In defence of Ross Lyon
Columnist By Michael DiFabrizio, 17 Sep 2011 Michael DiFabrizio is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- ABC, AFL, Andrew Demetriou, Fremantle Dockers, Gerard Whateley, Mark Harvey, Michael Nettlefold, Nick Riewoldt, Ross Lyon, St Kilda Saints
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Ross Lyon speaks during the media conference to announce the new Fremantle Coach at the Woodside Plaza, Perth. Slattery Images
A lot of venom and anger has been directed the way of Ross Lyon the past two days. Naturally, his decision to cross from St Kilda to Fremantle raised more than a few eyebrows. But a lot of the criticism has been unfair, sensationalised and just hard to fathom.
Take the words of ABC broadcaster and journalist Gerard Whateley for example, who’s taken to Twitter to denounce Lyon’s actions.
“Lyon left at the right time in the wrong way in a cloud of duplicity and deceit. And he took casualties. The greatest of which was truth,” read one very bold tweet.
He followed up with comments to the Fox Sports website.
“How Ross Lyon’s reputation remains intact as a result of this is just a little beyond my comprehension at the moment,” he said.
“It’s an old-fashioned coup but it’s absolutely deceitful, duplicitous and distasteful,” he also said.
Give me a break, Gerard.
Yes, of course, questions need to be asked at this time, that’s a given. But that doesn’t give anyone a license to go as over the top as that.
A lot of the anger centres around the fact Lyon did the deal with Fremantle without the knowledge of either his management, Craig Kelly and ESP, or his club. On the surface, this doesn’t make Lyon look too good – but that’s only until you take the time to consider why this approach may have been taken.
The fact is, Mark Harvey’s management also happens to be ESP. This created an obvious conflict of interest. Had Lyon gone to his manager about the Freo offer, Harvey would have (in all likeliness) then found out his club was shopping around for his replacement.
Similarly, had Lyon told his club about the Freo offer, word would’ve gotten out quite easily. Even had he attempted to stall negotiations between his management and St Kilda, there’s a good chance ESP would then know something was up.
The obvious problem here is that if Lyon had alerted either his management or his club and then the deal with Fremantle fell through, the Dockers would be left with a coach who knew his club had been trying to replace him. That would be a horrible situation that could tear apart the club and arguably set them back several years.
You’d imagine that if Lyon was to put a rival club in such a position, there would be just as many – if not more – questions over his integrity and honour than we’ve seen the past two days.
Or maybe, just maybe, in that set of circumstances the anger would be directed at the entity that actually did place the knife in Harvey’s back (but that’s another column entirely…).
Either way, when you sit down and consider what the alternative for Lyon actually was, his actions don’t seem all that despicable.
Too many have been willing to stand from afar and opine, “it could have been handled better.”
The truth is it actually could not have been handled better. An alternative that could’ve very well ended in Lyon tearing apart a rival football club is in no way “better”.
Whateley was not alone in his criticism of Lyon, it should be stressed. Even Andrew Demetriou fell for the trap, saying: “I think people are entitled to ask questions about issues of commitment (and) integrity.”
But the irony was that not even St Kilda could bring themselves to make such remarks.
“Disappointment is about the only word I can come up with, because Ross served us well. He’s achieved a lot and I had every reason to believe up until 5.30 last night he was going to continue with the St Kilda Football Club. I wouldn’t say [we feel] betrayed, because football is that sort of business, people move on, things change,” said CEO Michael Nettefold yesterday.
Captain Nick Riewoldt, while also “disappointed”, was in a similar frame of mind discussing the issue on Channel Seven.
“I respect his decision. He’s been a great coach for us and we have achieved relative success together, and I wish him all the best for the future,” he said.
These are not the comments of men who feel they have been deceived or are the victims of duplicity. Rather, they are the comments of men who can look at situations like these while being realistic.
As for those who weren’t able to do that in recent days, maybe now they owe Ross an apology.
As a final note, this is my 200th column at The Roar. I’d like to thank all of you out there who’ve taken the time to read my work, leave comments (be they positive or negative) and allowed me the opportunity to do something I thoroughly enjoy. Hopefully there’s many more columns to come, thanks.
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Follow Michael on twitter @mdifabrizio
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September 17th 2011 @ 3:45am
Tony said | September 17th 2011 @ 3:45am | Report comment
A worthy 200th column!
