Lyon lacked respect, was condescending and belittling to journos

There’s been a call to boycott St Kilda coach Ross Lyon’s press conferences.

Lyon’s responses to journalists after his side lost to Adelaide by one point on Saturday night have been described as lacking in respect, condescending and belittling.

That narrow defeat has the Saints sitting 13th with a 2-4 record and a percentage of 92.6 which led to questions about where Lyon believes his side is at.

The way he responded could be seen as “vintage Ross” but some see it as “just not good enough”, which is how Liam Pickering feels about it.

“I didn’t like it at all. He’s condescending to the reporter, he belittles them,” Pickering said on SEN’s Crunch Time.

“It just doesn’t cut it for mine, and he does it regularly especially when they lose. If I was a journo I wouldn’t bother turning up.

“And he’s getting away with it, that’s the reality, ‘Oh, that’s just Ross, he’s feisty’. It’s just not good enough in my opinion.”

Former Crows forward Josh Jenkins concurs with Pickering’s sentiments.

Wile Jenkins admits he can learn plenty from Lyon’s media appearances, he does believe the Saints boss lacked respect on this occasion.

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Jenkins said.

“I just wouldn’t go (to his press conferences). I don’t know whether collectively the four to six journalists who all go can get together and say, ‘We’re just not going’.

“What I don’t like about it is it’s a level playing field, he’s not on a pedestal and they’re down beneath him as people or in their respective professions. There’s just not a level of respect there.

“He doesn’t do it every week, and often he can be very entertaining and very informative. I enjoyed the pre-game interview he did with Fox Footy when he referenced the fact that their mail was (Max) Michalanney was going to play on Nasiah (Wanganeen-Milera).

“That’s great stuff and he can be really entertaining. He was almost testing reporters, ‘Who have we played? And then who did we play? Say it louder, I couldn’t hear you’.

“It’s just all nonsense and it’s all noise and it’s all deflection away. They are playing a brand of footy that can give them an opportunity to win games but at the end of the day you are what your record says you are.

“You’re two wins and four losses, so you’ve got to find a way to get better versus sitting in there and making other people look inferior.”

The Saints next meet West Coast at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.