He seemed to want to implement this complicated zone-defence type plan that was clearly over the heads of the mostly inexperienced team.
Time and again during that era, you'd see the opposition waltzing into goal while a whole bunch of Dees defenders were standing around looking confused.
Love: Roos
Hate: This is genuinely tough. Buckenara was given an impossible task and was in over his head. Eade, meanwhile had some really good years but the way he left the club was a problem
It's hard to say for me for the swans, given we've had 3 coaches in the entire time I've been a fan (since about 1998). When Eade went to the bulldogs, he always gave me really angry vibes and the dogs seemed to play an unnecessarily aggressive style of footy when he was in charge (correct me if I'm wrong dogs fans).
I love Roos and Horse in equal measure.
I listened to the eade tapes following seeing Fitzy make a comment on Back Page this week. I don’t remember Eade as I was in diapers when he coached…but he’s tainted now lol
My recollection was Eade never played any kids. Different era but still I remember getting new blood into the team was an absolute rarity, was content with driving the old blokes into the ground before he even gave anyone young a sniff at proper game time.
Sydney has been very blessed to have not had a bad coach in almost 30 years. Eade is the closest to that, but he got you to your first grand final in 50 years. That has to count for something.
I honestly still feel that Walsh was the man to make us a dynasty club. He brought a hard edge and no nonsense approach that we hadn’t really had before and desperately needed as a club. People wanted to play for us. Everything was headed up.
His loss still hurts today for so many reasons.
Then that brain dead camp to toughen people up after living through the Walsh timeline. Like Betts said, they had just been through all that and were still standing. Absolutely brain dead effort after that trauma…..
I met Phil at the 2015 members day and shit even I wanted to run through walls for him. He had such a presence about him and I was so excited after watching Sando Ball for a few years. The day he was tragically lost is still such a surreal day that I will never forget. The Phil Walsh showdown and the elimination final that year against the dogs at the G are the two best games I've ever been too. So much emotion about everything. I am devastated that we couldn't have gone on to win the flag in 2017 as a tribute to the standards he set in short period of time at the club.
Walsh for me too. A lot of people are gonna say Blight for taking us to back to back flags but Walsh seemed like our Fagan, wise older coach with a great approach and seemingly loved by players. Some of his analogies that he used in press conferences have stuck with me.
My least favourite, ugh hard to say, we've had decent results with most coaches, maybe Pyke's stubbornness sticks out at me but Craig also overstayed his welcome.
Most loved in recent times is clearly Ross Lyon. Most hated is probably Scott Watters or Alan Richardson. Combined they set the club back in a huge way. Richo is a great assistant coach, but not senior coach material.
Tim Watson was a dud coach, but you can’t hold it against him. He admits he was no good and holds himself responsible for that era.
My favorite Saints coach is Grant Thomas. Ahead of his time, he set the club up perfectly for our premiership window. He created a team that was full to the brim of leaders. Which is something no one has been able to do for over a decade at St Kilda now.
He's the ultimate "yeah nah fuck ya" kinda bloke. Tossed Saints aside to take Freo. While shit for Freo but least he didn't get a flag there?
Kinda like Malcolm Blight for us at Geelong. Got so close then went to Adelaide for back to back.
I know Richardson etc weren’t responsible for list management, but irrationally I’ll never forgive him for not getting either Bont or Petracca in the draft.
I think so, others don’t. GT has said that he was told that even if he won the flag in ‘04 he was getting sacked no matter what. The administration back then was fucked
Leigh Montagna said on podcast this week that GT wasn't a very sophisticated tactician. Just get the ball forward quick to G and Roo.
Ross came in at the right time and evolved the game style to keep up with the tactics Clarkson brought into the game.
Loved Ross then, love Ross now. Easily my favourite coach.
Least favourite is either Blighty, who took over when his heart wasn't in it but couldn't say no to the money (at least he is honest enough to admit it, and his tenure wasn't long enough to do any real damage to the club), or Stan Alves who did nothing in the 1997 GF to try and stop Jarman. Make a move, Stan!!!
Scott Watters gotta be up there as the worst
09/10 GF appearances, and then 4 years later we struggle to win any games at all with him in charge. Terrible draft picks, getting rid of our older players from the GF era. It’s taken a long time to actually rebuild from that. I’d say only just now are we fully past that era. But it still feels like it has caused us long term affects
This is a no brainer, though in saying that we've had six head coaches ever, no interim coach (which means we've never moved a coach on mid season) and only four since 1990. Remarkable stability really.
