THE DRIVE-BY SHOOTING

[Grapeviney 8,815]

Green can certainly hold his head high today - worked really hard and glad that he got to slot a few goals in his 250.

Aside from Jones, there was little else to smile about.

Felt pretty lonely there, MFC supporters were few and far between

[Nathan Jones's Hairdresser 7]

Sorry Range Rover! Meekest M performance I've seen this year(Believe this is saying something!!!).

Kangaroos did precisely whatever they wanted to and turned it on at the flick of a switch.. Melbourne only scored when Kangas rested. How long is MN contract? Surely we don't have to endure 2 more years of this. Neeld has shown bad judgement from the time he started at Melbourne. Who on earth would want to come to Melbourne under Neeld? Players simply are not playing for him. He's not a motivator. Players are not passionate. Final score did not reflect the vast gap between the two teams. Sad SAD.

Spot on. The coach is a dud. The captaincy decision was just a howler of a mistake - and to add insult to injury, the top two in the 2011 B&F were ditched from the leadership group. Go figure. Neeld's handling of Watts, Martin (our no laughing policy), Nicholson (how long did it take him to play this bloke?), Moloney, and Petterd has been awful, and the pressure he's put on Trengove and Grimes' shoulders has surely added to their disappointing seasons. Neeld's media performances are all over the place - and whilst a poor media profile is not necessarily a hanging offence - his erratic media performances certainly suggest that that he's just not a great communicator. And then we've got this awful game plan that's been xeroxed from the Lexus/Westpac/whatever it's called right now Centre's front office and applied with no thought or modification to our list. Put it all together and what have you got? The rubbish served up today - today and for almost the entire season.

[jumbo returns 6,486]

I went to game and (yell me down if you want), the players that were out there, have actually improved!

The guys ran hard, spread better and defended quickly.

The captains went well, and JT has picked up a yard.

Jonesy (goes without saying) Sellar was good, Howe is a star in the making and Strauss was very good when he came on.

Bail ran hard, Blease is a beauty, Mac and McD did a very good job - Chip's best game thus far.

There is light - but I'm a realist....list deficiencies.

[olisik 4,060]

You just answered your own question. When we have an outside mid more damaging than Wells, you can bet he'll be running lose and trying to damage the opponent as much as possible. Until then, tagging is a fairly good option. Plus, it teaches a defensive mindset that every player ought to have.

How will we get that outside mid who is more damaging if we do not let players run loose and learn to be damaging?

We ll never win by chasing opponent mids around and having half our mid fielders tagging. As by tagging they'll always be 2nd to the ball.

[olisik 4,060]

Sorry Range Rover! Meekest M performance I've seen this year(Believe this is saying something!!!).

Kangaroos did precisely whatever they wanted to and turned it on at the flick of a switch.. Melbourne only scored when Kangas rested. How long is MN contract? Surely we don't have to endure 2 more years of this. Neeld has shown bad judgement from the time he started at Melbourne. Who on earth would want to come to Melbourne under Neeld? Players simply are not playing for him. He's not a motivator. Players are not passionate. Final score did not reflect the vast gap between the two teams. Sad SAD.

Spot on. The coach is a dud. The captaincy decision was just a howler of a mistake - and to add insult to injury, the top two in the 2011 B&F were ditched from the leadership group. Go figure. Neeld's handling of Watts, Martin (our no laughing policy), Nicholson (how long did it take him to play this bloke?), Moloney, and Petterd has been awful, and the pressure he's put on Trengove and Grimes' shoulders has surely added to their disappointing seasons. Neeld's media performances are all over the place - and whilst a poor media profile is not necessarily a hanging offence - his erratic media performances certainly suggest that that he's just not a great communicator. And then we've got this awful game plan that's been xeroxed from the Lexus/Westpac/whatever it's called right now Centre's front office and applied with no thought or modification to our list. Put it all together and what have you got? The rubbish served up today - today and for almost the entire season.

thaipants has more then one account it seems...

[praha 10,270]

I buy the original argument. This team is probably slightly ahead of the 1997 team as the worst Melbourne team, talent wise, I have seen. There is a clear need for a clean out at the end of the year.

That 1997 team essentially became our 2000 GF team, with a few handy additions. We also beat North Melbourne, the year's reigning premiers, in round one. Also, 1998 was arguably one of the club's best years since 1964. That 1997 is grossly underrated.

A few handy additions would not save the team of 2012. It's about 3-4 years off the mark in terms of playing consistent footy for the whole year, let along individual games.

1997 team had spark at least. 2012 team was bad even when it was healthy.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Cudi_420

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I remember saying to my son in the second quarter that Sylvia would rack up a few stats in the last to make his game seem ok.

