Wallace fuming

[tony_montana]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24099877-19742,00.htmlhttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24099878-19742,00.html

• FOR one alarming moment yesterday, it seemed Terry Wallace might sidestep the question the football world wanted answered.

The setting was Richmond's Punt Rd and the occasion was Wallace's first media conference since Greg Miller's sacking.

The first query was a half volley outside off stump - "So Terry, what are your thoughts on the sacking?" Momentarily it seemed Wallace was refusing to play it.
"Clearly over the weekend I was the spokesman for the club and had my say . . . " was Wallace's opening gambit.

The sense of anti-climax was palpable.

What followed was one of the year's most impressive media performances.

In just over 10 minutes, Wallace handed out a masterclass in how to launch a withering attack on your board while giving the impression you are at peace with the world around you.

While Wallace's words were chosen with the tact of a master politician, there was no mistaking their intent.
Attack one from Wallace came quickly: "We have cried out for stability for some time in relation to the footy division. But decisions have been made . . . "

The hits kept coming, but were ambiguous enough to leave him a get-out clause.

"Obviously the timing of the game wasn't ideal," he continued.
"It has happened now. We got away with the victory, so we get on with life."
What must Wallace have really felt? Something like this?
"They did it on match day of all days? Could there have been a worse day? How it didn't cost us the game I will never know."

Next up was a defence of Miller: "He is a good footy person and I think he would be a great acquisition for another footy club."
Translation: "He is a good footy person and he should still be working at our club."

Wallace scarcely missed a target.
According to the coach, the club still leaks like a sieve (but tellingly not the football department) and installing ex-Richmond players just for the sake of it is a mistake.
But the kicker was worth the wait, even if the expression was mangled.
Wallace has already admitted he has hitched his wagon to the Tigers and will never coach elsewhere, but was prepared to risk that status to make his point.
"It is a two-way ship," he said. "Does the Richmond Football Club want me to continue (after next year?) Do I feel like I want to continue in that role after that period of time. It works both ways."



---------------------------------------------------

Well played Plough

 

[WATIGE]

Amazing the way the press can spin stuff to make things mean what they want. Watch the video of this and you could read it almost completly the opposite. Looking forward to a few months from now when things have quitened down and all is forgotten - damn forgot the press are drunk elephants aren't they, they'll just keep remembering and regurgitating

 

[oxx]

I think the article is pretty close to the mark.

Jisha - this is what i meant..........

 

[Jisha]

I think the article is pretty close to the mark.

Jisha - this is what i meant..........

Hehe good call Oxx, as I said, I have nothing against you and think you post a lot fairer and on the mark then most tigers fans, that last post of yours I did not find as appealing

I agree with this post, and I honestly believe that Wallace should coach us til 2011. I do not know anything but the fact that I trust in what he has in store for us.

 

[The Dice Man]

From the Age... same subject, less conjecture...


Wallace content to get results first, talk later

Chloe Saltau | July 30, 2008

RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has pleaded for stability at Tigerland but insisted he is content to leave negotiations for a new contract until next year after his chances of an early reappointment appeared to evaporate with the sacking of football director Greg Miller.

Wallace did not endorse the decision to fire Miller, the driving force behind his initial signing to a five-year deal that expires at the end of next season.

Miller argued after his sudden sacking that the board should work towards renewing Wallace's deal before the end of this year.

"I have very much put the argument forward to the board that Terry shouldn't go into next year without an extension of his contract," Miller said on Fox Sports.

"I believe it's a very difficult situation for a coach … at Richmond."

However, influential director and former Tiger captain Tony Free suggested Wallace would be judged by the team's results at the end of his present contract.

"It's something we will deal with down the track. As a footy club we're really happy with our performances over the last number of weeks. We think we've got a really promising young crew there," Free said on Radio SEN.

"We've got a clear purpose to support this young group, resource them as best we can, and give them the best opportunity to fulfil their potential. All decision-making will be based on that."

This does not appear to concern Wallace, who was adamant he was in no rush to begin negotiations. "I'm more than comfortable. I signed a five-year agreement so we had some stability within the football club," he said.

"It was a club reason and it was a coach's reason why that was the case. We've said since day one that we're happy to get to the end of the five years, look each other in the eye and see whether the marriage is working and see whether we're going to move on, one way or the other.

"Does the Richmond Football Club want me to continue after that period of time? Do I feel like I want to continue in that role after that period of time? It works both ways and I am more than comfortable with that being the situation and honestly have been from day one."

Wallace said he regarded Miller as a friend and "great footy person". His replacement would presumably be critical in determining his coaching future. He does not expect to have a great deal of input into the appointment, which is being handled by headhunting firm Slade, just as he was not consulted about the decision to end Miller's tenure

"Obviously no one wants change," Wallace said.

"We have cried out for stability for some time in relation to the footy division but decisions have been made and they are board decisions."

Wallace did support president Gary March's preference to expand the football division. March has explained since the messy handling of Miller's departure that the club needed to act quickly so as not to miss out on the best replacement.