September 17th 2011 @ 7:14am
tODDNQ said | September 17th 2011 @ 7:14am | Report comment
im sure mark harvey agrees with your views ……………..
September 17th 2011 @ 9:53am
chaos said | September 17th 2011 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Harvey is getting paid out his last year of contract. Not bad.
September 17th 2011 @ 10:28am
amazonfan said | September 17th 2011 @ 10:28am | Report comment
As legally he should. I don’t know why you suggest it’s ‘not bad’ as if Fremantle had a choice.
September 17th 2011 @ 8:20am
Chris said | September 17th 2011 @ 8:20am | Report comment
Finally! Some sanity over this whole episode!! Thank you, thank you, thank you…
I usually have a great deal of respect for Whately, but not this time.
September 17th 2011 @ 8:50am
Ian Whitchurch said | September 17th 2011 @ 8:50am | Report comment
Remember that an actual player cannot unilaterally terminate his contract and sign for more money and a longer contract somewhere else. It is only coaches who have this right.
Bring coaches and other football club staff under the same rules and the same salary cap.
September 17th 2011 @ 9:07am
sheek said | September 17th 2011 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Michael,
And a fine 200th column it is too!
Look, I hear what you’re saying – absolute honesty is sometimes, in fact, quite often impossible. Our human minds don’t work like that, & probably can’t cope with absolute honesty.
Lyons probably dealt with the issue as best he could, constrained as he was. Sure, his actions mightn’t be a good look. Think back to Thompson when he left Geelong to return to Essendon. He probably handled that situation even more poorly than Lyons, umming & arring his way for several weeks.
At least Lyons’ cut-out was quick!
September 17th 2011 @ 11:40am
amazonfan said | September 17th 2011 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Thompson’s handling of it was dreadful, but not because he ummed and arred. He accused several employees who left the club, such as Gary Ablett, of being disloyal (!)- in fact he practically drove Ablett out of the club- yet he himself was massively disloyal.
He’s a hypocrite, and even after he left, he tried to portray Ablett as the disloyal one and himself as the innocent one, which caused Ablett to finally state that he had enough and to point out that Thompson had broken his contract. Thompson, contrary to what he might think, is not the innocent one, unlike Ablett whom IMO is. For Ablett was out of contract, and as such wasn’t IMO disloyal. However, Thompson was still contracted. To make matters worse, at the same time that he was giving radio interviews in which he questioned Ablett’s integrity, he was fielding phone calls from Essendon! Thompson was also repeatedly dishonest. I really like Geelong, and I hope they win the flag (if West Coast doesn’t). Much of my newly found fondness for them is due to Thompson’s no longer being at the club, as I have lost any respect for him.
As for Lyon, my only objection is that he’s a mercenary who accused one of his players (Luke Ball) of being a mercenary! He has a very short memory. I also don’t like the way Harvey was treated, however Fremantle are to blame for that.
September 17th 2011 @ 9:09am
bestywins said | September 17th 2011 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Great Great article. I actually have an enormous amount of respect for Gerard but he lost the plot with his attack on Lyon in the media and it certainly stuck a raw nerve with him for some reason.Everyone should just taken a deep breath and have a cold shower. Melbourne treated Bailey like s##t.The Eagles were on the verge of sacking worsfold, Essendon went behind Geelongs back, yet NO-ONE in the media questioned golden boy Hird’s reputation like the vicious attacks on Lyon.
This is a HUGE business punters and it’s cut throat. For lyons NOT to do the best for himself in this type of environment would be stupid. He will bring success to the Dockers who have been terrible in their selection of coaches since their inception.For gods sake what the hell were they thinking when they got Damien Drum !!!!!!!! Harvey achieved very little in his time there. Yes he had a good year last year but the really really good coaches have made an impact well within the time frame had been given and the board had lost patience and confidence with him. And Harvey did not make an impact apart from getting them into the finals ONLY once. And that seems like a huge thing because they never ever make it!!!!!! Only the odd appearance over 16 long long years, so this fact made Harvey look better than he really was
Amazing how all the punters who throw rocks at this type of decision try to pretend that they wouldn’t do what he has done and knock back a better job offer with better money elsewhere.We live a society totally based around accumulating materialistic things and who has the biggest car or boat yet slam a person who tries to secure a better pay deal for his FAMILY for the long term.
