New Football Manager

[GVGjr]

The LeasePlan Western Bulldogs are pleased to announce the appointment of
James Fantasia as General Manager of Football.

James will join the Bulldogs from Adelaide where he has been the General Manager of Game Development at the South Australian National Football League. Prior to that role he worked for the Adelaide Crows for 12 years assisting the General Manager of Football Operations and heading up their national recruiting network.
Fantasia has been involved in eight AFL finals campaigns, 5 preliminary finals campaigns, a pre-season premiership and senior premierships in 1997 and 1998.

“He understands what it takes to create a success culture,” Rose said.
He will be responsible for the management of the Bulldogs’ football department including all aspects of football administration, development, leadership, sports science, management of medical, allied health and rehabilitation management, and football technology

Fantasia will report directly to the Western Bulldogs Chief Executive, Campbell Rose.

Campbell Rose said James offered the key attributes wanted by the Club when recruiting for the key position – strategic and analytical thinking, excellent communication, strong decision making skills, sound understanding of budgeting, the ability to delegate and empower staff with a strong commitment to football professionalism.

“He has extensive experience in the football industry. This is a great asset. James will provide us with a new insight into how we take our on-field football operations and performance to new levels. He knows success, has been a part of a successful culture and will help take our club to places it hasn’t been in recent times creating the success our members and board want,” Rose said.

James Fantasia said, “From a personal point of view it is a wonderful opportunity and challenge for myself and my family. I am very excited about the prospects of working with the Western Bulldogs Football Club in particular Rodney Eade and all involved in the football operations.

The club is about to embark on a new and exciting era with a newly completed state of-the-art Elite Learning Centre and I look forward to being a part of these exciting times. I would also like to acknowledge the SANFL for the support they have provided me at this point in my career. I am looking forward to being an integral part of the Western Bulldogs Football Club and I am grateful for the opportunity.”



Career History:

2007:General Manager, Game Development
South Australian National Football League

1995-2006: Recruiting Manager
Adelaide Football Club

1991-1995: State Development Director
South Australian National Football League

1993-1999: State of Origin Football Manager (Honorary Position)
South Australian National Football League

1988-1991: Technical and Development Manager
Norwood Football Club

[GVGjr]

This is a very good appointment in my opinion. Thoughts?

[Templeton31]

ticks the boxes - background in footy, knows recruiting, adelaide strong sports science and high performance club. certainly good on the surface.

anyone know why he left crows for SANFL job?

[LostDoggy]

This is a very good appointment in my opinion. Thoughts?

Why do you say that GVGjr

[GVGjr]

Why do you say that GVGjr

I have followed his career for a while and he is an extremely talented professional and from I can tell he covers the position requirements.

[Go_Dogs]

This is a very good appointment in my opinion. Thoughts?

I think it's a fantastic appointment, although Fantasia had a bit of a checkered draft history, he still seems like a very good candidate for this kind of role.


IIRC, he parted with the Crows reasonably mutually. I think he wanted a new position, they needed someone fresh to head their recruiting department.

[GVGjr]

James Fantasia now a Bulldog
(http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22881153-5006404,00.html)
FORMER Crows recruitment manager James Fantasia has been appointed Western Bulldogs general manager of football.
Fantasia leaves behind his position as general manager of game development at the SANFL to take up the Bulldogs job.

The former Norwood and Woodville player brings plenty of experience to the job.

He worked with the Crows for 12 years and has been involved in eight AFL finals campaigns, 5 preliminary finals campaigns, a pre-season premiership and senior premierships in 1997 and 1998.

At the Bulldogs, he will be responsible for the management of the football department, including all aspects of football administration, development, leadership, sports science, management of medical, allied health and rehabilitation management, and football technology.

He will report directly to the Western Bulldogs Chief Executive, Campbell Rose.

Fantasia said he was particularly looking forward to working with senior coach Rodney Eade.

