Lack of progress

[Pipefitter 2,168]

The AFL have designed a system (which we have exploited) that makes sure teams don't stay on the bottom for extended periods of time. We haven't moved in 6 years. The amount of poor decisions we have made are well documented, but my concern is that over this period of time we have the same people making these decisions. It's time for a massive clean up at board and management level. They obviously have no idea how to run a football club. We won't have a football club to support if this continues for years to come.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,602]

I pay my membership, the send out the carp telling me much better its going to be and then by half time round 1 i realise i got excited over nothing again. I miss Neale!

[P-man 13,366]

How appropriate that you have the first reply NSC. The club is cursed. No club can be this woeful for this long.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,602]

I thought the statue would have done it. Im less confident of that now...

[Pipefitter 2,168]

It's not by accident. Our decision making skills off the field are as poor as our onfield decision making.

[wattsup 470]

We will get hammered in media this week and rightfully so neeld is gonna feel the heat now

[ThreeOneSix 954]

We will get hammered in media this week and rightfully so neeld is gonna feel the heat now

Your damned right he is, Neeld is going to feel more heat than Bailey felt after 186.

We are woeful.

Scully and McLean, I hate them, but they were spot on.

[Sir Why You Little 37,134]

Neeld The Board & the CEO deserve massive heat after this effort.

It is pitiful, & anyone who says i am over reacting can F Off..the club will die if this continues.

[Pipefitter 2,168]

I spoke to an afl player manager who said melbourne were easily the most unprofessional of all clubs off the field and the best decision his client did for his career is leaving this club. It's not great hearing this about the club, but this is the real reality bus not the crap we put out at press conferences and media interviews about the buy in at the club. Have a look at this group playing today. Does this look like a happy football club?

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Most pea hearted, [censored] weak effort I have seen in some time. You can talk about improvement over summer, and increased fitness but if players aren't going to even do us the honour of having a go, then it doesn't mean anything. And I am not excusing Neeld of this, this is his list, and while I don't expect free flowing beautiful football, they should at least be having a dip. I can't believe what I am watching. I have seen 120 point flogging a where we have had more of a go than this.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,602]

ive defended Neeld but I wont again. he is ultimately responsible for a side full of unfit, uninterested players once again.

[P-man 13,366]

I'll get howled down for this, but give me back the Bailey years. When the odd game was not just watchable, but very watchable. Footy just isn't fun anymore.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,602]

Bring back Neale Daniher

[Forest Demon 4,681]

I'll get howled down for this, but give me back the Bailey years. When the odd game was not just watchable, but very watchable. Footy just isn't fun anymore.

It isn't just not fun, it is plain unbearable. I usually flame any poster who wheels out the old 'I am not renewing my membership' or 'I am not coming next week', but not anymore. We have been a very forgiving bunch over the last few years and the club has taken us for a ride. It is time for them to earn our support a bit.

I just can't get over the lack of effort. It is the one non-negotiable part of the game. Unforgivable.

[P-man 13,366]

It isn't just not fun, it is plain unbearable. I usually flame any poster who wheels out the old 'I am not renewing my membership' or 'I am not coming next week', but not anymore. We have been a very forgiving bunch over the last few years and the club has taken us for a ride. It is time for them to earn our support a bit.

I just can't get over the lack of effort. It is the one non-negotiable part of the game. Unforgivable.

I feel the same way. Today is my tipping point. I won't walk but I hold no blame against anyone who does because this is enough.

[Sir Why You Little 37,134]

I just hope the club reads this board and takes notice.

I will not renew membership next year if there is not improvement. And i mean BIG improvement.

These guys are professional sportsmen apparently.

[Ned 156]

Yes, I admit withholding my membership and my son's this year. I just lost all spirit. I was ready to tip back in today. But it's just good money after bad. McLardy is apparently coming to Sydney and I plan a full ambush. Melbourne can't keep contracting out coaching appointments to Garry Lyon. We have no idea if Neeld can coach. It would be in character for those reports about us failing to do due diligence being proved correct. We needed a coach who knew what they were doing. Why is Cameron Schwab still at the club and has he repaid his loan? Schwab hasn't succeeded anywhere. How did we fail at tanking and why is noone at the board level held to account? We got a 500k fine and no player benefit. Why is Connolly there? Why is Viney there? It's like a post-playing retirement village not a club. These are questions that have plagued me for a long time and I'd like some answers. I don't get any joy out of criticizing our club. I am angry. We face another lost year.

[Bossdog 2,002]

Neeld The Board & the CEO deserve massive heat after this effort.

It is pitiful, & anyone who says i am over reacting can F Off..the club will die if this continues.

I don't recall the board or the CEO pulling on the jumper today......If you want to blame someone....Blame the players......they are the ones who have to show courage and desire...that wasn't there today......

