Welcome to Essendon - Caz & Cuz

Football Discussion Regurgitated
770
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. You also have to have an understanding of an organisation seeing the players in such a dark place their welfare had to be on the coaches and management thoughts for 2016 and moving forward. It's horrifically unfair the constant media our players and coach especially receives and the fact is it sadly does have a deep affect. Have no doubt Hird spoke to Xavier instead of Little initially as they are much closer and talk often. You also have very close friends of James speaking to him like Corcoran etc. and I have no doubt they are discussing James life and where he is at in life and family. It's a mixture of many items coming together that I believe lead to this moment. This is my personal view. Guys like Simon Madded agreed with this and he knows well what happened & Hirds story and the unfairness of it. Simon's integrity is second to none and should be noted in his approval of these actions. It is what it is...incredibly sad and unjust but I think even Hird understands it even though he would like to have continued ...he is a very good businessman and I have no doubt understands branding and your main employees being players given some space from the intensity. An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

1. Little should have gone instead of Hird
2. Hird had a contract
3. Don’t promise things you can’t/won’t deliver to get elected
4. None of this was about the players
5. EFC need to start thinking about what it stands for. No good talking about fabric, then ripping said fabric up.

Why?

He is going anyway.
He wanted Hird gone.

I cant stand it when people in business make decisions for the long term when they know they are only staying for the very short term.

Once he knows he is going he shouldn’t be pressuring people (if he was) to make controversial decisions that he is not going to have to live with.

I have been through far too many of those, and the people left behind have to clean up the fall out, and try and unpick the mess.

I think you are applying “wanted” in the wrong context here. You could try " The Board made a considered decision".

Why do other people keep telling me what I meant to say?

771
I'm sorry to those I misled and encouraged to vote for Cousins and Lio. Clearly got it wrong. I got sucked in so I apologise to those I convinced when I should have had better judgement.

Goddammit. I wish we could vote Fog to the board. Conducts himself with an air of integrity akin to a golden hair coach we had once.

772
So you've had 6 days now to come back here and provide the people that voted you in some form of explanation/information.

Disgraceful, guys. Extremely disappointed. Not that you’ll end up reading this anyway.

OK . . . . . clearly there are too many folk who have little if no understanding of the requirements of being on a board. If you are dopey enough to truly think that elected board members (no matter who they are) are about to spill their guts on a website a la Blitz you’re deluded.
The board has had no end of trouble over past years with leaks & comments. And now a couple of them stick to the program and we want to hang them. How many remember the “Fat Ray” period where there were more leaks than the Titanic.
FFS get a grip on reality.
Newsflash . . . . Board held paper, Bambi signed off (with great dignity I might add).


… They’ve instead taken to twitter to answer questions but ignored the website which got them voted in…

LOL
773
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. >snip< An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

It’s very sad that the highest aspiration of our once great club is to get up to be a “regular” club.

774

At least Paul & Katie were elected. Paul Little was never elected, same with Lindsay Tanner. I don’t want another chairman who has not been elected to the board by the members. I’ve seen enough of mates seconding mates onto boards and commissions. They don’t do any favours to the members.

775
At least Paul & Katie were elected. Paul Little was never elected, same with Lindsay Tanner. I don't want another chairman who has not been elected to the board by the members.

Unfortunately will never happen.

776
Just my thoughts and yes the Hird announcement came as a big shock and had no warning. Had hundreds of debates since Tuesday on this and we are talking about my all time hero here if anyone knows me. I am gutted Hird is gone...completely gutted. I still however can talk to those I know who are close to Hird or board members, CEO and form an opinion. I also know the motive of the guy who came third in board election voting so would I have voted differently in hindsight ...not so sure

Motive? Sorry but that’s rubbish. Gauci’s mistake was to not promise what he couldn’t deliver. Two other candidates did. To pinpoint him is absolutely unfair. He did some terrific work at Melbourne Storm in difficult circumstances and would’ve offered something to our board.

777

To to remove the board and start fresh. Cousins and Lio are not supporting the people! They were quick to answer pre election. Where are you both?

We are not going to forget. Maybe we’ll chat at the Crichton

778
Just my thoughts and yes the Hird announcement came as a big shock and had no warning. Had hundreds of debates since Tuesday on this and we are talking about my all time hero here if anyone knows me. I am gutted Hird is gone...completely gutted. I still however can talk to those I know who are close to Hird or board members, CEO and form an opinion. I also know the motive of the guy who came third in board election voting so would I have voted differently in hindsight ...not so sure

Motive? Sorry but that’s rubbish. Gauci’s mistake was to not promise what he couldn’t deliver. Two other candidates did. To pinpoint him is absolutely unfair. He did some terrific work at Melbourne Storm in difficult circumstances and would’ve offered something to our board.

