Marcel may be out.. Steve Milton

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#1

[b]Steve Milton

The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 3, 2007)[/b]

'Nothing's being said officially, but
there is a palpable, almost 3-D, feel

around Camp Cat that GM Marcel Desjardins'
brief tenure will soon be terminated.

You can read it in the long faces
of the personnel department.

As noted loudly in this space before --
and hopefully Robert Young was listening

on balance that would be a mistake, even if
fans are clamouring for such a beheading

and he's an easy target.

Another new start.

Yawn. Everyone around the league
thinks it would be an error, too,
but hey, what do they know?

If the deed goes down, is there
an experienced replacement out there?

Would the Cats be able to pry someone
loose from another organization?

Dan Rambo, a well-respected guy with GM experience
who is now Hamilton's player personnel director,

says he's not interested because he loves
the job that was created for him this year.

Can Mitchell spring someone free
from another organization?

Will there be a shakeup in Toronto,
freeing up a veteran guy?

Does popular consultant Mike McCarthy
get another crack here? Bob O'Billovich?

Would the Cats want someone like
Neil McEvoy, Wally Buono's assistant,

who's done a great job in B.C. but
has no more GM-ing credibility
than Desjardins did?

Is Roy Shivers a phone call away?
Pat Gillick? John Ferguson, Jr.?'

Experience! Experience! Experience!

but please, don't give it to
one of those Argo guys.

Talk Dan Rambo or Mike Mc Carthy into
saddling up and taking the reins.

#2

Milton's article ends by suggesting it would be a mistake to fire Desjardins, because it would make the Ticats into a team where the President, and not the GM, is in charge of running the team. Plus, even though Desjardins has made some mistakes, he now also has one year of experience under his belt, he knows the needs of this team better than any newcomer would, and he has brought in some all-stars in Moreno and Setta.

I say give Desjardins and Taafe one more year, but let them know that anything less than a .500 season in 2008 will result in both of their terminations.

#3

None of the names listed in the article makes me want to change GMs. Not that he really deserves it but give Desjardins another year. Things have been chaotic enough these last few years without making another change.

An Argo-Cat fan

#4

Do not give em another year, it's a waste of everyones time. It's proven a great gm can come in and make subtle changes and get a team to the next level, like Lancaster did in 04 also look at the Raptors who hired Brian Colangalo who turned them into championship contenders -anyone who watched last nights games knows they are. But I don't think the guy is Rambo, I would think outside the box and go with Glen Sutor, I don't know why, but I have a feeling he'd a great gm.

#5

Lots of questions...NO ANSWERS! :roll:

I feel the supporting staff of coaches is where the biggest problem is!

Let's quit looking for wholesale changes and improve the team with some good additions and coaches that can "ASSIST Charlie"!

Marcel is not the one who dropped passes, fumbled, took penalties or had mental lapses at critical times in the game which resulted in procedural penalties!

Some playcalling was suspect at best!

We also had some just plain "tough luck" with injuries this year!

Let's enjoy the game this evening and look forward to Next Year! :wink:

#6

IF Desjardins is fired, I will be very disappointed. We'll be starting over yet again, and can expect yet another losing/rebuilding season. The 'new guy' will be constantly looking over his shoulder, making long-term sacrifices for short term gains, and wasting time on protecting their own behind. Anyone intelligent enough to be a pro GM will know how fast the Cats have been going through GMs. And they know full well that when you take the position, you have all the bad decisions and problems of the last five to seven years weighing you down. Each change makes it less likely the next GM will succeed before they too get the axe. I feel that it takes at least 3 years to see how a GM is working out. Constant chopping and changing is a sign of desperation, not desire to win.

I fear that changing the GM will be seen by some in the organization as a marketing ploy to counter the recent slump in crowd size. Some fans will believe the 'new guy' to be the saviour and will go out and renew their tickets. However that marketing ploy has a limited shelf life. Even the most hard-core fan will eventually lose interest.

If Desjardin is fired, then it tells me that the organization is still dysfunctional. It tells me there are still power struggles behind the scenes, and that there are people pulling in different directions. In any business, that is a recipe for problems. With a highly product-oriented organization, like a sports franchise, it becomes a full-blown recipe for long-term disaster.

#7

I'm with woody on this one. Keep both Marcel and Charlie for another year, but get Charlie some coordinators and position coaches who have, umm, let's say....a CLUE.

Danny Mac as QB Coach? Matt Dunigan as offensive coordinator? Hitch as special teams coach or defensive coordinator?

#8

Just so you do realize one thing. Colangelo did not come to the Raptors and make subtle changes. Colangelo came in as President and Gm of the Raptors, gutted and renovated their locker room to start new. And got rid of almost every player on the team. Out of 12 players the Raptors got rid of 6 or maybe even 7 of them. Colangelo came in and cleaned house just as Desjardins did.

