Buckley can't coach

[Blessed]

LOL.
Blessed?

More like touched.

I was right.

I don't know what to say. we were awful tonight. didn't chase, didn't man up, didn't have numbers behind the ball, didn't hold tackles, didn't hit targets, didn't appear to have any desire at all tonight. injuries aside, we were gone from the start. got mauled in the ruck and the centre clearances. maxwell held his head high and showed why he is captain, heater tried hard all night. harry wasn't bad. we let the game fall into their hands and allowed them to play on their terms much like richmond did last week except that they're not very good and didn't have the class to take the game to us. a lot of flat players out there tonight. after this it's got to be back to the drawing board because whatever game plan you're employing bux simply isn't working. the one thing that really annoys me that we keep doing week in week out is missing targets on the lead. poor kicking is killing us not just on the score board but in the field of play. That and bad decision making. handballing or kicking to players under extreme pressure is a sign that we've lost our way and that we lack confidence.

 

[Blessed]

 

[Powerade 08]

Replace a great coach and a working gameplan... I bet all pies supporters are pulling their hair out.

 

[Blessed]

The margin may have been larger but truly last week's match against Brisbane was a harder workout for the Blues than tonight's game was. If you'd told me that a team was going to play this soft against Carlton I'd think you'd be referring to the games against Melbourne. Collingwood were soft.

Put it on Buckley all you like. Have always thought that he was vastly overrated. For all of his achievements as a player Collingwood had a better winning percentage during his career in the games that he did not play in compared to those that he did. FIGJAM turned on to the max tonight.

 

[Blessed]

I wonder how many people out there would have predicted that Collingwood, the team that has played in three Grand Finals in the last two years, would be 1-2 after the first three rounds? As a die-hard fan certainly not me. I may often be bias and let the love of the club cloud my judgement, however I can garantee that this is not what took place on this occasion. Many people out there who despise Collingwood would have agreed with me in my prediction that the Pies would be right up there again as probable flag favourites. It’s a long season and the Magpies might still well be in the running when it comes to the business end of the season, but there are a number of areas where they need to lift if this is to be the case.

First of all, let me start by saying this is NOT an anti Nathan Buckley article, which I assume we will probably be seeing many of over the coming week. I was very much in favour of the succession plan when it was agreed to 2 ½ years ago, and still feel it was the right decision to make at the time. Nathan Buckley joined the club in 2010 as an assistant and by all reports from inside the club, he was the architect of our ‘forward press’ – an advanced hybrid of of Hawthorn’s ‘Clarko’s cluster’ and St.Kilda’s ‘rolling zone’ - the key element that took Collingwood to the top of the ladder, and ultimately the premiership.

As expected, many comparisons will come of the different styles of play between the Malthouse and Buckley coached sides, however considering that Buckley played a large role in developing the game plan that was pivotal to Malthouse’s premiership season, I think we need to be very careful of the way we compare the two styles. Yes, in these early days Collingwood are playing a different brand of football. But not all of it has to do with the change of coach, or the game plan. Yes, the Collingwood structures that have held them in such good stead over the last two years are letting them down at the moment, however there are other factors that are also impacting the poor performances. Such as a number of big name players that are not performing, or who are underdone. Players that are absent altogether through injury. And players that should have risen to the next level, but as yet have not taken that step. I will take a look at all these aspects and what I feel needs to change if Collingwood are to turn around this poor start to the season.

Firstly the stytems and structures. Where are they falling down? Well over the last two seasons Collingwood’s ‘forward press’ has been effective largely due to the ability of the front line to put pressure on the ball carrier. Tackles, smothers, bumps, etc. This limits the effectiveness of the disposal, and makes it easier to pierce the zone further down field. Collingwood need to rediscover the aggression in the front row of the press. A forward press or rolling zone or whatever you want to call it relies very heavily on this pressure on the ball carrier. One effective possession means the whole zone needs to move and reset itself. By allowing that clean easy possession, without the pressure on the ball carrier, Collingwood were found wanting tonight, with Carlton regularly chipping through then over the zone and finding their fast small forwards running forward into space in a ‘Pagan’s paddock’ type scenario which regularly resulted in scoring shots.

