Time to go Mark Neeld

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

The job has to be marketed as a chance to cover themselves in the glory of resurrecting the MFC. unless the elements of the admin that are perceived as "cancerous" are removed first, I cant see anyone decent wanting to go near the joint.

Id like a leigh matthews to come in. SOme argue that he is too long out of the game but the way i see it , he wouldnt be here to win a premiership. his job would be to re create that winning attitude. re invigorate the club culture.

It would be hard for a syliva or watts to sit in the rooms listening to matthews and not take what he said on board.

[wattsup 470]

I remember all the training reports this year and there was always 1 thing that stood out Craig took training while neeld was nowhere to be seen always thought it was strange and was reported on more than 1 occasion Craig needs to coach this team

[heartbeatstrue 57]

Totally gutted right now. Hard to know what to say, or what thread to say it on. Chose this because it's where I wrote after last week's loss, that on the evidence of what we saw against Port, Neeld isn't up to senior coaching right now. Learning he may be, but the point's been underlined, emphasised in bold last night - he aint got it right now.

Again there was little evidence of any defensive structures, which meant when the Bombers got the ball they could usually do what they liked with it. If we're not flirting with some type of zone-defence game plan, then why aren't players manning up (basic footy instinct)?

Add to that an overall lack of intensity - TW reckoned when the ball was in contention, 95% of the time a Bomber came away with it. Who's to blame for that? Players, coaches, club culture, something in the water?

You might have been please to hear Neeld during the week say the we do not employ a zone defense, in spite of how it looked on Sunday.

What type of defence is it I wonder?

Unless some things change, we're facing hammering after hammering. By whoever we play. Currently there's effectively no defensive pressure, anywhere on the ground.

But change what? The board? Coach? Assistants? Culture? Can't readily change the players (but must query the changes that presumably Neeld demanded - those we lost were clearly better than what we've replaced them with. Again a question mark over Neeld).

After the weak Port effort, I had this sinking feeling that any more pathetic efforts would go close to destroying our club. That's the world we're in this Sunday morning.

[Still Waiting 94]

If the club do not make changes NOW we possibly will not exist in a years time. This is a mortal wound now. Only a miracle can save us.

[mjt 640]

Peter Sumich.

[Ned 156]

I saw this coming after less than a dozen games last year and I was ridiculed for my comments.

All Neeld had was words. Unfortunately a coach needs more than words to take a club forward.

Its not easy being:

Mentor

Leader

Strategist

Motivator

Communicator

Teacher

Hope we can find our shining knight

+1 I was howled down last year too. And over Schwab. The advantage we have is that Neil Craig is at the club and will be a stabilising influence to take over in the interim. As to how the club can be turned around, I don't have a simple answer. An experienced and successful coach would be a solid start. A less machiavellian ceo -- or at least one capable in the dark arts -- would be the other step. What we do with all these castoff players from other clubs etc, I don't know. A ridiculous strategy. Utterly idiotic.

[machine11 142]

well if craig was taking most of the pre-season - he cannot be much of a coach.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

Peter Sumich.

another untried head coach No, the players need a proven coach now. the playing group is too fragile now for the untried coach. if sheedy or matthews walked in to the room, just the history of success those guys have would immediately instill confidence in the direction going forward. It was clear last night the players are not "buying in".

A big name would also appease the wolves at the door - media , AFL and most importantly the sponsors

[dees64 104]

We are a luaghing stock & a Joke!

People in our club need to be held accountable!

Neeld is responsible like any other coach to present a team that can compete!

This guy has dismantled our list & made 14 changes..... with disccards from others sides!

The players are not responding to him.....

Club needs to act as they will take a massive hit $$$ on gate & membership!

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Money ball was not made for Aussie Rules, it was made for American Baseball were averages can be used to your advantage.

This guy has come in and turned half our list and filled it with duds from other clubs and mid 20 VFL players.

And then there's Daws, a injured forward who can't mark the footy. Every Collingwood suppoter I speak to has no idea why we paid so much for him when they were giving him away.

This is his team now and they suck even more then before.

I was hoping Neeld knew what he was doing in the trade period but it seems like he has no idea.

