Coach Adam Simpson Megathread est. 2017 - Staying for 2024, Lyon’s Cryin’

[LittleFires]

Eagles board split over Simmo, Nisbett’s future

There is a board split at the West Coast Eagles over whether coach Adam Simpson or chief executive Trevor Nisbett should depart the club as on-field issues reach crisis point.

thewest.com.au

Anyone unlock please.

There is a board split at the West Coast Eagles over whether coach Adam Simpson or chief executive Trevor Nisbett should depart the club as on-field issues reach crisis point.

Sources have told The West Australian one camp want Simpson out, while the other is advocating for a managed end to Nisbett’s long-term future.

It comes after shenanigans at the Eagles last night, with mixed messaging from the club over whether the coach needed a two-to-three month break at the end of the season.

It is believed Simpson does not want a break and is willing to plough ahead at the end of the season.

Sources say the information was leaked to the media in a strategic move to accelerate Simpson’s exit.

A club spokesman released a statement on Wednesday night after the Simpson story was leaked.

“Adam will coach out the remainder of the season,” the spokesman said.

“He is up for the challenge and keen to improve and develop our players and game plan.

“When our season ends he will be encouraged to take an extended break to refresh.”

The club later put out a conflicting statement on their social media.

“Reports that senior coach Adam Simpson has been asked to take a three-month break at the end of the season are inaccurate. No such discussion has taken place,” the report said.

The contrasting statements from the club underline the division.

The rest of the article is just a rehash.

 

[DickDunn]

This is starting to get ugly. I don’t doubt Simmo’s commitment but when there’s leaks against him from within, surely he must be questioning whether he wants to stay on as a lame-duck coach

 

[UseR2006]

Sounds to me like King Nissie is doing everything possible so he isn't the one having to fall on a sword.
and a split doesn't detail how that split falls.
Could be 90% simmo stays and 10% simmo goes instead of Nissie.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

A large portion of the squad was hit by COVID at the beginning of last year - that's pretty much a fact. It was an effect of how WA managed our boarders - instead of COVID spreading slowly it came in a big hit. This meant players came back under done. A team can manage that kind of illness with a couple of players, but not half the playing side. It's basically as if they had done no pre-season. It's a reason why our team was unfit last year. The Vic clubs got covid earlier, and spread out.

Have a watch of the "The Long Game" on Apple TV to see how covid wiped out a basketball team fitness wise in the US.

Now that contributes to why we were bad last year - but it doesn't explain the huge number of injuries this year. Pre-season reports is we were "fitter than ever" - then a week or 2 out from the start of the season all hell broke lose, and every week the injury list has gotten longer. That's not "covids fault".

There is no evidence that Long Covid is real or exists. No test for it.

Do you know what the number 1 and 2 predictors of somebody claiming to have Long Covid are? Being a middle aged white woman (i.e. a Karen) is Number 1 and have a pre - existing anxiety disorder is Number 2.

And even if it was real Covid spread all over the globe and everybody was exposed to it. Lots of players on other AFL lists had Covid last year and none of those clubs are claiming their players are still suffering from the after effects of it now. Why is our club the exception?

 

[FKASC]

**** Nesbit you dog campaigner

 

[Chris_6678]

Where there is smoke there is fire.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

The split Board was obvious days ago. The deafenning silence from the club with everybody going to ground plus the weird decision of Nisbett has go but only in 18 months time and the immediate leaking of it to the media.

It looks like the Board is not just split but bitterly divided. They need to pull it together and proceed in an orderly, non - emotional and rational way.

 

[Farang83150]

Leaks via Jako and the veggie gardener!

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Everything about the club is an embarrassment to WA football right now.

 

[kaII]

We're really descending into minnow Vic club territory aren't we

 

[AnyDanger]

This is all getting pretty bizarre. I was surprised by the west coast tweet last night, mainly in that they felt the need to respond to the report so quickly and do it in that forum. Mixed messaging would suggest things are getting a bit chaotic behind the scenes, very un west coast like for a club thats always enjoyed such calm stability in management (or at least the appearance of). Gee they wouldn't mind a win at the moment, just to at least have everyone temporarily cool their jets.

 

[Ochre]

 

[FKASC]

This is all getting pretty bizarre. I was surprised by the west coast tweet last night, mainly in that they felt the need to respond to the report so quickly and do it in that forum. Mixed messaging would suggest things are getting a bit chaotic behind the scenes, very un west coast like for a club thats always enjoyed such calm stability in management (or at least the appearance of). Gee they wouldn't mind a win at the moment, just to at least have everyone temporarily cool their jets.

AnyDanger of a win once in a while?

