Magpies coach Nathan Buckley says that he will personally hold himself accountable for how his side fares this year, with his job potentially on the line should Collingwood fail to play in September once again.
The Collingwood coach says that his talk with SEN’s The Coaches Box last August - in which he made the sensational claim that it was finals or bust in 2017 for his coaching career at the club - was an accurate representation regarding where the Pies were at last year.
Buckley says that he fully expects his side to play finals and that as the senior coach, he is the person to take ultimate responsibility for whether this expectation is met.
“We expect to play finals and it’s the coach’s job to mould the program and to provide the environment for the players to be able to go out and do the job,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“Invariably the senior coach is the guy that has to pull it all together so I absolutely take responsibility for that.”
Buckley says that he and the club have not looked far enough ahead at what could happen should the side fail to play finals for a fourth consecutive season, instead focusing on each day as it happens.
“I can tell you that categorically we haven’t thought about that down the track or how far down the sixth year of my coaching tenure we’re going to get before you start lifting your eyes and looking beyond,” he said.
“I think any successful organisation focuses on each day as it comes in terms of getting the best out of yourselves.
“We’re looking forward to jumping into pre-season, making the most of whatever is in-front of us.”
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