Craig Quits!

[McRooster]

Ironically Neil Craig has now won more fans at Adelaide upon his departure than he has had in the last few years.  :P

It is the respectful and dignified exit that he chose that he will be remembered for. How often have we seen the workman like Craig in a suit? Not often. Sure the press conference may have been akin to a funeral where suits are the norm but Craigs honesty will breathe life to the flailing club and he leaves with the legacy that the first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.

My Mum texted me of the unsurprising news today. She'd heard it announced over the loudspeaker at the shops! That is the level of rank that is given to an Adelaide Coach, that his departure should need to be announced over a public PA system. Only in the day of Tony Modra would there be such heraldry, often hearing announcements like this if Tony had just bought the paper and an Iced Coffee. That is the problem with Adelaide and it's adulation of it's sporting culture, to whom much hath been given much is expected. The tall poppy syndrome in a way, we love them when they're cranking it out but look out if there is the remotest of poor performance - Neil had just too many of those of late and fell on his own sword.

Seven years ago Rodney Eade was signed as Adelaide Coach. He had come to Adelaide for the tokenistic third interview and was staying in the Barossa Valley. The deal was ready for announcement.
Then a call from Rob Gerard (Clipsal boss) came into the club threatening that if the board did not appoint Neil Craig (the two had a strong personal relationship from Craig's time at North Adelaide) that he would recind on any corporate promises he had made to Adelaide and not put in any more coin. Understandably from a financial perspective Adelaide tore up Eade's contract and appointed Craig.
A lot of Neil's detractors have said of late that his time was up, but the truth is that he got 7 years more than he was meant to.

To that I don't agree, I believe for whatever reason we are meant to start at one point, travel down various paths and at some stage your road will finish off the page. When it finishes, that's your time - you're done. Throughout the course of life you take left and right turns which will eventually deliver you to the edge of the page. You could say 'What if I didn't take that turn I wouldn't have ended up here' but I believe you were meant to take that turn: if you changed your mind then you were meant to change it. Fate.

It was fate that Neil Craig became a "brick in the foundation of the Adelaide football club" but it is now a time for that group to rebuild, re-focus and move toward a stronger, clearer future for the Pride of South Australia.

Good luck to you Neil and thankyou for almost getting us there.

[RiOtChEsS]

i take it the Eade scenario isnt common knowledge... One Week At A Time have him in the mix/option for 2012 ;D

in all seriousness if that sort limitation is put upon the club combined with the lack of love for SA it makes for a tiny pool of coaches :-X

[North Melbournes Finest]

Considering Crows were playing with the worst and the most boring game style in the AFL, something had to give......Seriously I always considered Saints/Sydney to have the boring game style and then I watched 2 Adelaide games in a row and wow, had to turn it off.

Get someone outside the club who actually wants the ball to move quickly to Tippett, no wonder he's slumped or not progressed, because the ball moved so slowly up the field it's a 1-3 every time they get it to him.

[McRooster]

i take it the Eade scenario isnt common knowledge... One Week At A Time have him in the mix/option for 2012 ;D

in all seriousness if that sort limitation is put upon the club combined with the lack of love for SA it makes for a tiny pool of coaches :-X

No, it's not common knowledge. However I can vouch my source is true and in the know  ;)

The move to Adelaide Oval will remove any outside Corporate limitations on the decision making as the Club now knows that the sponsorship floodgates will open with the move to the City and the greater freedom they will have with their stadium deal. They can (financially speaking) now go after whoever they want and whoever is available, Rocket may be the man-who knows? One thing is for certain, no stone will be left unturned and no cash drawer closed in their search.

[RiOtChEsS]

i take it the Eade scenario isnt common knowledge... One Week At A Time have him in the mix/option for 2012 ;D

in all seriousness if that sort limitation is put upon the club combined with the lack of love for SA it makes for a tiny pool of coaches :-X

No, it's not common knowledge. However I can vouch my source is true and in the know  ;)

The move to Adelaide Oval will remove any outside Corporate limitations on the decision making as the Club now knows that the sponsorship floodgates will open with the move to the City and the greater freedom they will have with their stadium deal. They can (financially speaking) now go after whoever they want and whoever is available, Rocket may be the man-who knows? One thing is for certain, no stone will be left unturned and no cash drawer closed in their search.

never doubted for a second ur source wasnt accurate ;)

im glad things r going to progress for our SA clubs 8)

[North Melbournes Finest]

I had a seminar with Allan Richardson and he was an amazing bloke. I was hoping he'd get the Essendon top job, now I hope he gets Adelaide's job.

[RiOtChEsS]

i definitely believe it the new coach needs to come from beyond the nest...

a fresh new strategy/game plan and i think Bickley and Hart need to go interstate for experience...

that is why i would put Goodwin ahead of them two currently as he is experiencing different minds and styles which is what The Crows r going to need eventually in a successor to the next coach when one comes home to roost :P

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/crows-target-big-three-coaches/story-e6frf9jf-1226101643318?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HeraldSunAfl+%28Herald+Sun+

[McRooster]

that is why i would put Goodwin ahead of them two currently as he is experiencing different minds and styles which is what The Crows r going to need eventually in a successor to the next coach when one comes home to roost :P

Ol' cockadoodle agrees  ;)

http://www.fanfooty.com.au/forum/index.php/topic,32552.msg471139.html#msg471139

I can feel a poll coming on about who should coach the Crows next season, with some added spice from Sportsbet  ;)

*I'm too tired, have been doing productivity reporting most of the night - anyone want to do a poll?