New Geelong VFL coach: Matthew Knights

[Son_Of_God29]

Well done to him. He's good at developing players and has had success at Geelong.

Also lol about how 26 months ago he was "a hopeless coach who couldn't do anything" and now he's "an unfairly knifed coach that never had the support of the board."

He was knifed fairly or un-fairly by a board that contacted Bomber Thompson to be Hird's assistant while Knights was coaching Essendon and Bomber was still in a Premiership campain with Geelong - id say that Knights never had board support

So whats Hirds excuse for not making finals after being 11-1

Fact - Hird Can't Coach

 

[eth-dog]

He was knifed fairly or un-fairly by a board that contacted Bomber Thompson to be Hird's assistant while Knights was coaching Essendon and Bomber was still in a Premiership campain with Geelong - id say that Knights never had board support

So whats Hirds excuse for not making finals after being 11-1

Fact - Hird Can't Coach

He was knifed because he was a terrible head coach because he had a useless game plan that got found out midway through his third season. There is no evidence that Thompson was contacted to be Hird's assistant until after he left Geelong. If Knights never had the board's support, why did we hire him?

We were never 11-1 . It was 8-1, then 11-4. We also lost several key players in the second half of the season where EVERYONE recognized we had a very tough draw.

 

[Jobe Watson]

If Hird is so good why does he need Bomber? Why not give one of them the boot and save your club close to $1,000,000 a year?

If Hardwick is so good then why chase Mark Williams? If Buckley is so good then why is Rodney Eade there as an assistant?

Having experienced coaches in the box to help guide an inexperienced young coach can only be a good thing. I don't see how Hird having a 2-time premiership coach sitting next to him is a bad thing at all. And unlike the Tigers, who are still in debt, we can afford to pay our coaches well.

 

[Slattery_20]

ITT 12th placed team faps. For some reason.

 

[tigers_of_old_08]

If Hardwick is so good then why chase Mark Williams? If Buckley is so good then why is Rodney Eade there as an assistant?

Having experienced coaches in the box to help guide an inexperienced young coach can only be a good thing. I don't see how Hird having a 2-time premiership coach sitting next to him is a bad thing at all. And unlike the Tigers, who are still in debt, we can afford to pay our coaches well.

Where did I say Hardwick was good?
Just sayin' give credit where credit is due.

FWIW I reckon Dimma can use Choco's experience.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

He was knifed fairly or un-fairly by a board that contacted Bomber Thompson to be Hird's assistant while Knights was coaching Essendon and Bomber was still in a Premiership campain with Geelong - id say that Knights never had board support

So whats Hirds excuse for not making finals after being 11-1

Fact - Hird Can't Coach

oh I know this one: Bomber was coaching the first 11 games, right? Then he thought, ok, we'll have a crack together for the next few, then that's enough tutoring, you take over for the last 7, Jimmy.

Is that how it went?

 

[justlookingaround]

Where did I say Hardwick was good?
Just sayin' give credit where credit is due.

FWIW I reckon Dimma can use Choco's experience.

Well then there you go, you've answered your own question.

 

[Slattery_20]

oh I know this one: Bomber was coaching the first 11 games, right? Then he thought, ok, we'll have a crack together for the next few, then that's enough tutoring, you take over for the last 7, Jimmy.

Is that how it went?

I just like that he's crediting us with beating one of the grand finallists as well as Melbourne.
And FWIW I certainly agree with Son_Of_God29 that the coaches did their job, enough to put our boys into a winning position in both of those matches.

Just as Clarkson put the Hawks boys in a winning position pretty early on in their prelim but the players let them off the hook; or Thompson did for the Cats in '08.
Coaches can't kick 'em.

 

[theflea]

If Hardwick is so good then why chase Mark Williams? If Buckley is so good then why is Rodney Eade there as an assistant?