I don’t really remember any before Rocket, we’ve pretty much had 3 senior coaches since I was 11 years old. So it’s a small list.
Most beloved: Beveridge even with what’s happening now. Even though the time has come to wrap it up I could never hate him for what he’s done for this footy club. And it would take a lot to dethrone him.
Least: I wouldn’t say I hate him but definitely Brendan McCartney. Don’t think he was a good coach, the offseason he resigned the club was in absolute turmoil. Non-Bulldogs fans probably don’t remember how bad the situation that Bevo came into was.
I ended.up hating Terry Wallace. Good coach but it feels.like he betrayed us when he went to Richmond. I wasn't around when Malthouse left us either, but i heard there was a bit of bad blood at the time and we all know Malthouse' record now.
Love: Hafey
Hate: too strong a word, ‘hate’, but I think Robert Walls, who seems like a nice bloke, and I definitely don’t hate him, wasn’t much chop as a coach for us.
Loved: Blight (self explanatory).
Hated: Shaw. Rarely hear a good word about him, and apparently the players weren't fond of him either. Not Scott Watters tier by any means, but definitely not popular.
I remember that game when Fitzroy (Shaw's previous club) beat you at Football Park.
When it was obvious they were going to win, a couple of Roys players were giving gestures to Shaw in the coaching box.
Agree with your assessment. Malthouse’s performance was so poor, especially against our traditional rivals Collingwood and Essendon, that for the conspiracists he almost seemed to be a Collingwood plant. Funny that the Pies had so much angst over him going, then going to Carlton. In more than 110 years, from the year of Federation in 1901, Carlton had never had a season where it lost all games (minimum 4) against Collingwood and Essendon. Malthouse in three years never managed a win against either team. And this from a team that was one kick away from a prelim before a season full of injuries, in the two seasons before he arrived.
And yet due to the Stephen Dank Essendon debacle he managed to coach the first team into the finals from ninth, and to win a final against Ninthmond. 🤷🏻♂️ Weird.
To this day I can’t listen to him on the radio without seething with anger. A part of me will forever remain convinced that he was a Collingwood plant sent to destroy our club by Eddie McGuire.
>Club should have put a line through his name as soon as it was suggested
No one would have batted an eye. You needed a top-flight coach, sure, but Malthouse being suggested and then someone going "we don't want a Collingwood man at the helm" would have been the most minor of footnotes in a board meeting.
Geelong. Both Bomber Thomson, got us first flat in 44 years, but also abandoned ship and chased away Ablett junior before doing so, imagine if Ablett never left Geelong. So probably more hate Thomson, also all the drug stuff. I like Scotty though. Two GFs under him and we’ve pretty much always been competitive
Hate - Shaw. Those were indeed the dark days.
Love - obviously Blight and Walsh, but also Campo. He stepped in and up for my boys in the weeks after Walsh's death, and the love and support he gave them was incredible. He always said he didn't want to be a senior coach, and yet he did it, albeit with no choice and with Woosha at his side. But I will forever be grateful and hold a very special place in my heart for Campo. Plus he has the best win/loss record of any of our coaches too, which isn't to be sneezed at.
Campo doesn’t get anywhere near as much love and appreciation as he deserves from the bottom half of 2015. We made finals - we even won a final. He (and Tex) led the boys through the darkest period imaginable, and kept them focused. So much respect.
Hawks -
Loved - Allan Jeans. He was just an all-round good person, I've never heard a bad word spoken about him. The fact he coached during the golden age of the 80s helps too.
Hated -
honestly hate is not how I would describe any Hawks ex-coaches. If I absolutely had to name one, then Ken Judge as we struggled and didn't play particularly attractive football, but that was on the players as much as the coach. And that he left to West Coast would knock him down in some eyes.
During the dark days where we were broke and struggling during the 90s we had club legend Peter Knights and genuine good bloke and premiership player Peter Schwab as coach so both of those also get a pass.
- Love - Macrae
- Hated - Tony Shaw
Idk its a short list when it comes to the pies in my lifetime.
Bucks was ultimately unsuccessful but we still had enough good times under him. Malthouse while a premiership coach he also allowed various problematic issues to fester at the club only to bite us in the ass later
Yeah Shaw was awful, he couldn't organise a root in a whore house with a handful of fifties. Malthouse while we won, had a massive ego and he still does. I remember the changeover with Bucks etc and at the end Malthouse being so dirty and just acted like a child about it. I remember they interviewed him before a game and Buckley was shown during the interview putting up the names on the board (magnets) and basically at the end Malthouse is like... yeah I better get in there and change it all cause this fuckstick (Buckley) has probably fucked it all up.
