The worst thing a coach can hear is that "He has the complete faith and trust of the board" so be very worried if the AFL say they trust the board and CEO.

I applaud Rohan Connolly for his statement today that the board made a huge error asking/expecting a rookie coach to come in and change the culture. What were they thinking?

That is passing the buck, getting someone else to do your dirty work. I have written to Don and said that I thought it was a seriously bad idea to rebuild on the rebuild and got no reply. Sydney and North would never bottom out as their assessment of the market was that their clubs would not survive that strategy.

In my opinion Don and the board had no right to go back to scratch after we did the same under Bailey and expect the members to cop it. For that reason alone the board should be held accountable for trashing our brand and the current strategy with the FD and existing coach.

To answer the question why should the AFL take over, well because the current board got it wrong and shows no indication that they know how to right the ship. Rebuild of a rebuild isn't working, bottoming out is a poor strategy and has not yielded any success. What is our 5 year plan or god help us the 10 year plan?

We owe the AFL 500K, and from the number of posters on here and Facebook who are sending their memberships back, cancelling their auto renew and walking away only the most drastic of action will avert a total disaster. See how many turn up on Saturday.

And we have done such a splendid job of it over half a decade DeeZee

But if they take over, we could go anywhere, and end up the next team in Tasmania, or the Darwin Demons.

What a load of media driven shisen this "club in crisis" crud is. Two weeks ago we were enjoying our best pre-season in years with BP and increased levels reached across the board. Two weeks later after two woeful losses, "we are in crisis"? WTF

We were never going to beat the Dons and gelling half a dozen new players into a team that only won four games last season will take time. And guess what, it is taking time!

I'm glad there are wiser heads running our club than those that buy into and fan the "club in crisis" line.

But if they take over, we could go anywhere, and end up the next team in Tasmania, or the Darwin Demons.

Correct! But we would have to cop it as we (the board) have put ourselves in this position. Rebuilding after Bailey was a very bad idea. Did Essendon throw everyone out after Knights? No. Did Adelaide throw every player and strategy out after Craig? No. So why did and overly confident, arrogant rookie coach think he could do so?

Well the board gave him a mandate, he executed and the results are plain to see.

Looking from an AFL perspective, there is not enough population in Melbourne to support 9 teams.

New York has only 2 baseball teams

Los Angeles does not even have a football team.

9 sides in Melbourne is too many. It is not sustainable. Especially with MFC, NMFC & WBFC pulling avg crowds of about 20-25k.

The AFL logically, would be looking to expand our game into Tasmania, Nth Qld, Canberra, Perth and NT.

Why would they waste time and money proping up MFC, when the best scenario for them would be a merger with the Kangaroos.

MFC, NMFC & the Bulldogs all have memberships less than 1/3 of Collingwood. Is this sustainable?

Whether its now or in 30 years, there will not be 9 clubs based in Melbourne.

The ideal solution is to merge NMFC & MFC and then worry about the Bulldogs at a later date.

The Bulldogs may survive due to their geography and the growth corridors in the western suburbs. The west also contains a vibrant industrial sector.

The AFL will not prop up the MFC, and nor should they. We made our bed, we must lie in it or merge.

You are going to sack an admin that has just found 8 sponsors since the afl tanking decision??? Sure we may need a better motivator in the admin parts of the club to rally the troops and lift standards but the club has done a remarkable job over the last few years. I would like the afl to show more moral support and think their handling of our club was a disgrace and energy and goodwill sapping. Don has been fantastic and I am sure he would be more than happy to step aside if the right strong leader came forward. The CEO has rightly kept out of meddling into footy dept (something he was criticised for previously). Neil Craig is the wise elder we needed to help Mark in his early days. I can't see the afl doing better.

Meanwhile each of us has to think of a way we can support our club. Turning up would be a good start. Take a deep breath.

But if they take over, we could go anywhere, and end up the next team in Tasmania, or the Darwin Demons.

I am not worried about that. It's simply an embarrassment and not necessary.

Once again - the AFL is happy for the Hawks to bleed Tassie. They will never get a club now that they have made the deal with the Glenferrie Devil.

Darwin is nowhere near big enough to have a team, nor is Canberra.

We are in Melbourne until we can't sustain our existence and then we will cease to be.

It won't come to that for a while (decades).

The AFL wants 9 games a week and they are not equipped for any more ventures into untapped markets. They are bankrolling two at the moment.

We are here for the long haul - let's just try and get our house in order quickly shall we?