I do belive firing a GM after one season will result in the same nonsense. The teams in sports that are forever awful, never have any continuity. See the Bills, Browns, Cardinals, Devil Rays, and look at how many GM's / coaches they have gone through.

The only reason this team would be thinking of changes in the GM dept. is ticket sales. The fans have stopped showing up and they realize it now. The problem is this is knee jerk. It's the wrong reason to fire a GM and a wrong message to send out to prospective candidates that you only get a year to do what you have to do. Football teams aren't built over night.

#9

If Desjardins isn't fired he will be one of the few people in pro sports history who has been retained after making the questionable moves he has made since taking over the team. But I think the last straw, is not a move he has made but is definitely related, is the dwindling crowds. That always gets everybody's attention.

#10

Then you need to stay in the box. Unless you just forgot to use the sarcasm emoticon.

The one constant in the TiCats futuility has been change. Running players and staff out of town has proven to be lethal. Desjardins made some mistakes and hopefully he has learned from them. He also made some good moves that too often get ignored. Another year on the job will reveal whether the right man is in his chair.

#11

I too, am with Woody here...keep Marcel, and Taaffe, but PULLLEASE get rid of the assistants and replace them with anyone with CFL experience.

Let Rambo and McCarthy show us their ability to scout out seme decent talent, both in coaching and in players.

It makes me sound like a heretic, I know, but if necessary, place Printers on the trading block, and retain RW as our QB starter, using that vast mass of salary cap to hire proven players....but don't make the mistake of hiring "old guys"...

Aside from that, "hiring Roy Shivers" would be just criminally stupid...the guy had the Riders for years and could not produce a winner, just a lot of "colour controversy"; the Green Machine got where it is with the acquisition of Austin and Tillman, that we sadly missed out on, big time...

#12

Please don't mention Dunnigan is O coordinator he is an arrogant SOB. He's not Hamilton material.

If Dejardins goes Taafe has got to go. He's Marcel's hire and he has done diddley this year. Keep 'em both or fire 'em both.

#13

Quit this blaming the assistant nonsence! Apparently you all think Charlie does nothing so why do you all support him, get real. And just cause you fire Marcel doesn't mean you're starting over, I don't understand the logic in that. The fact is we need a new coach and staff and a better gm and we still have the pieces in place to be a very good football team next year. Sask cleaned house and they're now the hottest team in the league.

#14

The problem with the coaching was that we hired Taaffe late. He therefore had to speed up his search for assistants with many good assistant coaches probably already accepting jobs.

I don't think having CFL experience is a prerequisite. Everyone has to learn somewhere. Football is football and good coaches will adjust quick enough. I think our weakness is DC. Too many problems for every player to have been that bad.

OC i think is okay given we have had 4 different starting QB's. I think the offence has looked better with Casey getting more comfortable. We should be okay in just looking for a DC.

#15

i would give marcel another year. i have no interest in starting over again regardless of whom it would be.
continuity! continuity! continuity! continuity! continuity! continuity! continuity! continuity!

if there's not a substantial turnaround next year, then drop the bomb.
if the als are a playoff team at 8-10 (which is where coach sudsy had us), then that should be our baseline.
if we don't get at least to third place, then: what's your hurry, here's your hat, bye bye!
(also: i'm not buying the rob-katz-made-the-mess theory, that's just a little too convenient to be plausible, the pointing of fingers at someone who's no longer there.)

#16

Charlie made some mistakes But should Stay.
When they got Charlie last year to sign.
a lot Good CFL People had jobs bye then.

What was left is what we got .

#17

“Show me a team that can’t turn it around and I’ll show you a team that keeps changing personnel.” - Bobby Ackles, in his new book The Water Boy.

He was talking about his brief stint with the Arizona Cardinals.
He continues: “We needed players and we needed time to let the young guys stay, grow and improve. Trouble is, when you are losing, you don’t have time - everybody wants it now.”

Sound familiar?

By the way, The Water Boy is a great read if you’re interested in football. Ackles believes it takes three to five years to build a championship team in the CFL. Lots of interesting anecdotes on how you do it.

#18

Steve Milton's comments about Desjardins' possible termination, coupled with Taaffe's comments about "not being told by anyone above if he'll be returning", in the Peters' article, makes one believe Mitchell will be CLEANING HOUSE!.

#19

I agree with Milton (which is easy to do) that it would be a mistake to throw Desjardins out and I doubt that it will happen.

#20

Why? Marcel had no problems being a cold hearted business man with the players so I hope when he's let go he is told over the phone and escorted by security out of our headquarters so he doesn't snatch a stapler on the way out.