We should take action....

[Partridge]

Does anyone here honestly believe we would have won a flag by now with another coach?

Maybe. A different coach would certainly not do the following things:

1. Give senior games to players who are not fit.
2. Leave players on opposition guns so that it costs us games (Rooke v Melbourne, round 20 last year). Almost last week with Harley on Johnson.
3. Manage to start the season with most of the side NOT at full fitness. What the hell was the preseason for?
4. Not get upset after a 100 point massacre. Not only that - but refuse to learn from it by insisting it was best forgotten. And may I remind everyone, he did the same thing after the Adelaide slaughter too.
5. Refuse to wield the axe after bad losses, thereby enabling a culture of mediocrity to flourish. As it's obvious lazy pieces of excrement like Kelly, Steve Johnson and Kingsley would get picked forever if it were down to Thompson.
6. Become the best friend of the senior list instead of their coach and authority figure.
7. Offer pathetic ****weak excuses week after week. Refusing to acknowledge he's in charge - therefore it's ultimately down to him. And don't say "Oh it's the players". Who do you think recruited them? He did.

And finally...........

8. Be totally unable to develop a key forward in any way, shape or form. He has had 7 years and the only key forwards that have delivered anything have been Kingsley, Mooney (now) and Ottens. All 3 came from other clubs, which means the development or recruiting of forwards is totally ineffective.

This idiot is an imbecile in the box and far too soft off the field. Weak, pathetic and disgraceful. Just like the team.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Maybe. A different coach would certainly not do the following things:

1. Give senior games to players who are not fit.
2. Leave players on opposition guns so that it costs us games (Rooke v Melbourne, round 20 last year). Almost last week with Harley on Johnson.
3. Manage to start the season with most of the side NOT at full fitness. What the hell was the preseason for?
4. Not get upset after a 100 point massacre. Not only that - but refuse to learn from it by insisting it was best forgotten. And may I remind everyone, he did the same thing after the Adelaide slaughter too.
5. Refuse to wield the axe after bad losses, thereby enabling a culture of mediocrity to flourish. As it's obvious lazy pieces of excrement like Kelly, Steve Johnson and Kingsley would get picked forever if it were down to Thompson.
6. Become the best friend of the senior list instead of their coach and authority figure.
7. Offer pathetic ****weak excuses week after week. Refusing to acknowledge he's in charge - therefore it's ultimately down to him. And don't say "Oh it's the players". Who do you think recruited them? He did.

And finally...........

8. Be totally unable to develop a key forward in any way, shape or form. He has had 7 years and the only key forwards that have delivered anything have been Kingsley, Mooney (now) and Ottens. All 3 came from other clubs, which means the development or recruiting of forwards is totally ineffective.
This idiot is an imbecile in the box and far too soft off the field. Weak, pathetic and disgraceful. Just like the team.

Thompson doesn't re-cruit the draftees.

 

[Renegade]

What sort of coach cops a 90 point belting and says "Oh we just sat back in awe while watching them, we just kept looking at each other and going...how good are these guys" That's the response u want from Thompson after the belting vs Adelaide. Nice excuse and reflection on the game by the dimwit.

 

[Irony]

So disappointed in Geelong, they have been fu king useless this year, very upset. Time to get rid of Thompson.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

What sort of coach cops a 90 point belting and says "Oh we just sat back in awe while watching them, we just kept looking at each other and going...how good are these guys" That's the response u want from Thompson after the belting vs Adelaide. Nice excuse and reflection on the game by the dimwit.

What is he supposed to say? We lost and we are hopeless and useless, we have no hope for the future?

If he says that, he will be criticised from end to end by people on this board for being too negative.

 

[Renegade]

What is he supposed to say? We lost and we are hopeless and useless, we have no hope for the future?

If he says that, he will be criticised from end to end by people on this board for being too negative.

Well saying what he did without a grin on his face would be a pretty good start.

