The more I think about it… the more I’m convinced we need a very experienced person to fill this role.
It’s probably the most important decision the club will make for a long time… even more so than the coach.
You’re going to need someone that has years of experience in this role, and must be able to support the young coaching group and also tell the Executives, Board and Coterie groups to get the f*ck out of the way… but can also report and communicate effectively at board meetings.
Neil Balme has publicly said he is happy at Richmond and is not going anywhere.
He also knocked back the opportunity to go back home to work with the Crows, despite him admitting he considered it because he and his wife have family there.
Move on from the Balme thing. There’s no point wishing for something that isn’t going to happen.
There’s plenty of room on the Ross the Boss train.
Richardson never particularly impressed me at any level - entirely as an outsider- and as the footy boss I’ve not felt like he had us all on the same page. Far from it. People I trust have long thought he was part of our problems. And I wasn’t impressed with the public messaging around Saads departure and the insinuation he was selfish, I thought the club let itself down badly there.
So I’m ok with him being let go.
But. And it’s a severe but. Campbell is the one who has presided over multiple, continual failings. Extending Woosha’s contract . Then concocting the handover plan , presumably to mask over the original error of extending said contract. Which just made everything worse, denying both Worsfold and Rutten a true and honest 2020. And created disparate voices for a fracturing player group to selectively tune into. And now he’s presided over the departure of Richardson, who he ratified as the right appointment. What’s next? Sack Rutten a year or two from now and blithely skate over the fact that he got another key hiring wrong? I hope not, but only in the sense that I want Rutten and Essendon to be successful.
So it’s ok that Richardson goes. But I hope the power brokers inside the club don’t think one firing fixes everything. And they should probably look closely at what the CEO has gotten right on the footy side of things (as opposed to the corporate side) over the last six or seven years.
Don’t stop now, Paul. There’s much more to be done.
Get an experienced footy boss that reports into the board as well as Xavier. Either Xavier makes that work and steps back from the footy department or he jumps before being pushed.
While I agree with all that you have written, they are not going to sack X the same day they sack Dan. I suspect IF X is going (no idea if he is or isn’t) it won’t be until after this trade/draft period. I see no reason why people expect it today as part of the Richardson news?
Correct. I don’t expect it today. Or even have a timeframe on it.
This - Richardson - can’t be the only step though imo. I’m also uneasy at one of the articles today suggesting the flat management setup that funnels 3 areas of reporting directly to Campbell. We almost certainly need a footy manager that stands their ground to make the necessary changes. But Campbell would be making that appointment…
