Time to go Mark Neeld

[Soidee 1,496]

The AFL will never admit to it however if anyone thinks they are not working behind the scenes on getting our club out of the [censored] then you are mistaken.

Neeld is not going well - we all know that and I feel for him, however the AFL cannot afford for the MFC to languish at the bottom of the ladder for another 3 years, we are bleeding badly and the AFL will stop this.

IT IS IN THEIR INTEREST!

I want a Paul Roos type sooner than later. MN is struggling and the club is on its knees.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I'm perplexed as to the objective of those looking to undermine Neeld through this ongoing campaign of rumour and innuendo.

If Neeld fails to perform as coach then the appropriate steps will be taken at the appropriate time (i.e. either at the end of the season or at the end of his contract). For the MFC do otherwise (i.e prior to those points) would be amateurish and raise more questions about the capacity of those in charge of the MFC than it would resolve.

Given this, what is the point of giving Neeld anything other than our unqualified support?

How does it serve the MFC, the players who take the field weekly, the FD and Coaches, etc... to have a section of their supporters highlighting every failing (real or perceived), making up or honing in on any rumour of division or the coach being sacked? How is it helping us win games of footy?

I think Neeld has brought a lot of this on himself by either misjudging or misleading the supporters, if he had come out at the start of the year and said he was looking to this year as development and that we would be working on fitness and game plan, it would have been much better than saying, we were much closer than anyone thought.

The above comment and his "we didn't see that coming" comment have shown him to be inept; at least in how to get the message to supporters.

If he didn't know how far off the pace we are then he lacks the judgement to be a top line coach, if he wasn't aware of just how bad our skills are the same applies. Neeld is responsible for his own dilemmas, he's shown appalling judgement and he should think carefully before he makes any more statements; I think we are all sick of the "they've got more games under their belts than we have".

Supporters don't like being lied to, or at least mislead, and he would be better off if he stopped trying to sugar coat it and tell it how it is.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

The AFL will never admit to it however if anyone thinks they are not working behind the scenes on getting our club out of the [censored] then you are mistaken.

Neeld is not going well - we all know that and I feel for him, however the AFL cannot afford for the MFC to languish at the bottom of the ladder for another 3 years, we are bleeding badly and the AFL will stop this.

IT IS IN THEIR INTEREST!

I want a Paul Roos type sooner than later. MN is struggling and the club is on its knees.

I'd be happy for Matthews to take over if he was available and Roos wasn't interested.

[Geddy Lee 582]

You mask it well Ron. And you do it with critical bias as well! LOL!

Take a break from the socks.

If we fired Neeld next week, what then?

[Tricky 341]

If we fired Neeld next week, what then?

If i follow the thread correctly, the plan would be to instate Craig or T.Viney as caretaker...

Ideally I think Neeld should remain for the season, but I am unsure how many more 100+ floggings he can survive - the pessimist (or perhaps realist) in me predicts more coming.

[Bossdog 2,002]

I'd be happy for Matthews to take over if he was available and Roos wasn't interested.

That's just living in the past Robbie........Just how this would help the club....I don't know.......We would have to pay out all contracts for the Football dept (Neeld,Craig and Misson)....It would cost us millions to get Roos....Not bad to plunge the club into millions of debt ......and what insurance is there that the new coach would succeed.......In five years we could still be in the lower half of the ladder and in hopeless debt......

[Soidee 1,496]

If i follow the thread correctly, the plan would be to instate Craig or T.Viney as caretaker...

Ideally I think Neeld should remain for the season, but I am unsure how many more 100+ floggings he can survive - the pessimist (or perhaps realist) in me predicts more coming.

The club and the AFL cannot and should not stand by and watch this club get flogged every week. This is real and this is urgent, enough of the apologists. This whole situation cannot continue and those who think change will not occur have the heads up their collective backsides.

[Bossdog 2,002]

The club and the AFL cannot and should not stand by and watch this club get flogged every week. This is real and this is urgent, enough of the apologists. This whole situation cannot continue and those who think change will not occur have the heads up their collective backsides.

Tell that to the Bulldogs GC and GWS, Brisbane.......

[praha 11,240]

Tell that to the Bulldogs GC and GWS, Brisbane.......

Bulldogs played a Prelim a few years ago and were finals-bound for half a decade.

GC has Ablett

GWS has Sheedy and a future star full-forward

Brisbane won 3 flags in the 00s.

Who are you kidding?

[Satyriconhome 10,872]

The club and the AFL cannot and should not stand by and watch this club get flogged every week. This is real and this is urgent, enough of the apologists. This whole situation cannot continue and those who think change will not occur have the heads up their collective backsides.

