Eels Next Coach

[emjaycee]

New assistants/consultants wont make one shred of difference. I really dont think BA listens to anyone and never will.
Ciraldo would have been my pick but we have little foresight so that was never going to happen.
Slater would be my next pick but again we wont even try. My next choice would be Siebold. 2 year contract. Has to be better than BA for another 2 years. What have we go to lose?

Top 8 consistency and trying to win the comp with 16 players?

 

[Chipmunk]

Top 8 consistency and trying to win the comp with 16 players?

Why would we only have 16 players?

 

[Chipmunk]

I don’t think money is the issue. I just don’t think they see it in the same way that people on here do. In fact, I reckon most league fans wouldn’t.

How do you think the board sees things?

 

[emjaycee]

Why would we only have 16 players?

Isnt that how many BA uses?
(I was having fun with @Gazzamatta mate but dont let on)

 

[Gazzamatta]

I have little confidence BA will have our Eels as top 8 next season. Im not even convinced he will get there this year.
I expect improvement from Dogs and Tigpies next year. Maybe a couple of others as well. Turbo back for Manly, Warriors home and new coach. Next year is looking tough if we maintain the status quo.

 

[Gazzamatta]

Isnt that how many BA uses?
(I was having fun with @Gazzamatta mate but dont let on)

Depends whos on the bench mate, Appendicitis not withstanding.

 

[Chipmunk]

I have little confidence BA will have our Eels as top 8 next season. Im not even convinced he will get there this year.
I expect improvement from Dogs and Tigpies next year. Maybe a couple of others as well. Turbo back for Manly, Warriors home and new coach. Next year is looking tough if we maintain the status quo.

Agreed, I am already prepared to say that we definitely won't make the Top 8 next season if the status quo remains. The only thing that can change that for me is if Hodgson has some real tactical nous and he is allowed to heavily influence how we play.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

Yeah, I agree totally, and the people I mentioned is probably around here's some options for us.

I think the coach won't get rid of the assistants because he is too close to them, so I think the coach should be informed that the people you have assisting you aren't good enough, and aren't making the team better, and no longer have a place at the Club. Go find some new people who you think will improve the team.

I suspect if O'Brien becomes available and BA is still here, then he will be at our Club though. And vice versa if he remains at the Knights and we punt BA, he will end up in Newcastle in some capacity.

Yeah maybe. And rather than bite the bullet maybe they'll just hope he somehow gets it right and things turn around even though they're pretty sure they won't. But at least they won't have to sack a coach with two years to run, and if they eventually do have to sack him they've got more justification.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

Does anyone with any knowledge actually know whether this is true or is this just something that some plonker on here made up and everyone else ran with?

Nobody would likely know and if they did we probably wouldn't believe them. But we can judge his assistants for ourselves.

 

[Chipmunk]

Yeah maybe. And rather than bite the bullet maybe they'll just hope he somehow gets it right and things turn around even though they're pretty sure they won't. But at least they won't have to sack a coach with two years to run, and if they eventually do have to sack him they've got more justification.

I think our biggest issue is that there is very little football knowledge at the club outside of BA and MON. No one else in the administration of that club above them has any more knowledge of the sport than the everyday fan on this forum really does. That is a fact. If they're taking all of their football advice on the sport from BA and MON, then why would they know any different. The Board, CEO and other Management haven't been appointed for their knowledge of the game.

 

[hindy111]

Next year will be interesting. Penrith will fall back a little but Roosters are going to go up a level I feel.
Storm will get Welch and Pap back, Souths,Sharks,Cowboys will have similar squads. Brisbane should get stronger as young players gain more experience and added Walsh.

Below we have Manly with Turbo back will improve. Dogs and Tigers should be better and I think Canberra will also start to push for the finals again. They missed Fogarty but if he was fit all season I am sure they are in the top 8 right now. Also lost Hodgson for the season.

Warriors I just can't read so I don't see much improvement. Titans seem puss, Dolphins will be gash and Knights I can't see doing a lot.

Dragons will come on leaps and bounds as there kids become men.

Of the 17 teams id put a line thru Titans,Warriors,Dolphins,Knights...... I reckon the other 13 sides are capable of finals.

 

[Gary Gutful]

How do you think the board sees things?

