West Coast chairman backs Adam Simpson in letter to members

Pressure on West Coast coach Adam Simpson is at fever pitch after a 171-point loss to Sydney. Club chairman Paul Fitzpatrick has written to angry fans after the loss.

Eagles head coach Adam Simpson.

West Coast chairman Paul Fitzpatrick has backed coach Adam Simpson to turn around the Eagles’ plight as he labelled the club’s 171-point loss to Sydney as “one of the darkest days in the history of the football club”.

On a day Eagles premiership player Karl Langdon said heads should roll at the club after an “embarrassing” and “disgraceful” 28-goal loss, Fitzpatrick made clear Simpson was going nowhere.

The Herald Sun revealed last month Simpson had a watertight contract through to the end of 2025 that would require the Eagles to pay over $1 million if they wanted to sack him.

But Fitzpatrick said in a letter to fans that Simpson was the man to lead the club out of dark times.

“Yesterday’s defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground was one of the darkest days in the history of the football club,” he said.

“Losing in the way that we did to Sydney was unacceptable. The 171-point margin aside, what we produced on the field was not representative of what the West Coast Eagles has stood – and still stands – for.

“It is important to get games into young players and fast-track their development. We had nine players under the age of 21 take the field against the Swans and we expect them to be very good AFL players.

“But we need our senior players to set a better example for them. With a couple of exceptions many of the experienced players were well down yesterday.

Eagles head coach Adam Simpson walks from the field after a 171-point loss to Sydney. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“Obviously, Adam Simpson and his coaching staff have been limited with what they can do with such a long injury list, but regardless we cannot tolerate performances of that nature and we expect a strong response against St Kilda next Sunday.

“We do have faith that Adam can take this team forward and we also believe in the path we need to take to fight our way back.

“It will take time because the long-term strategy revolves around bringing in more high-end young talent through the draft to lay solid foundations for the next era.”

The Eagles will get worse before they get better given they will face the retirements of Nic Naitanui, Luke Shuey and Shannon Hurn within the next 16 months.

But Langdon joined premiership teammate Glen Jakovich in saying it was time for the Eagles to make changes at the top.

“Sadly at the end of the day this is something they won’t recover from,” he said.

“We know what they dished up prior to their break. They have come back and dished up worse. What do you do other than to say people have to lose their jobs and this is where they are at?

“It’s not losing that is the problem. It’s the way you lose. The way the Eagles are losing is embarrassing. In fact, it’s disgraceful. The lack of effort from senior players ... you can’t blame youngsters. But there is a core of that team that have been around for a long period of time and for me ... there are senior players who just aren’t putting in like they need to, and maybe it’s because they have been to the top of the mountain and the desire isn’t there and they are rocking up and getting the pay cheque and they feel OK with themselves.”

Simpson said on Saturday night he was the man to lead the Eagles, who could regain Shannon Hurn and Jamie Cripps next week after injury.

Originally published as West Coast chairman backs Adam Simpson in letter to members