PLAYING TEAMS INTO FORM

[Hardnut 327]

It's clear, once again, that our major problem is a lack of run in our midfield.

We were beaten on the counterattack many times because we don't have that running power across the board. They got outside us too easily and we struggled to place enough pressure on them to make it difficult.

You can tell that we are trying to play attacking football, but we lack the runners to get to the contests first and work past to carry the footy.

People bemoan selecting athletes over footballers, but we didn't do that and we are now paying the price.

Clubs stopped picking athletes over footballers after the Trent Croad experience some years ago Bob!

[Dr. Gonzo 24,221]

On Nathan Jones - yes he was shut out of the game and is something he needs to work to overcome but my question is who is there in our midfield giving him a chop-out?

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

We have a glaring problem in the midfield.... and we let a guy go that get 36 possessions against us. Yes well done MFC

He is no A grade champion. He is a C grade midfielder that rises to B against weaker teams.

you can see the absurd contradiction there can't you

[Geddy Lee 582]

you can see the absurd contradiction there can't you

It's Rhino, he just argues for the sake of arguing.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Wah wah wah get your chins up you babies

No matter how stupid you are you can (hopefully) count, we have matched our opponent for 7 of the last 12 quarters. These are obviously small joys but clearly we have improved since the start of the year. 3 weeks ago we lost by 148, today by 28. Obviously some of you are so pathetic that this rate of improvement is not enough for you.

Today at 3:40 into the last qtr, a shot on goal from Sylvia would have reduced the margin to 13 points, he just missed. We matched them for goals in the 1st,2nd and 4th quarters, only losing by the 3 extra goals we conceded in the third. Obviously they kept fighting for most of the game unlike lying down they did for large periods of the first 3 rounds.

This was an interstate game without Clark or Dawes, I think it is fair to say those 2 are worth the 3 goals we lost by. Clearly the likes of Jones, McDonald, Trengove and Grimes were well below their best today. We KNOW they are better than that. We have Viney, Toumpas and Hogan to come into the side over the next few... and I don't know wtf is wrong with some people but Byrnes and Rodan were OK today. Just because you hate losing doesn't give you the right to blatently lie in order to slag off Neeld.

We are coming from a long way back, these needs to occur gradually, you can't just expect to improve 1000% from week to the next. Stop your bloody whingeing FCS.

Are you serious; we lost today against a side that is complete crap, don't look at the scoreboard look at the sides we played. You do understand that they had 116 more possessions than us today don't you?

You reckon Rodan was ok; well if you do you must think that Mckenzie was best on ground or that Trengove is one week away from brownlow votes.

We are a very ordinary side and GWS are probably very unlucky that we beat them. Gary Ablett will kill us when we play him and I reckon he will beat us by 10 goals

[Yourenextdipper 19]

We matched them in the first quarter, and couldn't keep it up for the whole game. There is only one reason for that: fitness. There's only one cure for that problem: time and effort. Misson is one of the best fitness guys in the game, so I'm confident he can get us to the point where we can play our best for as long as the game goes. We're not there yet, but we will.

That's crap.

Brisbane had 6 teenagers playing today, Melbourne had none. The best player on the ground trained under Bailey and was not in the top 10 in the time trials at Melbourne, but is dominating now. The excuses are pathetic.

Bailey was a terrible coach, Neeld is worse. Two very bad decisions.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Yourenextdipper

[Axis of Bob 11,828]

Clubs stopped picking athletes over footballers after the Trent Croad experience some years ago Bob!

That is so very, very wrong.

[Nascent 9,215]

Although Tom McDonald didn't have a great game, he was giving away approximately 10cm to the resting ruckman. Hard for anyone to defend with good delivery, particularly given that Leuenburger has a pretty decent vertical leap.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Well spoken C&B! Too many unfair critics on this site. The boys ARE improving and trying bloody hard.

Where's the improvement Bobby?

Midfield - no

Backline - no

Forwardline - no

i would say it's more likely we are getting worse in fact a lot worse; some of the players that looked like they were not too bad last year have gone backwards and by a long way.

it's ok to support the club but to be blind to the problems we face is just ridiculous.

[Guest]

I don't like to single out players too often, but geez Tom McDonald was bad. Got beaten by Setanta last week, then was woeful today. If we had any backline depth, I would suggest letting him regain confidence at Casey for a little bit, because he has been a liability since returning.

Watts needs to stay in the forward line for the rest of the year. If we decide he won't fit with the forward line of Clark, Dawes, Hogan etc next year, at least he would've been auditioned for other teams leading up to the trade period.

[Buffalo 203]

Brisbane were pathetic - they only managed to beat us by 28 points, despite having 116 extra possessions. That's the equivalent of 4 extra players getting 29 possies each! Dee's should have lost by at least 10 goals..

