By AFP
October 27th 2009 @ 2:30am
McKenzie slams Stade for pin-up player purchases
Ewen McKenzie, recently sacked by French Top 14 club Stade Francais, on Monday slammed his former employers and accused them of prioritising the recruitment of good-looking players for the club calendar.
“Stade Francais is the best team in the world in terms of marketing,” the Australian told sport daily L’Equipe.
“It’s an international brand. But on the level of their sporting approach some things are shocking. Paris are verging on amateurism.”
He went on to accuse club president Max Guazzini of “only seeing two things – his calendar and the (team’s home ground) Stade de France”.
The popular Stade Francais calendar ‘Dieux du Stade’ (Gods of the Stadium), features nude and semi-nude photographs of team members.
“He has a marketing outlook which is not always in the best interests of sport,” said McKenzie.
“For example, Max could recruit one player over another just because he has a better look for the calendar.
“I had players in my squad who I never chose. Others were requested to leave the club because they didn’t want to pose for the calendar any more.
“I had certain players forced on me who, for me, shouldn’t have been in a team targetting the Top 14 title.”
Former New South Wales Warratahs coach McKenzie was recruited in mid-2008 after the departure of Fabien Galthie. He was sacked on September 8 after the club endured a disastrous start to the season.
He has since been recruited by Queensland Reds for three Super 14 seasons.
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Eiger said | October 27th 2009 @ 3:03am | Report comment
Obviously McKenzie didnt fit the bill for “Mr October”.
pothale said | October 27th 2009 @ 7:12am | Report comment
Or November, December, January, etc.
Quite the hissy fit has Mr McKensie. It must be doubly galling seeing Stade’s stock rise in the league following his departure.
Bay35Pablo said | October 27th 2009 @ 11:41am | Report comment
Link didn’t have a hissy fit after he got canned by NSW, when he was probably entitled to. Further, to a degree it isn’t a hissy fit, but an explanation he didn’t have the team he wanted for the style he wanted. At the Tahs he got to pick his team to a great degree. He’s hardly going to take the lump and stain his career if he felt it wasn’t his fault. Others would call it passing the buck.
Stade picking up may show Link can’t coach, or just that the new coach and team suit each other better. Or the team is pulling its finger out after seeing the coach go and knowing they don’t have any excuses.
He got canned after 5 games or so. Some criticised his style, but I felt it a bit harsh. If he had stayed and turned it around ….
I hope he does well with the Reds. He was no bozo at the Tahs (or Wallabies apparently), and gave us our most successful years. In 2008 we dropped off, but as they say, all coaches are either waiting to be sacked or getting sacked.
I am always surprised by the venom some attack Link with. He strikes me from listening to him on Ruggamatrix to be a pretty decent bloke, and love his rugby and think about it deeply. He may not coach sparkling rugby, but then who is currently?
Parisien said | October 27th 2009 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Having just watched them play at the weekend, funny to see how much better they’ve been going since McKenzie left, and at last playing attractive rugby again, with some great plays by the backs.
I look forward to seeing how Link goes with the Reds, but I suspect he is seriously over-rated.
Dean Pantio said | October 27th 2009 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
“playing attractive rugby again”
Something he couldn’t achieve at the Tahs, despite their riches.
How often do successful coaches get sacked..?
Hoy said | October 27th 2009 @ 8:55am | Report comment
I am quitely concerned that he is not all he is cracked up to be as well.
He was sacked from his last two jobs. As usual, something stinks at the Reds that they pursue these types of people. Whoever thought Eddie was good for the Reds after being sacked from the Wallabies needs their head read.
I hope I am wrong, and certainly he has some winning history, which the Reds haven’t had in a coach for a while, and I guess he can’t do worse can he?
reds fan said | October 27th 2009 @ 9:12am | Report comment
While I am generally supportive of his appointment, this issue with Stade starting to win after he left was bugging me. Getting sacked by the Tahs was no surprise, that place makes Hamlet’s danish court look like a schoolyard tiff!
But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. If he at least gets them fit and tackling that’ll be a start!
Mr cheese said | October 27th 2009 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Perhaps Mr mckenzie doesn’t realise that, in France, the egg-chasers have to do a great deal to promote the sport. The calendar stuff is a way of convincing football fans that rugby is worth a second look. If it’s purely about what happens on the pelouse, the supporters will simply watch football. As in England.
By showing off the players’ pecs etc., the rugby club can try to make the sport more popular and fashionable. As a sport, football is better and so it gets more press. This is a way of trying to fight against that.
Pothale said | October 27th 2009 @ 9:49am | Report comment
But didn’t McKensie experience the wonder and inflated pecs of Tah Man. Bit rich from an Aussie coach to complain about the promotional antics of a French owner.
ThelmaWrites said | October 27th 2009 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
Yeah, Pothale
…like hot pink jerseys with an Andy Warhol-like picture of Blanche de Castille in front. Next week, it’s someone else’s mug. Admittedly, I only saw the two Stade de France games at the beginning of the Top 14 season. Toulousse was obsessed with drop goals, and Brive, according to the commentator, was a new team, with “nothing to pull out of the bag”. I turned off the TV when SF played Glasgow, it was mind-numbingly boring.
