Coaching Staff Past Coach: Matthew Knights - Finally gets his second shot - 5/5

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Interesting for the decision to be made so soon, but it was a decision that at the end of the day needed to be made.

Feel sorry for Knights as he seemed like a good person but his unwillingness to adopt his gameplan to implement a defensive side was his ultimate downfall.

Now we need to act responsibly and find a new coach, I'm glad the rumours were not true about Alan Richardson being appointed straight away. We need to take time in making this decision and make sure we get it right this time.

All the best in the future Matthew with what ever path you choose. It would have been nice to see him stay on in a development role as I feel that is his greatest asset.
 
Ryder Is God said:
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Pity we didn't see more of this passion.

Thanks Knighta for all the great memories, will never forget Anzac Day '09 and the day we broke St Kilda's winning sequence!

You gave me the oppotunity to watch my first ever away final and even though we got smashed it was still a night I will never forget.
 
All the best Matthew. There are at least three components to Essendon's current position. Knights, the players and the board, and the coach is usually going to be shown the door in these circumstances. Congrats on standing your ground in recent weeks and enjoy your payout.

I have a far, far higher opinion of Knights than I do of the Essendon board.
 

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The guy should never have been given the job in the first place. I was absolutely disgusted by the decision back in 2007.

Quite funny to hear the response when questioned regarding the contract extension -

"At that point in time (of the re-signing), the board felt it was the right thing to do for the club."

What an absolute crock of ****. There was no logical reason in this world why they needed to extend his contract for one more year let alone two on what he had shown to that point. I mean its not like other clubs would have been knocking Knights' door down to poach him. Just a really, really dumb decision and as a member someone should be held responsible for that.
 
All and sundry would know I wasn't a fan.. however

His commitment to Essendon can't be questioned and he always represented the club in a professional way. I appreciate that he handled the immense pressure well and didn't get into a public spat with administrators.

Thanks to M Knights for coaching our club and trying his hardest to achieve success. It may not have worked but his self belief in his plans and vision is to be congratulated.
 
rines said:
All and sundry would know I wasn't a fan.. however

His commitment to Essendon can't be questioned and he always represented the club in a professional way. I appreciate that he handled the immense pressure well and didn't get into a public spat with administrators.

Thanks to M Knights for coaching our club and trying his hardest to achieve success. It may not have worked but his self belief in his plans and vision is to be congratulated.
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Well played.
 
AS9 said:
All the best in the future Matthew with what ever path you choose. It would have been nice to see him stay on in a development role as I feel that is his greatest asset.
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I think he'd rather eat shit than take on another position within the organisation..

Can't say the same about Kevin Rudd though, he did both..

kevin_rudd_cake.jpg
 
eastaugh36 said:
The guy should never have been given the job in the first place. I was absolutely disgusted by the decision back in 2007.

Quite funny to hear the response when questioned regarding the contract extension -

"At that point in time (of the re-signing), the board felt it was the right thing to do for the club."

What an absolute crock of ****. There was no logical reason in this world why they needed to extend his contract for one more year let alone two on what he had shown to that point. I mean its not like other clubs would have been knocking Knights' door down to poach him. Just a really, really dumb decision and as a member someone should be held responsible for that.
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To be fair to them, although hindsight has proven it wrong, at that point, he'd just led an average team into the finals, and there was no way he could have continued if we had a poor year by public perception, but he made all his KPIs. That was their justification, or their logical reason.

It's an 800k mistake, though.
 
AS9 said:
Interesting for the decision to be made so soon, but it was a decision that at the end of the day needed to be made
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I think you'll find the decision (in principal) was probably made about 3-4 weeks ago and the board did the right thing and waited until the end of the year to announce it.
 
red+black said:
All the best Matthew. There are at least three components to Essendon's current position. Knights, the players and the board, and the coach is usually going to be shown the door in these circumstances. Congrats on standing your ground in recent weeks and enjoy your payout.

I have a far, far higher opinion of Knights than I do of the Essendon board.
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Agree completly. I'm gutted by this actually. I really wanted him to stay. Don't have much of an opinion of our board at all.

I hope he kicks on and has success at whatever he does next. He certainly has the positive attitude to do so. He'll need it after this.

Anyway, thanks for the 100% commitment you gave to the club and the dignity you held under intense pressure is a credit to you.

Good luck and hope to see you back in the A.F.L soon.
 

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Thanks Knighter.

As David Evans said he have laid the foundation for an exciting future. His commitment was never questioned. Always 100% commited to the future of our club.

Some of my best Essendon memories have come under his coaching: ANZAC Day 09, beating the Blues 5 times in a row, ending the saints run, beating Hawthorn to make the finals in 09.

He was always going to have a tough job with a heap of pressure. Right from the start he was on the backfoot with all that Keep Sheedy garbage. In the end, probably a decision that needed to be made.
 
Thanks for three years of your best. If I was king of the world, you'd still be coach next year - such is life. Keep plugging away and show the club that they have made a mistake.

You often said that our players sometimes had to go back to the twos to learn their trade - this might be your time to do this. If you don't get a senior call-up next year, go back, learn your trade, get that flag and stick it up us.

You're Essendon people now; there'll always be a part of us barracking for you in whatever you do. All the best.
 
I have to agree with you Ben regarding the wins over the Saints and the Pies in 2009. In terms of being emotionally involved in a sporting contest without actually playing it, those 2 matches are near the top of my sporting experiences. Matthew Knights was responsible for our attacking brand of footy and when we did it well, it was sensational to watch. The way it ended was not pretty at all, but coaches sackings hardly ever end nicely.
All the best for the future and thanks for developing our young players and moving us on from the Sheedy era, which was an extremely difficult task.
 
Mixed feelings.

Absolutely gutted for Knights. Extremely saddened as to what he and his family have had to endure from both the media and our supporters alike. You can argue that he deserved it because he couldn't coach professionally or that he should have known what he was getting himself into when he applied for the position, but honestly, who could have expected the tremendous backlash that Knights has received from so many Essendon faithful from the moment he replaced Sheedy? I can't begin to comprehend how Knights is feeling, but at least his family have been spared two more years of chaotic delirium that we've worked ourselves into.

However, I am excited. I'm looking forward to a new period in the history of this proud and powerful club. I'm under no illusions, success won't happen straight away. It's going to be a difficult road to reach the pinaccle of success but I feel we all need to embrace our new coach and believe wholeheartedly that whomever it is, that he can take us back to where we belong. We as loyal supporters have been divided for far too long.

I just want to see spirit, I want to see some toughness. I want to attend a game and know that from the moment the game begins until the final siren, that we have fought every second regardless of the result. I want our opposition to hate playing us because we're ferocious at the ball and we play for each other and our coach. I want for us all to be united with the belief that we're heading in the right direction.

I want to thank Knights for leading us into the finals in 2009. The experience will be invaluable for our young kids. We've got some tremedous young blokes coming through all with an abundance of potential. Howlett, Melksham, Colyer, Hurley, Hooker, Pears, Zaharakis, Myers. We saw tantalising glimpses of what Gumbleton is capable of producing. Carlisle showed some promise. Marigliani, Crameri and Hardingham all showed excellent signs toward the latter portion of the year. If we keep getting games into these players, we'll continue to see significant improvements well into the future.

It's been a difficult year, but we'll fight our way back.
 

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Coaching Staff Past Coach: Matthew Knights - Finally gets his second shot - 5/5

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