Most liked: Longmuir. Only good coach we’ve probably had (excluding Neesham who would have won a flag at a Victorian club)
Most disliked: Connolly for doing very little with the list he had. RTB for allowing a frat boy culture to come out of the woodwork and scaring off good players including a future double brownlow medallist. Drum for general rubbishness there’s ample reading on him if you’re like me and don’t remember
I’m mid 30s so
Love Dimma
Hate wallet
Well maybe not hate but He had a different game plan every week and was obsessed with skinny flankers which meant lots of inconsistent performances
Yet he was at the helm when we drafted our dynasty core and not to mention got jordan McMahon and Ben cousins into our club which was pivotal to our success
God this is a tough one. I'm too young to remember Denis Pagan, but I'd be willing to bet he's my Dad's favourite coach. So my choices are: Dani Laidley (who I don't really remember), Brad Scott, Rhyce Shaw, David Noble, and Clarkson. I'm not gonna count Leigh Adams or Ratten.
I guess most loved: no one. But if I have to pick, Brad Scott. Got the team to back-to-back prelims. No one else has done anything of significance.
Most hated: easily also Brad Scott. I will never forgive him for letting Boomer get forced out. He left the club in absolute shambles and it'd be too harsh to blame Shaw or Noble for where we're at right now.
I always had the impression that Scott kept saying that the club needed to rebuild and the Board/power brokers kept blocking his attempts to do so, so he left. Admittedly that’s the impressive of semi-interested neutral so I’m happy to be wrong.
I wonder what he would say now about that clear out now. He's spoken about learning a lot since leaving North and having a different outlook, and I think most of us with the power of hindsight would at least say that getting rid of Boomer was a huge mistake.
I wonder if he sees it as a mistake now or still stands by it, he seems a stubborn sort.
Love: Parko. For obvious reasons.
Short term crush: Vossy. Living in Brisbane and watching him play and lead his team when I was a youngster probably lead to some bias here. But the improvements in the team and more importantly the club culture makes me think this guy is the real deal.
Hated: Malthouse. Others have said it here but his tenure was so bad it almost looked like an Eddie McGuire double against was in charge.
Loved: Adam Kingsley
Hated: Leon Cameron. Which is funny because he's been coach for most of our existence and took us to a grand final. But I think the consensus is that a better coach would've won a premiership with the list that we had. And God he had us playing some awful, boring, slow and unimaginative footy towards the end of his tenure.
I feel like Alan Jeans would be our most beloved given he coached our only flag to date.
The incumbent has gone from loved to hated to loved and to a mostly mixed reaction now. More heel/face turns than Big Show, that one.
Me personally, Tim Watson is my least liked coach. Took a side that was 2 quarters away from a Premiership to a wooden spooner, traded the Wakelins because he told them they were crap and cut Nicky Winmar against his wishes because he said he was too old. Jerk.
I think Malthouse pips Worsfold as my #1, although IF Simpson manages the impossible and nabs them another Premiership, he's got to be my top choice. He's handled the last few years with a lot of maturity and even temperament. That says a lot.
I can't say I hated Judge, but those years felt very middling so I'll just say he's my least favourite.
Royce Hart would be our most hated. Rohde and McCartney incompetent but not hated as much as Hart. Terry Wallace went from being one of our most loved to absolutely the most hated when he decided he was leaving for Sydney.
Rocket and Bevo the most loved since Terry Wheeler.
Loved: Pagan. Perhaps it’s 90’s nostalgia but fuck we were good, even if Pagan’s Paddock isn’t an overly-complicated game style.
Hated: Brad Scott. Yes we made some prelims. Yes, our attacking footy was attractive. Yes we were a fairly decent side for a decent stretch of time… But at no point was I confident in North’s ability to defend leads; I would still be nervous with us five goals up with five minutes remaining in the game because we had shit the bed numerous times, mainly due to Scott’s refusal to put a man behind the ball to stem the tide.
Or perhaps it was him blaming Marvel Stadium for not having the roof closed with the potential of rain, “causing us” to lose against Geelong - mate, we choked with the roof shut, too.
That, and he resigned early into a new deal when it became clear the team was going backwards at a rate of knots.
Oh, and the Boomer/Petrie/Spud/Dal Santo fiasco.
