There is zero value in the sacked tomorrow mentality. There is clear evidence of progress in the game style, playing list and results. We also have some clear areas that need improvement, but have some significant building blocks available to be optimistic of achieving that. They fit with strategic plan put in place when the coach's contract was renewed and that time-frame is intact.Honestly still haven't made up my mind. I'm grateful for the good times he brought us from 2012-2015 and I understand the nature of a rebuild but am still nervous and tentative about where we're currently headed. I'm naturally a pessimist but I'm not a miserable campaigner attempting to find a perverse pleasure in the awful games like quite a few here seem to. It's honestly more enjoyable to watch the game and bitch about it to my mates and forget about it than it is to log on to BigFooty and see extremely toxic gameday threads when things aren't going well.
The rebuild seems to be a bit 2 steps forward, 3 steps back at the moment if you take it purely at face value but the one thing I have noticed this year is despite being thin in the midfield, we do seem to be controlling the tempo of the game and forcing teams to counter us and work around our defence. Problem is we also look awful skillwise on the break. The forward line is awful yet still looks far more threatening than the past 3 (maybe even 4-5) years. That itself is an indictment but it does at least trend upwards. It could possibly just a dead cat bounce from adding in some talent but at the same time we are getting more inside 50s and could be a genuine sign of improvement.
And then there's Lyon's relationship with the players. They all seem to love him and barely a bad word is spoken about him by past players. It seems like a decent team culture which is not guaranteed by changing coaches (and something no other coach in our history has brought).
If he was sacked tomorrow I probably would be ok with it but I wouldn't be able to shake the nagging feeling that we gave up a solid chance at success and have serious doubts over the stability and culture of the team going forward.
The playing list looks happy in their work and to be in full support of the coach. The new Football Operations Manager is new, but has already shown strong leadership, and is also supportive of the coach. There are plenty of other off-field changes that can be considered that improve the club's finals prospects including changes to the assistant managers and/or injury management. Beyond those two areas, Bell should be looking at the next 3-5 year period.
You'd need to be a bed-wetter of legendary proportions to consider sacking a coach in those circumstances.
Add into that no plausible available replacements that the club would feel confident advances the club as it enters what it can realistically expect to be a finals window of opportunity.
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