Coach Fages and the coaching group

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Phil Davis on 360 last night captured my thoughts on Fages well.

Basically said man management is the most important part of being a head coach and that it’s hard to find really good man managers. We have found one of the best.

Phil went on to say that once you have that person, you can then support them with the best tacticians in the game but ultimately the head coach still has to teach those tactics so the man management quality is gold.
 

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Phil Davis on 360 last night captured my thoughts on Fages well.

Basically said man management is the most important part of being a head coach and that it’s hard to find really good man managers. We have found one of the best.

Phil went on to say that once you have that person, you can then support them with the best tacticians in the game but ultimately the head coach still has to teach those tactics so the man management quality is gold.
This does make sense to me. I have been fairly critical of Fages about our tactics but his man management appears to be top notch and must be a major reason why he was able to turn the club around in such a short time. I do believe that he needs some great tacticians around him but I am unsure how this works if he believes something different would be a better option. After all he is still the head coach and it is his ass on the line over the other coaches.
 
Like I've said before - I'd prefer for us to extend Fagan for another 2-3 years. He just needs some strong 2ICs to drive the outcome further.

All the assistants whoever has been around for too long need to get moved and we need new ideas. We also need strong personalities who can meet Fagan half way and not yes men.
 
Like I've said before - I'd prefer for us to extend Fagan for another 2-3 years. He just needs some strong 2ICs to drive the outcome further.

All the assistants whoever has been around for too long need to get moved and we need new ideas. We also need strong personalities who can meet Fagan half way and not yes men.

I agree - but I think our coaching group are making progress.

We've evolved from 2-3 years ago in terms of our gamestyle. We've gone from a team who almost solely relied on kicking to contests on the boundary to a more corridor attacking style.

We need to tweak a couple of elements from a defensive point of view, but I don't think we are that far off a premiership as some people think.
 
Like I've said before - I'd prefer for us to extend Fagan for another 2-3 years. He just needs some strong 2ICs to drive the outcome further.

All the assistants whoever has been around for too long need to get moved and we need new ideas. We also need strong personalities who can meet Fagan half way and not yes men.
Are you reporting that Fagan's 2IC is not driving or able to drive the outcome and that his assistants are yes men not able to assert new ideas?
 
I don't know enough first hand about the inner workings of the coaching group to really have much of an opinion other than what I see on game day and there have been times when I wonder about our tactics. Some of them have been there a while and maybe a fresher approach would be beneficial. But I'm prepared to admit that may be too judgemental.

I do agree when a good midfield gets a hold of us we have deficiencies in stemming the tide and need another couple of good players in there if we can get them. A quality workhorse and another classy gun ( Ashcroft ? )

How we finish off this year is probably important as to what if any changes are made.
 
Are you reporting that Fagan's 2IC is not driving or able to drive the outcome and that his assistants are yes men not able to assert new ideas?

Nope, I'm reporting my wish list of the new assistants and the characteristics I'd prefer to see.

As far as existing crew goes, if they've been here from the very beginning of the rebuild its hard not to be overwhelmed by Fagan's aura and what he has achieved so far. Heck, supporters like us sometimes discuss about putting a statue up for him, imagine being a 2IC. As a line coach, they'll be pretty keen to impress him and build into his ideas. I can't help but reflect on Matho's selection in this space, 2 or 3 weeks before he actually got selected - Danny Daly was there sharing his usual views in press meet on why Matho is not in the team - defensive effort, gut running etc. Later once Matho got selected and performed Fagan goes "sitting here thinking about it, may be we could've added him a bit earlier". From an outsider looking in, when Matho couldn't get a go with 9 of them out it starts pointing to stale ideas or preconceived biases in play. Not their fault, its easy to fall into the trap when working together for so long and you have set baselines on evaluating certain players.

Fagan's level of achievements around rebuilding is set now for anyone new coming in. Having that fresh set of eyes would also mean they won't be that daunted to change things up a bit or pushing newer ideas with Fagan. Whether or not it gets onboarded is a totally different question.
 
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Like I've said before - I'd prefer for us to extend Fagan for another 2-3 years. He just needs some strong 2ICs to drive the outcome further.

All the assistants whoever has been around for too long need to get moved and we need new ideas. We also need strong personalities who can meet Fagan half way and not yes men.
Maybe the assistants that Fagan has have often tabled changes and they have fallen on deaf ears.
 
I still just don't think our list is that good. We don't have the midfield to match it with Geelong or Melbourne at their best

If we'd won one more game we'd probably have a very different outlook but it's hard not to consider this year a small step backwards
I think its impossible to say that confidently until the end of the season. Here's hoping you do a huge backflip come end of September.
 

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Maybe the assistants that Fagan has have often tabled changes and they have fallen on deaf ears.

Yep, I replied to a question raised and wondered whether this could be an issue as well.
 
Yep, I replied to a question raised and wondered whether this could be an issue as well.
Nobody on this forum will ever know the answer to a lot of the questions & criticisms the coaching group cop. That said, its up to the collective Administration to appraise Fagan & all other coach's at the end of each year. You would like to think our Admin is as good as any other club's and that they are capable of making change for the good if necessary.
 
I agree - but I think our coaching group are making progress.

We've evolved from 2-3 years ago in terms of our gamestyle. We've gone from a team who almost solely relied on kicking to contests on the boundary to a more corridor attacking style.

We need to tweak a couple of elements from a defensive point of view, but I don't think we are that far off a premiership as some people think.
Few things

We've butchered our high end draft picks
Schache (#2) and Rayner (#1) could have been our Oliver and Petracca or Serong and Brayshaw - in their prime and tearing high pressure games apart in their own right

Our forwards and midfielders/wingers don't work/run hard enough to help out our defensive unit nor provide link up options when going forward to get the overlap numbers that other teams get. This just adds up to persistent pressure on our defensive unit and they eventually crack (against the better teams)
 
Nobody on this forum will ever know the answer to a lot of the questions & criticisms the coaching group cop. That said, its up to the collective Administration to appraise Fagan & all other coach's at the end of each year. You would like to think our Admin is as good as any other club's and that they are capable of making change for the good if necessary.
Do you think there will/should be changes to the coaching group this year ML?
 
I think others said the same.. A few things out of control and a few we could of done better
Lyons going backwards faster then expected
Robbo dropping down was probably expected
Zorko injured although after the last couple of years and age probably not unexpected
I think we expected J Berry, McCluggage ,Rayner, Bailey to become our next mids. All super talented and showed signs
Although Rayner, Bailey better off forward and I rather Hugh and Berry on a wing
There has been some positives with Kiddy, Starc and Answerth.
As a Group some guys not come on and some slipped

I do think we hoping to find a extra mid from our forwards or wings for better rotations.
Instead of getting a more dedicated mid who can play forward.

Said a few times I keep Fagan and see if we can get someone tactical in. Although if it falling on deaf ears maybe someone stronger needed
 

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Coach Fages and the coaching group

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