12 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Something is wrong.

Langdon, Rivers, Fritta, Howes and JVR as examples, are playing horribly.

JVR dropped 3 chest marks yesterday. Fritta dropped about 3 and missed 3 shots and his tackling is a joke.

Langdon is turning over the ball every possession, as is Rivers and Howes is panicking and giving it away too often.

What is causing this?

We know Viney has poor disposal, but now Oliver and Tracc are turning it over regularly.

Max couldn't give a 3 metre handball yesterday under no pressure, that would have given us a certain goal.

I repeat, something is wrong, players don't lose all their skill overnight.

This!! Something is definitely wrong and not just normal out of form stuff. The level of [censored]’ness doesn’t just happen to players like these overnight from nowhere. It isn’t normal.

4 minutes ago, sisso said:

I think one of our biggest issues is we’ve lost our 3 most critical players for ball movement all at once: see if things improve when Pickett, Windsor and McVee return. Things look pretty bleak at the moment and sitting there yesterday was a reminder of the bad old days, but I’m still hopeful we can see a turn in form as the year progresses. The list isn’t anywhere near 2012 levels of woefulness.

I agree. Our game plan (all our eggs in one basket style) relies quite heavily on the speed and dynamism of Kossie in the middle as well as the run and carry of Windsor. If the playing group haven't already thrown in the towel for the season, we should see a much-improved side next week. In all our practice games and match sims, the players were looking to dish it off to Pickett (and Windsor). They haven't been there (X has been good for that) and the players have been stumbling around not knowing what to do as dishing off to the Viney's off the world, gets you nowhere.

Early in the game.

A May fumble followed up a few seconds later by a Rivers handball in which the ball almost didn’t make contact with his hand tells us all about where we are right now.

As a supporter how can you not shake your head at getting the basics so wrong.

4 minutes ago, Redleg said:

we can carry one poor user of the ball.

I think when your champion ruck and two of your gun centre square midfielders are either mediocre or poor by foot, your wingers need to be more Zach Merrett than Taylor Adams.

My laypersons view of what I saw yesterday is that our midfield has fallen off a cliff. This is by far our biggest problem. If we can't get first or even second use of the ball out of the centre we're not going to win any games this year.

We really miss Knuckle, Leb & X (when he went off) for fast and accurate transition out of the backline and also helping close down the opposition's outlets when we're pressing but turn the ball over. Nibbler would be handy there too of course. Our lack of speed all around the ground was glaring. There's Koz too of course but we may only have him for another 20 games anyway based on what we've all read.

The Bulldogs may not be the greatest team going around but their sheer will to get to a contest in the second half of their game this week as well as always creating an outlet for their teammates got them four points this week and we showed almost none of that desire.

To a large extent we have the talent to turn things around relatively quickly so as bad as we've been so far I haven't given up on the season yet. The time when we're too embarrassed to wear our club colours in public again though may not be far away if we can't.

Edited March 29Mar 29 by Rab D Nesbitt

13 hours ago, croydick said:

Dees fans, the footy gods have blessed us and we will NOT be the centre of media attention!

There is some merit in this prediction ... we have often been too 'laid bare' with media comment in recent years ... seldom anything positive, highly volatile, grossly assumptive in the negative.

10 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

There's Koz too of course but we may only have him for another 20 games anyway based on what we've all read.

I'm interested to see what we do here.

I'd have him in the middle as much as the fitness team say is safe. We desperately need everything he has: speed, precision by foot, evasive skills, tackling ability, quick hands, ability to win clearances, etc. But it seems like he's a certainty to leave the club. Does that just become a band aid? Do you keep him forward and try others in the middle, knowing he's not a long-term fix?

13 hours ago, Dingo said:

running patterns are all over the place and he rarely leads.

Yep, some salvage on this form from JVR cannot realistically be hidden by claims that he is tall and still new, because of that or inexperienced in the role. JVR must adapt to a more mobile game contribution up forward despite his static tendencies. One-on-one he would do much better, making more of a contribution; with a seeking-out of space, as a target, he could maximise his contribution by 100%, without doubt.

Due to fond past memories, I felt obliged to attend yesterday, as you should for a funeral.

