Matty Knight take a Bow

[stryper]

I will be the first one to admit that I thought it was a massive mistake to replace the Legend Sheeds with this Man...
However being a die hard Bomber supporter I was willing to give him a chance...
First 2 rounds - looking fantastic - then came Hell - Injurys galore and 8 weeks of Pure football rubbish...
Enter Matty Knights Half time against Ninthmond... Gave the Guys a massive spray - No More Mr. Nice Guy...
Since then I have slowly watched Essendon turn things around... Yes getting Lucas back has certainly helped...

Knighter went back to the drawing board and has changed our gameplan around for the better...
At 1 stage we were looking and playing like a bottom 2 side but he has never given up and Definately NEVER even considered to tank like some other sides eg. carlscum - who by the way even with 3 years are still SHIT!!!

I take my Hat off to this Man and give Credit where Credit is due - He has the confidence back with the side and is bringing out their best... taking chances - Sam Lonergan - couldn't get a look in previously,Welsh moved into the midfield has been a brilliant move,Ryder on Brown last night - Brown fairly quiet...Yes got injured but was still soundly beaten from the start... Lloydy to playing a different role and most importantly the tackling has been ferocious... The Hard hits and still the fast running game but only at times - Not the whole game Non Stop as with the fist half of the season...

I am really starting to like this Guy more and more by the week Yes we still have a long way to go but the signs are definately starting to appear...

We are Not that far away from being a force to be reckoned with again... Yes there is a slim chance of making the 8 but I guarantee you that if we do happen to make it their will be a bit of a shudder through some of those sides...

Go bombers and Go Knighta =D>

[juff]

Well, I gotta say that I have really liked Matty Knights right from the time of his appointment. He's been such a refreshinging change from his once great predecessor who sadly just lost it in the end. It was a brave move by the Essendon Board, but the right move, and good on them for having the guts to do it. I now actually enjoy watching the coach's interviews, without the crappy Martian/seagull/virus drivel that Sheeds had fallen into. It's easy to see that if he can't communicate with supporters how he could also lose touch with his players.

As for the bad run we had in the first half of the season, well f*** me, show me ANY side that could have done well with the sheer magnitude and depth of the injuries we were copping. Through this period we lost Lucas, Davey, McVeigh, Fletch, Winderlich (all top ten players) plus we were robbed of a whole host of our promising younger talent (Lonergan, Gumbleton, Dempsey, Reimers, Hocking, Hislop, etc, etc). This not only stopped us from fielding our best side, but was also really unsettling (3-5 changes each week!) which is critical for a young team learning a new game plan under a new coach. Then, as players returned from injury, they took time (naturally) to run back into form, which was yet another penalty we had to pay. And of course, if you have 2-3 players injured during a game, then you're even further disadvantaged with playing a short bench.

Even Geelong would have trouble making the eight under those circumstances. Just compare us to Wet Toast. They lost Judd and Cousins and have dived from a top four team to cellar dwellers. I might add too that we also lost a pretty handy player by the name of James Hird before the start of the season.

I think people here are massively underestimating the great job Knights has been doing. I am just amazed that he managed to get our team through that black tunnel with confidence and spirit intact. And he hasn't been afraid to experiment. Sure, some moves didn't work, but Stryper has listed some pretty good changes that will pay long term dividends. All the things that people were bagging Sheeds for, Knights has attended to, i.e.:

a) Play the kids - tick
b) Stop favouring old/recycled dud pet projects - tick
c) Introduce a game plan - tick
d) Give his players some clear roles - tick

You get the feeling with Knights that he is looking to the future and is not satisfied with treading water, and I'm very happy with that.

[andrewb]

Yep. I had written him off after the Richmond game and I'm eating my words now.

But they do taste remarkably good

He has turned Lloyd and Welsh's seasons around with role changes and there are a number of blokes on this list who are playing better under Knights than they did under Sheedy. That is a big tick.

[MH_Bomber]

I was extremely critical after the Sydney second half and the Richmond first half BUT now I must give credit where credit is due. Matthew Knights has stuck to his mantra of playing an extremely attacking brand of football and has supreme confidence in his plan. Well I think we can say with a bit of defensive pressure tweaking its working. We look like a creat outfit at the moment.

[Rossoneri]

I was stunned when we chose him, but I said i'll give him two years.

So far, I like what I have seen. Still a fair way off top 6 let alone top 4, but we are at least moving in the right direction.

While we are still attacking hard, we are also running back on defence, we are actually being accountable for our opponent and paying them the respect they deserve.

[ealesy]

I think a few people owe him an apology.

He copped a lot of flack early in the season for our attacking gameplan and not having any defensive side to our game, despite the fact Knights had said a number of times that they were working on that side of the gameplan but it was a work in progress.

We are far further ahead at this point in the season than I thought we would be. It is amazing that they have been able to incorporate a more defensive element into the gameplan mid season, when it would have been something they did little work on during the pre-season.

Having somewhere near his best list to pick from helps hugely as well.

Very excited about our prospects when the likes of Houli, Dempsey, Gumbleton, Myers, Pears, Hocking etc get fully fit and start to hit there straps.

With those players coming through, I think we can look to trading players like Lovett, NLM, McPhee, Nash, Winderlich etc to get some high draft picks this year so we can load up before all 16 clubs get raped by the AFL and the Gold Coast and West Sydney teams.

