Coach Adam Simpson Megathread est. 2017 - Skip to 2024: Simpson coaching tenure officially ends

[UseR2006]

100%

Was also down at the Ponsford end on the second tier so had a good view of most of the ground.
We do not work hard enough to provide options for outlets from the 50 arc onwards when get have the ball in d50.
Players are like statues, they don't move and when they do, tend to get ignored for contests down the line.
The amount of times we dump kicked it to Gawn was just annoying.

In contrast the Dees had a clear instruction to take the kick out as quick as possible, move it quickly as we sit off our direct opposition too far to impact all the damn time. This then results in easy shots for them because our forwards are pushed so far up the ground that they end up in no mans land all the time.

View attachment 2041838
example: What the F are Barrass and Gov doing all the way out here.

Another issue (among the many) is our mids do not work anywhere near hard enough.
From stoppages if they don't win the clearance they act as though "oh well our bit is done, time for the backs" They'll jog, throw out token arms, chase for a second or two then deem it not worth the effort, palm off responsibility to another player, etc. You get the drift.
Here's an example of what I mean.


It doesn't take much, this is from the first quarter when it's nil all and the game should be at its hottest. Shameful.

The other way our work-rate hurts us is when we do have the ball on transition. when we hit targets and have plenty of space we look OK, but that's never gonna happen all the time. often we get the ball look up and no one is working to make space so handballs and kicks go to players under pressure or worse direct to the opposition.

It's not all work-rate though. It's hard to be enthused when the coaches pull out amazing thoughts like "Why not have a developing key forward/ruck as our Sub" or "Let's have darling help with cbd ruck work". If Darling isn't doing well enough as a forward then he should be out of the squad until he performs. The post match presser explanation for these two moves was infuriating. "We just wanted to try it out".
I'm all for experimenting but he never explains what he was hoping to achieve with the moves. What did you hope to gain Simmo by having a key fwd as a sub and Darling as a ruck?

The saddest thing for me is a lot of the smaller things that we were doing really well with in our wins have gone out the window since the earlier Melbourne game. Things like the team getting amped for smothers/tackles/pressure acts, celebrating goals and the preceding plays leading to goals. The closest we got today was with Reid having a crack at Gawn and Ginbey getting into Tholstrup when he was roughing up Hough. Outside of those two instances we were pretty limp.

All of the above things have been persistent not just in todays game but pretty much consistently in every loss this year. This is on the coach as it's not a once off, it's not just something that will improve in the next week or two. We may have flashes of awesome when our opposition let us but until things change at the top these things will continue.

Reposting here as it's also all the reasons why I think Simmo needs to go and effective immediately.

 

[ghostbat12]

Tom morris is one of those new age journos where inuendo and speculation is newsworthy. Literally 2 people could say the sun is turning purple and he would report that there is a growing belief that the sun is turning purple.

 

[Ochre]

Tom morris is one of those new age journos where inuendo and speculation is newsworthy. Literally 2 people could say the sun is turning purple and he would report that there is a growing belief that the sun is turning purple.

There's many, many valid critiques of him but he has got good sources.

 

[Avalor]

Simmo - goneski!!!

 

[RookiePick]

The stupidest part is that if we persisted with what we were doing in the first 2 months of the season, the vast bulk of fans would take the losses on the chin as the push to development and change was evident.

The reversion to backwards kicking, stagnant play and the bizarro land of the giants selection has totally poisoned the well.

 

[donpyke92]

Simmo - goneski!!!

Insightful

 

[navi_]

Gavin Bell has to go, no idea how he got to where he is now. He's the Football Manager of the club from 2022. More scrutiny on him, has a heap to answer for. Not someone who gets the spotlight on him much. But as someone who manages the whole football operation of the club. has much to answer for.

100% agree - his whole career has been failing upwards

 

[WAFClatfd]

No need to get personal. Anyone that has actually paid attention over the past few years has seen the decline since 2018 and what the club has done, and when, to rectify it. Our biggest issue coming into this season was our ability to keep players on the park. We overturned the S & C, changed training intensity and standards and our injury list is the best it has been in several years.

