Neil Craig

[Kane McGoodwin]

Neil craig just mentioned he thought Massie was the best match up for Franklin and that his other options mayve been Rutten, Mcgregor and i think he said Stevens or Torney. No mention of Bock. Is he serious. Bocks one of the best centre half backs going around when playing there.

Strange. He must be in denial.

Buddy was the difference between the teams.

 

[smoovy]

Neil craig just mentioned he thought Massie was the best match up for Franklin and that his other options mayve been Rutten, Mcgregor and i think he said Stevens or Torney. No mention of Bock. Is he serious. Bocks one of the best centre half backs going around when playing there.

He mentioned Bock, he said he didn't think he could go with him. I assume he was talkin about his pace. I actually agree with that.

There wasn't too many one on one contests which I think Massie lost due to lack of height and weight.

 

[jenny61_99]

I know McGregor kicked 4 goals, but could he have matched up against Franklin?

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

He mentioned Bock, he said he didn't think he could go with him. I assume he was talkin about his pace. I actually agree with that.

There wasn't too many one on one contests which I think Massie lost due to lack of height and weight.

He lost a few due to lack of reach though.

If not Bock, then Stevens. We had nothing to lose by making a change.

 

[bus24]

He lost a few due to lack of reach though.

If not Bock, then Stevens. We had nothing to lose by making a change.

More than a few.

What's Franklin, 6'6 with a freakishly long wingspan? Matched up by a back flanker, who is sub 190cm.

In perfect conditions, you dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what the result is going to be.

 

[relapse]

Lets not just focus on the weaknesses and there is a lot that Craig brings to the table. Craig himself still had some development to do as coach. If he is to be our long term option he needs to improve:

1) Development coaching, he needs to learn how to develop players and develop a list. Gotta look further ahead than the current season especially with the stage that our list is entering into

2) Matchday coaching, this need some definate work. He is a great tactictian, but when things go belly up during the game there doesnt seem to be anything that gets done.

No question that he has earnt the right to try and rebuild our squad and if he work on the things he needs to improve and not be so stubborn then I think we will be fine.

 

[blackus]

He gets the best out of some (in reality), pretty ordinary footballers.

Have to agree with you there. No disrespect. But had the ball bounced a bit differently in any given contest the result might have been different and you'd be singing his praises? You'd have to think now with Roo gone, Goodwin, McCloud and Edwards aren't getting any better - could be a bit of a struggle for you guys next year?

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Re: Gary Ayres V Neil Craig - Can you spot the differences.

Gary Ayres V Neil Craig - Can you spot the differences?

um....Its not the hair so it must be the core players not firing a shot on the day.

Some were pretty average. McLeod was shutdown, Goodwin was quiet, Edwards tried, Burton was insipid, Massie was bathed, Roo shouldnt have played ( in hindsight) etc etc bloddy etc


But considering the obstacles we've had all year, it was a miracle we made the eight...Youve got to give NC some credit there.

I'm sick of making excuses for Craigy. No matter what spin he tries to put on it, his decision to leave Massie on Franklin cost us the game.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

There is no doubting Craig has done better than expected with our list.

However, if he is honest with himself, we need improvement on matchday.

 

[Crowman32]

When Neil Craig is sacked in a couple years time it will be a good learning experience for him. He'll learn alot from it.

 

[showdownhero]

When Neil Craig is sacked in a couple years time it will be a good learning experience for him. He'll learn alot from it.

**** off to bay 13 ... you are truly a pathetic supporter

 

[Crow-mo]

is Neil Craig just a builder? a guy who builds lists, ready for someone else to come in and finish? Blight for example was a finisher, with no interest in building. Cornes was another finisher. Shaw was a builder. Ayres a little in between.

perhaps this is what we're seeing. our finals record is shit under craig, but our regular season record is pretty good.

what bothers me, is that our forward setup fails under pressure, and craigy doesn't seem to have improved that. in the first half, Kenny takes some pressure marks, and gets us some goals. we blaze away, and a few lucky bounces/wobbles and we're good. in the second half welshes straight kicking under pressure gives us some leeway - but where is the system?

3.5 years later Neil, where is the system to our forward entries and forward setup? where?

 

[smoovy]

There is no doubting Craig has done better than expected with our list.

However, if he is honest with himself, we need improvement on matchday.

It is like anything in life, no one is perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You just have to weigh up the pros and cons and work out who is best for your football club. At the moment there is no other coach out there who I think could do a better job, that is what it all comes down to.

Sure Craigs decision to leave Massie on may have cost us the game. That is a pretty easy thing to say in a 3 point game. But you have to put yourself in there with a chance in the first place.

Given how poorly we have played at times, our list, and our injuries I really don't know how we have given ourselves a chance to win just about every game we have played this season.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Re: Gary Ayres V Neil Craig - Can you spot the differences.

I'm sick of making excuses for Craigy. No matter what spin he tries to put on it, his decision to leave Massie on Franklin cost us the game.

The major problem was choosing Massie to play on Franklin in the first place.

They had three good key forwards - Roughead, Boyle and Franklin
We had three good key defenders - Rutten, Bock and Stevens

There was not a single, logical reason to play Massie on Franklin in perfectly dry, sunny, Telstra Dome conditions.

 

[King Elvis]

Re: Gary Ayres V Neil Craig - Can you spot the differences.

