Another 2011 AFL thread - still pretending GWS is all just a bad dream

[Axver]

It'll be nice to see Friday night footy live, if nothing else!

 

[Axver]

Last night's game certainly showed why the Saints and Dogs began the round in 11th and 13th respectively.

 

[cobl04]

vlad - 5/61
bonnie - 7/61 - new equal leader
cobl04 - 6/59
inte - 6/58
danny - how many did you get last week/52
axver - 6/57

St Kilda
West Coast
Geelong
Almost Gold Coast
Carlton
Sydney
Essendon

 

[cobl04]

lol @ crows

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Welcome to this year. You're many months behind.

Fuck we're disgraceful, no wonder I can't even be bothered following the scores.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

And we never fail to get our best players injured.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

And when we don't get thrashed they have to tease us with a good quarter and then let the opposition run away. I'm sick of this team.

 

[Axver]

That second quarter looks pretty embarrassing, but just checking now and it doesn't look like THAT embarrassing a loss or anything.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

All of our losses have been embarrassing and disgraceful. There is no silver lining other than the fact Neil Craig will finally be gone.

 

[cobl04]

I love when Adelaide lose because I love reading your reactions.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I hate you.

 

[Axver]

Vlad, I love how you always blame the coach.

Also, I'd just like to say, every time I like a funny page on Facebook that's negative about Collingwood and its fans, I feel kind of bad inside because Shepp Daniel is such a good bloke. But I can't deny the funny.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

It is about the coach. He's the one who makes the decisions, he's the one who is supposed to motivate the players, he's the one in charge of final selection.

Did you notice the difference between the Essendon of last year and the Essendon of this year?

 

[cobl04]

A good bloke with one massive flaw...

I hate you.

I know!

 

[cobl04]

Frankly I get annoyed when coaches cop all the blame. It's really unfair. Some coaches stepping down or moving on or getting sacked or whatever works out well for the club, and maybe Neil Craig's coaching isn't working at the moment (wouldn't know, haven't seen the Crows play) but in the end it's the players who have to pull their fingers out. Putting ALL the blame on the coach (not singling you out here) is a cop-out, hides the real issues and excuses players. Craig can't run out there and do it for them,

 

[Vlad n U 2]

A good bloke with one massive flaw...

I know!

Are we talking about the transition from Knights to Hird? It's proof that a change of coach can make a team go from cellar dwellers to contenders.

Damn, you knew? There goes my secret.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Frankly I get annoyed when coaches cop all the blame. It's really unfair. Some coaches stepping down or moving on or getting sacked or whatever works out well for the club, and maybe Neil Craig's coaching isn't working at the moment (wouldn't know, haven't seen the Crows play) but in the end it's the players who have to pull their fingers out. Putting ALL the blame on the coach (not singling you out here) is a cop-out, hides the real issues and excuses players. Craig can't run out there and do it for them,

Well, to be honest, there's always our senior players who let the team down often. Despite that, much of the blame should be attributed to the coach, for selecting them.

I'm confident he'll be gone though.

 

[cobl04]

A good coach makes a huge difference. But he shouldn't cop all the blame when the team is losing. It's not enitrely Rodney Eade's fault, for example, that they're doing so shit this year. Not his fault Brian Lake looks like he doesn't want to be there.

 

[cobl04]

Well, to be honest, there's always our senior players who let the team down often. Despite that, much of the blame should be attributed to the coach, for selecting them.

I'm confident he'll be gone though.

You haven't got 22 great players to pick each week. Ordinary players will get games when a side is struggling because there's no one else to pick.

Your board says he is pretty much guaranteed to be there next year.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

A good coach makes a huge difference. But he shouldn't cop all the blame when the team is losing. It's not enitrely Rodney Eade's fault, for example, that they're doing so shit this year. Not his fault Brian Lake looks like he doesn't want to be there.

Brian Lake has had injuries, no? We and the Bulldogs are in somewhat in the same boat, the only difference being they'll still thrash us. Weird that Eade and Craig will most likely be gone in the same year. I don't hate Craig, I really don't, but I really can't stress enough about how he needs to resign. If you want to see real hate for him, don't hesitate in visiting the BigFooty Adelaide section, you'd be surprised at how many people, based on their posting, would probably murder him if they had the chance. Now that's sad.

 

[cobl04]

I just find your reactions baffling. Granted, I haven't known what it's like to follow a mediocre team for the past five years, but it seems you sprout unbridled negativity.

 

[Axver]

Frankly I get annoyed when coaches cop all the blame. It's really unfair. Some coaches stepping down or moving on or getting sacked or whatever works out well for the club, and maybe Neil Craig's coaching isn't working at the moment (wouldn't know, haven't seen the Crows play) but in the end it's the players who have to pull their fingers out. Putting ALL the blame on the coach (not singling you out here) is a cop-out, hides the real issues and excuses players. Craig can't run out there and do it for them,

THIS.

