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

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Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

yaco55 said:
Donners

How can you say they aren't having a go ?

All the kpi's from the Adelaide Game - had us in front or level - This is not a sign of an umcommitted team.

Skill errors - mainly from the senior players - killed us.
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I was at the game (sadly my first for the year - my previous was the debacle in the final) and after the first 5 minutes, there was zero intensity or effort.

At one point Davey and Bellchmabers were chasing a player - guess who tried and who didn't? It is Davey's forte and yet he let the ruckmen chase. We had given up and it was sickening to watch.

They weren't having a go - you can try (VFL standard) and then you can really try and bust a gut (AFL standard).

Getting spanked by a terrible terrible team speaks volumes of how inept we were.

If you think the players went over to win, then we need new players. They went over to have a quiet weekend with a relaxing round of footy.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Appointing Hird as senior coach would be crazy. Think Tony Shaw, Voss and Watson.

No, you have to wait to see Knights' gameplan take hold - he has until the end of 2012 (2.5 years away) so he is planning accordingly
 

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Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Redb# said:
C'mon enough is enough he does not have it. The game plan is not working, our players work ethic is inconsistent, our recruitment (midfield a known deficiency) poor,etc,etc.

After the loss to Freo I was very down, we came and played well for 5-6 games and since then lost badly to Geelong and Adelaide. We should not lose by more than 10 goals one week and get close to Hawthorn the next.

Our players are motivating themselves and picking when to work hard. Great coaches can get them up regularly. Knights is VFL level coach and lets be honest the Bendigo Bombers hardly set the world on fire.
Knights will never get us to a premeriship he can't inspire the faithful - the club will lose members, fans,and dollars, we will struggle for years.

Wake up Essendon, we need an Essendon man in the job (should have looked at Hardwick!), I want James Hird, I want to beleive again. yes I know it's an easy grab but deep down we would love to give Hird the opportunity to coach our great club, better than wasting years on a lame workhorse who has never acheived a premiership in Knights!
Click to expand...

I don't think it is a good idea to sack coaches while under contract. The board made a decision to resign him and they should give him his alloted time. I can't think of a successful club that has not had stability in their coaching ranks. It should also be recognised that coaches can improve, just as players can. Having said this, i think he is doing a substandard job at the moment, particularly player management and selection. There are a number of players who get games regardless of form and others that can't get a game or get dropped immediately if they aren't min the best. Performance at Bendoigo is also not being recognised. The selection of Quinn last year, in each oif the games he played, were the worst selection decisions from any team I can remember, and it must have been embarrassing for the players who didn't get a game those times.

The worst thing is implementing a game plan which requires quick, skillful ball use from the back half and through the middle and then loading up the backline and midfield with slow, poorly skilled players. This is just plain irrational. There has been a lot of debate about whether players such as Hank, McVeigh and Welsh should be getting a game at all. I think its plain that Hank is not good enough, but regardless, i don't think we can play all these three, Jobe, Prismall and Hocking ij the same team, we quite clearly do not play well with a slow side. Even if they are all in our best 22 only three should ever be in the same team, maybe four.

I certainly don't want Hird to come in and coach. How on earth would anybody know if he can coach, and I certainly don't want him learning on the job when thewre are lots of candidtes with experience and pedigree as coaches around. People also need to get into their thick heads that the quality and style of a palyers game has nothing to do with their ability or how they will coach. Just because a player was hard at it, does not mean that they will be able to coach their players to do the same and just because they were a smart footballer, doesn't mean they will be able to impart that knowledge, or they will be good at managing 18 players into a coherent game plan.
 
XIsDonIsGoodX said:
Bay 13.
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I thought it would suit Bay 13 but I wanted replies from our supporters. I have never been a supporter of Knights & after a heated discussion with some mates(Geelong & Hawthorn supporters), I wanted to vent some anger.

