what would you expect WYL with the team that danners allowed to wag the dog.

there is little space to hide @ the narrows of etihad.

that means that you have to be a strong defensive side, that can pressure the opposition to cough up the ball. free running teams that like the wide wings & no physicality would struggle against the disciplined hard working teams.

we wouldn't chase back then, we wouldn't be responsible for our opponents, except for the Jnr's & the Whelans & the godfreys.

we weren't physical so danners brought in one player to do the job??? no culture change there.

When Neitz, Whelan, Jnr, had finished up, we were left without any spine at all.

... now we are growing one.

My hair grows faster dee-luded

The last Messiah with the skills needed to sort this place ended up having a terrible Easter. I'm not sure who can right the ship now but, I can tell you, I am dead set sick of the MFC being the butt of every shitty joke going around, or, worse still, being the recipient of patronizing sympathy.

Dee-luded I have one large problem with the above.

You seem to pre suppose that we are constantly attacked by the Media and the AFL without cause.

90% of our problems are self made.

The last two disasters Tanking, we tanked and the Doctor affair, we misled the AFL are classic.

Neither the AFL or the media made those up.

We created the problem i.e. the MFC

The other big one is we have a crap list and play poorly.

Again neither the AFL or the Media made our draft selections we did.

Please stop blaming everyone else for our own created problems.

We sailed the Good ship MFC into stormy waters no one else did.

you seem to imagine we are the bad guys in all this as if we are the instigators of these things occurring within the AFL... not so. we are simply trying to catchup to what the other teams are already doing.

the problem is that most of the media have scorn for us, as they don't feel any respect for this club, because we have always been pushovers. soft...

... when sam lane has the gall on CH-7 commentary, to have a shot at Melbounre for the so called tanking, when she knows Full Well about what happened @ her Club Carlton,,,, in the Kreuzer Cup season, & the Kreuzer Cup game, its just media madness... & her dad on the radio saying the same things, trying to shine the light away from the Blues & Kreuzer by using us to place fault...

everyone knows it was a common ploy for clubs to drop to the bottom, or even reach for a priority pick by some strong clubs, to try to top up,,, & for struggling bottom Clubs, to rebuild the list.

so your more concerned about what the papers say, & that people are stirring you up, than to do the hard yards to change the bloody culture that has eaten the heart out of Smithy's heritage.

A hard arsed, hard earned ruthless heritage, that has since been smashed by generations of soft business types who allow the MFC recruits to become soft & spoilt.

the changes are already taking place, & we've seen a snippet of a result.

When you change your clocks at day light saving, you should change the batteries in your smoke alarm.

WELL KNOWN.

H_T, your quite a few weeks late. we've already changed our clocks well back, your a bit slow catching on. Haven't you noticed, its getting dark earlier.

Thank God the cruise ships I have been on are not as steady as the good ship MFC.

If we were a ship we would be at the bottom of the pacific by now.

the Australian ships out on the bottom of the Pacific, OD, were all manned with very tough & courageous men. not the silks & satins of the atlantic kind.

My hair grows faster dee-luded

the growing of a spine started between last September to December.... then continued on the training track & in Darwin.

its young & growing.

your hair, 'G' I don't know? B)

what would you expect WYL with the team that danners allowed to wag the dog.

there is little space to hide @ the narrows of etihad.

that means that you have to be a strong defensive side, that can pressure the opposition to cough up the ball. free running teams that like the wide wings & no physicality would struggle against the disciplined hard working teams.

we wouldn't chase back then, we wouldn't be responsible for our opponents, except for the Jnr's & the Whelans & the godfreys.

we weren't physical so danners brought in one player to do the job??? no culture change there.

When Neitz, Whelan, Jnr, had finished up, we were left without any spine at all.

... now we are growing one.

i fully understand where Danners left the club.

But that was 2007 and we are still stumbling along in 2013 with an AFL CEO coming in to sort out the mess.

Now the Buck has to stop somewhere.

The club has been run badly, it can be no other way, the line of excuses just doesn't cut it.

And the majority of the board has overseen the whole lot.

That is the constant....

DL - you are spot on about Sam Lane and her old man. Both just throw out cheap shots and its bad bad journalism, however this bloody football club provides the media with packets of ammunition every week with the MFC inscribed on each bullet.

This is what I am desperate to see....We win games, we compete to AFL standard and our club leadership get on the front foot with the media..is that too hard folks?

the growing of a spine started between last September to December.... then continued on the training track & in Darwin.

its young & growing.

your hair, 'G' I don't know? B)

None for 20 years mate.

Small joke there!

DL - you are spot on about Sam Lane and her old man. Both just throw out cheap shots and its bad bad journalism, however this bloody football club provides the media with packets of ammunition every week with the MFC inscribed on each bullet.

This is what I am desperate to see....We win games, we compete to AFL standard and our club leadership get on the front foot with the media..is that too hard folks?

I want the same thing Soidee but it seems next to impossible for the MFC to achieve.

In matters regarding Neale Daniher's legacy, the current board and where we are at football wise, I say merely to look at the scoreboard. 9 years, 6 finals appearances. Current 'tough' admin = 6 years, 0 finals appearances. I will give a summary.

a) It still annoys me to this day to say that ND stuffed the club. It's like what Denis Pagan says. If you had a white wall and someone walked up to it with a permanent marker and put a black dot on it, what would people pay attention to? The black dot. Neale's time at the club was generally successful just short of the ultimate. Was his time up in 2007? Absolutely. But to say that he single-handedly ruined the club pizzes me off. That being said...

