Past Coach NMFC Senior Coach - David Noble has parted ways with NMFC

[Le Grille]

I don’t recall anyone saying that his job is sustainable if we continue to lose by 10 goals every week.

I just don’t buy the fact that a good performance this week means that much in the big picture.

Yep it has to be sustained

 

[Mixed Results]

What do you see as the benchmark for a 'response' to have occurred this week?

Keep it to a 5 goal loss or like the Carlton game - competitive for a half before getting overrun?

Or will stats like contested possession, tackles, meters run be more useful?

Port are a vastly superior side and better drilled. They have found their mojo.

In the absence of this week's shenanigans I would have thought a 10 goal loss was on the cards for sure this week followed by a 20 goal loss next week.

It won’t be measured by score that’s for sure. I always think back to the 52 point loss to Port Adelaide last year in the context of this season.

You could have taken more positives out of that game than the last four weeks combined. It really makes you realise how poor these last four weeks have been the more you think about that game honestly.

Good sides are capable of 5-10 minute bursts where they pile on 5-6 goals that stretch out the margin. But these long drawn out uninspiring defeats where we never look lively are a lot closer to what we saw in the last days of Rhyce Shaw when the club clearly hated playing footy.

 

[King Corey]

Noble will now be applying the Zen approach at addresses during and after the game.

Make sure no one gets upset and all whilst we're down by only 82 points at quarter time.

I bet everything he said in his interview and presentation worked on the assumption he was taking over a list of 40ish professional motivated footballers like the ones he had worked with in the previous 10 years.

We showed him.

 

[King Corey]

Something resembling having an honest dip (even for a half) would do at this point.

I'll settle for 1+ goals per quarter thanks.

 

[Le Grille]

I'll settle for 1+ goals per quarter thanks.

Whoa settle down hungry

 

[Mr Lloyd Christmas]

I bet everything he said in his interview and presentation worked on the assumption he was taking over a list of 40ish professional motivated footballers like the ones he had worked with in the previous 10 years.

We showed him.

Yeah well he is keeping his positive attitude despite this development of what he actually signed up for. (amazing photoshop skills I have)

 

[Mixed Results]

I don’t recall anyone saying that his job is sustainable if we continue to lose by 10 goals every week.

I just don’t buy the fact that a good performance this week means that much in the big picture.

To me it’s a small window of insight as to whether what we’re seeing is a rebuilding side in a poor patch or if this is a cultural problem.

It’s a perfect storm for a fiery response this week. It’ll be indicative of larger issues in my opinion if we again see players who look like they don’t want to be out there.

Coaches like Clarkson and Hardwick had similar stretches in their career, but both managed to turn it around. Other coaches like Mark Neeld, Rhyce Shaw, and Brendan Bolton found themselves in similar situations and never came back.

 

[King Corey]

Yeah well he is keeping his positive attitude despite this development of what he actually signed up for. (amazing photoshop skills I have)

View attachment 1398248

That's actually Paul Roos from the neck down.

 

[Horizons_00]

A few more poor efforts like this…

Why is he only playing Powell low game time as well?

 

[King Corey]

The onfield output is hard to pin on one person at the moment.

But in all the negligence from Luff I do wonder whether Noble did try to exert some influence over the list setup. Especially with his background.

 

[scottywiper]

A few more poor efforts like this…

Why is he only playing Powell low game time as well?

Apparently being managed due to OP

 

[Themanbun]

The onfield output is hard to pin on one person at the moment.

But in all the negligence from Luff I do wonder whether Noble did try to exert some influence over the list setup. Especially with his background.

I highly doubt Luff has done what he has to our list on a frolic of his own. He might end up being the guy held accountable though.

 

[Mr Lloyd Christmas]

I'm a supporter of Noble but i've reflected and i'm legitimately concerned now.

Whatever gameplan we are building, be stuffed if I know what it is (maybe my own ignorance).

We need more than just effort and hope David. We need to see something whether poor list or not.

You can't keep referring to other teams and "nourishment", you need to do more and fast or you are gone.

 

[Psicosis]

I'm a supporter of Noble but i've reflected and i'm legitimately concerned now.

Whatever gameplan we are building, be stuffed if I know what it is (maybe my own ignorance).

We need more than just effort and hope David. We need to see something whether poor list or not.

You can't keep referring to other teams and "nourishment", you need to do more and fast or you are gone.

If you want a clear understanding of the game plan that they are trying (unsuccessfully due to cattle imo) to implement, listen to Sanderson on SEN during the week. Literally spells it out.

This group would struggle to implement any game plan, bar kick it long down the line.

 

[King Corey]

I highly doubt Luff has done what he has to our list on a frolic of his own. He might end up being the guy held accountable though.

Precisely. I can sympathise with Noble that he received some misdeveloped players, a few kids and some pretty limited players.

But he also knew the delistings of 2019, 2020 and 2021 and some onus should fall on him for not demanding to watch the 2021 trade and draft period to ensure a balanced list to coach.

