After some really encouraging performances early in the season we've had a series of about five shockers (varying degrees of shockers) in a row. Well DUH! We are the bottom side and we are rebuilding from a very low base. We are relying on enormous effort from players who cannot yet put the skills together consistently to just stay competitive. Our experienced players are not natural leaders or match winners. That's why we've had such a merry-go-round in the leaqdership group. This rebuild is going to take time. The new leaders will appear, providing we are drafting the right type, and I believe we are. I see leadership in a number of them already. Watts, Martin, Grimes, Fawley. Next year we will have at least two new additions to the midfield. Scully and Blease, with the likelihood of more. These are quick, skilled deliverers of the ball.

Yes, it is horrible and disheartening to watch but remember six weeks ago everyone was excited about the future and the great perfomances of our young players. It is not the time to be calling for DB's head. This is a work in progress. We're just going to have to ride this period out. Things will turn. The club is putting things right in terms of finances and organisation and this should set us up for the future. The playing list should be pretty awesome after this year's draft, no matter whether we finish last third last. Prendergast has made much better choices than CC already.

All of the media have been crapping on about Watts vs Naitanui. NN was fantastic last night but his goals were all fairly flukey. Rich was great too. Watts has shown enough to suggest he will be a fantastic player and a great leader. Grimes will be a leader also. This will take time.

Yes, I do think some players could gain some confidence back at Casey but after watching them yesterday I think that bailey is correct in not playing Newton. The guy can't even kick a bag at VFL level. I must say that nobody in yesterday's Casey game demanded selection but I don't think Cheney should have been dropped in the first place.

Anyway, we are going to get many more beatings this season and some of them will be embarrassing and disheartening. I find it wierd how quickly people call for blood. I would rather see the positives because that's where we are atm - rebuilding. In 2007 we were a team with expectations but we were in decline. That was horrible to and frustrating to watch. Now we are on the up. Hang in there, be strong, things will turn.

Call me a Pollyanna but I'm still excited!

You're Pollyanna.

You're Pollyanna.

OK, you're right, I'm Pollyanna.

Anyway, we are going to get many more beatings this season and some of them will be embarrassing and disheartening.

Call me a Pollyanna but I'm still excited!

Pollyanna, there are people around here who would be embarrassed when we win, let alone lose.

I find it startling to hear so many MFC supporters hope that we lose 18 games and yet get so precious when we lose some of those games awfully.

Listen to me:

WE ARE A BAD TEAM.

Worst in the league.

Our best players are under 22, our senior players are either out of form, playing injured, or coming back from injury.

And from these lemons Bailey is asked to make Lemonade.

And you know what?

Lemonade sucks...

On the one hand, we've created a new defination of mid-season slump - going from losing games to losing games badly.

On the other hand, we still don't have even one of the top five worst losses from the season, and this round at least two other clubs have copped it just as rough in the same round.

We need to move on some loved but declining veteran players, despite the heartache. We will.

We need to add some genuine gun midfielders through this draft or thorugh the kids who aren't even playing yet. We will.

We need to get some games and pre-seasons into the very young forwards. We will.

We need to move into better facilites to do those pre-seasons and for year-round training. We will

We need to work and work and work on the kicking, and conditioned response to take the first good option more often. We will.

The issues where I'm not yet confident with the 'it'll happen' response are -

The way the team is set up is simply too negative and defeatist.

- we need to have the courage as a team to leave four guys up field; 2 in the forward 50 and 2 ready to lead and link from half-forward to wing, then either feed to a good running option as the break from half back or spot up a long kick to one of the true forwards in space. This is such an important emergency option if the run-and-carry gets stuck or if there just needs to be a rushed clearance from HB. Even when it's in our defensive 50m, you have to maintain that forward threat. No point getting it out of there if it just comes back in; eventually one gets through and we're down a goal. And in the meantime, our chances of a rebounding goal are minimal, and our chances of turning it over as we try to go forward and much higher if there's aren't good options to look for.

Our running at the moment is for athletes running a 10km time trial, rather than footballers bursting and resting over and over again.

- as a general rule, our onballers need to get their arses lower to the ground when they run. This means better agility/change of direction, better bursts, and better range of movement plus pushing power slip out of tackels. People talk of it being impossible to tackle Gary Ablett Jr. Take a look at how low he carries his hips when he runs in traffic, and how each stride seems that much shorter than normal. When someone does manage to match his pace and weaving, he can not only push off and shimmy, but also lift his whole body up just a few centimeters, loosening the tackler's grip that tiny bit more, either breaking the tackle or giving that little bit more movement to get a handpass off.

- we have too many players running in a middle gear constantly, rather than switching between the Chuck Norris speeds of 'lurk' and 'kill'. Not enough 'kill' in particular. It would be interesting to see one of those charts of distance travelled and time spent standing/walking/jogging/sprinting. I reckon we'd have too much time spent in the 'jogging' frame compared to the current benchmark clubs.

Between the things we know are going to happen, and the things I've mentioned here, I think we can make pretty dramatic improvement over the next 18 months.

So all up, I'm with the thread message of 'relax'. Try to focus on the things which do need addressing, and let a lot of the futile angst go.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

Why are you here?

Go back to Nick's.

I couldn't care less what you have to say.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

Chris Connolly? He hasn't even got control of the list at Melbournefc. Besides as it stands - if he had control of the list - he couldn't run the list into the ground anymore than it already is/was.