The stoppages have also been a huge key to Collingwood’s past success, however so far this year they have really struggled in this department. Over the past two years Collingwood have ‘owned’ the corridor in stoppages. In the defensive two thirds they had the corridor covered and forced opposition teams boundary side and to have to take huge risks if they wanted to bring the ball back in board, risks that often resulted in turnovers. In the forward third, the Collingwood set plays from stoppages resulted in more scoring opportunities than any other team. This season however, the Magpies are being smashed in all areas around the stoppages. The initial setup looks good. The even spread is there. There is a solid defensive aspect to the structure, yet they are not only losing the clearance, but are allowing the ball to get run out at a rapid rate and exposing a very undermanned defence. The main difference that I see in this area compared to the last two seasons is the lack of discipline to hold the structure. Too many players are found over-committing without having a direct influence on the contest. Unless a player can directly influence the contest, they must hold their position or risk leaving a hole in the press which breaks down the entire system. One hole allows the ball to move into that space and then makes it possible to kick over the back of the press and open up the ‘Pagan’s paddock’ scenario for opposition forwards to run into as mentioned earlier. In a press or zone type game plan players are no longer directly accountable for a specific player as has been the norm since the beginning of football. This however doesn’t excuse accountability. They are still accountable to a position or a hole in a zone, and as in the past they wouldn’t leave their man unless they can directly influence a contest, they can now not afford to leave their position in a zone without exerting enough pressure on the contest that the ball will not find itself where they were supposed to be holding ground. In days gone by players were exposed by their direct opponent getting a possession. Nowdays, it’s not so easy to determine who is responsible for the gap in the press, and it seems to me that some players don’t place as much value on this discipline.

You are probably thinking that I haven’t tackled the big one yet… “The Boundary Vs. The Corridor”… Well, I actually don’t think this has been a factor in the poor form thus far in the season. Possibly it has cost a couple of additional goals via turnovers at times each game, Thomas and Toovey’s turnovers tonight spring to mind, however it has probably generates a couple of extra goals each game also so I feel this balances out. It has always been more of a media beat up than anything else, and over the last two years with Collingwood ‘owing the corridor’ at stoppages the boundary play has been a huge part of the success. Yet with the belting at stoppages that Collingwood has received over the first three rounds this season, it would be safe to say that the boundary line style of play may well have counted against them even more.

As stated earlier, it is not only the style of play but also the quality of the players on the park that are vital to Collingwood’s early season form. The lack of key defenders has been an issue. Chris Tarrant has had an interrupted pre-season and won’t be seen before round 6. Nathan Brown is returning from a knee reconstruction and Ben Reid went down early last night resulting in Keefe being the pies only key position defender which could be exploited even further in coming weeks. Like Ball’s injury hurts, and from someone who knows all too well the effects of extreme knee injuries, let’s hope for Luke’s it’s not too serious and we see him out on the park again soon. As for other absent pies, McCaffer and Krakeour are big losses for the season with knee reconstructions, whilst Ben Johnson and Alan Didak will hopefully be back in the next 3-4 weeks to add that much needed extra class and experience to the side.

There are also a number of star players that are well below their best. Scott Pendlebury had a poor night against Carlton but will no doubt bounce back. Dale Thomas, aside from his third quarter last week has been well below par and needs to lift. Traivs Cloke has been serviceable without exerting the influence on games that we have come to expect from him. Whilst Darren Jolly seems to be very underdone and struggling to not only have an influence around the ground, but to win a tap out.