I guess I'm particularly dismissive of the blame-the-coach strategy because I see it SO often in rugby. All Blacks fans are terrible for it. There are times when I think it has been justified (one of our coaches pursued a flat-attack strategy that was dire and cost us games; another loved playing our best players out of their best position), but in general, I'm just so used to people fingering the coach as the culprit when the reality is that the players just weren't up to it.

The coach - and the ref! - are such common targets that I often just tune out people who blame them. Good teams win because they are GOOD. TEAMS. The definition of both words is important there. Bad teams lose because of more factors than just a coach or a ref. Really, the time when you should look to blame the coach is in close games, when one coach's superiority over the other will become crucial to success, not when you are being beaten from pillar to post and there are a host of explanatory factors.

 

[cobl04]

Your second paragraph there is utterly perfect. I think becoming involved in the reporting side of things has given me that view. Supporters can whinge all they want, and occasionally coaching or umpiring blunders cost games, but I'd say 95% of the time the better side wins.

 

[intedomine]

This was why all the dirt thrown at Bailey disgusted me. He's rebuilding a very raw side, the progress was there last season for all to see. Scully is one of the next elite midfielders of the league, the centerpiece of the Demon side, and he's only just played his first game of the season. Meanwhile, fans are calling for Bailey's head despite a healthy percentage.

Craig on the other hand. Seems like a decent guy, a decent coach, but I think it might be time for a change based on how talented the squad should be. This seems like a case where the coach is not getting be best out of a depth of quality players across the ground.

Golden child Hird, a success? Losses to Richmond and Melbourne? Wait and see, but surely any credit should go to Thompson, in this nonsensical arrangement at Windy Hill.

 

[coolian2]

‎#afl : 1/4 time.. Nth Mel lead Gold Coast 45-2.

uh oh.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I just find your reactions baffling. Granted, I haven't known what it's like to follow a mediocre team for the past five years, but it seems you sprout unbridled negativity.

Like I said, I'm as half as negative as the folks you'd see on BigFooty, which more or less gauges the general opinions of the club had by the fans. Every week, even throughout the dire years of 2004 and 2010 (I was a young child that year), I always mustered enough optimism to look forward to each game, much of the time knowing we'd put in a solid effort at the very least. For the first time in my football following time, I did not feel any optimism of that sort throughout the week, let alone today.

This feels worse than last year as it is simply painful to see that your team won't put in a strong effort week after week, even after vowing that there would be a marked improvement. And I haven't seen any of the sort. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Neil Craig as a person, seeing as we were the top team in the competition for the best part of 2 seasons (2005 and 2006, well, to be honest, West Coast were above us much of the time then but there was a run in 2006 that saw us being the best team around). And with that dominance I can't hate him for, but it's obvious that his time is up and that his stubborness is getting in the way of him making noticeable changes to the squad.

This was why all the dirt thrown at Bailey disgusted me. He's rebuilding a very raw side, the progress was there last season for all to see. Scully is one of the next elite midfielders of the league, the centerpiece of the Demon side, and he's only just played his first game of the season. Meanwhile, fans are calling for Bailey's head despite a healthy percentage.

Craig on the other hand. Seems like a decent guy, a decent coach, but I think it might be time for a change based on how talented the squad should be. This seems like a case where the coach is not getting be best out of a depth of quality players across the ground.

Golden child Hird, a success? Losses to Richmond and Melbourne? Wait and see, but surely any credit should go to Thompson, in this nonsensical arrangement at Windy Hill.

I was also baffled at hearing about how Bailey was on the verge of being sacked. He basically started with nothing, and gradually the team's building and with added consistency they'll be on the road to the finals.

I was talking about Hird as a success relative to last season. There's a marked difference between their performances as of last year and this year. So even at this stage it is fair to suggest that they've exceeded expectations, they just appear to be in a slump at the moment.

uh oh.

Wow.

 

[bono_212]

Well that certainly slowed down at any rate. Still, looks like a pretty sound thrashing.

Speaking of which. Tonight. Trashley duke it out. The results? Likely hilarious.

 

[bono_212]

Could someone please explain to me why the Geelong Hawthorne game went 1:15 over? That seems so arbitrary.

 

[LemonMelon]

Had to watch it online, but managed from three-quarter time. Amazing game, and many props to Geelong, although they could have locked it up with several minutes to go but got greedy with that complete miss. I have no idea what happened there.

Glad they still pulled it out: we can move up to third tonight with a win over Brizbin.

 

[Axver]

Oh my god that Geelong vs Hawthorn game was absolutely sensational. Pretty controversial ending there though - looks like Franklin deserved a free kick. But then again, Hawthorn had already blown a couple of great opportunities to get a goal, so they can't go blaming the umpire; it's like what I said earlier, good teams win because they're good teams, even if the decisions don't always go their way.

Such an exciting game either way; we needed a big one to go right down to the wire like that. Poor Roughead though, looks like his season's over.

And I kind of feel pity for the Suns. Actually wish they'd won over such a drab team as North Melbourne.