The media was wright, it was a scatter gun approach.

What's next after Neeld?

A theard rebuild?

If that happens I'm done with this club.

[robbiefrom13 892]

well if craig was taking most of the pre-season - he cannot be much of a coach.

that's not certain.

the training drills may focus on particular manoeuvres, skills etc, whereas on game-day the deployment of the players, and the use they make of those drilled manoeuvres etc, will be under the direction of the head coach. As an example, against Port, Watts was positioned near the goal square when we took a kick-out (unless he was doing the kicking), presumably to cover a possible fast return into goal. Negative, and keeping him from being the link-man he was supposed to be, and presumably not what he'd done at training several times a week over summer.

it is the game-plan stuff that has our players "zoning off" when the other side has possession - not what we would be practising at training you would imagine (if it were, our forwards and mids would by now have realised the possibilities that arise when you run to space on the lead - which is our other glaring game-plan deficiency).

Craig almost certainly relates better to the players. With Neeld removed and it being ok to have the new coach make clear that Neeld's strategies are now ditched, Craig could be the man. What he would come up with as a game-day coach is not necessarily evident at this stage, no matter how much he has been running training. At training, no matter what he had in mind himself, he would surely have been obliged to follow any instructions set down by Neeld. Unshackle the man, I say - it's actually do-able, and not necessarily going to add vastly to the expense, and surely Neeld needs to be thanked as soon as possible.

Unshackle Craig, with instructions to unshackle the talent.

[Hero1 74]

I have been to almost all MCG Demons games for the past 13 years (and many before that). I've supported them for 54 years. The problem is with a weak Board not prepared to sack Schwab and Connolly when it was revealed they cheated by asking players to lose games, poor recruiting, poor culture due to the poor leadership at the top and due to players having no confidence in an administration that tells them to cheat/lose. There is currently no midfield apart from N Jones who is not big enough to muscle his way through packs despite trying to do this at every stoppage and centre bounce. The player development has been woeful. The current coach is unfortunately not up to the task. We have lost Moloney, Rivers, Petterd and Gysberts. They will most likely flourish at their new clubs. Some already are. The current situation is reminiscent of the period from 1965-1985 when we failed to make finals, had many years on the bottom of the ladder, tried multiple coaches and recruited badly. It all started with a weak Board who sacked the best AFL coach ever. But that story has been done to death. I can't see a reason to go to the MCG for the next few months.

[Ted Lasso 19,549]

Melbourne football club needs a proven coach so we can at the very least say the coach is not the problem, Mark Neeld i think would be great in neil craigs role but i'm not sure he is much of a head coach. Look at Kevin Sheedy, GWS are in a development phase and he backs them in to win every single week regardless of the opposition and they are seriously competetive against some really good teams.

For me Mark Neeld preaching about how young the team is may be correct but it's not how you inspire players, they have no attacking flair and don't back themselves in nearly often enough, so the supporters don't get to see enough of the talent they have.

It seems like they are just going through the motions until they have played that 80-100 games and then they can start believing they can win again.

although, i'm sure the problems run much deeper than the coach.

[beelzebub 23,383]

im still on the fence...I dont like what I see in any direction.

There is obviously something very very wrong ,but I just cant see it as being just Neeld, if him.

There were about 17-18 hedless chooks running around last night. So many of the fundamentals of playing , just out the window.

None of this makes sense.

[Macca 17,032]

Neeld cannot coach and never could. From his first game in charge we've gone backwards (from an already low point) He never had the players on board, they don't respect him and they don't take any notice of anything he says. His position has become untenable.

By Tuesday or Wednesday he should be gone otherwise we're just delaying the inevitable. Rawlings could become the interim coach and the club should then target Eade or another experienced coach to take over the reigns. Craig is another option but he has stated that he'll never coach again.

As for the players, the Board and the Administration, we need change there as well, but that will take a lot more time to fix. First port of call is that Neeld needs to be removed. Pay him out and cut your losses.

The club is bigger than any individual and right now, there are a number of individuals that need to be shown the door. It's nothing personal.

