New Coach Must Make Some Changes

Apparently, the word on the street is the Saints will be hiring Alan Richardson as next head coach.

I don't know enough about him to form a strong opinion on the matter, but I do have a few thoughts on what he needs to do.

First, establish trust.  Trust, which goes hand-in-hand with loyalty, has been all but depleted at the club.  The club leadership, the players, and the fans need to be able to trust the coach.  I don't know whether the players trusted Watters, but the Board certainly didn't.  And fans were getting to the point of incredulity too.  Everyone knows now that the schisms in the club were deep, and the new coach will need to repair them immediately.  Personally, I am disappointed Richardson lied to his own club and publicly about considering the StK position, especially when a move from assistant to head honcho is met with near-universal plaudits, even from the club one is leaving.  But he did hide it, so let's hope that's just part of the business (doesn't make it right, though).

Second, the new coach needs to have and communicate a clear vision.  For most of the season, it was difficult for us to understand what Watters was trying to accomplish.  The list changed every week, young players were used in situations they could not handle, and Watters did little to re-assure us he had a clear idea of where he was heading.  The new coach needs to bring a strong plan for success, and make sure we can all get on board with it.

Finally, the new coach has to win.  Sorry if that sounds like a lame, simpleton's comment, but it's the truth.  Like silliness from beautiful women, the faults of winning coaches are largely overlooked.  If the Saints are no better in three years, I promise you we'll be having this same discussion.  If they make the finals and have strong showings against most opponents, there won't be much to debate.  I've said before that I don't envy Collingwood and Essendon because I think their culture is so toxic, but one can't deny their success.  So a lot of things go unnoticed that might be concerns at less-successful clubs.

Nothing with Richardson is official yet, but regardless who takes over next, these things will be crucial to having a rewarding tenure at StK.