By Zolton
July 5th 2007 @ 8:26am
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A wolf in Rooster’s clothing
Surely Nick Politis and the board at the Roosters knew what they were getting themselves into when they appointed Chris Anderson as the head coach of the Sydney Roosters. In the wake of the Ricky Stuart/Gus Gould dramas, the club really needed stability and an overriding sense of ‘joie de vie’ instilled as part of the team culture. Instead, Politis appointed Anderson, a coach with a history of internal conflicts and an uncanny ability to divide and conquer. He had his successes a while back. But that was firmly in the past. His appointment seemed like a strange move at the time, and now, given the team’s appalling performances on the field this year, it looks even more incomprehensible — especially given the quality of coaches (Daniel Anderson and John Lang among them) who were available and interested. Given his track record of early departures, it would be a surprise to see him last out the season.
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~~~~~~~ KB
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Terry Kidd said | July 5th 2007 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
Ok Zoltan, what has been happening at the Roosters apart from them not winning games? You have piqued the interest, do you have follow up with facts?
Chris Anderson would not have been my choice as coach and he is quite likely a little prickly but facts or knowledge can you lay on the table to back up the things you have written?
Mate, you make allegations but say nothing to support them. That is simply character assassination and not journalism.
spiro zavos said | July 5th 2007 @ 4:37pm | Report comment
I wouldn’t say pointing to someone’s coaching record is character assassination. The point is that after early successes Chris Anderson hasn’t had a great deal of success at league or at rugby. The key probably to his appointment at the Roosters is that the intention initially was to replacer Rickie Stuart with Wayne Bennett. When that plan fell through Chris Anderson was one of the last coaches still available. You could hardly say he has revitalised the club the way Jason Taylor has as Souths to a certain extent.
Zolton Zavos said | July 6th 2007 @ 2:09pm | Report comment
Hey Terry, no accusations were made other than that Chris Anderson has had a poor record of seeing out his contracts with clubs and that there are deep seated reasons for this. Check this article for some background on his dramas at the Sharks:
http://www2b.abc.net.au/grandstand/nrl/newposts/17/topic17987.shtm
or this one on his falling out with Melbourne:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/ashes_series/1667332.stm
Zolton
Terry Kidd said | July 6th 2007 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
Hey Zoltan, I probably did not word my post too well. Anderson has had a lot of success as a coach and has fallen out with both the Storm and Sharks since, and he doesn’t have a lot to work with at the Roosters.
What I was trying to say was that obviously he may be difficult to work with but the public still has no real inkling what the issues were to cause those departures and your article does not make the picture any clearer.
I did check the links …. the Link about his falling out with the Sharks appears to have concerned the club board rather than the players and the link about the Storm says more about Anderson’s achievements than anything else …. so after reading the links I am no clearer on what the issues are/were.
I hope I have been able to explain it a little better this time.
rachid said | July 6th 2007 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
OK…….
Chris Anderson is old school. Most of the coaches who think the way he does have long since retired.
There is no question as to the mans success [although Zolton you question the relevance of some now outdated and superceded precedent] . History shows if he can coach a team long enough they win. I think it was great move to appoint the man provided the right questions were asked of him and what he saw as his role there.
He played and coached at clubs where winning was an institution- a club culture. thats what he offers. the problem is he seems to be getting grumpier with age. the modern coach is a delicate balance between tactician and people manger. he had both although his last few outings [melbourne-sharks] have ended both abruptly and badly which would suggest his people skills are dwindling. its an old mans right [hey hollywood even made films about the phenomena], they know it all and when your as successful and well regarded as he is i imagine it only gets exacerbated. if the people around him can put their egos aside for long enough and hes given a long enough leash the roosters will succeed.
r
Zac Zavos said | July 10th 2007 @ 9:37am | Report comment
I note that Anderson resigned this morning, with Brad Fittler taking over.
Prescient words indeed, Zolton: “Given his track record of early departures, it would be a surprise to see him last out the season.”
rachid said | July 10th 2007 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Well done Zolton. Maybe we should start calling you nostradamus.
Brad Fitler has come out saying that he wants to consolidate Andersons’ efforts and ensure his time at the club wasn’t wasted. How do you think he’s going to go? The more I watch and read about the game the more I realise its less and less about the coaches technical ability. I cannot fathom how up and down teams are. That level of inconsistency cannot be traced back to something a coach is doing differently week in week in week out. So if its not what the coach is doing or not doing what is it? Even knuckles Connolly is being haled as a super coach now, but less than a month ago he was under immense pressure to maintain his job. Or does the coach still have sway over players in an intangible way, coaxing egos, playing mind games…I have no answers really. The one thing I do believe though is that winning is a mindset. If you won as a player then you’re more likely to win as a coach. Which is my problem with both Souths and the Dragons at the moment. Both Taylor and Brown were good club players, whose teams played well but never actually won anything. They consistently played finals football but could not win a premiership. How can they go that next step as a coach when they don’t know what that next step is? Your thoughts would be interesting.
r