Podcast Sacked - Grant Thomas

[Rod Stroker]

Heard this today. Has changed my opinion of him. I'd always thought, or at least it was portrayed, that he was prominent in the sacking of Blight, and had a big say in appointing himself to take over. Instead, as he tells it, all the management/board had decided to boot Blight, but didn't involve Thomas in the process because they knew he was close to him and knew he would be against it. So he was the last to find out. They then said they wanted Thomas to take over.

Says he has huge respect for Aussie Jones, because it was his opponents in the 04 prelim (Wanganeen) and 05 prelim (Schneider) that did the damage, so Aussie retired a year early and left a heap of money on the table, because he felt he wasn't a good enough player anymore.

You can really hear his passion for the club, and how he's hurting after years and decades of shitfullness.

He's fed up with untried coaches and wants the best, said the club should throw 2M per year at Clarko.

It's a pity he's not more active in the media, but I could see how his forthright style would rub some the wrong way.

Would be interested to hear what Saints fans think if him. Sounds like he had the club on the right track, but fell out with Butterss over a difference of opinion on philosophies so was axed.

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[Lockyer24]

I used to like him but he became too tin foil hat regarding the Essendon drugs saga and anti-AFL.

He also claimed Michael Christian got the MRO gig because he was friends with Gil, when that's exactly how he got a coaching gig with St Kilda through Butterss.

He ended up being a decent coach though.

He follows 0 people on twitter I noticed, which shows his level of know all.

 

[Rod Stroker]

I used to like him but he became too tin foil hat regarding the Essendon drugs saga and anti-AFL.

He also claimed Michael Christian got the MRO gig because he was friends with Gil, when that's exactly how he got a coaching gig with St Kilda through Butterss.

He ended up being a decent coach though.

He follows 0 people on twitter I noticed, which shows his level of know all.

That was mentioned on the podcast. He has tens of thousands of followers, but follows no one himself.

And yeah he hates the AFL.

According to him, he wasn't looking for the coaching gig, he was told that they wanted him to do it after they axed Blight.

He then fell out with Butterss spectacularly (who seems like a dick). He said that after the 06 final loss to Melbourne, they walked into the rooms, everyone was down and disappointed because their season had just ended, and there's Butterss with a smile on his face, grinning at Thomas because he was about to sack him.

 

[burto]

I used to like him but he became too tin foil hat regarding the Essendon drugs saga and anti-AFL.

He also claimed Michael Christian got the MRO gig because he was friends with Gil, when that's exactly how he got a coaching gig with St Kilda through Butterss.

He ended up being a decent coach though.

He follows 0 people on twitter I noticed, which shows his level of know all.

What does twitter have to do with anything, other than being a platform for the self-absorbed / narcissistic (yes Danger is one of them).


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[Captain Morgan]

I used to like him but he became too tin foil hat regarding the Essendon drugs saga and anti-AFL.

He also claimed Michael Christian got the MRO gig because he was friends with Gil, when that's exactly how he got a coaching gig with St Kilda through Butterss.

He ended up being a decent coach though.

He follows 0 people on twitter I noticed, which shows his level of know all.

I reckon the fact he follows no one demonstrates that Twitter to him is a platform to speak but not listen.

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Thomas seems like the guy who burns every bridge he ever crosses; who is always right & everyone else always wrong. Perhaps I've got the wrong idea, but as it stands I don't find his testimony all that reliable.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Thomas seems like the guy who burns every bridge he ever crosses; who is always right & everyone else always wrong. Perhaps I've got the wrong idea, but as it stands I don't find his testimony all that reliable.

He does gleefully admit he was a crap coach quite regularly so I don’t think he’s too bad. Definitely was one of the more entertaining figures in the footy media before he bailed.

 

[Rod Stroker]

He does gleefully admit he was a crap coach quite regularly so I don’t think he’s too bad.

He isn't that self-critical on the podcast. I think he believes he did a decent job given the situation (no coaching experience, got them to 3 straight finals which almost never happened at the Saints, got them a kick away from a GF on foreign turf, had to deal with poor club leadership, etc).

Definitely was one of the more entertaining figures in the footy media before he bailed.

He didn't bail. They go through all the media gigs he'd been sacked from, or where his contracts weren't renewed.

 

[jwikked]

Would be interested to hear what Saints fans think if him.

I haven't listened to the Podcast, and I don't follow him on Twitter but I do have a look every few weeks to have a read. I've always liked him, I think as a coach he was ahead of his time. He set the Saints up for the next 6 years, and sacking him was a huge mistake.
I'd love to see him back a the club in any capacity. I think he's a very intelligent guy who isn't afraid to own up to his mistakes.


The media is poorer for not having him involved in some capacity. He speaks his mind and isn't afraid of upsetting the mothership (AFL), there should be more people out there like that holding the AFL to account.
That said, I think I read that he said the Saints should offer Bevo a 10 year contract. I don't think any coach is worth a 10 year contract.

 

[Burzum]

there's Butterss with a smile on his face, grinning at Thomas because he was about to sack him.

He was probably just trying to regain the feeling in his face after doing a massive line.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

.... I think as a coach he was ahead of his time.

Absolutely.

He was a pioneer of half the s**t that clubs and coaches do these days.

He was mocked at the time for most of it, as the AFL fraternity as a whole didn't take kindly to some guy pushing the boundaries of the status quo.

He did have a knack of offending people too, with some of his ideas.

