The Melbourne Curse

[Smokey 4,381]

4 hours ago, Macca said:

My take on the sacking of Norm Smith ... spoils a good story but nevertheless ...

Norm slandered an umpire publicly,  was sued (settled out of court) and the club rightfully wouldn't stand by Norm and his slanderous comments ... in frustration he was sacked by the club and then later reinstated (a week later)

His team had started to struggle (moving forward) and the writing was on the wall with regards to the less than average zones that we were allocated.

Norm did the 'supporter' thing and started blaming the umpires.  He brought about his own downfall in my opinion.

Extra spicy summation, especially round here. I wasn’t alive during this time so I’ll refrain from commenting myself.

[beelzebub 23,254]

The club's not cursed...I am..

So are many here

( Might take some thought.....;) )

[deebug 1,754]

1 hour ago, bush demon said:

It was Umpire Blew, the umpire not the limerick.

This explain why the umpires hate us so much.

 

[radar 1,865]

Answer - Josh Kelly 

[Macca 16,731]

6 minutes ago, Smokey said:

Extra spicy summation, especially round here. I wasn’t alive during this time so I’ll refrain from commenting myself.

I'm no populist Smoke ... most here get it,  all the same.  Robust debate and leave nothing out I say.  Once vital info is left out (or conveniently put aside) myths abound.

I can see why the club sacked Norm ... but many believe we sacked Norm on a whim or through sheer incompetance.  I do not believe it happened that way. 

I mean, it just doesn't make  sense to sack a 6  time premiership coach who's record after 9 games of the '65 season was 8 & 1.  There was more to it.

[DV8 2,271]

24 minutes ago, Macca said:

We shelved out decent coin for Diamond Jim & Big Carl but other clubs were bringing in a stack more dl.  2 big name recruits versus double figures from at least 5 clubs.

e.g North Melbourne ... they just kept bringing in the talent in the 70's & 80's.  Bankrolled by a few of course but we had no such luxury

With these things there are normally logical explanations.  We had rubbish zones and we didn't have money either.  End result = Lose.

So, we had no money...  lost our zones, I presume, somehow...  and we had lousy players social rooms...  and lousy small Gymnasium.  No Social facilities for supporters ?

 

In short,  we had terrible facilities,  and then we were shipped of to Siberia,  St-Kilda.

 

Is it any wonder,  we find ourselves right here,  we we were,  all those decades ago.

[John Demonic 5,617]

1 hour ago, DV8 said:

He should be on the demonland banner

[DV8 2,271]

2 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

He should be on the demonland banner

That was a picture of me,  a few moths ago.  ?

[jnrmac 19,944]

7 hours ago, Macca said:

My take on the sacking of Norm Smith ... spoils a good story but nevertheless ...

Norm slandered an umpire publicly,  was sued (settled out of court) and the club rightfully wouldn't stand by Norm and his slanderous comments ... in frustration he was sacked by the club and then later reinstated (a week later)

His team had started to struggle (moving forward) and the writing was on the wall with regards to the less than average zones that we were allocated.

Norm did the 'supporter' thing and started blaming the umpires.  He brought about his own downfall in my opinion.

FMD

Norm was the reigning premiership coach. He had coached Melbourne to 10 successive finals appearances including six premierships. He was later named the football’s coach of the century.

In the year he was sacked Melbourne had won their first eight games. At the date of the sacking we had won nine out of 12 games and were probably heading for another finals appearance.

Really struggling......

[Macca 16,731]

47 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

FMD

Norm was the reigning premiership coach. He had coached Melbourne to 10 successive finals appearances including six premierships. He was later named the football’s coach of the century.

In the year he was sacked Melbourne had won their first eight games. At the date of the sacking we had won nine out of 12 games and were probably heading for another finals appearance.

Really struggling......

It was a legal issue ... and Norm wanted the club to side with him.  They didn't and out of frustration they sacked him.

I wouldn't have sacked him so I don't know why you are pointing the finger at me.

And I know all about his success ... what Melbourne supporter doesn't? 

I get it,  because it was one of the hated umpires,  Norm's actions were justified.  I wonder what the settlement cost him?

Norm made a critical error ... and he paid a heavy price for that error.  I doubt that he saw it coming too. 

Norm coaching the team for a further 2 and a half seasons must have been awfully difficult - another contributing factor to our fall from grace it could be argued.  An untenable situation all round.

