I'm not saying there was a conspiracy. I think there is no concrete evidence of one, and even if there was evidence may be hard to find.

It sounds like there are a few people with axes to grind who may have conspired, so it is not totally unreasonable to speculate there was a conspiracy. Though I'm not sure it does the club much good to speculate on that.

But how can you be so very absolutely sure there was not a conspiracy?

There's a remote chance of an unlikely and ridiculously inept conspiracy but there's a much more likely explanation which I've provided.

What I'm utterly sure of is that posters in this thread who've been accused of disloyality to the club did not conspire - they only want the best for the club - FWIW I stake my reputation here on that.

So you are comfortable with the mighty big swipe that Gardner took at the club late last year ?

No I'm not, I thought it was atrocious and self serving. But a comment by a former Chairman some 4 years after he's left the club is not representative of his Board.

Actually Occams doesn't really suggest that at all. You might argue the simplest rationale IS a collusion as opposed to an assortment of supposedly disassociated happenings !

I'm not saying there was a conspiracy. I think there is no concrete evidence of one, and even if there was evidence may be hard to find.

It sounds like there are a few people with axes to grind who may have conspired, so it is not totally unreasonable to speculate there was a conspiracy. Though I'm not sure it does the club much good to speculate on that.

But how can you be so very absolutely sure there was not a conspiracy?

Sue very simply if one had an intention of conspiring against the club the last think you'd do is mount an attack on it through Demonland. If that was indeed part of a strategy I wouldn't be very worried about the conspiracy.

Actually Occams doesn't really suggest that at all. You might argue the simplest rationale IS a collusion as opposed to an assortment of supposedly disassociated happenings !

The way I see it the simplest explanation is that we were a bad side in those years. Or did we tank every freaking game?

I've never bought that the tanking investigation was brought on by a conspiracy against individual club office holders.

Not the tanking investigation itself, but the subsequent level of information the media have access to.

This issue ( and many others before) are fueled & driven by constant drip feeds to the media.

And it happens at this club time after time. Why?

Occam's razor says no - Brock is dumb and Sheahan and Healy are uncrupulous opportunists.

What was unscrupulous about the question from Sheahan and Healy ?

It was absolutely fair game in my opinion. Just our bad luck that Brock took the bait.

I need to take you to task on this. Paul Gardner came out and had his say last year in a very public manner - very unneccessarily in my opinion and with little regard for the club. I have not launched a broadside at him for all the wrongs of the world. I have limited my comments to criticising him for the comments he made at one particular time and I stand by my comments. If you really want to call my criticism "character assassination" then all i can do is retort by suggesting to you that you have not offered an alternative motivation for his comments and short of substance you have gone with character assassination.

I ask again - would you care to venture an opinion as to Paul Gardners motivation for his comments ?

Paul Gardner loves the Melbourne Footy Club, that is his motivation. From this point on, I am not going to debate with you or anybody else, about what "motivates" Paul Gardner. However, you did say and I quote, "Paul Gardner was only interested in making sure that Paul Gardner was distanced from any smell of wrongdoing".

Put simply, you may offer your opinion, but you have no way of knowing what you proffer to be fact. I shall move on to my repast now.

Cheerio.

What was unscrupulous about the question from Sheahan and Healy ?

It was absolutely fair game in my opinion. Just our bad luck that Brock took the bait.

Healy's brother is on our board and Sheahan purports to be an MFC supporter ...

Actually Occams doesn't really suggest that at all. You might argue the simplest rationale IS a collusion as opposed to an assortment of supposedly disassociated happenings !

Look to paraphrase Ben-Hur - I'm not alarmed that I'm on the opposite side of an argument to you.

Healy's brother is on our board and Sheahan purports to be an MFC supporter ...

So they should excuse themselves from ever talking / writing / commenting on the MFC?

All journos have allegiances - the good ones put them aside and do their jobs regardless.

Healy's brother is on our board and Sheahan purports to be an MFC supporter ...

and healy also played more games for us than the swans, not that that has ever meant anything to him

he always preferred the good doc's money and leannes pink helicopter

All this talk of Board spills and opposing tickets to run for the board....I would have thought that anyone opposing the board would have had to nominate well before the AGM...which is on the 6th Feb........I understand that people are not happy the way the current board is running the club,but I (as a member) would have been informed as to who has challenged and what their qualifications were...Would I not?????

So they should excuse themselves from ever talking / writing / commenting on the MFC?

All journos have allegiances - the good ones put them aside and do their jobs regardless.

No I don't think that - but they took cheap advantage of a klutz and look where it's ended up. There's plenty of lines of investigation that good journalists don't pursue for the right reasons - this should have been one of them IMO.

There's clearly a spectrum of views about Healy and Sheahan - Bub thinks they're part of a conspiracy to bring officers of the club down, you think they're good journalists pursuing a legitimate story, I think they're short-sighted opportunists ...

I've never called talk-back radio but if this all plays out to the good for us you'll hear me when Healy and Russell host Wilson later this year.

The way I see it the simplest explanation is that we were a bad side in those years. Or did we tank every freaking game?

