Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

[ant555]

Im going to take it that you were expecting us to be shit this year. Most aren't surprised us going backwards but sitting third last behind two shambles of football clubs, yeah, that's reason enough to begrudge what is going on.

If anyone said we would have injuries to multiple best 22 players and Walla showing no interest in playing footy would you have said we would not be in the bottom 4 ?
No says do not be angry about it but the fact is this is not just a coaching issue. Truck may not be able to sell the message but his message is right. Before we can do anything we need to be blue collar and our players are not. To make it worse the few that are blue collar, well they are either cooked , Devon Smith , or simply D grade , Guelfi or simply in their first or second year of footy.
We have shocking leadership depth and have been a club that has had no hard edge and makes finals every second or third year based on winning enough games playing nice attacking run and gun but fail the defensive test every year.

 

[ant555]

Yep keep the excuses coming, we have gone backwards which ever way you dress it.
Good coaches will change the style of play if it's not working but hey nothing to see here, we are flying.

Have we gone backwards ? Sure we are now bottom 4 but is it any different to the yo yo we have been on for the last 15 seasons moving between 8th and 16th ? Last year we won a few games late in the season off the back of Jake Stringer being in the top 5 players in the comp and made finals but we where really no good. Every time someone has tried to introduce defense to this club they have failed. Truck will be another that fails and so will the next guy if we stay with the same players and the same culture.

 

[Lore]

2021 has a bit of 2017 about it.

 

[ant555]

2021 has a bit of 2017 about it.

Hope 2022 has a bit of 2018 about it

 

[mike14]

I'm pretty ambivalent on Truck, and if we thought he was the best option available then it makes sense to give him at least a few years to shape the list the way he sees fit. "You don't change horses mid-stream" is an idiom for a reason and it probably applies here, but I'm not convinced we've actually reached the riverbank yet (or are even sure if what we're riding is a horse).
Conversely, if Clarkson is actually the best coach in the game, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not hiring him, or at least attempting to, as it means you're willfully ignoring the better option.
So the question is, realistically, could Clarkson be doing much more with current list? Would our players start running through walls because Clarko told them to, or do we see the same lack of intensity across the field?
Clarko would hold the playing group to account? Maybe, but how? He's got to a field a team each week so there's only so many players you can drop, especially with a longish injury list, so what's really different to how Rutten is trying to inculcate accountability?
We don't have a Lewis, a Mitchell, a Burgyone, or a Roughhead (or a Franklin). Does Clarko make those leaders, or just get the best out of them? Because if it's the latter, bringing him changes nothing until the list is completely changed and those budding leaders are already here

 

[Lore]

Hope 2022 has a bit of 2018 about it

2017 was the last time we had a functioning forward line and enough senior players who knew what they were doing that the club could sell hope… sucked people in, fans and players alike, chewed them up and spat them out again when half the forward line requested trades or retired without ever playing together with Stringer and Smith. That group never looked like a threat again after ‘17.

 

[ant555]

This is really ruttens third year in charge.
he was coach in waiting when our club disintegrated in the hubs and we lost a stack of players who quite frankly did not believe in him and the club.
he galvanised the club last year and snuck in the 8 on a soft draw. Then played Marty Gleeson in a final effort which was poor. Now the players are giving conditional effort once more. Our 1st quarter was ok but it got hard and we turned over like we usually do.
‘this is really ruttens third year and he was appointed without a formal interview process.
‘I think if you showed this performance in business your job would be HEAVILY SCRUTINISED.

Truck may not be able to sell the message and end up being another fail but the playing list he has to deal with is sub standard and lacks leadership and likes to play me first footy. Essendon is and will be a poison chalice until the culture in the club and playing list is changed. For various reasons the players have dictated the terms on how they play since 2005 .
I will say the issue in 2020 was because we had two coaches. I know for a fact the players where confused. There was different messages coming from the coaching group and they genuinely did know which direction to go for the answers and there was also in fighting amongst the players and the refusal of some to play a role. There was also massive tension between Richardson and Dodoro.
I still think Trucks message he gave when he first started and a lot of the actions he took where 100% right. We need to get back to being a blue collar club. He may not be the bloke who can sell it to the players but even if the next bloke can he will be dealing with the same player issues and some of our protected species may need to be moved on.
Not sure what it all says about Caracella . He has a very serious role in what is going on.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

2017 was the last time we had a functioning forward line and enough senior players who knew what they were doing that the club could sell hope… sucked people in, fans and players alike, chewed them up and spat them out again when half the forward line requested trades or retired without ever playing together with Stringer and Smith. That group never looked like a threat again after ‘17.