If he is kept on and somehow coaches a lot better and we start winning consistently then well and good. I can't see it but you never know. He needs to get the players on side.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Macca

[tonatopia 278]

I remember all the training reports this year and there was always 1 thing that stood out Craig took training while neeld was nowhere to be seen always thought it was strange and was reported on more than 1 occasion Craig needs to coach this team

"clearly not good enough".

Your quote not mine, neeld.

[optimus_grimes 4]

Neeld backed his players to turn it around last night. He wanted to believe last week was a blip. He wanted to believe the boys would come out and play for him, play for the jumper. They didn't. They were outclassed by a slick bombers outfit who weren't challenged by us at all. Sacking neeld won't help. He prepared the boys, put them out and they turned in another weak effort. They let him down massively.

What I don't understand is why we didn't try and change it up in the middle. You can believe in the boys but there has to come to a point when you acknowledge things are not working. We couldn't win a clearance to save our lives last night. That's why we lost. The boys in the back line didn't stand a chance.

Footy is a simple game when you break it down. Win the footy. Why can't jamar just thump the ball forwards. Get the ball moving in the right direction. Why not throw Sylvia in the middle and make him win the footy, throw garland in the middle to win the footy, Clark into the ruck. I'm no coach and maybe you've just gotta let them get belted to work out who's up for the fight and who needs to be shown the door.

Neeld wants to be at the footy club, he wants success for our club and sadly I can't say that about all the boys out on that field. Why get rid of one of the few who actually care.

[BangkokDemon 96]

If some of the posters could get over the emotion of the last 2 weeks and look at what is trying to be achieved, they might be able to sleep a little better.

The club is now in the middle of a crisis as bad as any we've faced since Barrassi going to Carlton and the sacking of Norm Smith.

As was mentioned on the Outsiders this morning there is perhaps one "white knight" but he is unwilling to commit to the club in a more meaningful way than riding in for a few months and then trots off again to his other interests. That sort of "saviour" is not going to help us out of another fine mess.

So, until there is a proper and meaningful commitment from either a strong individual or strong group with the club's best interests in mind, we have to support what we have for now.

Any suggestions ?

Or does everybody just take cheap pot shots at 3 very obvious targets ?

[tonatopia 278]

I put my hand up to be on the board, president, CEO or even the coach.

Honestly, if I was president the following things would be different;

Sheedy, Matthews or malthouse would be coaching us.

Our away jumper would not contain the color white.

It's a lot better than what we have now.

[thaipantsman 180]

Neeld hunted Dawes, Rodan, Pederson, Byrnes, Gillies. Dawes may still show something but highly doubtful. How slow would Dees be with both Jamar and Dawes on the ground? Jamar appears to be playing with weights attached to his arms and legs. In fact he makes Mick Nolan look like a speedster.

Back to Neeld. Under his command we lost Jurrah (not guilty), Moloney and Martin ( both playing well with Lioms, Petterd (fitted in beautifully at Tigers.) Rivers ( at least twice as good as Gillies). All Neelds mature imports are extremely suspect though granted it,s early days.

Neeld's Melbourne play without any semblance of pride, courage, common sense and seem void of any skill. Even J. Howe has lost the confidence to hold that big screamer. Neeld's address's are without passion and are watched by a bunch of kids of which two are Captain. Trengove is not much faster than Jamar. Jack Grimes is Captain and together with Jones are two guys proud of the red and blue. Neeld doesn't inspire the group. He can't coach. The longer he stays the worse things will get for Melbourne. Bulldogs, Kangaroos, Dockers, Power in fact any other team would thrash us now including Gws and Gold Coast. This is clearly the worst state Melbourne has been in since I can remember and that includes Melbourne teams of 66, 67 through to 74. Ridley's Melbourne played with fire in the belly. This team of hand picked players, carefully drafted selections are barely interested and with no fire or pride of pulling on a red and blue jumper.

Neeld's extremely boring. Everything he says in the media and in his rev ups boring. He's a boring guy with a boring plan who never should of been given license to coach and license to recruit players..

The question is. What to do now?

Caretaker coach is required immediately. Do we look to the guy who brought us Sellar, N. Craig , Todd Viney perhaps or some other Melbourne Old boy with some lineage.? Any ideas?

