Is Buckley A Good Coach?

[jathanas]

The senior coach is an important club figure and a legitimate topic of discussion. It's fair to do so and everyone has a right to express their view.

The mod team observed that the thread was dominated by a few protagonists and their points were repeated i.e. 8 years of regression vs marked improvement in 17,18 etc Pretty much everyone with a strong opinion has already expressed it here.

What further degraded discussion was the simplistic "sack FIGJAM" or "he's a legend" type posts.

This thread will remain open. If your view has slightly shifted or you have new thoughts please share. In an effort to encourage quality discussion repetitive statements and circular arguments will from now on be deleted as will silly posts suggesting that we sack a coach on match-day.

FYI Gone Critical Anzacday Maggie5

 

[Robroy22]

Were we? I've been a big supporter of ditching Buckley for nearly a decade now.... I'm an unconditional supporter for clarko...

Too bad....so's Jeff....lol

 

[Markfs]

Too bad....so's Jeff....lol

clarko might like the certainty of a contract made with sane people...

 

[Linda_Lovelace]

This is such a myth yet it is trotted out every time a bash Bucks thread comes up. We were never going to win another flag with that list. Do you seriously believe we would have been challenging Hawthorn in their golden run of flags with the remnants of our 2010 side? We would have played finals for a few more years without getting near the GF. Then we would have dropped off the edge of a big cliff. Malthouse just wrote about this exact approach in his article in yesterday's paper. He said the yearafter we lost the second gf in 2004 he went to the board and said we would have to start again if we wanted to be contenders, so he shredded the list.
Unthinkable! The list that just saw us play in two consecutive grand finals and almost beat the unbeatable Lions not good enough to take us forward? Correct.

I am not going back over the succession which is behind what you discuss. Suffice to say, MM should have been left to run the list into the ground and then hand it over for a clean slate. So I agree with you but the timing was out.

 

[jathanas]

Were we? I've been a big supporter of ditching Buckley for nearly a decade now.... I'm an unconditional supporter for clarko...

I've known Clarko was the man for Collingwood since he was beating up smaller kids in kindergarden.

 

[TW Sherrin]

every now and them there is a glimpse of how creative Bucks can be as a game day coach. the hawthorn game. playing keepings off richmond and sydney a few years back also good examples.

 

[Vicky Park]

I've known Clarko was the man for Collingwood since he was beating up smaller kids in kindergarden.

I especially admire Clarko’s wall punching skills. That man can do some damage to a plaster board partition.

 

[Vicky Park]

Were we? I've been a big supporter of ditching Buckley for nearly a decade now.... I'm an unconditional supporter for clarko...

I thought you wanted Mick back. Or was that before you got attached to Clarko? If your aim is to unseat Bucks - did you suggest moving him to admin? - then does it really matter who replaces him. It’s only the senior coaching position.

 

[Maggie5]

The strength of a club is the youth or players coming up. Which players has Hawthorn developed since the days of Mitchell & Co.?

He certainly has gotten the best out of recycled players early on, not so much in the last couple of years.

Will be interesting to see how this year plays out.

 

[jathanas]

The strength of a club is the youth or players coming up. Which players has Hawthorn developed since the days of Mitchell & Co.?

He certainly has gotten the best out of recycled players early on, not so much in the last couple of years.

Will be interesting to see how this year plays out.

Kennett vocalising his support tells me that Clarko is dead man walking.

Agreed Maggie, Hawthorn's recruiting policy of bringing in mature talent hasn't worked as well as it did with Lake and Gibson.

 

[Robroy22]

Hawks haven't been the same since Cyril left.

 

[Markfs]

I thought you wanted Mick back. Or was that before you got attached to Clarko? If your aim is to unseat Bucks - did you suggest moving him to admin? - then does it really matter who replaces him. It’s only the senior coaching position.

well there's always the unfinished business of returning mick to his rightful position.....but maybe the master has moved on. He might demand conditions on his return - to reinstate buckley as assistant coach and have him sit in the corner. ...such conditions may be too much..... hence i have put clarko forward as an alternative.

 

[Markfs]

Kennett vocalising his support tells me that Clarko is dead man walking.

yes.....normally jeff is rubbishing clarko and says that he has a definite use by date. His support might be a sign

 

[jathanas]

well there's always the unfinished business of returning mick to his rightful position.....but maybe the master has moved on. He might demand conditions on his return - to reinstate buckley as assistant coach and have him sit in the corner. ...such conditions may be too much..... hence i have put clarko forward as an alternative.

I fear you're right. We've lost Mick for good because he has transcended football. That is a mugs game for mere mortals. He, much like Napoleon in the end, no longer fights in the trenches and has become a student of human nature that finds inspiration in poetry and oriental basketweaving.

 

[Robroy22]

yes.....normally jeff is rubbishing clarko and says that he has a definite use by date. His support might be a sign

"The full support of the board"???

 

[Kappa]

Hawks haven't been the same since Cyril left.

Or.. Roughhead... Mitchell.. Hodge..Lewis...Gibson..Birchall

 

[Apples]

He is Cursed with Injury Issues ever since he Took Over.

