youd be good fun in a sauna.
Well, X is on an aggressive mission, taking no prisoners so maybe Woosha isn’t the man? Who knows? That being said, Woosha has done everything right to date so it’s reasonable to expect he’ll get a decent run at achieving success.
Unless X has had conversations with another coach he thinks is a better fit for the team (unlikely).
If it’s true Woosha’s family have gone back to WA not sure it has anything to do with him getting a contract extension or not. One thing is for sure, Woosha is heavily invested in Essendon achieving the ultimate + his teams are highly competitive, a trait sorely missed for far too long so it would be good to see him have a decent crack at it. Essendon needs stability (5 coaches in 10 years). Woosha is the man.
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Caracella please, everywhere he has played or coached the club wins a premiership.
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I agree. Also been part of the Geelong program, and wasn’t he an assistant at Collingwood too? If you were going to take a punt on an untried coach, Cara would be the safest bet given his track record at each club he has been at. He will know what a successful program looks like, and would be tactically up to speed with modern footy.
I would love to see John see this through for many years to come, I really would. The club went against the grain in appointing him in terms of not having a formal application “process”. We went and sounded out the #1 candidate and employed him. And the decision has been vindicated thus far. But blood is thicker than water. If Woosha has told the club he doesn’t want to renew, or that he’d sign on for 2019 and be part of a succession plan, we have to act now and whilst we can’t officially employ anyone now, we have to get in contact with the management of our desired candidate and put the proposal forward. It would be an important process to nail.
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I’d say the choice was Johns as to how long he’d stay, and will be still./
Welcome to Essendon Nathan Buckley
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Some men just want to watch the world burn
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We’d finally get our jet midfielder.
But Daniher would play CHB.
No.
Or be traded out.
The main thing is we don’t want this whole is he or isn’t he staying to derail our season.
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If he doesn’t intend to stay beyond this season, he should go now. Players deserve the opportunity to play for a coach who is in for the long haul.
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That’s crap. Best time to change the coach is right at the end of the season.
Perhaps his family has returned to Perth because of school/university course options as now is the right time to do as school starts in a couple of weeks and Uni’s in about 6 or so weeks. How Woosha manages time away from his family would be key. but people in senior business roles have done this before but it is not ideal.
It’s not ideal but it can work. Jose Mourinho lives in a hotel in Manchester while his family live back in London. So it can be done but it could easily turn into a big distraction, which is the last thing we want after finally being done with the saga.
To coach a club you need to be all in, I hope he is
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1hr flight vs 3.5
Depends on the definition of commuting. If he is only going back a couple of times a year than that’s fine but if he has plans to go back more frequently and miss trainings then I’m sorry but he has to go. Leaves the club in a tough spot but if the coach isn’t committed you can’t except the players to be.
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Yeah, disagree with a lot of that. The “turnaround” discussion…
My thinking is pretty clear… we were not a true 18th to 7 turnaround team. We finished 18th on the back of the biggest punishment this sport has ever seen. I will not debate the merits of that punishment, but needless to say… anyone who believes that we were a team that should have finished at the bottom of the ladder is deluded.
So snapshot… this team had been building steadily under the guidance of Hird.
2011 - First year under Hird and we made the GF of the preseason, sat in the top 8 for large periods, made the finals and duly bombed out. Most thought we were on track for sustained success.
2012 started as another belter and we sat comfortably in the 8 turning for home. Injury ripped through the club and we missed the finals. A cruel blow and one that would have huge ramifications.
2013 - A huge start to the year was epic and we sat in the top 4 at the end of round 18 despite the swirling saga around us. In the cruelest blow in history, we were dumped from the finals without due cause and we will never know how that team would have gone.
2014 - Ravaged by penalties, the loss of finals and our coach… we limped along like a team broken. The media frenzy reached a zenith and despite the sandwich munching of the coach… we hovered mid table. We made finals despite everything and most assumed the worst was behind us.
At that point it was clear that this list was one that was top 4 ready. Not only was the core solid, we had added some young talent to complement the older stars. The club was ready for clean air and sustained success.
2015 - Hird returns and we made a solid, if not spectacular, start. Then ASADA announces the appeal and the whole thing turns into a circus. The team is fractured, the fan base is divided and the playing list looks disinterested. The saga takes its toll and we limp to 16th and a chance of coach.
2016 - Worsford comes in, and has nothing to lose as the list is decimated. On the positive, we have drafted and recruited well and the young brigade looks exciting. The club is a competitive unit but not quite good enough to get over the line. Most assume that with the full list coming together in 2017, it will be a good year.
2017 - With a full list, one highly rated both internally and externally, we start the season in a mixed fashion. The returning players have varying degrees of impact and we “hit the wall” just three weeks into a new season and at the half way point it wasn’t looking good. The roller coaster that follows is exciting as we lurch from good to bad to ugly to superb… sometimes all in one game. The list makes finals with some luck and solid wins but is duly dispatched by a much better outfit in week 1.
So I would strongly argue that we have had a ‘finals worthy’ list since 2011 and we have added the talents of guys like Merrett, Daniher, AMT, Fanta, Parish, McGrath… with the biggest ‘loss’ being Ryder and, perhaps, Carlisle. So we have had far more ‘ins’ than ‘outs’ from a list perspective imho.
I’m not saying Woosha hasn’t done well… he is measured, mature and guided us through a very hellish year but at some point we have to take off the blinkers and look around. This was not some ‘miracle’ he pulled from his ■■■■. He took a top 4 worthy list and limped into the finals… fine, great and terrific. At this point he hasn’t achieved any thing more than Hird did in his first year… or Thompson did in the post first saga penalties year…
All I’m suggesting is we start to draw a line in the sand, stop using the saga excuse and now note that Woosha has a solid club behind, industry best training facilities, a great management structure, a very very very strong list and absolutely NO reason for this club not making it deep into finals.
So why is wrong to suggest we wait to actually see him produce results before signing him up? FWIW, Caracella is a fantastic coach in waiting and there are many more out there waiting for their chance I’m sure. I haven’t seen anything tactically from Woosha that is a ‘game changer’ or anything that would suggest our coaching alone gives us an edge over the opposition. I’m not suggesting he is in the hot seat or anything close to that… just merely that we stop worshipping thy guy for limping us into 7th place and instead wait for some actual, REAL, success before we sign him to a long term deal.
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The players apparently coach themselves anyway, so maybe he can do the job from Perth?
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