"The club is about to embark on a new and exciting era with a newly completed state of-the-art Elite Learning Centre and I look forward to being a part of these exciting times," he said.

[GVGjr]

Worth a read

Ten minutes with Fantasia (http://afc.com.au/Season2007/News/NewsArticle/tabid/4417/Default.aspx?newsId=27213)

Adelaide’s recruiting team goes into action this weekend for the start of the NAB AFL U18 Championships in Melbourne.

Many of the players on show across the next nine days will end up on AFL club lists in less than six months. So David Burtenshaw from afc.com.au spent ten minutes with Crows recruiting manager James Fantasia.

Is this the biggest week of the year for the recruiting department?

I wouldn’t say it was the biggest but I would say it’s a very important part of the year. Finals footy … that’s a pretty important month, draft camp, the whole interview process. They are big weeks in the recruiting caper. In terms of premium viewing, the championships are up there with finals matches and really getting a chance to see quality players match off against each other. And usually the standard of the games is pretty high so generally you can see those who can take the step up to the next level. I guess because of the pressure and the build-up to this it’s good to see how young players can handle that part of the game.

So how much footy are you going to see over the next week or so?

Well, there are two games on every day and then on Thursday there is also a chance to watch some New South Wales under 16 footy as part of the scholarship program. So on seven out of nine days we will be watching footy.

How many observers will the Crows have at the championships?

We have a pretty extensive network of operatives and scouts … we have four coming in from Western Australia, six from South Australia including myself and then we have seven who operate out of Victoria, and that includes a couple of regional guys. Friday night we will have a three-hour preview of the upcoming championships and go through looking at each player. Every operative is given a group of players they are responsible for reporting on … they will still keep notes on every one but they will be the spokesman on their particular players. On the Monday we have a workshop … we look at our reporting procedures, we have had people from other industries talk to the group about recruiting, this year we have a presentation from Champion Data. And we have mock draft based on a range of scenarios. And of course all week we watch footy and report back on all of that.

Do the observers watch the games together?

We do spread out a bit but some times it might be useful to be sitting with the people who you can ask questions about a player. But at other times it is important you don’t get distracted, you’ve got a job to do and you are watching someone specifically. You are looking at games differently, depending on what your role is for the day. And we encourage our guys to sit high or sit low or sit behind the goals. Some times it’s good to get another perspective.

What sort of things are on the basic check list when you are looking at the players?

We break it down into three categories. Gaining possession of the ball - what are their prominent features when they take the ball … are they clean, do they use their pace, do they take overhead pack marks, contested? We look at their decision-making … what are they going to do with the ball, where do they move to, time and space, do they make the right options, do they keep the ball flowing? And then we look at their skill level, their actual execution, do they have depth of kick, accuracy, non-preferred? You can classify all those into football ability. You are looking for footy intelligence … how they react in a game, if they can think through a game if they have got an awkward opponent, how they react to playing different roles within their team structure. And we look for their level of competitiveness, their ability to be resilient and durable, to handle three games in a week, handle that pressure, the travelling. They are pretty much about the broad football picture. And then later in the year we get into a whole host of other things like their physical tests, their mental capacity and characteristics. We interview them, their coaches, teaches, work bosses and try to get a picture of how the person presents.

The word is that the 2006 draft pool is very strong. Is this the case?

Yeah, most definitely. Strong for two reasons. There’s probably more depth than in recent years but I think the real reason it is stronger is the quality of the players and how deep the quality goes. There’s easily two real solid rounds and probably a third solid round. And that’s reflected in these championships. Quite often you will have a lot of quality in Division One but this year there is some outstanding quality in Division Two. So on every day there will be a premium opportunity to view players.

They’ve got a pretty strong side. Certainly if you look at experience in the team in terms of playing senior football, the majority of the boys are now playing at reserves or league level in the SANFL. I think there are six or seven who have played league footy so they seem to stack up well. There’s always some unknown quantity when you come to championships because you don’t know how the boys react but I’d expect they will give a good account of themselves.

