The 2017 Nathan Buckley Debate thread (Part 2!)

[MagpieBat]

Welcome to Part 2 of The Nathan Buckley Debate for 2017. Please enjoy your stay!

Tensions were re-surfacing towards the end of Part 1. I will re-iterate, you are all to treat each other with respect. Do not engage in personal attacks. Those who do will face appropriate sanction. Those who try to continue on where Part 1 left things or square up from the previous thread will also be dealt with accordingly.

Part 1 can still be accessed HERE for archival purposes.

Okay, with that bit of housekeeping out of the way, it's over to you...

[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]

Honestly I do think he's improved, marginally, but more due to necessity and other pressures. Do I think's he's improved enough to be retained and continue being the best choice for the club, not by a long shot.

I still think he should be let go at seasons end regardless anything short of winning a flag this year (because I don't think he is capable of winning a flag unless absolutely everything falls exactly right for him).

But regardless of my personal feelings, the club would be mad to reinstate Buckley unless we make finals. It's still possible, though losing this specific week has made it highly unlikely, barring a huge turn of form. We must actually turn the corner and genuinely 'win' games, consistently.

Personally I'm going to try and be less harsh, and more open minded to the situation... but we need something real, and now.

[Albert Parker]

I think the team has shown improvement in recent weeks

I think we are attacking more through the centre and transitioning the football more as he had intended.

I think that Moore has benefited from playing 2nd Ruck, albeit we could still benefit from having Reid to support him as a tall marking option in the forward half and De Goey, Fasolo, Elliott as alternate attacking options who can convert opportunities. Broomhead played his best game yesterday too. Dunn, Howe, Goldsack, Scharenberg, Maynard are playing pretty effectively down back. I liked the signs from Callum Brown as a player who takes the right option. We are about one key position player short.

I think the team is clearly playing together as a unit and 'for the coach'.

I think that his fate has been decided and Roos has been signed as his replacement already. A conversation with another third party last week indicating to me that Roos had personally confirmed to him that the club was chasing him in the early part of the season.

[Damien]

If he is to be resigned, just before finals would be a good time if we're there. Would be a good boost for the team and coach.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

I voted to decide at the end of the season (he's not up to it).

Can't for one believe we have any chance of making finals and that was the criteria that Buckley set himself before the season started.

We are playing structures where we have no CHB and no CHF. That's part of the fault of the list management team which Buckley heads, so he's responsible. You may win matches where Greenwood plays FF and Fasolo plays CHF, but you don't win premierships that way. You win premierships playing players in positions that will deliver a premiership. Even if players are not capable of playing off in a premiership this year or next year, you still play them for the experience they gain while they learn the position. That's the reason Clarkson is playing Tim O'Brien at CHF at Hawthorn and Scott is playing Mason Wood at North Melbourne. Neither team will win a premiership this year but both coaches appreciate the importance of structures in the team performance and so play the players who will in time give them the edge to deliver a premiership.

Sorry Nathan. I love you as a player and as a person and I can see you are getting better as a coach, but I honestly think that as a former midfielder, you are blindsided by the importance of key talls in the side and so don't pay enough importance they make to the team's success.

[col]

Dont see the point of throwing the Baby out with the Bath water,players are playing for Bucks I say give him a Extension,Great thing may just be around the corner,get someone else in and it could Backfire Badly,and there's another 6/7 year wait.....

[Bob Sugar]

Lol, 2 wins against 17th - 18th and a win against a team who was beaten by 100 points the previous week and apparantly we've improved, well, we haven't, get it through your thick skulls that we're shit and we need a new coach for 2018.

[Skids]

[Bob Sugar]

[mattys123]

Ok, which Nicks poster put the "sack bucks" sheet up at the Holden Centre this morning?

Bit harsh after yesterday.

[ThePieMind]

[swoop42]

I started the season believing it was finals or bust for Buckley and rightly so.

I've softened my stance a little since then after witnessing a playing group clearly still behind the coach and a number of close defeats in games we had opportunities to win.

Still as others have pointed out 2 of the 3 wins during the last month have come against the bottom 2 sides and the defeat against 3rd last Carlton was clearly the low point of the season so far.

The biggest question mark for me however is whether what we've witnessed since 1/4 time in the game against Hawthorn will be sustained across the final 10 rounds.

If we're honest we've seen periods of dominance across seasons before like in 2014 when we were 8-3 only to go 3-8 in the second half.

In 2015 once again we were 8-3 only to end up finishing the season on 10 wins.

Of course then there is the cry of honourable losses used as a reason of why he should be retained and proof the best is just another season away.

It seems like Groundhog day on that one again doesn't it?

At the end of the day we have no option other than see how the next 10 rounds play out.

Buckley shouldn't be considered safe and past history dictates that is fair.

For me if we've truly improved which on the surface at least seems correct then the results will take care of themselves and we'll play finals or go awfully close.

When once finals were my pass mark I've softened a little and 11 wins and remaining competitive in defeat will probably see him through.....

Just.

[GreekLunatic]

[RudeBoy]

Let's forget about the last 5 years. Maybe Bucks was given the job too early, maybe he had to learn on the job, maybe he has had to wait until he had the right assistants to work with? Basically, I couldn't give a rats arse whether he was a good or rotten coach over the previous 5 years.

All I'm interested in is whether he is a good coach in 2017. On that score I reckon he has been absolutely outstanding. Despite having no CHB or CHF, we have been one of the most consistently competitive sides in the comp. No-one, I repeat NO-ONE has been able to thump us. Bad goal kicking cost us games early in the season, but Bucks righted the ship and we are playing very good, hard attacking football. This year - the only year I'm interested in - Bucks is coaching far better than Lyon, Clarkson, Longmire and Beveridge. I expect him to get a contract extension and the sooner the better.

[mattys123]