Freo board could’ve handled it better with harvey by sacking him first but were taking an eachway bet in case hey couldn’t get their man. That should be the talking point NOT Lyons.
September 17th 2011 @ 9:31am
stabpass said | September 17th 2011 @ 9:31am | Report comment
Old Carlton style coup IMO.
September 17th 2011 @ 10:58am
amazonfan said | September 17th 2011 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Drum coached Fremantle to the finals in 2003, so he wasn’t that bad.
“For lyons NOT to do the best for himself in this type of environment would be stupid.”
“Amazing how all the punters who throw rocks at this type of decision try to pretend that they wouldn’t do what he has done and knock back a better job offer with better money elsewhere.We live a society totally based around accumulating materialistic things and who has the biggest car or boat yet slam a person who tries to secure a better pay deal for his FAMILY for the long term.”
I have no problem with anybody seeking a better deal. However, there is a great hypocrisy at play. Luke Ball left the club, due to his poor treatment by Lyon. Shortly afterwards, Lyon accused him of leaving for more money (both Lyon and Riewoldt made disappointing comments). This was of course false, as he took a pay cut, but what if it was true? Is it okay for Lyon to leave for more money but not for one of his players to leave for the same reason? Lyon has every right to look after himself. However I hope that he doesn’t do again what he did to Ball and accuse or criticize a player looking after his financial future, just like Lyon.
BTW, Michael, congrats on your 200th post.
September 17th 2011 @ 1:46pm
bestywins said | September 17th 2011 @ 1:46pm | Report comment
Hi Amazon,
NO Drum didn’t coach them to the finals.
He was their worst coach ever. He coached them from 1999 to mid 2001. They placed 15th (second last) and then 12th. They then lost the first 9 games of the season in 2001 and he was sacked. He was terrible at coaching an elite footy team. No disrespect to the man as a person but NOT a AFL coach.
It was Chris Connelly who coached them to their first finals.
If your point about Lyon having a go at Ball is on the money then I agree with your point on hypocrisy.And Lyon should own up to that fact.
One thing that seems clear is the Saints dicked him around for 6 months and he seemed willing to stay , the relationship between him and the board runs a lot deeper than punters really think from the sounds of it. Coaches would be paranoid fulltime these days given what just happened to Rocket Eade after getting them so close.
Cheers
P.S Big congrats Michael also on your 200th post
September 18th 2011 @ 3:38am
amazonfan said | September 18th 2011 @ 3:38am | Report comment
My apologies, you’re right. Connelly coached them both times. For some reason, I thought Drum had coached them the first time.
“If your point about Lyon having a go at Ball is on the money then I agree with your point on hypocrisy:”
That’s exactly my point.
“And Lyon should own up to that fact.”
I completely agree.
“One thing that seems clear is the Saints dicked him around for 6 months and he seemed willing to stay , the relationship between him and the board runs a lot deeper than punters really think from the sounds of it. Coaches would be paranoid fulltime these days given what just happened to Rocket Eade after getting them so close.”
Well, Eade simply wasn’t offered a contract extension so I don’t think he’s a particularly good example of the way clubs treat coaches. But no doubt that coaches are paranoid. They always have been. As the saying goes; there are two types of coaches, those who have been sacked and those whom are about to.
September 18th 2011 @ 11:30am
bestywins said | September 18th 2011 @ 11:30am | Report comment
I should clarify my point about Eade.
I was more or less saying that although he got them close to a GF he still had a use by date although he has proven he can coach and coach well, not how he was treated by the dogs.
However his decision to bring acker to the club BACKFIRED big time. So that’s why I think Lyon had to look after his own future as the saints were obviously seeing how the season panned out ,hence the 6 month delay. So Lyons could’ve been shown the door very quickly.
So I was trying to say that even the proven coaches are looking over their shoulders because at any given time the axe could fall.
I don’t think he was treated poorly by the dogs at all.
Worsfold is another example of that. He was so close to getting the chop even though he dragged them out of the s##t and won a GF etc
“As the saying goes; there are two types of coaches, those who have been sacked and those whom are about to.”
Great point Amazon
September 21st 2011 @ 1:53am
amazonfan said | September 21st 2011 @ 1:53am | Report comment
“I should clarify my point about Eade……….Worsfold is another example of that. He was so close to getting the chop even though he dragged them out of the s##t and won a GF etc”
I completely agree. It is an extremely tough job to be a coach.
