Cleo Lemon Cut By Argos

[notahomer]

Barker makes less and less sense all the time to me. Lemon wasn't showing much last season but Barker plods ahead. Lemon goes 11-15 and thats when you get CUT!!! The Argos stuggle on offense for two seasons, lets fire the defensive coordinator. A defensive coordinator, I might add, who was not suppossed to design his defence BUT INSTEAD work with the other position coachs. So, he doesn't get to do what he wants but he does get to be held accountable for it.

I am grateful for what David Braley has done for the CFL but is it just coincidence that these two stuggling teams (Argos/Lions) are owned by him? There is no question he's a hands off owner but perhaps to a fault? Will this be Barkers last season as a CFL exec.....

[Anglophone]

I'm glad. I would much rather watch Jyles play than Lemon. I recall thinking that Jyles was doing quite well as a replacement for Winnipeg last year, but was just falling short in many games. I think he has a much better shot at succeeding in this league than Lemon ever had.

[Bosco]

Should make for an interesting end to the Argos reality show

That show has become "must see TV" since the first episode. Kudos to TSN on the production of the series - viewing the Argo trainwreck makes me lament that only one show remains.

Jim Barker has been GOLD.

[TheLionKing]

Lions should be favourites in the rematch now.

[Hambone]

Lions should be favourites in the rematch now.

Should be but something in the back of my mind tells me in the past the Leos have tended to soil the sheets when such a great opportunity presents itself.

[Toppy Vann]

Barker makes less and less sense all the time to me. Lemon wasn't showing much last season but Barker plods ahead. Lemon goes 11-15 and thats when you get CUT!!! The Argos stuggle on offense for two seasons, lets fire the defensive coordinator. A defensive coordinator, I might add, who was not suppossed to design his defence BUT INSTEAD work with the other position coachs. So, he doesn't get to do what he wants but he does get to be held accountable for it.

I am grateful for what David Braley has done for the CFL but is it just coincidence that these two stuggling teams (Argos/Lions) are owned by him? There is no question he's a hands off owner but perhaps to a fault? Will this be Barkers last season as a CFL exec.....

It is a head shaker as there were some 3 badly dropped balls on him and then they sit him while Dalton Bell played horrible. No wonder Lemon was shaking his head.

Now this week it is clear now. Jyles was the guy all along and Cleo filling in.

What Lemon did on the sideline was shocking but more shocking is last year's joke of a coach of the year award going with Lemon as noted above and cutting when the last five games were not bad for him.

[B.C.FAN]

Reports out of Toronto are that Lemon threw a Printers-like tirade in the locker-room when he was told he was being benched to start the third quarter. Teammates called his conduct "unprofessional." Barker probably decided then that he had no choice but to keep him on the sidelines, no matter how badly Bell performed. No one is saying much since it happened in the locker-room but here are a couple of tweets from beat writer Mark Masters of the National Post:

After how Lemon behaved at halftime on Friday #Argos GM/HC Jim Barker was painted into a corner; needed to send a msg to the team #CFL

markhmasters Mark Masters by CFL_News
Source: Cleo Lemon blew up after being informed he wouldn't start the 2nd half on Friday v BC #CFL #Argos

[Hambone]

It is a head shaker as there were some 3 badly dropped balls on him and then they sit him while Dalton Bell played horrible. No wonder Lemon was shaking his head.

Now this week it is clear now. Jyles was the guy all along and Cleo filling in.

What Lemon did on the sideline was shocking but more shocking is last year's joke of a coach of the year award going with Lemon as noted above and cutting when the last five games were not bad for him.

Rarely are what seems to be sudden moves like this the result of one thing. I suspect the reported tirade at half-time on Friday may have been more the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. With Jyles returning to the fold and ready to play Lemon's timing was not good. In fairness Lemon seemed to finally be progressing and had been playing fairly well over the past few games, but still not good enough to take the Argos to the next level. I think Barker accepted that it would take Lemon a little while to develop but finally came to realize that the improved play up until Friday was as good as it was going to get and that wasn't going to be good enough and the loyalty he showed to Cleo was not going to be rewarded. McCown tried getting more out of Barker yesterday on Fan590 asking if there was more to the move than just the Friday incident. As would be expected Barker refused to go there.

[David]

I think Barker accepted that it would take Lemon a little while to develop but finally came to realize that the improved play up until Friday was as good as it was going to get and that wasn't going to be good enough and the loyalty he showed to Cleo was not going to be rewarded. McCown tried getting more out of Barker yesterday on Fan590 asking if there was more to the move than just the Friday incident. As would be expected Barker refused to go there.