If he for a second bought Luff's Guff (TM) about McGuinness being a KPD option the 2 of them should probably both be walking off hand in hand into the sunset.

 

[Mr Lloyd Christmas]

The onfield output is hard to pin on one person at the moment.

But in all the negligence from Luff I do wonder whether Noble did try to exert some influence over the list setup. Especially with his background.

Well if Noble has exerted that influence, which is likely as you suggest, that is another red flag.

I maintain i'm staying with Noble, but it can't last with all evidence to the contrary.

Make no mistake the margin didn't look "as" bad, but that's a horrible loss today that I consider 100 plus being a ground where we usually play well at with a clear advantage.

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

I'm a supporter of Noble but i've reflected and i'm legitimately concerned now.

Whatever gameplan we are building, be stuffed if I know what it is (maybe my own ignorance).

We need more than just effort and hope David. We need to see something whether poor list or not.

You can't keep referring to other teams and "nourishment", you need to do more and fast or you are gone.

Sad thing is, a lot of us thought his fresh approach as well as the Brisbane resurgance which was partially attributed to him would be just right to develop and create a strongly motivated side through a rebuild. However, by about this stage of 2021 the cracks were apparent - there were tactics such as bring the ball inboard and hit the corridor at every opportunity, but as a gameplan that simply broke when the ball got past the centre as the forwardline was so unstructured our mids were hitting defenders on the chest 80% of the time. Like today. And like last week, as well as almost every week this season (including the WCE game that was won by North).

We have a list of players that has holes like a block of swiss cheese from Aldi. But we don't seem to use players in positions that make them at least servicable. And most of our blokes seriously look like they'd prefer to not get a possession as they either don't have any idea what to do with the ball if they get it, or those that do have a clue look up to find an outlet and notice that there's nothing moving for them which totally messes things up for them.

Some posters say they can see the game plan developing. I admit, I'm not a student of the game, just a mug watcher but as I said a year ago, I couldn't see any real plan then and I still don't see it now.

Noteably, there were a few games at the end of the season where North looked OK. There was something that looked positive in those games but whatever it was seems to have evaporated.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I’m off the bandwagon. He’s not the one to take us to the promised land.

Anyone got Clarko’s number.

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

Forget about the next 2 weeks - we will be blown out of the water - they won't be the 2 weeks to judge Nobes.

What I want to see in the 2 weeks after that prior to the bye - ie Gold Coast away then GWS at home - is back to back competitive efforts against the franchise clubs where we are in the game with a chance to win deep into the game. Where for a fair bit of each game we get to play on our terms and we look like we are dictating the play and playing to an observable and coherent game plan - not just hanging on for dear life.

If we can't achieve that and we get beaten comfortably in the GC and GWS games then I can't see Nobes hanging on - in reality it will be an easy decision for the Board to make during the bye week.

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

I’m off the bandwagon. He’s not the one to take us to the promised land.

Anyone got Clarko’s number.

I suspect Ian Aitken's lawyer could reach him.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I suspect Ian Aitken's lawyer could reach him.

Very good.

 

[Nordland]

If you want a clear understanding of the game plan that they are trying (unsuccessfully due to cattle imo) to implement, listen to Sanderson on SEN during the week. Literally spells it out.

This group would struggle to implement any game plan, bar kick it long down the line.

Sounds like the cattle or the coach argument. IMO we have most (yes sone shocking list management decisions have left the cupboards pretty bare) of the cattle, we’re just playing the wrong ones and the ones we do play are played out of position. That’s a coaching issue. The entire senior core are woeful, in both talent and application, but there’s young replacements languishing the in vfl. Give them a bloody chance and stop carrying these plodders. Experience or no, a plodder is a plodder.

 

[hcd199]

Everything has basically fallen off an already-close-to-sea-level cliff in the last month or so. I'm inclined to think the biggest concerns with where we're at are a string of blindly reckless list management decisions, and an administration who seem totally committed to a blind-faith "no low is too low, we'll come good eventually" mentality that's increasingly evident in every aspect of our collective demeanour as a club as this season wears on.

It's fair to say any head coach is going to have a tough time in that kind of environment, and is almost certainly not the core reason for our current troubles. Until the point of his supposed self-reflection and change in approach earlier this season, he seemed (from press conferences and the like) to work from a slightly more sound set of ideas on what's required for our development, recognising the steps forward without cowering from calling out the setbacks and stagnations, which I appreciated, and it's been disappointing to hear disproportionate emphasis on scant positives in the last month's pressers, ringing hollow.

But what the senior coach can definitely be held responsible for is the gameplan, and I simply don't buy that what Noble has us trying to execute is what's going to make us a successful club. Focusing near-totally on implementing our own attacking playing style is fundamentally flawed as a rebuild approach, since (particularly with the AFL's insistence on rule changes that facilitate attack) installing basic defensive capability ends up having to come later, slowing the rebuild further; in the meantime, we continue with a plan that leaves us more vulnerable to the turnover whilst being unable to consistently exploit any turnovers we force the opposition into, and which seems completely unsustainable.

