Why Nathan Buckley is the right man for the job

RudeBoy · Joined: 28 Nov 2005

The season hasn't even started ffs. Let's see how we go this year before we make any rash judgements.

jackcass · Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Location: Bendigo

VicParkTragic · Joined: 17 Oct 2010

Nice work Neil. I think your analysis shows that many things impact on the success of the team and sometimes its just luck regardless of the management.
I think 2012 and 2013 were affected by bad luck more than the coach. Also I'd rather not finish 5th every year. Near enough is not good enough and you need to fall a bit to grow a champion team. It took Malthouse 10 years remember and that premierships was the result of the whole club, not just the coach. Bucks should coach for a few years yet in my opinion and be told that he has the faith of the board.
Im positive and I'll enjoy watching the team develop this year.

Brenny · Joined: 05 Apr 2011 Location: Westpac Centre

At this point in time, Bucks is the right man for the job. The only person that can take his place; and only if we show 0 improvement over the next two seasons, is Clarko.

If we show improvement (my improvement is modest and small - the eight this year and next) then Bucks stays. If we don't and we can't land Clarko, then he stays too.

Jezza · 2023 PREMIERS! Joined: 06 Sep 2010 Location: Ponsford End

That's an impressive post Neil but I'll respectfully disagree on some of your points.

There's no disputing that injuries have killed us in the past few years but I believe that's a mixture of bad luck that has befallen us and the fact that our management of injured players has been appalling at times and those in the fitness department need to be held to account for that.

In regards to Bucks himself, I've always admired him as an individual and I still regard him as one of Collingwood's best ever players and his dedication and love for the club cannot be questioned whatsoever but we cannot overlook the fact that Bucks has demonstrated many flaws as a coach.

For starters his game plan is unrecognisable. For the whole match last night I attempted to ascertain what we were trying to achieve but all I could see was us trying to win the ball and then trying to kick it aimlessly in the forward line in the hope that Cloke would get on the end of these forward line deliveries and this was when we didn't actually turn it over which was frequent sadly. We lack any structure or cohesion and the players are second guessing themselves everywhere. It's been very painful to watch and a recurring theme sadly since the beginning of the second half of last year.

Despite some of the big exits we witnessed I think Bucks and the recruiters have done very well to select some very talented youngsters and we have four youngsters who are top 10 picks but at the moment they're too raw and too young to have an immediate impact. Our success rate within free agency has been tremendously small and I actually think free agency has benefited sides who were strong and peaking from about 2012 onwards. The problem for sides like us, St.Kilda and the Bulldogs is that free agency wasn't around when we were peaking and regular top 4 teams and hence we suffered for it whereas sides like Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney have benefited from this and hence they've prolonged their stay near the top of the ladder whereas without free agency it's possible that they may have declined sooner than expected now.

This year is a big year for Bucks. He needs to start demonstrating that we're heading in the right direction as a football club. This doesn't necessarily mean that making finals is the only way that success will be measured on but there needs to be a sign that our players are improving, that the game plan is starting to progress and develop nicely and there's a sense of belief within the club that things are heading in the right direction because at the moment most fans don't see an end to this current decline and wonder how long we have to continue to decline until we see positive results.

Anyway good thread overall and thanks for starting it Neil! Smile

What'sinaname · Joined: 29 May 2010 Location: Living rent free

If we don't win a final this year, Bucks would have grossed more than $1.6 million from the club over four years for one finals win. That's just not good enough.

Tannin · Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 8:31 am

Great post Neil, I like your cool, rational analysis. The one place I disagree with you is your rather pessimistic prediction for this season if injuries play a significant role. I reckon our second-tier players are good enough - or soon will be good enough - to get us close to the eight.

In other words, our fringe-of-selection players, the ones who will have to step up and play key roles if, say, Cloke, Pendlebury, Brown and Reid all go down, have the talent and the will to beat quite a few teams. They won't beat top 5 sides, but they can fall over the line against the also-rans and leave us finishing in the middling slots, say 8 to 12, give or take.

We have a lot of strength on the bottom half of our list: our 30th and 35th best players are better than their equivalents at most other clubs.

Where we fall down is in the top half of our list: our best ten is possibly the weakest best ten in the comp. Pendlebury is magnificent, after him, you'd struggle to find a genuine All-Australian prospect. Elliott might go close; Sidebottom is pretty good; Beams was in the zone but he's gone. There aren't any others. Pendlebury, Sidebottom, and Elliott. The next best eight players are all named "Daylight". (I am assuming that Swan is unable to recapture his old form. Swanny at his best would, of course, count as one of our best four. Is he finished? Has he got one more golden year? Who can say?)

Now we will undoubtedly have a few youngsters step up and turn themselves into genuine B graders heading towards A grade. Let's say that three of them do that this year. (It might be, just for example, Broomhead, Frost, and Adams, but pick whoever you fancy.) It still leaves us with a top ten no better than that of any struggling middle-rank club, and no realistic shot at the top 4, though a fair chance at finishing in the 6 to 12 region.

In short, if we have a good year with injuries, we should finish 6 to 12; and if we have a bad year with injuries, we should finish 8 to 12.

This year, forget the injuries. This year is all about finding and developing the next generation of stars.

Tannin · Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:13 am

Stupied · Joined: 14 Mar 2013

TimetoFly · Joined: 14 Apr 2008

The problem always was going to be for bucks was that he took over a team that played in 2 back to back grand finals.. So unless he delivered a flag or even played off in a grand final in the years after he would be under the pump.

Chris Scott had a similar issue when he took over but he won a flag in his first year.

The only point I can see in bucks favour was when we played in bAck to back grand finals in 2002 & 2003 we bottomed out big time. It took the club 3 years to reach the finals again..

U am not sure bucks has that kind if time. If we get this decision wrong ethier way we could be down for a decade.

Big decisions need to be Made a made and I hope they are In The hope that we forget he is a favourite son.

U have faith in Eddie because he has made tough decisions before in getting rid of shaw and moving from Vic park.

Eddie is the right man for the job but I am not sure bucks is