The Review

[LostDoggy]

Going back to the mid way mark of the 2007 season everything looked to be travelling well at the Kennel.
Yes we weren't playing as well as 2006 but all things considered we were roughly on track albeit a win or two shy of where we should be.

Fast forward to the end of the season after 7 losses and most of them out-n-out thrashings and all things didn't seem to be well at the Kennel.
Word had started to leak out that the coach had lost the players confidence but not on a coaching level but more so on a personal one.
Word had also started to leak that Eade had a fractured relationship with his assistant coaching ranks and finally the Werribee relationship was broken with word that Eade had pro actively engineered it without necessarily informing the powers that be of his actions.

Basically the way I am reading this now is Eade got the players, his assistant coaches and the board all off side.

What has happened to the football department recently
* An alignment with Willamstown was formed but without any real detail on why it will be better than the Werribee one.
* Several changes to the coaching ranks including the departure of Mifsud to the AFL, Drain to the St Kilda, Bond to Fremantle, Wellman to Melbourne and Montgomery to Carlton.
* Several new assistant coaching appointments including Peter Dean, Wayne Campbell, Brad Gotch and John Barnes joining Leon Cameron as Eades deputies.
* A new football manager to be appointed
* Rumours that Eade and Rose have a frosty working relationship.
* Clayton yet to recommit

What has happened to the club in general
* The redevelopment going extremely well.
* A $500,000 profit to be announced.
* A football department review has been completed.
* A football manager will be appointed reporting to Rose.
* Smorgon to seek another 3 years at the club.

Clearly, results aside, the football department is not functionally performing and given the incredible increase in funds and resources to the football department over the last 3 years this is not acceptable.

Some of the comments in the Australian today summarises things in my opinion
* Smorgon said yesterday that there has been robust discussion on these matters with Eade and the board and that area's of improvement had been identified.
* The review found that Eade had to improve his communication and transparency
* It also identified that the communication between Eade and his assistants was not as good as it should be.

and finally and perhaps the most damning
* Smorgon said that "When you eyeball people you get solutions"
* The club had been prepared to give the football department its head but a return on investment was required.

Clearly the facilities at the Whitten Oval is not the only redevelopment that needs to occur with out club. Things are crook and whilst we have at least had some clarity to the rumours than have been circulating for the last 10 weeks or more I think there is a lot more to this than what we are currently hearing.
Lets hope that a Neil Balme type can be found. Someone like Sheedy could be the answer and thats not easy for me to say.

People were quick to dismiss Caroline Wilson's comments a few weeks back on the ABC but if anything she was very light on with the detail of the problems we are facing.

We have this habit of going from crisis to crisis and this might be the real culture of the club that needs to be removed.

I would really like to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

[always right]

No question there are things that need to be sorted out but not every problem at a club is a "crisis".

Sounds to me like the club are being upfront about the issues. I think their approach is a rational one rather than one borne out of a crisis.

Perspective please.....we don't have a president convicted in court, a star player on the gear, or a push to move us to the Gold Coast. They'll got over this road hump and come out stronger.

[LostDoggy]

No question there are things that need to be sorted out but not every problem at a club is a "crisis".

Sounds to me like the club are being upfront about the issues. I think their approach is a rational one rather than one borne out of a crisis.

Perspective please.....we don't have a president convicted in court, a star player on the gear, or a push to move us to the Gold Coast. They'll got over this road hump and come out stronger.

I understand your concerns about the crisis comment I made but isn't your perspective examples a little extreme?
The Gold Coast issue is a highly emotional one for the Kangaroos. We may face this issue ourselves somewhere down the track. The president in court issue is a problem for only one club as is the star player being on the gear.

Our problems are around the areas of competency and results and we have come up well short.
I'm frustrated because we seem to go through these issues of survival, lack of membership and sponsorship or coaches not measuring up all to frequently. I just hope an era of stability and success isn't far away.

[Go_Dogs]

This is a replay I posted elsewhere but I think it suits the topic well.

