Love your optimism RR . Got anything you can recommend that I can take to get some of that optimism ?

Alcohol and drugs don't seem to be working . Hypnotism ? Acupuncture ? Banging head against brick wall ? Listening to happy songs ?

Hahaha! Macca here's a couple of Buddhist quotes that I take great solace in ...

"All conditioned things are impermanent".

and

"What we think, we become".

ie. Nothing is set permanently in stone and we constantly have the ability to change our mindset to better ourselves.

There's huge hope in this and in Mark Neeld I see a man who at the very least has the courage to set this club on a new course.

For more optimism have a look at what the Toiges achieved today!

Hahaha! Macca here's a couple of Buddhist quotes that I take great solace in ...

"All conditioned things are impermanent".

and

"What we think, we become".

ie. Nothing is set permanently in stone and we constantly have the ability to change our mindset to better ourselves.

There's huge hope in this and in Mark Neeld I see a man who at the very least has the courage to set this club on a new course.

For more optimism have a look at what the Toiges achieved today!

You've put me into a trance ! I think I'm coming out of the dark side . No wait ........I'm getting dragged back in by ...........old dee !!

Nobody has said we did not need to recruit aggressively.

Ummmmm?? Huh?

Don't see the connection at all between what I wrote and your response. Has nothing to do with what I was saying....

Ummmmm?? Huh?

Don't see the connection at all between what I wrote and your response. Has nothing to do with what I was saying....

What are you actually saying?

Mark Neeld inherited a list that has a lot of deadwood in it. He cannot change that overnight.

You've put me into a trance ! I think I'm coming out of the dark side . No wait ........I'm getting dragged back in by ...........old dee !!

Don't worry about Old Dee. I will make a believer out of him yet!

What are you actually saying?

Mark Neeld inherited a list that has a lot of deadwood in it. He cannot change that overnight.

I made no mention of the list, my point had nothing to do with the list.

All I said was we are only 9 weeks in, no one knows yet if Neeld is a great coach or a poor one.

I made no mention of the list, my point had nothing to do with the list.

All I said was we are only 9 weeks in, no one knows yet if Neeld is a great coach or a poor one.

Sure. But i don't think you are looking at the big picture.

See i do not think any new coach would be doing any better. At the end of 2011 before the new FD came in our list was a mess. That is the fault of the MFC, not the new coaches.

I made no mention of the list, my point had nothing to do with the list.

All I said was we are only 9 weeks in, no one knows yet if Neeld is a great coach or a poor one.

And you'll note that most of us have not said he was either way. The only way to know is to stick true until the players eventually understand the way Neeld wants them to play. (Which, as I've said before, is taking altogether too long, IMO, but that's for a different thread.)

And you'll note that most of us have not said he was either way. The only way to know is to stick true until the players eventually understand the way Neeld wants them to play. (Which, as I've said before, is taking altogether too long, IMO, but that's for a different thread.)

8 games?? I don't see how you could make an argument that things are 'taking too long'. Surely that is ridiculous.

I think Jon Anderson on 3AW got it right this morning. "What is happening at the moment is by-product of poor recruiting. Too many light bodied, weak minded players and a poorly balanced list"

It's been highlighted many times on this board how poor our recruiting has been over the last 10 years or more. Apart from Frawley no other 1-25 draft pick has cemented a place in this team. That's about 20 early picks wasted. If even a third of these picks, particularly under the Craig Cameron era were A or B Graders we wouldn't be having this conversation now and Neeld probably would't be Coach..

Sorry Theo, don't agree.

That is the simplistic view of just labelling the players as failures.

The issue has been development, both in terms of playing the game and physical.

We haven't until this season put the money into coaching, and we haven't put it into physical development staff.

Now we've forked out for Misson and his team, and for a large group of talented coaches.

Now all we need to do is give it time for these changes to have an effect.

We've already seen improvement in Watts, Morton, Blease this year.

We'll continue to see it from other players too, as we put the time and resources into them.

And considering we haven't in the past, it should be no surprise they haven't come on as we'd like.

It's a pretty simple point, but often overlooked.

Sure. But i don't think you are looking at the big picture.

See i do not think any new coach would be doing any better. At the end of 2011 before the new FD came in our list was a mess. That is the fault of the MFC, not the new coaches.

No you're right I'm not looking at the big picture, all I'm looking at is the coach, as that is what my post is about and what this thread is about yeah?

No you're right I'm not looking at the big picture, all I'm looking at is the coach, as that is what my post is about and what this thread is about yeah?

Stuie the coach is looking at the big picture. That is my point.

Look at what he inherited. Until next years preseason has been completed i will not put the flame to the coach for results.

You have not said it but thus far he has failed in your eyes.

We are talking of a complete rebuild of our entire cclub and culture here.

Bloke I went to dinner with last night is a member of the same club as a few players from MFC. In terms of round holes, they play a lot of golf apparently.

Bloke I went to dinner with last night is a member of the same club as a few players from MFC. In terms of round holes, they play a lot of golf apparently.

I don't know what this means.

Stuie the coach is looking at the big picture. That is my point.