3 minutes ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

I'm interested to see what we do here.

I'd have him in the middle as much as the fitness team say is safe. We desperately need everything he has: speed, precision by foot, evasive skills, tackling ability, quick hands, ability to win clearances, etc. But it seems like he's a certainty to leave the club. Does that just become a band aid? Do you keep him forward and try others in the middle, knowing he's not a long-term fix?

Agree TTD. Inside the four walls they may already know he's gone but I'd be looking to play him in the middle as much as possible because that's where our primary concern is right now and fixing this will help alleviate issues elsewhere. That will come at the expense of Spaz and Riv but that's their problem because neither have been good enough. I'd persist with Langford in the midfield mix as well based on yesterday.

Is it possible that we’ve lost focus in the midfield by rotating too many players through? I know we need more than just Trac, Clarry and Vines but the more time others get in there the less our bulls keep their currency.

Also noticed a lack of outside mid co-ordination… Suns were good at holding space outside stoppage… Not so much us.

JVR and fritter have been gifted games for the past two seasons with the hope they will improve, one is clearly past it and other doesn’t look like he will make it.

That’s our forward line in a nutshell

I didn’t see yesterday but we are long overdue to make a statement by dropping a senior player.

3 hours ago, poita said:

I expected us to be fairly ordinary this year, so I'm not totally surprised by what we've dished up so far.

What I didn't expect was the lack of passion, the lack of respect and the lack of care for each other. We have so many players who just dispose of the footy without thinking, leaving their teammates to get crunched or to compete outnumbered. We're totally bereft of skill, fitness and confidence.

Goodwin has clearly lost the players and the plot, and needs to do the honourable thing and resign. Lamb should join him.

No mate. "We'll go to work and get this right", as if we didn't just spend six months 'working' on something that looks like absolute rubbish. He's so tone deaf.

10 minutes ago, 48 Year Now said:

I didn’t see yesterday but we are long overdue to make a statement by dropping a senior player.

Fritsch is the obvious one to go !!! He cost us with missed tackles, missed shots and missed goals. Turn the opportunities in 3-4 goals and we were within a 2 goal reach at 3/4 time. Unfortunately once it blew out, the umps and suns turned up the heat.

33 minutes ago, Strawberry Fields said:

Is it possible that we’ve lost focus in the midfield by rotating too many players through? I know we need more than just Trac, Clarry and Vines but the more time others get in there the less our bulls keep their currency.

Also noticed a lack of outside mid co-ordination… Suns were good at holding space outside stoppage… Not so much us.

I'm sorry, but they're all playing like [censored]. Viney has no excuse, but he'll dine off huge coin for a few more years. Oliver seems to be trying harder, but the reality is that his going off the rails hasn't been fixed from a call from the President and a few hugs. He has a long way to go. Petracca is good in bursts, but his fitness base is totally ruined. He also doesn't seem invested.

Sparrow is one of the worst inside midfielders in the league, but he seems our current extra man in. May as well play with one down. The Langdon experiment was a ridiculous idea which probably looked good at Gosch's in the sunshine, but at least they tried something. Rivers was excellent there last year and has been moved back out of necessity, where he is now stinking it up. A coaching group who understand the game would recognise that he is the closest we have to the prototypal modern midfielder (bulky enough to win clearances, quick enough to burst) and sacrifice one of the old guard, but that's not how our coach works.

The reason clubs like Hawthorn are consistently successful is they are ruthless with their list. The reason clubs like Geelong are successful is that their 28+ y/o players take (ostensible) wage cuts to allow the club to bring in more talent. The reason clubs like ours are perennial sad cases is that, when we did strike gold, every single player took as much as they could at as many years as they could get.

Pickett a big miss in there, but not big enough to justify our being the worst clearance team in the league. Suspect Jonesy will be out next year. Elevating him so early has shot him in the foot as much as the club.

Edited March 30Mar 30 by Pirlo

1 minute ago, Pirlo said:

I'm sorry, but they're all playing like [censored]. Viney has no excuse, but he'll dine off huge coin for a few more years. Oliver seems to be trying harder, but the reality is that his going off the rails hasn't been fixed from a call from the President and a few hugs. He has a long way to go. Petracca is good in bursts, but his fitness base is totally ruined. He also doesn't seem invested.

