Time (and a premiership) heals wounds...

[azyboy]

Bomber opens up in today's Hun about leaving the cats and the love that he still has for the players and the club. I don't know - maybe it's the untimely death of Jim Stynes (or more accurately, the 2011 premiership) but its hard to hold a grudge nowadays. At the time, I certainly thought he could have handled the situation a little better to say the least. That being said, he, as much as Cooky and Frank, rebuilt this club and shaped it into the powerhouse it is today. The love that the playing group still has for him is as good a reason as any to forgive...and maybe forget.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/how-mark-thompson-got-his-spark-back/story-fnctrk3q-1226307624431

 

[barmy44]

MARK Thompson is in a good head space.

At 48, his life has direction and personal fulfilment, new meaning and new challenges.

Clearly, for the first time in almost a decade, he has become introspective and not the subject of everyone else's perspective.

In essence, Thompson has stopped to smell the roses.

thats all we who dont want to pay get... amazing insights, though.

i got over him leaving very quickly. at first i was pretty disappointed and a little angry, but scott soon turned that around.

we would never have got '11 if thompson had stayed.

 

[azyboy]

thats all we who dont want to pay get... amazing insights, though.

i got over him leaving very quickly. at first i was pretty disappointed and a little angry, but scott soon turned that around.

we would never have got '11 if thompson had stayed.

It's free for two months I've pasted the text below.


MARK Thompson is in a good head space.

At 48, his life has direction and personal fulfilment, new meaning and new challenges.

Clearly, for the first time in almost a decade, he has become introspective and not the subject of everyone else's perspective.

In essence, Thompson has stopped to smell the roses.

For 11 years as coach of Geelong, which ended 18 months ago amid allegations of mis-truths and deceit before he signed with Essendon, Thompson directed all energies and emotions to the success of the team.

And in the end, it got him - the senior coaching gig got him. The demands monopolised his being and Thompson had to walk away - a decision not made overnight, mind you.

At the Bombers he is a senior assistant/mentor/mover-and-shaker, and 8pm finishes are off the radar.

Close friends say he is rejuvenated; still a touch peculiar, but far more relaxed, ready with a smile.
“

I've got a life plan ... there's so many areas I've neglected over the past 11 years. You neglect the people you should love
”
His long-time partner Jana, whom he met in Geelong, acknowledges the difference.

"He's just a lot happier," she says. "I feel he's thinking about things other than just football all the time."

Recently he has used his time to start renovating his new-ish Port Melbourne warehouse. An electrician by trade, he picked up the paint brush and saw, then donned the overalls.

"I've even done some wiring," he says, laughing. "I've still got my licence."

Asked how good life is, he shoots back: "It feels very good. I've got a life plan, I know what I need to be doing. There's so many areas I've neglected over the past 11 years.

"You neglect the people you should love, your family, the people you live with, your friends ... you have friends in the summertime and lose them in the wintertime, which doesn't make you a reliable friend.

"I'm seeing life differently. I've got a long list of things I want to achieve. I want to travel, I want to do charity work overseas, wherever, every year for as long as I can.

"There's more to life than just work. You owe it to yourself to be the best person you can be. I want to do some courses - education courses, business and management courses, property development, just educate myself again. I used to run a business and I've got no idea how to run a business any more.

"So, it's not as if I just woke up one day and said, 'I don't want to coach'. It's been a long process for me."

So has the process of togetherness with Jana, to whom Thompson proposed in the new year.

Thompson: "I'm not going to talk about how I popped the question."

Jana: "It's funny."

Thompson: "It's not that funny; it's embarrassing."

Jana: "I'll tell. When he actually said, 'Will you marry me?', we were sitting on the couch waiting for the last wicket to fall of the Boxing Day Test, before we could go out and celebrate. We already had the rings. I had mine on, but he had never actually asked me the question. So, we were watching the cricket and then he asked me."

Thompson: "I did it because I want to spend the rest of my life with this girl. I'm in a good space, I love being with her, I enjoy our life together. As I said, I just have more time to think about what's important to me now ... and we'll be getting married at the end of the year."






.


Mark Thompson back at Essendon working for James Hird.

Thompson's departure from Geelong at the end of 2010 helped mould the Thompson of today, just as the calamity of 2006, when his job was under review by Cats chief executive Brian Cook, was the making of him as a person.

"In 2006 we won the pre-season cup," he says. "The expectations were way too high. Things didn't got to plan, there was a lot of pressure brought on because of my personal life, and I thought people saw an opportunity and went for it and the club nearly caved in.

