Bravo Mr Saladin on BB

[swoodley]

That's a pretty good piece of logic there. One of the better critiques of the coach/team that I have read in the past 6-7 weeks.

It certainly brings our situation into a clear perspective.

[BenDoolan]

Already posted in the thread titled "What a Hack!!!"

[Windy_Hill]

Nothing like a huge dollop of Perspective to stop the whingers

Agree completely with the logic and believe Knights has done a superb job under incredibly difficult circumstances.

If you place any importance in strength of character as a coaching trait, then we have a good'un

[BenDoolan]

Already posted in the thread titled "What a Hack!!!"

Sorry Ben...didn't see it...been a bit busy of late!

Na, no apology needed......it deserves its own thread anyway! It's an outstanding post!

[Chris]

Nice mostly balanced and logical assessment of where we are at and have come from as a club and unlike my much loved post "what a hack!!!" it provides a thourough summary of the challenges our new coach faces.

But I think we do have the right to savage some clear incorrect positioning of personell and the clear lack of accountability despite the limited cattle he has at his disposal. We savaged it when Sheeds did it, and why whould our new coach be any different.

Only the most nieve would expect more wins given the circumstances explained so well in the BB post, but It also takes the same to think his match day coaching and selection descisions are encouraging to date. In fact all I like about Knights so far is that he encourages run and carry, but to play such a high risk game style with no consideration for the higher likelyhood of resulting turnovers is parramount to throwing a match.

And sure, the claim that Pev and JJ's careers are over was blown way out of proportion, and agreeably, Knights has done well to save face for the blub and players with his response to the issue. But surely the non selection of JJ after a 35 posession game when Pev and McVeigh were unavilable is confirmation enough that he is unlikley to get many opportunities this year. In fact more than 13 out of 38 listed unavailable 22 selected and JJ left in the bottom 3 speaks volumes.

I agree he has a long way to go and hope he makes a fool out of me, but still maintain my oppinion to date that this is not the man to take our club back to the top where we belong.

[swoodley]

Nice to see a new poster on here Chris.

As has been previously stated, 7 matches is not much time to be able to form an objective opinion of where Knights is at and how he will go.

An interesting comparison is that Sheeds was in a similar situation in his first year and from memory, there were the same sorts of calls for his blood as has been seen recently with Knights.

Sheeds was able to turn it around and there is a quite reasonable possibility that Knights will be able to also. He has a lot of exciting young players at his disposal and the improvement in the likes of Houli, Lonergan, Dempsey and Reimers is proof to me that he knows what he is doing.

If we are still languishing down near the bottom after 2009 and with no obvious improvement, then I would expect that I'd be calling for his head but at this stage I'm quite prepared to strap in and go for the ride.

There will no doubt be more pain to come but I still remember how exciting our win over the Kangaroos was (in terms of our game style) and I hope that once we get key players back, from injury and suspension, we will get back on the winners list.

[Doctor Fish]

A well written, clearly thought out post from BB. Who would have guessed... Almost redeems my faith in Essendon supporters.

=D>

[tom9779]

I'd still rather we be winning games.

someone tell me what is the coaches fault?

countless injuries? (is he training them right)
suspensions(nlm/mcphee) lack of discipline instilled by the coach?
getting smashed in defence?(game plan?).

correct matchups? someone mention anzac day please?

the fact is a manequinn could have been coaching the EFC in the past 5 weeks such is the number of excuses at his disposal.

I WANT THE CLUB TO FRIKKIN WIN A GAME!!!!!!

BRAVO MR KNIGHTS LEADING US TO A 2-5 Win/Loss my arse.

[BenDoolan]

I'd still rather we be winning games.

someone tell me what is the coaches fault?

countless injuries? (is he training them right)
suspensions(nlm/mcphee) lack of discipline instilled by the coach?
getting smashed in defence?(game plan?).

correct matchups? someone mention anzac day please?

the fact is a manequinn could have been coaching the EFC in the past 5 weeks such is the number of excuses at his disposal.

I WANT THE CLUB TO FRIKKIN WIN A GAME!!!!!!

BRAVO MR KNIGHTS LEADING US TO A 2-5 Win/Loss my arse.

What part of his post is in anyway inaccurate?