Todd looks a great choice

[thaipantsman 180]

If some of the posters could get over the emotion of the last 2 weeks and look at what is trying to be achieved, they might be able to sleep a little better.

The club is now in the middle of a crisis as bad as any we've faced since Barrassi going to Carlton and the sacking of Norm Smith.

As was mentioned on the Outsiders this morning there is perhaps one "white knight" but he is unwilling to commit to the club in a more meaningful way than riding in for a few months and then trots off again to his other interests. That sort of "saviour" is not going to help us out of another fine mess.

So, until there is a proper and meaningful commitment from either a strong individual or strong group with the club's best interests in mind, we have to support what we have for now.

Any suggestions ?

Or does everybody just take cheap pot shots at 3 very obvious targets ?

Go for lineage. Todd Viney. Hopefully the players can turn out like Jack.

[thaipantsman 180]

Neeld cannot coach and never could. From his first game in charge we've gone backwards (from an already low point) He never had the players on board, they don't respect him and they don't take any notice of anything he says. His position has become untenable.

By Tuesday or Wednesday he should be gone otherwise we're just delaying the inevitable. Rawlings could become the interim coach and the club should then target Eade or another experienced coach to take over the reigns. Craig is another option but he has stated that he'll never coach again.

As for the players, the Board and the Administration, we need change there as well, but that will take a lot more time to fix. First port of call is that Neeld needs to be removed. Pay him out and cut your losses.

The club is bigger than any individual and right now, there are a number of individuals that need to be shown the door. It's nothing personal.

Agreed . Rawlings or Viney?

[Macca 17,032]

Agreed . Rawlings or Viney?

I really don't think it matters 'tpm'. I never really bought into Neeld but I'm like that with any coach. They get wins and get the team playing well and I'm on board. It's a very basic way of viewing a coach but it's largely foolproof.

It's nothing personal either with our current people at the club. I love the club and have huge respect for the people who made the club what it is. Ivor Warne-Smith, Norm Smith, Ron Barassi and Robbie Flower and the like are the club in my eyes. Some of the people who are involved at the club right now wouldn't live in our past greats shadows. We owe them nothing. We only owe the club.

Those who are involved at the club right now are mere custodians. They have an obligation to do a good job. If they can't do that they get replaced. It's as simple as that. I can't see Neeld surviving the debacle that we currently are. Our percentage is 27 and how do you come back from those first 2 games?

The club will always be bigger than any individual. I'd favour an experienced coach to be appointed if we can find a suitable one. This coach will still need to have a driving ambition and hunger.

We've also got some major issues with our Board, Administration and our playing list so it's not just about Mark Neeld. My opinion is based on what I think will happen. The coach is nearly always the first to go under these kind of circumstances. History tells us that.

Edited April 7, 2013 by Macca

[mitch 127]

does anyone have a link to neelds pre game address to the players?

[Grand New Flag 3,227]

After this performance it is clear to all that the club is broken and the problems stem far deeper than simply the coach. However, in saying this it is also painfully obvious to all that Neeld is not up to it. As I have said for over a year, he is a complete failure in his ability to get the most out of players. This is the PRIMARY task of a coach. He has raped our players of their natural instinct, and confidence. He has no ability to reinstall confidence once coming down on a player for not doing the right thing. Simply he is a massive liability. When players parents start coming out and confirming this as the issue. When you look at our list and see at least 90% of our list has gone backwards since he became coach and this is with a young up and coming list of mostly high draft picks. Then there is this insane recruiting which is another horror story in itself. What ever is the case, the greatest weight of blame must be put onto the head coach.

I call on the board to immediately put together a plan for the imminent dismissal of the this pumpkin Neeld. It must happen ASAP, in the coming weeks once the board have put in place a transition plan. A message must also go to the players that incompetence will not be tolerated and that every one of them is playing for the future of the MFC and their personal future in the AFL.

I was horrified when Melbourne went for another rookie coach in Neeld. This time around we must pick up an experienced coach.

For the sake of the MFC please get rid of Neeld ASAP. If the board does not act responsibly, and quickly then they too are part of the problem.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Grand New Flag