Phil Goulds take on the issue

[Stagger eel]

MITS i respect that you have a bit to do with these guys, and have no doubt that is what you were told. But do you honestly believe that? It sounds like an excuse, more than a reason to me. If we had won the grand final would the same decision have been made in your opinion? I believe no.

I'm not saying he should have been kept or left, but it could have been handlled a million times better.

how would you handle it mate??

 

[MarkInTheStands]

PB I do when I consider the situation I was told in and the person that told me.

 

[El Diablo]

what's Phillips opinion on what the Roosters did to Murray???

 

[jk13]

Whats the big deal. Brian said he was going to leave anyway. As for players not caring cause Brian won't be here next year, surely they realise that Hagan will be monitoring their games/headlines and make a decision on retaining them. Theres to many gaps in the story and everyone is trying to fill them in. Lets move on, hes gone, we're only 2 wins from the 8.

 

[parralight]

5 years was a stupid amount of time and a very, very poor management decision.

As I said last night, Brian is copping the sh*t, Denis is smelling like roses.

There is something very wrong in that.

Suity

Onya Suity.
Whilst I do think Fitzy is a hard nosed administrator that is good for the club I do believe that he must share some of the blame.
Brian is a very loyal person and its that loyalty that has cost him.
Once you let naughty children get away with things its very hard to get it back.

 

[PB]

how would you handle it mate??

Well for one, rather than assume that it would be an insult to offer him a
a one or two year deal. Say something like,

"Ten years is a long time, you have done well but whilst you have achieved alot, the end goal has still alluded us all. So after such along time we need to be wary of complacency with in the club. Therefore your new contract will be performance based and assessed on a year to year basis, starting with how you and the team perform in the first 10 rounds of 2006."

I know the comeback is, players need to know whats happening etc, well it should'nt matter up to the end of May should it? It never has before, and if it did matter would it create more disruption than what we are currently being exposed to?

thats the way i would have done it, and personally i think BS would have copped that

 

[Belly in Brisvegas]

Ties should have been severed before the kickoff of the first trial if Fitzy is fair dunkum.

What a waste of a season.

 

[Stagger eel]

Well for one, rather than assume that it would be an insult to offer him a
a one or two year deal. Say something like,

"Ten years is a long time, you have done well but whilst you have achieved alot, the end goal has still alluded us all. So after such along time we need to be wary of complacency with in the club. Therefore your new contract will be performance based and assessed on a year to year basis, starting with how you and the team perform in the first 10 rounds of 2006."

I know the comeback is, players need to know whats happening etc, well it should'nt matter up to the end of May should it? It never has before, and if it did matter would it create more disruption than what we are currently being exposed to?

thats the way i would have done it, and personally i think BS would have copped that

so effectively we would of had to have held off signing Benny, Fui, Chad and Jarryd and potentially miss out on coach's who probably may not off been avaiable at the time?

it's your opion off course, but it seems to me that everyone is an expert and there was no easy solution, I still back the boards decision.

 

[PB]

so effectively we would of had to have held off signing Benny, Fui, Chad and Jarryd and potentially miss out on coach's who probably may not off been avaiable at the time?

it's your opion off course, but it seems to me that everyone is an expert and there was no easy solution, I still back the boards decision.

And thats your opinion. Perhaps those players you mention, some or all would have signed to stay at the eels regardless of who the coach would be because the offer they were given was too good to refuse. I mean i would be highly suprised if Fui knows anything about Hagan.

My opinion is it could have been done better, i site one example, there are probably others. I don't soley blame the Board & Fitzgerald, the players have been jerks this year as well, but it all stems back to that decision IMO.

 

[Redback71]

06 is nothing but a bad dream and fitzgerald is the cause of that bad dream.
hes nothing but a bloody wanker.

 

[Stagger eel]

06 is nothing but a bad dream and fitzgerald is the cause of that bad dream.
hes nothing but a bloody wanker.

I think to blame this on Dennis alone is a little over the top..

 

[emjaycee]

Well for one, rather than assume that it would be an insult to offer him a
a one or two year deal. Say something like,

"Ten years is a long time, you have done well but whilst you have achieved alot, the end goal has still alluded us all. So after such along time we need to be wary of complacency with in the club. Therefore your new contract will be performance based and assessed on a year to year basis, starting with how you and the team perform in the first 10 rounds of 2006."

I know the comeback is, players need to know whats happening etc, well it should'nt matter up to the end of May should it? It never has before, and if it did matter would it create more disruption than what we are currently being exposed to?

thats the way i would have done it, and personally i think BS would have copped that

This is my first post and I hope not to upset anyone, however there is a way that Brian and the Board could have saved 'face' and believe it or not, Phil Gould might have been able to come up with it if asked.

Offer Brian a 5 year contract as "Coaching Director" with responsibility for coaching firsts in the first year only and then identifying and developing the next first grade coach (Sharpy or JT at the start of the season).
This would have given BS the tenure his experience deserved, gotten around the issue of '13 years is too long' and provided a stepping stone for the future with a new coach who is developed in all aspects of coaching by one of the most respected coaches amongst his peers. Would also have given players a reason to sign or not to sign.

This is not unlike the CEO of a company moving onto the board and mentoring the new, young replacement CEO until they find their feet. Especially if the new one comes from within the ranks - just look at what the Packers did with PBL and Jamie's role. When Kerry died, there was talk that Jamie will do more for PBL's future than Kerry ever did and all because Kerry taught him how.

Cheers
"Seen the Good Times, Seen the Bad Times - One with pride the other with hope."

 

[Suitman]

I don't think you have upset anyone with your first post.
In fact, it was a very good one.

I think that what you have suggested would have been very workable indeed.

BTW, that is an unusual user name.

