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• Sun sets on Eade, but he will be in demand
GOLD Coast says its search to replace sacked coach Rodney Eade will start once its season finishes in three weeks.
But the club insists it hasn't spoken to a single candidate yet.
Eade was told on Monday night by CEO Mark Evans the Suns' board had unanimously voted against extending the veteran coach's contract beyond this season.
He chose not to coach the final three matches of the season, with assistant coach Dean Solomon to take the reins for the games against the Brisbane Lions, Essendon and Port Adelaide.
Sun sets on Eade, but will he be in demand?
Speaking to a packed press conference at Carrara on Tuesday afternoon, chairman Tony Cochrane said Eade's 16 wins and a draw from 63 matches just wasn't good enough.
Cochrane praised Eade for his ability to improve the club's professionalism and culture, but said the Suns were in the same position as they were after sacking inaugural coach Guy McKenna following the 2014 season.
"It's as simple as wins and losses," Cochrane said.
"At the start of this year we had a very strong belief around this club that we would challenge for the top eight and we simply have failed.
"We are simply in the same position, if we're going to be really honest, as we were three years ago and that's not good enough for our board.
"Our board duly considered this, they spent hours on it yesterday afternoon, and to a person, we reached a unanimous decision that it doesn't matter how you assess it, the win-loss ratio is not what we want it to be, not even close."
Suns CEO Mark Evans and chairman Tony Cochrane at Tuesday's media conference. Picture: AFL Photos
Evans said he had considered the shocking injury toll under Eade's guidance in his presentation to the board.
"In the early years, Rodney would be quite straight in saying he didn't have a lot of player availability and that would ultimately impact wins and losses, but when you're reviewing the totality of football, you're not looking deep into history, you're assessing now, and more than that, what the future is," Evans said.
"With all of those elements, we've come to the decision that that will require a new senior coach."
Eade might not be the last to get the chop either, with Evans hinting at "a number of improvements we still need to make within our program" as part of his football department review.
Football manager Marcus Ashcroft, list manager Scott Clayton and the four assistant coaches – including Solomon – are all in limbo.
Cochrane said the Suns had not spent "a known second" on discussing Eade's replacement, while Evans would also not be drawn on the coach's successor.
"You would think that somewhere in that immediate post season, call it one month to two months from there, you'd think it'd play out there."
In a mid-season fan survey on AFL.com.au, Eade was the least supported of the 18 AFL coaches, with just 53 per cent of Suns fans giving him their backing.
Sydney assistant coach Stuart Dew, Hawthorn assistant Brett Ratten and Carlton assistant John Barker are among the favourites to replace Eade.
Who will replace Rodney Eade at the Suns?