My opinion and yes i have had debates on Ziggy report with Gauci who gave it a lot of credit and his thoughts on future of club. My view

779
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. >snip< An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

It’s very sad that the highest aspiration of our once great club is to get up to be a “regular” club.

Albert i would hope you know what i meant by that comment.

780

I keep coming back, but no, they haven’t dropped by.

Have they Splitz the Blitz?

781
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. >snip< An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

It’s very sad that the highest aspiration of our once great club is to get up to be a “regular” club.

Albert i would hope you know what i meant by that comment.

Yes of course I do, CJ, and I would hope you know what I meant by mine.

782
Just my thoughts and yes the Hird announcement came as a big shock and had no warning. Had hundreds of debates since Tuesday on this and we are talking about my all time hero here if anyone knows me. I am gutted Hird is gone...completely gutted. I still however can talk to those I know who are close to Hird or board members, CEO and form an opinion. I also know the motive of the guy who came third in board election voting so would I have voted differently in hindsight ...not so sure

Motive? Sorry but that’s rubbish. Gauci’s mistake was to not promise what he couldn’t deliver. Two other candidates did. To pinpoint him is absolutely unfair. He did some terrific work at Melbourne Storm in difficult circumstances and would’ve offered something to our board.

My opinion and yes i have had debates on Ziggy report with Gauci who gave it a lot of credit and his thoughts on future of club. My view

Your post said “I know the motive” to me is not an opinion, it’s stated as fact.

Opinion, I can cop and we can agree to disagree on that. You’re a respected poster. I’m curious though, given what we now actually know, what were the “motives” of the elected two?

783
784
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. You also have to have an understanding of an organisation seeing the players in such a dark place their welfare had to be on the coaches and management thoughts for 2016 and moving forward. It's horrifically unfair the constant media our players and coach especially receives and the fact is it sadly does have a deep affect. Have no doubt Hird spoke to Xavier instead of Little initially as they are much closer and talk often. You also have very close friends of James speaking to him like Corcoran etc. and I have no doubt they are discussing James life and where he is at in life and family. It's a mixture of many items coming together that I believe lead to this moment. This is my personal view. Guys like Simon Madded agreed with this and he knows well what happened & Hirds story and the unfairness of it. Simon's integrity is second to none and should be noted in his approval of these actions. It is what it is...incredibly sad and unjust but I think even Hird understands it even though he would like to have continued ...he is a very good businessman and I have no doubt understands branding and your main employees being players given some space from the intensity. An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

1. Little should have gone instead of Hird
2. Hird had a contract
3. Don’t promise things you can’t/won’t deliver to get elected
4. None of this was about the players
5. EFC need to start thinking about what it stands for. No good talking about fabric, then ripping said fabric up.

Why?

He is going anyway.
He wanted Hird gone.

I cant stand it when people in business make decisions for the long term when they know they are only staying for the very short term.

Once he knows he is going he shouldn’t be pressuring people (if he was) to make controversial decisions that he is not going to have to live with.

I have been through far too many of those, and the people left behind have to clean up the fall out, and try and unpick the mess.

That he is going proves nothing. He came in with a mandate to replace Evans for the period of the Saga and see us out of it.

That he wanted Hird gone - if true - means nothing. If he did, he wanted it because he thought it was the best thing for the club. Does anyone who stands in the way of almighty Hird deserve to be stripped of their post?

Would you prefer people who are there in the short term only make decisions which will make them look good in the short term and the club not necessarily be put in such a good position in the long term? Or are you implying he had no right to change the coaching panel whilst he was there if it was short term only? If so, why have him?

What fallout in this case? And don’t say “James gone, everyone is sad”

785
Umm... I know I am not as in touch as all you hipsters, but WTF is the "DM" that all these alleged leaks are allegedly leaking in, allegedly?

I have a habit of getting these things wrong, but I wouldn’t mind a D&M with her…rawr…

786
Just my thoughts and yes the Hird announcement came as a big shock and had no warning. Had hundreds of debates since Tuesday on this and we are talking about my all time hero here if anyone knows me. I am gutted Hird is gone...completely gutted. I still however can talk to those I know who are close to Hird or board members, CEO and form an opinion. I also know the motive of the guy who came third in board election voting so would I have voted differently in hindsight ...not so sure

Motive? Sorry but that’s rubbish. Gauci’s mistake was to not promise what he couldn’t deliver. Two other candidates did. To pinpoint him is absolutely unfair. He did some terrific work at Melbourne Storm in difficult circumstances and would’ve offered something to our board.

