A Saints Footy exclusive article The Chris Pelchen that Saints fans should know about By Andrew de Hoedt Saints Footy It was a very different Chris Pelchen that I saw at The Angels’ Annual General Meeting on Monday 11th November at Linen House Centre. In recent times, St Kilda’s Head of Football has been in the news for various reasons, including some fairly heavy hitting comments by Caroline Wilson and Dermott Brereton, and some heated feedback from fans about the certain decisions and the current state of the St Kilda Football Club. Pelchen is prepared to accept criticism but was clearly disappointed by some of the untruths that were expressed by Brereton and Wilson. However, he does understand that Saints fans would be understandably frustrated by missing out on ultimate success in 2009 and 2010, and then the dramatic drop in 2013. However, he is fully committed to bringing a premiership to the Saints. I don’t think I would be divulging any secrets if I said that some of those comments not only hurt him, but more importantly his family. He will personally cop it fair and square, if the comments are accurate, but not if they are untrue. Pelchen said that he ‘had never had a cross word’ with Brereton until Brereton’s recent radio rant. Yes, they had a robust relationship which is healthy at a football club but there was mutual friendship and respect. Infact, on Chris Pelchen’s first day of work in the industry on December 19th 1983, he worked with Brereton and they have had a long friendship. Pelchen has never claimed to be the sole reason for the 2004 Port Adelaide and 2008 Hawthorn premiership. He has never said that ever. He was part of a football department, administration and playing list that won both flags. He has also had 30 years experience in the industry. There were comments that he is also the reason for the dismissal of Watters. That decision was made by the board after an intense review of the whole club by Andrew Thompson. Thompson interviewed all players, coaches and administrators individually before delivering his review to the board. So it was a club decision, not Pelchen’s. Yes, it was quick but Pelchen categorically stated that no other coach had been spoken to before November 1st at 3.30pm. As far as the allegation that Pelchen floated in and out of the office when he felt like it, Pelchen was very strong in stating that since April 1st, 2013, he has had only 4 days off. His partner has a journal that can confirm that. He ‘celebrated’ his birthday this year from 7am until 10pm with the St Kilda FC board discussing club issues. Pelchen was successful at his previous 2 clubs with both of them winning premierships. It is in his best interest to be successful and 100% committed to the St Kilda Football Club. Famously, Allan Jeans, who was like a ‘2nd father’ to Pelchen, asked him just before he passed away to do something to help his Saints achieve success. That is a fact and Chris lives with those words every day. Pelchen related a story about Jeans making the same speech every year to every playing list at the start of every year he was coach. He welcomed the playing list and said that each and every one of the people in the room was part of the plan to reach a destination which was a premiership. Some of the people may not be there when the destination was reached, and some of them will, but they are all part of the journey. Pelchen is strong, positive and very calm but a very direct person. He will call a spade a spade but you know where you stand with him. The biggest thing I learned from his presentation is not to believe everything you read. It is currently happening with the whirlwind of coaching rumours. If you follow what the club has said it is very clear. The media may be spreading rumours but the club is clear and Pelchen was crystal clear. At the time of the presentation there were 10 candidates that were to be interviewed on Wednesday 13th November. After Wednesday night, that was to be a shortlist of 2 to 3 people who will have a 2nd interview. The candidates will be interviewed by a panel chaired by Chris Pelchen. The panel also includes St Kilda board members Andrew Thompson and Danni Roche. Danni Roche was part of the Gold Medal winning 1996 Women’s Hockey Team, has had an outstanding business career and has been a director of Hockey Australia. Jason Blake, Tom Harley and former AIS psychologist Matti Clements are the other panel members. Matti Clements, will play a big part in the process, analysing if the candidates can deliver what they say they will and whether they can communicate their message to our current players and future players. Robert Harvey had a private conversation with Chris Pelchen and Andrew Thompson. That was leaked to the media and is now public knowledge. They asked Harvey what he wanted