Having experienced coaches in the box to help guide an inexperienced young coach can only be a good thing. I don't see how Hird having a 2-time premiership coach sitting next to him is a bad thing at all. And unlike the Tigers, who are still in debt, we can afford to pay our coaches well.

as a side issue the dons will be going into debt with your new facilities( about 5m i think) and we will be debt free by the end of 2014 at max.

 

[eth-dog]

as a side issue the dons will be going into debt with your new facilities( about 5m i think) and we will be debt free by the end of 2014 at max.

um, no. We have 5 mil to pay, but we still have $6.12 million left over from 2011. So we'll be able to pay for the new facility, no problem

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Is there any chance of this thread getting back on track?

It was a query about people's opinions regarding Matthew Knights' appointment as Geelong's VFL coach, with an inordinate amount of sarcastic "Yeah, good luck with that" responses from Essendon supporters. The decision has been vindicated completely by the club winning VFL premiership, with the team containing thirteen players who have debuted in the AFL in the past two years (including George Horlin-Smith, the Norm Goss Medallist) and/or who have been draft/rookie picks in the last two years.

If you want to deflect, or have a sook about Hardwick, Thompson, Hird or whatever else, feel free to take it elsewhere.

 

[Chewy]

Congratulations to Knighter and congratulations to Geelong on winning the VFL premiership.

Essendon fans must be wondering about how much more money it will take for them to make the finals. Their club has been rattling the tin all year for the much-vaunted "Flight Plan". Maybe the shift to a new training facility will produce some results because the sacking of Knights and the hiring of the most expensive group of coaches ever has produced absolutely nothing. All it really achieved was to appease the egos of the big-noting coterie groups, gave the marketing department a new selling point and gave their fans false hope with the return of Jimmy and Bomber as "messiahs".

It's good to see Matthew Knights show those fools that he can coach. Sheedy and his offsiders ran that list into the ground and Knights was given the shit sandwich. Bomber fans threw their toys out of the cot and the response was to give millions to their "favourite son" who had zero experience and then pay someone millions to be his nanny. Hilarious! What message are they selling lately? "This isn't a quick fix. It was always going to take time..." Awesome!

Knights should throw his hat into the ring for the Port Adelaide job, if he hasn't done so already.

 

[DapperDon]

Was there this much content towards Geelong or Adelaide when Ayres won the VFL flag last year?

Well done to Knights, he developed Essendon kids well and now has helped Geelongs kids develop very well. Not sure what it has to do with Hird, Thompson (who people seem to forget is a 2 time AFL premiership coach) or Hardwick. Fact remains though, Knights was a poor head coach at the top level.

 

[DapperDon]

Essendon fans must be wondering about how much more money it will take for them to make the finals. Their club has been rattling the tin all year for the much-vaunted "Flight Plan". Maybe the shift to a new training facility will produce some results because the sacking of Knights and the hiring of the most expensive group of coaches ever has produced absolutely nothing. All it really achieved was to appease the egos of the big-noting coterie groups, gave the marketing department a new selling point and gave their fans false hope with the return of Jimmy and Bomber as "messiahs".

It's good to see Matthew Knights show those fools that he can coach. Sheedy and his offsiders ran that list into the ground and Knights was given the shit sandwich. Bomber fans threw their toys out of the cot and the response was to give millions to their "favourite son" who had zero experience and then pay someone millions to be his nanny. Hilarious! What message are they selling lately? "This isn't a quick fix. It was always going to take time..." Awesome!

Premierships aren't won overnight Chewy, I thought you of all people would have known that.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

What people forget is that players like Fletcher no longer believed in him in the end. Quite a number of other players didn't sign until they knew who the coach would be.

Well done Knights, if he's so good then no doubt another club will snap him up as HC. One thing i do know is Richmond and Hawthorn (who's supporters sem to be very vocal on this thread) will never ever hire Knights as HC, not in a year, 5 years or 10 years.

Sacking Knights could only ever be called a possible failure/mistake when Knights gets another HC and succeeds.

 

[Chewy]

Premierships aren't won overnight Chewy, I thought you of all people would have known that.