Not for the sake of the club's existence - for the sake of our own...

Looking from an AFL perspective, there is not enough population in Melbourne to support 9 teams.

New York has only 2 baseball teams

Los Angeles does not even have a football team.

9 sides in Melbourne is too many. It is not sustainable. Especially with MFC, NMFC & WBFC pulling avg crowds of about 20-25k.

The AFL logically, would be looking to expand our game into Tasmania, Nth Qld, Canberra, Perth and NT.

Why would they waste time and money proping up MFC, when the best scenario for them would be a merger with the Kangaroos.

MFC, NMFC & the Bulldogs all have memberships less than 1/3 of Collingwood. Is this sustainable?

Whether its now or in 30 years, there will not be 9 clubs based in Melbourne.

The ideal solution is to merge NMFC & MFC and then worry about the Bulldogs at a later date.

The Bulldogs may survive due to their geography and the growth corridors in the western suburbs. The west also contains a vibrant industrial sector.

The AFL will not prop up the MFC, and nor should they. We made our bed, we must lie in it or merge.

You are so naive.

The AFL is going to hand back a ninth of their money just to spite us? They want 18 teams.

And Tassie is gone - they will never have a team while Hawthorn is sucking on their teet. Canberra and Darwin are not big enough (and GWS is trying to make themselves Canberra's team - with some success), Nort Qld is the hope in 40 years time - the AFL have enough money tied up in GC and GWS, and as for Perth - I think that Freo back on its feet and that market being adequately tapped means there is little desire for another team there.

Looking from an AFL perspective, there is not enough population in Melbourne to support 9 teams.

New York has only 2 baseball teams

Los Angeles does not even have a football team.

9 sides in Melbourne is too many. It is not sustainable. Especially with MFC, NMFC & WBFC pulling avg crowds of about 20-25k.

The AFL logically, would be looking to expand our game into Tasmania, Nth Qld, Canberra, Perth and NT.

Why would they waste time and money proping up MFC, when the best scenario for them would be a merger with the Kangaroos.

MFC, NMFC & the Bulldogs all have memberships less than 1/3 of Collingwood. Is this sustainable?

Whether its now or in 30 years, there will not be 9 clubs based in Melbourne.

The ideal solution is to merge NMFC & MFC and then worry about the Bulldogs at a later date.

The Bulldogs may survive due to their geography and the growth corridors in the western suburbs. The west also contains a vibrant industrial sector.

The AFL will not prop up the MFC, and nor should they. We made our bed, we must lie in it or merge.

Happy to merge with Norf as long as we are still called Melbourne Demons ,wear Red and Blue ,live at the G,and there is no reference to the Kangaroos ever made in the footnotes of our history .Otherwise , forget it.

You are so naive.

The AFL is going to hand back a ninth of their money just to spite us? They want 18 teams.

And Tassie is gone - they will never have a team while Hawthorn is sucking on their teet. Canberra and Darwin are not big enough (and GWS is trying to make themselves Canberra's team - with some success), Nort Qld is the hope in 40 years time - the AFL have enough money tied up in GC and GWS, and as for Perth - I think that Freo back on its feet and that market being adequately tapped means there is little desire for another team there.

RPFC, you are a mental pigmie.

take one away, add one = 18 teams, derrrrrrrr

Two weeks ago we were enjoying our best pre-season in years

This level of delusion is staggering. We lost every game.

With no direct exposure to how the MFC were measuring the Pre-season, other than their comments and reports... winning games was not the KPI they were working on. In retrospect it probably should have been.

My point is most who watched the pre-season commented on the increased performance, energy and levels of fitness and professionalism... and the shock being felt by the club about these two losses is that this improvement has not flowed into the season on game day.

This level of delusion is staggering. We lost every game.

Anyone who has had the misfortune to read me over 10+ years posting here and demonology knows I'm one of the most conservative supporters going - I've supported admin and footy department thru thin and thinner. But ya gotta read the tea-leaves.

We're 2.5 to 24.22 in second halves to teams that finished well outside the finals last year. Second halves where remedial action should be taken to stem the arterial haemorrhaging. The coach has no idea why. We're in crisis all right - any other view is delusional.

Our three best performers in the preseason are still to get a game.

Jetta, Kent and Magner(albeit rookie)

Gillies and Nicholson did sweet FA, and they've play both.

I think we have to bite the bullet and play these kids weve drafted.

Kent,Strauss, Jetta, Clisby,Gawn, Spencer,Bail etc.

