thomas to blame

[Sir Robert]

Tell me about the coaching in the 2005 Preliminary Final vs Sydney. What was it exactly that makes you think it was the worst coaching effort ever ??

Our players crowded the ball and played into Sydney's hands for one. Lenny was at the base of every pack like the legend he is working his guts out, however every clearance went Sydney's way. It happeneed countless times... The ball would be in dispute then knocked out of the pack of players into the path of a running Swans player. Our forward line crowded around the ball as well... Leaving us virtually no targets up the ground.

All the crowding left Magic Micky O with a paddock to lead into, and no matter how good a FB you have he is going to tear you apart with his agility and athleticism.

The players should have been instructed to open up the paddock, and a wall formed so that any Sydney clearance would have been cut off by a Saint.

It was bloody obvious and is basic footy that is being employed today by all teams!

 

[della]

Yeah Sir Robert u r spot on, the use of Voss also had to be questioned, having both ruckman on most of the 3rd qtr and not giving them a rest was crucial in the final term, his whole set up was laughable to say the least.

The problem with Thomas was he just let them go out and relied on there ability to win games, but when u guys got a few injuries or players were down he had no plan b and couldn't change things up to suit u guys

i mean if u were at that prem final or have watched it u would know what i mean, pathetic coach, pathetic effort in his time when really u guys could of built some kind of dynasty and won 2-3 flags with that personal on the field

 

[della]

Grant thomas, a man who put his own ego and was interested in self control and million dollar loans oh sorry i mean Thomas a man who loved the saints and was all about the club and getting the best out of it, didn't he once say if there was a better person who could do the job he would stand down, yeah iu guess eade prob wasnt that good of a coach, either was blighty cause he was abit diff and his record was shit, thanks for the memories Thomas, u destroyed this club!

 

[Saint4Life]

Della, can you please not post in another St.Kilda thread.

You blame GT for our problems we have in 2007?

You blame St.Kilda for getting rid of M.Blight?

Get over yourself.

A. M.Blight was never interested in coaching. A big some of money got him to the saints, and while he was at the saints, he didnt achieve anything, and instead of coaching, he went and played golf, yes golf. Do you know how much that pissed me off?

B. Grant took us from bottom to top in 2004, 2005, 2006. This year, we are struggling. Do not blame someone who has no control over what st.kilda does in 2007. It is the same list, actually, its better, with two more ruckman that 'bigfooty experts' insisted we have.

C. You say GT was a pathetic coach. A pathetic coach does not make you finish top 8 three years in a row (how many times has that happened to the club?), by chance or fluke. Get over yourself and go troll somewhere else.

D. Just because M.Blight or Sheedy or whoever big names have had success at other clubs does not mean they will at St.Kilda. Understand that fact. Blight was shit for our club. So was Watson.

E. The reason we are doing poorly this year, is because we have a coach who insist of playing a style of football that does not work. KIcking sideways is crap. Our kicking into the forward line is too wide, and not to the fat side of the ground or into space.

 

[cartwright]

Della - declare who you follow or rack off.

clearly you do not follow st kilda otherwise you would understand that at the time when Blight was appointed coach he did not fit where st kilda were at.

Maybe now, that we have an established list he would suit - but back then he wasn't interested in developing our very young list.

 

[saintsownthedome]

i actually follow Geelong

Enough said. Climb back into your hole little man.....

 

[della]

who cares who i follow, i want to see us victorian clubs who have been starved of success win something, the 2004 prem final weekend was the worst of my life when both Saints and cats lost by small margins as i wanted them to playoff in a grand final so at least one of them would achieve something.


Grant Thomas is a joke thats my opinion, i could of coached that group to a finals campaign please, the thing that annoyed me was thomas did say if there was someone better out there then he would stand down and he never did, he was a ego maniac who put his own needs ahead of the club.

Sacking blighty i still regard the dumbest thing ever, Blight was diff, so he was off playing golf alot when his team sucked and had injuries, my point was when in his 2nd yr with Roo and Kosi etc coming thru and he saw something he liked he would of fast tracked the results, no question there i believe.

Hey this is nothing about sticking the knives in but i just feel Thomas has fk d ya club up big time and i don't see how others could agrue, its about getting the best out of youre playing list with or without injuries, luck etc and there is no way in hell Stkilda achieved what they should of, his lack of tactical nouse in the big games was costly and cost youre club of a mini dynasty it deserved

am i a thomas basher, sure am only cause he ruined the chance at the ultimate glory, just my thoughts!

 

[cartwright]

wow you really love the guy who took YOUR team to 3 losing Grand Finals.