"In the end, probably (then Geelong president) Frank (Costa) saved my butt."

When it ended in 2010 - which basically coincided with revelations Essendon powerbrokers such as former champion Tim Watson, chairman David Evans and now coach James Hird had made inquiries about his future - Thompson and the Cats parted like a husband and wife who had fallen out of love.

Cook, football manager Neil Balme and Costa were all publicly disappointed when he signed with Essendon and a Cold War ensued. Time heals, however.

"It's healing, but it didn't have to be healed from my behalf," Thompson says.

THOMPSON and Cook have had several dinners and Thompson has quick get-togethers with former players, such as breakfast with former forward Cameron Mooney.

He recently attended Matthew Egan's wedding and enjoyed beers with more Geelong players. His former skipper Cameron Ling will occasionally use Port Melbourne as a bedsit when he's in Melbourne for football commitments.

"It's all good," Thompson says.

After his resignation from Geelong, Thompson, as expected, distanced himself from the club.

He has not spoken to his replacement Chris Scott, and last year would contact the senior players only via text message for milestone games, such as James Kelly's 150th or Jimmy Bartel's 200th.
“

My mistake is I told friends I wasn't going to coach. Essendon heard about it, and the gravy train went nuts and I couldn't stop it
”
The events of 2010, and his reasons for them, have not changed for the former coach.

"I've moved on, I never had a problem with anything," Thompson says.

Asked if bridges have now been built, he says: "It doesn't matter, it's just gone down. It's the past. I don't really care. I only worry about the positive, I don't worry about the negative."

Would he have done anything differently?

"I probably wouldn't have told a soul I wasn't going to coach," he said. "It was halfway through the year and I should've kept it to myself. It was hard because then everybody talks ... you lose trust.

''That's what senior coaches do - you don't trust anybody and that's half the reason why you don't want to coach. And it turns you into a mad man."






.


Mark Thompson won two premierships with Geelong.

Did he lie to Geelong? "No. But I never told them the full story. As I said, if I had my time again I would not have said anything to anyone and then at the end of the year hit them with the bombshell.

''My mistake is I told friends I wasn't going to coach. Essendon heard about it, and the gravy train went nuts and I couldn't stop it.

"I just said to them (Geelong) I wasn't going to coach again, I wasn't going to coach Essendon, which I haven't."

Pointedly, he says he made the correct decision by Geelong.

"They shouldn't complain. If they had a bloke who didn't want to coach and he stuck there taking the money each week, and his heart's not in it ... well, they should probably applaud it because I would have been there for the wrong reasons.

"The thing is, people thought I was going to go to a better place for more money and I was doing the wrong thing, but I'm quite comfortable knowing I did the right thing by everybody."

The Australian newspaper first reported Thompson was "eyeing off" Essendon, and also reported he would be the senior coach. "They got it wrong," he says. "If I was going to coach, it would have been Geelong."

Thompson refuses to elaborate on exactly when Essendon approached him. "I told them if I wasn't coaching Geelong, I would come back in some capacity and help Essendon - if I wasn't coaching Geelong."

DON'T mistake his stern - and personal - defence of his decision to leave Geelong with a lack of love for the club he took over for the 2000 season.

He says his heart was in two places, and says he made a greater contribution to the Cats as coach than he did as a 202-game player and premiership captain (1993) for the Bombers.

It's why at last year's Grand Final, Thompson could be seen celebrating as strongly as any Cats fan on the second level of the Southern Stand.

"I was barracking for Geelong very hard," he says. "I was out of my seat a couple of times, especially for the third-quarter goals and last-quarter goals. I wanted them to win. I just wanted them to win because they are all friends. And if they could win, it would be a pretty fair era, I reckon. It can be talked about now as an era."

When James Podsiadly was carried from the ground in the second quarter, Thompson remained the fan and not the tactician, though others inquired if he had any solutions.

"Hirdy texted me and asked, 'What would I do?' I said I'd put onballers in the forward line who could catch the ball."

Scott effectively moved Bartel to a second key marking forward position with a quarter and half to play. "Yep, Bartel," Thompson smiles again.

He says he was rapt for Tom Hawkins, Brad Ottens, Joel Corey - "Corey is a superstar" - Bartel, James Kelly, Matthew Scarlett and, of course, Cameron Ling.