[hop]

It is sooooo refreshing to see our coach being honest and direct with everyone - media, fans, players, The Chairman!

Knighta has an even disposition that is clearly instilling confidence in the playing group and bringing the fans on board. You only have to listen to ANY of the players talk about his approach and they uniformly speak about his clear direction, his hard work and his confidence in them as individuals and as a team. This is a remarkable thing given he is coaching the Essendon Football Club immediately after they replaced a Legend!

I spent a good 10 minutes watching him yesterday while the players were warming up. Unlike Sheedy he wasn't glad-handling oldies, or signing autographs for the kids and getting his photo taken (that was modus operandi last year) - Knighta stood on the boundary and had his eyes glued on the group going through their drills. In the last few minutes he wandered over and talked to the younger players (Lenergan, Jetta, Reimers, Ryder) all individually - obviously reminding them of their task. I was instantly reassured and pleased that we have this guy as our coach.

Kudos Knighta =D> =D> =D>

[Chris]

I have to admit, I am impressed and delightedly surprised at the recent turnaround. Early season I had knights down as a hack, his mistakes obvious, his gameplans lack of accountability a discrace. Whilst I stand by my oppionion of early season strategies and some clear terrible positioning of certain players (I wasnt angry at results given our available personal through injuries, I was angry at the discraceful descisions from the coaches box which made us look worse), maybe I was a little premature in my slagging of a coach in his first season.

Accountability in recent weeks is greatly improved, whilst still some way to go, we appear to be finding the balance between attacking football and defensive pressure with the improvement of Stanton in this area as well as what appears to be the successful move of Welsh into a defensive role in the midfield two massive wins in this area.

In fact, ill go as far to say the use of Welsh as a midfielder tagging the likes of Judd and Black is as inspired as the use of Winderlich as a back pocket on Medhurst was pathetic and overzeolos. Both would not have been contemplated by any in the past, yet clearly the difference between inspired and overzeolos is measured only be the resulting outcome and in this case its 1-1 for Knight's with the success of Welsh possibly having a far long lasting benefit than the negative impact of the licha move.

Overall, im happy to be proven wrong so far. I hope Knights continues to evolve, learn from his mistakes and continue's to fine tune the game plan. We are a long way off it yet, the teams we have beat arn't particularly strong, but if you had asked me 5 weeks ago if we could beat them, I'd have laughed at you.

The promise of a better stronger Bomber team in the near future is all I ask this season, and im finally getting it. Thanks Mr Knights, keep up the good work.

[Chris]

I'd also like to add I was damning of Knights not using pev or JJ early in the season with the firm oppinion that they could add balance to our team which is now full of running players but lacking in support for Watson and McVeigh in the packs.

Again my oppinion has been substantiated with Pev contributing greatly to our recent improved performances, and it's great to see Knights selection of Peverill particularaly with Dyson available in the reserves. Another turnaround in Knights attitude that I am impressed with.

[tom9779]

I hold my congratulations until I see him coach us into and win some finals.

We have won a few on the trot. 3 against bottom teams.

I still think we would be a complete mess if we lost Hille.
We have already seen what happens to the team when Lucas is down.(8 L in a row....argh)

I do like the obvious focus on 1st quarter efforts. A big first quarter wins you footy games... Aside from Lucas return, you can see how it is this aspect which has changed in our game with our fortunes.

Some of his matchups have been very strange to say the least, I think his coaching lowpoint was the Anzac Day game, and since then he has improved.

If Knighta can pull our team up to pretty much an even win loss in a year with a stack on injuries, he will have done well.

It could always be worse. Harvey could be our coach.

[BenDoolan]

Yes, when we win, all the back slapping appears. When we lose, the knives come out.....

[Chris]

Yes, when we win, all the back slapping appears. When we lose, the knives come out.....

Well, it has never been about winning in my oppinion, it was all about gameplan, accountability and selection. IMO, everything that I was furious about early on has or is being addressed. Even if we are losing, if they show a level of accountability rather than the one way traffic that was happening early on, im happy.

If Knights repeats his use of Winder as back pocket on a strong marking small forward or moves fletcher forward whilst he clearly has his opponant covered down back, I will not be happy and the result wont change my oppinion.

[andrewb]

Yes, when we win, all the back slapping appears. When we lose, the knives come out.....

Agree with Chris - that's a very simplistic way of looking at it... I don't think anyone would have minded us losing this year provided we were showing signs of improvement. There wasn't anyone really upset when we dropped the Geelong game by 100 points. There was a lot of angst directed at the commitment of the players and the quality of the fitness staff after the rubbish performances against Collingwood, Port and Sydney - McPhee, Stanton, Welsh, Monfries, Laycock, Lloyd copped most of it - but proportionally little of that criticism was directed at the coach given the inherited list and the injury problems.

The knives really came out after the first half of the Richmond game when we had most of the cattle back on board but put in one of the most insipid performances by an Essendon team I have ever seen. The Tiger youngsters looked a thousand times better than our own and it was obvious that the all-out attack game plan was having a negative impact on development rather than a positive one.

Knights is now getting credit from the supporters for turning things around and getting us playing accountable football.

[gringo]

Yes, when we win, all the back slapping appears. When we lose, the knives come out.....

Yes, this is true BD. Gringo is sitting on his hands.

[BenDoolan]

Yes, when we win, all the back slapping appears. When we lose, the knives come out.....

Yes, this is true BD. Gringo is sitting on his hands.

I hope while not holding the knife