THE R WORD by Whispering Jack

Earlier this week, I attended a drawing room meeting at the home of a Melbourne Football Club Board member. The object was to whip up support for the club's Debt Demolition strategy and in particular for its major fundraising function to be held early next month. MFC Chairman Jimmy Stynes was the only speaker and he made a brief and impressive presentation about how he came to be in his current position, about the Board he put together, about the coach and the team and his aspirations for the future.

There were questions afterwards and, though Jimmy obviously had pressing business elsewhere (it turned out to be Paul McNamee’s last night as his CEO), he stayed on for a short while to take part in the host's refreshments with the gathering. It was during this time, that he was asked the question whether the club was going to draft Jack Watts, one of the heroes of the Victoria Metro's Under 18 National Championship winning team to which he responded that this was not his decision, that it was within the jurisdiction of the club's football department and more particularly its recruiting people in whom he placed his implicit faith.

I was thinking of that particular response this morning when I read Caroline Wilson's article in the Age about McNamee's departure from the club - Sharp words before knife.

Wilson, who has been has been chief football writer for The Age since 1999, wrote that prior to his departure McNamee had been "deep in talks with [Jonathan] Brown's management" and that an offer of a five-year $5 million-plus contract had been made to bring the triple premiership forward home to Victoria. She quoted McNamee as follows:

"I believed we could take on Collingwood … I was sick of making up the numbers as a football club and I felt … we could be the first, the premier club.

"I was going to be audacious in the player area and it was an area familiar to me. Federer, Agassi, Graf — the works. I've done it before. I said to them: What about Jonathan Brown? He stands for everything we are working towards and we have to work quickly. We don't have much time. But he didn't fit into their game plan."

Stynes quite rightly scuppered the plan when he was told about it.

The plan might have been audacious but it simply did not reflect the way in which the club, under coach Dean Bailey, has been going about rebuilding the team; nor does it reflect the time, place or space that the Melbourne playing list currently occupies. Rather, it reflects the vision of a CEO who is not football savvy and that the judgement of Stynes and his board about McNamee's place at the club was an accurate one.

We would all love a "quick fix" solution to the club's playing list problems but to throw money at a player who has his share of injury problems and will be 27 years old when the 2009 season opens would fly in the face of everything that Bailey and his team have been trying to achieve at the club.

The Demons will cop plenty of flak from the media about the McNamee departure and the way it was handled. They are an easy target at the moment. Stynes and his team should shrug that all off and stick to their plan for the club's revival. We don't want to be the "premier club" but rather the premiership club. To do that it takes time, patience, perseverance and yes - ruthlessness.

Toes were trodden upon in a ruthless manner when the so-called "premier club" Collingwood, then considered a basket case, came under the control of Eddie McGuire and his team. Likewise, with the Bulldogs and David Smorgon and, more recently, Melbourne's opponent for this week, North Melbourne.

That "R" word has finally found a meaning at the Melbourne Football Club. We need more of it - not less.

I read Caroline Wilson's article in the Age about McNamee's departure from the club - Sharp words before knife.

Glad Jimma sacked McNamee if these were his genius ideas to get us back on track. Brown has maximum three good years left IMHO.

Glad Jimma sacked McNamee if these were his genius ideas to get us back on track. Brown has maximum three good years left IMHO.

He is 26 (turning 27 in Rocktober).

Glad Jimma sacked McNamee if these were his genius ideas to get us back on track. Brown has maximum three good years left IMHO.

J. Brown would be a disaster for this club.

By the time we're any good he'll be about as useful as Kelvin Templeton was 25 years ago.

Roost It,

Thoughts of Templeton ran through my head when I read the article. His body is shot in my opinion

Let's not kid ourselves here. Brown is a champion player -- one of the best in the comp. He almost single handedly put them over the line against us. I'd be stoked to see him in our colours regardless of the stage of our development. Spare me the "he's a washed up old hack" lines; that's just tall poppy syndrome.