"I don't know Chris Scott. I worked with him at the Vic game a couple of years back, but I was happy for him and for all the coaches, the staff, the board, the supporters, all of them. You know what they did? They proved everyone wrong. They had a lot to play for."

Even as recently as two weekends ago, Thompson and Jana watched last year's Grand Final again.

"The whole lot," he says. "And I was living every moment again." Jana adds: "He was yelling out at the TV."

Thompson describes his first season at Essendon as "challenging and rewarding, a different sort of stimulus".

"It was one where I sort of watched instead of absolutely just working your backside off," he says.

It prompts three questions.

How much coaching does he do?

"Hirdy is the absolute coach," he says. "He is the absolute, absolute coach. I've never had one team meeting with the group, not one meeting for the year. I will talk to them individually, but have never run a session, such as how to play and what we did well. I'm in the meetings, but I'm watching.

"Hirdy learnt a lot and he did it very well. It takes a while to work it out, how to see things clearer. Hirdy's got a good temperament. You always get frustrated as a coach, in the box, in team meetings with the coaches, but never in front of the players, and he doesn't. And in front of the media he is outstanding."

What is his job description?

"I would say helping the club ... in mentoring the coaches, assisting in the set-up of development programs, the recruitment of staff, training programs, list management, recruiting. Basically, how a successful organisation should be set up."

He says there was a lot of work to do when he first arrived at Windy Hill. "We've made massive strides, but you won't probably see it on the field as much as you will in the future," he says.

The Bombers are intent on teaching their players and bulking them up. "When you pick up the Herald Sun, and read what (Collingwood's) Scott Pendlebury said - that the big (Geelong) bodies got them in the end - it again reinforces the belief you want big, strong bulls who can run.

''The last four Grand Finals, they've been those games. Big, strong bodies," he says.

And, finally, how long will he be at Essendon?

"I will be there as long as Hirdy needs me. But there will be a time when it won't happen."

Thompson is all about the future - for himself and Essendon.

And the reason he moved the museum at Windy Hill was not because he tried to ignore the past, but to make the present a whole lot better.

"I didn't get rid of it because of that. We needed space, we were living in an egg shell," he says.

Of course, the future includes premiership reunions with the Cats, events Thompson will not enjoy because he's uncomfortable with the attention.

"I'm not a big one for celebration," he says. "It (the reunion) won't be about me and I might be overseas anyway. I'll enjoy seeing the people again, but going to a public thing won't interest me. Public talking was part of the job, not the best part. The best part of footy is actually teaching people how to play and be successful."

Coaching is certainly over. "I don't miss it," he says, "and, no, I'll never coach again."

 

[ATSAM]

Nah can't forgive for poor coaching and selection decisions in 04 & 05,will never forgive for all of 06 and until someone tells me what he, the Coach, did between round 5 and 6 in 2007, that changed us forever, then he is not worth a second thought.
And really, the players were not talking to him at the end, well perhaps that was because, as Steve Johnson said, they tried to talk to him about a new game plan early in the 2010 season and he wouldn't listen. No-one talks to a boss who doesn't listen. And oh the opportunity to go back to back in 09/10, lost by him because he had made the decision to leave, because he coudln't even select Mackie, because he had lost interset. And we suffferbecause of it.

Some players might like him, they can, but there are others who don't, for whom he made life hell whilst they were at Geelong. They won't speak out as they have got on with their lives.
If Thompson has moved on then for goodness sake he needs to stop talking about Geelong. This was a Coach with a champion team how lucky was he.

 

[Stoney]

Nah can't forgive for poor coaching and selection decisions in 04 & 05,will never forgive for all of 06 and until someone tells me what he, the Coach, did between round 5 and 6 in 2007, that changed us forever, then he is not worth a second thought.
And really, the players were not talking to him at the end, well perhaps that was because, as Steve Johnson said, they tried to talk to him about a new game plan early in the 2010 season and he wouldn't listen. No-one talks to a boss who doesn't listen. And oh the opportunity to go back to back in 09/10, lost by him because he had made the decision to leave, because he coudln't even select Mackie, because he had lost interset. And we suffferbecause of it.

Some players might like him, they can, but there are others who don't, for whom he made life hell whilst they were at Geelong. They won't speak out as they have got on with their lives.
If Thompson has moved on then for goodness sake he needs to stop talking about Geelong. This was a Coach with a champion team how lucky was he.

You're having a fair dinkum bubble bath.

So much disrespect for a bloke who contributed to everything we've been privileged to witness the past 5 years.

