can you guys please provide a link for any breaking news
unsubstantiated allegations get deleted in the NRL forums
Saints sack Thomas
September 12, 2006
ST Kilda this afternoon sacked Grant Thomas as coach, just days after the Saints were eliminated from the 2006 AFL finals.
Saints president Rod Butterss, Thomas and some of the club's directors fronted a packed media conference where Butterss said the board had accepted the coach's resignation.
But Thomas countered, saying he hadn't quit, instead coming to a "mutual agreement" with his board that his six-season tenure was over.
"The guys firmly believe the club needs to move in a new direction, I don't have to believe in that, but I am going to have to live with it," Thomas said.
Thomas later said he did not agree with the board's decision, that he did not see his axing coming and that he was "gutted" to be leaving.
"It came from left-field, I wasn't expecting it - maybe I am a bit dumb - but I was not expecting it," he said.
"But I'm not the first to go through this situation."
Thomas, 48, replaced Malcolm Blight as interim coach when Blight was sacked in 2001.
Thomas was appointed permanent coach in 2002.
He coached the Saints in 123 games, including the past three finals series, for 63 wins, 59 losses and one draw.
Thomas, who came from a football management background and had only coached at country level before leading the Saints, conceded he would never coach an AFL club again.
St Kilda's decision came just four days after the Saints' season ended with last Friday night's elimination final loss to Melbourne at the MCG.
The Saints reached preliminary finals in 2004-05.
Butterss said St Kilda would take its time searching for a replacement, and the names at the top of the list are likely to be current assistant coaches John Longmire (Sydney) and Mark Harvey (Fremantle), and Matt Rendell, an assistant coach under Thomas.
Butterss said the club would seek the "best available" candidate, and was unfazed by any time restrictions.
"If it takes twice as long as we'd hoped, it takes twice as long," he said.
Thomas' left-field approach to coaching has had both its critics and fans, but he will depart the job having never been able to guide his talent-laden playing list into a grand final.
That said, he endured more than his share of injuries to key players over the years - including during last Friday night's loss to the Demons - and rarely had his best available team together because of injury.
But he departs as the club's second-longest-serving coach, behind only the legendary Allan Jeans.
Thomas, who played 83 VFL games (72 for St Kilda) from 1978-85, said he would "re-introduce" himself to his family and then consider what to do with the next chapter of his life.
But he said he would remain a St Kilda fan, and hoped the club could soon end its long premiership drought, which stretches back to 1966.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,20398863-23211,00.html