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

This is all getting pretty bizarre. I was surprised by the west coast tweet last night, mainly in that they felt the need to respond to the report so quickly and do it in that forum. Mixed messaging would suggest things are getting a bit chaotic behind the scenes, very un west coast like for a club thats always enjoyed such calm stability in management (or at least the appearance of). Gee they wouldn't mind a win at the moment, just to at least have everyone temporarily cool their jets.

There are clearly two camps at the club and they are both leaking to the media. And it would seem the leaks are coming from Board level because if they were coming from somebody lower down the food chain then Nisbett would have sacked them.

 

[DanWCE]

The conflict in statements doesn't seem anywhere near as big as the media want it to be.

“When our season ends he will be encouraged to take an extended break to refresh.”

“Reports that senior coach Adam Simpson has been asked to take a three-month break at the end of the season are inaccurate. No such discussion has taken place,” the report said.

Are these not the same thing? When our season ends Simmo will be encouraged to go away and catch his breath. Doesn't say he has already been encouraged to consider end of season leave. The following statement affirms this. No such discussion has taken place (yet).

Now I don't know who else ran with this story last night but Rhino alludes to other media entities putting a bit of spice and vitriol on it which is undoubtedly why the Eagles clarified their position, without at all conflicting their earlier position.

 

[Deplorable trumpster]

The conflict in statements doesn't seem anywhere near as big as the media want it to be.

“When our season ends he will be encouraged to take an extended break to refresh.”

“Reports that senior coach Adam Simpson has been asked to take a three-month break at the end of the season are inaccurate. No such discussion has taken place,” the report said.

Are these not the same thing? When our season ends Simmo will be encouraged to go away and catch his breath. Doesn't say he has already been encouraged to consider end of season leave. The following statement affirms this. No such discussion has taken place (yet).

Now I don't know who else ran with this story last night but Rhino alludes to other media entities putting a bit of spice and vitriol on it which is undoubtedly why the Eagles clarified their position, without at all conflicting their earlier position.

I think the relevent point isn't that Simpson was offered a long holiday at the end of the year, the relevent point is that it was leaked immediately (before Simpson has even agreed to take he holiday by the sounds of it) and the initial framing of it and some of the quotes from people (supposedly) within the club in the stories about it on other outlets talking about how he is "burned out" and "cooked" make him sound weak and are intended to make him sound weak and not up to it.

I am sure Simpson, Nisbett and other Simpson backers at the club did not want this story of Simpson taking a long holiday coming out until the end of the year. But it looks like it leaked on the very day the idea was even pitched to Simpson. And they definately wouldn't want anybody within the club telling the media that Simpson is cooked in off the record quotes.

It looks like not only is everybody not pulling in the same direction at the club but it is in fact getting very nasty and personal, and unprofessional and non - constructive behaviour like leaking stories that are personally damaging to club personel are going on.

 

[Barrybran]

I think the relevent point isn't that Simpson was offered a long holiday at the end of the year, the relevent point is that it was leaked immediately (before Simpson has even agreed to take he holiday by the sounds of it) and the initial framing of it and some of the quotes from people (supposedly) within the club in the stories about it on other outlets talking about how he is "burned out" and "cooked" make him sound weak and are intended to make him sound weak and not up to it.

I am sure Simpson, Nisbett and other Simpson backers at the club did not want this story of Simpson taking a long holiday coming out until the end of the year. But it looks like it leaked on the very day the idea was even pitched to Simpson. And they definately wouldn't want anybody within the club telling the media that Simpson is cooked in off the record quotes.

It looks like not only is everybody not pulling in the same direction at the club but it is in fact getting very nasty and personal, and unprofessional and non - constructive behaviour like leaking stories that are personally damaging to club personel are going on.

Yep. Forget Simmo and Nisbett. The board needs to sort its shit out and show some leadership and direction. Hopefully the direction they choose helps the club resolve the player availability issue rather than smoothing over cracks while saying "we did something".

 

[Rowan18]

As I understand it the soft cap was put in place to protect the povo clubs who couldn’t afford big staff groups.

Now we see a number of coaches over the last few years calling for a significant increase to cap. But VFL says no - gotta look after the poorer club but how many senior coaches are going to be sacrificed at their expense?

My take - if you cannot play at the big table f..k off and leave the AFL to the big players.




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I think they're trying to drive head coach wages down. Pre COVID the best coaches got about $1M but many agreed to negotiate down to around $800k due to cuts (which is likely why Simmo received a quiet 1 year extension to 2025).

Moving forward, it's think it's likely that wages drop even further to around $500k. A Rookie coach might be on $300k and the experienced ones more. It will definitely lead to a drop in coaching standards (someone like Simmo would probably have gone into business instead) but the AFL never seems to care about the quality of the game.

