Sturt vs Port game review thread

[Voice]

And that's the attitude that allows these miscreants to continue doing what they do...

I have seen and heard about the other clubs you mentioned doing something about it.

From SFC all we hear is "we aren't the only ones"...

Sort yourselves out.

To be fair the cheer squad leader resigned last year and when he left, about 10 others did and now the squad is maybe 10 strong compared to 30+ last year.

Yes, the cheersquad (or certain elements of it) were an absolute disgrace so good to see it cleaned out. I have seen one really bad incident at a port game in a decade (against North at Prospect in about 2006), but pretty much every game against Sturt sees some big-mouth double-blues fan voicing the usual stereo-typical abuse that is like water off a duck's back to a Port fan. Then when they get something in return they turn filthy/homophobic/racist/incoherent...

I'm no shrinking violet either, but seriously, there is a line...

Yep, I did resign last year after countless efforts trying to clean the squad up.
I only see one problem with your comment above pipers..... you say it was good to see the squad cleaned out. Problem is, all the good ones are the ones that left, the bad ones are the only ones still there.

[supercoach]

Cutterman you make some relevant points. Everything is cyclic. Sturt are hindered in some regards to thier set up. Yes it is an "old boys" club but I believe Norman is now heading the right way playing the kids. They have good under 18's and reserves coaches now and are starting to push the better juniors thru the ressies to the league. The past month has proven that and there are probably 9-10 young players in the 18's and ressies who are showing that they will given time be good league players for the club. Allow them to get games and develop physically and then in 18 months judge Norman - it's probably what he should have done last year- clean out. As a long term supporter it was good yesterday to hear the positive vibes in the crowd re the young fellas in both grades - that despite the flogging. Keep in mind as well we are not a physically big playing group across th board and the conditions did not suit. The rest of the year should be to give other kids a sniff at the highest level and see who wants it and then have a good foundation for next year. It is a wonderful game.

[dedja]

a bit confused are we?

[HOORAY PUNT]

Sturt have had good reserves annd juniors for a number of years and are paying the cost for not blooding some earlier IMO.

As for Norman he lacks the ability to make moves quickly , has poor selection , has no game plan and it seems clear that his focus is not on skills.

Sturts effort yesterday was woeful from all players and just not acceptable.

[CUTTERMAN]

What's the relevance of this photo

[SANFLnut]

The past month has proven that and there are probably 9-10 young players in the 18's and ressies who are showing that they will given time be good league players for the club. Allow them to get games and develop physically and then in 18 months judge Norman - it's probably what he should have done last year- clean out.

Why would Sturt & Norman clean out in 2010 having just played in the 2009 GF?

Isn't the loss of Giles, Mcglone, Thurstans, Nelson, Chambers, Herring, Wark, Bowen, Bode and others one of the main reasons Sturt are in their current position?

[CENTURION]

The past month has proven that and there are probably 9-10 young players in the 18's and ressies who are showing that they will given time be good league players for the club. Allow them to get games and develop physically and then in 18 months judge Norman - it's probably what he should have done last year- clean out.

Why would Sturt & Norman clean out in 2010 having just played in the 2009 GF?

Isn't the loss of Giles, Mcglone, Thurstans, Nelson, Chambers, Herring, Wark, Bowen, Bode and others one of the main reasons Sturt are in their current position?

yep.

[HOORAY PUNT]

It wasn't really a "clean out" of players but there was definately a mass exodus. Some people think that the player loss had nothing to do with Norman but when you lose so many from a starting 21 there must be more to it I think.

[CENTURION]

It wasn't really a "clean out" of players but there was definately a mass exodus. Some people think that the player loss had nothing to do with Norman but when you lose so many from a starting 21 there must be more to it I think.

yep. again. Why did they leave?

[FlyingHigh]

John Reid, Ken Sheldon, Robert Pyman. All quality Coaching Staff that got sacked from the club because they had "lost the support of the players". South Adelaide's constant sucking up to the playing group has cost the club several times over. No doubt its easy to look back in retrospect, yet its clear to see that sacking these coaches did nothing at all for the club.