Without Mark Thompson (among many, many others) - we wouldn't be where we are now. Fact.

 

[Partridge]

Bomber opens up in today's Hun about leaving the cats and the love that he still has for the players and the club. I don't know - maybe it's the untimely death of Jim Stynes (or more accurately, the 2011 premiership) but its hard to hold a grudge nowadays. At the time, I certainly thought he could have handled the situation a little better to say the least. That being said, he, as much as Cooky and Frank, rebuilt this club and shaped it into the powerhouse it is today. The love that the playing group still has for him is as good a reason as any to forgive...and maybe forget.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/how-mark-thompson-got-his-spark-back/story-fnctrk3q-1226307624431

Nah, it's easy. He's a two-faced LYING hypocrite. Allowed Ablett's contract status (which was none of his business) to influence both his relationship with him and how he did his job. Lectured to all and sundry about loyalty and then ran off to another club. No forgiveness here.

Hope they enjoy finishing 9th.

 

[Grizzly_82]

Nah never liked him since the whole stealing one of the players girlfriend incident, he made a few players lives pretty hard durring his time. Him leaving the way he did just confirmed what a scumbag he is, which I knew all along.

Scott a man I respected in his playing days, and has come across as a decent person and abit of a supporter like us. Glad I finally can respect a coach of Geelong , besides Blighty of course.

 

[randyzany]

Nah, it's easy. He's a two-faced LYING hypocrite. Allowed Ablett's contract status (which was none of his business) to influence both his relationship with him and how he did his job. Lectured to all and sundry about loyalty and then ran off to another club. No forgiveness here.

Hope they enjoy finishing 9th.

The contract of the highest paid player is the senior coaches and club's business.

By prolonging Ablett's condescending deceit it could have allowed some opportunistic rival clubs to poach some of our other stars. The highest paid player at a club is the one individual that cannot, for the sake of a club, hold it to ransom because so much of what he gets paid dictates what everybody else gets.

I'm sorry but out of this whole mess Bomba came out smelling of roses whereas have nothing but contempt for the conniving lying mercenary piece of shit that is GAJ.

He'd accepted the dimwit's lucre as far back as 2010 and didn't want to admit it because to do so would have portrayed him and the AFL as the corrupt greedy unethical bastards that they are.

 

[Boxhead_31]

thats all we who dont want to pay get... amazing insights, though.

i got over him leaving very quickly. at first i was pretty disappointed and a little angry, but scott soon turned that around.

we would never have got '11 if thompson had stayed.

Just copy the article title into Google and you can see it for free without signing up

 

[Aussiemac82]

I view Bomber, as I do an ex-girlfriend.

Started really happy
Had some ups and downs
Nearly split midway through
Gave it another go and it worked for a bit. Things looked great.
Had some of the best years of my life
Always a bit dubious to what was happening behind my back
Dodgy texts and phone calls
Says can't be in relationship
Gets in relationship straight away.

Now, everything is better. Picked up someone who feels the same way I do. The first year was better than anything I could have imagined. Better than the best years with the ex.

Life is good. The ex can have the gold digger with no substance

 

[CoolCat75]

Nah can't forgive for poor coaching and selection decisions in 04 & 05,will never forgive for all of 06 and until someone tells me what he, the Coach, did between round 5 and 6 in 2007, that changed us forever, then he is not worth a second thought.
And really, the players were not talking to him at the end, well perhaps that was because, as Steve Johnson said, they tried to talk to him about a new game plan early in the 2010 season and he wouldn't listen. No-one talks to a boss who doesn't listen. And oh the opportunity to go back to back in 09/10, lost by him because he had made the decision to leave, because he coudln't even select Mackie, because he had lost interset. And we suffferbecause of it.

Some players might like him, they can, but there are others who don't, for whom he made life hell whilst they were at Geelong. They won't speak out as they have got on with their lives.
If Thompson has moved on then for goodness sake he needs to stop talking about Geelong. This was a Coach with a champion team how lucky was he.

You've gotta be kidding me! All you Thompson haters have to get some perspective in footy life. If I came to you after 2006 and said you can have 3 flags over the next five years, but the coach will leave after year 4 in not so perfect circumstances, tell me you wouldn't have said yes, yes and yes. Despite the way he left, he was one of the most important cogs in the wheel (off field) along with Cook, Costa, Balme and Wells to take us from a rabble to a great club. Have some gratitude and be gratefull for our success.