The next level of players are where things really need to change. I’m speaking of players such as Chris Dawes, Cameron Wood, Jarryd Blair, Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams. These are all players that have been in the system for a number of years now. None of which have taken the steps forward that have been expected of them since the success of 2010. Collingwood cannot afford to play Wood in the same team as Jolly until he can show that he can hit packs hard, take contested marks and hold down a key forward position. Until that time they will be exposed as they were tonight with two lumbering ruckman strolling around doing nothing more than clogging up space. Dawes has so many highlights and again tonight, kicked and amazing goal did some excellent one percenters however can’t seem to find a way to totally exert himself on a game. Is it the fact that Cloke is in his way? I don’t think so. Trav often plays the lead up role and receives the ball on the wing giving Dawes the entire forward line to be the sole option. I rate Dawes highly but he needs to lift soon or risk becoming a possible commodity for draft picks that will be like gold after so many compromised drafts of late. Sidebottom, Beams and Blair. Three players that played huge roles in the 2010 premiership. Steele was runner-up in the Norm-Smith and personally I think he deserved to win it. None of these three have lifted their games as much as would have been expected. Blair is as hard as they come, sticks his head over the ball and puts his body on the line, but after four seasons in the system should have developed the capacity to step up to a midfield role now. Beams, more an outside player, has silky skills and raw talent yet seems to lack the work rate required to lift his game. Like Dawes, if thing don’t change could find himself put up as trade bait in the coming years.

There are many areas that Collingwood need to improve to make season 2012 a success. Luckily for them it is a long season, and they have key players and experience to come back into the side and help to settle things. The biggest question I feel however, will be can we find that structure and discipline that the systems are currently lacking. In 27 years of coaching Mick Malthouse has been famous for instilling discipline and structure into his teams. Time will tell wether Buckley can create the same reputation...

 

[Blessed]

No love for the players from the coach.

http://twitter.com/#!/ncb_cfc

Nathan Buckley ‏ @ncb_cfc Out hustled, out muscled and outplayed today by the hybrid admin/development super team. This review will be ugly @skinnylappin


Yes we all saw that Bucks. Now fins a way to fix it. That is coaching.

 

[Blessed]

Its a poor workman who blames his tools. You'd blame the players, anyone, before you'd blame your beloved Buckley. These are the same players who played with elan and power for two seasons running. What's the real difference between then and now? The Coach and his loser spud Director of Football that's who. What was on show tonight was a heap of motivation problems, player anxiety about making mistakes, and a game plan that's a dog's breakfast. Buckley's demeanour in the box was awful tonight and it does not bode well for the future if that's how its going to be. Maybe he needs time but he'd better hurry up and show something - anything - because all he's shown so far is he can f__k up a team that essentially was performing very well. Personally I've always felt that if Mick did need replacing I would have looked outside for one of the promising young coaches to bring something new to the side, rather than someone who felt the job was his by right.

We shall see how the season develops but stop blaming the players when the problems are coming from player management. Geelong, without their passion and hunger would be playing just like us right now. Scott knows how to bring the best out of his players. Does Buckley? I wonder...

PS: Leon Davis says "Hello".

 

[Blessed]

...is a crap coach.

 

[Blessed]

Nafan's bucket list coming along nicely

 

[half_back_flank]

You've blown a fuse.

 

[outabounds]

Loving this

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Buckley seems to look uncomfortable in the box and looks like he doesn't know what to do. If they get rolled by port next week, then the shit really will hit the fan.

 

[Blessed]

We don't blame Bucks for injuries, but he is responsible for gameplan and attitude. These two stink at the moment too.

WTF is Eade's role too?

We would have been better off letting Bucks coach elsewhere and learn how to deal with these issues at another club. He's inexperienced and we don't have a list that can wait 3 years.

Our window will close and maybe slam shut if we don't resign Trev.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I have to agree.

I was never happy knowing that we were going to lose a quality coach in Malthouse, who had and continued to deliver results at the helm of Collingwood, to a guy that was a great player but no real coaching experience. To me it reeked of Michael Voss and reeked of failure!

