The Collingwood Magpies have re-signed Nathan Buckley as the senior coach until the end of 2019 despite a disappointing season that saw them finish thirteenth.
Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh said of Buckley “he’s not perfect” as the Magpies held a press conference to announce his re-signing. Walsh, you just said a mouthful.
The decision comes after a strong finish to the season for the Pies who recorded four wins and a draw with the minor premiers from their last seven games.
On Saturday they capped off 2017 with an upset win over Melbourne at the MCG, which had the added schadenfreudian benefit of denying the Dees a finals berth.
However, there’ll surely be some debate to be had as to whether or not a promising finish to season was enough to justify a Buckley extension give Collingwood’s unmistakble downward slope under his tenure.
I have said during the year that Buckley deserved the chance to bring a team that is still a work-in-progress to fruition, although I’ll admit I’m surprised that he has gotten it.
After all, I predicted he was going to get the sack just four days ago, but if you’ve been reading me regularly this year you’ll know that everything I predict is wrong forever.
Collingwood recently finished an extensive internal review of their football department, identifying a number of areas for improvement.
Buckley’s first task now that his future is secure will be to improve skills across the board, as this was identified as a major deficiency.
The Magpies are also looking to provide Buckley with an experienced mentor, so it will be interesting to see who takes up that role.
Those won’t be the only changes Collingwood looks to make though, with a restructure of the list management team and review of salary cap high up on the agenda.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the Pies can make the right changes and in doing so give Buckley an opportunity to thrive and show us a new level of high performance.
That might sound like a delusion pie-in-the-sky fantasy, but it’s exactly what Richmond managed to do at the end of 2016, and has led to a top-four finish this year.
Regardless, here will no doubt be concern among Collingwood fans – and optimism among the rest of the world – that all the Pies have done is sign themselves up for two more years of mediocrity.
Will we be right back here again in 2019? Only time will tell.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
“The last few years have shown how tough this competition is and we have not bounced as quickly as we had planned. In that time the resilience and commitment of the players and staff hasn’t wavered. In particular, we are blessed with a core group of emerging leaders who will drive our prospects in coming years,” Buckley said.
“We do not own the right to success, so we will chase it with all we have. Reinforcing the things we do well and continually challenging each other to find better ways. Above all, we will value and support each of our people as we go about our business.”
“We still have a lot of work to do and I’m up for that challenge.”
Eddie McGuire gave Buckley his own personal thumbs up, saying that he was the right choice to be the senior coach at Collingwood going forward.
“We have seen the way this list plays for Nathan. He is a man of the highest integrity, he has compassion for his players on and off the field, he is uncompromising in his commitment to the role and we believe he is taking this group in the right direction,” McGuire said.
“As a club we instigated a list rebuild following our 2013 campaign and Nathan has been exemplary in his commitment to developing the young talent brought on to our list and creating a team-first ethos that we believe will take us back to where we want to be as a club.
“The club has taken the One Collingwood blueprint process very seriously and the Board took time to consider all the information presented at our meeting on Tuesday night. With the benefit of that in-depth report we, as a Board, believe Nathan is the right person to lead this club forward.”
steve freestone
Guest
BOO to BUCKLEY the clubs own poll shows members that filled out the poll 100% didnt want buckley,,,whats going on MR ED
steve freestone
Guest
YER right,and santa lives on the north pole and they say diet coke is good for you,??
Nigel
Guest
Hi swampy ,yeah Bucks didn't have a good season an we shouldn't never of given him the job first up ,we let down Mick another grand final .An we lost some great players after it .A captain ,a running backman in Shaw ,Dasiy Thomas ,so the club was going down hill .but Bucks has made Collingwood a new turn over of players an remember they are kids playing a man's game atm so give them a chance.i think it's not a joke I really do think it's the right move he's got the kids playing together now just wait an see when the players over a pre season an picking up Reid an giving Petrie a go after he's great season at West coast an saying goodbye to players that are C grade standard .I like what's ahead for Collingwood I think some people will be eating there words .but hey I also could be too but lam a proudly team Collingwood .Gee I hated it when Leigh Mathews go the ass .but we got better it's not like a Tony Shaw season at all.
