With all the talk on Demonland to sack Goody it amazes me that Alan Richardson comes under such little scrutiny. After 6 underwhelming years as St Kilda coach he made his way to Melbourne via Gary Pert ( apparently good mates).

In his current role he oversees all coaches. Appointing Nathan Jones as midfield coach with no experience while we all have it sentimental approval doubts were there. Now clearly Goodwin is lacking the tactical support of Yze and McWalter in this area. Our kicking skills are deplorable and we are clearly not fit enough to run out games. Our List Management post 2021 has seen us clear out good players and bring in little resulting in no depth. All of this under Richardsons watch and he appears to escape scrutiny from everyone.

Looking further, it looks like Greg Stafford was made a scapegoat. He was our premiership forward coach after all as well as ruck coach and since his departure our forward line woes are a lot worse than they have ever been.

I also agree hiring Jones with no experience was a mistake. Jobs for mates.

Richardson and Tim Lamb should be looked at very closely

Since 2021 we have not improved the List at all

Assistant Coaches are not good enough

Yes, when you read his job description, "In his role, Richardson oversees the performance-based elements of the AFL program including coaching, high performance, medical, performance psychology and skill development", only medical would be a tick. Major fail with the rest. Christ, maybe we could merge with someone?

Everyone needs scrutiny and accountability.

Richardson’s position should be under far more scrutiny than Goodwin’s in my opinion

Failures on game day can be attributed to Goodwin, but the coaching appointments and poor organisation of the FD lay at the feet of Richardson

From the outside looking in it also looks like some of the communication issues that disillusioned Trac last year were under his watch

If we’re set on keeping Goodwin for another year, a change of Football Manager is bare minimum

So are all assistant coaches & list mgt fall under him, if so needs to go with Goodwin, which of the traded players are getting games, all are vfl level , whilst losing Harmes, Bedford, Jordan.

A significant problem with the assistant coaching roles this year was that apparently we weren’t inundated with options preseason

I know this will not be a popular thought BUT

The players clearly love Goody.

There are question marks about his coaching.

If he is forced to leave, quite a few players might be pretty upset. I know they are professionals but a happy team is a happy team.

Suggestion: Goody replaces Richo, new coach is appointed. A bit like how Neil Balme was loved by players but couldn't coach (NOT that I am saying Goody can't coach!) but has been VERY successful in a role that keeps him near the players but out of the coach's hot seat.

Never like the appointment of Richardson, light weight, not enough mongrel to stand up to anyone and call them out.

Must go immediately.

Need a Neil Balme taje no prisoners type to oversee this rabble.

2 hours ago, The Trunk said:

With all the talk on Demonland to sack Goody it amazes me that Alan Richardson comes under such little scrutiny. After 6 underwhelming years as St Kilda coach he made his way to Melbourne via Gary Pert ( apparently good mates).

In his current role he oversees all coaches. Appointing Nathan Jones as midfield coach with no experience while we all have it sentimental approval doubts were there. Now clearly Goodwin is lacking the tactical support of Yze and McWalter in this area. Our kicking skills are deplorable and we are clearly not fit enough to run out games. Our List Management post 2021 has seen us clear out good players and bring in little resulting in no depth. All of this under Richardsons watch and he appears to escape scrutiny from everyone.

Agree 100 %

19 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

I know this will not be a popular thought BUT

The players clearly love Goody.

There are question marks about his coaching.

If he is forced to leave, quite a few players might be pretty upset. I know they are professionals but a happy team is a happy team.

Suggestion: Goody replaces Richo, new coach is appointed. A bit like how Neil Balme was loved by players but couldn't coach (NOT that I am saying Goody can't coach!) but has been VERY successful in a role that keeps him near the players but out of the coach's hot seat.

Not a chance in hell it happens. I agree Goodwin may be better suited to the role but having a new coach come in with the old coach looking over his shoulder? Who would want that situation?

I'm surprised Richardson has lasted this long, one of Perts mates who should've gone at the end of last year.

If the club is serious, he should be the first to be shown the door.

8 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Not a chance in hell it happens. I agree Goodwin may be better suited to the role but having a new coach come in with the old coach looking over his shoulder? Who would want that situation?

I'm surprised Richardson has lasted this long, one of Perts mates who should've gone at the end of last year.

Well said.

Dont care if the players love the coach. Sick to death of this whole "love" narrative thats been driven by the coach all season.

All love has gotten us is two bottom 5 finishes in the last two years.

Get a coach like Adam Kingsley who has a good balance of having a good rapport with the players but also a hard [censored] who isn't afraid to pull players into line.

with a CEO & President in waiting no decision can or will be made, why these new appointments are not in place early sums up our club! Down on membership by 15k since hitting 70k, gate receipts down, crappy draw …our first 3 home games , GWS , Subs & Freo, haven’t played in Vic for a month … yet club takes it .. imagine if the pies got this draw

should be removed asap in my eyes and Lamb not far behind.

I agree the whole the coaching dept needs a reboot.