One of the reasons why I have always admired Malcolm Blight is for what he did to the playing group at the AFC when he took over. He could have walked in there, told the playing group its an open page and started over. Instead several players who thought they were pillars of the club found themselves sacked. One more was pretty lucky to get to stay so I am told. Blight goes on with a group that he sees fit to play and wins back to back premierships.

Sturt gave Norman the job and extended the contract because they believed in him and what he was doing at the club. If its actually factual that there is some type of animosity occurring, perhaps another answer to the question is for the board of the club to back Norman in and go cut those players that the club feels that he has lost and replace them with players that will play for him and the Double Blue. Consider it this way, if players don't want to play for the Coach, then they clearly don't want to play for the Guernsey of the club either and think its negotiable, a new Coach may not necessarily change that attitude within a playing group once it becomes entrenched.

Excellent post.
Also relevant to the Eagles situation in a different way, as Fuller always seemed to have his critics within and without, but the club wanted to be strong, stable and stuck with him. Perhaps, after the great success at junior level and reasonable success at league level, now what he is doing at South is vindication for himself and the Eagles management of who actually knows what is required at SANFL level.

[Barto]

The past month has proven that and there are probably 9-10 young players in the 18's and ressies who are showing that they will given time be good league players for the club. Allow them to get games and develop physically and then in 18 months judge Norman - it's probably what he should have done last year- clean out.

Why would Sturt & Norman clean out in 2010 having just played in the 2009 GF?

Isn't the loss of Giles, Mcglone, Thurstans, Nelson, Chambers, Herring, Wark, Bowen, Bode and others one of the main reasons Sturt are in their current position?

Valid points but it seems to be 100% the coaches fault of course. Sacking him now should improve things.

[Barto]

It wasn't really a "clean out" of players but there was definately a mass exodus. Some people think that the player loss had nothing to do with Norman but when you lose so many from a starting 21 there must be more to it I think.

yep. again. Why did they leave?

When blokes like Bowen are getting a grand to rock up at a country game, I cant really blame them for taking that option. Of course, this is all the coaches doing according to some supporters.

We've copped a lot of this in one hit, but because someone has heard third hand that a player or two hates the coach, then everyone does I guess.

I was surprised to find out a few years after the fact that a couple of players from our '82 squad left because they couldn't stand John Halbert. There were players that hated Keven Sheedy's guts but he managed to stay at Essendon for 27 years.

Norman's time will come, but certain 'supporters' constantly trashing the bloke when he's got sweet FA to work with at this point in time is becoming tiresome and it's not really helpful in any way to improve the on field fortunes of the club. It's even more galling that they do it on a website that's aimed at supporters of all clubs, at least keep it in house if you're pissed off.

Silence when you're winning, knives out when you're losing.

The real test for Norman will be what he can do next year as some of these younger blokes develop and what the club can do to attract a couple of players to fill some obvious voids. I'd be interested to see if a couple of recent departures do have another crack next year as I've been told.

FWIW: The John Reid review gave Norman a pretty decent report, as opposed to another club's league coach.

[HOORAY PUNT]

Watching games live you tend to see where a coach lacks and match ups ,positioning , no game plan , poor skills and poor selections all rest ultimately with the coach.Constant harping on about "third hand" hearsay is tedious and people are entitled to their opinions .Listening to supporters at the ground and all the ones I speak to have the same opinion. Continuing to not accept reality is what will hurt on field not members and supporters opinion surely. I hope the decision makers see reality and don't have the same attiitude of some "supporters" .

Bowen is not on a grand from what I have been told and he is only 1 player that left and IMO wasn't good enough anyway.

[Barto]

Watching games live you tend to see where a coach lacks and match ups ,positioning , no game plan , poor skills and poor selections all rest ultimmately with the coach.Constant harping on about "third hand" hearsay is tedious and people are entitled to their opinions .Listening to supporters at the ground and all the ones I speak to have the same opinion. Continuing to not accept reality is what will hurt on field not members and supporters opinion surely. I hope the decision makers see reality and don't have the same attiitude of some "supporters" .

Bowen is not on a grand from what I have been told and he is only 1 player that left and IMO wasn't good enough anyway.

Ever been in the rooms and listened to the coach's pre and post game address?

[HOORAY PUNT]

Are you trying to gloat and say that you have .Good for you.