B) When he was coach, he had to put up with a great load of crap from off field. Boards fighting with each other (the Gutnick board though I was a fan of where Joe was trying to take the club), impotent boards (the Szondy and Gardner boards), salary cap scandals, crappy training facilities, multi million dollar losses, the COACH having to be the face of marketing campaigns, 3 or 4 different CEO's. He did a pretty good job all things considered.

c) Which leads me to the current board. The loss of the great man cannot be underestimated. He was great as a unifying force but also as a source of footballing knowledge. He was smart enough to see that both Bailey and Schwab needed to go after 186 yet his illness impeded his ability to do the job when he was alive and his tragic death got rid of his ability to unite and get the best out of people with differing skill sets and abilities.

We now have a board without an anchor. As well meaning as they are, they need that figure head. I think Don means well but he isn't the man for this job. I think they have recognized that by the way they have bought Geoff Freeman in. Will he be the answer? I have seen so many quick fixes and solutions at this club in my 24 years of supporting it, I am cynical. I'm very much a results man.

The Jackson review is critical. This is the first time EVER I can remember where the club has sat down and taken a long hard look at itself without any agendas or political shenanigans lurking in the background. The club needs to swallow some humble pie and take on board what is said in that review.

Highly amusing...not...I put the pauses so the readers don't get their lips out of sync by reading too fast..........I do get a bit bored with the same old topics being posted............nice to see you deride my volunteering......sort of sums things up nicely doesn't it....got anything constructive to add

Still putting out the fires on Demonland with boiling oil, good move. What do you mean bored you love it. Before you mention it, yes I do know you volunteer at the club. Hopefully on balance that negates the damage you do on here.

Another one of these threads, even I'm getting bored of them and I'm a major contributor to them.

Here is my 2 cents:

Board hasn't had a good 12-18 months. The appointment of CS was a disaster (which admittedly is easy to see in hindsight, but none the less that fact remains).

I am not advocating at all for a board dismissal. I do think we should create an environment around the club that welcomes new ideas and people into the board because I don't think they should be pardoned for where we stand. Most of them have 5 years in their current positions.

I said this the other day to someone but I think it's relevant here. Out current board were put in place by the big fella with him as their leader. He had clear roles for them at the time and obviously what's happened since has literally left them without a skipper. I think Don has done his best but the fact remains that recent results speak for themselves.

I think the club should appoint a new President but Don should stay on so that the club has unity. Will the egos involved allow this to happen? Who knows. It's a tough one.

I do want those that are contemplating a run to know that they will have support should they put their hand up. I think that's at least a start.

A great deal of what you write mirrors a great deal of what I think mate. Whole boards don't have to written off, that just fractures the support from the power brokers. For good or ill the President is the actual face of the board. If he was to stand aside as you say it would have to be the right person and done in the right way, only those with a thick skin need apply. A number of my family were and some still are involved at Carlton when they imploded, they splintered left, right and centre. The things that went on there were crazy. The press were given a front row seat due to all the leaking.

DL - you are spot on about Sam Lane and her old man. Both just throw out cheap shots and its bad bad journalism, however this bloody football club provides the media with packets of ammunition every week with the MFC inscribed on each bullet.

This is what I am desperate to see....We win games, we compete to AFL standard and our club leadership get on the front foot with the media..is that too hard folks?

soidee have you not noticed how poor our leadership has been for over 15 Years.

the real leaders your could count on 3 or 4 fingers, & we sacked one of them about 4 Yrs ago.

Our culture has been like an overripe banana for 35 out of 45 Yrs...

the stripping back is a very necessary part of setting up the club for years of hard arsed play & players...

have you not wondered why it is, that we can't develop out recruits into tough solid winning AFL footballers? I know why.

And this is why I know they ARE on the right pathway. finally.

DL - you are spot on about Sam Lane and her old man. Both just throw out cheap shots and its bad bad journalism, however this bloody football club provides the media with packets of ammunition every week with the MFC inscribed on each bullet.

This is what I am desperate to see....We win games, we compete to AFL standard and our club leadership get on the front foot with the media..is that too hard folks?

& the Lanes, they'd know very well what they're saying, & that Carlton starred that night in the Kreuzer Cup match.

They want Melbourne to be the one Club remembered, after the AFL's tanking period... when it was the power clubs who started doing it, & well, years before we tried it on.

we aren't very adept at bending the rules.

None for 20 years mate.

Small joke there!

I can give you some, or you could follow sam newman... I think he buys his in a packet, & gets it stitched in.

I can give you some, or you could follow sam newman... I think he buys his in a packet, & gets it stitched in.

Not a problem Dee-luded I don't have a complex about the ageing process.

Not a problem Dee-luded I don't have a complex about the ageing process.

not a problem OD, we are both getting older mate.

by the way that image is not, of you.... but in reference to sams sewn in horse hair. he's full of stitched together bits is sam.

A great deal of what you write mirrors a great deal of what I think mate.

That's a frightening thought for both of us Stafford!

That's a frightening thought for both of us Stafford!

Haha. Perhaps I could have expressed that a little better. Tin foil hat time perhaps.

VInce McMahon.

If Don does have to relieve Neeldy of his duties, he needs to tell him this way.

http://youtu.be/E3MJYF6S4zQ

not a problem OD, we are both getting older mate.

by the way that image is not, of you.... but in reference to sams sewn in horse hair. he's full of stitched together bits is sam.

I did not think it was dee-luded.