My opinion and yes i have had debates on Ziggy report with Gauci who gave it a lot of credit and his thoughts on future of club. My view

Your post said “I know the motive” to me is not an opinion, it’s stated as fact.

Opinion, I can cop and we can agree to disagree on that. You’re a respected poster. I’m curious though, given what we now actually know, what were the “motives” of the elected two?

</blockquote

Well Gauci wants to be Chairman and was his goal by starting with board position last year. Was unhappy with Little’s performance and felt he could get EFC out of ASADA situation quicker by admitting and taking responsibility more on what he sees as our mistakes and working with AFL. In fact his position wouldnt be too different to Evans in many ways. Resolve issue fast and move on. some may like that and thats why we are all allowed to vote and have a say. No doubt in my mind he wants to be chairman today.

787
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. You also have to have an understanding of an organisation seeing the players in such a dark place their welfare had to be on the coaches and management thoughts for 2016 and moving forward. It's horrifically unfair the constant media our players and coach especially receives and the fact is it sadly does have a deep affect. Have no doubt Hird spoke to Xavier instead of Little initially as they are much closer and talk often. You also have very close friends of James speaking to him like Corcoran etc. and I have no doubt they are discussing James life and where he is at in life and family. It's a mixture of many items coming together that I believe lead to this moment. This is my personal view. Guys like Simon Madded agreed with this and he knows well what happened & Hirds story and the unfairness of it. Simon's integrity is second to none and should be noted in his approval of these actions. It is what it is...incredibly sad and unjust but I think even Hird understands it even though he would like to have continued ...he is a very good businessman and I have no doubt understands branding and your main employees being players given some space from the intensity. An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

1. Little should have gone instead of Hird
2. Hird had a contract
3. Don’t promise things you can’t/won’t deliver to get elected
4. None of this was about the players
5. EFC need to start thinking about what it stands for. No good talking about fabric, then ripping said fabric up.

Why?

He is going anyway.
He wanted Hird gone.

I cant stand it when people in business make decisions for the long term when they know they are only staying for the very short term.

Once he knows he is going he shouldn’t be pressuring people (if he was) to make controversial decisions that he is not going to have to live with.

I have been through far too many of those, and the people left behind have to clean up the fall out, and try and unpick the mess.

That he is going proves nothing. He came in with a mandate to replace Evans for the period of the Saga and see us out of it.

That he wanted Hird gone - if true - means nothing. If he did, he wanted it because he thought it was the best thing for the club. Does anyone who stands in the way of almighty Hird deserve to be stripped of their post?

Would you prefer people who are there in the short term only make decisions which will make them look good in the short term and the club not necessarily be put in such a good position in the long term? Or are you implying he had no right to change the coaching panel whilst he was there if it was short term only? If so, why have him?

What fallout in this case? And don’t say “James gone, everyone is sad”

I wouldn’t underestimate or trivialise the heartache that this is causing people, but if you want more tangible metrics take a look at the membership numbers next year.

788
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. You also have to have an understanding of an organisation seeing the players in such a dark place their welfare had to be on the coaches and management thoughts for 2016 and moving forward. It's horrifically unfair the constant media our players and coach especially receives and the fact is it sadly does have a deep affect. Have no doubt Hird spoke to Xavier instead of Little initially as they are much closer and talk often. You also have very close friends of James speaking to him like Corcoran etc. and I have no doubt they are discussing James life and where he is at in life and family. It's a mixture of many items coming together that I believe lead to this moment. This is my personal view. Guys like Simon Madded agreed with this and he knows well what happened & Hirds story and the unfairness of it. Simon's integrity is second to none and should be noted in his approval of these actions. It is what it is...incredibly sad and unjust but I think even Hird understands it even though he would like to have continued ...he is a very good businessman and I have no doubt understands branding and your main employees being players given some space from the intensity. An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

1. Little should have gone instead of Hird
2. Hird had a contract
3. Don’t promise things you can’t/won’t deliver to get elected
4. None of this was about the players
5. EFC need to start thinking about what it stands for. No good talking about fabric, then ripping said fabric up.

Why?

He is going anyway.
He wanted Hird gone.

I cant stand it when people in business make decisions for the long term when they know they are only staying for the very short term.

Once he knows he is going he shouldn’t be pressuring people (if he was) to make controversial decisions that he is not going to have to live with.

I have been through far too many of those, and the people left behind have to clean up the fall out, and try and unpick the mess.

That he is going proves nothing. He came in with a mandate to replace Evans for the period of the Saga and see us out of it.