Are there players who already stand out a top five or top ten picks?

Coming into the championships there will be a school of thought of where they will be placed. There is probably a stand-out group of five or seven and then there’s probably another very good group who would normally be top ten picks who will go out to 20, 25. So it’s a lot deeper. And there’s probably another layer there of 30 players who in most cases would be good second round draft picks and in this draft they will probably end up being third or fourth round picks.

[LostDoggy]

He wasnt much of a recruiter. Adelaide has had an average list for 10yrs. With all there money and expertise, they should have done better

[The Underdog]

Interesting choice.
Has obviously had a few differing roles in football, good experience and he's not Danny Frawley so, welcome aboard James.

[GVGjr]

He wasnt much of a recruiter. Adelaide has had an average list for 10yrs. With all there money and expertise, they should have done better

Not sure that I agree with that. They did very well with the regular latish picks.

[Raw Toast]

I have followed his career for a while and he is an extremely talented professional and from I can tell he covers the position requirements.

I don't think I know as much about as you do, but he does seem one of the few who should know lots about sports science as well as the other intricacies of a footy department. Also seems very much like the kind of person who can help free Eade up for a more complete focus on coaching.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I have followed his career for a while and he is an extremely talented professional and from I can tell he covers the position requirements.

I agree. As the aftershock of the review has settled down I'm really comfortable with the outcome... rather than the pieces "falling" into place, the club with this appointment has underpinned it's commitment to improving the professionalism of the whole football club.
There is absolutely no scope for excuses for not improving our onfield performances going forward.
From where I sit, we have a coach who can now concentrate on what he does best COACH. We have fresh input on the assistant coaching side of things, and with the appointment of Fantasia our football department should have much better coordination.

[Throughandthrough]

ticks the boxes - background in footy, knows recruiting, adelaide strong sports science and high performance club. certainly good on the surface.

anyone know why he left crows for SANFL job?



I'm not 100% rapt in this appointment, as a very casual observer Fantasia has (to me) come over as a bit of a light weight. VERY happy to be proven wrong.


He was one of my friend's boss (up until today I guess!) i'll get the gossip on why he left the Cows by this time tomorrow. I THINK it was something to do with John Reid, but thats just a complete guess.

[FrediKanoute]

He wasnt much of a recruiter. Adelaide has had an average list for 10yrs. With all there money and expertise, they should have done better

He hasn't been employed as a recruited though. He's been empoyed as a football manager, hence the recruitment decisions are delegated to Clayton. His role really is to make certain that all of these areas are functioning and are consistent with the club vision and plan.

[LostDoggy]

He wasnt much of a recruiter. Adelaide has had an average list for 10yrs. With all there money and expertise, they should have done better

Yes a crap recruiter, they only won 2 more premeirships than us in his time there.

[BulldogBelle]

He was a recruiting manager for many years with the Crows.

Very respected also, great news and good luck to him. Now he can just get on with getting our fooball department up and running to what it should be, dotting the i's crossing the t's and leaving no stone unturned and no job unfinished. No excuses now for our coach to not fully concentrate on the coaching side of things. I can feel this club is definitely on the upswing and the review IMO was the way to go.

[FrediKanoute]

He was a recruiting manager for many years with the Crows.

I realise that. The point I was making was that whether he was or wasn't a successful recruiting manager for the crows is open to debate, but from a WB perspective we haven't asked him to fill that role. We have asked him to manage the football department.

Reading the extract on his approach to the 2006 draft/championships you got the impression that he was very process driven. In that to achieve the best results you needed to follow a set process etc. Whether or not the drafting was sucessful is a different matter. changes in coaches/strategy/players all affect the "success" or otherwise of a recruiter.

[GVGjr]

I realise that. The point I was making was that whether he was or wasn't a successful recruiting manager for the crows is open to debate, but from a WB perspective we haven't asked him to fill that role. We have asked him to manage the football department.