That doesn't automatically translate into results. There's a reason Simmo keeps batting on about 'synergy'. Sure, it's a bit of a crap cliche, but it takes time for players to get used to the game plan, get used to their role, get used to other players' roles and movements. This is the first season since 2021 where we've had a reasonably consistent core group, with 20 players playing ten or more games through 16 games. Of that group, six are 21 years or younger (three of whom are midfielders, one having already lost a year of development to injury), five are going to be 30 or older by year's end, and arguably only four of the other nine are in our best 23 by the time we turn this list over (Waterman, Barrass, Duggan and Cole... and I think that is being generous to Duggan and Cole).

If you think the club has "just let things roll along" then you haven't been paying attention. Early in the season, even when we were getting belted, we were trying to be more attacking. We didn't quite have the skill level to execute that plan and got killed on turnovers. When the skills started to stick, so did the results. We've been much better in the midfield this season compared to the previous two and we've given ourselves chances by delivering the ball inside 50. The only games that have really been let downs are Adelaide, when we looked lacklustre all game, and Hawthorn, who had an answer for everything we tried. The first quarter today was abysmal but we tidied up our decision making and skills (for the most part) and put in a competitive effort.

Whether you agree with it or not, it is going to take time for the list to turn over and the results to start falling our way. The club changed CEO and S & C staff last offseason. They'll make more changes this offseason. I expect one of those changes to be the head coach but whether that happens or not, that won't fix everything
Calling me names is not going to help anything the West Coast Eagles

I have paid a lot of attention and yes they have just let things roll along. Who has improved this year apart from Waterman (thats maybe because he had to play in his preferred position), perhaps Hough could be a false dawn. Jack Williams for sure. Chesser hasn't taken a step forward. I went to preseason training on a few occasions and they were practising the long kick out of the square to the right. I said to my wife surely not, but here we are with the same shit as the last few years and the same people saying it will be fine steady as she goes. It won't we are ****ed for at least a decade. Could be longer. To suggest that all we need is a bit of synergy is disingenuous and bullshit. We need a honest and complete recalibration of the entire operation, if not we will be ****ed for a generation of supporters. Your view with Rose tainted glasses doesn't help anybody who really cares about the mighty WCE. ps sorry for calling you names.

 

[Coasters7]

I hope the people that ripped into me and others about sacking him last year send us an apology, we have just wasted another year and lost any development into the kids we desperately needed. His time was up years ago! So many people saw this coming as early as 2020 which pisses me off

Fairly revisionist though. Have we actually had a normal year of footy since covid? I know everyone had to deal with 2020 and 2021 equally but it doesn’t make it any less challenging, especially in an already unbalanced competition. Then 22 and 23 were write offs that weren’t necessarily the coaches or players fault.

This is the first “normal” year we’ve had in 4 years and it’s with a list on its last legs (if it wasn’t already 3-4 years ago).

I think his time is up but let’s not pretend we’re all oracles. On that pay packet with all the external factors ruining multiple seasons it made sense for him to at least be given this one. It hasn’t worked out and it’s time to move on.

 

[Priddis Is Done]

 

[xLeCrAs2x]

Fairly revisionist though. Have we actually had a normal year of footy since covid? I know everyone had to deal with 2020 and 2021 equally but it doesn’t make it any less challenging, especially in an already unbalanced competition. Then 22 and 23 were write offs that weren’t necessarily the coaches or players fault.

This is the first “normal” year we’ve had in 4 years and it’s with a list on its last legs (if it wasn’t already 3-4 years ago).

I think his time is up but let’s not pretend we’re all oracles. On that pay packet with all the external factors ruining multiple seasons it made sense for him to at least be given this one. It hasn’t worked out and it’s time to move on.

He was literally the only coach making excuses in the Covid years, we are also the only club to gift old and broken players undeserved contracts, our injury ridden years come down to not having developed any young kids, we heavily relied on the old and broken “cavalry”

It comes from Simpson only selecting the spuds like Sheed/Gaff/Darling etc in front of players that may have been anything but we will never know because he never gave them sufficient game time.

He is the sole reason we are where we are right now


I mean Collingwood recently have had a bad run with injuries (I know we had more) but their kids have come in and done “ok” and they are not even remotely close to needing to play kids seeing as they’re the reigning premier.