Richmond's eight wins and a draw have put the club in finals contention, a sign of the team's rapid improvement this season, but Wallace believes it will need to win at least three of the remaining five games to make the eight.

The run home begins against reigning premier Geelong on Saturday night, a game for which Gary Ablett may return from injury.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/fi...t-to-talk-later/2008/07/29/1217097242012.html

 

[Tivers]

Tall poppy syndroe = Bash Richmond

 

[oxx]

However, influential director and former Tiger captain Tony Free suggested Wallace would be judged by the team's results at the end of his present contract.

Why has this fwit become the spokesperson for the future of Wallace ?
JFC !

Let's judge Free on the teams results of his er as captain

"It's something we will deal with down the track. As a footy club we're really happy with our performances over the last number of weeks. We think we've got a really promising young crew there," Free said on Radio SEN.

whatever way i look at this i see an attempt at defering the current feeling toward Terry as well as an overall gutless approach.

Let's be honest,if everything were fine there would have been more talk about how terry himself is a required employee.

"We've got a clear purpose to support this young group, resource them as best we can, and give them the best opportunity to fulfil their potential. All decision-making will be based on that."

What ?

No decision making will be based on how Terry's team ACTUALLY feel toward what he has done over the last 5 years.

Does this not completely undermine the rights of the players themselves?

Who would want to play at a club that has all of a sudden ripped the foundations of what was seeming to be a bright future,and whats more,appointed lemmings.

So much for giving them the best opportunity to fulfil their potential.

 

[the ranger]

Ripped the foundations? WTF are you talking about?

It's one guy who a lot of us have wanted gone for a long time already. Wallace will get his extension if he deserves it. It's way too early to make that call. So far, so good but if we were to lose the rest of our games and then finish outside the eight again next season, people will be calling for his head. It was a 5 year contract, so let him show us four and a half years and then decide if he should stay longer.

 

[fanatigger]

There would be more people who wanted him to stay than go STRANGER.

 

[the ranger]

STRANGER. Good one.

I don't know, I haven't taken a poll but I think there are at least as many people who are not bothered by his departure. I wasn't demanding his head, but I've been quietly anti-Miller ever since I heard about the North Melbourne shares thing. The team has turned around since he has been here, but I don't think that really started happening until Wallace became coach and March won the presidency, so how much credit goes to Miller? From 2002 to 2004, not a whole lot changed at Richmond.

 

[dothebowdenshuffle]

Ripped the foundations? WTF are you talking about?

It's one guy who a lot of us have wanted gone for a long time already. Wallace will get his extension if he deserves it. It's way too early to make that call. So far, so good but if we were to lose the rest of our games and then finish outside the eight again next season, people will be calling for his head. It was a 5 year contract, so let him show us four and a half years and then decide if he should stay longer.

i agree. plenty of clubs have struggled after re-signing coaches too. a reasonable expectation would be inside the 8 by mid-way thru 2009. anything less would be a disappointment.

 

[IDGAF]

Why has this fwit become the spokesperson for the future of Wallace ?
JFC !

Let's judge Free on the teams results of his er as captain



whatever way i look at this i see an attempt at defering the current feeling toward Terry as well as an overall gutless approach.

Let's be honest,if everything were fine there would have been more talk about how terry himself is a required employee.



What ?

No decision making will be based on how Terry's team ACTUALLY feel toward what he has done over the last 5 years.

Does this not completely undermine the rights of the players themselves?

Who would want to play at a club that has all of a sudden ripped the foundations of what was seeming to be a bright future,and whats more,appointed lemmings.

So much for giving them the best opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Agreed

That Wallace interview could very well the first paragraph in his letter of resignation

Does not bode well at all .

Did Terry really say ..."Appointing ex Richmond players just for the sake of it was a mistake" ... did he really say that or was that just Jon Ralphs spin ?

Tell us what you really think about Tony Free plough ...

This situation ... unless it is fixed very swiftly ... is going to become untenible very quickly

 

[1980]

Despite all the rubbish being posted in the last few days, clearly the biggest problem in all this is not so much why, how, when Miller got sacked. Its that Wallace didnt know.

You would have thought the first phone call March made when it leaked was to Wallace to reassure him.

 

[Bojangles17]

Agreed

That Wallace interview could very well the first paragraph in his letter of resignation

Does not bode well at all .

Did Terry really say ..."Appointing ex Richmond players just for the sake of it was a mistake" ... did he really say that or was that just Jon Ralphs spin ?

Tell us what you really think about Tony Free plough ...

This situation ... unless it is fixed very swiftly ... is going to become untenible very quickly

no, JR editorial

 

[Rayzorwire]

Miller is fairly expendable, Wallace is infinitely less so.

People will be wild if the board has once again sabotaged the future of the club by pissing Wallace off, and rightly so. I guess we'll just have to see how it all pans out.

 

[deliberate!!]

Shut Up and coach Wallace......that's what we're paying you for.

 

[the ranger]

If things go well over the next 13-14 months, I'm sure Wallace will be staying. He's not going to want to leave the team on the verge of a successful era, especially because of something that will by then be old news. And if he did, I'm sure we could attract a top line replacement.