This is the lowest I have ever felt towards the MFC. DB is the scapegoat here, so that the board can take the focus away from what is apparently a plethora of off-field problems. He should have at least been given the rest of the year. I would have rather seen Brad Green stripped of his captaincy and Connolly p*ssed off. DB has set this list up for future success at the cost of his job, which doesn't sit well. History has shown that coaches under pressure who are regarded as having emerging lists will respond in the coming seasons- Geelong and Bomber Thompson being the prime example. Bomber nearly lost his job before their dynasty began. Ashamed to be a MFC supporter atm. immensely sorry for DB as well- good luck in the future.

Oh, and he won't spill the beans on tanking. He has too much class.

Oops.

Seriously, you've gotta concede his words have been twisted a bit by the media.

What he said wasn't half as bad as Terry Wallace's admission of tanking with the tiges.

The challenge is to mend bridges and unite the club's administration, players, supporters and followers. That, said Connolly, had not been the case and the Demons had paid the price.

"I think Melbourne has been a fractured club," he said. "There has been distance between the business and the football departments….”.

...thought I might add this quote from the Letter to Members from 24th July [2008].

"ON-FIELD – A committee of Board members will be assisting Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly to manage our football operations. This group consists of past player and Club hero, Andrew Leoncelli, along with David Thurin and Peter Szental."

...do you still think that the separation of the off field role of the board and the on field role of the footy dept. is "is finally being addressed"? Perhaps "eroded" is a more accurate term.

...the "separation of powers" as you put it was very well maintained under the previous board and that it is preposterous to suggest that it is only now being addressed when, in fact, all signs point to the very opposite. Whether or not you think that board members should be involved with the decisions of the football dept., surely you can't pretend that the specific appointment of board members for this function doesn't repesent an increase in this sort of (in my view, inappropriate) meddling....

...the line that "A committee of Board members will be assisting Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly to manage our football operations" suggests to me that the board is likely to play a more instrumental rather than observational role. My worry is that this could all too easily degenerate into a kind of Pre-Clarkson Dermott Brereton fiasco where Jim and friends can get away with interfereing with Bailey's plans beacause, well, he used to play for us.

Seriously, you've gotta concede his words have been twisted a bit by the media.

What he said wasn't half as bad as Terry Wallace's admission of tanking with the tiges.

To be honest his words weren't twisted by the press

HE was the one who twisted the words by putting a high degree of spin on them

HE was well aware of what he was saying and the reaction it would have in the media

TRUTH is he was complicit in the tanking and should have kept HIS mouth shut

my 5c worth

Seriously, you've gotta concede his words have been twisted a bit by the media.

What he said wasn't half as bad as Terry Wallace's admission of tanking with the tiges.

Why do Carlton get left out of this debate?? 3 spoons in 3 years??

DOes anybody believe Melbourne was not the worst team over those 3 years?? And if Carlton had not tanked we would have got Watts AND NikNat.

As far as I am concerned they can all get stuffed.

Why do Carlton get left out of this debate?? 3 spoons in 3 years?

Because it's super fun to kick us while we're down.

The hypocrites having a whinge about this should all look at their own backyard.

Buddy? Daisy? Kruezer? How did these guys come about?

And let's not even mention West Coast. From wooden spooners to top 4 finalists. Absolute joke.

Make no mistake, we were RUBBISH (still are) and we engineered one game to try and secure two top picks, and in a cruel twist of fate we might get robbed of one of these picks by the biggest packs of cheats yet.

Because it's super fun to kick us while we're down.

The hypocrites having a whinge about this should all look at their own backyard.

Buddy? Daisy? Kruezer? How did these guys come about?

And let's not even mention West Coast. From wooden spooners to top 4 finalists. Absolute joke.

Make no mistake, we were RUBBISH (still are) and we engineered one game to try and secure two top picks, and in a cruel twist of fate we might get robbed of one of these picks by the biggest packs of cheats yet.

Spot on

When various people suggest we've got to stop being nice guys (/gals) - this is part of it :- Calling It Like It Is

There's a blackmail element to it : there will likely be a price to be paid