I agree with that Capt.
Yeti, no-one is saying Lyon isn't responsible for anything. My view is just that his responsibility isn't all-encompassing. Quantifying responsibility is a mug’s game, but roughly, in any given season, I reckon responsibility for wins and losses falls something like this:
Players: 50%
Head Coach: 20%
Assistant Coaches: 15%
Fitness Staff and Medical: 10%
Football Manager: 5%
What is harder to know is who has responsibility for, say, a five-year block. Obviously, the players still have a role, but the list and growth of the players is the responsibility of the coach and the Footy GM. So, putting the players to the side, but taking the view that recruiting, retaining and developing players is what leads to winning games of football, I’d put the responsibility somewhere like:
Head Coach: 25%
GM of Footy: 25%
List Manager: 15%
Head of Fitness: 10%
Assistant Coaches: 10%
CEO: 10%
Board: 10%
Now, where do those responsibilities roll up to? I’m not sure exactly, but ultimately it’s up to the CEO and the Board to appoint the right key pillars, with the Footy GM responsible for filling out the remaining key football people. The role of the coach is a bit less-defined in that sense, but they obviously have a role to play in that, even informally.
The way people talk on here is that Lyon is 100% responsible for everything bad that happens, and 0% responsible for anything good. I don’t share that view. It takes a lot of people to win or lose footy games.
My speculative view as a fan is that our assistant coaches are below league average and have been for a while, that we’ve had some issues with our injury management, we missed on a run of late first-round picks, and that Lyon’s tendency towards defence hurts our scoring. I don’t think Lyon is our biggest concern, but I wouldn’t say he’s been a net-positive over the last few years either.
Given the GM and List Manager have gone, I would say that Lyon and Weber would feel pretty nervous about their positions this season. I think we have the tools to be a pretty good team, and assuming we can keep some key players on the field and kick goals finals should be a realistic aim. Anything short of that and I reckon more heads will roll.
I also know that no matter what happens next season, no-one’s view of Lyon will change much.
