StKilda fans have no right to hate Grant Thomas. He got the Saints to two preliminary finals and within a few goals of a Grand Final. Considering StKilda’s history of extreme underachievement Thomas’ time as coach was very successful. But a lot of people were waiting for his demise, inside and outside of StKilda. Most clubs would love the luxury of sacking a coach who has taken a team to the finals three years in a row. It reeks of arrogance and the sort of expectations StKilda have no right to. Remarkably, the club also sacked Stan Alves a year after they lost a Grand Final. The Saints finished sixth in Alves’ last year.
Richmond, a club that has a recent history of extreme mediocrity, have much more lenient standards. Terry Wallace’s time as coach has been a disaster. 4 seasons. 0 finals. Yet still he remains, going through the processes in a futile attempt to squeeze some value out of his last season. Wallace should quit immediately, so pathetic is Richmond’s standard of football. Wallace and Thomas’ coaching results may not be very similar, but their football language is.
In a time of extreme football advancements in fitness, skill, strategy and opposition analysis, coaches and media commentators still have the ability to use a thousand words to say absolutely nothing. Both Wallace and Thomas insist on using unsuitable metaphors to explain simple situations. They also often talk in footy-speak. For example, nearly all coaches and players these days talk about where their team is at. “This game will be a good test of where we are at”. I recall that up until a few years ago this phrase was not used at all. Another football term that surely irks both Thomas and Wallace is ‘premiership window’. Wallace should have Richmond about to enter their premiership window. Unfortuantely they are in the exact same position they were when he became coach. Thomas was sacked mainly because people thought he had wasted StKilda’s premiership period. As Mick Malthouse pointed out this week, there is no reason to be so surprised by StKilda’s form. They have a number of high draft picks coming into their prime. Riewoldt and Koschitzke are 26. Ball is 24, Goddard is 23 and Dal Santo is 25. They should expect success. Which makes Thomas’ sacking all the more unreasonable. He coached all of these players, and can legitimately argue that he didn’t have the chance to coach them in their prime.
Thomas’ termination as a coach may have been harsh, but his sacking from the radio could be a blessing for the language of football. There are enough controversy-seekers in the papers already. There are more than enough ex-player’s talking in endless footy cliches on the radio. The sad truth for Thomas and for the public is that the vacancy he leaves in the football media may well be taken by Terry Wallace, the master of the footy cliche.
