Opinion Coach: James Hird

[Alfred E Neuman]

I am a freakin zen master.

Except when that hobbit from Norf is involved.

More like Gollum...

 

[ManWithNoName]

Last few pages are a bit of a festival of stupid imo, on both sides.

In my book people are either too protective of Hird or too keen to boot him.

It’s the wrong time to change coaches (there’s no point anyway), and Hird’s performance in 2013 can only be described as strong. I think the call to sack him half a year into his next season is a bit premature when he’s contracted until the end of next. Obviously if we continue to play unacceptably like this for the rest of the season he’ll battle to keep his job, but of course he should remain for the rest of this year and we’ll see from there.

FWIW I think we’ll improve as the year goes on and we get some midfielders back and a ruckman that will at least compete. It’s a very even year and I think we’ll finish around mid-table. We’re not the only side struggling – we’re only game behind Port and North who were both widely tipped to be top 4 – just as an illustration of how even this season is.

I fully expect Hird to coach next year and he’ll hang or succeed on how we go.

People can argue about the impact of WADA all they want, but I think a couple of realities need to be addressed. Firstly, it’s an issue that would impact our ability to attract the best candidates to a vacant coaching role. In-demand coaches would be scared off by the prospect of two season without most of their best (I don’t think it’ll happen, but it’s on the table). You’re lucky to get more than once shot at coaching in the AFL and it would see some – probably the best with other options – bypass us.

Secondly all throughout this bullshit the aim has been to put the players first. Whether we like it or not they’ve made it abundantly clear that Hird is their man. Axing him before the end of this thing would be a bit of an insult to them I think… he’s so far seen it out with them and booting their confidante now would only unsettle them further. Yes the club is bigger than them but this is an extraordinary situation in which we’ve always said the players come first.

And we kept hearing about how the Carlton players loved Mick.

The players should not have a say in who the coach is. That's not their decision to make.

 

[MattyB3150]

I would just like to see a plan B or plan C when plan A isn't working but not when its too late in the game and we are down by 50 points.
I like Lloyd's idea of throwing Hooker forward. We obviously don't want to mess around with our defense as it is settled but even if we do it for the end of a quarter to just see if we can sneak a quick goal. Have we ever tried to move Dempsey forward? Any other idea's you would like Hird to try?

 

[Childish Gambino]

FWIW, I'm not calling for Hirds head.

However, I am suggesting that if come this time next year (the final year of Hirds contract) we are playing as badly as we are, with as many genuinely obvious tactical inefficiencies, then he should be informed that his contract will not be extended.

Now, I would prefer that he and the rest of the coaches DID correct these issues, because I would like nothing more to see a successful Hird led side., but if he/they do not, it will be time for change.

This is the point yaco was trying to make before he got shot down. Let's wait until the end of next year before we make any rash decisions. I'll wait to see how the team performs after the WADA appeal is done with.

I do agree that there is something not right with the game plan at the moment but I have faith in James to correct the issue. The Brisbane game wasn't that long ago, along with the Richmond game where we played good football in patches. Two bad losses isn't the end of the world.

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

I would just like to see a plan B or plan C when plan A isn't working but not when its too late in the game and we are down by 50 points.
I like Lloyd's idea of throwing Hooker forward. We obviously don't want to mess around with our defense as it is settled but even if we do it for the end of a quarter to just see if we can sneak a quick goal. Have we ever tried to move Dempsey forward? Any other idea's you would like Hird to try?

Plan B is to switch Carlisle and Hurley half way through the 4th quarter when the game is already lost.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

And we kept hearing about how the Carlton players loved Mick.

The players should not have a say in who the coach is. That's not their decision to make.

Re read my post

This isn't a normal situation.

 

[Jade]

This is the point yaco was trying to make before he got shot down. Let's wait until the end of next year before we make any rash decisions. I'll wait to see how the team performs after the WADA appeal is done with.

I do agree that there is something not right with the game plan at the moment but I have faith in James to correct the issue. The Brisbane game wasn't that long ago, along with the Richmond game where we played good football in patches. Two bad losses isn't the end of the world.

I'm in full agreement re: timing. Going now, or at any stage this year would be a diabolical mistake IMO.

Do I have faith in Hird? Yes, I do. But I also have a finite timeline on which I want to see him act. For me, that is around this time next year.

Come this time next year, if I believe that Hird is not tactically and managerially up to the task, I would want to start looking for alternatives.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

A lot of media types going with the play Hurley forward trick. I've heard Dermie, Wallet, Healy and Jono Brown all push that line.

 

[Doss]

A lot of media types going with the play Hurley forward trick. I've heard Dermie, Wallet, Healy and Jono Brown all push that line.

What's your take on it?

 

[Demz]

iv'e heard them say they should try Hooker up forward an push Carlisle back

 

[Beerfish]

It’s the wrong time to change coaches (there’s no point anyway), and Hird’s performance in 2013 can only be described as strong. I think the call to sack him half a year into his next season is a bit premature when he’s contracted until the end of next. Obviously if we continue to play unacceptably like this for the rest of the season he’ll battle to keep his job, but of course he should remain for the rest of this year and we’ll see from there.

Is anyone saying to sack him now?

 

[ManWithNoName]

Surely there are alternative besides "move the players around". The players can play in different ways. If the only alternatives we have are "swap the forward and backs" then we're screwed.

 

[BrunoV]

Mate

We have 2 ruckmen on our list who are playing abysmally. We have players who simply don't give a shit because of WADA.

There is nothing wrong with the "game plan". Our skill errors make it impossible to pass off.

