Embattled St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has laughed off the speculation over his future that flared the same day he met his new boss.
Richardson met incoming club president Andrew Bassat on Monday as rumours swirled he was about to be sacked.
But the meeting was a positive meet-and-greet rather than a discussion about the coach’s position.
The Saints have vowed Richardson won’t be made a scapegoat for the disastrous four-win AFL season that saw them finish 16th.
But speculation he was out at Moorabbin gathered such momentum on Monday that former Collingwood teammate Tony Shaw felt compelled to text Richardson to warn him his job was in grave danger.
“It’s disappointing … I don’t know where it comes from,” Richardson said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I don’t know why (that sort of talk) gets the credibility it gets … it’s almost laughable and you just get on with work.
“It becomes a bit of a laugh around the footy club, ‘Geez, Richo look out, you’re in strife’, and that’s what footy clubs are good at.
“They look for opportunities to have a crack and they didn’t miss me this morning at the footy club … it was good.”
Bassat will take over from outgoing president Peter Summers in December in the latest of a number of changes at the struggling club.
Brett Ratten and Brendon Lade will join Richardson’s coaching panel, with assistant coaches Simon McPhee, Rohan Welsh and Lindsay Gilbee departing.
Former Adelaide player James Gallagher has also been appointed to the role of list manager vacated by Tony Elshaug earlier this year.
Richardson expects Bassat to be a challenging president who has his own very clear thoughts on the way forward for the club.
But he set tongues wagging at his introductory media conference when he said it was highly likely Richardson would be at the helm next season instead of unequivocally guaranteeing it.
The remarks allowed speculation to continue to simmer and Bassat phoned the coach to clear the air.
“He just wanted to follow up that it didn’t quite come out the way (he meant),” Richardson said.
“He was quite apologetic about some of the ways that was reported.”
