_{Roos said he was after someone with the same thinking and philosophies as him and someone who wouldn't deviate too much from the current game plan,.}

_{This is going to be pretty difficult to achieve in a short time frame I would think which is a concern,}

_{Lyon actually asked a good question (which I nearly fell off my couch when I heard it) and was "what happens if we cant find a successor"}

_{Roos said that's a really good question but didn't answer it either unfortunately.}

_{With Roos only committing to a max of 3 yrs what would happen if we didn't get a successor?}

_{I don't want a successor chosen because there are no other options available.}

_{Roos also said he didn't want either the succession planning or his contract extension to become a distraction.}

_{IMO it is becoming one.}

He also said (paraphrasing) that if Melbourne came to him and said "We need a decision soon so as not be a distraction" he'd make the decision quickly.

So, why hasn't Melbourne asked him to decide? A concern, perhaps, that he might say "No. 2 years is enough", perhaps? Mind you, while he was non-committal last night he also sounded more likely than unlikely to continue into a 3rd year.

He'll sign on for the extra year.

When asked if he was more open to 3 years now, his response was "absolutely".

That is Paul Roos speak for, "yeah, I'm doing it".

Rampaging speculation -

1. Bomber Thompson didn't want to coach Essendon, he wanted a 'senior assistant' role supporting Hird. He fell into senior coach there because he was the only sane option at an insane time.

2. Roos is committed only to one or two more years as the 90+ hours a week senior coach, but is amenable to a subsequent role. He has also worked as, and enjoyed, being part of a youth-academy focus in the past.

3. Ling, Hayes and various other potential successor coaches seem to all be of the 'young, extremely promising but inexperienced' type.

So, what if our coaching panel architecture was going to be built around Thompson as 'director of coaching/coach's coach', Roos as 'youth academy coach', and then the successor coach in the primary role.

Freaky. Would take a very confident and ambitious person, with great relationships with both Roos and Thompson, to make it work.

But damn that would be a lot of 'talent' on the coaching list.

I've never heard of Thompson saying Essendon isn't a great club. That quote would have been run in the media for weeks on end. The most he said was that he still barracked for Geelong and "unfortunately I'm at Essendon" which I interpreted as nothing more than a humourous slip of the tongue. He's a premiership captain from Essendon whose nickname is "bomber" ffs. He doesn't hate Essendon.

His reactions during the doping saga suggest to me that he had nothing to do with what went down, and if anything his resentment towards the club is over the fact that he's now left holding the baby. Besides which, if anything, he will be even more careful over such matters in the future.

I would love him at Melbourne. He turned Geelong into arguably the greatest team of the modern era and one of the greatest of all time. He's now got Essendon humming at the most important time of the year. His record speaks for itself. Plus he's a character and a likeable person. Sign him up if we can, absolutely and without reservation.

It doesn't negate your entire post, but his nickname was after "Bomba" the jungle boy, a Tarzan-like character from when Thompson was a boy. Nothing at all to do with the club.

Rampaging speculation -

1. Bomber Thompson didn't want to coach Essendon, he wanted a 'senior assistant' role supporting Hird. He fell into senior coach there because he was the only sane option at an insane time.

2. Roos is committed only to one or two more years as the 90+ hours a week senior coach, but is amenable to a subsequent role. He has also worked as, and enjoyed, being part of a youth-academy focus in the past.

3. Ling, Hayes and various other potential successor coaches seem to all be of the 'young, extremely promising but inexperienced' type.

So, what if our coaching panel architecture was going to be built around Thompson as 'director of coaching/coach's coach', Roos as 'youth academy coach', and then the successor coach in the primary role.

Freaky. Would take a very confident and ambitious person, with great relationships with both Roos and Thompson, to make it work.

But damn that would be a lot of 'talent' on the coaching list.

Not a bad idea...

I've consistently dismissed Thompson as the successor because it just doesn't feel right. I felt it may be too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Too many strong personalities.

But I do acknowledge the amazing chemistry between he and Roos on AFL360.

They are very much on the same page.

Bomba can't stay on at Essendon under Hird.

I just don't think it will be tenable and I don't think he'd want to.

He also didnt want the senior coaching role to begin with and took it over exceptionally reluctantly.

Out of sheer necessity really.

So what are Bomba's options?

Presumably he'd be looking at a position at another club.

Before the drug saga at Essendon he did express a joy at being just an assistant, shielded from the spotlight and the politics.

He has experience guiding a relatively inexperienced senior coach from the position of assistant.

Some would say with relative success.

Could he come to Melbourne?

He was quite comfortable taking a back seat previously.

Could he handle being an assistant to Roos? I definitely think so.

Could he be at MFC as an additional senior advisor to an inexperienced Ling or Hayes as senior coach?

I'd be surprised if he didnt relish such a role.

Guidance in addition to Roos, that would make Roos' imminent departure less significant?

I'm beginning to see it more and more as a possibility.

Maybe a pipedream, but I think it would work well for us.

It doesn't negate your entire post, but his nickname was after "Bomba" the jungle boy, a Tarzan-like character from when Thompson was a boy. Nothing at all to do with the club.

Yeah I had a feeling that was wrong but couldn't be bothered editing.