It is only you that thinks it's urgent, by the way what do you think of Brendan McCartney as a coach, second season in won 6 lost 23, sounds nearly familiar.

[Satyriconhome 10,872]

Bulldogs played a Prelim a few years ago and were finals-bound for half a decade.

GC has Ablett

GWS has Sheedy and a future star full-forward

Brisbane won 3 flags in the 00s.

Who are you kidding?

Hahaha.....

Brisbane are a couple more losses away from cutting Voss loose, after three years

Bulldogs have not won the big one since 1956, 1 and 5 sound familiar

GWS has Sheedy, thank christ, great record this season, how many last qtr fades out, get rid of him, he can't motivate the players to play 4 qtrs, Cameron can kick as many as he wants, it is whether they can hold on to him

About the only one I nearly agree with is Ablett, just wondering with Dunny having his tail up whether we will tag him this weekend

[Tricky 341]

The club and the AFL cannot and should not stand by and watch this club get flogged every week. This is real and this is urgent, enough of the apologists. This whole situation cannot continue and those who think change will not occur have the heads up their collective backsides.

Yes watching us get flogged sucks.. a lot.

I'm yet to be convinced changing coaches (to the caretakers mentioned above) will be of any benefit.

How can you be any surer?

You use very emotive language but this won't serve to convince anyone you have a rational argument.

[Soidee 1,496]

Tell that to the Bulldogs GC and GWS, Brisbane.......

Fair dinkum you must be one of the crowd that cheers us off after half time every week!

Unless you haven't noticed, we have been cellar dwellers for 6 years!

[Bossdog 2,002]

Fair dinkum you must be one of the crowd that cheers us off after half time every week!

Unless you haven't noticed, we have been cellar dwellers for 6 years!

And we have started to address that.....It takes time....You must be Gen y....Wants everything and want it NOW....

[Tricky 341]

And we have started to address that.....It takes time....You must be Gen y....Wants everything and want it NOW....

It's a lot easier to be patient if you are confident in the direction in which you are heading...

I can't say I am at this point.

[Bossdog 2,002]

It's a lot easier to be patient if you are confident in the direction in which you are heading...

I can't say I am at this point.

Stick with it Tricky.....We will see it through.....

[robbiefrom13 887]

He said 'I love you Stuie - you're like a little Buddha, only covered in hair'.

The people who fall victim to this line of reasoning are generally susceptible to conspiracy theories, which are generally not aligned to rational, common sense thinking and which are hugely selective in the way in which they 'use' the available evidence.

It's convenient, but it's actually not very insightful. The Schwab situation was complex, and its presenting issues and history make it far, far different to comments being made by the players as to morale within the player group.

Now, I accept the moon landing occurred. However I know people who don't 'believe' it happened - these same people 'believe' 9/11 was some kind of plot by the US government to justify the commencement of the 'war on terrorism'.

And this is why I think, for some here, this anti Neeld stance has become like a religious crusade. IMO it's getting completely irrational. Any information that does not support their anti Neeld crusade is conveniently ignored or discredited.

In this context, I find it ironic in the extreme that a comment has been made about the McLardy/Schwab presser - yet many here have been boxing at shadows for the last couple of days all because of some b.s rumour posted on some b.s blog about Roos being our coach in a few weeks - notwithstanding that ALL of the 'evidence' to date is that Roos wouldn't go near this club with a fifty foot barge pole.

But hey, that's right - we can't 'believe' what Roos has said about his own intentions and various 'on the record' comments he has made over the past couple of years about this club, because such comments are unreliable and probably untrue.

Talk about people who can't think ...

the smokescreen and misrepresentation king thinks others are getting completely irrational!!

[robbiefrom13 887]

I think Neeld has brought a lot of this on himself by either misjudging or misleading the supporters, if he had come out at the start of the year and said he was looking to this year as development and that we would be working on fitness and game plan, it would have been much better than saying, we were much closer than anyone thought.

The above comment and his "we didn't see that coming" comment have shown him to be inept; at least in how to get the message to supporters.

If he didn't know how far off the pace we are then he lacks the judgement to be a top line coach, if he wasn't aware of just how bad our skills are the same applies. Neeld is responsible for his own dilemmas, he's shown appalling judgement and he should think carefully before he makes any more statements; I think we are all sick of the "they've got more games under their belts than we have".

