And how can you mend a broken club?

How can you stop the press from raining down?

Mark Neeld is sure he can mend a down Melbourne

A different angle I suppose. At least its not ramming nails into a warm body !

Despite the Age'd blinkered and obsessive desire , not all see it so.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:03, belzebub59 said:

And how can you mend a broken club?

Get Barry Gibb to write a soppy song about it.

Why do you presume we're a broken club?

We're not!!!

We have strength in the number of our supporters and we use that strength to bring down the bastards (and the whores) who are trying to bring us down.

We stand up and fight back.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:03, belzebub59 said:

And how can you mend a broken club?

How can you stop the press from raining down?

Mark Neeld is sure he can mend a down Melbourne

A different angle I suppose. At least its not ramming nails into a warm body !

Despite the Age'd blinkered and obsessive desire , not all see it so.

Get used to it.

these are the pressures of the world trying to stop a former volcanoe from once again becoming active. they want to do anything in the powers to stop it.

we don't want to shoot ourselves in our own foot, out of some sort of fear of they're reactions.

And, we don't need to go back to old ways of sacrificing our own, to appease the 'nasty gods'. of this footy world.

that would just cause more sniping in the future. and just isn't right, as well.

We should protect those who have done our bidding & tried to look after us, & look on 'Others' who have tried deliberately to injure us, as a disappointment, & sad self serving cases.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:24, Freddy Fuschia said:

Get Barry Gibb to write a soppy song about it.

Why do you presume we're a broken club?

We're not!!!

We have strength in the number of our supporters and we use that strength to bring down the bastards (and the whores) who are trying to bring us down.

We stand up and fight back.

did it not occur to you i was playing on words and also the "broken club" bit was a play on the articles thrust.

Neeldy is doing the right thing to fix this club up. While a lot of talk recently has focused on the planning of 2009, not has much as focused on what Neeldy is building. The thing that has stood out for me in his time at the club was the statement 'I don't believe in quick fixes and I don't believe in fairy tales.' List management prior to 2012 was based exclusively on quick fixes and fairy tales!

Since as far back as I can remember, MFC has lived in 'all we have to do' land. After Joe Gutnick became president, all we had to do was recieve his money and recruit a boatload of players. From as far back as I remember, all we had to do was move away from Junction Oval and good facilities would ensure success. In 2008 and 2009, all we had to do was have two bad seasons so we could gain a priority pick to recruit the best youngsters.

The question was never asked, 'Then what?' It was never considered that having all the most highly rated players in the world wouldn't matter if they weren't developed properly or the environment they were in wasn't conducive to keeping them on board. A second thought wasn't given to the fact that a weight weighs the same, it doesn't matter how shiny it is (I borrowed that one from Dean Bailey). It's hard work, committment and a strong culture that makes a good football team. That takes years to put together and it seems Neeld is willing to lay that foundation down. Players can fit in or fornicate off if they aren't willing to put in.

Some people have criticized some aspects of the clubs recruiting in the preseason. They wonder why we got more mature aged players rather than kids from the draft. The answers are simple. Firstly, there needs to be some good role models around the club. For two long, the culture of 'Stuff it. Let's all go have a beer.' dominated the club. Now we have two blokes who are regarded as good role models (Byrnes, Dawes and it sounds like Rodan is being groomed for that role) to show these young blokes how to prepare. Secondly, it has been done to create greater in squad competition. For too long, blokes have been getting gifted games. I like the idea of playing youth but ONLY if they have earnt their stripes. It is now up to the youngsters to knock some of the older blokes out of the team via their performances at lower level and by their work ethic on the track. That to me is indicative of a culture of hard work. Another poster on here once wrote that the MFC had been synonymous with 'pipe dreams and laziness'. I could not agree more but now I think we have a coach, while he may ultimately not be successful in turning the club around, who has the right idea on how to turn things around.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:34, belzebub59 said:

did it not occur to you i was playing on words and also the "broken club" bit was a play on the articles thrust.

And did it not occur to you that I was responding to you.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:56, Freddy Fuschia said:

And did it not occur to you that I was responding to you.

No ...because it hardly read that way

I've been down over the last little while but every now and then I read something like that and you feel much better about the club, I knew we were on the right track but with all the negativity it's hard to keep buoyant.

