McCartney in the rear vision mirror

[1eyedog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

McCartney's was always going to be a thankless task. He inherited a train wreck of a list that had been hopelessly mis-managed and that was playing a badly outdated brand of football. We also had barely recruited a decent player in 5 years for him to rebuild the team with. There was also issues with the few senior players we had and their willingness to play selfless football.

He stripped back the game plan to it's bare bones to try to instil the basics of how a good team should perform. He did that part well and Beveridge has acknowledged it's put him in a much better situation than he expected. He also got heavily involved in the recruitment side of things. Not only did he set the direction in the type of players he wanted to pick, but he also watched a lot of TAC games and went out to personally interview a large number of the kids we were considering. This had immediate results in our drafting outcomes.

Where McCartney failed was he was either incapable or took too long to expand his game plan to include better ball movement, spread from the contest, forward structure, and reducing the exposure one on one of our defenders. This meant wins were few, players were frustrated, and fans hated watching us play. The decision to move forward in a new direction was the right one, but we're well placed in many ways thanks to his development years.

Great summary and it's why I had a ton of respect for him. He was prepared to do the hard things for the benefit of the club and ultimately to the detriment of his own position. It was also why I backed him in following Griffon's departure.

Great thread topic btw.

[F'scary]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

McCartney prevented us from hitting rock bottom during his 3 seasons, he kept us just out of the terminal zone when we could have easily slid further. He did some good building for the future. But I think it was a mistake to extend his contract two more years at the end of his second. His job was done at the end of his third year.

[Bornadog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

We get it you didn't rate him, right from day 1.

You are not wrong about that.

History will show the win/loss ratio as one of our worst.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Just for the comparison.

Macca's reign saw Bonts, Stringer, Macrae - He threw $2.2 million after a second string defender (who said no), plus topping up on Young, Lower etc - before being sacked. Top liners walked out on the club (ie Griffffun). Winning record 30%.

Cheap As Chips saw Cooney, Griffen, Ray - He pissed away $3+ million and picks on players (who said yes) and topping up on Morgan etc - before being sacked. Top liners walked out on the club (ie Nathan Brown). Winning record 20%.

Is it really that long a stretch?

The only difference is the club sacked CaC upon our stars being unhappy, and kept West and Gilbee as a direct result. The club waited with Macca this time and they exited.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

In fairness, because of our list we needed to throw money somewhere so we could meet the cap, and adding a key defender was a sound strategy. How it worked out looks like a great outcome, but there was some method to the apparent madness at the time.

I can't recall what Morgan cost us, but for a very brief moment in Rocket's early years he proved he could be a solid role player for us, before going down with a serious injury and never quite recovering. Young and Lower have been done to death, but both were cheap and I think it's fair to say made contributions to the AFL and VFL side in their short time with us.

[LostDoggy]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Did I say no say? Read again. You conveniently forget Cooney and Griffen, who are early picks.



I gave him some credit, read again. If we are going to say Macca picked those guys well we may as well get rid of the recruiting department and get the coach to pick them.



The same recruiting team didn't have pick 5 or 6 in those years. Have a look at the top 6 in 2009 and 2010.



You are the only one on this board that doesn't rate Grant and you never rated Williams. Walsh yes was a dud.

Again you pick years that suit your argument.

As I said, I am sure Macca had a say in the selection of players, but give me a break he surely is not the one that picks the players.

I don't rate Grant. Sure he does some exciting things. See the chase by Zac Dawson on the weekend?

Thanks for sharing.

Based on this we've got negligent people running our football club. If the writing was on the wall from a playing group perspective, to the extent where it was common knowledge within the football community that we had coach and player issues, it's surprising McCartney was given a contract extension at the time.

We were smack-bang in the middle of a rebuild, draft picks to expansion teams, membership stagnating and there was either little talent available to replace him, or at the very least they didn't want to come to the WO, and the players were starting to get testy. The club had little choice but to stick with McCartney and try to sell unity via a contract extension.

You are not wrong about that.

History will show the win/loss ratio as one of our worst.

Win/loss ratios don't win you premierships. Hawthorn nearly FOLDED before getting their crap together.

[ratsmac]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Macca was the recession we had to have!

Macca inherited a list in tatters. An aging list with very few decent kids coming through. 3 years on we the 2nd or 3rd youngest and the most promising lists in the comp. The time he was here he instilled a hard edge centred around contested football.