Supporters don't like being lied to, or at least mislead, and he would be better off if he stopped trying to sugar coat it and tell it how it is.

stating that these and these players would be the nucleus going forward, when they have played next to no games, sounds pretty desperate and incompetent to me too. Who would be believing him?

[PJ_12345 1,098]

The club and the AFL cannot and should not stand by and watch this club get flogged every week. This is real and this is urgent, enough of the apologists. This whole situation cannot continue and those who think change will not occur have the heads up their collective backsides.

What do you think the club is doing? Do you think they want us to get flogged, do you think they are trying to run it into the ground, do you think they are not trying to change?

Neeld has a strategy to change this club and its not producing short-term results because its long-term orientated.

He has chopped off the fat, developed some young rookies and brought in some great staff such as Misson and Craig.

Sure he has made some mistakes, particularly with his approach to the leadership group but he is actively trying to change the club so we dont have to be in this same place for a while.

Patience is a virtue, and no one has more patience than a Melbourne supporter.

But I would much rather not win a game for the rest of the season and for once have a long term strategy to get us out of here than be in the exact same spot in 2 years complaining about the exact same thing.

Changing coach wont get us anywhere. We will waste another season with a caretaker, the list will be subjected to another rebuild to fit the new coach, and we will have to go down the exact same road in letting the coach see his strategy through... most likely they will be subjected to the same short term criticism and then we will have to get a new coach 2 years later, and waste another season with a caretaker coach, the list will be subjected to another rebuild to fit the new coach, and we will have to go down the exact same road in letting the coach see his strategy through

Long term performance > short term performance.

[dee-luded 2,959]

A somewhat mixed batch of part-eloquence and part-interpretation of events, but you certainly have not convinced me that MN is the coach we need - what I have seen does not impress me (and I may be proven wrong), but I believe MFC needs a coach with a more appropriate approach to achieve the success that both you and I want, and more importantly, what the club needs.

I'm not trying to convince you that mark Neeld is The Man.

I'm trying to convince you of the horrid Culture mostly since 1965, that has eaten away at the Clubs ability to become a Power Club once again...

Neeld is doing the right thing to Smash the holders of this woeful weak culture.... so to be able to microscopically inject the new DNA nucleus into that Split Cell, to Clone a healthy new Attitude, with strong fighting, never backup DNA...

I know its unpalatable to many supporters to think of their Hero's as 'being a carrier', of the old infected degrading Virus.

but this is what happens around a defeatist club of over 40 Yrs...

..... look at the Saints, the Doggies, the Roos to a large extent, are still trying hard to break the old cultures of nearly a 100 years of struggle.... the Swans changed, thru the relocation helping to change the outside part of its culture, with a totally new supporter base, yelling & cheering for the boys.

We all have to change & adopt a new way of thinking about how we, support & or hinder our players, by how we go about it in our contact with, or gameday supporting of the team onfield.

If, Neeld goes, we must have another coach to carry on what Neeld Is doing re the culture, or we lose this chance maybe forever.

.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

I'm not trying to convince you that mark Neeld is The Man.

I'm trying to convince you of the horrid Culture mostly since 1965, that has eaten away at the Clubs ability to become a Power Club once again...

Neeld is doing the right thing to Smash the holders of this woeful weak culture.... so to be able to microscopically inject the new DNA nucleus into that Split Cell, to Clone a healthy new Attitude, with strong fighting, never backup DNA...

I know its unpalatable to many supporters to think of their Hero's as 'being a carrier', of the old infected degrading Virus.

but this is what happens around a defeatist club of over 40 Yrs...

..... look at the Saints, the Doggies, the Roos to a large extent, are still trying hard to break the old cultures of nearly a 100 years of struggle.... the Swans changed, thru the relocation helping to change the outside part of its culture, with a totally new supporter base, yelling & cheering for the boys.

We all have to change & adopt a new way of thinking about how we, support & or hinder our players, by how we go about it in our contact with, or gameday supporting of the team onfield.

If, Neeld goes, we must have another coach to carry on what Neeld Is doing re the culture, or we lose this chance maybe forever.

.

Thats my biggest fear: there is no certaintly a new coach will continue with it, or change it the way it needs to be changed.

Are you better off getting a new coach for short-term results and sacrifice long-term change, or keeping the Neeld who is sacrifcing short-term results for long-term change?

