Delisted GM, Football - Dan Richardson - Club confirms, has been sacked, 29/10

May 6, 2007
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Can't say i'm surprised or disappointed.

GM of dept that has really underperformed the last 3 years.
Fingerprints on the Shiel & Daniher trade decisions.

chalk one up for Brasher. This is the level of accountability i like to see.
Dodoro surely on thin ice this trade period.

This is the thing that bothers e.

Dodoro manages to bring in Caldwell, Dunkley, Wright and say a Logan McDonald.

Caldwell turns into Luke Dunstan (not a top end mid like he first showed), Dunkley turns into Dylan Shiel 2.0 ad Wright is paid out a year out from his contract up. Logan McDonad becomes more Sam Weidemann than Harry McKay.

Who is to blame?


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Is Richo contracted or might this have simply been an opportune time to change direction rather than signing a new contract?
No. Not contracted. Club has decided not to offer him a new contract.
 
This is the thing that bothers e.

Dodoro manages to bring in Caldwell, Dunkley, Wright and say a Logan McDonald.

Caldwell turns into Luke Dunstan (not a top end mid like he first showed), Dunkley turns into Dylan Shiel 2.0 ad Wright is paid out a year out from his contract up. Logan McDonad becomes more Sam Weidemann than Harry McKay.

Who is to blame?


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Jeez that is glass empty :p
I have confidence in Shiel bouncing back to his 2019 form.
 
Fair enough, obviously didn’t have the final day back then though...
Obviously.

But one day we'll start looking at the people behind the appointments rather than just the appointments themselves.
 
Obviously.

But one day we'll start looking at the people behind the appointments rather than just the appointments themselves.
X Campbell
 
Mar 17, 2018
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Obviously.

But one day we'll start looking at the people behind the appointments rather than just the appointments themselves.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I guess we’ll find out if was the result of a proper review or just a reactionary scape goat type thing
 
Sep 22, 2011
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This is the thing that bothers e.

Dodoro manages to bring in Caldwell, Dunkley, Wright and say a Logan McDonald.

Caldwell turns into Luke Dunstan (not a top end mid like he first showed), Dunkley turns into Dylan Shiel 2.0 ad Wright is paid out a year out from his contract up. Logan McDonad becomes more Sam Weidemann than Harry McKay.

Who is to blame?


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It’s gotta be player development. It’s appalling. As people always say, how many players has Essendon actually drafted and then developed into stars in the last 15 years? Watson, Hurley, Daniher? Hooker, though he had a pretty short peak? Merrett? There’s far more misses than hits. The recruiters can’t be getting them all wrong. They are talented kids, especially those taken in the first round.

Ryder? Finally became a gun ruck after we ****ed him around for years and years at CHB and CHF.

Dempsey? Just flashy, never became consistent

Jetta? Same

Myers? Don’t even get us started

Melksham? Never really became anything

Carlisle? Looked a star defender and then we had him up forward and in ruck

Kavanagh? Who?

Langford? Still a bit of a maybe.

Parish?

Francis?

McGrath looks good.

A few poor picks but these are all Top 20 selections. They can’t all be bad
 
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I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. I guess we’ll find out if was the result of a proper review or just a reactionary scape goat type thing
Doesn't sound like Essendon
 
This is the thing that bothers e.

Dodoro manages to bring in Caldwell, Dunkley, Wright and say a Logan McDonald.

Caldwell turns into Luke Dunstan (not a top end mid like he first showed), Dunkley turns into Dylan Shiel 2.0 ad Wright is paid out a year out from his contract up. Logan McDonad becomes more Sam Weidemann than Harry McKay.

Who is to blame?
probably the GM of football we'll appoint in the next week or so.
 
Sep 22, 2014
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AFL 2020: Essendon Bombers part way with head of football Dan Richardson

Richardson is the first victim in a sweeping review implemented by new president Paul Brasher.

The former TLA player agent joined Essendon after a stint as football boss at Richmond.

He was one of several Tigers figures poached by the Bombers, which also included new senior coach Ben Rutten and senior assistant Blake Caracella.

The Bombers, who have not won a final since 2004, endured another disastrous on-field season and it continued off it with three star players – Joe Daniher, Orazio Fantasia, Adam Saad – walking out on the club.

The club said on Wednesday it would undergo a “targeted and thorough search” for Richardson’s replacement.

Richardson made a brief comment on an Essendon statement issued on Wednesday afternoon.

“I believe the current coaches and football staff that have been brought into the club over the last three years puts this football program on the right path for future success and I wish them all the best,” Richardson said.

Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell paid tribute to Richardson for “playing an important role in the development of our senior coach Ben Rutten.”

“The decision to not offer Dan a new contract was made following ongoing discussions about football performance and the future direction of our football program, and we believe now is the right time to make this change in leadership,” Campbell said.

“We wish Dan nothing but the best for the future and thank him for his contribution since joining the club at the end of the 2017 season.”
 
RoCo's take seems to be largely about Richardson being a symptom of Campbell's involvement in the footy department.

After three years in the job, Richardson had begun to challenge Campbell a lot more on the direction the football side of the operation was taking. He’d also played a key role in the recent re-signings of some of the club’s young guns. And the alignment of Richardson and Rutten was becoming obvious.

The obvious elephant in the room here now, though, in terms of Brasher’s review, is Campbell. Is Richardson’s removal a precursor to a similar fate for him? Or alternately, does it shore up his position with the new president and the Essendon board, Richardson just a sacrificial lamb in much the manner assistant coach Mark Neeld became in 2018?

Why isn’t Campbell on shakier ground? Well, until this year’s drastic drop in membership, he’d delivered impressive results on the financial front. He’d soldiered on in the chief executive role after being thrown in at the deep end by former president Paul Little during the supplements saga.

And he plays the political game adeptly, having been able to generally have the club board acquiesce to his wishes. Essendon as a club has also played the political game expertly of late, further manipulating its constitution to leave a board of largely hand-picked directors.

:cautiousv1::cautiousv1::cautiousv1:

And then this interesting bit:
What looms as a pivotal moment in the miserable past three years for the Bombers after some signs of life in 2017 is the removal of then football manager Rob Kerr for Richardson.

Kerr, who had already worked at Essendon previously, was a strong voice who challenged players and his chief executive alike. The Bombers in 2017 had clear direction on the field. It’s been palpably lacking since, along with accumulating evidence that the tail was wagging the dog far too frequently.
Didn't he go to be with his family in Queensland after only accepting the Essendon gig on a short-term basis?



 
Sounds like a mess ...is Campbell next?

Campbell was until two weeks ago negotiating a new three-year contract extension with Richardson, who was coming out of contract. It is a remarkable jump from a three-year extension to sacked in two weeks.

 
Sounds like a mess ...is Campbell next?



AH!

"The decision appears to have been timed, in part at least, to ensure any payout he receives is made before the end of the football financial year, which ends on Friday. Although Richardson was coming out of contract he will receive some form of payout.

The AFL ruled that in this COVID-19 year when clubs were instructed to shed staff, any redundancy or termination payouts would not be included in the soft cap this year."

Bingo.
 
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