Pressure builds for under-fire Clarkson

IN rare air, Alastair Clarkson finds himself on top of the agenda.

The best coach of the past 15 years is being questioned about ... well, his coaching.

His side is too boring. Too old. They don’t play with enough dare — too many short and sideways kicks. They have a reluctance to play on.

And he is being questioned about team selection.

As a result, there is now a query on whether he is the man to rebuild the Hawks.

Frustration abounds among the Hawks faithful and among former premiership greats.

Dermott Brereton said on Fox Footy on Saturday that the Hawks had played nonthreatening football the night before.

It was a small smack at

Clarkson.

Shane Crawford implored Clarkson to speed up ball movement.

“It‘s like a game of keepings off and I’m going to switch off if that’s going to be the case,’’ Crawford said on Channel 9.

“Come on, Mr Clarkson, great man that he is, spark them up a bit. Go direct, take the game on, be bold and be brave.”

It was a decent crack at Clarkson’s coaching.

The Hawks are 3-3 win-loss and have lost to Geelong, GWS and Collingwood.

Among them was a “dreadful’’ performance against North Melbourne which they narrowly won.

Let‘s agree, none of the former greats are wrong.

The Hawks are playing ordinary football, albeit against some top-end teams, but ordinary football all the same. And now the four-time premiership coach, who has been accused of having Bat-phone to office of the AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, is under pressure.

Not for his job — that’s preposterous thinking — but certainly his coaching strategy.

Hawks president, Jeff Kennett, is not panicking. He dismissed the critics on Monday.

“When you’ve had two games like we have had, it’s very easy for people to question Clarko publicly, but the reality is those who question should know how Hawthorn operates,’’ he said.

“We have absolute confidence in Clarko, there has been no discussions whatsoever about his contract, which we expect him to complete in two or three years’ time (end of 2022).

He added: “This is not the time for getting overly excited, just to stick to your knitting and hopefully see an improvement this week.’’

The Hawks play Melbourne at Giants Stadium on Sunday.