Gary Ayres sacked

[dawson]

Replaced by Neil Craig effective immediately

[Bleed Red Blood]

Source??!!??

[ugg]

Its the front page story on afl.com.au

[swansrule100]

press conference was on fox footy

he wasnt sacked he quit

well he was told he wasnt going to have his contract renewed end of the year so is that sacked? :P... didnt get rehired so quit

[Damien]

In the football world it is sacked, even though it looks like he was given the opportunity to see out his contract.

Neil Craig's chance to do a 1996 Wallace and a 2002 Roos, and we have to face the bugga's in a few weeks ..arrrgggh....

[swansrule100]

yeh for sure he was pushed :P

i dont think craig has a chance at the job im not sure i can even base this on anything more than a gut feeling.....

i head a rumour rodney eade is a chance ?? any truth to that even being a rumour and not someone pulling my leg?

[Damien]

Originally posted by swansrule100
yeh for sure he was pushed :P

i dont think craig has a chance at the job im not sure i can even base this on anything more than a gut feeling.....

If Neil Craig wins 60 or 70% he will coach next year without a doubt you would think. History with most clubs suggest this - unless of course, Blightly wants to come up again lol.

Interesting though - is Gary Ayres the first coach to resign after a mid season WIN??!

[swansrule100]

allan jeans did at hawthorn i mean... forgot about richmond when i said that

[Charlie]

Interesting. A few thoughts:

1) Neil Craig is in the box seat. All he has to do is show he can handle being in charge, and the job's his. They almost appointed him when Blight quit, if I remember correctly. We were looking at him in 2002, as well.

Other possibilities are the usual suspects - Wallace, Royal, Harvey, Eade etc - but also look much closer to home. Peter Jonas is a South Aussie with a lot of respect. Worked with Blight. Could be half a shot, but as I said above, the job is Craig's is he can show he knows what to do.

2) Ayres is finished. Nobody coaches for 9 and a half years, without a flag and then gets a third chance.

3) I don't think it's an issue that we play them in two rounds. They'll have had a chance to respond in round 14, and historically I don't think clubs in this position do very well in their 2nd match under a caretaker.

4) Look for Carey to get the tap on the shoulder at the end of the year. The new man will want to distance himself from some of Ayres' less than successful ventures, and this is effectively an acknowledgement that a premiership won't be coming any time soon. Ronnie Burns and perhaps Matthew Clarke could also get the same treatment.

5) As per 4), they will probably have plenty of cap space. Our list is chock full of South Aussies - Willoughby, Fosdike, Doyle, James, O'Loughlin, Nicks, Crouch, Sundqvist, Schmidt, Goodes and Davis. Don't rule out the possibility of us being involved in any potential recruiting spree. I don't think many of those are either inclined or able to leave, except perhaps Fosdike. But something to consider regardless.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Originally posted by Charlie
5) As per 4), they will probably have plenty of cap space. Our list is chock full of South Aussies - Willoughby, Fosdike , Doyle, James, O'Loughlin, Nicks, Crouch, Sundqvist, Schmidt, Goodes and Davis. Don't rule out the possibility of us being involved in any potential recruiting spree. I don't think many of those are either inclined or able to leave, except perhaps Fosdike. But something to consider regardless.

Vote one, riddance of Fosdike, more than happy to let him go.... hope he proves me wrong but after what, 5 and a half years should be a regular, especialy for a number three pick

[liz]

Originally posted by Bleed Red Blood
Vote one, riddance of Fosdike, more than happy to let him go.... hope he proves me wrong but after what, 5 and a half years should be a regular, especialy for a number three pick

Not sure what I'm missing here, but Fosdike IS a regular. I think there is only one game in the past three or four years that he missed while not injured and he came back into the team the following week. He may not be a superstar but he is a solid, competent AFL midfielder in a top 8 (I hope) side.

[Captain]

Originally posted by lizz
Not sure what I'm missing here, but Fosdike IS a regular. I think there is only one game in the past three or four years that he missed while not injured and he came back into the team the following week. He may not be a superstar but he is a solid, competent AFL midfielder in a top 8 (I hope) side.

Fosdike is definately trade bait.

He was a waste of a high draft pick, is still starting games from the bench and is just hanging on to his position. His finishing skills are pretty ordinary as well.

If his form doesn't show a dramatic increase then I would hope we could trade him for an early pick.

[liz]

Originally posted by Captain
Fosdike is definately trade bait.

He was a waste of a high draft pick, is still starting games from the bench and is just hanging on to his position. His finishing skills are pretty ordinary as well.

If his form doesn't show a dramatic increase then I would hope we could trade him for an early pick.

There is a flaw in logic here. If Fosdike were as poor a player as some seem to think, we wouldn't get an early pick for him.

The only times you can get an early pick in a trade are:

a) if a quality player really wants out of their club. The club really wants to keep them but they are determined to go. You are losing quality so you will get quality in return in the form of an early draft pick (Carey - of a variation on this theme, Kane Johnson, Nathan Brown, Shannon Grant, Nick Davis etc etc)

b) if you have an abundance of players in one position and decide you can afford to lose one of your better ones. Salary cap pressures can play a part here too, sometimes. Trent Croad is one example here (though Freo were sucked in, to some extent, and the McPharlin go-home factor complicated matters). Shane Woewodin is another example.

c)If you are Kevin Sheedy and are continuously able to convince desparate other clubs - see Hawthorn and Richmond - that your second and third liners are top talents (ie Blumfield and especially Jacobs, given they managed to get a no 6 pick for him).

[Captain]

I agree the logic is flawed. I wouldn't give up pick 50 for Fosdike.

But I'm hoping we can pull a Sheedy and trade him for an early pick.

We only need to have one coach think the same as you Liz and we will get that early pick.

[chammond]

But I thought Saddington was our no.1 trade bait?