Or best perormers innthe the first two rounds have been, Grimes, Jones, Viney,M Jones,Frawley,Davey, Clark,Howe, so at least we have a nucleus of tryers.

A very hard decision must be made now, and i dont care what promises were given to Byrnes, Rodan,Gillies, Pederson etc.

Its time to invest in and back our youth.

What the Melbourne Football Club needs is someone that will go through the club from top to bottom, talk to everyone at the club, Board, Staff, Players and Coaches and try to fathom what the problem is. They should also try to talk to former Board members and Managers if available.

This person has to be completely independant and able to gain the trust of all concerned so the truth will come out.

It's no good just trying to patch up the issues and pretend all is ok, we need to get to the heart of the problem and eradicate it; forever.

.

I have said it for a long time now that the MCC is probably our biggest problem and the use of the Board to gain access to the influential members there compounds it.

What you describe is what I thought the Andrews report was doing.

The report that the admin obviously didn't like so they locked it away and made sure we never found out its contents

The AFL just spent months damaging this brand while saying that everyone else that tanked was ok, maybe they should look at the damage they are doing to the brand. by the way where is the drugs investigation going besides nowhere, so if essendon players are found guilt do they loose any premiership points?

Has it been "pushed under the carpet???? " Have Adelaide and Melbourne been beaten by a bunch of Bulked up Drug cheats in the first two rounds this year ?? But obviously that "stuff" the Bombers were shoving into their veins last year only works for about half the season . seems they may be on a similar track this season ?? Why NOT ?? The PW AFL don't seem to be doing anything about it but MFC cops a half million fine for tanking" wheres the justice ?? How much was Watson on last year Looked like Charles Atlas.... Will he retain the Brownlow if it is found he was "cheating" Demetriou's 3 strikes policy would have helped players to take drugs at least until they were caught twice !!! What a dumb Drugs Policy that was !!!!

With no direct exposure to how the MFC were measuring the Pre-season, other than their comments and reports... winning games was not the KPI they were working on. In retrospect it probably should have been.

My point is most who watched the pre-season commented on the increased performance, energy and levels of fitness and professionalism... and the shock being felt by the club about these two losses is that this improvement has not flowed into the season on game day.

It's the only KPI worth a cracker 'PaulRB'. The preseason was looking pretty good until the NAB kicked in and no matter what the KPI's were any half astute judge of football could see we were getting more of the same.

This level of delusion is staggering. We lost every game.

We ACTUALLY beat Port Adelaide !!! In wahtever circumstances we STILL won that one !!! Hard to believe ??

You are so naive.

The AFL is going to hand back a ninth of their money just to spite us? They want 18 teams.

TV rights demands 18 teams; 9 games a week.

And Tassie is gone ................

Tassie is a basket case economy wise. Easier to prop up NM, MFC and WB.

Our % as of Round 2 is 28.4.

Enough said. Time for immediate change. Fcuk merging btw.

I don’t agree with AFL administrators coming in for any lengthy period of time. We need a strong voice to point out that it is no accident that the clubs towards the bottom end of the AFL ladder are also generally the poorest. The AFL needs to look at the way it handles issues like the fixture, TV rights, the introduction of the new expansion teams, allowing extra payments outside the salary cap (i.e. Judd/Visy), free agency, gate revenue distribution, selling home games interstate, allowing uncontracted players to enter the national draft etc. The current approach is significantly impacting the evenness of the competition as a whole.

While the ineptitude of the current administration is all on show, we can’t have the AFL running the club for very long as it won’t be possible to get this point across and this (along with good player recruiting) is the key to our long-term survival.

. The CEO has rightly kept out of meddling into footy dept (something he was criticised for previously).h.

Then why does he attend the players Leadership group meetings?

What you describe is what I thought the Andres report was doing.

The report that the admin obviously didn't like so they locked it away and made sure we never found out its contents

Would be great if the AFL Commission demmanded to see a full copy of The Andrews Report.

A lot of the job would be achieved there and then.

We members paid for that report.

I'm not talking about any internal factions at the club. I'm talking about externals, people who are supporters, members, past players, past and present board members. There is too much division to get up a new board that could have a consensus and be untouched by past issues. This is why we need a person from outside the club to come in, as sad as it is I don't think we can do it ourselves.

Jimmy did it in 2008 without AFL intervention.

Jimmy did it in 2008 without AFL intervention.

There are no more Jimmy's at MFC. He was a special once in a lifetime Man...