Senior Coach: John Worsfold - 350 games as coach! Most experienced in the league - 30/3

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Skipper_

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People acknowledge the Brisbane and Sydney games but then overlook games we pinched from under the noses of the opposition in Carlton and somewhat North.
 

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Phat Toni

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His record;
2016 - 3 - 19; Tick
2017 - 10/12 wins; Tick was about what I expected

It's been well documented around the traps that he lacks a Plan B on game day and when you talk to Eagle die hards they will tell you that it was the same issue when he was in charge over there, and many will tell you he under performed with the list he had over the time at the Eagles and that he struggle to manage a rampant drug culture.

I think he was perfect for last year, absolutely the right guy for what the club went through and I'm a big fan of stability and consistency which he delivers in spades.

I'm just concerned not much has to happen for him to be out pointed on game day, i wonder if we can invest more in getting people around him with different views, if you look at the current line up we have 3 ex head coaches, two who had very unsuccessful times in the hot seat and both who left a flaming pile of s**t behind when they left(were sacked) and one who got shafted by Ross Lyon who has also spent probably 25 years at Essendon.

My fear is exceptions will rise next year(the 8 is a must for him to stay) and there is no way we will be kissed on the d8ck with injuries like we were this year. We will also lose a bit from the top end of experience from Watson/Kelly/Stanton/Hocking/Howlett plus a couple from the other end Morgan/Jerrett/+ others means we will have 7+ changes which is a lot, by all accounts the salary cap is ok but there wont be $$$ flying out everywhere so we shouldn't expect a big fish to land on the deck.

So the question is how do we get to being a 14+ win team? the younger guys will be better, the cohesion will be better but i think to make the next real leap(which is the hardest) we need a beef up in the box with Woosha still in charge... go and spend the money on some of the best strategist out there!
 
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Doesn't get a new contract.

The most interesting aspect is what does the club do this off-season? Can't see us going into the next year with a contract up at the end of 2018.
I don't think the club will re-sign him until the mid way point of season club would want to see significant improvement no one would be after his services imo.
 

Doss

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Sorry, but how on earth can you definitely say he shouldn't get another contract at this point?

He had no side last year, and we're 10-10 this year and still some chance to make finals.

Your expectations of what we were going to do this year would have to be completely unrealistic if that is considered to be a complete failure.

If we're doing the same this time next year? Then he's in some danger.
 
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Sorry, but how on earth can you definitely say he shouldn't get another contract at this point?

He had no side last year, and we're 10-10 this year and still some chance to make finals.

Your expectations of what we were going to do this year would have to be completely unrealistic if that is considered to be a complete failure.

If we're doing the same this next year? Then he's in some danger.
Agree with this we will have to go backwards for him not to get another contract. If we win our last 2 games that will give us 12 wins so would say the aim should be 14 or 15 wins next season.
 

Lore

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The only reason he doesn't get a new contract is because his contract isn't up for renewal yet. And if it's anything like what the players do with their contracts, if he waits it out and the team performs even better next year maybe he gets a bigger one.

We want sustained success, and if he's giving us that I see no reason to change. We're exactly where any reasonable person would have expected us to be when we hired him, all things considered.
 

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yodellinhank

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To say he didn't value defence is an overstatement. Knights clearly valued rebound defenders. The attack mantra was put onto Spike, Pears, Atkinson, Houli. We drafted Hurley and Hooker as key defenders and both eventually became AA backmen. Knights didn't have time to see his vision come to fruition.
I distinctly remember an incident where prismall was running alongside the play on the fat side at etihad. He stayed out on the fat side when it was pretty clear he should be running into the corridor to plug a hole and stop an attack. He ran alongside the play the whole way back and the oppo scored a goal and as he ran back to the wing he was shaking his head.

To me it was the look of frustration of following instructions he knew were absurd.
 

DapperDon

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Personally I can see flaws in his coaching, but he must coach next year before we can make a complete judgement on his overall ability.

