16 minutes ago, Mickey said:

It'd have to be post-season, right? Maybe the Wednesday after the final round?

Why ??

Not being pedantic . What harm to announce when able ?

55 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

HG, if the date of the meeting between Smith and Buckley that @Gator gave is accurate, then this took place when we were only 0-3. To me, this would imply that internal discussions on Goody would have started well before this for us to have actually reached the point where we were sounding out prospective coaches. Obviously our ‘24 years performance sowed a number of seeds of doubt.

Yes 0-3, but we finished 2024 1-5 from memory, combine the NM loss in round 2, then makes sense.

I'm shocked that a coaching search panel hasn't already been formed.

1 minute ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Buckley Coach, Simpson to take Richo's role and Sanderson as senior assistant?

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Sandra's hardly recognisable !!

4 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Why ??

Not being pedantic . What harm to announce when able ?

Exactly. If Buckley is the guy, the he has nothing holding him to another club as far as I understand. Assistant coaches might be another story, but then some of them may not even be able to properly fall into play until after finals.

Just get on with it and start building for 2026 ASAP. If we can be getting into the ears of any potential trade targets and potential assistant coaches during the finals period, then let's do it. I think that was the whole point of dismissing Goodwin when they did.

17 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Longmire out of the race is a disaster. Buckley overrated player overrated coach. We are stuffed.

You lost me at over rated player, he was the player in the league for a long stretch

2 minutes ago, SFebes said:

Buckley Coach, Simpson to take Richo's role and Sanderson as senior assistant?

Sanderson might like his cushy job at the old school. Would Simpson work as 2nd fiddle to Bucks..

For the answers to these and other exciting developments stay tuned...

If interested ... more

2 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Exactly. If Buckley is the guy, the he has nothing holding him to another club as far as I understand. Assistant coaches might be another story, but then some of them may not even be able to properly fall into play until after finals.

Just get on with it and start building for 2026 ASAP. If we can be getting into the ears of any potential trade targets and potential assistant coaches during the finals period, then let's do it. I think that was the whole point of dismissing Goodwin when they did.

Exactly.. we play this to suit US ..

Who cares about other teams. Let's get ahead and into 26

Go Dees

3 hours ago, Ugottobekidding said:

Bucks is too egotistical. Would be a shocking outcome for us. He didn't relate well to players at Collingwood, why will it be different at Melbourne

You got to be kidding?

31 minutes ago, Strawberry Fields said:

I have to take you at your word HG and doing so I like that the club has pulled lead on this. It actually shows me the club is being ruthless. I’m guilty of putting emotion into AFL when at the club and playing level it is a profession results driven sport.

I have also noticed Buckley has been very pro Dees this year in his analysis of our games.

I’m keen on Buckley. I think he’s our best chance of shorter term success.

in fairness, one of the things i like about figjam's time in the media is his relentless positivity about nearly all teams

he doesn't get down in the mouth or pick favourites like kornes, as an example

54 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

“Buckley looks like the favourite to coach the Dees in 26. I wonder since he was a midfielder , will that mean we won't need a mid. coach?“

It’s an interesting question regardless of who gets the gig.

How have we rated Jonesy’s performance? It’s hard to make a definitive judgement, given some of our midfield issues have stemmed from factors beyond his control (essentially wavering form from Viney, Trac and more notably, Clarry). Regardless, he is the most inexperienced coach in the squad and the temptation to draw a correlation between any sort of underperformance is there, right or wrong

But relieving a club legend from the role after one season could be seen as a further blow to a playing group already adjusting to losing their head coach.

(Apologies, forgot to use the original quote/post from Cool X)

I was under the impression that Jones is one of two midfield coaches and he was more focused on stoppages?

3 hours ago, Ugottobekidding said:

Bucks is too egotistical. Would be a shocking outcome for us. He didn't relate well to players at Collingwood, why will it be different at Melbourne

A great choice of username… very appropriate in this instance!

I’d be interested to hear what it was that led you to believe he didn’t relate to the players. From memory, Buckley had a very good (and close) relationship with his players, as could be witnessed with the way in which he consoled them after their close loss in the 2018 grand final.

He also showed his empathetic side before the match had even started, when he consoled one of the cheer squad who was in tears after the banner had torn before the players had a chance to run though it.

13 hours ago, Pates said:

I was initially an absolute no to Buckley, but I have since softened. He had been widely considered one of the best football minds during his playing days, and his analysis is always insightful. I think he would command respect of the players due to his stature in the game, I just wonder what his style would be. Would he try to follow the trend or create his own?