I feel for Rocket, he's certainly been put in a compromised position as far as having himself open to a lot of speculation with the review, mass exodus of staff and some of the comments made in the media.

I think we need to have faith in Rocket, I for one have seen enough positives with the majority of the list and game plan. Perhaps having some tweaking and different/better structures involved at the club will allow coaching staff to only worry about coaching, and have someone over looking the whole operation to give honest feedback.

I think we are going in the right direction, and it's something we needed to do. A lot of change has happened already in Rocket's 3 seasons as coach, and I think the vast majority has been for the clubs betterment.

We are looking a lot more professional nowadays, something a club like Port has always stood out for - at least to me, as well as some others. It's a professional sport, and we need to have that mentality the whole way through.

Basically, I think we're heading in the right direction, however we need to have patience and belief that it will all come together.

[LostDoggy]

I'm just listening to Smorgon now and I'm more than happy with his explanation on things and the direction he is taking.
It was heartening to hear Smorgon say that the issues between Eade and Rose have been resolved.
Now that the club has started to address all these issues I'm more confident now that we are on the right track than I was an hour ago.
I really liked they fact that Smorgon mentioned the inhouse fighting between the football department and the reasons why the board didn't step in earlier.
Smorgon did say that there was support for the coach by the players and assistant coaches.
Clayton is very likely to be staying with us.

[aker39]

My summary of Smorgon interview

Every department within the football club has been positive, except for the footy department.

Been open, honest & transparent. Everything said in the media has been said face to face with those people.

Ultimately responsible to the members.

Patrick Smith asked if Campbell Rose had alienated the footy department. Smorgon denied this and said Rose is responsible for the whole club, including the footy department.

Some candidates have applied for the new position. Looking for someone who can understand where the game is going from a technology point of view, science point of view, as well as on ground.

53 people were interviewed during the review.

Patrick Smith put it to Smorgon that Rocket did not respect Rose due to his lack of football background. Smorgon said that that may be the case.

Williams and Everitt put on 5kg each

Scott Clayton about to sign a contract

Disconect between footy dept and coach, but no dispute between the players and coach.

[Mantis]

Interesting stuff....It is strange that Eade isn't here when all this comes out. Not to defend himself, but to show that the club is unified. This is big and I don't think it is great that the key man of the footy department over the past 3 years is not here.

[LostDoggy]

Interesting stuff....It is strange that Eade isn't here when all this comes out. Not to defend himself, but to show that the club is unified. This is big and I don't think it is great that the key man of the footy department over the past 3 years is not here.


They have done Eade a favour by him not being here but I agree that ideally he should be here to present a united front. I think the real concern might be if something else unravels in the next couple of weeks and I think there is a chance something will.

It does leave Smorgon to do what he does best and that is put out the bushfires.

Eade will return just prior to draft day and will get all enthused about our recruits and hopefully thgis will divert everything away from these issues and having the supporters and media all looking forward.

[The Coon Dog]

I think the real concern might be if something else unravels in the next couple of weeks and I think there is a chance something will.

Anything you can divulge here BB?

[LostDoggy]

What has happened to the football department recently
* An alignment with Willamstown was formed but without any real detail on why it will be better than the Werribee one.



Anything you can divulge here BB?

I think there is some outstanding issues here.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Interesting stuff....It is strange that Eade isn't here when all this comes out. Not to defend himself, but to show that the club is unified. This is big and I don't think it is great that the key man of the footy department over the past 3 years is not here.

I think its pretty understandable that Eade takes a break after a very tough year. He needs to recharge and prepare for the battle ahead.

I think whilst the results have only just been released to the public they have been informing all the changes (Gotch, Barnes, Dean, Dalrymple, Footy Manager) that have been made in the football department.

Call me the optimist but I think it is better times ahead. We have a lot of new coaches and will have new players who will bring their own enthusiasm. We hired Eade to coach and I still have faith in him to do that job. The club has to take a large part of the responsibility for loading on to him duties to which he was either not suited, or not the best allocation of his time.

