Opinion Matthew Nicks: Adelaide's Coach (Part 2) - Full Support of the Board

[Cap]

This shows that the club knows it is in trouble so are messaging is being scripted. Fogarty has used the same words on 5AA.

Why are they even trotting Fog out.

The poor guy puts up with enough garbage on game day

 

[spenze]

Took a screenshot of analysis of Crows' forward entries 'wastefulness'.
This says a lot about how our blokes are coached and their decision-making:
Not sure who has the ball at the pointy end of that shadow, but he has options:
1) handball to player close in front of him (not great, oppo close)
2) kick to bloke on lead, in the clear. A good pass will find him 40m out in front.
3) kick/handball to his R to Crow just above Kornes' notepad (too indirect)
4) kick deep to Tex (closest to goal) who will be manned-up by the time the ball gets there.
View attachment 1947137

Clearly, 2) is the best option, but our bloke goes for 4) .

Sorry if this has been posted, but the options and entries (high-bombs or shat-kicks) are shown clearly in here, and they expose the Crows to be terrible:

'Confronting' vision exposes wasteful Crows

Footage on The Round So Far shows how Adelaide misfired when entering forward 50 against Geelong

www.afl.com.au

The Pedlar one is the worst, but Dawson (our previously best kick/deliverer) misses TWO great chances to set up goals.
Often, the Crows are not looking for a mate on a lead, but if they are, they do not trust their mate to get the job done and choose the worst option to kick to.
That's on Nicks.

How many times have you heard Nicks say "our F50 entries weren't deep enough" when we are getting beaten?

Of course we aren't going to hit up leading players 40 out, it goes against everything we aspire too and people wonder why Fog is floundering this year, he's the one you should be hitting up t that range

 

[kirky]

Why are they even trotting Fog out.

The poor guy puts up with enough garbage on game day

He is part of the leadership group.

 

[Cap]

He is part of the leadership group.

Ah, yes, forgot about our fabled leadership group.

 

[kirky]

Ah, yes, forgot about our fabled leadership group.

Well, Milera and Murphy now both injured.

 

[Slippery Pete]

basically said if the Crows score more points then the opposition then thats going to go a long way towards winning the football match.

That’s not it at all. He’s saying you get more bang for your buck against the Crows by sacrificing attack in favour of defence. So expect ugly football when the Crows are playing.

In other words, you’re more likely to beat the Crows scoring 75 points than you are 110. Because the latter becomes a shootout, which plays into Adelaide’s hands. You’ll lose 110-130 instead of winning 75-50.

It was a very simple yet salient point he was making, and it went completely over Bickley’s head. And yours.

 

[MsTopG]

The Adelaide Football Club is effectively in a holding pattern till at least 2027 maybe longer when/if we get a new coach.

By then we may realistically may have to engage in a 2nd rebuild. This is severely exacerbated by the entry of Tasmania, not too dissimilar of the time when we went through a rebuild with the Suns entering the competition.

Nicks will be sacked this year imo. The afc only cares about money. Once the crowds drop off and young talent threaten to leave, even the bunch of incompetents running the club will act very swiftly. They have plenty of bean counters down there to work out the cost of keeping Nicks is far greater than the cost of getting rid of him. He hasn't met any performance targets so he will likely only receive a 6 month payout which is more than that bum deserves.

 

[CrowBloke]

How many times have you heard Nicks say "our F50 entries weren't deep enough" when we are getting beaten?

To be honest, not often. I've stopped paying attention to what Nicks says. It just makes me more frustrated.

Of course we aren't going to hit up leading players 40 out, it goes against everything we aspire too and people wonder why Fog is floundering this year, he's the one you should be hitting up t that range

Here's the Pedlar howler. In this shot, Pedlar has the ball, with Tex all ready 5m clear of his opponent and the rest of the F50 is a paddock.

