Paul Roos says Simon Goodwin can't be 'blindsided' by Melbourne sacking and issues warning to current players

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3 days ago

Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos believes Simon Goodwin can't be "blindsided" by his sacking after a build-up of off-field drama and poor results over the past two years.
Goodwin was relieved of his duties on Tuesday morning, with Melbourne still having three more games to play before the end of the home-and-away season.
"If we do look at the things that have become public — Kate Roffey leaving, Gary Pert leaving, the Glen Bartlett scenario, Petracca and Oliver — I don't think he (Goodwin) can be blindsided by it," Roos told the ABC AFL Daily podcast.
"The expectations of Melbourne fans were really high this year. When that happens and you've got a really good list, I don't think he can be really that surprised."
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Melbourne president Brad Green was adamant the club had not yet contacted a potential replacement for Goodwin, but Roos believes the timing of Goodwin's exit suggests an approach may have already been made to a potential candidate such as ex-Sydney coach John Longmire.
"Clearly, the 'pro' of getting rid of him now is your ability to go to the market really quickly without any other club impeding your quest for a new coach. If I had to guess why they've gone early, I'd think that's the reason," he said.
"I suspect someone has made the phone call already from the Melbourne Football Club (to Longmire), because if they haven't, they are derelict in their duties. I think they've already made the call or will in the next 24 hours and get an answer either way."
Roos shared a relationship with Goodwin after handing over the reins to Melbourne's eventual premiership coach at the end of 2016. He described the feeling of seeing Goodwin win the 2021 premiership as "one of my best memories in football".
"When I went there, I knew it wasn't going to happen for me, but my job was to help Peter Jackson, Glen Bartlett, Josh Mahoney, Jason Taylor and Todd Viney to get (the club) out of a certain situation and put it into a more favourable situation, and more importantly in a position to win a premiership," he said.
"Simon fulfilled one of my goals to be able to do that."
Goodwin's sacking means Melbourne never won another finals match under his tenure after the 2021 grand final, but Roos refused to say he had underachieved, saying those within the club would be better positioned to determine that.
"All I can say is Melbourne people's expectations were higher in the last two to four years," he said.
"Now, does that mean he's underachieved? No, because he has won a premiership. We've seen Luke Beveridge hang on and re-sign, and he's probably been similar (to Goodwin) at times with Bulldogs fans. I think it's about timing. Do you get through those periods of difficulty? Do you survive? Do you have three or four wins in a row?
"At the end of the day, with all the noise that's been going on with the Melbourne Football Club and how public the expectations have been, I'm not surprised. Am I surprised it's happened today? Yes. But overall, given everything, I don't think anyone can be completely surprised.
"They've got a great team that they've had for five or six years … they would be bitterly disappointed at missing the eight this year and last year as well. That's been the backbreaker, really, missing the finals two years in a row with a really good team."
The other interesting aspect of the timing of Goodwin's exit is that it comes before Melbourne's new CEO, Paul Guerra, commences in his role. Guerra was appointed in April this year, but was expected to start as the club boss in September.
"I'm not sure the new CEO has got his feet under the desk," Roos said.
"I would think he's been consulted on it, but my mail was he hasn't even started yet.
"It would be interesting to find out how much he has had a say in Simon leaving the club."
While Melbourne will simply be playing for pride in its final three matches this season, Roos said some players will be playing for their spots under whoever the next coach is.
"I watched the last game the year before I took over, and Neville Jetta stayed on the list because of the game he played. I think he was going to be delisted and I said, 'No, I want him', because he was fantastic," he said.
"Let's say it's John Longmire, Adam Simpson, Nathan Buckley (or) Ken Hinkley, whoever it is is going to be watching the games. If you're the new coach coming in, you want the best players playing for you next year.
"It's personal pride, really. That's what impressed me with Nev; these guys were playing for nothing, and this guy is absolutely going 100 per cent at every contest. That's the challenge now for a lot of those players.
"If you take that view (of the games being irrelevant), you could be costing yourself a spot on the Melbourne list or on another list. Do that at your own peril."