It's your show now

[Jasper84]

There have been an awful lot of posts criticising pretty much all aspects of the club at the moment. So I thought we could do with a thread giving people the opportunity to explain how they would have run the club.

This is the scenario:

You are in the job from the day after the 2011 Grand Final. I have chosen this point as it seems to be the sliding doors moment that polarises most opinions. The club is yours for the next 3 years.

You have to be honest, mistakes and all. No Captain Hindsight action here, BF users have a great memory and will call you out if you backflip on previous posts.

You have to be prepared to have your actions questioned by other users. No personal digs, just a robust discussion.


Everybody seems to know what is best for the club and has no issues in venting their frustration on here. It is time to stand by your convictions and to show that you clearly could have done things better!

 

[Captivating]

Back at 2011, I would have told Buckley that the Club would continue with MM as coach and give him the option of staying as a senior assistant but wouldn't interfere if he wanted to take on the head coach role at another club.

I would then wait and see how 2012 plays out. If we start going backwards, wait until the end of 2013 and then put together a panel to select the best coach to take the team to its next premiership. Given who was available, it could have been Paul Roos or Bomber Thomson as experienced coaches or maybe a rookie coach, like Burns if Buckley had secured a coaching position elsewhere.

 

[jmac70]

If I was in the job from the day after the 2011 I would have honoured the agreed contracts. If I was in the job at the start of the 2009 season I would have resigned Mick without the succession plan. I would have offered Bucks an assistant coach job but without the promise of becoming senior coach.

 

[Brucebucklee]

Back at 2011, I would have told Buckley that the Club would continue with MM as coach and give him the option of staying as a senior assistant but wouldn't interfere if he wanted to take on the head coach role at another club.

According to Gary Pert the only reason we won the 2010 flag was because that deal put a rocket up the old mans arse, so then we renege on that deal to keep the lazy old fart???

 

[mattys123]

I think with Buckley coming in at the end of season 2011, I would have started a total rebuild from day one, of every aspect of the footballing department, on and off field. We wasted two years where we had to "Un-Mick" the place because of those who were still utterly loyal to Mick and no one else.

Buttifant, Swann (was he still there?), Thomas, Didak, Shaw, Johnson etc would all have been traded or delisted, and I would have started trading for draft picks right there.

There's little doubt we needed a rebuild at that time, our next premiership wasn't going to be a short build.

The other thing we never did was put a mentor in place to assist Bucks. Yes we bought Eade in but his role has never really been that hands on, I would have bought a Sheedy or Leigh Matthews type into the club as a pure mentor Bucks, he was an inexperienced coach even in terms of inexperienced coaches.

We also needed to do something different, not sure what that was, but we started the altitude training craze, surely we had to find the next one too.

 

[Captivating]

According to Gary Pert the only reason we won the 2010 flag was because that deal put a rocket up the old mans arse, so then we renege on that deal to keep the lazy old fart???

At the time, I would have tried for a premiership in 2012 knowing we were probably 2 injuries away from a flag in 2011. That's my genuine, no hindsight opinion. Deals in sports are not worth the paper they're printed on, it all about trying to win the ultimate prize.

 

[dubber]

Yep i agree with Matty.. Bucks should have cleaned the whole place out and brought in his own crew from day one. This whole two years of ripping out bits & pieces have made us supporters a bit disillusioned with the club.

 

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

2012, I wouldn't have changed much.
2013, I would not bring in Q Lynch and Clinton Young as free agents. I would have gone hard for Goddard. I would not have let Chris Dawes walk out, but I would have allowed Wellingham to go home. If Dawes had to go, I would have seriously looked into nabbing Riewoldt.
2014, I would allow Daisy to leave if he wanted to so badly. I would not have let Shaw go. With the Daisy money I would have gone for Dal Santo or Montagna.

Right now I feel like Dawes, Shaw and one of Dal Santo or Goddard could really be useful to us.

In looking over our list, now that Swan has dropped in output, who exacty is getting all our money? Surely we would have money to fit in a guy like Dal Santo or Montagna or Goddard?

My one reservation through this whole period is, we weren't too far away. We had injuries at bad times and couldn't get our best team on the park. But instead of reloading, we went to a mini rebuild, which I believe was the wrong way to go. Kennedy, Broomhead and Grundy, though they may help us in 4-5 years, wont help us win a premiership with Pendles, Swan and Cloke. It's obviously the same with Adams and Shaw.

We have been guilty of having a poor understanding of what it takes to win a flag (good injury run) and too fixated on wanting change.

 

[TradeDraft]

I think with Buckley coming in at the end of season 2011, I would have started a total rebuild from day one, of every aspect of the footballing department, on and off field. We wasted two years where we had to "Un-Mick" the place because of those who were still utterly loyal to Mick and no one else.

Buttifant, Swann (was he still there?), Thomas, Didak, Shaw, Johnson etc would all have been traded or delisted, and I would have started trading for draft picks right there.