He's not the messiah though -- nobody is. If McNamee's idea of "saving" the club was to import big name players then he got it wrong. He could've imported a 22 year old Wayne Carey and it wouldn't have solved our problems.

Let's not kid ourselves here. Brown is a champion player -- one of the best in the comp. He almost single handedly put them over the line against us. I'd be stoked to see him in our colours regardless of the stage of our development. Spare me the "he's a washed up old hack" lines; that's just tall poppy syndrome.

He's not the messiah though -- nobody is. If McNamee's idea of "saving" the club was to import big name players then he got it wrong. He could've imported a 22 year old Wayne Carey and it wouldn't have solved our problems.

Jonathon Brown is a champion. Given that we have a lot of older players retiring/delisted at the end of the year, there would be plenty of room in the cap. But I would not be willing to give up what would be required to get him at his age. He has 3 or 4 good years left. As you say Nasher, one player will not turn around the club. I trust Jimmy to build a sustainable off field unit complimented by a young, exciting list.

Wow. Jimmy is not letting anything get in his way. I love it.

We need a superstar or two, but we need them in 2 - 3 years, i would be more happy if we created our own i.e Jack Watts

We need superstars.

But through the draft.

If MFC do not win a premiership in the next 20 years, we will 100% have folded as a club.

The only real way to turn our situation around is through on field success.

There's a reason why we have an aging supporter base. most of our supporters grew up when we were a powerhouse. Young kidz want to support the best team.

I guarantee you if MFC won the next 3 premierships, our financial position would turn around completely and every auskick kid would want to support us.

So, the idea of focusing on getting a champion player that can turn around our onfield fortunes is not as silly as it sounds.

However, I believe we are more likely to gain on field success by relying on our own drafting than by trading. so in that sense I disagree with McNamee.

I am not against getting a champion player but a million dollars a year for 5 years is too much for any player (maybe buddy franklin is the exception) given our current ladder /list position and finances

J. Brown would be a disaster for this club.

By the time we're any good he'll be about as useful as Kelvin Templeton was 25 years ago.

Bingo. Give the man a cigar. This has the same naive smell of the Moore Templeton recruitment, that these two could win a flag.

Brown as good a player as he is or has been, carries a number of injuries that in time will finish him off. A five year million dollar a year contract would finish off Melbourne as well.

Did the CEO have the blessing of the footy department and the Board to make these alleged offers or go down this path, I think not.

By the way Brown won't leave the Lions anyway and we would just be used to push up his pay and then look foolish. In my view a stupid move.

The way forward for us is developing youth, recruiting more youth, improving our performance on and off the field. Bailey seems to be heading in the right direction. Under him, unlike the previous Coach, young talent is being nurtured. Just look at Garland, C & P Johnson, Aussie, Martin, Valenti, Dunn, Morton etc. How many games would they have got this year under the former Coach.

This year we may add another 8-10 players in the drafts and through trading.

We are on the right path on the field, now we need to fix it up off the field.

It's hard to believe that the CEO was unfamiliar with the football department's stated aim of building the club through youth.

What would a J. Brown cost the club? Our first two draft picks and a player?

The way forward for us is developing youth, recruiting more youth, improving our performance on and off the field. Bailey seems to be heading in the right direction. Under him, unlike the previous Coach, young talent is being nurtured. Just look at Garland, C & P Johnson, Aussie, Martin, Valenti, Dunn, Morton etc.

This year we may add another 8-10 players in the drafts and through trading.

We are on the right path on the field, now we need to fix it up off the field.

Agreed. And don't forget, there is still more to come from Bate, Newton and hopefully Frawley. Wheats has probbaly had his best year under Bailey and his body seems to be stronger.

If Beamer and Rivers can get there bodies right, the top up of class draft picks and possibly trades, will surely see improvement in 2009 and beyond.

Dees, we can get the job done !!!!!

Did the CEO have the blessing of the footy department and the Board to make these alleged offers or go down this path, I think not.

