Hats off to Mark Neeld

[corowa 216]

To say that we have had a disappointing season under Mark Neeld would be a gross understatement. MFC fans anticipated huge improvement on 2011 but were hugely disillusioned.

I have nothing but praise for the manner in which Mark Neeld and the football department have reacted to the disaster that has been MFC this year.

Enticing 'good' players to our club has been an almost impossible task these past couple of years. It would seem that things have changed.

Neeld has set standards from which he has not deviated. He knows exactly what needs to be done to transform us to a tough and competitive team. By the end of next week we could well have several experienced players from other clubs who will become positive role models for our youngsters on and off the field.

Neeld's has been a polished performance and I, for one, acknowledge his huge efforts. I'm excited!

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

Couldnt of said it better myself. Neeld has been nothing short of impressive this season. The side was poor but Im more positve about the future of this club , the long term future, than I have ever been. Ill go further and stick my neck out and say that i think 2012, 2013, 2014 could well be the most pivotal years in the history of the club. the era when the club stood up and said enough is enough. Our supporter base will remain small for many years due to all the things we are well aware of but i can see the corporate side of the business getting behind this australian sporting icon that is MFC. go Dees!!

Edited October 12, 2012 by Munga

[Sammy J 3]

Well said, the bloke has done a tremendous job at attracting players and getting the best out of what we have.

[Dillon and Parke 5]

To say that we have had a disappointing season under Mark Neeld would be a gross understatement. MFC fans anticipated huge improvement on 2011 but were hugely disillusioned.

I have nothing but praise for the manner in which Mark Neeld and the football department have reacted to the disaster that has been MFC this year.

Enticing 'good' players to our club has been an almost impossible task these past couple of years. It would seem that things have changed.

Neeld has set standards from which he has not deviated. He knows exactly what needs to be done to transform us to a tough and competitive team. By the end of next week we could well have several experienced players from other clubs who will become positive role models for our youngsters on and off the field.

Neeld's has been a polished performance and I, for one, acknowledge his huge efforts. I'm excited!

Lets hope Corowa.. he's not a great Media performer but who cares. Seems to be going for what we need. Good Post!

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

Just met the fellow and noticed he has a million posts. Seems to be a stuck in the past sought of fellow? Am sure he's a good bloke but some of his posts are borderline...IMV

C'mon D&P

I can't believe RR is as young as my good self.

[What 18,810]

HEs done everything right off the field and in recruiting sincehe came to the club.

I really hope he can take us up the ladder in 2013, for his sake.

Id hate for him to not be at the MFC when Hogan plays his first game in 2014 and this list starts to blossom.

[1964nowMORE 477]

Agree....good words, good thread.

Just not 100% sure he can coach match day, but he can certainly build a Club. Nice Cam's been quiet and not involved, Neeld and Viney front and centre well supported by Craig also.

Might be a new record come Rd1 new Demons.....we'll add Clark straight back in and welcome Viney (on ball), Dawes (CHF), Pederson (Fwd Pkt/Ruck), Byrnes (Fwd Pkt) and hopefully Ray (wing/HBF). Best of all I'll be driving to Casey to watch our franchise player make his debut, the hulk!

In many ways I'm honestly not fussed who goes from current list - the in's will be better in 2013 and I'm completely over waiting for "potential" to come through.

Thanks to Beamer for his time, and maybe Riv....and bye bye to Cook and Gys it seems.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Couldnt of said it better myself. Neeld has been nothing short of impressive this season. The side was poor but Im more positve about the future of this club , the long term future, than I have ever been. Ill go further and stick my neck out and say that i think 2012, 2013, 2014 could well be the most pivotal years in the history of the club. the era when the club stood up and said enough is enough. Our supporter base will remain small for many years due to all the things we are well aware of but i can see the corporate side of the business getting behind this australian sporting icon that is MFC. go Dees!!

I posted in another thread some time ago now that I thought Neeld would revolutionise the Melbourne Football Club and drag it out of the past in to the present, well he hasn't let me down. We are starting to behave like a professional club and not like a bunch of rank amateurs, this is only a start but it brings me joy, we are going after what we want and getting it. Baby steps we have to get some runs on the board but in a few years to come players will want to come to our club and won't have to be enticed.

Well done Mark and crew.

[pantaloons 2,019]

I don't know if this guy can coach yet, but with his GM skills he would be unbeatable in Madden.

