Over and Out...

[SpInNeR]

What are our thoughts fellers?????


...In retrospect finishing 7th/8th just dosnt cut it.

 

[SpInNeR]

ok ill start it.


1) This injuries excused in the media is bull****. No team should fall over when two or so players are missing (lenny and matt)

2) Its too late to start the coaching sacking frenzy....you saints supporters out there (you know who you are) are stupid enough to support this block for five years so now we'll stick with him.

3) It just makes me and so many others cringe knowing from the start that we were digging our own hole.

4) What is this window ****....players such are Peckett, Powell and Thompson should have been forced to move last year....instead of getting experience into younger players...thommo decides to use this blocks off the bench...how ****ing stupid is that....

5) WE will be better when Gehrig, Powell, Peckett and Milne are out of the club.....yes gehrig...good player but we play so much better without him...(remember the following years when a block named lockett left????)

6) We are garranteed a top ten pick........**** yeah!!!!!

 

[panthers]

Jump off spanner we dont need your type

 

[SpInNeR]

this is exactly the attitude that has allowed Grant five years at the helm.


'your type' - meaning what. *one that bleeds from the heart *one that dosnt accept medicrity????


argue anyone of my points...it extremely fascinating that not one stkilda supporter has jumped on here and vented their spleen...


we finished eighth...whos thinking premierships when we are officially the worst team to make the finals...maybe the penny has dropped and those supporters have realised what a fool they have been.


i mean, what did other coaches get sacked for...stan finished 6th a year after a GF, watson only had two years at the bottom and blight...how can you tell after 15 games???? no one asks any questions?????


why do we all follow the decisions made by this club as if they are gospel. Surely this waste of a season is enough for even the most supportive followers of our coaching staff. The players cant be blamed all the time.

but as ive said....extremely quiet around here...are people too embarrassed to say what they are starting to think after our hopeless season???????

 

[JeffDunne]

I don't have a problem with GT's coaching as such - ok, no suprise there - but I do think it's time the injury issue was sorted out. Some hard decisions need to be made and if that means we don't put our faith in certain individuals whether they be on or off field then so be it.

Long term injuries can be covered for, and in the run home we covered for Lenny and Goose pretty well. The problem is in game injuries and backing up after a short break. No doubt the draw was tough this year but we had plenty of time to plan for it.

The other area that needs to be looked at is playing interstate. We need to win games on the road if we want to finish top 2. The Sydney win was good, the Brisbane game a gimme, but the rest were shocking. If certain players get stage fright in front of a big crowds or in big games then they need to be looked at.

IMO the combnation of players going down and some players shirking the issue is the reason we often appear so fragile. The last two finals games have shown how easily we can be exposed.

 

[Cudaman]

Overall the season has been disappointing and was worse than last year in that we went out in the 1st final rather than the prelim. One more win and we would have finished third and at least had 2 bites of the cherry.

However, the future looks still very bright - all the 22 -23 years olds have had another season under their belt and are coming on extremely well – the Fish; Montagna, Goddard, Del Santo, Ball etc. And within that an extremely good leadership group now of Ball, Hayes, Reiwoldt. If we remember one of the goals of the club is to be a force for the next 10 years, not just one season - the club is building a fantastic base.

The list – one of the best?? – is only that if they perform. There have been many top 10 picks in the past few years that are not playing AFL or are just also runs – Fiora a great example. The trick is not only to get them, but develop them into loyal and excellent footballers- and even the most ardent Thomas basher has got to admit – that not only have St.Kilda picked them right but they have also developed them into top line players. And not only have they picked them from the top 10, they have also exceeded in picking drafts from outside of the top 20 or 30. So the squad does not just come from luck, but the skills of seeing what will make a good footballer and then developing that person – on and off the ground.