It was terrible there today and out of the 20k supporters I think we would have had no more than 3k, disgraceful by the supporters as well.

Personally I can't see why we bother with Dunn and Martin who just don't do enough and there are plenty others who are just as useless.

On the way to the ground they interviewed Neeld and he was asked about Morton, he said Aghh! when asked why he said that was very round about and mentioned something about when you get the spread sheet with the players stats it doesn't tell you about their personality, from that I guess there is a problem with Cale and I would very much doubt he'll be there next year.

[Jerry Lundergard 380]

I went to game and (yell me down if you want), the players that were out there, have actually improved!

The guys ran hard, spread better and defended quickly.

The captains went well, and JT has picked up a yard.

Jonesy (goes without saying) Sellar was good, Howe is a star in the making and Strauss was very good when he came on.

Bail ran hard, Blease is a beauty, Mac and McD did a very good job - Chip's best game thus far.

There is light - but I'm a realist....list deficiencies.

Are you being sarcastic?

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,141]

No disrespect to Jones, but I would say he is the equivalent to a Leigh Adams on the Kangas.

The difference is Adams has a Swallow, Wells and Harvey to surround himself with, we have....well....poo....

If you think Jones is not better than Adams you have rocks in your head. 32 touches @ 84% with 10 clearances in a side that get's pants'd every week. Do you think he wouldn't be better if he had a Swallow, Wells and Harvey to help him out.

Effort and structure is not costing us at present, skills and no forward target is. Outcome was as expected.

Edited July 28, 2012 by big_red_fire_engine

[jumbo returns 6,486]

Are you being sarcastic?

No - legit.

9 goal loss to a team that are supposedly the 'new' Geelong was a good effort.

All I'm saying is that those that have embraced Neeld's expectations have stepped up and improved.

[Jerry Lundergard 380]

If you think Jones is not better than Adams you have rocks in your head. 32 touches @ 84% with 10 clearances in a side that get's pants'd every week. Do you think he wouldn't be better if he had a Swallow, Wells and Harvey to help him out.

Effort and structure is not costing us at present, skills and no forward target is. Outcome was as expected.

I am saying that in most other good teams, Jones is about the 3rd or 4th best midfirlder. In ours, he is No.1 by a country mile.

[Chook 14,429]

How will we get that outside mid who is more damaging if we do not let players run loose and learn to be damaging?

We ll never win by chasing opponent mids around and having half our mid fielders tagging. As by tagging they'll always be 2nd to the ball.

What do you think Nathan Jones was doing all day. If you're looking for Jordie McKenzie to become super-damaging, I think you'll be waiting for a long time.

[thaipantsman 180]

Yep me too, although I lasted 5 minutes into the last. Could've easily left 5 minutes into the game or not even bothered turning up and wouldn't have felt like I missed anything. No other MFC Supporters (other than about 2000-3000 diehards) bothered showing up so why should I be a sucker for punishment? Not sure at this stage if I'll bother turning up to another game this year watching us in front of about 15000 next week against GC doesn't get my blood pumping at all.

V Gold Coast it's tick tock for Neeld if we lose

[monoccular 16,037]

Honestly, as a Demon supporter for 60+ years, and yet again a current member, this has turned into the very first season (yes, including the 70s and early 80s) ever that I just cannot bear to watch them play. I had always made every effort to optimistically get to games when family and work allows, but today I just could not bring myself to watch or even follow the scores more than two or three times.

I will sign up again 2013, and no doubt be "optimistic" about the forthcoming season, but I really think I can take it only one more time.

I have become genuinely depressed about our future and actually feel like crying when I read about our lack of progress.

Edited July 28, 2012 by monoccular

[thaipantsman 180]

No - legit.

9 goal loss to a team that are supposedly the 'new' Geelong was a good effort.

All I'm saying is that those that have embraced Neeld's expectations have stepped up and improved.

Most Pundits agree Kangaroos were also quite poor apart from the first 20 minutes. Toyed with Melbourne for the majority of the game.

[thaipantsman 180]

Are you being sarcastic?

Jerry you are either being sarcastic or perhaps a little silly? Good on you though for being positive!

Edited July 28, 2012 by thaipantsman

[The Big Ticket 94]

On the way to the ground they interviewed Neeld and he was asked about Morton, he said Aghh! when asked why he said that was very round about and mentioned something about when you get the spread sheet with the players stats it doesn't tell you about their personality, from that I guess there is a problem with Cale and I would very much doubt he'll be there next year.

Another sad drafting bust. Certainly seems like a weak character, Cale.

If Neeld really said something along those lines, that's poor form IMO.