I'm sick of making excuses for Craigy. No matter what spin he tries to put on it, his decision to leave Massie on Franklin cost us the game.

Bingo.

Put Gill on Buddy, he's tall and he's fast, and he used to be a backman.

Put Bock on Buddy, he's a gun CHB.

Put Stevens on Buddy, he could go around.

Put Johncock on Buddy, he's ****ing quick, and could hopefully outpace him to the ball.

ANYTHING BUT PERSISTING WITH THE SAME PLAYER WHO IS BEING SLAUGHTERED FOR THE ENTIRE GAME!


I want Craigy to be our long-term Coach, but his match day coaching and stubborness needs to be addressed next year, otherwise I can't see him taking us to a flag.

Also, and it might be worth another thread, but our fitness this year seemed down considerably on last year; we couldn't run the game out today.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

It is like anything in life, no one is perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. You just have to weigh up the pros and cons and work out who is best for your football club. At the moment there is no other coach out there who I think could do a better job, that is what it all comes down to.

Very true.

For this reason it is very important to have assistants who can help cover Craig's weaknesses, including his matchday coaching.

 

[King Elvis]

Also, Griffen shouldn't have played.

 

[WheresGroomgone]

Might as well have been 300. The man SHOULD NOT HAVE played. Don't care if it was his last game. If we had have won, he'd get another crack next week. But we'll never know now will we?

Geez you [and your husband] are such experts,with the gift of hindsight we all are, if Roo had a blinder it would have been gold he didnt move on. It was one of AFLs best games this year, I understand your dissapointed but don't play the blame game, take it on the chin, supporters like you can find another team.

 

[Duck Farmer]

It was only 3 points guys. If Buddy Franklin missed that last shot, you'd be game away from a home Preliminary Final.

Ricciuto deserved to play for the service he's given the Crows. It was a calculated risk that didn't pay off (a la Judd last night), but hindsight's a wonderful thing.

Imagine the uproar if you'd lost by 3 points and Ricciuto hadn't been picked. People would have been calling for Craig's head for not picking a club legend who would have excelled under intense finals pressure even if he only had one good leg.

 

[crowie]

what did most of you expect?

we were mediocre at best for all but a couple of games this season. i think that in the end it was a suitable end to a poor season, we probably finished higher than what we deserved.

 

[King Elvis]

No regrets what so ever about playing Roo.

A number of things we had control of today cost us the game, and were more foreseeable or correctable than Roo not being fully fit.

 

[smoovy]

Very true.

For this reason it is very important to have assistants who can help cover Craig's weaknesses, including his matchday coaching.

Yep, the assistants should not escape criticism either, its just hard for the public judge as the buck will stop with Craigy.

From what I have heard Craigy is one who is very open to ideas and will take his assistants suggestions on board, even though he will make the final call.

 

[CrowMagnum]

Yep, the assistants should not escape criticism either, its just hard for the public judge as the buck will stop with Craigy.

From what I have heard Craigy is one who is very open to ideas and will take his assistants suggestions on board, even though he will make the final call.

I've heard the opposite, that he's a "stubborn man".

From today's Advertiser

"I'm not one to just change things rapidly or quickly because things are not going well for a 5 minute period. We tend to sit longer than a lot of teams and coaches - and we get criticised for that and I understand the reasons we would. But that's just the way we go about it" said Craig.

Trouble is 5 minutes turned into 2 hours.

 

[Stiffy_18]

I know McGregor kicked 4 goals, but could he have matched up against Franklin?

NO! Too slow and not enough agile for Franklin!

I have said before that Craig is no different to Ayres as a match day coach. In fact he is an Ayres clone on match day. I made that calls a couple of years ago when we were the crowbots but got shouted down by Craig ass lickers!

Craig is a fantastic teacher and manager of man. He can get the absolute best out of players and for that he gets a HUGE tick from me. However, his match day coaching leaves a lot to be desired. Craig's approach is fine if you have the cream of the crop talent to carry you there. If we had the pure genuine talent then Craig could do wonders in leading the team to the flag. The thing is, we don't have that cream of the crop talent. We have some good talent but we don't have superstars.

Craig needs to take a good hard look at himself. Not the stuff he does out of match day coaching because I think in that aspect he is as good as anyone. He has had the job for 3 and a bit years and there is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING that has suggested to me he has improved on match day.

I mean FFS, he said today in the match conference that he thought Massie did a good job and was the best match up for Franklin. FFS, just about EVERY possesion Buddy had was a shot on goal. Lucky for us he fumbled a few he would normally swallow or he could have had 10!

Lack of match day nous is his biggest short coming and could well be something that is standing between him and the premiership cup as a coach. Just as he expects the players to improve, he needs to have an expectation of himself to improve as a coach!

Result aside, it was a ripping game of footy!

 

[Stiffy_18]

Very true.

For this reason it is very important to have assistants who can help cover Craig's weaknesses, including his matchday coaching.

I am not sure that achieves anything! If you have an assistant that is a match day master, it still means SFA if your head coach is not willing to make the change. The final decision rests with Craig. He makes the final call and I somehow very much doubt that Peter Jonas, Paul Hamilton, David Noble et al didn't raise the idea of moving someone else on Franklin!

The ball is in Craig's court. I think he should be our coach long term but there is an expectation of him to improve as a mtach day coach. Just as we expect the players to improve, we should also expect our coach to improve and IMHO there is nothing to suggests he has improved as match day coach!