Rampaging speculation -

1. Bomber Thompson didn't want to coach Essendon, he wanted a 'senior assistant' role supporting Hird. He fell into senior coach there because he was the only sane option at an insane time.

2. Roos is committed only to one or two more years as the 90+ hours a week senior coach, but is amenable to a subsequent role. He has also worked as, and enjoyed, being part of a youth-academy focus in the past.

3. Ling, Hayes and various other potential successor coaches seem to all be of the 'young, extremely promising but inexperienced' type.

So, what if our coaching panel architecture was going to be built around Thompson as 'director of coaching/coach's coach', Roos as 'youth academy coach', and then the successor coach in the primary role.

Freaky. Would take a very confident and ambitious person, with great relationships with both Roos and Thompson, to make it work.

But damn that would be a lot of 'talent' on the coaching list.

And possibly cost a lot of money we don't actually have...

^ good point.

Possibly the greatest reason why it wouldn't happen.

Can you imagine how much Roos, Thompson, and Ling would all cost?

Yowza.

And possibly cost a lot of money we don't actually have...

Why does everything have to cost money?

Such a bloody inconvenience.

With Roos only committing to a max of 3 yrs what would happen if we didn't get a successor?

I don't want a successor chosen because there are no other options available.

Why does everything have to cost money?

Such a bloody inconvenience.

Not just that but everything is always increasing in price too.

This is where I wish Monopoly money was real!

With Roos only committing to a max of 3 yrs what would happen if we didn't get a successor?

I don't want a successor chosen because there are no other options available.

So then we just don't have one?

FMD.

So then we just don't have one?

FMD.

Don't be a smart arze.

With Roos saying 3 yrs will c him out what will happen then??

I am with Nasher on this one....i want to see what Roos can do with this frail club before i can even think of a successor.

Roosy has got to get this club into the 8 by the time he finishes or his chosen successor will not mean a lot imo

Don't be a smart arze.

With Roos saying 3 yrs will c him out what will happen then??

Umm - we will search for a coach in the traditional method and abandon a succession plan that doesn't exist anyway.

It will be apparent by the end of this year if a succession plan model is in place as I don't think that a succession plan with less than 2 years under Roos will be contemplated. Then we have two years to suss out new coaches for when Roos time is up.

Umm - we will search for a coach in the traditional method and abandon a succession plan that doesn't exist anyway.

It will be apparent by the end of this year if a succession plan model is in place as I don't think that a succession plan with less than 2 years under Roos will be contemplated. Then we have two years to suss out new coaches for when Roos time is up.

That's still a succession plan...it's just different from what's been envisaged.

Umm - we will search for a coach in the traditional method and abandon a succession plan that doesn't exist anyway.

It will be apparent by the end of this year if a succession plan model is in place as I don't think that a succession plan with less than 2 years under Roos will be contemplated. Then we have two years to suss out new coaches for when Roos time is up.

I just don't want the end of yr3 to come around and we have both Jackson and Roos leaving without anything in place (high unlikely but still worrying)

I am sure they will have a plan b, c etc but it's a little concerning cause I do not want to go back to the bad old days of no name coaches or administration. That would be the death of this club.

Don't be a smart arze.

With Roos saying 3 yrs will c him out what will happen then??

Ask a stupid question...

Ask a stupid question...

Shouldn't expect anything less from u I suppose.

After another two years we would be a good option for a coach to take over, could even poach some one like Freo did if we had no successor.

Shouldn't expect anything less from u I suppose.

Sorry for pointing out that you asked a stupid question, then came up with an even worse solution.

Yes, it's in our best interests to avoid that eventuality, but what exactly do you think our alternative is?

Best laid plans...

pretty disappointing to hear Roosy will definitely not have a full time position at the club after the 3rd year

i think we should chase Bomber Thompson hard, if we arent already

This succession plan thing is a mess

That's still a succession plan...it's just different from what's been envisaged.

Not really - the key to a succession plan is the incumbent working with current coach for a period of time as an apprentice and then you have seamless handover. ( sounds good in theory).

If there is no annointed successor, we just go to market and get the possible coach who is available or who we can poach one.

There is a third alternative - there is no successor announced during Roos time at the club but at the end of the period Roos announces that "Jade Rawlings ( or Mathews etc) has shown a great ability and I will hand over to him as senior coach". This means We are not locked into a public succession plan ( like Buckley and Longmire) but the end result is the same.

Out of interest - The Longmire succession plan was not put in place at the appointment of Roos as coach of the Swans - Was Longmire already an assistant before announcing the succession plan ? If my flawed memory serves me right - Longmire was already an assistant and it was announced at the beginning of Roos last year that he would hand over to Longmire at years end ?

pretty disappointing to hear Roosy will definitely not have a full time position at the club after the 3rd year

i think we should chase Bomber Thompson hard, if we arent already

This succession plan thing is a mess

Only for those who've banked on it being a fait accompli.

It's a nice plan to follow.

It may still work. If it doesn't, there are other options.

pretty disappointing to hear Roosy will definitely not have a full time position at the club after the 3rd year

i think we should chase Bomber Thompson hard, if we arent already

This succession plan thing is a mess

Why exactly is it a mess ?