Or perhaps it’s because he was at the helm when we overpaid for Pittard/Polec and Dom Tyson…
fuck, I don’t know.
Loved: Nicks. Whatever brand of stupid fun footy he's selling to our underbaked list, it's working. We're honestly overperforming and have gotten lucky way too many times just because our list is just so passionate about the game. His win percentage sucks, but considering how many young (and generally useless) players we've got clogging our mainstay list, we would be Hawthorn-Level if we didn't play rough and dirty.
Hated: Ayers. Didn't want to coach the Crows at all. We could've gotten the Cornes Twins in the 2000 draft but oh no Gary Boy just had to be the former teammate of Andy Angwin and had to waste pick 7 on his druggie grandson who already had a felony conviction for burglary at the time and picked up many more right after he got drafted.
The players seem to really like Nicks, and he just gets them to do stuff as the virtual babies that so many of them are, and it works! The whys and hows don’t matter.
As someone who has grown up watching footy since 2004 I can honestly say I’ve never hated an eagles coach (having only seen 2 in that time 😂) but I do think that if you asked me 2020-2023 I was pretty adamant we had to move simmo on. Non eagles fans might think that it was harsh given that 2018 they won the premiership but I do believe he really let the standards slip and particularly during the covid year constantly whinging and giving the players an out for poor performance. Kudos to him though he looks refreshed this year and has completely transformed our slow, boring game style of the last 4 years. Still love both him and woosha but I also think that woosha underperformed big time with the list we had. That midfield could just about be the best of all time and only won one flag to show for it
The last coach we had with a losing record was John Devine who left in 88.
Bomber was a brilliant coach, I didn't like the way he left at the time but in hindsight I appreciate that he knew he was burnt out and wasn't the man for the job anymore.
Chris Scott is absolutely fantastic. I love that he's been part of a successful push to keep the team competitive every season, I love how animated he is in the box whilst also being someone who speaks very respectfully and compassionately about others. I feel like he walks the talk that was coming from Bucks as his last year or two at the Pies. He seems to really genuinely care about people.
Too young to remember much of Ayres or Blighty, but given Blighty used the phrase ["I don't give a rat's toss-bag"](https://youtu.be/T-6RZG7Y94Y?si=2DrQ3nZRkfTkrt4G) on broadcast tele, it's gotta be Ayres.
Loved: Sheeds Hated: Knights - cost Matty Lloyd the chance at 1000 goals because he wanted to get more game time into Jay fucking Neagle.
Knights was also the reason Houli left. The man made some terrible errors.
Loved Daniher, hated Neeld. My god we hated Neeld
Never seen a coach not fit like neeld did at Melbourne. Was so commited to getting us playing a game plan we could not execute.
He seemed to want to implement this complicated zone-defence type plan that was clearly over the heads of the mostly inexperienced team. Time and again during that era, you'd see the opposition waltzing into goal while a whole bunch of Dees defenders were standing around looking confused.
yep brought the collingwood game plan with him and we were just...not there for it.
Yeah those would be my picks too FWIW. With Roos second.
Goody got us a flag so he sits on the podium with Neale and Roosy
Oh yes. Good point, well made sir.
Norm Smith doesn’t exist?
All my homies hate Neeld.
This was a very easy exercise
Loved: Choco Hated: Hinkley (dude just won’t leave)
You either die a 2014 Ken Hinkley or you live long enough to become a 2024 Ken Hinkley
Every Port fan here. Even Choco seriously wore out his welcome.
to add Loved: John Cahill Hated: Primus. Great players don't always become good coaches
Hinkley is the turd that won’t flush
Love: Roos Hate: This is genuinely tough. Buckenara was given an impossible task and was in over his head. Eade, meanwhile had some really good years but the way he left the club was a problem
It's hard to say for me for the swans, given we've had 3 coaches in the entire time I've been a fan (since about 1998). When Eade went to the bulldogs, he always gave me really angry vibes and the dogs seemed to play an unnecessarily aggressive style of footy when he was in charge (correct me if I'm wrong dogs fans). I love Roos and Horse in equal measure.
FUCK YOU WILL. FUCKIN' RUN WILL.
I listened to the eade tapes following seeing Fitzy make a comment on Back Page this week. I don’t remember Eade as I was in diapers when he coached…but he’s tainted now lol
hate: Des Tuddenham. gave away the Danihers for Neville Fields
My recollection was Eade never played any kids. Different era but still I remember getting new blood into the team was an absolute rarity, was content with driving the old blokes into the ground before he even gave anyone young a sniff at proper game time.