Sorry about the length & paragraphs but it seemed alright to me lastnight after a few frothies. lol
 
munckz said:
I was strolling through Matthew Knight stats and came to realise he must have despised playing the mighty Red & Black. During his career(1988 - 2002) the Tigers amassed an amazing 4 wins in 24 games(worst record against all clubs during that time) when Knights played the Dons. Two of Knights career highlights would have been against the Bombers, the 1st being his first winning final, the semi final of 1995 in which Richmond won by 13pts, only to be demolished the following week by 89pts thanks to Geelong. Another of his other favourite memories would be the Tiges fine round 22 win over Essendon of 24pts in 2001 to keep them in 4th place only to play Essendon the following week in the qualifying final, they got thumped by 70pts. Must have been a Heartbreaker.

Then move onto round 17, 2002 Matty Knights farewell game and what do you know, it was against the Bombers. His team battled all the way to the end but the final result wasn’t good enough to send him off with a win, losing by the smallest of margins 53 to 54(A result sure to stick in his head). His blood must have been boiling after a tumultuous end to his playing career. Knights played 279 games throughout his career with 161 losses, 12.4% of those losses came at the hands of Essendon​

Richmonds games against Essendon with knights by the margins
Essendon by 58, 33, 78, 79, 4
1st win: Rnd 17 '91 17pts. Essendon by 51, 78, 46, draw(knights didn’t play)
2nd win: Semi Final '95 13pts. Essendon by 18, 20, 93,
3rd win: Rnd 1 ’98 14pts. Essendon by 19, 35, 58, 43, 101, 46
4th win: Rnd 22 '01 24pts. Essendon by 70, 52, 1
Average losing margin was 49pts​

Moving onto his coaching, 2004 Port Adelaide Magpies Assistant Coach, they finished the yr with 7 wins & an almighty 13 losses, the next yr knights moved in for the kill. Taking over the helm of the Bendigo Bombers(2005-2007) with no success at all, he had coached the BB to 55 games with a great win/loss record of 20 wins/35 losses. His last game as coach for Bendigo was an Elimination Final against the Nth Ballarat Roosters in which Bendigo held a 59pt lead 5 mins into the 3rd quarter, only to kick 2 of the next 19 goals in 40+ mins & lose 21.22(148) – 16.15(111).
Knights didn’t know what hit him, must not have had another plan but plan A in that game. ​

Since then Knights has been our so called master replacement of Kevin Sheedy, a champion ex-Richmond player & Essendon mastermind, big shoes to fill. Which up to this point 2 & a half yrs on he has achieved little, made a final and gave Essendon their worst finals defeat of 94pts. Each time we seem to be getting it together, everything just falls apart, the players don’t know what to do & Matty Knights consistently sticks with plan A​


How on Earth did he get the coaching job at Essendon & does Knights really have a plan B – take down the Essendon Football Club?​
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top post.

and i am really puzzled how he got the coaching job as well.
he may be a good bloke but he cant coach and his assistants need to go as well .
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

abers47 said:
Matthew Lloyd????? I love the way he speaks about football - speaks a lot of sense. What sort of coach would he be?:confused:
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Another case of it being all too easy to sound like an expert from the safety of a booth or a studio.

He'd be the same or worse than Hird I reckon.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

DaSawx said:
I'd sign Lloyd as a forward line coach in a heartbeat. Would tutor the Key Forwards beautifully while he would know how a front 6 should function, wouldn't give him a bigger role than that though.
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Im suprised that hes not already down there as some sort of forward coach.. would definatly be the right man for the job i say!
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Redb# said:
C'mon enough is enough he does not have it. The game plan is not working, our players work ethic is inconsistent, our recruitment (midfield a known deficiency) poor,etc,etc.

After the loss to Freo I was very down, we came and played well for 5-6 games and since then lost badly to Geelong and Adelaide. We should not lose by more than 10 goals one week and get close to Hawthorn the next.

Our players are motivating themselves and picking when to work hard. Great coaches can get them up regularly. Knights is VFL level coach and lets be honest the Bendigo Bombers hardly set the world on fire.
Knights will never get us to a premeriship he can't inspire the faithful - the club will lose members, fans,and dollars, we will struggle for years.

Wake up Essendon, we need an Essendon man in the job (should have looked at Hardwick!), I want James Hird, I want to beleive again. yes I know it's an easy grab but deep down we would love to give Hird the opportunity to coach our great club, better than wasting years on a lame workhorse who has never acheived a premiership in Knights!
Click to expand...
If you want Hird then check out this facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/James-Hird-to-replace-Matthew-Knights-as-Essendon-Coach/114127405285062?ref=ts
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Gull35 said:
Im suprised that hes not already down there as some sort of forward coach.. would definatly be the right man for the job i say!
Click to expand...

