Filthy wrote:I am sorry if it upsets some punters on here but I bumped this to add that one of PJ's and Horsburgh last sabotages of the EFC was to burden us with Knights instead of giving us a 2 time Premiership Player that belleds red n black...Dimma...who is a tough son of a bitch who must have been better than what we got now.
I'm confused Filth. You have been one of Knights' biggest backers on this board throughout the last few years (please correct me if I'm wrong, but thats the way I remember it).
Have you changed your mind on him? (Not a criticism, just wondering)
Filthy wrote:I am sorry if it upsets some punters on here but I bumped this to add that one of PJ's and Horsburgh last sabotages of the EFC was to burden us with Knights instead of giving us a 2 time Premiership Player that bleeds red n black...Dimma...who is a tough son of a bitch who must have been better than what we got now.
And then reading Jimmy this morning.....oh dear .....I am so ashamed of what we have become.....a self inflicted wound is what makes so much worse.
Brilliant 20/20 hindsight Filth
You can't have it both ways though...it's too late to start blaming PJ & Horsburgh for signing Knights and not Hardwick....you've supported Knights and although I understand your current anguish, I really don't think that you can jump ships at this late stage.
Also, realistically, what makes you think Hardwick would have done any better?
"You can quote me on this... He is gawn" - bomberdonnie re Hurley's contract status 25 February 2012
I honestly cannot see how we can be blaming the coaching staff or the gameplan. How would we know if the gameplan is working? The players sure as shit aren't playing to it. Knights gave them a license to take the game on. They are not doing it.
As Hirdy said it is a matter of confidence. ATM we have none. Our senior players must take a lot of the blame for this because with the exception of Jobe and Fletch they are simply not leading the way.
As Saladin so eloquantly pointed out last week. With the experience of our list, we should be around the Richmond, Melbourne, North level. We are, but that is no excuse not to do what Melbourne did and have a crack.
Knights makes the hard decisions. He could easily have let us be propped up by lloyd for another year or 2. But that is games not going into our developing forward line. He also decided for all of his skill Lovett was too much of a liability, I was furious at the time but this has been shown to be one of the right choice. These choices are going to cost us games this year, but sobeit it is for the long term, for the goal of us winning more flags.
it's a tough gig atm but there is no way we are as bad as we are currently playing. We just need to regain the belief and we will be back on the path.
I watched Gumby last week, I watched him work his arse off for very little reward. He has that opportunity week after week because Knighter made the tough call.
1) I was somewhat inreculous reading his article simply because its seemed very contrived. On one page you have TD calling for passion and then on the next page Hird asking where is the desire. Tell me the club's PR machine isnt at work there?
2) For the first time in a very long time I actually felt embarrassed for our club. Reading Hird's article reminded me of oh so many similar articles about clubs like Fitzroy, Melbourne, Brisbane Bears, Fremantle, North Melbourne and Richmond when those clubs hit rock bottom. It is almost surreal seeing our once great club airing its dirty laundry in such a manner. We really have become the competitions newest laughing stock and it pisses me off.
3) As for Hird's thoughts, tell me that wasnt simply a restrained shot at Knights. The more he defended the Knights game plan the more I get the feeling that Hird cannot fathom it. He wont categorically criticise Knights nor will he fully endorse the Game Plan. As such I believe that message from Hird is sure, the players need to buck up, but really, you cant blame them for everything.
Filthy wrote:
Do you think Jimmy enjoyed writing that this morning? It would have killed him. My Dad aws just telling (and he goes back to the 30's when we were crap) that ll his life, no matter where we were on the ladder, when sides played Essendon they came off sore and he didn't mean guys belting blokes...he meant that all Essendon players attacked the ball ferociously. The Filth would have come off last ANZAC Day feeling like they had a training run.
I don't want to contradict your dad but I can't totally agree with that. When I started going in the late 50's we were skillful but very, very soft. They didn't call us "The Gliders" for no reason. And as for some of the performances during the 70's! We had a few hard at it players in that era but a lot of pretty soft ones too. There were games where we were absolutely shocking. For instance:
A 12 goal loss at home to an average Hawthorn side in 1970 where we obviously weren't even trying.
A loss to Collingwood by 25 goals in 1971.
Losing the last 6 games in 1977 and the last 8 in 1978 when in both cases we had been in contention for the finals.
Losing at home to Fitzroy by 16 goals in 1979 (the day the fans finally snapped and booed Barry Davis)
Losing the 1979 Elimination Final by over 80 pts.
Filthy wrote:
Do you think Jimmy enjoyed writing that this morning? It would have killed him. My Dad aws just telling (and he goes back to the 30's when we were crap) that ll his life, no matter where we were on the ladder, when sides played Essendon they came off sore and he didn't mean guys belting blokes...he meant that all Essendon players attacked the ball ferociously. The Filth would have come off last ANZAC Day feeling like they had a training run.
I don't want to contradict your dad but I can't totally agree with that. When I started going in the late 50's we were skillful but very, very soft. They didn't call us "The Gliders" for no reason. And as for some of the performances during the 70's! We had a few hard at it players in that era but a lot of pretty soft ones too. There were games where we were absolutely shocking. For instance:
A 12 goal loss at home to an average Hawthorn side in 1970 where we obviously weren't even trying.
A loss to Collingwood by 25 goals in 1971.
Losing the last 6 games in 1977 and the last 8 in 1978 when in both cases we had been in contention for the finals.
Losing at home to Fitzroy by 16 goals in 1979 (the day the fans finally snapped and booed Barry Davis)
Losing the 1979 Elimination Final by over 80 pts.
A lot of that is too true.
In the period between those four coaches Clarke,Birt,Stepthens and Davis,they brought in Tuddenham who,simple as he was, at least had the opposition fighting for their wins.As you say there were a handfull of hard players but Knights wouldn't know what to with them if he had any.Kick "em out probably.They did at least turn the coaches over but we are stuck with this bloke who promises a lot and delivers very little,much like he played really, for another two and a half years.
Expensive extention it is too.
.....I am so ashamed of what we have become.....a self inflicted wound is what makes so much worse.
