News Clarkson news, media etc - he’s off into the Sunset!

[Strapping Young Lad]

Full Presser at the link below.

 

[Alsmypal]

Are you blaming Reeves or Jeff for that? Perhaps the club thought they didn’t need it in this case.

Both.

 

[STFUJEFF]

Take a year off at end of 22 and then be a great first coach for Tasmania

or take Hockings job then take over Gils the next year

 

[Accipiter]

In my opinion:
1. It was always going to happen
2. The one year handover is a really good idea
3. For the Kennett haters.... he explicitly says in his email when he will be gone.... AGM in 2023
4. Honestly, Clarko was getting a bit stale.... read the game day comments.... chipping backwards and sideways.... no heart in the team..etc
5. Sammy has clearly been lined up for this since the day he was shipped off to West Coast
6. But... just because he has done a good apprenticeship and is a favourite son.... there's no guarantee he will succeed
7. I like the idea of locking it in now... if the board did decide that they would not renew Clarko after 2022... this is the right way to do it
8. Now nobody hassles Sam, and Clarko has a clear objective to hand over a decent team
9. Otherwise, Clarko would have been told at the end of this year that he wasn't being offered another contract
10. Then we would have to sniff around Buckley, Ross Lyon, etc...... (TBH: I would not be unhappy with Buckley)

Anyway.... it's done... no amount of bitching and hand-wringing will change it !

If I could add point 11. to this both Sammy and Clarko are the ultimate professionals who will make the transition work.

 

[Kanga Commando]

Is this where I make an assumption and then fly off the handle?

It would help immensely if you turn Rant Mode on beforehand....

 

[Mercy Seat]

Dunstall isnt involved at the club anymore, his opinion shouldn't carry any weight.

He’s the number 1 sought out man in football when it comes to coach transitions and club reviews. If there’s anyone who’s opinion carries weight, it’s him.

 

[burner1]

Clarko was pushed - he didn’t choose this. Board decided to not extend his contract (when he was positioning for an extension).

In saying that I think it was time for a change. But I’d be more comfortable if we actually had made the tough decision on Clarko and ran some sort of process to find the best candidate. There is no room for romance in a senior coach appointment and let’s be honest if Mitchell wasn’t such a club great he’d wouldn’t have had such a easy run to the senior coach job (look at hard yards Clarko had to put in before getting the job). I also strongly think we needed an outsider to take a fresh approach.

 

[Yardie]

Clarkson also said in his presser today that he has a passion to coach at Hawthorn because of the relationships he has at the club. He mentioned figure plans and wasn’t nearly as eager and discussed the impact being a coach has had on his personal relationships with family and friends.

Again, apologies if you watched it, but I implore everyone to watch today’s presser - even just the first 15 minutes. It was Clarko being very raw, direct and human. I have no doubt about everything he said today was his words and intentions, not club spin.

I'm watching it.

The body language at the start when Jeff is speaking is appalling. Justin, Sam and Alastair all look like they don't want to be there at all.

Jeff states that the decision was made because the Board thinks that you can't be a coach for the over X years. That is effectively the basis of the decision not on what is the football plan is going forward.

Clarkson is all class in his speaking. He is very clear that he went to the Club asking what should we do and the club made the decision, not him. At no point did he say he was not eager to coach. If you really think that is what he said I suggest you go back and watch again and listen to what he has to say, not parrot what the club wants you to say here.

Hawthorn is very lucky to have someone of the calibre of Clarkson involved. I truly believe he will stay next year and do the best for Hawthorn in spite of the Board.

 

[hk89]

I'm trying to see the positives in this, but it isn't easy. The positives as I see it:
- How many coaches are still winning flags for their teams in their mid 50s? Not many this century. Malthouse, who else? Sheedy and Mathews both younger than Clarko when they won their last flag. Transition has to happen eventually, and looking at the age coaches win their last flag, now looks like a good time.
- Mitchell looks well credentialed. It is hard to know outside the club to what extent he has the personal skills to coach, but clearly the board thinks he does, and it seems Clarko probably agrees with them (although Clarko is hardly going to stab Mitchell in the back in this regard even if he thinks he's not ready). I'm not sure who else I'd prefer as our next coach of the guys that would have been considered to replace Buckley. Mitchell was probably at or near the top of their list. Perhaps Buckley himself is the coach I'd most consider over Mitchell of those currently available. So this locks what looks like a decent prospect in, but with an extra 18 months of learning under his belt as a bonus, and under the best coach of the century no less.

