Well, you're easy to please.

You have got to be joking!

I haven't seen the final stats but at one point in the 3rd quarter the clearances were 27-11 our way.

I haven't seen the final stats but at one point in the 3rd quarter the clearances were 27-11 our way.

At half time we were doubling them, and I thought that they wrote the stats down wrong.

I don't know how many of these so called clearances were actually to advantage. We didn't seem to move the ball anywhere but sideways, or into the hands of Geelong players.

It's like saying that Jeff White won the ruck...

It's like saying that Jeff White won the ruck...

He did.

At half time we were doubling them, and I thought that they wrote the stats down wrong.

We didn't seem to move the ball anywhere but sideways....

Don't sound so surprised..thats our game plan and we've been doing that for 3 weeks now. Unless the penny drops somehow, get used to it.

We dropped a runner in CJ, only to have tall timber wasting away on the bench. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Don't forget Nathan Ablett pulled out seconds before the game. ND could not have predicted this.

Don't forget Nathan Ablett pulled out seconds before the game. ND could not have predicted this.

Very good point. Im sure if they had known that hours before the game, CJ would have played and possibly Fergs would have made way.

fergs/holland would not have played if they knew ablett wasnt playing

selwood was eating a mars bar when they told to get ready, so no-one could have predicted it

we had our best 2 forwards out, we had 2 of our best midfielders out, our best defender out, we had our "hardman" out, we had our best tagger out...

Yep.. I heard it all on Triple M as well and I was absolutely furious (and I'm not often absolutely furious) listening to Bruce saying how it was all about picking 22 guys who were hungry to win and how we just had to get the right attitude and how pleasing the second half was BLA BLA BLA

In response to that I say that a hunger or desire or desperation to win and a positive attitude amounts to absolutely nothing if your basic skills are scrappy and you continue to make stupid error after stupid error.

All this positive dribble makes me want to crawl into bed and stay there until footy no longer exists (far fetched but you know what I mean). Yes it's important to look at the positives but how on earth are they ever going to get it right if they keep getting away with playing rubbish football (with the true exception of Jones, Bell and Moloney) and keep getting commended for 'a good quarter' or 'a good half of footy'. THERE'S FOUR QUARTERS IN A GAME NEALE. FOUR.

On the brighter side of things, nobody's getting billed for the Demon Incentive Plan.

Here's a bright idea - how about the club gives us money every time we lose to pay for the alcohol used to drown our sorrows after every game... or the heart checks we must get done.. or the furniture we have smashed. :angry:

We could call it the Angry Fan Incentive Plan

Don't sound so surprised..thats our game plan and we've been doing that for 3 weeks now. Unless the penny drops somehow, get used to it.

No thats not the game plan but a product of the pressure by the opposition and the lack of confidence of the players.

I'm used to this type of performance having followed the team since the 70's. If you want to support a team that puts in 100% for 100 minutes don't follow the Dee's. They are all too nice and accept sub standard performances. However things will turn around this year, I suspect this is rock bottom. Probably would be better if we did finish bottom and get some draft picks. Maybe this year we will have our slump early and not lose the last 5 games !

We could call it the Angry Fan Incentive Plan

Jaded, you seem quite upset that Chris Johnson was dropped, can you tell me why? He was awful in the first 2 games.

I have been watching Melbourne play since 1957. I've had the privilege of watching them win four premierships. I have seen some truly terrible demon teams - with little to no ability (RDB described the 1981 side as the worst football team he had ever seen), with poor attitudes, winning only 1 game in a season - but I haven't seen too many with the softness of far too many in this team. The list, even with all the injuries that we have, is far more talented than our full list was in the late 70's and early 80's, yet has 1/2 the desire and the toughness they had, and some of them were pretty poor.