OK got it and yes I agree. I suppose I actually think he did alright as a recruiting manager. He missed with some early picks but did well with some of the later ones.




Reading the extract on his approach to the 2006 draft/championships you got the impression that he was very process driven. In that to achieve the best results you needed to follow a set process etc. Whether or not the drafting was sucessful is a different matter. changes in coaches/strategy/players all affect the "success" or otherwise of a recruiter.

The Crows are big on processes and development and hopefully he will add some value in that area.

[LostDoggy]

My only issue with him is - Isn't he the one that named Cam Faulkner as 'the next McLeod'?

[Mantis]

My only issue with him is - Isn't he the one that named Cam Faulkner as 'the next McLeod'?

Nah that was John Reid.

[GVGjr]

Nah that was John Reid.

No that was James

[Dry Rot]

Can't hurt to have someone from not only a different club culture but a successful one.

Key will be how the chemistry and process works with Eade and Rose for that matter.

[BulldogBelle]

Can't hurt to have someone from not only a different club culture but a successful one.

I agree, someone fresh and having not been previously associated with the Bulldogs will have a fresh and unbiased perspective on things. Much as I love all our past players etc, having someone with no ties whatsoever and not mate related IMO is the best way to go for this position.

[hujsh]

Sounds ok except about being part of the Adelaide team that knocked us off in 97. Maybe he can pay us back with 2 more?

[Templeton31]

No that was James

definitely was Fantasia.

[LostDoggy]

There were no issues with him leaving the misfits to move to the SANFL. Simply a career choice. I have yet to hear anybody speak ill of this bloke including the Adelaide media, who can be very fickle at times.

[LostDoggy]

Sounds like a well considered appointment to me. Also, I trust Campbell Rose. He hasn't done too badly for our Club to date. Agree with the above comments regarding a fresh attitude coming to the Club with no historical links, particularly as this is essentially an administrative/business role.

All set for the New Year now.

[dog town]

I am pretty sure it was John Reid that said it.

I have no problem with Fantasia being appointed to this position. He fits all the criteria and his recruiting experince is certainly an advantage in regards to things like list management. My only isuue is that the whole review seems a little bit forced and it appears as though we are just copying what other clubs have done . That is not neccesarily a bad thing and I am sure Eade needs someone to take some of his responsibilities away but it does seem a bit like we are just trying to replicate what other clubs have done of late rather than getting to the crux of our own problems. Time will tell I suppose.

[bornadog]

My only issue with him is - Isn't he the one that named Cam Faulkner as 'the next McLeod'?

Well we all believed it:D

Cam could have been anything, started off badly with foot injuries, attitude was probably not right, had the potential but just never ended up showing what he was capable of in a consistent manner.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Interesting appointment, because hes been in SA hes flown under the melbourne medias radar a bit so its hard to have that much of a feel for him - but he's had a lot of experience under Blight, Ayres and Craig.

For every draft failure he has had: Angwin etc - there have been successes in Reilly, Brett Burtion, Stenglein , and some great late picks Graham Johncock, Ben Hudson, Chris Knights, Rhett Biglands, Ken McGregor. Hes also tabbed a few that look pretty likely Porpliza, Van Berlo, Richard Douglas etc

Meesen and Watts were first round picks who they still traded on for good future draft selections.

Interesting to see how many ruckman the crows have drafted over the years under Fantasia - last year they had Tippett, Maric, Meesen, Hudson, Biglands, Griffin all on their list.

[hujsh]

Interesting appointment, because hes been in SA hes flown under the melbourne medias radar a bit so its hard to have that much of a feel for him - but he's had a lot of experience under Blight, Ayres and Craig.

For every draft failure he has had: Angwin etc - there have been successes in Reilly, Brett Burtion, Stenglein , and some great late picks Graham Johncock, Ben Hudson, Chris Knights, Rhett Biglands, Ken McGregor. Hes also tabbed a few that look pretty likely Porpliza, Van Berlo, Richard Douglas etc

Meesen and Watts were first round picks who they still traded on for good future draft selections.

