Mick Malthouse last coached a team to a flag in 1994.

Has had 15 seasons since at 2 of the best resourced clubs in the competition yet has not landed another.

Bailey inherited a very ordinary list devoid of elite experienced talent and has overseen a rebuild over 3 drafts focussed on drafting as much of the best young talent available as possible and as a result we have the best collection of elite junior talent of any club.

Of course as a result of inheriting a team with no A Graders and recruiting elite young talent instead of trading for short term fixes he has put the team and the club ahead of his own interests.

He might not be the coach to take this group all the way through to Number 13 but that should rightfully serve out the final 2 years of his contract and be judged at the end of that period.

Agree,agree,agree

Mick Malthouse last coached a team to a flag in 1994.

Has had 15 seasons since at 2 of the best resourced clubs in the competition yet has not landed another.

Bailey inherited a very ordinary list devoid of elite experienced talent and has overseen a rebuild over 3 drafts focussed on drafting as much of the best young talent available as possible and as a result we have the best collection of elite junior talent of any club.

Of course as a result of inheriting a team with no A Graders and recruiting elite young talent instead of trading for short term fixes he has put the team and the club ahead of his own interests.

He might not be the coach to take this group all the way through to Number 13 but that should rightfully serve out the final 2 years of his contract and be judged at the end of that period.

Here here

What has Malthouse achieved in the last 15years than Daniher didn't? An extra runner's up flag? Who cares....Collingwood are replacing him for a reason.

Bailey has already proven himself ........as out of his depth in the AFL coaching caper. I cannot understand why we offerred him a one year extension......we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. This type of ill considered planning is yet another reason we have not one a flag for nearly 50 years.....that is enough time to rebuild a team nearly 10 times.

That's right you could rebuild the list 10 times in 50 years. At 5 years each time. You've given Bailey 2 and you want him sacked. In 3 years time our youth may not be coached by Bailey anymore (although I think they will) and we'll be an extremely talented side full of 21 - 25 year olds that could well dominate the competition. And then you'll be bowing down to the man who finally said no to quick fixes, the first to do so since Barassi recruited the talent for Northey to coach.

So get a grip on reality, a reality you already believe in!

Edited March 30, 201015 yr by Roost It

How can you possibly say that? we have won 7 out of 44 games under him. If he had delivered say 15 with the cattle we have I might say your right. Your one of the many "optimists" we have that think all the clubs decisions are right and never wrong. If that was the case we might just have pinched a flag in the last 46 years and even have our own proper training base for the oldest club in the league that isn't 52'000 miles away.

IF we had won 15 or so games, we wouldn't have Watts, Blease, Scully nor Trengove or probably

Tapscott.

We would probably have kept Robbo for one more, & we would still have lost this week just gone. Just not have gone down by so much.

The trade off would be that we would be cellar dwellers for the next foreseeable future.

This year we'll win around 6 games, maybe more. And next year I'd confidently feel we'd win up to 10 or 11.

Were on the right track, losing with a improving list is way better than losing with a degrading list.

I dont believe that Malthouse is interested in coaching Melbourne. Given where he is at I reckon that the Pies last swing at a flag will see him out.

But I cant believe the carp written about Malthouse the coach. Grumpy and intemperate at times, what MM has been able to create out of a lists at C'wood over his time given the crap drafting he has endured has been extraordinary.

One of the great teams, the great teams of the past 60 years, Brisbane were almost overrun in the 2002 grand final by a bunch of no name, blue collar players coached by MM. They came from nowhere that year and almost won it.

Its amazing how he has also taken a team of disciplined, dedicated and hard working footballers who none at this stage are "stars". They dont have a Cooney, they dont have a Riewoldt but they are a real chance this year. This is also notwithstanding some of the brain fades players like Didak, Shaw and co have conjured.

Talk about getting the best out of your squad available and he is being lynched here. Amazing.

Malthouse to coach the dees? Christie Malthouse maybe............

One of the great teams, the great teams of the past 60 years, Brisbane were almost overrun in the 2002 grand final by a bunch of no name, blue collar players coached by MM. They came from nowhere that year and almost won it.

Its amazing how he has also taken a team of disciplined, dedicated and hard working footballers who none at this stage are "stars". They dont have a Cooney, they dont have a Riewoldt but they are a real chance this year. This is also notwithstanding some of the brain fades players like Didak, Shaw and co have conjured.

Talk about getting the best out of your squad available and he is being lynched here. Amazing.

Agreed.

I dont believe that Malthouse is interested in coaching Melbourne. Given where he is at I reckon that the Pies last swing at a flag will see him out.

But I cant believe the carp written about Malthouse the coach. Grumpy and intemperate at times, what MM has been able to create out of a lists at C'wood over his time given the crap drafting he has endured has been extraordinary.

