Brilliant Strategy Unfolding

[monoccular 17,400]

You forgot, the most important ingrediant, Desire!

Well, I reckon these last few weeks Neeld has spelt out very very clearly - NO DESIRE, NOT WELCOME AT MFC!

[diesel 420]

The proof is in the pudding. The results required are what happens on the ground.

Anyway nice revision of history by the OP.

You're right the proof will be in the pudding for Neeld's tenure but there is no historical revision in BBB's assessment of the Bailey era.

[monoccular 17,400]

I have previously spoken about my serious concerns and absolute disapproval with Neeld. This trade period has exacerbated my concerns. Yes, our club will win more games in 2013 and will be significantly more competitive. However in my opinion we are further away than ever from making the top 4, let alone winning a flag which now looks beyond us this decade.

We have sacrificed our talent and future for short term gain. We have recruited veterans as if our premiership window was open. It is not, history proves youth is the key [/]and we have sold this out for players who are not as good as the players we have recently forced into retirement. These newly recruited veterans will be long retired by the time our traded players would come into peak. It makes no sense except short term job security for Neeld. For example surely it would have been better to keep Green, Gysberts and Martin than trade for Roden, and Brynes...... this is a insulting joke. We paid full price for all recruits bar Viney and although I see Melbourne playing more watchable, more aggressive, and tougher in 2013 I can’t see this group ever making the finals. In my view we have guaranteed the MFC will remain in the 2nd division for the next decade at least. This is a threat to our survival.

Don't get me wrong I wish my view is proved wrong. I just can't see a build for a premiership with these players and tactics, all I can see is a sell out for mid table competitiveness.... ake Richmond under Wallace. God I hope I am wrong but I feel Neeld will prove to be the worst mistake since sacking Norm Smith.

What "talent" have we sacrificed? The underperforming underwhelming Morton and Gysberts: two who have either refused to fit into the hard fit Neeld requirement, or who are unable to do so? Martin who is now surplus to our requirements?

You say that history has proven that youth is the key - like at the reigning Premiers? Not! Balance and hard mature bodies are the key, not speculative feeble youth, though one needs youth, strong hungry youth, to develop.

FCS to suggest that Neeld is the worst mistake since Norm Smith's sacking is drawing an incredibly long bow.......there have been so many disasters since then that it is far too early to make any such call. IMVHO Neeld is more likely to be the best thing we have had since Norm than anything approaching nothing near the worst. At least, to paraphrase John Kennedy ( not the assassinated US President, but the first Hawks Premiership coach) he has at least " done something" when so many of his predecessors have done nothing.

GO DEMONS - BRING ON 2013 so we can mute the negative soothsayers!

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

ok fair call, we won a final. we weren't a laughing stock. we had something to cheer about. I revise my statement to six years of irrelevancy

Here we go again. We weren't relevant because we made the final eight.

We were mediocre because we weren't good enough to go further

[Theo 272]

Cam Mooney believes what we have done may get us to 9th or 10th on the ladder but will not take us any further. Says we need to develop our kids the right way not short term quick fixes with older players.

[Swooper 255]

Cam Mooney believes what we have done may get us to 9th or 10th on the ladder but will not take us any further. Says we need to develop our kids the right way not short term quick fixes with older players.

The Swans don't just gift games to their kids. They are made to earn it and as a result certain toughness and ruthlessness is imbued at the club. We have clearly seen that simply playing the kids will not get us there.

[Deecisive 1,709]

Neeld has gotten rid of players that he believes will not measure up. Brad Green was a good player in his time, but he could not keep up, too slow to provide a real defensive side to his game. Gys and Morton stand on their record of what they achieved in the time that they have at lowly club like Melbourne. Face it if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, its a duck not a potential swan. Martin was a reasonable player, but Pederson and Dawes made his position untenable. Instead of mourning lost potential look forward to the potential these guys can bring to the club. Dawes would most likely still be a regular in Collingwoods side next year, Brynes would still be in line/competing for senior selection in the Geelong senior side, and Pederson would potentially be inline for selection with North now that they have lost some talls. These guys will significantly improve Melbourne next year, probably not top 8 but a damn good base to build on for 2014 and 2015.

[timD 994]

Cam Mooney believes what we have done may get us to 9th or 10th on the ladder but will not take us any further. Says we need to develop our kids the right way not short term quick fixes with older players.

Has mooney not thought that the older blokes have been brought in to help create an atmosphere & team that will develop the kids...

Nope, too many variables in that equation for ole' moons.