[Maldonboy38 6,387]

Neeld is proving himself in many areas of coaching - recruiting, development, dedication to training, strategy and planning - but he has not proven match day abiity yet. I still reserve judgement on this. In 2012 his playing list and performance gave us little opportunity to assess his match day coaching ability but this year we will get a clear indication. But boy does it feel good to see his determination and clear focus.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Neeld is proving himself in many areas of coaching - recruiting, development, dedication to training, strategy and planning - but he has not proven match day abiity yet. I still reserve judgement on this. In 2012 his playing list and performance gave us little opportunity to assess his match day coaching ability but this year we will get a clear indication. But boy does it feel good to see his determination and clear focus.

Good post and fair conclusion. Hopefully the qualities you have lauded transfer into sound match day coaching now that a few more of the chess pieces will be in place.

[Fox in a box 3]

Good post and fair conclusion. Hopefully the qualities you have lauded transfer into sound match day coaching now that a few more of the chess pieces will be in place.

Sliding doors

Most, likebyourself, have become accustomed to the club being bit players during the trading period with the club trotting out the same old line we are in a rebuilding phase.

For once we are in foreign territory, playing smart football off the pitch, which naturally has uneased a few

Which would you rather?

Fox

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Sliding doors

Most, likebyourself, have become accustomed to the club being bit players during the trading period with the club trotting out the same old line we are in a rebuilding phase.

For once we are in foreign territory, playing smart football off the pitch, which naturally has uneased a few

Which would you rather?

Fox

Strange response to my post, not sure you have read me correctly.

[Watts Jurrah Dunn? 735]

Spot on. Through developing McDonald and Jones, and great sales pitches to Clark and Dawes he has already built us a spine for the next 5 years.

One can only imagine the position we'd be in today had someone like Neeld got Bailey's job. Clearly going strictly with kids was the wrong approach and Neeld has done a great deal to correct that in 12 months.

[ripper 2]

can you all calm down, they guy hasn't done much at all yet,

which good players are you talking about anyway?

what are the standards he has set, going on last year, i hope these haven't been met.

not hard to do what he has done when you have the ridiculous amount of good picks he has had this year.

1. has drafted in a key position player who doesn't have a say where he goes

2. picked up a guy who has been playing VFL all year

3. we are the target of a bloke who average 12.7 disposals and under 5 marks a game, and only kicked 16 goals in 23 games. another point he wants to leave as they have a replacement for his position at Collingwood. lets just hope they dont trade over the top for him.

4. not hard for him to think, we need to trade in players when you finish 16th.

5. he is there to coach, and hasn't done a great job at that (yes you will say some players improved under him, he is there for the team to improve)

6. got a father son pick

7. Tim Harrington is the one that is the recruiting manager, so as far as I can tell he should get credit for all of this.

so I say dont take your hats off to him until he has actually acomplished something, you are all assuming we are going to turn the corner, lets wait for on field results. I will continue to support the team, even if we stay down for 30 years but we have to stop accepting and giving people praise for stuff that is a part of their job. You will all jump on me at being negative but i read big footy before and the Melbourne supporters on there definitely need to pull their heads in.

[rpfc 28,052]

You will all jump on me at being negative but i read big footy before and the Melbourne supporters on there definitely need to pull their heads in.

Oh, if you have been on bigfooty before...

Welcome.

Cut the guy some slack.

We can't win games in October but you can improve the team - he is doing that.

[monoccular 17,339]

ripper - post #18. - some guys are just never ever happy. He / she will be the one who when the Jacks hold the Cup aloft complain about the shocking miss in the second quarter that cost us the 100 point victory.

[Juicebox 628]

so I say dont take your hats off to him until he has actually acomplished something, you are all assuming we are going to turn the corner, lets wait for on field results. I will continue to support the team, even if we stay down for 30 years but we have to stop accepting and giving people praise for stuff that is a part of their job. You will all jump on me at being negative but i read big footy before and the Melbourne supporters on there definitely need to pull their heads in.

After all the crap this year we've finally been dealt some positive news. Lap it up!

[rjay 24,616]

Neeld is proving himself in many areas of coaching - recruiting, development, dedication to training, strategy and planning - but he has not proven match day abiity yet. I still reserve judgement on this. In 2012 his playing list and performance gave us little opportunity to assess his match day coaching ability but this year we will get a clear indication. But boy does it feel good to see his determination and clear focus.

Understand the point about match day coaching but he is only a first year coach who was more intent on seeing what he had. Next season we will have a better idea with a team that is more of his making.