[thaipantsman 180]

Honestly, as a Demon supporter for 60+ years, and yet again a current member, this has turned into the very first season (yes, including the 70s and early 80s) ever that I just cannot bear to watch them play. I had always made every effort to optimistically get to games when family and work allows, but today I just could not bring myself to watch or even follow the scores more than two or three times.

I will sign up again 2013, and no doubt be "optimistic" about the forthcoming season, but I really think I can take it only one more time.

I have become genuinely depressed about our future and actually feel like crying when I read about our lack of progress.

Don't worry Monocular! I'll keep signing up as well. round one was poor V Brisbane and this game was worse. Kangaroos were not inspiring but did only what they had to do. Players seem uninspired and not motivated at all.

Does anyone know how many games Denis Jones Coached before he "resigned"?

[Nasher 33,047]

I watched out of obligation, and not very closely at that. As I said last week, i'm beyond frustrated and now i'm just bored.

[jumbo returns 6,486]

Another sad drafting bust. Certainly seems like a weak character, Cale.

If Neeld really said something along those lines, that's poor form IMO.

He did say it and Mike Sheahan finished off by saying that he believes Morton will not be there next year.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

V Gold Coast it's tick tock for Neeld if we lose

Yet more wisdom from "thaipantsman".

You must have seen a lot of action in your time "thaipantsman" - patently, so much life experience.

[thaipantsman 180]

Sorry Range Rover! Meekest M performance I've seen this year(Believe this is saying something!!!).

Kangaroos did precisely whatever they wanted to and turned it on at the flick of a switch.. Melbourne only scored when Kangas rested. How long is MN contract? Surely we don't have to endure 2 more years of this. Neeld has shown bad judgement from the time he started at Melbourne. Who on earth would want to come to Melbourne under Neeld? Players simply are not playing for him. He's not a motivator. Players are not passionate. Final score did not reflect the vast gap between the two teams. Sad SAD.

Spot on. The coach is a dud. The captaincy decision was just a howler of a mistake - and to add insult to injury, the top two in the 2011 B&F were ditched from the leadership group. Go figure. Neeld's handling of Watts, Martin (our no laughing policy), Nicholson (how long did it take him to play this bloke?), Moloney, and Petterd has been awful, and the pressure he's put on Trengove and Grimes' shoulders has surely added to their disappointing seasons. Neeld's media performances are all over the place - and whilst a poor media profile is not necessarily a hanging offence - his erratic media performances certainly suggest that that he's just not a great communicator. And then we've got this awful game plan that's been xeroxed from the Lexus/Westpac/whatever it's called right now Centre's front office and applied with no thought or modification to our list. Put it all together and what have you got? The rubbish served up today - today and for almost the entire season.

Neeld's lack of eye contact is noticeable during interviews. Mitch Clark stepped up before his injury and said" I am Melbourne". He was believable . Mark Neeld is definitely and will never be Melbourne and repeat he will be remembered as another Gary Lyon experiment gone horribly wrong. No going back now. 1 and 1/2 years to go of this crap brand of Football.. Players are lost with it. Once skillful kids are now all of a sudden seemingly without skill.

Can only hope for some massive transformation next year. Totally revamped game plan.

[thaipantsman 180]

Yet more wisdom from "thaipantsman".

You must have seen a lot of action in your time "thaipantsman" - patently, so much life experience.

call it precisely how it is Mr Bush. Did you go to the game today? What did you think?

[jumbo returns 6,486]

Neeld's lack of eye contact is noticeable during interviews. Mitch Clark stepped up before his injury and said" I am Melbourne". He was believable . Mark Neeld is definitely and will never be Melbourne and repeat he will be remembered as another Gary Lyon experiment gone horribly wrong. No going back now. 1 and 1/2 years to go of this crap brand of Football.. Players are lost with it. Once skillful kids are now all of a sudden seemingly without skill.

Can only hope for some massive transformation next year. Totally revamped game plan.

thaipantsman, I don't see the correlation between eye contact during interviews and coaching.

You're not a Neeld fan (fair enough) but many (including me) believe that the list is now more accountable. We had too many lazy footballers who loved their reflection and guns - now, they need to reach AFL level.

[tonatopia 278]

Neeld's lack of eye contact is noticeable during interviews. Mitch Clark stepped up before his injury and said" I am Melbourne". He was believable . Mark Neeld is definitely and will never be Melbourne and repeat he will be remembered as another Gary Lyon experiment gone horribly wrong. No going back now. 1 and 1/2 years to go of this crap brand of Football.. Players are lost with it. Once skillful kids are now all of a sudden seemingly without skill.

Can only hope for some massive transformation next year. Totally revamped game plan.

He won't be coach next year.