 

[purring]

I am 90% sure Thompson will walk. which is a good thing.

 

[Partridge]

Thompson doesn't re-cruit the draftees.

I disagree. There would not be one senior player in the AFL who is on the list against the coach's wishes. Thompson has pointed out many times how many names he has personally crossed off because of character flaws or whatever else. I guarantee you every player at the club he had a hand in selecting. I'm not saying he should be drawn and quartered, as you're always going to have failures, but he must accept his part of the blame.

Except for recruiting Gardiner. Whoever did that is probably in hiding.

 

[Catman]

I disagree. There would not be one senior player in the AFL who is on the list against the coach's wishes.

Actually there is. Thompson didn't see much in Mathew Stokes and left it up to Stephen Wells to make the call. Thank god he did.

But you are right, Thompson would give approval to almost all our draft picks.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Thompsom would give approval, but rarely, if ever, will he go against Wells as Wells is employed to underatke the tasks.

Bomber doesn't have the time to watch these fellas during the year.

Obviously, he has a choice in mature age players who have played AFL.

 

[Unwritten_Law]

Same ****, different date.

At the start of the year he said nothing short of a premiership is acceptable.

I woke up the other day and heard them mention on Sunrise or Today that he said nothing short of making the finals was acceptable.

Here's your sword, Bomber.

Hurry the **** up and use it.

 

[Reg Hickey]

Bomber's fatal flaw is his unswerving belief in his core group of players.

Usually that would be a strength. At the essence of great people management is faith in your team and instilling in them the belief that they can and will succeed. The problem is that when you apply that to a group of highly paid, 18-23yo sports stars who are pampered local celebrities in a fishbowl like Geelong, they start to believe far too much of their own press, and hey presto, you have James Kelly and Steve Johnson.

I believe this is also at the root of his selection table issues and perceived lack of match day tactics.

On selection, he clearly believes that his players, now with the experience of a few years, are more dependable options even half fit and out of form than a kid in his first or second year. That doesn't mean he doesn't rate the kid as a future star; it means that he thinks experience can make up for a lot of other problems. That is also why he was harping on earlier in the year about us having the youngest side on the park in the first few rounds, and supporters being patient through 2000-2004 while he built that core of experience.

I have a lot of time for this view. I think the main reason we fell short in 2004/5 was the lack of core experience, leadership and wiser heads. You don't win premierships when your leaders are 25yo and your core player group are 19-22yo - you win them when your leaders are 29yo+ and your core player group are 24-28yo. That is why our real premiership window is not now as Bomber promised back in 2000, but 2008-2010.

So, all that said, I think his mistake here is overestimating the level of experience the core group have (most are still only 22-25yo) and underestimating the injuries, lack of fitness, poor form and attitude problems they are carrying. What he should be doing is getting those players out of the side and getting them right fitness wise and form wise, and getting some more of that very valuable experience into blokes like Prismall, Blake, Tenace, Byrnes, etc, etc. But you can understand why he hasn't done that given the short term pressure he is under to deliver a premiership now.

On match day tactics, the coaching team clearly put thought and effort into the strategy beforehand, and often it does work - Saints, Dogs (no. 2) and Freo being good examples. When it doesn't totally work, which it most likely won't half the time given that the opposition coaching staff are trying to do the same thing, he prefers to back in his players to turn it around rather than throw them all over the place.

Some of the non-moves, such as Corey in the back pocket for most of the game yesterday, are truly mystifying. But in the main I think he again just has the balance wrong - backing your players is great but there is a limit. I think he needs to understand that (1) you can only back your players so far before you have to accept that it is not happening, and (2) throwing them around a bit doesn't mean you aren't backing them, it more likely means you are backing them to do a slightly different job.

In the end, I think he has now worked himself into an unworkable position. He has hitched his wagon to the core group of players that have come through with him, they have seriously let him down, and he is now too close to be able to instil the discipline, attitude and work ethic that they need.