Yeah there was a exodus of some of our senior players at the end of last season but we did alright with what we received in return. It didn't end very nicely for him but how often does a coaches tenure end with smiles all around.

Love him or hate him he was good for the Western Bulldogs.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Best part of Macca’s time was our draft record – still some water to go under the bridge but early days and it looks to be something quite outstanding.

I was always a fan too, but you can’t go past the crisis that eventually hit.

Reading between the lines he felt the pressure of losing more games than winning, and as a result started to lash out at the players. And in doing so, completely lost them.

The old spiral affect.

Anyway I thank him for what he did, but must admit that under Bevo this is the most excited I’ve been about footy since about 2007. Good times ahead!

On an aside, saw footage of Macca at Melbourne training last week. He had a full blown beard and looked to have shed 10+ kilos. Really slimmed down, maybe he’s rebuilt himself after the debacle that happen at Dogsville. Maybe…

Some good points there. It's still quite early in Luke's tenure to judge him.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

One positive thing I admired Maca for was sending Grant away from the group for four weeks. Second efforts and intent were not great - ridiculous to have a player with that much talent in the VFL. After that, he came back a better player and I remember his goal celebrations on his return - had found something in the wilderness.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

I can't believe we are back here after winning. Screw me dead what happens if/when we lose. No offence to anyone there's free expression on woof, but it's killing my buzz, so I might go back to threads about the future and the Tiges this week. Carry on.

[SonofScray]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Great summary and it's why I had a ton of respect for him. He was prepared to do the hard things for the benefit of the club and ultimately to the detriment of his own position. It was also why I backed him in following Griffon's departure.

Great thread topic btw.

I hold a similar view.
Macca pushed hard for the VFL side, which has been a success for the Club and we will continue to reap rewards. I think he set a particularly high standard for behaviour and expectations around team first stuff, which proved to be a challenge for some of our best. Recruited well, helped the Club start reconnecting with its identity as a hard nosed lot.

I know he valued his time with the Club a great deal and was heavily invested in getting a result for the fans. A shame things panned out the way they did. I feel a bit better work from Garlick and more honesty from Griffen and it might have. But what happened, happened and I think the lessons have been learned albeit the hard way.

In all, he laid a solid foundation.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

I can't believe we are back here after winning. Screw me dead what happens if/when we lose. No offence to anyone there's free expression on woof, but it's killing my buzz, so I might go back to threads about the future and the Tiges this week. Carry on.

I'm not sure I agree. This thread was started with respect in mind for Brendan and to remember the things he did for the club before his influence wanes. Unfortunately, the way you end is how people often remember you, but that's a bit simplistic.

I guess I can think of a lot of second or third-tier players who got derided fairly regularly, but many posters often change the way I see them. That's the beauty of being able to post in a forum for rusted-on supporters. You can get a more complex view of the workings.

At the end of the day, he sat in the chair for The Western Bulldogs and that's worthy of respect.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Nup.... Last one. One man was behind Footscray coming back. One man took a job at the club wanting to bring Footscray back. One man was always bringing Footscray back no matter what anyone else wanted. One man put a million dollars into getting Footscray back. In my eyes no one gets credit for Footscray VFL except that one man, everyone wanted us back and into the VFL from coach to supporter. That one man is not any former coach, and for any credits this is not one.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

Great summary and it's why I had a ton of respect for him. He was prepared to do the hard things for the benefit of the club and ultimately to the detriment of his own position. It was also why I backed him in following Griffon's departure.

Great thread topic btw.

LOL - open season on spelling of post-Bulldog's players.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McCartney in the rear vision mirror

I'm not sure I agree. This thread was started with respect in mind for Brendan and to remember the things he did for the club. If we want to look closely, there are many. Unfortunately, the way you end is how people often remember you.

I guess I can think of a lot of players who got derided fairly regularly, but they all added something to the mix and stood tall in moments that will otherwise be lost. That's the beauty of being able to post in a forum for rusted on supporters. You can get a more complex view of the workings.

At the end of the day, he sat in the chair for The Western Bulldogs and that's worthy of respect.

I mean no offence. I've been dreaming of a sexy game planned Bulldogs win for a long while now and this is for me as an individual is bringing down my own buzz. No disrespect at all, and I'm sure many enjoy the thread as is their absolute right. IVe been re watching and re watching the game and just want to stick with the feeling. Just me in my head, so I will focus on this week.