I still think the recruiting of SSSS was right idea. It was to build around Joe D and Fantasia and there not a hint at end of ‘17 of what was to come. Joe’ OP was the catalyst to destroying it all.

 

[Lore]

Not sure what it all says about Caracella . He has a very serious role in what is going on.

Can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.

 

[ant555]

Can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.

Yet Truck has to

 

[Lore]

I still think the recruiting of SSSS was right idea. It was to build around Joe D and Fantasia and there not a hint at end of ‘17 of what was to come. Joe’ OP was the catalyst to destroying it all.

Yeah I just hope we don’t repeat it now, over-invest in a quarter of the team.

 

[TheGrizz]

Can’t make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.

I think th saying is meant to be around the other way?

 

[Lore]

I think th saying is meant to be around the other way?

I flipped it. A sows ear would be tougher and more useful than a delicate and pretty silk purse on a football field.

 

[TheGrizz]

I flipped it. A sows ear would be tougher and more useful than a delicate and pretty silk purse on a football field.

 

[cobra land]

Truck may not be able to sell the message and end up being another fail but the playing list he has to deal with is sub standard and lacks leadership and likes to play me first footy. Essendon is and will be a poison chalice until the culture in the club and playing list is changed. For various reasons the players have dictated the terms on how they play since 2005 .
I will say the issue in 2020 was because we had two coaches. I know for a fact the players where confused. There was different messages coming from the coaching group and they genuinely did know which direction to go for the answers and there was also in fighting amongst the players and the refusal of some to play a role. There was also massive tension between Richardson and Dodoro.
I still think Trucks message he gave when he first started and a lot of the actions he took where 100% right. We need to get back to being a blue collar club. He may not be the bloke who can sell it to the players but even if the next bloke can he will be dealing with the same player issues and some of our protected species may need to be moved on.
Not sure what it all says about Caracella . He has a very serious role in what is going on.

Serious question ,what does blue collar club mean ?, because what I'm seeing is anything but blue collar.
We can't get it out of our back half, we can't keep it in our forward half and our mids won't chase, there's problems all over the place yet everyone seems to think that this style of play will take us forward ? I just don't see it.

 

[supportyourteam]

By and large the team was focused on who to vote for. They will be right when they get settled.

 

[BrunoV]

Is Rutten really going to be given the time to turn over the list? It's the only sane course of action, but will take a long, long time. Footy clubs aren't the most patient organisations.

Yep, this is looming as a real problem.

 

[Yoda_]

If anyone said we would have injuries to multiple best 22 players and Walla showing no interest in playing footy would you have said we would not be in the bottom 4 ?
No says do not be angry about it but the fact is this is not just a coaching issue. Truck may not be able to sell the message but his message is right. Before we can do anything we need to be blue collar and our players are not. To make it worse the few that are blue collar, well they are either cooked , Devon Smith , or simply D grade , Guelfi or simply in their first or second year of footy.
We have shocking leadership depth and have been a club that has had no hard edge and makes finals every second or third year based on winning enough games playing nice attacking run and gun but fail the defensive test every year.

You are right, the injuries doesn't help and it looks like our leaders are giving up appearing none existent on field.

Most comments from sections of the Essendon supporter base are based on effort and 30 tackles is the worry. The game plan etc. etc. falls back on truck but so should getting the players to buy in.

This is where your comments in previous weeks ring true that 2 off seasons may not be enough yet for Rutten to have the group he can work with.

 

[BrunoV]

It's a players having a sook at being told to be accountable and not play bruise free football issue.

Exactly like Knights actually.

This will be it.

The problem is that the players are conditioned to believe they're good. It's a cyclical thing at football clubs.

Players inherent the mantle of gun senior players and are treated accordingly.

You then get left with a midfield that has no physical presence and an industry talking around the issues because they refuse to see it.

