Cornes: The Crows board has acted for the good of the club in sacking coach Brenton Sanderson

WHILE the sacking of Crows coach Brenton Sanderson was brutal, it was not swift. The dissatisfaction has been fomenting for some time, says Graham Cornes.

AFL - Adelaide Crows v St Kilda at The Adelaide Oval. Brenton Sanderson angry at 3 quarter time. Telling all his assistance and medical staff to stay way while he yells at the players. Photo Sarah Reed.

IT seemed so swift and brutal. A new chief executive appointed one day, the coach sacked the next.

Yet while it may have been brutal, it has not been swift. The dissatisfaction had been fomenting for some time.

Besides, a professional organisation like the Adelaide Football Club does not make decisions like this without thorough consideration and consultation.

Clubs do not sack coaches for no reason.

He is a fine man, Brenton Sanderson, and he swept into the club with the contemporary enthusiasm of a young coach.

He had impressed the Crows hierarchy, and rejuvenated an exhausted playing list.

The results were instant and obvious, although the naysayers pointed to a soft draw and a few lucky results.

However, even fine coaches can be overwhelmed by disaffected players and there had been rumblings that the message was not getting through.

Strangely, his players had played with intensity, desperation and commitment. It was their disappointing skills and the tactical manoeuvring of the team on match day that impacted negatively on results.

Yet there had also been the persistent sentiment that Sanderson had not built the necessary respect and relationships with the players

When club legend Mark Ricciuto was appointed to the Crows board the rumour mill started grinding that this new board member was not going to tolerate mediocrity.

Swift, brutal, tough – all those adjectives apply, but the bottom line is that the board of the Adelaide Football Club exists to do the right thing by the club – as brutal as it may seem.

Originally published as Cornes: The Crows board has acted for the good of the club in sacking coach Brenton Sanderson