Caroline Wilson writes on alleged "tension" at the MFC

[Sir Why You Little 36,960]

Sweeping generalisation, and entirely subjective. For me, his media conferences are smart, and the more I see of him, the more I like him. As for not being inspiring ... all the reports I've read of people who've spoken to him are to the contrary of that. But heh, you (and others) have it in for him because a bunch of kids aren't playing like Collingwood every week.

Tthough by the way, Collingwood got belted for a quarter by a bottom-4 team last week ... sack Malthouse??).

The bye couldn't have come at a worst time. Another week of this mindless conjecture and, as someone put it earlier, masturbation (though it's closer to self-flagellation and masochism). Which is only going to get worse once we lose against WC (side on the up, playing at home, and with more than a couple of useful players).

i am with you...i find Bailey's media Conferences great to listen to, he talks straight in every way. He wants to make these guys succeed...i just hope he knows how to do it.

[harry 1]

Sorry to disagree harry but it was not one quarter if the hawks had kicked straight we would have been so far behind at quater time we would not have been able to hear the band.

We were beaten in almost every aspect of the game bar kicking for goal.

Straight kicking by the hawks and it would have been a 100 point hammering.

And we did not beat Collingwood or the Bulldogs last year end of story.

I agree that we were kept in it by poor kicking from the Hawks in the first quarter, but no-one would've condemned Bailey had we not played the third quarter that we did. Had we won or narrowly lost, having played such a poor first quarter, the situation regarding Bailey would be different. Besides, regardless of whether it was one quarter, two quarters or a whole match, my point is that one game doesn't warrant a complete re-evaluation of how we view the progress of our club.

Our performances against Collingwood and the Bulldogs last season were the performances of a team who had improved markedly on the season prior, as opposed to the match against Hawthorn in Round 1 last year, which was more of the same. Do you disagree that we improved significantly last season and that the match against Hawthorn in Round 1 was an abberation?

[Ned 156]

Stynes has made the point in the past that he didn't hire Bailey. But he has generally been very supportive.

I think Jimmy's comment after the Hawthorn game about the performance being unacceptable was actually pretty significant and put Bailey on notice. My sense, as others have said, is that there's rarely smoke without fire. I'm not saying Bailey is gone but I think he is really under the hammer now.

We have a great list, a totally overhauled administration, are debt free and have new training facilities. The team has to step up now as all the building blocks are in place and the club has momentum. The coach seems to be the last piece to be decided.

I, like everyone else, really admired what was happening on the field last year. But we seem to have regressed this year. That was the worst 90-point win I've seen.

I doubt Caroline Wilson is making it up. She may be beating up the significance of the issue but something is bubbling, I think.

[bing181 9,193]

We have a great list

????

Maybe when they all get 50 - 100 games under their belts.

A long way to go yet to being a "great" list.

Going backwards? We could well be in the short term. Take Junior, Bruce, McKenzie and Scully out of last year's side, not to mention Morton and Frawley who are just getting up to speed after missing games/injuries .... that's a huge slab of talent and experience to cover, much of it through the mids.

Once again, I am just at a loss as to what people are/were expecting. There's a LOT of looking back on 2010 with rose-coloured glasses. We won a few good games ... but people are just kidding themselves, we weren't that good overall. Given that we lost the last 2 winnable games, to have won the first 2 winnable games this year, especially given the above, is already an improvement.

[SidVicious 130]

Virtually the same story regurgitated two days later in Dees' magic flickers.

Either it's a quiet week at the Age whose circulation figures are plummeting or she's acquired the same double standards as the political journos at Fairfax or both.

She's quite entitled to give her views in opinion pieces but this is really a case of drawing a long bow from the fact that this is the last year of Bailey's contract which we all know only too full well ... and it's boring.

[M_9 2,078]

'Bailey will survive or not depending on his performance over the coming months but he is under pressure naturally and if he goes the club will certainly look at Malthouse.'

Talk about stating the bleeding obvious.

Furthermore, I don't think the Saints or Tigers are showing any more than us.

A similar article could well have been written about them (looking at slightly different aspects of their FD).

At least two wins from our next three games needed to clam the troops.

