Blue Vain wrote:
..and yet the shit coach had better results with the same players?
Go figure.
Did Bruce have the reasons for that from his birds eye view in Queensland?
Wins of the back of Judd and (in 2008-2009) Fev at their peak.
Ratten could only build one story of a two story house. He couldn't take the list that extra step.
He was given FIVE YEARS. Given the facitities. Given the players he asked for, and he couldn't do it.
He let the players be downhill skiers, which allowed us to play pretty football when it clicked, but meant we were sliced apart when it didn't. We were never going to be Top 4 or go anywhere near a Flag with that sort of footy (even when we finished 5th, we were still 2 and a half games off Top 4). That's why we always crashed and burnt in the heat of Finals.
In the end, when things weren't going to plan, he had no answers. He began lashing out at players and off field staff. He'd lost the plot. He'd run his race.
Teams like Hawthorn, Geelong and Collingwood can put on the 'razzle dazzle', but can also smash you into the turf if they have to. That's why they ve stayed a the top for so long. Its a mindset we re so far away from its not funny.
They ve had 5 years on unaccountable footy. MM has to teach the players to 'walk again'. He knows what it takes to win a flag. He's building for the top, not just aiming to sneak into the Top 8 and say 'look at us. we made the Finals' like Ratten did..
If that means taking a step back this year, to take strides forward thereafter, so be it.