Saints president Andrew Bassat and chief executive Simon Lethlean hoped to keep the focus on Ratten at Friday's media conference, called after the stunning revelation the night before that their coach was gone.
The folly of that strategy was laid bare with the first question from the media - had they spoken to Ross Lyon?
There is widespread speculation Lyon is in the frame for a return to the Saints, having led them to within a whisker of their second premiership in 2009-10.
Bassat and Lethlean would only speak in the broadest terms about who they want to replace Ratten.
"We don't yet have the winning culture or ruthless commitment to football excellence that we need," Bassat said.
While Bassat admitted to regret about granting Ratten a contract extension on July 8, he and Lethlean would not go into detail about the football department review that sealed the coach's fate.
That review, commissioned in July, was headed by Bassat and has led to the appointment of veteran football administrator Geoff Walsh as the club's new football boss.
Bassat and Lethlean were adamant Walsh, who starts on November 1, had no role in Ratten's sacking.
Details of the review findings will be released to members "in the coming days", Bassat said.Â
Ratten was reappointed when St Kilda looked finals-bound with a 9-6 record. They won only two of their last seven games to finish 10th.
St Kilda had a quiet trade period and missed out on snaring Collingwood star Jordan De Goey.
Ratten, 51, took over as caretaker coach midway through the 2019 season when Alan Richardson was sacked and has had three full campaigns at the helm.
He led St Kilda to the finals in 2020, when the Saints won an elimination final against the Western Bulldogs, but they missed the eight last season.
Bassat and Lethlean spoke repeatedly on Friday about Ratten's dignity and class.
"I hope he's off fishing right now with people he loves and trusts - that's where he deserves to be," Lethlean said.
But Bassat made the damning concession that Ratten did not have a good enough structure at the club.
"We've acknowledged we've done something wrong - we've vowed to get it right," he said.
"Given the bunch of things we need to do better at our club, we can't look back and say Brett was absolutely set up for success.
"That makes this decision even harsher, but ... even with a better set-up around him, we felt there were coaches potentially with different characteristics who gave us a far greater chance of being successful."
Bassat said Ratten was "pretty blindsided" by the decision.
He and Lethlean said the club first let Ratten know last Sunday that his future was in doubt, giving the coach the chance to plead his case ahead of Thursday night's board decision.
Ratten was at the club to be told personally he was gone, with Bassat saying the decision was "very painful".
Lethlean was football manager from 2017 at St Kilda until his elevation to the CEO role in the last few weeks.
"The responsibility for this decision sits with me, there's no doubt ... I will own this decision," he said.
The Saints bosses said they had not yet spoken to any prospective coaches.
Bassat said they promised Ratten clarity at the start of year about his future by mid-season.
"If we as a club have regrets about that (reappointment) in hindsight, we cannot let those regrets get in the way of making the right decision for the future," he said.
30°C