Lions on hunt for new coach after dumping Michael VossBy staff writers
6:23pm AEST Tuesday, August 13, 2013
MICHAEL Voss' tenure at the Brisbane Lions has come to a sudden end after the club decided not to renew the senior coach's contract for 2014.
AFL.com.au understands the Lions board came to the decision this morning, at which point it was decided to tell Voss immediately.
Players and staff were called to an unscheduled meeting at the club at 3.30pm, where they were told of the news.
"I don't know how I feel to be honest," Voss told Channel Seven on Tuesday evening.
"Tomorrow I'll wake up and I don't go to work, and that's all I know.
"The club's dear to me, but what I get a kick out of is I've gone every day and there's been something to improve in our players.
"I think that's what I'll miss the most.
"I'm not angry, I'm not sad. There's a little bit of disappointment there, but more because we've put five years of work into this."
Voss took to Twitter to thank fans for their support, while his Lions premiership teammate Craig McRae was among those to offer their sympathy.
Voss was out of contract at the end of this season but there was been speculation the Lions were poised to offer him a new deal.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, The Age reported Voss' sacking and linked Sydney Swans premiership coach Paul Roos to the job, saying he had been unofficially approached a month ago.
The Lions have won eight games this season and are 13th on the ladder.
Voss held a press conference earlier on Tuesday, where he declared the Lions would jump at the chance to play finals if the opportunity arose as a result of possible penalties handed to Essendon over the Bombers' controversial supplements program.
Voss, who never served as an assistant coach at an AFL club, took over from Leigh Matthews at the Lions the end of the 2008 season.
He took the club to the finals in his first season but after an aggressive 2009 trade period that backfired, the Lions have not played in September since.
Their best finish since 2009 has been 13th. Voss has a 40 per cent winning record as coach.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-08-13/lions-dump-voss