Interesting to see how many ruckman the crows have drafted over the years under Fantasia - last year they had Tippett, Maric, Meesen, Hudson, Biglands, Griffin all on their list.

Clayton will still be the man in terms of recruiting wont he? I imagine he would find the players and Fantasia would approve them

[hujsh]

No that won't happen. Fantasia's role will be to make sure they are resourced correctly so he will have very little say with draft day selections.

So what is Clayton's role?

[GVGjr]

So what is Clayton's role?


It hasn't changed. He is the recruiting manager.

[hujsh]

It hasn't changed. He is the recruiting manager.

I am confused. What does his job entail? Does he find the players?:confused:

[LostDoggy]

I am confused. What does his job entail? Does he find the players?:confused:
I will jump in here. Yes Claytons job is to make the assessments on the potential players.

[hujsh]

I will jump in here. Yes Claytons job is to make the assessments on the potential players.

Ah... Thank you

[GVGjr]

Fantasia a quiet achiever (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,22896465%255E19742,00.html)

NEW Western Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia says he will work with coach Rodney Eade next season, not rule the club with an iron fist.

Fantasia was last week appointed by Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose, and is responsible for all football administration.

But while there was speculation Rose created the position to curb Eade's power, Fantasia said he would not be a forceful personality.

A respected football figure with 12 years in the industry, Fantasia was Adelaide's long-term recruiter before a year as the SANFL's game development manager.

"I don't see myself coming in and stamping the table and ordering people about. I don't think it's about that," Fantasia said yesterday.

"It's about trying to impart my own football experiences.

"I want to try to bring some additional levels of professionalism.

"Just from my brief discussions with "Rocket" (Eade) he has a vision with the group and where it can go, and that is exciting.

"I need to sit down with him and find out what he has planned, and then look at some additional strategic planning and find ways we can implement it."

Fantasia knows Eade and Dogs recruiter Scott Clayton from their dealings at trade time and respects the pair.

He said he was an outsider when the position was advertised, but in three interviews had sold the club on his vision for its future.

"I am looking more about working with this group as opposed to telling them what they have to do," Fantasia said.

"There are too many good people there already to think you need to do that.

"I am very confident I can bring something to the group, and that might be something missing now."

[Dry Rot]

"I am very confident I can bring something to the group, and that might be something missing now."

I wonder what that might be?

[LostDoggy]

For every draft failure he has had: Angwin etc - there have been successes in Ken McGregor.


Yep, he took Mc Gregor rather than Pavlich

[Go_Dogs]

Yep, he took Mc Gregor rather than Pavlich

Aren't the Crows still haunted by that decision!

I personally think their draft success has been pretty minimal. They haven't hit many first round picks, and often seem to go big (just for the sake of it?) and then have the big guys either leave or not come on at all.

He is a late pick specialist though, and has got some good value from later selections much like Clayton has.

[The Coon Dog]

Yep, he took Mc Gregor rather than Pavlich

Pav was a 17 year old who was eligible & nominated, but didn't get drafted until the following season.

Doesn't it then stand to reason that ALL 16 clubs also had multiple opportunities to draft him but elected not to?

Hardly fair to point the finger at Adelaide over that one.

[Go_Dogs]

Pav was a 17 year old who was eligible & nominated, but didn't get drafted until the following season.

Doesn't it then stand to reason that ALL 16 clubs also had multiple opportunities to draft him but elected not to?

Hardly fair to point the finger at Adelaide over that one.

True, but he was playing in the same side as McGregor in the Crows backyard. Surely they could/should/would have seen enough of Pavlich over that time? IIRC you could only take one 17 year old under the draft rules they had at that stage, and the Crows elected for Pav's teammate, Kenny.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Pav was a 17 year old who was eligible & nominated, but didn't get drafted until the following season.

Doesn't it then stand to reason that ALL 16 clubs also had multiple opportunities to draft him but elected not to?