[Roost It 1,434]

Wow, I really thought Caro was going to give us something to talk about. That is the same article written a few days ago, no new content. It really is quite a mischievious piece of ordinary journalism. Not your best work by along way Caro. Can't really see the club doing anything particularly unusual. Of course the pressure is on Bailey. I wonder if caro went through some back channels at the club hunting for a story and got nothing so she simply cobbled this together. Scully + Review + Stynes + Schwab talking to Bailey = story. Sorry Caro in thi scase, only just but probably more suited to the Herald Sun.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

Yep a nothing article that says in 700 words that Bailey is under pressure. The difference betweens Caro's best and worst is huge. She lacks consistency

[Hannabal 4]

I have to join the consensus here. I don't mind Wilson, but that article shed no new light on what's really a nothing story. It's as if a slightly clumsy interview that Schwab gave to The Australian has given her the ammunition to write a comment piece.

Everyone knows about the perceived "Old Boy's Club" - nothing new there, everyone knows that the club was previously very factionalised - nothing new there, I shared recently that Scully wasn't rapt in the China trip due to excessive drinking - nothing new there to many in the know (despite chirlish snide remarks to my comments by a couple), Schwab is a hands on CEO in footy matters - nothing new there, the Board is highly regarded - nothing new there, Connolly is a different type of Football Manager - nothing new there, and Lyon won't coach at AFL level - nothing new there.

I'm not an overly cynical person and prefer to take things on face value, and on face value this article is simply stirring [censored] for the sake of it.

[Range Rover 1,935]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dees-magic-flickers-20110422-1driv.html

Surely Caroline has been reading Demonland over the past week!

Cue the avalanche of posters calling it an unsubstantiated beat up in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ....

[Guest watts04]

i reckon its one of the better articles i have read

balanced, even views and an apppreciation of what a great job the guys have done

its a good warning to keep gettin things right and not take the foot off the peddle

easy to have unity and to be combined for a year or two but we must do it over a decade plus to be a great club

Schwab has been super, hope he and the lads keep it up

[Freddy Fuschia 730]

 I shared recently that Scully wasn't rapt in the China trip due to excessive drinking - nothing new there to many in the know (despite chirlish snide remarks to my comments by a couple)  

"The No.1 draft pick returned home early from the 2010 post-season trip to China due to a family issue, but clearly was not enjoying what some believed was an end-of-season junket that even its backers agreed lasted too long."

What part of what Wilson wrote here refers to "excessive drinking" or confirms your so-called revelation about Scully not being rapt in "excessive drinking" on the China trip or that he left because of this?

[Whispering_Jack 29,764]

I'm not an overly cynical person and prefer to take things on face value, and on face value this article is simply stirring [censored] for the sake of it.

And if I'm not mistaken that's exactly what she was criticising Eddie McGuire for recently on Footy Classified.

At least she's not the only person in the media who we can accuse of hypocricy.

[Hannabal 4]

"The No.1 draft pick returned home early from the 2010 post-season trip to China due to a family issue, but clearly was not enjoying what some believed was an end-of-season junket that even its backers agreed lasted too long."

What part of what Wilson wrote here refers to "excessive drinking" or confirms your so-called revelation about Scully not being rapt in "excessive drinking" on the China trip or that he left because of this?

Believe what you want pal, but even the dimwitted would raise an eyebrow when a poster out of the blue says that a player wasn't comfortable in a particuar environment, i.e a "[censored]-up" and low and behold a journalist infers a player clearly wasn't enjoying a junket.

Look, I know what I know and most posters would accept that I don't have a history of gilding the lily or posting uninformed guesswork. Naturally, you can please yourself. It makes zero difference to me.

[45HG 1,539]

I'm just confused.

I'm pretty sure I read that same article a few days ago, by the same journalist? Didn't I?

[sylvinator 96]

I'm just confused.

I'm pretty sure I read that same article a few days ago, by the same journalist? Didn't I?

haha. i'm confused, because I read the article and I still can't pinpoint one thing the administration has done wrong according to her.

[biggestred 5,015]

dont forget, "we tanked to get scully"

as a richmond supporter, do you reckon shes still upset about this or what

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

dont forget, "we tanked to get scully"

as a richmond supporter, do you reckon shes still upset about this or what

Its true. MFC did.

I am sure Caro loses stacks of sleep over it too,

I like Caro as a journo. This article is a rehash with little new.

[praha 11,229]

There are significant rumblings emanating from our club. It will take a minor miracle for Dean Bailey to be reappointed for another term IMO.

You get the distinct feeling that conversations about this matter are already taking place behind the scenes.

