The House That Jimmy Built

[Guest Thomo]

I have no idea why you have changed the font but if it is to give your opinion a gravitas that it lacks it won't work - you have lumped all that happened to our club on Bailey and it is unfair, unreasonable, and not the truth.

He is gone, and the past cannot be changed. It can be re-written and that is what you are doing.

I have argued this for long enough during the time it was relevant, I don't feel the need to get into it while it is no longer relevant.

Move on.

I don't know what happened to the font either. Tried to fix it and made it worse. It is not meant to have any relevance.

Please show me the quote where I “have lumped all that happened to our club on Bailey and it is unfair, unreasonable, and not the truth"

Strange point to make, as you made it up. Personally, I’d consider fabricating another posters argument is “unfair, unreasonable and not the truth”. Making things up is not helping your argument, it actually helps mine as it shows the lack of facts that you like to work with.

My posts were in response to a poster who is thanking Bailey for possible future success. Bailey was a poor coach. To say anything else is rewriting history.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Thomo

[rpfc 28,777]

I don't know what happened to the font either. Tried to fix it and made it worse. It is not meant to have any relevance.

Please show me the quote where I “have lumped all that happened to our club on Bailey and it is unfair, unreasonable, and not the truth"

Strange point to make, as you made it up. Personally, I’d consider fabricating another posters argument is “unfair, unreasonable and not the truth”. Making things up is not helping your argument, it actually helps mine as it shows the lack of facts that you like to work with.

My posts were in response to a poster who is thanking Bailey for possible future success. Bailey was a poor coach. To say anything else is rewriting history.

Your tirade against Bailey leads to the conclusion that he was the main reason why we were a failure.

I doubt you disagree with that point, given that - and this is a direct quote - you think he "ran this club into the ground."

The club was a basket case when we gave him the reigns and he made the best out of situation where an aging list were getting ready to be replenished as the club lurched into austerity, which hit the FD the hardest. Even requiring Bailey to fund an extra night of accomodation before 186 in a nice juxtaposition of his great service and his inevitable downfall.

If you don't think our list is decent, or better than it was at the end of 2008, that is your right.

But I thank Bailey for serving our club and for leaving it more healthy than when he found it.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

I don't know what happened to the font either. Tried to fix it and made it worse. It is not meant to have any relevance.

Please show me the quote where I “have lumped all that happened to our club on Bailey and it is unfair, unreasonable, and not the truth"

Strange point to make, as you made it up. Personally, I’d consider fabricating another posters argument is “unfair, unreasonable and not the truth”. Making things up is not helping your argument, it actually helps mine as it shows the lack of facts that you like to work with.

My posts were in response to a poster who is thanking Bailey for possible future success. Bailey was a poor coach. To say anything else is rewriting history.

So Thomo what would you have done better than Bailey in 08-10 when you were told to turn over the list, whilst the club revamped itself completely....Remembering that when Jimma took over our debt was huge and growing daily???

[dee-eee 231]

Bailey is recognised as having excellent mentoring skills but i will never be convinced he was up to it as a motivator. Remember the often ordinary Swooper trained teams ? Humiliation was a rarity. The players feared his tongue - " Jimmy , don't you EVER do that again ! " . I found it odd that for most of the first half of the season he positioned himself at ground level and often had his back to the play ,headphones 'round his neck, counselling players as all hell was breaking out on the field !

[mollydee 22]

What I like about the events post-season so far is the rebuild of the football department has proceeded without fanfare.

Piece by piece we have put together a new coach, fitness coach, coaching director comprising highly regarded individuals who have seen success at their former clubs.

There's been no big statements from Schwab, Connolly or Lyon. They've just put the pieces in place.

Considering Bails was inherited from the Harris-Gardner regime, and that what has been done over the past month could not have been achieved without Jimmy's debt reduction and club stabilization program, what we are getting to now is Jimmy's real legacy.

More than compensatory draft picks or short term fixes to the game plans, the football department reform we are now seeing is what will shape the medium term future of this club.

I for one am getting seriously upbeat about the future. This could be one wild ride.

THIS is the theme of the thread , not Bailey -bashing. I think he is a man of great integrity , and he dealt with everything that came his way with balance , dignity and good grace , including his exit from the club . That is in the past , but it is a part of the club's story - we cannot change that . What Pitmaster is saying is similar to what Mark Neeld said at today's "Meet the Coaches " lunch . For example , in answer to a question about how he saw the level of toughness of the players at present , he replied that he wasn't interested in that , he was only interested in how things will be in the future. The club is now teetering on the edge of its future , and THAT is where we should be looking . Personally , I am very excited . I've been excited with anticipation before , but I feel we now have "real deal" potential.

