3 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Wasn't it reported that he basically pitched his vision for the team to the board after the Saints game and it completely tanked? If so in that moment it was probably the point where the board realised his position wasn't tenable.

Not what he said - he said it was "just a normal meeting - normal presentation". Perhaps he should have been more "on the front foot" because he said he would have liked a chance to re-present. All of us can speculate as to whether his card had already marked, and so that would have been futile.

7 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Wasn't it reported that he basically pitched his vision for the team to the board after the Saints game and it completely tanked? If so in that moment it was probably the point where the board realised his position wasn't tenable.

No it wasn't. I've heard nothing even remotely like that.

Can you link to something, anything that goody pitched his vision for the team to the board after the Saints and that it completely tanked?

2 minutes ago, binman said:

No it wasn't. I've heard nothing even remotely like that.

Can you link to something, anything that goody pitched his vision for the team to the board after the Saints and that it completely tanked?

No worries:

“Simon Goodwin presented to that board on Monday night, it was all about how this club would compete for a premiership next year: ‘We’re so close, we can sniff it’. That board was diametrically opposed to that view. They were crystal clear this was a club that needed some kind of step or two backwards before it pushed forward,” Ralph told Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night.

“So their path was different to his. Was he deluded? Was it blind faith? Somewhere in between?

Fox Sports

‘Diametrically opposed’: Inside story of Goodwin’s axing...

‘Was he deluded?’ Inside story of $1.2m Demons axe... and trade watch set to re-ignite

Very very impressed with Simon tonight, he bought us all so much joy and happiness in 2021, he is so professional, speaks so well, no humming or Harring, non critical and clearly believes that we as a football team are on the way back. As previously mentioned I liked that he referred to Peter Jackson again and thanked him for the six years of clean air (alignment) that he provided to the club during our rebuild and that he is looking forward to working with an AFL club that is building for success.

33 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

As much as I love the MFC and will be here in any coming highs and lows … I have to say I feel his sacking was a mistake. I’ve got a sick feeling about it.

Ironically it was the unrest of Melb supporters that partly contributed to his demise. For every person like you or me who felt the timing was wrong/too soon, you can find several others who said "good riddance".

Edited August 13Aug 13 by At the break of Gawn

Just now, At the break of Gawn said:

Ironically it was the unrest of Melb supporters that partly contributed to his demise. For every person like you or even me who felt the timing was wrong, you can find several others who said "good riddance".

yep… a lot of the “i won’t renew if he’s coach in 26” crowd might be regretting their words tonight.

I hope it's crystal clear how lucky we were to get P Jackson.

I'm worried that our off-field team is not near that class, and won't be able to give the new coach what PJ + Roos gave Goodwin.

Goodwin has been very classy in his recent interviews and he deserves kudos for that

And I’m not convinced the board has resolved all of the issues which have been well documented over the last few years

But people here are quick to forget the position we found ourselves in as recently as two weeks ago

A team with a bottom four form line over the last two years, coming off a history making fourth qtr collapse, with a coach seeming to have no answers on how to address our fall and no want to make positional and list changes

And that’s before we get into the two straight sets finals exits and well documented cultural issues that were allowed to fester

As much as I respect Goody and appreciate what he achieved for us, we were on a hiding to nothing in 2026 both from an onfield and membership perspective, and something had to give

For those scratching their heads are you aware we have only won 8 games from the last 28 with 16 premiership player still on our list?

It's not that hard

Goody has shown a high level of integrity. I still fell this is the right direction and commend the board on having the brass to do it. A fresh voice is exactly what is needed. While I have no doubt Goody means all the things he is saying, he is clearly lining himself up for his next job.

30 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

No worries:

Fox Sports

‘Diametrically opposed’: Inside story of Goodwin’s axing...

‘Was he deluded?’ Inside story of $1.2m Demons axe... and trade watch set to re-ignite

Thanks.

I call [censored] on that.

For one thing it is John Ralph.

For another its a combination of supposition and if he hasn't completely made it up he is parroting what he us being leaked by a board member who has an obvious agenda to justify their decision.

Yet another - if the club needs ,'some kind of step or two backwards before it pushed forward' tosh is coming from the board then it makes them.look like [censored] because it contradicts the general consensus that finals is a real possibility

For example premiership coach Paul roos has gone on record to say we can win a flag next year. Buckley has said we can be competitive next and the consensus view seems to be he would not be interested in the gig if it involved regression and a rebuild.

This is what Goody said about that board meeting, so not heresay or Ralph's game if thrones click bait musings:

'I had a standard board meeting the week before, and didn’t have an inkling at that point' about being sacked.

2 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

For those scratching their heads are you aware we have only won 8 games from the last 28 with 16 premiership player still on our list?

It's not that hard

Agree. It’s a results based business. Simon kept taking “learnings” that never actually got into “Solutions”!!

He took too long to adapt the team and maintained the contest based style of play. Forward connection spoken about for 4 years never actually showed any improvement.