“Great point Amazon”
Thanks.
September 17th 2011 @ 12:57pm
Michael DiFabrizio said | September 17th 2011 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
“yet NO-ONE in the media questioned golden boy Hird’s reputation like the vicious attacks on Lyon.”
This is a FANTASTIC point. Just needed to be highlighted.
September 17th 2011 @ 9:41pm
me too said | September 17th 2011 @ 9:41pm | Report comment
and this somehow justifies lyon’s actions? all it shows is that the media play favourites. lyon is no favourite outside his clique of walls and roos, and thus had the blowtorch applied – as it should be.
though if you had thought to do a bit of research, rather than go of on a misreading of the situation, and a ridiculous exaggeration of the possible consequences of ross taking the grown up alternative to deceiving all those around him, you may well find many in the media DID criticise the essendon coup.
but that wouldn’t suit your argument.
September 18th 2011 @ 8:17am
bestywins said | September 18th 2011 @ 8:17am | Report comment
No-one in the media questioned Hirds character like the asaults on Lyons. The favourite golden boy returning home was the big story NOT the way he and the essondon board outrightly lied to everyone.
The point WAS about the media, not to justify how the freo board went about it all.
Just one week before they sacked Knights ,David Evans came out and said we didn’t mention the coaching role in our 5 hour meeting !!!!! Yeah right !!!
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/hird-sorry-to-make-waves-20100820-138za.html
Yet the punters were supposed to swallow that and ten days later sacked him.
Hird stated this also 10 days earlier, that he wouldn’t be coaching in the AFL for the next 3 -5 years !!!!!!
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/i-wont-coach-for-now-james-hird/story-e6frf9jf-1225907502351
It’s chalk and cheese what has happened at essendon and now freo. Yet No-one in the media attacked Hirds lying ,deceit or undermining of Knights. No-one questioned the lying the by the Essendon board in the above article. They were always going to appoint Hird and put up smoke screens all over the place to cover up the deceit and lying over a 2 month period
You’re right the point was about media favourites and Whatleys of the wall personal attack on the character of Lyon’s. What else did you think that comment could be about ????????
Find me the same amount of attacks against Essendon with the same vicious wording and show me where Hird was called deceitful, underhanded and a back stabber ?????. I did do research on those points and for the life of me can’t find a single article questioning. What you will find is the media using words and phrases like fairtale ending, dream coaching team etc etc , not underhanded, lying, backstabbing, unloyal or down right personal attacks
September 19th 2011 @ 8:46am
Lucan said | September 19th 2011 @ 8:46am | Report comment
The Essendon saga was bar far the worse act. They brought in applicants for a job that was never actually available to them, and had them present their intellectual property to a board who was just milking them.
Essendon got free, unbiased, evaluations of their playing list and recommendations on directions and rivals game plans/styles.
Why didn’t the media, the coaches association, the managers, Andrew Demetriou, take the long handle to Essendon in this situation?????
September 19th 2011 @ 8:59am
bestywins said | September 19th 2011 @ 8:59am | Report comment
Yes that’s exactly my point. And great point s you have also raised Lucan. Free info and just taking the piss out of the applicants when the deal was already done and dusted with golden boy weeks or even months before.
Smoke and mirrors and BS while they already had negotiated and inked a deal with HIRD.
And good Gerard never said a word about it and when these GWS deals were being done he laughed it off as a sign of the times even though the rules were being broken with recruitment.
September 21st 2011 @ 2:32am
amazonfan said | September 21st 2011 @ 2:32am | Report comment
I completely agree. Essendon acted disgracefully. It astounds me that the AFL didn’t even censure Essendon. Surely, interviewing a candidate knowing full well that you won’t offer them the job but wanting to access their knowledge is against the rules? Still, the AFL has never been one for consistency.
September 18th 2011 @ 12:28pm
bestywins said | September 18th 2011 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/i-want-to-be-essendon-coach-says-former-skipper-james-hird/story-e6frf9if-1225930250431
Read that and tell me where on earth is there one word suggesting that what transpired was underhanded,back stabbing, lying or deceitful.
Just smoke and mirrors about Mark Thompson and all the BS that went with it.
Hird did worse imo. He undermined a current coach through his media circus mates all the while denyinng that he even had a remote yearning for the job. The club and Hird methodically worked behind closed doors for a fair time to make sure everything looked like due process was gone through.