Neeld has completely changed the thinking of the club and no one will stand in his way; can he coach, not sure, but he'll give it his all you can tell that. This year has been a fact finding mission and the facts he found weren't to his liking so he's gone out and fixed it, hopefully.

Stuff the AFL do what you must and let us get on with it.

  On 04/11/2012 at 12:28, RobbieF said:

Neeld has completely changed the thinking of the club and no one will stand in his way; can he coach, not sure, but he'll give it his all you can tell that.

I agree, but I also feel that the "can he coach" question often obscures and simplifies what being a coach at an AFL club - or any kind of CEO/leader/director - entails. A successful coach could be a strong leader, motivator, team player, tactician, or a fitness and physical science expert, developer of players, a good organiser and maximiser of abilities. For me, the concrete and visible steps Neeld has taken in revamping the FD (with others of course), of identifying and addressing shortcomings in the playing list and mapping out a path forward with a clear model (creating an elite, hard-nosed culture) already marks him out as a someone who "can coach".

Unfortunately, the BS we've had to put up with this year somewhat obscures the positive and concrete steps that are being taken, albeit mainly behind closed doors.

you know something, for as long as i can remember we have been copping it from the AFL, opposition camps and the media. Even though we are currently anything but a threat they are all getting stuck into us hard at the moment. So what else is new? We are Melbourne, we frigging invented this sport and they can all go forth and multiply if they think they can hurt us. We are completely innocent and we do not deserve this bulltish that is being thrown our way. The only thing I care about is getting a strong side on the field and hurting everyone in the most effective way, which is winning games. As a club that should be our only focus, let them cry themselves to sleep with their whinging and moaning, I could care less

All supporters should stand up and be loud, not run of and hide at the first hurdle.

Neeld is well on his way to building a strong culture, which is the important thing.

The ship is being turned around, I have no doubt about that.

My concern is the damage to the MFC brand and how we rebuild (or simply build) that.

How do we change the perception of our club as tankers below no other?

How do we attract sponsors and new members?

How do we make the club sexy again for outsiders?

It's an important area for building the strength of the club in a commercial sense.

I think this is where Russell Howcroft really earns his place on the board and his reputation.

The last time we did it we used Swooper Glue.

  On 04/11/2012 at 22:27, José Mourinho said:

Neeld is well on his way to building a strong culture, which is the important thing.

The ship is being turned around, I have no doubt about that.

My concern is the damage to the MFC brand and how we rebuild (or simply build) that.

How do we change the perception of our club as tankers below no other?

How do we attract sponsors and new members?

How do we make the club sexy again for outsiders?

It's an important area for building the strength of the club in a commercial sense.

I think this is where Russell Howcroft really earns his place on the board and his reputation.

We win

We win

We win

  On 04/11/2012 at 22:55, RobbieF said:

We win

We win

We win

Agree. In the words of Toby off West Wing: "they'll like us when we win!"

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:32, dee-luded said:

these are the pressures of the world trying to stop a former volcanoe from once again becoming active. they want to do anything in the powers to stop it.

That is pretty deluded! No one cares a damn about Melbourne, we're no threat whatsoever. But as the guys above say, the only way we can respond is on the footy field. We need to win, and when we don't, we need to be playing competitive footy. That's the only decent answer Melbourne can provide.

  On 04/11/2012 at 00:51, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Neeldy is doing the right thing to fix this club up. While a lot of talk recently has focused on the planning of 2009, not has much as focused on what Neeldy is building. The thing that has stood out for me in his time at the club was the statement 'I don't believe in quick fixes and I don't believe in fairy tales.' List management prior to 2012 was based exclusively on quick fixes and fairy tales!

Since as far back as I can remember, MFC has lived in 'all we have to do' land. After Joe Gutnick became president, all we had to do was recieve his money and recruit a boatload of players. From as far back as I remember, all we had to do was move away from Junction Oval and good facilities would ensure success. In 2008 and 2009, all we had to do was have two bad seasons so we could gain a priority pick to recruit the best youngsters.