There's little doubt we needed a rebuild at that time, our next premiership wasn't going to be a short build.

The other thing we never did was put a mentor in place to assist Bucks. Yes we bought Eade in but his role has never really been that hands on, I would have bought a Sheedy or Leigh Matthews type into the club as a pure mentor Bucks, he was an inexperienced coach even in terms of inexperienced coaches.

We also needed to do something different, not sure what that was, but we started the altitude training craze, surely we had to find the next one too.

So we should almost Gut the Club of the Old Mick People that are still at at the Club and Bucks can just bring in People he Want?

 

[Chameleon75]

So we should almost Gut the Club of the Old Mick People that are still at at the Club and Bucks can just bring in People he Want?

but we were due for a rebuild apparently

http://m.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/best-magpies-side-in-70-years-barassi-20100923-15o7q.html

 

[TradeDraft]

but we were due for a rebuild apparently

http://m.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/best-magpies-side-in-70-years-barassi-20100923-15o7q.html

Then MM how he left like a Little Kid who does not got his way. Stuffed Collingwood Right Up

 

[Markfs]

Oversee the 2012 premiership win...go on a short break....win another premiership in 2013....

 

[Jasper84]

Then MM how he left like a Little Kid who does not got his way. Stuffed Collingwood Right Up

The thread is what you would have done. There is plenty of coach bashing threads to vent in.

 

[doodles98]

I would never have let Brad Dick go... that was the beginning of the end.

 

[THATSGOLD]

Half way through 2011 I would've said Mick this is your team keep coaching it well no distractions now lets get that flag.
Nathan Buckley we need you, you can coach the VFL team, we will pay you extremely well.
Buckley didn't need to take over Malthouse it's that simple Eddie wanted his cake and to eat it.
It was always going to end in tears for Buckley but we didn't need to ruin a potential dynasty.

 

[ksardog]

According to Gary Pert the only reason we won the 2010 flag was because that deal put a rocket up the old mans arse, so then we renege on that deal to keep the lazy old fart???

Hahaha what a conveniant story line from Perty. I guess losing by 5 points in prelim in 2007, then getting sidebottom and beams in the draft and an available ruckman at the time in jolly and midfielder luke ball didnt help.

It was all because his contract was ending, do u honestly believe that?

 

[FAIRANDBALANCED]

I think with Buckley coming in at the end of season 2011, I would have started a total rebuild from day one, of every aspect of the footballing department, on and off field. We wasted two years where we had to "Un-Mick" the place because of those who were still utterly loyal to Mick and no one else.

Buttifant, Swann (was he still there?), Thomas, Didak, Shaw, Johnson etc would all have been traded or delisted, and I would have started trading for draft picks right there.

There's little doubt we needed a rebuild at that time, our next premiership wasn't going to be a short build.

The other thing we never did was put a mentor in place to assist Bucks. Yes we bought Eade in but his role has never really been that hands on, I would have bought a Sheedy or Leigh Matthews type into the club as a pure mentor Bucks, he was an inexperienced coach even in terms of inexperienced coaches.

We also needed to do something different, not sure what that was, but we started the altitude training craze, surely we had to find the next one too.

Really like a lot of the things you have to say, but this is absolute nonsense. If I had come and told you after the GF loss to Geelong that we were gonna get rid of Daisy, Shaw and Buttifant, you would have called me insane. We were premiership favs at the start of 2012.

 

[didaksrightfoot]

Once Mick made it clear he wasn't going to stick with his role as director of coaching - I would've put a lot of effort in trying to get someone with a better pedigree than Eade to be hands on in that role. (Leigh Matthews, or Paul Roos, if he wasn't coaching at that point) - I never thought of Eade as a great coach.

We also could've been better off going after experienced assistant coaches at succesful clubs to support Bucks - only problem being, I don't know if anyone would make that jump to an assistant to a rookie coach, and if they did, might have an eye to nab the top job themselves.

Playing group-wise, the only real qualm I have is not keeping Leon for another year or two. Other than that there's not really a personel decision that I disagree with.
---

If anything, maybe instilling something in the players about how hard it is to stay near the top and how much work we needed to do to stay a good side.

 

[mattys123]

Really like a lot of the things you have to say, but this is absolute nonsense. If I had come and told you after the GF loss to Geelong that we were gonna get rid of Daisy, Shaw and Buttifant, you would have called me insane. We were premiership favs at the start of 2012.

And we were flag favourites at the start of 04 probably too, how'd that work out?

2011 was our peak, we were going downhill after that whether you like it or not, and yes it would have been extreme but it would have been the quickest way to come back strong. Instead we've now wasted 3 seasons.

 

[rose jam]

Honestly, I wouldn't change much at all, except I would have let Buttifant go at the end of 2011. I think the end of 2011 showed we needed a big change to come through and the first thing to do to really freshen through the group was change the fitness area because that is what the players are exposed to the most and probably would see us in a much better state now.