to do and then spoke about the club’s plans for the next ‘1, 2, 3...ten years’. After several hours of discussion, Robert Harvey said he was not ready to take on the senior coaching role at the Saints. Pelchen honestly said that some other coaches that were approached were not interested in the role for one reason or another. Conversely, some candidates that approached the club were not considered suitable for the job. No coach was gifted the job before Scott Watters’ sacking and the details of the sacking were to remain confidential out of respect for Watters. The Nick Dal Santo decision was not solely the club’s decision or Nick’s decision. It was a combined decision, made with the best interest of both parties. He left with the best wishes of the club but he wanted to have a chance in the last 2 to 3 years of his career to have a crack at a flag with North Melbourne. They offered him a 3 year contract, St Kilda matched it. Nick made an extremely difficult decision to leave his best mates to chase that flag. There were tears. However, it was no secret that there were approaches to Dal Santo and Montagna’s management by other clubs during the year, while Riewoldt was allegedly spoken to by a club president. Montagna and Riewoldt were definitely out of bounds. The Ben McEvoy decision was different. There were no approaches by any club until two days before Ben left. Hawthorn made an offer that was not specific but wanted to know if St Kilda would entertain the idea of trading McEvoy. The football department then had to get together and discuss this. McEvoy was in Vietnam. They contacted him to ask him what his thoughts were. It was a surprise to all concerned and was an extremely difficult decision. The football department decided that if St Kilda could get 3 Top 20 draft picks for the first time since 2001 that would be the goal. There was no guarantee, so it was risky, because Hawthorn didn’t know what their Buddy Franklin compo pick would be, but Hawthorn was prepared to help the Saints get the 3 Top 20 picks. It was after that, that the Savage trade was orchestrated. Pelchen asked the fans not look at each trade in isolation. The end goal was to have 3 Top 20 picks. We also got Delaney, Savage, Longer and Bruce. Will they be successful? Time will tell but it is in line with the Allan Jeans philosophy. In 1999, North Melbourne had just won the premiership and at the same time Chris Pelchen was Football Manager at Port Adelaide. They met at the Trade Meeting at Optus Oval. Port Adelaide did not have the trade concessions afforded to GWS and GC. They had access to 4 uncontracted players and the 17 and 18 year old kids in SA. Denis Pagan, who was ‘cock-a-hoop’ after winning a flag, walked up to Chris, laughed and said, “What on earth could you possibly give us?” In 2004, Port Adelaide won the premiership and Denis Pagan was at Carlton by then. Chris walked up to him and said, “Denis, what on earth could you possibly give us?” Denis replied, “Touche.” No one thought we would drop so dramatically in 2013. There were tensions in the playing group but that was as far as he would go with that. They certainly didn’t say to each other, “Let’s finish 16th.” However, now that it had happened, it was a good position to be in with respect to trading and the draft. St Kilda played 9 debutants in 2013 and there is a big group of players who have played under 50 games, even under 25 games. The number 3 pick will be used to acquire the best available player. Cliched, yes, but he said it doesn’t matter if they are tall or short, it will be the best available. Picks 18 and 19 will most likely be midfielders. There is a 3 year model that they are using which identifies 15 different playing types that are needed for a club to be serious contenders to go all the way. There are currently quite a few gaps to be filled. The 2013 trading and draft will be used to fill some of those gaps. Some current players will also be developed to fill more gaps. The 2014 trading and draft periods will also be used to fill more gaps and so on. By 2016, St Kilda should be in a position to serious compete for the premiership. Chris Pelchen’s unabated mission is to bring a 2nd Premiership to the St Kilda Football Club. He brings with him, a successful model that was used at 2 clubs and has vast experience at the Football Department level. He also has passion and really believes ‘hand on heart’ in what his great mentor and friend, Allan Jeans told him. He is totally committed to the St Kilda Football Club and clearly understands that if he is successful in his role, the club can deliver the Holy Grail to the loyal St Kilda fans. That is the Chris Pelchen I think all Saints fans should know about. Exclusive to Saints Footy.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:08:19 +0000