Am I wrong?

[billyduckworth]

No argument from me, Filthy. 100% agree.

At last week's game (Melbourne), I sat high up at the MCG. From such a high vantage point, it was obvious that our "structures" (as Knights likes to call them) are all over the place - players running to the wrong spot, taking the wrong option, etc. This suggests some sort of mixture of inexperience and poor coaching (and I don't just mean the head coach).

This week (West Coast), I was down on the lower level at Etihad. This gives you a very different perspective, up close with the players. I could see the confusion on their faces every time they got the ball. Do I go forward? Sideways? Under or over? I saw so many BASIC errors such as kicking into the man on the mark that I thought for a moment that I was watching U13 schoolboy footy, not "professional" AFL. Again, this suggests chronic inexperience and/or poor coaching.

I also noticed close up how many skinny winny little pipsqueak players we have - Dempsey, Winderlich, Gumbleton, Colyer, Melksham and so on all look as if a decent breath of wind would push them over. Is this poor recruiting or poor training or what?

Another thing I noticed is Hurley. I was watching him closely because (a) he is my favourite young player and I think he has great potential and (b) the game was so boring there was nothing else to do anyway. The good thing about Hurley is that he is not a skinny winny and contests well. He has good closing speed and spoils well. Unlike MANY other players on our list, he has good ball handling and kicking skills. However, on the down side, he does not read the play very well. He tends to run around in circles, unsure which way to go. Perhaps this is just inexpereince or is it once again a sign of poor coaching - maybe we need Sean Welman as defensive coach instead of GO'D?

Anyway, just some thoughts.

[Rossoneri]

Useless to discuss whether Knights should go or not. Blind Freddie can see he should that and I hear there is a Seeing Eye Dog leash pole outside the Board Room. I said he had lost the players in April and I stand by that. Pathetic coach.

We should be asking why our best players are not played in their best positions. For example Atkinson and Dempsey are wingman and are not backmen. They are fast attacking players with flair yet are dropped for farting and have no idea how to play back. They are players you shopuld say right you are on the wing for the next 6 weeks...go and show us what you got. Take risks and run, run, run, Won't happen though of course.

Prismall is a outside receiver with good disposal in space. So what each team has one or 2. Let him do they and let him of the lease and play in him in his right position....and on and on and on you go.

Selection has sapped our players confidence and elan. To have run Geelong, Sydney, Hawthorn close, losing to Port because of us, and beating Hawks, Dogs, Saints and the scum plus the Ninthmond now looks good too means the guys have got talent.

You don't lose youre talent.

You do lose your confidence, initiative and so on when badly lead. Fish rots from the head as Tim says.

These guys are crying out for leadership, good coaching and someone who believes in them and will instill confidence in them to follow a descernible uncomplicated game plan.

A new coach now is essential and Essendon people back in match committee in 2011. I fear failure to do this could entail a mass walkout at years end.

Agree with everything except the bottom line. Take the analogy of a car. You can change the steering wheel, clutch and accelerator as much as you like, but when the engine is f*****, the car is f*****.

Get rid of the rubbish on the list. If the players aren't skillful enough to execute the game plan, then find players who can kick and handball and use their brains every now and then.

[tonysoprano]

Knights has had 3 years to get rid of the rubbish on the list - Welsh and Slattery spring to mind. Knights hasn't and needs to take the blame. Preferably a metaphorical bullet to the head.

[robbie67]

A new coach now is essential and Essendon people back in match committee in 2011. I fear failure to do this could entail a mass walkout at years end.

haha, let them f****** go. This list is rubbish. If they were to do that, you wouldnt want them anyway. Every single player on this list apart from Fletcher has glaring weaknesses in their game. Yes even Hurley, Watson, Pears, Gumbleton and Hille. As far as I am concerned, they have already f***** up the club, but it has taken 10 years, and not the three that most would have you believe. Now it is going to take another 10 to build it again. I have to laugh at people who say Lloyd amd Lucas wouldnt have played in our next premiership. I have an alert for you. In all likelyhood, neither will Melksham, Hurley, and whoever we may get with pick 4 or 6 next year.

[MH_Bomber]

If a decision between coach and players then its simply easier to replace a coach than half of the list. With a new coach that could instill real confidence and a proper game plan the players we have could be competitive.

I am so over Knights and the nonsense that comes out the coaching staff. The excuses for selections decisions are ridiculous. Its like that were quite happy to flirt with form and experiment when we were more than a chance of making the 8 or at least be competitive. Now the entire is totally down on confidence because of their decisions. Its a disgrace.

We need to go for someone that has total respect in the footy world that the players daren' t cross. Knights has never fit that image.

[Windy_Hill]

Bottom Line

Three years is enough. This team is going backwards, not forwards. Players with potential are now officially duds.

Knights has lost his players, lost his supporters

For the first time in living memory, this club is now a laughing stock.

Sometimes in life you simply have to say "What the f***" and cut your losses.