Just debunking another myth ... as I see it.  Those who choose to disagree can disagree all they like.  I'm not fussed.

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by Macca

[Melbourne_Curse 7]

Thanks for all the feed back and compliments on the video ?..

 

Whipped it up in 5 minutes ?.

[chook fowler 19,304]

14 hours ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Curses are for people looking for excuses, and dare I say also people who blame umpires for losses and Mission for every game day injury 

The reasons are nothing to do with any curses but a number of factors many self inflicted others just poor timing or decisions 

Poor zone been covered by others but we didn't exactly have a conveyor belt of recruits coming through in the 70s

Poor culture the old boys club off field who didn't move with the times in the changing game of the 70/80s

Bottoming out when TV was about to have a massive influence 

The above set the tone for missing a generation of new supporters in the 70s and 80s

Timing 1988 & 2000 running into 2 absolute juggernauts in the GF, Hawks of 88 were some side and we overachieved getting there. 2000 bit like 1987 put a strong run together in the backend of the year only to run into a dominant side set on redemption having fallen foul to complacency to the Blues in 99. They were never slipping up here

Poor drafting - the drafting overall in the early noughties had a big effect which we are still recovering from with Jones a lone warrior survivor from that period. From 2012 onwards we are on par with most clubs with hits and misses each year but the Strauss, Maric, Blease draft was a killer. Molan was just an unforseen bust and our timing of getting it wrong with the expansion sides coming in was another blow

Poor decisions with Olympic park when first offered is another in the list from previous boards which impacted our club greatly

Yep, its not a curse but incompetence.

[drdrake 3,135]

Culture, it was the day the clubs culture started to change from a club that was feared and expected to win each week, to a club that is happy to survive.  Winning is hard, losing is easy unfortunately our club taken the easy path for the large part of 50 years.  We almost changed this culture in the Northey/Daniher years, but the clubs culture won in the end.  It looked like Roos, Jackson and Goodwin starting making in roads to effect change but again looks like we are heading down the familiar path off easy beats.

Edited April 30, 2019 by drdrake

[Monocology 1,109]

Not a single tear until 5'40" - I'm getting tougher with age!

[beelzebub 23,254]

48 minutes ago, chook fowler said:

Yep, its not a curse but incompetence.

The curse IS "incompetence"

We're masters of our destiny...as we've mastered incompetency down pat !!

[ManDee 7,124]

16 hours ago, Smokey said:

Extra spicy summation, especially round here. I wasn’t alive during this time so I’ll refrain from commenting myself.

And yet you did.

[Smokey 4,381]

Just now, ManDee said:

And yet you did.

Please quote my comments around the origins of Norm's sacking for context champ 

[Tony Tea 2,806]

22 hours ago, Macca said:

My take on the sacking of Norm Smith ... spoils a good story but nevertheless ...

Norm slandered an umpire publicly,  was sued (settled out of court) and the club rightfully wouldn't stand by Norm and his slanderous comments ... in frustration he was sacked by the club and then later reinstated (a week later)

His team had started to struggle (moving forward) and the writing was on the wall with regards to the less than average zones that we were allocated.

Norm did the 'supporter' thing and started blaming the umpires.  He brought about his own downfall in my opinion.

A family friend was on the MFC committee when Smith was sacked, and said to me pretty much the same thing. The Demons urged Smith to apologise, but he refused, hence the settlement.

Regarding our onfield demise. The Demons flag had a scent of the 1991 Hawks flag - a last hurrah of a champion team. Unfortunately, while the Hawks have managed to unearth a revolutionary coach in Clarko, the Dees have gone from dud to spud, rinse, wash, repeat.

Fingers crossed Goodwin's 2018 is not a flash in the pan. While I had a strong sense that 2019 would be a bust, I have just as strong a feeling the 2020 will be a good one for us.

[Wells 11 5,317]

On 4/29/2019 at 2:04 PM, Melbourne_Curse said:

Afternoon all.

After being let down again by this football club it inspired me to to make a video entailing the plight of the club since 1964. 

It runs for 16 minutes so strap yourselves in. (Its dark, but its not all doom and gloom)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cCFmUx7fWoaRzm3rfSu3gv9AM9H8zC_j

That is really an epic piece!  Kudos. Wish the players could see it. 