Look at what he inherited. Until next years preseason has been completed i will not put the flame to the coach for results.

You have not said it but thus far he has failed in your eyes.

We are talking of a complete rebuild of our entire cclub and culture here.

Yes he has failed SO FAR, but the so far is only 9 games, so it would be pretty quick to turn that around. I'm only saying it's too early to tell how good or bad a coach Neeld is.

No big picture, no comment on players or drafting, just a comment on the coach and his ability to successfully complete his job as it stands.

Yes he has failed SO FAR, but the so far is only 9 games, so it would be pretty quick to turn that around. I'm only saying it's too early to tell how good or bad a coach Neeld is.

No big picture, no comment on players or drafting, just a comment on the coach and his ability to successfully complete his job as it stands.

Hard to be successful when 2 of our senior midfielders clearly do not want to play for the club anymore.

Happy to accept the weekly 2012 pay cheque though.

I haven't been paying to much attention to the endless comments being made by the many football "experts" out there at the moment, many of who are lining up to put the boots into the easy target. David King was the latest to have a crack, probably the biggest crack so far, suggesting the board should come out and sack Neeld now and admit they made a massive mistake. A load of misguided, uninformed tripe like a lot of the stuff being said.

One thing he did say caught my attention though. He likened Neeld to being a square peg being pushed into a round hole. He of course made out that this was the whole problem. Neeld didn't match our club in some way and therefore shouldn't be here. I actually think this is why he is at this club. We need someone like him to come in and force his way into our club, and change the shape of the hole until it is the shape it needs to be - fully professional, resilient and ready to match it with the rest of the AFL. Neeld signed up others like Misson and Craig who could help do this from a fitness and discipline area. The square peg is needed, and time needs to be given for the square peg to mould the hole into the right shape.

well said

Hard to be successful when 2 of our senior midfielders clearly do not want to play for the club anymore.

Happy to accept the weekly 2012 pay cheque though.

You mean 2 senior midfielders who had been happy until Neeld came along?

You can read situations a myriad of ways, but none of us know what is happening behind closed doors.

Not defending those players, not having a crack at Neeld, but we don't know the actual situation.

You mean 2 senior midfielders who had been happy until Neeld came along?

You can read situations a myriad of ways, but none of us know what is happening behind closed doors.

Not defending those players, not having a crack at Neeld, but we don't know the actual situation.

Stats and the scoreboard for 8 weeks have told the same story Stuie, that is all i am basing any of my observations on.

Those 2 are not giving there all, and at AFL level that is going to kill us every week, despite who the coach is or a gameplan.

Edited May 26, 201213 yr by why you little

Stats and the scoreboard for 8 weeks have told the same story Stuie, that is all i am basing any of my observations on.

Those 2 are not giving there all, and at AFL level that is going to kill us every week, despite who the coach is or a gameplan.

Yeah totally agree mate, I think a lot of players aren't getting the effort right. But is it the coach? The players? Some other external source? None of us know, and that's why, for now, I'm still on the fence about Neeld (despite how much I like his demeanor).

I just keep hearing the same thing from people who claim to know from club sources.

Yeah totally agree mate, I think a lot of players aren't getting the effort right. But is it the coach? The players? Some other external source? None of us know, and that's why, for now, I'm still on the fence about Neeld (despite how much I like his demeanor).

The Coach has come from the right places....If the players are not 100% committed.....There's the door.

Players have run the MFC for too long...Time for the teachers to regain the respect.

i do not have Blind Faith in Mark Neeld, but if this club burns him up before he can fully implement his stamp on the team...We will suffer greatly.

Before i make any solid judgement i want to see a Mark Neeld list of players...from what my sources have told me, that will take the next 2 drafts to implement.

The Coach has come from the right places....If the players are not 100% committed.....There's the door.

Players have run the MFC for too long...Time for the teachers to regain the respect.

i do not have Blind Faith in Mark Neeld, but if this club burns him up before he can fully implement his stamp on the team...We will suffer greatly.

Before i make any solid judgement i want to see a Mark Neeld list of players...from what my sources have told me, that will take the next 2 drafts to implement.

I agree. Give him a chance to mold the list to his style of play and then you can measure where we are at.

The Coach has come from the right places....If the players are not 100% committed.....There's the door.

Players have run the MFC for too long...Time for the teachers to regain the respect.

i do not have Blind Faith in Mark Neeld, but if this club burns him up before he can fully implement his stamp on the team...We will suffer greatly.

Before i make any solid judgement i want to see a Mark Neeld list of players...from what my sources have told me, that will take the next 2 drafts to implement.

I agree. Give him a chance to mold the list to his style of play and then you can measure where we are at.

What rubbish! A good coach gets the most out of what he has got, and then gradually adds the type of players he believes will best improve the team. Any coach who only wants his type of players isn't worth the time of day. As for where he has come from, you surely are kidding! If that statement is true, why didn't MFC get Sanderson who came from a much better background!

True but I think Neeld was pretty clear that we needed to lift our training intensity quite considerably and move to a defensive style of play so no surprises.