[Megan]

Great post, thanks for bringing it to our attention over here in BT!

Unfortunately, most wankers never let a bit of fact get in the way of critisizing something they don't like.

[robbie67]

I'd still rather we be winning games.

someone tell me what is the coaches fault?

countless injuries? (is he training them right)
suspensions(nlm/mcphee) lack of discipline instilled by the coach?
getting smashed in defence?(game plan?).

correct matchups? someone mention anzac day please?

the fact is a manequinn could have been coaching the EFC in the past 5 weeks such is the number of excuses at his disposal.

I WANT THE CLUB TO FRIKKIN WIN A GAME!!!!!!

BRAVO MR KNIGHTS LEADING US TO A 2-5 Win/Loss my arse.

Lloyd chokes on his baccardi Breezer - Knights should be making him drink a mans drink.
Welsh injures ear at hairdresser - Knights should have him shaving his head.
Ryder has head injury from not ducking in a doorway - Knights didnt give him enough dwarf pills.

[Gyoza]

I'd still rather we be winning games.

someone tell me what is the coaches fault?

countless injuries? (is he training them right)
suspensions(nlm/mcphee) lack of discipline instilled by the coach?
getting smashed in defence?(game plan?).

correct matchups? someone mention anzac day please?

the fact is a manequinn could have been coaching the EFC in the past 5 weeks such is the number of excuses at his disposal.

I WANT THE CLUB TO FRIKKIN WIN A GAME!!!!!!

BRAVO MR KNIGHTS LEADING US TO A 2-5 Win/Loss my arse.

Lloyd chokes on his baccardi Breezer - Knights should be making him drink a mans drink.
Welsh injures ear at hairdresser - Knights should have him shaving his head.
Ryder has head injury from not ducking in a doorway - Knights didnt give him enough dwarf pills.

bwhahaha
Pretty much sums up the lunacy of this amount of criticism 7 WEEKS into a season where we've had a ridiculous amount of injuries.
One reason I'm against the week off so early in the season: it's forced many journos and posters alike to have to come up with a truckload of bullshit to keep themselves entertained.

[Rossoneri]

What I cant understand is the media attention Knights and also Harvey are getting, yet Malthouse gets let off. I know they are scared of him but come on.

Collingwood have won one more match than us. JUST ONE!!!
Add this:
They were top 4 last year, less than a kick away from the best team for a number of years. We finished 5th last.
They have had a relatively settled side (injury wise)
They did not lose anyone over the off-season.
Their kids apparently have a truckload of talent.

Their only three wins this year have come against Essendon, who the media (and supporters) portrays as the worst team since sliced bread, Freo (here) who is the worst team since Essendon, and Richmond.

Yet we cop all the flack and they get nothing said about them. Perhaps the media should do some research on why so many Collingwood supporters want to get rid of Malthouse?

[tom9779]

I'd still rather we be winning games.

someone tell me what is the coaches fault?

countless injuries? (is he training them right)
suspensions(nlm/mcphee) lack of discipline instilled by the coach?
getting smashed in defence?(game plan?).

correct matchups? someone mention anzac day please?

the fact is a manequinn could have been coaching the EFC in the past 5 weeks such is the number of excuses at his disposal.

I WANT THE CLUB TO FRIKKIN WIN A GAME!!!!!!

BRAVO MR KNIGHTS LEADING US TO A 2-5 Win/Loss my arse.

Lloyd chokes on his baccardi Breezer - Knights should be making him drink a mans drink.
Welsh injures ear at hairdresser - Knights should have him shaving his head.
Ryder has head injury from not ducking in a doorway - Knights didnt give him enough dwarf pills.

bwhahaha
Pretty much sums up the lunacy of this amount of criticism 7 WEEKS into a season where we've had a ridiculous amount of injuries.
One reason I'm against the week off so early in the season: it's forced many journos and posters alike to have to come up with a truckload of bullshit to keep themselves entertained.

No, I just wouldn't be cheering him on as doing a fantastic job. I would say yes, he has had an incredible amount of challenges.

but to coach a team which was a disgrace in its effort on Anzac Day, and to put up with 3, 10 goal plus hidings this year????

I am sorry but I cannot agree with the sentiments of Bravo Mr Knights.