Apart from young blokes like Jones, Bell, Bate (lots of mistakes, down on confidence, but never stopped trying), Miller (who, if he had 3 metre long arms would have marked all the passes aimed at him), Moloney, PJ (who with only a handful of games in 4 years at 2 clubs has the experience of an 18yo, but keeps running and trying), and very few older blokes,most of whom don't have much talent, the team thinks that running at 95% will do. Our so called leaders don't have the faintest idea of what it takes to lead and inspire others. To be a leader at this club just means having the appropriate empty rhetoric and length of service. It doesn't actually involve setting an example on the field, rallying the troops, telling a teammate he's about to be tackled etc, etc.

Add to that a coach who is bereft of ideas or inspiration, and who at his best is merely mediocre (which for far too long has been rewarded at this club), and it makes a pretty depressing picture. The pre-season gave the warning, and round 1 the reality of where this club is at. Then injuries happened - at last, an excuse.

Last year when injuries struck Adelaide, Essendon, Brisbane and the Bulldogs (only mildly), their coaches just said - well that gives us a chance to play our kids - and see how good they are. Mr. lack of imagination prefers the tried and failed. Kids mightn't be up to it now, but with 30-50 games under their belts they become experienced young players, just like we had in the 50's. Kids in 1953/4, premiers in 1955-7. Brisbane - kids in 1998/9, ptemiers 2001-03. Essendon in 1991 (1993).

I honestly just wish I had chosen better in 1957.

This club has a losing culture - where close enough is good enough, and mediocrity is well rewarded. When Norm Smith was sacked in 1965, the spirit left this club. It has merely flickered on accasions since.

I honestly just wish I had chosen better in 1957.

This club has a losing culture - where close enough is good enough, and mediocrity is well rewarded. When Norm Smith was sacked in 1965, the spirit left this club. It has merely flickered on accasions since.

I have to agree with most of what you say. I have tried hard to support another team (Sydney) but you can't get away from the team you support as a kid. You are lucky in that you saw them win a flag, I followed them for 18 years before they even made the finals (87, but that was fun). Problem now is that if they sack ND and go for young new players we will be looking at another 3-4 years before they will be in a position to threaten the top 4. I really thought before this year that they had a good list. How has this happened. It does appear there is a losing culture. Other teams seem to get better under adversity, but not Melbourne. I don't expect them to win every week, especially with injuries, but you want to see them having red hot go and not the appalling basic skill errors.

seriously, we are 0-3. It just means at the seasons end we will be 19-3......

Jaded, you seem quite upset that Chris Johnson was dropped, can you tell me why? He was awful in the first 2 games.

Because I rather we persist with young players who one day might actually win us a premiership, than keep promoting players who were not good a few years ago, and are still no good now.

If Daniher really thought that CJ was woeful and needed to be dropped, despite not playing him in his rightful position over the last 2 weeks, the least he could have done is brought in a replacement runner.

As it was, we were stuck with having too many tall, slow players on the bench, while Geelong ran like Forrest Gump down the middle.

Hazzaman

Agree with every bit of that except I did question the commitment at times. Too often only one of our blokes was fighting for possession or pressuring to cause a turnover against a few Geelong players. MFC players who were close enough to help out but weren't desparate enough to get to the contest. I agree that lack of skill and confidence were the most important factors, but I think of it this way: the Kangaroos would probably not have been beaten by that margin against Geelong, and yet I would think the list of players we had on the park is better than they could put out there at the moment, even with the injuries. We don't have their fighting spirit. We probably still have a better list than Collingwood, but could no sooner go to Subi and put up a fight against West Coast than fly to the moon. We drop our bundle (eg 2001, 2003). It's weak and embarrassing.

That was farsical. what an abismal display.

I find it hard to see why bizzel can't get a game at the moment. The only reason i can come up with is that the club would rather play some youth, but then how is a fringe player like godfrey who is mediocre at his very best, get a game in front of chris johnson. You cant win premierships with players like godfrey in your team. Its as simple as that.

Paul Johnson was terrifyingly horrible. Anyone in their right mind can't dispute that. He is another ben holland in the making.

Its going to be a long week.