New coach: who should it be?

[Hedd Wyn John]

Well coach hunting season started early this year so with nothing better to do why not tell us who you think we need to bring in to be new head coach for the Devils next season? Oh and please tell us why you've named the coach in question.

I'll kick it off.

Omar Pacha

Reason: he's an honest straight talking coach who clearly has passion for the game. He's managed to get some very good performances from Dundee on what is a tight budget. I think he'd bring a lot to the Devils organisation & with a bigger budget and more support I think he can definitely bring home silverware for sure.

Who do you think should be the new coach?

 

[BostonBart22]

Shame Cameron has already signed with clan again..like him a lot in his interviews, says it as it is , he wouldnt come out saying we started slow etc as many times as skalde did, he would have addressed that straight away.

 

[moggy#9]

I like and respect Pacha a lot, but would he be a good fit for the devils? I'm not so sure.

Different clubs presents different challenges. For Dundee that has been to be competitive and sneak the odd surprise result. For the devils the challenge is to be around the top of the league and punch above our weight if we make it to European competition. For a coach this means an address book full of contracts and a wide tactical arsenal to call upon.

This summer there's going to be a fair amount of upheaval in the hockey world. Some players and coaches who have been plying their trade in eastern Europe will be looking for other options because of the geopolitical situation. While I can't see us getting a coach direct front the khl, we could get someone from the resulting shuffle. I think that the devils will have a lot of choice. What we can't afford though is someone who doesn't properly understand what they're getting into. Next season we need a team that is up for every game and doesn't take nights off.

I wouldn't be surprised to see someone who has had some exposure to UK hockey, but then moved on.

I think a North American born coach is most likely, as the style of the game here, and the fans, demand a more North American approach.

As to a return for Andrew lord, I'm not sure that would necessarily be a good thing for us or him - though it would probably please a few in the short term.

 

[Kevlar68]

I haven't really got an opinion on who we should be looking at as so many good coaches out there that lesser mortals like us don't know about but one thing I do know is never go back whether it's a coach or players. You've always got to look forward and to improve on what we've had in the past.

 

[Finny]

I’d guess we have two options we can go down:

1. An experienced coach who is new to the league

2. A player with experience of the league but who is new to coaching.

As mentioned in the other thread, I guess someone like Dan Ceman ticks both boxes, but the EIHL has changed a lot in the 10 years since he was last here.

 

[CwmbranDevil25]

I’d throw Paul Dixon’s name into the mix. Knows the League inside out, is well respected and builds a good solid team with a club that doesn’t have the reputation of a Devils, Steelers or Giants with all due respect.

Reservations may be that he’s a bit on the quiet side, and we’d have to see if he is connected enough to bring in the step up in class of player. But you could say exactly the same for Omar Pacha I guess.

It’d be an appointment I’d certainly get behind and be supportive of.

 

[Devil94]

Some turning their nose up at the idea of Dupont already.
Alright, we didn't get the best of him as a player, be it injury or unfit or whatever. But no one can doubt in his day he was a good player who held various captaincy roles.
But that's also irrelevant, as a good player doesn't make a good coach and a bad player doesn't make a bad coach. He's obviously liked at the club or he wouldn't have stuck around all year.
When he did move on to the bench from the ice, we were scoring goals for fun and went on a great streak. Some of that will of course be down Coughler and not him being on the ice, but he was coaching the forwards at that time. He also took the week of training before we beat Lausanne when Skalde had covid.
So I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the idea. After all, recently the most successful coaches have been players from the league as their first coaching job. They seem to do better than experienced outsiders.

 

[E.D.S.]

According to Todd the applications for the coaching role were massive, both in terms of quantity and quality so a replacement shouldn't be an issue. I can't imagine they will have to start the whole process from scratch. There must have been several other strong candidates who just missed out.

Experience of the league or inexperienced..... I don't really mind. Just want someone who understands Devils hockey, our DNA and what fans want to see. European hockey style isn't it. They need to understand what this league is about. One person won't fundamentally change how this league is run and played so they need to fit in to it, not redefine.

 

[august04 2.0]

I’d guess we have two options we can go down:

1. An experienced coach who is new to the league

2. A player with experience of the league but who is new to coaching.

As mentioned in the other thread, I guess someone like Dan Ceman ticks both boxes, but the EIHL has changed a lot in the 10 years since he was last here.