I'll happily clap and cheer bravo if he gets the team to proverbially pull up its socks, make something of this train wreck of a season and avoids the spoon.

At the moment the EFC is almost the laughing stock of the AFL. (thank god for the goons in the west).

Lets see a gut busting game this sunday. Something other than a 10 goal thumping would be nice.

[BenDoolan]

No, I just wouldn't be cheering him on as doing a fantastic job. I would say yes, he has had an incredible amount of challenges.

but to coach a team which was a disgrace in its effort on Anzac Day, and to put up with 3, 10 goal plus hidings this year????

I am sorry but I cannot agree with the sentiments of Bravo Mr Knights.

I'll happily clap and cheer bravo if he gets the team to proverbially pull up its socks, make something of this train wreck of a season and avoids the spoon.

At the moment the EFC is almost the laughing stock of the AFL. (thank god for the goons in the west).

Lets see a gut busting game this sunday. Something other than a 10 goal thumping would be nice.

I think this part sums it up perfectly....

Surely, no one - whether they be a fan of his appointment or not - can realistically be as savagely critical of Mathew Knights as people are being on BB in particular, and the wider community in general? You cannot possibly look at the full picture and still find the vitriol to hurl. If you do, you are unbalanced, and have either lost , or never had -perhaps due to our long run of success - a decent perspective of our game and club.

[tom9779]

No, I just wouldn't be cheering him on as doing a fantastic job. I would say yes, he has had an incredible amount of challenges.

but to coach a team which was a disgrace in its effort on Anzac Day, and to put up with 3, 10 goal plus hidings this year????

I am sorry but I cannot agree with the sentiments of Bravo Mr Knights.

I'll happily clap and cheer bravo if he gets the team to proverbially pull up its socks, make something of this train wreck of a season and avoids the spoon.

At the moment the EFC is almost the laughing stock of the AFL. (thank god for the goons in the west).

Lets see a gut busting game this sunday. Something other than a 10 goal thumping would be nice.

I think this part sums it up perfectly....

Surely, no one - whether they be a fan of his appointment or not - can realistically be as savagely critical of Mathew Knights as people are being on BB in particular, and the wider community in general? You cannot possibly look at the full picture and still find the vitriol to hurl. If you do, you are unbalanced, and have either lost , or never had -perhaps due to our long run of success - a decent perspective of our game and club.

All that article does is list all of the challenges that have faced Matthew Knights.

I'm not laying into him, but surely he is open to some criticism. At this stage I wouldn't give him more than a 6 out of 10. Its not that given the circumstances that having such a lousy win loss ledger i think he could do better, its the nature of the losses which burn.

99 points
32 points
36 points
73 points
64 points

Average losing margin: 60 points or 10 GOALS

I am sorry but that is a frikkin disgrace.

[BenDoolan]

No, I just wouldn't be cheering him on as doing a fantastic job. I would say yes, he has had an incredible amount of challenges.

but to coach a team which was a disgrace in its effort on Anzac Day, and to put up with 3, 10 goal plus hidings this year????

I am sorry but I cannot agree with the sentiments of Bravo Mr Knights.

I'll happily clap and cheer bravo if he gets the team to proverbially pull up its socks, make something of this train wreck of a season and avoids the spoon.

At the moment the EFC is almost the laughing stock of the AFL. (thank god for the goons in the west).

Lets see a gut busting game this sunday. Something other than a 10 goal thumping would be nice.

I think this part sums it up perfectly....

Surely, no one - whether they be a fan of his appointment or not - can realistically be as savagely critical of Mathew Knights as people are being on BB in particular, and the wider community in general? You cannot possibly look at the full picture and still find the vitriol to hurl. If you do, you are unbalanced, and have either lost , or never had -perhaps due to our long run of success - a decent perspective of our game and club.

All that article does is list all of the challenges that have faced Matthew Knights.

I'm not laying into him, but surely he is open to some criticism. At this stage I wouldn't give him more than a 6 out of 10. Its not that given the circumstances that having such a lousy win loss ledger i think he could do better, its the nature of the losses which burn.

99 points
32 points
36 points
73 points
64 points

Average losing margin: 60 points or 10 GOALS

I am sorry but that is a frikkin disgrace.

Perhaps it's this one that might make more sense....