 

[DickDunn]

The conflict in statements doesn't seem anywhere near as big as the media want it to be.

“When our season ends he will be encouraged to take an extended break to refresh.”

“Reports that senior coach Adam Simpson has been asked to take a three-month break at the end of the season are inaccurate. No such discussion has taken place,” the report said.

Are these not the same thing? When our season ends Simmo will be encouraged to go away and catch his breath. Doesn't say he has already been encouraged to consider end of season leave. The following statement affirms this. No such discussion has taken place (yet).

Now I don't know who else ran with this story last night but Rhino alludes to other media entities putting a bit of spice and vitriol on it which is undoubtedly why the Eagles clarified their position, without at all conflicting their earlier position.

Most of the nuffies replying to the WC tweet are taking it as proof the various stories were outright wrong/media has no clue, when clearly there is something to them. A two-sentence, semantic denial (at the same time as the club is briefing out that Simmo will in fact be asked to take a break) is just typical of the club’s atrocious communication with members and fans

 

[THE A5]

 

[WA footy mad]

Im happy for Simmo to stay as coach , what we should be doing is pay out all the contracts for the players over 29 & start a fresh. Lets start getting ruthless with players after 28 no more long term contracts.

 

[Dark Sharks]

I'm looking forward to the board standing up and giving Adam a huge round of applause when he gets back from his optional extended holiday..

Before spontaneously breaking out and singing the WCE club song for him. He'd love that.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Hope Simmo coaches the season out.

We're in desperate need of early picks to turn the list over, and Simmo is achieving that (even if unintentionally). It is also forcing the club to look at why we have such deplorable issues with fitness for 2+ seasons now. Is our approach to football dated? Looking at our recruitment, S&C, list management (retaining players too far past their physical ability to play), coaching structures (why have Schofield and Knights, 2 very highly rated assistants, added seemingly nothing?). And just as importantly, has the leadership become stale (Nisbett)?

IMO the worst thing we could do is sack Simmo.

Caretaker coaches often bring in an unexpected resurgance, short lived but nevertheless worth a few wins. I don't want a spoon, but I've come to expect the likelihood of it. I'd hate if we nabbed 3-4 wins and ruined our draft position. It's not just losing pick 1, it's also losing the incredibly valuable pick 19, PSD position in trade negotiations, as well as the false hope (delusion) that maybe our list isn't that bad, that it was in fact all Simmo.

A rebuild coach too early ends up becoming a sacrificial lamb. He comes into a shocking list and the club struggles. Season 1 struggles are fine, we're rebuilding. Season 2 the pressure to improve starts to mount. It's why a lot of the perennial strugglers turn over coaches so regularly and stay down the bottom for decades. None of these coaches have the genuine security of a long rebuild, so start making desperate decisions to get results and finally get the arse when the club stagnates or even goes backwards. Then rinse and repeat.
Case in point St Kilda, Carlton, Freo, Essendon, Melbourne (until recently).

It's no surprise Melbourne have finally climbed out of 2 decades of shit by having a rebuild coach (Paul Roos) with a clear strategy.

 

[Animaluke]

So without scrolling through the entire thread, if Simpson was to go then who are the top 5 or so frontrunners to take over?

Hardwick (although he has said he left the tigers because he is exhausted so probably not ready to go for a little while)

Dean Cox

Dean Cox

Age

43

Ht

203cm

Wt

107kg

Pos.

F/R

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.9

4star

K

8.9

3star

HB

6.9

4star

M

5.3

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

13.0

4star

K

5.8

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.0

1star

?

Clarkson? Wouldn't assume he would walk away from north given the situation.

Don Pike? Is he still coaching somewhere after his senior stint at Adelaide?

Who else is out there that would contemplate moving west?

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[Balls In]

Simpsons coaching record of 117 wins v 95 losses has him likely going into the red by the end of next year. Its an appalling record given he had ten years coaching the best forwardline WCE has ever had, a once in a generation CHB, powerhouse ruckman, AA players all over the ground and the biggest home ground advantage in AFL. That flag covers a lot of sins.

Ne never addressed our midfield failings, never addressed our issues clearing CHB and his overall legacy was to change us from a club that valued contested footy to one that doesn't know how to anymore. You can bet your arse he was in the ear of the list managers as well, overestimating the list and driving the "flag window" top up strategy over hitting the draft as early and as often as possible. Another significant departure from WCE of old. Also the offield staff, his assistants and S&C - does anyone think they are onboarded without the ok of the senior coach?

The longer he stays the harder it will be to regain the high performance culture we have lost.