Sacking Brenton Sanderson ‘a bit harsh’ — but not much else being said at West Lakes

THE bloke in the hi-vis shirt, pushing a mop through the atrium at Adelaide’s West Lake headquarters, even he was dumbfounded by the coach’s sacking.

Crows v Eagles at Adelaide Oval

THE bloke in the hi-vis shirt, pushing a mop through the towering atrium at Adelaide’s West Lake headquarters on Wednesday night, even he was dumbfounded.

“Sacked Sando?” he said. “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

Well, apparently not for the Adelaide Football Club board which, at precisely 5.47pm on Wednesday confirmed the single biggest blood-let in its 24-year existence, that Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson and the Crows had parted ways.

“Agreed” to part ways, the statement said. “This follows an extensive review of the club’s entire football operations.”

And, for now, that’s the closest to the full story there is. Because aside from the TV news crews, The Advertiser and the cleaner, no one else was talking outside AAMI Stadium on Wednesday night.

In fairness, by the time the rumour became official, there weren’t many around to comment.

About 6.30pm club chief operating officer Nigel Smart and media manager Ian Shuttleworth emerged from the darkened administration block.

Smart declined to comment when approached by The Advertiser, saying only that chairman Rob Chapman would address the situation on Thursday morning.

The club was on Wednesday night planning a 9am press conference involving both Chapman and Sanderson, who had two more years to run on his contract with the Crows.

Originally published as Sacking Brenton Sanderson ‘a bit harsh’ — but not much else being said at West Lakes