I don't and never have liked his persona and his failing to deliver after picking up a club that had nothing fundamentally broken. Bucks is not the type of guy IMO who could just walk in and continue to let things go on unchanged, he would have to put his spin on things and I think he has ****ed it!

 

[Krooooze]

I don't know if we can make a judgement on Bucks until after the season, but as I said after last year, the Pies will rue letting Malthouse go, he was at the peak of his powers.

 

[outabounds]

in a lot of ways I feel sorry for Buckley, he is on a hiding to nothing. Anything but a Flag is really not good enough considering her inherited a team that has gone 1 and 2 in the two previous years.
I honestly thought Richmond should have gone close to rolling them last week if the had not been so inaccurate in front of goal in the first half- Didn't hesitate backing Carlton.
i wonder what Eddie is thinking this morning.

 

[outabounds]

I don't know if we can make a judgement on Bucks until after the season, but as I said after last year, the Pies will rue letting Malthouse go, he was at the peak of his powers.

They SACKED him

 

[outabounds]

I have to agree.

I was never happy knowing that we were going to lose a quality coach in Malthouse, who had and continued to deliver results at the helm of Collingwood, to a guy that was a great player but no real coaching experience. To me it reeked of Michael Voss and reeked of failure!

I don't and never have liked his persona and his failing to deliver after picking up a club that had nothing fundamentally broken. Bucks is not the type of guy IMO who could just walk in and continue to let things go on unchanged, he would have to put his spin on things and I think he has ****ed it!

You are spot on

 

[Blessed]

in a lot of ways I feel sorry for Buckley, he is on a hiding to nothing. Anything but a Flag is really not good enough

No! Forget premierships! All we are asking is not to lose by 10 goals to our arch rivals.

And for the players to look like they are trying and care half as much as the supporters.

Attitude - is all about the Coach!

 

[fddf]

Round 3. Pull your head in

 

[Blessed]

Mate, it smells like what it is.

 

[vonn]

Enjoying the discussion with yourself there blessed?

MM was always going to be hard to replace.

 

[fddf]

Whether you were 3-0 with 200% or 0-3 with 50%, you can't make a call on whether Buckley can coach or not after 3 games. Probably the most ******ed thread started in the last week

 

[Blessed]

Mate; I know the Collingwood football Club better than most. I know when there is something behind the scenes that doesn't smell right.

it wasn't just a poor performance, it was bloody diabolical.

It wasn't a couple of players it was nearly all.


It wasn't a loose game plan, it was everyone running around in circles.

It was quite frankly terrifying.

To think we will all wake up this morning and go just a blimp on the radar, next week we will be premiership material again, is just a fairy tale.

Three years of watching matches we mostly dominated, to drop to that, how? Yes we have injuries, yes we have lost talent, but Pendles, Swan, Daisy, Cloke, Dawes, Sidey, Shaw ( he was good), Wellingham, O'brien, etc etc were still out there, all champion players, WHAT happened?

I have no problem losing if we try, like against the Hawks, but showing that, against the hated Carlton. Man up for Gods sake. Get in front. How many easy goals did they get from the goal square?

If anyone went to watch the team train on Good Friday you'd not be surprised at our performances thus far. Training is sloppy and far from cohesive.

Players kicking ridiculous torps for goal from the centre square after every drill, missing targets, not running as a tight group when running laps, Didak, Swan and Shaw "chilling" in the golf buggy while the rest prepare on the ground.

Seriously, my amateur football club trained with more cohesion, discipline and team ethic than this lot. I couldn't believe it. You play as you train...

 

[donbooger]

Buckley needs more games, Collingwood needed to change after last year they lost the tactical advantage they had in 2010 in part last year and completely now and Im not convinced Malthouse would have rolled through this season belting everyone again in 2012.

Collingwood need to work hard to maintain top 4 but they have good cattle and plenty of games for it to click. No need for excitement yet but no need throw in the towel either.