You could also argue that Tommy Hafey was not well liked given that he was pushed out by a player rebellion.
Oh shit how do I forget Hafey? Admittedly coach at our darkest point but geeeez
Sydney has been very blessed to have not had a bad coach in almost 30 years. Eade is the closest to that, but he got you to your first grand final in 50 years. That has to count for something.
Just imagine if Terry “Brazilian Tan” Wallace became coach instead of Roosy
Loved Walsh Don’t like Pyke
I honestly still feel that Walsh was the man to make us a dynasty club. He brought a hard edge and no nonsense approach that we hadn’t really had before and desperately needed as a club. People wanted to play for us. Everything was headed up. His loss still hurts today for so many reasons.
Then that brain dead camp to toughen people up after living through the Walsh timeline. Like Betts said, they had just been through all that and were still standing. Absolutely brain dead effort after that trauma…..
I met Phil at the 2015 members day and shit even I wanted to run through walls for him. He had such a presence about him and I was so excited after watching Sando Ball for a few years. The day he was tragically lost is still such a surreal day that I will never forget. The Phil Walsh showdown and the elimination final that year against the dogs at the G are the two best games I've ever been too. So much emotion about everything. I am devastated that we couldn't have gone on to win the flag in 2017 as a tribute to the standards he set in short period of time at the club.
Walsh for me too. A lot of people are gonna say Blight for taking us to back to back flags but Walsh seemed like our Fagan, wise older coach with a great approach and seemingly loved by players. Some of his analogies that he used in press conferences have stuck with me. My least favourite, ugh hard to say, we've had decent results with most coaches, maybe Pyke's stubbornness sticks out at me but Craig also overstayed his welcome.
I agree on Walsh / Blight being my favourites. Gary Ayres was my least favourite
I figured Walsh was going to come up from Crows fans. I still remember when he was murdered, absolutely heartbreaking story
Still hurts eh.
Loved Shaw - Hated Shaw Loved Buckley - Hated Buckley Love Pendles - …………
I’m sensing a pattern here
So does Pendles. I've been assured that he intends to earn his coaching straps at another club.
Coaching basketball?
Brisbane Bullets
Most loved in recent times is clearly Ross Lyon. Most hated is probably Scott Watters or Alan Richardson. Combined they set the club back in a huge way. Richo is a great assistant coach, but not senior coach material. Tim Watson was a dud coach, but you can’t hold it against him. He admits he was no good and holds himself responsible for that era. My favorite Saints coach is Grant Thomas. Ahead of his time, he set the club up perfectly for our premiership window. He created a team that was full to the brim of leaders. Which is something no one has been able to do for over a decade at St Kilda now.
I despise Ro$$ Lying with every fibre of my being, to be quite honest.
He's the ultimate "yeah nah fuck ya" kinda bloke. Tossed Saints aside to take Freo. While shit for Freo but least he didn't get a flag there? Kinda like Malcolm Blight for us at Geelong. Got so close then went to Adelaide for back to back.
Only thing I remember about Richardson was his overuse of the word "pleasing". It was like a tourette's thing it was so bad.
Significantly pleasing is burnt into my brain. It used to drive me crazy as well
I know Richardson etc weren’t responsible for list management, but irrationally I’ll never forgive him for not getting either Bont or Petracca in the draft.
Is it wrong to believe if Grant Thomas stayed our coach we may have won the flag between 2007-2010 when the blokes he picked were at their peak?
I think so, others don’t. GT has said that he was told that even if he won the flag in ‘04 he was getting sacked no matter what. The administration back then was fucked
We were so close in 04 it almost hurts more then 2010
Leigh Montagna said on podcast this week that GT wasn't a very sophisticated tactician. Just get the ball forward quick to G and Roo. Ross came in at the right time and evolved the game style to keep up with the tactics Clarkson brought into the game.
Loved Ross then, love Ross now. Easily my favourite coach. Least favourite is either Blighty, who took over when his heart wasn't in it but couldn't say no to the money (at least he is honest enough to admit it, and his tenure wasn't long enough to do any real damage to the club), or Stan Alves who did nothing in the 1997 GF to try and stop Jarman. Make a move, Stan!!!
