Dual A-League championship winner Ernie Merrick gave Brett Ratten an emphatically positive endorsement before unloading on St Kilda’s board, labelling Ratten’s sacking as “one of the worst I’ve seen” and the treatment of the coach as “disgraceful”.
Ratten last week was sensationally removed as the club’s coach – despite signing a two-year contract extension three months earlier – following a review of St Kilda’s football department.
Merrick, who coached Melbourne Victory to two A-League championships, this year joined the Saints in a part-time role as a mentor for Ratten. From pre-season until Round 21, Merrick worked closely with Ratten three days a week: The day before the match, on game day and in the first review of the game.
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Speaking on SEN’s Whateley on Thursday morning, Merrick said Ratten was “one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with”. He said he “observed a very, very good coach” who had “excellent relationship skills, who led through gaining respect through his leadership and his personality without instilling fear of failure and fear through being an authoritarian”.
Merrick pointed to the results and premierships Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson and Damien Hardwick had produced over the past two decades after being shown faith by the Geelong and Richmond boards respectively.
“Sometimes I think board members consider that (Ratten’s style) as being soft. I consider it modern coaching – and his results really prove that. And despite what‘s been said, which amazes me, I think his results have been on track,” he told SEN’s Whateley.
“The difference is Geelong had Frank Costa in support of Bomber Thompson and Richmond had Peggy O’Neal in support of Damien Hardwick – and to me, the board‘s got a lot to answer for at St Kilda.
“I was shocked because his (Ratten’s) new contract had been signed roughly three months earlier. The chairman spoke very highly of him – and that all changes in half a season. I can‘t understand how you can judge a person in half a season, especially with the injuries that he had … and yet he still managed to have 11 wins, 10 wins and 11 wins in his three seasons. And that last season, he was so close to getting in the finals
“So with an average of 11 wins a season for the first three years and the building of players and up and coming youngsters … he was doing everything right. I just don‘t think he had enough experience in his squad to go much further.
“The difference is in soccer when you‘re sacked from the English Premier League, you walk away with $20 million and six months of salary.”
Asked if the sacking of Ratten just months after handing him a contract extension was an inappropriate way by St Kilda to treat an employee, Merrick said: “Absolutely. It‘s quite disgraceful, really. It’s demeaning, it’s not called for.
“I’ve been in coaching for a while since the ‘70s. You win a game, you go in the changeroom, everybody‘s happy, everyone’s supporting you. As soon as you lose a couple of games, no one wants to know you. You don’t get the same characters in support of you – and they’re the ones that you can soon tell are ready to jump ship quickly.
President tells how Ratten lost his job | 01:06
“I have to say I was initially very impressed by the board, but the board made the decision. It‘s not the CEO that made the decision, so it all comes down to the board.
“The whole behaviour and the way things were handled and who handled them is, is really very, very disappointing.”
Merrick revealed he was interviewed as part of the club’s review process by chief executive Simon Lethlean and president Andrew Bassat the day before Ratten was dismissed from his position. He said he sensed the decision on the coach had already been made before that conversation.
“The CEO, I thought, was very fair and honest … but I‘m afraid from Andrew Bassat, I felt as though the decision was already made. And I was so disappointed,” Merrick said. “Whatever argument was presented to me for removing the coach, I countered.
“This is a results-driven business that we‘re in and these team sports in particular, you have to co-ordinate a group of players to perform and win games and improve week-in, week-out. But it’s really not performance-related. It’s usually someone makes a fairly tough call, often without the expertise and knowledge behind them, I would say.”
Merrick added: “I‘d like to know who made the decision to play a game in Cairns, which they lost by a point. I mean, that 12th win would probably have guaranteed a finals position, but it’s out of the hands of the coach. List management is out of the hands of the coach. You can pass on advice, but you can’t go out and get the players yourself, you’ve got different departments doing that.
“In my opinion, St Kilda aren’t going to have success until they stabilise the whole club from top to bottom. To me they were stable, they’ve stuffed it around and I don’t know what’ll happen now.”
Merrick said he’d spoken to a “very disappointed” Ratten since last week’s events, adding he’d be an “excellent pick-up for a team that wants success and wants the right coach in place”.
Merrick said he’d spent some time in the past with Ross Lyon, who’s expected to replace Ratten and return to the Saints 11 years after leaving them. He said Lyon was a “very good coach”, but added he wasn’t sure it’s “the change that’s going to make the difference” at the Saints.
“It‘s really the stability and the recruitment of high-quality players and sticking with the same coach for a period of time who shows and proves what he can do, like Brett,” Merrick said.
“But I‘ve certainly got nothing bad to say about Ross.”
