Wally on the Bubble?

[PigSkin_53]

Anyone feel the least bit uncomfortable for Wally in the 4th quarter with David Braley there on the sidelines next to Buono at such a venerable time in his history?

Why did Braley choose this time to show up?

It seems to me we have seen this scenario before and it is usually when Buono has made some hellacious gaff like the one he made trying to kick out of his own end zone instead of conceding the two freaking points!

A move that predictably translated directly into six points for our opponents, that was the turning point in the game last night.

Someone want to tell me why Waldo isn’t loosing it the closer and consequentially the further away he gets from overtaking the Don’s record, someone want to tell me why everything and anything he does is as always beyond reproach to his worshipers?

I guess you could make a case Braley was out there to give him moral support in a time of need as we have seen in the past right, the WDF last season?

Maybe he came down to sideline to try and impress upon Buono the perspective of the shameful showing of fans that didn’t bother attending the season opener against their modern day rivals (the Leos nemesis).

Maybe the fans are fed up with the Buono / Chapdelaine no imagination, no innovation loyalty act, and are voicing their opinion the only way they know how…by not showing up at all in protest?

No matter how you slice it HC Buono is up to his neck in quicksand and going down fast with GM Buono, as the specter of a new Lion’s President looms large on the map of Wally’s world.

[Big Time]

Or maybe Braley was in town to honour former Lions Ian Sinclair, Gerald Roper and Bob Ackles at half time which likely wasn't show on TV. The only person that will remove Wally is Wally. Guaranteed.

[TheLionKing]

Or maybe Braley was in town to honour former Lions Ian Sinclair, Gerald Roper and Bob Ackles at half time which likely wasn't show on TV.

It's not the first time that Braley has been down on the sidelines.

[SammyGreene]

Or maybe Braley was in town to honour former Lions Ian Sinclair, Gerald Roper and Bob Ackles at half time which likely wasn't show on TV. The only person that will remove Wally is Wally. Guaranteed.

I wouldn't read too much into it either. Remember, Braley stood and watched Rita and company run this franchise into the ground until someone advised him Bob Ackles would be a good hire back in 2002.

The rumoured candidate to replace Bob Ackles is Dennis Skulsky — a newspaper guy with good connections with the business community but zero football background. The sooner he is hired the better given we are already seeing an alarming sharp decline in attendance. To get 300 more fans than the Hamilton game after a big road win and the defending champions in town is pathetic.

But leadership at the top is lacking right now. Braley won't second guess any of Wally's personnel decisions where Ackles had the background to at least question them. I also agree with WC Joe who suggests this coaching staff is stale and is badly in need of fresh ideas and different approaches from outside the organization.

When you like at the Stamps, they have an embarrassment of riches as far as offensive coaches with Hufnagel, Cortez and now DD. Watching Dickenson last night, his role seemed to be observing what the opposing team was doing and talking to Burris and the receivers after every series.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Wally is still coaching for 1991, but he has to last the season. If they dump someone like him now they might as well lock the doors.

But I think the replacement for Bob Ackles should be another guy who was on the sidelines last night. First initial is S, last name begins with A and ends with les. Wally once took a team that was a laughing stock, turned it into a powerhouse, then watched it revert to a laughing stock when he left. That team is now a powerhouse again under Scotty. Bring him home, David.

[cromartie]

Wally is still coaching for 1991, but he has to last the season. If they dump someone like him now they might as well lock the doors.

But I think the replacement for Bob Ackles should be another guy who was on the sidelines last night. First initial is S, last name begins with A and ends with les. Wally once took a team that was a laughing stock, turned it into a powerhouse, then watched it revert to a laughing stock when he left. That team is now a powerhouse again under Scotty. Bring him home, David.

I'll second this, and I would expect this to happen after he's through with this year's Grey Cup.

[PigSkin_53]

I wouldn't read too much into it either. Remember, Braley stood and watched Rita and company run this franchise into the ground until someone advised him Bob Ackles would be a good hire back in 2002.

I guess Braley’s got more money than sense then, because If it was my team I'm damned if I'd sit around like a lame duck watching the majority of the fan base Bobby had worked so hard to bring back to BC place, erode away into what we had as a representation of the house last night, without making some definitive impact changes at the top.

[Sir Purrcival]

I don't think Wally is on the bubble yet but he is not beyond questionning either. His decision making has become more and more suspect in recent years. Going right back to the Casey Printers Grey Cup fiasco and the short kicking strategy, there have been a number of questionable decisions which seem to defy accepted logic. Most notably his handling of the position of OC. Last night, the players weren't getting it done and the game plan didn't adjust either. That is the coaches job to rectify. I know every team will get spanked once in awhile but not at home and not in that fashion. As much as the players need to looking at themselves, the coaches need to do that too. This team has enough talent to be more competitive than they have this season and the way they have played seems eerily familiar to the final days of Wally in Cow Town. It seemed as though the team had stopped playing for him them and one wonders if we are beginning to see the same things now. The clock hasn't run out but I think it is now ticking. Expectations for this team are higher than they used to be and the fans won't easily tolerate the mediocraty that have been getting of late.

