Blue Vain wrote:
Anyone who thinks coaches are judged on tactics or short term improvement are kidding themselves.
Talk to the current coaches and their mentors (Parkin, Alves, Connolly and co.) and they'll tell you good coaching is about quality preparation, not tricks.
The good coaches teach their players to be good decision makers. To think their way through situations whilst under enormous pressure and to react in a manner that will be predictable to their team mates and beneficial to the team. No one does it well all the time but the better teams make the right decision more than most.
That process is developed by implementation of game sense drills at training and coaches with the ability to communicate with the players without overloading them with useless bullshit.
From what I've witnessed, the players are learning more in one week of training at the moment than they did under a years training from Pagan.
The drills are game specific and give the players every opportunity to instinctively play a style of game that will lead to success.
What happens on game day reflects their long term preparation. Tactics make up 5% of wins and losses.
Games are decided by long term strategies and smart players. That's what Ratts is building. Give him time.
A tactic refers to any method used to achieve an aim... yes at it's simplest that's "Waite to CHF" or "Kick it to the square" but you well know it gets a bit more complex than that.
It remains to be seen if Ratts can develop and maintain enough of these scenarios successfully, say tempo footy (to use another simple example), or alternatively if he can educate enough players to rotate through roles within the structure such that the opposition can't lock down on a key role.
One season and six games is not enough, if it does backfire we have sent money down the river for no good reason. We could have offered an extension in the form of an option on the contract, for instance.