No-one even questioned that the very same day that Hird got the job that Thompson told the geelong board he was burnt out and couldn’t coach anymore. Read the story below
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/bomber-thompson-set-to-quit-ast-geelong-coach/story-e6frf9jf-1225930803947
Or how about this article in the australian below. NOT one word about underhanded,lying deceitful, DISLOYAL, or one word remotely close to the vicious attacks on Lyon.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/mark-bomber-thompson-to-be-james-hirds-boss-at-essendon/story-e6frg7mf-1225930260349
You have made a strong statement about doing research me too and ridiculouss exaggerations. Well where is your research on the media going for it over the whole Hird/Thompson/ Essendon/ Geelong saga.
All that happened is that golden boy was going home and the media lapped it up and not dare say a bad word about him. Headlines read prodigal son returns, favourite son returns. Dream coaching coup by Essendon.
September 19th 2011 @ 6:50am
bestywins said | September 19th 2011 @ 6:50am | Report comment
Obviously research doesn’t suit your argument now mee too
September 17th 2011 @ 11:20am
AlfredC said | September 17th 2011 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Well done on 200 Michael.
I have no problem with Ross Lyon. I like how he has no reservations to say he want’s to win and that he can’t do it at St Kilda, its true. He has a much better chance of winning at flag at Freo than the Saints and the Dockers are in a similar position to the Saints in terms of list management when he took over there.
It’s good to have a coach who is ruthless and quite frankly, doesn’t care what the fans think. He’s a proven winner for hith ruthlessness. Dropping Dal Santo and Ball for that game in Tassie all those years ago turned that team around and ensured no one took their position in the team for granted. If Harvey is being offered $1.5 million to go to a club with a better chance of winning, much better facilities and not get overruled by the list manager, why shouldn’t he? He took the Saints to three GF’s and owes them nothing.
Moving to Seaford was a terrible mistake.
September 17th 2011 @ 12:07pm
Keen Observer said | September 17th 2011 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
Mark Harvey got paid well for his tenure and will continue to be paid well for another year so although it is a humiliating way to go he had lost the support of the club and was a dead man walking anyway. I, as a Dockers fan, cringed with the rest of you when all this came to light and even though I probably wouldn’t choose Ross Lyon because I hated watching St Kilda play I applaud Rosich and Harris for getting off their ass and aggressively targeting what they wanted because when it comes down to it I want a premiership. Would have preferred Harvey as premiership coach but Lyon will do me fine.
September 17th 2011 @ 1:22pm
Keldab said | September 17th 2011 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
A lot of the anger also centres around…
Herald Sun 17 May
“Lyon allayed any fears about his immediate future at St Kilda by
declaring he would honour his contract, which expires at the end of next
season. “Quite simply I am contracted until the end of 2012 and I’m fully
committed to fulfilling that contract.” ”
Jason Blake 4 September
Blake said the push to September was bolstered by the Saints coach saying he was committed to the cause. “He addressed it straight after and told us it was not true – we front up all those things in the media so there is no grey area,” told Triple M radio in Melbourne. “He was forthright in the commitment to the club.”
Sam Fisher 6 September
“Fisher said Lyon address the playing group recently. “He has been
honest and up front with us. That is the way Ross has been all the way
through and you take him on his word.”
Ross Lyon 13 September
“My position hasn’t changed. I don’t deal in rumour and innuendo and
certainly I’m as committed as I’ve ever been to my role. My status
hasn’t changed one iota.”
Jon Ralph 14 Sept
“You will not hear one bad word about Lyon from his senior players
because he trusts them, and they trust him. That word – trust – is vital
because he has told his players he is in for the long haul”.
September 17th 2011 @ 2:13pm
Michael DiFabrizio said | September 17th 2011 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Keldab, I’ll address these quotes one by one.
Herald Sun 17 May
Was Lyon talking to Fremantle back in May??? No, he wasn’t. At that stage Lyon may have indeed had every intention of following through till the end of 2012. Even then, the language “fulfilling that contract” isn’t watertight. Both parties had the option to walk away at the end of 2011, Lyon exercised that option which was his right in the contract. So has the contract not been “fulfilled”? Even though the contract expressly gave Lyon the option to do what he did?
Jason Blake 4 September
Those comments were in relation to the Melbourne job, not the Fremantle job. Lyon WAS being honest with players.