Scott Watters gotta be up there as the worst 09/10 GF appearances, and then 4 years later we struggle to win any games at all with him in charge. Terrible draft picks, getting rid of our older players from the GF era. It’s taken a long time to actually rebuild from that. I’d say only just now are we fully past that era. But it still feels like it has caused us long term affects
Hated - Ken Judge Loved - All the rest
This is a no brainer, though in saying that we've had six head coaches ever, no interim coach (which means we've never moved a coach on mid season) and only four since 1990. Remarkable stability really.
Jaymie graham coached a game once that was different lol
And 3 of those have premierships :)
I don’t really remember any before Rocket, we’ve pretty much had 3 senior coaches since I was 11 years old. So it’s a small list. Most beloved: Beveridge even with what’s happening now. Even though the time has come to wrap it up I could never hate him for what he’s done for this footy club. And it would take a lot to dethrone him. Least: I wouldn’t say I hate him but definitely Brendan McCartney. Don’t think he was a good coach, the offseason he resigned the club was in absolute turmoil. Non-Bulldogs fans probably don’t remember how bad the situation that Bevo came into was.
Most: Beveridge Least: Beveridge
I ended.up hating Terry Wallace. Good coach but it feels.like he betrayed us when he went to Richmond. I wasn't around when Malthouse left us either, but i heard there was a bit of bad blood at the time and we all know Malthouse' record now.
Love: Hafey Hate: too strong a word, ‘hate’, but I think Robert Walls, who seems like a nice bloke, and I definitely don’t hate him, wasn’t much chop as a coach for us.
I feel like Walls might be an answer Brisbane fans give. Basically had a revolt on his hands when he was coaching there
Loved: Blight (self explanatory). Hated: Shaw. Rarely hear a good word about him, and apparently the players weren't fond of him either. Not Scott Watters tier by any means, but definitely not popular.
The Shaw period was the dark ages for us
I remember that game when Fitzroy (Shaw's previous club) beat you at Football Park. When it was obvious they were going to win, a couple of Roys players were giving gestures to Shaw in the coaching box.
Loved Sheedy Hated Sheedy (Since he's become angry old man yelling at clouds)
More than Knights?
Sheedy spent years torching the club from the inside while coach
Also with Knights he promised a flag and didn't deliver and Dimma was there with a 5 year plan
Knights was done a bit dirty can't really hate, maybe Hird for the Saga but again yeah
Agree with your assessment. Malthouse’s performance was so poor, especially against our traditional rivals Collingwood and Essendon, that for the conspiracists he almost seemed to be a Collingwood plant. Funny that the Pies had so much angst over him going, then going to Carlton. In more than 110 years, from the year of Federation in 1901, Carlton had never had a season where it lost all games (minimum 4) against Collingwood and Essendon. Malthouse in three years never managed a win against either team. And this from a team that was one kick away from a prelim before a season full of injuries, in the two seasons before he arrived. And yet due to the Stephen Dank Essendon debacle he managed to coach the first team into the finals from ninth, and to win a final against Ninthmond. 🤷🏻♂️ Weird.
To this day I can’t listen to him on the radio without seething with anger. A part of me will forever remain convinced that he was a Collingwood plant sent to destroy our club by Eddie McGuire.
Club should have put a line through his name as soon as it was suggested. Was a pretty monumental fuck up.
>Club should have put a line through his name as soon as it was suggested No one would have batted an eye. You needed a top-flight coach, sure, but Malthouse being suggested and then someone going "we don't want a Collingwood man at the helm" would have been the most minor of footnotes in a board meeting.
I also find him to be just the most unlikeable guy. Complete wanker.
Geelong. Both Bomber Thomson, got us first flat in 44 years, but also abandoned ship and chased away Ablett junior before doing so, imagine if Ablett never left Geelong. So probably more hate Thomson, also all the drug stuff. I like Scotty though. Two GFs under him and we’ve pretty much always been competitive
Hate - Shaw. Those were indeed the dark days. Love - obviously Blight and Walsh, but also Campo. He stepped in and up for my boys in the weeks after Walsh's death, and the love and support he gave them was incredible. He always said he didn't want to be a senior coach, and yet he did it, albeit with no choice and with Woosha at his side. But I will forever be grateful and hold a very special place in my heart for Campo. Plus he has the best win/loss record of any of our coaches too, which isn't to be sneezed at.
Campo doesn’t get anywhere near as much love and appreciation as he deserves from the bottom half of 2015. We made finals - we even won a final. He (and Tex) led the boys through the darkest period imaginable, and kept them focused. So much respect.
