Give us a break, Greg Miller (Herald-Sun)

[one-eyed]

Wednesday Debate with Cheryl Critchley
09 May 2007   Herald-Sun
Cheryl Critchley

GIVE us a break, Greg Miller, Cheryl Critchley writes.
 
I'm an ordinary Richmond member who watched all 120 minutes of Sunday's agony with my eight-year-old daughter.

Unlike so many others, I stayed to the bitter end. Jessica and I just sat there in disbelief.

At halftime, we went to check out the new Telstra Dome passout situation and guess what? It wasn't needed because almost everyone who was going out said they weren't coming back.

What do I say to my kids, Greg, when they witness such a demoralising debacle?

It is getting harder and harder to find excuses. And believe me, I've had to make plenty in the past.

I'm often lightheartedly accused of child abuse for taking my three kids to watch the Tigers.

Now I'm beginning to believe that's not so far off the mark.

All the fans want is a club that's doing its utmost to field its best team every week, and for the players to try their hearts out for the yellow and black.

On Sunday we got neither.

Why are we going for "youth" in Round 6? Aren't you meant to do that near the end of the season when all is lost?

How can we give up so early? Do you want people to turn up to games or not?

As for the players, what message has all this sent them? That they aren't good enough, that's what.

If this rot continues, fewer and fewer fans will make the effort to attend, and I don't blame them.

Darren Gaspar's shoddy departure not only angered many fans but left a hole in our backline bigger than Rex Hunt's mouth.

Why?

And where was Greg Tivendale?

Why drop so many senior players, leaving us completely exposed so early in the season?

Two and a half years into Terry Wallace's five-year coaching contract, we're going backwards.

Yes we have had bad luck with injuries. But that doesn't explain a complete freefall.

I love my club and will continue to attend games.

I just want the players and coaching staff to show that they also love Richmond and what it stands for -- not just their huge pay packets.

I'm sick of being told to be patient by football managers and coaches who come from other clubs and will eventually leave when they get sacked or move on.

Us fans are here for life.

Last time Richmond won the Grand Final I was 14 and in the cheer squad. I'm now 41 with three kids.

We've played in three finals series in the 27 years since 1980, and only one of those since my kids were born. The eldest is eight.

Sunday was enough to tip Tiger fans over the edge. They've been told to be patient for 25 years and they have.

They don't want patronising "heartfelt apologies" from paid employees.

I'm not a footy expert and don't pretend to know how to coach or run an AFL side. I know it's difficult.

But what I do know is that many Richmond fans have had enough of the spin.

Most fans don't want Terry Wallace sacked. That would solve nothing and cost a fortune. Fans just want respect.

You say, Greg, that we have a process in place for sustained success. Isn't that what you said when you arrived as football director back in October 2002?

We aren't demanding a Grand Final in the next two years.

All we want is our team to show some real passion and give us a reason to turn up each week.

Cheryl Critchley is a Herald Sun journalist and a one-eyed Tigers member.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21696979%255E19742,00.html

[Life goes on]

Great article

[letsgetiton!]

miller is a loser

he comes out and says he has selected a great group of young men. what a toss, as if he will come out and admit he totally screwed up!

miller should quit asap, and that press conference was full of lies and spin and how dare sugar say we are not a soft team!!!!! what a joke, sugar walk away too!

[Moi]

Stick to the social columns, Cheryl
You have no comprehension about football, except for inheriting the usual whining and moaning traits of so many tiger supporters 

[letsgetiton!]

i have just had enough of teh bs that comes out of our club, i wont tolerate it anymore, yr in yr out we hear teh same crap lies and spin

[Tigermonk]

l dont bother reading any Richmond news in the newspapers cause its mostly rubbish l just flick past Tiger headlines these days its something l opted to do at the start of season
Unless its a good picture like McGuane's great mark its not worth stopping at the page

[thetigerman]

Stick to the social columns, Cheryl
You have no comprehension about football, except for inheriting the usual whining and moaning traits of so many tiger supporters 

  Well written article that sums up what us REAL Richmond supporters think, unlike you who seem to believe our snake oil salesman coach.
   We don't need supporters like you.