Ben Amarfio specifically cited the Brisbane and Melbourne rebuilds on radio this week, as comparisons which apparently justified not being concerned about North's current ladder position - but it's no coincidence that both clubs began their much-discussed upward trend in ladder percentage when they introduced a new coach whose first successes weren't in increasing their own rate of scoring, but in cutting opposition scoring by ~25% across their first two seasons. Obviously that's a very simplistic statistic, and a very binary reduction of much more specific strategies, but the broader point stands - that rebuilds rooted in attack, like Bailey's at Melbourne was, don't tend to be so durable. Unfortunately, that seems to be shaping up to be the case with us as well, and so far there's been too little in our on-field approach to indicate we're taking the steps necessary to remedy that.

I would favour a thorough review of the entire football department at this point. Complacency about poor performance only pushes the necessary corrective action further down the line, and the most crucial thing with a rebuild is that we're continually making the right decisions to take us forward - so much can go wrong, set us back, protract our improvement, mire us for a decade or more... the view that everything's fine simply because it's normal to struggle during a rebuild is toxic. Whether such a review results in Noble sticking around or being replaced, whether it results in minor tweaks in approach or a complete overhaul, what matters is that the manifest issues with our current performance are identified and the department reshaped to address them, including whatever personnel changes may be necessary to get us on track to achieving success.

 

[RossHenshaw]

Sounds like the cattle or the coach argument. IMO we have most (yes sone shocking list management decisions have left the cupboards pretty bare) of the cattle, we’re just playing the wrong ones and the ones we do play are played out of position. That’s a coaching issue. The entire senior core are woeful, in both talent and application, but there’s young replacements languishing the in vfl. Give them a bloody chance and stop carrying these plodders. Experience or no, a plodder is a plodder.

By continuing to leave (let’s just call him what he is a NFI COACH & just a “ a list manager” ) in charge . I strongly believe the following will happen.
1) we will continue to go backwards, be the laughing stock of the AFL, be disjointed & lose all the players completely.
2) we will have more & more players that are out of contact fishing around for other opportunities (eg. JHF ) elsewhere.
3) not that we have had much success previously in this but But no hope of attracting anyone decent to come play for us .

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

Everything has basically fallen off an already-close-to-sea-level cliff in the last month or so. I'm inclined to think the biggest concerns with where we're at are a string of blindly reckless list management decisions, and an administration who seem totally committed to a blind-faith "no low is too low, we'll come good eventually" mentality that's increasingly evident in every aspect of our collective demeanour as a club as this season wears on.

It's fair to say any head coach is going to have a tough time in that kind of environment, and is almost certainly not the core reason for our current troubles. Until the point of his supposed self-reflection and change in approach earlier this season, he seemed (from press conferences and the like) to work from a slightly more sound set of ideas on what's required for our development, recognising the steps forward without cowering from calling out the setbacks and stagnations, which I appreciated, and it's been disappointing to hear disproportionate emphasis on scant positives in the last month's pressers, ringing hollow.

But what the senior coach can definitely be held responsible for is the gameplan, and I simply don't buy that what Noble has us trying to execute is what's going to make us a successful club. Focusing near-totally on implementing our own attacking playing style is fundamentally flawed as a rebuild approach, since (particularly with the AFL's insistence on rule changes that facilitate attack) installing basic defensive capability ends up having to come later, slowing the rebuild further; in the meantime, we continue with a plan that leaves us more vulnerable to the turnover whilst being unable to consistently exploit any turnovers we force the opposition into, and which seems completely unsustainable.

Ben Amarfio specifically cited the Brisbane and Melbourne rebuilds on radio this week, as comparisons which apparently justified not being concerned about North's current ladder position - but it's no coincidence that both clubs began their much-discussed upward trend in ladder percentage when they introduced a new coach whose first successes weren't in increasing their own rate of scoring, but in cutting opposition scoring by ~25% across their first two seasons. Obviously that's a very simplistic statistic, and a very binary reduction of much more specific strategies, but the broader point stands - that rebuilds rooted in attack, like Bailey's at Melbourne was, don't tend to be so durable. Unfortunately, that seems to be shaping up to be the case with us as well, and so far there's been too little in our on-field approach to indicate we're taking the steps necessary to remedy that.

I would favour a thorough review of the entire football department at this point. Complacency about poor performance only pushes the necessary corrective action further down the line, and the most crucial thing with a rebuild is that we're continually making the right decisions to take us forward - so much can go wrong, set us back, protract our improvement, mire us for a decade or more... the view that everything's fine simply because it's normal to struggle during a rebuild is toxic. Whether such a review results in Noble sticking around or being replaced, whether it results in minor tweaks in approach or a complete overhaul, what matters is that the manifest issues with our current performance are identified and the department reshaped to address them, including whatever personnel changes may be necessary to get us on track to achieving success.

Good post.