 

[ghostdog]

I'm pretty ambivalent on Truck, and if we thought he was the best option available then it makes sense to give him at least a few years to shape the list the way he sees fit. "You don't change horses mid-stream" is an idiom for a reason and it probably applies here, but I'm not convinced we've actually reached the riverbank yet (or are even sure if what we're riding is a horse).
Conversely, if Clarkson is actually the best coach in the game, then you are doing yourself a disservice by not hiring him, or at least attempting to, as it means you're willfully ignoring the better option.
So the question is, realistically, could Clarkson be doing much more with current list? Would our players start running through walls because Clarko told them to, or do we see the same lack of intensity across the field?
Clarko would hold the playing group to account? Maybe, but how? He's got to a field a team each week so there's only so many players you can drop, especially with a longish injury list, so what's really different to how Rutten is trying to inculcate accountability?
We don't have a Lewis, a Mitchell, a Burgyone, or a Roughhead (or a Franklin). Does Clarko make those leaders, or just get the best out of them? Because if it's the latter, bringing him changes nothing until the list is completely changed and those budding leaders are already here

Clarkson must obviously have been a fantastic coach, that goes without saying, but if I were Truck I'd be looking to shadow Wayne Bennett for a while, maybe at the pointy end of the season when we're out and the NRL continues.

Bennett has won multiple premierships with multiple clubs, walking in and reshaping playing groups to bring out their best. If Truck wants to polish his skills with selling the message and creating buy-in, Wayne Bennett's the man.

 

[ant555]

Serious question ,what does blue collar club mean ?, because what I'm seeing is anything but blue collar.
We can't get it out of our back half, we can't keep it in our forward half and our mids won't chase, there's problems all over the place yet everyone seems to think that this style of play will take us forward ? I just don't see it.

Mean what it means. Players giving 100%. Rolling up the sleeves and having a go.
Problem they have is the players have to be blue collar and ours are not so that is the problem. The culture has to change.
This is not the style we want going forward. The coach does not want to play that way. He may not be able to convince the players to play the style he wants which in the end is on him but but what he has said about the club is 200% right. He wants us to tackle and pressure.
You do not see it because it is not happening. It is a symptom of bad sides / bad lists.
You can bring in the next guy or the next one after that but until we get more leadership depth and our leading players actually give a **** and actually try and play a bit of team defense we will be the same club we have been for the last 15 years.

 

[frodos gardener]

Let’s just wait and see what consequences are for these senior players this coming week. That will tell us what we need to know.

 

[citizen-erased]

Serious question ,what does blue collar club mean ?, because what I'm seeing is anything but blue collar.
We can't get it out of our back half, we can't keep it in our forward half and our mids won't chase, there's problems all over the place yet everyone seems to think that this style of play will take us forward ? I just don't see it.

I think truck means those guys who have 2 sick days a week, do half arsed jobs and are always in the tea room on a coffee break.
And keep their jobs cos no one has the spine to call them on it

That blue collar

 

[Lore]

I think truck means those guys who have 2 sick days a week, do half arsed jobs and are always in the tea room on a coffee break.
And keep their jobs cos no one has the spine to call them on it

That blue collar

If that's what he means by blue collar then I think he needs a dictionary. Blue collar is supposed to mean hard work, the kind of jobs where you wear dark blue cotton drill (sometimes high vis and reflective tape these days), which is to say heavy duty clothing that hides the dirt, 60-80 hour weeks doing manual and technical work out in the weather, in mining, agriculture, manufacturing, trades and auxiliary industries.

In reality the message simply isn't getting through, or is being disregarded when received. He might want and expect "blue collar" players who do the 1%ers, tackle hard, muck in, put their body on the line, and care about their teammates. But other than a small handful, the players aren't currently showing much aptitude for it.

 

[BrunoV]

Serious question ,what does blue collar club mean ?, because what I'm seeing is anything but blue collar.
We can't get it out of our back half, we can't keep it in our forward half and our mids won't chase, there's problems all over the place yet everyone seems to think that this style of play will take us forward ? I just don't see it.

It means we want to work hard, be tough, all the cliches that every club espouses.

It starts to scare me when people at clubs talk about these marketing statements as though they're a point of difference.

Which club says it wants to be a white collar, outside team that shirks the contest?