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You have watched the team play recently haven't you? It's looking pretty bloody grim.
Okay, early warning, this will be a long response.
I agree it is
looking grim. I have already conceded on the evidence currently available it looks like you, Goat, Accept and rest of the Seibold death squad may be on the money.
I just think that in a scenario where the club have gone balls in on signing a coach to such a long contract, that it is too early to sack him in circumstances where in his first two seasons as a head coach he has made the finals, and we are seven games into a season where we are sitting at 2-5. Some of the losses have been very bad, but you could not sack a coach on the basis of that record.
I am a bit more sanguine about our position compared to a lot of you, with some of the shit that has happened this year , the Brioncos sitting at 2-5 is the least of my problems.
Something that a commentator said about the Democratic primaries back in the dark ages of 1979/80 has always stuck with me. This was Teddy Kennedy v Jimmy Carter (the incumbent President). He said if Kennedy wins,. Carter loses. It was stating the bleeding obvious but it has always stuck with me. In terms of Seibold, he will either fail or he won't. It is out of our collective hands which results occurs.
The Board and management are sticking with him. I can remember way back in 1989 a relatively inexperienced coach at the NSWRL level at the tender age of 39 years had the public armed with pitchforks in the streets demanding that he be sacked. He received a very strong and very public statement of support from club management and then went on to win six premierships with that club.
Fast forward ten years, that same coach, his side after winning the premiership the previous season, started the season 0-5 and was 1/10 with a much better side. That side fought back to make the finals.
I am not comparing Bennett to Seibold. By the time Bennett got his first NSWRL gig at Canberra, he was a vastly more experienced coach than Seibold and a far better coach than Seibold. I am just making the point that Seibold has to be given the opportunity to fail or succeed and it is far too early to make that call.
All I know is that the Club has seen fit to back him, so whilst that is the case I will support him.
You may well be right that he is an absolute dud, but I have heard a lot of commentary from people that have worked with him (including Walters) that say he is a good coach. 1910 from his comments appears to have thought that as well and cannot understand what the disconnect is. There is clearly a disconnect which is on Seibold as the coach to discover what it is and fix it. If his players cannot understand his game plan or tactics, alter them or simplify them.
It may well be that the challenge that they are all currently facing is the furnace required to temper their steel, to harden them (both the coach and the team) to make them into a genuine prospect. Alternatively, if they are not up to it (individually or collectively) and the heat is too much and they are too brittle, they may melt.
I think we will have a pretty clear indication by the end of this season where Seibold stands. He will either fail or he won't.
If he does end up being a failure, and it is correct that the contract we have signed him to does not have a performance clause allowing termination of the contract, whoever was involved with negotiating that contract should follow him out the door.