Agreed. I think only a premiership would save him imo.

[Little Goffy 14,443]

Looks like Caro needed a new coffee machine - writing two articles from the notes of one, just to keep the words-in-print meter ticking over.

[beelzebub 23,313]

David Schwarz was asked last week on SEN by Mark Robinson "have you heard of any internal rumblings at the club about the coach ?", the answer was "yes". And as we know Schwarz has been back closer to the bosom of the club in recent times.

There's a little too much smoke for me not to think that there's at least a grass fire in the midst. But at the end of the day it's a footy club. You'd expect that there's usually some rumblings from time to time. I see no real story in that. Who knows if it will cascade.

Actually this...and not the directives of messres rpfc and rr sums up th esituation far more candidly.

Yes there wasa lot of fluff and padding in the Caro article but she did attend to the crux which was surrounded some curious communications ( or lack there of ) between board and coach.

I actually find it somewhat refreshing and proactive for the club to be engaging in thorough reviews..even if the timing is a bit left filed/maverick

It has been been noted by many learned scribes as well as some posters here that other clubs with similarly young lists seem to gett hings happening far quicker than us. I have in my mind no doubt this goes to teh core of the "rumblings" thatare occuring currently.

Tomany observers we arent progressing.. some are kind and suggest weve stalled, others suggest we're sliding backwards.

I know many of my footy mates think weve got a good list but not the right coach anymore.. He was right for the suration to get us to where we needed to be at the start of 2011 but think he hasnt got the game to deliver us any further.

Imnot sure whether theyre right or swrong in that final assessment but I sense the clubitself is wondering the samething.

Bailey has shown much and deserves the opportunity of delivering on his ideas etc for the rest of this season. He undoubtedly had a plan in mind when he came to interview for the job but i sense this is crunch time.

I think the club is frustrated......that is where the rumblings are occuring as would any stomach if hungry !

[rpfc 28,249]

If they are wondering about whether Bailey is the right coach - they are doing their job.

If they are working through the best way to enhance the FD - they are doing their job.

If at some point they have a chat to Malthouse or Roos (or reps of them) during the year - they are doing their job.

Wilson has given nothing that concerns me. I don't see it, still.

If someone can explain to me the disconnect I would appreciate it.

[Freddy Fuschia 730]

Believe what you want pal, but even the dimwitted would raise an eyebrow when a poster out of the blue says that a player wasn't comfortable in a particuar environment, i.e a "[censored]-up" and low and behold a journalist infers a player clearly wasn't enjoying a junket.

Look, I know what I know and most posters would accept that I don't have a history of gilding the lily or posting uninformed guesswork. Naturally, you can please yourself. It makes zero difference to me.

I will believe what I want but you missed the point. Nowhere does Wilson refer to "excessive drinking", nor does it confirm anything, least of all that Tom Scully left the trip for any other reason than to be close to a relative who was not well. Scully was distracted during the course of the trip by the knowledge of that situation and that's why he went home early.

I know of two people who made the trip and were close to the players of both clubs. The only "excessive drinking" they witnessed was from a certain former Brisbane Lion who is playing a lot closer to home these days.

[Sir Why You Little 36,960]

This all came about because our CEO right or wrongly gave a little too much info to a journalist last week from the Australian.

I knew this would happen, having spent years working with journalists in a newsroom in the past, I don't think any damage has been done, But Bailey and his assistant coaches are under the pump to get some wins on the board. No doubt.

There are too many coaches out of contract across the AFL at years end for that not too happen.

After spending the last few days thinking about this quite a lot, IMO losing Wellman the way we did hurt us, but we cannot make excuses. We need to find a defensive coach as good or better.

There is no doubt the entire FD is under the pump, not just Dean & this upcoming game against Wet Coke over there is a perfect challenge.

A few wins and this will blow over...if not the drums will get louder.

[Sir Why You Little 36,960]

I will believe what I want but you missed the point. Nowhere does Wilson refer to "excessive drinking", nor does it confirm anything, least of all that Tom Scully left the trip for any other reason than to be close to a relative who was not well. Scully was distracted during the course of the trip by the knowledge of that situation and that's why he went home early.

I know of two people who made the trip and were close to the players of both clubs. The only "excessive drinking" they witnessed was from a certain former Brisbane Lion who is playing a lot closer to home these days.

Spot on.