FYI - Here is a post by ROSCO on The Collingwood Blog that some of our fellow BOAF (Birds Of A Feather) may find useful:
Given that change is going to cause damage – and not just financially – you would only undertake it secure in the knowledge that [matters] could not possibly get worse and that there was a very, very good chance they would get measurably better.
My guess is that if the ship can be righted with a few wins over the next 6 weeks, the pressure will be temporarily released but the need to deal with realities wont disappear. Buckley will be given every possible chance to succeed and to that end I would tip a change to the assistant coaching panel to be on the cards, rather than a change of coach (with the exception being continued losses over the next month) and the hope would be they could find a Goodwin who has clearly had a positive influence at Melbourne even though he isn’t head coach (yet).
The biggest concern for me is that Buckley is forecasting a return to dour, defensive football in an attempt to manufacture a win.
This means the game plans that we saw demonstrated in the NAB cup – fast, open, transition footy that was supposedly drilled all summer – have been summarily turfed and he is reverting to type.
One can speculate therefore that the defensive rolling maul is the only style of footy he can coach or its the only style of footy the list is capable of playing and having a chance of winning, but either way its not a style of footy that is capable of regularly generating 25-30 shots on goal per game.
It also cannot succeed against sides who defend well AND transition quickly and efficiently – e.g Hawks, Dogs, Crows, Weagles – given the rule changes this year (and probably next year). In other words, its a game style that might allow you to cobble together enough wins to scrape into the eight, but it’s not a Top 4 game style and therefore not a premiership plan.
Given the youth of our list, one would logically assume that we would be drilling them in what was necessary to be a top four contender in the next three years and yet it seems we are travelling the other way to keep the wolves from the door.
All this will result in will be confusion and mediocrity.
It’s interesting that a similar predicament faces Ross Lyon with many observers tipping him to do the same – the difference of course is that Lyon has a 5 year deal and Freo’s inevitable list rebuild/rejuvenation is in front of him, whereas ours has been done.
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Okay…
The ROSCO post above provides us with an insight as to where Buckley’s head is at at the mo – that is to say, he is (and here I’m paraphrasing) in survival mode.
Back to his old “defensive rolling maul” strategy.
This is not a good thing.
How so?
Well…
It suggests that Buckley lacks faith in his own tactics – the same tactics that were drilled into our players over the preseason.
Put another way…
It is, effectively, a veiled admission that our head coach does not know what he is doing.
Win , lose or draw this weekend, where do we go now in the AFL Sinai with our latter day footy Moses?