Dean Bailey's performance over the past two months has been exceptional.

How will he go next year?

He is only as good/bad as the cattle he has on the park, but in saying that i think he has been hard to judge in the past 10 weeks as i think he has seen the "prize" at the end if we don't win more than 4 games, he needs to be judged by next season ans i think he needs 6 - 10 wins to keep his job

I remember Dean's first press conference after coming to the dee's he was asked what he thought he could achieve with our list in 3 years. His response was along the lines of we were coming from a long way back, it wouldn't be measured in win loss ratio but rather competitiveness and then he made a promise of sorts. He said that if nothing else he would leave the list in much better shape than he found it. In the last month he's delivered on that promise and in a few years time we should see a genuine 5-7 year premiership window open up.

Next year the hard work begins, climbing up the ladder. Bails hasn't done much wrong imo, the improvement this year has been there and he's had to contain the boy's a bit to deliver the PP, but I don't think he'd be under under any illusions as to what has to be achieved to keep the wolves at bay. He's had a reasonably easy ride from the media to date but they won't be so forgiving next year.

For me 6-7 wins would be borderline and things such as injuries, close losses, etc would have to be taken into consideration, 8-10 wins is probably enough to guarantee him 2 more years. Any less than 6 wins and he'll be in serious trouble.

I like Dean, he's intelligent, plays the media beautifully and has developed our young list very well so far. I think he was smart enough to know this was the only way he was ever going to get a senior coaching role. His background is in development so his only chance would be a club looking to rebuild. It was always going to be impossible to judge him as a matchday coach at the end of two years because he's been coaching to teach not to win, but next year is game on. I think he's exactly where he wanted to be right now and he always knew he'd be rolling the dice with the third year of his contract. I wish him all the best for a long and successful career.

  furious d said:

I remember Dean's first press conference after coming to the dee's he was asked what he thought he could achieve with our list in 3 years. His response was along the lines of we were coming from a long way back, it wouldn't be measured in win loss ratio but rather competitiveness and then he made a promise of sorts. He said that if nothing else he would leave the list in much better shape than he found it. In the last month he's delivered on that promise and in a few years time we should see a genuine 5-7 year premiership window open up.

Next year the hard work begins, climbing up the ladder. Bails hasn't done much wrong imo, the improvement this year has been there and he's had to contain the boy's a bit to deliver the PP, but I don't think he'd be under under any illusions as to what has to be achieved to keep the wolves at bay. He's had a reasonably easy ride from the media to date but they won't be so forgiving next year.

For me 6-7 wins would be borderline and things such as injuries, close losses, etc would have to be taken into consideration, 8-10 wins is probably enough to guarantee him 2 more years. Any less than 6 wins and he'll be in serious trouble.

I like Dean, he's intelligent, plays the media beautifully and has developed our young list very well so far. I think he was smart enough to know this was the only way he was ever going to get a senior coaching role. His background is in development so his only chance would be a club looking to rebuild. It was always going to be impossible to judge him as a matchday coach at the end of two years because he's been coaching to teach not to win, but next year is game on. I think he's exactly where he wanted to be right now and he always knew he'd be rolling the dice with the third year of his contract. I wish him all the best for a long and successful career.

Brilliant response!!

Its always an interesting notion this...that is..Is Bailey doing OK..Is he the right man ? etc etc

The problem for many is how you evaluate this ? What denotes success or failure ?

Many seem to suffer from Myopia come Retinitis in seeing the role for what it really is.

He is the coach, he is charged with many duties but I would say the principal one is that of moulding and teaching a group to play in cohesion with results leading towards a premiership(s)

That is the bigger picture view. In such succes or failure is simply : Have Melbourne won/winning premierships during his tenure. As yet, not yet.

But its not really fair to judge that in a 5 min scenario. You dont win premierships in 5 mins. Its a journey that can start at various places. These depend on where you are ( teamwise/clubwise ) at the start of a Coaches charge. Dean took over a lumbering aging behemoth living and fighting from week to week invariably employing sub standard ( by afl Levels ) equipment and facilities. You are really battling uphill doing this.