 

[della]

yep sure did, he got the best out of a shit list that went only 6-7 deep, love the way we played free flowing football it was good to watch, at least he coached unlike thomas who was to busy worrying about every flipping department when he should of worried about on field and how many flags he could win with a flipping great list.

 

[cartwright]

wow you speak so eloquently ... just like a real Feral Cats supporter.

You do not follow St Kilda, you do not know St Kilda so your opinions are not valued.

Thankyou.

Goodbye.

 

[Kildonan]

I have given Della a yellow card - this was after two warnings for trolling and avoiding the swear filter.

 

[saintsownthedome]

Red card the small man - check out some of the rubbish he has written in the Stephen Milne thread.

 

[paul55]

i guess alot us fans who have gone to the footy in recent years always wondered if we were missing out on something with Thomas in charge, its funny so many of us wanted him gone then when he was sacked people were crying, i think the right decision was made but to put lyon in charge geez, that man doesn't exactly ooze confidence or inspiration, what were we thinking!

 

[Persevering Saint]

Aaaaahhh.

One of the great things that came out of the Harvey Testimonial dinner was the quote from Spud Frawley that Harvey personifies the club motto, "Strength through Loyalty." If we learned nothing else from Grant Thomas' reign, it was the truth of our motto. That motto has been a joke, an irony, for so many years for almost everybody involved in the management of our club. But Grant and Rod brought loyalty, like never before, into Moorabbin. Rod brought loyalty from supporters, as evidenced by the amazing rise in members. Grant brought loyalty from the players, to the point where they would pretty much die for the sake of club and coach. And what happened: strength. Loyalty brought unprecedented strength to our club.

If firing Grant was a mistake, which in hindsight it may well have been, Rod's mistake was one of loyalty, and the cost has been strength. BUT, people, let's not make the same mistake. If we want to stay, or become again, a strong club, we must stay loyal: to each other, to our coach, to our dedicated and talented players, and yes, even to our president.

As annoyed as I am with Ross Lyon's game-plan, as much as I think Rod handled the whole GT thing last week terribly, and as frustrated as I am by the lack-lustre form of many players, the fact remains: they are the coach, the president, and the players of St Kilda Football Club. They should count on our loyalty. That doesn't mean we can't critique - loyalty isn't that - but it does mean wanting to DROP the new highly qualified coach after 11 games, or to DUMP a president who's done great stuff for our club over 6 years, or to TRADE somebody like Kosi - who's bled, in his brain, for this club - (and I coulda picked plenty of other players who the hounds are baying for) is not only counter-productive and weakening, it's just not cool.

 

[paul55]

Grant thomas brang alot of good things but this loyality thing is over-rated, if he was a true loyal saint he would of stepped down during those great years of 2003-05 knowing he wasn't the best coach to take that group to a flag, instead he wanted to run every department of the club including contracts, t.services, coaching etc, i feel his love of the club was prob his biggest weakness as he wanted success more then anyone at the club but let that intefere with the bigger picture and was best for StKilda, i will never judge Thomas on his love of the club but maybe he was being to loyal to himself and should of taken a backward seat or at least got some with great tactial nouse to sit in the box with him during those time, i remember gerard healy sitting in the box once in 2004 and said he felt thomas didn't do alot of coaching or didn't worry about tactics as much just let them play to there natural talent, just feel we needed someone smarter in the box and this still kills me 2day that we didnt win a flag with that list as thomas compromised himself and the club cause he couldn't see what he was doing wrong!

 

[GoalSneak38]

You have a very good list but too many injuries. You can't do much about it. Seems there is too much finger pointing going on. Whatever 'personal' problems the pres and Thomas have/had should remain behind closed doors. Never mix business and pleasure

 

[Kildonan]

Aaaaahhh.

One of the great things that came out of the Harvey Testimonial dinner was the quote from Spud Frawley that Harvey personifies the club motto, "Strength through Loyalty." If we learned nothing else from Grant Thomas' reign, it was the truth of our motto. That motto has been a joke, an irony, for so many years for almost everybody involved in the management of our club. But Grant and Rod brought loyalty, like never before, into Moorabbin. Rod brought loyalty from supporters, as evidenced by the amazing rise in members. Grant brought loyalty from the players, to the point where they would pretty much die for the sake of club and coach. And what happened: strength. Loyalty brought unprecedented strength to our club.

If firing Grant was a mistake, which in hindsight it may well have been, Rod's mistake was one of loyalty, and the cost has been strength. BUT, people, let's not make the same mistake. If we want to stay, or become again, a strong club, we must stay loyal: to each other, to our coach, to our dedicated and talented players, and yes, even to our president.