Hardly fair to point the finger at Adelaide over that one.

Agreed - we could have had Pav instead of Jay Solomon, Ricky Symes, Christian Macri, Nicky Winmar the year before in 1998. And the 1998 draft is full of dud selections, and Mark Kleiman was our man back then.

In 1999 its more Richmonds selection of Aaron Fiora, at pick #3 before Pav that pretty ordinary now

[Sockeye Salmon]

Agreed - we could have had Pav instead of Jay Solomon, Ricky Symes, Christian Macri, Nicky Winmar the year before in 1998. And the 1998 draft is full of dud selections, and Mark Kleiman was our man back then.

In 1999 its more Richmonds selection of Aaron Fiora, at pick #3 before Pav that pretty ordinary now

That is factually wrong. We could not.

We could have taken Pavlich instead of Penny, but none of the others.

Each team was only allowed one 17 yo and Penny was ours.

At the time Pavlich was fat and slow with a dodgy work ethic and a big nose.

[Bulldog Revolution]

That is factually wrong. We could not.

We could have taken Pavlich instead of Penny, but none of the others.

Each team was only allowed one 17 yo and Penny was ours.

At the time Pavlich was fat and slow with a dodgy work ethic and a big nose.

Sure, I forgot about the one 17 year old rule

Seriously Pavlich was fat, slow and lazy? Is this really true?

Shame we didn't take him instead of the weak hearted Penny though

[LostDoggy]

"I am very confident I can bring something to the group, and that might be something missing now."


I wonder what that might be?

We all know exactly what he means. The fact that no one here ever actually disputes what Smorgon and now Fantasia are saying means that it has essentially been accepted that Eade lost the support of the coaches and the players in the 2nd half of the season.

[Sockeye Salmon]

We all know exactly what he means. The fact that no one here ever actually disputes what Smorgon and now Fantasia are saying means that it has essentially been accepted that Eade lost the support of the coaches and the players in the 2nd half of the season.

I don't know that at all.

I believe Eade took on/was given a role too big for one person but I have heard nothing to say that he lost the support of his assistant coaches or the players.

[Mofra]

Shame we didn't take him instead of the weak hearted Penny though
Unfair on Penny, I though he was solid before he was ruined by injury

[LostDoggy]

I don't know that at all.

I believe Eade took on/was given a role too big for one person but I have heard nothing to say that he lost the support of his assistant coaches or the players.

Did you miss the various interviews with Smorgon and the part that they (he Rose and the board) had considered stepping in during the season because it was apparent that things weren't right. Smorgon went on to say that whilst we had a chance to make the finals that they decided to wait it out.
He also mentioned that when you talk to people face to face you get honest answers. These were the answers he wasn't getting off the head of the football department.

This is one of the more compelling responses by Smorgon
"Frankly, over the course of the year there were things going on in the football department that we (the board) were not comfortable with," Smorgon said. "I'm not making excuses, but things were out of control."

The way I read this is a direct question about competency.

I suppose you can blame this on the role being too big for him but he actually re-sign to this "dual" position at the end of the 2006 season and obviously didn't see that it was too big for him then. When the pressure was on though and he couldn't delegate the jobs around, instead of going to Smorgon and Rose and saying we have a problem what can we do about it he just stopped doing certain duties and the floggings we received resulted.

He got paid for two jobs and did one of them and the results would indicate that he didn't do that well either. Good luck to him for getting the extra money and probably still getting this extra money for the next two seasons but he has gotten off lightly.

[LostDoggy]

We all know exactly what he means. The fact that no one here ever actually disputes what Smorgon and now Fantasia are saying means that it has essentially been accepted that Eade lost the support of the coaches and the players in the 2nd half of the season.

That is very close to the truth, a status quo has now been reached between players and coach and life is becoming rosier.

