djdeep4172
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Two weeks is a long time in the NRL.
Just 13 days ago Phil Gould lambasted the “childish” media after they speculated Trent Barrett’s job was under threat following the former’s takeover of a training Bulldogs session.
Now it has been revealed Barrett is set to be axed within the next 48 hours.
The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield told Big Sports Breakfast that Barrett would not surivive an emergency meeting Monday to discuss his future.
“He is gone,” Rothfield said on Sky Sports radio.
What’s more, Rothfield said the club would “orchestrate” Barrett’s impending sacking as a board decision but that Gould’s fingerprints would be all over it.
“People with any real knowledge of the situation know Gus has more power than the chairman, CEO or anybody within the club and it’s his decision.”
“What will happen is Trent Barrett, it will be orchestrated that (Barrett) resigns and stands down and says publicly he’s not in position to take the team forward.”
“Phil Gould can’t be seen as the person who sacks him. But he’s got a history of getting rid of coaches. You go back to Penrith with Ivan cleary and Anthony Griffin,” Rothfield said.
It is a massive U-turn from Bulldogs and particularly Gould, who boldly declared Barrett would be at the club long-term only a fortnight ago.
“Trent Barrett will be the coach of the Bulldogs long after I’m gone,” Gould said on Channel 9s 100% Footy.
“He’s a long-term coach for the club.
“All this stuff that was misrepresented and misspoken about, and most of this is so childish, agenda-driven and personal grievances I’ve been dealing with pretty much for the most part of my career.
“It doesn’t affect me, I don’t worry about it and I laugh in their face with it.
“What they then try to do is get it around people who are around me, so that I will respond.
“They will write rubbish, they will write lies... and hope that I will respond and tell the truth.
“I’ve never done it. I’ve never tried to protect my own image by putting others down.
“If I tell the truth about a lot of these other things, a lot of other people will be very, very embarrassed. I don’t do that.
“I wonder about the childishness of the people who comment on this without ever knowing the real facts.”
The facts, however, look set to show Barrett will be axed just weeks after recieving Gould’s full backing.
The Bulldogs best performance of the season came in an upset win over the Roosters, the same week Gould took over a training session in a bid to fire up the players.
Gould denied he was undermining Barrett at the time, saying he was responding to a request from the coach to help the team in any way he could.
“Trent asked me to present some data to the players before the Broncos game last week,” Gould said to Wide World of Sports.
“We got a good reaction. He wanted to give it another go this week, which we did. It was an honest appraisal.
“I was then talking to Trent in the middle of the field while players were doing some skill drills. They were a bit sluggish to start the week and I said to Trent they needed a liven up.
“He threw me his whistle. I was wearing jeans. It was a bit of fun and something different for the players. Not sure that my 1980s approach will change the world, but it was fun.
“I would do anything Trent asked me to do. (The story was a) huge over-reaction, but that’s typical.”
However, dour losses to the Raiders (14-4) and the Knights since that win over the Roosters seemed to have been the final straw for the Bulldogs.
Whether Gould is the public face of the club’s decision to sack Barrett or not, it is clear he and the Bulldogs finally ran out of patience.
The lack of improvement under Barrett was obvious with him overseeing the worst record by a coach in Bulldogs history.
Barrett coached just five wins from 33 games for a woeful win percentage of 15.2 since taking over the Bulldogs at the start of the 2021 season.
His overall NRL coaching record including his three seasons at Manly from 2016 to 2018 reads 34 wins from 107 games at a win percentage of 31.8.
Just 13 days ago Phil Gould lambasted the “childish” media after they speculated Trent Barrett’s job was under threat following the former’s takeover of a training Bulldogs session.
Now it has been revealed Barrett is set to be axed within the next 48 hours.
The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield told Big Sports Breakfast that Barrett would not surivive an emergency meeting Monday to discuss his future.
“He is gone,” Rothfield said on Sky Sports radio.
What’s more, Rothfield said the club would “orchestrate” Barrett’s impending sacking as a board decision but that Gould’s fingerprints would be all over it.
“People with any real knowledge of the situation know Gus has more power than the chairman, CEO or anybody within the club and it’s his decision.”
“What will happen is Trent Barrett, it will be orchestrated that (Barrett) resigns and stands down and says publicly he’s not in position to take the team forward.”
“Phil Gould can’t be seen as the person who sacks him. But he’s got a history of getting rid of coaches. You go back to Penrith with Ivan cleary and Anthony Griffin,” Rothfield said.
It is a massive U-turn from Bulldogs and particularly Gould, who boldly declared Barrett would be at the club long-term only a fortnight ago.
“Trent Barrett will be the coach of the Bulldogs long after I’m gone,” Gould said on Channel 9s 100% Footy.
“He’s a long-term coach for the club.
“All this stuff that was misrepresented and misspoken about, and most of this is so childish, agenda-driven and personal grievances I’ve been dealing with pretty much for the most part of my career.
“It doesn’t affect me, I don’t worry about it and I laugh in their face with it.
“What they then try to do is get it around people who are around me, so that I will respond.
“They will write rubbish, they will write lies... and hope that I will respond and tell the truth.
“I’ve never done it. I’ve never tried to protect my own image by putting others down.
“If I tell the truth about a lot of these other things, a lot of other people will be very, very embarrassed. I don’t do that.
“I wonder about the childishness of the people who comment on this without ever knowing the real facts.”
The facts, however, look set to show Barrett will be axed just weeks after recieving Gould’s full backing.
The Bulldogs best performance of the season came in an upset win over the Roosters, the same week Gould took over a training session in a bid to fire up the players.
Gould denied he was undermining Barrett at the time, saying he was responding to a request from the coach to help the team in any way he could.
“Trent asked me to present some data to the players before the Broncos game last week,” Gould said to Wide World of Sports.
“We got a good reaction. He wanted to give it another go this week, which we did. It was an honest appraisal.
“I was then talking to Trent in the middle of the field while players were doing some skill drills. They were a bit sluggish to start the week and I said to Trent they needed a liven up.
“He threw me his whistle. I was wearing jeans. It was a bit of fun and something different for the players. Not sure that my 1980s approach will change the world, but it was fun.
“I would do anything Trent asked me to do. (The story was a) huge over-reaction, but that’s typical.”
However, dour losses to the Raiders (14-4) and the Knights since that win over the Roosters seemed to have been the final straw for the Bulldogs.
Whether Gould is the public face of the club’s decision to sack Barrett or not, it is clear he and the Bulldogs finally ran out of patience.
The lack of improvement under Barrett was obvious with him overseeing the worst record by a coach in Bulldogs history.
Barrett coached just five wins from 33 games for a woeful win percentage of 15.2 since taking over the Bulldogs at the start of the 2021 season.
His overall NRL coaching record including his three seasons at Manly from 2016 to 2018 reads 34 wins from 107 games at a win percentage of 31.8.