This has been my experience too. I'm open to it now.

12 hours ago, DurriePirate said:

Why is noone talking about James Hird being on the short list. He was openly talking preseason that he was unable to accept a senior assistant role with the club due to existing contracts conflicting with him being able to start the role at the appropriate time otherwise he was all in.

Food for thought? Supplement saga aside guy was a decent coach of young talent imo.

Thanks James.

28 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

in fairness, one of the things i like about figjam's time in the media is his relentless positivity about nearly all teams

he doesn't get down in the mouth or pick favourites like kornes, as an example

I’m one who believes Bucks could (em-far-sis on the ‘could’) be a good choice… he has had time to reflect on his own coaching and where he went wrong, and, being in the media, has had the opportunity to remain in close contact with the modern game, getting quality analysis from various other footy brains.

One poster mentioned that they didn’t like the fact that he had a big ego… I think that he has a lot of self belief (which could be mistaken for ego), and that that is a prerequisite if you’re going to take on the job of coaching a footy team.

While I won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t get the job, I certainly won’t be disappointed if he does get the job. I think he’s worth the gamble.

There is a perception rightly or wrongly that the mfc rule the roost a little bit, I have no idea if this is true or not, but I’m softening to Buckley simply because if it were true, I can’t imagine him putting up with it.

56 minutes ago, don cordner said:

You lost me at over rated player, he was the player in the league for a long stretch

Correct DC. Even though I disliked him because he was at the pies he was a very good player.

4 hours ago, rpfc said:

Absolute shambles.

Then I am losing faith in the board.

Coaches are not players - they are the de facto leader of the club especially in a period where we have no CEO and an interim President.

Just fire him in April. As soon as you start tapping up someone - pull the trigger and deal with the consequences of your actions.

Completely understand the lack of faith in the board. They are a shambles. But it's possible they have also made the right call here.

I found the initial decision mind boggling for similar reasoning you're suggesting, if they didnt fire him at 0-5 or much earlier in the season, why with three rounds to go and not say 10 rounds to go?

To me, it could imply that they simply want a fresh voice, but to continue the shift to the transition game style that Goody was implementing anyway.

Connecting the dots, Buckley was also not our first choice. If you go back to Caro's reporting earlier in the year, we hit up Beveridge in early 2025 and then moved on.

It seems Buckley is keen, it maybe because he doesn't see us as a basket case. That being the case he gets the job. The other experienced head coaches don't grab me.

2 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

HG, if the date of the meeting between Smith and Buckley that @Gator gave is accurate, then this took place when we were only 0-3. To me, this would imply that internal discussions on Goody would have started well before this for us to have actually reached the point where we were sounding out prospective coaches. Obviously our ‘24 years performance sowed a number of seeds of doubt.

@Neil Crompton round 2 NM game had already seal Goodies exit. The players were disinterested. Was the most pathetic onfield performance i have EVER witnessed. Any club leader would also have recognised this - im a tally astounded he wasn't walked out of the club then and there. If that time correlates with coffee with Bucks - it means our i coming Pres is 100% in tune with the needs of the club going forwards.

On 08/08/2025 at 09:42, Ted Lasso said:

Let’s be real, if nick daicos walked into our club this off season we’d be playing finals in 2026 as well. Yes fly has re energised the pies but I have no doubt they’d have spiked under bucks as well when you have an 18 year old walk in and play at near Brownlow level

It's not about re energise of the Pies.

McCrae can actually coach game plan and structures.

2 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

in fairness, one of the things i like about figjam's time in the media is his relentless positivity about nearly all teams

he doesn't get down in the mouth or pick favourites like kornes, as an example

I'm not sure if Buckley is the right person to take over or not however, he admits openly that during his playing days and probably the first half of his tenure as senior coach he was always assessing his own performance and those around him with unrealistic expectations and through a negative lens.

He now sees the world differently (according to him) and I'm sure would take a different approach to coaching now having a more experienced/mature head. Does that make him the best possible candidate? Maybe but we will find out soon enough

Part of me whilst hating anything to do with CFC loves the idea of him winning a flag at the club he supported as a kid - and the fact that he is clearly still very driven to achieve the one thing that he failed to do in what has otherwise been a stellar career.

4 hours ago, don cordner said:

You lost me at over rated player, he was the player in the league for a long stretch

Buckley Voss and Hird were clearly the best midfielders of the late 90s/early 00s