Go have a count of how many skill errors/turnovers wer were making PRE wada appeal and post.

Again, if the media was smart enough, it is very easy to attack what Hird is doing at a much more substantial level.

Look back to the way Thompson had us play last year and remember his comments about wanting to manage the players physically so that they would be in with a shot at finals time. Thompson had us playing about the lowest impact game plan possible without instructing the players to be witches hats. It was a good old fashioned bus parking.

Hird's preference is for a game plan that is very high impact and requires guys who can run. Not super fast, players but guys who are either naturally gifted or can train themselves to be animals over 2 to 3 kms (which is the guide for the sort of running require between rotations). There is no alternative if you want to be able to transition between defence and attack (quality ball use is not negotiable).

Because we are now taking the game on more our mids and flankers get caught out of position because they dont work back hard enough to take up the defensive positions (and the players ahead of the ball do not work forward and to the attacking most end of the zone hard enough). We are being opened up on the counter attack which is not something that was happening last year because we were very well organised defensively (because they did not really leave those defensive positions).

There may not be anything wrong with Hird's ultimate plan but there is something very wrong with trying to implement the plan with when his midfielders and flankers consist of Watson, Heppell, Goddard, (Myers), (Hocking), Howlett, Chapman, Cooney, Melksham not one of whom has the running power of any of the Fremantle and Sydney midfielders (who I think set the benchmark). You can then thrown in Zaharakis and Colyer as players who do no defensive running and that is potentially 11 out of 22 who are poor to suspect in terms of the quality of the required running and we have not even touched on the rucks or KPPs.

 

[BrunoV]

You shoot yourself in the foot if you have a blanket rule of no affiliation whatsoever.

Caracella hasn't been at Essendon for 13 years and has been at quite a few other clubs. I'd say he's got sufficient outside experience.

Let's face it, Hird was always the best option for Essendon and things haven't worked out because of a perfect storm of circumstances (almost none of which has anything to do with him as coach regardless of what the media says).

Hird has proven that he has what is probably the most important of all qualities for a coach which is that he relates to the players and earns undying confidence and I am far from convinced that he has lost that.

Give the man some credit, he's not an idiot, he's compromising himself because of the loyalty to the 2012 players. I have no doubt that he knows what needs to be done the question is whether he will allow himself or be allowed to get there. It would be nice to know what the plan is because the silence from the board feels very deliberate and does not feel like it favours Hird.

The thing that sickens me about EFC turning on him as is going to happen, if it hasn't already, is that it provides cover for all of the antagonists who chased Hird from the start of the supplements saga despite none of them ever getting close to articulating a meaningful case against him.

There are a lot of similarities to the way in which Malthouse's time at Carlton ended.

 

[Doss]

In the end, any game plan has to be tailored to accomodate the strengths and weaknesses of the list who are expected to implement it.

And also, who is available at any one time.

 

[BrunoV]

Rubbish... he deserves a chance to do his job free of the witch hunt!

Not if it means wasting 2015 and 2016. He needs to finish rebuilding our list that he got so close to finish or else it will be a waste.

 

[Jade]

The thing that sickens me about EFC turning on him as is going to happen, if it hasn't already, is that it provides cover for all of the antagonists who chased Hird from the start of the supplements saga despite none of them ever getting close to articulating a meaningful case against him.

 

[Doss]

I would say, also, that the impact of the absence of Myers, Hocking, Zaharakis and Winderlich cannot be ignored. We're undoubtedly worse with them out.

However, I also think the kind of tempo and game plan issues we're having wouldn't be just magically fixed if they were playing.

 

[Jade]

I would say, also, that the impact of the absence of Myers, Hocking, Zaharakis and Winderlich cannot be ignored. We're undoubtedly worse with them out.

However, I also think the kind of tempo and game plan issues we're having wouldn't be just magically fixed if they were playing.

No doubt.

Winders and Myers in particular are ****ing huge outs.

BUT that doesn't excuse the glaring deficiencies in HOW we are trying to play, IMO.

 

[Pweter]

No doubt.

Winders and Myers in particular are ****ing huge outs.

BUT that doesn't excuse the glaring deficiencies in HOW we are trying to play, IMO.

Does it shit you as much as it does me that we are so dependent on Winderlich? Here's a bloke that has spent so much time in recovery that in all reality he should be an added bonus when he plays, not the glue that seems to hold the side together.

 

[Jade]

Does it shit you as much as it does me that we are so dependent on Winderlich? Here's a bloke that has spent so much time in recovery that in all reality he should be an added bonus when he plays, not the glue that seems to hold the side together.

Not really. Chapman and Winders are right at the end, but Ambrose was recruited to perform a similar (if not the same) role, and Laverde, Edwards, Langford ALL seem more than adequate going forward.

Its the tall forwards that worry me more.....

 

[Doss]

Yep. And if we have any clue about forward planning they'll be looking for ways to mitigate that, because Winders will retire at the end of this year; life without him is imminent and we better have a method of coping.

 

[Jade]

Yep. And if we have any clue about forward planning they'll be looking for ways to mitigate that, because Winders will retire at the end of this year; life without him is imminent and we better have a method of coping.

I feel ok.

 

[The Prosecutor]

you seemingly really don't understand how much affect the ASADA/WADA thing is probably having on players

I CBF getting onto a whole shitfight about it right now, but I was skim reading this and found the quoted rather rather amusing.

You scald a poster for not understanding how the ASADA/WADA case is affecting them, yet, in the same, sentence, you highlight that you have no idea either.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Is anyone saying to sack him now?

I think sacking him and looking for an alternate coach is the same thing.