Just talking about his stubborn choices regarding selections infuriates me. Don’t even get me started on his terrible game day lack of tactics. Our club as a whole stinks and it starts from the top

Man I can’t even see any upside, like this is currently the best and uninjured we could be and we are still atrocious with no light at the end of the tunnel, whenever we have been really bad in the past we at least had up and coming players to look forward to seeing develop like a young Shuey, Kennedy, Darling, Nicnat, Gaff etc. now we have zero besides Harley who I think won’t hang around..

The best we could hope for is he gets sacked and another coach comes in and the players turn it around somehow, I mean it can’t get any worse? I’d happily cop floggings so long as we are blooding kids because we know there will be light at the end of the tunnel and we could uncover hidden gems but right now we are in no mans land with no end in sight with him at the helm and he’s only taking us backwards and delaying the proper rebuild which should’ve happened years ago.

 

[Goroyals22]

Fairly revisionist though. Have we actually had a normal year of footy since covid? I know everyone had to deal with 2020 and 2021 equally but it doesn’t make it any less challenging, especially in an already unbalanced competition. Then 22 and 23 were write offs that weren’t necessarily the coaches or players fault.

This is the first “normal” year we’ve had in 4 years and it’s with a list on its last legs (if it wasn’t already 3-4 years ago).

I think his time is up but let’s not pretend we’re all oracles. On that pay packet with all the external factors ruining multiple seasons it made sense for him to at least be given this one. It hasn’t worked out and it’s time to move on.

Oh that’s great . So we have had four years of write off years … can I ask the club for four years of membership fees back as the last four years haven’t counted? How rude for them to ask for renewal on a yearly basis for that time.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[JackOutback]

I have paid a lot of attention and yes they have just let things roll along. Who has improved this year apart from Waterman (thats maybe because he had to play in his preferred position), perhaps Hough could be a false dawn. Jack Williams for sure. Chesser hasn't taken a step forward. I went to preseason training on a few occasions and they were practising the long kick out of the square to the right. I said to my wife surely not, but here we are with the same shit as the last few years and the same people saying it will be fine steady as she goes. It won't we are ****ed for at least a decade. Could be longer. To suggest that all we need is a bit of synergy is disingenuous and bullshit. We need a honest and complete recalibration of the entire operation, if not we will be ****ed for a generation of supporters. Your view with Rose tainted glasses doesn't help anybody who really cares about the mighty WCE. ps sorry for calling you names.

 

[Balls In]

Was listening to the post game on 6PR and I'm pretty sure Simmo said he'll still be coaching unless he gets a tap on the shoulder. It's pretty much a game of chicken now and who'll blink first, Simmo or the club. What a waste of the rest of the year if this is gonna be the case.

Most importantly, he earned around $50,000 today. Thats $50,000 already spent by the club who aren't prepared to cut their losses. Its years too late regardless.

 

[Flarn Rarn]

Most importantly, he earned around $50,000 today. Thats $50,000 already spent by the club who aren't prepared to cut their losses. Its years too late regardless.

I think his job responsibilities extend to things outside of gameday, regardless of what people think of his performance.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

Reposting here as it's also all the reasons why I think Simmo needs to go and effective immediately.

The work rate is not going to improve under Simpson. That much is clear. He refuses to even acknowledge how much of an issue it is, let alone that it is one variable that is under the club's control. There are lots of things that are not within his control such as the number of A graders on our list and the success rate of the drafting department giving him the cattle to work with. The work rate of the 22 players sent out there is within our control so we should be monomaniacally focussed on it, especially given our dearth of A graders. But he just lets it slide every week.

The work rate thing is very upsetting for me when watching games and i suspect lots of other supporters feel the same way. I can accept that there is a cycle in footy and you won't always have one of the better 22's. Especially when you have been up for a while and missing early picks. So there will be times when you lose more games when you win because you have less talent than the other sides. But getting beaten for effort and work rate every week for years is very hard to take. Getting beaten for work rate even when the other teams clearly have a talent differential with you and have every reason to take it a bit easier themselves in terms of work rate but they are still beating you in this area is very hard to take.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Also, Schofield said on 6PR that he gets told by 'people on the inside' that they don't really go hard enough on players in game review during the week and that he'd almost crap himself every week when he was a younger player because Darren Glass

Darren Glass

Age

43

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.7

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.7

4star

No current season stats available

D

5.6

2star

K

2.6

1star

HB

3.0

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.0

3star

wasn't afraid to go at players when they stuffed something up.

