Corey's back 2 year contract

[Robbie Nud]

link

On the OS now.

[kezypanther]

More than happy with this, sure there will be others that won't be but oh well.

The good thing is he is here early so can begin building the club ready for the attack on the title. We took far too long to decide last year.

[panthermatt]

Very happy with this news and good that it is for two seasons as well. Welcome back Corey

[smart6]

Hopefully he will get Lawrence, Schultz and Bombach back

[kezypanther]

Forgot to add he speaks very well in the interview. Especially about the returning squad and how a player has to want to be here instead of just going of a resumè

[Kovalchuk17]

Saved by the cups IMO.

3 years of very average (and mostly disappointing) league performances. I don't think he'd have been back if we'd flopped again in the CC and Playoffs.

Look to the future though and build on these 2 cups like we did for the Grand Slam, I'm feeling more positive than I thought I would.

[pantherdman]

2 years to win the league then.

Good luck

[Bagheera]

O.k. Not what I wanted but as promised he'll have my support to start the new season(because that is important to him ). He looked like he started to address the lines issues and settled them down.
Hopefully this means the majority of imports back and I think we can have a great shot at the league if thats the case.
Slightly baffled by the 2 year deal as what happens if we win 0 trophies next season?

Good Luck Corey. Heres to next season.

[Deleted]

I've been against him coming back & I'm not overly enthused by this. Hopefully he has learnt what a league title winning set up & campaign takes.

Can't help feel we're rewarding mediocrity here.

[dusseldorf]

welcome back Corey, glad you decided to stay - cant wait until next season

[iginla]

Well i'm not thrilled,but i'm prepared to give it a shot,but it's two years to get a league title or it just has to be goodbye.
Cups and play off titles are fine,but in basically a five team league our record of league title challenges is awful.

I just hope that previous mistakes are corrected and that starts with a full quota of imports from the start and a rock solid defence first.

[Deleted]

Spot on Iggy, spot on.

At least they've made the decision early this year. Time to get the squad together. I expect quality, real quality.

[BlogFromBlock15!]

Whilst not wanting to belittle the cup achievements, Corey has, year after year, demonstrated he isn't capable of challenging for a league title even with a quality squad.

The same mediocre brits will be back and it will be groundhog day as we lose to Fife or Dundee on a cold January night because we have failed to replace imports or Corey has changed his lines for the 12th consecutive game.

An opportunity to change the culture at the club has been missed and this is all lip service.


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[cooperphil156]

GM - very loud - "WE care!!" OK point made - insinuation is that the fans don't understand.

[Yotes]

If 2014/15 wasn't the end, this year was never going to be. I'm less unimpressed than I was this time last year, but I'm not turning cartwheels either. Can't really see why it's a two year deal.

I do wish Gary would stop using the phrase "major trophies", grinds my gears.

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2016 20:51:55 GMT iginla said:

Well i'm not thrilled,but i'm prepared to give it a shot,but it's two years to get a league title or it just has to be goodbye.
Cups and play off titles are fine,but in basically a five team league our record of league title challenges is awful.

I just hope that previous mistakes are corrected and that starts with a full quota of imports from the start and a rock solid defence first.

We've been saying goodbye to him for years now but he's still here. Black is reluctant to make big hockey based decisions hence through a contract under his nose is the easiest option.

Winning hundreds of cups instead of the league title does t cut it with me anymore.

Neilson is too arrogant to learn from his mistakes. Next season I expect to be even tougher too. 2 years...

[Bagheera]

Apr 8, 2016 21:11:54 GMT Yotes said:

If 2014/15 wasn't the end, this year was never going to be. I'm less unimpressed than I was this time last year, but I'm not turning cartwheels either. Can't really see why it's a two year deal.

I do wish Gary would stop using the phrase "major trophies", grinds my gears.

The 2 years really doesn't sit right does it?
I understand it more with a new coach. They always deserve a few years to build to a plan.
Corey has been here a long time now and a trophyless season would be nothing other than a very poor season. No way a second year would be deserved if we fail in every competition next year.

[Deleted]

I've never agreed with so many people at once, even in everyday life.

The more I think about this the more 'meh' it gets.

Why the two years?

[Pies]

I'm happy with this - 3 months ago I really wasn't impressed but I think I finally saw something in the playoffs and challenge cup final that made me think he's turned a corner. The league was disappointing but he's said he's going to address that and I feel he's earned enough for me to give him a chance

I wonder if the 2 year deal is to help with recruitment specifically on the import front and thenuni deals

[Mark Mac]

Fairly happy with this. At least we know we have a coach who is fairly successful. Hoping some of the obvious flaws get ironed out.

The only reason I can think for the 2 years is that Neilson demanded it in order to stay. Normally a coach gets multi-year deals to build a team, but a) he has already had years to do this and b) he already has a significant core of players. Both Neilson and a number of the players have said they're happy and there is a good unit.

I'm glad that coaching has been resolved quickly. Hopefully we will keep the important players.

[Shaggy]

Apr 8, 2016 21:25:57 GMT Pies said:

I wonder if the 2 year deal is to help with recruitment specifically on the import front and thenuni deals

I suspect that you've got at least part of the answer there.

The 'Corey Neilson Years' have been - for whatever reason - a bit of an exercise in continuity. It wasn't all that long ago that the thought of any Panthers player getting a contract longer than 1 year was almost inconceivable... now we're starting to go down the same road that other teams have already travelled. We keep hearing from various players that they like having Corey as coach... maybe that's just PR spin (who knows?) - maybe it's not. If it isn't... the message has gone out - we're offering players a bit of stability, we've got 2 high-profile imports nailed down for 2 more years (plus various Brits)... now we've got the coach for 2 more years as well.

His time here has not been a total success, of course - seasons like 2014-15 being amongst the serious lows, that was bad from start to finish and no mistake. But on the other side of the coin, there's been a shed-load of silverware. The big prize only once, of course... but that's one more than any other coach has managed. Could have done better, could have done worse. At least we know that he can deliver... not that he will - but nobody can guarantee that, can they?

We could possibly do better - we could certainly do a lot worse. The former is a total lottery, the latter a certainty. On balance, I'd say that this is a positive overall. Not perfect, but a positive. Over to you, Corey (and Rick - let's not forget that the partnership of Neilson & Strachan appears to be the formula for success).

[dill1015]

I openly said that i had lost the faith a couple of mounths ago.
However, the playoffs and cup wins were very well done. They showed how good Neilson teams can be, we just need that consistency.

I may be looking for the good in this because i want to. But the 2 years is positive to me. They must have done it for a reason, which to me suggest they think we have a good chance of retaining a large portion of this squad. Dont forget that this squad was basically a complete rebuild this season. If we can keep a big core and just tweak the squad we could be onto a winner.
But there's no two ways about it, the league run has to be better.

[Higgy]

I'm not surprised he is returning,the trophy's pretty much guaranteed he'd be back.

We must win the league.....please

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2016 22:28:53 GMT Higgy said:

I'm not surprised he is returning,the trophy's pretty much guaranteed he'd be back.

We must win the league.....please

And we'll be saying exactly the same thing this time next year mate I'm afraid!

[jdizpt8]

Happy with this, looking to keep the main bulk of the team from this year. Probably 2 or 3 won't be back and he's got the option to replace the 2:3 with 3:4 new faces. Be nice if the back room staff was upgraded to help with injury rehab, conditioning and nutrition etc.