You'd want to see some upward progress. Clarkson was on considerably less than Hird & Thompson. He took over a club that won just 4 games in 2004. With a complete list overhaul and games given to teenagers, the Hawks showed marginal improvement from 2005-2006. In his 3rd year, Clarkson coached the Hawks to the finals which they won first up against Adelaide and then he won a premiership in his 4th season.

You have to ask yourself, Dapper Don, has it been worth the money? Is it money well spent? Knights had the Bombers playing all-out attack and it cost him his job, but you don't need to pay people millions to copy the defensive press game plan from other clubs. Essendon don't care because they are a rich club. They're a bit like the Sultan of Brunei, who pays Italian craftsmen millions to fly over and install solid gold door handles on his toilet door.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Was there this much content towards Geelong or Adelaide when Ayres won the VFL flag last year?

Well done to Knights, he developed Essendon kids well and now has helped Geelongs kids develop very well. Not sure what it has to do with Hird, Thompson (who people seem to forget is a 2 time AFL premiership coach) or Hardwick. Fact remains though, Knights was a poor head coach at the top level.

1. Knights won the premiership in his first year as Geelong's VFL coach; Ayres took four years to win one (more than a decade after he departed Kardinia Park and seven years after he finished at Adelaide). Neither Geelong, nor Adelaide was the last club Ayres was involved with in the AFL.

2. I doubt there were any 'Port Melbourne is insane to offer Gary Ayres the coaching job' threads started by Geelong supporters (especially on the main board). Chances are, the vast majority of us couldn't have cared less.

Besides that, it's a great comparison. The deflection on here is amazing. 'Knights was a poor head coach at the top level...' Show me a current VFL/SANFL/WAFL coach with impeccable AFL pedigree, as senior coach. If they'd won an AFL premiership, or consistently taken their team to the finals, they wouldn't be coaching in the VFL.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Well done Knights, if he's so good then no doubt another club will snap him up as HC. One thing i do know is Richmond and Hawthorn (who's supporters sem to be very vocal on this thread) will never ever hire Knights as HC, not in a year, 5 years or 10 years.

I'd never say never regarding this, especially if further improvement doesn't come under Hardwick. In a couple of years Knights will be 43/44 and in his prime as a coach.

 

[UpTheGuts]

Amazing what can be achieved by someone who isn't whiteanted from within with 2+ years left on his contract...
I'm sure Knighta enjoyed this year...

 

[CF]

for greedy reasons I hope nobody else hires him as he is doing a fine job developing our young blokes at the moment. What he was like as a Senior Coach previously is totally irrelevant now as he is not a senior coach anymore and he works as part of the Geelong system. Unlike Gary Ayres yesterday who is in charge of his team, Knights is not in charge of his. Sure on matchday he is the coach, but the systems and game-plan he uses is all Geelong's. Not Knights.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Amazing what can be achieved by someone who isn't whiteanted from within with 2+ years left on his contract...
I'm sure Knighta enjoyed this year...

the bolded bit was what you first posted before editing. You very well knew the irony in your original post no doubt.

 

[Zephyr Effekt]

So why exactly is everyone so upset.

Cry me a river FFS!

 

[Lance Uppercut]

for some reason people can't just be happy for Knights to enjoy his first premiership at any level (I think?). Good on him.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Somehow some believe that winning a VFL flag justifies that Essendon made a mistake sacking Knights. Let's ignore the fact that Geelong stand alone side defeated Port Melb stand alone side. Only other AFL stand alone was Coll'wood and they had a stack load of injuries. Geelong VFL came good second half of the year when Cats AFL injuries inproved.

FFS Allan Joyce won a premiership in his first season.

good luck to Knights and well done Geelong. but it has nothing to do with Knights' sacking as Bombers coach.

 

[EasternTiger]

Yeah well done Knights. This petty bickering should be set aside, and a worthy accomplishment acknowledged. Anyone notice how fit and energetic he looked. He appeared stifled in his general posture and movement when he was at Essenton. Must be so much easier to move around without a knife in your back.