[BarnDee 287]

What does Barn Dee say about 'soft eggs'?

I'm not happy about where we are at but WTF did you expect?! It's sad that we are here (and there are people to blame) but with the cattle we had out there, we got the result I would have expected.

Are we turning into the new Richmond? By that I mean, are we going to be best known for our vitriolic and snarky supporters? I have been accused of being 'overly negative' by some on here but I will always call things as I see them. It's why I pipe up when I hear people say Daniher wrecked the club. It's why I criticize the red and blueprint and all the PR related [censored] that entailed. It's why I criticize Neeld's approach (though he seems to have woken up to some degree).

If we got beaten by 10 goals, then fair enough. I just can't lose my s*** today as it was what was expected.

are you having a crack at me mate ? up to you , cheers

[Guest]

are you having a crack at me mate ? up to you , cheers

Not at all my friend. I'm quoting you in regards to the people on here who carry on like the universe is about to implode.

I have been assigning theme music recently for particular posters/themes. Here is today's theme song for the 'Land.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I don't like to single out players too often, but geez Tom McDonald was bad. Got beaten by Setanta last week, then was woeful today. If we had any backline depth, I would suggest letting him regain confidence at Casey for a little bit, because he has been a liability since returning.

Watts needs to stay in the forward line for the rest of the year. If we decide he won't fit with the forward line of Clark, Dawes, Hogan etc next year, at least he would've been auditioned for other teams leading up to the trade period.

We needed Wats in the forward line today as our listed line up was the worst forward line i've ever seen; it would have been easy to leave Pederson out, switch Watts to the forward line and replace him with Sellar, who at least has size/strength to counter the bigger Brisbane players.

I think I'd be happier to have Sellar on the resting ruck than Tom Mc, remember he's still only 20 years old.

We picked a poor side today but I guess we've got plenty of poor players to pick from.

For Christ's sake please admit the experiment failed and get rid of Rodan and Pederson, Gillies has gone hopefully.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Not at all my friend. I'm quoting you in regards to the people on here who carry on like the universe is about to implode.

I have been assigning theme music recently for particular posters/themes. Here is today's theme song for the 'Land.

So tell me Col, are you happy with the way things are progressing; it seems so.

Nothing you'd like to change?

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

Wah wah wah get your chins up you babies

No matter how stupid you are you can (hopefully) count, we have matched our opponent for 7 of the last 12 quarters. These are obviously small joys but clearly we have improved since the start of the year. 3 weeks ago we lost by 148, today by 28. Obviously some of you are so pathetic that this rate of improvement is not enough for you.

Today at 3:40 into the last qtr, a shot on goal from Sylvia would have reduced the margin to 13 points, he just missed. We matched them for goals in the 1st,2nd and 4th quarters, only losing by the 3 extra goals we conceded in the third. Obviously they kept fighting for most of the game unlike lying down they did for large periods of the first 3 rounds.

This was an interstate game without Clark or Dawes, I think it is fair to say those 2 are worth the 3 goals we lost by. Clearly the likes of Jones, McDonald, Trengove and Grimes were well below their best today. We KNOW they are better than that. We have Viney, Toumpas and Hogan to come into the side over the next few... and I don't know wtf is wrong with some people but Byrnes and Rodan were OK today. Just because you hate losing doesn't give you the right to blatently lie in order to slag off Neeld.

We are coming from a long way back, these needs to occur gradually, you can't just expect to improve 1000% from week to the next. Stop your bloody whingeing FCS.

THANK-YOU! Finally some sanity.

[Guest]

So tell me Col, are you happy with the way things are progressing; it seems so.

Nothing you'd like to change?

I wrote a little bit earlier what I felt were the negatives and what were the positives. The positives mostly revolved around a couple of individual performances and that the boys essentially fought till the end and didn't get blown out. The negatives involved the lack of run and spread and lack of forwards targets.

I viewed today as expected. We came in as 5-1 in a two horse race. We got beaten by 300 points in our first three weeks. While I would prefer that we win, I'm not going to behave like a 5 year old who has lost his bot bot and is having a tanty (not directed at you Robbie F as you are pretty reasonable but I couldn't believe the amount of bitchiness and whining on the game day thread).

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I wrote a little bit earlier what I felt were the negatives and what were the positives. The positives mostly revolved around a couple of individual performances and that the boys essentially fought till the end and didn't get blown out. The negatives involved the lack of run and spread and lack of forwards targets.

I viewed today as expected. We came in as 5-1 in a two horse race. We got beaten by 300 points in our first three weeks. While I would prefer that we win, I'm not going to behave like a 5 year old who has lost his bot bot and is having a tanty (not directed at you Robbie F as you are pretty reasonable but I couldn't believe the amount of bitchiness and whining on the game day thread).