For example, his rotating captaincy to develop leadership was ahead of its time. However by using the term "all the captain does is toss the coin anyway" (which is actually quite widely used nowadays) he upset all the old ex-captains in the media.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

He does gleefully admit he was a crap coach quite regularly so I don’t think he’s too bad. Definitely was one of the more entertaining figures in the footy media before he bailed.

Yeah, I don't think he bailed, I think he was basically black banned by the AFL.

 

[Plugger35]

I think he was the best coach we've had in my time following St Kilda and it was a mistake to sack him.

Lyon may have had a better win-loss record and took us to two GFs but we played a better, more attacking brand of footy under Thomas and probably would've won a flag under him if we weren't cruelled by injuries during that 2004-2006 period, the likes of Koschitzke, Hamill, Ball and Maguire all struggled to get on the park. Had Thomas not been sacked he may have taken us to GFs like Lyon did and we would have been a batter chance of winning them with his game plan.

 

[charcoalchicken]

What's the story about the whispers from the clouds or whatever? Heard something on the radio about the afl having an agenda against the saints and using the umpires to * them over on game day? Could someone elaborate?

 

[Rod Stroker]

What's the story about the whispers from the clouds or whatever? Heard something on the radio about the afl having an agenda against the saints and using the umpires to fu** them over on game day? Could someone elaborate?

He had just been fined 10K by the AFL because he'd made negative comments about them, or the umpires.
The next week they play Freo in Perth, he felt they were getting a rough ride with the umps all game (implying it was payback against him), Freo eventually wins with a goal after the siren.
That night one of the Saints coaches was on the same flight back to Melbourne with the umpires, and apparently they were happy with themselves for screwing over the Saints. Plane lands 5AM, the coach calls Thomas who was sleeping in Perth so 3AM his time, and tells him what happened.

I recommend listening to the podcast, he tells it better.

 

[Plugger35]

I was at that Whispers in the Sky game and the umpiring was as bad and biased as I've ever seen. Freo got at least 5 goals from very soft free kicks in front of goal to get them back into the game, it wouldn't have even been close had the umpires not intervened so the alleged comments made afterwards weren't surprising.

 

[Teagueeee15]

He had just been fined 10K by the AFL because he'd made negative comments about them, or the umpires.
The next week they play Freo in Perth, he felt they were getting a rough ride with the umps all game (implying it was payback against him), Freo eventually wins with a goal after the siren.
That night one of the Saints coaches was on the same flight back to Melbourne with the umpires, and apparently they were happy with themselves for screwing over the Saints. Plane lands 5AM, the coach calls Thomas who was sleeping in Perth so 3AM his time, and tells him what happened.

I recommend listening to the podcast, he tells it better.

This is a good summation, but I believe it was Tony Jones from channel 9 who overheard the umpires celebrating that they had screwed the Saints?

 

[jwikked]

That night one of the Saints coaches was on the same flight back to Melbourne with the umpires, and apparently they were happy with themselves for screwing over the Saints. Plane lands 5AM, the coach calls Thomas who was sleeping in Perth so 3AM his time, and tells him what happened.

It was Tony Jones who heard it, but there was another Saints coach that heard it too.

 

[Rod Stroker]

This is a good summation, but I believe it was Tony Jones from channel 9 who overheard the umpires celebrating that they had screwed the Saints?

I believe TJ was on the same flight and also overheard the umpires comments. Thommo's story though was from the perspective of one of his coaches.

 

[Rod Stroker]

It was Tony Jones who heard it, but there was another Saints coach that heard it too.

correct. And it was that coach who called Thommo when he landed

 

[Dixie Normous]

He was probably just trying to regain the feeling in his face after doing a massive line.

Just wanted to give you a shout out for having the funniest 'user name equated to avatar photo'. If Burzum put out an album with that face on the cover, I would buy it

 

[TerryWallet]

Grant Thomas has always had cultleader characteristics. He has the narcissism, he has the total self belief that he is always right and he has the force of delivery that makes the very few who have a want to buy into his totally self obsessed bulltish believe him.

Meanwhile the other 99.8% of the population just laugh at him and his "look at me" antics.

StKilda worked him out fairly quickly and got him outta there before he could imbed.

 

[joop]

From a football perspective, I think he was a great motivator and innovator, was one of the lads who the players loved. But ultimately that might've been his downfall in not winning a flag.
Not for a second saying Port didn't deserve the 04 GF, but I (and many other saints fans) still think that was comfortably the best side we've ever had and if we got over Port would've/could've/should've won the flag.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

From a football perspective, I think he was a great motivator and innovator, was one of the lads who the players loved. But ultimately that might've been his downfall in not winning a flag.
Not for a second saying Port didn't deserve the 04 GF, but I (and many other saints fans) still think that was comfortably the best side we've ever had and if we got over Port would've/could've/should've won the flag.

Your fans shouldn't have invaded the ground. That's what, imo, cost St Kilda the flag.

 

[Rod Stroker]

From a football perspective, I think he was a great motivator and innovator, was one of the lads who the players loved. But ultimately that might've been his downfall in not winning a flag.
Not for a second saying Port didn't deserve the 04 GF, but I (and many other saints fans) still think that was comfortably the best side we've ever had and if we got over Port would've/could've/should've won the flag.

He said the same, that the 04 team was their best shot at winning it.

The teams they lost to in the PF's, both went on to win the flag.