Actually I agree with you pantaloons, I hate it when other supporters kick us when we're down. After all, MFC is considerably more successful than Collingwood in the past 50 years. They need our sympathy if anything.

Yep it was a cheap shot by Garry, let's show more class and support our collingwood colleagues in their misery...

It was a light hearted comment made at a private gathering, by a supporter. He is not an official of an AFL club.

Also it was supposed to remain in house.

To everyone suggesting Garry shouldn't have rubbed the Pies' noses in it:

You don't reckon Collingwood fans, high profile and otherwise, haven't made comments about the likes of Carlton at club functions in the past five years or so?

Good on Garry. Melbourne supporters, as a rule, hate Collingwood. I know I do. Nothing wrong with a little gloating to pump up the atmosphere at a club function.

I never thought I'd see the day when Melbourne supporters didn't want to offend the Pies.

Ivor

It was a light hearted comment made at a private gathering, by a supporter. He is not an official of an AFL club.

Also it was supposed to remain in house.

Fair call on Garry's unofficial status. Redleg, do comments made at these sort of gatherings ever remain in-house? Hmm, maybe they do and we just don't hear about it!

To everyone suggesting Garry shouldn't have rubbed the Pies' noses in it:

You don't reckon Collingwood fans, high profile and otherwise, haven't made comments about the likes of Carlton at club functions in the past five years or so?

For me, Mikey, that doesn't make it right.

I never thought I'd see the day when Melbourne supporters didn't want to offend the Pies.

Ivor

Nice! I'll finish by saying that I'm not banging my head against a brick wall over Garry's comments. While not a big story, I just don't think they're helpful. I don't delight in anyone's misery, not even Collingwood's. Well, maybe a wry smile.

That's my tuppence worth. Garry was right about the positivity of the night for Melbourne though. A fantastic night for the club.

Wasn't his speech in the form of a coaches address to his players, seems to me he was merely pumping up his players (those passionate Melbourne people in attendance) by mentioning our rivals in that sense.

As was said earier it was light hearted on a night that was all about us as a club. I wouldn't worry about it.

If we rejoin the MCC, will Collingwood in effect be paying us to play at the MCG? :lol:

Fantastic news for the club.

Another avenue for the club would be to set up a trust account where the club could accept funds which are refundable on request.

Minimum deposit would be $1000 and retrievable in a weeks time no questions asked. This money could be set up in offset account which would decrease the amount of interest which we accrue against our debt.

For those without a mortgage.

EG: Debt $3,000,000 at say 8%. Therefore we accrue around $240,000 per year in interest. If we had a further $1,000,000 pledged into a trust fund then we would only have interest agaist $2,000,000. The interst earned over a year would be $160,000.

Therefore we would be $80,000 better off with this simple account.

For me, Mikey, that doesn't make it right.

It's Collingwood and they're suffering. Of course it makes it right.

Agreed that it was a fantastic night. Let's hope it's the start of something big for our club.

My God, i cant beleive negativity towards the comment.. it's time we stood up.. and not be intimidated by other clubs...

This was joffa corfe's contribution (he's the [censored] in their cheersquad with the badly dyed hair and the dental problems) to the discussion:

Next year on Queens Birthday we'll make a bloody banner with a huge picture of a Black and White cash register with the words..THIEVES!!

Presumably the reference to "thieves" is to the conduct of his own club because it gets the best fixturing deal from the AFL and more handouts than we do on an average annual basis. If that's the case, then at least the honesty message is finally getting across at Magpieland.

Haha, i just read that as well.

Wow, they waited four years to show their banner, which was largely laughed at and then ignored, let alone incorrect.

Now they're planning next year's, which doesn't even make sense anyway.

Really reminds you of the rivalry of footy clubs, i'm loving this.

Again, they complain when they've been down for about 3 days about other clubs sinking the boots in, and then they go on about their brotherhood and strength.

Please! Try going for the Dogs, Demons or Saints. Real down and out clubs that have to fight each and every year, who have done so without the head of football Eddie Mcguire to lead them out of their depths of a decade ago.

Collingwood fans having a go at clubs for asking for charity, amazing, centrelink anyone?

Uncle Joe Gutnick

I remember the dark day, Melbourne was close to going down the (financial) gurgler not to mention being swallowed in a merger with the Tassie Hawks. I was taking a phone call at work in the foyer and a mate walked past & said there's some millionaire mining magnate who's just rescued your club with a $2M donation. I had never heard of Uncle Joe and thought he was pulling my leg. 2 mill, it couldn't be true. But it was, a miracle. We had a saviour from the depths of despair.

Later I was at the rally at Dallas Brooks Hall. Joe is a great Demon, he put his hand up when it counted. One day I want to shake his hand (I wore a red and blue yarmulke to the 2000 grand final, in appreciation of Joe and because he couldn't be there on account of his Jewish faith).

Great work Jimmy, being inclusive!

PS has someone merged two threads here??

