http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...111-1nbw7.html

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1226193168855

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1226193140413

This is where it all started.. Cheap shots at the club and players publicly.

Tried to act as a wannabe tough man and now it is biting him back in the ass. Has no general communication skills and its no wonder half the team wants to walk out. Isn't it funny how his tone has dramatically changed over the last 12 months..

You never see Hinkley or McCartney or even Malthouse pot shot their clubs when they started. All about building that trust and foundation first.

Source? I haven't seen any quotes from any of our players saying that they want to move on. Plenty of media speculation though..........

its no wonder half the team wants to walk out.

I think it goes all the way back to when Scott Thompson left myself.

makes for pretty depressing reading...

im sort of coming around to the idea that Bailey was a reasonable coach that the players liked, but didnt get the side fit enough. Neeld seems to be the opposite - he has got the side fit but he aint a great coach and the players (some of them anyway) either dont like him or have picked up that his coaching skills dont pass muster...

Source? I haven't seen any quotes from any of our players saying that they want to move on. Plenty of media speculation though..........

Bit like Brent Moloney said he wants to stay at the club last year.. I think you have to be pretty delusional if you think that half the players don't wanna leave.

We all know it goes back to the sacking of Norm Smith

Bit like Brent Moloney said he wants to stay at the club last year.. I think you have to be pretty delusional if you think that half the players don't wanna leave.

Fact of the matter is you not I know that for a fact. It's purely speculation driven by media beat up because writting that kind of stuff when the teams already down sells papers and gets extra hits online. Don't think the title 'Melbourne loose again but otherwise everything all well' would create to much of a talking point for the rest of the week.

Sam Blease was going to leave last year remember?

Aarin Davey a few years before that.

Not having a go at you Dazzledavey, but I'm getting tired of everyone saying player x wants to walk without anything concrete to back that up.

These were teams that all played with a physically demanding, hard-running and aggressive approach. It is being brought to Melbourne.

That's working well.

We all know it goes back to the sacking of Norm Smith

I know some people see this as a joke, but this really was the beginning of the end for the club. Internal politics took precedence over onfield performance and we've never recovered. It set the standard for the next 50 years.

And of course, it was the day the club was cursed...

Source? I haven't seen any quotes from any of our players saying that they want to move on. Plenty of media speculation though..........

Exactly. The amount of sweeping statements with nothing to support them is growing by the minute on here. I appreciate arguments on both sides but please people, make sure you can back them up, otherwise we're feeding something that is not necessarily genuine.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...111-1nbw7.html

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1226193168855

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1226193140413

This is where it all started.. Cheap shots at the club and players publicly.

Tried to act as a wannabe tough man and now it is biting him back in the ass. Has no general communication skills and its no wonder half the team wants to walk out. Isn't it funny how his tone has dramatically changed over the last 12 months..

You never see Hinkley or McCartney or even Malthouse pot shot their clubs when they started. All about building that trust and foundation first.

Our problems started long before this.

Our problems started long before this.

I do tend to agree, but when ? I clearly remember part way through 2010 thinking we had a good shot at the finals.

We all know it goes back to the sacking of Norm Smith

That was the first.

Then the profligate Szondy and Gardner eras.

I do tend to agree, but when ? I clearly remember part way through 2010 thinking we had a good shot at the finals.

Yes, after Round 19 they were a game and percentage shy of the Eight having lost a coupla close ones and drawn with Sydney.

Bruce had already stated "Oh gee, they're gonna be something aren't they.......". Many folk had the same feeling, intelligent people too.

Those were the days my friend.

20th September 1964

We all know it goes back to the sacking of Norm Smith

Started then.....then, sadly, the heart stopped when Jimmy died.

Yes, after Round 19 they were a game and percentage shy of the Eight having lost a coupla close ones and drawn with Sydney.

Bruce had already stated "Oh gee, they're gonna be something aren't they.......". Many folk had the same feeling, intelligent people too.

Those were the days my friend.