The question was never asked, 'Then what?' It was never considered that having all the most highly rated players in the world wouldn't matter if they weren't developed properly or the environment they were in wasn't conducive to keeping them on board. A second thought wasn't given to the fact that a weight weighs the same, it doesn't matter how shiny it is (I borrowed that one from Dean Bailey). It's hard work, committment and a strong culture that makes a good football team. That takes years to put together and it seems Neeld is willing to lay that foundation down. Players can fit in or fornicate off if they aren't willing to put in.

Some people have criticized some aspects of the clubs recruiting in the preseason. They wonder why we got more mature aged players rather than kids from the draft. The answers are simple. Firstly, there needs to be some good role models around the club. For two long, the culture of 'Stuff it. Let's all go have a beer.' dominated the club. Now we have two blokes who are regarded as good role models (Byrnes, Dawes and it sounds like Rodan is being groomed for that role) to show these young blokes how to prepare. Secondly, it has been done to create greater in squad competition. For too long, blokes have been getting gifted games. I like the idea of playing youth but ONLY if they have earnt their stripes. It is now up to the youngsters to knock some of the older blokes out of the team via their performances at lower level and by their work ethic on the track. That to me is indicative of a culture of hard work. Another poster on here once wrote that the MFC had been synonymous with 'pipe dreams and laziness'. I could not agree more but now I think we have a coach, while he may ultimately not be successful in turning the club around, who has the right idea on how to turn things around.

Excellent Post!!! Summed up my thoughts excatly.

On a side note, stop playing the victim guys. The press is after us because if the reports are true we behaved disgracefully. However The Age is getting their information (questions must be asked!) they are running the stories because they paint a picture of a totally deluded club.

We far, far over estimated the value of a piority pick and far, far under estimated the damge to our club contriving to lose would cause.

Reporters will continue to sink the boots in until this matter is resolved, we are punished as we deserve and we show some guts and determination to fight our way back into a club that deserves their repect.

FFS.

We're the victim because we alone are getting crucified for doing what half the league did.

It's not that hard to understand.

  On 05/11/2012 at 00:34, José Mourinho said:

FFS.

We're the victim because we alone are getting crucified for doing what half the league did.

It's not that hard to understand.

We've been the punching bag for a long time now, this is just another instalment; what this will do is flush out all the rats in the cellar and when it's over we'll have fair idea who is for the club and who is for themselves.

If we go down for this I hope the club put up a major fight and not just token resistance, we shouldn't go down alone.

We are getting crucified becuase there is evidence that we conspired and plotted to lose games.

To suggest that other clubs would get away with it if similar evidence surfaced is ludicrous. All the big name journos would love to be the first ones that published evidence agaisnt ANY club that did this.

We were wrong to think tanking would benefit our club and we appear to have done it in a completely arrogant and stupid way. Re-inforcing the policy to lose games at meetings of 10+ FD members? Threatning peoples jobs if we won too many games? IF thats how it went down then it is laughable.

  On 05/11/2012 at 01:02, S_T said:

We are getting crucified becuase there is evidence that we conspired and plotted to lose games.

To suggest that other clubs would get away with it if similar evidence surfaced is ludicrous. All the big name journos would love to be the first ones that published evidence agaisnt ANY club that did this.

We were wrong to think tanking would benefit our club and we appear to have done it in a completely arrogant and stupid way. Re-inforcing the policy to lose games at meetings of 10+ FD members? Threatning peoples jobs if we won too many games? IF thats how it went down then it is laughable.

Sorry but where is the evidence?

So far all we've had is a series of articles by some bitter and twisted journalist and a few others that have gone along for the ride. There is nothing from the investigators out in the public domain that says we have breached any of the AFL's regulations so let's wait for that before we start to say there is evidence.

The journalist is taking a fairly broad approach to what a breach is whereas the AFL will have to look at in the strict sense of what the regulation states and if we've breached that regulation. Comments made but not carried out are not going bury us unless we actually carried out any threat and unless the coach says he tanked because he was in fear of losing his job.

Still waiting for some evidence to be presented. By anyone.

So far, even the quotes from unnamed sources haven't said anything that would form a true indictment on the club.

It's all circumstantial and possible to be interpreted as an element of tanking, but nothing indefensible.

I like other Dees want to see more than articles and inferences, before making any judgement. The AFL nor our club are biting and providing running commentary.

