West Coast Eagles senior coach John Worsfold and his team has the full support of the club’s board and management, Chief Executive Officer Trevor Nisbett said emphatically today.

Nisbett was responding to a series of media reports across the weekend suggesting Worsfold was under pressure to see out his coaching contract, which expires at the end of the 2011 season.

“John is contracted to coach until the end of the 2011 season and he will coach our club until at least then,” West Coast Eagles Chief Executive Officer Trevor Nisbett said today.

“When you don’t win games in this business, everyone at the football club is under pressure and of course John is feeling that pressure as he wants our team performing to its optimum. Speculation about John’s future is a nonsense.

“We have faith in our coaching structure, have confidence in the direction we are taking and are looking forward to watching the development of our list in coming seasons.

“We understand that a number of our supporters are frustrated that we are not winning games and may have some doubts about the direction we are taking with our club. We would all like our improvement to be more rapid.

“But to build anything of substance takes time. The West Coast Eagles board backed John and his coaching staff last year when we extended his contract and we maintain our confidence in John and his team.”

Worsfold took over the club’s coaching reins in 2002 and led the club to finals in his first season, after it had finished 13th and 14th in the preceding seasons. In his first six seasons the club did not fail to play in the finals, including the 2005 and 2006 grand finals, with West Coast winning its third flag in 2006.

After losing several champion and senior players after the 2007 campaign, the club has been re-building its squad, but has missed finals in the last two seasons and is currently sitting in 14th position with three wins from the first 10 games. 

“There is no quick fix in this business and because of the success our club has enjoyed since its inception a lot of people find it difficult to accept some of the performances they are seeing.

“Different clubs employ different methods of sustaining their playing list. We have traditionally drafted from beneath while others have traded heavily to bring experience in from other clubs.

“Given the youth of our squad - and the next couple of drafts which will be compromised with two additional teams entering the competition - we might need to look at recruiting experienced players from other clubs. We are constantly reviewing our squad and what we need to find the improvement we are looking for as quickly as possible.”

Nisbett said it had been tough on some of the younger players who had been asked to take on greater responsibility in this evolving team because of a lack of seniority on field - particularly in the absence of star midfielder Daniel Kerr and more recently captain Darren Glass.