[ripper 2]

ripper - post #18. - some guys are just never ever happy. He / she will be the one who when the Jacks hold the Cup aloft complain about the shocking miss in the second quarter that cost us the 100 point victory.

don't assume i am one of those people,

by all means be happy that we have brought in new players, but i am not sold on Neeld at all yet (need to see what he brings to the table on the field)

I will ask you this what standards has he brought in ? ( this is an actual question please answer)

[deejammin' 2,185]

don't assume i am one of those people,

by all means be happy that we have brought in new players, but i am not sold on Neeld at all yet (need to see what he brings to the table on the field)

I will ask you this what standards has he brought in ? ( this is an actual question please answer)

I actually think that this is a great sign for Neeld. If all the potential trades go through and Dawes, Pederson, Viney, Pick 4, Ray and Byrnes run out for the red and blue there will be very few excuses for the type of performance we saw this year. Bailey constantly had his recruiting team go it about it in a way that gave him a youth and inexperience excuse, we need KPF, we draft Watts and Cook and preach patience. We need mids, diddo Scully et al. Neeld took a year to give the whole list a chance to prove why they should stay. Now he's sorting the wheat from the chaff and will stand by his results. Its a brave approach, its a daring approach, but overall I think its a hugely positive move for a club that has been playing it so safe for so long.

As for standards, he has doubled the FD, increased training loads, attracted one of the best fitness guys going around in David Misson who has put the club through the hardest pre-season in memory and set clear goals for every player that must be reached, no excuses. Has refused to play players on reputation and has dropped several who would not have been dropped under Bailey, providing positive results for Watts, Blease and a few others, and sorting out which of our players were total sooks for those that couldn't handle it. He hasn't told us as supporters that success is just going to happen on the back of good draft picks, he has basically attacked everything that came before him in terms of elite performance in all facets of the club and he is putting himself in a position where he has backed himself completely and will live or die by it very early in his coaching tenure, rather than trying to preach in a way that keeps his job. He has also taken the most agressive approach to a trade period that our club has taken in a very long time in response to poor performance this year. Pretty good if you ask me. Lets see if it works before we bag him out.

[dee-tox 4,835]

I remember all the plaudits on this site towards Bailey and how he was setting the club up to be a super power. How Bailey was a great developer of youth, etc. As tempting as it is for fans to believe the hype, the proof is always in the pudding. From what I saw last year, the majority of the list went backwards. Jones, McDonald and Howe the exceptions.

I hope for Neeld's sake he can turn the team around. What we witnessed last season was nothing short of diabolical.

[TheVoice 33]

I think a happy medium can be found between the above posts. Whilst I see and agree with some of what Ripper has said it is hard not to see all the positives Neeld has implemented at the club.

I have not seen such an aggressive re-jig of the club in my time and the appointments made in Misson, Craig and the like have been master strokes. I am relatively pleased with our approach to this free agent / trade period and although no stars have been grabbed (Hogan, pick 4 & Viney = potential) we seem to have adequately addressed the shortcomings on our list.

In saying this though, the last few years have made us all question why we invest so much of ourselves in this club when it's performances hurt us so much. We all seem at our happiest and most optimistic at draft time only to be brought back to reality with a crashing blow round 1 of the new season.

Whilst Neelds boldness, professionalism and ideals give me great hope for the direction this club is heading, I will temper my emotions until something of note has been achieved. I'm sure Neeld would want nothing more from MFC supporters.

[corowa 216]

Demons fans could not be anything but pleased with what has occurred so far in trade week.

This is the first time in years that I have felt so positive about the recruiting team.

Mark Neeld and his team are to be congratulated on their efforts to encourage 'proven' players to join us. And there might be one or two more to follow.

Well done, fellows!

[Footynut 302]

I remember all the plaudits on this site towards Bailey and how he was setting the club up to be a super power. How Bailey was a great developer of youth, etc. As tempting as it is for fans to believe the hype, the proof is always in the pudding. From what I saw last year, the majority of the list went backwards. Jones, McDonald and Howe the exceptions.

I hope for Neeld's sake he can turn the team around. What we witnessed last season was nothing short of diabolical.

How did Clarke, Grimes go this year? Don't reckon it was backwards...

Baileys plan was all based on youth which you can never count on. At least we are recruiting in known quantities....Neeld will have done everything possible to give us a chance to be competitive from a base we all acknowledge was lowest of low...

What more do you want from a guy in his first year at a club that was a basket case?