 

[donbooger]

No hard feelings at all now or then. I dont expect loyalty from coaches in the AFL as they are treated like dirt and should look after there own interests at all times. I also didnt see Marks loss as weakening us while Abletts defection was a bloody disaster to me, so all my scorn went in that direction.

What made all the difference in regards to morality was that he became an assistant coach and not the head. There is an enormous amount of stress in being the head coach and I never believed Bomber was the type that handled stress well.

It also helped that at the end of 2010 our time was just about done and a new coach was likely coming the next year anyway. Now in hindsight with another premiership there is certainly no hard feelings and the fresh blood was a great result.

 

[Monniehawk]

I'm a bit more philosophical about it all these days.
In my own mind I have detailed all the negatives of Bomber. He was slow to start and only Frank's patience and belief propped him (and us!) up in the early years.
2006 reinforced some early doubts about whether he could actually do it. Frank's support for him kept those at bay.
The leadership group's soul search after 2006 was the prime catalyst for the rest of the history and Bomber may or may not have played a key part in that. Whatever, it was stunningly effective.
'07 was like a dream. Over 4 decades of grief, disappointment, disillusion - and yes - shame, was swept away. '08 was painful, particularly for the last 2 hours. The Cats were ambushed and I hold no-one to blame, specifically.
2010 saw the old angst return when Gazza played cat-and-mouse with the press, the Club and Bomber. Bomber didn't handle it well. But I think Gazza did. He was torn between loyalties to his mates and his family. He also had himself to consider. After all, when the streamers and theme songs fade, players are ultimately just another piece of meat.
The rumours of Bomber and Essendon persisted quietly and his shock announcement and subsequent departure saw a lot of us stunned, outraged and hurt. It passed quickly for me. I soon realised he did the right thing for us and himself. He had lost it. And we had to lose the resentment. Such a negative could only draw further negatives. I'd had over 40 years of those already.
Cook and the hierarchy were on the ball and deflected the controversy away from Bomber, at least to some extent. The appointment of Chris, an injection of youth and a "hasten slowly" game plan development helped us gain some equilibrium. Then momentum. Then the flag.
To me, 2010 was the absolute pinnacle. I hungered for the flag in '07, but this last one was more precious for so many other complex reasons.
I believe Bomber, through his enduring legacy as a coach, and paradoxically by his voluntary departure, was a big part of the Phoenix soaring again.
I forgive the little errors - and even the big ones - and I hope he stays close to us. It would be an acknowledgement of the maturity and excellence of this Club if he does. And the return should not just be for himself, but certainly for the remarkable squad and era he helped to shape.

 

[footscore]

I view Bomber, as I do an ex-girlfriend.

Started really happy
Had some ups and downs
Nearly split midway through
Gave it another go and it worked for a bit. Things looked great.
Had some of the best years of my life
Always a bit dubious to what was happening behind my back
Dodgy texts and phone calls
Says can't be in relationship
Gets in relationship straight away.

Now, everything is better. Picked up someone who feels the same way I do. The first year was better than anything I could have imagined. Better than the best years with the ex.

Life is good. The ex can have the gold digger with no substance

haha...that's gold

 

[FoxC]

Here's the third article in the same series today by Robinson that I think is the most interesting of them all.

Mark Thompson says he left Geelong for players' sake


EXCLUSIVE: FORMER Geelong coach Mark Thompson has revealed that players weren't listening to him towards the end of the 2010 campaign.

Thompson had already decided he would not be coaching the Cats the following year and was heading to Essendon in a non-coaching role.

But he said public revelations about his move to Essendon did not cost the Cats the 2010 premiership. Thompson argued his departure from the club contributed to his beloved Cats winning an era-defining third flag in five years under his successor Chris Scott last year.

"I did what I did because I wanted to give the club the best chance," Thompson told the Herald Sun.

He said he and the coaches knew they had to change their game plan to beat all-conquering Collingwood, which dispatched the Cats in the preliminary final by 41 points.

But the players didn't listen.

Thompson said former assistant and current Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney best summed it up. "Macca explained it to me like this - it's almost like your dad giving you a talk when you're 18, like 'You shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that' and 'Are you listening, son?'," he said.

" 'Yeah, yeah, I'm listening Dad', and they go out and do what they want.

"Our game plan had to change and I didn't think I was getting through, so the players needed a change as much as anything."

Thompson said his departure contributed as strongly to the Cats winning the 2011 premiership.

