No new Crows coach waiting in the wings, says board member and club legend Mark Ricciuto

MARK Ricciuto is adamant Adelaide does not have a replacement for sacked coach Brenton Sanderson waiting in the wings after its extraordinary decision to axe him. VOTE NOW

Mark Ricciuto

MARK Ricciuto is adamant Adelaide does not have a replacement for sacked coach Brenton Sanderson waiting in the wings after its extraordinary decision to axe him with two years to run on his contract.

But Ricciuto — the club’s greatest ever player who joined the board in July — says his board made the right decision to sack Sanderson after missing the finals in consecutive seasons.

Speaking this morning on Triple M’s The Hot Breakfast which he co-hosts, the retired 312-game star and Brownlow Medallist said “things were heading in the wrong direction” under Sanderson and could not be salvaged with him in charge.

He denied rumours that close friend and former teammate Simon Goodwin was in line for the top job and that superstar midfielder and free agent Patrick Dangerfield may walk away following Sanderson’s exit.

“He’s (Dangerfield) contracted at the moment and I would be highly surprised if he leaves, really disappointed,” Ricciuto said on Triple M.

“Patrick Dangerfield when speaking to me is happy and I would be shocked if him, Sloaney or Tex don’t say at the football club.”

Ricciuto was part of a group at Adelaide which conducted a thorough review of the Crows’ football operations which led to Sanderson’s sacking after three seasons at the helm last night.

“When you do a review and look at what’s happened and what could happen, you’ve got to make a decision that is good for the football club and I would say that if we didn’t make this decision, things could go from bad to worse like they have at other times in the Adelaide Football Club history,” he said.

“I was there through most of those, except for right at the end for Neil Craig, I was there with Cornesy (Graham Cornes) at the end, Shawy (Robert Shaw), Blighty (Malcolm Blight), Ayresy (Gary Ayres), so I’ve seen it all happen before and know how easily it can unravel.

“He (Sanderson) is a good coach in some ways, he is a good bloke, but to be a good coach you’ve got to be good at a lot of things, the role of an AFL coach has changed so much over the last 20 years, it’s about so many things.

“If you want to be a premiership football club or be in the top level of finals for a long period of time, you have to get a lot of things right as the senior coach.”

Asked whether Sanderson had “lost” the leadership group and the players at Adelaide, Ricciuto said:

“We spoke to all the key people you need to speak to ... the players were one of those groups and obviously formed part of the reason why he’s not there from next year onwards,” he said.

Despite the announcement which caught most of the footy world by shock, Ricciuto said the Crows did not have a new coach ready to go but he had a list of names he would like to pursue.

But he denied rumours his close friend, former teammate and current Essendon assistant Simon Goodwin was in line for the job.

“I know we are going in the right direction by doing what we’ve done and that’s the first step,” Ricciuto told Triple M.

“There are plenty of other coaches in the competition ... I’ve got a shortlist in my head, we wouldn’t be unprepared.

“If he (Goodwin) happens to get the job, if, if, it has absolutely nothing to do with him being my best mate.

“The only reason he would get the job is (if) he is the best (person) for the job.”