Don't Blame It On The Coach | Thebigtip

Coaching in the AFL, and in different football codes all over the world, has to be one of the most thankless jobs sport has to offer.

In most cases, the coach is the first person targeted in a big loss, whereas on the other side of the coin, a close win is often sold as the result of the playing group holding their nerve and performing in a tough situation.

With all the negatives that come with coaching, it makes you wonder why anybody would want to take on that responsibility.

Coaching can be a relentless job in that if something that is line ball doesn't go your way, it can make our break you. A great example of this is Rodney Eade being asked to move aside.

The Western Bulldogs have put a lot of emphasis on having the right man at the helm, but ultimately, it was the unfortunate lack of key players that led to Eade's sacking. With key players in Adam Cooney and Brian Lake continuously crippled by injury and Barry Hall tiring (though you could hardly tell), Eade's job was made considerably more difficult. When you factor in the loss of some key players, most notably defenders, over the past pre-season, the Bulldogs are a significantly weaker team than the side that made it to three consecutive preliminary finals. As a result, it was decided by the Bulldogs' board that Eade was stearing the team in the wrong direction.

Similar to Eade was the sacking of Dean Bailey from Melbourne. The Demons are a side that have improved out of sight in Bailey's time as coach, yet he was shown the door on the back of a 186-point demolishing at the hands of Geelong. The most baffling thing was that the Demons were still in contension to play finals footy at the time.

It's quite intriguing how the performance of the players can come back and become a direct reflection of the coaching. The harsh reality is that a team, even with the most solid of game plans, will struggle to win premierships without the right personnel. They may come mighty close, but if the skill isn't there, a positive result is unlikely.

Far too many knee-jerk critics pin the blame on the head coach as soon as something doesn't go the team's way, when at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the 22 players selected to do their duty and collect four points.

If a loss is a result of poor tactic choices, criticism is more than fair. But for the most part, it's time for footy fans to step back and see the bigger picture.