When he said 'the hardest team to play against' i didnt realise he meant out of guilt.

Very funny. Yeah, that was never going to backfire was it! Up there with Bombers "whatever it takes" and Carlton's " We're Coming".

I just sit here trying to work out when it was that we became this bad.

I totally agree with you. Neeld's recruiting has been a disaster. Why would you recruit this lot of has beens?

This is all part of the master plan....for F's sake it's clearly not going to work.

Maybe he felt sorry for Jarod River and co and let them go.

Neeld will be sacked. It's only a matter of time.

I was pleased with the first half, that shows improvement against a quality side, next week I expect to win, if we put in a poor effort then the pressure will be huge...however we lack a couple of quality mids and imo if we had these we would be a hell of a lot better

Since this has already turned into a thread about Neeld, my two cents.......don't even think about it MFC unless you identify a candidate to replace him and you have +90% chance of getting that person. To go with a caretaker will just put us back on the treadmill and we are bound to end with the wrong coach again.

It isn't acceptable. But, really, what do you want them to do about it mid-year? It's not as if we were premiership favourites, let alone top 8 favourites/outsiders, to begin with.

I was angry in the 2nd half, more so than the Essendon game.

We showed some amazing skill and character in the first half. We are showing promise.

Yes, I know promise isn't good enough nor acceptable by any standard, but it is at least something.

Craig will be instated as interim coach if we lose by more than 5 goals to GWS. I believe he should go if we lose at all, but I think the club will play it conservatively. That's the MFC way. I'll certainly be rallying for his sacking at that point. I probably already am. If we weren't three games in, I think you'd have found him sacked after last week's effort. We leak goals at an alarmingly level. I think it's goodbye Neeld.

Anyone you get rid of without giving them time to do what they're supposed to do is a scapegoat. If we're in this position in 12 months time, then sack Neeld and go after someone else. But to expect miracles after just one season is asking for too much.

We've actually gone backwards dramatically though. Yes, it was going to take some time to turn it around, but Essendon managed to do it in one pre season. He's gone altogether the opposite of Bailey and killed their attacking flair. Bailey was no good, but Neeld has played his hand horribly.

The arrogance with which Neeld came into the club, blaming it all on Bailey (a guy that a lot of the players seemed to like) was not smart. What is so bewildering is that this guy was a teacher. An educator. How is it that he's completely incapable of communicating? It defies logic.

You have to give it time , because we are simply not good enough.

Nothing to do with the coach, we just need time to develop some stars, especially in the midfield.

No. It's not as simple as that. These young players will be ruined if sound structures are not put into place immediately. Our midfield set ups are deplorable. Our defensive zones are non-existent. It's everything to do with the coach if an entire team is going backwards or stagnating. It's not just one or two players. It's not even the case of a learning curve for some of these guys. Neeld is incapable of motivating his players and delivering the right messages. Surely the fact we didn't turn up in the first two rounds is some proof of this.

Since this has already turned into a thread about Neeld, my two cents.......don't even think about it MFC unless you identify a candidate to replace him and you have +90% chance of getting that person. To go with a caretaker will just put us back on the treadmill and we are bound to end with the wrong coach again.

Spot on Diesel. I, like many, am starting to wonder whether Neeld has the right plan (let alone players) to make us competitive. But who would replace him? Roos is too happy on FoxFooty money; Clarkson wont move unless the Hawks flop; and we Cannot (capital C intended) risk another rookie coach.

Again, you're confusing poor performance now with eternal poor performance. We cannot slip into the trap of giving our coaches too little time to implement their strategies. Dean Bailey had three years, and that was enough to see that he wasn't right for the job. Mark Neeld has had half that time, and while I agree his time is running out, it has not yet come.

Of course our second half was beyond rubbish. But don't lay the blame for that at Mark Neeld's feet. Our young and extremely low-confidence side was smashed by one of the best teams in the game. Last week was all sorts of shite, and so was the week before. I agree that Neeld is partly to blame for that, and if we continue to dish those performances out every week, he'll surely go the way of Dean Bailey.

Just give the man another year to turn over the list a little more and bring in players who will do what they're told for an entire game. Players who won't run out of steam and drop their heads the moment things go bad.

The argument to that would be: he's brought in players in the offseason and turned over our list (Moloney, Gysberts and Morton certainly needed to go), but none of them have proved they can play four quarters either. In fact, Rodan and Gilles were both dropped, while Byrnes and Pederson (albeit the latter had a slightly better game) are struggling too.