Never can get the best 22 Fit

I don't think you can have it both ways Dave. You're critical of his coaching and yet agree that he's been cursed by injuries; with which, by the way, I agree.
He's had to devise a coaching plan that encompasses our shortcomings. He hasn't had a dominant key forward during his tenure. He has developed a game plan based on supreme defence and a team-defence mindset.

I think recently he has tried to inject youth. After the GWS game, when it seemed to me that we couldn't win a flag with current personnel, he brought in Kelly, Atu and Quaynor. I think this indicated that he saw the deficiencies in the game plan and tried to rectify them. At the end of 2018, he identified a shallow midfield and recruited Beams. Bad luck that one.

I don't think he would be dictating every move either. He has a team of coaches offering advice, but unless we find a key forward capable of taking marks at the end of games, he will fall short.

Of course, having said all that, we currently sit third on the ladder, having played most of the good teams. That's higher than almost every pundit predicted.
We will be contending again this year, but will fall short again I suspect. The last three years have shown up the same deficiencies.

 

[HeadInTheSand]

He's had to devise a coaching plan that encompasses our shortcomings. He hasn't had a dominant key forward during his tenure. He has developed a game plan based on supreme defence and a team-defence mindset.

Travis Cloke says hello.

Figgy has had 9 years in charge. That's plenty of time to trade/draft the players you want. The club blew four first round draft picks on two midfielders, FFS.

The time for excuses is over. Man up or shut up. There's never been a coach in the past 70 years who has taken ten years to win a flag. If it was going to happen, it would have by now.

 

[jonmacTrag]

Travis Cloke says hello.

Figgy has had 9 years in charge. That's plenty of time to trade/draft the players you want. The club blew four first round draft picks on two midfielders, FFS.

The time for excuses is over. Man up or shut up. There's never been a coach in the past 70 years who has taken ten years to win a flag. If it was going to happen, it would have by now.

Head in the sand - such an apt moniker FMD LOL

 

[Markfs]

I think we need to take a deep breath and just concentrate on the things that we all share. I know that even those who support buckley as the coach don't like him. I think it's a given that we've never really found a connection with him since he came to us from brisbane. We all recognise that he was a good footballer but there's a reason we have a medal named after alan didak and he never makes the list of our favourite players.

So some of us have ignored that and have said that they dont care if thy dont like him, they want him to stay as coach. I applaude their loyalty. I think all of us who want to kick buckley out agree with me, even though they wouldnt admit it.

But we have to think about the players turning up each day to be coached by a man who thinks he is the centre of the universe. I wont refer to the figjam reference here because I think it's too unpleasant.

I think we need to band together and concentrate on the things that bind us. We need to present a united front and then, and only then, will we be able to recruit Clarko as our coach.

 

[Vicky Park]

I think we need to take a deep breath and just concentrate on the things that we all share. I know that even those who support buckley as the coach don't like him. I think it's a given that we've never really found a connection with him since he came to us from brisbane. We all recognise that he was a good footballer but there's a reason we have a medal named after alan didak and he never makes the list of our favourite players.

So some of us have ignored that and have said that they dont care if thy dont like him, they want him to stay as coach. I applaude their loyalty. I think all of us who want to kick buckley out agree with me, even though they wouldnt admit it.

But we have to think about the players turning up each day to be coached by a man who thinks he is the centre of the universe. I wont refer to the figjam reference here because I think it's too unpleasant.

I think we need to band together and concentrate on the things that bind us. We need to present a united front and then, and only then, will we be able to recruit Clarko as our coach.

A call to arms! I’m inspired!

Mark, I think you should lead us out of the wilderness, this desert of reaching preliminary finals and a grand final. We’ve been floundering for too long.

 

[sr36]

The strength of a club is the youth or players coming up. Which players has Hawthorn developed since the days of Mitchell & Co.?

He certainly has gotten the best out of recycled players early on, not so much in the last couple of years.

Will be interesting to see how this year plays out.

It's looking pretty crap, but I respect them for having had a crack. Rather than following what everyone else was doing and bottoming out or simply topping up through trades like Geelong and Sydney and Cats, they looked to do a complete rebuild through trade. They've now got themselves a list of blokes who were really highly rated draftees at a similar age to the guys who they three peted with. I think it was worth a shot. It likes like failing miserably though and it's back to the drawing board.

In retrospect, we did it really well. We rebuilt beautifully and quickly through a combination of draft and trading in youth and positioned ourselves for a good run at the pointy end. I reckon anyone who looks at an individual crap choice or trade we've done and harps on about it, has issues with seeing the big picture.

 

[Markfs]

A call to arms! I’m inspired!

Mark, I think you should lead us out of the wilderness, this desert of reaching preliminary finals and a grand final. We’ve been floundering for too long.

i am merely a servant of the club. I have no ego. Ego is a dirty word. Don't you believe what you've seen or you've heard.

 

[Vicky Park]

i am merely a servant of the club. I have no ego. Ego is a dirty word. Don't you believe what you've seen or you've heard.

I think Balwyn’s calling.

 

[Robroy22]

Hope its not a Horror Movie

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Head in the sand - such an apt moniker FMD LOL

Not really. He is speaking the truth.