I listened to that interview too. Great radio. McCown handled it masterfully. Barker got a little testy with him trying to keep it within the confines of the club. Yet McCown avoided conflict and phrased his questions in such a way that Barker's opaque answers told the story - it wasn't just performance issues. Co-host Cox wasn't letting him off the hook easily either; it was your classic "good cop, bad cop."

What's next for Lemon? He may have sealed his CFL fate by proving he's not a team guy. However, just looking at performance and abilities, I think he'd make a decent back-up for someone. While he doesn't possess good footwork, he's quite accurate distributing the ball. I believe he was hamstrung to a certain extent by a lousy coordinator and an (at best) average receiving corps.


DH

[LFITQ]

I believe he was hamstrung to a certain extent by a lousy coordinator and an (at best) average receiving corps.

DH

You are talking about the Argos here right? and not another Braley-owned team who's receivers and OC didn't exactly have the faithful all cheery at the beginning of the season?

[Hambone]

I listened to that interview too. Great radio. McCown handled it masterfully. Barker got a little testy with him trying to keep it within the confines of the club. Yet McCown avoided conflict and phrased his questions in such a way that Barker's opaque answers told the story - it wasn't just performance issues. Co-host Cox wasn't letting him off the hook easily either; it was your classic "good cop, bad cop." DH

McCown is my favourite in the sports radio talk show business, mostly because he tends to focus on the business and management of sports and not the jocks themselves. For the most part he and Barker get along very well. Given Barker is a fairly easy going affable sort that shouldn't be a surprise. I figured Barker would get a bit testy because Bobcat has been pushing his buttons most of this season re: Lemon and Jim stood fast to his guns. Having made the decision to cut Lemon Barker knew he was going to have to face McCown's music.

[TheLionKing]

I wonder if the Argos Players Council went to Barker and suggested that Lemon be given a map out of town.

[Sir Purrcival]

Regardless of what Lemon did in the locker room, I have to believe that Barker badly mishandled the situation. Lemon didn't deserve to get pulled for the mistakes of others. He could have said something like we are going let Bell go in for a couple of series and see how he does while you watch what is going on. But clearly, Barker does seem to be over his head. Lemon up till now hasn't had a rep as being a bad team player. Says to me that he was a frustrated as everybody else but that what put it over the top was the suggestion that he was at fault (ie pulled). Maybe Jyles can do better and maybe this was the plan all along but Bell can thank his lucky stars that after his performance last week, he is still on the team. It would have been him going out the door if Lemon hadn't.

[PigSkin_53]

Most of this is on Barker IMO. He chose Lemon. He stayed with him. Then he started to pressure Lemon and demand more productivity.

IMO Barker is in over his head. Dumping a QB in mid season. Where have we heard that before? LOL

Gotta blame somebody, it seems. So the Field Marshall fires the Officer in the front ranks. And in so doing attempts to save his own hide.

I wished I’d said this first Joe, after three consecutive and imminently catchable balls dropped on him by his lousy receivers Lemon got hook and now he’s gone.

If Braley had a shred of common football sense he should have kicked Barkers fat ass to the curb, but we all know the skinny on that subject right?

Why doesn’t he just tell Barker he’s got job until he decides to retire.

[Toppy Vann]

Regardless of what Lemon did in the locker room, I have to believe that Barker badly mishandled the situation. Lemon didn't deserve to get pulled for the mistakes of others. He could have said something like we are going let Bell go in for a couple of series and see how he does while you watch what is going on. But clearly, Barker does seem to be over his head. Lemon up till now hasn't had a rep as being a bad team player. Says to me that he was a frustrated as everybody else but that what put it over the top was the suggestion that he was at fault (ie pulled). Maybe Jyles can do better and maybe this was the plan all along but Bell can thank his lucky stars that after his performance last week, he is still on the team. It would have been him going out the door if Lemon hadn't.

Agree fully here.

And to those posters who think Barker kept it in the confines of the club he didn't. Players at practice just knew his locker was empty and he was gone. Copeland and others were kind of we don't know. It looked like a set up to me with Barker creating just the right scenario to get his QB to blow up so he could cut him and use Jyles who he no doubt wanted all along as his QB but who had to sit on the 9 game IR list.

Where Barker has lost credibility with his team is that by doing what he did he ensured his team lost that game and it is not like Montreal or Ham or Wpg losing the Argos are out of the playoffs unless they get some wins here. Barker shows no accountability to his team - old style thinking whereas the modern coaches realize they too are accountable to their teams and players for their decisions and if they are bad ones they should be professional enough to de-brief this stuff and make the changes. Like Berry asking Durant 'What do you need from me to be successful' - it seems that never got asked. It should have been.

Barker was a joke as coach of the year. He has done this badly.

Bell was horrible and it was clear he was not going to better if Lemon was over "helping him".