Sam Fisher 6 September
So a player talks about how honest Lyon is. That doesn’t add anything to what was addressed in my article.
Ross Lyon 13 September
Bit of selective quoting going on here. Even the date you’ve attributed to these comments is wrong. He actually said that on 6 September, which is important because that date is before talks with Fremantle had even got the point where him coaching them in 2012 was discussed. I say selective quoting because at the time the comments were part of a story with the intro: “St Kilda coach Ross Lyon fuelled speculation over his future by refusing on Tuesday to confirm he would remain with the AFL club next year.” Don’t think he was misleading anyone with his comments that day.
Jon Ralph 14 Sept
This is from a journalist’s opinion piece. It’s not conclusive evidence that he’s told the players that. Has anywhere else reported that those words were used in recent discussions with players? And perhaps Ralphy was talking about his coaching style over the course of his time at St Kilda. He does not allege that Lyon RECENTLY told players, “I’m going to be here for the long haul”.
September 17th 2011 @ 2:23pm
Keldab said | September 17th 2011 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
Admittedly I pulled that list of quotes from somewhere else, and it wasn’t my work, but you get the overall vibe. You claimed much of the anger directed at him was because of his contract dealings, I was throwing up that much of it has to do with his vague reassurances over recent months. We may find out more detail in the coming weeks, we may never know what transpired. However the word is, that Ross told many players during meetings this week ‘see you next year’ which I suppose you will now argue may of been from the Freo coaching box and not ‘technically’ an untruth? Look he is a great coach, however given his views on loyalty, I will watch with interest if the Freo players buy in as unconditionally as the St Kilda players did.
September 17th 2011 @ 2:28pm
Keen Observer said | September 17th 2011 @ 2:28pm | Report comment
The players will buy in or be moved on, we know they are playing hardball now.
September 17th 2011 @ 2:36pm
Keldab said | September 17th 2011 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
That is a fair point, and there is every chance of that happening.
September 18th 2011 @ 3:44am
amazonfan said | September 18th 2011 @ 3:44am | Report comment
“Those comments were in relation to the Melbourne job, not the Fremantle job. Lyon WAS being honest with players.”
That’s ridiculous. So he was being honest because he was referring to the possibility of moving to one club, and not another? I know you don’t think he did anything wrong, but that is just absurd.
September 18th 2011 @ 10:35am
Michael DiFabrizio said | September 18th 2011 @ 10:35am | Report comment
amazonfan, I was responding to five different comments at once so go easy. The point still stands, but what I should’ve also pointed out is that given the date of the article, Lyon would have made those comments to players before any contact had been made with Fremantle. (Sep 4 was the date Freo have said the first phone call took place, and that matched up with what journos were speculating before the press conference.)
September 21st 2011 @ 2:23am
amazonfan said | September 21st 2011 @ 2:23am | Report comment
Sorry, if I came across as particularly hard.
You’re probably right about Lyon. I’ve actually become less cold towards him- although I still think he was hypocritical in regards to Luke Ball- having read an article in the Age (originally published in the West Australian) in which he talked about what happened. His comments that it would be ‘offensive’ and ‘illogical’ to contact Harvey, and to have publicly offered sympathy for him would have been ‘patronizing’ are correct IMO. Still, I do think that Fremantle have a lot of questions to ask. While they are not the first club to execute a coach in this fashion (Essendon treated Knights equally badly), I do think that it is about time that the silent execution was eliminated from the game.
September 17th 2011 @ 2:27pm
Fake ex-AFL fan said | September 17th 2011 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
Some of the comments being directed at Ross Lyon are indeed bordering on the absurd. I’ve read quite a few articles in the Saturday papers this morning, and learned quite a few interesting things that shed some different light on events. Are people aware for instance that St Kilda insisted on a clause in Lyon’s contract that allowed them to terminate it at ANY time with only six months severance pay? It was only in response to this that Lyon demanded the right to leave with a year left to run as long as he provided three months notice.
Or how about the fact that the original extension offer to Lyon earlier this year was reportedly even less secure and with a lower base salary? Or that it took from April until Wednesday this week before St Kilda were able to bring themselves to commit to a four year deal for Lyon? So Lyon is being ‘disloyal’ to the Saints? On how we laughed…
September 17th 2011 @ 3:10pm
BigAl said | September 17th 2011 @ 3:10pm | Report comment
St Kilda have always been good at this sort of stuff – best in the league.