[pm24 451]

I think many on here have unrealistic expectations on where we should be at, and therefore because they think change should happen overnight are suggesting Neeld and Co should go. I think this completely unreasonable, and it is because of the following:

• Offseason 1 - FD clearly said the players were a long way away from AFL required fitness levels and it would take 3 years to reach that level.
• Offseason 2 - FD said improvement has been made but that players were probably only at around 60%-70% of the required level.
• Clear messages that improvement in player skill and execution was clearly linked to fitness levels of players, as skills would fall away late in games if the required fitness level were not achieved.
• Games experience is clearly recognised as one of the most important factors in determining team success. We have the third least experienced list in the competition.
• The FD identified early in the piece that we needed to bring in players who could play the roles needed, and that we did not currently have players that filled those required roles. Therefore, players were moved.
• That every player would be expected to become a two way player and would spend time at Casey to develop this part of their game if needed (see Sam Blease).
• That Neeld wanted us to become that hardest team to play against. This is still what the team is trying to become. It won't happen overnight.
• In all of the information coming out of the FD, the messages have been consistent and appear to be based on facts and figures that are being gathered by the club. That there is a clear path they are following and that they will not be swayed from it.
• There have been no false expectations promoted by the club. The message has always been, we are on a journey, we want you to join with us on this journey.
• The club made the most comprehensive overhaul of our list in the last free agency/trade period. It got rid of players who did not fit the mould (Morton, Bennell, Gysberts) despite having obvious talent, and brought in tougher more ready made bodies into the club (Dawes, Rodan, Byrnes, M Jones, Kent, Terlich). This was all done with the "plan" in mind.

So in short, the Neeld and co Football Department have been consistent with their messages to the supporter group, they have also been clear about where they saw the team list and that it would take time to get to where it needed to be. The never created false expectations, that is something that we as supporters have done.

I think the club is on the right path, and that it will take time, and that we are much better placed than we were at any time under bailey because the right groundwork is being done to help this club become successful for the long run, not for just a season here and there.

So rather than tearing down Neeld and Co, look at what they've said and what they've done. They've shown integrity and strength through everything that has happened over the last 18 months. That should be applauded. They should not be crucified because we as supporters have had unrealistic expectations. That's our fault, not theirs.

[pm24 451]

What do you think the club is doing? Do you think they want us to get flogged, do you think they are trying to run it into the ground, do you think they are not trying to change?

Neeld has a strategy to change this club and its not producing short-term results because its long-term orientated.

He has chopped off the fat, developed some young rookies and brought in some great staff such as Misson and Craig.

Sure he has made some mistakes, particularly with his approach to the leadership group but he is actively trying to change the club so we dont have to be in this same place for a while.

Patience is a virtue, and no one has more patience than a Melbourne supporter.

But I would much rather not win a game for the rest of the season and for once have a long term strategy to get us out of here than be in the exact same spot in 2 years complaining about the exact same thing.

Changing coach wont get us anywhere. We will waste another season with a caretaker, the list will be subjected to another rebuild to fit the new coach, and we will have to go down the exact same road in letting the coach see his strategy through... most likely they will be subjected to the same short term criticism and then we will have to get a new coach 2 years later, and waste another season with a caretaker coach, the list will be subjected to another rebuild to fit the new coach, and we will have to go down the exact same road in letting the coach see his strategy through

Long term performance > short term performance.

You beat me to the punch PJ, I totally agree.

[71 Molloy 266]

"In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team."

Not saying he is Fergie reincarnate, but I think this is why Neeld needs to be cut some slack. This is no paper over the cracks job.

As impatient as I am for wins, I think we are seeing baby steps at the moment to the rebirth of the club. A few more will go no doubt, but we need to back Neeld to the hilt in the task he has undertaken.

[dee-luded 2,959]

I think Neeld has brought a lot of this on himself by either misjudging or misleading the supporters, if he had come out at the start of the year and said he was looking to this year as development and that we would be working on fitness and game plan, it would have been much better than saying, we were much closer than anyone thought.

The above comment and his "we didn't see that coming" comment have shown him to be inept; at least in how to get the message to supporters.

If he didn't know how far off the pace we are then he lacks the judgement to be a top line coach, if he wasn't aware of just how bad our skills are the same applies. Neeld is responsible for his own dilemmas, he's shown appalling judgement and he should think carefully before he makes any more statements; I think we are all sick of the "they've got more games under their belts than we have".

Supporters don't like being lied to, or at least mislead, and he would be better off if he stopped trying to sugar coat it and tell it how it is.

the problem with that message is the players hear it as well.

... & they can then subconsciously relax knowing that they are infact in a development phase, & that giving 100% + some isn't as necessary as making certain not to make a mistake.

we need the players to be going flat out to try to extend their abilities under pressure. not plod along, like Melbourne teams have often been doing since around 2002.

.