The things I don't like:
- Clarko probably still the best in the business. This nonsense about "too many years in the job" is exactly that, nonsense. It is the kind of inflexible bullshit people invent to suit their agenda. Decisions should never be made on silly superstitions, but on the actual live context. How long he's been in the job should be irrelevant, is there a better guy for the job available right now should be the only question. Perhaps it is Mitchell (when you consider a 3+ year plan).
- 18 months is a long time for shit to go wrong. What happens if we bounce back sooner than expected, and go deep into finals next year? A complete ****ing disaster. We are left with the awful choice of sacking a coach who has led the team to a quick rebuild or ditching the guy we've made a commitment to. It probably comes down to sacking Clarko, as it sounds like there has been a 4.5 year contract given to Mitchell by the board, so we are fully locked into this path now.
- Kennett having his hands allover this. This is the same guy that questioned if Clarko was the right man for the job not long before our 3-peat. If he was wrong back then, why should we believe he is right now? I'd be much happier with this decision if Kennett didn't have his fingerprints allover it, because he knows **** all about football. I'm also not sure he's hasn't stacked the board with people he can control, even if he's only a figurehead on paper. You get a sense this decision is almost a personal agenda from Kennett because he feels he needs to make his "you can't be too long in a position" pronouncements a prophecy he will make sure is fulfilled.

So it might be the right move at the right time, but I'd much rather the likes of Dunstall were calling the shots on this than Kennett.

 

[Ceej Mentality]

Is this where I make an assumption and then fly off the handle?

It would help immensely if you turn Rant Mode on beforehand....

Also make sure you don’t watch the presser and just make up your own conclusions that are in complete contradiction with things said in it.

 

[The hands of stone]

The fact he sat there and talked about Clarkos tenure being too long is the height of hipocrosy.

Absolutely , incredible scenes !

 

[dermott]

I suspect Clarko will get an offer he can’t refuse and be coaching another Victorian club in 2022. Dunstall intimated as much.
I hope we have not inherited another “Kennett Curse”.

 

[Ceej Mentality]

I'm watching it.

The body language at the start when Jeff is speaking is appalling. Justin, Sam and Alastair all look like they don't want to be there at all.

Jeff states that the decision was made because the Board thinks that you can't be a coach for the over X years. That is effectively the basis of the decision not on what is the football plan is going forward.

Clarkson is all class in his speaking. He is very clear that he went to the Club asking what should we do and the club made the decision, not him. At no point did he say he was not eager to coach. If you really think that is what he said I suggest you go back and watch again and listen to what he has to say, not parrot what the club wants you to say here.

Hawthorn is very lucky to have someone of the calibre of Clarkson involved. I truly believe he will stay next year and do the best for Hawthorn in spite of the Board.

Hats off for watching it as many others clearly haven’t.

We differ in our takes, which is fair. I take your point that the final decision was absolutely the board’s - but it was due to Clarko bringing matter’s to a head and he admitted himself he knew what the consequences were when he brought it to the board. It’s not as if he was waylaid.

 

[Yardie]

Clarko said today he went to the club hierarchy and said they needed to consider the coaching transition in light of Collingwood’s moves and that he knew it would be putting himself in the firing line as a result. What facts am I ignoring - I’m just going by what Clarko himself said today.

That is incorrect. He went to the Board and said what should we do about the future of coaching at the Hawthorn football club. Again listen to what he says.

 

[Ceej Mentality]

That is incorrect. He went to the Board and said what should we do about the future of coaching at the Hawthorn football club. Again listen to what he says.

It’s not incorrect. In the Q+A section he said that he knew he was putting himself in the firing line by bringing all of this to the board and accepted those consequences. Clarko was thinking about the future of the club - it’s what makes him an outstanding human being and servant of the club. He also said in his statement that what brought all of this to a head now not end of season was the situation at Collingwood.

 

[hk89]

I hope we have not inherited another “Kennett Curse”.

Seems unlikely. At 73, surely the Juju is no longer strong enough in him for that kind of voodoo.

 

[2OLD 2SLOW]

The absurd-headed mouthpiece who has inserted himself and his ridiculous jacket into an already successful club (saved by much smarter, harder-working and better men like Dicker and Dunstall et al) believes he played a part. He did not. I don’t believe for a second he understands what brought growing success to the Hawks for the last 15 years, let alone prior.