Conor said | October 27th 2009 @ 4:40pm | Report comment
Hes not complaining about a mascot, tah man doesnt dominate the culture of the tahs.
What links talkin about is they seem to worry about lookin good first instead of being/getting good. i.e. getting players he didnt want, or couldnt use.
Fair enough if thats the way he saw it.
Tahriffc said | October 27th 2009 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
It appears that McKenzie was making the point that at times – due to overriding commercial imperatives – the head Office at Stade were picking players who were ‘Built Like Tarzan But Played Like Jane!”
johnny-boy said | October 27th 2009 @ 7:02pm | Report comment
He obviously didnt get the culture. They’re bloody French for christ sake !
His Reds reign certainly will be interesting. The Reds could do with a bit more boring. And when the backs
finally realise he’s a dud on attack they might ignore him and do their own thing. Which seems to be when teams play best ?
mattamkII said | October 27th 2009 @ 7:37pm | Report comment
I am kinda Bay above. People seem to have short memories when it comes to Links era at the Tahs. They played total rugby and ran the ball plenty… same goes for Matt Rogers…people forget how brilliant he was at Super level.
Link and his Tahs team made some bad decisions come finals time thats all. They went from running rugby to kicking rugby to in an attempt to tie things up. Again, sadly those games are all people seem to remember rather than the years of some great rugby.
Knives Out said | October 28th 2009 @ 1:39am | Report comment
Interesting public bickering between McKenzie and Guazzini:
“He has found a job in Australia, and it is imperative for him to justify the reasons why Stade Français, which is a well known club in Australia, sacked him and all he comes up with are derogatory remarks,” he said.
“From A to Z, everything he said was rubbish. Professionally speaking, ask the players, they weren’t working, they did absolutely nothing. In terms of recruitment, we did exactly what he asked of us.”
Robbo said | October 28th 2009 @ 6:34am | Report comment
Well, having just seen the jersey Stade play in (its hot pink with paintings superimposed on it) I think McKenzie might have a point. After all he did get a team to 2nd in the Super 14 (which is an infinitely higher-caliber competition than the French one).
Knives Out said | October 28th 2009 @ 8:40pm | Report comment
That’s probably not true to be honest. In terms of skill maybe, but that is to be expected in such a short and generally dry weather competition. The Top 14 has always boasted maybe 6 teams who could win the tournament whereas realistically the Super tournament has never ever had that type of competition. Further, the Top 14 is such a long competition that alongside the HC the role of DoR requires a huge amount of long-term planning, manipulation of resources and ingenuity that it takes a very clever man to succeed. Which is probably why McKenzie failed so badly. His selections were bizarre, and the style of play he enforced was nonsensical. Much like when Meyer took over as DoR at Leicester Tigers. The man had won a Super tournament yet his ideas on rugby were woefully antiquated and narrow. I think some of the coaching in the S14 is truly appalling. I tend to side with Guazzini. Which players didn’t he want? James Haskell has been a revelation and the other new players: Palmer, Phillips and Southwell are hardly Hollywood icons. He’s talking rubbish and he;s back to the Reds with his tail between his legs.
ThelmaWrites said | October 28th 2009 @ 10:42pm | Report comment
Knives Out
I beg to differ. Admittedly I only saw some Top 14 games in October: Toulousse, Stade de France, Brive, Clermont, Biarritz, Perpignan, Montpellier. By and large, the level of skills and tactics were inferior to the English, Irish and Welsh clubs. I haven’t watched the Super 14 and cannot pass any judgment. My kids are determined to get me FoxSports which I’ve resisted for so long, so maybe next year I’ll be up-to-date with Super 14.
BTW, you’d have to be much older to be a fan of Scott Quenelle.
Knives Out said | October 28th 2009 @ 11:07pm | Report comment
Unfortunately I’m too young, ThelmaW. I’ll utilise Google. What do we differ on, btw?
ThelmaWrites said | October 28th 2009 @ 11:58pm | Report comment
Pardon the wooly thinking, Knives Out. I really shoudn’t be posting late at night, after dusting my son’s place all day long. Then I lie awake hoping posters don’t catch the gaffe I made! You were making comparisons between the Top 14 and the Super 14. I was comparing the Top 14 with UK and Irish clubs. The point I was making is that I’m not impressed with the standard of rugby in the Top 14. I would normally back this up with specific details, but I’m too tired to read the scrawl that passes for my notes.
It was so nice to hear Scott Quenelle commentating from the sideline in the Bath v Leicester game, but I couldn’t understand him!
Thanks and good night!
Knives Out said | October 29th 2009 @ 1:50am | Report comment
No worries, TW.
I agree, sometimes the T14 is horrible and conservative, sometimes it isn’t, but I don’t think being a successful coach in the S14 means that you would automatically be a successful coach everywhere else.