The expresion a journey of a thousand miles start with the first steps refers to the notion ..you simply have to start..and start somewhere. It also infers you wont geet very far in the first moments as the journey is arduous and requires persistance. The club itself has undergone change around Dean even whilst he has been attempting his own creating which must have initiallycaused some doubling up of efforts.

Many simply see foty as the going out of two teams, approx 2 hours of sporting struggle followed by a result. In its simplest form that probably is the game. But theres more than a game, theres the team, more thana team, theres the club, more than the club theres the competition and supporters. None of this exists in isolation of itself.

Then there is progression. By its very notion it mean you start somewhere and hopefully getsomewhere ( theres that 1000 mile idea again ) .many are already thinking.. crawl before you walk before you run etc.. ..more progression. Bailey has started. He has reinvigorated teh team with new selections and affording players new experiences outside of their previous playing CV. He will continue to bring in new blood via the drafts and trade. From this and interpolating results to date its reasoable tosuppose that next year we wil lnotch up anywhere from 6-10 wins. We will be competitive. Thats the next step in the journey, the ability to compete, not just play. Fromcompeting come wins and fromenough wins come finals....and from participation in finals comes opportunity to take the grand prize, but only then. You have to get there first and to get there you need the team and the ability.

Coaching AFL is really about a process towards premierships. it encompases people management, skills direction, team plays,facilities discussions, medai interactions , board reports...and so on and so on. Winning games is part of the journey towards a goal but its not actually teh real goal in itself. winning one game, two games, five games even twelve games in itslef accomplishes nothing if you are not doing so with purpose and method and a direction.

I particularly feel this is what Bailey is about. Turning whilst refurbishing the ship and setting sail towards that distant reward. We will lose games along the way.Some were part of the pain needed to be endured. There will be further losses but these wil lbe counterd by more wins, then better wins, then combinations of wins. To look at either a loss or a win by itslef whilst offering up knowledge of that effort tells nothing about the overall journey. Mnay seasoned observers of teh game , both profesional and amateur alike are remarkign on our progress; that is has purpose and direction. Many see us stepping up next year. A common thread amongst a lot of this reporting is that this is not without design. As they say, there is method in his madness and without doubt some question Baileys credentials not only of football but sanity itself but Im sure if you step back away fromteh week in week out game mentailty and look at how the club is bettering itself both from a player persepctive as well as facilities then you will see we are geting somewhere, and that somewhere will probably take another 3-5 years

  furious d said:

I remember Dean's first press conference after coming to the dee's he was asked what he thought he could achieve with our list in 3 years. His response was along the lines of we were coming from a long way back, it wouldn't be measured in win loss ratio but rather competitiveness and then he made a promise of sorts. He said that if nothing else he would leave the list in much better shape than he found it. In the last month he's delivered on that promise and in a few years time we should see a genuine 5-7 year premiership window open up.

Next year the hard work begins, climbing up the ladder. Bails hasn't done much wrong imo, the improvement this year has been there and he's had to contain the boy's a bit to deliver the PP, but I don't think he'd be under under any illusions as to what has to be achieved to keep the wolves at bay. He's had a reasonably easy ride from the media to date but they won't be so forgiving next year.

For me 6-7 wins would be borderline and things such as injuries, close losses, etc would have to be taken into consideration, 8-10 wins is probably enough to guarantee him 2 more years. Any less than 6 wins and he'll be in serious trouble.

I like Dean, he's intelligent, plays the media beautifully and has developed our young list very well so far. I think he was smart enough to know this was the only way he was ever going to get a senior coaching role. His background is in development so his only chance would be a club looking to rebuild. It was always going to be impossible to judge him as a matchday coach at the end of two years because he's been coaching to teach not to win, but next year is game on. I think he's exactly where he wanted to be right now and he always knew he'd be rolling the dice with the third year of his contract. I wish him all the best for a long and successful career.

Fantastically put.

And there's the perfect response for those claiming Bailey is an ordinary game-day coach.

You judge him on his results based on what he's aiming to achieve, not what you would like personally.

