Yep wow. Consecutive finals series.....I guess we can only dream. Wait, hang on......

Seriously Josh stop trying to push the shabby list wagon. Firstly Nth Melbourne's list is never as bad as people make out. It's just that being a poorly supported side means that their players dont get the star treatment from the media as the Essendon*'s, Collingwood's etc of this world.

....and even if it is/was the case, after 7 years at a club you become more than partly responsible for the quality of that list.

It's this reason that I'm astounded that Pagan has escaped responsibility from the outside world for our results in 2003-2007 as he can constantly hide behind the 'shite list, no draft picks' line.

Finally how does Laidley after 7 years get a 'crap list' out clause yet Ratten is crucified for his results? I'm no Ratts apologist, and agree 2011 is a make or break year, but anyone who thinks that you can turn the rubbish he took over in 2007 into geunine flag threat in 3 years is being unrealistic. Especially considering the lack of bonafide 25-29 year old players still on our list which are the core group of any top side. (Simpson, Judd, Waite, Carrazzo...dust)

Not that I want to turn this into another Ratten debate, but remember Dean Bailey has been at Melbourne for the same amount of time. HJ Harvey went 11,11,14 in his 1st 3 years before this year at Freo, Bomber Thompson missed the finals in his first 4 years, Hardwick achieved less than Ratten did in his first year yet everyone is lauding the job he's done so far etc etc

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"They're [REDACTED]'

Laidley appears a poor list manager from my limited view but he is widely recognised as an excellent tactician. That's not just my opinion, I've heard several senior and assistant coaches claim that Rocket and Laidley are the hardest to coach against tactically.
Personally, I am in favor of getting him. If not as a line coach, then as a tactical analyst. RP always stated we'd get the best and Laidley is widely accepted as fitting that category. The more wise heads the better.

Someone fitting that bill would have been beneficial this year. I thought we had a bit of the "Pagans" this year where opposition teams did their homework on us for a change and we struggled to adapt. I recall a few years ago where Pagan played a 4 man forward line and the opposition teams played us one on one. Subsequently we won the pre-season cup on our own terms. Come round 1, North loaded up their backline with 2 extra backs (good decision makers), a couple of strong contested marking forwards and we had no answers. It was a blueprint for the other clubs to dismantle us from there which they promptly did.

This year was a bit reminiscent. We had some good success with pushing up the ground and allowing the 3 amigos to run back into space. Once the opposition did their homework and countered it, we won 4 games out of 13.
How did we adapt? Drop players and shift the deckchairs. Did we require more of a lateral mindset?

Coaches boxes are like a bubble. Everyone within the bubble is subconsciously influenced by the others in the group. Comments, gestures, sighs, ideas, frustrations. They're all aspects of human behaviour that impact on the other peope within the area. I suspect that's part of the reason coaches are heading down to the bench. It's also a good reason to shake up the assistant group as we have done. But it's also a good reason to embrace specialist skills. Yes Laidley has faults but his strengths are widely accepted as being exceptional and I personally believe we need assistance in that area. Ratten needs to view these appointments as supplementing his abilities, not threatening them. If I was in his shoes, I'd be pushing Swann to get Laidley on the payroll asap.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

on the money BV... wasted opportunity!!

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There's so much I could say...

Yes but I know a better Tactician that would fit in with Ratten alot better than Laidley and would come alot cheaper

Wayne Brittain

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

Brittain?
I highly doubt Laidley would come as an expensive option if we wanted him. Also slightly dumbfounded why the suggestion to add Laidley to our coaching mix seems to make some grown men on here decidedly uptight. Chill out.

Not sure on what the term is within psychology circles, but organisational management gurus have devised a 'clever' little term for this phenomena:

Group-think.

Yep. Clever.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Ratten will continue to coach from the bench next season.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

So will Richardson be doing most of the actual coaching then?

It has more to do with some posters implying that Ratten does not want Laidley because he is threatened by him that makes grown men uptight.

Richardson has been chosen ahead of Laidley. Nothing more nothing less. More than likely would have got chosen ahead of laidley at Essendon* too if it wasnt for the golden child.

Time to get on supporting the team of coaches we have lined up to lead us in 2011.

I get the feeling that maybe Ratts has moved (or has been moved) more into a director of coaching/delegatory role and perhaps some of his previous 'coaching responsibilities' has been taken up by Richardson and others. Just a vibe I'm getting.

Who will be the VFL coach?

Ideally, I think the VFL side's game plan/structure should mirror Carlton's. So I wonder if the club will go for someone who's close to Ratten and is already intimate with the Carlton game style...

Perhaps Bradley or Riley?

I'm not sure either of these guys would want the job, but if one of them moved across to coach the Bullants, that should create room for another senior assistant appointment (possibly even Laidley?).

Otherwise, I'd love to think we could land Sanderson if he misses out on the Geelong job (it might be good for his CV to have coached his own team, as I think he's only ever been an Assistant at PA & Geel?)....but I doubt that will happen. And I'd also love to get Tudor, but that's unlikely to happen too unfortunately.

Realistically, I think we're probably looking at James McDonald. Also in the mix I suspect would be Hickmott, Campo and.......WIGGINS.

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

So in other words, don't air your grievances on a fan forum specifically formulated for doing just that? Interesting advice because the last time we let the club pick their coaching panel and we stood silent, we got rid of virtually all of them??
Good to see you have unabashed faith in the decision makers at our footy club. I love our footy club, but question whether we have the best people making the most important decisions and have done so consistently ever since Ratten was first appointed.

As for my implication that Ratten was threatened by Laidley.. I'm happy to discuss this with you in greater detail in private.

Maybe we've gone too early ... looks like Brenton Sanderson might be looking for a new job on Monday.

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Laidley has spent most of his life developing under a Pagan type game plan -

Brittain and Ratts have learnt under Parkin - thier moves thier footballing philosphy would be almost the same their game plans and tackling them would be very similar

No good having Ratts on the bench developing one game plan during the week and Laidley making the moves in the box based on kick it to Carey .

If your going to have the side line coach and someone in the box making the moves the guy on the sidelines would have to have complete trust in the capabilities of the guy in the Box

Ratts would have that with Britts

He wouldn't with Laidley

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

The decisions have been made. Ratten, Richardson, Riley, Brown and Barker are the team. Time to get on supporting the team of coaches appointed.

I dont see the fact that Lappin and Montgomery moved on and the fact that Harvey went back to his club as an admission of failure. I see the fact that they were swooped on by other clubs as a success. The time was right to freshen up the coaching panel and it has been done successfully.

The Ratten threatened by Laidley discussion would be better for private as i think most are bored with it.

Josh ur right we probably finished where we should have given our inability to beat other teams in the mix. I suspect however it has more to do with our young list not being able to mentally rise to the challenge on a consistent basis. We were though able to beat Geelong and st Kilda which suggests to me we are getting there. As much as I hate to admit it collingwood were by far the best team this year and deservedly won the premiership and we couldn't get close to them I would suggest that their mindset was one of belief in themselves and their teammates. In years gone By we have managed to get ourselves up for them despite our otherwise poor years. The big question is can ratten n co get them into the right mindset on a consistent basis in 2011. Given we tolerated pagan for as long as we did I'm happy for ratts to have another year. I'd suspect he knows we expect success and if he can't deliver he will be gone however he needs to go into next year without looking over his shoulder because if that's the case we a doomed already.

Not sure that's the most adult way to behave there Doc.

Was thinking the same thing. Would be great to have someone from the Geelong system at the Club.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Ever wonder why your opinions are "unpopular", because you talk rubbish, as if its fact.