Sack Adam O'Brien

[Old dog]

We haven’t been good in any of the games with Ponga or at least he hasn’t been any good, is his up in the line standing near the play the ball, calling the shots so to speak the reason we seem disjointed are Randall, Clifford, and Clune/Crossland over awed by his presence and reluctant to tell him to play his own game and let them play theirs

 

[Sir Galahad]

we have a leader.

David Klemmer.

problem is for sure me reason they don’t seem to acknowledge it.

maybe you're right, Klem might be the type of character that could be, if given the role of Captain.

I just dont see any natural standout cadidates among the group, the top teams have half a dozen who could easily have the C next to their name.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

The big question is though.

For the record I’m NOT in favour of sacking AOB...

But...

If we did sack AOB then who do we bring in? There aren’t many decent coaches out there looking for a job.

We could go with another untested coach with big wraps like Ciraldo or Ryles but who knows what we’re going to get there.

Or we look at someone who’s had success in the past and could bring some experience.

Personally if we’re going down that road I’d be looking at Niel Henry. He’s had reasonable success at a few clubs and did well with a rubbish Titans team until the board went over his head and signed Hayne which turned into a disaster, which Henry was unfairly sacked for... he’d be my pick of the guys who are out there.

Ideas anyone?

 

[Yosh]

The big question is though.

For the record I’m NOT in favour of sacking AOB...

But...

If we did sack AOB then who do we bring in? There aren’t many decent coaches out there looking for a job.

We could go with another untested coach with big wraps like Ciraldo or Ryles but who knows what we’re going to get there.

Or we look at someone who’s had success in the past and could bring some experience.

Personally if we’re going down that road I’d be looking at Niel Henry. He’s had reasonable success at a few clubs and did well with a rubbish Titans team until the board went over his head and signed Hayne which turned into a disaster, which Henry was unfairly sacked for... he’d be my pick of the guys who are out there.

Ideas anyone?

I'd sell my soul for a Premiership, so, I'd even take Shane Flannagan. I would love to see Ciraldo give it a go also.

 

[PhilGould]

Still think most signs point to Kristian Woolf if we look elsewhere. Had success coaching juniors and QLD Cup teams, has been the head coach for Tonga during their rise as an international side, won the comp with St Helens last year and has them sitting outright first with a point differential of 170 after 8 rounds this year.

Also has history with the Knights and is close with Clint Zammit.

 

[Mr Angry]

Which players have improved under his coaching?

I do not watch enough Kinights games to know, other than natural progression ie most get better with experience, better after 10 then 50 then 100 games.

 

[slotmachine]

Still think most signs point to Kristian Woolf if we look elsewhere.

No, I don't want to have to watch Sione every week.

 

[Frederick]

Still think most signs point to Kristian Woolf if we look elsewhere. Had success coaching juniors and QLD Cup teams, has been the head coach for Tonga during their rise as an international side, won the comp with St Helens last year and has them sitting outright first with a point differential of 170 after 8 rounds this year.

Also has history with the Knights and is close with Clint Zammit.

You know who else had success in juniors and QLD cup? Rick stone

 

[PhilGould]

Ah we should be looking for coaches that failed then

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Here’s another left field one that’s at least worth discussing.

What about Madge McGuire?

Pros:
- Will probably be available soon
- He’s won a comp and knows what success looks like
- He drives high standards both from a fitness point of view and doesn’t make excuses

Cons:
- Looks tired and burnt out after coaching the Tigers for 4 years and might need a rest and time to refresh himself mentally
- Has clearly not been able to turn the Tigers around... but let’s face it, who has?
- Might be considered as a bit too “old school” and a bit too much of a micro-manager?

Just throwing this out there as a point of discussion. Imo he’s proven that he can coach but I worry that he’s been swallowed by the black hole that is the Tigers and may not be the same again. He looks like he’s aged another 10 years every season.

From memory there was some reporting going around before we got Brown that we were trying to get McGuire. Not sure how close we came to it but could have been interesting at that time, given he’d won the comp with Souths not long prior to that.

 

[Yosh]

I think we need a newer breed than Madge. Someone who has a longer future than past.

 

[Smug Panther]

Your star player (Ponga) is a bum, not the coach. Fix that before anything else

 

[Loose Cannon]

8 pages 10 days in.

Could be onto something.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Which players have improved under his coaching?

I do not watch enough Kinights games to know, other than natural progression ie most get better with experience, better after 10 then 50 then 100 games.

good question and not easy to answer.

He has all the resources a coach could ask for , he's a rookie coach that's employed assistants that wouldnt have a clue what it's like to win a Premiership.

He's VERY conservative and it could be argued too conservative.

 

[Jono078]

I don't know who out of these may be better, but you can't argue they don't have better credentials than AOB.

Side note before I list them... Isn't it ironic the similarities between AOB and Ponga. Both super hyped as the next best things and then have failed to perform consistently since coming here...

Candidates:
1. Shane Flanagan - NRL Premiership winner. Delivered the Sharks first ever NRL Premiership. May come with Kyle, whether that's good or not..

2. Paul Green - NRL Premiership winner. Delivered the Cowboys first ever NRL Premiership.

3. Cameron Ciraldo - Pedigree a bit too similar to AOB's IMO, BUT, he's been a Newy guy before so he understands what we're about without having to build a new culture from the ground-up, so to speak.

4. Kristian Woolf - The one I'm least familiar with, but he seems to have followed the same path as Trent Robinson.. Spent time with us before going on to great things in the Super League.

5. Michael Maguire - the only one I'm writing off. There's too much baggage with him now (similar to how it was with Siebold) and it's an easy out for players if things get shaky early on.

Outside of those 4, I'm not sure who'd be worth the punt after AOB. I still want to see what AOB can do with a full strength outfit and then obviously we have to fix our depth ASAP - which to be fair it looks like we are trying our best to do with Zammit scouting top UK talent.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Candidates:
1. Shane Flanagan - NRL Premiership winner. Delivered the Sharks first ever NRL Premiership. May come with Kyle, whether that's good or not..

He'd be my number 1, has experience and is a winner.

I still want to see what AOB can do with a full strength outfit and then obviously we have to fix our depth ASAP - which to be fair it looks like we are trying our best to do with Zammit scouting top UK talent.

it reeks of the old Newcastle nepotism creeping back into the club, a mini clean out is required. I'd let go of at least 6 players out of the current squad.

 

[Knight Tales]

Flanagan would be shortest odds to be our next coach.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

Is that Ponga's best? Fmd if so. Cut that bum and move forward

You could at least ask for some rent for that space Ponga takes up in your head

 

[Mr_Knightside]

I agree that Flanagan would be the most obvious choice from a pure coaching perspective out of that lot but would the club go there? There’s a bit of a bad smell attached to Flanagan since all the stuff that went on at the sharks. Of course there’s an argument to say that he deserves a second chance but there’s another argument to say that his actions don’t deserve a second chance. I dunno. If it happened it would take time for me to be convinced.

 

[Knight Tales]

I agree that Flanagan would be the most obvious choice from a pure coaching perspective out of that lot but would the club go there? There’s a bit of a bad smell attached to Flanagan since all the stuff that went on at the sharks. Of course there’s an argument to say that he deserves a second chance but there’s another argument to say that his actions don’t deserve a second chance. I dunno. If it happened it would take time for me to be convinced.

All good points. But he knows how to build a quality side. His response to the losses would be vastly different to O’Brien’s. With the squad we have now he would expect more and not give as many excuses for losses. He would be more direct in pressers.