LAST week the board of the Adelaide Football Club made the extremely tough decision to part ways with senior coach Brenton Sanderson.

This week our attention has turned to finding his best possible replacement.

A shortlist of people has now been created and given the responsibility to go through the thorough process of finding the best man for the job.

There will be six people on this committee.

They will include our head of football operations David Noble, head of list management Andrew Payze, experienced football guru Alan Stewart, and myself.

We will also add two more well credentialed football people to the selection group, at the interview stage.

They will consist of a recently retired player and an external experienced football person.

Before I start talking about the selection process I need to make clear that, as professional practice when recruiting for a position, I won’t talk specifically about individuals.

Individuals mentioned below are just examples of names that have been thrown around in the media and betting markets. They do not represent a shortlist for the Adelaide Football Club senior coaching role.

I will just steer you through the process of getting to the right man without giving you a running commentary on our potential candidates.

Right now, the selection group is busily going through process of finding out who is capable of doing the job.

The first place you look is at the current senior coaches of AFL clubs to see who is available.

But what you typically find is that the good ones are usually contracted and sewn up for the next few years and only in extreme circumstances can those contracts be broken.

You also look at coaches that have recently exited jobs, that may or may not be currently in the system, to see if they might fit the mould. Guys like Mark Thompson, Mark Williams, Michael Voss, Brett Ratten, John Worsfold, Rodney Eade etc.

The next place you look is as all the current assistant coaches, of which there are more than 100 across the 18 clubs.

Names that have been spruiked around include Stuart Dew and John Blakey (Sydney), Scott Burns, Robert Harvey and Ben Hart (Collingwood), Nathan Bassett (Essendon), Brett Kirk and Peter Sumich (Fremantle), Brendan Bolton (Hawthorn), Brendan Lade (Richmond), Brett Montgomery (Western Bulldogs), Blake Caracella (Geelong), Darren Crocker (North Melbourne) and Mark Bickley (Adelaide).

media_camera Eddie Betts talks to Mark Bickley during a training session. Picture: Sarah Reed.

It would be highly unlikely that a coach would come from another competition like the SANFL, or another state league, or even another sport.

At this point, the list is quite large, as you can see above.

This is where the hard work starts. The best possible way of finding out more about each of the individuals is to get on the phone and ring as many people as possible to find out as much information as possible, to start reducing this list down to a more manageable size.

This is an extremely exhaustive process and the more thoroughly it’s done, the better chance you have of finding your man.

While the more people you speak to the better during this stage of the process, you also have to be careful about what you listen to and what you don’t.

It’s inevitable that some opinions could be slanted, tainted, or influenced by any number of events in the past.

media_camera Bomber Thompson’s name has been thrown around as a potential replacement for Sanderson. Picture:Wayne Ludbey

This is where the people on the selection panel have to use their judgment to decipher what is important and what isn’t.

People have been asking me what type of coach does the Adelaide Football Club need?

The short answer is one that can take us to our next premiership.

In my eyes, there are three key areas that a coach has to get right to take a team to a flag.

1 Culture: Developing a strong culture is critical to setting the standards and expectations of what your team stands for. When you develop a good culture, you develop behaviours within your football club that end up becoming habits that everyone expects to live and breathe.

Standards need to be clear and achievable to all and the senior coach must drive the culture and set those standards and ensured they are adhered to consistently.

2. Leadership: The senior coach is the leader of the playing group and the other coaches. He is also a leader of the other football staff, as well as the members and supporters of the footy club. To be a leader you have to have followers, which means you need buy in from your players and staff on all of your plans and ideas. Strong communication and relationships, as well as giving and receiving feedback, is critical to success in this area.

3. Game and tactics: The ability to design, educate and then train a plan is a major role for a senior coach. The coach needs to develop systems and processes that enable his players to execute the game plan under extreme pressure. To do this successfully, he must create an environment that is both motivating and enjoyable, so they can maximise their potential consistently.

I want all of the members and supporters of the Adelaide Football Club to understand that the committee charged with the responsibility of finding our next senior coach is doing everything it can to find the man who can display the above traits, and start the journey towards our next premiership.