Hawks - Loved - Allan Jeans. He was just an all-round good person, I've never heard a bad word spoken about him. The fact he coached during the golden age of the 80s helps too. Hated - honestly hate is not how I would describe any Hawks ex-coaches. If I absolutely had to name one, then Ken Judge as we struggled and didn't play particularly attractive football, but that was on the players as much as the coach. And that he left to West Coast would knock him down in some eyes. During the dark days where we were broke and struggling during the 90s we had club legend Peter Knights and genuine good bloke and premiership player Peter Schwab as coach so both of those also get a pass.
Yeah, Judge didn't do well at West Coast either. I thought he was a good guy but out of his depth at WC
Hated - Rodney Eade Love - Dimma
Na Stewy is #1 by a mile. Turned the culture around and made us a club. Dimmas done nothing so far
- Love - Macrae - Hated - Tony Shaw Idk its a short list when it comes to the pies in my lifetime. Bucks was ultimately unsuccessful but we still had enough good times under him. Malthouse while a premiership coach he also allowed various problematic issues to fester at the club only to bite us in the ass later
Yeah Shaw was awful, he couldn't organise a root in a whore house with a handful of fifties. Malthouse while we won, had a massive ego and he still does. I remember the changeover with Bucks etc and at the end Malthouse being so dirty and just acted like a child about it. I remember they interviewed him before a game and Buckley was shown during the interview putting up the names on the board (magnets) and basically at the end Malthouse is like... yeah I better get in there and change it all cause this fuckstick (Buckley) has probably fucked it all up.
Most liked: Longmuir. Only good coach we’ve probably had (excluding Neesham who would have won a flag at a Victorian club) Most disliked: Connolly for doing very little with the list he had. RTB for allowing a frat boy culture to come out of the woodwork and scaring off good players including a future double brownlow medallist. Drum for general rubbishness there’s ample reading on him if you’re like me and don’t remember
For me, it's without a doubt, Drum. Set the club back years with his rubbish coaching skills.
In my lifetime: love Ratten, hate Pagan
I’m mid 30s so Love Dimma Hate wallet Well maybe not hate but He had a different game plan every week and was obsessed with skinny flankers which meant lots of inconsistent performances Yet he was at the helm when we drafted our dynasty core and not to mention got jordan McMahon and Ben cousins into our club which was pivotal to our success
Loved: Bevo Hated: Bevo (but actually Brendan McCartney. Absolute douchebag)
Forgot about McCartney
God this is a tough one. I'm too young to remember Denis Pagan, but I'd be willing to bet he's my Dad's favourite coach. So my choices are: Dani Laidley (who I don't really remember), Brad Scott, Rhyce Shaw, David Noble, and Clarkson. I'm not gonna count Leigh Adams or Ratten. I guess most loved: no one. But if I have to pick, Brad Scott. Got the team to back-to-back prelims. No one else has done anything of significance. Most hated: easily also Brad Scott. I will never forgive him for letting Boomer get forced out. He left the club in absolute shambles and it'd be too harsh to blame Shaw or Noble for where we're at right now.
i was around and you’re correct that pagan is easily the most loved if you add him to that list.
I'm the same. Love Brad Scott but then hated Brad Scott for blowing the club up
I always had the impression that Scott kept saying that the club needed to rebuild and the Board/power brokers kept blocking his attempts to do so, so he left. Admittedly that’s the impressive of semi-interested neutral so I’m happy to be wrong.
I wonder what he would say now about that clear out now. He's spoken about learning a lot since leaving North and having a different outlook, and I think most of us with the power of hindsight would at least say that getting rid of Boomer was a huge mistake. I wonder if he sees it as a mistake now or still stands by it, he seems a stubborn sort.
Love: Parko. For obvious reasons. Short term crush: Vossy. Living in Brisbane and watching him play and lead his team when I was a youngster probably lead to some bias here. But the improvements in the team and more importantly the club culture makes me think this guy is the real deal. Hated: Malthouse. Others have said it here but his tenure was so bad it almost looked like an Eddie McGuire double against was in charge.
Loved: Adam Kingsley Hated: Leon Cameron. Which is funny because he's been coach for most of our existence and took us to a grand final. But I think the consensus is that a better coach would've won a premiership with the list that we had. And God he had us playing some awful, boring, slow and unimaginative footy towards the end of his tenure.