Changing Chaplin from defense to forwards coach was a horrible idea. You've got probably the second best defensive coach in the league (behind Matthew Boyd I'd say) and you move him to the forwards coach? The only conclusion I've come up with was it was to satisfy Chaplin's ambition as a senior coach and round out his experience. So defensively we're the worst we've been in a decade under Bassett, while our forward line has actually gone even further backwards.

Regarding the midfield, Yze made some tremendous changes around the guys ability to burst from stoppage and chain up. It was a pillar to our 2021 premiership. What I think did start to rear its head in 2023 was the poor inside 50s. McQualter comes in and that entry issue persists from the mids but then he changes something around our method and we start losing clearance and contest. 2024 was diabolical for our midfield. In 2025 I think it has improved on 2024 as we were the best clearance side for our 7 week patch but unfortunately we've lost focus again.

Starting 2026 I'd be moving on Richo and Basset and put Chaplin as defensive coach. I haven't given up hope on Jones as I think he's improved alot of the mess McQualter made.

Edited July 10Jul 10 by At the break of Gawn

Replace Ricoh year end. Get the new GM to review the whole program in season during 2026.

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Well said.

Dont care if the players love the coach. Sick to death of this whole "love" narrative thats been driven by the coach all season.

All love has gotten us is two bottom 5 finishes in the last two years.

Get a coach like Adam Kingsley who has a good balance of having a good rapport with the players but also a hard [censored] who isn't afraid to pull players into line.

Well, it got us a bit more than that. Er, it got us a flag, remember? Which is more than Kingsley has achieved.

3 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

Well, it got us a bit more than that. Er, it got us a flag, remember? Which is more than Kingsley has achieved.

"Love" didn't buy us a flag mate. A well structured and disciplined team was what got us a flag.

And this whole 'oh but but we won a flag!' Commentary just needs to simply stop. Stop living in the past.

Not only was that 4 years ago that happened, but we have achieved absolutely nothing since. There have been changes to our playing list, football department and opposition teams have easily worked us out.

The game has completely changed and shifted away from the contested bull at the gate style which made us so successful back in 2021 and our contested mids have been exposed because of it.

1 hour ago, Demonsone said:

with a CEO & President in waiting no decision can or will be made, why these new appointments are not in place early sums up our club! Down on membership by 15k since hitting 70k, gate receipts down, crappy draw …our first 3 home games , GWS , Subs & Freo, haven’t played in Vic for a month … yet club takes it .. imagine if the pies got this draw

We have a President, fact.

We will have a new President in August.

We have a CEO currently. Fact.

The new one is already working on club matters and starts officially September 1

Who do you want sacked in the next 3 weeks?

Who do you want traded in, in the next 3 weeks?

Who do you want delisted in the next 3 weeks?

Edited July 10Jul 10 by Redleg

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Get a coach like Adam Kingsley who has a good balance of having a good rapport with the players but also a hard [censored] who isn't afraid to pull players into line.

If you look at his list there's a fair case to say he is underperforming...

Richardson should go for sure, but so does Goodwin, no questions asked. I’m not buying the keep Goodwin but get rid of Richardson at all.

May as well chuck in Williams, Jones and Lamb too.

5 hours ago, The Trunk said:

With all the talk on Demonland to sack Goody it amazes me that Alan Richardson comes under such little scrutiny. After 6 underwhelming years as St Kilda coach he made his way to Melbourne via Gary Pert ( apparently good mates).

In his current role he oversees all coaches. Appointing Nathan Jones as midfield coach with no experience while we all have it sentimental approval doubts were there. Now clearly Goodwin is lacking the tactical support of Yze and McWalter in this area. Our kicking skills are deplorable and we are clearly not fit enough to run out games. Our List Management post 2021 has seen us clear out good players and bring in little resulting in no depth. All of this under Richardsons watch and he appears to escape scrutiny from everyone.

I'm actually really glad that someone has brought this up. Goody is the figurehead and gets all the criticism (rightly or wrongly) but it has shocked me that Richo escapes the conversation. Listening to the Demonland podcast something I actually agreed with from @binman was that the coach is actually overrated in his influence and importance. I ultimately think that while he is the head of it, it is a coaching team, and much like some of the players we have they are simply B-grade. To me that responsibility lands on RIcho as he should be always looking to make sure we have the best coaches across all lines and roles. Personally I don't think he has succeeded in that.

You could also argue that he is responsible for our high performance program, or at least finding the best people for those roles. Again, looking at our drop since 2021 I think it's hard to make an argument that they have had us in the top tier of this area.

55 minutes ago, Redleg said:

We have a President, fact.

We will have a new President in August.

We have a CEO currently. Fact.

The new one is already working on club matters and starts officially September 1

Who do you want sacked in the next 3 weeks?

Who do you want traded in, in the next 3 weeks?

Who do you want delisted in the next 3 weeks?

Current ceo & president are interim

Edited July 10Jul 10 by Demonsone