Certainly no-one can accuse him of trying to save his own skin by playing safe. He has turned to the kids rather than solid citizens like JJ and Pev. He has refused to flood. He is not overly negative, and has conceded big losses. He has coached some of the youngest essendon sides i can remember, with key figures missing, and has given us a glimpse of the young talent finally being assembled.

[tom9779]

He aint turning to JJ and Pev because blind freddy can see they are finished.

decisions on who and who he doesn't play aside.

How about suitable matchups? Game Plan? Motivation?

I am looking to give Knighta a break.

However Anzac Day was an absolute disgrace, Port we laid down.

I thought he did a decent job against the dogs, who are running hot. Geelong well they are in another league aren't they.

I didn't expect a massive improvement on last year, given its his first year in the job. But if we drop off considerably from where Sheedy had the team in the last year of his contract....you have got to wonder.

He has hardly set the world on fire and we havent really dropped any games you would expect to win.

But he has allowed the team to get flogged. 70+ points on anzac day for example. it was an embarrassment. 99 points against anyone even the best side in the comp ditto. For that simple reason I could hardly call him outstanding.

regardless of the cattle he has to work with. (its the cattle he coaches and trains after all)

I am not in support in bagging him, you won't see me initating threads bagging him.

But I would hardly be congratulating him despite of the circumstances.

[BenDoolan]

He aint turning to JJ and Pev because blind freddy can see they are finished.

decisions on who and who he doesn't play aside.

How about suitable matchups? Game Plan? Motivation?

I am looking to give Knighta a break.

However Anzac Day was an absolute disgrace, Port we laid down.

I thought he did a decent job against the dogs, who are running hot. Geelong well they are in another league aren't they.

I didn't expect a massive improvement on last year, given its his first year in the job. But if we drop off considerably from where Sheedy had the team in the last year of his contract....you have got to wonder.

He has hardly set the world on fire and we havent really dropped any games you would expect to win.

But he has allowed the team to get flogged. 70+ points on anzac day for example. it was an embarrassment. 99 points against anyone even the best side in the comp ditto. For that simple reason I could hardly call him outstanding.

regardless of the cattle he has to work with. (its the cattle he coaches and trains after all)

I am not in support in bagging him, you won't see me initating threads bagging him.

But I would hardly be congratulating him despite of the circumstances.

I think you're missing the point on the whole message. He is not being congratulated for the "results". What is being pointed out is that he has never complained about the injury situation nor has he used it as an excuse. He doesn't revert to "saving face" by selecting teams or implementing tactics that may result in smaller losses, but instead presses on with his ideas on the bigger picture. He does that at a cost of constant criticism from the media and talk back radio. He takes it in his stride and does not complain. That is what he is being applauded for. Knight's acknowledges the team's problems - and states that he is working on rectifying them. What else can you ask for? You want him to kidnap Jonathon Brown, Lance Franklin, Gary Ablett, Dean Cox and Chris Judd?

[tom9779]

He doesn't revert to "saving face" by selecting teams or implementing tactics that may result in smaller losses, but instead presses on with his ideas on the bigger picture

well thats it isn't it.

How healthy is building a team which gets thumped week in week out and plays one tempo?

I dunno, but when I hear the excuse that we are building a team in the face of 10 goal + thumpings and hence shouldn't play a defensive style.
I tend to think that is just a bit convenient. I mean is this evidence that knights can't coach a defensive style of footy when required?

the old adage defense wins premierships seems to have gone out the window...we absolutely heamoragge(sp?) goals.
And our delivery into our forward line hasn't exactly come along in leaps and bounds.

All I can see is more of a focus on run and carry and thats it.

Mind you I watch from the TV....will be good to get to a game this weekend.

Continual talk of big picture stuff tends to test fans patience, I agree, it tests mine.

I remember an Essendon that fought TOOTH AND NAIL to avoid back to back defeats.

after 4 straight losses the coach first year or not deserves to cop a bit of flack.

sheedy's problem was that he went soft after 2001. where is the evidence Knights has been tough on the players and demanded more? where is the evidence of him rethinking his style based on the cattle he has available?

the evidence I can tell you is in the pudding so to speak, by watching a dead set determined, physical team run out, trying their all to win and a team which is obviously playing with its head...switched on mentally.

i hope thats what I see on Sunday.