It’s happened again. Another AFL coach has been giving his marching orders on the back of an inept performance by his playing group.
Melbourne’s sacking of Dean Bailey was simply a kneejerk reaction that was untimely, irresponsible and totally unnecessary.
The Melbourne board, wanting to be seen as doing something, responded to their 186-point belting by making Bailey a scapegoat. Shameful.
Worse still and perhaps the most staggering aspect of this embarrassing saga is the extraordinary backflip made by the Melbourne board.
Only days before Bailey’s departure was made public, the Melbourne powerbrokers were understood to have made the decision to sack CEO Cameron Schwab and retain Bailey as senior coach.
In an about face it seems only Melbourne could manage, Schwab was rewarded with a one-year extension on his contract and the coach given the bullet.
The change of mind took only 24 hours. Schwab was gone one day and retained the next. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement to all prospective coaches on the management of the football club.
At this rate, if they have intentions of talking to Malthouse, Clarkson and Roos, they are kidding themselves.
Back to Bailey. Let’s have a look at his results over the past three seasons.
When he arrived, Melbourne was a basket case. In his first year, a bottom of the ladder finish with only three wins was to a large degree expected after inheriting a substandard list from Neil Daniher and then Mark Reilly.
2009 brought four wins and that was doubled with eight wins in 2010. This season, with five rounds to play, Melbourne have seven wins, a draw and mathematically at least, a chance of playing finals.
As unrealistic and as farfetched as that may seem, a finals berth remains a legitimate possibility. So what have they possibly got to gain out of sacking Bailey now?
Three of Melbourne’s remaining fixtures are against Richmond, the Gold Coast and Port Adelaide. Melbourne are capable of winning all three which would leave them with 10 and a half wins, provided they, as expected, come up short against Carlton and West Coast.
Sacking the coach now made no sense whatsoever. The decision to oust him with five rounds to play has only confirmed what most already knew.
Melbourne is miles away from being a well managed AFL powerhouse. Sure they have done brilliant things thanks to Jim Stynes in terms of erasing debt, but they continue to make poor, erratic and hasty decisions when it comes to matters football.
In fact it seems that they have been so focused on debt management that it has totally slipped their mind that they are actually in the business of playing footy. But really, what’s new?
At the end of 2009, the Demons, with four picks in the top 20 of the national draft, netted Tom Scully, Jack Trengove, Jordan Gysberts and Luke Tapscott. Bailey even said himself; he made decisions in the clubs best interest and ones that would bring high draft picks to the club.
At Bailey’s final press conference – one in which Schwab and Chris Connolly didn’t even attend – in what was seen as the closest thing to an admission of ‘tanking’, he said had been specifically requested by the board to make decisions that were in the best interests on the Melbourne Football Club.
”I had no hesitation at all in the first two years of ensuring this club was well placed for draft picks,” Bailey said.
”I have no hesitation in what we’ve done. I think what we’ve done is the right thing by the club and if it cost me my job, so be it.”
”I was asked to do the best thing by the Melbourne Football Club and I did it … I put players in different positions to enable them to develop. I think the whole football club agreed we wanted to develop our players, so we did.”
It has even come to light that in their 2009 match against Richmond – the year in which they were supposedly tanking – with the Demons in front, Bailey had a visitor to the coaches box. A board member questioning his tactics and demanding Melbourne lose.
Bailey of course accommodated and as a result of those decisions – a directive from the board – he has been sacked.
Every time this situation occurs, the same old lines get trotted out. We can’t sack the 22 players that produced such an embarrassing, inept and downright disgraceful performance last weekend.
So who goes? The coach.
Perhaps it would have been better to make an example of a handful of players. Relegate them to the twos, put them on notice, threaten them with their careers, a week without pay…anything!
Instead, the playing group that continues to tell us they support and play for their coach have gotten away with yet another poor display, but are still able to front up this week wearing the Melbourne guernsey.
You can’t sack the 22 but you sure as hell can make an example of them.
What will actually make it harder for Bailey to swallow is if the Demons come out breathing fire this week against Carlton. As is often the case, a week after a coach is sacked; the players suddenly and inexplicably find their heart.
If that happens and if we know Melbourne like we do, they will laud their caretaker coach and pat each other on the back for a decision well made. Hell, a win this week would probably be enough to ensure Todd Viney is offered a five-year deal!
If Melbourne can hang on to Scully and co, they will in time climb the ladder. However, convincing the likes of Scully to stay put now is tantamount to impossible.
Melbourne have got some work to do to regain the respect they have surely lost. One idea would be to put an equal share of time into debt management and football operations.
That would be a good start.
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