Bravo, Mr Knights

By saladin
After Tuesday’s farcical hysteria on both talkback radio AND bomberblitz, i decided to get away from it all, gather some (hopefully) rational thoughts and clarify in my own mind where i think things are at vis-a-vis our new coach and club.

James Hird
Dustin Fletcher
Mark McVeigh
Scott Lucas
Adam McPhee
Brent Stanton
Matthew Lloyd
Damien Peverill
Andrew Welsh
Jobe Watson

What is the above list? Simply, our 2007 Best and fairest finishing order. If you look closely, you’ll see that this year we have had no input from the winner or 4th place. 3rd place (and the new true spiritual leader) has missed over half of the games, likewise 9th. the captain, 7th, has missed several games and 2nd has played injured before missing recently. 8th has entered a semi-retirement zone. All this shows two things.

1) the new incoming coach has had just three of last years top ten players regularly on the park, and just 1 of the top 4 has played more than 50% of the matches -and he carried a niggle as well!

2) of last years list, only Stanton and Watson are genuine younger players. the club is in a stage where the middle age players (around 24-28 years for a footballer) are few and far between, and the load has been carried by yesterdays hero’s. the hole in the list is stark, and the new coach has received a terribly lopsided roster in terms of experience. He now has a list that had been held together over recent years by superstars who are now gone or faded, and patched up solid players like Bolton and Heff. There is a five year gap in the list that cannot be closed in any way other than getting kids to 50 games.

On top of all that, not shown on the above list is that one of the leaders of last years B&F at round 12 (Davey) has gone down again. The nuggety and intense Sam Lonergan (granted just one game in three years) was very impressive early until injured. Dempsey likewise. Last years rapid improver, Winderlich, missed large parts of the preseason and is not up to speed yet. all three would be in knights’ preferred side. For a game plan that revolved around speed and carry, the absence of Winderlich, Davey and Dempsey was further compounded by Jetta missing three weeks.

Two hard nuts who would not have been instant inclusions straight up, but would likely have worked their way in, have missed through injury. Hislop has only just resumed, Hocking’s year is more or less over.

The heir apparent to Scott Lucas’ structural position hasn’t been able to play a game yet. Our 1st pick from last years draft has had hamstring issues and has only just made an appearance. Our father/son selection had a partial shoulder reconstruction.

It has, bluntly, been a complete catastrophe. No one should have any realistic expectations of having to face such obstacles in their first two months of coaching.

And yet. And yet…. not once have i heard anything but polished professionalism from he in the eye of the storm. Not a complaint, not an offering of excuses, not a single questionable utterence. He has stuck by the club, and his own philosophies, in the face of increasingly vitriolic attacks from elements of the media and his own club’s supporter base.

Today he was cast into a frenzied whirlpool by his own Chairmans stupidity. He rode it out calmly, he made some pointed remarks about his superior, he tried to recover some honour and integrity for the two players involved and he emerged with his own honesty apparently intact. No mean feat considering the media haven’t been able to get their hooks into Essendon very often in the last 30 years, and elements are slavering at the prospect of it now.

I’m not saying he will be successful as a senior coach. It’s too early for a start, and his hands have been largely tied in any case.

There are legitimate questions about our defensive work – but he mentions it in every post-game conference, so i have no doubt he’s working on it. whether he can get the results remains to be seen.

There are questions over a few positional placements to be sure. But that is partly due to non-availability, partly due to having a proportion of someone else’s list still being unknown quantities despite 5 years on the list and partly simple inexperience. At this stage,in my opinion, all three are forgiveable.

Surely, no one – whether they be a fan of his appointment or not – can realistically be as savagely critical of Mathew Knights as people are being on BB in particular, and the wider community in general? You cannot possibly look at the full picture and still find the vitriol to hurl. If you do, you are unbalanced, and have either lost , or never had -perhaps due to our long run of success – a decent perspective of our game and club.

Certainly no-one can accuse him of trying to save his own skin by playing safe. He has turned to the kids rather than solid citizens like JJ and Pev. He has refused to flood. He is not overly negative, and has conceded big losses. He has coached some of the youngest Essendon sides i can remember, with key figures missing, and has given us a glimpse of the young talent finally being assembled.

His coaching record will be judged in the fullness of time. Whether he passes or not will be clarified by results. But in the meantime, all I’ve seen is a classy and upfront perfomance from a man who obviously believes in himself and his idea’s even in the face of extreme negativity and obstacles. Slander him if you will, but he is not deserving of it.

Bravo, Mr Knights.

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Posted 14 May 08 in News