No point in keeping Knights a day longer. Get a caretaker coach in and start the recruiting process so that we have a new coach in place for trade season. This is critically important if we are to attract established players as, lets be honest, Boak, Dangerfield and the likes are not coming anywhere near the place with the current coaching set up.

The club will have a hell of a time trying to pay out Knights, especially when they are seeking Government funding for the re-development of Windy Hill. You can imagine the feedback, "what, you want us to pay for your new Gym yet you idiots are giving away $1Million to your coach in a sttlement agreement - thanks for coming, bye-bye"

[pevfan]

Just how much would it cost the club to terminate Knightmare's contract. Isn't he one of the lowest paid coaches in the AFL??....Certainly coaches like it.

[bombercol]

We have a team playing with no confidence and that is confused.

Yes we've beaten Hawthorn, Carlton, Bulldogs and St.Kilda - that means we can match some of the better sides.

It's the losses to Melbourne, West Coast (twice), Adelaide, Port Adelaide. The capitulations against Geelong, Collingwood. Even against Richmond we were only good for one quarter. That's the concern.

The fact we've bled more points than 14 other teams in the comp.

I understand a coach doesn't kick a ball out of bounds, push players in the back, get reported, but the coach's job is to teach, be proactive and play the players/use the list to it's full potential so we can get the best out of them once they cross the white line.

I wouldn't say Richmond has the best list in the world, but every player on that ground wearing a Richmond jumper want to be there, they're confident, they want to play for each other and the coach. Their game plan is a simple old fashioned one on one game plan. Nothing too over the top while the list is developing and getting better.

The cord uniting Knights and the players has been cut. The players are no longer playing for him. Knights gameplan is floored and I don't believe he knows how to fix it.

Dempsey is playing like he has a ghost following him. His flair is not there - should he be given a different role to get his mojo back because he is a waste at Bendigo.

Prismall must think why he left Geelong. He's up and down like a whore's knickers. Yeah turnovers hurt but if he's getting his hand on the footy plenty of times, surely he's gonna make one or two clangers along the way. Every player in the AFL does.

If Houli by all reports are true is averaging 30 possies a week at Bendigo playing midfield, then why in his two games this year (and averaging 22 possies) was he played in the back pocket where his deficiencies stick out a bit more. Yeah he's guilty of the odd turnover but who isn't. I think at present our midfield could use a bloke who is averaging 30 possies a game at Bendigo and someone like Prismall instead of a couple of our current ones who aren't getting it as much and turning it over just as much.

I can't believe that Mark Williams can become so bad so quickly. He is a far better player than what he's given us. Is the Knights game plan killing this player or should he be used differently to best suit his game.

Heath Hocking last night is a perfect example. Le Cras killed his confidence and Knights did nothing while that was happening and moved him when the damage had been done to the scoreboard and the player mentally.

These are just a few examples, but something's not right, and everything keeps pointing back to the head coach. A coach who "welcomes" the pressure but in my opinion doesn't have the know how to get things back on track and who lost control of his players. Once we've played round 22 he (Knights) needs to be sacked so our new coach can prepare for 2011.

[j-mac31]

Agree with everything except the bottom line. Take the analogy of a car. You can change the steering wheel, clutch and accelerator as much as you like, but when the engine is f*****, the car is f*****.

Get rid of the rubbish on the list. If the players aren't skillful enough to execute the game plan, then find players who can kick and handball and use their brains every now and then.

I think the problem is the car and the engine.

Knights' "plans" and "structures" are shithouse. If they even exist. And he hasn't been able to adapt.

AND WHO THE f*** COMES UP WITH A FAST, ATTACKING NO-DEFENDING GAME PLAN WHEN YOU HAVE A MOSTLY SLOW, UNSKILLFUL LIST??? Surely that alone shows he is stupid and has no f***** idea how to coach a side.

[Windy_Hill]

Agree with everything except the bottom line. Take the analogy of a car. You can change the steering wheel, clutch and accelerator as much as you like, but when the engine is f*****, the car is f*****.

Get rid of the rubbish on the list. If the players aren't skillful enough to execute the game plan, then find players who can kick and handball and use their brains every now and then.

I think the problem is the car and the engine.

Knights' "plans" and "structures" are shithouse. If they even exist. And he hasn't been able to adapt.

AND WHO THE f*** COMES UP WITH A FAST, ATTACKING NO-DEFENDING GAME PLAN WHEN YOU HAVE A MOSTLY SLOW, UNSKILLFUL LIST??? Surely that alone shows he is stupid and has no f***** idea how to coach a side.

The engine cant be blamed if the mechanic has no idea what he is doing. If the engine isnt tuned properly, of course its going to misfire. Solution, get a better mechanic

[little_ripper]

Filthy your right. And the problem is NOT with the list. This group of players have played some breathtaking football in the past. The problem is that Knights does not have his players confidence. He cannot get them up for a game of football. That to me is what has been demonstrated in the last 3 weeks. Seemingly everything to play for and no result.

Matthew Knights is shot.