And if you have an issue with that, the president, board and CEO have supported him in that view, so take it up with them.

  furious d said:

I remember Dean's first press conference after coming to the dee's he was asked what he thought he could achieve with our list in 3 years. His response was along the lines of we were coming from a long way back, it wouldn't be measured in win loss ratio but rather competitiveness and then he made a promise of sorts. He said that if nothing else he would leave the list in much better shape than he found it. In the last month he's delivered on that promise and in a few years time we should see a genuine 5-7 year premiership window open up.

Next year the hard work begins, climbing up the ladder. Bails hasn't done much wrong imo, the improvement this year has been there and he's had to contain the boy's a bit to deliver the PP, but I don't think he'd be under under any illusions as to what has to be achieved to keep the wolves at bay. He's had a reasonably easy ride from the media to date but they won't be so forgiving next year.

For me 6-7 wins would be borderline and things such as injuries, close losses, etc would have to be taken into consideration, 8-10 wins is probably enough to guarantee him 2 more years. Any less than 6 wins and he'll be in serious trouble.

I like Dean, he's intelligent, plays the media beautifully and has developed our young list very well so far. I think he was smart enough to know this was the only way he was ever going to get a senior coaching role. His background is in development so his only chance would be a club looking to rebuild. It was always going to be impossible to judge him as a matchday coach at the end of two years because he's been coaching to teach not to win, but next year is game on. I think he's exactly where he wanted to be right now and he always knew he'd be rolling the dice with the third year of his contract. I wish him all the best for a long and successful career.

Ahhh, the sweet sound of commonsense.

Furious d said it all.

We have no more excuses next year. The climb begins.

I expect Bailey to be a long Term Coach.

The Demon is Waking, & he is most cranky-Look out....

Extension is on the cards i beleive.. to be announced very shortly.

  Demon3 said:

Extension is on the cards i beleive.. to be announced very shortly.

Well then how are we going to get Roos now??? Maybe a director of coaching perhaps!

  Demon3 said:

Extension is on the cards i beleive.. to be announced very shortly.

Interesting if it indeed IS on the cards. This way the pressure will be off next year. Would have to be a 1-2 year extension....?

I've said this before but I believe Bailey deserves more than a make-or-break 2010 and giving him a 1 year extension right now gives him 2 years to show marked improvement.

And well said furious d.

Monday mornings have been awful this year and hopefully next year, on at least 10 of them, I’ll be happy.

Love the way he has played the young kids without any favouritism; it's so refreshing after the last years of Danners reign. If you are good enough you play if you're not you don't.

As I have said before it's simply not enough to say how many you will win you have to have an idea as to how you arrive at the number. Who do you expect to beat and where you expect to win.

I would have thought that once youve assembled your list two years is reasonable to guage improvement indeed success. Ayears extension would seem prudent. In that time span he either weaves magic...or he doesnt.

I'm a huge fan.

The MFC: Poor crowds, fixture, exposure, resources, identity, results, and a history of failure and curse for the last 45 years.

What is the only way this club is ever going to win a premiership and turn these negatives on their heads?

Get the best list in the competition chock-a-block full of talented youngsters who have played many many games in their formative seasons together, a la the Geelong/Essendon juggernauts. Win a premiership.

He has done nothing wrong thus far, seems incredibly intelligent and easily the number one media performer of all the coaches. We don't know if he's a extraordinary match day performer yet but our last coach wasn't and we got to a GF with a much flakier list then. I have high hopes for DB because he seems to be the first coach who has ever been on the same page as our more intelligent fans.

1 year extension i beleive.. announcement could be as early as tomorrow, just a nice but of stability for the next 2 years i reckon!

DB has done what is expected of him. He has had the opportunity to play young kids like any other coach coming in would have done. He has developed some players well and is building the list with help of our draft picks. I think he has completed what the supporters wanted. Now from 2009 I expect nothing else except results. I want wins and to see some kids starting to shine.

7 + wins should be acceptable. It's time for Sylvia, Bate, Mclean to have a massive year, no more injury excuses or off field muckups.

  Demon3 said:

1 year extension i beleive.. announcement could be as early as tomorrow, just a nice but of stability for the next 2 years i reckon!