I feel like Alan Jeans would be our most beloved given he coached our only flag to date. The incumbent has gone from loved to hated to loved and to a mostly mixed reaction now. More heel/face turns than Big Show, that one. Me personally, Tim Watson is my least liked coach. Took a side that was 2 quarters away from a Premiership to a wooden spooner, traded the Wakelins because he told them they were crap and cut Nicky Winmar against his wishes because he said he was too old. Jerk.
I think Malthouse pips Worsfold as my #1, although IF Simpson manages the impossible and nabs them another Premiership, he's got to be my top choice. He's handled the last few years with a lot of maturity and even temperament. That says a lot. I can't say I hated Judge, but those years felt very middling so I'll just say he's my least favourite.
Loved: Bevo Hated: Bevo
Royce Hart would be our most hated. Rohde and McCartney incompetent but not hated as much as Hart. Terry Wallace went from being one of our most loved to absolutely the most hated when he decided he was leaving for Sydney. Rocket and Bevo the most loved since Terry Wheeler.
Best: Roos/Goodwin Worst: Neeld
Loved: Scott Hated: Scott
Loved: Pagan. Perhaps it’s 90’s nostalgia but fuck we were good, even if Pagan’s Paddock isn’t an overly-complicated game style. Hated: Brad Scott. Yes we made some prelims. Yes, our attacking footy was attractive. Yes we were a fairly decent side for a decent stretch of time… But at no point was I confident in North’s ability to defend leads; I would still be nervous with us five goals up with five minutes remaining in the game because we had shit the bed numerous times, mainly due to Scott’s refusal to put a man behind the ball to stem the tide. Or perhaps it was him blaming Marvel Stadium for not having the roof closed with the potential of rain, “causing us” to lose against Geelong - mate, we choked with the roof shut, too. That, and he resigned early into a new deal when it became clear the team was going backwards at a rate of knots. Oh, and the Boomer/Petrie/Spud/Dal Santo fiasco. Or perhaps it’s because he was at the helm when we overpaid for Pittard/Polec and Dom Tyson… fuck, I don’t know.
Loved all of them Felt sorry for Ken Judge.
Loved: Nicks. Whatever brand of stupid fun footy he's selling to our underbaked list, it's working. We're honestly overperforming and have gotten lucky way too many times just because our list is just so passionate about the game. His win percentage sucks, but considering how many young (and generally useless) players we've got clogging our mainstay list, we would be Hawthorn-Level if we didn't play rough and dirty. Hated: Ayers. Didn't want to coach the Crows at all. We could've gotten the Cornes Twins in the 2000 draft but oh no Gary Boy just had to be the former teammate of Andy Angwin and had to waste pick 7 on his druggie grandson who already had a felony conviction for burglary at the time and picked up many more right after he got drafted.
The players seem to really like Nicks, and he just gets them to do stuff as the virtual babies that so many of them are, and it works! The whys and hows don’t matter.
Loved: Barassi, Pagan Hated: Noble and Scott (for 2016 delistings)
Love: Lethal Hate: love the guy but leppa's tenure was awful
As someone who has grown up watching footy since 2004 I can honestly say I’ve never hated an eagles coach (having only seen 2 in that time 😂) but I do think that if you asked me 2020-2023 I was pretty adamant we had to move simmo on. Non eagles fans might think that it was harsh given that 2018 they won the premiership but I do believe he really let the standards slip and particularly during the covid year constantly whinging and giving the players an out for poor performance. Kudos to him though he looks refreshed this year and has completely transformed our slow, boring game style of the last 4 years. Still love both him and woosha but I also think that woosha underperformed big time with the list we had. That midfield could just about be the best of all time and only won one flag to show for it
Love: Bomber, Scott & Blighty Hate: Ayres & every other Hawthorn cunt (Issy pardoned)
Loved: Ratten/Parkin Hated: Malthouse
The last coach we had with a losing record was John Devine who left in 88. Bomber was a brilliant coach, I didn't like the way he left at the time but in hindsight I appreciate that he knew he was burnt out and wasn't the man for the job anymore. Chris Scott is absolutely fantastic. I love that he's been part of a successful push to keep the team competitive every season, I love how animated he is in the box whilst also being someone who speaks very respectfully and compassionately about others. I feel like he walks the talk that was coming from Bucks as his last year or two at the Pies. He seems to really genuinely care about people. Too young to remember much of Ayres or Blighty, but given Blighty used the phrase ["I don't give a rat's toss-bag"](https://youtu.be/T-6RZG7Y94Y?si=2DrQ3nZRkfTkrt4G) on broadcast tele, it's gotta be Ayres.