There are very few AFL coaches who have not had a bad year - if they are smart the learn from those experiences and emerge to fight again another day.

[LostDoggy]

Doesn't today's news really make a goose out of Mark Robinson's interview with Eade a couple of weeks back?

If anyone missed it have a look here

http://woof.net.au/forum/showthread.php?t=1292

[GVGjr]

My brief take on all this is:

Rocket underestimated the CEO and the President's need for clear communication.
The job was too big for any one man.
Rocket still has some areas that he needs to improve with.
Rocket will be far better with just focusing on coaching.

Full steam ahead for 2008.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Doesn't today's news really make a goose out of Mark Robinson's interview with Eade a couple of weeks back?

If anyone missed it have a look here

http://woof.net.au/forum/showthread.php?t=1292

I wondered if Eade basically just said I wont answer any questions on those topics and so Robinson decided that it wasn't the approach he would take

[LostDoggy]

I wondered if Eade basically just said I wont answer any questions on those topics and so Robinson decided that it wasn't the approach he would take

I don't read it that way. Robbo had a bit of a crack at the club and Eade in an article a few days earlier then didn't follow through with it. I think he is just too friendly with Eade.

Anyway if Eade is putting those conditions on his appearance on the show then he should give it away. He doesn't say much anyway at the best of times.

[LostDoggy]

Is the review a hot issue for everyone or not? There is a lot of people on the site but very few are actually commenting on it.

[The Coon Dog]

Let's be honest. Most of us don't really know what's going on. We can guess & from there speculate, but not with any great degree of certainty. Makes it tough to comment on.

[Twodogs]

Certainly a hot issue.


We arent a club that can indulge ourselves with a lot of internal bickering. I'm glad that Smorgon is staying and that he got on the front foot this morning on SEN. I also think that Smorgon's uncertainty about his future was inpacting and now that he has made the decision to go on a few issues may be sorted out.

[LostDoggy]

Let's be honest. Most of us don't really know what's going on. We can guess & from there speculate, but not with any great degree of certainty. Makes it tough to comment on.

I'm flabbergasted by your response. Its hardly speculative when the president comes out and confirms a series of problems.

If an issue like this is tough for you to comment on then what can be commented on between now and when the season starts?

[The Coon Dog]

I'm flabbergasted by your response. Its hardly speculative when the president comes out and confirms a series of problems.

If an issue like this is tough for you to comment on then what can be commented on between now and when the season starts?

I'm sorry you're flabbergasted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In future I'll let others put their heads up to be kicked for responding as per your request!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dry Rot]

Here's a counterfactual for you.

Let's say the review was undertaken during the finals and before anyone left. The problem, one way or another, was Eade. In some situations like this, some organisations would have got rid of the problem, not all the staff around him.

Would the club have pondered doing that? Was Eade just saved by his contract and is now a dead man walking, bar a top 4 finish in the next 2 years?

[Dry Rot]

Interesting stuff....It is strange that Eade isn't here when all this comes out. Not to defend himself, but to show that the club is unified. This is big and I don't think it is great that the key man of the footy department over the past 3 years is not here.

Agreed.

Given the coaching departures and the last 7 seven games, something was terribly wrong. Big question is whether Eade is mortally wounded can turn it all around?

And given all this, what will be a satisfactory result in 2008?

[Twodogs]

Here's a counterfactual for you.

Let's say the review was undertaken during the finals and before anyone left. The problem, one way or another, was Eade. In some situations like this, some organisations would have got rid of the problem, not all the staff around him.

Would the club have pondered doing that? Was Eade just saved by his contract and is now a dead man walking, bar a top 4 finish in the next 2 years?



Smorgon said today that thought had been given to sacking the coach but it was quickly decided that it was not the right decision.


We need to remember that Eade has two years to run on a big contract. Mark Thompson has had some very uncomplimentry things to say this year about the review at Geelong last year and that all turned out for the best.

[always right]

Isn't Eade as part of his current overseas trip visiting some large sporting clubs to learn from them? Hardly something you would do if you were going to be dumped in the near future.