But he seems to now want to look left and right for others to be “the reason”.

Simon Goodwin says the lack of alignment at board level was partly to blame for Melbourne’s poor season that ultimately led to his demise.

LATEST 👉 bit.ly/41HKDlp

Think someone owes you an apology @KozzyCan ...

2 minutes ago, binman said:

Thanks.

I call [censored] on that.

For one thing it is John Ralph.

For another its a combination of supposition and if he hasn't completely made it up he is parroting what he us being leaked by a board member who has an obvious agenda to justify their decision.

Yet another - if the club needs ,'some kind of step or two backwards before it pushed forward' tosh is coming from the board then it makes them.look like [censored] because it contradicts the general consensus that finals is a real possibility

For example premiership coach Paul roos has gone on record to say we can win a flag next year. Buckley has said we can be competitive next and the consensus view seems to be he would not be interested in the gig if it involved regression and a rebuild.

This is what Goody said about that board meeting, so not heresay or Ralph's game if thrones click bait musings:

'I had a standard board meeting the week before, and didn’t have an inkling at that point' about being sacked.

Believe what you want, I'm not entirely sure what part you find so hard to believe though. There's plenty of evidence to suggest Goodwin presented to the board that night.

Since Goodwin doesn't elaborate on what he means by a 'standard board meeting' we can only go by what has been reported elsewhere.

Another article from before he was sacked. Michael Gleeson and Jon Pierik put their names to this:

President Brad Green sent a letter to members on Monday as senior coach Simon Goodwin presented to the board at a previously scheduled board meeting. The gut-wrenching loss, in which the Saints pulled off a record comeback from three-quarter-time, and the team’s “incredibly frustrating” inconsistency were due to be part of Goodwin’s discussion with the board.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/all-our-talk-is-there-and-then-we-don-t-do-it-gawn-delivers-damning-assessment-of-demons-20250728-p5mibh.html

Doesn't go into quite so much detail but there's a fair suggestion that Goodwin was giving his thoughts on where he thought the team was at. You can make up your own mind on what motivated the club to sack him a week later but I'm not sure I'd completely dismiss these events.

I'm whole heartedly against the whole concept of boards. Most are board hoppers just there for the $. Their expertise is highly questionable in the areas they make decisions. Usually get their information from a single source who is a butt kisser.

The set-up is outdated and dangerous to any organisation.

Boards are the main reason issues don't get resolved or even brought up in a timely matter.

In my own personal view it always seemed pretty clear that after the review at the end of last season Goodwin and the rest of the football department had led the board to believe that we would bounce back in 2025. That would explain the incredibly bullish language in the letters penned by Brad Green, and Tim Lamb's summation of where the team was at at the end of the trade period.

Somewhere during the pre-season I think it dawned on Goodwin that we were a fair way off. This is when we started to hear about the 'love' mantra and that finals wasn't an 'expectation' but an 'ambition'. Then we get a 0-5 start and the club is given a massive reality check.

We get a bit of a sugar hit, winning 5 of our next 6 against mostly lowly opposition as well as a famous victory against the reigning premiers at home and maybe things are starting to turn. Unfortunately it doesn't last long and we go on another 5 game losing streak. Our season over before the bye.

I think this is probably the moment the board start to question whether Goodwin is the right man. We go on to win a comfortable game against North, lose embarrassingly to Carlton and then the Saints game happens and the writing is on the wall.

If Goodwin then went to the board and pitched that the club was ready to skyrocket up the ladder under his leadership it's not surprising they didn't see eye to eye.

14 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Believe what you want, I'm not entirely sure what part you find so hard to believe though. There's plenty of evidence to suggest Goodwin presented to the board that night.

Since Goodwin doesn't elaborate on what he means by a 'standard board meeting' we can only go by what has been reported elsewhere.

Another article from before he was sacked. Michael Gleeson and Jon Pierik put their names to this:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/all-our-talk-is-there-and-then-we-don-t-do-it-gawn-delivers-damning-assessment-of-demons-20250728-p5mibh.html

Doesn't go into quite so much detail but there's a fair suggestion that Goodwin was giving his thoughts on where he thought the team was at. You can make up your own mind on what motivated the club to sack him a week later but I'm not sure I'd completely dismiss these events.

Of course he presented to the Board, I'm not disputing that.

It was a scheduled presentation and just like any such presentation by a coach to a board, particularly one 3 games pur from the end of our season, he of course gave his view as to where we are at and where we are heading.

I mean what is else is a coach going to talk to a board about?

The point us he wasn't pitching anything.

As goody said on 360:

'I had a standard board meeting the week before, and didn’t have an inkling at that point' about being sacked.'

If tha board had a different view about the purpose of that presentation, ie he had to 'pitch' for his job thenobviously didn't tell goody and they they are even more hopeless than I thought.

And if the board genuinely think we need 'some kind of step or two backwards before it pushed forward' then they have zero chance of landing Buckley, or any other experiencedcoach fir tbat matter, as there'sno chance he's interested in a rebuild.