As annoyed as I am with Ross Lyon's game-plan, as much as I think Rod handled the whole GT thing last week terribly, and as frustrated as I am by the lack-lustre form of many players, the fact remains: they are the coach, the president, and the players of St Kilda Football Club. They should count on our loyalty. That doesn't mean we can't critique - loyalty isn't that - but it does mean wanting to DROP the new highly qualified coach after 11 games, or to DUMP a president who's done great stuff for our club over 6 years, or to TRADE somebody like Kosi - who's bled, in his brain, for this club - (and I coulda picked plenty of other players who the hounds are baying for) is not only counter-productive and weakening, it's just not cool.

Excellent Post - you have managed to put into words exactly how we (as supporters) should be thinking. I know it is easy to pay lip service to the motto, but I live my life knowing that when loyalty issues arise, I have already committed myself to certain people, issues, and bodies (such as the SKFC). My loyalty is not at issue. It is given, and once given it is rock solid.

Some people here may question the club, or decisions that have been made etc.. It may seem that their loyalty is weak. That it is only given during times of good or plenty. I believe that most are actually loyal supporters who feel the need to voice their dissatisfaction at the current situation or the direction we are heading. They / we are all entitled to our opinions and forums like this one gives our voice some strength. But the act of voicing dissent is displaying disloyalty; i.e. not showing the faith in the club and the personnel in situ to overcome adversity and set us back on the path.

Blind faith though can be fatal. If no questions were ever asked, if no expectations were never set then there would be no club.

Finding the happy medium is the thing.

Too much one way and we are perfectionists or whingers, not enough and we collapse through sloth.

Before we can justify a whinge though, we need to justify the expectations.

What expectations did we have for the Saints in 2007 ?

I hoped for / wished for a premiership flag (but I do every year !)
I expected a poorer performance this year than our last three years.

Grant Thomas had his weaknesses, but he was able to adapt and learn. He had become a very good coach. This can be attested to by his record.

Ross Lyon will probably end up being an even better coach.

No first year coach can be expected to have the players reach the intensity required for a premiership tilt. The interpersonal relationships need to be forged and trust and respect earned. All these things will come.

They had already developed with GT, so that even a "much better coach" could not perform at the same level without reforging those ties.

Just because my expectations were not as high as many others does not mean I don't feel disappointment at our current situation. I was devastated by the loss to the Kangaroos. These are a benchmark for me - a tryhard team - honest but not particularly good.

They are reaping the benefits of having some stability and longevity of the coaching personnel. The Kangaroos stuck with Laidley, a passionate man but no Einstein - and this has benefitted them.

It hurts me to see that we have dropped below their level, but it is the price we pay for changing coach at a critical time.

We will step up again and re-establish our superiority over the Kangaroos, of this I am certain, but the loss of a year's performance - and certainly a fair number of memberships is a big price for our club to pay.

 

[paul55]

Thomas is to blame pure and simple and if he had of let his ego get out of the way and did what was best for the club we would be drinking bourbons and watching replays of back top back flags, instead he was greedy and wanted it all including money from Butters. i will never 4give this man and what he did to our club, and he still has players over to his house, my son is good friends with Thomas's daughter who dates Baker and he has been over ther at bbq's as recently as a mnth ago and there were like 7-8 saints players there, Thomas should get over himself!

 

[Kildonan]

What do you believe GT did that prevented us from collecting the 2004 and 2005 flags? i.e. how did he sabotage the club ?

If you believe that GT should have simply decided that Mr. X was demonstrably a superior coach, who was Mr. X ? how do you justify that ? and when should GT have resigned ?

 

[paul55]

beacause thomas didn't have the runs on the board at AFL level and it was obvious by many people who sat with him at diff times in the box that he didn't have the tactial nouse, i can't believe anyone on this board thinks thomas did a good job, it was clearly one of the worst coaching jobs ever and one that will haunt this club for many a year!

 

[Punter!]

beacause thomas didn't have the runs on the board at AFL level and it was obvious by many people who sat with him at diff times in the box that he didn't have the tactial nouse, i can't believe anyone on this board thinks thomas did a good job, it was clearly one of the worst coaching jobs ever and one that will haunt this club for many a year!

I think this is della under a different user name...

 

[saintsownthedome]

I think this is della under a different user name...

Great minds think alike..check out the other threads.

 

[Kildonan]

Yes Paul55 is a sock puppet of della.

The paul55 account has been permanently banned and della has been red-carded for a week.