It's unacceptable. It has been for 2.5 years.

6 years have bee unacceptable... doubt we could afford to sack neeld and payout a coach, ceo and pay a new coach.

It isn't acceptable. But, really, what do you want them to do about it mid-year? It's not as if we were premiership favourites, let alone top 8 favourites/outsiders, to begin with.

I was angry in the 2nd half, more so than the Essendon game.

We showed some amazing skill and character in the first half. We are showing promise.

Yes, I know promise isn't good enough nor acceptable by any standard, but it is at least something.

not having gone to the game - what was different about how we played in the first half?

not having gone to the game - what was different about how we played in the first half?

we tried

Give him more time. Mid-season and 100 point flogging still aplenty lets start talking.

IF Neeld is sacked, go after Roos and keep upping the ante until he simply cannot refuse. Simple.

Roos wouldnt want to go anywhere our team.

I went today loved the first half but just sat there and the 2nd half. I really dont care. I leave games and im not angry maybe im just used to it.

I just go and watch who performs well. I love watching viney run around, howes marking and clarke and some others. I jsut dont want to see many more 100 pt losses.

Roos wouldnt want to go anywhere our team.

I went today loved the first half but just sat there and the 2nd half. I really dont care. I leave games and im not angry maybe im just used to it.

I just go and watch who performs well. I love watching viney run around, howes marking and clarke and some others. I jsut dont want to see many more 100 pt losses.

I doubt any experienced coach would want to have anything to do with our list - I doubt any aspiring coach would want to ruin his career with our list. Neeld will see out the season and probably next year. After that who knows.

I just sit here trying to work out when it was that we became this bad.

It was about the time Brad Miller played his one and only good game for the Dees.

Really who is going to come in and make this lot any better? Bailey and Neeld are victims of an over rated and under performing list that would not perform consistently even if Norm Smith was coaching. People who think this is now Neeld's list are kidding themselves, this list is still carrying the ills of the previous 5 years recruiting and development.

Any change in coach now is doomed to failure and will merely put us further back, as much as it hurts we need to let Neeld see this season out, anything else is just making change for change sake.

IF Neeld is sacked, go after Roos and keep upping the ante until he simply cannot refuse. Simple.

Let him write his own cheque. We cant afford not too.

Goes back way longer, right into the Daniher years - Daniher thought he was so close to winning a premiership, he drafted used tyres from other clubs and failed to build up any decent forward to replace Neitz. This is way too complicated just to blame on the coach. I can understand why Neeld recruited the players he did. He realised that none of our middle core have seen any real success ever in their careers. Can you expect them to be good leaders.

Really who is going to come in and make this lot any better? Bailey and Neeld are victims of an over rated and under performing list that would not perform consistently even if Norm Smith was coaching. People who think this is now Neeld's list are kidding themselves, this list is still carrying the ills of the previous 5 years recruiting and development.

Any change in coach now is doomed to failure and will merely put us further back, as much as it hurts we need to let Neeld see this season out, anything else is just making change for change sake.

No it is time for Neeld to go. He simply cannot get our list to play to an AFL level. Even the Cheer Squad have lost faith in him and I should know because I sit with them!

Really who is going to come in and make this lot any better? Bailey and Neeld are victims of an over rated and under performing list that would not perform consistently even if Norm Smith was coaching. People who think this is now Neeld's list are kidding themselves, this list is still carrying the ills of the previous 5 years recruiting and development.

Any change in coach now is doomed to failure and will merely put us further back, as much as it hurts we need to let Neeld see this season out, anything else is just making change for change sake.

They are responsible for the recruiting and development of those players.

I totally agree with you. Neeld's recruiting has been a disaster. Why would you recruit this lot of has beens?

This is all part of the master plan....for F's sake it's clearly not going to work.

Maybe he felt sorry for Jarod River and co and let them go.

Neeld will be sacked. It's only a matter of time.

So Neelds recruiting has been a disaster, Mitch Clark, Jack Viney, Chris Dawes, Jesse Hogan ok the last two we havent seen but i pretty excited about our forward line next year with Clark, Dawes and Hogan. M Jones has been good and would sit in our top 3 in our b&f Terlich looks ok. The recycled players we gave up nothing, the only player that cost us a decent pick was Dawes. Our midfield needs addressing but you cant fix all our flaws with 2 drafts.

I really believe we will see a massive light in the back half if the year. We dont accept losing like we have today was different than the first two weeks, we played a much better team and for three quarters we went ok, we just relaxed for the third quarter and got smashed.