Sorry to burst your bubble but before Gutnick came into power Melbourne was not financially in trouble, we had no debt at all. Now the question of the state of our finances after he (and the people that he introduced to the board) left the club was totally different.

I have no problem with people idolising past presidents, just don't rewrite history in the process.

Have a great day

I just hope they spell Thieves right when they do the banner, i might do one that reads "The only thing the filth is good for $$$$"

I have actually had to stop reading that dribble. Its soo infuriating...yet I cant look away.

How about the guy thats says, BTW- get off our ground....If I find him!!!

I detest Collingwood as much as the next human being, but what Garry said was neither smart nor classy. There's no need to kick clubs while they're down. We're not even 'up' yet. All his comments achieved were to decrease the chances of Collingwood and other AFL supporters putting their hands into their pockets to support Melbourne in a time of financial need.

So what Jeff Kennett, Andrew Demetriou and Eddie have said in the past about us, hasn't been kicking us while were down?

I never thought I'd see the day when Melbourne supporters didn't want to offend the Pies.

Ivor

You missed the irony:

After all, MFC is considerably more successful than Collingwood in the past 50 years. They need our sympathy if anything.

Yep it was a cheap shot by Garry, let's show more class and support our collingwood colleagues in their misery...

I thought this thread was supposed to be about the debt demolition....

All of the threads so far are great and now that the big hitters have had their say we are in good shape. But now we need the regular members to have their say!

Hopefully as many people as possible will support this cause as platinum donors. If you do have a full time job then then there really is no excuse not to sneak into that category. The bonus is a lunch with Jimmy. What more do you want?

Sorry to burst your bubble but before Gutnick came into power Melbourne was not financially in trouble, we had no debt at all. Now the question of the state of our finances after he (and the people that he introduced to the board) left the club was totally different.

I have no problem with people idolising past presidents, just don't rewrite history in the process.

Well it would be good to get the history exactly right, I agree. I know that at the time of the proposed merger, MFC's balance sheet was in good shape. But my understanding was, this was not regarded as being susntainable long-term for the reasons 1) very low membership base, 2) generally weak on-field performance, 3) poor training facilities, and 4) no central adminisatration/training facility owned by the club.

In other words, money in the bank but nowhere near enough to fix the significant problems that the club had let fester. We either had to spend more than we had to start on the road to success in modern footy, or die (merge) with a healthy bank balance.

Why else would someone like Gutnick put up to $2M of his own money into a club, if it had plenty of funds for what money is for - spending on what is necessary (for football success in this case)?

I also am aware of the unsettled period that followed, especially the tensions during Joe's tenure. Let's just say that there are two sides to every story, now is the time to forget the rights and wrongs of back then and all work together 'going forward' (today's buzz word) so that history will be glowing when it's written about the era that began yesterday!

GO DEES!

So what Jeff Kennett, Andrew Demetriou and Eddie have said in the past about us, hasn't been kicking us while were down?

Two wrongs make a right?

The bonus is a lunch with Jimmy. What more do you want?

Ummm... could we have a premiership with that??

Actually I agree with you pantaloons, I hate it when other supporters kick us when we're down. After all, MFC is considerably more successful than Collingwood in the past 50 years. They need our sympathy if anything.

Yep it was a cheap shot by Garry, let's show more class and support our collingwood colleagues in their misery...

Cheap shot or not, he was showing a sign of strength. Whenever he took the field against the arch enemy, he took the field despising the filth.

All this politically correctness has gone mad.

Those who want to roll over and be nice and not tread on anyones fingers go support someone else.

The new look Melbourne is about being ruthless, and to show that we mean business. At a time when the Casey project gets approval and on the same night $2million dollar injection takes place to wipe off the Debt. There needs to be a show of strength. Lyon provided that, and he beat the drums about everyone RED and BLUE moving in the same direction.

He is right, it is probably the most significant night in the Club's history. A little niggle at Collingwood was him showing his passion. We need that between the clubs. We need an intense rivalry for the Queens Birthday clash to continue. And if that means adding fuel to the fire, so be it!

This was joffa corfe's contribution (he's the [censored] in their cheersquad with the badly dyed hair and the dental problems) to the discussion:

Presumably the reference to "thieves" is to the conduct of his own club because it gets the best fixturing deal from the AFL and more handouts than we do on an average annual basis. If that's the case, then at least the honesty message is finally getting across at Magpieland.

Or maybe he just believes that Collingwood should always (22 games) be the home side and therefore keep the gate receipts.

Cheap shot or not, he was showing a sign of strength. Whenever he took the field against the arch enemy, he took the field despising the filth.

You've made 2 posts today that I completely agree with.

I'm going to lie down now.

Fair enough, as long as you don't complain about figures from other Clubs taking little pot shots at us

You've made 2 posts today that I completely agree with.

I'm going to lie down now.

Haha.

You've made 2 posts today that I completely agree with.

I'm going to lie down now.