Sparrow is one of the worst inside midfielders in the league, but he seems our current extra man in. May as well play with one down. The Langdon experiment was a ridiculous idea which probably looked good at Gosch's in the sunshine, but at least they tried something. Pickett a big miss in there, but not big enough to justify our being the worst clearance team in the league. Suspect Jonesy will be out next year. Elevating him so early has shot him in the foot as much as the club.

Was Jones the best person for the job? Or did we have our red and blue goggles on again?

3 minutes ago, Pirlo said:

I'm sorry, but they're all playing like [censored]. Viney has no excuse, but he'll dine off huge coin for a few more years. Oliver seems to be trying harder, but the reality is that his going off the rails hasn't been fixed from a call from the President and a few hugs. He has a long way to go. Petracca is good in bursts, but his fitness base is totally ruined. He also doesn't seem invested.

Sparrow is one of the worst inside midfielders in the league, but he seems our current extra man in. May as well play with one down. The Langdon experiment was a ridiculous idea which probably looked good at Gosch's in the sunshine, but at least they tried something. Pickett a big miss in there, but not big enough to justify our being the worst clearance team in the league. Suspect Jonesy will be out next year. Elevating him so early has shot him in the foot as much as the club.

I agree Sparrow is a nothing footballer .

Our only hope to to inject more pace with the likes of Kozzie, McVee, Windsor and Kolt, skilled players like Lindsay.

2 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Was Jones the best person for the job? Or did we have our red and blue goggles on again?

We were hardly an attractive proposition for assistants. Jones, I presume, was another one of those quick wins Brad Green put in place to try and unite the club.

Again, looks great in January when you've got your social media of guys running plays in the sunshine with music pumping. Not so good at the G with the weather turning.

21 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Was Jones the best person for the job? Or did we have our red and blue goggles on again?

Jones was a one trick pony as a midfielder. See ball, grab ball, barge out of congestion or go to ground for a stoppage. He was no elite quick minded distributer with peripheral skills. I fail to see what he can offer new to revitalise the midfield. Then again as I have said before he has to deal with four huge entrenched ego’s in the midfield more or less shaped into a similar style of play may not want to listen to a newbie coach what ever his methods might be.

Edited March 30Mar 30 by John Crow Batty

2 hours ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Funnily enough yesterday we reverted back to Petty at FF.

Those were the days.

Goodwin said the fwd line wasn't the problem because we had 26 entries...

1 hour ago, DeeZee said:

JVR and fritter have been gifted games for the past two seasons with the hope they will improve, one is clearly past it and other doesn’t look like he will make it.

That’s our forward line in a nutshell

JVR revisionism out in full force. His [censored] season to date doesn't mean he was no good the last two years. 28 and 30 goals as a young FF in a largely dysfunctional forward line, only sometimes supported by Brown.

The AFL average for converting first possession into a clearance is 75% this season. Melbourne wins the clearance just 65% of the time (18th) they get first hands on the ball (2024: 72% - 18th)

Melbourne's opponents are at 85% - also 18th (2024: 79% - 18th)

Melbourne was 12th for both in 2021 so we weren't clean in this area even then.

14 hours ago, Hopeful Demon said:

People also forget that Port Adelaide and Brisbane were gifted home finals while we had to play at neutral venues despite being minor premiers.

There is never enough talk about how Port should have had an armchair ride to that Grand Final and choked hard time.

2 hours ago, waynewussell said:

I agree with those who have criticized our flat-footed, chip-it-around tactic. In pre-season training, the emphasis was on short kicks and changing angles coming out of defence, but at SPEED! There was lots of movement to provide the ball carrier with options. Everyone was moving! This is not what we are seeing on game day! To put it simply, the players aren't executing the plan.

And if that is the case send them to Casey and tell them why, they will Learn pretty quickly. Give those at Casey an opportunity, tell them what you want to see. Player management, performance management, player development and list management as a collective has been poor. The club needs a shake up.