The players seem to have lost all confidence in the coaching staff IMO...

What makes you think that? A few of them have explicitly stood up for Marty when they need not have. At the very least, Creek and Cadee are very, very much behind him.

Cadee:

Alot of talk from people who have nothing to do with our team! We all have Marty's back and that's that! #tryit #36ers #together

And replying to AndTheFoul's

Personally as a junior coach, i like Clarke. I think he's a solid coach at that level. At the pro level, not so sure.

with:

@Andthefoulnet don't assume things

Both Creek and Cadee have made their position know backing Clarke and 36ers over Massingale's public comments too.

Think what you will about Clarke, but I respect two guys showing solidarity or support for a club in an adopted city. I wish we heard that from more of the players.

Personally, I wouldn't want to see Smyth back - never thought he was a good coach.

Credit to guys supporting a coach - particularly in Mitch's case when said coach barely ever plays him.

I still live in a dream world where they hand Al Green the reigns for the remainder of the season. Maybe KB as an assistant.

Who knows? We might even finish up with a coach that hangs on to SA talent like Ingles and Newley or develops young local guys like Magden, Ng etc.

In all honestly what are the current 6ers going to say other than offer their support for Marty? Would we really expect Creek to come out & say 'Marty's rotations are absoloute rubbish & he plays Weigh far too much'! All 6ers would be clued up by Leanne to tow the company line & at this stage endorse & support Marty (at least publicly). When CJ was cut by the 6ers he spoke about his poor treatment & complicated ofensive plays run by Marty that rarely get anyone an open shot!

The question is not whether the players like him but whether he is a good coach.

That's a different (and fair) question. I was responding to a line about him having lost the players.

No, you shouldn't have coaching decisions be completely player-led, but it's a factor. Adelaide, for the first time in a fair while, has put together a good roster. Would suck to lose key players.

I'd like to see the players try to mould Clarke a little more. Not always easy, but surely you can put some ideas in his head, encourage him to adjust a system to suit players rather than try to force players into a system.

It was not so long ago that I was hearing similar comments made by senior and junior players in support of the coach. Many fan's and media however had lost faith (sound familiar).

Twelve months later and same players are encouraging fans to keep their faith in the club during a challenging time off field yet the coach is no longer with the organisation. Meanwhile the new coach is experiencing a love with players, fans and the media not seen since the "Messiah" and he wasn't even confirmed as coach when the decision to sack the previous coach was made.

Of course NZ Breakers stuck by their man and look how that turned out. I think this situation is the road less travelled nevertheless success came eventually.

No easy decisions for Management but respect needs to be shown to all parties if there is to be a positive outcome should the club and individuals part ways.

"Personally, I wouldn't want to see Smyth back - never thought he was a good coach." - You're welcome to your opinion but I thinke he has the runs on the board (Not saying he should be made coach again).

It is good of the players to publicly support Marty, so they should he is there boss

Isaac I like your idea of the playing group initiating change but I can't see it happening. Marty knows he has the rest of the season to perform and I can't see him doing anything different. He will either coach them to a good showing in the finals or be gone next year.

He had them at the AIS , so they're used to him and they like him , that's only natural .
There were 2 leaving and we hadda cough up a bit more
It's a complex system . CJ Simpson Howard Hill couldn't pick it up quickly .
A good coach doesn't like a player who doesn't do anything he says , or a player who does everything he says.

Can we just get rid of this thinly (VERY thinly) veiled facade and just title this thread Sack Marty Now Thread #826?

Isaac surely you have watched enough professional sport to see how the players respond when under the pump with bad turnovers, lack of defence, no structure on offence, lack of confidence.

You can excuse the odd lapse but after 2 and a half seasons you have to ask the question. Surely the playing group would be questioning hte 3 year plan??

Jake that has been the pattern of play largely since Maher retired.

I personally don't know what Radford is like but to me it seems that Clarke needs a game time coach to be sitting next to him. I would like to see them go and get a coach with experience like a Trevor Gleeson/Joey Wright/Adrian Hurley/Brendan Joyce type who has a good record to sit on the bench and give him a little guidance during the game.
It worked for the GC in the AFL when they put Malcolm Blight in the box. Yes it's another expense, but with this side it could seriously get us a Championship.

Panther 32 ^^^ - I wouldnt be supportive of your above plan. It's pretty clear that Marty runs his own agenda in games. We could position Phil Jackson next to him during games & I doubt that he would listen to him!

Surely the playing group would be questioning hte 3 year plan??

Not many of them have been around for the three years. The "plan" is also largely irrelevant to the issues you raised (which are in-game things).

So, are they questioning the ability of Marty as a coach? Maybe some are privately - haven't heard anything along those lines from an unbiased source. But there have been comments from two players I've mentioned before who are big Marty fans. They don't appear to be questioning him at all, whether they should be or not.

As for coaches and plans, I wonder how many have had luck building for the future? Succession goals haven't worked for everyone. Perth, yes. They've brought through Wagstaff so they aren't as reliant on Redhage, and have a young core. Hire has come up as a guy who can hold his own as a benchie. NZ too - Pledger went from DP to starter, gradually winning his spot from an import. Webster gets minutes. Abercrombie went from ignored at college to a (when at his best) top-tier player.

Sydney? Madgen, yes. Not really anyone else. Got Crosswhite returning to NSW. Harvey because he was dumped by the Blaze.

Melbourne? Dunno. They've brought up Walker and Lewis, whatever you think of them, but the rest are mostly mercenaries, and the team isn't too successful.

Townsville, reliance on the Cedars hasn't really worked.

Cairns, not really, but they have the start of something good now with Steindl and Gliddon, many would agree. Getting Loughton was good, on paper. Only just picked up Tragardh. And Hill was let go by Adelaide. Seemed to rely a lot last year on a good coach and picking up a decent PG import.

Wollongong? Still relying on the starters. Grabbed Martin and Davidson which proved smart. Forman was released early by NZ. Jackson's more confident this season, but his numbers are a bit weak. They can play, but I don't think Demos and Coenraad would have Hawks fans brilliantly optimistic for life after Soup and Sav. I don't think any of their dev players have an NBL future.

The results aren't there and I think fans have a lot of reasonable criticisms of Marty, but building for the future hasn't been awful compared to other teams. Johnson has gone from a bench player to one of the league's better scorers. We got Creek (underplaying him is a separate issue). Lured Cadee. Depsite all the forum hate, I think Weigh is a good, reliable player that we can put scoring pieces around.

What's been rubbish along the way is wasting imports and then screwing up the game coaching.