Try definitely- it's a better read.

Lloyd is loving the media, no point hanging around a football club and not being seen to be impartial, at the moment.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

hird will never play second fiddle to another coach, its either coach the dons or be on the board at essendon and end up president

knights just doesnt take on any responsibility for terrible performances:

losses against

fremantle
west coast
collingwood
geelong
adelaide

those performances are totally un essendon like and there has been no acknowledgment of this fact by any one senior within the essendon coaching staff
 

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Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

stander said:
Unlike McVeigh, Knights wouldn't have missed a target inside the 50 by 10 metres and he answered to some of the worst coaches in AFL history.
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It is an interesting point that you raise

Knights was an elite midfielder with immaculate disposal - If Knights was running through the midfield he would hit gumbleton and Hurley lace out on the chest.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Pevers-Legend said:
I was at the game (sadly my first for the year - my previous was the debacle in the final) and after the first 5 minutes, there was zero intensity or effort.

At one point Davey and Bellchmabers were chasing a player - guess who tried and who didn't? It is Davey's forte and yet he let the ruckmen chase. We had given up and it was sickening to watch.

They weren't having a go - you can try (VFL standard) and then you can really try and bust a gut (AFL standard).

Getting spanked by a terrible terrible team speaks volumes of how inept we were.

If you think the players went over to win, then we need new players. They went over to have a quiet weekend with a relaxing round of footy.
Click to expand...

I understand and respect your observations from the game - But KPI's dont lie - WE got the ball enough, won enough contests and clearances but used the ball appallingly.

The best game to look at for lack of intensity/effort was the game against the WC - Couldn't get our hands on the ball for the second and third quarter.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

The Donners said:
KPIs, this is football, not the boardroom.
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You better tell the coaches not to use KPI's - lets throw out any statistical analysis.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

yaco55 said:
I understand and respect your observations from the game - But KPI's dont lie - WE got the ball enough, won enough contests and clearances but used the ball appallingly.

The best game to look at for lack of intensity/effort was the game against the WC - Couldn't get our hands on the ball for the second and third quarter.
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Problem is, when you have zero system, your players aren't really going in 100% - you can win some stats but still play terribly.

State all the KPI's you want, the effort simply wasn't there. We tried harder in the final we lost and we lost by more.

It is not by how much you lose, but how you lose that counts.

I am not dismissing the cattle, just that it was a gutless effort, one we all are to accustomed too. an effort, that was not irregular in the Sheedy days. However, with Knights I thought we had moved on from his days.

West of Etihad = loss and a bye for the players. Really - not good enough. I recognise we are young, but our coaching staff don't get that luxury.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Pevers-Legend said:
Problem is, when you have zero system, your players aren't really going in 100% - you can win some stats but still play terribly.

State all the KPI's you want, the effort simply wasn't there. We tried harder in the final we lost and we lost by more.

It is not by how much you lose, but how you lose that counts.

I am not dismissing the cattle, just that it was a gutless effort, one we all are to accustomed too. an effort, that was not irregular in the Sheedy days. However, with Knights I thought we had moved on from his days.

West of Etihad = loss and a bye for the players. Really - not good enough. I recognise we are young, but our coaching staff don't get that luxury.
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West of Etihad = loss and a bye - Pay that line:thumbsu:

How about North and East of Etihad ?
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

yaco55 said:
You better tell the coaches not to use KPI's - lets throw out any statistical analysis.
Click to expand...

Stats can be manipulated anyway you want them.

No good having first use of the ball if you are under pressure and butcher it. Getting first hands on the ball but no blocking/being on the move when you get it means you don't have an efficient disposal. Stats can lie.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

yaco55 said:
West of Etihad = loss and a bye - Pay that line:thumbsu:

How about North and East of Etihad ?
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Geography waws not my storng point.

Connolly made a good point - SCG = win much more often than Telstra Stadium or Gabba.

