Our club's environment

[cityslick1]

This is something that has been brewing inside me for a while, and is more thinking out loud rather than an assertion of fact, but is our current club environment really fit for success..

We are in a new age of supporting and nurtuirng talent and individuals, which I'm not so sure we're great at. Culture starts at the top, and whilst Perty is a v likeable guy and 'people person', Eddie brings constant pressure and iron fisted expectation. Bucks is similarly ruthless, as it appears is Bill D, as is Gubby Allen - who, for the record is one of the rudest people I've met in the caper. Our good guys like Dekker and maybe Balme have seemingly been marginalised, in favour of a results at all costs approach.

Now you might say 'too right too'... but the teams with recent success - Hawthorn, Swans and Bulldogs don't have this model. They are all about unity, teaching / nurturing / support, and genuine shared passion. I worry that the pressure on Bucks has seen him revert back to being clinical and ruthless, rather than nurturing, with the pressure to succeed or lose his job... likewise other people around the place.

Don't want to get too critical, but in the swanny doco, the inside of the club and our meetings looked so stale and sterile, with players seemingly disengaged - in comparison to Bulldogs meetings of genuine comaraderie and love for the coach. On AFL360 Bucks has also been quite clinical in his comments and I'm still not sure he actually gets the importance of soft skills and ability to instill genuine togetherness / unity.

Happy to be proven wrong or hear other thoughts, but as much as Eddie and Bucks would like to think they could / should be loveable, it's often hard to force what isnt there naturally.

[Stinger]

[Pipes]

It's an interesting point you raise....

At my place f work the managers having all the success over the last three years all lead with love....

The one who are really struggling to deliver results, retain staff and so on are all dictators who rule with fear!

The kids these days just don't respond like my era did when we came through the ranks...

You are onto something I think.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

Where did you get the idea that Buckley is ruthless? I don't see it.

Gubby Allan probably. Geoff Walsh maybe. Balme is an overall nice guy but he was anything but that in his playing days. Pert comes across as pretty single minded, but that's probably want you need in a CEO.

Clarkson is about as ruthless as they come (both on and off the field). Beverage has just won a premiership and he's about as approachable as anyone off the field.

It takes all personalities to win a premiership. There's no one formula for a successful premiership coach to have, other than steely determination and a lot of luck going for you on the day.

[Cam]

I'd suggest Hawthorn is the epitome of ruthlessness behind the scenes, listening to Brereton and Dunstall talk how could you think otherwise. Don't be fooled by the family club motto, its family as in mafia not family as in Ties.

The Swans as well are very high on accountability and team first. The leading teams stuff is ingrained in the culture they have developed. It works for them because they have made it work.

And then we have Collingwood. Which over the last 40 years has appeared to me to be more like a Rockstar Party Bus similar to the cartoon on the Footy Show. Witness the excess after winning in 1990, which made more famous the 'premiership hangover' tag during 1991, and we sadly know how that year ended. Our most successful teams have been filled with a liberal share of characters that have walked a fine line between fun and illegality. So the question is, can a Rockstar Club like the Pies ever in reality tone it down and become successful being a team of Buckleys and Pendleburys, or does it by its very nature need a third of the team being Mavericks, not Icemen or Gooses [with one O]?

We will only be successful in 2017 if our coaching staff embrace some diversity [if they don't already[and i do understand its a question worth asking...]]. The thing about Swanny, is aside from his personal habits, he worked as hard or harder than anyone to get the best out of himself and was accountable to himself first, teammates second and coaches third. That should be our mantra. Get that right and allow for different preparations and approaches and we could surprise.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

[Cam]

Yes, but he remained Swanny, he didn't have to give up the essence of who and what he was. He just worked harder on his game.

[RudeBoy]

[think positive]

[Piesnchess]

[cityslick1]

Clarkson is a teacher, his assistants are often teachers, and he sticks up for his players to the hilt, so he knows how to support and nurture talent... plus they have a captain in Hodge who is respected as a leader of men and keeps the team together.. Not sure Pendles is that type of leader... he is more reserved / Individualistic, and leads by example of prep and performance. Bucks has also come under criticism from past players - some club champions, so this isn't exactly a new thing. I've been trying to ignore the negativity surrounding his style for a while, but I'm starting to wonder if he just doesn't have a modern day coach's required demeanour and Modus Operandi. But like I said, it's not just him. The president, head of football and fitness guy all seem old school and def not the type of guys I'd want setting my organisation's culture.

Bevo I agree is a diff animal altogether... but one that the players love and he in turn always gets the best out of them. Everyone is now acknowledging the dogs' basic formula for success and wondering if their club had the same ingredients... and I'm not so sure we do.

For the record, Stewart Dew was rated 9.4 / 10 by his peers - players and other coaches, whilst none of the Pies assistants made the top 5. Maybe he's one to watch for future, and maybe it's the Scott Burns', Harvey's and Sando's that can really step up and help guide Bucks and instill a tight knit playing culture at the club....along with Tay, Darcy, Grundy and Treloar etc. Because it looks and sounds as though someone needs to...

[think positive]

[Visdom]

The environment is perfect for professional athletes. However, most footballers will never be 100% committed athletes. Many greats of the game were and are not 100% committed athletes. A great sporting environment needs to develop all players to produce to their best. Evan those that are not 100% committed professional athletes. A young Dane Swan would not last long at Collingwood at the moment. That is the problem with our club at the moment. Not seeing the forest for the trees.

[Visdom]

Ps I think this had a lot to do with the exit of Heater and Beams

[Rush Stand Wing]