I reckon most here are having a good case of looking at history through their rose coloured glasses. Freo were not in the best shape when the Steve's rocked up. While I disagree with some of their decisions (the jumper, the song), they have kicked goals in most other areas.
I think some have this romantic notion that football is about a bunch of players that rock up every week to play. You can bemoan this all you want, but for that to happen there needs to be a team behind the team. This includes those that are directly involved in the football (playing list), those that are directly involved with the team (doctors, physios, coaches etc), a team in football admin (contracts, player payments, recruiting) and someone that actually finds the money for all this to happen (e.g. marketing, sponsorship).
If you look back in history, the only teams that have been successful are those that get the whole equation right. E.g. the bulldogs, saints and other similar clubs have had about as much success as us over the years.
This has been a crap year, no doubt. But the club as a whole is in a much better position now than 5 years ago. And I must admit reluctantly, the Steve's need their share of credit for this.