Last year was an anomaly
This year he is going close to 12 wins, he will also lose some older heads this post season.
Next year is when we see what benefits the team has gained when he is forced to select those we think should be playing now.

If we fall back in a heap then he'll be moved on, if we make inroads then he should get a new contract.
 

Doss

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Personally I can see flaws in his coaching, but he must coach next year before we can make a complete judgement on his overall ability.

Last year was an anomaly
This year he is going close to 12 wins, he will also lose some older heads this post season.
Next year is when we see what benefits the team has gained when he is forced to select those we think should be playing now.

If we fall back in a heap then he'll be moved on, if we make inroads then he should get a new contract.
My thoughts exactly.
 

Killer_Mike

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Personally I can see flaws in his coaching, but he must coach next year before we can make a complete judgement on his overall ability.

Last year was an anomaly
This year he is going close to 12 wins, he will also lose some older heads this post season.
Next year is when we see what benefits the team has gained when he is forced to select those we think should be playing now.

If we fall back in a heap then he'll be moved on, if we make inroads then he should get a new contract.
I think another pre-season to work on expanding the gameplan is a necessity.

He acknowledged during the year that they have very little time to work on strategy during the year so most of that is done during the off-season.

He is effectively a first year coach.
 
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At the tail end of 2015:
- We were without an official Senior Coach
- The club was in shambles
- The players were miserable
- The performance from the team was miserable
- The fans were miserable
- The future was bleak

At the tail end of 2017:
- We are pushing for a spot in the finals, in what is a remarkably even season
- The club is far better placed with its reputation, list, legalities, media and financial situation moving forward
- The players are happy and enjoying their Footy
- The fans are more upbeat than ever
- The future is bright

All this has been achieved despite the sanctions on our team last year.

We have a few errors in our gameplay around defence, but I feel once we add some depth to our midfield and tighten up across the field, we will become a very difficult team to beat. Hell, at the expense of regurgitating the "shuolda coulda woulda" mentality, had we beaten Sydney and Brisbane we'd be well placed in the finals.

I think quite a few people in here have been remarkably disrespectful to our coach, who I think has done a wonderful job given the circumstances. There's really no need to be discussing contract status with the coach at this point in time.
 

ghostdog

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Gets a tick for Hurley and Hooker but his philosophy was "having the best attack is the best form of defense" which I didn't really agreed with.

There was a period (might have been his final year) where teams were getting 5-6 goal runs with him doing nothing about in the coaches box. correct me if I'm wrong but the Essendon board wasn't happy with this so they asked Knights to do something about it but he basically told him "it's my way or the high way"
That's news to me. I just think it's a bit much to say Knights didn't value defence. Going after Hurley with a first round pick speaks volumes against that notion.
 

ghostdog

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I distinctly remember an incident where prismall was running alongside the play on the fat side at etihad. He stayed out on the fat side when it was pretty clear he should be running into the corridor to plug a hole and stop an attack. He ran alongside the play the whole way back and the oppo scored a goal and as he ran back to the wing he was shaking his head.

To me it was the look of frustration of following instructions he knew were absurd.
Fair enough. I'm simply contending that he did value defence, just didn't coach it well.
 

ghostdog

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Even if we don't secure as many wins next year, part of me thinks Woosh should be extended some latitude. There will be a number of new young players on the list who will need time to develop. How well we perform will depend a lot on whether we can trade in players who are ready to go. Goddard, Bags and Kelly are only going to get slower. Howlett and Hocking might still remain at year's end.
 

Mercurial89

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Personally I can see flaws in his coaching, but he must coach next year before we can make a complete judgement on his overall ability.

Last year was an anomaly
This year he is going close to 12 wins, he will also lose some older heads this post season.
Next year is when we see what benefits the team has gained when he is forced to select those we think should be playing now.

If we fall back in a heap then he'll be moved on, if we make inroads then he should get a new contract.
Mostly agree, however I would note that judging on wins and losses is not what should dictate whether he gets an extension or not next year.

Injuries, the types of losses we have and the style of footy we play should all be taken into account.
 
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