This all sounds to me like the problems have been identified and the club has decided to restructure the football department. Once the decision was made to change the department rather than sack the coach, the club is throwing their support behind Eade as the senior coach and is investing in him becoming better by providing exposure to overseas organisations.

Professionally handled IMO.

[GVGjr]

I'm sorry you're flabbergasted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In future I'll let others put their heads up to be kicked for responding as per your request!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats hardly what I call a kicking TCD.

[The Coon Dog]

Thats hardly what I call a kicking TCD.
Well you & I see it differently then!

[GVGjr]

Isn't Eade as part of his current overseas trip visiting some large sporting clubs to learn from them? Hardly something you would do if you were going to be dumped in the near future.

This all sounds to me like the problems have been identified and the club has decided to restructure the football department. Once the decision was made to change the department rather than sack the coach, the club is throwing their support behind Eade as the senior coach and is investing in him becoming better by providing exposure to overseas organisations.

Professionally handled IMO.

I tend to agree. Smorgo was very impressive with his responses and forthright manner.

Problems were identified, a review completed and an agreement that things need to change.

None of these are easy issues to resolve given the strong personalities at play but these discussions needed to be had and have now cleared the air.

Rocket is the right man to coach our team and he now has a restructured and invigorated football department waiting for his return.

[Twodogs]

Well you & I see it differently then!



You and BB both had a point.


We dont know 100% what has happened and can only speculate but theres enough information available to judge that Eade has to lift his coaching performance. I'd like to hear more about what Eade thinks but it's wiser for him to keep his opinions out of the public domain-him commenting is a lose/lose situation.

[bornadog]

Personally I think the blame for the football operations lack of management, rests on Smorgon and Rose's shoulder. When Eade was appointed they thought they would save money and not hire a professional Football manager and Eade was forced to take on this role. Eade isnot a pen pushing Football Manager, Eade is an operational Coach, a motivator of men and never really had the time to do all the roles that were asked of him as head of the Football department. A terrific 2006 hid all the problems that were there, a bad season brought the problems to the surface.

This money saving idea came back and bit us on the bum and now Eade is being blamed. the new structure is how it should have been set up in the first place.

Rose, Smorgan, don't shift the blame, the buck stops with you.

[LostDoggy]

I'm sorry you're flabbergasted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In future I'll let others put their heads up to be kicked for responding as per your request!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can assure you it wasn't meant to offend and kicking someone is not my style.
I should have said shocked or surprised but I can't change what I have already written.
That being said, what can we talk about if everything written in the paper is going to be dismissed as speculation?

Anyway back to the issue. This is a big news story, every paper has picked it up and SEN is replaying just about everything that Smorgan said.

I'm very happy that it has been brought to a head and I'm more confident that we are now heading in the right direction because getting it out into the open means that it can't simply be swept under the carpet.

We cannot dismiss the way we finished off the season as just a bit of bad luck. There were clearly big issues being kept in house and Rose and Smorgon said enough was enough.
I'm also very glad that Smorgon didn't go down the easy road of sacking the coach.
We will be better for this and while a few ego's might be bruised, it had to done. At least now I have some clarity of why the season finished like it did and why the administration didn't act sooner.

[LostDoggy]

Personally I think the blame for the football operations lack of management, rests on Smorgon and Rose's shoulder. When Eade was appointed they thought they would save money and not hire a professional Football manager and Eade was forced to take on this role. Eade isnot a pen pushing Football Manager, Eade is an operational Coach, a motivator of men and never really had the time to do all the roles that were asked of him as head of the Football department. A terrific 2006 hid all the problems that were there, a bad season brought the problems to the surface.

This money saving idea came back and bit us on the bum and now Eade is being blamed. the new structure is how it should have been set up in the first place.

Rose, Smorgan, don't shift the blame, the buck stops with you.