 

[Scodog10]

Not a bad concept for a thread. It's really difficult not to have a bit of a hindsight look at it, but given full control Pert is out the door.

The holy triumverent of McGuire, Buckley and Pert has never really had me on board because I get the feeling that if two of them think one way the third is not going to question them. That doesn't mean that every decision could/ should be challenged it just means that we no longer have any voices saying "hang on, are we sure we should be taking the club down this path" and with one needing to go Pert is clearly the weakest link, IMO. Losing Walsh in such baffling circumstances certainly didn't help in this regard

From there I'm somewhat comfortable with the path we've taken. Except I would have moved Rendell into Hine's role, Hine into Eade's role and allowed Eade to seek greener pastures. It's clear that whenever a player is drafted to the club he always mentions the lines of communication that Hine has built up with them and I think that transition to managing contracts and heading the football department was the next logical move for him. Rendell's record at Adelaide speaks for itself and I have no doubt he played a role in us raiding SA for the first time in a decade in 2012. Finally I'm just not big on Eade as head of football he just comes across a career coach...

Keeping the status quo wasn't going to result in another flag tilt so regeneration was required and I'm not to critical of other moves we've made. For instance MM being in charge in 2012 wasn't going to see us win a premiership, the 5 knee reco's saw to that. 2013 again saw injury issues and players losing what they once had (Krak, Dids and Jolly). If anyone suggests we were ever a chance in 2014 I'll laugh in their face. The net result is we're left with a team in transition and with the oldest coach in the league which I don't think would have been a recipe for success.

On a side note I never really bought into the "dynasty" talk we were a workmanlike side with a strategic edge that was slowly picked apart. The same blokes that took us all the way 4 years ago are the ones completely devoid of any skill currently (Lumumba, Blair, Toovey, Brown, Ball, Maxwell, Swan and Goldsack to name a few). It's like Jeans' sausages comment there's a number of ways to cook them you can curry them, fry them, BBQ them, but at the end of the day they're just sausages. It's why I can never buy into the "where's our gameplan" comments in here! You can have the best game plan in history, but if the players can't execute basic skills you're wasting your time!!

I guess with all that being said from this point on it's less about where we've come from, but more about where we need to get to and that has to start with the playing group and match committee. Both need to respond strongly next time we play (I'm talking the MC making 5+ changes and the playing group hitting Adelaide as hard as they hit us earlier this year) and with that being the requirement should it not be met I wouldn't begrudge anyone that turned their back on the club for a period if they haven't already done so...

 

[Krueger]

I think with Buckley coming in at the end of season 2011, I would have started a total rebuild from day one, of every aspect of the footballing department, on and off field. We wasted two years where we had to "Un-Mick" the place because of those who were still utterly loyal to Mick and no one else.

Buttifant, Swann (was he still there?), Thomas, Didak, Shaw, Johnson etc would all have been traded or delisted, and I would have started trading for draft picks right there.

There's little doubt we needed a rebuild at that time, our next premiership wasn't going to be a short build.

The other thing we never did was put a mentor in place to assist Bucks. Yes we bought Eade in but his role has never really been that hands on, I would have bought a Sheedy or Leigh Matthews type into the club as a pure mentor Bucks, he was an inexperienced coach even in terms of inexperienced coaches.

Lol funny post. So dismantling the youngest Premiership winning team in 30 was required at the end of 2011 was it?

And what this "Un-Mick" line? Are the current players still "Micked"? They must be cos they are playing appallingly right?

If Buckley came in and decided to trade Thomas, Didak and Shaw at the end of 2011 there would have been riots and he would have needed his head examined at the same time. Utter nonsense.

Buckley should have approached McGuire and said "Ed the team is on track for another flag so in the best interests of the club the succession plan should be delayed". If that had happened we would have won another flag and be in a much better position now. Its human nature to be selfish and greedy and it consumed both Malthouse and Buckley to the detriment of the club.

Read your last paragraph again mate, Buckley was an inexperienced coach and should not have been allowed anywhere near the seniors before undertaking some head coaching somewhere. Classic case of choosing a coach with your heart instead of your head.................

 

[Yidaki]

If I was in the job from the day after the 2011 I would have honoured the agreed contracts. If I was in the job at the start of the 2009 season I would have resigned Mick without the succession plan. I would have offered Bucks an assistant coach job but without the promise of becoming senior coach.

This.

 

[Paul.]

Of the players that were delisted last year, how many got a gig elsewhere?

 

[AssassinAndy]

I would not bring in Q Lynch and Clinton Young as free agents. I would have gone hard for Goddard

Totally agree with this. Should have gone really hard at Goddard. Needed to land a big fish IMO and he would have suited us perfectly. Gun who can play anywhere and hit a target.