[Forest Demon 4,681]

I don't recall the board or the CEO pulling on the jumper today......If you want to blame someone....Blame the players......they are the ones who have to show courage and desire...that wasn't there today......

The board shouldn't cop the heat for a bad performance in isolation, but they definitely should for 7 years of bad performances. But also the players deserve it, the coach deserves it, the interchange steward deserves it, the bloke who fills up the water bottles deserves it.

[Maldonboy38 6,406]

Since the day Bailey was appointed as coach I have seen no rise or fall in our attitude or performance. We have stagnated in a rotten position where there is no inspiration, no flair, no guts, no mongrel and no coordinated approach to playing hard and winning. We are simply not winners. We might win the occasional game but there is never any feel of excelling.

There is a rule of nature that applies to all of life - either grow or die. We have stagnated therefore we are still dying.

I have a rally bad feeling about where this could lead.

[Adam The God 30,420]

The lack of progress is evident right across the ground. If the ball and momentum isn't going our way, we struggle to implement any semblance of structure.

The backline is zonally poor. Many of the MFC players (backs and mids) are loose. Certain players even walk between passages of play. Perhaps the most frustrating element of our defence is that during kickouts we have failed to rectify our issues apparent since 2007. Under both Bailey and now Neeld, we've had a transparent A plan and absolutely no B, C or D plan for kicking out. It's long to Jamar on the flanks. Our ball movement is then sluggish and seems to lack urgency. I understand structures can fall down once under pressure, but that's why a plan B, C or D are so vital to fall back on. We have nothing in this department. Our coaching staff have shown little innovation. When you look at Malthouse, Clarkson, Roos and even Pagan in the modern era, they've all shown great innovation. If you look at our accountability across the ground today, it was essentially nonexistent. Enough is enough.

If we turn to the midfield, there were moments today in an attacking sense that have improved. Viney is a breath of fresh air. He possesses some zip, he knows where to go to win the ball and he knows where to go to receive it. He showed signs of being able to play inside and outside. The addition of Viney will help release a little bit of pressure from Nathan Jones. Hopefully Matt Jones can continue his form he showed today too (albeit his one or two turnovers - which we must accept for first gamers). Defensively though, our midfield is still all at sea. If Jamar managed to shark it down to a red and blue jumper, we showed some sign of improvement, but if we lost it, the numbers are almost immediately against us. We then have literally no answer or method of stemming the flow of play against us. Most teams struggle to stop a "run on" in modern footy, but we seem have struggled at this for five years. Further, the delivery into the forward half today, with the exception of three kicks (Viney's two pin-point passes in the first quarter and Toumpas's spot up of Viney in the last quarter) was below AFL standard - abysmal. Far too predictable and poorly executed. I lost count of the number of times a forward (usually Clark) had to stand waiting underneath a lobbed kick toward him, with two opponents and little assistance around him. Dawes will certainly alleviate some of this, but we also seem to panic when moving forward. Understandably, this is not a good sign. We don't exemplify the composure or class that is needed in that final third of the ground.

Meanwhile, the difference in forwardline structures today was clearly discernible. We would start three big guys in the square and the rest of the attacking players would start at CHF. Port would start with one player in the square. He was given space and his team mates around him were disciplined. Their ball movement was brisk and it was often put out in the space for the forward to lead into, enabled by the well-structured forward set up. Contrast this with our setup. Lethargic and confidence-sapped. If the Port defensive rebound didn't come from a poor kicking decision from a Melbourne player, it came from a lack of urgency from our forwards and midfielders to keep the ball in there. Byrnes laid one crunching tackle in our forward half, but generally it was too easy to break our forward 50, which you couldn't call a zone. This was a glaring concern of ours last season. The lack of forward pressure. It still hasn't been addressed. Just as our kicking from defence has yet to be.

Individually, players like Jones and McDonald showed improvement last season, but as a team we've gone backwards or at the very least stagnated. Neeld and his coaching team have failed to find a balance between defensive mindset and attacking fervour. In fact, as has been mentioned by many and evidenced by our inability to register more than a hundred points per match (except against the Suns and Giants), the attacking mindset has seemingly been stifled and the defensive attitude remains delicate at best.

Blame should rest with the players to an extent, however with a third of the playing group new to the club, the coaching staff must bear the brunt of criticism for continued poor results. Neeld's mandate was defence and today's performance, two pre-seasons and a season on, demonstrates absolutely no tangible sign of improvement. Neeld's background was an educator and so, in terms of being able to deliver a message, it's probably safe to say his ability to communicate is not in question. However, it's his incapacity to mend and improve inexplicable weaknesses in our game style that suggest his position as coach will be untenable should it continue.

Edited March 31, 2013 by AdamFarr