While the overhaul of the Raiders may have already begun with the release of DeAngelo Hall, the Al Davis statement that he will hire a GM type person and the reports that the Raiders are already lining up head coaching candidates.

Well , then we have this interview with Nnamdi after the game last night where he reacts after the loss to the Chargers with some brutal honesty. It really shows in a nut shell where the Raiders are at as a team:

Asomugha: We're not even close

After seeing that, the kind of overhaul that it is going to take to fix the Raiders is going to have to be of nuclear proportions. I mean, it's not just about the quality of the players and the coaches, it is really going to take a massive cultural change to get this thing straightened out. That cultural change starts at the top with Al Davis. Let's avoid all the personal attacking of Al and just look at the problem and the solutions. While Al is a part of the problem he is also going to have to be part of the solution, because he is not going anywhere.

I believe that the real problem with Al is not that the game has passed him by, as many like to say, but that the contemporary player in sports has passed him by. Players now, not all, but the majority are really playing for the big contract and guaranteed money now and the passion of the game is secondary. In the 70's, which I really believed were and will always be the glory days of the NFL, it passion first and the money (none of which was guaranteed) 2nd.

Al believes that players just want to put on that Raider uniform, bleed Silver & Black and give their life to the Raiders. For many, many of the 70's Raiders that was the case. Not now, as today's players care more for their pay checks and their bling.

I believe now, based upon the way Al said some things at the Kiffin press conference, that he is coming to terms with the modern player in today's NFL. That being said, I beleive that Al will finally do what is necessary for the organization and bring what is most needed, structure and discipline, by overhauling the front office and bringing in a GM type ( not a puppet) change the culture.  The Raider fans are the most loyal in the world but we will not tolerate a repeat of this next season. The dollar value of the franchise as is Al's legacy are on the line now and this just cannot continue.There is no other choice and Al knows it.

This is why the new year for me is not January 1st but December 28th, right after the final gun in Tampa, the Raiders demolition and organizational rebuild begins.

Now this from Jerry McDonald's blog:

While Nnamdi Asomugha was giving his grim “State of the Raiders” address Thursday night, there was laughter from across the locker room coming from the general area of the defensive line.

(Some of it is audible on NFL.com in the interview with Asomugha).

He was asked if there was enough frustration in the locker room considering the Raiders were coming off a 34-7 loss in prime time.

“I don’t know. You’re hearing a lot of laughing. You’re hearing a lot of the same thing after every game. I can’t go to each person. I know there are certain guys that are frustrated after every game, like (Derrick) Burgess, Gibril (Wilson), who came from a different team . . . Tommy Kelly.

“There’s guys that are frustrated every game, and you know that. I can’t pinpoint every single guy and get in their face and say, ‘You guys aren’t frustrated enough, and we got to do better.’ ”

Asomugha’s observation met with Tom Cable’s seal of approval Friday.

“I think anytime you get beat, I don’t know if there is anything to laugh about,” Cable said. “I don’t think there’s anything that makes you feel good when you get beat. If it hurts when you lose then you feel right about the game. if it’s OK and you can accept it, then you know, it’s tough for a lot of guys in that locker room to hear that or witness that. And I thought he was very fair with his comments.”

Cable was asked if the culture of losing which has gone on for six seasons has overtaken the locker room to the point where losing doesn’t hurt as much because it happens so often.

“Man, I hope not. I hope that’s not true,” Cable said. “I don’t know. That’s a hard one for me to answer because that ain’t my world. If that’s the case then there’s real issues. I hope not, but it did happen. You just hope that hurts. Losing hurts. It’s supposed to.”

This is exactly what I've been saying. Many of these players we have simply don't give a shit! They are here just to collect a paycheck then move on to their next opportunity.

The team must purge itself of these players, no matter how talented they are, change the culture from the top down or else as Nnamdi says, nothing has changed nothing will change.