Peckett, Powel and Thompson were never fast when they were young – I have no idea what makes people criticise them for being slow now – what they have is football nouse – hence the reason they played around 600 games between them (I guess at least 599 more games than their knockers!!!) - You just don’t get rid of that sort of skill and experience. Sure the young guys run around quicker - but they run around like headless chooks – they get the ball occasionally but have no idea what to do with it!! Or you see a more experienced player just nudge them out of a contest, and they have no idea how it happened! Gram’s first half a dozen games this year was a great example – he got the ball, he ran and he ran, and either he ran into a pack or kicked it nowhere! The coaching staff persevered with him and maybe even gave him some tips –and now he is in contention for all-Australian – maybe inconceivable when Brisbane gave him the flick!!!!

Falling down similarly in 2 finals is not a good look, and the coaching staff need to be looked at –is their message getting a little stale? Who could be the replacement? Besides the resident rat-bags on this site, looking for instant gratification – who coincidentally only pop up when we lose a game and criticise, but oddly enough never have anything positive to say when we win???? – are the wannabees from other teams. I notice a lot from Carlton who has 2 successive wooden spoons, Geelong who didn’t make it, and Melbourne who have let top 4 positions go in 3 successive years! Why they want to come to a St.Kilda site and vent their anger amazes me!

There are no obvious choices for a new coach except taking someone untried – just because someone has tried being an assistant coach does not some how make them qualified. I will point out Roos who looks like taking his side to successive Grand Finals was previously the coach of USA (hardly Warnarbool I know, but still???) - and this is basically with the same squad as Eade!!!! Whatever it is, there is something special about being a successful AFL coach – of the roughly 50 guys who have tried over the past 10 years only about 5 have made the big one. It is not about being an assistant coach, or a great footballer, nor a personality contest as Malthouse has proved!! But if I was to be honest, I would take him tomorrow.

So my thinking is that unless Mathews, Malthouse, or Roos suddenly have an out of body experience and demand to come to St.Kilda, I reckon Thomas deserves to get one more year to capitalize on what he has built. But whatever the case, he can leave knowing the club is a lot better than when he found it!!!

 

[sainter]

Jump off spanner we dont need your type

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I certainly don't agree with many of his points either but rather than dismiss everything he has to say why don't you follow the lead of JeffDunne and Cudaman and post your own thoughts?

 

[Frankencow]

Nobody jumped on and cracked the ****s because we're Saints supporters. We flirt every year with the idea that we might win it, and draws parallels with 1966 and the current team, but we sort of don't really get too surprised when they let us down, year after year.

Grant needs to go. Good footy manager, has developed players well, but is poor on match day. His thinking is so far inside the box that we just know that if what he is doing now isn't working, he doesn't have the capacity to do something else that will.

 

[sainter]

I would have been too emotional and regretted what I had to say had I logged on and posted here in the last couple of days. After ignoring the footy over the weekend and letting the result sink in I can deal with it a bit more rationally.

The reality is we wouldn't be having this discussion had we taken our chances. I haven't watched a replay and don't intend too but my recollections of the night were that we dominated the first quarter and had we not kicked the 3-4 straight points near the end of the term we would have been at least 7-8 goals up and almost sealed the win there and then. After letting them come back in the third quarter we weathered the storm well and could have gone into the last break with a comfortable lead. However like the preliminary final we let them back into it with two late goals. With the injuries and lack of match fitness always going to be a factor we needed a couple of early goals in the last quarter and again we wasted a multitide of chances. Once they got the momentum we were finished. As disappointing as it was I don't think we would have progressed past this coming weekend anyway. Not that that makes us feel any better.

We finished 14th in clearances in 2006 so that's clearly an area we need to work on. Our major deficiencies are in the ruck, in the midfield (particularly our lack of speed) and our lack of depth in the key defensive posts. Hayes and Maguire will make a big difference but I hope these are the areas we try and address in the trading period and target in the draft. A bit of luck in the injury department would be nice but we've all been hoping for that in the last 3 years.