Agree 100% and it colours my reading of the situation.
I think Jeff is a colossal, self-serving prat. So I am inclined to fear the worst whenever he is involved.
In this case, the way things have transpired, it doesn't feel very Hawthorn-like ... but it does feel very Jeff-like.
Maybe it is all Clarko, but I'm inclined to think it's Jeff (for the same reason if I see a turd on the kitchen floor, I look at the dog, not the wife).

 

[Hawk Hawkins]

Could this be timed to allow Clarko a run at the US Presidential elections in 2023?

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Are you serious? We are talking about the coach, not the ageing players list or our recruitment which visibly failed a couple of years ago. One just has to look at how Clarko can get a young team up and going and the intensity he and they can bring. That's Master Coaching and to even consider dumping him is something that only the arrogant Kennett would think of doing. It's Kennett and the closed shop of the Hawthorn Board that need to go, if anything.

I hope you're doing ok tonight mate.

Linda CRS took a few dumps on people in this thread.

 

[Mercy Seat]

 

[grumbleguts]

Geeze, now even Hawthorn poaches a clarkson prodigy for its senior coach. When the bloody hell is this all gonna stop?

 

[grumbleguts]

Is somebody cutting onions?

I remember when I walked into the kitchen as a four year old and my dad was chopping onions, and I couldn't work out why I was crying. Then I remembered what a good dog onions was.

 

[Accipiter]

Our success under Clarkson did not come from the coach, or talent, or the draft picks, or trading, or luck and timing, or any single one of a long list of ingredients.

Our success came from the systems that Clarkson put in place, both on-field and off.
*defence first
*strict zoning system (we almost never reverted to man-on-man)
*highly skilled players (esp. kicking)
*positional versatility (if one soldier goes down, there’s always another to take his place.)
*using statistics to help determine a system of ball movement to maximise our scoring potential
*a series of coaches who had the educational training and skills to connect and communicate with young men

And so on. None of it reactive. Proactive planning, recruitment and execution on the field. Thorough and professional, and thinking long-term. Unlike Jeff.

The absurd-headed mouthpiece who has inserted himself and his ridiculous jacket into an already successful club (saved by much smarter, harder-working and better men like Dicker and Dunstall et al) believes he played a part. He did not. I don’t believe for a second he understands what brought growing success to the Hawks for the last 15 years, let alone prior.

I won’t try to guess whether this is the right move at the right time. But the manner in which this transition has taken place displays clearly that the political buffoon and his board were (as another poster put it) asleep at the wheel. Reactive. Unprofessional.

By the accounts of both Mitchell and Clarkson, Sam isn’t yet ready to coach an AFL club. Collingwood were obviously prepared to take on that risk. No doubt Wright’s word played a part.

Our club knew Sam’s potential. But the Clown and his Board have allowed Collingwood to determine our future.

Was there a system in place to find Clarkson’s successor? It seems not.

It may yet be proven to be the right decision. It may not. But if we learned anything from one of the most successful coaching reigns of all time, it should have been that systems beat reactive, unplanned behaviour. It seems our loudmouth king was too busy talking to listen and learn anything from
the great man.

Thank you Clarko. You’re one of the greats.

Good luck Mitch. You may yet be.

And eff off Jeff. You’re no longer wanted.

Geez, did Jeff run over your dog?

Just remember the train wreck that was the appointment of Tracey Gaudry several years ago when the board, totally bereft of leadership, gave new meaning to the word 'incompetence'. Jeff was asked to come back, went and got Justin Reeves and duly sorted the board out. Jeff has provided leadership and structure behind the scenes which I'm sure many people out there lack the peripheral vision to appreciate.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

I don't mind it. Imagine another few poor years after Clarkson had a new contract, it would start to detract a bit from his legacy

I think there has been a bit of staleness around the club for the last 3 years that could change under a new coach

Exactly how I feel about the choice, it will already be 7 years under Clarko without a finals win and I don't want that dragging out to 10 or 11 years.

I hope Mitchell turns out to be a great coach and we've selected him for the right reasons though.

Mainly though we just need more talent, without talent coaches can only do so much as the last few years has proven.

 

[CHUBBSS]

I just listened to Dunstall on 360 and clearly it is not a decision he would have made. He diplomatically described it as a brave decision.
The Chief is one of the most cerebral individuals in football.

I rate chief so highly, incredibly intelligent from a football management perspective, he is always our ace in the hole of things got bad

 

[Wesley2]

I'm fine with this, We were going to lose one of Sammy or Clarko in the near future.

The dream is Clarko tells Jeff to bugger off and becomes HFC President, but the only worry if Clarko hauling off his staff with him when he goes.

Sammy has a great mind, we are in safe hands.