[letsgetiton!]

i too believe it was a great article

but moi

is entitled to her opinion, even though her opinion may suck at times 

just stirring moi,

we all think different are are entitled to that, imagine how boring the world would be if we all thought alike

[Moi]

Cheryl is a good tiger supporter, I've seen her around the club for a long time.
BUT I would prefer she look at the problems the club is experiencing, weigh up who is wrong if she must or not, but not just go crying just because she had a bad night.  We all had a bad night.  We're all suffering big time this week, but can't she look beyond the emotion of it, otherwise it just sounds like another whining supporter.
Yes, she is entitled to her opinion and so am I, and this week I'm sick of the incessant moaning.  Adding to it when we should be trying to calm down a bit and giving the club a break would be nice.  And that's not letting them off the hook.  Let them prepare for this week's game - the well-justified criticism though has been done to death IMO.

[letsgetiton!]

i woudl have been happier this week if we had no press conference and either joel, richo or sugar coem out and publicly blast the players like chapman did teh week b4  about geelong, bagged his team, his culture everything about teh joint


then the team closed doen ranks, trained ghard and came out and thumped the bejesus out of us, no press conferences, no circus , just action

richmond are a soap opera. and no one has the balls to come out and really tell us what is going on and what they think

[Harry]

LMAO at this article.

So in effect this article is saying that us Tiger supporters are OK with honorable losses just as long as we are "competitive".  Like the past 5 weeks?  So us tiger supporters want the likes of Gaspar and Tivendale out there so it seems that we are competitive?  What a load of crap.  We haven't been competitive all year and despite what alot of people say we were NO CHANCE of winning any of those games. 

I'd rather we completely clean the list out of these underachievers and play kids at the expense of being "competitive".  I'd rather get belted than seeing honorable losses because this way we will do something about it rather than merely tread water.  Bring on the beltings and take your medicine tiger supporters becasue if you want to just be competitive now then we'll be waiting another 25 years.

[Gordon Bennett]

Thanks, Cheryl.

Basically, that article doesn't help the situation at all. Perhaps she got asked by her editor to write it. Either way, her self-indulgence only adds to the problem.

I have no respect for you Cheryl, and you have shown disloyalty, not loyalty. Or, to put it more crudely, shut your moaning trap!

[Hellenic Tiger]

Greg Miller is wearing to many hats at the Richmond Football Club.
The club needs to appoint people in each of the areas that Marshmallow
is working in and either ease his workload so that he can effectively do what he was recruited to do in the first place. Or pee the cancer off in GMiller and start afresh.
Enough is enough he was on Footy Classified a few weeks back claiming that they had appointed a Premiership Off Field team. Perhaps there are some people there who do have excellent credentials but there may be a few who are just well out of their depth.

[Life goes on]

Unfortunately the article is spot on.
People dont like to hear thr truth and thats whats she written.
Why doesnt Terry say at one of his press conferences that he is accountable, I have not heard him say that once.
Hate to tell you this, you are accountable.
This decision from day 1 to make Kane Johnson captain was laughable and its was he who commissioned an ""outside company"" in to measure the leadership qualities in the player group and its was Terry who amde to the decison for Kane to be captain. He is comortable with that decision. HE is the only person in Victoria that is happy with that decision, Kane Johnson is a diagracefull captain.
 Felt sorry for Jake King when Scott West was punching into him and Kane ran past and looked the other way.
Richardson should of been captain and thats it, why ? He is leader and plays with PASSION.
Terry biggest problem irrevelant of game plans, is that he CANNOT install passion in this group of players.  You want to go and have a look at a club that plays with passion and has a crak, go and have a look at the Kangaroos.
Even there first year players and younger players have embraced THEIR club and play with PASSION.   There lies  the problem at Punt Road, its gotnothing to do with SPUD or whoever anyone esle  he wants to blame. Terry was employed by the club to do this, we are going backwards on what I seen yesterday at the press conference.

[letsgetiton!]

spot on jackstar, and why dosnt terru instill passion , because he still loves the bulldogs.

he instilled passion at teyh doggies, my word he did, had them playing really hard and passionate.

now look at him.

remember iirc, gardiners 1st game, terry had all the doggies rough him up and scare tyhe poo out of him.   

terry is only there for the money and thats it, as soon as his 5 ys is up, he goes back to his media roles