I recall you've been right about these sorts of things before Demon3, so i'll take your word for it

Nice to see Bailey's getting his reward for how he handled the Richmond game

  Mr Morton said:

no more injury excuses

for that to happen we will need to invest in a new fitness coach i think, evrywhere this Bohdan goes he stuffs the playing list up

Next Years Theme

"Unleashing the DEMON"

  Demon3 said:

1 year extension i beleive.. announcement could be as early as tomorrow, just a nice but of stability for the next 2 years i reckon!

If true that's great news and gives Bailey the peace of mind that he deserves in order to try and formulate our rise to the top.

People who expect ridiculous improvements in 2010 needs to realise that the natural improvement we're hoping to see because of the likes of Watts, Blease, Strauss, Scully, Trengove (?) etc... is not going to happen overnight. These kids will all be first year players (Watts' 2009 doesn't count as far as I'm concerned), and rarely do first year players dominate.

Having said that, if we can keep our list relatively healthy, I'd expect us to double our wins next year and finish on about 8 wins. We won 5 this year (lets be honest we beat Richmond, because even if you believe the mark should have been paid, we would have beaten them by 10 goals if we didn't tank), which is 1 better than last year, and we've been a lot more competitive for a long longer.

On that basis, Bailey deserves two years to show us what he can do with the list that he has constructed.

  Jaded said:

If true that's great news and gives Bailey the peace of mind that he deserves in order to try and formulate our rise to the top.

People who expect ridiculous improvements in 2010 needs to realise that the natural improvement we're hoping to see because of the likes of Watts, Blease, Strauss, Scully, Trengove (?) etc... is not going to happen overnight. These kids will all be first year players (Watts' 2009 doesn't count as far as I'm concerned), and rarely do first year players dominate.

Having said that, if we can keep our list relatively healthy, I'd expect us to double our wins next year and finish on about 8 wins. We won 5 this year (lets be honest we beat Richmond, because even if you believe the mark should have been paid, we would have beaten them by 10 goals if we didn't tank), which is 1 better than last year, and we've been a lot more competitive for a long longer.

On that basis, Bailey deserves two years to show us what he can do with the list that he has constructed.

Agreed, next year's results may be inconclusive and we'll need to offer more than 1 year extension.

Bailey has shown quite clearly that he's willing to make hard decisions.

Much cleaner to give a 1 year extension now so Bailey has 2 full years to fully show his wares.

The contract after that is when our window starts to open up.

  old55 said:

Agreed, next year's results may be inconclusive and we'll need to offer more than 1 year extension.

Bailey has shown quite clearly that he's willing to make hard decisions.

Much cleaner to give a 1 year extension now so Bailey has 2 full years to fully show his wares.

The contract after that is when our window starts to open up.

Totally agree..and for many reasons.Shows professionalism by the club ( amazing to think its our club..lol.. wasnt all that many years ago.......) Allows Dean to work without the dark shadows circling him. Gives the players anindicaton of how we as a club want to go about our future..i.e. we will as much as possible determine it ourselves and not be totally reactionary.

Ought to be win /win / win

  Demon3 said:

1 year extension i beleive.. announcement could be as early as tomorrow, just a nice but of stability for the next 2 years i reckon!

Thanks for the mail Demon3.

  old55 said:

Agreed, next year's results may be inconclusive and we'll need to offer more than 1 year extension.

Bailey has shown quite clearly that he's willing to make hard decisions.

Much cleaner to give a 1 year extension now so Bailey has 2 full years to fully show his wares.

The contract after that is when our window starts to open up.

Agree. Will give him 2010,2011 and time to mould this young group. Geez, it's exciting.

I think we're all on the same page here; can see the benefits of an extended 1 year contract. Good news.

  Demon3 said:

1 year extension i beleive.. announcement could be as early as tomorrow, just a nice but of stability for the next 2 years i reckon!

Why on earth would they be that stupid? What if we are 0-6 at the start of next year? It's just so unnecessary. Win some games and you get another contract it should be that simple. Bailey has done nothing except perfect losing WHOPPY DO. Bailey should need to show us that he can get the side up to win more regularly before he signs another contract.