Thompson was a disaster-for us. I'd say he knew the league and Brits but he's what 6-8 years removed so I'm not sure that he still does.
Definitely successful before and after he came to us and I will watch with interest how it goes for him. With us and Belfast the alleged big spenders, the resurgent Panthers under Stewart, Clan looking to push on, it's not going to be easy for him.
A disaster that won a league title and a playoffs? The last 2 seasons I agree were not good, but again, that doesn't mean he's a bad coach. Every season there's a team that doesn't perform to expectations, and some that exceed them. There's so many factors that play a part in it, and even brilliant coaches make errors. I think given his record overall, it suggests that he's a very successful coach. That's why I can't quite understand the lack of respect for him as a coach.
Agree it's not going to be easy given the other teams in the league currently, but that's equal for the others as well. It's the old thing that always comes around - we all say we want a competitive league until our team doesn't win trophies.
And whilst he might not be as familiar personally with some of the younger Brits, he gets the importance and the role they play on teams and as part of the club. Ben Simon really didn't, to the point where Dowd decides to go to Belfast the following year.
Thompson was a disaster-for us. I'd say he knew the league and Brits but he's what 6-8 years removed so I'm not sure that he still does.
Definitely successful before and after he came to us and I will watch with interest how it goes for him. With us and Belfast the alleged big spenders, the resurgent Panthers under Stewart, Clan looking to push on, it's not going to be easy for him.
A disaster that won a league title and a playoffs? The last 2 seasons I agree were not good, but again, that doesn't mean he's a bad coach. Every season there's a team that doesn't perform to expectations, and some that exceed them. There's so many factors that play a part in it, and even brilliant coaches make errors. I think given his record overall, it suggests that he's a very successful coach. That's why I can't quite understand the lack of respect for him as a coach.
Agree it's not going to be easy given the other teams in the league currently, but that's equal for the others as well. It's the old thing that always comes around - we all say we want a competitive league until our team doesn't win trophies.
And whilst he might not be as familiar personally with some of the younger Brits, he gets the importance and the role they play on teams and as part of the club. Ben Simon really didn't, to the point where Dowd decides to go to Belfast the following year.
I knew that would be the comeback, the first year was in spite of him not because of him. He was handed a decent team on a plate. The more he got his hands into the club, the worse we got. Anyway, just my opinion and I'm glad we finally moved on from him.
Would not say he is a terrible coach,,,,, he is not my type of coach,, i dont really like the technical type coaches,, thommo, doug christian etc,, im always in the man management type coach [a players coach], blaisdale,, keefe etc.
That's why I can't quite understand the lack of respect for him as a coach.
He replaced a popular coach and inherited a good team from Gerad Adams and then went downhill from there with questionable recruitment and an uninspiring playing style , that last season was pure misery and had he been anyone else he would not have even started it as coach of the Steelers had Simms not been his mate. His closeness to such a divisive figure probably didn't help amongst some sections of the fanbase either. I welcomed his appointment but cheered his departure.
I accept he is a qualified and experienced coach but a good one ?, not really, not in the EIHL, apart from a short period of success on the back of a couple of decent players at Coventry I don't think he was that good. The atmosphere around the club that last 18 months was poisonous and caused a fracture between large parts of the fanbase and the management.
The atmosphere around the club that last 18 months was poisonous and caused a fracture between large parts of the fanbase and the management.
The atmosphere was so bad, they had to stop showing his photo on the ‘tron’ . The booing got louder as the season progressed, a coach of the Steelers being booed by his own fans was not a good start to the evenings proceedings especially before a puck had been dropped! His anointment as being the best coach the Steelers had ever had certainly became an albatross around his neck, and annoyed many fans who had seen the real greats who stood behind our bench.
The atmosphere around the club that last 18 months was poisonous and caused a fracture between large parts of the fanbase and the management.
The atmosphere was so bad, they had to stop showing his photo on the ‘tron’ . The booing got louder as the season progressed, a coach of the Steelers being booed by his own fans was not a good start to the evenings proceedings especially before a puck had been dropped! His anointment as being the best coach the Steelers had ever had certainly became an albatross around his neck, and annoyed many fans who had seen the real greats who stood behind our bench.
Yeah I remember that. People react differently to being disliked, some use it as motivation and thrive on it, Simms is one of those, despite being hated by a fair percentage of hockey fans he seems to think it means he's doing something right, personally I think it means you should consider visiting a psychiatrist but each to their own.
I wonder if that phrase from Simms became a problem for Thompson as it seemed to focus the problem on the coach and was used to ridicule him, Thompson certainly seemed badly affected by it towards the end and it wasn't pleasant to see from a human perspective.
I think the phrase was , “ He is the best coach Steelers have ever had by a country mile. “
The results and style of play went rapidly downhill after that.
I know people who stopped going to matches even though they had a season ticket. I also remember players saying at forums that they were constantly bombarded with videos to the point of boredom.
It said everything when management removed him from the tron when the team was introduced! Hilarious.
I think Coventry have gone a better way , appointing a young forward thinking coach last year.
I'm another one who thought Thompson was a disaster for us.
He did win a league title, but I put that mainly down to the key players he inherited from Gerad.
From the point he took us over, we gradually went backwards each season until the point even the management could no longer ignore it.
I thought we actually did him a favour by relieving him of his duties, because he looked a broken man, which wasn't nice to see.
There's no doubt he did a fantastic job at Coventry and quite rightly is a club legend there. He did have the advantage of the Uni courses there, which I believe they were the first club to utilise them. I still maintain that Martin, who went to Coventry due to the Uni, was the most influential defenceman in the EIHL era.
His recruitment in Coventry was generally very good, something he didn't really emulate here in Sheffield.
I do wonder if he got a bit too clever for his own good when he came here to Sheffield. I recall lots of talk in the media about him taking various hockey training courses and perhaps he spent too much time on systems and less being the instinctive coach he was at Coventry.
Although he'll probably never admit it, I do wonder if in quiet moments Tony thinks 'what if' had he stuck with Gerad.
Anyway, good luck to Thompson, I've always thought he seemed a decent bloke and wish him well.....although not against us.
I hope he gets a good reception when he's introduced to our supporters, because there's no doubt he gave his all for us.
My point is that he's obviously not a bad coach, he just didn't get it right in Sheffield. He replaced Adams as G didn't want to do all the other stuff that Thommo did to put in place the structure at the club that Fox has built on. Adams hasn't worked in hockey since, Thommo may have failed in Sheffield overall, but he then went and won championships in 2 other countries.
Not many in sport succeed with every team/job they take. Doesn't make them bad coaches/players
Having had a few years to reflect Paul Thompson tenure as coach was always doomed for failure because of the way that he was initially brought into the club and how this was managed there after.
On reflection, he was set up to fail from the get go.
The comments from within the club put him on a pedestal. He was taking over from a successful coach who many felt deserved the chance to take us to the next level.
I also feel that the club was in a different place back then and trying to develop something it and the league weren’t ready for but where we are closer to now with the Steeldogs and junior development. I beleive that was the intention and it was possibly felt that Paul Thompson experience in Europe would help with this and that may have been the case had the club and league been down that route but we weren’t.
It’s clear that he is a good coach because you don’t achieve all of the things he us if you aren’t you just don’t.
At the time it was so frustrating because we as fans could see at the time that it just wasn’t a good fit and that in hindsight, egos and stubbornness got in the way and it became personal when it didn’t need to be.
I feel that many could have behaved better even me because I remember getting into heated debates online with various people.
It just didn’t work and sometimes in life it’s a case of right person wrong time and that’s ok.