The Adelaide scenario was different there was an email found and that is common knowledge and reported as such. Don't for one minute think if there was some direct evidence it wouldn't have been reported by now. As another poster said Journo's love breaking a scoop and since this surfaced they will have been digging and digging but still nothing just rehashed versions of comments and we don't know the sources, nor do we know if the sources are providing first hand information or not.

Players have made comments and not been named and their quotes may well have been twisted and reported out of context, (believe me I know I have spoken to reporters in my job watched the news and seen snippets of what they want). All players have been quoted to say we were never directed to go out and lose. I think a fair bit of poetic licence has occured with the players comments and we also know none of these players have been suggested as being in the room when these so called meetings occured.

Now I am speaking hypothetically here but if there is a smoking gun (which I currently don't foresee) and something direct comes out than forget about the other clubs, if we have been caught grin and bare it, take your whack and move on. Once it is done either way we put it behind us, remember those who took great joy at kicking us while we were down and take whatver action we need. Legal if we are found to have done nothing outside the rules and other action can be taken even if we cop a whack. It's all very well for people to say they are journalists only doing their job, well I'm sorry but some of the stuff reported has been beyond that and in Wilson's case clearly spiteful. Sheehan has taken great pleasure to stick the knife in at any opportunity and to call himself a supporter of the club is a joke, he has his agenda and IMO should be refused membership at our club.

This alleged time in our history pre dates Neeld and the current FD. I like the changes I see around the place and believe Neeld is laying the foundations for a strong culture.

In regards to sponsors all we have to do is start winning, earn some decent timeslots with exposure and they will come. The move to a growing area of Casey should see us develop a new supporter base once we start putting results together over a period of time. However we wont see the growth in new supporters for a few years and until we maintain a decent few seasons.

Anyway my rant out of the way for today.

  On 05/11/2012 at 03:06, Pennant St Dee said:

I like other Dees want to see more than articles and inferences, before making any judgement. The AFL nor our club are biting and providing running commentary.

The Adelaide scenario was different there was an email found and that is common knowledge and reported as such. Don't for one minute think if there was some direct evidence it wouldn't have been reported by now. As another poster said Journo's love breaking a scoop and since this surfaced they will have been digging and digging but still nothing just rehashed versions of comments and we don't know the sources, nor do we know if the sources are providing first hand information or not.

Players have made comments and not been named and their quotes may well have been twisted and reported out of context, (believe me I know I have spoken to reporters in my job watched the news and seen snippets of what they want). All players have been quoted to say we were never directed to go out and lose. I think a fair bit of poetic licence has occured with the players comments and we also know none of these players have been suggested as being in the room when these so called meetings occured.

Now I am speaking hypothetically here but if there is a smoking gun (which I currently don't foresee) and something direct comes out than forget about the other clubs, if we have been caught grin and bare it, take your whack and move on. Once it is done either way we put it behind us, remember those who took great joy at kicking us while we were down and take whatver action we need. Legal if we are found to have done nothing outside the rules and other action can be taken even if we cop a whack. It's all very well for people to say they are journalists only doing their job, well I'm sorry but some of the stuff reported has been beyond that and in Wilson's case clearly spiteful. Sheehan has taken great pleasure to stick the knife in at any opportunity and to call himself a supporter of the club is a joke, he has his agenda and IMO should be refused membership at our club.

This alleged time in our history pre dates Neeld and the current FD. I like the changes I see around the place and believe Neeld is laying the foundations for a strong culture.

In regards to sponsors all we have to do is start winning, earn some decent timeslots with exposure and they will come. The move to a growing area of Casey should see us develop a new supporter base once we start putting results together over a period of time. However we wont see the growth in new supporters for a few years and until we maintain a decent few seasons.

Anyway my rant out of the way for today.

The Casey move is a good one for the future, also the Jim Stynes connection has attracted a lot of people with Irish heritage to the club. Ultimately, it's performances on the pitch that will build the support base, but the cultural changes Neeld has introduced and the new ruthlessness in the FD, will help in this end. More against the odds victories like Round 10 vs Essendon will help attract people to the club as well- after all everyone roots for the underdog

  On 05/11/2012 at 01:02, S_T said:

Re-inforcing the policy to lose games at meetings of 10+ FD members? Threatning peoples jobs if we won too many games? IF thats how it went down then it is laughable.

And IF that's not how it went down, your post is irrelevant.