It's time to address the elephant in the room: Adam Simpson has to go

• Lyon rejects 'snitch' culture claims

It's time to stop skirting around the issue: Adam Simpson has to go at the end of the season.

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West Coast last quarter fade-outs have gone from a problem to an epidemic and the blame rests squarely with the coach.

Simpson can spin it all he wants and claim he will "interrogate" the players to uncover whether the last quarter meltdown was a "mental, fitness or personal" issue.

The Eagles are soft and have a glass jaw and the rest of the competition knows it.

West Coast need to clean the slate, start from scratch, go back to the drawing board: call it what you bloody want, but Simpson is not the man for the job.

The Eagles' last minute capitulation to a Pies' side that only had 20 fit men after half time was inexcusable for a team wanting to take part in September.

But the inability of a number of key Eagles players to get their hands on the ball when the game was on the line was more damning.  

The Eagles lost the contested ball count 16 to 38 in the last quarter. The midfield quartet of Luke Shuey, Andrew Gaff, Matt Priddis and Dom Sheed didn't get one between them.

But the last quarter collapses are glossing over a major problem that has existed at the club for years: Simpson has failed to install a bit of old-fashioned mongrel into his players during his four years at the helm.

From all reports Simpson is a top bloke. But would Hawthorn have been so successful if Alistair Clarkson was a cheerful chap?

Simpson did a remarkable job to get the Eagles into the 2015 Grand Final on the back of the 'Weagles web'.

But the game has evolved since and too many times throughout the season Simpson has looked like a man without a fresh bag of tricks.

The Eagles could still play finals but West Coast have the worst percentage of any of the sides in the current top eight so it would need to win four of its final five games to have any hope.

Even if the Eagles manage to drag themselves into the finals in reality the club is only making up numbers.

Then what?

The Eagles start 2018 with the same coach and the same problems and one of the oldest lists in the AFL.

(And the tiresome argument the Eagles would be a much better side with Nic Naitanui doesn't cut the mustard anymore).

At the other end of the scale a number of senior West Coast players have failed to fire this season.

Only two weeks ago, the Eagles took the extraordinary step of blaming the WAFL fixtures for not playing a number of kids this season, claiming the club's feeder side East Perth had too many byes over a number of weeks.

Talented midfielder Luke Partington has been in blistering form at East Perth but can't get a look in because of the club's insistence of playing the old guard instead of injecting youth.

Partington was again East Perth's leading possession winner on the weekend, picking up 29 touches in the Royals' loss to South Fremantle.

Malcolm Karpany has shown glimpses but the rest of the Eagles' youngsters have barely been sighted throughout the season.

There is no denying defender Tom Barrass is a prodigious talent but he has been found out on too many occasions because opposition coaches have isolated him one-on-one with their forwards.

But the 21-year-old is still young and his intercept marking is only second to Jeremy McGovern.

Chris Masten has looked too slow and it's hard to see Sharrod Wellingham, Josh Hill and Eric Mackenzie playing for the Eagles again this season.

Defender Will Schofield has struggled to match it against opposition power forwards and his future at the club must be in serious doubt.

Mark LeCras has been one of the most talented small forwards to play the game in the last decade but the 30-year-old has barely had a four-quarter effort all season.

And the Eagles are stuck with an underperforming Matt Priddis for another year.

I was told by a respected WA football commentator that criticising Priddis was the equivalent of killing Bambi, but the Eagles should never have offered him a one-year contract.

Even if the Eagles fail to win another game for the year Simpson's job is safe.

But if West Coast was brave and ballsy it would seriously look at sacking Simpson and replacing him with former West Coast great Peter Sumich.

The rumours out of Eagles HQ was Sumich was about to be appointed West Coast's coach in 2014 but was pipped at the last minute by Simpson.

Sumich has done a stunning job with the state's under-18 side and would bring a hardness to the Eagles - serious lacking under Simpson.

Sumich has the pedigree to take over the reins at West Coach having spent five seasons as an assistant coach to Ross Lyon at Fremantle, after a decade as senior assistant to Worsfold from 2002.

The Eagles could surround Sumich with the likes of Sam Mitchell, who gave the clearest indications yet he will not be playing next season after spending the Eagles' loss to Collingwood in the coaches box.

The Eagles fall down the ladder next year could be swift and dramatic because of its inability to blood any youngsters this season.

Even if Simpson can reinvent himself and produce some new stunning game plan in 2018, he can't shy away from the fact the Eagles have a soft underbelly.

West Coast need a coach who can bring a bit of mongrel back to the club and I'm not sure having someone like Simpson who is a "top bloke" at the helm is the right idea.