Instead of hitting Tex on the lead with a chip-kick that would've put Tex only 35m out, Pedlar blasts the ball to a spot well behind the defender about 2/3 of the way to the Umpire over in the scoreboard pocket (the ball is the little white thing high in the air, and lands between the Ump and the point post)
Pedlar literally bombs the ball to no-one . Empty space .



Simply incredible.
If that's what Nicks calls a deep I50 entry, then Pedlar is taking the piss to make him happy, because there's not a Crow within 50m of where Pedlar's kick goes.
Just another example of terrible footy on the back of sh1t Coaching.

 

[CrowBloke]

If Nicks continuea to put both crouch and laird in the middle it proves he doesn't get it.

"If"?
"If Nicks continues to ..."?

IF?? <<tears hair, rips shirt>> (anger directed at Nicks btw, not you)

That's all he's done since Crouch was resurrected. Laird and Crouch.
The "proof" has been there for weeks and weeks.
Nicks does not get it.

 

[CrowBloke]

Ah, yes, forgot about our fabled failed leadership group.

Close.
Just the one letter incorrect .

 

[Sanders]

Anyone else of the opinion that the club giving Nicks an extension when they did has actually increased the pressure and expectation on him?

It feels like it's actually had the complete opposite affect that they were hoping it was going to have.

It’s still better than the alternative; finding yourself 0-5 (or worse) and trying to find a good time to announce you already re-signed him in preseason

 

[CrowBloke]

It’s still better than the alternative; finding yourself 0-5 (or worse) and trying to find a good time to announce you already re-signed him in preseason

Drier than an over-oaked Chardonnay.
Gold.

 

[taurus]

A neutral come in peace.

Nicksy was my fav player at the Swans. He started off as a dashing half back who would accurately kick to I50. He was also a true gentleman off the field.

Rocket Eade put Nicksy at HF after a season where he was arguably one of our best players. Nicksy wasn't the most consistent goal kicker, bit like the current Crows, so it was baffling. In hindsight, he began to lose his pace as he was losing his golden locks, many injuries took toll.

He was a product of the gutsy, not as skilled, and flooding Swans of the 90s. He would not shy away from getting into the trenches to lock the ball up, etc.

The reason why I'm reminiscing is that I think Nicks has created a team in reflection of his own playing image - hard, honest footballers who lack the skillset and creativity relative to the competition. Adelaide midfield is just... vanilla. Last year was an outlier imo.

But to be fair, a coach can only go so far with the cattle he has. Your list management surely has a lot more to answer for. You need speedy and dynamic mid to compliment what you already have. A Gulden, Butters, or Serong would do nicely.

 

[Twist_of_Lemon]

It’s still better than the alternative; finding yourself 0-5 (or worse) and trying to find a good time to announce you already re-signed him in preseason

That would've been one of the funniest things to ever happen to this club if they had to spin re-signing Nicks after a 0-billionty start as a positive. They've deprived me of some quality cringe, the bastards.

 

[BigBoSS_Riot]

You need speedy and dynamic mid to compliment what you already have. A Gulden, Butters, or Serong would do nicely.

We have one. His name is Jake Soligo. He's the perfect compliment to Crouch right now.

 

[cleanhands]

A neutral come in peace.

Nicksy was my fav player at the Swans. He started off as a dashing half back who would accurately kick to I50. He was also a true gentleman off the field.

Rocket Eade put Nicksy at HF after a season where he was arguably one of our best players. Nicksy wasn't the most consistent goal kicker, bit like the current Crows, so it was baffling. In hindsight, he began to lose his pace as he was losing his golden locks, many injuries took toll.

He was a product of the gutsy, not as skilled, and flooding Swans of the 90s. He would not shy away from getting into the trenches to lock the ball up, etc.

The reason why I'm reminiscing is that I think Nicks has created a team in reflection of his own playing image - hard, honest footballers who lack the skillset and creativity relative to the competition. Adelaide midfield is just... vanilla. Last year was an outlier imo.

But to be fair, a coach can only go so far with the cattle he has. Your list management surely has a lot more to answer for. You need speedy and dynamic mid to compliment what you already have. A Gulden, Butters, or Serong would do nicely.