The majority of the issues are around Eade failure to execute things and that was made very clear today. I agree that there is some fault with Smorgon and Rose but Eade went against the advice of his own Managers advice and accepted the role and the sizeable rewards that went with the extended role.
If it was getting too much for him, then he should have said something at the end of 2006.

The club invested 13 million in the footy department and I would hope that they would ask the hard questions on why it failed to deliver an even reasonable result.
Saving money where possible makes good business sense but yes they may have got this wrong. I'm not sure how much more needs to be spent but it looks like they invested enough.
The CEO and President obviously feel as though they were being fobbed off and have now taken the corrective action.

[Go_Dogs]

I think Eade probably felt capable, but once cracks started appearing in the wall he was struggling to keep plugging the holes and keep his head above water a bit.

As long as all parties have definitely resolved their differences, and are happy with the results, I don't see what the problem is. It seems to be something to push the club in the right direction, which all parties should be pleased with.

[The Coon Dog]

The majority of the issues are around Eade failure to execute things and that was made very clear today. I agree that there is some fault with Smorgon and Rose but Eade went against the advice of his own Managers advice and accepted the role and the sizeable rewards that went with the extended role.
If it was getting too much for him, then he should have said something at the end of 2006.


Had Eade NOT accepted the add ons, you would have seen the club open to a legal challenge for unfair dismissal by Stephen Newport, who was doing those duties before his position became reduntant.

[bornadog]

Had Eade NOT accepted the add ons, you would have seen the club open to a legal challenge for unfair dismissal by Stephen Newport, who was doing those duties before his position became reduntant.

I know what your saying TCD, as redundancy of a role means you can't turn around and employ some one in the same role. The club could have restructured and changed the title and some duties and have Eade report to the role, instead of taking on duties that are clearly not a coaches responsibility. What I am trying to say in my post is that I feel Rose and Smorgan are trying to push the blame on to Eade, when in fact they should share some of the blame.

[bornadog]

The majority of the issues are around Eade failure to execute things and that was made very clear today.

Agree, but Rose and Smorgan should not have tried to run the Football Dept. this way and therefore must share in the responsibility of the failures.

[LostDoggy]

Had Eade NOT accepted the add ons, you would have seen the club open to a legal challenge for unfair dismissal by Stephen Newport, who was doing those duties before his position became reduntant.
He got additional responsibilities and additional money to go with it regardless of anything else. He also had his own manger overseeing the negotiation.

We can all agree that the role might have been too big for one person but how does that explain the poor working relationships, the assistant coaching exodus, poor communication and the on field failure that were fostered during the season?

Do you think he has been badly done by? Do you think things will be better post review?

[LostDoggy]

Certainly a hot issue.


We arent a club that can indulge ourselves with a lot of internal bickering. I'm glad that Smorgon is staying and that he got on the front foot this morning on SEN. I also think that Smorgon's uncertainty about his future was inpacting and now that he has made the decision to go on a few issues may be sorted out.

I agree with the above. We won't survive prolonged instability and I'm really grateful Smorgon is sticking around and being proactive. I haven't personally heard any of the interviews and can only go by the synopses I read on here.

I must say I am surprised Eade seems to be at the epicentre of all this - as in copping all the flak. I can only go by what I have seen of Eade in his public persona and the public feedback of the playing group. I always thought he came across in a positive light and that the Club did a good thing in hiring him. Whether the mix within the coaching department was not right or Eade indeed had a role that was just too big for one person can't just be blamed on Eade.

This is issue is hotter than hot and very unsettling. Hopefully things well settle down quickly and the team and Club can focus on preparing for next season.

[LostDoggy]

Agree, but Rose and Smorgan should not have tried to run the Football Dept. this way and therefore must share in the responsibility of the failures.

But they didn't try to run the department and I think they do share some of the blame.
What they don't share is the poor communication and the bad working relationships through the season.
I'm very happy to hear that a 13 million investment will be given some more scrutiny

[bornadog]

He got additional responsibilities and additional money to go with it regardless of anything else. He also had his own manger overseeing the negotiation.