[Sir Why You Little 36,757]

20 hours ago, Macca said:

Forget the success,  slander is slander

Imagine if Goodwin came out and labelled a certain umpire a cheat?  Naming the said umpire.

But you just keep on believing your myths swill ... see how far it gets you (nowhere)

We became a basket case post that premiership era primarily because of our zones and also because we got left behind with our antiquated thinking.  But the main reason was lack of talent - same as it nearly always is.

But your arguement about legalities doesn’t stand up Macca however many times you try and present it

Within a week Norm was reinstated, because the board shat itself and showed it had no balls. 

But the damage was done. Trust was smashed internally. 

The pieces still linger uncollected to this day

[Macca 16,731]

47 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

But your arguement about legalities doesn’t stand up Macca however many times you try and present it

Within a week Norm was reinstated, because the board shat itself and showed it had no balls. 

But the damage was done. Trust was smashed internally. 

The pieces still linger uncollected to this day

BS

There was a lot of stuff going on at the same time 

- The slandering of the umpire

- The pending court case

- The settlement

- The club not backing Smith on the slander charge (that is what Norm was really on about in that 'I am Melbourne' piece of footage)

- The sacking

- The reinstatement

You and others have been told a story and it has been reduced to 'The club sacked Norm Smith for no reason whatsoever'

You like that narrative because it means you can complain about your mythical take on what happened (forever and a day)

Edited April 30, 2019 by Macca

[Macca 16,731]

3 hours ago, Tony Tea said:

A family friend was on the MFC committee when Smith was sacked, and said to me pretty much the same thing. The Demons urged Smith to apologise, but he refused, hence the settlement.

Regarding our onfield demise. The Demons flag had a scent of the 1991 Hawks flag - a last hurrah of a champion team. Unfortunately, while the Hawks have managed to unearth a revolutionary coach in Clarko, the Dees have gone from dud to spud, rinse, wash, repeat.

Fingers crossed Goodwin's 2018 is not a flash in the pan. While I had a strong sense that 2019 would be a bust, I have just as strong a feeling the 2020 will be a good one for us.

Yep ... and I knew all that simply by putting 2 and 2 together (decades ago) -  it isn't rocket science TT ... but the set in their way types here are more interested in shooting the messenger

As for our future prospects,  I am way more buoyant with the current list than in any number of previous seasons. Right now our game plan needs a lot of work and a stack of players need to improve.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Macca

[Deemania since 56 6,571]

On 4/29/2019 at 1:34 PM, Melbourne_Curse said:

Afternoon all.

After being let down again by this football club it inspired me to to make a video entailing the plight of the club since 1964. 

It runs for 16 minutes so strap yourselves in. (Its dark, but its not all doom and gloom)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cCFmUx7fWoaRzm3rfSu3gv9AM9H8zC_j

Excellent compilation, pictures bring more than words. Terribly confronting at the same time for all Dees' fans. That turn-around is still a long way off, and is felt. 

[Deemania since 56 6,571]

1 hour ago, Tony Tea said:

A family friend was on the MFC committee when Smith was sacked, and said to me pretty much the same thing. The Demons urged Smith to apologise, but he refused, hence the settlement.

Regarding our onfield demise. The Demons flag had a scent of the 1991 Hawks flag - a last hurrah of a champion team. Unfortunately, while the Hawks have managed to unearth a revolutionary coach in Clarko, the Dees have gone from dud to spud, rinse, wash, repeat.

Fingers crossed Goodwin's 2018 is not a flash in the pan. While I had a strong sense that 2019 would be a bust, I have just as strong a feeling the 2020 will be a good one for us.

There was something special about Roos' coaching and understanding of the game. Earlier, there was something even more special about John Northey and his understanding of a player's and a team's capacity, and he gave them his all as their coach and facilitator.

[Macca 16,731]

10 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

There was something special about Roos' coaching and understanding of the game. Earlier, there was something even more special about John Northey and his understanding of a player's and a team's capacity, and he gave them his all as their coach and facilitator.

The one thing in our favour is that at least we know that there is a certain level of base talent at the club ... from 2007 through to 2015 the levels of talent were negligible.

The current output is abysmal though as we've a raft of players who are well below their best and many others haven't come on or progressed.

As for the FD,  same story.  Game plan isn't working and a major fix has to happen - pronto.

We need a major lift,  right across the board.  In the dark days the talent levels dictated the wins (losses)