Geoff Schaefer
Guest
Haha, it's too late slugger. The contract is signed and you're stuck with a 2 million dollar coaching bill and two more years of the Bucks. And do you really think the Collingwood boys club board or Eddie are going to listen to their supporters? The horse has bolted mate. And the gate is shut. And the pain continues. Not for me though. I follow a well run successful club.
slugger
Guest
I have heard the cries of the majority my fellow supporters on this site...we don't have to take this nonsense There is something that we can do! Can we organise an online petition, it would be easily hosted on the Roar, all we need is an address and we can send it to every Collingwood Supporter that disagrees with this decision, and trust me there are masses of us....it will go viral, we will have 200,000 signatures by the end of the week. We can call it "give us our club back/ black and white.com....or something like that. Tim it would be great if you could lead it, or anyone within the Roar, or anyone with a bit of digital marketing know how....lets not talk about it lets do it
Richard M
Guest
What an absolute farce - the worst coaching appointment in the history of the club continues. As of 10.30 am on Monday, my lifelong passion for the Collingwood Football Club ceased. It is now painfully obvious that somebody has to have the guts to challenge McGuire and return the club to something resembling a well run football organisation. Compare the way Collingwood is run to that of clubs like Hawthorn and Geelong. To suggest that the way to fix the troubles at the club is to reappoint a failed coach and sack everyone around him is totally irresponsible, ill conceived and quite stupid. As the secretary of a local football club I have met many people associated with elite level footy and class many of them amongst my friends. They include former champion Collingwood, Carlton and Melbourne players, two AFL list managers, three current AFL players etc etc. The one thing that is consistent amongst these people is a belief that Buckley simply isn't up to it. Buckley is being paid in the order of $1.0 million per year - a salary that almost none of us will ever aspire to. In any walk of life, somebody who is being paid that amount of money is rightly expected to perform to a level far and above what would normally be expected of most people. Instead we have a person who has clearly been at odds with many of his players over the years, has coached at a level which is questionable at best and has been the architect of one of the worst declines in the fortunes of a sporting body that I can recall. And yet it's not his fault - it's everybody Else's. Sorry Mr Buckley, it is your fault, your record can only be described as appalling and you would not be appointed as a senior coach to any other club. It has been suggested that the reason that Buckley still has a job is because there were no other "high profile" candidates on offer. What utter rubbish and a perfect example of egotistical thinking of our dictator - sorry, President. Firstly what high profile coach would want to go to Collingwood and why on Earth does it have to be a high profile person eased out of another club. Eddie should realise that Clarkson is never going to Collingwood. Why would he leave a totally professional outfit like Hawthorn to go to the chaos of Collingwood? I am totally convinced that this club will flounder in mediocrity at best until the entire board and hierarchy is replaced and the club becomes the well run professional outfit it once was.
Peter the Scribe
Guest
So I give you supporting evidence for my convictions and the best you come back with is "rubbish" ? Then some hastily thrown together comments about no key forward. Here's a news flash for you Tim, they aren't easy to find or get. Darcy will develop and no doubt we will make a play for Lever down back.
Nigel
Guest
Bucks can coach ,but can the players stand up to the game Style in which he wants them playing .The players that Collingwood have brought in have been young guys playing a man's game so give them a chance .Gee they drew with Adelaide over there so how many teams do that or win this season .the depth is what we need to work on .guy's like Sam Reid an drew Petrie would be a good thing .we should of grab Brett last season to help out with the mid or wing work load we lost so many running mid players down with injuries .Go Pies please take my advice go those players .
slugger
Guest
perfectly said Tim
slugger
Guest
So they went hunting for Alistair Clarkson and he was not available, so Bucks is not really the first choice or is he....I think Ed is just as incompetent in running this club as Nathan is at coaching
Pieman
Guest
Stuart dew is available and i believe would be a much better candidate for the pies...i dont really believe there claim that much that they surveyed the candidates I guess the only real difference between us is that i am extremely skeptical with the decision makers and decision making because i dont take them on face value... i would have much more respect for both these guys if they just acknowledge there mistakes and resign instead of carrying out a farce that many can see through. I dont agree that the Malthouse fiasco was the best outcome...i dont understand how you would move a coach on who has just won a flag and runnersup with as you point out an ordinary lineup.... Dawes, Daisy,Brown,Wellingham,Cloke,Seedsman,etc...pretty good coach then wasnt he Peter. You cant have it both ways ..
