News Voss contract not renewed

[lukiuslion]

I maintain the same position now as I did then, the correct decision was made with reagrds to Voss's contract not being renewed. The way it was handled aside (which was appalling, and AJ paid the ultimate price for it) I feel much more confident about Leppa and his fresh approach than I would have had Voss been entering his 6th season. He had it all againts him, under resourced, comprimised drafts, poor devalopment tools, failed recruitment planning, a list with more holes than a a slice of chedder cheese, floods, he could barely take a trick - however, a few amazing results aside, last year (in his 5th year): we were getting absolutely demolished in all the important KPI's, our % was horrible, people were lining up walk out the door, we were going 7-8 goals down in the space of 25 minutes, the game plan was still unlear and confusing, as matthews said on Gameday, you can have all the excuses in world, and you can be showing signs of improvement but int he end after 4-5 years your Win Loss ratio will get you.... Voss is a legend of our club and a person i hold in such high esteem that his failed coaching venture at the Lions will not taint his football reputation in my eyes, he also got great results out of some players.. Rocky, Redden, Luey, Zorks, Golby, Hanley + many more and he has played an important role in devalping our next Leppa coached finals team which i beleive will be this season or the next.

 

[dlanod]

Bumping this thread with some trepidation...

It seems like Voss' coaching record has become almost a taboo topic on this board in the last few months. You'd think we'd be endlessly debating it but it almost never gets brought up. It's probably a good thing. People don't want to start unnecessary arguments.

I'm just curious if anyone has found their opinions changing at all over the last few months. Hardening, softening or shifting 180 degrees.

For me at least I've found myself reflecting on all the things that I thought were mistakes, or all the things that didn't work. Maybe I'm just hoping that Voss was holding us back in some way to justify any kind of optimism about how we'll go without him. But I reckon I'm a bit more confident than I would've been if Voss was still in charge, even though Leppitsch is totally unproven as a head coach.

It seems like most of us are generally pretty positive about 2014. Is that because we think our new coaching structure will be better than our old coaching structure, or is that totally irrelevant?

Much the same as it was.

I was concerned when he was appointed without an apprenticeship.
He had to learn on the job in an underfunded football department without any mentoring. This set him up to fail.
He finally starting get the support needed in the last couple of years.
Then he got let go before we could see whether or not that was going to pay dividends.

Would he have been a great coach one day? No idea. But I'm still more pissed at the half-arsed handling by the club over the last five years. Just amazing repeated incompetence.

In my mind Leppa is the same as Voss would have been in the new set-up - a bit of an unknown.

 

[Crimso]

I'm just glad someone read to the end.

I skipped the top bit & just read the two word summary at the bottom.

 

[josephs_79]

Honestly, if Paul Roos hasn't had a chat to Voss about the senior assistant roll to see if they could possibly be compatible, then he is too obsessed with getting a Sydney Assistant to replace him in 2 years. It might not work, but Voss needs to be seriously considered as the next coach of Melbourne, his 5 years at Brisbane coupled with 2 years working under Roos should have people at least giving it a thought.

Voss can't, he is contracted to Foxtel running a Reality AFL Recruit footy show this year and having the winner ready by Draft day (My understanding it is similar to the soccer one)

On Voss coaching, I was on the wagon and honestly thought he was doing ok (leeway given being no previous coaching record).

He did ok first year, couple of issues in the second but was building the team back up to become a force IMO. I would of given him the extension and still feel a bit dejected he was sacked. Anyone other than Leppa (and I voted for him in the poll when Roos was being touted) probably would have turned me away for a few months. I still would of watched but not with the vigour I have in the last 3 or 4 years. Voss appointment was one of the reasons I joined as a member upon returning to Vic.

Hindsight I still feel he was a good coach who was becoming even better and feel he has a lot left in front of him if he gets back into it eventually.

 

[alscotoz2]

The only thing I didn't like about Voss's removal was the undignified and disrespectful way it was handled...but he was given 5 years and either his message wasn't getting through or he had the wrong message. It was the right decision for the club and the players. Voss will never lose his status as a club legend.

Now hopefully Leppitsch can use an approach that will engender better results through implementing a different culture.

 

[James North]

Vossy's standing at the club will never change, I don't think.

It was the club who put him there without the standard training, and it was them who poorly handled his end.

 

[alscotoz2]

Interesting comment by Staker on AFL website:

Staker said new coach Justin Leppitsch had helped the relaxed atmosphere since he was appointed to replace Michael Voss last September. He said training had been structured but "the guys haven't felt on edge".

 

[Hollow Knight]

Probably hard for Voss to exude a relaxed vibe when he was also covering the workload of three non existent development/assistant coaches.

He had to wring every last drop of juice out of a threadbare football department.

 

[Chasing the Dream]

Interesting comment by Staker on AFL website:

Staker said new coach Justin Leppitsch had helped the relaxed atmosphere since he was appointed to replace Michael Voss last September. He said training had been structured but "the guys haven't felt on edge".

If you have ever met Justin and Michael in any capacity then Stakes comments are not surprising.

Chalk and cheese.

I don't have an opinion on which approach is right or wrong, just having met both guys on numerous occasions over numerous years, they are different people.

 

[Ceebee]

If you have ever met Justin and Michael in any capacity then Stakes comments are not surprising.

Chalk and cheese.

I don't have an opinion on which approach is right or wrong, just having met both guys on numerous occasions over numerous years, they are different people.

I seem to recall you had a lot of respect and admiration for Vossy
You appear to have changed a bit lately.
What has altered to make you think differently?