Suity

 

[strider]

yes it was a good first post

i don't know if it would have been possible tho ... 1) smithy seems to still want to be a 1st grade coach 2) no way tight arse denis would have wanted to pay for a coaching director AND a 1st grade coach

 

[eel4life]

How can Phil Gould say that Brian was stabbed in the back?

He was given every opportunity to win a title with Parramatta.

From the years 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, and 06

Do you remember the amount of money spent on players and the amount of player turnover from the above years ...

How can he say he was stabbed in the back. We dont know what is said behind closed doors but i guess from an administration point of view enough was enough.

I do not agree with how it all went down, but Brian was given every chance from day one to yesterday in winning a competition, he got the players he wanted to win a competition, we must all remember that.

Paul Carrige, Ben Kusto remember these names ....

So how can it be that parramatta stabbed him in the back?

To say that they didnt allow him to leave with dignity then put it this way, if the players where winning these close matches, bulldogs, cowboys and manly then i think its fair to say he would still be our coach and we would be in the top 8 on 12 points.

The drive wasnt there for him to do it, and again he could of been sacked last year, but guess what? he was given another chance, if they didnt sort it out at the begining of the year then the papers would of been saying something different this year, " Parra uncertain about future, Will Smith sink or swim, can he win the title to save his job blah blah blah"

" Few people in football clubs like to be associated with failure. Someone else has to be blamed. To have management so bluntly and publicly signal its lack of support for the coach destroyed whatever control or authority he had within the club. I wrote at the time that Smith's sacking would destroy Parramatta's chances of a successful 2006 season. Check out the competition table. Once rugby league players are offered ready-made excuses for failure, they generally accept them. So far this season Parramatta have performed without unity, emotion or desire. "

In Hindsight yeah this is a true statement what about our past under smith but.

99 where we finished 2nd we ended up 7th in 2000, after 01 we were unstoppable we lost and in the next year our youngest most talented team finishes 7th, then due to the dogs we finished 6th.

98 we choked phil, 99 same phil, 01 same phil and again in 05 chocked again,

Each time we have a different team but guess what was the constant Phil the coach.

How many chances does a coach need, how much support does a coach need from a club to win a grand final?

At least we didn't rely on the best club in a year as per bulldogs being kicked out to win a competition.

Talk about stabbed in the back how are the roosters with their own? what happend to murray after 2000 gf.

Speaking after something is always the way, its like i am saying i told you so i told you so i told you so.

from day 1 brian had the support of the club he just couldnt deliver.

 

[PB]

yes it was a good first post

i don't know if it would have been possible tho ... 1) smithy seems to still want to be a 1st grade coach 2) no way tight arse denis would have wanted to pay for a coaching director AND a 1st grade coach

It was a good first post.

And while i agree with you Strider that perhaps that isn't what BS would have liked to have been offered, i think it would have been a smarter way to do it rather than just knock him on the head clean when he has just delivered a minor premiership which has exceeded all expectations.

 

[strider]

It was a good first post.

And while i agree with you Strider that perhaps that isn't what BS would have liked to have been offered, i think it would have been a smarter way to do it rather than just knock him on the head clean when he has just delivered a minor premiership which has exceeded all expectations.

it certainly was a good first post (can anyone say - Pick the Pattern No. 6? \\\\/)

anyway .... yeah - i know .... i actually don't know if there was any easy solution tbh .... current day NRL has everyone's contracts being sorted out will in advance of them being up - i think its just something everyone has to get used to

 

[bartman]

Good first post mjc. The coaching director role was an idea that got a bit of a run on here last year, and could have been an answer for a few years, allowing a new first grade coach (Taylor?) to develop further with guidance.

I don't actually have a problem that the club made the decision not to renew the contract so far in advance, I just think it could/should have been handled better. By Smith, and by Fitzgerald. Newcastle's the example that this approach of forward planning can work fine.

When you do something like that you need to follow it through with strength and support all year, not just make the decision, think your hard work is done and then step back and watch things unravel. As a club we didn't, and the rest appears to be history. I can't see how not making the coaching decision until say June 30 would have made any difference? It's not the timing of it as Gould would argue, it's how you go about it.

 

[emjaycee]

Good first post mjc. The coaching director role was an idea that got a bit of a run on here last year, and could have been an answer for a few years, allowing a new first grade coach (Taylor?) to develop further with guidance.

I don't actually have a problem that the club made the decision not to renew the contract so far in advance, I just think it could/should have been handled better. By Smith, and by Fitzgerald. Newcastle's the example that this approach of forward planning can work fine.

When you do something like that you need to follow it through with strength and support all year, not just make the decision, think your hard work is done and then step back and watch things unravel. As a club we didn't, and the rest appears to be history. I can't see how not making the coaching decision until say June 30 would have made any difference? It's not the timing of it as Gould would argue, it's how you go about it.

Thanks to those who commented on my first post - I will try and make sure i dont sink to the depths of mire that can inundate a frustrated forum such as this, a forum which has no doubt been frustrated for the last 10 weeks (hopefully the frustration starts to wane at 9.10pm this friday night).

I have been contracting in my chosen profession for the last 6 years and understand fully that sometimes you can be 'sacked' for no fault or reason of your own and I must say, it is ALWAYS best to know as far as possible in advance if this your contract is not going to be renewed. It isnt always easy to find a job out there and with family and other committments the better planning we can do the better - its probably the same for players and coaches in the NRL.

Bartman, i reckon its a combination of both how its done AND when its done. In this case however, Fitzy stuffed up both IMHO.

 

[CrazyEel]

Just so I understand this, just what are you guys saying is so different in the way the situation was handled between Parra and Newcastle, Penrith and Canberra? From what I can see those other clubs/coaches seem to be handling the situation without any great dramas. Why didn't Gould include them in his rant?