Lessons for Calderwood from Australia?

[brisbanehibs]

All

I've been watching the demise of our team with increasing despair over the last few months, the only plus being that I'm in Brisbane and only have to pay a Setanta subscription each month to watch us lose, as opposed to an entrance fee.

I think there's a lesson for Calderwood from what our local team, the Brisbane Roar (http://www.brisbaneroar.com.au) have been through in the last 12 months. The Roar play in the A-League (http://www.a-league.com.au) which is the relatively new professional league here in Australia. The quality of the league is fairly poor (Grant Brebner gets a game for Melbourne Victory after all) but then again so's the SPL and crowds here average between 10-15,000 so there's some similarities with Hibs.

Last year Brisbane Roar got a new manager, who came in with a fairly debatable track record in management and replaced a very popular manager who had just been sacked for drunk driving. The new guy came in when the club were near the bottom of the league, playing very poorly and about midway through the season. Same as Calderwood in many respects.

Within weeks he sacked a number of players, notably ex Huns Craig Moore, Charlie Miller and Bob Malcolm. Remember them? Clearly our new manager was an excellent judge of character! He did so, he said, because he detected on his arrival that the culture of the club was all wrong, there was a drinking culture, too many egos and not enough winners. When you saw Moore and Malcolm play this was blindingly obvious. Sound familiar yet? By the end of the season he had replaced almost the entire first team, the club was still playing TERRIBLE football and was near the bottom of the league. Crowds went down to record low levels and everyone was shouting for the new guy to be sacked. The manager said the pain was needed and essentially he argued that he needed to write off the remainder of the season to sort out the club and its culture.

Now we're well into the new season, Brisbane are top of the league, about to qualify for the Asian Champions League and playing football that the commentators are saying is the best ever seen in Australia. They would hammer us I suspect, which is worrying given the relatively low quality over here in Oz. They are doing it with no stars, no recognisable names and just a complete back to basics approach of high skill levels, great passing ability and an excellent attitude. They are fantsatic to watch. So lack of cash wasn't an excuse, finding players with the right attitude and good skill levels needn't cost the earth.

Strikes me that this is precisely what Hibs need now? Calderwood should be given the chance to write of the rest of the season, demolish the squad that Hughes built and start again. It may not work but there just seems so many parallels with Brisbane last year that its worth a go? Just needs someone with an eye for a player, a sensible budget and, most important of all, a ruthless streak. I think Calderwood's chance of success depends on him demonstrating he's got the guts to do this.

It wouldn't be popular but from looking at the forum it strikes me most of us have already written off the season anyway so it wouldn't be too controversial.

Here's hoping.

GGTTH

BrisbaneHibs

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Could it just be a case of CC finishing what JH started?
Yogi said what he was trying to do but that doesn't happen overnight

[Heckys Wheel]

It's not such a bold move in a league with no relegation where the biggest consequence is being handed the Wooden Spoon at the end of the season.

In an ideal world, every manager that talks a good game is given time to develop his own squad.

In reality, the financial loss from being relegated could put most teams in serious danger of folding.

[Iain G]

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All

I've been watching the demise of our team with increasing despair over the last few months, the only plus being that I'm in Brisbane and only have to pay a Setanta subscription each month to watch us lose, as opposed to an entrance fee.

I think there's a lesson for Calderwood from what our local team, the Brisbane Roar (http://www.brisbaneroar.com.au) have been through in the last 12 months. The Roar play in the A-League (http://www.a-league.com.au) which is the relatively new professional league here in Australia. The quality of the league is fairly poor (Grant Brebner gets a game for Melbourne Victory after all) but then again so's the SPL and crowds here average between 10-15,000 so there's some similarities with Hibs.

Last year Brisbane Roar got a new manager, who came in with a fairly debatable track record in management and replaced a very popular manager who had just been sacked for drunk driving. The new guy came in when the club were near the bottom of the league, playing very poorly and about midway through the season. Same as Calderwood in many respects.

Within weeks he sacked a number of players, notably ex Huns Craig Moore, Charlie Miller and Bob Malcolm. Remember them? Clearly our new manager was an excellent judge of character! He did so, he said, because he detected on his arrival that the culture of the club was all wrong, there was a drinking culture, too many egos and not enough winners. When you saw Moore and Malcolm play this was blindingly obvious. Sound familiar yet? By the end of the season he had replaced almost the entire first team, the club was still playing TERRIBLE football and was near the bottom of the league. Crowds went down to record low levels and everyone was shouting for the new guy to be sacked. The manager said the pain was needed and essentially he argued that he needed to write off the remainder of the season to sort out the club and its culture.

Now we're well into the new season, Brisbane are top of the league, about to qualify for the Asian Champions League and playing football that the commentators are saying is the best ever seen in Australia. They would hammer us I suspect, which is worrying given the relatively low quality over here in Oz. They are doing it with no stars, no recognisable names and just a complete back to basics approach of high skill levels, great passing ability and an excellent attitude. They are fantsatic to watch. So lack of cash wasn't an excuse, finding players with the right attitude and good skill levels needn't cost the earth.

Strikes me that this is precisely what Hibs need now? Calderwood should be given the chance to write of the rest of the season, demolish the squad that Hughes built and start again. It may not work but there just seems so many parallels with Brisbane last year that its worth a go? Just needs someone with an eye for a player, a sensible budget and, most important of all, a ruthless streak. I think Calderwood's chance of success depends on him demonstrating he's got the guts to do this.

It wouldn't be popular but from looking at the forum it strikes me most of us have already written off the season anyway so it wouldn't be too controversial.

Here's hoping.

GGTTH

BrisbaneHibs

You can keep your Roar, I'll stick with the 'nix thank you very much