We can all agree that the role might have been too big for one person but how does that explain the poor working relationships, the assistant coaching exodus, poor communication and the on field failure that were fostered during the season?

Do you think he has been badly done by? Do you think things will be better post review?

Don't believe everything you read

[LostDoggy]

Don't believe everything you read

Which part?

[Topdog]

My take on this ordeal is :

1. Eade didnt want the extra responsibilty.

2. Eade doesnt respect Rose because of his non football background.

3. This disrespect comes from Eade not wanting the extra responsibility yet being forced to take it because someone without a footy background didn't understand how big a role it was.

4. Smorgon and Rose now saving public skin and putting pressure on Eade.

I think Eade is very happy with the result. It wouldn't surprise me if Eade was one of the guys pushing for the new position.

[bornadog]

Which part?

Just everything written in the paper, there is always more to it. Words like poor communication, football department in disaray etc etc, journos trying to beat up a story of a rift between Rose and Eade etc. I take it all with a grain of salt.

The important thing is that there is now a restructured department and no excuses going into 2008.

[LostDoggy]

Just everything written in the paper, there is always more to it. Words like poor communication, football department in disaray etc etc, journos trying to beat up a story of a rift between Rose and Eade etc. I take it all with a grain of salt.

The important thing is that there is now a restructured department and no excuses going into 2008.

I tend to agree but these are also the words of the President. Smorgon as good as said that he and Rose weren't being communicated to in an open and honest manner so I think it confirms some of what has been written.

[always right]

Personally I think the blame for the football operations lack of management, rests on Smorgon and Rose's shoulder. When Eade was appointed they thought they would save money and not hire a professional Football manager and Eade was forced to take on this role. Eade isnot a pen pushing Football Manager, Eade is an operational Coach, a motivator of men and never really had the time to do all the roles that were asked of him as head of the Football department. A terrific 2006 hid all the problems that were there, a bad season brought the problems to the surface.

This money saving idea came back and bit us on the bum and now Eade is being blamed. the new structure is how it should have been set up in the first place.

Rose, Smorgan, don't shift the blame, the buck stops with you.

You might be right but I'm not sure the motivation was all about saving money. My take on it all was that we needed to make a bold statement in the post-Rohde period. Eade was widely recognised in the media as a prized scalp for the bulldogs and handing him the reigns for everything related to the football side of things may have seemed like a sensible move at the time.

The club was on its knees and here was a high profile coach highly regarded by the footy industry. Didn't seem unreasonable at the time that we should hand over so much responsibility to him. We wanted him to not just re-build our team but our club as well. Perhaps Smorgon and Rose simply over-estimated Eade's ability. People make errors of judgement all the time. Yes they should wear some of the blame accordingly but we shouldn't hang them.

[wimberga]

Am i the only one that is Happy with the review?

It's not so much that i am happy to see certain assistants go, I just take more positives out of the review ACTUALLY happening instead of sitting on our hands.

Eade is a damn good coach, Rose is a damn good CEO and its great to see Smorgon wanting to stay on.

Carn Dogs in 08

[LostDoggy]

Eade is a damn good coach, Rose is a damn good CEO and its great to see Smorgon wanting to stay on.


Three very important points Wimberga.

These provide us with very strong foundations.

Now that the review has been completed and everything is out in the open the club can move forward.

[LostDoggy]

Am i the only one that is Happy with the review?

It's not so much that i am happy to see certain players go, I just take more positives out of the review ACTUALLY happening instead of sitting on our hands.

Eade is a damn good coach, Rose is a damn good CEO and its great to see Smorgon wanting to stay on.

Carn Dogs in 08

I'm happy with the review because it needed to be done. I'm also happy to finally get some answers from Smorgon on why things went so bad. Problems have been identified and the solutions have been put in place. We will be better for this.

[BulldogBelle]

I'm happy with the review because it needed to be done. I'm also happy to finally get some answers from Smorgon on why things went so bad. Problems have been identified and the solutions have been put in place. We will be better for this.

