Ben Rutten - Back to the grindstone (Part 2)

isn’t he that weird bald comedian?

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I think all the Clarkson talk can be shelved now.

theres only 1 kind of shelving around here mate

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Essendon’s back line coach is Daniel Giansiracusa, the VFL backline coach is Dustin Fletcher.

Bzerk is playing well having been coached by Fletch who has a direct laconic style. Guys like Ridley seem a little confused and not performing to expectations. I wonder if Rutten the former backman is contributing to mixed messages coming from him and Gia.

From what Damo was saying on FC he belives the club will back Rutten in.

I still think he’s not safe imo another poor start to the year and he’s goneski. Truck will need us sitting comfortably in the 8 and winning a final to get a contract extenstion

The Board fully and equivocally supports itself.

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Most likely but he will definitely be coaching next year so the Clarko talk should be over now.

How many years does this happen at Essendon? The players don’t play to the game plan, season is almost done, they change the plan to give them more freedom and they finish the year with a few good wins, then rinse and repeat again next year.

I haven’t even been impressed by the wins either to be honest, the saints one was good but gee they were ordinary, but the swans one was basically flukey goal kicking and the swans missing and Brisbane had half their side out and we still struggled to put them away. There are pretty much zero positives from this year as we still haven’t implemented a sustainable team defence model which is astounding this many years in with rutten. Okay I’ll give you one positive, young guys are getting their game numbers up, otherwise it has been a complete mess of a season with nothing really gained at all, we have gone backwards.

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Well put. The current administration reminds me of a senior citizen still living in their own home and refuses to acknowledge they can’t be self-sufficient any longer and need to move to a retirement village. Literally there needs to be an intervention to remove Brasher, Campbell, Dodoro, etc for the greater good of the club. Until that occurs we are going nowhere.

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I see learning a new game plan like learning a musical instrument. It’s a slow and arduous process, which is frustrating.

And blaming your music teacher because you’re not shredding like Angus Young after 12 weeks.

But in reality you need self discipline, hard work & time to improve, while acknowledging you need to put the responsibility on yourself to get better.

I still think there is a rotten cultural underbelly at Essendon.

Langford’s recent comments were interesting when he was asked about the reasons for the improvement over the last month. He says straight away - “getting players back helped”.

I’m sorry mate, but you can’t blame injuries on the lack of pressure and horrible structures. Yes we had a few injuries, but we weren’t playing multiple debutants each week. We were playing the likes of Ham and Cutler, who have been around the club long enough to know the structures pretty well. Our backline also was essentially full strength and our midfield wasn’t decimated.

Richmond every year have periods where they are playing multiple rookies and first year players, yet they still stick to their brand and bring effort each week. We seem to still have that poor culture that gives excuses to bad performances.

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Some valid points re the context our recent wins, however that should go both ways IMO; we’ve had our own share of losses this year due to player unavailability and/or inaccurate goal-kicking (having a cooked game plan also hasn’t helped).

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That might be true, but are we able to establish that:

  • The supposed gameplan/defensive structures are the right ones to deliver sustained success?

  • Does Rutten have the ability to communicate the gameplan/defensive structures with enough clarity that the players are 100% clear on their roles and responsibilities within those structures?

  • Is Rutten able to get 100% buy-in from the players that if they execute the gameplan/defensive structures correctly it will lead them to sustained success?

I’d say there’s doubts on all 3 of those questions. The lack of buy-in and want to excel in the defensive aspects of the game, especially from our midfield group, suggests mainly that points 2 and 3 are not being delivered on to an adequate enough standard. Either the players are unclear on what they are supposed to do, or they simply refuse to buy into it. Both reflect poorly on the coach.

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My hope is that Clarkson holds out till next season

If not then i would be looking at Buckley or Ross Lyon

Any current assistant coaches you like the look of that could be ready to take the next step?

Or just former coaches…

We have been learning the same game plan for three years with little success. At some point you have to acknowledge that the game plan isn’t working.

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Adam Kingsley
Adem Yze

That’s a start

I reckon Ross has now been gone for too long to bring him back as a head coach.

Bucks would be the one for me, or Hinkley if Port cut ties with him. This is all in the assumption that we stick with Truck and sack him midway into his 3rd year.

Don’t think we’re brave enough to make a call on Clako this year.

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Noble is available now too…BRING!