It's not good enough. We don't have to win them, but we are more often than not, not even competitive.

As I said before, it is not about winning but doing the right things.

The coaching panel must go (not all but most) and we need to start looking at why we are failing with the 1%ers. Geelong are the bench mark for a reason. They block shpeherd and corral opposition players. We do little of this.

One other point about KPI's - why does lot's of tackles mean we are playing well? Tackles = 2nd to the ball. Another stats lie....just saying.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

Pevers-Legend said:
Stats can be manipulated anyway you want them.

No good having first use of the ball if you are under pressure and butcher it. Getting first hands on the ball but no blocking/being on the move when you get it means you don't have an efficient disposal. Stats can lie.
Click to expand...

Pevers

This is what I have been arguing all along - Skill errors killed us against Adelaide - And the senior players were mainly responsible.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

canteencritic said:
hird will never play second fiddle to another coach, its either coach the dons or be on the board at essendon and end up president

knights just doesnt take on any responsibility for terrible performances:

losses against

fremantle
west coast
collingwood
geelong
adelaide

those performances are totally un essendon like and there has been no acknowledgment of this fact by any one senior within the essendon coaching staff
Click to expand...

Why have I got an email from Essendon FC which says "Knights: we need to rectify horrible game".

I'd say that's acknowledging a poor performance.
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

stander said:
Pal, I stood, and I reiterate, I was a stander when the Dons lost by 140 to the Hawks in 1992. Renewing my membership was a given, not a considered decision, unlike yours.
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So by your twisted logic, no Essendon member is allowed to question the coaches' appointment or risk being branded a lesser supporter. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Are we ready to sack Knights?

HighettBomber said:
I don't think it is a good idea to sack coaches while under contract. The board made a decision to resign him and they should give him his alloted time. I can't think of a successful club that has not had stability in their coaching ranks. It should also be recognised that coaches can improve, just as players can. Having said this, i think he is doing a substandard job at the moment, particularly player management and selection. There are a number of players who get games regardless of form and others that can't get a game or get dropped immediately if they aren't min the best. Performance at Bendoigo is also not being recognised. The selection of Quinn last year, in each oif the games he played, were the worst selection decisions from any team I can remember, and it must have been embarrassing for the players who didn't get a game those times.

The worst thing is implementing a game plan which requires quick, skillful ball use from the back half and through the middle and then loading up the backline and midfield with slow, poorly skilled players. This is just plain irrational. There has been a lot of debate about whether players such as Hank, McVeigh and Welsh should be getting a game at all. I think its plain that Hank is not good enough, but regardless, i don't think we can play all these three, Jobe, Prismall and Hocking ij the same team, we quite clearly do not play well with a slow side. Even if they are all in our best 22 only three should ever be in the same team, maybe four.

I certainly don't want Hird to come in and coach. How on earth would anybody know if he can coach, and I certainly don't want him learning on the job when thewre are lots of candidtes with experience and pedigree as coaches around. People also need to get into their thick heads that the quality and style of a palyers game has nothing to do with their ability or how they will coach. Just because a player was hard at it, does not mean that they will be able to coach their players to do the same and just because they were a smart footballer, doesn't mean they will be able to impart that knowledge, or they will be good at managing 18 players into a coherent game plan.
Click to expand...

McVeigh's delivery is vital in the back line we turn the ball over too much with poor disposal.

The dropping of Dempsey???? - maybe I'm a lone wolf but surely one of our better developing players. If Knights can't get the best out of him on top of everything else that is wrong with him, get another coach. he is in our best 22.

Prismall is not elite.

Watson is fantastic at getting the hard ball, but his skill execution lets us down, you rarely see Judd or Ablett stuff it up so often. More improtantly there are not quality midfielders around him to assist.

Re James Hird, being hard at it. Well Leigh Matthews was hard at it, but could coach. I think the question is more whether Hird wants to coach, but if he did surely Essendon should give him a chance.

I'll accept a serious review at the end of the season rather than sacking him right now. but don't expect much improvement overall, when the players are up we will do well , but the following week we could get smashed by 10 goals and that should not happen to a half decent quality side with good coaching structures.

Knights does not have what it takes.
 

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

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