[mollydee 22]

Perhaps that should be "REAL DEE " potential

[Hannibal 5,814]

While I don't quite agree with Thomo's vociferous tone, I don't think he's as wide of the mark as others. Some are intimating that all Bailey did in his first two years was tank; and for that he should be thanked. In Bailey's first two games as coach he lost by a combined total of 199 points. It merely served as a portent of things to come. And it's not as if the club was bereft of senior players in 2008, or that they spent the entire year getting games into kids. Does anyone think that Bailey was told not to win games in 2008 ? Melbourne won one of its first 13 games before winning in round 14 by one point. Put simply, Melbourne was hopeless.

There's no doubt that Melbourne (rightly) tanked in 2009. In my opinion that was the only year the club tanked. There was too much on offer not to. The club needed to turn the list over and Bailey did no more, or no less than he should have. In the last two years Bailey was exposed as a coach with an attacking game plan, but one that didn't put nearly enough emphasis on defence and one that didn't adequately read the trends of the game. The players loved him, but most great coaches also slightly intimidate their players. I never thought he had the right blend. It seems now that some posters are trying to re-write history. They'd have you believe that Bailey spent his entire time trying to lose in those first two years and he now won't get to reap the rewards. I don't agree with this account. And while I acknowledge that Bailey tanked in 2009 I don't believe that he tanked in every game. There were plenty he wanted to win.

I wish him well, but I don't feel the need to thank him. He was given an opportunity and 4 years service by the MFC. I'm sure he'd thank the club for the opportunity he was given. Ultimately he was shown to be out of his depth when it came to being a senior coach. When he first came to the club he stated that he'd make the team "competitive". We'd all be rich if we were given a redback for every time he said it. Alas, we were anything but competitive for the bulk of his tenure. Mark Neeld has said he wants to coach the "hardest team to play against" all over the ground. I much prefer this aim, as it already intimates that we'll have structures and a game-plan built on defence. And that's certainly his background. Neeld has his opportunity and I hope he can deliver where Bailey couldn't. He'll also be judged accordingly.

Edited October 29, 2011 by Ben-Hur

[PartyTimeJohnny 537]

For me, one of the most Tragically Wonderful moments last year was that footage of Gary in the ill-fitting Melbourne top revving the boys up at half time.

It just encapsulated alot of things; we'd fallen in a heap, we had no leaders, we were down and out. The people that loved the club stayed strong, showed their colours and put in everything they had to saving the club.

This was all built by Jimmy, it should never be forgotten because he's not in the limelight

[Slartibartfast 17,625]

There is so much more to the Bailey argument than "tanking". It's allocation of resources, it's list management and trading and it's the players you develop, it's the disciplines you invoke, the team you pick, the years you put into leadership and more.

I'm not arguing Bailey was a "good coach". I think that on balance his game plan let him down but we'll never actually know because he will never have the opportunity to coach a mature playing list. Off the field he did just about everything right (with the usual glitches) and for that I'm thankful. In essence he took a longer term view and made club decisions rather than personal decisions and for that I'll thank him.

[The Third Eye 269]

There is so much more to the Bailey argument than "tanking". It's allocation of resources, it's list management and trading and it's the players you develop, it's the disciplines you invoke, the team you pick, the years you put into leadership and more.

I'm not arguing Bailey was a "good coach". I think that on balance his game plan let him down but we'll never actually know because he will never have the opportunity to coach a mature playing list. Off the field he did just about everything right (with the usual glitches) and for that I'm thankful. In essence he took a longer term view and made club decisions rather than personal decisions and for that I'll thank him.

I agree that he should be thanked for his efforts and his unswerving loyalty to the cause but the reality was that in his final year as a coach we were going backwards and he had to be let go sooner rather than later.

I'm far more comfortable with where we are now and appreciate that a part of it was due to his contribution but let's not look back.

Let's move on.

[640MD 3,429]

I agree This year the club went backwards and seemed to have no game plan and certainly no plan B,

but 08 09 and 10 went as expected and bails coached for the club and not for himself,

A poor year in 2011 has led us to a new coaching regime, and renewed expectations,

We certainly are not a great side, but the fundamental players might be in place

lets hope so. The Coach has gone! Long reign the Coach, Bring on 2012

Go Dees Give 'em HELL !!!