Mark Thompson quits as Geelong coach

[Murphy'sLore]

Very lame. It's embarrassing. I used to have some respect for Thompson, it's all gone now.

[Mofra]

What about the tantrum mid-year about Ablett being disloyal? At least Ablett was out of contract.

Hypocrite

Bingo. He knows the dynsaty is over and didn't want to be holding the reins when it crumbled. GSW targetting Bartel would have been playing on his mind as well.

[LostDoggy]

I'm not really that fussed about it all, but do feel for the Geelong supporters.

[Bulldog4life]

I'm not really that fussed about it all, but do feel for the Geelong supporters.

I don't.

[LostDoggy]

What happened to class? Thompson could have exited Geelong deservedly as a double premiership hero, been welcomed back to the Dons with open arms, had Sanderson installed as his legacy at Geelong, and been remembered fondly by all for the rest of his days.

Instead, all this stupidly transparent cloak-and-dagger crap has made everyone in this mess look like a goose, and diminished the dignity of the game and its participants, and no one, and I mean NO ONE (not even Essendon people) will really look at the bloke with any REAL respect ever again. A guy who can behave with so little class will just as readily stab you in the back as sign on your dotted line.

[Remi Moses]

What happened to class? Thompson could have exited Geelong deservedly as a double premiership hero, been welcomed back to the Dons with open arms, had Sanderson installed as his legacy at Geelong, and been remembered fondly by all for the rest of his days.

Instead, all this stupidly transparent cloak-and-dagger crap has made everyone in this mess look like a goose, and diminished the dignity of the game and its participants, and no one, and I mean NO ONE (not even Essendon people) will really look at the bloke with any REAL respect ever again. A guy who can behave with so little class will just as readily stab you in the back as sign on your dotted line.

Couldn't agree more the guy has sullied his reputation in one foul swoop.
The phone calls during the ACTUAL SEASON is very poor form from both Thompson and the Essendon Football Club ,just shows how obnoxious they are.They can have the Dream Team coaches box but with that crap midfield they're going nowhere!

[LostDoggy]

His ex wife may not think that he is very loyal

[mighty_west]

He's a hypocrite, so what, we live in a world full of em, neighbours, family members, friends etc etc.

[GVGjr]

I made mention during trade week that if I had any say in proceedings then I would never trade with Hawthorn or Essendon because they are notoriously bad to deal with.

Thompson, Essendon and even Hirds conduct during the Thompson 'burnt out' scenario is deplorable and has only enforced my view of them.

Lets start with Hird.
Around the same time as Thompson started some communications with Essendon Hird also started the destabilizing of Knights tenure at Essendon with his 'slip-up' comments on Fox's On The Couch. This resulted in a vastly increased media scrutiny and whilst the baby faced assassin kept denying he wanted the position or was capable of doing it in the short term, he masterfully kept adding fuel to the fire by not answering direct questions or giving unequivocal assurances that he would not coach the club. No sooner it would quieten down, Hird would somehow make another comment that brought it back into the spotlight again.

The club
All of a sudden Essendon had unprecedented Hogans Hero's style leaks from within that put more pressure on Knights. Powerless to stop them, or more likely unwilling to, the leaks kept coming again putting Knights under pressure.
Later on they clearly approached a contracted coach and worked out a plan of deception with Thompson to fool Frank Costa and co into letting him go.

Thompson
For a guy who preached loyalty and the value of being in a side that has the best chances of winning for the first half of the season with Ablett at the same time he stopped making comments in the media he was in communication with Essendon about a position.

I think both Thompson and Hird should have lost significant amount of credibility with the public and the Essendon club has just confirmed to the rest of the AFL that they should never be dealing with them.

I hope we kick their backsides in round one next year.

[The Coon Dog]

^^^^

Excellent post GVGjr.

Clearly the cashed up coteries at Essendon had stuck the knife into Matthew Knights' back early on. There was no way the 'Bombers Mafia' were going to to allow him to continue.

I bet Matthew Knights wishes he had the same level of funding & support Hird has.

[GVGjr]

Clearly the cashed up coteries at Essendon had stuck the knife into Matthew Knights' back early on. There was no way the 'Bombers Mafia' were going to to allow him to continue.

I bet Matthew Knights wishes he had the same level of funding & support Hird has.

If Thompson had been honest he would have approached the Cats and told them of his wish to leave and take a position at Essendon. Why would they want to keep him if he doesn't want to be there and his heart wasn't in it?
The Cats could have then negotiated some form of compensation for breaking the contract for Thompson. As it is they, Thompson and Essendon, just lied to everybody to get what the outcome they wanted and in the process probably damaged any of Knights AFL career ambitions.

They could have got the same outcome without the need to deceive so many people.

By the way, I'm also of the belief that Essendon knew that Andrew Lovetts issues were about to explode before they traded him to the Saints. More fool the Saints for not checking him thoroughly but its another reason that underlines why people should avoid trading with them.

[soupman]

This whole saga has just gone to show what a classless organisation the Essendon Football Club is.

And really Mark Thompson is the most dissapointing member of the debacle, simply for his ridiculous attempt to be the victim. Why did he feel making comments about being "burnt out" and thus needing a prolonged break from football was the right way to severe his ties with Geelong? Especially when he knew that he was (or was very likely) to be at Essendon a couple of month's later?

Why didn't he just announce that he wanted to go to Essendon? As GVGjr mentioned Geelong wouldn't want to keep someone who doesn't want to be there, and he could have presented a press conference like this:

-Has enjoyed his time at Geelong and feels he has accomplished much with the club, but thinks there isn't much more to achieve and feels both the club and he would benefit from a change
-As a result he will move to Essendon to undertake a new and exciting role. This role presents challenges and opportunities that aren't available at Geelong right now.
-Is delighted to be moving back to his former club, a club which he captained, won a premiership with and is passionate about.
-Looking forward to helping James Hird establish himself as an AFL coach and developing Essendons young, talented and exciting list.
-Regrets that he has to leave Geelong in order to do so, but re-iterates that it is a move centered around new opportunity, and wants to thank Geelong for the faith they took in him and for supporting him throughout his however many years in charge.

He leaves Geelong for understandable reasons (money won't be mentioned in the pc but is undoubtably a factor, it always is), joins his new club honourably and doesn't drag it out and turn it into a drama.

[LostDoggy]

I think Essendon really wanted Thompson to be head coach and Hird to be his 2IC. Thats why there is all this cloak and dagger stuff.

[Twodogs]

If Thompson had been honest he would have approached the Cats and told them of his wish to leave and take a position at Essendon. Why would they want to keep him if he doesn't want to be there and his heart wasn't in it?

His ego wouldnt have let him. The one thing that his behaviour has proved beyond doubt is that it's all about Mark Thompson.

[Desipura]

At the end of the day he has 2 premierships. If Eade left us under similar circumstances after winning a flag or 2, I would not be all that bitter with him.