The Case for the Prosecution.

[little_ripper]

damn, we are really eating our own these days! i'll only give a short defence.

there might be perceived favourites, but to knights credit he is still playing the kids. as quoted in many threads on BT the average age of the essendon sides has been very low.

do we need to go on a merry go round of coaches whilst out list fills out and matures? maybe if the bombers serve up the absolute shit of last week.(which i think was a combination of poor play and poor coaching).

I think everyone at essendon knows the sort of effort and smarts thats required to win games of footy, and as long as last week remains the exception rather than the rule, knights should stay.


Also what football have you been watching? In the last few weeks I've watched woosha do the number on Vince and Hodge. Welsh deserves his place in the side.

[Jazz_84]

=D> =D> =D> =D>

i hope you sent this to someone!!

[MH_Bomber]

You encapsulate my thoughts on the goings on at our great club perfectly Filthy. =D>

Good to have you back.

[BenDoolan]

The Case for the Defense.

When my client took charge of this football team, he did so with the decaying and decrepid football department that his predecessor left behind. A playing list which was clogged up with project players and an aging fleet of club champions was also evident. Young recruits were not being given their fair go ahead of struggling favourites like Jason Johnson (who had once approached the selection committee and demanded to be dropped despite Sheedy's constant insistance of his inclusion).

Recruiting was disasterous for a long period of time where no draftee was ever going to make the grade. It was also topped up with hacks from other clubs, further compromising the quality of the list.

Therefore, my client inherited a probelmatic situation where dramatic changes had to be made. He embarked on improving the football department by engaging in new improved programs for the young recruits, dismissing the underperforming fitness department, and injecting money where it was most needed. He also embarked on recruiting talented key position players with the foresight to recocgnise that Lloyd, Lucas and Fletcher were not going to be around for much longer.

Despite these obvious challenges, he managed to turn around the fortunes of the team by making the finals (after an absence of 5 years) in his 2nd year as coach. People might say that the team lost more games than it won in that season, but the fact remains, the club was the 8th best performing club that year - despite no-one giving them any chance of making the finals whatsoever. This was achieved without the assistance of the experienced players on the list who were either in dramatically poor form or injured for most of the year. This demonstrates that the club now has a talented group of youngsters on the way up. Naturally, inconsistency will play a part as this group matures in the coming years.

The prosecution will tell you that he "has no idea" or that "he cannot coach". What they cannot explain is that he has coached this young and inexperienced group to wonderful victories against top sides during his current tenure. It is true that there have been disappointing losses. Every developing team has them. So why should this team be any different? Lets take a look back historically at teams who won premierships and see what their previous 4 years were like in the lead up. Geelong finished 12th in 2003 - won the flag in 2007. Were there calls to sack Bomber Thompson at the end of 2006? Yes there were. Hawthorn finished 15th in 2004 - won the flag in 2008. Were their calls to sack Clarkson along the way? Yes there were. Prior to that we had Sydney finishing 11th in 2002 and winning the flag in 2005. These are some recent examples of how things can change for clubs when they persist with a program.

Essendon is not unique in having disappointments along the way to achieving success. What is being debated is whether Matthew Knights is doing his job in establishing a platform for future success. Most people will recognise that the recruiting has been rather good during his time. Young players are given games to develop their careers at an AFL level. What my client does shy away from is propping up the team in order to "save face". He will place a team on the field in the best interests of the club going forward - a view to the future if, you will.

So the prosecution demands his immediate dismissal - for someone who has led their team to 8 successive losses - the worst in their history. If that isn't taking a backward step, I don't know what is. How can the prosecution endorse such a coach who is obviously declining in his ability to motivate a group, to replace a man who has made the courageous decisions to inject the team with youthful talent and who have demostrated on several occasions, that they have what it takes? What this club needs is persistence and patience in its rise to the top. My client recognises that the group still needs to improve dramatically if it is to be a contender, and he also recognises that he also has to improve with them to get the job done.

The prosecution will try to convince you that changing the guard will bring immediate success. It won't. And if they dismiss my assumption as "wrong", then why are they impatiently trying to eliminate the man who is constructing a platform for future success?

Note: The above defense debate does not necessarily reflect the thoughts and opinions of the author

[hop]

It always ends up as a bloody lawyers picnic!

[little_ripper]

after reading bdoolans post, i start nodding my head, yep knightas doing ok.

then i read his sig straight after and burst out laughing.

[swoodley]

I always find it interesting when people start talking about the 70's and how we had a go and try to make it sound better than the train wreck that decade was.

The 70's were: Three finals campaigns, 3 Elimination Finals and 3 losses, an untold number of arse kickings and without a doubt, the worst decade experienced by this club in my time.