 

[Cuzz09]

Can they just do this?

If they are worried about paying him out.

Sit him on the bench throughout games, let someone else make all the moves during games.

When team selection is happening tell him to go grab a pizza but go the long way.

When there's an interview just trot out his usual tripe

Sent from my SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

Can they just do this?

If they are worried about paying him out.

Sit him on the bench throughout games, let someone else make all the moves during games.

When team selection is happening tell him to go grab a pizza but go the long way.

When there's an interview just trot out his usual tripe

Sent from my SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

They are worried about who they will have to choose from to replace him and whether those people will be of the standard they are seeking. And if they are not happy with the expected options whether it might improve if they delayed sacking him for another year and how things would hold together for that year if they did want to try and wait another 12 months. It is the only thing that they could be worried about.

 

[twce13]

sheed 4 player coach

 

[woosha24]

sheed 4 player coach

Mandatory 1 hour finger pointing training sessions per week.

 

[Broken_Chairs]

The work rate is not going to improve under Simpson. That much is clear. He refuses to even acknowledge how much of an issue it is, let alone that it is one variable that is under the club's control. There are lots of things that are not within his control such as the number of A graders on our list and the success rate of the drafting department giving him the cattle to work with. The work rate of the 22 players sent out there is within our control so we should be monomaniacally focussed on it, especially given our dearth of A graders. But he just lets it slide every week.

The work rate thing is very upsetting for me when watching games and i suspect lots of other supporters feel the same way. I can accept that there is a cycle in footy and you won't always have one of the better 22's. Especially when you have been up for a while and missing early picks. So there will be times when you lose more games when you win because you have less talent than the other sides. But getting beaten for effort and work rate every week for years is very hard to take. Getting beaten for work rate even when the other teams clearly have a talent differential with you and have every reason to take it a bit easier themselves in terms of work rate but they are still beating you in this area is very hard to take.

Not sure work rate is the issue - our ground coverage and speed was on par with Melb, so the effort's there.

 

[Lazzas]

Fairly revisionist though. Have we actually had a normal year of footy since covid? I know everyone had to deal with 2020 and 2021 equally but it doesn’t make it any less challenging, especially in an already unbalanced competition. Then 22 and 23 were write offs that weren’t necessarily the coaches or players fault.

This is the first “normal” year we’ve had in 4 years and it’s with a list on its last legs (if it wasn’t already 3-4 years ago).

I think his time is up but let’s not pretend we’re all oracles. On that pay packet with all the external factors ruining multiple seasons it made sense for him to at least be given this one. It hasn’t worked out and it’s time to move on.

This is exactly 100 percent spot on.

 

[WCErevival]

Simmo was never getting moved on when he had 2 years remaining on his contract. 1 year is doable and I think the club would accept the financial loss. 2 years would have been a lot of money to do away with even for WCE.

 

[Notmuchofanexpert]

Fairly revisionist though. Have we actually had a normal year of footy since covid? I know everyone had to deal with 2020 and 2021 equally but it doesn’t make it any less challenging, especially in an already unbalanced competition. Then 22 and 23 were write offs that weren’t necessarily the coaches or players fault.

This is the first “normal” year we’ve had in 4 years and it’s with a list on its last legs (if it wasn’t already 3-4 years ago).

I think his time is up but let’s not pretend we’re all oracles. On that pay packet with all the external factors ruining multiple seasons it made sense for him to at least be given this one. It hasn’t worked out and it’s time to move on.

100% agree. This season’s outcome determined the pass/fail grade for simmo and right now it looks like he has failed. Which is a shame because he was/is a great coach of the club.

Rohan and list management didn’t do him any favours, but I now believe simmo and the MC have lost the ability to see this list clearly and as a result are mismanaging the youth. Last off season was a pretty big shake up with back of house staff, I hope we get another eventful summer this year.