[LostDoggy]

Unfair on Penny, I though he was solid before he was ruined by injury

I might be wrong but I think the weak hearted reference should be more directed at the manner he jumped ship by changing his mind at the last minute and forcing us to make the trade with the Saints.

[FrediKanoute]

Fantasia a quiet achiever (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,22896465%255E19742,00.html)

NEW Western Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia says he will work with coach Rodney Eade next season, not rule the club with an iron fist.

Fantasia was last week appointed by Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose, and is responsible for all football administration.

But while there was speculation Rose created the position to curb Eade's power, Fantasia said he would not be a forceful personality.

A respected football figure with 12 years in the industry, Fantasia was Adelaide's long-term recruiter before a year as the SANFL's game development manager.

"I don't see myself coming in and stamping the table and ordering people about. I don't think it's about that," Fantasia said yesterday.

"It's about trying to impart my own football experiences.

"I want to try to bring some additional levels of professionalism.

"Just from my brief discussions with "Rocket" (Eade) he has a vision with the group and where it can go, and that is exciting.

"I need to sit down with him and find out what he has planned, and then look at some additional strategic planning and find ways we can implement it."

Fantasia knows Eade and Dogs recruiter Scott Clayton from their dealings at trade time and respects the pair.

He said he was an outsider when the position was advertised, but in three interviews had sold the club on his vision for its future.

"I am looking more about working with this group as opposed to telling them what they have to do," Fantasia said.

"There are too many good people there already to think you need to do that.

"I am very confident I can bring something to the group, and that might be something missing now."

What struck me about this article was the similarity between what Fantasia said on his appointmeent and what Eade said on his appointment about the vision for where the group is heading. It may just be media bluff but to me it suggests that the club have chosen a person who is competant in what he can do, but is not antagonistic or likely to ride roughshod over the coach. Hopefully it will prove to be an enlightenened selection.

[Go_Dogs]

What struck me about this article was the similarity between what Fantasia said on his appointmeent and what Eade said on his appointment about the vision for where the group is heading. It may just be media bluff but to me it suggests that the club have chosen a person who is competant in what he can do, but is not antagonistic or likely to ride roughshod over the coach. Hopefully it will prove to be an enlightenened selection.

The direction and vision has long been talked about, I remember Akermanis also talking about it when he was signed. If only they could pitch it to us!

[Bulldog Revolution]

The direction and vision has long been talked about, I remember Akermanis also talking about it when he was signed. If only they could pitch it to us!

Direction and Vision are easy - whats harder is having a plan to achieve it, and thats where we've fallen down: Eade, the players, the Assistant Coaches, the whole club.

I hope Fantasia is part of the solution to what were clearly a multitude of problems in 2007.

Any idea when he starts?

[FrediKanoute]

Starting point would be to tale the overall objective = Premiership

From there he would break it all down into smaller bits, like:

1) Player conditioning
2) player development
3) Player skills
4) match day strategy etc

and assign each member of the coaching team a task, which would involve them planning how they are going to take the team forward and what processes they are going to put in place.

He would also put in place defineable measureable KPI's. Obviously winning a flag is a major one, but it may be deliverables like:

1) ave tackles per game
2) ave turnovers per game
3) goals from set plays etc

Whatever collectively the team and coachs believe are the appropriate strategy to win a flag should be micro-measured and analysed. The more measureable and relevant the KPI the more informational value that can be taken form the result. Performance should be assessed on this basis and these should be the primary means of assessing whether or not a player/coach has performed.

Anything less from Fantasia is a cop out. he's not there to be friends with Eade, he's there primarily to ensure Eade,the assistants and the players achieve their objectives and putting in place processes to assess/monitor progress are vital to achieving this. Yes he is there to impart advice/negotiate player contracts/administer the football side of things, but to be an effective manager he must have proper controls in place and performance measure ment is one of these controls.

[Topdog]

I like the appointment and the amount of respect this guy has in Adelaide who have a particularly nasty media is a very good sign IMO.

His professionalism and attention to detail should be of real benefit to this club.