 

[Chasing the Dream]

I seem to recall you had a lot of respect and admiration for Vossy
You appear to have changed a bit lately.
What has altered to make you think differently?

Hell yeah, I have always had a heap of respect for Vossey and alway will.

If my post came accross the wrong way, sorry.

My point is that Vossy and Leppa have extremely different personalities.

Vossy was always an intense person. Never seems to me to let his guard down and always thinking three steps ahead of the place he was now. It is the way he played his footy, and in my mind, the way he approached coaching as well.

Leppa on the other hand had the ability to make a joke in any situation. I remember him at a Coaches Club function in the Matthews days when he was an assistant and he gave a speech before the night started, I almost felt sorry for Leigh having to follow his performance. Leppa is one of the best personalities we have had at the club over the years.

My original post mentioned that I don't know which is right or wrong, probably should have said neither are wrong, they are just different.

FWIW, I was having this discussion with a footy person down here only a few days ago. He told me exactly the same thing that Stakes mentioned. I replied by saying that I think that it is almost a function of where our group is at now.

When Vossy took over, within a few years we ended up with one of the youngest lists in the AFL. Vossy had to not only coach the young blokes, but he almost had to be a father figure to them as well, and many of these guys he played with too. The what I believe is the typical hard nosed Voss did what he did best.

Leppa comes along 3 or 4 years later and he has a group whose core is now getting to be 23-24 years old he can afford to play the game his way, and I believe his way is a much more laid back approach, one that would be far more enjoyable for some players.

The question is, will Leppa's approach equal success??? That is the question that we are all keen to find the answer to.

Vossy is a legend of our club, but I do believe it was time for change. How it was done... appalling, and those responsible will never have my respect. However, all that being said, I am behind Leppa 100% now, what choice do you have when you love the club and it's players to such an extent that summer pisses you off that much, not because of the humidity and heat which I hate, but the fact that weekends are not as enjoyable when you can't watch the boys give it their all.

 

[Chasing the Dream]

fwiw, I always have thought that Leppa should have apologised to Anthony Corrie for that speech (tongue in cheek here, Anthony was laughing as much as anyone).... Priceless... Come to think of it, the speech came at a players sponsor function.. yep, that was it for sure.

Anyone there will remember it I am guessing.

 

[Ceebee]

Thanks for that reply.appreciate the time you took to answer my vague question.
I really have not given too much thought to Leppa. Obviously I will support him all the way.If his more fun approach brings the same results as Lehmann has then I will be happy.

 

[Hollow Knight]

fwiw, I always have thought that Leppa should have apologised to Anthony Corrie for that speech (tongue in cheek here, Anthony was laughing as much as anyone).... Priceless... Come to think of it, the speech came at a players sponsor function.. yep, that was it for sure.

Anyone there will remember it I am guessing.

Funnily enough I tweeted about it earlier today.

 

[Chasing the Dream]

I still laugh at that every so often.

That was the year I sponsored Jed, great night.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I still laugh at that every so often.

That was the year I sponsored Jed, great night.

Pretty sure I was Matt Tyler that year, or possibly Rog or Harding. It's all a blur nowadays.

 

[Harris Specter]

Even though Leppa is coaching, I want to see the players play with the passion Voss instilled them with. The never say die spirit, always in the game, regardless of the score.

 

[Viceregal]

Funnily enough I tweeted about it earlier today.

*doesn't understand the reference and hopes for enlightenment ... *

 

[The Flying Belgian]

fwiw, I always have thought that Leppa should have apologised to Anthony Corrie for that speech (tongue in cheek here, Anthony was laughing as much as anyone).... Priceless... Come to think of it, the speech came at a players sponsor function.. yep, that was it for sure.

Anyone there will remember it I am guessing.

Yep I was there too. I've been trying for years to remember the gag.

 

[blynd_freddie]

Ironically, Leppa was a guest at the Lionhearts luncheon on the Friday prior to last years game against the tiggers [Voss' last game] - his ability as a public speaker was superlative and his impersonation in speech of Leigh Matthews, a 'moment' for the ages!

Yes, the handling of the Voss non contract extension came across as horrendous but I for one were totally for a change and could not be happier with the appointment of Leppa - he's done his apprenticeship and is now ready to go on and be a Master!

 

[Chasing the Dream]

Yep I was there too. I've been trying for years to remember the gag.

From memory it came about as he was thanking the player sponsors, and mentioned that as defensive coach he felt that he sponsored most of the defenders except for Anthony Corrie who was sponsored by World Vision.

I have heard his Leigh Matthews impersonation as well, he and Dermie do Matthews better than Matthews does

 

[alscotoz2]

I remember seeing Leppa at the Cairns GF at Cazaly's at the end of Wooden Spoon season (1998?). He was in 'rare' form...both mentally and physically

 

[POBT]

I remember seeing Leppa at the Cairns GF at Cazaly's at the end of Wooden Spoon season (1998?). He was in 'rare' form...both mentally and physically

I think Leppa made the most of Mad Mondays in those early years.

 

[Concussion]

I hope you don't mind the intrusion but thought some of you may be interested:

Over the weekend I was talking with a recently delisted Lions player and I asked about the player "exodus" and what happened up there and he suggested the young players lost confidence and became disenchanted due to the whole Voss sacking saga.
It was a very interesting chat and some of the other tidbits I got from it were:

Voss was probably a bit too inexperienced and whilst the players liked Vossy, he had his favourites and team selection wasn't always based on best form.

The team has galvanised more since Leppitsh has come on board and the players seem happier.

Browny is inspirational.

 

[Lace Out]

I remembered it as Polec and Karnezis at least, were goneski way before Voss was sacked