And if that was the case, and as I said I call [censored] on it, then they have wasted everyone's time if they have, as has been suggested, had conversations with Buckley.

Just now, binman said:

Of course he presented to the Board, I'm not disputing that.

It was a scheduled presentation and just like any such presentation by a coach to a board, particularly one 3 games pur from the end of our season, he of course gave his view as to where we are at and where we are heading.

I mean what is else is a coach going to talk to a board about?

The point us he wasn't pitching anything.

As goody said on 360:

'I had a standard board meeting the week before, and didn’t have an inkling at that point' about being sacked.'

If tha board had a different view about the purpose of that presentation, ie he had to 'pitch' for his job thenobviously didn't tell goody and they they are even more hopeless than I thought.

And if the board genuinely think we need 'some kind of step or two backwards before it pushed forward' then they have zero chance of landing Buckley, or any other experiencedcoach fir tbat matter, as there'sno chance he's interested in a rebuild.

And if that was the case, and as I said I call [censored] on it, then they have wasted everyone's time if they have, as has been suggested, had conversations with Buckley.

I think based on the information we have it's reasonable to say that the key outcome of that meeting is that Goodwin and the board likely didn't see eye to eye on where they thought the team was at and likely confirmed their view that he was no longer the man to take the team forward.

A 'step or two backwards' doesn't necessarily mean a wholesale rebuild. It might just mean moving a few senior players on and adding more talent around our existing core of youth. If anything it takes some pressure off the next coach to immediately get results.

Goodwin had only a couple of weeks ago saId that we were in a 'transition period' and agreed with the notion that we were 'rebuilding on the run'. It was only after he lost his job that he started talking about how close the team was to the ultimate success.

It's a smart way of putting it. Either the team immediately spikes and he's vindicated or they fall apart and it looks like the next guy screwed it up.

Goodwin is good bloke but is treating every media opportunity like a job interview

He is acting like the board and us members knew we’d have a couple of down years and then go again. I’m fairly sure that was not the plan

We all thought we were in contention still. So clearly that is a falsehood. I wish him well but let’s not rewrite history

2 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

As much as I love the MFC and will be here in any coming highs and lows … I have to say I feel his sacking was a mistake. I’ve got a sick feeling about it.

it's easy to think that with how gracious he's been since being sacked

but, as he said, it's a performance-based business, and we have failed to perform under his tenure for a period of time

then the capitulation to st kilda made his position untenable

Edited August 13Aug 13 by whatwhat say what

22 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

it's easy to think that with how gracious he's been since being sacked

but, as he said, it's a performance-based business, and we have failed to perform under his tenure for a period of time

then the capitulation to st kilda made his position untenable

I would add to that the win/loss record from 2024 of 18 wins from 44 games. That is absolutely damning from a side that he thinks is close to a premiership. It's indefensible. It's delusional. Love Goody and what he achieved for us but it was time.

Edited August 13Aug 13 by Lefty

9 minutes ago, Lefty said:

I would add to that the win/loss record from 2024 of 18 wins from 44 games. That is absolutely damning from a side that he thinks is close to a premiership. It's indefensible. It's delusional. Love Goody and what he achieved for us but it was time.

yes, the form dropped off the cliff

the psychological damage by dropping four finals in two years of straight sets exits must have been enormous

goodwin talked about how hard he drove the players to start 2021 - i do wonder if he burned them out

tom mcdonald going down with a foot injury when he was playing so well at chf and then the punch-up at entrocote, compounded by flagmante giving teams a template on how to beat us, was the end of the golden run

still, 17 wins in a row and a premiership

it was glorrrious

Edited August 13Aug 13 by whatwhat say what

1 hour ago, jnrmac said:

For those scratching their heads are you aware we have only won 8 games from the last 28 with 16 premiership player still on our list?

It's not that hard

2 of the most important ones have been quite compromised for a year plus. It's disingenuous to leave this out. And correct me if I'm wrong there's not much Goody could have done to prevent Oliver and Tracy's plights.

On 10/08/2025 at 13:35, napster said:

In this podcast, Gerard Healy says the time for a strong board was 12 months ago, and that Melbourne signed Goodwin up to a two-year extension 12 months ago. Gerard Whateley goes along with this and claims the board defaulted back to the All Blacks consultant who’d done the football review the previous year. Healy then adds that  ‘they defaulted back to the All Blacks consultant who said give them (sic) a 2 year deal.’

They have got the timing and circumstances of the two year contract extension wrong. Goodwin’s contract extension was announced in August 2023, not last year.

PLenty of people on here had the same view at the end 0f 23 The club knee jerked

18 minutes ago, Kent said:

PLenty of people on here had the same view at the end 0f 23 The club knee jerked

Yeah Goodwin was getting some bad press at the time due to some Warner articles. Goodwin got extended before the finals series and the club did some chest beating about sticking with the coach.