Thomas axed by Saints
September 12, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Herald-Sun
GRANT Thomas has been sacked as coach of St Kilda.
Thomas, who took the reins at Moorabbin from Malcolm Blight in 2001, was axed only four days after the Saints were eliminated from the finals race by Melbourne.
A board meeting today decided to give Thomas his marching orders, with a falling out with close mate and club president Rod Butterss at the heart of the decision.
In an awkward press conference at Moorabbin this afternoon, the pair sat side by side before a huge media throng.
Butterss said the club had accepted Thomas' resignation.
But Thomas saw it differently, citing the move as a "mutual agreement".
"I don't have to agree with it but I'm going to have to live with it," he said.
"I'm very disappointed, obviously, because you don't put your heart and soul into something and not be disappointed.
"Next to my family, St Kilda is the most important thing to me.
"I still think I can coach this club very, very well (but) changes happen.
"We need to move on."
Thomas is the club's second-longest serving coach behind Allan Jeans.
In six years under Thomas, the Saints finished have 15th, 15th, 11th, 3rd, 3rd and 6th.
He guided the long-suffering club to preliminary finals in 2004 and 2005.
The rumour mill hit full gear in the wake of the announcement, with media identity Garry Lyon and former Brisbane Lions assistant Daryn Creswell said to be possible replacements.
Cresswell quit the Lions last week after two seasons as an assistant to Leigh Matthews, citing a desire to move to Victoria to explore greater opportunities.
Assistant coaches John Longmire (Sydney), Mark Harvey (Fremantle) and current Saints deputy Matt Rendell are the other candidates to take over.
St Kilda fans remain split by the decision.
One school of thought had Thomas as a good player manager who was unlucky with injuries and didn't deserve to be sacked.
The other is that injuries were no excuse, with the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide still alive in the premiership race despite the unavailability of key players.
He had shown in recent years he was prepared to take risks with players whose fitness has been questionable.
Captain Luke Ball and star forward Aaron Hamill both took to the field under injury clouds this year.
There was also question marks over Thomas' strategic ability under pressure on match day.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20398742-661,00.html