We have them, but unfortunately they don’t get used, the development of our younger players is poor, we suck the natural talent out of them

 

[taurus]

We have one. His name is Jake Soligo. He's the perfect compliment to Crouch right now.

I don't pretend to know the Crows more than you guys but surely they need more help. Put Rankine ng/Raschele to enhance the combination.

 

[MsTopG]

A neutral come in peace.

Nicksy was my fav player at the Swans. He started off as a dashing half back who would accurately kick to I50. He was also a true gentleman off the field.

Rocket Eade put Nicksy at HF after a season where he was arguably one of our best players. Nicksy wasn't the most consistent goal kicker, bit like the current Crows, so it was baffling. In hindsight, he began to lose his pace as he was losing his golden locks, many injuries took toll.

He was a product of the gutsy, not as skilled, and flooding Swans of the 90s. He would not shy away from getting into the trenches to lock the ball up, etc.

The reason why I'm reminiscing is that I think Nicks has created a team in reflection of his own playing image - hard, honest footballers who lack the skillset and creativity relative to the competition. Adelaide midfield is just... vanilla. Last year was an outlier imo.

But to be fair, a coach can only go so far with the cattle he has. Your list management surely has a lot more to answer for. You need speedy and dynamic mid to compliment what you already have. A Gulden, Butters, or Serong would do nicely.

Strangely enough we had picks to take those players. I know we did for Butters and Serong. Ogilvie our head recruiter has a knack of messing up ever decent pick we have along with Roo and Reid who mismanage our list at every opportunity. Nicks doesnt have the list we should have but he is clearly incompetent and no better than a sanfl, wafl, neafl coach at best. He must go along with Roo, Reid, Ogilvie, Burns, Van Berlo, Godden, Kelly, Olsen, the entire board. Our only competent staff member seems to be Burgess. Supporters have had 25 years of this shit and it's worn real thin. The problem is that no one with enough power wants to change the status quo. The club exists to keep incompetent people in positions they are not fit to be in.

** Your point on Nicks valuing unskilled tryers (plodders) is very valid. He does love players who clearly remind him of himself
and seems to almost despise tall skilled athletic types, especially if they don't have afl experience. Our head recruiter values short unskilled unathletic plodders too. He calls them rough diamonds. The club has no feel for the modern game.

 

[taurus]

Strangely enough we had picks to take those players. I know we did for Butters and Serong. Ogilvie our head recruiter has a knack of messing up ever decent pick we have along with Roo and Reid whomismanage our list at every opportunity. Nicks doesnt have the list we should have but he is clearly incompetent and no better than a sanfl, wafl, neafl coach at best. He mist go along with Roo, Reid, Ogilvie, Burns, Van Berlo, Kelly, Olsen, the entire board. Our only competent staff member seems to be Burgess.

Fair enough.

 

[cleanhands]

I don't pretend to know the Crows more than you guys but surely they need more help. Put Rankine ng/Raschele to enhance the combination.

I think Rachelle Rankine Pedlar and co were told pre season to expect more time in the midfield, what has happened Nicks and co didn’t expect what is being dished up and have S** t the bed and now the young guys have become a bit disheartened from not getting that time

 

[CutAboveTheRest]

A neutral come in peace.

Nicksy was my fav player at the Swans. He started off as a dashing half back who would accurately kick to I50. He was also a true gentleman off the field.

Rocket Eade put Nicksy at HF after a season where he was arguably one of our best players. Nicksy wasn't the most consistent goal kicker, bit like the current Crows, so it was baffling. In hindsight, he began to lose his pace as he was losing his golden locks, many injuries took toll.

He was a product of the gutsy, not as skilled, and flooding Swans of the 90s. He would not shy away from getting into the trenches to lock the ball up, etc.

The reason why I'm reminiscing is that I think Nicks has created a team in reflection of his own playing image - hard, honest footballers who lack the skillset and creativity relative to the competition. Adelaide midfield is just... vanilla. Last year was an outlier imo.