IF that was the pivotal moment, then why?? What cracked at that point? Can't blame Neeld for that - something cracked long before he was appointed.

IF that was the pivotal moment, then why?? What cracked at that point? Can't blame Neeld for that - something cracked long before he was appointed.

I wasn't suggesting that this time was any turning point. There was then no perceived weakness in fitness regime or list quality, indeed we'd have finished 9th in 2011, sacking notwithstanding, if we'd been able to beat Wooden Spooners, Port, on the Adelaide Oval. It all fell apart I suggest with Neeld's vision for the future.

Neeld is just one poor decision in a long conga line of poor decisions. He is not the sole reason we are failing only part of the reason. A succession of poor administrators and boards have been our undoing.

The merger was no help.

The current problems started sometime around 2003. That was the beginning of a player selection and drafting program by two inept recruiters that saw us get nearly twenty first-round draft picks over a decade, only to end up with the "worst midfield in the history of the AFL" .

Over 50% of our first-round picks were used on talls in the search for the mythical but outdated 'spine'. A lot of the rest were used on players without strength, guts and leadership. We ended up with a midfield consisting of Nathan Jones.

Neeld is not the sole cause of our problems. You'd have to be naive to think that sacking him will magically fix them. It's a problem ten years in the making, and will take at least five years of early draft picks to correct (hopefully Viney and Toumpas are beginning of a midfield resurrection).

Neeld may also not be the solution to the problems, but that's a different issue.

When I read the story about MN calling Watts into his office to spray both Jack Watts and Colin Sylvia, it says a lot about what has gone wrong. Yes, Neeld was right to be upset but he needed Col to buy in to 'why' he shouldn't drink before training. Emphasize both positive and negative: i.e. if you don't toe the line you will be dropped and if you prepare properly, you could be absolutely anything Col. We all have egos and I think Mark needed to combine both reward and punishment into his system. Until earlier this year, it was all 'my way or the highway'. He said that he came at the players with a blank canvas. He needed to remember the players were seeing him as a blank canvas and all they have seen is a good flogger of horses.

I remember when Chris Scott went into Geelong, he said there were things Geelong did well and he wasn't going to change that but there were some things he saw that they could improve on that he wanted to fix. Not that we are Geelong but MN needed to let go of some of his ideals and deal in reality. Sure, our defensive work could do with some improvement but did we have to change everything? Try to keep some of the old game plan initially but ease the structures in progressively. You don't go from 0 to 100 overnight.

The players did need a collective rocket after what happened to Bailey. But as I have said before, what has happened is an over correction.

I have a feeling that Mark might have made a great coach 20 years ago, but it is a different generation coming through at the moment, and while there are examples where he seems to have gotten through to the players (jones, garland, Howe, Dunn) there are lots of those that he hasn't. As coach, you need to be able to get through to everyone.

When I read the story about MN calling Watts into his office to spray both Jack Watts and Colin Sylvia, it says a lot about what has gone wrong. Yes, Neeld was right to be upset but he needed Col to buy in to 'why' he shouldn't drink before training. Emphasize both positive and negative: i.e. if you don't toe the line you will be dropped and if you prepare properly, you could be absolutely anything Col.

The players did need a collective rocket after what happened to Bailey. But as I have said before, what has happened is an over correction.

You know exactly what the conversation was, do you?

Spot on 100% Colin! the bloke went about it the wrong way, Its not like on field we were seriously that BAD! 8.5 games in 2011 and if you count the win against Sydney round 1 it wouldn't have looked bad on paper. We could see the game plan was starting to come together and it was exciting brand of footy to watch. Neeld came on and completely changed it all and turned it upside down. The way he criticised us on the paper was a disgrace! Even Ken Hinkley and the players said that they have changed much of the game plan but still had to tinker the defensive aspects and improve the mentality side of it which he did. The players now fully respect him and love playing for him. Like I said port were a mess last year on field and off. I never once read Hinkley criticise or give players a bake in the papers. went about it the right way and I can see why the players love him and have a high respect for the man.