I can only say what I would think based on my experience with Boards. None of us really know, but I think we could say it’s likely they wouldn’t be as emotional as fans.

1. Willing to take a broad view and not obsess over every aspect of every game.
2. Happy with the improvement in recent years.
3. Slightly concerned that we haven’t made the next step.
4. Monitoring coach performance along with other other health indicators.
5. Prepared to do something if things don’t improve.
6. Want to make sure it’s a sound decision that delivers long term value and success.
7. Acutely aware of how we would previously make knee jerk decisions in response to members that got us nowhere.

There’s others, but I don’t want to turn it into a Ram Post…

 

[hindy111]

I can only say what I would think based on my experience with Boards. None of us really know, but I think we could say it’s likely they wouldn’t be as emotional as fans.

1. Willing to take a broad view and not obsess over every aspect of every game.
2. Happy with the improvement in recent years.
3. Slightly concerned that we haven’t made the next step.
4. Monitoring coach performance along with other other health indicators.
5. Prepared to do something if things don’t improve.
6. Want to make sure it’s a sound decision that delivers long term value and success.
7. Acutely aware of how we would previously make knee jerk decisions in response to members that got us nowhere.

There’s others, but I don’t want to turn it into a Ram Post…

I'm worried about the Ram. Not heard from him all weekend

 

[Gary Gutful]

Nobody would likely know and if they did we probably wouldn't believe them. But we can judge his assistants for ourselves.

True. Its just that "BA feels threatened by people" seems to have become gospel without a shred of evidence as far as I can see.

 

[Gary Gutful]

If it's not true then i think we would be the only club that doesn't let the head coach choose his own assistants.

I feel like you've answered my question about whether something is made up with something else that could also be made up.

 

[Noise]

2. Happy with the improvement in recent years.

Have we had much improvement in recent years?
2017 - 4th
2018 - 16th
2019 - 5th
2020 - 3rd
2021 - 6th
2022 - 7th (currently)
And never gone past week 2 in the finals. I’d say we have plateaued in recent years with a bias towards regression.

 

[hindy111]

True. Its just that "BA feels threatened by people" seems to have become gospel without a shred of evidence as far as I can see.

I want him gone but I feel for our next coach, squad will be weaker and can't see any highly talented juniors pushing close to NRL.
2pa throws lets see what happens in the next 5 weeks. BA may release his secret moves.

 

[hindy111]

I feel like you've answered my question about whether something is made up with something else that could also be made up.

Did you enjoy the golf? Or where you tired all day?

 

[Noise]

I feel like you've answered my question about whether something is made up with something else that could also be made up.

Well I actually know an assistant coach who has worked at three clubs (and still current) and it was the coach who selected him each time. Maybe the other 13 clubs do something different

 

[Chipmunk]

I can only say what I would think based on my experience with Boards. None of us really know, but I think we could say it’s likely they wouldn’t be as emotional as fans.

1. Willing to take a broad view and not obsess over every aspect of every game.
2. Happy with the improvement in recent years.
3. Slightly concerned that we haven’t made the next step.
4. Monitoring coach performance along with other other health indicators.
5. Prepared to do something if things don’t improve.
6. Want to make sure it’s a sound decision that delivers long term value and success.
7. Acutely aware of how we would previously make knee jerk decisions in response to members that got us nowhere.

There’s others, but I don’t want to turn it into a Ram Post…

I do agree that they're not as emotional as the fans, in fact, I'm not even sure as independent directors, they are even supporters of the team or even the sport.

But we also have no idea what they really see as success, and whether success on the football field is even relevant to them.

Like, if we miss the Top 8 this year, but membership and overall revenue increased, has it been a successful season? My view is the board would take a wholistic approach to the club, and as long as the results of the football team don't have a dramatic impact on the bottom line of the club, then they would see this as success, and won't make changes to the football department as a result,

For instance, two of these board members have banking backgrounds. What is more important to a bank, the results of customer satisfaction surveys, or the bottom line of the bank?

I would ask some questions on your points, purely around success on the football field.
2. The board was appointed in 2017, with the exception of one poor (lets call it an outlier) season, the results from 2017 to 2021 have remained stagnant, look likely to be at best stagnant or worse this year. I don't think there has been improvement in results for them to be happy, do you?
4. What do you think is 'coach performance' in their view, and where would they have determined this view from?