[Sideshow Bob 2,334]

Why do we have doomsayers berating short term gain..... Short term gain and medium term and long term gains are not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts. If we are better next year with 1-2 players that may only be here for 1-2 years yet that creates competition for spots and makes other players better as a result we will be better, winning games creates a winning culture we will be better, better culture, more winning creates better people who want to get involved - if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we the facilities, we have the cattle all of a sudden we will have others wanting to come we won't be the ones missing out on a Chris Judd type hat becomes available. Winning games is good regardless of what plans are in place.

[bing181 9,189]

Has mooney not thought that the older blokes have been brought in to help create an atmosphere & team that will develop the kids...

I really don't understand why so few people get this.

We need to get it right off-field before we can achieve on-field success.

[Devil In Disguise 2,266]

Just saw Cam Pederson's brief highlight package on MFC.com. Looks impressive, good hands & can kick too. I''m happy with the swap for Gys considering we can land another good midfielder with Pick 4.

[Little Goffy 14,386]

I'm confused, people talk about how we are sacrificing all our future talent?

Of our first or second round picks, only one, pick 20 (13) has gone to recruiting a mature player (that is to say, only 24 years old) to fill a very specific structual need.

Our delistings / outbound movements have been either mature players or NQR younger players who might do better at their new club, but frankly were done at the Demons.

In addition, we've picked up a few additional mature players to fill specific roles so that we actually have a functional team structure for our young, talented players to learn the game in. I notice a few people have lamented our lack of success with player development; maybe 'not having a functional team on the field' was an aspect of that?

Our true talent base in in tact, our drafting program barely interrupted, and we're a significantly more complete team structurally.

I'm convinced this trade period has been a serious success. We'll have an idea by about round 8 next year... and then again in about 8 years!

[DEELIRIOUS 156]

I love how people are bagging our recruiting. Makes me want us to succeed even more next season and shut idiots like Barett and the other haters in the media UP! The new signings have given the team a new look; how good a look is yet to be known. I am happy with what we have brought in, apart from the choice not to recruit an attacking HBF, which Lynden Dunn nor Dom Barry seem to be. I expetc good things in 2013

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Cam Mooney believes what we have done may get us to 9th or 10th on the ladder but will not take us any further. Says we need to develop our kids the right way not short term quick fixes with older players.

Mooney is probably right and I doubt that Rodan and Byrnes will still be with the club in 2 years time and if they are hopefully they will be playing at Casey. Pederson I'm not sure of but he's not a star and hopefully he too will be gone in 2 to 3 years.

They are stop gap measures and certainly won't be at the club if we are going to challenge for a flag in the next 4 or 5 years in fact I would imagine that we will look at other players to take there place in a couple of years.

If we can get to 9th or 10th we will get some credibility and maybe next time the mature recruits will be of a higher calibre.

[H_T 3,043]

Mooney is probably right and I doubt that Rodan and Byrnes will still be with the club in 2 years time and if they are hopefully they will be playing at Casey. Pederson I'm not sure of but he's not a star and hopefully he too will be gone in 2 to 3 years.

They are stop gap measures and certainly won't be at the club if we are going to challenge for a flag in the next 4 or 5 years in fact I would imagine that we will look at other players to take there place in a couple of years.

If we can get to 9th or 10th we will get some credibility and maybe next time the mature recruits will be of a higher calibre.

That's the spirit, you're seeing the strategy.

Lifting standards in performance in games and on the track is the first step, and if we get more than two years out of Byrnes and Rodan, it will be a bonus.

Many can beat their heads with respect to not getting much in return for high picks Morton and Gysberts. But there's good reason for their value.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

That's the spirit, you're seeing the strategy.

Lifting standards in performance in games and on the track is the first step, and if we get more than two years out of Byrnes and Rodan, it will be a bonus.

Many can beat their heads with respect to not getting much in return for high picks Morton and Gysberts. But there's good reason for their value.

Interesting point made by one of the commentators today; we've got some mature recruits but which of them are actually leaders?

[H_T 3,043]

Interesting point made by one of the commentators today; we've got some mature recruits but which of them are actually leaders?

The one's who lead by example in their role(s) on field and help set standards through their professionalism in preparation and training habits on the track ??

[BarnDee 287]

howdy , let me just say im right behind whats gone on in the last few weeks %100, but there are some threads in land that are , well not impressed , ie im not renewing my mship , sack the coach blah blah , if i was able i would start a poll on this , 1 are you happy with whats been done so far 2 , are you going to renew your memership , 3 are you happy with 2012 , no 2 if you answer no , explain why you should not be banned from here , include your last membership number and you will be banned from ever taking out MFC membership again in your life time, , cmon if i could i would , some one in here can , cheers

[hoopla 418]

Sorry guys couldn't disagree more. The coach has selected discards who may win him enough games to keep his job at years end. What do Rodan and Byrnes offer beyond 1 or 2 seasons. It is outrageous to expect Viney and Wines (if selected) to come in and make an instant impact.........