But to be fair, a coach can only go so far with the cattle he has. Your list management surely has a lot more to answer for. You need speedy and dynamic mid to compliment what you already have. A Gulden, Butters, or Serong would do nicely.

Yup.

Gotta be the worst recruiters / list managers in the comp. sigh

 

[AFC979810]

That’s not it at all. He’s saying you get more bang for your buck against the Crows by sacrificing attack in favour of defence. So expect ugly football when the Crows are playing.

In other words, you’re more likely to beat the Crows scoring 75 points than you are 110. Because the latter becomes a shootout, which plays into Adelaide’s hands. You’ll lose 110-130 instead of winning 75-50.

It was a very simple yet salient point he was making, and it went completely over Bickley’s head. And yours.

Well no shit. If you score 100+ points you win 97% of the time. I can only imagine if you score 110 points then your odds of winning go to 99%.

Nicks has won an AFL game scoring under 75 points 5 times. Nicks has never won a game where the opponent scores over 100 let alone 110.

I completely understand and agree with Leigh talking about restricting Adelaide and turning it into a scrappy game.

The example he used to illustrate his point was stooooopid

 

[BigBoSS_Riot]

I don't pretend to know the Crows more than you guys but surely they need more help. Put Rankine ng/Raschele to enhance the combination.

I think just about all of us want to see more of Rachele in there - it just isn't happening (2 centre bounce attendances in 3 games this season). Pedlar would be a nice injection too.

 

[AFC979810]

Why are they even trotting Fog out.

The poor guy puts up with enough garbage on game day

The reverse whipping boy. "Poor Guy".

Since his purple patch at the beginning of 2023 (after round 6) - he has played 20 games and kicked a measly 23 goals and 22 behinds.

What happened to his accuracy? During that same time frame - known shanker Ben Keays has kicked 21 goals and 12 behinds (and spent a bunch of that time in the middle). Luke Pedlar has kicked 19 goals 11 behinds.

Not to mention half of those goals came in 4 games against 17th placed North (4) , 18th placed West Coast (2) and 15th places Suns X 2 (6).

During this stretch that means the other 16 games he kicked 11 goals.

During that time span - in the 6 close games against top 4 sides (pies X2, Bris X2, Power, Melbourne) he kicked a combined 5 goals.

This is a bloke we put into our leadership group!

Game on the line. Round 2 - Prime time matchup. 7 minutes left to go in the 4th quarter. We have just kicked the last 2 goals to cut the lead to 16 points. Crouch wins the ball in the middle, handballs to a running Dawson who kicks long inside 50. Walker goes up - ball spills out the back and is collected by Fogarty. Wide open he strolls into the goalsquare to get us within 10 points with plenty of time.

Shank.

Air out of the sails. Geelong kick the next 2 and it's goodnight Crows.

Talk about a sliding doors moment. Its funny though - very few references to this on this board.

The guy has all the tools to be a star. He has shown his talent in games. Its between the ears for Fog. Its the mental part of his game that is stopping him from being as successful as he can be.

 

[AFC979810]

I think just about all of us want to see more of Rachele in there - it just isn't happening (2 centre bounce attendances in 3 games this season). Pedlar would be a nice injection too.

Pedlar is an interesting one.

I remember during the preseason a bit of back and forth about his preseason form. I know Stabby got a fair bit of grief for suggesting he might not be in the best 22 to start the season because he was with the 2's in all the match sim.

Based on his form to begin the season - its no wonder he was training with the 2's.

He looks absolutely terrible. 349 players have played 3 games of footy this year. He has the 2nd worst disposal efficiency out of those 349 players with only Jye Menzie being worse. He has averaged 7 touches a game and kicked 2 behinds in 3 games.

It will be very interesting to see what happens with him this week. If we were healthy - a spell against the scrubs in the 2's would probably be best to get his confidence up, however the cupboard is pretty empty.