Exactly. Since when does the CEO manage recruiting? Seems like either Gardner gave him the green light or maybe Paul was a bit of a lone ranger

I guarantee you if MFC won the next 3 premierships, our financial position would turn around completely and every auskick kid would want to support us.

This is a misnomer that gets bandied around a lot. North Melbourne were the dominant team in the late 90s and almost got relocated last year. Hawthorn dominated for over a decade and their board still decided in 96 that they would put a merger proposal to the members.

On the other hand, freo have never done anything and have about 8 million in the bank. Collingwood have won one flag in fifty years and have loads of money as well.

It is unrealistic to rely on performance to keep the club afloat. Football, more than ever, is cyclical. As supporters we must accept that it's going to take a number of years for us to realistically challenge for the flag. In the meantime, as a club we need to find ways to make money without winning flags. As a fan on the outside like everyone else here, I reckon that means renegotiating a better stadium deal, abolishing debt, attracting more sponsors and investing in non-football related revenue. But that's just an educated guess.

Premiership performance would definitely help, but we can't rely on it.

I did't realize McNamee was hired as a recruitment officer.

The plan might have been audacious but it simply did not reflect the way in which the club, under coach Dean Bailey, has been going about rebuilding the team; nor does it reflect the time, place or space that the Melbourne playing list currently occupies. Rather, it reflects the vision of a CEO who is not football savvy and that the judgement of Stynes and his board about McNamee's place at the club was an accurate one.

We would all love a "quick fix" solution to the club's playing list problems but to throw money at a player who has his share of injury problems and will be 27 years old when the 2009 season opens would fly in the face of everything that Bailey and his team have been trying to achieve at the club.

Great points WJ. Going for Brown at all cost is most certainly not something that fits in with the club at the moment, and it just goes to show how separate McNamee was from the on-field aspects of the club. I also heard him last night on the news saying that, under Steve Harris, we failed in signing Chris Judd. He had his priorities all wrong, and was out of touch with the club.

This is a misnomer that gets bandied around a lot. North Melbourne were the dominant team in the late 90s and almost got relocated last year. Hawthorn dominated for over a decade and their board still decided in 96 that they would put a merger proposal to the members.

On the other hand, freo have never done anything and have about 8 million in the bank. Collingwood have won one flag in fifty years and have loads of money as well.

It is unrealistic to rely on performance to keep the club afloat. Football, more than ever, is cyclical. As supporters we must accept that it's going to take a number of years for us to realistically challenge for the flag. In the meantime, as a club we need to find ways to make money without winning flags. As a fan on the outside like everyone else here, I reckon that means renegotiating a better stadium deal, abolishing debt, attracting more sponsors and investing in non-football related revenue. But that's just an educated guess.

Premiership performance would definitely help, but we can't rely on it.

I agree, winning a premiership could basically be seen as useful in the short run but not in the long run. However it could provide the kick start a club like Melbourne needs to get itself together off-field.

Wow. Jimmy is not letting anything get in his way. I love it.

It's about time someone grabbed this club by the balls and dragged it up Mt Everest

Let's not kid ourselves here. Brown is a champion player -- one of the best in the comp. He almost single handedly put them over the line against us. I'd be stoked to see him in our colours regardless of the stage of our development. Spare me the "he's a washed up old hack" lines; that's just tall poppy syndrome.

He's not the messiah though -- nobody is. If McNamee's idea of "saving" the club was to import big name players then he got it wrong. He could've imported a 22 year old Wayne Carey and it wouldn't have solved our problems.

he is a superstar but he will go the way Brereton went, body gives up in late 20's and finished by 30-31

Nice piece WJ. As you say they have to be ruthless and stick fat to their beliefs. Does the 'R' word also mean "Rich" for the draft?

I agree Whispering. The new Admin have got to be strong and Brave. Stick to their plans. If Jim needs a new CEO to do the job he wants-well do it.

Do Schwab's connections give us a link to Pavlich