[CUTTERMAN]

Watching games live you tend to see where a coach lacks and match ups ,positioning , no game plan , poor skills and poor selections all rest ultimately with the coach.Constant harping on about "third hand" hearsay is tedious and people are entitled to their opinions .Listening to supporters at the ground and all the ones I speak to have the same opinion. Continuing to not accept reality is what will hurt on field not members and supporters opinion surely. I hope the decision makers see reality and don't have the same attiitude of some "supporters" .

Bowen is not on a grand from what I have been told and he is only 1 player that left and IMO wasn't good enough anyway.

I've got no problem with someone having a fair and measured opinion, my issue lies with opinions that arent backed up with solutions, or opinions that aren't all encompassing, ie "it's the coach's fault and not at all the players". Just seems to be a simple answer for me. A problem normally is made up of many parts not one singular issue or person.
So again, how does the club afford to pay out Luke Normans contract if they follow what you think is the right decision for the club? HP? How do you propose they do that?

[Barto]

Are you trying to gloat and say that you have .Good for you.

No, but it's must be easier to make decisions on what's really happening from the sidelines I guess. Call Matt Benson during the week, I'd he'd be interested in your views on fixing the ills with the club and getting us back to the top of the ladder.

In my experience, saying things like "my mail is.." tends to become self fulfilling.

Then again, I've been in a club environment where players were saying "if the coach died, would everyone have a party?". Everything else looks rosy by comparison.

[csbowes]

Norman is contracted to the end of 2012 ... signed a 2 year extension at the start of 2010.

http://www.sturtfc.com.au/news/2010/03/ ... an-extra-2

You see... surely this was a dumb move... he's initially signed up for the 2009-2010 seasons, he makes the GF in his first year and they immediately extend the contract... people say my request that he's sacked is knee jerk, there's a knee jerk to the opposite extreme.

One good year, a great coach, does not make.

[csbowes]

We've copped a lot of this in one hit, but because someone has heard third hand that a player or two hates the coach, then everyone does I guess.

I know we're mates... but you're definitely having a swipe at me, so I have to respond.

I didn't state that everyone dislikes him, but in 2009 we had a team that was extremely competitive and made the GF under Norman. The following season we suddenly had an attitude problem at the club, even though it was essentially the same playing group, they were his words at the end of the 2010 season at the AGM. The form of the team was ridiculously up and down, obviously he was not able to settle the team, take control, influence the players in a positive way.

Now it's 2011, certainly some players left because it was their time or they had work / study commitments elsewhere, but there were a number of players who left for dubious reasons and it's some of those that I've heard dislike Norman. That's just more evidence, albeit anecdotal that his methods or style was rubbing some players the wrong way. Even putting that aside, on paper, are we saying that we are clearly the worst team in the league?

Are we 12 goals worse than Port?

Norman's time will come, but certain 'supporters' constantly trashing the bloke when he's got sweet FA to work with at this point in time is becoming tiresome and it's not really helpful in any way to improve the on field fortunes of the club. It's even more galling that they do it on a website that's aimed at supporters of all clubs, at least keep it in house if you're pissed off.

Barto, be real. Forums aren't here for the sole purpose of supporting the club, coach and players in all their decisions. I don't want people coming on here and blindly supporting their club. You want praise and criticism where each is due, sure there'll be differences between people on when and how much of each is due, but you don't want sycophantic support and nothing more. Sturt has made a bunch of dumb ass decisions over the last 25 years and the lack of criticism is what almost cost us our survival. Likewise, the club has made a bunch of good decisions and you can't ask for praise for those, without accepting criticism for those which people disagree with....

The bottom line here is I'm not alone amongst supporters who think Norman isn't doing us proud. If the club believes that what he's doing and where we're at is about right, then they need to say so. I seriously doubt the club would come out and say that their expectations for 2011 was the wooden spoon or maybe 2nd to bottom. If they do, I'll applaud their courage, but I doubt they will, which means that even by the clubs standard, coach and players have under-performed. That being the case, what's the repercussion? I'm held to account in my job, surely he must be to?

This slide from GF to wooden spoon was surely not part of the plan when they signed Norman.

[csbowes]

Phillips... did we not sack him after one bad season? 4 good years and then one bad and he was gone...