[hwgill]

Problem is excessive loyalty by Wally. Chappy should never have been allowed back. Wally runs the team, not the receivers, even if it is Simon, or last year, Clermont. Then he dumps guys that still have time left, but holds on to guys that just can't seem to get it done...and I'm sorry, I don't see Pierce OR JJ being able to get it done. Can Lulay? No idea, but I think Pierce & JJ have had enough time to prove themselves, and IMO, just haven't.

[PigSkin_53]

It isn’t my intention to lead a campaign to rid ourselves of “the scourge of Wally Buono”, but if he cannot change and adapt to the new age of CFL, if he cannot see that that there are those present among his peers who are exploiting his glaring weaknesses, and taking advantage of his tendencies, and the coaches to which he holds unwholesome loyalties to he must go.

Last nights embarrassment is not a single aberration being washed down the toilet of the last decade of Wally ball … no this has it’s roots in 2004, as you have apply said Sir P but there is much, much more…

It’s about the illogical situations that Buono has continually put us into for as long as giving DD an extension he never really deserved, to be our Number 1 pivot, and attempting to flog off Jarious Jackson the same season to any takers when there were none, and in the process cutting off BP at the knees when the job should rightfully gone to him when he was truly ready to take the helm.

Instead of getting DD to commit to being our new OC as he should rightfully have been taking Buck under his arm, Dave was spurred like some kind of pariah after the 2007 season was up and let go without compensation, to gloss over the gross miscalculation Buono made signing him in the first place.

Now we see the damage done to all three partys the least of which in allowing Dickenson to defect, to the enemy and who is now quarterbacks coach in waiting for the OC in Calgary.

There are so many ways Wally has failed us and I am just getting started… shall I continue?

[Toppy Vann]

This owner isn't dumb. WB isn't going anywhere WB doesn't want to go.

This question is old style thinking much like let's make a whole bunch of changes and hope something works. Some of WB's decisions on player personnel dating back to the departure of Joe Smith have been odd. His belief that the loss of Clermont, Murphy, Bates, Wake, etc can be filled by the current guys he has belief in has yet to be proven correct. He is plain dumb stupid when he opens games with tosses to Lumbala versus the old days of a long ball to Lyall Green who is a vastly superior to Lumbala in every facet of his game. Wally just has to admit it - his daughter got Lumbala wrong. No scout is purrfect. I'd love to know why Glatt is the MLB when his run skills just don't bring Ray Nettles, Wayne Harris, etc to the top of mind.

He is not being well served by his coaches - RC, DC, ST and he has the RC's idea of calling plays is loved by every opponent and DC in the CFL as there is no mystery in what he is doing or where those receivers are heading and where the run plays are headed. ST and kick returns are also in the same mode.

The idea of behind the scenes tweaking is a better one (Rammer - other thread). It won't happen but it 'd be smart to have a Dave Ritchie back to provide some direction to the D but he'd have to be paid bigger money than he was getting before I suspect. On O, my idea would be to get the play calling from Kruck-Dorazio again. Not sure where their play book ended up - especially the run schemes.

[hutch]

After Smart ran the ball out of the endzone instead of taking the knee, did anyone notice when Wally grabbed him to talk and he just kept on walking like he wasn't interested in hearing what Wally had to say...? Maybe Wally has lost the team and it's time to move on?

[Game Day, Baby!]

"hearts and minds"..... the coach has to own them all!!

[OLD LION FAN]

tFrom that humiliation last night it sure seems that Wally has lost the room. It really showed when Smart made a Dumb decision and pretty well ignored Wally's comments when he came off the field. If I was the coach and was snubbed like that he wouldn't see the field again for quite a while. WB was outcoached again in a situation where a loss had an incredibly detrimental effect, let alone an outright spanking. From the punt in the end zone to putting Buck back in during the 4th quarter instead of Lulay, he and his coaching staff made a myriad of poor decisions and it was plainly obvious that the players either didn't care for the game plan or they all just happened to take the same game off. They couldn't block, tackle, run, cover, throw, or anything else usually associated with being a PROFESSIONAL!. I left out catching the ball because our QBs couldn't deliver or didn't have time to deliver the ball. After that debacle on home turf, there are only a few reasons to explain it. 1/ The coaches were not prepared. 2/ The players ignored the coaches. 3/ Calgary was that much better than us. Sorry guys-it ain't number three. If it's #1, put the coaches on notice that this will not be tolerated. If it's #2, for all those underperformers that put on a uniform last night and went through the motions, if we have a backup for you then you're not getting back on the field for a bit.
Fans don't flock to a sports venue to see a loser, and especially will avoid a Jekyl & Hyde team. Braley has spent a pile of money on this franchise from a love of Canadian Football. It is unlikely that he has approached the break-even point and he should eventually be in the CFL Hall Of Fame for all of his efforts to support the game. It was natural for him to attend the game last night but to be on the receiving end of the beating they took has at least put the thought in his mind that change is inevitable, even in the coaching ranks. If Wally is merely elevated to the GM position, one would have to be very naive to think that his coaching decisions would have no effect if he were bumped up. My vote is to skid him right frigging now.