One of the great teams, the great teams of the past 60 years, Brisbane were almost overrun in the 2002 grand final by a bunch of no name, blue collar players coached by MM. They came from nowhere that year and almost won it.

Its amazing how he has also taken a team of disciplined, dedicated and hard working footballers who none at this stage are "stars". They dont have a Cooney, they dont have a Riewoldt but they are a real chance this year. This is also notwithstanding some of the brain fades players like Didak, Shaw and co have conjured.

Talk about getting the best out of your squad available and he is being lynched here. Amazing.

100% RR he has been amazing and to see his teams over the last few years as you said "disciplined, dedicated and hard working footballers who none at this stage are "stars"." They continue to play deep into finals when at the start of the season are written off. Wow how good does Harry O'Brien look this season too!!

I dont believe that Malthouse is interested in coaching Melbourne. Given where he is at I reckon that the Pies last swing at a flag will see him out.

But of course, Rhino.

He's crafted a team capable of winning a Premiership in 2010 and 2011, but by 2012 you can count on two things:

1. The list cannot hold up for long, particularly once Lockyer, Prestigiacomo, Davis, O'Bree, Fraser/Jolly, Johnson, Medhurst are on the outer.
   
2. The super qualified Premiership-winning coach surely is better than subjecting himself to playing second fiddle to a first-year rookie coach from 2012 onwards.
   

Viney would have me more excited.

Agree, success just seems to be following him.

That's right you could rebuild the list 10 times in 50 years. At 5 years each time. You've given Bailey 2 and you want him sacked. In 3 years time our youth may not be coached by Bailey anymore (although I think they will) and we'll be an extremely talented side full of 21 - 25 year olds that could well dominate the competition. And then you'll be bowing down to the man who finally said no to quick fixes, the first to do so since Barassi recruited the talent for Northey to coach.

So get a grip on reality, a reality you already believe in!

Get a grip on reality means looking at the situation we are in and asking yourself is Bailey going to measure up - you suggest yes, I say emphatically no. Many people in the football world also think he will not make the grade and the results to date are very worrying.

I have been supporting Melbourne for over 45 years and do not see Bailey as capable of doing what needs to be done. He is not a proven AFL coach and the "experiment" should be called off before further harm is done.....even the players are showing signs of disharmony........time to move him on and get someone who can develop the playing group.....a bit of passion also helps.

The one thing that might count against Viney unfortunately is the possibility of his son (Jack???) being drafted under the father son rule in the next few years. Has anyone ever coached their son at AFL level in the modern era? Would it compromise his team selections etc. etc? Might not ... but just something to consider.

IMO that would look to be a great AFL story, in the making. "Viney & Son brings cup home", sounds great. Their has to be a first for eveything.

Can anyone name a player that has "flourished" under DB?

Colin Sylvia..

Colin Sylvia..

Excellent Post.

Roost It; you are absolutely spot on with your analysis. Bailey has had a complete clean out, a complete rebuild, this will take time. 2 years and 1 round is nowhere near enough time to expect any sort of improvement especially considering that in 2008 we had a mature list and now we almost only have inexperienced kids.

In 1981 when Barrassi took over he started a similar rebuild. It was long, slow and painful and in 1986 after 5 seasons of rebuild the Barrassi experiment was considered a failure. Melbourne was awful in 1981 winning just one game by 1 point against the second worse team (Bulldogs) with a Robert Flower goal after the siren from 50 meters out on the boundary. Before the 1982 season Melbourne went on a spending spree buying a number of A grade players and became competitive winning between 6 and 9 games for the following 5 seasons. However they also stepped up their youth policy even going as far as Ireland to collect the best 16, 17 & 18 year olds they could get their hands on. It was these kids recruited by Barrassi that went on and made 5 consecutive finals series between 1987 and 1991 including one GF and 3 Preliminary Finals. Melbourne had to wait for their Barrassi kids to reach 21 - 26yo before any meaningful results were seen, however there were signs as early as 1984. Barrassi left a failure but time showed he was in fact the architect of a new period of success that was desperately unlucky not to produce a premiership.

Getting stuck into Bailey at this point is simply wrong and counterproductive. We are all disappointed with last weeks result, we all want to see improvement, but this is what we signed up for when we embarked on a full rebuild and every supporter who has been following what has been going on must know this and lower their expectations accordingly. Its boy’s v men at the moment. Blow outs and inconsistency will occur and are part of the growing process.

We are doing the right thing and the MFC will be rewarded for this in time. But it will take time and we must suck up these hard times and believe in our future, back our coach and understand that this is a 5 year plan. The only way this rebuild is likely to fail is if we get off the course we have already set.

Now stop winging and toughen up! We all need to be in this for the long haul.

If Malthouse came to the Dee's, i'd seriously consider giving them a miss for his reign of coaching.

But of course, Rhino.

