Have The Saints made a coaching mistake?

della

Team Captain
Joined
Nov 24, 2001
Posts
493
Likes
2
Location
Melb - Eastern
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Geelong
#26
caroline Wilson would of done a better job then Thomas, if the sacking of Blight was the biggest and dumbest mistake the club or Thomas ever made letting this man thomas be in charge of every ruddy department at the club and being infcharge of one of the best lists of players i have seen in a long time and giving it no chance i just cant believe for a second anyone person who follows the Saints could say he did a good job, he didnt care about Stkilda and he prob cared as much as Blighty did earlier but he sucked u guys into thinking it was al about the club when it was all about 1 mill loans, lavish lifestyles and being a control freak, ask Hamill what happ when blighty was sacked and how he felt when Thomas said we r not risking u in 2005 prem final against Syd when he begged to play knowing he was fine unlike in 2004 when he said i don't feel i can get thru a game and pulled himself out of that final, Thomas thinks he knows it all and hes comments on butters, Pavlich etc the last week or so just make me laugh more on how a joke like him ever got to coach at AFL level or coach a team that was as talented as that and com[pletly stuff it up, grant thomas, You were wrong!~
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

jj1978

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
May 11, 2006
Posts
5,575
Likes
3,140
Location
Melbourne
AFL Club
Carlton
#27
Don't think they made a coaching mistake as it will take probably till next season to see the fruits of Lyon's labour. But you will need to kull a bit of your list come end of year and do some trading to get a player or two that suits Lyon.

I think a reason for the downfall may be due to a misunderstanding between players and coach. When Pagan came on board at Carlton we had quite a few players that did not see eye to eye with what Pagan preached. Parkin and Brittain gave the players more control of their destiny and game style than Pagan would and this did not gel with a lot of the more senior players who got used to Parko and Britts style.

The same could be happening at StKilda. I think Lyon is trying to build a more disciplined, game-plan-centric style whereas Thomas's style was a bit more ad-hoc suited to the moment, relying on players self-endeavour to bring about a win.

In relation to Blight's sacking, from an outside perspective and with Thomas's friendship with Butterr's at that time... was Thomas a factor in Blights sacking? Did Thomas want that job so much he put a few words in Butterr's ear, and Butterr's listened to his mate?
 

Booms

Senior List
Joined
Aug 19, 2006
Posts
193
Likes
0
Location
FTG
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Aston Villa, Storm, NBA
#28
Have to say that i too believe the sacking of Blight was far too premature. The man had a shocking list when he took over....he knew that....finished last...got Kosi and Riewoldt....got Hamill and Gehrig....geez i just think if they hadve given him another year the saints may have been in a hell of a better position today. Blight was a freak of a man...as a player and as a coach....watson, thomas now have shotty records and as for lyon well i dont know wat circus tricks he was doing in the interview for this job but they must of been impressive to get him this gig - he has never impressed me as an assistant and not now as the senior coach. Good luck saints.....i also think unfortunately you may have seen your best opportunity at a flag go down the drain..hope im wrong but gee there needs to be some serious cleaning up done down at moorabbin ...or wherever...as a richmond supporter i feel the pain!
 

Red Gum

All Australian
Joined
May 3, 2006
Posts
785
Likes
12
Location
Brunswick
AFL Club
St Kilda
#30
They did when they sacked Stan Alves.

Lyon will probably be an improvement on Thomas but he needs to have a squad and a team he's comfortable with. Right now he's coaching his gameplan to GT's player group. Give him a chance at the end of the year in the trade and draft market and he'll probably get a team he can mould better.
 

mad-saint-guy

Premiership Player
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Posts
3,195
Likes
1,824
Location
Toronto, ON
AFL Club
St Kilda
#31
I don't know if we would have won a flag under Thomas, but I do think that he was sacked a a terrible time.

The young core of the team (Roo, Kosi, Ball, Dal, Goose, X, Chips, Gram, Joey, BJ) have never played anything but attacking, fast, free-flowing footy. They've had about 5-6 years of leanring to perfect that style, and now Lyon is trying to get them playing Sydney's game plan in the space of a few months.

We will not win the flag this year and probably not next year either, but I think that with GT we would have had a genuine chance. 2006-2010 was always supposed to be our golden era, with our core all 150+ gamers and with plenty of finals experience.

The new game plan will take at least a couple of years to perfect.

I think that GT either should have been given until 2009 to deliver a flag or sacked after 2003 to let a better tactical coach guide us through the golden era. Not sacked in 2006 when the playing group are in the middle of having a serious crack at a flag with a game plan that has been effective for 3 years.

So I really have no idea whether another coach could have/will delivered a flag when GT couldn't, but I think that the timing of the sacking couldn't have been worse. Most of our core should be entering their prime playing a brand of footy they are comfortable with and suited to. Ball, Hayes, Dal Santo and Riewoldt are not playing as well as they were in 2004, and if they aren't playing close to their best then we will not be successful.
 
Top Bottom