Go sign up Mick would you;

After some really encouraging performances early in the season we've had a series of about five shockers (varying degrees of shockers) in a row. Well DUH! We are the bottom side and we are rebuilding from a very low base. We are relying on enormous effort from players who cannot yet put the skills together consistently to just stay competitive. Our experienced players are not natural leaders or match winners. That's why we've had such a merry-go-round in the leaqdership group. This rebuild is going to take time. The new leaders will appear, providing we are drafting the right type, and I believe we are. I see leadership in a number of them already. Watts, Martin, Grimes, Fawley. Next year we will have at least two new additions to the midfield. Scully and Blease, with the likelihood of more. These are quick, skilled deliverers of the ball.

Yes, it is horrible and disheartening to watch but remember six weeks ago everyone was excited about the future and the great perfomances of our young players. It is not the time to be calling for DB's head. This is a work in progress. We're just going to have to ride this period out. Things will turn. The club is putting things right in terms of finances and organisation and this should set us up for the future. The playing list should be pretty awesome after this year's draft, no matter whether we finish last third last. Prendergast has made much better choices than CC already.

All of the media have been crapping on about Watts vs Naitanui. NN was fantastic last night but his goals were all fairly flukey. Rich was great too. Watts has shown enough to suggest he will be a fantastic player and a great leader. Grimes will be a leader also. This will take time.

Yes, I do think some players could gain some confidence back at Casey but after watching them yesterday I think that bailey is correct in not playing Newton. The guy can't even kick a bag at VFL level. I must say that nobody in yesterday's Casey game demanded selection but I don't think Cheney should have been dropped in the first place.

Anyway, we are going to get many more beatings this season and some of them will be embarrassing and disheartening. I find it wierd how quickly people call for blood. I would rather see the positives because that's where we are atm - rebuilding. In 2007 we were a team with expectations but we were in decline. That was horrible to and frustrating to watch. Now we are on the up. Hang in there, be strong, things will turn.

Call me a Pollyanna but I'm still excited!

Great post, and spot on!

Rebuilding was always going to be painful, but we are on our way, and let's be honest, we can get much worse!

Worsfold puts it really simply:

"They have got a very clear focus - they are playing a lot of talented young players and unfortunately that means they go through times when kids lose confidence or get tired,"

It's hard to tell fellow Melbourne supporters to be patient given the last four and a half decades and it's often seen as a cop out to talk about inexperience and light bodies but sometimes the simplest answer for a drop off in "competitiveness" is the correct one.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

*Coach of Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup from 1991 to 1995

*was assistant coach of Hawthorn Football Club from 1991 to 1995.

*He was appointed senior coach of Fremantle Football Club (Dockers) at the conclusion of the 2001 season to rebuild the football department and establish on-field credibility.

Fremantle was a club in disarray, wining only two games in the 2001 season, including a run of 17 losses in a row and winning the wooden spoon. The club also lost over $2.5m in the previous three years, and was $8m in debt.

Chris moulded a skilled and accountable group of players that saw Fremantle reach the 2006 preliminary final and become one of the AFL’s success stories.

*Off the field, the club turned itself around generating continual profits and in 2005 announced it was completely debt free. It has a full sponsorship portfolio, record membership of over 30,000 members, and regularly attracts record crowds to all home games.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

That is just so wrong & ill informed, But expected from a shallow Filth Supporter i suppose.

Back to your cell, it's still mid week.

Chris Connolly is your biggest problem. Every club he's been at, he's run the list into the ground.

I'm guessing you are a pretty sad person if you think that being a troll is funny. I can, however, understand why you need to do it when the average filth retard thinks that Bucks will be the saviour of the club while the rest of the world knows that at best he will lead you to another lot of back-to-back GF losses. Feel free to post here when it happens.

Could not agree more with the post!

After showing encouraging signs from rounds 1-12ish, some supporters I believe began to over estimate the amount of improvement we had in fact shown, and began to think that it was happening at more rapid rate than what was to be expected. Undoubtedly we were to come across some substantial losses this year, and of course there may be many more to come. But to say that Bailey needs to be sacked at this point, and start pointing fingers at emerging players such as Watts is absolutley farcical. This rebuild will of course take time, and given the age of the team, level of experience, and the past 2 seasons, it is of course probable that one substantial loss could of course effect the mindset of players.

I have full faith in Bailey and Co. and believe that whilst there are still substantial holes in our list, such as an outside-mid, and another focal point down forward, that we will in fact be able to take our group of players and challenge for a flag in future. It is amazing that the past month we have rapidly seen many supporters of Bailey turning into a mob ready to lynch him.

although I agree with most of the above, we can not continue to accept poor negative footy. To me we seem more concerned about lossing by 100 points then trying to win. We have a very negative mind set, we need to start to run hard and take the game on. I hate lossing but I hate loosing more when we don't attack.

I accept that we are trying to develop a team, but we need to also develop a game plan that can see us winning games. At the moment our game plan is to try not to get thumped numbers behind the ball.

I would love to see over the next 9 weeks us play one on one footy no zoning, back every player to beat there opponent, we as supporter accept that some of our players aren't good enough just yet and will be beaten, but they will learn more from playing one on one than just protecting space. Give them all the license to run off, work together to ensure that if we do run hard that someone will cover your man.

We have 6 games against the 6 teams directly above us on the ladder, its time to attack and back our young players, play exciting football, at the least if we lose we tried to win the game.

And from these lemons Bailey is asked to make Lemonade.

And you know what?

Lemonade sucks...

ATM our lemonade sucks the most!