Tim Gore
Expert
Here's some hard facts for you Pete: What a load of horse dung. A litany of excuses for failure. Recruitment: we've loaded up with mids who have no key forwards to kick to and no key backs behind them. Great effing strategy that. What a rebuild! Bucks is a garbage coach. it is clear. go off and blame everybody else you want dude. The buck stops with Bucks. He has had his chance. As for there being no better options RUBBISH! A competent club would have been tapping up their chosen replacement a few years ago and doing what it takes to make it happen. I am sick of excuses like this.
Col in paradise
Guest
You know if you botch your recruiting for four or five years it means you have a Botched team - what else would you have ?you cannot blame it all on the botching if you actually think they are a good team , maybe it's something like Mmmm let me think ???? The coaching ???? Okay I agree the Pies are a botched team !!!
Col in paradise
Guest
I think if they don't make the finals next year everyone is a winner ! PTS will still crap on it was a courageous decision and toss a truckload of stats and facts of their list, game plan and rebuild - it will be nearly 2019 - so a rebuild like the time it took to build the great wall - and by then the Mongols had already gone round it and then through the gates ! Sort of the end result of Buckley's game plan !
Kavvy
Guest
What level of influence does the head coach have in the list management strategy of a club on average and does anyone know whether Buckley has had more or less or avergae input in Collingwood's since he took the job. Their list management has been their # 1,2 and 3 issue the last few years so the above (his involvement level) would determine whether he deserved another crack or not
Brayden Rise
Roar Pro
The Fatman nice to hear someone in here who, although he doesn't agree with the Buckley extension is prepared to stick with his club and give the new Buckley contract a chance. I wrote in my article Fatman that the new contract will no doubt be Bucks last shot at it and that should things fall away very badly halfway through next year the two years will be paid out and the club will need to start again. As I wrote, I am more bullish about the Pies than most, I see a lot of upside in your young list and with some strong list decisions over Summer can see your Magpies returning to finals in 2018. The club has made a bold decision and seemingly an unpopular one but most fans even if they claim to be switching off their club, invariably don't as the club is in their veins. With a glass half full perspective, just imagine Fatman how you will feel if the Pies sit 9-2 halfway through 2018 and then go on to play finals? You should be praised for sticking with your club in a trying time.
Andre
Guest
Little Eddie has put himself and little Nathie..above the club...when he said no individual is bigger than the club,so it's high time Eddie resigned as president,and take Nathan with him and give Collingwood back to the supporters where it always was and always should be...we don't need a control freak as president ...time to go Eddie
Andre
Guest
Add me to your movement
Paul Gilligan
Guest
We have Buckley's with Buckley
Peter the Scribe
Guest
Tim, we played in Grand Finals in 2010 and 2011 winning one flag. Oh yes, right after the supposedly failed succession plan was announced. The club have acknowledged exactly what I stated in the forum 8 weeks ago. After the loss to Port in the elimination final in 2013 the club needed to rebuild. So they didn't announce it, make a song and dance about it, but internally they knew they were rebuilding. Yourself and Mike Huber, many others in here keep claiming it was all Bucks fault...the club should have won 4 flags in a row right because they had a young average age. Yet the facts get in the way of your diatribe. Let me summarise some hard facts for you. 1. Mick Malthouse could have stayed and overseen the new Pies and helped Nathan, He didn't. He reneged on his word..the fire still burned so he went on to be sacked as Carlton coach. Ask Carlton fans in here what they thought of Mick as a coach post 2011. 2. Rodney Eade pledged loyalty to Ed stated he never wanted to coach again and then changed his mind and went on to a dismal career at the Suns. 3. Constant failure Tim? We won a flag in 2010 and played a GF in 2011, last final 2013. Have you checked Richmonds history lately? Carlton? Melbourne? We started our rebuild in 2014 expecting maybe 8th this year and, with a % of 99 missed the mark. Success will be expected next year. Expectations will be 8th, my prediction 4th. 4. Recruiting? What do you think Tim with your "demands" of the recruiting of Treloar? Howe? Adams? Grundy? Hoskin - Elliott? Kirby even at pick 50? Yes Mayne was a mistake. Wells may still deliver. 5. Coaching, who of the best available candidates did you want Tim? Take a punt on Barker? Ratten? How is Bolton doing after two years at Carlton? Last time I looked they were 16th.