NSC . I'm not sure we're talking of the same thing.

The how and why of the actual List managing over the years is one thing. The subject of my curiosity is how we suddenly come to be on the chopping block and how the fires of inquisition are constantly fueled and fanned.

Some would have it its just a bunch of coincidental instances of combustion ( all lit under us btw) My view is there's been a loose if ad hoc association of likeminded's who have sought to bring pressure on the MFC for a variety of dividends

Some think that in order for a conspiracy to have taken place that some sort of organisation exists with rules and by laws that meet on every other tuesday and that a voted on agenda is followed..

More often a conspiracy exists when 2 or more seek to follow a course of action thats covert.

Sue very simply if one had an intention of conspiring against the club the last think you'd do is mount an attack on it through Demonland. If that was indeed part of a strategy I wouldn't be very worried about the conspiracy.

Fan, I'm not sure why you make that statement in response to me asking how anyone could be so certain there was no conspiracy. But since you raise it, I too doubt if the main conspirators (assuming they exist) would bother to use Demonland as a part of their plan, and it would be more than inept if that is what they relied on. But that is not proof positive that there is not a conspiracy. A lot seems to have happened independent of the writings of the wise and courteous contributors to this forum.

And no, I do not look under my bed every night. But I'm not naive enough to think conspiracies never exist. My empty mind is open on this at present since there's no hard evidence either way. There are clearly some unhappy campers out there who may have resorted to putting the MFC in, or deeper in the [censored] for their own reasons. If they did, I can't think of a Keating phrase vile enough to heap on them. There are other ways of reforming the club or whatever needs doing. If there is no conspiracy, then I don't have to apologize because I've never accused anyone.

All this talk of Board spills and opposing tickets to run for the board.

Who is talking spills and opposing tickets?

Healy's brother is on our board and Sheahan purports to be an MFC supporter ...

Oh right...Brothers are always on the same page ?

That in itself really means nothing. Since Cain and Able, that , of being related, isnt a guarantee of kinship or shared goals !!

Im not feeling the trust towards Sheahan., but in fairness thats just me.

Fan, I'm not sure why you make that statement in response to me asking how anyone could be so certain there was no conspiracy. But since you raise it, I too doubt if the main conspirators (assuming they exist) would bother to use Demonland as a part of their plan, and it would be more than inept if that is what they relied on. But that is not proof positive that there is not a conspiracy. A lot seems to have happened independent of the writings of the wise and courteous contributors to this forum.

And no, I do not look under my bed every night. But I'm not naive enough to think conspiracies never exist. My empty mind is open on this at present since there's no hard evidence either way. There are clearly some unhappy campers out there who may have resorted to putting the MFC in, or deeper in the [censored] for their own reasons. If they did, I can't think of a Keating phrase vile enough to heap on them. There are other ways of reforming the club or whatever needs doing. If there is no conspiracy, then I don't have to apologize because I've never accused anyone.

By the way, what IS the conspiracy and what are they trying to achieve?

NSC . I'm not sure we're talking of the same thing.

The how and why of the actual List managing over the years is one thing. The subject of my curiosity is how we suddenly come to be on the chopping block and how the fires of inquisition are constantly fueled and fanned.

Some would have it its just a bunch of coincidental instances of combustion ( all lit under us btw) My view is there's been a loose if ad hoc association of likeminded's who have sought to bring pressure on the MFC for a variety of dividends

Some think that in order for a conspiracy to have taken place that some sort of organisation exists with rules and by laws that meet on every other tuesday and that a voted on agenda is followed..

More often a conspiracy exists when 2 or more seek to follow a course of action thats covert.

I must admit the thought of a conspiracy has appealled to me when you think about the people that created the story/issue.

Mike Sheahan chose a half-arsed story over anything to do with our club. I have no interest in the man or his comments and if I see him in the members I wont be buying him a beer...

Who is talking spills and opposing tickets?

I was talking about posters thinking that you and/or others had an agender for forming a challange to the board....

Rubbish. I'll try it on the weekend

I agree with you WA Demon another uninformed comment from an agitator.

Current Board of Rosich & Harris are very unpopular in the Port City with a lot of members & supporters

No I don't think that - but they took cheap advantage of a klutz and look where it's ended up. There's plenty of lines of investigation that good journalists don't pursue for the right reasons - this should have been one of them IMO.

There's clearly a spectrum of views about Healy and Sheahan - Bub thinks they're part of a conspiracy to bring officers of the club down, you think they're good journalists pursuing a legitimate story, I think they're short-sighted opportunists ...

I've never called talk-back radio but if this all plays out to the good for us you'll hear me when Healy and Russell host Wilson later this year.

I understand the sentiment but I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say it should not have been pursued. Are you referring to their allegiances or the issue of tanking?

And I never said I thought they were good journalists .. actually I think "short-sighted opportunists" is a pretty fair description of most journos.

Healy's brother is on our board and Sheahan purports to be an MFC supporter ...

I refuse to believe that a supporter of a club would call that whole club, everyone in it by implication, not just its on field performance, " pathetic and disgusting ". That is actually what I think of Sheahan, since he wrote it.