Don McLardy resigns

[DemonOX 8,791]

MFC is at its lowest point ever and this man was at the helm. Don't take it out on me. You guys are pathetic.

Calm down sunshine I was merely pointing out that he made time for the club unlike GL.

[diceman 2]

Good riddance to the worst president ever.

Wrong, second worst. Paul Gardner (President 2003-08) was the worst.

In less than 6 years, four incompetent administrators have single-handedly jeopardised 155 years of tradition and brought our Club, the oldest football Club in the World, to its knees: Gardner, Steve Harris (CEO 2004-08), Don McLardy (President 2012-13) and Cameron Schwab (CEO 2008-13).

And of course Garry Lyon has had a hand in our downfall too as he was on the coaching sub-committees that appointed Neeld in 2011 and Dean Bailey in 2007. Lyon was also the poisonous snake who, along with Ian Ridley, Hassa Mann and Bill Guest, voted in favour of the merger with Hawthorn back in 1996.

[Hero1 74]

Yes I work in sunshine. Sunshine.

[Hero1 74]

Wrong, second worst. Paul Gardner (President 2003-08) was the worst.

In less than 6 years, four incompetent administrators have single-handedly jeopardised 155 years of tradition and brought our Club, the oldest football Club in the World, to its knees: Gardner, Steve Harris (CEO 2004-08), Don McLardy (President 2012-13) and Cameron Schwab (CEO 2008-13).

And of course Garry Lyon has had a hand in our downfall too as he was on the coaching sub-committees that appointed Neeld in 2011 and Dean Bailey in 2007. Lyon was also the poisonous snake who, along with Ian Ridley, Hassa Mann and Bill Guest, voted in favour of the merger with Hawthorn back in 1996.

Good points.

[DemonOX 8,791]

Yes I work in sunshine. Sunshine.

What are the odds!!

[Hero1 74]

Another good point!

[Swooper Northey 494]

Thanks Don. I'll always respect and admire you for the support you gave Jimmy throughout his battle.

[rjay 24,919]

From the outside, it seemed as though Don was trying hard, but he really was on a hiding to nowhere unfortunately. I'm absolutely wrapt that these changes are happening, and truly feel that Peter Jackson is the man to steer this ship through the reef. Hope I'm not wrong, but time will tell. As for Kennett, well, I just don't know. He's definitely a proper goose, but at the same time his record speaks for itself. The whole thing of him bleeding gold and brown truly is a non-issue though. Most of our players weren't Dees fans as kids. His past attitude towards the club scares me a bit, and also the thought that maybe the Commission has something to do with all this as well, but that's a separate issue. It is the same as politics really. One party is proud of their record of putting females in cabinet positions, the other gets criticised for not having enough women in their cabinet. But at the end of the day, it is nothing to do with who you are (ie, female, male, ex Hawks prez etc) but everything to do with whether or not you are capable, experience, qualified, willing, keen, and able to take on what is a massive task.

I hear if he misses out on the MFC job he is preparing a ticket to run for leader of the ALP after the election, his record speaks for itself.

[Hero1 74]

Jimmy was inspirational but I wonder if he left the club in a sorry state. I have the greatest respect for him and I attended his funeral but the legacy does not seem to be all that great.

[drdrake 3,163]

This is a shame that the oldest club in the afl is in the same position as the youngest club, both need afl money and priority picks to service. For the good things this board has done mainly debt demolition and the Casey decision, it has all been undone since that fatal day down at geelong, our club has been on a downward spiral since mid 2011 and the leaders of they club have been unable to stop the bleeding.

The Gardiner led board got us out of the junction oval and we played finals, they left the club after a successful era what we thought was rock bottom, this board started well made us relevant, they created hype around a club that was poor on field and then whack it all started to fall apart, we started to see massive issues at our club.

You are grateful for any person that sacrifices there own time to be on a board of a sporting club. Our club is reaching new lows every week and change needs to happen from the top down to ensure we can go forward.

[Deestar3 167]

To demon31 & any other detractors of don mclardy.......you are small minded vitriolic people who should acknowledge that this man took on two positions ..MFC & Reach foundation.....positions he didn't want or need ... Simply to help out a mate! He did the job to the best of his ability & we should acknowledge that fact & be very grateful. We seem to live in a very gratuitous society.... Instant success ...everyone perfect ..no time for learning or development. I have taken the tack that the mfc for me started in 2011 & I am there for the ride. Let's get over the past problems, recruiting , bad development of players etc , we have a good man in p.jackson to get the ball rolling & we will go ahead. Really ...what is the point in agonising over past decisions.... Lets move on & have a bit of positivity

[The Yarra 83]

We'll probably never know how much pressure there was from above but if appointing Peter Jackson an afl respect administrator as CEO proves to be McLardy's last move, he'll leave a small legacy for just that.

[Maldonboy38 6,402]

I know that Jimmy was an inspirational man, but to me, the rot really set in as he took the helm. The McLardy Board is actually the inherited Stynes Board and it has proved to be one of our worst ever. I hate thinking this, but I have to conclude it is true. Apart from the debt demolition which was no small feat, have there been any big achievemetns on or off the field that have not ended in failure? He had vision and incredible leadership ability, but his decision making is proven by its fruit - rotten, rotten fruit. Whether it was the inability of the board to function without him, I don't know, but there is a pattern of dysfunction.