Totally agree Billy B, things needed to be said and Smorgon told it like it was, things had to be addressed and hopefully we can just now go on with it. Still I am little suprised at Eade not being here when it was all announced today. For sure, journalists will lie await for him when he returns and ask some questions.

[BulldogBelle]

Brad Hardie's views on the review....

Footygoss (http://www.footygoss.com/main/club_news/west_coast/view/cousins_will_fight_vigourously_hardie/)

Hardie also weighed into the boardroom flap at his former club, the Western Bulldogs, explaining that ‘they need to change people at the top’ to find success.

“The bottom line is the Western Bulldogs need to win football matches,” Hardie said.

“Rodney Eade, appears to be in different ways being targeted as it being his fault.

“I went down there for nothing for two or three years with Peter Rohde, who unfortunately wasn’t up for the job .

“(We) identified a few problems, needed to be harder – the bottom line is we’re in the same spot we were five years ago.”

The Bulldogs have begun the search for a general manager after the role was stripped from Eade this week with club president David Smorgon admitting the club may have made wrong decisions three years ago.



Another article from footygoss..

Bulldogs in search of GM after review (http://www.footygoss.com/main/club_news/bulldogs/view/bulldogs_in_search_of_gm_after_review/)

The Western Bulldogs will attempt to find a suitable candidate for the position of General Manager of Football Operations within the next six weeks, effectively lifting responsibility from senior coach Rodney Eade.

Three years ago, when Eade took over from Peter Rohde as coach of the club, the Dogs opted to hand control of the football department over to Eade, but club president David Smorgon admitted the move had not worked.

Eade, currently on holiday in Europe told Smorgon that he should not have taken on the double role, expressing regret.

Smorgon said on Wednesday that Eade was ‘not capable’ of doing a lot of things the club had asked in a management role and that perhaps the club had ‘got it all wrong’ to begin with, appointing Eade to both positions.

The Bulldogs were thoroughly disappointing in 2007, finishing 13th after making the semi-finals in 2006

[FrediKanoute]

Isn't Eade as part of his current overseas trip visiting some large sporting clubs to learn from them? Hardly something you would do if you were going to be dumped in the near future.

This all sounds to me like the problems have been identified and the club has decided to restructure the football department. Once the decision was made to change the department rather than sack the coach, the club is throwing their support behind Eade as the senior coach and is investing in him becoming better by providing exposure to overseas organisations.

Professionally handled IMO.

Agreed....if you want to read about an unprofessional handling have a look in the EPL about the way Spurs went about getting rid of Maartin Jol.....now that is disgraceful!!!!

The review and changes which have come about as a result of the review are a positive. the negative would have been to let the sore fester and become a cancer in the club. The review has indicated that its not Eade who is the problem, but the structure of the football department. In being head of football Eade has had to consider the whole gammut of profesional football rather than the training and coaching of his players.

I for one am happy that the club undertook a review and have made changes. I am happy that rather than keep the issues in house they have made the decision to make them public and let everyone know that yes we had a problem, but we dealt with it. I can't wait to see what Everitt and Willo look like with an extra 5kg!

[Topdog]

Agreed....if you want to read about an unprofessional handling have a look in the EPL about the way Spurs went about getting rid of Maartin Jol.....now that is disgraceful!!!!


Stop reminding me.

[Templeton31]

Stop reminding me.

ditto

[Bulldog Revolution]

Brad Hardie's views on the review....

Footygoss (http://www.footygoss.com/main/club_news/west_coast/view/cousins_will_fight_vigourously_hardie/)

Hardie also weighed into the boardroom flap at his former club, the Western Bulldogs, explaining that ‘they need to change people at the top’ to find success.

“(We) identified a few problems, needed to be harder – the bottom line is we’re in the same spot we were five years ago.”



This is an unfortunate reality - we have been treading water for a while.

[FrediKanoute]

Stop reminding me.

But hey how good are they with Juan de Man deramos in charge :rolleyes:

I'll take 0-2 v Hapaol Tel Aviv and if they can stick the boot into Wigan on the weekend I'll be even happier!