Richo 'couldn't pass up' Saints job

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

ALAN Richardson is the new coach of St Kilda - finally ending a 12-year, seven-club journey to lead an AFL club.

Richardson, a who had been overlooked for several senior jobs, on Thursday signed a three-year contract with the Saints two years after they rejected him in favour of Scott Watters.

After a tense day of high-level negotiations, St Kilda agreed to pay Port Adelaide between $10,000-$20,000 as compensation for poaching the highly rated assistant.

Richardson said he had sought the blessing of Power coach Ken Hinkley and other club officials before accepting a job "I just couldn't pass up".

''It's an incredible honour to have the opportunity to coach this really proud club," Richardson said.

"It's been a real journey for me personally, obviously, from a coaching perspective. It's been my aspiration to coach my own team for close to 10 to 12 years now and to finally get that opportunity is something that I'm incredibly excited about.

"I've been really realistic. I've gone along to job interviews and obviously you go there with incredible hope.

"I suppose the longer you're in the game the more capable you feel, but the reality is they have something in their mind in terms of what they want and if it's not you then I've been OK with that.

"I'm never going to change who I am."

Richardson told Port on Tuesday night he would enter negotiations with the Saints just hours after releasing a statement saying he wasn't interested.

He was just one year into a three-year agreement with the Power, but St Kilda's intense interest turned his head.

"Once I really sat down and got a true understanding of the level of interest in me from the St Kilda footy club ... I'm kidding myself, it's something I've always wanted to do," Richardson said.

"I've been passionate about wanting to coach a senior AFL footy club and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity," Richardson said.

"I've always had aspirations to coach my own team."

Power president David Koch wasn't happy with St Kilda's process. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Limited

Port chairman David Koch reacted strongly on Thursday morning, vowing to hold Richardson to his contract at Alberton under a six-month non-compete clause.

"He's not an assistant coach, he's a director of coaching and as far as we're concerned he's on contract to us until the end of 2015 and that's the way it stays," Koch told Channel 7.

Asked if he had choked on his breakfast, Richardson said: "My wife certainly got a little bit panicky. But David is an incredibly passionate guy, he's been enormous for their football club and if he thinks it's in the best interests of the club to make some noise then he'll do that."

A series of phone calls ended with St Kilda agreeing to make the small compensation payment, which comes after the club's payout to Watters and the new contract for Richardson himself.

"I spoke to David a couple of times today on the phone ... and yes, he was disappointed I was moving on," Richardson said.

"Certainly they let me know that they needed to make statements and be strong for their football club, but they were quite supportive."

Herald Sun AFL Writer Jon Ralph explains how Alan Richardson is set to be announced as St Kilda coach.

Richardson admitted he had sought assurances from St Kilda over the stability of its football department, which had come under fire after the sacking of Watters.

"Certainly I was questioning, if you like, the relationships with people and I'm incredibly satisfied that it's a fantastic model and a fantastic group of people that will see this club go forward," he said, adding he was satisfied with the decision to off-load established stars Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy.

PICK ME: MEET THE SAINTS NEXT POSTER BOY (Exclusive video)

"I think the direction the club has started to take in terms of the list is something that really excites me. I can't wait to get started with the guys, it's going to be a really exciting time and the team is all about improving and going forward.

"Culturally, we want to make sure we're a really competitive, aggressive, hardworking footy team and I'm looking forward to steering it."

Wanted: Port's director of coaching Alan Richardson. Source: News Limited

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Richo 'couldn't pass up' Saints job

Dengan url

http://sportifoclube.blogspot.com/2013/11/richo-couldnt-pass-up-saints-job.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Richo 'couldn't pass up' Saints job

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Richo 'couldn't pass up' Saints job

sebagai sumbernya