Firstly lol @ the telegraphs article yesterday, yet another huge swing and a miss at Smith. I have no idea why anyone would bother to read that paper, especially knights supporters.
Im finding the debate over smiths 3 or 4 year contract amusing. None of us know the deal that will be tabled and due to the knights precarious financial situation its more likely to be shorter rather than longer with an extension built into it for performance.
I dont expect us to offer him anything more than a 2 year deal starting in 2010 with an auto option in his favour for a further year in 2012 if he makes the top 4 in 2011 or 2010. Anything more than that is really not in the interests of the club. Its a three year deal IF he delivers the goods in 2010-11 if he doesnt then we can look around for 2012. At that point, if we arent a premiership contender we walk away.
We have made a huge investment in this guy, I dont see why at some point prior to his claimed decline as a football coach we should all of a sudden cut him loose and bring in a rookie. Lets face it, what options are there for 2010 and beyond right now? What if the guy that we have placed faith in actually produces the goods in 2009. Im not sure we can make any decision here that cuts Smith loose based on the precognition that he will turn into a f**ktard and start ruining the club.
In the NRL these days coaches just dont get sacked. Clubs dont have the cash to call on to do it. So you offer shorter deals with auto extensions for top performance, basically which means it auto renews if he is good enough to make it a substantial deal, and if he doesnt cut it then it auto shuvs his arse out the door without payouts.