The simple fact we were 5-1 in a two horse race when the other horse is supposedly in career worst form tells all.

I saw nothing there today that gave me any hope we were beaten in every facet of the game and we were fortunate that they didn't beat us by 10 goals; I'd put that down to the inexperience of Brisbane. We had an older team and Neeld has been harping on about us always being the younger team when we play; well today he had the chance and we failed abysmally.

We are disorganised rabble who can't get our hands on the ball even against the most mediocre opposition. Sorry if I've just become one of those that just dropped his bot bot, but that's how I see it.

[Deano74 156]

To quote Neeld - “The centre bounce was particularly good for them and we weren't combative enough in that area."

We were smashed out of the Middle, 21-10.

To me that was a major factor. If we even that up and we probably realistic chance of winning.

Our midfield was down today.

I thought or forwards made the most of there limited opportunites.

And its hard for the defenders when the ball is coming in often and quick.

Our midfield is our weakest link.

Jones is our only elite player and he was tagged out today.

[jnrmac 20,089]

For those that think we did OK I give you this:

The Lions finished with 418 disposals – their fifth-most disposals ever recorded in a game.

This is not the Lions of triple premiership fame but the Lions with 6 teenagers in their side compared to our ----------- none.

Zero pressure on them all day. F'n hopeless.

[Hardnut 327]

That is so very, very wrong.

Please give us all the benefit of your wisdom on this Bob.

[Deano74 156]

Things i learnt, is you got to play Watts up Forward, today in the second half he shows what hes capable of.

So id play him every game across Half Forward.

Howe also needs to stay closer to goal.

And we really need a Midfield.

[Guest]

The simple fact we were 5-1 in a two horse race when the other horse is supposedly in career worst form tells all.

I saw nothing there today that gave me any hope we were beaten in every facet of the game and we were fortunate that they didn't beat us by 10 goals; I'd put that down to the inexperience of Brisbane. We had an older team and Neeld has been harping on about us always being the younger team when we play; well today he had the chance and we failed abysmally.

We are disorganised rabble who can't get our hands on the ball even against the most mediocre opposition. Sorry if I've just become one of those that just dropped his bot bot, but that's how I see it.

We need to see where we are, not where we would like to be. It's no longer 2010 or the end of 2011. For whatever reason, the rebuild failed. Mistakes have been made (I'm as annoyed as anyone about what has happened). This will continue to be rectified at all levels. However, rather than self flagellate, I'm going to be as realistic as I possibly can for the rest of this season.

I hope the boys themselves are disappointed that they lost. They ALWAYS need to be disappointed when they lose. I, on the other hand, will take a pragmatic approach for the rest of this year.

[Arrow 1,257]

Rodan- was too silky for VFL. Such a big unit and very smart. He did a beautiful r50 kick that hit Hogan on the [censored] and I immediately thought experience under pressure and AFL quality posssssion. That said, I want him in the VFL for another 1-2 to get back his confidence play 3 games of footy and come into the Dees at full pace not in out in out like at the moment.

Not to toot my own horn here but merely raise the frustration I have with Neeld's thought process, here is a comment I made in the Casey thread.

Rodan was good last weekend for Casey. It was his first game back in the VFL and Casey won by 100 points. We'd beaten GWS that weekend.. He comes back straight in after 1 good game, and he is back to some pretty useless football. A junk time goal was really all that saved his stat line and playing in a fairly hustle and bustle part of the ground 11 disposals is simply not good enough.

Mark. Other clubs have players dominating VFL week in and week out and not get a game and yet we continue to congratulate mediocrity. He'll be dropped next week and the cycle will continue... It's not how professional sport should work and for the first time in 18 months, I find myself asking is this it. The zones horrific, I've never seen more players run through a corridor unmarked than against Melbourne in my whole life. I'll never give up on Melbourne, but I have no qualms on giving up on the staff within and 5 weeks in theres nothing to tell me otherwise.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Demon Land 7

[Dee Fan 3,247]

We need to see where we are, not where we would like to be. It's no longer 2010 or the end of 2011. For whatever reason, the rebuild failed. Mistakes have been made (I'm as annoyed as anyone about what has happened). This will continue to be rectified at all levels. However, rather than self flagellate, I'm going to be as realistic as I possibly can for the rest of this season.

I hope the boys themselves are disappointed that they lost. They ALWAYS need to be disappointed when they lose. I, on the other hand, will take a pragmatic approach for the rest of this year.

Colin we will not win another game this year so you will have ample opportunity to be pragmatic.

Oh! and the reason the rebuild and the rebuild of the rebuild failed/will fail is because we continue to select the wrong payers at the draft and until we correct this we will wallow.

We need an independent recruiting department that will pick the best players available, to build a side that's best for the club in the long and short term not just for the current coach who may be there for one or two seasons.