The older players have been brought in ease the pressure on Viney, Wines , Barry etc precisely so they can develop !

I am amazed that so many people believe there was so much potential in the players that we traded, yet very little if no potential in those we got. At some point in time you have to say you have put enough time and effort into these players waiting for them to show their value. Truth is most of those that performing after a couple of years never will. I for one are pretty happy with who we got, I dont recall anyone talking about any of those that we picked up as being lazy, not putting in, etc... I wish Gys and Cale, etc all the best in their new teams, and hope for themselves they can do better.

Agree

We've picked up 3 top five picks ( Viney, Hogan and #4) and 2 premiership players in the one year. We've added both size ( Dawes and Pederson) and speed ( Byrnes and Rodan) .............. and for good measure we've moved on players who were struggling with the work ethic required

The proof will be in the pudding - but the mix is looking stronger

[dtrinh 71]

Even though we did lose senior players like green, moloney, rivers who i guess were the leaders at our club they have been in the system for a while, haven't played in really successful modern day clubs and have been used to training at the levels of DB.

Bringing in players such as byrnes, dawes and even rodan will bring in players who train in modern day clubs who have been successful.

Previously young players come to our club just expecting to play games such as morton and maybe gys and who can they look at or get guidance from in relation to training and setting high standards? I'm sure green, moloney and rivers were top blokes and leaders in their own right but not sure if they were the hardest trainers or setting high standards at the club. Even though we did lose young players in morton, gys and even martin to some degree I think that the Neeld/misson/ craig era will take Melbourne into the right direction. I'm sure both morton and gys might be able to have break out years at their respective teams but i'm not sure if that would of happened at Melbourne. We managed to bring in a good balance of youth and experience into our team. Even though people say Neeld is just trying to keep his job and win a few more games, long term it will help the rest of our youngsters in development, something we at Melbourne haven't had in a long time!

[rjay 24,778]

Sorry guys couldn't disagree more. The coach has selected discards who may win him enough games to keep his job at years end. What do Rodan and Byrnes offer beyond 1 or 2 seasons. It is outrageous to expect Viney and Wines (if selected) to come in and make an instant impact. Where are the class highly skilled players, the game breakers and match winners. Neeld is a first year coach who frankly I don't think could train pigs to be dirty. What is his long term strategy didn't he say say he was pleased to take over such a great list that wasn't at rock bottom. NO he took us there, insisted on a game style our list couldn't play and has given away Morton, Gysberts and Martin for peanuts. Just watch martin and Gys develop at other clubs

Viney will make an instant impact don't worry about that. If he doesn't get rubbed out like his mate at GWS then the rising star is on the cards. Don't believe because he is a hard player he doesn't have class just think a cross between Mitchell and Selwood but a bit quicker than both.

[DemonOX 8,779]

We should have just left the playing list as is and got games into the young players cause theyve got potential.

Like thats worked in the last SIX LONG years.

Geez some of you are hard to please. Neeld is finally making some decisions which should have been made previously but werent.

Thanks god some one is DOING something about the list.

Get behind Neeld and stop with the carry on. There is actually some hope for next season which I did not have prior to the trade period.

[bing181 9,189]

Interesting point made by one of the commentators today; we've got some mature recruits but which of them are actually leaders?

Compared to the plethora of experienced leaders we already have at the club, all of them.

[Alcho Dee 269]

Compared to the plethora of experienced leaders we already have at the club, all of them.

Yes, that particular commentator is a bit behind the times.

We have a great leadership group, but not much experience.!

Stick it up him round 1.

[Irish Demon 33]

Nah, the proof won't be in 2013. that will be more about our mature signings.

The cleanout will show more over the next 5 Yr period of improved culture & endeavor.

IMO it won't be so obvious next year, but continued improvements each year with hard won footy the Demon hallmark.

At the moment we need to start getting more competitive and i expect that we will be a hell of a lot more competitive next year.The main thing then is to keep showing improvement each year until were at the point where we ready to challenge for a flag.I actually think we could be in a good position to challenge for a flag in 5 years time.It's all about laying some solid foundations and creating a culture geared towards success.Were not going to undo all the wrongs of the Dean Bailey era in one year.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Irish Demon