He's crafted a team capable of winning a Premiership in 2010 and 2011, but by 2012 you can count on two things:

1. The list cannot hold up for long, particularly once Lockyer, Prestigiacomo, Davis, O'Bree, Fraser/Jolly, Johnson, Medhurst are on the outer.
   
2. The super qualified Premiership-winning coach surely is better than subjecting himself to playing second fiddle to a first-year rookie coach from 2012 onwards.
   

The fact that he is challenging with the names you have quoted who 1 are not stars and 2 I dont think O'Bree and Davis are big game finals players only higlights how well Malthouse has done. When on song is there a more disciplined harder tackling team than the Pies at the moment?

Malthouse's list suffers from the fact that they drafted so poorly between 2003 and 2006. Their three top picks (Fraser #1) Thomas (#2) and Didak (#6) over recent years are flawed footballers (not stars) that have questions about their big time performances. However, Swan may go the next step this year. Otherwise he has crafted a team together that 100% demonstrates get the maximum from your list,

Is Paul Roos vilified for forgoing draft picks for estab players to grab a flag in 2005? Of course not. Sydney are going to go through a long hard rebuild to be any more than a middle rung dweller.

After his stint at Footscray, what have been the hallmarks of the Clubs MM has coached. Wealthy, well resourced....And MFC aint that. Once he finishes at the Pies with or without a flag then I doubt he will coach again. If he does it wont be MFC.

After his stint at Footscray, what have been the hallmarks of the Clubs MM has coached. Wealthy, well resourced....And MFC aint that. Once he finishes at the Pies with or without a flag then I doubt he will coach again. If he does it wont be MFC.

I agree Rhino, however I think there's another premiership coach out there whose contract will expire at the same time whose already expressed a wish to move East. Mark Williams is certainly an odd fish, but his record (including a premiership) speaks for itself.

anyone read Robbo's comments on March 6th? or read Shane Crawford's article?

I love Dean Bailey. I really do. And i know hes going to be awesome and take us to a flag.....

BUT!!!!!

if we were to win less games than last year......i would not be surprised to see Mick get the gig. We wouldnt take an untried assistant, it would have to be a Malthouse, Roos, Worsfold type. and i'd take Mick out of them, to take us to a flag and then retire when he reaches 60 and pass onto coach like Mark Williams (MFC)

anyone read Robbo's comments on March 6th? or read Shane Crawford's article?

I love Dean Bailey. I really do. And i know hes going to be awesome and take us to a flag.....

BUT!!!!!

if we were to win less games than last year......i would not be surprised to see Mick get the gig. We wouldnt take an untried assistant, it would have to be a Malthouse, Roos, Worsfold type. and i'd take Mick out of them, to take us to a flag and then retire when he reaches 60 and pass onto coach like Mark Williams (MFC)

Carlscum will snap up Malthouse before we do...we have no chance with that one...

Bailey will do it anyway, do you really think this side will go backwards this year??

I dont think we'll go backwards at all. I think we've got a great fixture, we've got great players and finally a forward line looking dangerous and actually playing all together (Dunn, Green, Petterd, Jurrah, Watts) and Bailey is the best coach in my eyes. Absolutley think he's taking us in the right direction

If we sneak a win against chawkas this week...we play brisbane at home (win), Gold Coast away (possible win) bye, West Coast away (possible win) ,adelaide (injury riddled) at home, north (possible win) at Etihad.

If we win these early games whilst we have scully, mckenzie, aussie, morton out who i believe when up and running are all in best side... i think we can really set up a great platform for mid season when we face the saints, carlton, essendon and collingwood in 4 weeks. that'll be the real test.

It was purely a Massive what if...which even i cant really bring myself to say because i love bails that much

If we were to need a new coach come years end, i would think we would be after a more long-term coach. Dean is seen right now by the board, as our long-term coach.

Should we go down the path needing a new coach (which i highly doubt - even if this season is not a successful one) i would think Melbourne would target someone more like Paul Roos. Sure the Sydney game style can be ugly at times, but they sure know how to play defence, something that would become invaluable to our young team. We have the flamboyance, the skill, the players. All we need now is a game plan (one i'm sure Bailey is drilling into the players - it's effectiveness is another matter).

As they say, the best offence starts with a good defence. If we can nail down a good defensive style of football (Frawley the key) and then unleash our attacking flair (lead by Jurrah the great), it will go a long way to us becoming a sustained power of the comp. Of course, this is much easier said than done. Just ask Matthew Knights - great attack, but defence nowhere in sight.

Please give us a break. Do we really need to remind people around here what Bailey inherited ??? The guy has finally got a list that he bulit and is now trying gel them and people are considering giving him the boot ?? I'm glad the MFC employ some level headed people and not Demonlanders.

THIS IS A BUMPED THREAD FOR THOSE READING THIS IN 2011.