That he wanted Hird gone - if true - means nothing. If he did, he wanted it because he thought it was the best thing for the club. Does anyone who stands in the way of almighty Hird deserve to be stripped of their post?

Would you prefer people who are there in the short term only make decisions which will make them look good in the short term and the club not necessarily be put in such a good position in the long term? Or are you implying he had no right to change the coaching panel whilst he was there if it was short term only? If so, why have him?

What fallout in this case? And don’t say “James gone, everyone is sad”

I wouldn’t underestimate or trivialise the heartache that this is causing people, but if you want more tangible metrics take a look at the membership numbers next year.

Hard to know what that will mean. A drop in numbers may indicate people “voting with their feet”. A rise in numbers may indicate that people “are sick of this ■■■■ and want to be able to vote at the AGM”. Or many other outcomes and causes. Looking at the figures alone it will be hard to gauge.

789
Personally I don't put this on Katie or Paul at all. Many more complex issues surrounding this and for those who have seen the three year history you can clearly see Little and Hird have gone back and forth in support of each other. Relationship has often been good but also extremely strained as well. Little is the Chairman and a huge influence. You also have to have an understanding of an organisation seeing the players in such a dark place their welfare had to be on the coaches and management thoughts for 2016 and moving forward. It's horrifically unfair the constant media our players and coach especially receives and the fact is it sadly does have a deep affect. Have no doubt Hird spoke to Xavier instead of Little initially as they are much closer and talk often. You also have very close friends of James speaking to him like Corcoran etc. and I have no doubt they are discussing James life and where he is at in life and family. It's a mixture of many items coming together that I believe lead to this moment. This is my personal view. Guys like Simon Madded agreed with this and he knows well what happened & Hirds story and the unfairness of it. Simon's integrity is second to none and should be noted in his approval of these actions. It is what it is...incredibly sad and unjust but I think even Hird understands it even though he would like to have continued ...he is a very good businessman and I have no doubt understands branding and your main employees being players given some space from the intensity. An EGM won't fix anything and with Little resigning in next 3-4 months I think that's all we need personally as far as change. We start again as a club in 2016 and just being a regular footy club

1. Little should have gone instead of Hird
2. Hird had a contract
3. Don’t promise things you can’t/won’t deliver to get elected
4. None of this was about the players
5. EFC need to start thinking about what it stands for. No good talking about fabric, then ripping said fabric up.

Why?

He is going anyway.
He wanted Hird gone.

I cant stand it when people in business make decisions for the long term when they know they are only staying for the very short term.

Once he knows he is going he shouldn’t be pressuring people (if he was) to make controversial decisions that he is not going to have to live with.

I have been through far too many of those, and the people left behind have to clean up the fall out, and try and unpick the mess.

That he is going proves nothing. He came in with a mandate to replace Evans for the period of the Saga and see us out of it.

That he wanted Hird gone - if true - means nothing. If he did, he wanted it because he thought it was the best thing for the club. Does anyone who stands in the way of almighty Hird deserve to be stripped of their post?

Would you prefer people who are there in the short term only make decisions which will make them look good in the short term and the club not necessarily be put in such a good position in the long term? Or are you implying he had no right to change the coaching panel whilst he was there if it was short term only? If so, why have him?

What fallout in this case? And don’t say “James gone, everyone is sad”

Not about the “almighty Hird”. Its about process. He had been trying to get rid of Hird on and off since Hird came back from overseas.
As chairman of the board he should have been providing strong direction and supporting the coach and the players. His support for the coach has vacillated since he got there.
And I would argue that the support the board has provided for the players has consisted of psychological and legal, certainly not in PR and little effort to call off the media in my opinion.

I don’t care whether people are there for the short or long term. What I do care about is when people make controversial decisions knowing they are not going to be required to deal with the fallout.
It is very easy to make decisions. It is also very easy to make difficult and controversial decisions.
It is not so easy to make controversial and difficult decisions when you know you are going to have to be responsible for not only the fallout but also for the ongoing direction and management of the business into the long term when staff and supporters in this case are becoming disengaged.

I’ve seen it far too many times. People are there for five minutes, make a few decisions (in their own image) then ■■■■ off. Or, make a few decisions, can’t deal with the fall out, and ■■■■ off.

The fall out from this decision may well be there for years. Not because Hird was almighty or even a good coach, I wouldn’t know. But because he was ■■■■■■ around for the past three years by everyone under the sun, received very little support from the board, who could forget that wretched Crichton medal night, and never had an opportunity.

And Little has contributed most to that IMO. He finally engineers Hirds departure, then announces he will soon be on his way too . He can ■■■■ off now as far as I am concerned. He has done the bidding of the AFL.

I am very very angry with the whole process.