Thomas voices Saints’ culture concernsMatt Thompson
afl.com.au
November 1, 2013 2:44 PMFORMER St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has questioned the culture of the club following the sacking of Scott Watters.
Watters, who'd been at the helm for two seasons, was dismissed on Friday morning.
Thomas said St Kilda had developed a tendency to "push success away," while admitting he's was unsure of the reasons for the decision to remove Watters.
"It's a cultural thing, and people hate that word, but I'm telling you I've had a long association with the St Kilda footy club that dates back to 1974," Thomas told AFL.com.au.
"I think I understand the place as well as anyone and we make these decisions on a monotonously regular basis and we become the laughing stock."
"We've either made poor decisions in terminations or poor decisions in appointments," Thomas said.
"All I will say is that St Kilda tends to make more of these decisions than most other elite AFL clubs."
While Thomas is not currently involved in AFL, the controversial ex- coach close maintains close connections to key people at St Kilda.
Watters departure follows the recent resignation of chief executive Michael Nettlefold and assistant coach Dean Laidley's exit on Thursday.
Thomas said the inability of the club to retain key players in recent years also concerned him.
"Significant players from Luke Ball, Brendon Goddard, Matt Maguire, McEvoy, DalSanto, these sort of guys, who'd all still be playing in the team, are no longer playing in the team," Thomas said.
"Those decisions concern me, but they only concern me because… I have a different view on how a successful, professional, respected AFL club is run," he said.
"It doesn't mean I'm right; I could be completely wrong."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-11-01/thomas-voices-saints-culture-concerns
