I slight flaw in your argument about coaches all being rookies at one point. While that is true, these coaches usually earned their stripes through the grades and were hired based on results and recommendations.
Through no fault of his own, Benji was not able to serve his apprenticeship, however he hadn't so much as coached a juniors team, let alone an adult team.
I agree we should stick it out, but if, for some reason, the holy grail of coaches becomes available, I'd support a decision to demote Benji and allow him to finish his apprenticeship.
If I may respond in the same respectful good faith manner:
“Through no fault of his own, Benji was not able to serve his apprenticeship..”
The assumption you may have made here is that he was somehow forced to take the job and that lets him off the hook and portrays him as some kind of unwilling victim.
I beg to differ.
At all material times, Benji could have declined the first grade coaches position he was offered on several bases.
Including the fact that the contractual expectation was for another year at least under the catastrophic reign of Tim’s less than triumphant second coming.
But he was determined to strike whilst the iron was hot so far as he was concerned and he cared not for his own inexperience.
I don’t wish to the cruel, but when the job is best handled by a master tradesman, I don’t want to see the first year apprentice turn up with some of the wrong tools and try to muddle through.
What Benji failed to realise is that he wasn’t quite ready. Every time he uses the “rookie coach” excuse, that’s an admission of his shortcomings to some extent.
I would have thought that Benji and those throwing the dice on his development, should have realised that he was far better off waiting for the “draining of the swamp” of the roster and more exposure to successful coaching.
Recalling and pointing out that on many occasions Benji has cited Tim as a major influence. That makes me nervous.
Patience can be a virtue.
I remain disappointed that he took off overseas for a 5 star holiday when the ship had been holed and water was gushing in unimpeded.
For the record, I wanted Des Hasler and I don’t dislike Benji in anyway. He is trying, but the Cult of Benji seems to be struggling to get bums on seats these day.
We are stuck with him for awhile, so my views don’t have any force whatsoever at this point!