly worded complaint from some members.

 

[Willsy10]

We've definitely over indulged in Vanilla flavoured humble pie. But i'm lost as to how we fix this mess.

 

[Grave Danger]

Ken & Burgo more to blame for our current plight than Kochie & KT

 

[Jim Dixon]

We've definitely over indulged in Vanilla flavoured humble pie. But i'm lost as to how we fix this mess.

It's easy. It's called "Port Adelaide Aggression".

On the field, the vanillarisation of Port Adelaide is embodied by Justin Westhoff, who is according to AFL Tables, 18 cm and 10 kg heavier then Taylor Adams. Yet last week when Westhoff was actually putting in a decent half of football for a change, Adams kicked him repeatedly in the head. Damn me, it worked too- Westhoff went right out of the game, and yesterday he put in another vanilla peformance.

Port Adelaide Aggression means that Westhoff should have got up and smashed the **** out of Adams, and then taking the game by the scruff of the neck.

Meanwhile the Port forum here howled about Adams being such a brute, when we should have applauded his raw aggression.

Now that's hard on a Port Adelaide player who has stuck by the club, but we didn't get to where we are today without being damn hard on our players. We've been far too soft as a supporter group and so we end up with guys who will go into their shell when opponents put the blowtorch on us.

Not sure how we thought we'd win a Premiership with players like this.

 

[Forzaport]

We didn't become the only traditional club outside of Victoria to join the AFL by being likeable and humble.

Even Hinkley appears tamed this year. It's almost as if he's being medicated. It really wouldn't surprise me at this point.

 

[BornPort]

As I assume 'people's' at Port peruse these threads, when tribeys OP clicks over 'Likes' at the rate of Rambo's never-ending bullets machine gun last night, I hope the message is delivered upon high.

But will they listen to us or the facebook fans who applaud every insipid game as 'brave' and clap the team off the ground no matter how lazy their effort was?

 

[Macca_1870]

Outstanding post.

 

[PJ Power]

We didn't become the only traditional club outside of Victoria to join the AFL by being likeable and humble.

Even Hinkley appears tamed this year. It's almost as if he's being medicated. It really wouldn't surprise me at this point.

Yes. Hinkley looks medicated. That is exactly how his passiveness comes across to me. He's a shell of the spirited, passionate coach I admired in the first two years. Show some passion Ken!

 

[Papa G]

The highlight of my year will be if one of our players puts any of Hodge, Mitchell or Lewis properly on their arse in a couple of weeks time.