"Absolutely," he said. "I love those boys, they love me and we had a great time, but it's almost like we became friends than a coach-player relationship.

"It was hard to have the hard conversations ... I probably wasn't as tough on them. They were just so confident in their ability, and then (with Chris Scott coming in) they were put back on edge."

Thompson has opened up for the first time since leaving the Cats, speaking about his recent engagement, his relationship with his former players and his plans to work with charities overseas.

I agree with the OP and the thread title. Getting Scott and winning in 2011 has erased the pains of missing the chance to go back to back in 2010, and Thompson's and Ablett's messy exits.

I've never blamed Thompson for Ablett's defection as I believe Ablett did it for the money and would've gone irrespective of Thompson's behaviour.

What I really want to know and hope those in the know can shed light on is: who refused to change the game plan in 2010? Thompson said it was the players. Someone said in a post above that the players had told Thompson to change it but he didn't listen.

 

[footscore]

I'm no longer pissed off, we wouldn't be the club we are today if Bomber was still hanging around.

He likely would have kept Blake, Djerrkura, Gamble on our list in 2011 and hindered the chances of Christensen, Vardy, Cowan or a Trent West.
The loss of Ablett is going to be a blessing as we will be able to draft a future champion in the 2013/2014 draft from the compensation pick.

Chris Scott found some missing pieces from the jigsaw which Bomber failed to see such as Varcoe to the half back flank, Lonergan the designated full back allowing Scarlett to play as a half back flanker, Bundy into the guts, Duncan, Menzel, Vardy all playing 9 or more games each.
Less demands on the senior players and putting pressure on every single player on the list to perform every week regardless of reputations which Bomber would never do.

In 2012 we will see Guthrie, Smedts, Motlop and Simpson and I doubt Thompson would have began the induction of youth as prolifically as what Chris currently has.

All in all.....it's been the best thing to have happened to the club and we now have a new direction and philosophy while being able to stay at the top.

 

[Gavin Excell]

As the title of the thread say "a premiership heals wounds"

I bare little animosity now. He seems in a good space. He is a two time premiership coach of our club. We now have a more committed and possibly better coach.

All is good.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

There's no doubt his departure has been a win for all concerned. Writing was on the wall WRT his motivation in 2010 and the appointment of Scott has netted us a Flag and a guy who is committed to have us challenge on a consistent basis.

The one aspect that still pisses me off is the timing of the whole episode. Initially he claims the decision was made not to coach the GFC post season and that contact with Essendon was around that time. Facts are he proactively contacted the Bombers in July
and indicated he was unsure of his future post Costa retiring and couldn't get along with Cook. I can't respect a bloke who continues a charade like this even though I am forever grateful for the 2 Flags won under him.

 

[witsend]

Bomber who?

 

[barmy44]

Bomber who?

thompson... the guy who coached us for 10 years, won 2 flags, and was at the helm when the current list was built, trained, developed and became the most successful cats side since the VFA days. maybe even more successful.

the guy didnt leave in the best possible way, but you have to respect what he did before that.

 

[geelong_boy]

Nah can't forgive for poor coaching and selection decisions in 04 & 05,will never forgive for all of 06 and until someone tells me what he, the Coach, did between round 5 and 6 in 2007, that changed us forever, then he is not worth a second thought.
And really, the players were not talking to him at the end, well perhaps that was because, as Steve Johnson said, they tried to talk to him about a new game plan early in the 2010 season and he wouldn't listen. No-one talks to a boss who doesn't listen. And oh the opportunity to go back to back in 09/10, lost by him because he had made the decision to leave, because he coudln't even select Mackie, because he had lost interset. And we suffferbecause of it.

Some players might like him, they can, but there are others who don't, for whom he made life hell whilst they were at Geelong. They won't speak out as they have got on with their lives.
If Thompson has moved on then for goodness sake he needs to stop talking about Geelong. This was a Coach with a champion team how lucky was he.

What has this team/club given you over the past five years?

You're deluded if you think Thompson wasn't a major reason in the team's success. If you're going to completely blame the coach when everything goes wrong then he deserves all the credit when it goes right.

 

[witsend]

thompson... the guy who coached us for 10 years, won 2 flags, and was at the helm when the current list was built, trained, developed and became the most successful cats side since the VFA days. maybe even more successful.

the guy didnt leave in the best possible way, but you have to respect what he did before that.

Yeah I know who he is and I thank him for it. But if you're not in, you're out.