Having a go in those days included being able to throw plenty of punches with little chance of getting reported and even less chance of being rubbed out.

One of our "great" coaches during that period made his players crawl around the boundary line at training after another terrible loss...very motivational and I'm sure a tactic that would work wonders these days

We had favourite sons Jack Clarke, John Birt and Barry Davis as coach for 4-5 of those years for little positive return so those of you with the rose coloured glasses about the likes of Hird & Lloyd being coach, need to remember that just because you're a former club great, it doesn't automatically mean you'll be a good coach (I'm sure a number of the older posters on here will remember the infamous day when the Bomber supporters booed Barry Davis and the team off the ground after a 16 goal loss at home to Fitzroy).

The one good thing that came from the 70's was the "Baby Bombers" mark I.....Watson, Van Der Haar, Merrett, Madden, T & N Daniher, Hawker, Heard, Clarke
etc came from that era and now we have the likes of Gumby, Hurley, Pears, Zaharakis, Hooker, Ryder, Melksham etc coming through.

Who knows....maybe success is just around the corner and so those of you bleating and whining about lack of success...suck it up.

[Windy_Hill]

The truth is that Knights, despite some impressive achievements in his tenure to date, is still delivering results like last weekend in Adelaide. No effort, spirit or passion.

As long as this continues to be the case, he will never win the fans over.

I agree that he inherited a lot of the problems, but he then sugar coated these issues in his infamous powerpoint presentation. Dimma on the other hand gave a brutally honest assessment of our list and got rejected

Maybe Knights has to manage expectations a little better

[MH_Bomber]

A question from the jury room. Ask the accused the following questions;

Why one Brent Prismall has been dropped three times during the course of this season ?

Why was Atkinson dropped and why is he not included this week ?

Why was Dempsey dropped ?

Why other non-performers are never dropped ?

I think you will find that the accused can offer no plausible explanation for these decisions other than some anally retentive obsession that is only known to him. This is what annoys supporters.

[s'dreams]

A question from the jury room. Ask the accused the following questions;

Why one Brent Prismall has been dropped three times during the course of this season ? .

'cause though he gets a lot of the pill, he turns it over so many times (usually to their advantage) he may as well be playing for the opposition

Why was Atkinson dropped and why is he not included this week ?

Good question - he was one of three players who did well today (the other two are bendigo listed) ... later edit - unfair ... Hardingham did OK too

Why other non-performers are never dropped ?

I think you will find that the accused can offer no plausible explanation for these decisions other than some anally retentive obsession that is only known to him. This is what annoys supporters.

No ... what annoys the hell out of me is after 2 1/2 years, we don't seem to be going anywhere ... and crud excuses like "we still haven't worked out our best 22" give me the annoy the crap out of me... particularly when you look at North and Rich ... who have a weaker list than ours - but you can see their players have a sense of direction and pride in their jumper.

STI

[Windy_Hill]

The Prosection now calls on The Richmond Football Club of 2010 to further demonstrate a young and inexperienced team can be developed into a competitive side

[billyduckworth]

The Prosection now calls on The Richmond Football Club of 2010 to further demonstrate a young and inexperienced team can be developed into a competitive side

...and demonstrate that Damien Hardwick is therefore a better coach than the defendant.

[billyduckworth]

Case proven.

Now (please!) for the sentencing...

[BenDoolan]

Case for the Defense:

My client would like to plead insanity

[Rossoneri]

Case for the Defense:

My client would like to plead insanity

Maybe plead that he suffers a mental disability and doesn't know what he is doing?

Can we try him in China?

[DC2]

Knighta collectin' some of dat centa chedda!

[robrulz5]

One thing that really annoys me is whenever there is a camera on him while he is in the coaches box he is always just sitting there looking stunned. Most other coaches never stop talking, they're always communicating with the bench and their assistant coaches.

[Windy_Hill]

One thing that really annoys me is whenever there is a camera on him while he is in the coaches box he is always just sitting there looking stunned. Most other coaches never stop talking, they're always communicating with the bench and their assistant coaches.

For those who missed it, here is Matthew Knights in the coached box just before half-time today

[pevfan]

Either looking stunned or sharing a joke

I've said this before and I'll say it again now. As with all things in life... you get what you pay for...Case closed.

By the way, welcome back Filth and All the best with your health issue

[Sismis]

One thing that really annoys me is whenever there is a camera on him while he is in the coaches box he is always just sitting there looking stunned. Most other coaches never stop talking, they're always communicating with the bench and their assistant coaches.

For those who missed it, here is Matthew Knights in the coached box just before half-time today

Yeah that's right, we did NOTHING after half time did we?