Excuses are
wearing thin for Nathan Buckley and his Collingwood side and surely his tenure as
Magpies coach will come to an end once the 2017 AFL season has concluded.
The Magpies
were defeated by Essendon by 37 points on Saturday afternoon and they were
languishing in 15th place at the end of the day with five wins and
10 losses. To make things worse, traditional rival Carlton could leap above
them with a victory against Melbourne today.
This is
Buckley’s sixth season as Collingwood coach and results have regressed since he
replaced Mick Malthouse in the role.
In Buckley’s
first season as coach in 2012, the Magpies reached the preliminary final, and then
they were eliminated by Port Adelaide in the first week of finals the following
season. Since then, Collingwood has finished 11th, 12th,
and 12th again on the ladder.
If it was
another coach, he would have been sacked by now for such regressive results but
‘Bucks’ has often been given the benefit of the doubt. Pies president Eddie
McGuire has been a staunch supporter of the under fire coach and has gave him ample
opportunities to build the team he wants.
Unfortunately
the list that was created by Malthouse has been painstakingly dismantled since
Buckley has taken over and players who starred when Collingwood won the 2010
AFL premiership have been traded to other clubs.
Dayne Beams,
Heath Shaw, and Sharrod Wellingham were traded to Brisbane, Greater Western
Sydney, and West Coast respectively and Dale Thomas was allowed to leave as a
restricted free agent.
In addition
to those players, the likes of Harry O’Brien (or Heritier Lumumba), Travis
Cloke and Chris Dawes were allowed to leave the Magpies. Although those
footballers thrived under Malthouse, their form had clearly declined once
Buckley became senior coach.
Although his
interviews in the media may not clearly suggest this, it seems that ‘Bucks’ is
keen to rid the team of any remnants of the Malthouse era and create his own
list as well as style of play and it has evidently backfired.
Recruiting
James Aish, Daniel Wells, Chris Mayne, Levi Greenwood, Travis Varcoe, and Jesse
White has been beneficial for neither Collingwood nor those players and there
are no clear signs of a positive turnaround.
Former
Sydney and Melbourne coach Paul Roos criticised
the Magpies for poor list management but surely ‘Bucks’ should also
shoulder the responsibility for the choices in playing personnel as well as the
way he coaches the players.
The results
have shown that this Collingwood side is not going forward and Buckley is in
the final year of his contract. Playing in the finals is out of reach for the
Magpies and there is no clear reason to keep him at the club beyond 2017.
If the
44-year-old miraculously earns another contract, it is only because McGuire is
a massive admirer of his and has continuously defended in him in the media.
Staff at
footy clubs can talk about building teams and long-term planning but elite
sport is about results and the Magpies are struggling to register wins. ‘Bucks’
and his team have no alibis now.
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