All the crap with Schwab and Connolloy

Horrible nepotism (jobs-for-the-boys)

Don Mclardy was never meant to be in charge

Coaching appointments

I admire Don McLardy for his effort and resilience and thank him for his work, but we need fresh, new, capable, bullish leadership.

[dee-luded 2,959]

MFC is at its lowest point ever and this man was at the helm. Don't take it out on me. You guys are pathetic.

its taken you 45 Years to work that out,,, & your still looking for excuses.. someone to blame!

Mclardy didn't invent the MFC wheel here you know, he tried to spin it... but it doesn't like to turn full circle, it just rocks one way, then back, til its back at rest... that's all its done for the last 45 years, & you want to blame someone who dared try to change it.

... wake up, its not the coaches, & the people we bring in, its the environment around the club, & the culture..not the kids who come in.... but what happens to them after they get here.

[Pennant St Dee 13,173]

Jimmy was inspirational but I wonder if he left the club in a sorry state. I have the greatest respect for him and I attended his funeral but the legacy does not seem to be all that great.

Sometimes it's better to just keep some of your thoughts to yourself. I'm pretty sure Jimmy didn't intend to get sick and leave himself unable to finish what he started.

There is a lot more I could say in response to your posts on this thread, but I think I should take my own advice from my first sentence!

[FC Melbourne 108]

MMM saying neeld will be gone around round 17.

I for one have full faith in their source.

[Maldonboy38 6,402]

Sometimes it's better to just keep some of your thoughts to yourself. I'm pretty sure Jimmy didn't intend to get sick and leave himself unable to finish what he started.

There is a lot more I could say in response to your posts on this thread, but I think I should take my own advice from my first sentence!

Speaking the truth with respect and grace does no discredit to anyone, regardless of who they are. In hindsight it appears that what Jimmy started became the problem. We all love him like we love no other but the sad state of things now shouldn't make him a sacred cow that cannot be mentioned or scrutinised. The failed McLardy board is in reality the failed Stynes board, and we have no way of knowing if it would have succeeded had the great man survived. We simply have what we have.

[Go the Biff 3,418]

1) I doubt anyone serves on the board with the intention of driving the club into the ground

2) There are some absolute Karmichaels on this site

[Courtney_Fish 183]

Do you think when he left he said "so long and thanks for the fish?"

lol

How'd I get involved in this?

[DemonFrog 1,354]

Finally some action from the board.

One down and hopefully a few more to follow.

The MFC he been run, lead, operated, coached (what ever you would call it) in an appalling manner.

I for one want the rebuilding of the MFC to start immediately without the Deadwood in charge made stupid decisions.

Melbourne FC First & Forever!

[Carrot Top 947]

As Obama might have said: change we can believe in.

[Sir Why You Little 37,034]

Speaking the truth with respect and grace does no discredit to anyone, regardless of who they are. In hindsight it appears that what Jimmy started became the problem. We all love him like we love no other but the sad state of things now shouldn't make him a sacred cow that cannot be mentioned or scrutinised. The failed McLardy board is in reality the failed Stynes board, and we have no way of knowing if it would have succeeded had the great man survived. We simply have what we have.

Correct.

We are at Ground Zero right now

[Bonkers 994]

I know that Jimmy was an inspirational man, but to me, the rot really set in as he took the helm. The McLardy Board is actually the inherited Stynes Board and it has proved to be one of our worst ever. I hate thinking this, but I have to conclude it is true. Apart from the debt demolition which was no small feat, have there been any big achievemetns on or off the field that have not ended in failure? He had vision and incredible leadership ability, but his decision making is proven by its fruit - rotten, rotten fruit. Whether it was the inability of the board to function without him, I don't know, but there is a pattern of dysfunction.

All the crap with Schwab and Connolloy

Horrible nepotism (jobs-for-the-boys)

Don Mclardy was never meant to be in charge

Coaching appointments

I admire Don McLardy for his effort and resilience and thank him for his work, but we need fresh, new, capable, bullish leadership.

I'll name a few achievements:

-30 year Casey agreement

-re-alignment with the mcc

-new training facilities

-higher investment into the FD

-improving the books with a $6 million dollar asset

Those are a few off the top of my head. The real failures in hindsight were to allow Schwab to continue after 186 which has led to the current poor FD & on field performance. The club needs to be in the business of being the best at winning on field & sadly the board has made poor decisions in this regard or simply don't have the knowledge to make them.

[deanox 9,914]

Another achievement of the Jim Stynes board, which I can't remember at Melbourne for a month time was trying to unite the club again. On the surface at least, and I heard no rumblings in the background (although there are plenty more qualified people on this board than me to confirm), the club was united in its approach. Old boys were welcomed back, supporters, members etc were either working together or keeping their noise out of it.

In the past 12 months this hasn't been the case, we've had ex presidents and past players talking rubbish to the media, public spats between people and now in fighting between supporters such as what we've seen on demonland recently.

I'd like everyone who loves the club to step back and think "what would Jimmy do" when it comes to dealing with other club members, particularly in public. To me that was Jim Stynes' legacy as president - get everyone working together - but unfortunately we fell apart again on field before we could achieve success ruining all his good work.

I hope that whoever the new board and president is comes out and says "ask Melbourne people are welcome back and welcome to contribute and welcome to be part of the club, even if they weren't successful in their attempts to run the club, because after all, despite failure they were working for the club they love as well as the club we love.

[bing181 9,219]

Best of luck with your future endeavours and keep up the great work you do with the Reach Foundation!

He stepped down from Reach last week.