What’s clear is that the coach needs to have a good relationship with Kelman too. Ceman ticks that box also I think. He knows the British game and has been coaching at a good level too these past few years. I’d be happy if he was appointed. I'd be amazed if we go with an inexperienced coach, this next appointment is too important.

 

[paulsasha]

Todd and owners will sure come up with another good coach to lead us to next season and beyond , I don’t think DuPont would be a good fit for head coach maybe assistant but we need a coach that can recruit and build a team to lift the title again and get all his players to turn up every week and play for the full 60 mins

 

[moggy#9]

I’d throw Paul Dixon’s name into the mix. Knows the League inside out, is well respected and builds a good solid team with a club that doesn’t have the reputation of a Devils, Steelers or Giants with all due respect.

Reservations may be that he’s a bit on the quiet side, and we’d have to see if he is connected enough to bring in the step up in class of player. But you could say exactly the same for Omar Pacha I guess.

It’d be an appointment I’d certainly get behind and be supportive of.

I'd have to say no thanks. Same issues as with Pacha, plus he is likely to rely on agents for recruitment.

 

[Finny]

I’m another who doesn’t get the Pacha love-in and who believe Guildford have arguably under-achieved with Dixon. Or at least not kicked on when I expected them to.

If we are looking at someone with EIHL coaching experience it would be interesting to see how Pete Russell would do with a good budget.

 

[Kevin roog]

I was talking to Guildford fans away at the start of December when they beat us, they weren’t happy with their recruiting this season, small forwards, lack of physical hockey , boring team, that’s what we were like before Xmas , didn’t simms say they had a very good budget, so I would pass n Dixon

 

[Hedd Wyn John]

Todd and owners will sure come up with another good coach to lead us to next season and beyond , I don’t think DuPont would be a good fit for head coach maybe assistant but we need a coach that can recruit and build a team to lift the title again and get all his players to turn up every week and play for the full 60 mins

With Neil Francis as assistant coach do we really need 2 assistant coaches and the extra salary that comes with that? The impression I got is that Dupont had brought his family who had settled in the area and when he was injured understandably the club preferred to keep him in a coaching role rather than the alternative of letting him go. Those questioning why injury cover for D wasn't brought in when we were down to 4D, I'd venture to say that salary going to Dupont probably played a role in that.

 

[Mazzoak]

I wonder if that pool of quality coaching staff wanting to come to Cardiff in light of this maybe a bit smaller & how true is that comment if Skalde was the best one. Not that l had a problem with Skalde.

 

[moggy#9]

I wonder if that pool of quality coaching staff wanting to come to Cardiff in light of this maybe a bit smaller & how true is that comment if Skalde was the best one. Not that l had a problem with Skalde.

I seem to remember Todd commenting that it was a very close run thing. Although some of the same names may be up for it, the hockey world has changed and I suspect there may be some new options.

 

[Devil94]

The hiring process was 2 years ago, there would have been a lot of change in who is available/out of work. If there's someone who is still out of work after 2 years there might be a good reason for that.

 

[Devil94]

Skalde did have an impressive coaching CV, but the one thing he didn't have was any experience in Europe at all. Even in his long playing career, he didn't spend many years here at all, opting go back to the minors in NA even in his twilight years. I think that's certainly something to look at for the next guy.
Even though we might be more a North American league in terms of on ice product, off the ice its very different to NA, and closer to Europe. Although in saying that, I think a reason we struggled against teams like Dundee was that their style of play was probably like nothing he had seen in NA and had little experience coaching against it. European coaching and playing experience is vital for me, more than North American.

 

[E.D.S.]

I’m another who doesn’t get the Pacha love-in and who believe Guildford have arguably under-achieved with Dixon. Or at least not kicked on when I expected them to.

If we are looking at someone with EIHL coaching experience it would be interesting to see how Pete Russell would do with a good budget.

Agree. Guildford are not in the small Budget category. You could argue that as attractive as Dixon has made Flames hockey, given their spending power, he should have achieved more (he says as they knock us out of the playoffs and go on to win it!)

 

[kingmo19.1]

Give it to Wally!! He’s done well this season with his son’s U11 team !!!!

Hendo as assistant!

It’ll be fun!