With Brenton Sanderson being sacked by Adelaide on Wednesday, Essendon assistant Goodwin was one of the favourites to replace the departed coach, especially as he’s a former Crows’ premiership player and a good friend and former team-mate of the club’s newest board member Mark Ricciuto.
But before Adelaide could make their move, Melbourne swept in, signing Goodwin to a five-year deal, as a senior assistant to Roos for 2015-16, before he takes over as Melbourne’s senior coach for 2017-19.
BREAKING: We will announce the appointment of Simon Goodwin to our coaching panel in a press conference at 12:30pm. pic.twitter.com/82yf9MtYPA
— Melbourne FC (@melbournefc) September 18, 2014
Sanderson was sacked by the Crows, despite having a 57 percent winning percentage, the best of any Adelaide coach, after three years at the helm.
But Sanderson’s Adelaide side never lived up to the promise of their 2012 Preliminary Final appearance as they narrowly missed the finals in the next two seasons.
Sanderson, though, was hampered by the departure of Kurt Tippett, a draft punishment imposed due to Tippett’s contract, a serious knee injury to Taylor Walker and the tragic passing of Dean Bailey that left the Crows without a senior assistant coach for the 2014 campaign.
It was thought Adelaide only made the decision on Sanderson as they had a replacement lined up, but with Goodwin having signed with the Demons, they may find themselves with egg on their face, as Brisbane did last year when they sacked Michael Voss and then found Paul Roos unwilling to take the role.
It will be interesting to see whether Adelaide and Melbourne's moves precipitate Gold Coast sacking Guy McKenna as well, with reports emerging his position at the Suns could be under threat following Thursday's review of football operations, despite McKenna having a year remaining on his contract.